Windows Mobile phone setup part 2 – tasks

In part 1, I described what I was hoping to accomplish with my new smart phone. In this installment I’ll describe what I had to do to get my tasks synchronized to my phone.

The well-established way to synchronize contacts on a Windows Mobile device seems to be to use Activesync to synchronize tasks with Microsoft Outlook, but as I said earlier, I don’t own the proper version of Outlook and don’t intend to buy it. Besides, that’s not where I already keep my tasks…

I’m a huge fan of Remember the Milk, which is a great online task management application. It displays well on my iGoogle page, which is important to me. Thankfully, the fine folks at RTM gave me exactly what I was looking for in MilkSync.

MilkSync is an application that runs on your smartphone and synchronizes between the Windows Mobile tasks application and the Remember the Milk website. It works over-the-air or when in the cradle. Like I said, it’s perfect for what I was trying to accomplish, since it doesn’t require anything installed to the PC. Also, they were kind enough provide the ability to tell the application to sync whenever the mobile device is connected to the PC, so I don’t have to do any goofy tricks like scheduling regular syncs. Finally, they let you synchronize 2-ways or just one way or the other. Right now I’m only syncing devices from the web application to the phone, in case something goes wrong.

The only downside I’ve found – you have to be a premium member of the RememberTheMilk service in order to use that application, and that means a yearly fee. No big deal though. RememberTheMilk is awesome, and they deserve to be compensated for the value they provide to me.

Visit part 3 for my attempts at syncing my Google Calendar to my new phone.

Windows Mobile phone setup part 1 – email

Since my contract was up, I replaced my cellphone with an SMT5800 smartphone, which runs Windows Mobile 6.0. I’ve spent the last few days getting it all configured and syncing with my calendar, tasks, email and contacts. Frankly, I’m surprised how difficult this has been.

I already keep much of this information online, so now I want to sync them to my phone. I’m an avid user (and big fan) of the following free online services:

  • Gmail for email and contacts
  • Google Calendar for events and appointments
  • Remember the Milk for tasks

For a little background, I run Windows on my PC at home, but I don’t use Microsoft Outlook. Windows Mobile devices sync very well with Outlook, as long as you have version 2003 or 2007, but that software wasn’t included with my phone (I thought it used to be included with PDAs…) I do have Outlook 2000, but it isn’t supported by ActiveSync 4.5, which is required for my Windows Mobile 6.0 phone. The Outlook upgrade would not be cheap, so I’ve ruled that out. Also, I should point out that I don’t intended to get a data plan or use over-the-air (OTA) service in any way. I’m purely hoping to sync this data when connected to my PC, but as it turns out, most of my solutions will work well OTA.

For installment one, I’m trying to get my email on my phone.

Email wasn’t all that bad to set up, once I figured out which of the available options I wanted to use. My choices were:

  1. Sync with Outlook via Activesync when docked
  2. Sync with a POP server over the network when docked
  3. Sync with an IMAP server over the network when docked

Option 1, Activesync, should have been ruled out right away, since Activesync 4.5 doesn’t support Outlook 2000, and that’s all I have. What was surprising, though, is that it never complained about that. I set up email synchronization through Activesync, and it ALMOST worked. I had some problems with text missing when replying to messages, so I moved on.

Option 2, POP access, wasn’t going to work for me. I use Thunderbird to archive my email, downloading from the Gmail POP server. The problem is, once the Windows Mobile email client downloads the messages, they don’t get downloaded into any other POP client (Thunderbird, in my case). POP doesn’t deal well with multiple clients grabbing messages.

Thankfully, IMAP access is working out for me. I set up the Windows Mobile mail client on my phone to access my Gmail account through IMAP. IMAP is basically designed for this case, happy to synchronize instead just download. It’s not perfect, since the Windows Mobile mail client doesn’t automatically sync with the server when docked in the cradle. I’m able to work around that software limitation, however, by scheduling regular sends and receives in the mail client. Note: I’ve DISABLED the OTA internet access for my phone, so it will not sync over the air, but if you don’t disable it, I’m pretty sure it’ll connect and run up your bill. When the scheduled run comes up and I’m docked, the email will send and receive. I wish I could find an automatic way to trigger that sync when the device is connected.

What’s interesting to note is that I don’t really have to have any special software on the PC when I sync. As long as I have Activesync to set up that internet connection for the phone, I’m in good shape. I don’t need any mail software on the PC.

Ok, the email problem is solved, at least well enough, so one down, three to go.

See part 2 for information about syncing tasks.

