Comments on: App Lets Macs Share the Net with Handhelds

A new utility for Macs and Palm OS handhelds, that allows users to easily share an internet connection with their handheld and also finally brings AvantGo support to the Mac OS. The app allows the handheld to access the internet via a pass through USB connection.
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Finally

chinchorrero @ 11/11/2003 12:04:16 PM #
Great News.

"Life is Too Short"
RE: Finally
Gar @ 11/11/2003 12:31:32 PM #
Reading the info on the site but not trying it yet, it looks great. Except that one item that says you have to switch to either sync your palm to your computer or have the palm talk to the net. Not both at the same time. Which means, tick the check box, sync to get your internet stuff, tick the check box and sync again to get the desktop/palm sync. There must be some way to automate that, don't you think?
Keep the great software coming, I'm a long time user of several of the Space titles!

-----------------
My wife has to sell a lot of candles (www.ccandles.com) to buy her new Palm.
RE: Finally
scaught @ 11/11/2003 1:35:13 PM #
this app does pretty much the same thing. but i think its free. its been around for a couple weeks.

http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/VT/21202

palmIII>HandERA330>SonySJ20>TungstenE

RE: Finally
calebj14 @ 11/14/2003 3:12:57 PM #
This is a little slow, and you can't hot sync at the same time, but it works great. I'm doing it right now.

Caleb


---------------------------------
Once, I used a PC- then I grew up

I need to upgrade...

visorprismman @ 11/11/2003 1:20:01 PM #
Hey I need to upgrade to panther. Now that the hotsync issue has been fixed by a third party.



----------
Cheers

RE: I need to upgrade...
RAMdŽd @ 11/13/2003 11:24:18 AM #
I've been using Palm Desktop 4.1 and Panther since Oct 24, and have had no sync problems, and didn't need any third party software to do so.

I *did* have to move a HotSync Library from my old System folder to my new one.

______________________________
An armed society is a polite society.

But...
RAMdŽd @ 11/13/2003 11:27:20 AM #
...no AvantGo.

I may give this a try.

______________________________
An armed society is a polite society.

Time

Eric2000 @ 11/11/2003 2:09:51 PM #
Did anyone else notice that this article was posted on the 11th month, on the 11th day at 11:11:11 am?

RE: Time
kezza @ 11/12/2003 12:37:20 PM #
sweet!

--------------------------------------
"Well, if it isn't the leader of the wiener patrol, boning up on his nerd lessons"
http://stirwise.com

missing sync...

SoS @ 11/11/2003 3:49:14 PM #
Can anyone explain to me why one would want to surf the net from a handheld while it is stuck in the cradle attached to ( in my case) a rather splendid 17" screen on the laptop??? I just dont get it. However, 'because we can' is entirely acceptable!!

I'm sure things were easier before they became more simple

Tungsten T, Lexar 256Mb, Mac G4Ti OSX

RE: missing sync...
sgruby @ 11/11/2003 7:28:07 PM #
Many reasons to "surf" the net from the Palm while it is connected. The main ones being: 1) collecting AvantGo content and 2) download your email for offline viewing, i.e. take it on the road. The website lists a few other reasons.

--
Scott Gruby
<http://www.notifymail.com/>

missing sync....again

SoS @ 11/11/2003 3:57:17 PM #
By the way, the price is $29.95 not $19.95...$15 rebate for registered MS1.XXX users...

I'm sure things were easier before they became more simple

Tungsten T, Lexar 256Mb, Mac G4Ti OSX

RE: missing sync....again
sgruby @ 11/11/2003 7:26:56 PM #
Actually the price IS $19.95 just for Missing Sync for Internet and AvantGo. If you want the rest of Missing Sync, it costs $29.95 (total).

--
Scott Gruby
<http://www.notifymail.com/>

internet access for free

gijsraggers @ 11/11/2003 5:01:00 PM #
If your mac has bluetooth and your palm too. Try this:

http://www.technohappymeal.com/archives/000069.html

It's free and works like a dream for me.

RE: internet access for free
tthiel @ 11/12/2003 7:19:24 PM #
That link doesn't work.
-Terry

RE: internet access for free
gijsraggers @ 11/15/2003 12:30:25 PM #
Free internet access for your palm using a mac's bluetooth:

http://home.hetnet.nl/~gijsraggers/internet sharing.zip

PC Connection

PranahBindu @ 11/11/2003 6:39:03 PM #
This is similar to Plug2Net (www.plug2net.com) which supports infrared and works on Windows/PC. Cool!

NO DEMO???

