Totally Unnecessary But Totally Fun!

[Brad Adrian]

Okay, so yesterday my wife looked out our kitchen window and saw me standing all alone in the middle of our neighbor's backyard. She came outside and, seeing that I had my Pocket PC in my hand, she politely asked, "Okay, what the heck are you doing NOW?"<br /><br />Me: "I'm testing my new WiFi antenna reflector."<br />Wife: "Antenna WHAT?"<br />Me: "I tried my hand at making an antenna reflector for our wireless network so I can extend the reach of the signal."<br />Wife: "Didn't your antenna already reach to the four corners of our property?"<br />Me: "Yes."<br />Wife: "And how often do you figure you need to have wireless access while standing in the middle of our neighbor's yard? And, does our neighbor actually WANT you in his yard?"<br />Me [after long pause]: "You just don't get it."<br /><br />This little conversation reminded me that it's been quite a while since we had a really good discussion of things we've done to push the limits of what our Pocket PCs can do. We call it the "<b>W?BIC!</b>" [Why? Because I Can!"] factor.<br /><br />What kinds of geeky things have YOU done with your Pocket PC lately just because you can?

[Mike Temporale]

:rotfl:

[Robb Bates]

Well, I once ran as many multimedia programs as I could just to see how many audio channels I could run at the same time. PocketTV, Windows Media player, Real Player... I forgot how many I ran, but this definitely falls into the W?BIC! category.

Robb

[felixdd]

Well, I once ran as many multimedia programs as I could just to see how many audio channels I could run at the same time. PocketTV, Windows Media player, Real Player... I forgot how many I ran, but this definitely falls into the W?BIC! category.

Robb

So....how many? :lol:

[dodette]

I used it as a flashlight Friday night, when hurricane Charley knocked out our power. Oh, okay, I was really playing BounceOut, but I still used the pda's glow to walk over and find the flashlight and the candles. :)

And someone at Florida Power must have been using theirs for more professional purposes, because we got our power back within 14 hours...

[capo]

I listen to Live365.com, but they don't have a client for PPC. One afternoon I decided I wanted to listen to streaming audio while mowing the lawn. I tracked down a free audio player for PPC that would deal with Live365.com's stream, figured out the convoluted URL that would get me an authenticated (no ads) stream of my favorite station and got it going via WiFi on my iPaq 4155. A set of Sony in ear buds to play the music and drown out the mower racket and I was a happy guy.
Why go through all the hassle instead of just listening to my Dell DJ? I think you know the answer. :-)

[Jereboam]

Me [after long pause]: "You just don't get it."

Hilarious...I can totally picture the look on your face....and empathise... :)

Thanks for the chuckle I am having one crappy day.... ;)

J'bm

[Thaedson]

I was on vacation last week and place my Ipaq 5555 inside the Navman sleeve and then put the unit in a glad plastic bag with some of my son's floaty balls (kids pool toy). I then took the entire unit with me while JetSki'ing at the Lake of the Ozarks. (HEY ITS A BIG LAKE!!). All I had to do was mark the departure cove on the Favorites menu and I could tool wherever I wanted to without having to think about getting back to an unfamilar area.

My wife thought I was nuts.... /shrug.

[wocket]

Well ahem I was streaming music over my WiFi I headed off down the street with PDA in pocket and my headphones on just to see how far I could get.

And I got suprisingly far! :D

[TheZodiac]

Tossed it RIGHT down a flight of stairs after I got my Treo 600. Sorry folks.

[DiGiTYZED]

A couple of weeks ago my girl and I were shopping for an air conditioner and I didn't think the sales person knew what he was talking about regarding the whole BTU to square footage thing. So I pulled out my PPC to Google about the BTU thing. I could not catch a Wi-Fi connection to save my life. I even walked out to the street and to the spot I use to catch Wi-Fi easily. Long story short, it didn't work. My girl always says "why do you keep trying? it never works!" Unfortunately she's always right.

