Mobile Hacks

Ten nifty power tips for your cell phone.

If Windows makes your PC tick, ever wonder what makes the soul of your cell phone go pit-a-pat? Well, if you have any of the newish Nokia, LG, Samsung, or Sony Ericsson handsets, chances are that it is a S60--or Series 60--platform phone running the Symbian OS.

S60 is the most popular smartphone platforms on our little Blue Planet at present. It is a multivendor standard for smartphones that supports application development in Java MIDP, C++, and Python. Its bedrock, the Symbian operating system has been designed for mobile devices, and comprises associated libraries for telephony, user interface frameworks, reference implementations of common tools like PIMs and Helix-enabled multimedia players. Symbian is a product of Symbian Software Ltd., a company owned by Nokia, Ericsson, Panasonic, Samsung, and Sony Ericsson. S60 1st edition (S60v1), or its 2nd edition (S60v2) software is not binary compatible with S60 3rd edition (S60v3).

Let’s clear one more ambiguous term while we are at it. A smartphone is an electronic handheld device--usually with a largish colour screen--that incorporates the functionality of a cell phone, Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), and/or another information appliance. It allows for additional applications and software to be installed by the user. The "smart" features can comprise anything ranging from an additional interface like a keyboard or a touch screen, or ability to check e-mail, or capture and playback of various types of media.

Now let’s look at some little tips and tricks that can jazz up your workings on a S60 smartphone. But hey, keep in mind functionality can vary from model to model and manufacturer to manufacturer. So if some of these tricks don’t work on you phone, don’t arm yourself with a 12-bore elephant gun and come hunting for my rear.

Easy Digits in Alpha Mode
All of us accustomed to using the T9 mode find it a pain entering numerics while typing out an SMS, especially when it is just two or three stray digits that we want. Next time you want to input number, just press on the relevant numeric keys (0 to 9) for a longish time. This will generate a number entry in the text without at all altering the input mode.

Voice Quickies
You know your voice can be you phone’s command by recording the commands in Voice application residing in the Tools folder. But perhaps what you don’t know is that these voice commands can easily be activated by pressing and holding the right softkey, no matter what shortcut you have preset for this key.

Quick Profile Toggle
On S60 cell phones, you can change your phone’s profile very swiftly by using its Power key a uni-directional scroll and toggle on. Press the Power key quickly 2, 3, or 4 times to get to the desired profile. Hold the key down and the profile you want will be activated.

App Capers
Try pressing the Menu/Application key and then a number between 1 to 9. This will launch the application which coincides with its place on the grid of 9 in the menu layout. Experiment a bit, see what lies where, and then memorise the shortcuts.

Image Control Shortcuts
While viewing images in your phone’s Gallery, you can use these keys as convenient shortcuts rather than diving into the menu each time.

1: Turns image anticlockwise
3: Turn image clockwise
*: Toggle on/off of full screen
5: Zoom in
0: Zoom out

MP3s on the 6600
The Nokia 6600 is an immensely popular mobile. And one of the features sorely lacking in it is the ability to warble to MP3 (as well as WMA and Ogg). But not any more. Here’s a little plugin which will allow you to play MP3s on it:

http://zavenx.googlepages.com/Plugins.sis

Download it and install it. Restart the phone. Copy your 128kbps MP3s (yep, only 128kbps) to the Sounds > Digital folder. That’s it. If you don’t know how to install the download, flame me.

Sssh the Start up Jingle
You’re want to switch on you phone but don’t want the people around you to know that you are doing this. So what you do to suppress the Nokia phone on jingle? Switch it on and immediately press either of the scroll keys (Up/Down) to quell the sound.

Confirming Message Delivery
There are a couple of ways with which you can confirm if your SMS has been received. One is ensuring that Delivery Reports on your phone is enabled. The other method involves typing:

*0#

in your message composition window, before thumbing in your SMS. The moment the recipient receives the message, you will get a receipt. Don’t worry, the he/she will just get the message, not the star-zero-hash stuff.

Diwali Bonus
Here’s a Diwali gift for people who have written to me asking for websites that allow sending free SMS messages in India. I checked it out on various major cell networks and found it working satisfactorily on all except Reliance. The image verification check is a wee bit tedious. But what the heck, it’s free. Use it before the Big Boys have it blocked.
www.atrochatro.com
www.aasma.com

Google Gags

Googling around for fun.

