ZodAttack

Congrats!

2006-09-13T08:53:00.000-07:00

Congrats on starting up a blog beb!

Love you!

We have moved!

2006-03-10T13:43:00.000-08:00

Just letting eveyone know we have moved to palmattack.blogdns.com

BeCrossword

2006-01-09T12:23:00.000-08:00

More puzzly fun with BeCrossword

Awesome stuff, you can download .puz format crossword puzzles and load straight off the SD card.

The interface is smart and works very well. 3 zoom levels so even if you have bad eyes it's all good.

Check it out! www.beocean.com

Excellent stuff.

2005-11-10T06:20:00.000-08:00

Just recently picked up a great time-wasting Palm game, Astraware's take on Sudoku, an awesome logic puzzle with infinite variations. It might not be everyone's thing, but if you enjoy puzzles, time-wasters and thinking real hard sometimes, it just might suitcha.

Check the screenshot to the right and visit the site at www.palmsudoku.com I'm wasting hours with it.

Peace,
-tank.

Spam

2005-11-01T19:17:00.000-08:00

No not the food. We have spammers here. So from now on all comments require image verification.

-Mitch

New Palm/Zod games...

2005-11-01T18:32:00.000-08:00

Anyone who hasn't heard of EDGE or Origo: Prologue needs to check out trailers for both, and try the demo for EDGE. I have yet to play it (have it downloaded but haven't had time) but it looks really impressive. Origo looks amazing, think StarCraft in your palm.

Just thought I'd post about these again since they're both pretty recent and both pretty badass.

-tank.

Site, just email me

2005-11-01T13:08:00.000-08:00

well, I've decided to change the site to palm attack. we will still have zodiac news, but as you know, It has been slow latley. so now the site will be updated more.

I am working on possibly merging with another well known palm site. This is not for sure though.

As you can see We have a new banner (thanks thynctank). This is only temporary though. hopefully this weekend I will have a chance to "update" the entire site.

If anybody wants to make a PalmAttack banner i will gladly post it here just email me mrtungstent5@gmail.com

any site suggestions are welcome

-mitch

Palm Attack

2005-10-24T22:54:00.000-07:00

Here's an idea for a new logo if we're changing names. Nice and simple.

Is it possible to actually change the address of this blog? Or perhaps add an additional one in case we actually do have readers out there somewhere so as not to alienate?

Let's get some opinions going too.

What does everybody think about Palm dealing with the Devil? Microsoft Windows Mobile Treos!

Has anyone tried out the T|X yet?

How about the prc copy hack for loading newer PIM apps onto an older device, discussed recently on TamsPalm... has anyone gotten that to work with their Zods? I tried copying the T|E apps so I'd have the newer features and was forced to hard reset. Ouch! Least I backed up...

My new Zod's working great, the transition went smooth. And thanks to that Russian DAA hack, I can still play Quake! If only I had the other pak files....

Any new apps/utils/games/etc anyone's tried lately? Let us know!
-tank.

Olympic Systems

2005-10-16T22:01:00.000-07:00

Wow!

I've got a new Zod! Jim from Olympic Systems (see previous posting from about a month ago) was very friendly and informative. Because my Zod's problem was a documented defect with Tapwave, and Tapwave's policy on the matter was to simply replace the unit, mine has been replaced, for the cost of shipping!

I've also been told they'll be selling new batteries for 40 bucks, just to let everybody know.

-tank.

zodattack

2005-10-13T16:48:00.000-07:00

hey everybody, sorry i haven't been posting latley. but the other writers have been keeping the site updated, thanks everybody. I plan to post more and was thinking of making zodattack, palmattack. tell me what you guys think? good? bad?

-mitch

Studying/School

2005-10-07T11:07:00.000-07:00

Well, I've had considerably less time to devote to fun stuff like music and playing games since school started.

However, I've had a LOT of hands-on time with a few excellent Palm progs from nosleep software. (www.nosleep.net) I'd used FileZ before, of course, but never really made any use of their other tools, which are primarily geared toward students.

