Sugarglider Palm

2004-06-11T19:59:00.000-07:00

My current Palm GTD implementation

I've read and apply the GTD on year 2000. It 's the very interesting method. At that time, I use to use Stephen Covey method. Both is the path to the some destiny, in my opinion, but GTD focus more on the current action (Botton up) while the other focus on Purpose of life (top down)

I've use GTD for about 1 year when I stop using it and derive my own method that combine both GTD & Covey Method togeher. However, recently I've re-read GTD and find a lot of wisdon that I have miss. I also find a very interesting method to apply GTD on Palm (from a groups about GTD @ yahoo)

Here is my current method(a method dicuss in the group): All my NA are in memo. I've a context category for NAs. I also have a category call REF, which contain all reference materil from url to my car part number. I have one category devoted to my journal & opinion(Where I write this kind of essay/topic/article). I also combine NA and Project together, so that the NA will always be on the first line in memo with my project name.

I'm sorry that I cann't give you more detail on this because I've lost the reference to yahoo groups. Anyways, if you really want to learn in detail the method I'm talking about you could go to the GTD groups at yahoo.

I've use the current method for about a week or two. It's a work-in-progress but look very promising.

2004-05-27T23:32:00.000-07:00

[Software]Desk Accessory

What is DA? DA is Desk Accessory, a type of Palm Application. Most people know that before OS5, there is 2 wellknown type of Palm Application: Real Application, like datebook, Shadowplan, etc and Hack Application, such as popup note, keyboard hack. However, there is, yet, another type of Palm Program, Yes, it is DA. DA is a small application that can be open and run on top of the current application. This make palm loook like a multitasking window. For example, suppose I have a memo about some greate program review. When I read into the middle the article, I find a URL, that I would like to visit when I have complete reading the article. Suppose I use Tasks(todo), I will have to open Task, add new item, then go back to Memo. But with DA, I just highlight the URL, launch ToDoDA (which open it self on top of the Memos), close the DA, and it's done. As you can see, DA is very useful. It works a bit like hack but doesn't cause any reset(in my experience).

To use DA, first, you need a DA Launcher. The one I use is DA Launcher, which work very well, and best of all, it's free. You can download it from PalmGear. Sure, there are many other DA Launcher, but most of them cost some money or doesn't work on OS 5.

The DA that I found very useful and use it daily are daMemoPad and ToDoDA, the former allow you to open a memo window anywhere, the later allow you to create new todo from anywhere. Other DA on my T|E are: AppViewerDA, CallLookupDA, CoolDA, DAice, daTimer, ExpeseReport, MelodyDA and ToUpperDA. Where to get it? Again the easiest way is to type "DA" in the search box at PalmGear.com.

The only bad news that I have for those who interest in DA is that it seems like no one care to develop it anymore. Many link to DA page are broken. Those that is left is generally update before year 2000.

If you read up to this point, I believe that you would agree that DA is very very useful and promissing. If you have any experience, I encourage you to share your valuable experience with us by posting a comment on this article. Thanks in advance.

2004-05-24T21:55:00.000-07:00

From PalmReader to eReader

It begin with the ebook reader from a peanut press then palm bought it and named it Palm Reader. Today, it is call eReader. It 's a palm reader version 5.0. There are a few good improvements:

The most visible things is the icon on the toolbar. It looks nicer, esspecially the note icon. The icon begin just like an ordinary note icon but when there is a note on that page, the icon will be a note with something writing on it.

The most important feature that I long for is "Copy Quote". From now on you can highlight a text and on the pop-up menu select Copy Quote to copy the highlight text on to the clipboard. You can then paste it to the note or paste it anywhere else. I prefer paste it in to my memos, through the help of daMemoPad. This features is so great that from now on I will certainly use less highlight as Copy Quote + daMemoPad is much better.

However, the file manager is still suck. No improvement in this area at all. May be I wish too much. My current method of manage my ebook is by using the file manager(zLauncher file manager).

Let's talk a bit about the new website. It is at http://www.reader.com. The site look O.K. for me, but I think it is a little bit too dark. I prefer the lighter color them (such as the old one). The one point I think it should improve is to show not only the cover & Gerne of the book but also the Title. Otherwise, the visiter have to stare at the monitor to see the title of the book.

