.FLYINGHEAD PRODUCT SHOOTOUT
.TITLE Ten free (and great) applications for your Palm handheld
.AUTHOR Heather Wardell
.SUMMARY Most Palm software is reasonably inexpensive, but you can’t get less expensive than free. Some of Heather Wardell’s favorite programs are given away by their creators, and this article will list ten of these programs in the hopes they might work for you as well.
.OTHER
Most Palm software is reasonably inexpensive, but you can’t get less expensive than free. Some of my favorite programs are given away by their creators, and this article will list ten of these programs in the hopes they might work for you as well.
.H1 #1: Checklist
As the name implies, this is a simple and easy-to-use checklist program. You can create multiple checklists, manually or automatically sort the items, reset the entire list with one click, or import/export items to or from the Memopad application. Figure A shows a short list and Checklist’s well-designed interface.
.FIGPAIR A Item one on the checklist: a free checklist program.
While using my old Zire 72, I was unable to drag items to a different place in the list even though the documentation said I could. I emailed the software’s creator and received a response the same day, which would be an impressive response time for paid software never mind free. A basic program, but very good at what it does.
.H1 #2: Count Down
This program allows you to keep track of when a particular event will occur (or, how long it has been since an event occurred). Figure B shows my current Count Down screen, listing the due dates for my upcoming half and full marathons. Inspirational? Terrifying? Either way, it’s good to know how much time I have left to prepare.
.FIGPAIR B Count Down to your destiny.
Being able to track four events at once is also nice, and the program’s tiny size (9.9kb) is an added bonus.
.H1 #3: EatWatch
This application was built to support The Hacker’s Diet weight loss program. There is a free downloadable book at the site describing the program, which is well worth a read, but even just as a free weight tracker EatWatch is excellent.
While it does keep track of each weight you’ve entered, it also calculates what your actual weight is, taking into account little fluctuations from day to day. Figure C shows a (sadly) made-up example of a few day’s worth of weights, and how the applications smoothes them out to show the true pattern of weight loss.
The left side shows the weight entry screen, and the right side shows a graph of the same numbers and the pattern they create.
.FIGPAIR C EatWatch watches what you eat.
.H1 #4: Filez
FileZ is a file management system. It lets you look at the attributes of all files in your Palm and on your memory card(s), and allows you to move, copy, delete, or change attributes for them (assuming they’re not in the handheld’s permanent memory).
The program also provides information on the state of your handheld itself, including its battery status and free memory space. You do need to take care when deleting or moving files the Palm might need, but if you know what you’re doing FileZ, shown in Figure D, can be very useful.
.FIGPAIR D FileZ can help your organize your files.
.H1 #5: NFP
A Palm seems perfectly designed for keeping track of menstrual cycles, so I was surprised to find so little software for this purpose. NFP, shown in Figure E, fits the bill, and is free to boot.
.FIGPAIR E NFP is a natural for planning.
The program allows you to track a wide variety of signs and symptoms of your fertility’s changes over time. It’s the history aspect that’s really nice: when the doctor says, "On average, how long is your cycle?" being able to give a precise answer can be important. This application is invaluable for those attempting to get pregnant, or to prevent pregnancy by natural means, but useful for every woman.
.H1 #6: PocketDoan
PocketDoan is billed as a meditation program, and I’m sure it would work well for that purpose. I am possibly the least meditative person alive, so I use the program to keep me working. Figure F shows a session designed to get the house clean and a little writing done, without completely wiping me out.
.FIGPAIR F Use PocketDoan to keep on keepin’ on.
You can create different time intervals and have an audio or vibration alarm signal the end of each interval, and can have the session repeat if you choose. I use this program nearly every day, on various sessions, and have never once had issues with it. Highly recommended.
.H1 #7: Puzzles
I hesitate to recommend this given the inordinate amount of time I’ve wasted playing these wildly addictive games, but it is by far the best game collection I’ve ever seen for the Palm.
The left side of Figure G shows most of the games available, and the right side shows a new game of the Sudoku game Solo. I’ve played all the games, am obsessed with several, and have never had a problem with the program. Assuming you have more self-control than I do, this is well worth having.
.FIGPAIR G Don’t puzzle over Puzzles.
.H1 #8: Snap
Snap is the program I use to make screen shots for my Computing Unplugged articles. You enable Snap, tell it which of the Palm’s buttons you want to use to take a screen shot, go to the program you need to take a picture of, and press the assigned button. Snap, shown in Figure H, saves the picture to an SD card in bitmap format. It’s a very basic program that works well.
.FIGPAIR H Snap is a snap to use.
.H1 #9 TimeSheet
Many planning gurus recommend tracking your time for a few days to see how you’re actually using it. TimeSheet is an outstanding way to do this. The program tracks your time against any number of projects or tasks that you’ve entered, and can also be configured to take your usual work schedule into account.
Figure I shows data entered for a made-up day of mine on the left, and a summary of the day on the right. The program can also display your time across a number of weeks and can also export to the Memo Pad for use in Excel or another application.
.FIGPAIR I Keep track of your time with TimeSheet
Highly recommended for those who have to fill out time sheets at work, or those who want (or need) to know just how much time they’re wasting in that "few minutes of checking email".
.H1 #9: YAPS (Yet Another Password Safe)
We all know we shouldn’t write down passwords, and we all know we shouldn’t use the same password everywhere. But if you don’t write them down, how do you remember multiple passwords?
YAPS, shown in Figure J, stores them in a password-protected and encrypted database for you. The desktop version is not free, but the Palm version works perfectly on its own, making sure you’ve always got your passwords close at hand but safe from others.
.FIGPAIR J Don’t YAPS if you don’t know your password.
.H1 In Conclusion
These are ten of the free Palm programs I use. Each fits a specific need, not trying to be all things to all people. In these days of huge application suites, it’s refreshing to know a particular program will do just what I need, and only what I need.
There are many more applications like this. If I’ve missed your favorite free application, feel free to email me through my web site and let me know.
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.H1 Product availability and resources
Get [[http://www.pocketgear.com/en_US/html/display_product.jsp?id=prod6775966|Checklist]].
Get [[http://www.funnypolynomial.com/software/palm/index.html|Count Down]].
Get [[http://www.fourmilab.ch/hackdiet/palm/|Eatwatch]].
Get [[https://www.pocketgear.com/en_US/html/display_product.jsp?id=prod6764090|Filez]].
Get [[http://geocities.com/palmNFP/|NFP]].
Get [[http://www.pocketgear.com/en_US/html/display_product.jsp? id=prod6765085|PocketDoan]].
Get [[http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~jharvey/puzzles/|Puzzles]].
Get [[http://www.freewarepalm.com/graphics/snap.shtml|Snap]].
Get [[http://www.pocketgear.com/en_US/html/display_product.jsp? id=prod6775944|TimeSheet]].
Get [[http://www.pocketgear.com/en_US/html/display_product.jsp? id=prod6774773|YAPS]].
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.BIO
