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Stardate: 20190401.13h18
Location: Employee Lounge
Input Device: Gemini PDA + Jelly Comb folding keyboard
Software: nano
Audio: Brainwave dialed into Creativity Boost
Visual: Mostly empty tables, TV tuned to HGTV channel.
Energy: 75%
Mental: 75%
Emotional state: Chill
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It is lunch time and nobody is around for lunch so I decided
to write more about the Gemini PDA. The device has become my
daily PDA/mobile personal computing device. I really do not
use it for work...I like to keep work and play separate. I
do access it from my work laptop though, but not for work
things. The way I access it is not conventional and similar
to the way I used to access my Nokia N900 when that was my
main device. I basically set up USB ethernet to my work
laptop, which runs Windows 10. The Gemini PDA is tethered to
a Standard USB port with the included USB type A to USB type
C charging/data cable. On the Gemini end, I have Developer
Options enabled in the Settings, along with USB Debugging
mode. Termux is set up with sshd listening on a specified
port for connections. On the windows side, I have Cygwin
installed with Android Platform Tools (adb) so I can connect
to the Gemini via ssh. WiFi is enabled on the Gemini for
Internet access, as needed.
With this configuration, I have access to various command
line tools that I can access from my laptop's Cygwin
terminal. I can also control the Gemini's hardware
(enable/disable Wifi/Bluetooth, raise/lower audio volume,
turn on/off screen, etc.) Most of the time I use it for
remote access to other systems via ssh, like sdf.org.
Since I use a local instance of nextcloudpi at home, I have
my classic PIM stuff (contacts, calendar, tasks, notes, etc.)
synced with the Gemini PDA. PIM applications are a necessity
for my personal stuff and have been using them since the
PalmOS days. Unfortunately, I still think that Palm did a
really good job and have longed to find suitable substitutes
in Android. At least nextcloudpi has enabled me to sync my
data and work with the old and new devices. Ideally, my PIM
would not be on Android and would reside in the command line.
I am still working on finding the right tools for something
like this. There doesn't appear to be any software that I
have found encompasses all of the basic PIM applications
from one command line suite. I should continue researching
my options since something like that would totally rawk! If
GarnetVM (PalmOS) worked in Android, like it did in Maemo on
the N900, I would be set. I wonder if it would be even
possible to have it running on the Gemini PDA since Garnet VM
runs in Maemo (linux.) So for the time being, I'm using
DAVx5(DAVdroid), etar, nextcloud, simpletasks, and Niedermann
Notes for PIM apps.
Another thing that I'm trying to figure out how to do is to
be able to access the Android GUI from a Linux or Windows
workstation. I saw some Android screen mirroring apps, but
not sure if any are good or trustworthy. For the N900, I
basically used VNC, which worked out pretty well. I use
termux, but there are some GUI applicaions that I need to
access that I cannot from Android's file system, which seems
to have strange links and the paths are confusing. Userland
can do VNC and could be an option, but the times that I have
used it, which was just the terminal, it seemed to behave
funny and mess up my network connecctions. I hope the
developers keep working on it. I'd love to use it as my
primary environment on the Gemini (inside Android :/ )
Well, lunch is done, time to go back to work.
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