I went from W?BIC!, to W?BISTW! (why? because it's suppose to work!)

All I had to do was ask the next sale person. The A/C works perfectly with our room.

I leave my PPC home more often now.

[ppcsurfr]

A couple of weeks ago my girl and I were shopping for an air conditioner and I didn't think the sales person knew what he was talking about regarding the whole BTU to square footage thing. So I pulled out my PPC to Google about the BTU thing. I could not catch a Wi-Fi connection to save my life. I even walked out to the street and to the spot I use to catch Wi-Fi easily. Long story short, it didn't work. My girl always says "why do you keep trying? it never works!" Unfortunately she's always right.

I went from W?BIC!, to W?BISTW! (why? because it's suppose to work!)

All I had to do was ask the next sale person. The A/C works perfectly with our room.

I leave my PPC home more often now.

I think you should either have a BT phone and a BT + Wi-Fi equipped PPC to cover all holes... well most I guess...

No Wi-Fi... go GPRS... :D Then you can go and say W?BIC!

Carlo

[Jon Westfall]

I used to keep all my notes at school as Word documents on my computer (Until I switched the InkLink & PPC to sync to the PC earlier this year). It was one particularly bad morning as I realized that we had a quiz in class that I hadn't studied for at all. I had my PC in front of me (powered down) and my (unfortunatly at the time) Palm m505 in my bag. Since I took great pains to sync all my notes up using Documents To Go on the palm, I quickly grabbed it and found the notes - a nonconspicious glance or two later, and I was ready to take the quiz. W?BISMA - Why? Because it saved my ...

Other examples:

Finger Print Authentication on the IPaq 5555 - Totally overkill, but a true W?BIC example.

Putting pictures in my ewallet so I didn't have to carry them in my real wallet. Lazy - but when people ask "Why would you do that???" - W?BIC

and the list goes on...

[gorkon280]

I listen to Live365.com, but they don't have a client for PPC. One afternoon I decided I wanted to listen to streaming audio while mowing the lawn. I tracked down a free audio player for PPC that would deal with Live365.com's stream, figured out the convoluted URL that would get me an authenticated (no ads) stream of my favorite station and got it going via WiFi on my iPaq 4155. A set of Sony in ear buds to play the music and drown out the mower racket and I was a happy guy.
Why go through all the hassle instead of just listening to my Dell DJ? I think you know the answer. :-)

I have done this and it's amazingly fun! Listening to your favorite stream while doing something else is somethign i have done for a long time. I will have to do this again when I mow my grass later this week.

By far, mine has to be standing next to the building with WiFi at work and listening to a stream whilst I wait for my wife. I can't wait for the campus wide WiFi network to fully come on line then I will sit and surf at the picnic table when the weather is nice or maybe even do some work as well.

[gorkon280]

Putting pictures in my ewallet so I didn't have to carry them in my real wallet. Lazy - but when people ask "Why would you do that???" - W?BIC

and the list goes on...

Actually that's better then having them in your wallet because digital pictures won't get ruined. They will always be crisp and clear....unless you use a crpppy screen condom!

[Brad Adrian]

I leave my PPC home more often now.
[Fingers in ears and yelling] La-la-la-la! I'm not listening! La-la-la!

[dean_shan]

I will pull out my PPC to get on Messenger instead of pulling my laptop out of it's bag. Not sure if it's W?BIC or IJEL (I'm Just Extremely Lazy).

[Duncan]

I've already covered this elsewhere - but connecting via Bluetooth to a headset to listen to the audio from a movie being streamed from a MuVo into BetaPlayer on the Pocket PC in front of me, while ActiveSync'ing with my laptop upstairs via Bluetooth and downloading something over WiFi from my other laptop in the background and simultaneously connected to the internet over GPRS via BT and my mobile - that was a pure W?BIC moment for me last Friday...! :D

[PPCRules]

What kinds of geeky things have YOU done with your Pocket PC lately just because you can?

