Paul C. Easton's dashboard

Paul C. Easton replied on October 27, 2008 08:28 to the question "Setting up virtual serial port for Bluetooth Hotsync on IdeaPad U110 (w/ Palm Treo 680)" in Lenovo:

I have. This is actually a cross post.

Paul C. Easton replied on October 25, 2008 06:45 to the question "Lenovo IdeaPad U110 Hangs at Logging Off Screen" in Lenovo:

If I start the computer from a completely shut down state and wait for it to fully load after log in and then shut it down, it does not hang when I shut it down. It only hangs after I've been working on it for some time.

Paul C. Easton asked a question in Lenovo on October 25, 2008 06:36:

Setting up virtual serial port for Bluetooth Hotsync on IdeaPad U110 (w/ Palm Treo 680)

How do I set up virtual serial port for Bluetooth Hotsync on IdeaPad U110 (w/ Palm Treo 680). The PalmOne instructions include a step where I am supposed to setup a virtual serial (COMM) port on my laptop and tells me to refer to my laptops bluetooth software for instructions on how to do so. After pairing my phone with the laptop, I still see no COMM ports listed. Adding a port manually doesn't give a port number that I can select in the Hotsync settings.

First: what are the instructions for setting up a virtual serial port in Bluetooth on the IdeaPad U110

Second: has anyone succeeded in setting up Bluetooth hotsync on an IdeaPad U110 for any Palm device? If so, please step me through the settings. The IdeaPad's Bluetooth management interface and the PalmOne Hotsync settings dialog boxes do not match the instructions on PalmOne, so this is all rather confusing.

Paul C. Easton asked a question in Lenovo on October 25, 2008 06:20:

Lenovo IdeaPad U110 Hangs at Logging Off Screen

Lenovo IdeaPad U110 hangs at "Logging Off" screen. How can I troubleshoot this? Whenever I try to log off, restart, or shut down my laptop, it hangs at the Logging Off screen. I've waited over an hour in one case. I have to force the computer off by holding down the power off button. How can I trouble shoot this? It is likely due to software I've installed on the machine, but I only have mission-critical software running. Is there anyway that I can test this without Restoring my computer to factory settings and starting all over again.

Besides the software that shipped with Lenovo, and common office and Web design applications, I have the following running when I try to shut down:

* Zone Alarm Security Suite
* Zone Alarm Force Field
* Toggl (time keeping app)
* ActiveWords
* Palm Hotsync

I've also installed Drive Crypt Protection Pack, which prevents hibernation mode.

I've tried manually closing all apps, including those only running in the task try before logging off, but it still hangs.

I run the same software on my Gateway XP SP2 computer without similar issues, so I'm wondering if this may be a Vista issue?

Note also that it was running fine with these apps until last night. The only change to the system has been that I set up a network folder to synchronize so that files would be available off line.

Paul C. Easton asked a question in Lenovo on October 25, 2008 05:59:

Keyboard Issues with Lenovo IdeaPad U110

Every now and then, most of the keys on my IdeaPad U110 stop working and I'm unable to type at all. Strangly enough the CNTRL commands still work. E.g. I can type CTRL+A, CTRTL+V, etc. but can not type A, V, etc. I need to reboot the computer to get the keyboard to work properly (which is also an issue because the system hangs on "Logging off", I'm unable to logout, restart, or normally shut down my laptop. I have to force it off by holding the power button down a few seconds.

Paul C. Easton replied on September 26, 2008 10:54 to the problem "Twitter IM down May 23rd-May24th" in Twitter:

Well, the only work around for me is Twitter4Skype, it is the only reason I still keep Skype running. I have not found anything for Google Talk that will let me both receive and send Tweets. Twitter4Skype does both, although it means running multiple IM apps.

Paul C. Easton replied on September 26, 2008 05:05 to the question "Setting up google talk." in Twitter:

That could explain why I still have not been prompted for account information. Oh well. Hopefully Twitter will get its act together. In the meantime I'll continue to run Skype until I can find something that will make Twitter work with Google talk.

Paul C. Easton replied on September 26, 2008 02:55 to the question "Setting up google talk." in Twitter:

Thanks MDY, I'll check that out. I used a similar service to get Tweets in Skype and is the only reason I've been running Skype in addition to Google Talk. I'd much prefer using only Google Talk, so this should be very helpful.

If Twitter doesn't get its act together, some group of enterprising individuals will come up with a similar service that will work with International phone numbers and support the major IM clients.

Paul C. Easton asked a question in Get Satisfaction on May 31, 2008 17:12:

Viewing Companies by Categories/Tags

How do I view companies by category or tag? I realize that most people will come to Get Satisfaction knowing which company or product they want support from/for, but it would be interesting to browse companies listed in Get Satisfaction by their categories, tags. I feel like this should be possible already and that I'm missing something obvious. If there is a way, please point me in the right direction.