Heard of something called “BackRub”? It was the original name given to Google by its inventors, two Stanford University graduate students, Sergey Brin and Larry Page. And like many other wonderful things in this world, Google was not the crafted by corporate honchos in a sterile boardroom; it had very humble beginnings. It was born as a univ research project by Sergey (age 23) and Larry (age 24) in January 1996.

Today, Google is unarguably the most popular search engine in the world, with search access to well over two billion million Web documents, even in 35 non-English languages. While half its daily search requests come from the US, the rest originate from places poles apart—from Antarctica and sometimes even the Arctic icecap. During peak traffic hours, Google processes over 2,500 user searches per second for billions of pages.

By the way, have you ever wondered why Google’s main page is so nanga? To make it load fast? Perhaps. But according to legend, this is because its creators didn’t know HTML too well when they created it. They wanted a fast interface so they didn’t fool around.

Speaking of fooling around, the name Google materialised due to some fooling around with “googol”, a term that deals with a very large number, something like 1 followed by 100 zeroes (10 to the 100th power)! At the time, this was an inference to the large number of Web pages that the search engine could indexed. Little known to most of us, the Google phenomenon also has engendered a wacky side—a fun fringe that has either been invented or inspired by the Google walas. Here's a peek at some of these amusing asides.

Google Gulp
Pepsi and Coke will find this hard to glug. Seems Google’s getting into the bottling business. Google Gulp with “Auto-Drink” is a line of "smart drinks" designed to maximise your surfing efficiency by making you more intelligent, and less thirsty. Flavours include Beta Carroty, Glutamate Grape, Sugar-Free Radical, and Sero-Tonic Water. Take sip…
www.google.com/googlegulp

Google Jobs Opportunities
This one’s about job opportunities at Google. On the moon! Its Copernicus Center is hiring and interviewing people for engineering positions at it lunar hosting and research center which opens in 2007. Highly-qualified individuals who are “willing to relocate for an extended period of time, are in top physical condition and are capable of surviving with limited access to such modern conveniences… and a steady supply of oxygen” should apply. Utter “lunarcy”!
www.google.com/jobs/lunar_job.html

Much in the same hilarious and witty genre, are the following Google pages:

Google Technology
www.google.com/technology/pigeonrank.html

Google MentalPlex
www.google.com/mentalplex/MP_results.html

Google Romance
www.google.com/romance

Google Holiday Logos and Events
One for the trivia man. A compendium of Google logos done for those special days of the years. For example, the Google logo in Braille to commemorate Louis Braille's birthday. Or others for Sherlock Homes, Mozart, Mother's Day etc. etc. etc. And then take a peek at the person behind these Google doodles.
www.google.com/holidaylogos.html

Google Easter Eggs
A simple, entertaining Google home page, specially crafted by the some fun loving bunny at Google Labs. It’s a Google home page with an in-built game where you have to help an Easter bunny catch eggs in a little basket. Above the game you will find the de facto Google search field box and can use it as a normal search engine page.
www.google.com/Easter/feature_easter.html

Want more fun? Go to:

Montage-a-Google
http://grant.robinson.name/projects/montage-a-google/

Guess-the-Google
http://grant.robinson.name/projects/guess-the-google/

“elgooG” Google Mirror
I’ve mentioned this site earlier. It's a Google mirror that makes you read everything backwards. This 4,000-line custom CGI script written in PERL, even survived the Great Firewall of China because the Chinki government security experts thought that “elgooG” was a joke, not a fully functional version of Google. So they blocked Google not this, much to the delight of hundreds of Chinese surfers.
http://elgoog.rb-hosting.de/index.cgi

On the Art Beat

A brush with art, the penny-pinchers way.

One warm, sleepy Monday afternoon, way back in August 1911, Leonardo da Vinci's famous masterpiece, the Mona Lisa was snucked from the Louvre in Paris. The thief, an ordinary house painter called Vincenzo Peruggia, managed to keep it tucked away for almost a year before he caught and the painting recovered. The weirdest part in the whole tale? More people came to the Louvre in those 12 months to gaze at the blank space on the wall where Mona Lisa had once hung, than had visited the place in the last 12 years!

People have conjectured ever since that the real Mona Lisa was never actually found and the current one dangling in Louvre is a fake. Maybe. Maybe not. I am no one to comment or argue this. I am here for another cause. To lead you to a palette of some wonderful binary offerings that you can employ and deploy creatively on digital canvas...


