[NTLK] Delurking and intro

[Warren Ockrassa]

Hi there. First post; just popping up to introduce myself.

Lo these many years ago I had a MP120, but at the time what I really
needed most was a portable computer more than a PDA, so I ended up
selling it. Never felt quite right about that, either.

Thus I acquired an eMate (here now) and a replacement MP120 (yet to
arrive) via the magic of eBay.

I've been poring over the online resources, which was good, because I
knew to ask if the 120 was running 2.0 (it was). I also learned about
the y2010 bug, but my Keyspan adapter hasn't yet arrived, so I can't
put any patches on the eMate yet, and the 120 I ordered is wending its
slow tortuous way from Canada.

The eMate's replacement battery is to be delivered by a similar route,
so I probably won't see that before December - which means that the
eMate stays plugged in for now! Unfortunately the teacher mode was set
on it, and there was no record of the password, so I had to hard reset
it - which nuked Works, as you'd expect, and which I can't install
until the Keyspan adapter arrives, etc etc.

Anyway, this should be an interesting odyssey. I've got some
familiarity with hacking - my first Linux install was Slackware, from
a thick stack of floppies onto a 486 with a whopping 4 MB RAM, and on
which I even got Xwindows running - and in another life I was a
programmer of rich-media (pre-Flash) software.

Are there any particular caveats or warnings anyone can share with me?
Things I need to look out for, a la the
spring-punching-a-hole-in-the-display-ribbon problems with the eMate,
or software gotchas?

A semi-cursory scouring of the online Newton-based resources shows a
disheartening number of dead links, or links to sites that either
aren't maintained any more, or appear to have lost the interest of
their curators. That happens, of course. I've looked over UNNA, found
this listserv (obviously), and visited...

Lake Tahoe Hiking Newton (interesting GPS hack for the 120/130)
newtonsales.com (nice collection of rebuilt 2100s as well as parts and
accessories)
Egg Freckles - both the joke site and the blog
Einstein (the emulator) on Google's code pages
The FAQ on splorp.com
Gem Enterprises (some Newton parts)
Various Apple fora, including the old knowledge base listings
pda-soft.de
The instructions for fixing the eMate spring problem on inventors-emporium.co.uk
myapplenewton.blogspot.com
The Newton Connection page with NCX on it
The Newton meta FAQ at dettmer.maclab.org
Newton Poetry
NewtonMania! at mrollins.com
NuShield (they still make screen protectors or Newtons!)

...anything I've missed in that list?

I'm glad this listserv is around, and that there's still interest in
Newtons in general - I always thought killing it off was a bad
decision on Apple's (Jobs's) part; the Newton idea is a sound one, and
the handwriting recognition wasn't as bad as all that. With any luck
I'll be able to contend with any problems I might run into bringing
the Newtons into the 21st century, but it's good to know there's a
hivemind I can ask irritating questions of, when they arise.

Best regards.

-- 
-- Warren Ockrassa | nightwares.com