Leatherman sheaths (yes, again…)

After my recent trouble with Leatherman Germany which resulted in paying EUR 36 for a new Leatherman Charge TTi, I thought about the need for another multitool sheath. Now, the sheath issue isn’t new to me as I’ve often talked about it here and even on instructables. Leatherman delivers their multitools with different sheath, but they are all not that perfect, especially since some tools also come with a bit set which often doesn’t fit in a sheath along with the tool itself.

So after receiving the Charge TTi with a revised sheath, I decided to buy a Leatherman Molle sheath. MOLLE stands for MOdular Lightweight Load-carrying Equipment and is the “de facto standard for modular tactical gear”. It’s a great system, but since I usually don’t wear any military clothes (nor have a need for that), I was rather interested in the sheath itself and how well it would accommodate the multitool, not really worrying about the MOLLE system that would have to work out on my belt.

The Leathman MOLLE sheath with a Leatherman Charge TTi and the bit kit. And an LED LENSER P2 led torch that won’t fit in there. Bad :-(

Well, it just doesn’t work for me. It has some nice details, but since it’s too small and also doesn’t even fit the tool nor the extra LED torch, it will have to go back on sale via eBay. Ah, it could be worse.

Next up was an advertisement I’d seen via multitool.org – a great forum on multitools and other EDC stuff. It’s amazing to see how much and how often people can talk about these tools, but then – I’ve recently learned that these brands we’re passionate about are called “love brands”. If you like Arsenal or Ferrari F1, then those are your love brands. Mine is Leatherman. Obviously :-)

The Skinth OG

So this ad I’d seen was for a new kind of sheath called “Skinth Solutions“, made by a Canadian designer/photographer who’s also into multitools. I saw it and instantly fell in love with it. Given that I had already invested so much time and money into this hobby of mine (~ creating sheaths for tools), I knew I had to order mine from Canada – and just did that. It’s expensive (for me in .DE), it’s simple, it just works, it wins.

I later on realized that the Skinth had also been developed in close collaboration with other multitool.org users. It’s a crowdsourced product, somehow. Made by someone who cares and had MY tool in mind when he created the product.

The Skinth OG isn’t perfect, it still has some issues, but it’s what Leatherman should have come up with in the first place.

The issue I am currently experiencing is that the torch doesn’t fit – and a few days after ordering mine, the Skinth Sparton OG came out which looks like the ultimate sheath Skinth to me. Hmmm…..

In terms of overall height – which is the most important criterion I have as most Leatherman sheaths are just too bulky when fully loaded – the Skinth beats all others. It’s even slimmer than my DIY leather sheaths (which aren’t pictured).

Going by the torch issue, I may swap the Skinth OG for a Skinth Spartan OG. The torch just can’t be fully inserted on the Skinth OG and that’s just bad for my needs. It’s too long for the side pockets.

Nevertheless of this issue, the Skinth sheaths (check out their Facebook page!) are still cool. Juli, the social media manager at Leatherman, told me that “sheath are a very personal issue”, which is why they’re having problems creating good sheaths that will please everyone equally. The Skinth collection, however, instantly convinced me. If you’re still searching for a nice sheath for your multitool, then please try them!

Eric, the maker behind the Skinth collection, also just dropped me an e-mail, telling me that there’s a chance to “undo the stitches that pin the pockets down” which will sort-of solve my issue with the current version. I will try that as it seems to be the best solution atm. Thx, Eric!

Edit: this just worked out fine! W000t! :-)

PalmMicro

My recent move to the (Free and Hanseatic City of) Hamburg made me pick up a brand new VoIP telephone via eBay Germany. Just EUR 9 for a factory sealed phone ex 2005 from a clearance sale (TelDaFax!) that only works via LAN and requires a VoIP account – I am using Sipgate which are very reliable in Germany. It also is my office number in Frankfurt, so I like to have this with me and not on a Nokia or Apple device in form of an app as this would only drain the battery. Sipgate is cool, this phone…well, it was cheap.

My previous experience with cheaper VoIP phones is rather bad. I am not talking about USB phones (which would require a computer to be online), btw. If I was in need of a professional version with more than one account, I would probably go for a Grandstream phone (where the cheapest will cost about EUR 50 in Germany). On the other hand – there would be no hacking challenge :-)

A quick search via Google revealed that most of the phones weren’t delivered with this ugly red frame – and I was lucky to receive it in black colour:

The booting telephone…

The pictured Primeworx P100 is the same as the Global IPtel G100, Cistrix CT-100, Siptronic ST-102 and probably some other brands and is based on the PA1688 chip, a low-cost VoIP chip.

