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MobiPocket Support (or lack therof)


Jeremy

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To make matters worse, this seems like a play to put pressure on Mobipocket to play nice with geocaching.com. All well in good in business, but mobi pocket is not going to feel this pain nearly as much as I am. I usually mind my own business and do not get involved in the under belly of this "geocaching.com" but this is not good. really really not good.

Thanks for the chuckle; I love reading conspiracy theories. How is Mobipocket's abandonment of their product's customer support get turned into a "play" by Geocaching.com?

 

This is nothing new, and nothing we weren't warned about. See this old post from Jeremy, which put the writing on the wall.

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Isn't mobipocket currently down?? I've heard from multiple sources that mobipocket is down and has been for about 1 week. Is this not possibly the reason that the option is no longer available and that this is a temporary thing??

 

Nope. Mobi is up and running. Was there just a minute ago.

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yeah, mobipocket was down "for maintenance" for about a week due to severe server problems (here's a link to the story; sorry, german only).

 

anyway, i'm running pocket queries in the first place because i'm too lazy to process 400+ caches by hand, so i really do not want to add another piece of software to manually pre-process the cache information from the gpx file before i can use it on my pda. i had a script processing all my queries so i would be ready for action with a single double-click, but without ebooks that's pretty useless right now.

 

@jeremy: why can't Groundspeak provide the ebooks in html format? if the mobipocket reader can be installed on a device, the same device can probably display html. it can't be so much trouble for Groundspeak to re-route the pocket query output to a simple text file instead of a prc-generator, plus you guys would save the money for a new ebook generator.

 

imho the mobipocket books weren't that great anyway: images were missing, character encoding was sometimes messed up, the index was not necessary thanks to the search function (works better for a 400+ cache query), text was still html formatted (giant headers are pretty useless on the small display), hints are at the end of the book, and the reader ate quite some resources on the pda... it's time for something new.

Edited by neutron80k
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So does anyone know how to export the queries as HTML? I would love to try it. :D

GSAK will do it. File --> Export --> HTML files

 

Thank you -- and I am suspicious that we are all pawns in a powerplay between gc.com and mobipocket... I mean if we can albeit sloppily make our own ebooks --- couldn't some programmers write some interface program to work with the system? Or maybe there is a fee that needs to be paid to mobipocket for the use of their software...

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So does anyone know how to export the queries as HTML? I would love to try it. :D

GSAK will do it. File --> Export --> HTML files

 

Hi -- when I exported the query, there are separate Html folder, did you have to import them into ebook format one at a time? or is there a way to import the entire Html folder? The usual keystrokes for importing multiple files doesn't seem to work for me.... at this point I am intrigued solving the puzzle... :tongue:

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Someone pointed me to GPXSpinner. It will take your Pocket Query GPX file (using your PC) and create a folder with an html index and a webpage for all the caches in the GPX. I then copied the folder to my Nokia 770 and use the web browser to read them. Not as fun as getting an email with a book, but it seems to work so far.

 

http://www.gpxspinner.com/

Edited by grimp
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What about Adobe Acrobat eBooks? PDFs would be more universal.

 

Yes, .pdf files would be great. Even a simple text file would be good. Most Palm OS devices come with Documents To Go,which will support .pdf, .txt, and Microsoft Word files.

 

There are similar applications for Pocket PC and Blackberry.

 

Any of these formats would be useful.

 

Dave_W6DPS

Edited by Dave_W6DPS
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As the weekend wears on, the angrier I find myself. :tongue:

 

Let me see...$30.00 per Premium membership, per year with, what, 100,000 plus, Premium members, equals a lot of dough! And now, Groundspeak can't run old software with a new computer?!? What is it? A TRS-80? :D

 

How about cutting loose with some of the dough and hiring a few programmers to write your own program!