Bluetooth ActiveSync.

I went to all the pains of getting it to work, then even I had to say "That's it? Why did I bother?". The cradle is right there, and bluetooth wasn't even charging my battery.

[JustinGTP]

My mother always complains to me about me carrying around my Ipaq with me to every place I go. I went camping this summer and I took it with me then, and my mother said to me, "Why don't you just listen to the sound of nature instead of playing and listening to music on that thing?"

Firstly, it is not a thing, and secondly - I have it around because I can.

[hakubak]

My iPaq 5455 shipped with Nevo, a powerful application that'll turn your $600 PDA into a $9 universal remote. I played with it a few times when I first got the device, but even "W?BIC!" wasn't enough to justify the hassle of using the PDA over the standard remote. Drawbacks: display time-out and lack of tactile interface.

I had almost forgotten about the feature until one day I was in a meeting when the ceiling-mounted digital display unit went mental. While others were fishing around for the remote, or something on which to stand, I fired up Nevo, found a suitable profile for the device, and started driving it. I reset the projector, and no one was the wiser.

I've used it a sports bars too, when I can't take anymore WNBA. I usually swap over to TechTV.

[Lex]

Tossed it RIGHT down a flight of stairs after I got my Treo 600. Sorry folks.

We don't care. The best thing for PPC development is the presence of a competitor. To each his own.

[famousdavis]

I'm currently working on "Davischool Version 3" -- which is my homeschool recordkeeping database developed with SprintDB Pro.

Do I really need a SQL-based database with loads of tables and forms to keep track of my homeschool records? Absolutely not. In fact, my wife does pretty well by just taking a few minutes and jotting some info down into a notebook after teaching a lesson. And the easiest route to putting my records in electronic format would be to create a few spreadsheet worksheets.

But my wife WAS impressed when I spat out some end-of-year reports using Microsoft Access (to which my PPC database syncs) within a few seconds, while she spent considerable time sifting through and compiling her handwritten reader lists, etc.

In fact, the ease with which I developed end-of-year results was so compelling, my tech-avoiding wife actually asked me whether she might use my PPC-based recordkeeping system for this school year! (My answer -- the database isn't quite ready for prime-time...wait 'til next school year).

I love developing using SprintDB Pro. For my "Version 3," I'm adding color to my forms, introductory use of global variables, field edits, dynamically-set control properties, more -- all of which will reduce the amount of taps I have to perform to record a school day. I hardly need to go through these efforts -- I just enjoy the application development process using my PPC.

The biggest drawback to my database is it's very slow-running on my iPAQ 1910. I'll need one of those new 600+Mhz processors to overcome the performance issues inherent with a database using the ADOCE SQL engine. I'm just waiting for the next version of Windows Mobile operating system to be released before I replace my 1910.

[Jonathan1]

Geeky with my Pocket PC? Nothing really. My Jornada doesn't have much of a geek factor anymore. :(

[Xymus]

The most W?BIC! thing I have done is certainly to listen tv on my h2210 via bluetooth. I used Windows Media encoder 9 (or was it 8 ) to set up a stream from my tv card (ATI tv wonder pro), then I joined the network with bluetooth and used Windows Media (or MVP, can't remember which one was best) to open the stream. I had the sound and everything, it was cool...

But because of the slow transfert rate of bluetooth, I had to keep settings low and because of the small range I could only use it in front of my computer (with my 19in monitor useless on my desk) or in the living room (with the 30in tv in front of me). But the worst was that I counldn't change channel from the ppc, I had to go back to my pc.. close the stream... recreate it...

In fact, I used it only for one evening.. but as I just got a wifi router and should soon get a wifi cf card, I'm thinking about trying it again. :D

[Lex]

"I'm testing my new WiFi antenna reflector."

How did you make the reflector? (I'm envisioning aluminum foil and coat hangers.)

[ctmagnus]

"I'm testing my new WiFi antenna reflector."

