Notices

This has been a popular thread when I've instigated it on other sites.

Tell us what you've put on your 770, and why. For example, there are at least two ebook readers out there (I think!). If you've put only one on, Why? And the Why goes for those obscure hacker-like apps we mere mortals don't even know exist!

Also mention the size of RS-MMC you're using and how much of it you've already filled!

This will also help me to choose what to put on my own 770 (which, again, I will say I got for free from Nokia -- no brag; full disclosure!). Thanks!

Perhaps Reggie will make this a sticky too.

Man, you're going to be feeling guilty about getting that free 770 for ages aren't you

I am looking forward to reading e-books on the 770. I used to on my Palm with it's 160 by 160 greyscale screen. This will be sheer luxury! Maybe people can include links in their comments to the useful apps.

I'll start.

1. CPU/Mem/Screenshot applet - adds an icon at the top that shows CPU and memory usage. It's integrated with a great screenshot utility too.

2. FBReader - seems to be more stable than Plucker. I like how the zoom buttons becomes a page rocker when reading a book in portrait mode. Nokia should have this on the 770 by default!

3. GPE- PIM apps (GPE-Calendar, Contacts and To-do) - No PC/Mac sync solution yet but it does its thing.

4. Gaim - IM solution for the 770. Used this several times already on the airport.

5. LX Doom - The classic Doom on the 770. Best eye-candy game. Supports multiplayer by the way.

6. AbiWord - Haven't fully tried this but at least I know I have a fully working word processor on the 770

7. Bluetooth keybaord plugin - haven't tried using it with my Stowaway BT keyboard yet. Again, at least I know i can switch to using a keybaord when I'm on the road and need to type a lengthy document.

8. Tapioca - IM and VoIP solution. I haven't installed this yet but it's the next on my list.

I also have to mention Media Creator. It's not installed on the 770 but it's one great utility to convert videos to the 770 format.

Just to add, I have bookmarked Gmail, web-based email sites, and itT of course on the browser.

I have added most of the sites listed in Planet Maemo on to my newsreader.

Not much right now:

1. FBReader
2. ScummVM

and that's everything as far as apps go.

As for the rs-mmc (1 gb Sandisk)

Arrested development season 2 (first 5 episodes)
Amazing Race season final
Monkey Island 1
Monkey Island 2
Day of the tentacle

Games:
LX Doom: installed played and removed... I don’t' have time for games, was more curious to see how well it worked.

ScummVM: with 'Beneath a steel sky' played the whole game, quite good (locked up at least once a play.) When minimized it did not show up on the left side bar as an icon. Played the game fully through and removed it. 'scratched the itch' so to speak, it works quite well as a game platform (at least in this instance.)

BattleJeweled: Bejeweled clone, I installed it for my wife who likes that game and I'm quite impressed with how fast it is.

Maemo Blocks: Tetris clone, what can I say, it works well, I like Tetris

CrimsonFields: installed but haven't had a chance to play

System Tools
- X terminal: Installed for access to the root of this device, as well as utilize this as the linux device I believe it should be.

- Vim: see #2 used to edit files.

- Drop Bear SSH Client, Server: used for shell access to my workstations and servers.

- CPU/Mem/Screenshot applet: Shows cpu/mem usage, and allows processes to be killed if frozen.

Program Software:

- Plucker: I didn't realize there was another one out there (I'll have to try it.)

- GPE- PIM apps (GPE-Calendar, Contacts and To-do)

- Gaim: kind of slow for my liking, but will work. I'll be looking for something better.


Things I'm interested in:

- Tom-Tom
- Bluetooh GPS unit
- Bluetooth Keyboard

I want to use this as something to admin systems with, check networking issues, and by using the GPE software hopefully maintain a todo-list, calendar, and contact list.

If and when I get the Gps unit I think this would be a great tool to use for drives as well as check into Kismet for wireless access finding. That was the plan, we'll see how it works out. I just ordered a 256mb card for it because it was cheap enough for me to afford after dropping way more then I wanted to at compusa. That being said the bluetooth options are a bit off in the distance as well because my phone does not support them.

Hope that helps:
-Todd

- LXDoom: I got bored of all the puzzle games, I wanted some action
- FBReader: I love the portrait mode
- Evince: Just curious, just in case some pdf doesn't load well in the default app
- GPE Calendar: not using it a lot atm
- GPE Todo-list: I forget stuff
- X-terminal: needed to ssh and to start vpnc
- ssh: to connect to linux-servers
- vpnc: I need it to connect to our university network. (I can't get it to work on the latest software release. Is anyone else having that problem?)
- inet-utils: I neeeed ping
- vim: to edit config-files

openssh for X session forwarding, will go back to dropbear if there isn't a way to get the keypad to come up.

vim text editing
x-term for local consoles
collection of ip tools

Will probably add FBreader, Gaim, maybe Abiword. Need to track down the CPU app (links, please people!)

Holding off on PIMs for now - my old Sony Clié works fine.

HW: 1GB rs-mmc card, maybe a BT keyboard, maybe a BT phone as I have to renew the cell phone service anyway!

Anyone have a way of getting RealAudio streams?

Ok, I work for a wannabe mainstream database company so I need to use the 770 for work as much as anything else (my primary machine is a TC1000 TabletPC - light and small, but slow. And the 770 and take it's place for 80% of what I do).