At last, the guys at PalmDigitalMedia wake up, still there is a lot of area they have to catch up with others.

2004-05-19T17:51:00.000-07:00

Palm Reader(Pro)

The reason that I bought palm, about 3 years ago, is because I want an eBook reader. At that time in Thailand, there are only 2 alternative, the ebook man or palm. Although ebookman screen is bigger comparing to Palm M105, I select palm because in addition to the ebook capability, it has many other applications.

At first, I use cSpotrun since it's a freeware that have many good features. However, I switch to Palm Reader because it's the only reader capable of reading book from Palm Digital Media(Peanut press). After buying some books & M515, I make a decision to upgreade to PalmReaderPro for the following reasons:
#1. Highlight. I read a lot of about self improvement, so a highlight features is good.
#2. Dictionary. Since English is not my native tongue, a dictionary is a big help.
#3. Color. You can select the color of the highlight. You can also select the background color as well as the font color too.

Did I satisfy with Palm Reader Pro. Not at all. For palm reader, it's ok since it is a freeware, but for Palm Reader Pro which you have to buy, I think the features doesn't justify the price. First of all, the highlight features is suck (sorry for rude word). The highlight is really a note. When you highlight a text, PRP will create a note for that highlight. This is not bad if the real node and the highlight is kept in a separate db. Alas, it is not, so when you open the list of note, you have to figure out by yourself which one is highlight, which one is the real note.

Book management is SUCKER. I have never seen the worse book manager. Delete book, open book, move book is very very difficult. I have suggest the better solution to the guys at palm digital media but they never reply. I really wonder whether these guys have ever try and study the book manager of other reades. Even the freeware ones is much inteligent. Each version of Palm Reader Pro is just a bug fix, no new feature at all.

You may wonder why I still using it. Easy, it's because I had spend a lot of maney on the reader, the book and the dictionary, otherwise I would prefer the one Fictionwise use (MobiPocketReader, capable of reading HTML format while palm reader use it own Palm Mark Up Language). I have no opinion whether Palm Mark Up is good or not, but I think it is wiser to use HTML.

Anyway, if you ask me will I continue using this reader, my answer is, sadly, yes. I hope that, one day, the guy at palmdigital media will wake up and see how the other reader are doing and improve their product. My suggestion for those who have not invest on eBook Reader and want to invest on one to try the service of fictionwise.com first. It's far more better (the reader) and sometime the book is cheaper, although the web interface is a bit cluster.

P.S. I'm not sure whether it has the highlight feature or not.

2004-05-18T23:47:00.000-07:00

Memoleaf once more

I've heard of Memoleaf and have try it a long time ago. At that time, I use memopad to keep only a few memo (less than 100), so I skip the program. Since I'm, now, more rely on Memos, I try it one more time.

Currently I 've about 500 memos on my palm. They are divided into the following categories: *ref, Journal, Project Current, Project Complete, Read & Think, Collection, Developer, Recycle and URL.

I'm now in the process of trying to figure out how to use and apply memoleaf to fit my need. Maybe I will also have to change theway I record thing on my palm.

OK, let us come back to my opinion on Memoleaf. What make it interesting is the ability to search only the first line of memo, call title. For example, you can title your memo like this:" 20040516|PDA| Memeleaf once more". Then when I want to see all of my article related to pda, I can type "|PDA|" in the Key: box, press "look up", and the list will contain only the memo that have "|PDA|" on it first line, COOL.

If on the other hand, I want to see all article that I've written within this month, in the key field I will type: "^200405". The "^" the the memoleaf to search only the line that BEGIN with 200405, so the record with "Work to do on 200405" will be exclude from the list.

The most important thing is the Title. You should plan and set up a set of keywords and rule for creating title before you begin using memoleaf, otherwise the software could not help you much.

I haven't register this product yet because there a few thing that I think need and improvement.
#1. I would like and/or search. It could be great if I can find any memo that begin with "200405" and have somewhere in the title contain "@home" (Yeaaa... GtD here agian)
#2. I want to be able to change the font of the search result list (only the search result, not the memo itself). This is a great thing because it will help me seeing more result as well as seeing more title of each memo.

