Action Names allows you to attach icons (like a fork and knife for a dinner meeting) to entries, which is extremely helpful when you're in the weekly or monthly views. Action Names can be purchased online for $19.95, which I think is extremely reasonable, considering all of the enhanced functionality. I purchased Action Names a few versions ago (they're currently on 4.02), and I've had no problem upgrading (at no charge, by the way) each time a new version comes out. There's one caveat, though. The current version of Action Names uses 260 KB of Palm memory. That should be no problem if you have a Palm IIIx or Vx, but is definitely something to consider if you have a Palm III, V, or VII.

Turbo charge your wireless wonder
I think the Palm VII is a technical marvel and a wonderful tool, despite some flaws (like only coming with two MB of memory). However, a conversation on the pros and cons of the Palm VII is beyond the scope of what I want to cover for this article. Rather, let's assume you already own (or are thinking of buying) a Palm VII. Right out of the box, you'll find about 25 PQAs (Palm Query Applications) loaded on your Palm VII. For example, one PQA will retrieve news from ABC, one will retrieve sports scores from ESPN, another will retrieve flight schedules from Travelocity, etc. However, there are dozens of other PQAs that can be installed from the Web. To the best of my knowledge, all of these PQAs are available at no charge to install on your Palm VII.

Where do you find all of these Palm VII applications? All you do is go to the Palm.Net Web site, which you can find at http://www.palm.net, using your regular computer, and select Web Clipping Applications. You'll see that the makers of Palm devices have assembled a whole library of PQAs. So which applications have I found to be the most productive?

Shop from anywhere
One of the most amazing abilities of the Palm VII is its ability to facilitate ecommerce, right in the palm of your hand. I've been in several meetings where someone said that a particular book was a must-read. Using the Amazon.com Web clipping application, you can run a search by title, author, or keyword. You'll then see a full description of the book. You can even access reviews. If you want to buy the book, you can use Amazon.com's one-click method (you need to first set up an account with Amazon using your regular computer).

Once you select the one-click purchase option, you'll receive a message saying, "Yes it was that easy. A copy of so-and-so will be on its way to you shortly." One time I purchased a book, while waiting on line to board a plane, in less than 45 seconds. Talk about leveraging your time! One other note -- I once purchased a book that, after several hours, I decided I no longer wanted. Amazon had said that there'd be no problem canceling an order placed on the Palm VII, as long as it hadn't yet been shipped. I definitely found that to be the case -- it was very easy to cancel my order, although I did have to do it through my regular computer.