 

And another thing, Palm users...we get it that there are 'work arounds' for the Palm. Now, start talking about 'work arounds' for the BlackBerry! I see none mentioned above. :unsure:

 

Expect me to get more frustrated as my Pocket Queries get staler and staler! :huh:

 

Why can't GC.com use the Mobipocket creator to make the PQ? Here I am trying to figure it out and they should be the ones doing it. I'm with you all, this is why I became a premium member. I used to try to read about the cach on my palm750 internet server, but it was to slow, when you want a fast grad & dash. SO I paid my $30, got a PQ & loved it. Going to HI on vac. & really wanted a PQ & I get the reply there isn't any more. We are all paying and they can't figure a better why to do things???? As my travel date gets closer, the hotter I'm getting.

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Wow, with all this angst over this, I'm sure glad I found Cachemate from the very beginning. I do feel sorry for those of you whose PDAs do not support either the Palm or PPC version of that very nice little program.

 

That said, I thought I would direct you to a couple of posts from another thread where people have found alternatives and seem to be happy. :tongue:

 

Linky 1

 

Linky 2

 

Change can be a good thing . . . :D

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After working on this problem today --- I was able to make the switch to GPSsonar and use a combination of GSAK on my computer and sonar on my iPAQ handheld (windows based). It just occured to me that it is possible on the user end to downloacd the Mobipocket creator file and create our own ebooks. Creator can make ebooks from the HTML files. What I don't know is how to export the pocket query as an html file.

 

btw: Creator is a free download from the MobiPocket website.

 

So does anyone know how to export the queries as HTML? I would love to try it. :anitongue:

Good idea - and this works, but it is sloppy. The end result is useful, but not as good as what we were getting. :anitongue:

 

Mobipocket will not work in Vista's Internet Explorer unless you use a late version Beta edition according to their web site;

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If you are an eBook user and wish to email MobiPocket, feel free. Also I would appreciate any help in directing eBook users to alternative ways of putting their GPX files in a good reader replacement for eBook.

 

I think I can whip out a web page with the ability to upload your .loc file and download a pdf. Would this be worth the effort? Can the MobiPocket users handle PDFs?

 

Tim

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Unless anybody has any other ways of doing paperless caching with a Windows Mobile PDA ? If you do, please help.

GPXsonar. Works great on my iPAQ PDA. Just download a GPX file into the PDA and open it with GPXsonar, and you've got the cache pages (sans pictures), hints, ability to add field notes, etc.

 

I never even heard of MobiPocket before this; everyone I know with a Windows PDA uses GPXsonar and loves it (and it's free). And all my Palm PDA friends have CacheMate. Don't know any Blackberry cachers, so can't help there.

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:anitongue: I am also very unhappy with Groundspeak on discontining MobiPocket format. I just wasted about $400 on a new Mio P550 PDA and accessories. Thanks alot for the forwarning. I upgraded to the premium membership so I could use this feature. So much for that brillant idea!! Somebody needs to get off their butt and fix the problem!

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Need some help and suggestions. I tried reading thru the posts to make some sense of what I could do but I'm struggling I'm also now stressed. I ran a few PQ's to refresh and thought I did something wrong when I didn't see the PRC files. The Mobireader has been working very nice for me. I used it with my Laptop to to do paperless with my Dell Axim Pocket PC. I then loaded the GPX files to my Garmin GPSr using Easy GPS. The operating system on my computer is Windows XP. I finally was getting good with that combination of technology. So the million dollar question? What can I do to get the same experiance. I don't care about the cost, if anyone can offer some easy to understand advice, I'd surely appreciate learning what my options are. I do have an old Palm M515 laying around that I suppose I could use but even that, I haven't used for years, would that even work with Windows XP? The point is, perhaps I need to scrap everything and start over but I have no idea what that means. I'm willing to bag the Easy GPS and do another whole set up if need be.

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Let Mobipocket know you are frustrated.

 

I did a search for geocache on their support forums and this one came up. Mobipocket Geocaching.com Forum

 

Go there now and complain loudly! We still may get this to work. I have a PPC but I gave it up to carry less equipment around my belt. I don't want to look like I am wearing a Batman Utility belt. GPS, BlackBerry, PDA, iPod, Camera. One less tool please!

