Now, I'm a bit strapped for cash.
Can I get the OSC-5000 Omni-Spectral Correlator (OSCOR) without the SDM-42 SDU? </sarcasm>
Posted on 01/17/2002 7:05:29 PM PST by Kermit
This is a pure unadultered vanity. If you're not into computers or Palm Pilots, skip this thread. You've been given fair warning.
I won a sales contest at work and can choose from three prizes, one of which is the Palm Pilot M505. In the past, I've shyed away from Palm Pilots, not seeing a practical use for them in my lifestyle.
Now, that I can get one for free, I'm re-thinking it, since the other two prizes I either have or I'm not interested in.
How do you use your Palm Pilot? What are the most valuable things you do with yours? Do you need accessories? If so, which? What are the pitfalls or problems with the Palm Pilot?
Now, I'm a bit strapped for cash.
Can I get the OSC-5000 Omni-Spectral Correlator (OSCOR) without the SDM-42 SDU? </sarcasm>
Talking into your cellphone also works well, I bet. "You tell Gates I want him in my office first thing tomorrow! I don't care whether his jet is in the shop! And get me Donald Rumsfeld!"
Just make sure you turn the phone off - it wouldn't do if it started ringing while you're talking.
As a result, I have a pocket sized "sword" that allows me to "redeem the time" whenever I am waiting for an appointment. Also, if I am stuck in a boring, meaningless meeting of no importance to me, I can always pull out the Palm and read. Others think that I am taking notes or looking up some facts!
Things like "Big Blue, up a quarter... Need a few million more shares..."
ROTFLMAO! Just as I suspected ;-) Amazing how you can build an entire industry on that.
The most useful product that I've found is a Casio G-shock watch which can store 100 telephone numbers and 100 events with accompanying alarm. (It also has two completely useless features: vital stats and stopwatch).
The alarm feature is the best since I never miss events any more. Unlike a PP, my watch is always on me. And at 60 bucks, it's a lot cheaper than a PP.
The only downside is that you have to scroll through the alphabet for each letter, which is time consuming (but not as bad as it sounds).
If I only had the small fortune to acquire such a tool. As is, I carry a "saddle bag" which at this time contains my NKJV, my 1660 Episcopal prayerbook, and my current book (Pilgrims Progress). I detest meetings and as a design engineer, I have more than my fair share. Usually, they directly involve me so diversion is not an option.
I carry a mini-calculator size "personal organizer" with 24-hour clock (it can't distinguish between AM & PM, so you have to use military time), a scroll-one-name-at-a-time phone book, an arithmetic calculator (no capability for algebraic functions, none), and a schedule book which is impossible to use. Oh, and I can play scissors-paper-rock on it. As often as I want.
It has fully 96k of memory. That's right, 96k.
I have entered the early-1980s. All shall fear me and despair.
"who ever typed anything about using a palm pilot to replace a desktop?"Don, The key word here is original
LibKill, in post #6: "Palm Pilots are very versatile and can do more than the original IBM PC ever could."
How quickly they forget...
You can also get a program to make it work as an IR remote control through the IR port. With that, and a scheduled execution program, you can program it to change the TV to your favorite program at the appropriate time. Program it to repeat this every couple of minutes, leave it sitting on a shelf within 20' of the TV, and just sit back on the couch and watch your wife go crazy trying to switch the channel back to what she wants to watch.
Me too Woody..I carry a bible and a couple books where ever I go.I have added a portable CD player (a gift from my daughter) so I can play some praise music..I shut out the world and read..
Now I like palm pilots...a friend has this awesome game called "bubbles" on it..I can kill an hour without thought. Perhaps God knows that and thinks it wiser for me to have books *grin*..I have 2 going right now "How Shall we live" and Boettner's book "The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination" (at suggestion of a freeper)..Doing online readings at home..all in all ALOT..of reading. No time for" bubbles". :>))
Starting school next week..I do not want to "rust out" ya know:>)
I remember how proud I was go get my first Motorola some years back. Thing weighed a ton, had no memory and sounded worse than an old CB radio, but it did attract babes.
Gotta move with the times.
