Diary of a Network Geek

No, this won’t organize your papers.
But, it is a cheap alternative to having an easily outdated PDA. As much as I love my old PalmIIIc, I have to admit, sometimes, a low-tech approach to this stuff is best. So, if you’re as cheap as I am, the free, disposable personal-organizer, PocketMod, might be just right for you. You can use this little baby to make yourself a little, paper organizer that you won’t even mind losing all that much. It’s simple to use and, if you’re afraid the website will mysteriously disappear, you can download the offline standalone version. That way, you can keep it forever and ever and make as many throw-away organizers as you need. Pretty cool, isn’t it?

Well, cool enough for a Friday Fun link, anyway. And, considering the technological horror last Friday, it seemed appropriate!

Ok, it’s not actually a Palm device, but…

It is pretty cool. “It” is a handheld called “node” which is ruggedized for the outdoors. And, you can run either Windows CE or Linux on it, so it’s not all bad. Frankly, I’m surprised that Palm hasn’t come up with something like this yet. It’s a genius idea. The device itself comes with GPS built in, not to mention wireless networking and, of course, a full-color touch-screen. But, the best part is, the entire thing is waterproof! Totally cool! There’s a memory expansion port of somekind, but no word on any additional devices that can be added on, so to speak. Still, this is a giant leap forward for handheld computing. It’ll be interesting to see where it goes and what Palm’s response will be, if any.

Hey, I always like free!

I’ve had a PalmIIIc for years and years. Originally, I got it with the idea that I could use it to play games and read books, too. The problem was that there just weren’t a lot of books available in a Palm readable format. Problem solved: ManyBooks.net. Not only do they have literally thousands of books in multiple formats, including several for the Palm, but they’re all free!
Well, they do ask for donations, but it’s not absolutely required. I’ve just started to explore their titles, but they seem to have quite a few classics, so it’s worth checking out. Besides, it’s Friday, what else are you going to do?

Faster, better hand-helds?

Well, maybe, but I’m waiting to see the actually products. See, according to this article on Wired News, there’s a new kind of memory coming that doesn’t get emptied when it looses power. So, the upside is, allegedly, faster startups and better hand-held devices. The down side, to me, is that when you want to clear memory, it’s going to be more complicated than just killing the power. Still, it’s being backed by Motorola, and I’ve always enjoyed their technology. Of course, it helps that my older brother works in Motorola’s R&D department, but, still, they are innovators.
Well, maybe it will help invigorate the IT industry. Now, you’ll have to be an expert to reboot your machine!

Oh, this is so cool.

And, I’m glad I haven’t gotten a new Palm yet! According to this article on Wired News, Palm is buying Handspring. Now, to me, that’s cool because I hope to see some of the better features in the Handspring products integrated into the Palm. I like the look and feel of the Palm better than Handspring, but I think they had the right idea when it came to add-ons. This is a killer move by Palm, as far as I’m concerned. I really look forward to seeing what this means to the future of Palm.

If you’re a regular reader of the Diary of a Network Geek, you know that I’ve started seeking out a deeper connection with God.

So, when I saw this article on Wired News it really made me think about where we’re taking religion as a society. A digital prayer a day? Hmm, well, why not? I mean, we can get other kinds of reminders to our phones or pagers, so why not a reminder to pray? I’ve seen plenty of free Islamic programs for the Palm, so why not a generalized one? A simple PERL script or two is all it should take to send a random reminder to pray to any Internet-enabled wireless device. Or, a more generalized “spiritual” message could be sent. Or, really, anything that would be regular and in text format.
Personally, I like the idea of getting random reminders to make contact with God. It might be nice to have my cellphone, which I’ve come to think of as a tool of the Devil, remind me that God is watching me and that He does care about me. Why shouldn’t technology remind us of our spiritual selves? Just because the old Catholic church had issues with early scientists doesn’t mean that we should not make use of this kind of tool for spiritual awareness. I’d like to think that the modern Vatican, which is online now, would agree with me.

Of course, I don’t think I’d pay $20 for it (that’s what they charge), so I may just have to figure out my own method. Hey, if I do, I can let other people use it for less money than that other guy is! Dang, I better get off to work on it!

Who has time to find these things?

Not me, that’s for sure. But, the nice folks over at PalmGear.com have compiled several so called “Easter eggs” found in the Palm OS.
Here’s a couple of my favorites:
Inch Worm on some Palm OS models

Go to Prefs. Make a # using Graffiti. (That is a dot, then a backwards N, kind of like a small h with a BIG hump…) Wait 10 seconds or so, because inchworms take time, you know. There he is! He is made of a bold o and bold underlines and slashes. He will stay there until you move on to another app, and he even survives a power off/on cycle!

See the Taxi!

1. Go to Preferences
2. Choose General
3. Draw a circle, counter-clockwise, above the Calculator button
If you do this correctly you should see an easter egg appear.
4. Exit Preferences and go into any other application.
5. Hold down the page down button and draw a line from the middle of the Graffiti input box to the left of the screen, right between the Applications and Menu buttons.
You should see a taxi run across the screen. To get the taxi to come across the screen again repeat step

Giraffe game

Start the Giraffe game. While you’re playing, tap the Help button. Once you’re in the Help screen, draw the ‘#’ character. This is done by tapping the Graffiti text area once and drawing a backwards N(draw down on the left side, angle up from left to right, and down again on the right side). You should see a dancing palm tree appear. That’s all there is to it!