PDA Women / Handy Palm Tips & Tricks Part 1
by Mike Rohde
I'm always happy to find tips & tricks to help make my own Palm experience better, easier or quicker; in three years I've gathered several handy Palm-related tips. However, the problem with using a Palm for such a long time is the tendency to take tips & tricks for granted.
Therefore, in this month's feature article I've taken time to identify and write down the most useful software and hardware tips & tricks learned as a Palm user. Sharing these tips & tricks seems a perfect way to help new users and maybe even surprise a few veteran users at the same time.
Software Tips & Tricks
-----------------------
Figure 8 Equals Y -- Graffiti text entry is by and large pretty accurate once you know the common strokes. However, one of the most problematic symbols for me to write was the Y character. A few years back, I came across an alternate figure 8 stroke, which creates a perfect Y every time:
1) First, place your stylus in the upper left corner of the graffiti area.
2) Next, stroke downward and right to the bottom of the screen.
3) Now begin looping sharply left and upward.
4) Finally, pull your stylus up and cross to the right side of the graffiti area, over your first stroke to form an open-topped figure 8 shape.
Customize Hard Button Launchers -- A useful, often unnoticed feature of the PalmOS is the ability to customize your Palm's hard buttons (Datebook, Address, To Do and Memo Pad) to launch other applications.
To do this:
1) Locate the Prefs application and choose the 'Buttons' menu selector in the upper right corner of the screen. You'll see a screen of hard button icons appear with text menus to their right.
2) Next, click an icon's text menu for a pop-up list of available Palm applications. Selecting an application from the list will launch it when the hard button is pressed.
Let There Be Backlight -- Here's another feature to check out while you're in the Buttons area of the Prefs application. Click the 'Pen...' button at the bottom of the screen and assign one of several functions to a vertical Graffiti upstroke. My wife and I have assigned backlight activation to this stroke; other options include activation of the on-screen Keyboard, Graffiti Help, Turn Off & Lock function and the Beam data function.
Make HotSyncs Wait Forever -- From time to time, my Visor Deluxe gets stubborn at HotSync and refuses to connect with my Mac's HotSync manager through the serial cradle. When it does, I use a programmers backdoor trick which forces my Visor to wait until the desktop makes a connection.
To activate this feature:
1) Open the HotSync application on your Palm.
2) Next, press and hold the up and down scroll buttons simultaneously with your left thumb while using the stylus in your right hand to double-tap in the uppermost right corner of the screen.
3) A small dialog box will appear in the lower part of the screen entitled "DEVELOPER'S BACKDOOR" containing the text "DLServer Wait Forever is ON". Click the 'OK' button in this dialog to force your Palm to wait until the desktop makes a connection.
Once you successfully HotSync, the 'wait forever' state will be deactivated.
PalmOS System Reset -- If your Palm handheld is acting strangely and you're dreading a hard reset, try resetting the PalmOS system first. Resetting the system won't cause a data loss like a hard reset will and may eliminate any strange problems you're experiencing.
To reset your Palm system:
1) First, locate the reset pin inside your stylus or a paper clip with one end bent out to allow for resetting your handheld.
2) Next, press and hold the up scroll button with your left thumb while using the reset pin in your right hand to reset the handheld (the reset port is a small pinhole located on the back of your Palm handheld).
3) When you see the Palm startup screen, release the up button. No indication is provided on screen, but your system will now be reset.
Recent Calculations Tip -- If you've ever made a calculation with the built-in calculator and wish you could re-check your sums... you can! Open the calculator and choose the menu 'Options' and submenu 'Recent Calculations'. A dialog box will appear with your last calculations listed.
Purge & Prune to Speed HotSyncs -- If you've been noticing your HotSyncs have slowed significantly, you may want to consider pruning and/or purging your built-in Datebook, Address, To Do and Memo Pad databases. Slimmer databases will help speed up the HotSync process.
Your first option is to prune data in the Address, To Do and Memo Pad applications manually, by reviewing and deleting old, outdated and unnecessary items. The 'Delete' function is found under the 'Record' menu in the Datebook, To Do and Memo Pad apps. The Delete function is found under the 'Edit' menu in the Address Book and functions only when an individual contact is open for viewing or editing.
If you'd prefer to purge and archive your data rather than pruning it, the Datebook and To Do applications both offer a purge option. In both applications the purge feature is found under the menu item 'Record' and submenu 'Purge'.
Note that purging works a bit differently in each application. The Datebook allows you to purge appointments which are 1 to 4 weeks old (and older), while the To Do application purges any checked to do items. Both offer the option to save your data to an archive file on your Mac or PC or completely delete it without a backup. When you perform a purge, a dialog box will appear asking which option you prefer.