 

B0006M1AMY.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

 

So far they only have 7 posts. With so little complaints why would they want to work with GC.com?

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As the weekend wears on, the angrier I find myself. :)

 

Let me see...$30.00 per Premium membership, per year with, what, 100,000 plus, Premium members, equals a lot of dough! And now, Groundspeak can't run old software with a new computer?!? What is it? A TRS-80? :)

 

How about cutting loose with some of the dough and hiring a few programmers to write your own program!

 

And another thing, Palm users...we get it that there are 'work arounds' for the Palm. Now, start talking about 'work arounds' for the BlackBerry! I see none mentioned above. B)

 

Expect me to get more frustrated as my Pocket Queries get staler and staler! :)

 

I've got a Blackberry as well, and I have downloaded the Mobipocket Creator, which is free to use and doesn't cost anything. I would be fine with a link accompanying my Pocket Queries that led me to an HTML page where I could just import the HTML into my copy of Mobipocket creator and create my own Mobi files. GC.com already can do this otherwise how did you guys create Mobipocket files? If you won't do it, let your users do it on their own.

 

Thanks!

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... GC.com already can do this otherwise how did you guys create Mobipocket files? If you won't do it, let your users do it on their own.

 

Thanks!

Can you automate your way of doing it? GC.com would have to do this by hand for each Mobi query if they don't have the software to automate the process.

 

Now if you were a platinum member, someone at Groundspeak would be happy to do this for you whenever you call the service desk.

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If you are an eBook user and wish to email MobiPocket, feel free. Also I would appreciate any help in directing eBook users to alternative ways of putting their GPX files in a good reader replacement for eBook.

 

I think I can whip out a web page with the ability to upload your .loc file and download a pdf. Would this be worth the effort? Can the MobiPocket users handle PDFs?

 

Tim

 

Yes. Mobi Creator will convert a pdf to an ebook.

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I'm pretty miffed about the loss of the ebook files as well. To repeat previous posts, a prime reason for upgrading to the premium membership is for the features provided. Now, I get less features for the same price of membership. And I'm being told that the workaround is to go and spend even more money and go through several extra steps to generate the mobile file myself.

 

Reduction in services provided = reduction/rebate for fees charged and paid for said services.

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Procedure: Create Mobipocket Document Manually

 

1) Download PQ ZIP file from your email, unzip it, place all GPX files someplace handy.

2) Download and install GPXSpinner

3) Download and install Mobipocket Creator (Home Edition)

4) Download Tidy-Win32

5) Copy GPX files from GC.COM to c:\program files\Spinner

6) Run GPXSpinner

7) Toss away useless extra GPX files that Spinner makes, you are after a subdirectory called "cache" in c:\program files\Spinner. Move that folder to your desktop.

8) Copy tidy.exe into the cache folder

9) Start, Run, CMD. CD to the cache folder on your desktop, then run tidy -utf8 -m *.htm

10) Delete tidy.exe from the cache folder

11) Open up Mobi Creator, create a new publication, give it a name, highlight all the files in the cache folder, add them to your publication.

12) For the cover art, there are a lot of geocaching images in the cache folder, select one, click update.

13) Build - the end product ends up in your Mobipocket Reader.

Edited by bluedepth
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... GC.com already can do this otherwise how did you guys create Mobipocket files? If you won't do it, let your users do it on their own.

 

Thanks!

Can you automate your way of doing it? GC.com would have to do this by hand for each Mobi query if they don't have the software to automate the process.

 

Now if you were a platinum member, someone at Groundspeak would be happy to do this for you whenever you call the service desk.

 

No automation, it's all manual, but dammit, it's an at-most-7-minute task for the weekly joy of having everything back in Mobi, including stuff you can't get via WAP, like cache size. =twitch= :)

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I found this on the GSAK "Support" forum.

 

Following on from Clyde's post, here's macro code that gets a file directory. In this case it returns a list of all .dat files in the directory $datafilepath in the variable $DirList but is a fairly generic routine.

