Nokia 5230 and Internet over Bluetooth Software - "Baps"

PROGRESS UPDATE 4 17/03/11:
Work has stopped until I have some significantly free time. HTTP errors and traffic timeouts are causing the main problems and will require a lot more than a few hours of an evening which my other projects take, especially to make it easy for Joe User to install and configure. This is the next project on my todo list but I have a lot of other pressing things I need to deal with over the next 6-8 months. Sorry.
PROGRESS UPDATE 3 27/11/10:
Success! The proxy on both sides is very fast and very minimal. I'm now fixing transfer length issues (HTTP 1.0 support), need to add disconnection protection as well as a decent configuration UI, installer and do some code cleaning and QA. Multiple app connections are possible but data is sent via a single synchronous link to the Baps server (on Windows), i.e. both sides process multiple requests at the same time but data is ordered again for sending between the phone and PC.
PROGRESS UPDATE 2 25/11/10:
End to end transmission is almost complete, I'm having some minor trouble with the data passed back to the phone (and displayed by the proxy on the phone during testing) actually being passed back to the calling app and numerous requests at once going out of sync but this is something I know how to fix :)
PROGRESS UPDATE 19/11/10:
I can now send a single preformatted HTTP request from the phone to the PC and receive a response on the phone (admittedly the reponse is usually a HTTP 301 or 400 error probably caused by incorrect request packet formatting). This is taking longer than I anticipated especially as I have a busy weekend coming up and it is still very much proof of concept (no gui or configuration yet). I'm re-estimating *at least* another 2 weekends.

ORIGINAL TEXT FOLLOWS:
So I've purchased a Nokia 5230 which is a fine touch screen phone and has a built in GPS. The only problem is that it has no WIFI so all net access is charged at premium 3G rates even when I'm at home and have broadband.

I'm now working on a proxy along the lines of the Hiisi Suite and MiniBTProxy called "Baps" (Bluetooth Access Point Service) that will allow an Internet connection over Bluetooth for Nokia mobile phones using Microsoft Windows XP/Vista/7 with a broadband connection.

I've already implemented a simple proxy on Windows and will shortly be adding Bluetooth functionality to it courtesy of the Marge Bluetooth API.

The goals of this mini project are to:

• Make it easy to install (installer and guide).
• Proxy only HTTP (no secure HTTPS connections).
• Support multiple connections (allowing many mobile apps to run at once - a problem for the existing Bluetooth proxies).
• Provide seamless as possible connection restoring functionality in the event of Bluetooth dropout.

Optional long run goals are:

• Improve mobile device compatibility.
• Add Linux server support.
• Improve performance.

As usual source code will also be made available on release sometime before or around the 21st of November.

Not dead (at least not yet).

The blog has been a bit stagnant in recent weeks (I've added a new Mozilla Firefox Persona however!) simply because I've not had the time to do much programming or reviewing. Yeah I know the secret to a successful blog is to update update update but sometimes we all need a holiday.

So what's the plan? Well my work for the Christmas run is still to complete Vampire Castle (it's a cursed project that is draining my life blood).

More usefully I've received some new suggestions for Aerofoil to disable services on the fly (such as the Windows indexing service) so I'm also debating an update to Aerofoil.

I consider emulator writing to be the holy grail of becoming a great programmer so I've been paying a little attention to Imran Nazar's blog on how to write a Gameboy emulator in Javascript. In the long run this could mean I write emulators on many platforms, but I'm not getting ahead of myself yet, especially as I'm still waiting on Imran to document the remaining parts (such as sound) before I really dig in.

Opt out of PayPal Adchoice (UK - untested worldwide)

PalPal's new Novermber 1st policy updates includes marketing policy changes that are very difficult to opt out of.

The full back plot is below but in summary to opt out of Paypal marketing you need to visit the link below and use your Ebay account. Note this probably only works if you are in the UK and I've found no way of doing it with my Paypal account - please comment below if you do. For why it needs an Ebay account read the next section below (I'm assuming you're impatient like me and just want to opt out without faffing).

http://cgi6.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?AdChoiceLandingPage&partner=0


Back Plot:
Paypal's new policy (6 Marketing, Effective Date: Nov 01, 2010) states that to opt out of marketing:

simply indicate your preference by logging into your account and going to the Profile subtab under the My Account tab and adjusting your preferences under Account Information, or by following the directions provided with the communication or advertisement.

If you go to this section on your account you have a number of check boxes such as "Partner/ Third Party Promotions" but don't be misled - there are NONE FOR MARKETING. If you click the link under "Marketing Preferences" instead you'll be taken to an information page and the last expandable section contains instructions to opt out by clicking an about or adchoice links above adverts themselves!
One problem... as far as I can tell Paypal do not have adverts of this nature... Ebay DO! If you're lucky(?) enough to have an Ebay account go to their home page without the Adblock plugin enabled on your web browser and click through from the tiny Adchoice link above any advert. Once you have done this you need to choose the option that is NOT "for this browser" (i.e. the quick, don't want to read, opt out option), instead you will need to log in using your Ebay credentials(!) to opt out of their marketing!!!! Feel free to follow the instructions above but for your convenience/speed I linked the (UK only?) "Adchoice" page directly above.

I can only assume that because Ebay ties your Ebay account with the Paypal account this option affects both accounts (Paypal+Ebay) marketing preferences. If this is not that case or you find out how to do Paypal's drop me a comment.