1) Skype (ver 1.7.113.22.2) still works

2) www.google.com/gwt/x?u= is a good way to access non-mobile sites. Takes the place of skweezer, etc

3) GPE Calendar/Summary still works with a google public calendar

4) For Contact sharing with MS Outlook/Linux PIM, in Outlook/Linux, export contacts as .csv file. On the N810, install Portabase (or install Portabase on Windows) and import .csv file and map fields, in this order:

Name
Mobile Phone
Business Phone
Home Phone
Business Address
Home Address
Email
Notes

On Portabase, in full screen, this gives just enough room to show the name and three phone numbers. Then tap on the contact for more information

Obviously, there's no syncing, but GPE Contacts takes forever to import .vcf files, nor can the N810 download a google-exported contact.vcf, so a desktop export is fundamental

5) When working on a professional manuscript, smart quotes, em dash, and ellipsis are needed. Abiword 2.8.1-1ea3 will do the smart quotes, and an easy way to have em dash and ellipsis readily available is to edit (I use Midnight Commander in root):

/usr/share/X11/xkb/symbols/nokia_vndr/rx-44

and find these keys and change them to this:

key <AE11> { [ minus, underscore, emdash, underscore ] };

key <AB09> { [ period, greater, ellipsis, greater ] };

This makes fn-minus give an em dash (when editing the file, make certain there is no space between em and dash) and fn-period give an ellipsis

6) Star Dictionary. The dictionaries/thesaurus are getting harder to find. Here's one link:

http://abloz.com/huzheng/stardict-dic/dict.org/

For initial set up, this is helpful:

http://maemo.org/downloads/product/OS2008/stardict/

and make certain the dictionaries are un-tarred to their fullest in their specific directories

The forums here are so complete that I never had to ask outright for assistance setting up my N810, but every user brings his/her own needs and the above helped fill mine.

Jake

Heya jakfish...
nice write-up.
And welcome to the n8x0 subforums...
or as I like to call it...
"The Incredible Land of the Stupendous Mimes of Maemo4"...
Mainly 'cause our devices are soooo cool and problem free ...there is little to say around here ...we got lotsa people who use them...we simply aren't a talkative bunch by nature...
I like to think we are an introspective and cerebral-ly thoughtful group of self imposed mutes and mimes....

I hadn't thought of that—[note my em dash ]—that maemo users are quiet by nature and also because their device work so well.

I've dug deep into the maemo forums and have found very little flame-throwing, so folks here have been polite for years.

I also use Windows CE-based handheld computers and people there are equally pleasant and helpful.

Maybe thinking small makes us nice.

Jake

hehe...
pretty much a zero-tolerance policy around here for B.S.
a helpful release valve is a couple subforums...like "Off topic"...
"Alternatives" and "Competition"
Not to say everyone doesn't go ranty now and then...but on the whole we are a pretty good bunch.
Yes ...we are eensy-weensy-teensy compared to other device user numbers.....yet our mobile Comp-U-Fu is very strong.
Our devices are "the" hackers and "total-control" users devices when pitted against the competition...mwhahahahaha

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vO7da6y2ZF4

Also..it consumes waaaayyy too much brain-power-energy ranting and fighting ...which is better spent hacking....prolly accounts for it

I've owned this N810 for less than a week and I already bought another one. The addiction quality is a rich one.

Your sig tells me you aren't exactly mingy with your own maemo purchases

Are you worried that the repos here and at tableteer might disappear? I've tried to download as many debs as I can but I know I haven't collected the whole set.

