Jaunty Notifications for Thunderbird

So far, Jaunty is working pretty good and I haven't run into any potential problems yet. I'm still investigating to see if some of the problems I had with 8.10 have been resolved or not and the verdict is still out on that.

However, one cool thing I really like with Jaunty is the new notification system that's been implemented system-wide (with proper support from the software, of course). Essentially , system notifications all appear in the same manner now and apps can apparently be integrated into this system fairly easily.

I found that Pidgin works great with this system and so does wi-fi and ethernet connections. However, I found that since I just Thunderbird and not Evolution for my email, Thunderbird wasn't quite responding with the same notifications.

However, it didn't take me long to find that someone already began work on a plugin for Thunderbird that adds this functionality and I got it to work fairly easily.

The plugin can be downloaded here:

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/addon/11530

And once installed, it looks like this:


It's pretty neat and although not a major functionality improvement, it adds a more sophisticated look to Ubuntu.

One note of importance: for this plugin to work properly in Thunderbird, you will have to turn off "Show an alert" when new mail arrives. That's the default notification with Thunderbird and is not needed anymore.

More information, including issues others have been having, can be found at the links below.

More Jaunty experiences coming soon!

Sources:

• https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/addon/11530
• https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/thunderbird/+bug/334344/comments/5
  

Ubuntu 9.04 Upgraded on XPS 1530

Friday night, after letting all downloads finish during the day Friday, my upgrade from Ubuntu 8.10 to 9.04 was finally complete. It worked out without any problems at all, which is more than I can say for 8.10.

Now what? Well, so far everything seems to work. I'm just curious if what didn't before works any better so off to tinker with all the things I have and see what works and what doesn't. And of course, time to upgrade my desktop as well, I think.

Jaunty Jackalope Release!

Ubuntu 9.04, AKA Jaunty Jackalope, is out! I had initially decided to hold off a bit before upgrading but after reading some initial very positive reviews I figured that what the heck, let's go for it.

Having said that, my laptop, a Dell XPS 1530 is now upgrading. I will of course post any issues I run into.

To give Ubuntu a try, download the ISO here.

Facebook on Windows Mobile

If you're a Facebook user and a Blackberry owner, you truly have a very fantastic combination. A fantastic phone that can deliver new Facebook messages and updates as they arrive.

If you're a Faceook user and a Windows Mobile owner, things haven't been looking that bright and there hasn't always been quality software to give you the experience Blackberry users can brag about.

Fortunately for us WM users, things are slowly changing. Being somewhat of a Facebook addict myself, I've tried numerous different ways to effectively get the best Facebook experience on my Windows Mobile. Since I know there are many others out there with WM devices as well, I figured I'd share my experiences.

1. Mobile Web

WM devices can usually handle mobile websites pretty well. Facebook, MySpace and Twitter are a few sites that does the mobile thing pretty good. Leaving MySpace and Twitter for now, let's focus on the Facebook mobile site for the moment.

The Facebook mobile site is located at m.facebook.com. Logging in is as simple as entering the same information you enter on the regular site to login.

A note about logging in: I always have to select the "HTTP Login" found at the bottom of the screen. For some reason, when I try to login on the first page, I get an error. So, if you run into that, just hit the same link and try to login again.

Once logged in, you will be presented with the typical Facebook setup:

• The Home page shows you your status, lets you update your status and shows you the status updates of your friends.
  
• The Profile page shows your profile information as well as your wall. There is also easy access to your photo gallery from here as well as the wall, notes and groups.
  
• The Friends page basically contains a list of your friends and their status updates.
• The Inbox of course contains mail and lets you send new messages if you want.

Overall a pretty simple interface that allows the typical Facebook users to do what they need to do. Best of all, it's free and easy to access.

2. Microsoft Facebook Application

Naturally, those of us more engaged and completely addicted will want a slicker interface than just a web page. So, we go out looking for applications that will do the job. Fortunately, it seems that Microsoft has realized that Facebook is a vital application that no serious Windows Mobile user should be without so one is being introduced in Windows Mobile 6.5

But wait, you only have WM 6, you say. No problem.

The handy guys over at XDA Developers have managed to extract the application from the OS and have made if available for download. It's easily accessibly from the WM6 Software website. The download link on this page will download the .CAB file right to your phone and you only need to run it to install it.

For those interested in the origins, check out the XDA Forum page.

Now, the application itself appears to be an early beta, a pre-release, so it's not quite complete and you can tell from using it. It has a few rough edges here and there.

So, looking a bit closer at the application, what does it have?

• Again, the Home page has the News Feed, Status Updates and Photos, as supplied by the feeds from your friends.
• The Profile page contains the Wall, the Info page and your Photos. Your status can be updated easily from here and photos and videos can be uploaded as well.
• The Friends icon of course contains all your friends and you can easily access their profiles from that page.
• The Mail page has your inbox and your sent messages as well as notifications and requests.
• Finally the Phone page (with the phone icon) gives you easy access to the phone numbers of all yours friends and you can easily dial them from here if you so wish.