 

 

CODE

$DirFile= $datafilepath + "\Dir.txt"

$FileMask = $datafilepath + "\*.dat"

$BatFile = $_Install + "\babel.bat"

$result = "dir " + Quote($FileMask) + " /b /o:n >" + Quote($DirFile)

$result = PutFile($BatFile, $result)

FILEOPEN File="$BatFile" Wait=yes

$DirList= Getfile($DirFile)

 

I have started using GSAK but I don't want to go back to University to become a computer Programmer. If someone out there makes a piece of software that will convert GSAK records to be readable on a BlackBerry I would give you a dollar...a CANADIAN dollar!!!!! Until then I wonder if someone knows a simple way to import 500+ HTML files into eBook. So far it is only possible one record at a time.

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FYI PDF files on a PDA usually suck - the views available are terrible for reading on the move when there is a lot of data to plough through. A text or html file would be better.

 

Surely with a little bit of thought GC.com can come up with an html output for the pocket queries?

 

Anyway, apart from that I tried somebody's suggestion for the pocket pc, GPXview. It seems to work pretty well actually, so maybe people with ppc's should give that a go and then see if they need to complain further.

 

On the up side, I can uninstall Mobipocket from my ppc now. I only ever used it for this and frankly it wasn't great!

 

I'll have another look at cachemate, but I didn't like it the first time I looked. GPXSonar seemed pretty buggy, but I suppose I'll have a look at that too.

 

For the actual navigation if you're using your ppc as a gpsr (I use an ipaq hw6915) I like Navio (http://www.tinystocks.com). It doesn't show much in the way of info, but it will run as a today plugin, and has a nice large compass and plenty of sat info. If you can work out how to get the scale right it will take a gif and use it as a map, which is nice (but I confess I haven't bothered working out the scaling!)

 

I wasn't too pleased initially to see the back of the book, but you know what, the more I look at the other tools available to work with, the less I see the need for it. That said, I still think the html output from the PQs could be useful for people, and would be pretty universal....

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Chiming in on this because I feel like Groundspeak deserves a little support on what they do well. Please accept our appology in advance if this reply is not perfectly on-point, but first off, it's not at all surprising that a format like 'ebook' (whatever application software) is going the way of the dinosaur, for whatever reason. I never liked the sluggish PPC interface anyway. This software antiquation problem is nothing new across the industry spectrum. What is really the truth here is that the .gpx format is as comprehensive a proprietary format can be, in my humble opinion. We're using BeeLineGPS and GPXSonar on the Pocket PC importing the same PQ data and it's truly excellent. Our hardware, actually given to us by HP is the Ipaq H6315; the first really do-it-all in-one device. For about five years now, this thing's got Bluetooth GPS integration with the address book, IE and cell phone. The constant reinvention of the wheel is something I'm sure we all wonder about, but it's probably a fact-of-life there's nothing consumer-level users can do a darn thing about! That is our two cents for now.

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Surely with a little bit of thought GC.com can come up with an html output for the pocket queries?

 

That's a joke, right?

 

HTML output for PQs has been available for several years now. For free. Platform-neutral, too. GPX Spinner does it, as does my own little utility, GPX2HTML.

 

Mobipocket was a terrible, terrible program. Only reason Groundspeak used it is that it was the only platform-neutral ebook format out there at the time. We are well rid of it.

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No, that's not a joke. When I build a PQ I get two options for the output - GPX or LOC. There is no html option there. What you are talking about is a manual conversion. What I am talking about is adding the option to the PQ as a replacement for the ebook output.

 

Seeing as you're so smart, maybe you could program it instead of sniping at the rest of us who are making suggestions?

 

And GPXSpinner is not platform neutral as you say - its a windows program. Very useful for mac users or those of us who download the PQ output directly to our PDAs from the email.

 

Surely with a little bit of thought GC.com can come up with an html output for the pocket queries?

 

That's a joke, right?

