SBSH Calendar Touch

Obviously, Tim beat me to the punch on reviewing this application from SBSH, but I promised the developers I would review it as well. We’ve been having some blog problems for a while now (which held me up on another review), and I apologize to our readers if this has affected your experience here (go here to send in blog feedback), but I digress. If you heavily rely on your mobile for time management capabilities, you really should check out Calendar Touch.

 

PocketBreeze (PB)…Today plugin can also start Calendar Touch (CT)…

Overview

CT works in concert with another product that SBSH offers called PocketBreeze (a PIM management Today Screen plug-in), so you might want to consider getting both of these products (you don’t need PB, but it is pretty cool)… I have to start with a few minor gripes about what I call old-school, PocketPC style applications (and by extension, PB/CT). It’s tough to navigate, much less read tiny menus on a 3-inch screen. Especially ones with a bunch of symbols on them, which is why many newer PIM integration products have ditched the Today screen plug-ins altogether, and opted to use their own non-WM “home” or custom UI with larger fonts and icons. Scrollbars are also practically a thing of the past. That said, it is impressive the way SBSH apps integrate the best aspects of the Windows Mobile OS on the Today screen. If you want to look for a contact, check e-mail, or peruse calendar/tasks--and don’t mind the Today screen in WM--you need to get Pocket Breeze. Calendar Touch is sort of a mixed bag in the “look-n-feel” department, especially when using the various views. The flexibility of a hoard of tweakable options--status quo for SBSH apps--makes up for a lot of the clutter and clunkiness. CT and PB integration amounts to this: Calendar and task items will be opened using CT instead of default PIM apps in WM when selected from the today screen.

Gestures can be used to quickly navigate both apps…

Gestures

CT and PB apps make use of screen gestures. In the case of PB, you can easily navigate between contacts, calendar, documents, alarms and mail by dragging left or right in the today plug-in window (sliding between screens pictured above left). In CT, gestures extend to quickly cycling through dates (a drag and hold towards the right), in addition to forward and backward moves through your calendar. The scrollbars in both apps need to go away, and be replaced by up/down gestures, in my opinion.

 

Installation

I installed CT via cab file since that’s how it was provided for the beta. The application is about 1.5MB, and since it doesn’t incorporate a great deal of fancy graphics (save for a few animations), it started up instantly and without issue on my iPAQ. There were a few forum entries indicating problems with it starting up. I would recommend un-installing any previous apps (from SBSH) that do calendar integration and also removing any settings that may have been stored as well. During install, CT gives you the option to embed it as the default calendar viewing application (the option I went with). I really can’t see much purpose in even giving a choice here. I mean if I’m going to buy a program that does everything the default apps do and more, wouldn’t I want it to replace them? Anyway, you can also select a left or right soft-key to assign CT to during the installation, conveniently giving you one-touch calendar/task access.

 

Using CT

When you first open CT, the default user interface presents a combined list of tasks, and appointments. That’s probably it’s greatest strength right there…and maybe it’s greatest weakness. Wait, I admit it’s pretty cool to have them all together, but tasks always show up on today’s date, and there’s is no simple way to show/hide tasks from the main interface (you have to dig into the settings). If you have a long list, better yank out your stylus, cuz you got some scrollin to do. The appointments will bubble to the top, so at least they aren’t in the way. SBSH has a horizontal day timeline that displays on the top left of the screen (see below). It gives a graphical representation of your schedule. Also indicated are the number of appointments and tasks, along with L/R tap symbols for moving between dates (in case you don’t like using gestures). It might be a nice enhancement to add the ability to turn on/off tasks or appointments by tapping the icons in the top menubar.