Blender
They say, creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes; art is knowing which ones to keep. With this Open Source proggie for 3D modeling, animation, rendering, post-production, interactive creation and playback, you can create a lot of “mistakes”. And some wonderful new-age art! It can be used for various professional applications ranging from architectural/industrial work, web design, character animation, visual effects, product modeling and presentations etc. Rigging, rendering, shading, UV unwrapping, physics and particles, editing and compositing, real-time 3D/game creation… Blender does it all. Apart from Windows 98, ME, 2000, and XP, Blender has versions for Mac, Linux, FreeBSD, SGI and Sun Solaris.

This is pro stuff man. You gotta go to the website to grab all the details.
www.blender3d.org/cms/Home.2.0.html


Paint.NET
From the bountiful we cut to the bantam. Paint.NET is an Open Source image and photo manipulation that started out at Washington State University as an undergraduate senior design project mentored by Microsoft as it as intended to replace MS Paint. But it goes far, far beyond the infantile Paint you have seen. It has easy and intuitive interface, supports layers, special effects, unlimited undos, and a variety of useful tools (splines or Bezier curves, magic wand, clone stamp, text editor, zoom, recolor etc.). Special effects include blurring, sharpening, red-eye removal, distortion, and embossing, 3D rotate/zoom effects to add perspective and tilting. Image adjustments included help you tweak an image's brightness, contrast, hue, saturation, and levels. Paint.NET runs Windows 2000, XP, Vista, or Server 2003.
www.getpaint.net/index.html


Inkscape
Another Open Source app, Inkscape is vector graphics editor. In contrast to raster (bitmap) graphics editors such as Photoshop or Gimp, Inkscape is like Illustrator, Freehand, CorelDraw, or Xara X and uses the W3C standard Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) file format. Features include shapes, paths, text, markers, clones, alpha blending, transforms, gradients, patterns, and grouping. Inkscape also supports Creative Commons meta-data, node editing, layers, complex path operations, bitmap tracing, text-on-path, flowed text, direct XML editing, and more. It’s XML, SVG, and CSS standard compliant. A skinnier cousin of its full-featured commercial cousin bhaiyas, it is more than adequate for crafting web graphics, technical diagrams, icons, creative art, logos, or maps. Almost. Go fetch.
www.inkscape.org


PhotoPlus 6
If the complexities of Photoshop confound you, come hither ladies and gentlemen. As an image and photo editing software, PhotoPlus 6 is pretty powerful, yet pretty simple to use. Like Photoshop, it enables you to create, manipulate and enhance photographs, bitmap graphics and web animations. It features creative tools like paintbrush, airbrush, clone, smudge and erase. A digital darkroom to enhance, repair and tweak photos by adjusting brightness, color hue and saturation, contrast, sharpness etc. The layer effects let you add bevels or drop shadows for a 3D look on text or other image elements while a layer manager lets you alter and preview specific image layers. It also allows you to easily edit or create animated GIFs for the Internet or presentations.
www.freeserifsoftware.com/software/PagePlus/default.asp


PhotoFiltre
Another neat, easy to use (and free), image retouching program. It has over 100 filters that you can play around with as you go up the learning curve. The toolbar comprises the industry standard: Pipette, displacement cursor, fill bucket, aerosol, brush, drop of water (blur), cloning stamp, smudge and magic wand. Apart from the regular brushes (round and square in different sizes), PhotoFiltre also has some interesting variations in the form of oblique line, leaf, star, etc. A PhotoMasque module lets you create advanced contour and transparency effects on your images by using preset masks. And automatisation module allows you to apply basic functions/corrections (conversion, image size, framing) to a group of images. Why not start by touching up the Mona Lisa, Mr. Picasso?
www.photofiltre.com

Confidentially Yours

Decrypting disk and file encryption freebies.

"Today, I had my laptop stolen and now I am up that creek without any sort of a paddle... it has files on it that could jeopadise my future employment...not the usual stuff... these are confidential files to do with an ongoing job and publication of these files puts the entire project at risk, not to mention my future job prospects. The problem for me is that the lappy was stolen by my vengeful ex-wife and the files on there are to do with a movie that is still in production... I have received an SMS which says that unless I sign my house over to her, she will publish the files and pics... sayonara to my career unless I comply... I think that I can only agree... Such is life, huh... Btw, all the files and logons were encrypted with the top of the range 1024-bit stuff but it looks like she has found some one to crack it all... and that is in less than four hours... So much for security. Hah!"