In two years time, if you don't have an Umpteen-Zillion Cyborg-Cray Wearable with VR wrap-around goggles and control gloves and aren't making mysterious arcane gestures to all and sundry, everyone is gonna figger you for an under-privleged kid and you won't get no babes.
Right out of the box, you can use it for scheduling, to-do's, contact information, and e-mails. Given that, it is just a Franklin planner in a smaller size. But add a program called Datebk4, and it becomes really powerful. Datebook4 lays on top of the calender, to-do, memo, and address book and turns them all into one seamless application. You can even view more than one of these aps at a time on the same screen. Memos or notes can be simply linked to a specific calendar event. Tapping on "Call" while you are in datebook4 lets you view your address book and one tap on a particular contact then pulls that person and phone number into your to-do list. There is more it will do besides this, just the tip of the iceberg.
Besides going to the Palm site for aps, other good sources are www.cnet.com (look under the "downloads" section and choose "Palm OS" as your operating system) and www.tucows.com. There are hundreds or thousands to choose from.
Cool aps, other than datebk4:
Switchhack (must have hackmaster to use this one)
Advantgo (can download all sorts of news and info)
Intellisync (if you need to sync with e-mail clients other than outlook express)
Docs To Go: (I think this comes standard with the 505 - use it to take .doc and .xls files with you)
AddressPro (makes it possible to view your address book in the way that YOU want to view it)
AportisDocMobile (for viewing e-books; free for non-commercial use)
Cryptinfo (keeps private information private)
TravelPal: (Useful if you travel across time zones)
Games: To numerous to mention. There are even games, like Battleship, that can be played by two players with Palms via the infrared port. That might make a dull meeting very interesting.
Web clipping aps: You need a modem for these, but they can be very handy. Download airline schedules, maps, newspapers, or send a bid to e-bay.
I also used the fold-up keyboard with mine. It worked like a charm. No need to take notes and then re-type to distribute memos or meeting minutes. All I had to do was take the palm back to my office, sync up, copy into an e-mail, and send out on e-mail. A BIG time saver.
I never used the Palm to send and recieve e-mail, but I did sync my mail with the Palm so that I could carry a handy record of it with me anywhere.
If you rely on the Palm alot, the search feature is one of the handiest features. Let's say with Datebook4, everytime you talk with a client, you make a journal entry. Everytime you write a report on them, it is either written through your PC and synced to your palm or written using your palm. They are also mentioned at times in your e-mail correspondance. All you have to do is search on their name, and every time their name occurs in a Palm spreadsheet, document, memo, journal, phone book, calendar entry or e-mail, and you will get a complete record of every data point that concerns that client. Heck, you can't do that with a PC. No fumbling though sections of your daytimer.
If you add all of these extra aps in order to put the Palm to use to the fullest of its capabilities, you will also want to invest in BackUpBuddy. If your Palm does a complete crash (mine only did once), the cost of this ap will seem well worth it. After a hard crash, a regular sync will restore only the out-of-the-box software and data. With BackUpBuddy, all of the aps you might have added and the data associated with those will be restore EXACTLY as you left them.
Good luck. And by all means, don't sell it yet -- it is free. At least play with it for a while.
You live dangerously. I'm married to "She-who-must-be-obeyed".;^)
Bad news. DARPA already came up with it, using a Toshiba Libretto. Uses the built in mic and speaker. Don't know what all languages they had developed for translation on it. This was about 2 years ago that I had heard about it while working for Toshiba.
However, I believe that PDA's (Personal Digital Assistants) will take off eventually and that everybody will want to have one. We are not too far away from that.
This will happen when PDA's attain the functionality of today's laptops. They will have significant-sized hard drives that can contain hundreds of hours of music as well as all the common business programs. They will have serious processing power. They will have wireless internet connectivity. Not the clunky websites available to PDAs now, but a full web interface with e-mail and e-mail attachments. They will wirelessly sync data to any of your PCs. No cables to deal with whatsover. That's the important thing. Nobody likes dealing with lugging around cables.
All of these elements are in place already but we need to increase wireless bandwidth to make it all work. Figure 3-5 more years.
So why do you lug your day-timer when you can carry a much smaller 'glorified' address book which can play games and do a 100 other things day-timer can't? Regards.
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