 

Working with Views

Task, weekly, and monthly views…

So you don’t like your calendar view, eh? Well, why don’t you change it. Like the default WM time manager apps, SBSH gives you a choice of daily, weekly, monthly views as you would expect, however, the views have interesting and useful ways of presenting a lot more data to you than you will get in the default applications built into the WM OS. You can also go to a list view of your tasks. There is a trifle that the default WM calendar has that Cal Touch does not (or maybe I just didn’t find the option for it). A yearly view, which I find is quite useful for a checking far flung dates. The monthly calendar view is especially well done when presented in horizontal mode. It combines the best of all the available views, IMHO. You can read appointment and task details for the day as well as navigate the entire monthly calendar. You can tap on a day (or navigate using the D-pad), and an expanded bubble window of that day is displayed. A subsequent tap, will drill you through to the daily view. The left soft-key will then be assigned to take you neatly back to the monthly view. Tap-n-hold on the daily view (or use the menu soft-key) to add either a new task or appointment.

 

Adding Appointments/Tasks

New Appt and Task., Date/Time select windows, and Field Editing Options

Adding an appointment or task is not that far removed from doing so in Windows Mobile standard apps. Several fields appear (although in an animated fashion in CT), and you either select from pre-defined text entries, or enter custom text. The date and time pickers are large button versions to allow the easy, quicker navigation of using fingers. You also have the option to insert “My Text” entries depending on the field type (Home, work, etc.), or even contacts into fields, and add or customize the list entries themselves. After entering the required data, your new appointment will show in the calendar view you have selected (see below):

New appointment added with note, is confidential in nature (the lock) and a reminder set…

 

Settings

Select the Menu soft-key and then Settings…

This is my very least favorite thing to review in SBSH applications, because just about everything in their applications can be tweaked. It can be both a blessing and a curse, because the tweaks are not always what I would consider to be intuitive. At any rate, you can customize just about every view I’ve mentioned in this review in some manner. You can tweak text size, colors, and turn on/off way too many features to list here, unfortunately. I think they should simplify this or simply trim down the tweakability factor a bit.

Conclusion

Anyone who has read a number of my reviews probably knows that I give no free passes. I am fair and impartial to all vendors alike. I like SBSH applications in particular, but I try to be generally positive about most vendor products I review. Constructive criticism is a good thing, after all, and helps to identify areas where a product could use a little fine-tuning. Because I point out a few minor tweaks in an application should not be construed as an overall thumbs down or up. In the case of CT, I give it a general thumbs up, but would like to see them bring the complexity down a notch, unify the gestures better, and get rid of the pesky scrollbars. The date/time picker while better than standard, could also use an automated scrolling features (I hate to say it, but much like iPhone). For the sake of brevity, I left off several more great features that this application has over using the default WM apps. Features like search and and custom filtering that are nice to have, but maybe not that important to the average calendar user. You can learn more, download and check it out for yourself here. CT is $24.95, but our VIP members know that they can get a 15% discount until 31 December 2008 on CT and similar apps. Just hit the VIP link at the top right corner of our page.

HP Magic Giveaway

The most excellent gadget site bostonpocketpc.com is hosting an HP giveaway valued at some $6000 in the latest computer gear. The giveaway has a charity twist, and you must write up a little story on who you would give to and why. Go check out the post here for the full details. Several other sites are also participating, and are listed as well.

Best Software Awards 2008 Winners Announced!

"The Winners in Smartphone & Pocket PC magazine’s Eighth Annual Best Software Awards for Windows Mobile software have been announced at www.Smartphonemag.com/Awards. Eighty members of the Smartphone & Pocket PC magazine Board of Experts judged 936 Windows Mobile products in 194 Pocket PC and Smartphone categories. Winners are also listed in the Smartphone & Pocket PC magazine 2009 Resource Guide first seen late November."

This might be our last year for the awards, so all you Windows Mobile geeks out there should go check out the winning software titles at least. New software development is not booming in the WM world, as you may know, but neither is it dead. Many of the titles are not new products, but several returning products have added new versions and features. Feedback is welcomed (in case this isn't the final year)...

2008 Best Software Awards Starting!

The schedule and rules for the eighth annual Smartphone and Pocket PC magazine Best Software Awards 2008 have been posted.

Everything you might want to know about the 2008 awards, plus link to 2007 winners can be found at the awards home page.

If you are a vendor, make sure you submit product information (free) at our Encyclopedia of Software and Accessories.

If you have a suggestion for nomination, then use the 2008 nominations form.

Remote Control Everything!