Since this is my first day on it, I could not say whether this software is great or suit me or not. I will have to try for maybe 2 to 5 days more.

P.S.
For those who want to know about how well is the Palm Wireless Keyboard, I would like to say that it's ok. The Pros are light weight, small, look great. The Cons are difficult to use the special charactor and number key, difficult to remember the green function key and the blue function key (I have problem typing in a dimmly lit room). The difficulty on the button come from the fact that Palm decide to reduce the size of the keyboard by eliminate the number keys. So with its given button, it must be able to type all the missing key. The outcome is some button will have up to 3 functions. For example: If you press "R" button you get r. With a shift, you get "R" (This is normal). With the blue function key, you get "4". And with the green function key, you get "$". Wowww.. Oh one one last thing, It doesn't come with a paper manual. All the manual are PDF.

Enjoy yourself,
Wvit

2004-05-17T18:30:00.000-07:00

Backup and Hard Reset

I don't know what happen to me on the last Sunday, I just want to do a hard reset. So, I back up my data using both pc & card. For card backup, I use the free version of VFS Card Backup. The backup process is fine. After the back up, I do hard reset. *** bang *** everything gone.

At first, I decide to re-install the app manually (not using backup tools) because I want to clean my pda. By manually re-install only the program that I want, I can be certain that there will be no garbage file (the file left when you remove the program). However, after a few app install, I encounter a problem. Since T|E doesn't have a flash rom, I have to re-register for somesoftware (Thai Program) and the process is quite tedious.

So, I end up, hard reset one more time, but this time I recover using the back up. I custome the sync application to make desktop overwrite handheld. Alas, big bad thing happen. I lost all my category. The data is there but not in the place where it should. : < It's very time consuming to re-create the category and then to go to each record in Memos, Datebook to re-assign the category.

I have to spend almos 2 hours to complete the whole process. Anyway it is quite ok. Currently, I use zLauncher file manager to delete the garbage file. This is quite dangerous since one wrong file delete may lead to hard reset. So, if you wanna do this, backup your data carefully.

2004-05-14T17:59:00.000-07:00

Launcher is one of the key appliction. If you want the programs other than the 4 default application, you need launcher. The default launcher that come with palm is quite OK. It's simple and work just fine. The one that come with Zire72 is a bit imporve; now you can add background image (which is the standard feature of most commercial launcher) But, even with it added features, I still feel it's not enough.

When I try to find a program to replace my launcher, I find out that there are so many of them. Some are freeware, some are shareware. The main features that I look for are:

# 1. Tab. This is what I think the most important feature. Why wasting time select from the dropdown list? Tap allow you to see all category and you are just one click away to access it. Most of the launcher can do this.

# 2. Background Image. I've to admit it that this feature is not a must, but I like it. It's help customizing your palm. Generally, I will use a nature image that help me feel calm. I sometime add an inspiration word on it, so that whenever I use my palm, it will remind me of the good thing. Sure, most of the launcher can do that, but zLauncher is the only one to let you use different background for each tab. Sometime I use only one background, the other I use different background for each tab (depend on what I'm up to at that time)

#3. Access to card. You must be able to access any program on card. It also like the concept of create a shortcut to the program on the card in tab, so that you can classify the program on your card. I don't know about the other Launcher but zLauncher can do it all.

# 4. Quick Launch. I like this feature very much. It allow me to access the application that I use most as well as the recent programs that I use.

# 5. File Manager. ZLaucher have include a good file manager. It work so grate that I can remove Filez from my palm (Please note that Filez is more capable than zLauncher's File manager, but zLauncher's is easier to use.)

zLauncher also have many other features that I think other Launcher doesn't have. The price is OK, too. It cost less than $15.

Consider everythings above, this is the best launcher you can get at this price.

2004-05-11T02:58:00.000-07:00

Date book as a life planner

I've try many management method, 7 habits, GTD, etc. Each method has some strong point and som weakness. You have to adapt it, adjust it to your style, make it work for you.

Here is my current implementation. First of all, I don't use to do list at all. Why? Because I don't like the current version of Tasks. In the previous version, the datebook(Calendar) will show only the category where you left the task. The current version mixed it all. So, divide my work into place (GTD way's) is somewhat difficult to achieve through Task & Calendar.