 

HTML output for PQs has been available for several years now. For free. Platform-neutral, too. GPX Spinner does it, as does my own little utility, GPX2HTML.

 

Mobipocket was a terrible, terrible program. Only reason Groundspeak used it is that it was the only platform-neutral ebook format out there at the time. We are well rid of it.

Edited by Reverend Mark
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Hope y'all enjoy the Mobi goodness *despite* Groundspeak Mobi. Remember, if you want something done right, do it yourself.

I corrected that for you. Remember, Mobi changed things, not Groundspeak.

 

Surely with a little bit of thought GC.com can come up with an html output for the pocket queries?

 

That's a joke, right?

 

HTML output for PQs has been available for several years now. For free. Platform-neutral, too. GPX Spinner does it, as does my own little utility, GPX2HTML.

 

Mobipocket was a terrible, terrible program. Only reason Groundspeak used it is that it was the only platform-neutral ebook format out there at the time. We are well rid of it.

Amen. I've used both GPX2HTML and GPXSpinner. When Mobi crashed on me year ago and ate the file once at the beginning of a caching day, I realized quickly that I needed a reliable alternative.

 

There are many out there that do a far better job and are much easier to use that the "procedure" suggested by bluedepth. In fact, if you took as much time to research the "useless extra GPX files that Spinner makes", you would see that proper usage of that file makes it exceptionally useful. For Windows and Palm users, all you have to do is get Sunrise XP to sync the Spinner created HTML files to your handheld device, and the program works with Windows, Linux and Mac OS X. I can sync a file to my Palm in 5 -10 minutes. I also don't have to jump through all of the hoops described in the "procedure" outline above.

 

1. Download your GPX file to a folder, open that folder.

2. Drag the GPX file to the GPX Spinner file on your desktop. The program runs automatically.

3. Point Sunrise XP to the "index.html" file in the "cache" folder that GPX Spinner creates and click the update button.

4. Sync your Palm device and upload the GPX file to your GPS.

5. Go geocaching.

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Seeing as you're so smart, maybe you could program it instead of sniping at the rest of us who are making suggestions?

That comment is uncalled for. Who is sniping? (Need a mirror?)

I saw his suggestions. He gave two. He never said he was giving ALL solutions, but rather that they are out there and this issue is a really old one.

 

Frankly, I would rather see the site administrators continue to work on performance issues for ALL of us rather than try to focus on issues for a small subset of users (Mac users) at this time.

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I have found a couple of alternatives that will work fine using html output that I can then copy to my Nokia 770. Still having the results magically come to my device via and email was nice. I could find a wifi hot spot and create a query then pick it up via email. Unfortunately for me I have found nothing that can do the conversion directly on my device yet. Still looking around though. The device runs a form of Debian Linux so I maybe able to find an app that will run on it.

Still would be nice to say get the html output via email without having to use my PC to convert.

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We are really dissappointed to here this news! For us as well eBook support was the reason for Premium Membership.

 

We are using a Symbian device and all quick fixes like HTML or PDFs are troublesome and have downfalls. For example when opening HTML pages the browser (at least with Nokia N73) wants to connect to the internet! And there's no way adding e.g. highlights to mark visited caches to HTML documents. PDFs on the other hand can become enourmous in kilobytes wise.

 

By the way, GPX2HTML would be so much better if it could make one single HTML file..!

 

Has anyone tried this with Symbian:

 

http://www.smartcaching.de/smartgpx.html

Edited by Murre&Mirre
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Has anyone tried this with Symbian:

 

http://www.smartcaching.de/smartgpx.html

 

Quoting myself :rolleyes: ... But I'm actually very happy now that eBook support is gone, because SmartGPX is AWESOME!!!! It's really super and I strongly encourage everyone with one of these devices to try it out:

 

- S60 2nd (Nokia 6680, N70 etc.)