Yes ji, aisa bhi hota hai! So much for security... But still it shouldn't prevent you from securing critical data on your machine using encryption. We talked about various encryption fundas some months ago. Vinci da code piece, yaad hai? No? Too bad... Drop me an e-mail and I'll beam it across. But right here, right now, let's horse whisper about some of the best encryption freebies money can't buy.


Truecrypt
This is a free open-source disk encryption software that can bamboozle files, folders, entire hard disk partitions, or a storage device (such as USB flash drive). The encryption is automatic and in real-time. File and folder names are encrypted along with the file contents. A TrueCrypt volume can be up to 8,589,934,592 GB and cannot be identified from random data. Truecrypt uses AES-256, Blowfish (448-bit key), CAST5, Serpent, Triple DES, and Twofish encryption algorithms.

It doesn’t save the password to the disk. Neither does it have a facility to recover of encrypted data without the correct data key. The only way to recover your files is to try to "crack" the password or the key. You can even safely record and playback videos on a TrueCrypt volume. All TrueCrypt volumes are OS independent.
www.truecrypt.org
OS: Windows XP, 2003, 2000 and Linux


Axcrypt
Available under GNU General Public License, AxCrypt File Encryption Software is slick AES-128 file encryption and compression app. Install and its ready to use. No config required. It works on a file-by-file basis. Right-click integration with Windows Explorer makes it easy to use with individual files. Opening, viewing, editing and saving encrypted files is a double-click affair.

After modification, files are automatically re-encrypted. And ah, encrypted files can be e-mailed. A self-decrypting function allows for recipients not to require an AxCrypt installation at their end. AxCrypt features server mode options, an extensive command-line interface for scripting and programming, and an integrated shredder for all temporary and encrypted plaintext files. This one-meg Open Source application supports up to 4 GB files.
OS: Windows XP, 2000, NT, ME, 98
http://axcrypt.axantum.com


Cypherix Cryptainer LE
Cryptainer creates a 128-bit strong encrypted “ghost” container (vault) to store various types of data. Apart from encrypting files and folders, it locks them, hides them, and password protects them. It encrypts all file formats--textual, graphical, database, audio or video. It can also encrypt removable drives--any data on any media (USB drives, CD ROMs, flash disks etc.)

It works with a simple drag-and-drop operation. The protection is fast and on-the-fly. A secure e-mail module allows for self-extracting encrypted files. Only the password is required at the other end to decipher the file—not Cryptainer itself.
OS: Windows XP, 2003, 2000, ME, 98, 95
www.cypherix.co.uk/cryptainerle/features.htm


dsCrypt
dsCrypt is an uncomplicated, easy-to use, AES/Rijndael file encryption proggie. The relatively tiny download is self-contained and uses the advanced encryption algorithm efficiently to offer fault-free performance and good security. It is works with multiple files and allows drag-and-drop operations.

Install support is neither available, not required. An open code app, it deploys proven encryption methodologies that are supposed to be virtually unhackable--along with something called BruteHalt for brute-force password search resistance. Secure PassPad makes it immune to key-logging on networks. A neat user interface makes the encryption-decryption operation smooth and speedy.
OS: Windows XP, 2000, 98
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~nulifetv/freezip/freeware/

Productivity Cheat Sheet 26: Command and Conquer

Wading through mouse-driven menus has almost become a way of life for us computing souls. Tearing ourselves away from the snug, secure feel of that smooth oblong object against the palm is not an easy. Yes, old habits may die hard. Especially when they have become so internalised in our work processes. But try these Windows command line shortcuts and you'll see how much time a just little key-tapping can save you in delving in and out of menu and sub-menus. Many of these are commands you never even knew existed!

For those who want to clear the cobwebs first: A command line is defined as a blank line onscreen which receives typed-in instructions from the user. DOS and Unix are total command line interfaces. Windows is graphical user interface (GUI) with a command line module that people can use to perform several tasks more directly and efficiently than via a graphical user interface.

To access the Windows command line, you need to launch the Windows Run command. For this, press the Windows key + R, or click on the Start button and then on Run. The blank dialog field provided is where you type in the action commands.

(Remember some of commands listed here will only work if the associated component/device is installed in your system.)