It took me several hours / three evenings to eventually debrand the internal firmware and swap it for one of those available online. And since my phone was made in 2005, the website of the distributor is already offline. After some cross-reading here and there, I found this wonderful resource online: PalmMicro – a private site/blog run by a Chinese in the USA who worked in the dev team at PalmMicro/Centrality where they designed the chip, created reference boards and also compiled the firmware. It’s probably as close as you can get to a system – directly talking to former developers who will respond in time – and his blog is also recommendable for the views on hardware development in China and restrictions set by the Great Firewall in China. Reading between the lines, you quickly realize that it’s often just a few smaller companies who create chips and reference boards which are then copied by the industry and sold for a period of a few years. It very much reminds me of the Qualcomm 3G modems we all have in our business laptops with their often undocumented GPS functionality (ask Lenovo, HP, etc.). Anyways. PalmMicro rocks and if you are still in need of recent firmware (as recent as January 2012!) for your cheap VoIP phone, PalmMicro is the place to visit for your Global IPtel G100, Cistrix CT-100, Siptronic ST-102 or Primeworx P100.

AOB:

Many people often ask me, which football team I support. I actually don’t care about football/soccer and am often scared by their aggressive hooligans fans, so this picture of a lighter I bought today should answer all open questions. :-)

Have a nice week!

The good news is that I have a new job in a new town city, the bad news is that the place is so damn expensive that everything I earn will be wasted on a place to sleep as well as on food. The bad news also includes a very low payment. But I chose this path because it helps me shaping my professional profile and interests (which are various).

The other bad-news-good-news-story is a bit more complicated. The recent move to the new place made me pick up my broken Leatherman Charge TTi multitool (yeah, another gadget post – sry, gals :-) and have it sent to Leatherman Germany for a service repair under warranty.

You’ll need to know that Leatherman multitools come with a 25year warranty. Most broken tools will either be repaired or replaced. It’s a great and decent service by a serious company. I love most of their products and am part of the “Leatherheads Anonymous” addicts group on Facebook. These tools turn me on. Geek pr0n, you name it. Needless to say that I do not only have one, but five such multitools. I actually only need one, a working one in good condition, and my Charge TTi urgently needed some professional help.

Some history
Leatherman Inc. recently acquired a majority interest in Zweibrüder Optoelectronics in Solingen/Germany, who are known for their quality LED Lenser flashlights. This obviously happened because consumers who are willing to invest EUR 30 and more on a decent flashlight will probably also go and buy a EUR 100+ multitool. It’s the sales channels they are interesting in, and it’s a smart move.

This development, however, also meant that Leatherman Germany had to pick up the corporate design and philosophy of their US mother – and if you have ever dealt with a German sales person in service, you’ll quickly understand that “good service” in Germany and the USA are two completely different concepts. German “service quality” is about the engineering of the product (and only the product), US “service quality” is more about emotions. You can read up more on this in Clotaire Rapaille’s book on Culture Codes.

Service Quality?
I have no idea when the concept of German accuracy got lost, but what I received in return from Leatherman Germany was just below ANYTHING, below any quality standard ever I’ve come across so far. And what I had to complain about wasn’t some kinky German non-issue (like a scratch or so), but that they had only made the tool worse. Much worse.

There are these security Torx screws on Leatherman multitools, so you just can not mess with it (and it would also void the warranty). What they had done was to unfasten one of the screws which resulted in a wobbly saw blade – and on the other side of the tool the screws were too tight that I couldn’t open all the tools inside the (miss aligned) handles. The multitool was rendered useless – and returned to me in such a state.

This really pissed me off.

I had read so many positive reviews about the Leatherman customer service which made me send in my fifth tool in the first place. After all these years without any troubles, I eventually needed to make use of the warranty service – and then they mess it up.

Markets are conversations.
( – The Cluetrain Manifest, # 1 / 95)

As a result of the failed repair, but more importantly that they had the guts to return the tool in such a state, my trust in the German branch was lost and I decided to report my negative experience on the Facebook wall of Leatherman USA.

I received an instant reply (within five minutes!) from a very kind person at Leatherman USA who a) really took this issue serious, b) apologized on behalf of Leatherman Inc. and c) made sure I receive a brand new tool directly from the factory line.