I have 3 different computers in the house, and at least 3 network-capable handheld devices. The computers and the gadgets are not in the same room, and in pursuit of my tech-writing hobby, I am constantly having to run up and down stairs to different machines to retrieve files/data or to run some program that I isn't locally installed. It can be a real pain. Let's face it, it's also just plain cool to have the power to remotely access your computers and gadgets from one central place. It's what I call the command center experience (like being on the bridge of the USS Enterprise). Your command center may have a few different elements than mine, and if you truly want to get all geekified, you can control stuff like your stereo and other A/V equipment. I'll stick to the basics of setting up your home computers, and a Windows Mobile handheld device so that you too can easily have the power of remote control over your tech-gear.

My basement command center...XP/Sun Machines


The upstairs computer lair...Vista PC

You might ask why in the world would you want to do this? I already explained my reasons, but maybe you aren't a technogeek writer with gadgets and computers all over the house. Why would you need to access them anywhere but wherever they are located? Good question, and for the most part, maybe you don't. Still, you might consider some other useful purposes. Maybe you want to take a peek at what your kids are doing on their computer, for example--I know, not the most honest way to be more involved in their lives, but sometimes you have to intrude into their space to really know what's going on. Another reason to use an R/C app on multiple computers is program compatibility. I have a Windows XP machine, a Vista laptop, and a Sun Ultra box that runs Solaris 10. If somethig doesn't run on Vista, I can easily try it on XP, not by running down 2 flights of stairs to my basement, but by simply opening up the R/C app on my Vista Machine. Even though I can't remotely control the Sun's user interface, I can at least telnet into it and run command-line commands--mostly I use it to monitor network traffic as it runs a specially configured firewall. My basement XP computer is also the computer with all my movies, e-books, pictures, music and a ton of programs, and other useful files. It's nice to be able to quickly open a window and browse or retrieve files from my remote machine.

OK, so that's cool, but why would I want to control my handheld, or use my handheld to control my computer? That's just stupid. Maybe not. Let's say you're in a meeting, and need a document. You don't have the information with you, but remember that it is on your home computer. You do have your mobile phone. Guess what, you can easily log into your home machine remotely through your cell-phone or PDA, access your home computer desktop, and open or even e-mail yourself the file. When you get home, you may have mobile applications on your phone that you do not have on your PC. Instead of squinting into a tiny display, you can run them on your more spacious PC desktop, and also benefit from the PC mouse and keyboard control of your handheld. Obviously there are different flavors of remote control. You can control a PC or multiple PCs remotely from your mobile, even from out on the internet, or control your device across your home network. Some apps in this genre are more simplified, giving you access to only specific things like folders or music. Let's take a look at the range of tools available for manipulating both PC and Windows Mobile remotely.

1. Online R/C Services: There are a number of services available on the web that enable you to easily remote control one or several PCs on your home network. Several offer PC and mobile client applications or at least some level of browser-based login service that can provide remote access to your desktop. The drawback to these services in my opinion is that they almost always require a connection to the internet server of the provider in order to function, and premium features are usually on a subscription basis. If you simply want to control stuff in your own home network, you still must actively connect to their servers on the web first in order to do so. I also don't like the fact that they often install services on your home computer that could make you more vulnerable to attack (warning: this is a danger with nearly every R/C application). Some examples I have tested on my own home network:


I'm InTouch-www.01com.com: User-friendly internet service with Windows Mobile client for accessing your desktop PC. Has a strong feature-set for checking e-mail, remote desktop control and more.


GoToMyPC Personal-www.gotomypc.com: Popular remote PC connection service that offers good desktop control features via your mobile device/PC.


Laplink Everywhere-www.laplink.com: Connect to your PC through online services.

2. Local R/C Services: Many people may not realize that Windows always had a remote control feature built-in to the OS called Terminal Services, and later referred to as Remote Desktop Protocol or Connection. Terminal Services allow a Terminal Services client to connect from a remote computer, establish a session, and control the desktop of the computer remotely through a GUI (graphic user interface) application window running on the remote machine. Windows Mobile devices even have a terminal services client built-in as well. However, there are several other applications (many are free), that do this much better than TS.


z2 Remote2PC-www.z2software.com: My pick for connecting and controlling your desktop from anywhere using another PC or Windows Mobile--some advanced firewall tweaking skills may be in order to use the remote features, but no subscription fees! PC-PC basic control is free, but the WM client and advanced features require a purchased license.