- 3rd edition (N73, N80, E61, N95 etc.) and

- Series 80 (Nokia Communicator 9500, 9300/9300i)

- UIQ3 (Sony Ericsson P990i, M600i, W960i, Motorola MOTORIZR Z8)

Edited by Murre&Mirre
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Hope y'all enjoy the Mobi goodness *despite* Groundspeak Mobi. Remember, if you want something done right, do it yourself.

I corrected that for you. Remember, Mobi changed things, not Groundspeak.

 

Eh, I don't really care one way or the other to be truthful about it, all I know is that the primary reason why I purchased a premium membership evaporated before my eyes without a single advisory email from Groundspeak about the loss of functionality, about what their plans were to restore function, or even just a wee note of apology. The only thing I noticed was a lack of the usual ebook files in my weekly PQ's, I went to the site, edited a PQ and noticed that the ebook feature wasn't a part of the website PQ submission form anymore. When I went and searched the forums I discovered that first post from Groundspeak. What irks me most is the lack of communication - if I were a hum-drum non-paying member I would expect a cold-shoulder treatment, but for one that paid, a small one-off email is not difficult to write or send. In the end it's just a lesson as to what one can expect from Groundspeak, and I'm sorry for my earlier erroneous assumption that when you advertise a particular something, and when that something stops working, that you inform your customers so they don't become upset.

 

All any of us have to go on is that a hardware failure led to the machine that made PQ's to stop working. It is far too absurd to think that nobody at Groundspeak was actively backing up said systems regularly and that replacement hardware and a restore from backups would have led to a short interruption in service, not the outright cancellation of service. And it's cancellation because Groundspeak hasn't made one single peep as to what their plans might be to return functionality that we paid for. So because we don't know what is going on behind the scenes we do what we have to, to do manually what we paid $30 a year to have done for us automatically. Did Mobi fail or did Groundspeak? Who had the failed hardware and no backups?

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Did you read the first post in this topic?

 

Nothing has changed for me functionality wise, so there are no issues for me. I realized years ago that Mobipocket stinks and found better, much more efficient and much more stable programs.

 

I am curious if you are still running Windows 1.0? Hardly. Upgrades happen. That is a fact of life. I am curious if you are still using the very first computer you bought every day as your primary system? I'm betting no (I personally have three desktops {one is Win 95 and does still work, barely}, two laptops and a third dead laptop). Computers fail. That is a fact of life. In the world of computers, you must learn to adapt. As a network administrator (according to your profile), I would sincerely hope you would know this. If my Win 95 computer fails, am I going to try to fix it or buy a new one. Well duh! It didn't even have to fail to make me want to buy a new one. Do I want to try to fix a PII 333Mhz computer? No way. I'll stick to my AMD Dual Core Processor 2 Gig machine, thank you.

 

Groundspeak or Mobi's fault?

Well way back when we started building Pocket Queries we found MobiPocket - then a very small site - and started using their publishing software to make the files. Unfortunately since then they no longer release their publishing software so we can build the eBooks on the fly.

 

<snip>Over the years I have posted in MobiPocket's forums and tried to find an email address for their support and came up empty or they simply state that they no longer provide the components I need to build the eBook files.

Rather than throw Groundspeak under the bus for not fixing an old machine, why not ask Mobi why they won't release the software or won't assist those that want to use their software. It seems pretty obvious that Mobi is the problem here.

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I am curious if you are still running Windows 1.0? Hardly. Upgrades happen. That is a fact of life. I am curious if you are still using the very first computer you bought every day as your primary system? I'm betting no (I personally have three desktops {one is Win 95 and does still work, barely}, two laptops and a third dead laptop). Computers fail. That is a fact of life. In the world of computers, you must learn to adapt. As a network administrator (according to your profile), I would sincerely hope you would know this. If my Win 95 computer fails, am I going to try to fix it or buy a new one. Well duh! It didn't even have to fail to make me want to buy a new one. Do I want to try to fix a PII 333Mhz computer? No way. I'll stick to my AMD Dual Core Processor 2 Gig machine, thank you.

 

Groundspeak or Mobi's fault?

