December 23, 2002
End of Year update
Last week's party with TMUG was a lot of fun. For those not there, the Palm segment was a big hit. Chris Owens showed off his Clié with the built-in video camera to great reviews. The AlphaSmart Dana (as well as the non-Palm 3000 keyboard) were also topics of much interest. Since the party, I know that Alan Hoyle has picked up a Tungsten T, which he says will be available for jealous ogling at the next meeting. If little elves bring you any new stuff, let me know, so we can start the anticipation! Meantime, have a happy holiday, and we'll see you next year!
December 09, 2002
Holiday Party with TMUG
The Triangle Macintosh User Group (of which I am president) has decided to postpone it's meeting due to ongoing effects of the ice storm. They will meet in Durham at the Eno River Unitarian Universalist Fellowship building on Monday, December 16th at 6 PM.
Does that time sound familiar? How does this effect TAPIT?
Well, they've invited us to participate in their party, so we're NOT going to be meeting at the usual location at that time. Just come on out, identify yourself at the entry desk and pick up your door prize ticket. The entry fee will be handled for you. Help yourself to the buffet, and the drawing procedure will be explained to everyone. I will be presenting a Palm update, and may get a few of you folks to sponsor some "showoff" stuff at a table during the free times. Directions can be found at the TMUG website. Please come on out and we'll make sure the evening is worthwhile. You may win a new mouse, a carrying case, or some software (some of which is PC-compatable.) The drawing system at this party lets you enter only those drawings that are of interest to you!
I will have a Dana, from AlphaSmart. This is a really cool device, although not as portable as most Palm OS units! It has an integrated keyboard, and a screen that's 5 times as wide as a regular Palm! It comes with it's own special version of WordSmith, and can be rotated 90º at a time. So you can carry it around like a clipboard and make checkmarks on your list. You'll have to see it. Very cool!!
Does that time sound familiar? How does this effect TAPIT?
Well, they've invited us to participate in their party, so we're NOT going to be meeting at the usual location at that time. Just come on out, identify yourself at the entry desk and pick up your door prize ticket. The entry fee will be handled for you. Help yourself to the buffet, and the drawing procedure will be explained to everyone. I will be presenting a Palm update, and may get a few of you folks to sponsor some "showoff" stuff at a table during the free times. Directions can be found at the TMUG website. Please come on out and we'll make sure the evening is worthwhile. You may win a new mouse, a carrying case, or some software (some of which is PC-compatable.) The drawing system at this party lets you enter only those drawings that are of interest to you!
I will have a Dana, from AlphaSmart. This is a really cool device, although not as portable as most Palm OS units! It has an integrated keyboard, and a screen that's 5 times as wide as a regular Palm! It comes with it's own special version of WordSmith, and can be rotated 90º at a time. So you can carry it around like a clipboard and make checkmarks on your list. You'll have to see it. Very cool!!
November 15, 2002
November 2002 Meeting
One of this month's topics will be the new version of SuperNames. For a mere $5 upgrade, Stand Alone has packed out this address book replacement, making finds faster, buttons better, and lists lustier. They did nothing to create alliteration, that was my idea. :-D
Two of the younger members wanted to share some games, their new Clie's, and their general bouncy nature with the club, so, being of Tigger's kin myself, I agreed wholeheartedly. No telling what this will be like, but I do know it'll be full of fun-fun-FUN!
See you all there.
Smythe
Two of the younger members wanted to share some games, their new Clie's, and their general bouncy nature with the club, so, being of Tigger's kin myself, I agreed wholeheartedly. No telling what this will be like, but I do know it'll be full of fun-fun-FUN!
See you all there.
Smythe
October 08, 2002
Sony Buys 6% of Palm Source for $20 Million
Something pretty big in the handheld computing industry happened today. Sony Electronics has bought a 6% stake in Palm Source, the company that develops the PalmOS. Palm Inc is being split into two companies, Palm Source and Palm Solutions. Palm Source will write the software of the PalmOS, and sell it to hardware developers. Palm Solutions will be a hardware company, making the Palm brand handhelds.
Now, Sony owns a small part of Palm Source. Sony invested $20 million into the PalmOS, and now owns about 6% of the company. Many believe that Sony is giving Palm Source a financial boost to help keep the PalmOS alive. Others feel that Sony will eventually take the entire company over.