Due Yesterday is a cool little program for organizing your class schedule/homework assignments/grades. It allows you to see what assignments are due today/this week, sort by class, show what % of an assignment is due if you like, automatically calculates your current grade standing in class, all kinds of stuff. I basically use it to remember what classes I have when, to keep track of names of Profs and to setup homework assignments. (you can have it automatically export to ToDo or DateBook when homework assignments are created, which I do)

While Yesterday is a neat program, it's fairly typical of Palm programs.... it's YAO... Yet Another Organizer. It's neat that it specializes in class assignments, etc but it provides no real unique functionality. QuizWiz, on the other hand, is a lot more unique and very useful, particularly for cram-happy students like myself. People like me, we rarely pay attention in class, we prefer the pressure (or simply find ourselves inexplicably in the situation.... all our lives) of putting things off till the last second, whether we mean to or not.

QuizWiz is a cool tool you can use to mash concepts into your brain. You create quizzes in the MemoPad app on Palm, (or the desktop conduit, of course) and import to the application. You can then test yourself on knowledge using either "Flash Cards", T/F, or Multiple Choice. The quiz can be timed or not. If you have 50 questions, you can limit the quiz to 10 of those, for time constraint. After you've taken the quiz (it will automatically mishmash correct answers from different questions into the multiple choice so there's no real need to create bogus answers manually) it will show you the % of right answers, and you can even have it re-ask you ones you get wrong till you get them right... you WILL learn this stuff, people!

Also been using Diddlebug more than I ever have before, and sometimes creating diagrams in Inspiration (www.inspiration.com) for organizing ideas like trees and other data structures.

As always, my measly budget (and that of my girlfriend) is being tracked perfectly in MyCheckBook from Quick's PDA Software (www.thequickster.com)

Anyway, just figured I'd share one student's plight with the community.

-tank.

Firehammer levelpacks and Geopod XE....Free!

2005-10-05T15:01:00.000-07:00

Fathammer has released some gifts for Zodiac Users who have supported them since 2003. The first gift is three content packs for their game FireHammer, the packs are named Sirian, Negative Space and Omega. You will need the original game from the tapwave store to play these, which is unfourtanatly unavailable.

The second gift is available to all zodiac owners, the game Geopod, a racing game in the vein of wipeout for the PS2/PSP This game was never actually available to buy and was never even announced for the Zodiac. but even though this is a great act of generosity, it means that they plan to completely cut off zodiac suport, and thus are releasing them for free.

This game is simialar in technique to Stuntcar. If you bump into a wall, your energy will become lower, thus making your energy run out faster. If this happens you will go much slower and will not be likely to win the race. Also, many people do not slow down while going into a turn. While this is not always neccesary, it will decrease the chance of hitting a wall.

You can download the FireHammer content pack here and the GeoPod XE game here. Both come with installers so simply run them and HotSync your Zodiac.

PalmPSX available for Zod! For real!

2005-09-25T09:53:00.000-07:00

"WE HAVE A FUNCTIONAL PSX EMU ON THE ZODIAC!"-ZodTTD

ZodTTD has made a playable PSX emulator for the tapwave zodiac. One Piece Mansion and the Buster Bros Collection were tested, and the games are playable on PalmPSX. In his own words: "check out what i did last night after some boredom"

PalmPSX is now nearly a full speed PSX emulator for the Zodiac. PalmPSX runs well and at good speed. Video is little choppy at times but the games run at normal speed. Currently PalmPSX is not yet using a frameskip. Once ZodTTD can get a clean frameskip in place, things will run a whole lot smoother.

PalmPSX v0.20-
- Of course, A GOOD SIZED SPEED INCREASE, due to compiler option tweaking/testing, and rewriting of Null SPU code.
- Graphics core fix for some graphics glitches.
- Started implementing HLE for future speed increase and to get rid of the BIOS requirement.
- Nearly complete button mapping:
- Power off the Zodiac during gameplay.
- FASTER LOADING TIMES due to larger storage card read-ahead

Controls:
Function START
Pressed-in Analog Stick SELECT
Analog Stick Up/Down/Left/Right
Top Hard Button X
Other 3 Hard Buttons The other 3 buttons on the PSX.
Left Trigger L
Right Trigger R
These button mappings might be wrong, if so let me know. I had to do some guess work on the SELECT and L/R buttons.
- Exit the game immediately by pressing START+L+R

Features planned to be implemented in in the near future:
- better compatibility for currently incompatible games example:Tactics Ogre (crashes on loading)
- a config file
- Save states / Memory Card implementation
- gzipped ISO's

Download it here

Installation:

#1 Double click ppsx.prc located inside the zip. Install to internal memory or your card.
#2 Put your ISO .BIN's in /PALM/PROGRAMS/PPSX/ on your storage card.
#3 Put SCPH1001 . BIN inside /PALM/PROGRAMS/PPSX/ on your storage card.
#4 Run PPSX and click the game you want to run and click GO.
#5 Share what you find that runs somewhat here

Bullguard Cover For The Zodiac Officially Available!

