Re: n810.... Re: [Orgmode] Re: Any iPhone devellopers here

[Daniel M German]

 Carsten> Hi Daniel,
 Carsten> I think your message is not off-topic at all, and reminds me that, of
 Carsten> course,
 Carsten> any attempt to get limited mobile support is always destined to look
 Carsten> pale
 Carsten> against a mobile version of Emacs.... :-(

 Carsten> - Carsten

Here is my current setup and experiences using a Nokia N810.  It might
be interesting to those who are thinking about a mobile version of
org. this might also be useful to those who use org in 2 different
computers.

For an idea of what org looks like in the n810 see:

http://turingmachine.org/~dmg/temp/n810-org.png


The N810 has an integrated keyboard. It makes a big difference with
respect to the N800.

There is no version of emacs with X and hildon support, so this makes
it difficult to use emacs with a stylus (it runs, it is just unusable
in my experience). I run emacs with no x support.

with no-x support the stylus is dead, but on the other hand, the N810
has a keyboard, so you don't miss the stylus except for rapid movement
of the mouse and access to the menus. It _could_ be better, but it is
no show stopper.

The first problem installing emacs in an N810 is its size. You need to
reformat the internal card to ext2 or ext3. Otherwise you would be
eating 1/2 of the internal memory with it.

I run a reduced emacs configuration for the N810. I use a special
.emacs for it. 

I have almost the same org configuration in the n810 as in my
laptop. But I used them in slightly different ways.

I have an org file that is mainly to be edited in the n810. I call it
todo810.org

By dedicating a file mainly to the n810 i simplify editing and
synchronization across computers. Let me explain.

I use svn to synchronize org files across laptop and 810. In general
it works well, but there is always a chance for a conflict. It usually
works well, except when tasks are added in two different computers svn
detects a conflict (they are included exactly in the same area, and
svn does not know which one should go first).

To avoid this problem I have defined one special templates to be used
in the n810. It adds tasks to the todo810.org file instead of my
default org file. 

I find that it is more important to add tasks in the N810 than to
organize them. So my priority is to add them, even if they are badly
organized. I am more effective organizing them in my laptop. 

Several times a week, I connect my n810 to my home network, I login to
it (via ssh) and I synchronize with my svn repository. If any conflict
arises I can run emacs in an xterm (from my laptop) where I can easily
and rapidly solve any conflict.

On my N810 I can easily run remember, or the agenda view of org. They
are very easy to use with its keyboard, which has a ctrl-key, but lacks
alt, so I have to use ESC, which is bound to the "back arrow" in the
front of the device. The Tab key does not exist in the keyboard, but
it is available in the display in the osso-terminal status line.

I am not a person that requires TODOS to be up-to-date to the minute. 
Perhaps what I like the most about my n810 is how simple it is to get
info into my laptop. I can easily use remember to write a note, and
I don't have to use a weird app/format than then I have to copy or
retype into my usual notes.

Among the main disadvantage of my setup is that my svn repository
lives in my laptop. This means I can't easily synchronize it on the
go. I need both devices connected to the network, and then play with
the hosts file in the n810 to be able to force the IP of the
repository. Another option i use is to create an ad-hoc network.

Not ideal, but doable. I guess I could  move it to a
permanently connected computer, but I like my laptop to be independent
of the network for most of my needs.

I think that emacs + xournal + maemo mapper/Nokia map are the killer
apps for this device. I frequently wonder if it might be possible to
read mail using gnus using this device :)

Finally, the font size is adjustable. 

-- 
--
Daniel M. German                  
http://turingmachine.org/
http://silvernegative.com/
dmg (at) uvic (dot) ca
replace (at) with @ and (dot) with .