.KEYWORD extension
.FLYINGHEAD PRODUCT SURVEY
.TITLE Hack the planet
.OTHER
.SUMMARY As well designed as the Palm OS is, you may wish to tweak the functionality to your own whims. To do this, you can make use of system extensions, otherwise known as hacks. In this article, Sam Kleinman will introduce you to several popular hacks that will allow you to alter the way your system runs in some interesting (and occasionally dangerous) ways.
.AUTHOR Sam Kleinman
When the Palm OS was first released, it was intended to serve one purpose and one purpose only: personal information management. Palm realized that for its new little handheld computer to capture any of the market, they would have to make it possible for third parties to create and market software. To meet this demand, Palm released a SDK (Software Development Kit) so that people could write applications that customized their Palm handhelds. But all was not well in the world of the Palm OS; a Palm OS program could be written to do most things that someone would need a Palm OS program to do, but there were still some things that the operating system didn’t do.
This is where system extensions, or hacks as they are generally known, come in. Hacks make some alteration to how the system runs or they bypass the system in some creative, sneaky, or wildly unorthodox way. In some senses, they are akin to tweaks in Windows; they make a small improvement or two to the functioning of the operating system. It should be said that improving or adding features to the operating system with hacks comes at the expense of system stability; the more hacks your Palm handheld has running, the more you can expect to reset your device. That said, there are also some essential hacks that few power users would ever leave home without.
Hacks are small applications that are generally free, but a number of them are shareware or commercial software. If you find something you want the Palm OS to do differently, it’s likely that someone else has already sensed that gap and has written a hack for it. There are hacks that change how you launch programs, make input faster, replace the on-screen keyboard, prevent screen streaking, allow you to invert your backlight, overclock your processor, take screenshots, and oh, so much more. There are a number of popular hacks whose names are almost generic in the Palm OS world, such as LapTopHack, MiddleCaps, StreakHack, and Afterburner. These system extensions are, in my mind, some of the best around, and they’re definitely a good place to start your hack collection.
Let’s take a look at some of my favorites.
.H1 LapTopHack
LapTopHack is probably the most extensive hack that I’ve ever used. Written by Paul Nevai, the author of the Pedit series of text editors, LapTopHack helps to improve text entry. It’s available at http://home.columbus.rr.com/nevai/palm/ for $14. It’s pictured in Figure A.
.FIG A LapTopHack improves text entry.
There are some features in LapTopHack that are designed solely for use with an external keyboard, such as the Palm Portable Keyboard (at https://store.palm.com/Catalog/productdetails.asp?productnr=3C10439U), or the GoType! Keyboard from Landware (at http://www.landware.com/gotype/index.html). However, even if you don’t have a keyboard, there are a number of enhancements to the system that deal with Graffiti and other stylus-based entry. Like all hacks, LapTopHack has some incompatibilities with certain programs but, on the whole, it’s a very stable and useful hack.
For more information about LapTopHack you can read Paul Nevai’s Manual (at http://www.math.ohio-state.edu/~nevai/x/LapTopHack_man.html). While all the information’s in there, the manual is somewhat rough throughout.
.H1 MiddleCaps
MiddleCaps by Rui Oliveira (at http://shiva.di.uminho.pt/~rco/pilot.html) is one of the simplest hacks around, but it’s also very helpful and, in my opinion, almost indispensable. MiddleCaps speeds up Graffiti entry by making it possible to create an uppercase letter by crossing the imaginary line in between the number and the letter areas on the silkscreen panel. While this doesn’t seem like much, it can speed up your Graffiti, or at least make it more pleasant. Best of all, MiddleCaps is free. It’s pictured in Figure B.
.FIG B MiddleCaps makes capital letters easier to produce.
.H1 StreakHack
StreakHack by Quartus (at http://www.quartus.net/products/streakhack/) is a simple hack that’s supposed to prevent streaks on a Palm handheld display. Older devices like the Palm IIIx had a tendency to create horizontal streaks on the screen. In addition to correcting this problem, StreakHack has a side effect of improving performance by up to eight percent. If you have noticed a problem with streaking, this is a nice lightweight hack that’s available as sharewere for five dollars.
.H1 Afterburner
It seems that people are never satisfied with the speed of their computers, and Palm handhelds are no exception. Unfortunately, upgrading the hardware isn’t really an option. However it’s possible to increase the speed of the processor using any one of a number of system extensions.
.CALLOUT WARNING: Even though overclocking is fun, it can fry your computer. Use caution!
One of the most well known overclocking hacks is called Afterburner, by Daniel Wee. Afterburner works by telling the processor to work faster than normal. It’s pictured in Figure C.
.FIG C Afterburner puts your Palm handheld into overdrive.
If overclocking improves the operating speed of Palm OS devices, why then doesn’t Palm overclock their devices? Overclocking any computer places your hardware under undo stress, and it’s possible to completely overheat and render a device useless. So, even though it’s fun to get more performance, I suggest using caution before overclocking. For more information on overclocking, read "The fast and the furious: an introduction to overclocking" by Paul Gowder in the February 2001 issue of PalmPower at http://www.palmpower.com/issues/issue200102/overclocking001.html.
If you decide that you need an overclocking application to make your Palm handheld more useful, then you can get Afterburner for nine dollars from PalmGear (at http://www.palmgear.com/software/showsoftware.cfm?prodID=7429).
.BEGIN_KEEP
.H1 Conclusion
The Palm OS is well designed for many tasks, but, there are always going to be adventurous folks who want to tweak system performance or change the system’s behavior. A collection of good hacks and a stable hack manager can help you be more productive and get the most out of your Palm handheld. It’s important to note that hacks are not supported by the Palm OS SDK, and while the functionality of a fair number of hacks are often incorporated into later versions of the operating system, Palm won’t provide support for system extensions. This is because, by their very nature, they cause system instability. Even so, many hacks are quite stable and are a fine enhancement for your handheld.
.BEGIN_SIDEBAR
.H1 Product availability and resources
For more information on LapTopHack, visit http://home.columbus.rr.com/nevai/palm/.
For more information on the Palm Portable Keyboard, visit https://store.palm.com/Catalog/productdetails.asp?productnr=3C10439U.
For more information on the GoType! Keyboard from Landware, visit http://www.landware.com/gotype/index.html.
For Paul Nevai’s Manual on LapTopHack, visit http://www.math.ohio-state.edu/~nevai/x/LapTopHack_man.html
For more information on MiddleCaps by Rui Oliveira, visit http://shiva.di.uminho.pt/~rco/pilot.html.
For more information on StreakHack by Quartus, visit http://www.quartus.net/products/streakhack/.
For the article, "The fast and the furious: an introduction to overclocking" by Paul Gowder in the February 2001 issue of PalmPower at http://www.palmpower.com/issues/issue200102/overclocking001.html.
For more information on Afterburner, visit http://www.palmgear.com/software/showsoftware.cfm?prodID=7429.
For more information about Palm computers, visit http://www.palm.com.
.H1 Bulk reprints
Bulk reprints of this article (in quantities of 100 or more) are available for a fee from Reprint Services, a ZATZ business partner. Contact them at reprints@zatz.com or by calling 1-800-217-7874.
.END_SIDEBAR
.BIO
.DISCUSS http://powerboards.zatz.com/cgi-bin/webx?50@@.ee6f878
.END_KEEP