2005-09-25T09:31:00.000-07:00

The BullGuard Cover is a more durable replacement for the Zodiac Flip cover. The cover is molded from Kydex, strong plastic material which protects the the Zodiac from bumps, scratches, scrapes, and dents. Personally I've had my Zodiac since November 21st, 2003 and havn't scratched it once, but will probably still buy this cover, just for the peace of mind it will offer to me.

The Kydex material used to make this cover is:

A. Flame Retardent
B. Impact Resistant
C. Easily Cleaned
D. Thin
E. Durable
F. Individually formed and finished by Kevin, owner of Bullguard Covers
G. Good Looking

Bullguard Covers

Tapwave DAA cracked

2005-09-10T14:30:00.000-07:00

Not long after Tapwave closing shop, people began to question how long developers could keep getting their applications signed by Joyce. Obviously, Joyce can't always offer her services and eventually will be forced to abandon the Zodiac community.

Well, the DAA has just been cracked by some Russian hackers. You can download the hacked-and-cracked DAA here. Enjoy unsigned applications without qualifications!

Zodiac RMA service back in business!

2005-09-03T17:49:00.000-07:00

It seems i'm the first here,
Check out the news from Tapland or read on!

Shortened article

Olympic Systems, Inc., the company formerly responsible for refurbishing RMA'd Tapwave products, has come to the aid of the Zodiac user community by offering repair service to individual owners. The company has enough parts and Zodiacs on hand to begin performing screen and battery replacements as well as miscellaneous repairs. Efforts are underway to line up future parts supplies from original manufacturers and vendors. While current stockpiles last, prices are estimated at $80 for screen replacement and $30 to $40 for most other repairs. Ground shipping will be no more than $20, with overnight shipping available too. In addition, Sogotis, who wrote Olympic Systems' Zodiac repair protocols, plans to make detailed procedures available to owners interested in doing their own repairs. "I was a part of the sustaining engineering team which focused on identifying problems and finding the solutions, so I am available for those questions as well," he writes. It is not yet clear what Zodiac parts will be available for purchase. Additional details will be announced as they become available.

Comments

2005-08-27T20:34:00.000-07:00

I'm just letting everyone know that you can post comments here on zodattack. Just click comments under each post, then click other, and reply. you don't have to be a member to comment.

-mitch

Zodiac sharing a home with another Palm

2005-08-27T19:28:00.000-07:00

Have two Palms on one machine? Not a problem.
Read and Discuss it

Chat!

2005-08-26T20:37:00.000-07:00

I've added chat to the site! Everybody can chat about anything to anyone their, but try to talk about zodiac/palm related things. All you have to do is scroll down to the bottom of the website and type in any nickname. The offical chat day will be sunday at 7pm central time (thats when I will be their). I think that is GMT-6. *when you first come to the site it may say you have to install some java program, Just click yes and then you can use chat.

LJP 1.0 RC2

2005-08-20T12:01:00.000-07:00

Tinnus and YoYo (dev of the awesome LJZ emulator), have updated LJP to the 2nd Release Candidate for version 1.0. There are many Advantages over LJZ, incluing much better SNES support in my opinion. It's much more stable than the previous version but should still have some bugs don't delete LJZ yet. The flashing battery and time icons hae also been fixed. Remember, before you install, delete any previous version of LJP. Roms, saves, ... can be kept.

Direct download for the lazy people: LJP

Changes from RC1 to RC2 :

[SMS/GG] Fixed some memory issues : sound buffers & z80 precals buffers weren't released at exit.

[ALL] Fixed some feature memory releasing issues (categories & rom).

[ALL] Added a "crash handler" : after a crash LJP will clean what it can.

[ALL] Changed the way preference are saved, using an .ini file. Should be more robust when crashes occur.

[NGP] Fixed a crash bug when accessing GUI/Config/GFX & going back. (memory buffer was to small).

[ALL] Scale2xSAI fixed (smoothing mode 3).

[ALL] Scalers optimized a bit (reduced source buffer reads).

[ALL] ZEM files have now a version number to avoid using old-wrong- version.