VNC-www.csd.uwo.ca/~magi/doc/vnc/index.html: Open source remote control product that is platform independent, meaning you can theoretically connect to your PC from any other machine type, providing the proper VNC client is installed. Completely free for private, not-for-profit use. RealVNC is a follow-on commercial effort by some of the original VNC developers, which has a free edition available here (http://www.realvnc.com/products/free/4.1/index.html).

3. Device-side R/C Services: The need for most users to remotely control a phone or handheld is probably not as common as going the other way, but a number of useful products have popped up over the years to do this, some with more robust features than others.


Pocket Controller-Professional-www.soti.net: Copy files, monitor resources, run a DOS shell, screenshots, make movies of your device actions and more... It's the total WM remote control experience, but not cheap!


MyMobiler-www.mymobiler.com: Very robust remote control application that is free, but some controversy exists over It's need to open FTP ports on your PC.


True Connect-www.raspberrysoftware.com: Solid control application, but lacks network support, so not really that useful for our purposes. Also NOT free...

Actually there are more services and applications that could be considered R/C in nature, but they only provide a subset of control features. For the sake of sanity and brevity I won't cover them all here. There are even ways to make non-standard A/V equipment as well as your home electrical system show up on your network (and be remotely controlled), but this is clearly beyond the scope of simple R/C for computers. In Part 2, I'll tell you how to set this all up. For now, go and check out some of these great products, and maybe grab a copy of z2 Remote2PC, as we will be using it in part 2....

Smartphone and Pocket PC Magazine 2007 Award Winners Announced!!

This is my first post since returning from my recent trip to Afghanistan (I might post some pix/clips here), and I must say that I'm not much in the mood for blogging lately. However, the winners from our recent awards have been announced, which I have to blog about..as it's one of the best ways for you to learn about and purchase the world's best mobile software. Check it out here. Read on for the full press release and information on the awards.

November 15, 2007

For Immediate Release

Best Software Awards 2007 Winners Announced
The Winners in Smartphone & Pocket PC magazine’s Seventh Annual Best Software Awards for Windows Mobile software have been announced at www.Smartphonemag.com/Awards. One hundred members of the Smartphone & Pocket PC magazine Board of Experts judged 889 Windows Mobile products in 188 Pocket PC and Smartphone categories. Winners are also listed in the Smartphone & Pocket PC magazine 2008 Buyer's Guide first seen late November.

From the Publisher of Smartphone & Pocket PC magazine, Hal Goldstein
"The annual Smartphone & Pocket PC magazine Best Software Awards helps users select software that best suits their Windows Mobile Pocket PC and Smartphone needs by honoring companies that produce outstanding software. The awards process is a huge 6-month undertaking involving the experts of the Windows Mobile community starting with over 15,000 Pocket PC and Smartphone products."

The Awards Process
Nominations Manager, Werner Ruotsalainen, and the Board of Expert judges spent two months selecting 889 award nominees, about 20% of the software in the Smartphone & Pocket PC magazine Encyclopedia of Software and Accessories.

The Board of Experts
The Board of Experts voted for the finalists and winners are from all over the world. They run prominent Web Sites, serve as Microsoft MVPs, and write for Smartphone & Pocket PC magazine and other organizations. These experts all are volunteers and none are employed by Smartphone & Pocket PC magazine.

About Smartphone & Pocket PC magazine
Bi-monthly Smartphone & Pocket PC magazine is a print publication also available in Zinio Digital format, written for users of Windows Mobile PDA’s and Smartphone devices. Each issue includes hardware and software reviews, user profiles, practical tips, plus an “Enterprise Solutions” supplement. Its companion Web site,www.Smartphonemag.com, is updated each day with news, hot downloads, Web sites, reviews, and tips; and also contains archives, a directory of the best Windows Mobile Web sites, and an Encyclopedia of over 5000 third-party software and accessories products. Subscriptions include the annual Buyers Guide and The Ultimate Smartphone and Pocket PC How-to Guide, plus free access to the subscriber VIP web site.