Jake

hehehee
Honestly I'm not worried about epic-apoco-disaster happening here...the place disappearing here...once...a couple yrs ago I was concerned.
places like internet archives and wayback machine are excellent failsafe.
Today I'm more concerned about only a couple of things for the n770 and n8x0 in particular.....permanent power solutions (which I am working on) utilizing usb power (as a permanent plugged in solution or portable battery or portable solar battery ...which I will be messing with too) to really free the devices (it's only a matter of time until it becomes really difficult finding proper batts.)

and of course reelin' in the strays so-to-speak.

http://213.128.137.28/showthread.php?t=94320

Have everything under one unified roof.
That takes a few peeps and esp. some of our voted-in members who can effect that kinda earth-moving works.
After that it is simply maintaining, adding to, and improving upon all the cool stuff ever created for our devices.

yeah as far as why I have so many n8x0's is that I have
1 of each n800 and n810 doing daily duty.
1 of each to really mess around and experiment with without worrying I may brick the only device I have with my incessant puttering...
and lastly 1 of each as back-ups in case something happens to my daily's or x-perimentor's
Also the n810 thinner with the backlit keyboard and 1 minsd card slot is great for puttering and going out for the day...
The n800 is fab for serious work and serious storage with it's two standard sd card slots.
(If asked what 2 things at this moment I would want for entertainment if I were stranded on a desert island for god-knows-how-long I would say... my Solio 3 panel charger (allowing me almost 24/7 perpetual device usage without being plugged into an outlet) and one of my n800's packed to the gills and with the option of running a few different os's or d.e.'s I won't get bored anytime soon....
I got the complete works of shakespeare on film, as well as a ton of games, more film, 1000's of books, and I don't know how much music all my fav groups total collections ..from every genre ....all on one n800.)
Anyway back to topic...
It will also get harder to find replacement devices given time...not to mention..I have seen them cheaper than they currently are in the auction houses...and for good reason...they are a wicked device line ...modern devices are slick and powerful ...but often are closed and unhackable or with some other failing...poor resolution, bloated systems, problematic hardware..."bendgate" for godssakes....no sd card slot at all...or worse... communities and corps that truly abandon their devices...forcing people into the next piece of crap.
One of the best things about them is they are made of undestroyablanium ...or next to that material...love mah little beasties. I still have all my original devices in excellent shape and working order.

hrm...you are partial to windows right Jake?
there is a windows xp desktop theme for n8x0 somewhere around in the themes category...
also you may wish to check out dosbox...to get your winfix on.
I never bothered.... but windows 3.1 will work ...from what I remember ...
It ain't windows 8 ...but...for a handheld comp. from 2008 running all the different stuff it can....it ain't too shabby.

Funny, there should be a poll here about user anxiety; I imagine it's all pretty individualized. I'm much more worried about repos than about batteries, if only because the N8** battery is the same as the Nokia E90, and there're fair amount of E90s still kicking around, being one of the last Communicators, etc.

I'm very impressed with how you've put your devices to work for you. And thanks for trackin' down dem missing repos.

I dabble in all the OSs except Apple, but other than the family computer, it's almost all Linux.

I'd forgotten about DOSBox--if it did run 3.1, then it would run MS Word 6.0, one of the great word processors. That'd be better than AbiRoad even... Or NewDeal, the OfficeSuite for DOS, that was a wonderful piece of software.

Jake

Hehe...just a couple yrs ago ...oh yea...user anxiety was a wee bit high...during the transition from Nokia control to Community control...
I made a backup of diablo...others did the same with the other areas I'm sure... Now that is over....it is simply up to us members...us end-users not to just "use" but to be involved ...somehow...however we can...in keeping it all together...maintaining, repairing, improving upon, simplifying (where possible), and helping our fellow members where we can.
Otherwise it will all fall into dusty ruins from neglect.
That is really the only thing I fear now...

hm...might want to check out vnc, rdesktop ...
even the work on laptop "hildonization" and "fremantlization"
(I just made those last two words up instead of using alot of words to say the same thing...googling won't help you there )
bringing the enviro to the pc.
lotta work but pretty interesting...especially on a convertible tablet pc with stylus and/or touch sensitivity...

Well, I'm glad to hear that you're not too fretful about repo availability. I'll check out rdesktop and thanks again for your help.

Jake