LJP 1.0 RC1

2005-08-19T18:36:00.000-07:00

Tinnus and YoYo (dev of the awesome LJZ emulator), have updated LJP to the 1st Release Candidate for version 1.0. There are many Advantages over LJZ, incluing much better SNES support in my opinion. It's still very unstable so don't delete LJZ yet.

BTW, for best results, go to each module, select config, go to video, and use the following settings:

1. Check "zodiac smoothing"
2. Put smoothing to "off".
3. Make display size "Wide(hi+)".
4. Set Frameskip to "Auto". (except for NES. For NES, Set frameskip to "1" or Skeezix".)
5. Set renderer to "Fast".

Those are your optimized settings.

PS. The flashing Battery and Time icons on the bottom of the screen are normal.

Thanks to IZodiac for the settings.

XPloids

2005-08-19T12:05:00.000-07:00

Looks like I may be the first to report this here, XPloids is the second (let's hope for more!!!) Zodiac game to be released free of charge to the public after Tapwave's shutdown.

Download it here: http://www.littlegiantgames.com/

I haven't played it yet but I do believe it was at least somewhat popular.

-tank.

FontHackV issues, New games...

2005-08-17T01:04:00.000-07:00

Well, I've been using FontHackV and YAHM now for almost 2 months probably. (I'm not so good at keeping track of time/names/faces/events/anything, so do forgive inconsistancies) It's still one of the awesomest things I've used on Palm. I can now read every single one of the 15-or-so reminders I have in my DateBook every day. (well, usually anyhow)

Before FontHackV, I'd have to scroll just to see more than 3 or 4 reminders. I can read eBooks more naturally, with fonts that are thinner and that don't grate on my eyeballs. Let's just say I love it.

There are, however, some drawbacks to FontHackV. Basically, you're on your own to discover which apps do and do not like the hack. There's no single signal that they don't like it, they either freeze up or crash with a memorymgr.c error or whatever. Some apps are okay with certain fonts and not with others. I'm sure it has to do with the metrics of a given font and the parameters the app in question is expecting. I guess some prgrams are just more adaptably coded. I've also tried using FontCollector and FontBucket (PC and Palm-based apps, respectively, for importing fonts from the computer to the Palm and adapting to FontHackV and Plucker formats, etc) with some success.

Anyhow, I've also still not cleared up the occasional crash when scrolling all the way down the list of apps on my SD card, I'm thinking at this point I must have some poisonous prc or something in the Launcher directory that needs a spanking and cleaning out. I've checked, it's not the FontHack.

I have, however, in the last few days, discovered a few new Palm games that are worth mentioning. First there's Lights Out, modelled of course after the old handheld puzzle game of the same name. I've already prescribed Jewelator, which is a fantastic game in this same vein, but the puzzles in Lights Out seem to be more varied and interesting. I'm currently on level 31. Watch out, it's another game that doesn't play nice with FontHackV! Had a few freezes before I thought to disable fontshacks in this program.

The other game I've discovered is TimeBomb, an awesome PipeDream-style puzzle game with a classic Hollywood timebomb counter counting down hundredths of a second before the supposed bomb detonates, the graphics are nice and the gameplay is quite varied. I wish you could go back a few levels to calm down a bit and actually feel like you're doing well once you get a bit further on in the game. Haha. I'm currently on level 23.

Check it out!

Modded apps!

2005-08-16T02:56:00.000-07:00

As you know, I have been into taking old apps and making them look new by adding nicer graphics... Now you can too, check it out!

App Enhancements on AddictedToZodiac.com

More skinning, mwah ha ha!!!!

2005-08-14T14:27:00.000-07:00

SkinUI is up to version 0.9.9.0, which now supports the Tapwave Zodiac. Now all of you Zodiac owners can marvel at the perfection of my OSX skin :)

The thread with the link to the new version is here

Have fun! -brad *update, I have tried this on my zodiac and it causes my zodiac to reset, and reset, and reset, and reset....... I'm talking to dmitry about this now. -mitch

IR-Pong 2, now with Hi-Res Graphics

2005-08-14T09:26:00.000-07:00

Last time edited the low-res PalmOS AIM to have the computer version's graphics! This time I bring you IR-Pong 2! Read up on the original here! when you're done reading up on IR-Pong 2, then you can download the new version here! the new version features much nicer graphics.