Well way back when we started building Pocket Queries we found MobiPocket - then a very small site - and started using their publishing software to make the files. Unfortunately since then they no longer release their publishing software so we can build the eBooks on the fly.

 

<snip>Over the years I have posted in MobiPocket's forums and tried to find an email address for their support and came up empty or they simply state that they no longer provide the components I need to build the eBook files.

Rather than throw Groundspeak under the bus for not fixing an old machine, why not ask Mobi why they won't release the software or won't assist those that want to use their software. It seems pretty obvious that Mobi is the problem here.

 

Legacy software that is no longer published only is a requirement if you've based a part of your business model off of it. For years I had to shoehorn a very old dBase IV-based database to run on Windows 3.1, then Windows 95, then Windows ME, and then Windows 2000. Often times you have to deal with what you have and not with what you want. Groundspeak offered a service based on what they had and accepted cash as part of a customer/provider agreement - if they had doubts on their legacy systems that should have been made clear before we engaged in commerce, but they elected not to. In this case, they had a machine that worked well, they also had the software. If they took proper backups there should be no reason why they cannot provide the functionality once again. Of course, I say this under the assumption that their PQ machine was not an IBM AS/400 or something equvalently proprietary or ancient. If the PQ server was using MFM or RLL hard drives, an old ISA-type motherboard, or processors from Motoroloa or IBM I could cut them some slack, but if it's EIDE, PCI, or Intel I hate to say it but without some type of really extenuating circumstances any hardware like this can be kept alive - it's just a matter of willpower and finding spare parts.

 

If Groundspeak has backups then they have the software, by claiming they don't have the software now either means their backups were invalid or they weren't making any in the first place. I simply cannot accept that Groundspeak doesn't make backups, but since nobody from Groundspeak has mentioned anything beyond the first post, who's to know? Eventually all those people bellyaching about it not working on device A, B, or C will grow tired and give up barking for something to happen and we'll roll over and accept it. I certainly hope that the next value-added perk they trot out to get us all to pony up for the next $30 membership doesn't just fade away like this one did. But if that does happen, at least we can't be surprised anymore.

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You keep going back to "backups". Let me go back to the very first post in this topic again.

Our old Pocket Query Generator machine has finally kicked the bucket. We may be able to revive it from the dead but the new frankenputer will most likely not support MobiPocket eBook files.

I am sure they have backups, sure. He said that they most likely will not work on the new machine though. He said they may be able to revive the computer from the dead, but I would think that it would be a misuse of time to try to revive outdated equipment. Time to move forward. Bigger, faster machines -- more efficient and more stable programs for utilization of GPX files. Sounds like a positive direction to me really. The positives outweigh the negatives to me.

 

For example, I have software that works on my Win 95 machine. Both the machine and the software work, so I have not upgraded to anything new. If my Win 95 machine dies though, I will have to go to a new company for one of the programs I use on that machine because that company has been bought out by someone else. It won't run on anything but a Win 95 machine. Am I going to blame Gateway since their machine died? Nope. As I said, in the age of computers, if you are not ready to adapt to changes, expect to be left in the dust.

 

The funny thing about your post is that you blame Groundspeak for Mobipocket's lack of support to help Groundspeak. If you could provide some guidance to help the situation, then Groundspeak would take it. He said that in the first post. You act like Groundspeak isn't doing anything. They have. As Jeremy said, feel free to email them. I hope you can get them to respond for the benefit of those users here who want the Mobi product to work.

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Seeing as you're so smart, maybe you could program it instead of sniping at the rest of us who are making suggestions?

I already did. Feel free to get my GPX2HTML program, which is written in Perl and turns a GPX file into a set of HTML files. It's free and platform neutral.

 

And GPXSpinner is not platform neutral as you say - its a windows program. Very useful for mac users or those of us who download the PQ output directly to our PDAs from the email.

GPX Spinner is written in Perl, and I believe you can still get that.

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I had two observations. The first is, whenever fizzymagic and Signal the Frog's cheerleader squad are in harmonious agreement about something, there is very likely a kernel of truth to what they are saying.