Awards Finalists Announced for 2007!!

If you are a gadget freak, and want the best software for your new Windows Mobile handheld, you have to check out our magazine here. Every year we host an annual awards, and other gadget freaks from around the world come together (figuratively) to judge the best of the best applications for Windows Mobile. It's not always a lot of fun for the judges (I might have judged 12-13 cats but some judges did much more), but the result is first-rate for you, the user. Go check it out here...the finalists have been announced!

If you want great reviews, news, tips and tricks from our blogs, scroll down to the footer on this page, where a feed of the latest posts are linked in, or read on for a summary of my own recent posts.

1. Voice2Go: I can honestly say that this tool will get your PDA to listen to you at least as well as your wife...
2. Getting Artsy with WM: Some of the lame ways I use my PDA to exercise the left hemisphere...
3. First Voice ResQR: Interesting software idea that might save your life or that of your loved one's...

Judging Over

I've been away from my blogs for awhile. The last 2 months have been eaten up largely with judging software for the Smartphone and Pocket PC Magazine's annual Best Software Awards (and some work abroad), which is thankfully over. I did manage to post a couple of reviews on my other blog though, so you can check those out at the links below. Soon, I plan on re-evaluating some security and scripting tricks I have picked up here and there, and will post those here, including a trick on how to hack back (sort of) and patrol your web-mail accounts for identity theft (for the really paranoid), so stay tuned.

Recent Reviews of note on the PPCMAG blog:
1. Lobster Tunes-Very cool audio player for your handheld that allows you to get into your PC music store while on the road.

2. Sunnysoft Contacts-Extends the WM5 built-in contacts application quite nicely.

3. ListPro-Awesome desktop and handheld list/database application with great features. I imported the whole Technet Script Repository into ListPro (2000+ scripts), and tweaked em so if you already have the software, you can download it here, and never be without your fav admin script again.

Free On-line Weather Services updated!

Probably like many of you, I like negative vorticity advection, or "NVA" for short. When a ridge of high-pressure builds in over your area bringing sunny/breezy pleasant days after an especially nasty front passes by, chances are you can find a blob of NVA somewhere in your vicinity at around the 500MB level (about 18,000 ft in the mid-latitudes). Well, on a weather chart I mean... Negative vorticity at 500mb, a measure of negative or anti-cyclonic spin, is a good indicator of downward vertical motion in the mid-levels of the atmosphere, which will often translate into fair skies and pleasant days for awhile. PVA (Positive Vorticity Advection) is NVA's nasty older brother, who loves to bring the pain--cyclonic-turning, upward-lifting, scary organized bad-weather patterns with maybe a nice pre-frontal squall line of severe thunderstorms thrown in for good measure. Run for the storm cellar!

One of my blog categories is "Weather Related", which hasn't been getting much attention lately, due to my darn gadgets and my laziness, but it's high-time to update the darn thing, so that's what I did. Luckily for you, you don't need to locate the NVA, or PVA to use these awesome/free on-line services, but if you want to try, here's a link to the NWS NGM model forecast upper-air charts. Tell ya what...You locate the PVA areas correctly in this 500MB vorticity chart (not much strong, organized PVA/NVA this time of year in the N. Hemisphere), and I'll... I'll declare you an honorary SP & PPC magazine forecaster geek extraordinare, or something. Or, maybe, I'll just give you some more cool weather links to check out instead...

Read more!

Smartphone and Pocket PC magazine’s 2007 Best Software Awards Nominations

Smartphone & Pocket PC magazine’s 7th annual Best Software Awards helps users select the best Pocket PC and Smartphone applications, utilities, and games, while honoring companies that produce outstanding software.

Throughout June, Nominations Manager, Werner (“Menneisyys”) Ruotsalainen, and the 2007 Board of Experts developed the nominations list. Now, the preliminary list of Windows Mobile Windows Mobile nominations are ready for public viewing and comment.

