Quaternary Park / Blog: Recent posts

At the moment installing apps to the phones can done either by (a) installing them via TF card or (b) installing them by downloading them thru the web-browser. Option (a) is way too cumbersome. Option (b) is alright but I would like to replace the web-server / web-browser with my own apps. For the sake of experience.

simple hello world programs for networks are not really reusable for future work so I modified the barebones subproject. I finished the server n client for the linux console. I plan on working on the barebones JAVA client next because subproject II will be a file transfer service. I need that to ease up on installing apps.

One of the sub-projects I have in mind is to be able to read and post to modern micro-blogging sites like Mastodon. I do not want access the internet directly so I am taking the idea from Opera Mini. That is to have a protocol bridge sit between the internet and the client. It will ease up on resources if they become heavy and provide a security barrier if needed.

Software is still availble for these devices but not much is of practical use. Official support for Android 2.2 was dropped a couple years ago but the SDK is still available and well maintained. Microsoft started phasing out Windows Mobile about four years ago. I left the Microsoft ecosystem since Vista. I do not have a modern Windows machine hence I do not know if Microsoft offers free development tools that still support windows mobile. I have a copy of windows 2000 and a copy of Embedded Microsoft C++ 4 along with the Windows Mobile 2003 and Windows CE 5 SDKs. I can work with that. As far as JAVA. Oracle still has their Wireless Toolkit available for download on their website. I am able to compile midlets. ... read more

Older hardware tends to benefit from security thru obscurity.
1) loss of interest from the masses means less incentive to hack
2) software decay; old hacking tools also become obscure
3) deminished expertise; hackers will forget their expertise over time
Only organized hacking teams with a budget like CIA, NSA will retain/maintain their tools to include older hardware. There is very little incentive for an individual to do so.... read more

In the movies sometimes you see a hacker pull out a qwerty phone to do his work. True that is cool and looks cool but its not practical for everyday use. Working the unix command console you need a fullsize keyboard and a screen big enought that its comfortable to read. In the near future things look better. The services such as Alexa, Google Home, Cortana, etc. They are command based. In theory that means that all the services they provide can be executed via a command console. These commands are simple in nature and have immideate results outside a phone display. The qwerty phones can be used instead of voice. They can do things better then voice because you could run scripts.

These phones have pleanty of potential use, you can still make calls out of them. Still some items you don't need more then one. The phone is such an item and thats what pushes them into obsolescence. You get a new phone, it can do everything the old one could better and faster. You don't need two sooo, the older model goes to RIP. For that reason there is no briging obsolete phones out of the grave. I will try to get practical uses out of them but I'll be tinkering with these phones as a hobby. There is R&D value in the effort.

Why where qwerty phones phased out? They were popular in a time when phones started to become internet capable but display technology delivered poor resolution. Chatting and writing emails were the killer apps. As display technology improved the new killer apps where viewing pictures and videos. Displays pushed out the qwerty keyboard and they are not coming back, ever, because of touch screens. If you can make a clam shell phone or a slider you can have a phone with multiple screens. soo yea, qwerty keyboards are not comming back.

The approach to keeping a scientific journal in software development. I learned it from the movies, (ie: 'I am legend' - Will Smith trying to find the cure) I admire that approach. So I am trying to implement that approach here. Its not enought to put out your software out in the open. People must understand it in order to adopt it and improve upon. Somehow we have to educate as we develop.

I started this project because I found 3 qwerty phones for $4 on craigslist and bought them. I saw them and they were nice, trying to rationalize the purchase I told me I was going to attempt to bring some use out of them besides collecting them. So here I am.... read more