Mitchell @ 11/11/2003 6:54:18 PM #
My biggest complaint of this program is that there is no demo.
and the site suggest that you can't return it if you don't like it. Sounds exactly like what I need, but I'm not willing to risk 29 bucks to see...


weird

OS X is Unix, so this should work...

achitnis @ 11/12/2003 4:40:56 AM #
http://atulchitnis.net/writings/palm-ppp.php

This is for Linux, but I have had a couple of Max OS X people report that they got this working for them as well.

Basically does the same thing as the utility described in this article, without any additional tools.

Sorry, not for Windows users.


Atul Chitnis
http://atulchitnis.net

RE: OS X is Unix, so this should work...
Calroth @ 11/15/2003 9:22:03 AM #
So... what entry in /dev would one use on Mac OS X for a USB-connected Palm?

I remember in Mac OS X 10.0 that there was something like /dev/cu.usb but haven't seen it since.

Not working for me. Can't find tech support contact info.

nielsdaj @ 11/12/2003 9:53:08 AM #
Well, I bought the program, followed the instructions(a number of times), checked faq, tried to join a discussion list for "The Missing Sync for Internet Sharing and AvantGo" but one is not listed yet. Looked for an email address for tech help - the url for tech support given in the pdf instruction file doesn't work.
I was looking for a simple 'plug and play' app and was willing to pay. If there had been a demo version, I could have saved the money. :-(
Does anyone have contact info (not telephone) for MarkSpace?
RE: Not working for me. Can't find tech support contact info.
lightbyte @ 11/13/2003 2:01:46 PM #
info@markspace.com

if you write to this email address they are pretty responsive.

did you get it to work yet?

RE: Not working for me. Can't find tech support contact info.
jflorack @ 11/14/2003 1:21:16 AM #
Not working for me either.

I installed it and tried for HOURS to connect to AvantGo with no success. I am using a Palm Tungsten E and running OS 10.2 on my 400MHz Titanium Powerbook.  My palm was plugged directly into the powerbook.  I had no other USB devices connected.  I disabled all third party hacks, and followed all installation and troubleshooting instructions to the letter.

I COULD connect to my computer from my palm using the procedure above but couldn't connect to AvantGo. I got a timeout error "Error 5486" no matter how long I set the connection for.

Then I turned on Personal WebSharing in the Firewall panel in "Network Preferences" (nowhere in your documentation is it mentioned that one should do this but I discovered that simply enabling internet sharing does NOT automatically open port 80 if the firewall is on. Surely this should be mentioned in the manual !!!) and then started to get a DNS error. "Error 5470. Cannot find server or there was a DNS error". 

I figure that somehow I need to configure the software to access my domain name server which it is clearly not doing now.

I finally found a tech support e-mail contact buried on an obscure page on site

support@markspace.com

I e-mailed them and their only advice was to do a hard reset of my palm.

I haven't done this yet b/c the thought of reinstalled all my apps is just way too daunting. In any case, I can't believe that this is viable solution to the problem. They surely cannot mean that I can only use their software as long as my palm has no third party applications installed.

I consider it $20 badly spent. Buyer beware.

RE: Not working for me. Can't find tech support contact info.
nielsdaj @ 11/14/2003 11:21:47 PM #
I did get a reply from MarkSpace with a couple of suggestions. It hasn't led to a solution yet, but their promptness and helpful tone has given me hope.
PS to Lightbyte: Thank you for your help and interest.
RE: Not working for me. Can't find tech support contact info.
jflorack @ 1/11/2004 11:53:58 AM #
As a follow up to my comment above, Mark/Space did get back to me (albeit after a lengthy delay) and it now works. For those having problems, let me detail what worked for me.

(1) For the server address, I had to use the actual IP address which is 64.157.224.7 instead of sync.avantgo.com.

(2) I had to turn on Personal Web Sharing in the Sharing Preferences panel of my mac in order to enable port 80, and this wasn't mentioned in the user manual.

It does work now and I'm happily downloading AvantGo content. I take back my earlier comment. It IS $20 well spent!

Why do people still use Macs?

Hippocrates @ 11/14/2003 2:23:43 AM #
Don't they get tired of being left out in the cold?

"Not Mac compatible"

"Not available for Mac"

"The Mac version may be released in six months"

"Only available for Windows"


I used to admire Apple's OS, but I'm not sure why someone would use this over Windows 98 SE now. Most Mac owners seem to have an almost cult-like devotion to the OS that's a little creepy.

Buy a 2 GHz Pentium for $500, an old copy of Windows 98 SE for $50 and come over to the Dark Side. Life's a lot easier once you've sold your soul to Mr. Bill.

RE: Why do people still use Macs?
nielsdaj @ 11/14/2003 8:07:22 AM #
Believe me - at this point I am asking myself the same question.