End-users and Windows Mobile developers are welcome to make nominations from June 29, 2007 through July 13, 2007. The list will change daily (products may appear, disappear, and be re-categorized) until nominations are frozen on July 20.

Nominations form
Suggest nominations, re-categorizations, and un-nominations. Werner Ruotsalainen will make final determination on each suggestion.

Discuss nominations
Discuss your favorite nominations, the awards process, or anything awards-related

Vendors enter software into Encyclopedia
Vendors must enter their free product listing in order to be eligible for nomination

Contact information:
Hal Goldstein, Publisher, Smartphone & Pocket PC magazine and Director, Best Software Awards, hal@thaddeus.com
Best Software Awards site: www.pocketpcmag.com/awards

Tweak XP and Mobile

This month (which is about how frequently I have been posting on blogger) I get back to tweaking my old PC (an old 2300 series Dell Dimension). Alas, I finally completed a basic set of themes/skins for Windows Mobile. Handheld users can get these by visiting my home page here. Enough of that nonsense for awhile. We were once upon a time talking about customizing XP themes, tools, and other eye-candy (especially making them look Vista or Mac-like without buying an expensive new computer). Let's look at a great XP interface enhancer I use and love, which is available for free download, called ObjectDock (from StarDock.com). Also in this installment, a neat little performance monitor called TinyResMeter, and 2 not-so-great add-ons. Who needs the fancy gauges in Vista. I just want to know how much of my CPU is being used without opening task manager.


First off, to give the reader some background on why I post this stuff, I subscribe to at least 4 print magazines that are computer or gadget-related (PC World, PC Mag, EWeek, Computerworld, etc.), and a ton of similar RSS newsfeeds and columns (thanks, Bloglines). I work on computers for a living, and have been doing system administration, testing, and integration for government and military computer systems for about 15 years now. I have seen a lot of technology come and go, and I make it top priority to keep abreast of all the latest tech resources. In other words, I scour all this stuff, try it out, and weed out the crap that doesn't work so well. I personally own old hardware, and usually keep it running until it is completely un-serviceable or dead. I still have my son's 1st generation iPod (he probably dropped it), and after replacing the Hard Drive almost 2 years ago, it still works great. I am a firm believer in optimization, and making the old look new again is an important aspect of this, but not at the expense of performance.


More Program launchers are admittedly something Windows could do without. I mean, why not just use shortcuts on the desktop, or the Windows Start menu? One reason a tailorable launcher is useful is screen size. I like my application space to be as uncluttered as possible, and if I need to start a program, I don't want to minimize running apps, or click through a bunch of links to do so. Desktop shortcuts are passe, and since many program installers by default add a shortcut, can quickly fill the desktop with junk. Many XP users may not even be aware they can create their own custom launchpad using the "Quick Launch" feature in Windows without any add-ons what-so-ever. A Quick Launch menu gives you the convenience of desktop shortcuts, but in a compact, manageable window you can place where you want on the desktop. To turn on Quick Launch (if not on already), simply right-click your Windows taskbar, select toolbars, and turn on Quick Launch (the "Desktop" option in this menu will work in a similar manner, but show all your desktop shortcuts). Once you've enabled them in the task manager, you can simply unlock your task manager toolbar, and drag the box out to the desktop. You now have your own little custom desktop launcher, which you can add/remove shortcuts to as you wish. You can create multiple launchers this way (say one for office apps, one for games, and one for Internet apps, etc.). Now if you want to turn off the main desktop shortcuts, simply right-click somewhere in your main desktop, select "Arrange Icons By", and then select the "Show Desktop Icons" link.


OK, so what?! Program launchers are useful, but not much cooler than a bunch of cluttered icons on the desktop. Well, Quick Launch is kind of boring from a feature standpoint, which is where add-on launchers come in. My personal fav is ObjectDock, but there's practically a cottage industry for helper, launcher or other program running assistance/management, etc. Some like ObjectDock provide a stand-alone space in which they work, and some integrate with other applications, but a word of caution. Add-ons can and some likely will have adware (maybe even malware) tagging along, and might send your private information to external sources, so make sure to research the product in question before downloading and installing it (I usually look on sites like Download.com, or Softpedia.com, and read the reviews by users). Browser toolbars and the like are especially bad for this, also known as Browser Helper Objects (like search bars and the like). ObjectDock has proven to be one of the most useful, excellent freebies I have found yet in this category. It doesn't just give you an awesome launcher with cool, animated widgets (like a MAC), it shows you running programs, provides an expandable preview, includes cool widgets and flyouts like local weather and search and a ton of free themes, icons and backgrounds to keep your customizing away for hours.