Windows Mobile configuration – part 1 – email

Since my contract was up, I replaced my cellphone with a SMT5800 smartphone, which runs Windows Mobile 6.0. I’ve spent the last few days getting it all configured and syncing with my calendar, tasks, email and contacts. Frankly, I’m surprised how difficult this has been. Here are few of the frustrations I’ve encountered along the way.

I already keep much of this information online, so now I want to sync them to my phone. I’m an avid user (and big fan) of the following free online services:

  • Gmail for email and contacts
  • Google Calendar for events and appointments
  • Remember the Milk for tasks

For a little background, I run Windows on my PC at home, but I don’t use Microsoft Outlook. Windows Mobile devices sync very well with Outlook, as long as you have version 2003 or 2007, but that software wasn’t included with my phone (I thought it used to be included with PDAs…) I do have Outlook 2000, but it isn’t supported by ActiveSync 4.5, which is required for my Windows Mobile 6.0 phone. The Outlook upgrade would not be cheap, so I’ve ruled that out. Also, I should point out that I don’t intended to get a data plan or use over-the-air (OTA) service in any way. I’m purely hoping to sync this data when connected to my PC, but as it turns out, most of my solutions will work well OTA.

For installment one, I’m trying to get my email on my phone.

Email wasn’t all that bad to set up, once I figured out which of the available options I wanted to use. My choices were:

  1. Sync with Outlook via Activesync when docked
  2. Sync with a POP server over the network when docked
  3. Sync with an IMAP server over the network when docked

Option 1, Activesync, should have been ruled out right away, since Activesync 4.5 doesn’t support Outlook 2000, and that’s all I have. What was surprising, though, is that it never complained about that. I set up email synchronization through Activesync, and it ALMOST worked. I had some problems with text missing when replying to messages, so I moved on.

Option 2, POP access, wasn’t going to work for me. I use Thunderbird to archive my email, downloading from the Gmail POP server. The problem is, once the Windows Mobile email client downloads the messages, they don’t get downloaded into any other POP client (Thunderbird, in my case). POP doesn’t deal well with multiple clients grabbing messages.

Thankfully, IMAP access is working out for me. I set up the Windows Mobile mail client on my phone to access my Gmail account through IMAP. IMAP is basically designed for this case, happy to synchronize instead just download. It’s not perfect, since the Windows Mobile mail client doesn’t automatically sync with the server when docked in the cradle. I’m able to work around that software limitation, however, by scheduling regular sends and receives in the mail client. Note: I’ve DISABLED the OTA internet access for my phone, so it will not sync over the air, but if you don’t disable it, I’m pretty sure it’ll connect and run up your bill. When the scheduled run comes up and I’m docked, the email will send and receive. I wish I could find an automatic way to trigger that sync when the device is connected.

What’s interesting to note is that I don’t really have to have any special software on the PC when I sync. As long as I have Activesync to set up that internet connection for the phone, I’m in good shape. I don’t need any mail software on the PC.

Ok, the email problem is solved, at least well enough, so one done, three to go.

Backups revisited – Mozy

In a previous post, I discussed the virtues of having an automated backup process. I gave the advice of having an external drive or file server as well as some offsite backups. I’ve since changed my mind.

I had some troubles configuring my file server to properly go to sleep and wake up when needed, so the file server ended up staying on all the time. Armed with my trusty kill-a-watt, I determined that it was costing me almost $5 a month in power to keep that PC up and running. Also, it started acting flakey, not a good attribute for a dedicated backup server! Finally, like many people, every time I get some extra storage space, I tend to fill it with stuff rather than leave it for backups.

I did some more testing and planning, and eventually decided to go with Mozy for online offsite backups. For $5 a month, you can back up as much data as you want, secure, encrypted and offsite. Mozy runs in your system tray and unobstrusively encrypts and uploads your files to their servers when your computer is idle. Before, I wasn’t backing up all of my file – I deemed my 100GB of home video projects too large to keep redundant copies of, but since Mozy offers unlimited storage, there’s no reason not to back that up.

Since your $5 buys you the ability to back up one PC, I’ve installed it on my desktop PC downstairs and set up processes to copy important files from our laptops onto that PC for backup. With Mozy you can back up any folders you want. I’ve tried recovering files too, and everything worked fine. Afterall, an untested backup is an untrusted backup.

Oh yeah, I should probably mention there’s a free option as well, if you don’t have much data to store. If you click on the Mozy link above, you’ll get an increase in your storage space through the referral program.

For the record, I did try Carbonite as well, but I didn’t like the lack of options nor did I like the fact that they don’t back up some file types. Also, it just plain didn’t upload for me, but maybe I had a firewall issue or something.