Personally, I think this is great. It shows that Sony is really going to stick with the PalmOS, and isn't just making toys. It also shows that Sony isn't trying to form a monopoly. I feel that they could have very easily bought the whole company if they wanted. Instead, they are helping Palm Source through hard financial times, and thus aiding in the continued development of the PalmOS.
Now, Sony owns a small part of Palm Source. Sony invested $20 million into the PalmOS, and now owns about 6% of the company. Many believe that Sony is giving Palm Source a financial boost to help keep the PalmOS alive. Others feel that Sony will eventually take the entire company over.
Personally, I think this is great. It shows that Sony is really going to stick with the PalmOS, and isn't just making toys. It also shows that Sony isn't trying to form a monopoly. I feel that they could have very easily bought the whole company if they wanted. Instead, they are helping Palm Source through hard financial times, and thus aiding in the continued development of the PalmOS.
September 26, 2002
July 09, 2002
July sponsor:
Wow, have we got a cool program for you this month! The folks at WebVisia sent me a handful of licenses to their powerful WordWizard data entry aid, which we'll be drawing for during the meeting. What a cool application! Here's how it works: Enter data using Graffiti, just as you usually do. As you type, WordWizard tries to guess which word you're going to enter, based on the text you've entered so far. It's a great help for long words, but it's pretty nice even on those 5 and 6 letter words as well. The software is configurable, so you can set it to guess after two to ten characters, use a different dictionary (several come with it, including three English ones!), keep a history, and other options. I have found only one program that it won't work with, and that's WordSmith on my Handera. Given what they have to do to get this display working at hi-resolution, I'd say it's amazing that this is the only problem! Other hi-res programs (ThoughtManager, ToDo+, and DateBook3 among them) work without a glitch.
May 07, 2002
May sponsor:
Hands High, a longtime (at least in this market!) producer of Palm OS software, has agreed to sponsor our May meeting! During the meeting, we will give away two pieces of their software. I will show several packages, including ThoughtManager, ToDo Plus, and MemoPlus. These last two apps use the built-in database from the regular Memo and ToDo apps, so there is no problem if you view or edit things in the ROM-based programs. We'll go over the additional benefits during the presentation.
March 08, 2002
March sponsor:
The nice folks at Handmark sent us a great goodie box, filled with games and gadgets. I am still wading through the MobileTools collection. It's ten pre-released apps, but they are all together on one disc, and have the same registration code. This makes it easy to try out one or all, then keep only the ones you wish to. At $20 retail (I checked at local stores), it's quite a bargain. Programs contained in the set include:
- BackUpBuddy
- BackUpBuddyVFS
- CheckList
- FilePoint
- PrintBoy
- SuperUtility
- SuperClock
- AutoSync
- TimeSync
- MobileSafe
Normally, these would sell for a total of almost $150. Quite a bargain, and more convenient as well. I'll have a full demo and we'll raffle off a few things from their product line as well. Currently, there are other PalmOS folks testing Scrabble and Monopoly, two games that they have for Palm. If you're a golfer and interested in testing and showing GolfTracPro, you can pick up your demo copy at the meeting, and we'll schedule you to present your full golf record at the next meeting, as well as your opinion of the program.
January 05, 2002
January sponsor:
The nice folks at Silkyboard donated several copies of their Graffiti enhancements to TAPIT, which we raffled off during the meeting. The gist of the device is a bit of software and a Graffiti area overlay printed with a keyboard. Once the software is installed and the overlay is in place, you can either continue using Graffiti as usual, safe in knowing that there will be no scratches to your screen, or you can tap on the keyboard. While I don't personally have a problem with Graffiti, I know plenty of folks who do. They're always asking things like, "What's the stroke for the @ sign again?" or "Is the extended shift where I can find the curly brackets?" Maybe it's my music background. Symbols are easy for me to remember. But, judging by the number of people who whine about it on newsgroups and listservs, there must be a good percentage that this is NOT true for. If you're in that majority, check it out and see the possible end to your frustration. Or ask for a personal opinion from one of your TAPIT buddies on our yahoogroups area.
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