So now you have your desktop all pimped with a nifty launcher, and you say OK...now I want to monitor my hardware/software. Can I add some Vista-like Gauges? Yep, sure can...I do this 2 ways, one is with actual hardware. I have a device that is a keyboard extension called the Optimus mini keyboard (a tiny 3-button OLED Keypad). It has the capability to display system resources:

..and software. My personal favorite is a little trifle called TinyResMeter:

Two things are immensely cool about this application. It truly is tiny in terms of size and memory usage (while running). You don't have to install it (no messed up registry clean-up/hooks to worry about later). It works really well, and is quite simple to setup and use. One drawback though was I had to add it to the startup environment manually to get it to auto-run when logging in. Here are the high points from the author's site:

Why TinyResMeter ?

- It is not the nicest Resource Monitor.
- It is not the most complete.
- It has no wonderfull and amazing graphical display provided.
- It has no installer. (WHICH I LIKE, BY THE WAY)
...But...
- It is written 90% pure API, to keep it as small as possible.
- It do not require any extra DLL.
- It do not modify/write inside Registry Database.
- It use less memory and resources than other identical tools.
- It use a very simple but efficient small display interface.
- It do not use any installer that could increase EXE size, once downloaded you can use it immediately.
- It can be simple copied and executed on any machine with no need of installation procedure.
- It takes very little place on your screen.

Settings saving : You must quit TRM manually thru "Quit" menu in order to save your settings (then you restart TRM), this problem will be fixed in 0.97.

I lied a little. TinyResMeter doesn't match the slick-looking Vista Interface, but it does the same thing in a quarter of the run-time memory required. Finally, I recently tried out 2 semi-loosers. As mentioned previously in the article, I use resources like PC World, and a host of other blog and feeds to find this stuff (see this). Some, in my opinion are great, and some not-so-great. I recently found 2 that I could have done without. The first is a Start Menu enhancement called Vista Start Menu SE (which was like a Frankenstein version of the real thing), the second called Desktop Sidebar (a sort of sidebar widget utility). Both were second rate, bloated abominations compared to the excellent utilities I just went over, and they slowed my computer considerably. The Start Menu added an obnoxious "upgrade" button (to try and force you to get the full version), which I was always nearly clicking on. They were both clunky and caused more problems than the enhancements they tout. In the world of tweaking (especially for older hardware), there is a definite line between useful and attractive functionality and resource-hungry eye candy. The key is finding apps that strike that balance. The free version of ObjectDock never bugs you to upgrade, or attempts to trick you into clicking anything. It has never crashed my system to my knowledge, and has performance tweaks to make it work better on less capable hardware. Those are the right ingredients for virtually guaranteeing an upgrade and a returning customer without resorting to trickery.

Custom Theme Tweak Horrors!

This theme tweaking thing is driving me nuts... I'm not a graphic artist by any stretch of the imagination (see crappy screen shot above of my half-finished PPCMag gold theme), but the theme stuff has been eating up gigantic amounts of my time which should be better spent writing about more interesting stuff, but when I get to at least a basic level of proficiency, I plan on posting my finished themes for the masses--or anyone who might happen upon my blog. How do the expert tweakers have the patience to do this graphic editing stuff? Just to get a decent theme, mostly ripped off from already-available graphics, and tweak the myriad widgets/colors that go along with it requires hours of free-time... Lesson learned: Better to just use the millions of themes/skins already available on-line for your PC or handheld!

Tweak XP and Windows Mobile Update...