How did you make the reflector? (I'm envisioning aluminum foil and coat hangers.)

I'm envisioning aluminum foil and the side of a cereal box. ;)

More of a W?BIS-IFW (should - it's for work) than W?BIC but I had to extend the range of an AP in a hotel. So I used a cereal box cardboard reflector. However, the AP was at one end of the building and the signal had to pass through 15 concrete walls to reach the other end so I'm not sure the reflector even worked that well in this case. The iPaq stated a 1% difference afterwards.

[felixdd]

I've already covered this elsewhere - but connecting via Bluetooth to a headset to listen to the audio from a movie being streamed from a MuVo into BetaPlayer on the Pocket PC in front of me, while ActiveSync'ing with my laptop upstairs via Bluetooth and downloading something over WiFi from my other laptop in the background and simultaneously connected to the internet over GPRS via BT and my mobile - that was a pure W?BIC moment for me last Friday...! :D

Uhh...huh? :?

[Jereboam]

What kinds of geeky things have YOU done with your Pocket PC lately just because you can?

Bluetooth ActiveSync.

I went to all the pains of getting it to work, then even I had to say "That's it? Why did I bother?". The cradle is right there, and bluetooth wasn't even charging my battery.

Totally the same here. :)

But the satisfaction of getting it to finally work (I have synced via Bluetooth exactly once since then) is a warm fuzzy feeling...

J'bm

[Duncan]

I've already covered this elsewhere - but connecting via Bluetooth to a headset to listen to the audio from a movie being streamed from a MuVo into BetaPlayer on the Pocket PC in front of me, while ActiveSync'ing with my laptop upstairs via Bluetooth and downloading something over WiFi from my other laptop in the background and simultaneously connected to the internet over GPRS via BT and my mobile - that was a pure W?BIC moment for me last Friday...! :D

Uhh...huh? :?

If a picture paints a thousand words... (the mobile phone is out of shot to the right):

http://www.firstloox.org/720/movie_from_muvo_small.jpg

8)

[dma1965]

I captured the infrared remote signal for my 1994 Jeep Grand Cherokee (the keyless remote uses IR instead of radio signals), just to see if I could then use it to lock and unlock my Jeep. IT WORKED!!!

At first I thought this was a definite WBIC moment, until I accidentally locked my keys in the car. What a relief it was to pull out my iPaq and unlock my car with it. Talk about a lifesaver :mrgreen:

[rocky_raher]

(the mobile phone is out of shot to the right)...

Wow! Your mobile phone doubles as a BB gun (which currently needs reloading)?? Do you have trouble getting it through airport security?

[cmlpreston]

Bluetooth ActiveSync.

I went to all the pains of getting it to work, then even I had to say "That's it? Why did I bother?". The cradle is right there, and bluetooth wasn't even charging my battery.

Ah, but the beauty is that you don't have to worry if ActiveSync will notice the usb connection every time you pop it in the cradle. With Bluetooth, you can have a permanent sync connection, and just drop it in the cradle for charging whenever you like. A *much* nicer solution, in my opinion. Pity about the bandwith you get with BT though.

cmlp

[Carlos]

I'm posting this on my ppc in bed. a few minutes ago I showed my girlfriend how I was using remote ActiveSync to send some work e-mails and task assignments. I made a VPN connection over GPRS to my company LAN. My laptop in the other room is also on the VPN via cable modem. I was able to AS over the air, into the LAN, and back home. She innocently asked why I didn't just use our home Wi-Fi. "Well, because anybody can do that..."

The other day while putting gas in the car, I hopped onto the free Wi-Fi service at Circle K and called her using the VoIP soft phone or my PPC. She asked why I did that, since we have free mobile-to-mobile minutes. Sigh...

I could go on, but she beckons.