Paul C. Easton replied on May 31, 2008 17:00 to the idea "Why would I want my question to be viewable to everyone, it seems that this application is not particularly useful for a service organization such as ours." in True Legal Partners:

Actually, I made the original post when testing the new Help Center app. The original point was that the help center would be more useful if it was more than a portal to the Get Satisfaction Web site. But I'll leave that discussion for the Help Center discussions. This has generated a much more interesting discussion.

Paul C. Easton replied on May 31, 2008 09:45 to the idea "Why would I want my question to be viewable to everyone, it seems that this application is not particularly useful for a service organization such as ours." in True Legal Partners:

Agreed. One interesting twist to this would be whether an ethics board would see Get Satisfaction as substantially different from a discussion board, blog, or other social media. I see two potential scenarios: (1) somebody unassociated with a law firm creates a company listing for the firm and firm employees decide to participate and (2) the firm sets up its own listing or claims a listing on Get Satisfaction. The difference is the extent to which the firm places its imprimatur on the activity. Because this is marketed as a help board, might an ethics board not see participation as tacit encouragement to post questions and problems and if a client does so and thereby divulges confidential information, could the firm or participating professionals be held accountable?

Paul C. Easton replied on May 31, 2008 02:05 to the idea "Why would I want my question to be viewable to everyone, it seems that this application is not particularly useful for a service organization such as ours." in True Legal Partners:

Question: let's say that a client of the firm Dewee Suem & Howe sets up a Get Satisfaction page for that firm and posts a question related to his case. Another client or ex-client sees the post and responds and soon you have a lively discussion between these two and others. At this point there is not much difference between Get Satisfaction and any discussion board or lawyer ranking sites like Avvo. But if an attorney from the firm sees this and warns his client that he is waiving privilege for anything he is posting on-line, can the client request that Get Satisfaction retroactively remove his posts?

Paul C. Easton replied on May 31, 2008 01:53 to the idea "Why would I want my question to be viewable to everyone, it seems that this application is not particularly useful for a service organization such as ours." in True Legal Partners:

Thanks for the response. I agree that your approach is great for many products and services, but it will be interesting to see if and how this would work with legal, accounting, medical, and other service providers whose communications are constrained by law and rules of professional responsibility. I would suspect that for such organizations, Get Satisfaction might be useful for FAQ discussions, but beyond that I don't see how it will be adopted by the professions. Still, one of the fascinating things about Web 2.0 is how on-line social networking and reputation services are transforming the "professions." The early adapters who give careful thought to how they can properly use these services within the bounds of their professional ethics guidelines will benefit, while the remainder will be drug along kicking and screaming or left behind in confusion and denial.

I'll be watching Get Satisfaction's development closely. It's a wonderful social experiment you guys have put together.

Paul C. Easton replied on May 30, 2008 09:47 to the problem "Errors On Setup With PHP 5.2.3" in Get Satisfaction:

Hmm...downloaded the Smarty files and uncompressed them but didn't configure beyond that. Didn't install the PEAR library, but making the templates_c folder world-writable did the trick as Dean said.

Paul C. Easton shared an idea in True Legal Partners on May 30, 2008 09:45:

Why would I want my question to be viewable to everyone, it seems that this application is not particularly useful for a service organization such as ours.

I would like my questions to be private. This kind of public help center is not useful for clients with confidential information. Perhaps this could be useful for internal communications, but most internal help seekers are not going to go to a Web site and look up the issue. They'll just call.

Paul C. Easton replied on May 30, 2008 09:31 to the problem "Errors On Setup With PHP 5.2.3" in Get Satisfaction:

Looking at Ryan's blog and the install instructions file that came in the TAR it looks like there are a number of other items that I need to download and install (Smarty, HTTP_request PEAR library) a I'll have to set up a second MySQL database for Smarty. Since I was going to test this on a shared-server hosting plan, I don't seem to have access to the PHP includes library and INI file. Blech! Benefit/Effort ratio has decreased to the point that I'll leave this for the early adapters. A cool feature that would lead to more widespread adoption of your helpcenter would be providing the ability to just plug some HTML code onto a WebPage to access the HelpCenter portal hosted on GetSatisfaction.com.

Paul C. Easton replied on May 30, 2008 07:45 to the problem "Errors On Setup With PHP 5.2.3" in Get Satisfaction:

Hmmm...it seems like I have to install another application called SMARTY and I don't seem to have access to the PHP library location...I'll have to check with tech. I suppose this thing won't work without SMARTY.

Paul C. Easton replied on May 30, 2008 07:37 to the problem "Errors On Setup With PHP 5.2.3" in Get Satisfaction:

I made Ryan's changes and no longer get an error message, but it only returns a blank page with the URS: .../helpcenter/admin-findsite.php

Paul C. Easton shared an idea in Get Satisfaction on May 29, 2008 03:16:

How about an on-line user manual (wiki)?

It would be helpful to have step by step installation instructions for this on-line, preferably in Wiki format, so that users could post problems and solutions related to their specific configurations.

Paul C. Easton replied on May 29, 2008 03:07 to the problem "Errors On Setup With PHP 5.2.3" in Get Satisfaction:

Same error on PAIR NETWORKS.