The story could end here and all would be well, but it unfortunately continues – with some more WTH?!-moments:

The day after that e-mail & Facebook conversation with Leatherman USA, I received a phone call by Leatherman Germany. The guy on the other end of the line – well…. if this was my company, I would send him on a customer training. First of all, he wouldn’t let me explain the situation, then he replied in a snobbish manner and then he tried to bribe me with some “extras”.

Dear Leatherman Germany, please stop the crap next time and just make us have a positive experience when we are in contact with you. And with “we” I am talking about all German customers. The attitude shown during the phone call corresponded well with the delivered repair, to say the least.

He went on explaining that they only recently took over the repair service on behalf of Leatherman (“you were customer number 20…”) and that they still need to learn on how to handle such situations. That’s ok to me, but to be honest: you can not tell your client (who still has a problem which needs to be solved asap!) something like “uhhm, u know we messed up because we’re still not experienced enough…”, even if it’s the truth. “Yes, we have never repaired Ferraris before, but uhm, let us try, it can not to be that hard…” – see? And then of course if you are still inexperienced and I am client number 20, then it MAY be smarter not to repair the knife, but instead give me another one (wouldn’t need to be a new one) or send it to someone who knows what he’s supposed to do.

So after a hefty dispute on the phone (I normally don’t do that, but the guy on the phone was such an arrogant person which prompted me to reply), we settled on him sending me “something small” in return for the expenses I had with Leatherman so far and that I would return my broken Charge TTi a second time for them to see what was wrong.

A few days later on I received a parcel with a) an LED LENSER T7 flashlight (which has a market value of about EUR 30 on eBay) and b) a Leatherman leather sheath for a range of tools I do not own (= useless). Free of charge, a gift from Leatherman Germany for the troubles I had with them. That’s very nice!

The flashlight is nice – a bit too big for me, but the free and unexpected gift is still appreciated. The sheath – well…. it’s useless to me. I’ve put both items on sale at eBay because they are brand new and because I need to cover my expenses.

Expenses? Yes, Leatherman USA, or rather an uncapable UPS courier service, messed it up a second time which resulted in me having to pay another EUR 36 on import taxes for the brand new Charge TTi which came as a replacement. So both sales of the above mentioned “free gifts” will have to cover my costs. Which is ok. It’s extra work, it’s partly my mistake because I accepted the US parcel instead of asking for a duty-free version (and waiting for another week), but in the end I managed to have my Charge TTi exchanged for a working version (my old Charge TTi wasn’t only broken, it also had quality issues ex factory) and paid only a few extra Euros. The money, uh well. Forget about it.

The replacement tool is so much better. I should have requested a replacement for my Charge TTi right from the very start. The Charge TTi line is known for having quality issues, and mine was part of those faulty multitools.

And Leatherman Germany? No response from them whatsoever since receiving the “free gifts”. Not so Leatherman USA who really impressed me with their understanding of quality service and human communication. I hope they will train their German colleagues accordingly.

If there is anything like a silver lining to all of this then it’s probably the insight that good customer service does not depend on a trained concept, but more importantly that it depends on passion.

Passion is the driving force behind a lot of things – and if there’s anything I appreciate in others then it’s their passion for a good cause or good products. It’s so important and clearly shows when it’s absent.

P.S.-1: I take it that the folks of Letherman Germany are passionate about their LED flashlights, because if they act the same way on their flashlights as they did with my Leatherman then we may have a problem…

P.S.-2: Facebook may not be used by everyone, but it’s an interesting marketing instrument and channel for direct interactions with your customers. On the US (=international) Facebook channel of Leatherman they do not only respond in time and very fast, but also deliver follow-ups to problems. They really care. From my .DE point of view, this certainly is a very new experience and highly appreciated.

To all German Leatherman owners who need to make use of the warranty service: viel Erfolg!

click for full view

Back when I was still on Nokia and later on Android phones, a microSD card reader on my keychain was key :-) to what I call data freedom. I also believe that micro SD cards are the best invention after sliced bread and that they should be on all phones and should contain all user data (so that your data is secured in case of a water damage). The lack of microSD card compatibility on my iPhone and iPad is that one thing I dislike about these Apple gadgets.

The readers for these microSD cards are cheap – most of them purchased via eBay in China, about 1-3 EUR each. I’ve meanwhile tested a lot and the ones I’ve kept are shown above. Most readers have a similar PCB layout inside and I wouldn’t be surprised if they are all from the same manufacturer.

