lundi 14 avril 2008

Review of April Fool's day Transactions

In our private life, some people (including myself) try to cheer up by making fun of whatever happens. Profesionally, this is a lot trickier, for obvious reasons.

I can only applaud this initiative that gives scientists a "decent", respectable way of having a scientific delirium : the Review of April Fool's day Transactions stresses the importance
and necessity to study needless, pointless and useless topics but with scientific rigour.

I do not usually make negative wishes, but I just hope that the author of Why I Will Never Have A Girlfriend will prove himself to be wrong ... soon.

samedi 16 février 2008

ActiveSync via Bluetooth

After many hours of trying, I've finally managed to sync using Bluetooth. The main, BIG problem I had, was that Nokia's PC suite program was running on the laptop and screwed Bluetooth config/accessibility.

Conclusion: in order to have it working, follow the HTC Wiki page and:
  • On the Bluetooth properties window, go to "COM Ports" tab and identify the incoming port(port entrant). On my machine this is COM10. If there isn't any, do a "Add port", wait for ages then you should have it.
  • Mobile and PC are linked via the USB cable and ActiveSync works.
  • Goto to Active Sync's Connection parameters and tell it to use your incoming port (COM10 for me)
  • Unplug the USB cable, start active sync on the mobile, goto the menu Connection via Bluetooth, it will probably tell you the devices are not paired. Then pair them and look for the services offered by the PC (you should see ActiveSync) and check the corresponding box. This will automatically create an outcoming port and ...
  • You're up and running

Mobile Internet is tricky

I finally managed to correctly configure my HTC 3600 (with an SFR contract, called SFR300+) to serve as a relay for my laptop connecting to Internet. I subscribed to Pass Surf 2.0 which gives me unlimited (under fair usage conditions for under 500MB/month) HTTP traffic for 9.90 euros/month via a WAP proxy FROM MY MOBILE. The usage I make (from my PC) is not allowed:), so be aware !

Case 1 : Use the wap proxy of SFR.
  • I needed to configure my browser (Firefox) to use another user agent string (Nokia Series60/3.1) and a proxy (195.115.25.129:8080). The connexion betwee, the PC and the mobile can be done either via
    • USB : the easiest way
    • Bluetooth: you need to connect to the Bluetooth PAN (e.g. In Win XP, under Network Connections of the Control Panel)
  • In both cases, on the phone, the bridge between the PC connection (USB or Bluetooth) and the mobile connexion (WAP) can be done using the small Internet Sharing program on the mobile (already installed as "Partage Internet" on my mobile). Detailed instructions found here and for a Mac here.
  • Thereafter anytime you want to connect you should:
    1. Prepare the web browser on the PC (user agent and proxy)
    2. Launch the Internet Sharing program on the mobile and click connect
    3. Connect the Bluetooth PAN on the PC
    4. Go web surfing !
Case 2 : use a general data connection (WEB SFR GPRS)

  • The WAP access allows you only to do HTTP via the proxy. If you want to use any other protocol (e.g. IMAP or POP3 for downloading emails) then you need to use WEB SFR (you pay for each connection, something like 1.5 euros/for the first MB, then 0.5 euros/MB)
  • The same procedure as for the WAP apply for connecting.

dimanche 20 janvier 2008

My old laptop is dead


It has been serving me for more than 6 years and it would have served me even more if I did not want to open it and have a look inside. I tried to take off the DVD-ROM player and after assembling it back again, the laptop could not wake anymore ... Pitty for this brave Medion 9580-A (aka Asus L8400) ! RIP

dimanche 13 janvier 2008

Europe in my pants : my longest label ever


Yesterday I did some shopping in a "high-street" shop called Lidl and bought a pair of running trousers. And there surprise: inside the pants I found the longest cloth label I've ever seen, for people speaking 20 languages...

jeudi 3 janvier 2008

Me and my mother-in-law

I sometimes make fun of my poor self since I'm married. Well, I am lucky to have a good relation with my mother-in-law, the "oh, so feared mother-in-law". Yesterday I heard some funny sayings about it:
  • Quand on achète une maison, on regarde les poutres et quand on "prend femme", on regarde sa mère. When you buy a house, you check the beams and when you get married, have a look at your fiancée's mother.
  • Le mariage n'est pas la mer à boire, c'est la belle-mère à avaler. Difficult to translate: Marriage is not as difficult as drinking the sea's water, but standing the mother-in-law.