One thing you need to be aware of: offsite backups over a cable modem are SLOW! My initial backups (125GB) literally took MONTHS to complete. It’s not Mozy’s fault though. If you do the math, I was maxing out my upload bandwidth nearly the entire time. After the initial upload, Mozy only uploads the changes, so keeping current isn’t bad. About the only way to get around this speed limitation is by using Sneakernet.

All-in-all, I’m happy with my new scheme. $5 a month is a small price to pay for constant offsite backups, and now that I don’t do the local backups anymore, I have more disk space to play with! With two kids to play with, there are much better things to spend my time on than managing my backup server or performing manual backups. While that initial backup period required me to be a bit patient, Mozy has taken one item off my list of things to worry about.

Gas mileage improvements

Spurred on by a related post from wyoming_1, I’ve decided to finally post the results of an experiment I tried recently to improve the gas mileage of my truck on my daily commute.

I drive a 2007 Toyota Tundra 4-door pickup with a 5.7L V8, so as you can imagine, my mileage isn’t great. My average overall mileage before my experimentb was 13.13 MPG. As the result of some driving style changes, I’ve achieved 16.7 MPG, which is almost a 30% increase! That’s an easy $20 a month on my commute alone.

First, a little background. My daily commute is 6.9 miles one way, with 10 stoplights and speed limits of 30 through 55 MPH. It takes about 15-16 minutes on average. That’s all the truck gets used for, not counting trips to Menard’s and camping trips, etc. I would classify my driving style as average compared to the other vehicles on the road – not terribly aggressive. For the record, we also own a Mazda5, one of the most fuel-efficient 6 passenger vehicles available on the North American market, but this post isn’t about my choice of a vehicle. It’s about doing the best I can with what I’ve got, and hopefully what I’ve learned will work for you too.

To get accurate results, I measured my mileage by dividing the number of miles driven on a tank by the number of gallons required to fill it. My driving patterns didn’t change (mostly just driving to work) and the weather was consistent before and during the test, meaning I used the air conditioner about the same amount. I filled up each time using the same technique on the same gas pump at the same time of day. In short, all I did was use the accelerator and brake pedals as little as possible. I did set some rules for my experiment, however, to make the adjusted driving style usable. After all, I’ll bet if I drove 25 mph everywhere I went I could get great mileage, but I wanted a practical technique.

  • Limit engine speed to 1500 RPMs (that’s my engine speed in overdrive at 60mph – this figure won’t be appropriate for smaller engines)
  • Always obey the speed limit
  • Drive at the speed limit on extended stretches
  • Don’t upset other drivers (except those who are being jerks anyway)

While following those rules, I was able to employ the following techniques and tips:

  • Use the brakes as little as possible.
  • Coast as much as possible, especially to red lights.
  • Don’t brake at turns any more than you have to to remain safe. Preserve your momentum!
  • Accelerate at a rate of 1.5 MPH per second. That means it’ll take you 20 seconds to accelerate to 30 MPH. This is very leisurely, about like a loaded semi.
  • Use cruise control.
  • Learn the timing of your usual traffic lights. There’s no point in speeding up to a light that you know is going to stay red for a while. Try to roll through on green no matter how slow you’re going.
  • Choose a time of day where traffic is conducive to this driving style. For me, 7:15am is great and 7:00am is awful.
  • Choose multi-lane roads when possible so impatient drivers have a chance to go around you.

Here are some other observations from my experiment:

  • Most drivers are content to fall in line behind me instead of racing around me.
  • Even in gear, I can coast a long distance with only a minimal loss of speed.
  • If I start at 30 MPH, I can coast the last four blocks to my house, around two corners and into my driveway, losing only 10 MPH.
  • Lots of drivers think it’s a race like to win the race to a red light, but we usually all meet up on the same red lights anyway.
  • When you drive a vehicle that can do 0-60 in under 6 seconds, it’s hard to do it in 40 seconds at first. After a while you get used to it, though, and it’s actually relaxing.
  • I’ve only had one driver get mad. I was in the rightmost lane out of three at a red light. He was behind me and expressed his dissatisfaction with my acceleration in a variety of ways. He was about 60 and drove a silver VW Turbo Passat. I haven’t forgotten his license plate number yet.
  • My new driving style has added less than a minute to my commute.

There are some other techniques I’d like to explore to improve this figure further, but so far my results have remained consistent. I’ve got a ScanGauge II on order. Once I get it I’ll be doing some more experiments, such as the controversial use of neutral and different tailgate/tonneau configurations.

I’d encourage you to give some of these tips a try. If your results match mine, your savings will be the equivalent of today’s $4 gas dropping to less than $3!