Here’s my preliminary rating on these types:

1. conventional USB card reader that also accepts SDHC format. Great, lightweight. I have one in my bag with cables and chargers. ==> A

2. The plastic version: one of the first readers and because of its shape nice for the pocket, but only those from SanDisk rock, the rest (like this one) are cheap Chinese copies that may fail. Also card is unprotected, may come out accidentally. ==> A

3. Small, very small, but the microSD card isn’t secured and mine has a problem as it pushes the PCB further down when the card is inserted which means it won’t fit in the USB port. Also no secured cap which may get lost. ==> B-

4. Flat reader, would be nice if only… the “ear” that holds the cord had less sharp edges. Too fragile for the pocket. ==> B

5. One strange reader, inside like no. 6. The plastic bomber. May break any time and is for the occasional user only who doesn’t mind when other USB ports are getting blocked. ==> C-

6. Not the smallest reader, but one where the SD card is secured by another cover. I’ve been using this one for the past few month. ==> A+

7. My latest purchase – the ear for the cord is inside the frame, rounded edges, still as slim as possible. Not the cheapest (4.5 EUR), but well made and from my favourite company Kingston. The recent purchase of a Kingston microSD card actually made me buy this reader no. 7. because the cards and the reader ARE superior  - at least to the nameless fake quality I usually go for. ==> A+

What kind of USB key do you use? Also one of these microSD cards on a reader? Or the conventional type? Or non at all?

I know it’s strange to write about these 1-3 EUR gadgets because we just get new ones when the old ones stop working, but it’s the details in life that matter and I wouldn’t want to use one of these USB keys that imo aren’t that well designed (they should be much slimmer). Especially if you can have the full USB pleasure with a card and reader that are as big as your thumb – but much slimmer.

A flash-based web-solution to test your webcam.

Mutter: “Was heißt A-Deeh?”
Sohn: “Adeeh (ade) is Schwääbisch und heischt Uff Wiederseen”
Vater & Sohn lachen.
- Familie Heinz Becker

The Candidate

There are quite a few things I dislike about my laptop, but mainly financial reasons and the lack of a much better alternative (suggestions welcome!) make me being stuck with an HP Elitebook 6930p, a laptop that’s most often operated at home on a docking station because of a) a heavy power cord (the cord, not the transformer), b) a CCFL screen (instead of an LED option which would add another 1h of battery runtime), c) an internal 2G/3G/EV-DO modem that will only work in a MS-Windows environment and d) lousy battery runtime of about 2-3h on 4cell battery (I have another travel battery that extends it for a few hours, but also adds weight).

This computer…. I don’t know. Back in the days we used to say: HP = High Price, Huge Problems. The 6930p is quite durable and well built, but the CCFL screen is so 1990s. Brilliant colours vs. battery draining. Uargh…

The Webcam

The webcam on this said laptop has no cover – like many other modern laptops. If you feel being spied on via your webcam, mistrust the LED that’s supposed to show activity on the cam or never pay attention to it anyways, there are simple and professional ways to cover your webcam. I’ve used a piece of a note-it post in the past, others use their beloved duct tape or whatever is around. And then there’s the good solution that will cost you ~ US$ 12 or EUR 15 (even though it’s a German company!). Good but also expensive for a little piece of plastic. For half the price, ok. But 15 EUR is a bit too much.

Time to build my own solution using black cardboad:

It’s cheap, it wins, it works!

The laptop lid also closes without problems. Very nice!

Ich weiß gar nicht, was ihn seinerzeit zum Kauf all dieser verschiedenen Lamy, Cross und Montblanc Kugelschreiber, Drehbleistifte und Füller getrieben hatte – wahrscheinlich die Faszination an der Qualität oder der Bedarf guter Schreibgeräte in der überwiegend geisteswissenschaftlichen Tätigkeit, aber da ich nun doch schon ziemlich nach ihm geraten bin, hatte ich die Anfrage natürlich bejaht und mich dann für einen alten Lamy 2000 entschieden.

Gestern Abend habe ich diesen schönen Kugelschreiber aus den 1970er Jahren dann mal geputzt, mit WD-40 eingeölt und mich bei Lamy nach neuen Mienen und alternativen Schreibgeräten schlau gemacht.

oben: Lamy 2000 // unten: Lamy noto

Beim Durchstöbern der Lamy Website fiel mir dann dieser geniale Lamy noto (Modell 283) ins Auge, der für schlappe 4,95 EUR ein ähnliches Design wie der Lamy 2000 bietet, mit seiner dreieckigen Form wunderbar in der Hand liegt, gerade mal 1g weniger auf die Waage bringt als der Lamy 2000, die gleichen M16 Mienen verwendet und auch sonst irgendwie typisch Lamy durchdacht wirkt.