IR-Pong 2 is a two player pong game for the Palm Pilot. You'll need a palm with infrared or bluetooth capabilities and a second person with a similar machine to play this game.

Infrared or Bluetooth communication, Single player mode. Rocket launcher, Up to three balls in game, Extended score tracker keeps track of all your opponents you've ever played against.

Zap'em For Free!

2005-08-13T19:55:00.000-07:00

Game Company Vicious Bytes, crreators of the freeware Tetris like game Zodtris, released a free version of their second game, Zap'Em today. This game was released late last year when it was released through the Tapwave store for $9.99. With the closure of Tapwave , Zap'Em could no longer be sold through the Tapwave store. By releasing a free version, the Vicious Bytes showed great support towards the Zodiac community.

According to the product description, "Zap'Em has two modes of play, Action Zap and Brain Zap. Action Zap mode is filled with fast-action that ends only where your skills do. Pieces approach your space and challenge you to Zap'Em. Brain Zap mode is a puzzle game with stationary pieces that you must clear with a limited number of Zaps."

This is probably the last game from Vicious Bytes for the Zodiac. The developers are now developing cellphone games. Please show support towards ViciousBytes by visiting their forums.

Secret Files Revealed

2005-08-11T11:45:00.000-07:00

Ok, Here are the "Secret Files" Everybody go ahead and back up all your Tapwave files.

Get the Files Here

Thanks, Mitch

Secret Files

2005-08-10T19:03:00.000-07:00

I will be posting some Secret files that I think everyone can use in the links section to the right later this week. (servers are full)

So watch zodattack for those usefull files.

-mitch

Tapwave Q&A

2005-08-09T15:10:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

Guyfawkes over at Zodiac Gamer has been speaking to Tapwave over the past week since the announcement of their closing down and will soon be posting some further information on Zodiac Gamer regarding whats happening with Tapwave now and in the future once he gets all of the information together.

If anyone has any questions please post here. Please note he doesn't want to turn this into an interview about why Tapwave closed or what their future plans are. The aim of this is to clear things up on the development and support side of things. He doesn't mind people asking other types of questions but please keep them sensible and on topic.

Zodiac Attack!

2005-08-09T10:26:00.000-07:00

Ahhhhhhh! Never Ending Zodiacs!

The Tapwave zodiac may be discontinued , but they will always be alive in our 320*480 LCD's?

Thanks to I,Zodiac for the photo.....

Farewell, Tapwave

2005-08-08T07:54:00.000-07:00

Came across this article by Howard Tomlinson of Astraware about the rise and fall of Tapwave.

Interesting read.

Zodattack.tk

2005-08-06T12:47:00.000-07:00

We now can be located at http://zodattack.tk or http://zodattack.blogspot.com . hope everybody enjoys the new domain :)

-mitch

Slow, lately

2005-08-05T07:55:00.000-07:00

News has been a little slow lately. Not even any new games to mention. We Will Try to find some more new. Maybe Kam will just have to make more skins:)

We will update the site as soon as something happens.

Thanks,
Mitch

SKINS 4 ALL!

2005-08-02T10:30:00.000-07:00

Ive made 3 new skins for the launcher.
You can download them from my new site:
www.icetiger.tk

Tapwave 2?

2005-07-28T07:52:00.000-07:00

After Tapwave's shutdown, there were many questions as to the future of the Zodiac Platform. Even our very own Mitchell just sent in his Zodiac for an RMA and has yet to learn the fate of his Zodiac. People were concerned about game development and the future of games such as Hover Team Alpha and Phantom Strike because they wouldnt be able to sign them. Lol, IZodiac and I were up late trying to crack the DAA.

Well, Cybiko Agent over at ZodiacGamer says hes remodeling the tapwave site and is going to try to keep Tapwave alive. Since any new software cant be sold in the Tapwave name, he will be using his other project, Zodify, to sell software.

He is currently looking for people to help out with tech support, buying remaining hardware to sell and being a representative for their country as they will be serving worldwide.

If you have any questions or comments, contact him here.

A Goodbye Tribute To The Tapwave Zodiac.

2005-07-27T19:35:00.000-07:00

A little goodbye tribute made by I,Zodiac You can get it here

*file takes a while to load, so just keep waiting

Tapwave shutdown.

