My Digital Life

DFL-210 - Port Forwarding

In order to enable port forwarding you need to create two rules on the DFL-210. The first rule is for service to Static Address Translation (SAT) and the second rule is for Network Address Translation (NAT) to Static Address Translation.

The first rule is created using the following steps:

• Under Rules/IP Rules/wan_to_lan add a new rule
• Under the general tabName = enter desired nameAction = SAT
• Service = Select the desired service
• Schedule = Select the desired schedule or None
• Source interface = any
• Source Network = all-nets (you specify a specific inbound address or range)
• Destination Interface = core
• Destination Network = wan_ip3. Under SAT tab
• Under the SAT tab
• check destination IP address
• New IP Address = the address you want to forward to
• New Port = the port you want to forward to
• Create the rule by clicking OK.

The second rule is created using the following steps:

• Under Rules/IP Rules/wan_to_lan add a new rule
• Under the general tabName = enter desired nameAction = Allow
• Service = Select the desired service
• Schedule = Select the desired schedule or None
• Source interface = any
• Source Network = all-nets (you specify a specific inbound address or range)
• Destination Interface = core
• Destination Network = wan_ip

Create the rule by clicking OK.

Activate the configuration by using the Configuration/Save and Activate menu item.

Zune Pricing

Yesterday Microsoft announced the pricing and availability of Zune. Zune is priced at $249.99, although $.99 more than the iPod 30GB, I think it can effectively compete, and Zune will be available November 14th.

Zune will come pre loaded with 9 audio tracks, 13 music videos, 3 short films, and a variety of images. From a value standpoint it clearly edges out the iPod with a bigger 3" screen, WIFI, and an FM radio. Get all the scoop from MS' Cesar Menendez blog here. Reading the comments, it amazes me how many complain that a rumored price of $229 was not met, it seems so childish. I think at $249.99 it is a great value, the only issue I have right now is the lack of integration in my car stereo/Nav system (I have this with my iPod). Will WIFI be enough for me to purchase Zune?

Mobility Electronics, Inc. Stowaway Sierra Bluetooth keyboard - Part 2 Size

While traveling, space for all the must have accessories is always at a premium and one of the positive attributes of the original Sonoma Bluetooth keyboard, was it's compact size. The Sierra is bulkier but surprisingly fairly compact.

The shiny Sierra on the left measures 5.0" x 3.5", while the Sonoma on the right measures 5.5”x 3.9”. It is interesting that the Sierra's rectangular size is smaller than the Sonoma. At first glance the Sierra looks larger and I was surprised by the specifications from the Think Outside web site.

The rectangular size difference becomes very apparent when the keyboards are in their included cases. The Sierra comes with a stretch padded Spandex like case. The Sonoma comes with a leather case which is not as snug as the Sierra's case, however both cases protect the keyboards well.

The Sierra on top is thicker at .9" vs the Sonoma .5", almost double. The Sierra weighs 10.7 ounces vs the Sonoma's 5.6 ounces, almost double as well. We will have to see if the added functionality is worth the extra thickness and weight. At first glance, I would probably say yes...

Direct Push and ActiveSync error 86000108

Last weekend I started getting ActiveSync error 86000108 "ActiveSync encountered this error on the server error" on my T-Mobile MDA. I got the same error whether the Direct Push synced via GPRS or I initiated ActiveSync over Bluetooth to my laptop. The bizarre issue with this error is that the synchronization seemed to complete normally and I was able to send and receive messages. The only inklings of a problem were that last synchronization time was not updated to the current time and the "view status" would display the error. At first I thought it was a problem with my hosted Exchange provider 4smartphone.net. After searching for the error on Google and Microsoft, there seem to be no definitive answer to what this problem was.

I contacted 4smartphone.net support via there help desk system and within 2 hours they replied that this error was usually associated with a corrupted Exchange ActiveSync option on Windows Mobile. I had two choices:

1. I could try to turn ActiveSync options on and off on my device until I found the culprit, or
2. I could delete the ActiveSync server partnership with Exchange and recreate it.

I chose option 2. I decided to delete the ActiveSync partnership using the Windows XP ActiveSync user interface while connected to my MDA via Bluetooth. You can also perform this function using the Window Mobile ActiveSync without being connected to Windows XP ActiveSync.

• To delete the partnership: in the Windows XP ActiveSync 4.x go to tools/configure server source/delete server. This takes 5 to 10 minutes.
• To recreate the partnership: in the Windows XP ActiveSync 4.x go to tools/add server source. You need to reenter all the server information provided by your exchange administrator or hosted provider.

Once the data was all resynchronized the error disappeared and I am back in a normal state. I was a little concerned about duplicates but I have not found any issues with the resynchronization.