Ich finde diesen Lamy noto Kugelschreiber so genial, dass ich ihn mir heute umgehend gekauft habe und mir dachte: ok, das muss ich bloggen. Hätte ich vor dem Kauf mal gegoogelt, wäre mir dieser nette Artikel mit Hintergrundinfos aufgefallen, denn der “noto” stammt von einem japanischen Designer namens Naoto Fukasawa und bekam wohl auch schon einen red dot award fürs Produktdesign in 2009.

Beim Thema Lamy erinnere ich mich aber auch an diesen interessanten Artikel aus der BrandEins im Juni 2009, wo es u.a. heißt:

…zur DNS von Lamy gehört, nicht in Billiglohnländer auszuweichen. Man macht fast alles selbst: Gehäuse, Federn, Minen, Tintenpatronen, insgesamt 95 Prozent aller Bauteile. Auch sämtliche Werkzeuge und Spritzgussformen entstehen im eigenen Haus. (….) “Bei uns gilt wirklich noch: made in Germany.”.

Dass es mir bei guten Schreibgeräten aber nicht nur um ein gutes Image geht, zeigt vielleicht auch folgendes Bild meiner derzeit vier favorisierten Schreibgeräte:

Oben die beiden Lamy, darunter in blau ein Pelikan “Pelikano” Schulfüller mit A-Feder (A, wie Anfänger) und ein no-name Werbetintenroller von arte. Der Tintenroller hakt eigentlich, liegt dafür aber wunderbar in der Hand. Tintenroller kann man austauschen, Gehäuse eher weniger.

Der Pelikano Füller mit seiner Kinderfeder Feder für Schreibanfänger ist so ziemlich der genialste Füller, den es gibt. Vor einigen Jahren habe ich auf Anraten einer guten Freundin auf dieses Modell gewechselt und freue mich jedes Mal über die leichte Eleganz, mit der diese extrem rundgefeilte Feder übers Papier gleitet. Diesen Füller kann man eigentlich gar nicht falsch herum halten oder zerschreiben – die Spitze hält vieles aus und schreibt in vielen Positionen, in denen andere Füller eher zickig reagieren.

Das Thema Schreibgeräte ist sicherlich so individuell wie Lieblingsfarben beim Auto, und nicht jeder hat den gleichen Individualisierungsbedarf. Meine Freundin schreibt z.B. sehr gerne mit den billigen BIC Kugelschreibern. Die reichen natürlich zum Schreiben aus, auch wenn ich mit diesen Billigschreibern in Kenia bisher andere Erfahrung gemacht habe (Tinte trocknet schnell aus, egal ob BIC, Speedo, Glider, etc.). Ich würde eigentlich auch niemals auf die Idee kommen, mehr als 40,- EUR für ein Schreibgerät auszugeben, aber hey – wenn man für 4,95 EUR einen qualitativ so hochwertigen Lamy Kugelschreiber bekommt – wieso dann überhaupt mehr ausgeben?

Ich glaube ein Problem ist hier eher, dass die meisten Leute gar kein Geld für einen Kugelschreiber ausgeben, oder bei einem Kauf dann gleich 20-30 & eben mehr Geld ausgeben. Ich glaube viele Leute, die einen Montblanc (Meisterstück) haben oder wünschen, schreiben damit gar nicht soooo gut. Nicht weil das Gerät so schlecht wäre, sondern weil sie so selten dazu kommen und die Tinte nicht immer frisch ist. Vom richtigen Papier ganz zu schweigen (es schreibt sich nicht überall so schön glatt & flüssig).

Für eine ganze tolle Kombination (hey, über 4,95 EUR Kugelschreiber bloggen? Dann aber richtig…) aus Kugelschreibern und Füllern halte ich auch die besseren Tintenroller. Ich habe hier auch noch (neu gekauft) einen Lamy Tintenroller für 6,- EUR, einen 3,- EUR Uni-Ball Gel Impact (Gel Schreiber) sowie einen einfachen 1,- EUR Pelikan Inky. Alle in blau, die Pelikan und Lamy Tintenroller sind sogar mit einem Tintenkiller entfernbar. Das heißt: im Lamy Tintenroller für 6,- EUR steckt genau die gleiche M66 Tintenpatrone drin wie in einem 30,- oder 80,- EUR Lamy Tintenroller.