[DiGiTYZED]

Sometimes when I'm on my way home and the bus stops at a light or stuck in traffic I use my PPC to log into civilians open Linksys APs (there's tons here in the city) and change the settings and password so I am the only one who can get access (to the router and internet). W?BIE (...evil)

Funny how my Wi-Fi works when the misses is not around. Hmmmm.....

[Carlos]

Not sure what to think of that. On the one hand, the idiots should have secured their network. On the other hand, would it be ethical to push a retarded kid into a mud puddle just because you can?

I used to run an FTP/web server on my Newton. My office mates made it a habit to log in occasionally and see what sort of funny/weird **** I had put in there for them to find. Definitely a Why? thing to do.

When I travel, I always take a wireless router with me. I set it up on the hotel high speed internet access, and use it to browse in bed or elsewhere in the hotel. It's funny to see how many people discover it and start using it--free instead of paying $10 each for the hotel network. Hell, I should set up a login page and charge $5 for it...

[DiGiTYZED]

Not sure what to think of that. On the one hand, the idiots should have secured their network. On the other hand, would it be ethical to push a retarded kid into a mud puddle just because you can?

I used to run an FTP/web server on my Newton. My office mates made it a habit to log in occasionally and see what sort of funny/weird s**t I had put in there for them to find. Definitely a Why? thing to do.

When I travel, I always take a wireless router with me. I set it up on the hotel high speed internet access, and use it to browse in bed or elsewhere in the hotel. It's funny to see how many people discover it and start using it--free instead of paying $10 each for the hotel network. Hell, I should set up a login page and charge $5 for it...

I wouldn't call them idiots. And I definately wouldn't push a retarded kid in the mud... with other people around.

Seems like you can benefit from Apple's mini wi-fi gizmo

[Carlos]

Yeah, I'd heard of that, but have not seen it. Someone also told me that there's another brand available, but I've not looked into it. Since I have a spare 802.11b router laying around, buying another device (especially considering how Apple over-prices everything) has been low on the list.

Have you used one?

[Underwater Mike]

Me, also. Lots of hassle, and the WiFi sync was so much easier that I just gave up. :oops:



Bluetooth ActiveSync.

I went to all the pains of getting it to work, then even I had to say "That's it? Why did I bother?". The cradle is right there, and bluetooth wasn't even charging my battery.

Ah, but the beauty is that you don't have to worry if ActiveSync will notice the usb connection every time you pop it in the cradle. With Bluetooth, you can have a permanent sync connection, and just drop it in the cradle for charging whenever you like. A *much* nicer solution, in my opinion. Pity about the bandwith you get with BT though.

cmlp

[ctmagnus]

Someone also told me that there's another brand available, but I've not looked into it.

Asus (http://www.mobileplanet.com/vendors/product.asp?dept%5Fid=5040&pf%5Fid=MP940514&vendor=ASU&listing=1)?

[DiGiTYZED]

Asus (http://www.mobileplanet.com/vendors/product.asp?dept%5Fid=5040&pf%5Fid=MP940514&vendor=ASU&listing=1)?

Nice! I want to buy one even though I have absolutely no use for it yet.

Unless that bridge feature will work with my Xbox. Hmmmm......

[DiGiTYZED]

...and it does! Now only if it'll allow me to have my desktop wired, xbox bridged and my PPC wireless all simultaneously. Hmmm.....

[Oeryk]

My iPaq 5455 shipped with Nevo, a powerful application that'll turn your $600 PDA into a $9 universal remote. ...edit...
I've used it a sports bars too, when I can't take anymore WNBA. I usually swap over to TechTV.

I have done the exact same thing on several occasions. While eating dinner one evening, the restaurant had golf playing on TVs hanging from the ceiling. I could not find a waiter to change the channel and no one could reach the controls, so I did it for them. I asked several people around me what they preferred to watch. Soon, we were watching college football and enjoying dinner. :lol:

Everyone thought is was amazing. I thought it was a no brainer. :lol:

Why? BECAUSE I CAN!

