Posts tagged: PALM

…at least that’s what you’d think by looking at the User-Agent string sent out by the Blazer web browser:

Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows 98; 
  PalmSource/Palm-D050; Blazer/4.3) 16;320x448

Embarrassing, especially for a Mac/Palm/Unix guy. I mean, if I did use Windows, I’d run something cool like Windows 2000 Server.

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Gene commented on Mon May 21 20:42:23 2007:

Hello, silly……. That is talking about the compatibility of the Blazer browser, not the operating system It is used by web sites to tell the server how to serve up the web page to the browser for best handling and viewing.

Despite my periodic criticisms of eBay (1, 2, 3) I remain a devoted user. One thing it’s great for is selling things that require a lot of explanation – because, unlike with a tag sale or classified ad, you don’t have to repeat that explanation to every potential buyer. You write it up once and eBay does the rest.

I’m pretty tough on my hardware, so when I sell things the “explanation” is often a laundry list of defects.

Last week I got a Palm TX, a new model released in October. You can check the Palm site for full specs, but for those familiar with preceding models the highlights are: 320x480 screen, non-collapsing case, built-in WiFi, and a $299 suggested retail price.

Some context: I’ve owned about a half-dozen Palm devices, and these comments are aimed at long-term users like me; the TX is replacing a Tungsten T, so this is also my first exposure to the 320x480 screen; I bought now rather than waiting for the elusive Cobalt because my T was at the end of its useful life.

Update: 2005-11-13: A lot has happened with Django in the past two weeks; here’s an updated Plucker version of the docs (337K) for the 74 people who downloaded the last one. To judge by the change in file sizes, Django is sixty-two percent more documented than before! Or somebody slipped one of Wilson’s desktop backgrounds in there. I’m just going to keep popping this post to the top when I have a new version, rather than allowing outdated stuff to sit around.

Update 2005-12-10: Posted a new version (375K). Someday I’ll make this a daily cronjob…

Update 2005-12-29: Updated again (398K).

Update 2006-11-16: Now (finally) a nightly cronjob – see the announcement post for more or just grab it now: http://dpaste.com/static/djangodocs.pdb

Original post, 2005-10-30: Along the lines of the Python Library Reference in Plucker format I posted in July, here’s the latest Django documentation (208KB). (Plucker is an offline reader for the Palm.) I know using a non-WiFi, non-cellphone PDA is terribly retro these days, but that’s the kind of old-world guy I am.

Update 2006-12-29: New version for Python 2.5 posted.

Update 2005-12-29: New version for Python 2.4.2 posted.

2005-07-01: I just generated a Plucker version of the Python Library Reference for Python 2.4.1, so I could have it with me on my Palm. Since this was a bit of a pain to do I thought I’d share it: (download)

In the What-Were-They-Thinking Department, Palm chose yesterday as the day to release their new handheld, the Palm TX. You didn’t hear about it? Neither did anybody else, because we were all paying attention to some other product announcements happening at the same time. Too bad that Palm buried the launch like that, because I really want them to do well and it’s a very nice little device. Cheaper than previous high-end models ($299 – the Tungsten T debuted at $499), with built-in WiFi. For specs, see Palm.com.

For anyone who was ever enthusiastic about the Palm platform, the last few years have been challenging. In an article also commented on at Engadget and Slashdot, ZDNet columnist Michael Singer lays out his Five reasons for Palm’s slide. They are:

• Palm executives were slow to see the convergence of cellular phones and personal digital assistants
• Palm has had a hard time making its corporate customers happy
• The separation of Palm’s hardware and software units failed to boost Palm’s prospects
• Jeff Hawkins and Donna Dubinsky took their knack for innovation with them when they left in 1998 to start Handspring
• Palm had a costly product-planning snafu that stalled its fast-growing sales

The loss of Hawkins and Dubinsky is the biggest in my view. It was the most diluting of many events that have diluted Palm and its image over the years, from the early naming gaffes (Pilot, PalmPilot, Palm Connected Organizer…) to the proliferation of too-similar models (III, IIIx, IIIe, IIIxe…) to the PalmOne/PalmSource split.