Sorry it has taken me so darn long to update this thread. Hello? ...crickets chirp... Anyone there? ...owl hoots... Well, in case you are there, I just did a monster write-up on all things tweakified for WM devices (Pocket PC, and Smartphone), so go check it out here, and I promise to now focus on doing the same thing here for the PC as well (ObjectDock, WindowBlinds, etc.)

Tweak XP and Mobile Part 2

Last week (or was it the week before?), I posted on tweaking XP and your device themes to make them look similar and just all-around cooler (check that full post out here). I gave some basic tips on patching the theme engine in Windows to allow custom theme packages to be used. This allowed you to incorporate theme elements that reproduce things like the Vista transparent window effects in Aero, or brushed steel finish of I-Tunes or Mac, for example. Finally, I outlined some basic tools for editing themes for your mobile device. Now let's expand on that a bit, and tweak XP/WM even further...I never liked that stupid "Start" thing in XP, so I changed it--and guess what? You can change it in WM too (sort of)...Read on for more tweakin fun...

Hacking the Windows Start Button
The first thing you need to do is to read up on using a tool called Resource Hacker. When I got it, it was a freebie, and appears to still be. It was written by Angus Johnson, and is a very useful utility for hacking into 32-bit executeables and changing certain application resource elements (like icons, and bitmaps). Resource Hacker then gives you the ability to re-compile the executeable with your changes. Sounds scary, and it isn't really, but please back up your system first (or at least the file itself). It turns out, the ugly default Windows Start Menu text and image is simply one of many resources compiled into "explorer.exe", which is the program that presents the Windows desktop. Using Resource Hacker, you can edit the ".bmp" images used in the Start menu, and even change the "Start" title itself.

My "tweaked" Start menu


Resource Hacking the Start Icon


Once you learn a little about Resource Hacker, and tweaking Windows system files, it's a cinch to add your own custom images and text to the Start menu as indicated, or even tweak the appearance of some of your favorite applications. Explorer.exe is considered a special file worthy of protection by the operating system, so you have to go through some acrobatics with Window's built-in system protection, and then boot to safe mode to force your changes. See the following overclockersclub article on hacking the start menu for more information and a step-by-step, and check out my article on tweaking Windows Mobile application icons in this manner as well here.

Tweaking the WM interface
To do this kind of thing on your handheld is not quite so easy, so to keep it simple and easy I use a combined task manager/theme tweaker program called Wisbar Advance. Wisbar was one of the first interface tweakers you could use to dress up the boring default look of Windows Mobile, and it runs on PPC 2002 though WM5. I shouldn't actually call it a display tweaker, because it's more of a WM display wrapper that runs on top of the default WM display. It has a lot more bells and whistles than it's skins, and is practically a complete interface replacement in it's own right, but I'll focus just on the skin capability for now. It's major drawback though, is that it eats up extra resources. There are a ton of on-line skins and themes available for Wisbar, and it's popularity has spawned a cottage industry of themes to go with it. In addition to the themes that come installed, and available for download from Lakeridge, you should check out these sites, as well as the WA skins forums:

1. DeviantArt
2. piXel's themes/skins
3. Juni's themes/skins
4. Lightman's themes/skins

Even with WA eating up some extra resources, it becomes apparent from the shots that the enhancement to WM is worth it.

Before WA...boring

After WA...better


Tweaking Wisbar Skins
The really cool thing about Wisbar is that the displayed interface elements and settings are a collection of easily identified image files and a single property file (a ".skin"), all located under the theme main directory. The property file maps the images and settings to be used in the interface. The skins are accompanied by sounds as well (in a separate folder). The Wisbar site has a handy skinning guide to help you get started, and it really is pretty easy to take an existing skin template and modify it for your own taste (although, remember you are editing someone else's work, so don't try to claim it later as your own). The WA settings allow you to easily import a custom theme, and it would be awesome if WM natively supported these kinds of changes.

Setup a whole new custom theme by tweaking the images/config, etc...

Pick a pre-defined theme or import a custom one...


So, we can now pimp out our desktop and handheld displays with ease. Next week, we'll look at even more desktop/device gizmos like Object Dock (for those Vista-like widgets), Mobile Shell, and more tweakers...Stay tuned!