(…diese indischen Töpfe eignen sich übrigens auch ganz wunderbar als Stiftbehälter aufm Schreibtisch :-)

Bei den vielen Werbekugelschreibern und Tintenrollern, die es da draußen gibt, finde ich es eigentlich erstaunlich, dass gerade dieses 1 bis 10 EUR Segment immer noch so gut abgedeckt wird und es Schreibtechnisch danach keine Steigerung mehr gibt (ausser bei den Füllern vielleicht, und natürlich dem Gehäuse). Oder etwa doch?

All the way from the US to Germany within 7 days. Cool.

I opted for the Kit and bought this directly from LadyAda via her shop @ http://www.adafruit.com because a) I wanted to see how fast this would pass through German customs (well documented on the envelope, btw), b) buying this part by part in Germany is more expensive, c) I wanted to see if the quality of the delivered items is as good as the online tutorial (it is!) and d) – the main reason – it’s very hard to find this (LT1302) IC in Germany & they are often expensive.

There’s an excellent tutorial available online as well as various blog posts that already cover the assembly of this little kit, so I won’t go into detail + it’s really just a few parts that are quickly soldered onto the pcb. After testing the voltage output, I soldered the female USB connector on the pcb and connected my iPhone. And yes, it works! It will probably and hopefully also work with more recent phones, like the iPhone 4 (this is version 3.0 of MintyBoost), but I couldn’t test this.

This post, however, made me remember that my initial plan was to add a little switch and find a better case than the Altoids tin I have (the MintyBoost was designed for the Altoids bubblegum, not the mints)…

…so I am currently searching for a better box, or I’ll take this one and use the extra space to accommodate the cable.

Oh, and about these “1900mAh External Battery Chargers“ with a said output of 5V/800mA – they never worked for me (and mine is just an iPhone 2G & her iPod Touch 1G which are very humble when it comes to charging peculiarities):

I think the MintyBoost kit currently is one of the best systems because it’s not limited to a certain phone like the iPhone, but also supports it and can be modified (even though these portable batteries like the one pictured above or the more expensive ones rated A- on iLounge probably are the more elegant solution).

In any case: thx 2 everyone @ Adafruit Industries for this well-documented kit, the quality of all parts and the quick delivery!

UPDATE:

Well ok, the pics may be a bit too dark, but I managed to install the MintyBoost in a bigger Altoids tin (the ones sold in Germany) and used the extra space for a switch and to accommodate the cable.

The interim Smintyboost solution turned out to be a bit too short, so I went back to the Altoids tin:

Just where would I be without my Leatherman?

Yeah it may still look a bit too jua kali…

The original cable actually fits inside this box with a bit of squeezing, but I’ve also bought this shorter version which should do a better job. Also, with a bigger box there’s enough room for future improvements like a battery mod.

I was looking for a decent cover for my Nokia E72 as the leather pouch it comes shipped with isn’t that great. It opens to the side and is very tight, so you’d have to push the phone inside (with some force) and pull it out (with even more force). Not that smart.

Another reason – and explanation why I went for a cover instead of another pouch/sheath – is that the E72 is rather thin, maybe too thin for a phone. It lacks a rubber back, like the one on the E63 for instance. So any potential cover would have to ensure that the phone gets a better grip on the back side.

I then checked the market and bought a cheap (3€) silicone cover. The one that came delivered wasn’t good at all – the silicone was too stubborn and didn’t even cover all the edges (as pictured above). Such a cheap quality. I threw it away after taking these pictures.

So I kept on looking and stumbled upon this OtterBox Commuter Case. There are almost only positive reviews on the cover online, the people behind OtterBox seem to be innovative and responsive to customer input (they are on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc.) – and such a cover costs around 29 €.

Now, I can probably get two used Nokia 1208 phones for the price of such a cover, and it took me some time to think about this investment. Why should I invest 29 € on a cover that will only add weight to my phone? And it’s a lot of money for “just a cover”…

I am so glad I just bought it in the end. The cover instantly worked for me – it’s such a pleasure to handle the phone now (almost as thick as an E63 now, yay! :-). The OtterBox Commuter really is the BEST phone cover I’ve ever bought for a phone so far, makes so much sense on this particular Nokia phone and I am sure I’ll also never again waste any money on cheaper alternatives that just won’t work.

It also came shipped with a screen protector (sticker), a little card and a cleaning cloth which will help you apply the sticker onto the display. Amazing. I am yet to see something like that (the card) on other – also professional – screen protectors. Sooo… yes, I can only highly recommend the OtterBox Commuter Case to other E72 users.

Everyone who owns a knife probably knows that a dull/blunt knife is almost useless, so there’s a knife sharpening service available in most places like this one we’ve featured over at AfriGadget some time ago.

