Preparing Handhelds for Second Arctic Expedition

Last year, a group of scientists took an expedition to the Arctic, armed with Palm IIIc handhelds that had been specially modified for the very cold climate. Last's year's trip was so successful, they are getting ready for a second one. As they did last year, the scientists are looking to the editors of Palmtop-Pro magazine for advice on which hardware and software to bring on the trip. They, in turn, are looking for companies willing to sponsor the trip by donating software.

The extreme conditions the scientists will experience makes some peripherals impossible, like keyboards, which don't work well for people wearing thick gloves.

A new addition on this year's expedition is Apple's iPod, which will be used by the scientists not only as a mobile data storage but also for monitoring and storing sounds of the whales, pictures taken, etc.

As Boris Michael von Luhovoy, the Publishing Editor Palmtop-Pro, said, "The Palm records all the database stuff. The iPod functions more or less as a mobile storage device - working in minus 20 degrees Celsius without protection."

The two mobile devices will be working together. For example, a Palm can record the exact location where a whale sound was heard, while the iPod can store the sound on its 10GB disk.

The expedition will be on the Polarstern, a large-scale floating laboratory considered to be the most important tool in Germany's polar research program. It is equipped for biological, geological, geophysical, glaciological, chemical, oceanographic, and meteorological research and houses nine research laboratories. It spends almost 320 days a year at sea and has completed more than 25 expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic since it was first commissioned in 1982. The ship has at most a crew of 44 and offers work facilities for an additional 50 scientists and technicians.

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iPod record?

I.M. Anonymous @ 4/22/2002 11:00:09 AM #
Can their iPods record!
RE: iPod record?
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/22/2002 11:42:33 AM #
"The iPod functions more or less as a mobile storage device"

iPod simply serves as a mobile hard drive.

RE: iPod record?
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/22/2002 4:14:44 PM #
Another stupid comments. Since iPod has 5 or 10G harddrive inside, people are able to write software to take advantages of it. If you've an iPod, there are already some software out there which will turn this music-machine into some form of PDA.
RE: iPod record?
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/22/2002 5:02:07 PM #
Why take the ipod,
1. they need to record ipods don't do that they don't have a line in jack or a mic
2. when they get back they are going to want to move their data onto other formats. Ipods only allow you to upload to not download from
3. if there are ways arround these limmitations please let me know

RE: iPod record?
tychay @ 4/22/2002 10:54:26 PM #
Using the iPod to store sound files through iTunes is "upload only", but

1) The hard drive storage for these sound files is actually accessible through 3rd party software. Apple stores the files in a set of hash'd directories so this interface is a tad inconvenint.

2) There is a bunch of software out (shareware/freeware) that will read and write those files from an iPod in a user-friendly manner.

3) the iPod is a 5-10GB firewall hard drive. You can even drop in MacOS X and boot up your computer off of it (not recommended I imagine). The people in the expedition are probably using it in this manner. Then you can both read and write like you do a normal hard drive. Just connect it to the firewire port of a computer much the same way you can take a titanium notebook and connect it by firewire to your desktop mac and access the hard drive that way.

4) The iPod has an OS on it (not an Apple made one, and not Palm btw). You know it does if you've ever owned one because there are constantly software updates to the iPod as well as the iPod seems to like to crash every so often. There is a lot of 3rd party software out there that will sync your contacts, news, etc. onto it in a manner that is accessible from the iPod itself.

Hope this helps,

terry

--
terry chay http://org.qixo.com/tychay/m505dis/

http://www.qixo.com- Righteous Travel Deals in Record Time

san jose, ca, usa

Donations

I.M. Anonymous @ 4/22/2002 11:06:59 AM #
Dudes, I'm taking a trip to Jamaica to, ah, do some of that research stuff, and I need some Palms that can stand up to the surf and sun and stuff. Only the latest gear will do cause this is real technical stuff I'm doing, like getting babes' numbers and photographing 'em and stuff like that. Send your donations to me care of the editors of PalmInfoCenter.

RE: Donations
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/22/2002 3:10:17 PM #
congrats you suck...leave and dont come back
RE: Donations
I.M. Anonymous @ 4/22/2002 4:17:27 PM #
LOL :)
RE: Donations
palm_pilot_guy @ 4/22/2002 4:41:32 PM #
there is also pen & paper!

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if a student teaches teachers, do they become students?
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p'p'g
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--V--

m505

I.M. Anonymous @ 4/22/2002 1:47:20 PM #
I think that Palm should donate all of the returned m505s. If the carpet in my office can kill my m505, I'd love to see what real static discharge could do to one of those units. :)

JBH

RE: m505
Altema @ 4/23/2002 3:06:51 PM #
I can see them installing a long carpet runner in the hallway, then taking bets to see who can get zapped from the greatest distance!

Seriously, the M505 would probably not be a good choice due to there being little free space inside the unit. In the first expedition, they used the Palm IIIc and added insulation to protect the innards. The M505 just does not have wide open spaces in the case. Another factor is the M505 having a grounding contact between the system board and the metal case, which would be a thermal transfer point.

This same connection probably lends to the static problem. A person who has been walking around, building up a static charge, provides a very interesting discharge path when the drop their Palm in the cradle:

Static-charged person->
M505 metal case->
grounding contact->
M505 circuit board->
M505 hotsync connector->
M505 cradle->
USB connector on desktop PC->
Frame ground of desktop PC->
Ground wire connection of PC power supply->
Wall socket.

Plus, can you imagine someone coming out of the washroom with damp hands, then picking up a metal case M505 which had just been outside in below zero temps? (Aggg!! Get it off me, get it off me!!!)

maybe

I.M. Anonymous @ 4/22/2002 3:19:57 PM #
maybe they should take along one of the NEW palm robots too!
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