Second, I rely 90% on Calendar. The current version of Calendar is great (except the above limitation) You can assign category to an appointment. This is a great way to implement 7 habits Roles/Values method. I have about 7 role, here are some example: Health, Mind, etc.

Third, I use Memo to keep both the reference and Project(GTD). I've a '*project' for my current project and the title will begin with target deadline, follow by project name and Goal statement for each project. For the completed project, I keep it under Project Archieve Category for future reference. The rest of the category are Ref and Journal.

Oh, one thing I want to point out is that I enter most of my stuff on PC. Articles (like this one) are the only thing I enter into my palm directly through palm wireless keyboard. I feel that it 's much easier to enter info on the PC. This is why I use the above PIM program, there have the equivalent desktop counterpart. Other do have a great app on palm but lack the great desktop. Shadowplan is the most cleary example. I like it very much. I even bought it for project management. But finally I drop it altogether because its poor desktop program.

Now, let's go back to our story. Every Sunday, I will review all my project and write its next action. The I set up my Weekly Goal and assign the task that will help me achieve my goal to a bock of time in my datebook. Yes, it's some what a mess there but for me it help me manage my life better. As you can see, what I assign to the calendar is what will help me achieve my Goal. So, writing it down as an appointment is just that, a statement of commitment. If I complete one of that task I will write OK in front of the appointment so that when I see it, I know the task is complete. I keep assign everything until my calendar is quit full (Note: I would recommend that you leave some free time in there, you never know exactly what time it my require to complete a job. It may be faster or slower than you have thought.

At the end of each week, I go back to my weekly goal and check how much I have accomplished. For the thing that I fail to do, I will write FAIL in front of it. By this way I can evaluate my progess.

I know that this is not the best method. I know it becasue I've use many methods and also because the method I currently used are really a modification of my previous method. Anyway, life change and the method to cope up with the life must be change.

: )

Enjoy

2004-05-10T02:07:00.000-07:00

Palm v.s. PPC

Today, I have come to the point where I'm quite confuse whether should I switch to use PPC. Palm have many good features, but pocket PC does have many things that palm doesn't have.

One big thing is the memo that can insert a voice record as well as a drawing (note pad). This features alone is close enough to make me switch to PPC. Can you see the benefit? This is very helpful and eliminate many PDA limitation. You can enter informtion at voice speed. You can even capture your idea. Best of all it is all in app. I wonder if the voice and image will be transfer to the PC too. As far as I know, Outlook's note program doesn't have the capability of display image & voice.

Other thing that make PPC appeal is its size and design. The size of HP 1930 and HP 1940 is both small and look great!!!

No problem with Thai at all. Thai for palm is suck at this comparison. I don't know why but it seems to me that all software developer for palm doesn't like to support Thai; DocToGo, Wordsmith to name a few.

Then, why don't I change. The decision is quite complex. I have many thought about this fighting in my head. The main reasons are:

#1. I don't want to re-invest on the program. I have spend a lot of money on my Palm, on both hardware & software.

#2. Easy of use. I still fell that Palm is quite easier to access data as well as writing data. EX in the calendar, I just write directly on the screen to make an appint ment, no need to go to the pop-up form to enter data. (although I have to point out that PPC way is great if for each appointment you want to enter many field of data)

#3. PPC hardware incompatable. For each version of PPC's OS you need to have a different version of program. This is somewhat bad in my oppinion since I'm not sure that in the future I could use my purchased program on my new system.

So, eventhough PPC is so appealing, sacrifice my current experience for the maybe seem to not justify.

: )

Palm Wireless Keyboard

2004-05-08T18:28:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I just bought a palm wireless keyboard for about 1,650 baht (41.25 USD). I think it 's quite difficult to use. The number keys is quite hard to use and may take a lot of time to get used to. Moreover, it cann't type in Thai. Anyway, Eng only is quite enough for me. I will post my review soon.

2004-05-08T18:15:00.000-07:00

Hello, World. No this is not my programming test. I just means it, Hello everybody on this planet. I live in Bangkok, Thailand. I have used PDA for about 3 years (but I use organizer a longggg.... time before that). Most of the article here will be about Palm and how I use it as well as what is my opinion about the current palm topic. Hope you enjoy!!

Sugarglider Palm