Palmela Handerson

Back in high school my mother worried that the relationship I had with my palm was a little strange. Fast forward twenty years and she has more reason to be concerned. I don't currently own a PC of any kind. Other than a few hours here and there at work, all my writing, surfing and playing is now done with the Palm (Pre) IN my hand.

I've got most of the best 3D games (mostly Gameloft, and a couple from Glu) for when I am feeling bored and uninspired. To stay in touch with the rest of humanity I have my google account, Facebook (mobile site and the App - I use the site more), and for a laugh or just to supplement the 800 songs stored on the phone there is always YouTube.

To keep my life on Track there is of course Google Calendar, which I have found to be much more useful by supplementing it with the paid version of Outline Tracker, (at $20 by far my most expensive app). What I love most about OT is how it integrates with Calendar as a To-Do/Tasks app. I got hooked on the free version and when I hit the 50 item limit I found myself with no choice but to buy it (or erase all my old tasks which sort of defeats the purpose for which I use it. For my daily to-do / agenda I use shoplist (not it's intended role but it does it so well for my purposes).

For my cloud document storage I rely upon Evernote at the moment, but I recently read some reviews on a new app (notes) that may take it's place. I may try it out this weekend. For now though Evernote meets my needs adequately enough. To actually produce the docs that i store (before eventually posting in my blog) I use scratch. I also use Scratch to compose any comments I wish to post on facebook, or in various forums or other sites that offer the ability to make posts. I have found it too difficult (especially when editing or correcting) to just type into the entry box from the little screen on my pre, copy and paste from Scratch is so much easier.

In the Gym I am still determining which app I like better, workout tracker or Istayfit. IstayFit has a slight lead. Interval Gym (and Pulse - a metronome app I have put to use for rhythm training) though has become essential in my Wing Chun Kung Fu training.

Snippets has become essential in all sorts of little ways, especially logins and passwords (I've always been a fan of clipboard apps long before mobile was a concept). Photo effects (pro) has saved me having to go to the library to tweak my photos. Track My work helps me to log my time, not just at work but in all I do (writing, training, playing).

Apps from P/C, WOR, GameCenter and Engadget keep me up to date on the latest news in the world of Smart phones and Gaming. But most important of all, by far my favourite and most used app would be pReader. Thanks to the free library at Baen Books (David Weber, John Ringo, Elizabeth Moon, and many other great writers) I no longer have to carry around big clunky books (which btw are much more difficult to read in the dark than my phone). With the most perfect summer ever (23 deg C for last 6 weeks here in Vancouver) it's nice to sit on the beach with a good book, not to mention the ability to take some of the scenery home with me. Life has been good. My Palm only leaves my palm when the juice runs out.

Now that I was able to fix my broken power/lock button (thank you so much WebOS Roundup!!) on my own without having to bring my pre in under warranty - and having to plunk a big chunk of change down as a deposit for a replacement (non-Palm) smart-phone, and because of how simple their fix was, I think I am going to try out some homebrew next. The tweaks to my Cards and the Music player sound particularly appealing. I will write about and share my experience with homebrew. Once I am done - next week some time.