For more information about LapTopHack you can read Paul Nevai's Manual (at http://www.math.ohio-state.edu/~nevai/x/LapTopHack_man.html). While all the information's in there, the manual is somewhat rough throughout.

MiddleCaps
MiddleCaps by Rui Oliveira (at http://shiva.di.uminho.pt/~rco/pilot.html) is one of the simplest hacks around, but it's also very helpful and, in my opinion, almost indispensable. MiddleCaps speeds up Graffiti entry by making it possible to create an uppercase letter by crossing the imaginary line in between the number and the letter areas on the silkscreen panel. While this doesn't seem like much, it can speed up your Graffiti, or at least make it more pleasant. Best of all, MiddleCaps is free. It's pictured in Figure B.

FIGURE B

MiddleCaps makes capital letters easier to produce.

StreakHack
StreakHack by Quartus (at http://www.quartus.net/products/streakhack/) is a simple hack that's supposed to prevent streaks on a Palm handheld display. Older devices like the Palm IIIx had a tendency to create horizontal streaks on the screen. In addition to correcting this problem, StreakHack has a side effect of improving performance by up to eight percent. If you have noticed a problem with streaking, this is a nice lightweight hack that's available as sharewere for five dollars.

Afterburner
It seems that people are never satisfied with the speed of their computers, and Palm handhelds are no exception. Unfortunately, upgrading the hardware isn't really an option. However it's possible to increase the speed of the processor using any one of a number of system extensions.

One of the most well known overclocking hacks is called Afterburner, by Daniel Wee. Afterburner works by telling the processor to work faster than normal. It's pictured in Figure C.

FIGURE C

Afterburner puts your Palm handheld into overdrive.

If overclocking improves the operating speed of Palm OS devices, why then doesn't Palm overclock their devices? Overclocking any computer places your hardware under undo stress, and it's possible to completely overheat and render a device useless. So, even though it's fun to get more performance, I suggest using caution before overclocking. For more information on overclocking, read "The fast and the furious: an introduction to overclocking" by Paul Gowder in the February 2001 issue of PalmPower at http://www.palmpower.com/issues/issue200102/overclocking001.html.

If you decide that you need an overclocking application to make your Palm handheld more useful, then you can get Afterburner for nine dollars from PalmGear (at http://www.palmgear.com/software/showsoftware.cfm?prodID=7429).

Conclusion
The Palm OS is well designed for many tasks, but, there are always going to be adventurous folks who want to tweak system performance or change the system's behavior. A collection of good hacks and a stable hack manager can help you be more productive and get the most out of your Palm handheld. It's important to note that hacks are not supported by the Palm OS SDK, and while the functionality of a fair number of hacks are often incorporated into later versions of the operating system, Palm won't provide support for system extensions. This is because, by their very nature, they cause system instability. Even so, many hacks are quite stable and are a fine enhancement for your handheld.

Jim DeLaHunt is an independent PalmPilot software developer. In his spare time, is an engineering manager with a multi-national software company and a tenor with local opera companies. He can be reached via E-mail at jdlh@jdlh.palo-alto.ca.us.