I also bought one of these rotating grinding stones from Uchumi (ex-supermarket chain in Kenya) many years ago (for Kshs. 265/=, actually) and have also been tempted to get one of these huge sharpening stones / hones for kitchen knives which also sold for something like 70 bob back in the days (they are much more expensive in Europe, btw – even though they are all Made in China). Sharpening a panga (machete) with a rotating grinding stone is “ok” – for kitchen knives the flat grinding stone (~ hone) is the better (and often only) alternative as you want to keep the angle of the edge.

This edge angle actually is the most important part on a knife, I think, at least when it comes to its sharpness.

Cheap and lazy as I am, I have in the past only used sharpening stones and other – cheap – sharpening tools that MAY work for the ordinary kitchen knife, but should NEVER be used on a hunting knife, or – in my case – a multitool.

Arkansas oil-stone

Just in case you didn’t know: the sharpening process itself is a peculiar task on which you’ll find various – dedicated – websites and forums that solely talk about how to best sharpen a knife. As far as I know, using a sharpening stone (with water or oil, sometimes also some polishing paste) is the best way to sharpen a knife. This, however, requires some basic knowledge on steel, how knives are usually made, what kind of steel was used on your knife and how this steel will behave under higher temperatures. Those Japanese kitchen knives (we have one at home from back in the days) for example are very sensitive to higher temperatures above ~ 160°C (of course, again, depending on the steel mixture it is made of), so you absolutely have to make sure the hone is cooled down and soaked in water anyways. The majority of all other knives in our kitchen are Made in Germany, which means they are not as sensitive as the Japanese kitchen knives and also keep their sharpness to some extent. They aren’t as cheaply made as the ones from China as I am yet to see a decent knife from China. My sister actually gave me a set of 5 really good kitchen knives from Zwilling, Germany, as a present during last christmas, and I have to admit that cooking really is a joy with these new knives. Good tools are a blessing!

As mentioned, I am a Multitool guy. I have four Leatherman multitools (the Wave I, Wave II, Charge TTi and a small Squirt P4). You won’t buy these tools for their knives because, well, the steel used on their blades isn’t that great (except for the Charge TTi which comes with an S30V blade).

The blade on my Wave II lasted about four years until it became too dull. Stupid and unknowing as I am, I of course only tried the usual tools (Victorinox Sharpening Pen = horrible, knife sharpener from the kitchen, Arkansas sharpening stone) – thereby killing the edge angle on the knife.

Left with an unability to really sharpen my multitool to a decent level, I brought it to a “professional” shop – a very popular gun & knives shop in Frankfurt downtown. For some unknown reasons, these jerks completely fucked it up, killing the edge angle even more and returning a somehow sharp knife that looked like being sharpened on a high speed sharpening wheel. That’s exactly what I had tried to avoid on my Multitool, so I backed off and told myself: Argh….maybe next time. This was half a year ago.

Ok, so I may be too German on this, but there’s this moment when things just have to be perfect. You either do it right or never. So I ended up buying this GATCO Edgemate Professional Knife Sharpening System for a hefty EUR 47.95 today any idiot like me can use to regain the much needed edge angle on a blade. The guiding rods attached to the hones are inserted into the holes on the clamp and will then glide over the edge at a constant angle. Sounds too complicated? Here’s a video on it…

And you know what? These four different hones on a guidance rod just work and allow you to set an edge angle of 11°, 15°, 19°, 22°, 25° and 30°. There also is a fifth rod for serrated knives – my multitool also has a serrated blade. I’ve been able to restore the angle on my multitool and also sharpened a really dull kitchen knife with great success. I understand that this set isn’t meant to deliver razor blade sharpness (which would probably require another hone with even finer grit and/or paste and some leather) but for everything else – and especially for hunting knives – this set is the best idiot-proof choice. Something like EUR 50 are a lot of money just for sharpening a knife, but I believe that it is well invested money that will enable me to enjoy sharp knives and send all other useless sharpening devices into early retirement.

The blade on my Wave II during the sharpening process. The – still rough – 25° edge angle is already visible (all pics taken with a Nokia N95, btw).

UPDATE: I just received a call by the main Leatherman dealer/importer in Germany who asked about the knife on my Wave II and offered a free sharpening. Amazing! Told them I’d be glad to accept this offer and will send in mine asap the become blunt again.

It’s a rather childish mod/hack that I had done on this outdated PDA way back in 1999 and of which I was reminded just a few minutes ago while googling for a link to this weekend’s AfrikaCamp in Vienna.