 

Second, from reading the continuing posts about how this was all done without notice and as some sort of a cruel joke by Groundspeak, I fear that few of the disappointed Mobi users took the time to follow the link in my prior post. So, I am copying the linked post here in its entirety. This is what Jeremy had to say about Mobipocket more than a year ago:

The Mobipocket eBook builder is honestly on its last legs, and for some reason cannot process certain cache listings - as far as we can see. Since the generator works as an unknown black box, and Mobipocket's customer service has been nonexistent, and the fact that they no longer distribute updated versions that we can use to generate eBooks on the fly, it's unsolvable for us.

 

{snip}

 

Honestly, the eBook generator was the first thing we created until we adopted GPX, which is a far more flexible tool for geocaching. I would suggest working with the various free applications out there to do what you need. Eventually we'll have to retire the Mobipocket beast since it is so poorly unsupported which makes me kinda sad. However we'll continue to look for new formats which could work as well, like mobile PDFs.

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Can you describe how you use these two. I have just started using both. I gave Cachemate a try and don't like it because I like to have multiple databases and can't seem to do that on it. How do you use GSAK to create a Plucker file?

 

Thanks,

Brad

 

Plucker does NOT need GPX Spinner(well not for a pc anyways). I use GSAK with Plucker and it works just fine. I'm on a pc so I'm not sure if GSAK will work on a Mac. Anyone else know?

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Can you describe how you use these two. I have just started using both. I gave Cachemate a try and don't like it because I like to have multiple databases and can't seem to do that on it. How do you use GSAK to create a Plucker file?

The way I do it is as follows:

 

In GSAK, I do a File -> Export -> HTML files

 

Then in Plucker (desktop), I create a new channel, configure it using the 'A local file' option (pointing to the index.htm file created by GSAK in the step above), then I simply update the new channel.

 

There might be a better way, but this has always worked well for me.

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You can create multiple Databases in Cachemate. I do that all the time. I have one for my Finds and when I traveled, I created one for each State I was going to be traveling through.

 

You can also create separate Folders in the Default database if for a day of caching that is more convenient.

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more than a year ago:

 

That's nice, but the pages that describe this service for premium members doesn't mention this. If GC.com knew this more than a year ago they should have clearly stated this... rather then encouraging membership with a tool they didn't plan to support. Knowing this, they should have been seeking an alternate way of following through with this promised service. Either provide what you promise or don't advertise. That is all I ask.

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more than a year ago:

 

That's nice, but the pages that describe this service for premium members doesn't mention this. If GC.com knew this more than a year ago they should have clearly stated this... rather then encouraging membership with a tool they didn't plan to support. Knowing this, they should have been seeking an alternate way of following through with this promised service. Either provide what you promise or don't advertise. That is all I ask.

 

I agree!

 

I joined after 2006 so a small disclaimer stating paperless caching will not be offered indefinitely may have been appreciated. The $30.00 "cache" may still be in my pocket "query".

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Groundspeak removed Mobipocket years ago from the page which described the current premium member features and from the subscription page. Yes, there's one line mentioning Mobi on the "software downloads" page. But the banner ads, promotional pages and forum buzz all tout GPX files as the tool of choice for paperless caching. I must have missed all the hoopla where Mobipocket was being promoted as the reason for buying a premium membership. :ph34r:

 

As former Mobipocket users continue to convert to one of the modern methods for paperless caching, I sincerely hope that they will be happier with the greater flexibility they'll discover. There are plenty of folks ready and willing to help with advice on paperless caching alternatives.

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Jeremy

 

i just downloaded the new Mobipocket Creator 4.2,

try this site

http://www.mobipocket.com/en/DownloadSoft/...loadCreator.asp

 

Hatlat

I followed your link and read the description of that software. I didn't see anything indicating that it can be run from a Web server in the way that geocaching.com needs. It's for personal, manual use only as far as I could tell.

 

--Larry

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