I've loaded the following (in no order):

- status bar plugin for load (cpu/memory); I use version 0.2.4-1 (http://koti.welho.com/jpavelek/tmp/770/)

- osso-xterm to get to a command prompt (http://770.fs-security.com/xterm/)

- bash for a decent command shell (what can I say, I like ksh) (http://www.opbyte.it/maemo/)

- tiny-vi for the one true editor (http://www.bleb.org/software/770/#vim)

- dropbear ssh so I can access other systems, use scp to copy files between systems, and alow me to login from my tablet and use a real keyboard ;-)) (http://maemo.org/maemowiki/InstallSsh)

- bluetooth keyboard plugin to use my Nokia keyboard (http://770.fs-security.com/keyboards.html)

- I've changed the desktop web link to point to google (and changed the icon to match)

- gpsdrive (http://www.elisanet.fi/tapio.tolvanen/nokia770.html). If you're serious about using this application, I've got a small shell script hack that scans for a gps (currently looks for a 'Garmin' but can be changed) and creates a gps.id file for gpsdrive. Just drop me a note.

- sqlite (http://www.owenwilliams.plus.com/maemo/) for gpsdrive and my own custom application development (though I'm playing with a mysql port).

- I've also loaded some disk utilities I've ported (fdisk, cfdisk, mkswap, mke2fs) for managing partitions and file systems on the MMC

I've been hunting for a decent display to use with a bluetooth gps and the 770 is the best platform for that use (great display, decent storage, and connectivity to boot).

The software (gpsdrive) needs serious help and may never be as good as something like that cute little Tom Tom box (I saw one and thought I'd love it but the display is pretty bad compared with the 770) due to the limitations of public domain maps. But the source is available, and I've been able to modify it and build from source so that - in my mind - makes for a dream gps platform. It can be anything I want (assuming I can fake it good enough ;-))

Finally, in the spirit of the post, here are some 'fixes' I consider mandatory (some require root access):

- Edit 'ld.so.conf' and add a line for '/var/lib/install/usr/lib', then run 'ldconfig'. This means you'll always have access to libraries you install (and actually corrects a maemo bug [1.1rc5] for user installed home plugins)

- Create a .profile with the line 'export PATH=$PATH:/var/lib/install/usr/bin' and put it in /home/user (with owner/group user/users) and /root (owner/group root)

- Use visudo (make sure you 'export VISUAL=/var/lib/install/usr/bin/vi' first!) to add 'su' to 'ALL'. This allows you to 'sudo su -' to get to root. Less to type, plus it actually parses /root/.profile.

- Consider using part of your MMC as swap. Since the 770 has limited memory, it's fairly easy to setup a 24MB file on the default 64M card, or create a swap partiiton (no link, sorry, it's http://www.internettablettalk.com/fo...read.php?t=602 somewhere).

It will provide additional memory resources for the machine and I think that makes a much better user experience. The downside? The MMC gets unmounted when you plug into a Windows PC (need to manually turn swap off) and it will cause your MMC to wear out much faster (how many writes? 10k to 1 million I've been told, not sure what's the correct figure. how long to write 10k to a bit when used as swap?)

I'd be interested what Nokia says about doing this

- Consider partitioning your MMC for your own needs. I know biggest asset the 770 has is it's ability to use network resources, But I consider it mandatory to have a number of local resources as well. Because in a real world, even in the biggest city in the great state of Oregon I can't always get wifi OR gprs access - not yet anyways.

And my feeling is that using something like ext2fs vs a VFAT file system becomes important when using a larger MMC card - so I'll pick speed over convenience. There are many ways to transfer files to the 770 other than using a USB cable.

So, I'd always partition my MMC cards into a small swap partion (maybe reserve the first 64MB) and the rest for ext2fs (mounted as /home, or perhaps /home/user).

- Add another user with a decent shell (call me a coward, but I'm not sure it's safe to change the default shell for 'user'), so right after login you can type 'sudo su - broot' (to get a root login with bash).

- Make opera scrolling usable (http://maemo.org/maemowiki/ScrollInOperaWithThumb) Yeah, I know, you can hold the key down. I don't want too, thanks. I wish this would scroll a page, not a line. But I'm pretty crazy (I also want to build applications that can be used without a stylus - I hate the stylus)

- Use ssh to remotly access the 770. If you want to use the box as a *Nix machine, this will make a 'light vs day' kind of difference. Freed from the touchscreen it makes me want to scream like a schoolgirl ;-)

I just bought a Nokia bluetooth keyboard so I think if you can afford it, it will make a mandatory accessory for the hardcore (once the software develops). Plus, if you stretch the cheezy 770 case (I threw it in the box in the closet) the keyboard is a snug fit. That way, I can keep the 770 and keyboard in the same coat pocket without them rubbing together.

Finally (whew)... I always run the screen calibration utility (from the control panel) after I reload my 770 (I've trashed it so many times now it's embarassing ;-)). I find this makes typing with the onscreen keyboard much better. I think Nokia should force this to run during the initial configuration (ala the PocketPC).

Sorry this is a bit long and rambling, but the first time I got to a bash prompt from a remote connection via ssh, I yelled outloud (no, not like a schoolgirl). The feeling, the power. Finally, the 21st century in my pocket. The future may very well be all it was cracked up to be after all.

Sorry if this is a stupid question but I don't have my 770 yet to try. Can this be done just using the UI on the 770 or does it require a "hack" of some kind?

"- I've changed the desktop web link to point to google (and changed the icon to match)"

It can be done without a hack. Just click on Home -> Web shortcut details... A dialog box will pop up asking for the link and a browse button to look for the picture.

Regards,
Angel