So how does this application work? Well, considering that it's a bit rough around the edges, some annoyances are expected. The app doesn't appear to auto-update, for example, when something new happens. You have to manually refresh the screens you want to refresh. Also, the refresh option doesn't communicate throughout the whole application. So, if you hit refresh on the Home page, it will only refresh your news feed, it won't refresh your mailbox. If you refresh your mailbox, it doesn't refresh your news feed. Yet, somehow, friend requests are updated and displayed when the news feed is refreshed.

There are also other bugs. The application tends to time out or get stuck from time to time. At times, the news feed won't update, other times photos won't upload and so on. Of course, this is not surprising considering this is version v0.14 but still, it's a bit annoying.

However, overall the application is a good start and shows potential and hopefully we'll see future versions once WM6.5 gets closer to release.

3. Skybook

Skybook is another WM application which used to be known as Snap2Face. I've tried this app out a bit but mostly without much success. Most of the time, it doesn't run or it freezes and it's just a plain pain to use. If it worked well, it seems like it would be a good application but it seems that I can never get to a point of usability where I can actually make a good decision regarding this.

4. FriendMobilizer

FriendMobilizer is a new application that I've just encountered so it's new to me although it might not be new to all of you.

It's available at faceofmobile.com and it's $1.99 after a 2 day trial.

I've downloaded it and tried it and really, there's not anything worth paying $2 for as far as I can tell. I rather stick around with an incomplete version of MS Facebook than use this.

Of course, that's just my opinion. Give it a try and see what you think and if you think I'm wrong, let me know but basically, it just didn't work well for me at all.

5. Other third-party apps

There are several other applications that will allow you to access Facebook as well.

• Yahoo's Go! application has a widged plugin that adds Facebook access, for example. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get that one to work lately.
• Yahoo's brand new mobile site (new.m.yahoo.com) also has a nifty little add-in that allows you to see updates from Facebook, MySpace etc. You can also update your status but not a whole lot more at this point. I'll review the new Yahoo mobile site over the weekend, I think but I already like it (for the most part).
  
• Fring, which is an application that can handle pretty much anything when it comes to instant messaging (MSN, Yahoo, AOL, Google) also has plugins for Twitter and Facebook, amongs others. The Facebook plugin works fairly well but it's pretty slow, which I think is a side-effect of it being a plugin to another program

I believe there are more ways to access Facebook than just the ones listed above and I will add any new cool applications as I find them.

Note: all of these apps and methods were tested on a HTC 6800 (Mogul) running on the ACS wireless network but should work on most PPCs, including the HTC 6900 (Touch) and so on. Some require Windows Mobile 6 while others don't.

Anyway, fellow Facebook addicts, there you have it. Dig in and see you on Facebook!

Jaunty Jackalope Coming Soon

It seems like Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid Ibex just came out not long ago and here we are, just days away from the release of Jaunty Jackalope. Another upgrading cycle begins.

Now, although I'm quick to embrace new versions, I'll be doing my upgrades in steps. Since I have two computers currently running Ibex, I'll be upgrading the one that's used less first, hoping to avoid any major issues and it'll also let me explore the new items and get used to them before upgrading my XPS 1530 Dell laptop that is my primary work machine.

It'll be an interesting experience, no doubt.

Facebook Going Mobile

Those of you fortunate enough to own a Blackberry are well familiar with the portability and easy access of social networks on the platform. Access to MySpace and Facebook is easy and convenient and I know I have been looking for away to get similar access on my Windows Mobile device.

I think I might have finally found what I'm looking, at least in regards to Facebook.

While browsing around wm6software.net, I found a new Facebook application. After a bit more research it turns out it's a rip from the new 6.5 ROM, all done by the good chaps over at XDA-Developers.

So, is the application any good?

Well, essentially the application has five different tabs:

1. Home
2. Personal Profile
3. Friends
4. Mail
5. Phonebook

Home

The home tab contains the typical things you might see on your Facebook homepage. The newsfeed is present as are status updates and tagged photos. The home page will let you easily see what is going on with your friends.

Personal Profile

The profile tab has more of the personal stuff. The wall, for example, is found here, as is the info tab with all your personal info and your photo albums. From here you can also upload photos and videos to your albums. One drawback is that at this point it doesn't appear that you can actually update any of your personal information so you're still stuck with doing that online.

Friends

The friends tab of course contains an alphabetical list of all your friends and has a search function and a few basic filters.

Mail

The mail tab naturally contains the inbox, sent messages, notifications and requests. It allows you to easily read and compose new messages and handle incoming notifications and requests.

Phonebook

The phonebook tab is actually quite interesting. It allows you to call those contacts of yours that have phone numbers listed directly from the application itself. It's a pretty neat feature.

Summary

Overall, this early version (v0.14) does a lot of what you'd expect from a Facebook application. What I'd like to see in the future is an integration with the OS itself so that notifications are delivered when status updates happen and new messages come in.

Having used the app for just a few hours so far, it's a bit early to form a good opinion but so far, I like what I see. I'm looking forward to seeing future versions.

One thing I can say for sure is: if you use Windows Mobile phones and like Facebook, you need this application.