Cost: Charware (all procedes go to a charity), $20
Vendor: Pimlico Software, Inc.
Datebk3 works almost exactly like the built-in Datebook program, but it adds many features such as time zones, icons, floating events, and catagories. It also deals better with events which cross midnight, and gives you several new views. The main disadvantage is that it is large: 260K. I consider it worth the size.
Cost: Freeware
Vendor: Mitch Blevins
Sometimes Graffiti is too slow when someone is giving you a phone number or directions. Diddlebug lets you jot down the notes just as you would on paper; think of it as a Post-It note. Then, when you have more time, you can open a text window at the bottom, transcribe your notes, and automatically transfer your notes into an entry in the addressbook or datebook or todo list. Or you can set reminder alarms for each page.
Cost: Freeware
Vendor: Paul Margrave
Are you a fan of the old Infocom text adventure games? Did you finish Zork I, II, and III, curse the babel fish in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and blush during Leather Goddesses of Phobos? Then you'll love Frotz. Just get the datafiles for the old games (Activision sells CD's full of them for almost nothing), load them on your Palm, and play them on the bus, plane, or in the doctor's waiting room.
Cost: Freeware
Vendor: Christopher Antos
HandyShopper lets you make shopping lists, sort items by category and by store, mark prices and coupons, and check off items as you get them. There are several progams whict help you do this, but Handyshop is free.
Cost: Shareware, $15
If you prefer Reverse Polish Notation, try out RPN. It's a flexible, programmable stack-based calculator.
Cost: Free for personal use
You can mark data in your Palm "private", but that doesn't encrypt it; anyone with access to the Palm or to the PC you hotsync with can get that data. Secure Memo replaces the built-in Memo Pad program and allows you to encrypt individual memos. It uses a public-key system so you only need to enter the password to decrypt, not to encrypt.
Cost: Shareware, $17
DOC is the standard format for large text files on Palms. There are many different DOC readers available. TealDoc is one of the more feature-full ones, but it is not free. Also try CSpotRun, an excellent freeware DOC reader. DOC files are available online and can contain anything from movie listings to books.