Developing in .Net

It's been a long time since I wrote anything here - that's because I've been involved in quite a variety of things, one of which is the development of software to support a new business venture. I'll write some more about that later, but what prompted me to get back to updating the weblog is an article I read on the emergence of .Net as the software development platform of choice for an increasing number of developers. The reason that got me writing was that I am using .Net (and specifically C#) as the development platform for this project.

WiFi on the Pocket PC

Having proved to myself that the OpenZone service works pretty well it was an easy choice, when I had to order a new battery for my laptop, to sneak in an order for a Compact Flash WiFi card for the Axim. I got it from Technomatic, mainly because they were the only people who had Toshiba batteries in stock, and went for the D-Link Air Wireless card (DCF-660W).

It all arrived the next day and the installation couldn't have been much simpler. Plug the card in, install the drivers via the PC and accept the defaults in the setup program. Within minutes I was able to check email, browse the web, chat via MSN Messenger, etc. It all works very well. The only problem I have had is that when I delete a message from my IMAP mail store using the mail client on the PPC, it doesn't really get deleted. It seems to go, but then when you reconnect to the server it's back again - hmmm. Having had a read around it seems that this is a well-known problem which is supposed to be corrected in Windows Mobile 2003 (rather than the 2002 version shipped with my Axim), so guess what was ordered yesterday ?

Another interesting thing I came across today was a weblogging client for the Pocket PC, called Pocket SharpMT. It looks very nice but it needs the .Net compact framework to be installed on the handheld. Since that it built into Windows Mobile 2003 I think I'll wait until I have installed that before I try it out.

Well, it works

I'm sitting in the Caledonian Hilton Hotel in Edinburgh as I type this and using Zempt to create an offline entry for the weblog. I came here because it has a BT Openzone wireless hotspot and I wanted to try it out. First point is that it doesn't extend to the far end of Chisholms coffee bar but it does work in the open lounge just behind the main reception.

I must admit it took a little longer to get the connection to work than I would have liked but that's my own fault for having played with the settings on my laptop previously. I had the wireless connection set up to get an IP address via DHCP but I had hard coded the DNS server addresses I use when working wirelessly at home and of course that doesn't work on the Openzone service. It took a while on the helpline before we worked out between us that that was the problem but the guy on the help line did know what he was talking about and we got it sorted. Having done that it works just fine. The signal strength is good and the transfer speeds work OK.

So far I have used http access and IMAP to get to my email and the local SMTP server I run on the laptop (Exim) managed to deliver a message - I wouldn't have been at all surprised if they had blocked that. If this post works then the remote posting to Movable Type is obviously OK as well.

Good stuff !

Wireless network service on the road

I've been looking for a while for a WiFi service with a decent number of access points and a pricing model that I could live with. When I first started looking the only game in town was BT Openzone but it suffered from the drawback that you either had to sign up for a monthly contract with included airtime or buy vouchers for a certain amount of connect time. The vouchers sounded OK until I found out that if you buy, say, a one hour voucher, you have to use it all in one day. You can't use 10 minutes one day, half an hour another day and the rest in quick two minute bursts to check email.

I then came across Swisscom Eurospot, who were handing out free 2 hour access cards at an event I went to recently. Unfortunately these free cards and the ones you pay for suffer from the problem about not being able to stop the clock once you start using your time allocation. I spoke to their Regional Sales Manager at the event and he explained that they were aiming at the overnight hotel or full-day conference market, contrasting the price/performance of their offering with the alternative of using a dial-up connection through the hotel switchboard where you have to leave your first-born child as a deposit for the phone bill charges you'll incur.

Well, today I had another look at the Openzone offering, to discover that they now do a Pay As You Go offering, which I think will be just what I want at the moment. You have to register with them before you can use the service but there is no sign-up fee or standing charge, just 20p per minute for all the net access you want. You can pay by credit card or direct debit. They do have plans which let you sign up for some time included at a slightly discounted rate then back to 20p per minute if you exceed this.

As well as the pricing model being better, the coverage has improved and they have set up cross-network roaming with a couple of other service providers, such that there are around 40 access points in both Edinburgh and Glasgow now. These are a mixture of hotels, bars, etc and their "Streetzones", where they have put an access point into what was a public telephone box on the street. Not great if the weather is bad but might be handy for a quick blast online if you need to pick up something important.

Anyway - I've registered and hope to try it out soon. If it works it will probably be justification enough to get a Compact Flash WiFi card for my handheld (Dell Axim X5, which Dell seem to have decided to start selling again after having only the X3 for a while). I'll report back once I have tried it !

Drive-by WiFi

A report on the eWeek web site yesterday said that there are plans for the Highways Agency to install up to 150,000 wireless broadband transceivers alongside the roads across the UK in street lights, traffic lights and other street furniture. The primary purpose is to monitor road and traffic conditions but there is supposed to be capacity to allow delivery of consumer broadband Internet access. There is no indication of likely coverage or pricing yet but it could mean a dramatic increase in the availability of WiFi access in the UK.

More on the Google Gmail service

According to a news item on the BBC site, a number of organisations have been digging in to the small print of the Gmail announcement and have identified privacy concerns over the way the service will operate.