[PLUG-Devel] Planning next meeting: Linux PDAs

[Ted Gould]

On Wed, 2007-07-04 at 22:54 -0700, Alan Dayley wrote:
> Why is it indispensable to you?  What do you use it for?  Give us an
> experience report!

Well, there are several reasons.  Probably the biggest one is an
application called Xournal.  You can get it for any Linux, but it's most
useful if you have a tablet interface (like on the 770).  What it does
is allow you to take notes.  No handwriting recognition, very simple.
While this sounds like less, it is actually more.  I don't spend time
correcting the writing, I just take notes.  This means that in meetings,
I don't have paper anymore.  If people want my notes I export it to a
PDF and mail it to them -- no big deal.

I also use Xournal for marking up documents.  It can load a PDF as the
"paper" that you write on.  So my wife sends me a paper that she'd like
me to read as a PDF.  I mark it up with comments, export it as a PDF,
and send it back to her.

That's the biggest single use I have of the 770, but by no means my
only.  I also use the app Maemo Mapper, which downloads Google map tiles
and allows you to use them offline.  I've got a copy of all of LA (where
I live) at several zoom levels on my local file system which is great
for trying to figure your way around all the traffic here :)  Then, when
I go places, I download all the maps for there too.  (There is also a
program that will download a points-of-interest file from Wikipedia,
which I'm going to try the next time I go someplace)

I also use it to read books and articles.  The screen is great and I
frequently have PDFs that I'd like to read and catch up on.  Everything
from fiction to the C# language spec :)

PDFs, PDFs, PDFs.  I also find now that when I travel I print all the
little things I need to have, but rarely use as PDFs and store them on
the device.  Things like the actual hotel reservation confirmation.
Most of the time they can just look you up in the computer, but just in
case I like to have the receipt.  People look at you funny when whip out
the 770 to show you the print out, but they generally accept it.  You
should have seen the cabbie's face when I brought out the Google Maps
directions to where I wanted to go ;)

The last thing I want to comment on is games.  I admit it, Freeciv has
taken more hours of my life that I'd care to mention.  And it runs on
the 770.  There are a bunch of other games including things from Sudoku
to an NES emulator.  But, I play a lot of Freeciv.

			--Ted

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