TO LAUNCH TYPE IN
Accessibility Controls access.cpl
Add Hardware Wizard hdwwiz.cpl
Add/Remove Programs appwiz.cpl
Administrative Tools control admintools
Automatic Updates wuaucpl.cpl
Bluetooth Transfer Wizard fsquirt
Calculator calc
Certificate Manager certmgr.msc
Character Map charmap
Check Disk Utility chkdsk
Clipboard Viewer clipbrd
Command Prompt cmd
Component Services dcomcnfg
Computer Management compmgmt.msc
Device Manager devmgmt.msc
Direct X Control Panel directx.cpl
Direct X Troubleshooter dxdiag
Disk Cleanup Utility cleanmgr
Disk Defragment dfrg.msc
Disk Management diskmgmt.msc
Disk Partition Manager diskpart
Display Properties control desktop
Display Properties desk.cpl
Display Properties (with Appearance tab pre-selected) control color
Dr. Watson System Troubleshooting Utility drwtsn32
Driver Verifier Utility verifier
Event Viewer eventvwr.msc
File Signature Verification Tool sigverif
Findfast findfast.cpl
Folders Properties control folders
Fonts control fonts
Fonts Folder fonts
Free Cell Game freecell
Game Controllers joy.cpl
Group Policy Editor (XP Professional) gpedit.msc
Hearts Game mshearts
Iexpress Wizard iexpress
Indexing Service ciadv.msc
Internet Properties inetcpl.cpl
IP Configuration (displays connection configuration) ipconfig /all
IP Configuration (displays DNS cache contents) ipconfig /displaydns
IP Configuration (deletes DNS cache contents) ipconfig /flushdns
IP Configuration (releases all connections) ipconfig /release
IP Configuration (renew all Connections) ipconfig /renew
IP Configuration (refreshes DHCP & re-registers DNS) ipconfig /registerdns
IP Configuration (displays DHCP Class ID) ipconfig /showclassid
IP Configuration (modifies DHCP Class ID) ipconfig /setclassid
Java Control Panel jpicpl32.cpl
Java Control Panel javaws
Keyboard Properties control keyboard
Local Security Settings secpol.msc
Local Users and Groups lusrmgr.msc
Logs out of Windows logoff
Microsoft Chat winchat
Minesweeper Game winmine
Mouse Properties control mouse
Mouse Properties main.cpl
Network Connections control netconnections
Network Connections ncpa.cpl
Network Setup Wizard netsetup.cpl
Notepad notepad
Nview Desktop Manager nvtuicpl.cpl
Object Packager packager
ODBC Data Source Administrator odbccp32.cpl
On Screen Keyboard osk
Opens AC3 Filter ac3filter.cpl
Password Properties password.cpl
Performance Monitor perfmon.msc
Performance Monitor perfmon
Phone and Modem Options telephon.cpl
Power Configuration powercfg.cpl
Printers and Faxes control printers
Printers Folder printers
Private Character Editor eudcedit
Quicktime QuickTime.cpl
Regional Settings intl.cpl
Registry Editor regedit
Registry Editor regedit32
Remote Desktop mstsc
Removable Storage ntmsmgr.msc
Removable Storage Operator Requests ntmsoprq.msc
Resultant Set of Policy (XP Professional) rsop.msc
Scanners and Cameras sticpl.cpl
Scheduled Tasks control schedtasks
Security Center wscui.cpl
Services services.msc
Shared Folders fsmgmt.msc
Shuts Down Windows shutdown
Sounds and Audio mmsys.cpl
Spider Solitaire Card Game spider
SQL Client Configuration cliconfg
System Configuration Editor sysedit
System Configuration Utility msconfig
System File Checker Utility (scan immediately) sfc /scannow
System File Checker Utility (scan once at next boot) sfc /scanonce
System File Checker Utility (scan on every boot) sfc /scanboot
System File Checker Utility (return to default setting) sfc /revert
System File Checker Utility (purge file cache) sfc /purgecache
System File Checker Utility (set cache size to size x) sfc /cachesize=x
System Properties sysdm.cpl
Task Manager taskmgr
Telnet Client telnet
User Account Management nusrmgr.cpl
Utility Manager utilman
Windows Firewall firewall.cpl
Windows Magnifier magnify
Windows Management Infrastructure wmimgmt.msc
Windows System Security Tool syskey
Windows Update Launches wupdmgr
Windows XP Tour Wizard tourstart
Wordpad write