Washington Post Newsweek Interactive resurrects mobile sites

The Washington Post used to have mobile access in 2005 which is still active but not updated (link). With Microsoft Windows Mobile sponsorship, the Washington Post Newsweek Interactive announced three new mobile sites:

• mobile.washingtonpost.com
• mobile.newsweek.com
• mobile.slate.com

Great news...

Mobility Electronics, Inc. (Think Outside) Stowaway Sierra Bluetooth keyboard

Late last week, I received the newly released Mobility Electronics Stowaway Sierra Bluetooth keyboard to review for pocketnow.com. Mobility Electronics, Inc., the owners of iGo, best known for it's flexible charging systems, acquired Think Outside in May 2006.

The Stowaway Sierra packaging. The Sierra is the follow on to the hugely popular Stowaway Bluetooth keyboard. The major difference between the two is a fifth row of keys and larger keys more akin to a full size keyboard on the Sierra .

The original Stowaway has been one of my primary traveling accessories which I discuss in my travel technology category. I will traveling next week and will put it through it's paces for the review. I will be setting it up today...

T-Mobile expected to launch Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA) service in October

The Wall Street Journal expects T-Mobile to launch a combined cell / Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA) service, they have been testing in the Seattle area, in October. This service would allow a UMA phone to switch calls between the cell network and a WIFI broadband connection. There service would work at T-Mobile's Hotspots and at home with a T-Mobile UMA router.

This feature would use VOIP while at home or at Starbucks (T-Mobile Hotspot) and allow you to preserve your cell plan minutes. The calls are supposed to seamlessly switch between cell and VOIP. The first T-Mobile cell phone with the UMA feature is rumored to be the Samsung SGH-T709 using the Philips Nexperia 6120 chip set.

Hopefully Microsoft, T-Mobile and/or HTC are working on update to enable the Windows Mobile devices to take advantage of this great feature.

Symantec report on web browser security flaws.

Here are some interesting Web browser security flaws from Symantec. In the last 6 months they found:

• 47 flaws in the Mozilla Firefox and Mozilla browsers, up from 17 in the previous report.
• 38 flaws in Microsoft Internet Explorer 6, up from 25 in the previous report.
• 12 flaws in Apple Safari browser, up from 6 in the previous report.

The Apple ads with the stuffy PC guy would make you think they are free of any security threats...Hum, sounds like deceptive advertising. I still like their designs and with boot camp would consider their hardware, but let's get real.

update 9/26/06: PC Mag sees my point here.

The week of September 25th in My Digital Life

This weekend I reorganized the sidebars on mydigitallife.us and made the search more prominent. For all typepad users who want to customize their site, I highly recommend looking at typepadhacks.org. The header now has the link to the Exchange hosted service 4smartphone.net which I have been using since January 2006. So far no complaints, who knew how easily I could get addicted to Direct Push. As a recipient of the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional award, I added the logo and link to the award information page at the bottom of the sidebar, if anyone is interested to learn more about the program. With this new structure I am now ready to look for a new header graphic which will blend in better and I need to redesign the default typepad about page.

For this week:

• I completed my review The Mavens Thumb Magic application which provides a front end for very basic one handed PIM functionality. It should appear on pocketnow.com this week.
• I am continuing my series on configuring the D-Link DFL-210 and will post how I configured port forwarding.
• I will be discussing my newly received the new Think Outside Stowaway Sierra Bluetooth keyboard last week. I will be starting my review this week and can't wait to try it out. I have been using the original Think Outside Stowaway Bluetooth keyboard for some time now and love it. The Sierra has 5 rows of keys vs the original 4 rows which should improve typing numbers significantly.
• I will be discussing making movies with point and shoot Sony's DSC-W70 video mode and Microsoft MovieMaker 2.1, The DSC-W70 make great quality 30FPS 480 x 680 movies which are easy to edit with MovieMaker.
• I am reviewing Fizz Weather 2 and will be discussing my findings this week.

Plus whatever comes up...

T-Mobile MDA - What's in an AKU?

mobile-review recently published an interesting article by Anton Kotov detailing the functionality delivered in each AKU (Adaptation Kit Update), but don't salivate too quickly, the AKUs are delivered to OEMs which have total control of most release features and dates (see my rant on the subject here)...

If you want to know which AKU you are running read this. The T-Mobile 2.26 ROM is based on AKU 2.3.

Any bets on if and when AKU 3.0 makes it to the MDA? My vote is that it will be a toss up between the release of the T-Mobile Vario II (HTC Hermes) in the US and the release of this AKU (if we see it at all for the MDA), sometime late 2007...