For more powerful Datebook purging options, Handspring Visor and Prism owners can use Datebook+ (included on every Handspring device) to purge old appointments. Other handheld users can download demo versions of Datebk 4 ($25) or Action Names Datebook ($20) to harness advanced purging options:
Datebk 4:
http://www.pimlicosoftware.com/datebk4.htm
Action Names Datebook:
http://www.iambic.com/pilot/actionnames/
Be sure to check out all the features of these powerful Datebook replacements. Datebk 4 and Action Names Datebook are both great values, since they provide many useful features not available in the built-in Datebook application.
Tracking Actions Between Meetings -- My wife uses this Datebook tip to keep tabs on action items discussed and assigned during meetings. She attaches a note to a meeting appointment and records action items and responsible parties during the meeting in this note. These tidbits of information help her follow up at later meetings.
Here's the tip procedure:
1) First, attach a note to an appointment for your initial meeting and use it to take notes about action items assigned and responsible parties.
2) Next, schedule the upcoming meeting appointment and attach a blank note.
3) Now return to the note attached to the initial appointment, copy your meeting notes and paste them into the new blank note attached to the new appointment.
Now you're prepared with all the critical meeting details in this attached note, ready to go for the follow-up meeting.
Hardware Tips & Tricks
------------------------
Carry Your Palm Data On A Floppy or CD -- A great idea to insure you always have a copy of your Palm's built-in app data when you travel is to carry your Palm Desktop files on a floppy disk or CD. To do this:
1) First, locate your user data files on your computer (they should be within the Palm Desktop directory, in the Users folder, in a folder named similarly to your user name: RohdeM for instance).
2) Next, copy the Datebook, Address Book, To Do and Memo Pad data files to a floppy disk (you may want to zip compress the databases if they're too large to fit on one floppy) or burn them to a CD.
3) If you have a crash on the road you'll need access to a Mac PC to recover your data, so it's a good idea to bring your installer CD. This way if you need to install the Palm desktop on another PC you'll be all set.
Protect Your Graffiti Area With Tape -- The graffiti area of my screen gets heaviest wear. To protect this part of the screen, I use 3/4" Scotch tape, which also provides a firmer writing surface. I prefer Scotch Satin tape (in the purple package), which provides a nearly invisible layer of protection. Other Palm users prefer Scotch Magic or Magic Removable tape.
Cutting and applying tape is a bit tricky, since a clean application makes for a smooth, bubble and fingerprint-free writing surface. Here's the easiest procedure I've found for applying tape to a Palm handheld:
1) Cut a piece of tape wide enough to wrap slightly around the front of your handheld and stick it to the left and right sides of the case on either side of the screen. Don't make it too taught; leave a little slack in the tape.
2) Next, use an Exacto knife or razor blade to cut one side of the tape near the edge of the screen, being very careful not to cut the screen. Let the cut edge drop down until it adheres to the screen.
3) Now begin smoothing out the tape toward the opposite side with a burnishing tool (like a stylus) using an up and down motion. Take your time and watch for air bubbles. Going slow and easy keeps bubbles to a minimum.
4) When the tape is adhered as much as possible, carefully cut the other edge of the tape (which is attached to the other side of your Palm) and finish burnishing until the tape is smoothly adhered.
It's a good idea to replace this tape about every 3 to 6 months, to keep it from sticking too tightly to your screen.
Batteries, Batteries, Everywhere -- You never know when your batteries may get dangerously low, so I keep sets of 2 AAA batteries in various places, just in case. I keep a set in my jacket, a set in my backpack, a set at the office and even a set in the car so when the low battery warning appears, I'm prepared to swap in a fresh set. Tape the cells together to prevent them from separating and getting lost in transit.
Visor Springboard Slot As Cargo Bay Trick -- Visor owners who don't need a Springboard module installed all the time can turn an empty Springboard slot into a handy cargo bay. You can carry small items such as a mini sticky note pad, folded paper money or coins for a phone call (taped in place), postage stamps or even a shortened stubby pencil. Be creative! :-)
From Paper Clip To Reset Pin -- These days, both stock and third party Palm styluses have reset pins built right into them. However, if you happen to lose your stylus or like having a spare reset pin, read on. My father came up with this great way to make a reset pin out of any paper clip:
1) Take the smaller curved end of a paper clip and cut it off with a wire cutter after the curve.
2) Next clip the long edge of the paper clip until you have a long bit of wire with a curve on the end shaped like a U.
Store this reset pin in between your batteries under the battery bay cover. The gap between batteries is perfect for holding the reset pin in place.
Conclusion -- I hope these tips and tricks are as useful for you as they have been for me over the years. I suspect not every tip or trick will suit your needs, though I'm sure one or two should make a useful addition to your own library of tips & tricks.
Originally appeared in Palm Tipsheet 14, January 2001.