[Cybrid]

Got locked out of an SMC Barricade router which requires a serial connection with AT commands to reset it. Went to 9 different stores looking for a null modem adapter, couldn't find one. Used PPC on a serial cable.
Routinely amaze people with wifi and 1X connectivity. How I'm on top of everything.
GPS my way anywhere, G'ahead ask me how to get anywhere in town. I'm ready :devilboy: BTW I love it when it's some 'tard in a Beemer with a Treo 600 on his belt. Should have watched his eyes bogle 8O when I showed him what a PPC with Mapopolis can do. :rotfl:
With 1 gig you can do a lot of video, music, etc.

[Lex]

Still no word from this thread's originator... Is it possible to make a wi-fi reflector or is the joke on me? If so, how? Weblink? Thanks !

[dswain]

I downloaded adult entertanment on to mine to show all my buddies the Ipaq's great features. Makes a great conversation peice...I coined it PocketPorn...W?BIC! :devilboy: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :devilboy:

[kwoodham]

Shortly after getting my Dell Axim last November, I fired up the Teminal Services Client to access my XP machine in the basement, then - using the Axim, started the VPN client on the XP machine, authenticated, and remote desktop'ed into my work computer 25 miles away and started Matlab - which is a huge modeling/simulation package. So I had two jumps with VPN in the middle.

I didn't even bother to show my wife and risk getting that "That's so cute dear :roll:" response - but our IT guy was impressed when I told him about it the next day.

PS: wives: don't even say something that your husband does is "cute". :wink:

[Ketsugi]

This post doesn't really have anything to do with Pocket PCs, but the whole W?BIC! thing reminds me of something my classmate said when we were 16. When he was asked why he had done something particularly stupid, he replied "The same reason why a dog licks its balls. Because it can."

>_>
&lt;_&lt;

[makic]

Similar to kwoodham's post, but more of a W?BIAL (I am lazy).

I set up VNC on my xp (home) machines and use terminal to shut them down at night (as opposed to walking the 30 feet to the keyboard).

[DVD]

.... Got locked out of an SMC Barricade router which requires a serial connection with AT commands to reset it.... Used PPC on a serial cable.


Which PPC? Which serial cable (eg: who makes it)? Can you put a Break on the serial line (necessary part of password recovery for Cisco routers)?

Have a 5550, but can't see myself carrying around the original sync cradle just for the sake of its DB9 connector... (I usually sync via wi-fi; but if I need to connect directly to a PC I use a Belkin sync cable, bypassing the cradle, which I've always regarded as unnecessary.)

I'm interested in this because my latest laptop, while otherwise an excellent machine, lacks a serial port. (Seems that USB is taking over the world. I'm a bit surprised the laptop has a parallel port.)

[JayM]

I listen to Live365.com, but they don't have a client for PPC. One afternoon I decided I wanted to listen to streaming audio while mowing the lawn. I tracked down a free audio player for PPC that would deal with Live365.com's stream, figured out the convoluted URL that would get me an authenticated (no ads) stream of my favorite station and got it going via WiFi on my iPaq 4155. A set of Sony in ear buds to play the music and drown out the mower racket and I was a happy guy.
Why go through all the hassle instead of just listening to my Dell DJ? I think you know the answer.

I'm laughing my a$$ off because I thought I was the only one who did this. As a matter of fact I wrote about it on my website in late July just for somthing odd...good to see I'm not the only goofball around. :roll:

[capo]

"good to see I'm not the only goofball around."

Goofball?! I resemble that remark... It's winter now - no more lawn mowing for a while. I've got Live365 streaming (wirelessly) through my TiVo now and I'm using my iPaq as an MP3 player in the car. Yeah, the DJ holds a lot more tunes, but trying to dial in the song I want while driving is a bit dodgy - almost backended somebody the other day. Using MS Voice Command to pick and play tunes off a 1 GB SD card in my iPaq is a safer solution, though pretty pedestrian from a W?BIC! standpoint.