RE: Why do people still use Macs?
Gekko @ 11/14/2003 2:44:25 PM #
RE: Why do people still use Macs?
calebj14 @ 11/14/2003 3:14:05 PM #
Hmmm...... let's think. I have an XP pc at home, and it crashes constantly. Microsoft says that 98 is 10 times less stable than XP, and that crashes all the time. I am sticking with my mac, which never crashes. Sorry, windows users, I'll stick with the program that I think is better.....

Caleb


---------------------------------
Once, I used a PC- then I grew up

RE: Why do people still use Macs?
Foo Fighter @ 11/14/2003 4:01:59 PM #
Quote: "I have an XP pc at home, and it crashes constantly."

I normally don't accuse people of this, but I think you are a liar. I don't believe you even have a PC, but if it (XP) is indeed crashing all the time, them something is wrong with your PC. All modern operating systems are exceptionally stable, including Windows XP. My G4 iMac (running Jaguar) never crashes...but neither does my PC. Or Linux, for that matter. Your statement sounds like the usual ignorant ramblings of a Mac zealot who has little experience or knowledge of PCs.

To claim that XP is no more stable than Windows 98 is pure stupidity on your part. If you don't know the difference between these two operating systems (one is based on the old 9x DOS based platform, while 2000/XP is based on the NT platform), then your opinion is completely irrelevant. If you want to fabricate lies about Windows just to make you feel better about your Mac, I suggest you visit MacCentral, which is a haven for that sort of behavior.

-------------------------------
My blog: www.pocketfactory.com

RE: Why do people still use Macs?
tychay @ 11/14/2003 6:51:05 PM #
Give me a break. I've seen XP systems crash a bunch, I've seen XP systems not crash at all. We have two developer XP boxes in which months ago you could open IE ad infinitum and now punish you with a interminable disk swap. My HP notebook runs WinXP Pro is stable enough that I've demonstrated software on it and I never have reinstalled (though I inherited it because the former owner's Macromedia web development setup started crashing too much and I had to do some cleaning up of the registries to get Java running cleanly on it).

Systems get crufty with time. A lot of patches accellerates that cruft quickly. Just because YOUR machine doesn't, doesn't mean squat. I know Mac users who claim that OS 8 or OS 9 is "rock solid". *snort*

Not that Mac OS X is perfect. I know at least two apps I've used that will cause the CPU load to go up the longer you leave it open. I still have wake from sleep issues with a password protected notebook. I know a lot of crashiness that occurs on G5's running FCP/DVDSP in Jaguar.

Heck, if I compile Linux with every patch from FOLK, I bet it's pretty crashy.

What I don't understand is all the Windows users posting here bagging on their fellow Palm users because they HAPPEN to use a different computer SOME of the time. Sounds like some people have some deeply rooted insecurities.

--
terry chay

http://www.mycasanetwork.com/- Personal Monitoring Services

RE: Why do people still use Windows?
twocents @ 11/15/2003 3:10:57 AM #
"Don't they get tired of being left out in the cold?"

Don’t windows users get tired of patching their OS adnauseum in the feudal attempt to make it secure?

"Spyware Not Mac compatible"
"Worm Not available for Mac"
"The Mac version may *never* be released"
"Only an issue for Windows users"

It is only a matter of time before you get burned.

Why do people still use Macs? Because they're brainwashed
Hippocrates @ 11/15/2003 2:22:13 PM #
Don’t windows users get tired of patching their OS adnauseum in the feudal attempt to make it secure?

"Spyware Not Mac compatible"
"Worm Not available for Mac"
"The Mac version may *never* be released"
"Only an issue for Windows users"

It is only a matter of time before you get burned.


People that get "burned" running Windows tend to be either careless or clueless.

1) Use Norton Antivirus or PC-Cillin and keep them updated.
2) Don't download questionable programs or visit sleazy sites.
3) Use a spyware checker if you ignore 2).
4) Use Zone Alarm as a firewall.
5) Scan all emails and don't open those from people you don't know.
6) Use programs like Opera for internet or Proxomitron as a proxy to block pop-ups.
7) Occasionall check for major updates/patches.

If you do the above, chances are you won't have much difficulty running Windows. Of course the Mac Kool Aid Krew will disagree, but they'll all die off soon enough.

Apple had its day in the sun and a series of stupid moves on their part killed off their chance to remain a serious contender in the OS war. But the war is now over and Apple was decimated, reduced to begging for scraps from Microsoft to survive. If it wasn't for the fanaticism of many Mac users, Apple would have almost disappeared completely by now. As it stands, they currently have a less than 10% (less than 5%?) marketshare. Reminds me of Psion - initially had fundamentally better hardware and software, but then self-destructed.

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