Mzeecedric of m.zung.us and I will attend this event and I’ll also try to cover it on my blog if everything works out as planned. I am not expecting too much though, just an open meeting and exchange with interested and active folks in Europe (or let’s say Austria and Germany) who also have some sort of Mal d’Afrique on their agenda or anything else related to this matter.

Coming back to the mod: while googling for the link, I stumbled upon Robert Lender’s website – a fellow blogger who had contacted me way back in 1999 on this hack and had integrated it on his page dedicated to this PDA. I guess I may even have his e-mail somewhere. Ok, now that’s 10 years ago, and if you ask yourself what you did in 1999, you’ll probably say that you’d been online via CompuServe or AOL and probably also hosted your site on Ethan Zuckerman’s Tripod site. Yup. 1999. Long time ago.

This post is dedicated to Robert and it will be especially interesting to see a face behind this contact whose name has been around for such a long time.

The original page on http://kikuyumoja.de/avigo has been offline for quite some time now, but I just copied everything into a PDF.

I btw still have this PDA at home. Compared to my friends who owned stupid Palm PDAs, the Avigo10 was a bit cheaper and not as popular as a Palm Pilot PDA, hence less software being available for this product. It also lacked the marketing backup from TI who quickly dropped this product from their product line for unknown reasons. Kinda sad, especially since this PDA came with a serial connector and could be hooked up to a modem which turned it into a great telnet device among other cool hacks.

Actually, it’s kinda worrying to see that even now in 2009, most mobile devices still lack such basic services (telnet, ssh, etc.) and charge you extra for a comfort we already had in 1999. As for the issue of power consumption, I think that we’ll also need to have a revolution on the energy side: something where we will not only see more efficient and energy-saving devices with smaller CPUs, but instead also devices that generate the energy the moment you need it and thus reduce our needs for stronger batteries.

@T.H.User: FFM, 1999, Nordi, MediaMarkt! Erinnerst Du Dich noch? Das Gerät hatten wir damals zusammen gekauft! :-)

I obviously had to do the same with this lovely little netbook – an Asus eeePC 901 – which I had managed to secure (2nd hand) for a relatively low price via eBay (!) last week and which arrived today.

It comes with WinXP Home edition, Intel Atom 1,6Ghz CPU, 1GB RAM, 12GB SSD HDD (4 GB + 8 GB), an SD card reader (= even more flexiboool memory), Bluetooth (!!!), WiFi b/g/n (!), an 8,9″ matt display, an 1,3mpx webcam and lots of room for future case mods. Oh, and it has a 6cell battery which equals to 5-7h battery runtime. Ain’t that cool?

So….yes, I eventually did it and decided to go for such a tiny 8,9″ netbook. The initial idea was to have a (smaller) 12,1″ notebook for everyday use which would substitute my 15,4″ notebook in the long run. There are in fact quite a few older HP business laptops @ 12,1″ on sale – albeit with a 1024×768 resolution, and if you want to go for a wide-screen 12,1″ @ 1280×800 notebook instead, you’ll really have to cough up more than I am currently able to spend on a new computer + it would be too much “competition” to my existing 15,4″ machine. The other idea was to go for a 10,2″ Samsung NC10 netbook that comes with a much better keyboard than most eeePCs.

Also, since I am still to find THE most perfect syncing solution which keeps all my files on all computers in sync, I realized that all I need for “on the road” is a small, light-weight machine that does basic stuff and actually doesn’t allow me to store too much data on it (as to avoid double files – I like to maintain some discipline on my data).

I disassembled it in order to clean it – the previous owner apparently has a cat – and to fix a few small issues like a faulty key on the keyboard (which is why it was a bit cheaper :-).

Next thing I’ll do is print out my Gadgetimoja logo or even one of those new AfriGadget stickers and “pimp” the cover accordingly. And I’ll also look for an upgrade to the RAM module – 2GB should be much better – and install another OS…

@Ministry-of-Finance: That’s 2kg less to carry! Besides, a man has his needs… :-)

[UPDATE:]

Had to decide between these two versions, so I twitpiced it and came to the conclusion to use the “Kompyuta imara kama tembo” version.

Grafix designers pls beware that my DTP tool here is rather old fashioned, hence it’s not 100% in line. But than – pretty much Kenyan, if I may say so.

Which resulted in the following netbook vanity:

And yes, I know that this is just a beautiful waste of time when you’re actually busy and supposed to do other (more important) work. Sigh.