What are Hacks?
Hacks. No, we're not referring to pale, pimple-faced teenagers trying to break into Pentagon computers. Hacks are the common name for a class of programs which extend the functionality of Palm OS. While the terms "hacks", "hackers" and "hacking" are often associated with legendary stories about phone phreaking, Captain Crunch, and calls to President about the Pentagon running out of toilet paper, the term "hacks" in the context of Palm OS handhelds is entirely benign.

In programming lingo, "hack" is roughly equivalent to the term "jury-rig" ("bodge" for you Brits out there. Who says you can't learn anything from watching Junkyard Wars? ) The word has no nefarious implication, but simply refers to program code which accomplishes tasks in an unorthodox, often ingenious, way. Accordingly, "Hackmaster" was the name Edward Keyes chose for his original system extensions manager back in 1996. Seeing a growing need, Keyes developed Hackmaster and the Hack standard as a way for different developers to extend the operating system in a consistent, compatible way.

What Hacks Can Do
We all know how ordinary applications run on a Palm handheld. When you want to start, say, a spreadsheet app, you find its icon in the system launcher screen and tap on it. Later, if you want to go into your word processor, you go back to the launcher screen, and this automatically stops the spreadsheet from running. When you're in the word processor, the spreadsheet is no longer performing calculations; the two applications cannot run at the same time. Hacks, however, are different. They can run when you're still inside another application, leading to functionality and numerous uses achievable no other way.

Today, hundreds of useful hacks are available from different developers. At TealPoint, six of our own products are hacks, including TealEcho, TealLaunch, and TealGlance. TealEcho draws a digital ink trail when you write, reducing recognition errors and increasing speed. TealLaunch, on the other hand, quickens application launching with a pop-up launcher window and button mapping ability. Lastly, TealGlance previews your day in an instant by popping up a reminder window on power up with the date, time, upcoming calendar events and to-do items.

Other developers have released popular hacks too. FindHack, an enhanced replacement for the system "Find" command, is always a popular download. Another is Afterburner, a program which accelerates a handheld by turning up the system clock. PrintHack, a recent release, brings up a pop-up window to print the text of a current text field or clipboard through printing systems like TealPrint. Hundreds of others are also available.