2005-07-27T16:28:00.000-07:00

from their site " We are sorry to inform you that the Zodiac business was discontinued and service and support are no longer available as of July 25th 2005.Resources that may still be helpful to you can be found at http://www.tapwave.com/resources and http://www.tapwave.com/support. This includes links to websites where you can find a variety of useful tips and information as well as purchase e-books, Audible books and magazines, Palm OS applications, Zodiac skins, and third party Tapwave Certified games.Additional products, acessories, and game cards may still be available from COMPUSA, Fry's, and J&R while supplies last.We thank you for your past interest and support and apologize for any inconvenience that this may have caused. If you have an outstanding claim with the company, Ueker and Associates will be contacting you shortly.Sincerely,The Tapwave Team "

Sharkswipe::Z

2005-07-27T15:44:00.000-07:00

For anyone out there who isnt familiar with it, it is a program that allows you to launch up to 24 different applications by swiping in a certain direction on the taskbar. This proves to be very useful if you are a person who constantly launches different applications and goes from one to another frequently. It also saves time because you eliminate the the process of going through the launcher when you want to go from one app to another. Example: say you are in the Contacts PIM app and you realize you have a meeting you forgot about. You can make a quick swipe on your taskbar to launch your datebook application.

Download it here: Sharkswipe::Z.

Hello!

2005-07-27T10:28:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

Its Kam!

Thought i'd tell you about some great links:

Check out my background collection over at zbacks: CLICK HERE!

Also be sure to download and try out my Skin

I will be keeping you updated with the latest news in the future so remember to vist ZodAttack

Fitaly for Zodiac and SkinTW

2005-07-27T06:51:00.000-07:00

Well, I've had an ongoing problem with this cool combination of software/hack from Textware (fitaly technology) and developer Alexander Pruss (SkinTW).... [Note there's also skinning work done by Velo who does an amazing job]

For those unaware, fitaly is an on-screen keyboard that is organized in a manner to allow quicker tapping of onscreen "keys", shortening the distance between taps and thereby speeding text entry dramatically. That is the premise, and I was skeptical when I first found out about it. But I have since become a believer.

Essentially, the most commonly used letters are nearest the center of the keyboard and less commonly used letters are further and further from the center. I've never verified this against any "English letter frequency" documents or anything, but I do know I can type significantly faster using the fitaly keyboard than the built in on-screen keyboard. (Or Velo's extended onscreen keyboards, which replace the DIA much as the fitaly keyboard, only without other extensions and organized in traditional QWERTY fashion)

[EDIT: snipped into the first comment]

I, Zodiac's Site!

2005-07-27T01:37:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to say that homeboy's site is way rad. Definitely check it out.

Check out the mods section, I'm so ready to go wire hacking now. Or, if he ever gets the "my store" section going... I can say I'd be a customer for sure. And can probably guarantee a friend or two who'd sign up too.

Dude knows his stuff.

-tank.

Modified AIM with HiRes graphics

2005-07-27T00:58:00.000-07:00

My modified version of AOL Instant Messenger is pretty! I replaced all the graphics with icons from the Windows version of AIM. Get it here.

Infra-Red Micro RC car for the Z!!!!!

2005-07-25T10:30:00.000-07:00

These cars come inside a storage pen that doubles as a controller. I realized I could train OmniRemote or Novii Remote to control it!
The control pen has two buttons, "go foward" and "turn left while going backwards". The one-inch-long car goes pretty fast for it's tiny motor!

Buy one of these tiny cars by clicking here! You might also be able to find them at your local toy store.

New Banner!

2005-07-24T20:13:00.000-07:00

Well, I,Zodiac won the contest and now his home-made banner is our banner! Do you like it? I do! so here is I,Zodiacs banner, the other two are Kam's creations.

Zodattack Contest

2005-07-22T14:37:00.000-07:00

I've started a thread at tapland.com. I just started a contest and whoever makes the best banner for ZodAttack gets to be a writer on zodAttack. And gets Moderator privliges on the forums.

So Far I've already seen some nice entries. One of them was nice and simple. and I used it as the banner for the forums (figure A).

you can thank Kam, from tapland, for the forums banner. But we still need a banner on the front page. So Keep those entries comming. You can enter your banner on the forums here.

Thanks, Mitch

ZodAttack Blob!

2005-07-22T12:00:00.000-07:00

Here's a dumb little sketch I did a week or so ago, whenever it was I found MoePaint.

I also just discovered a free alternative font hack for OS5/Zodiac! Using YAHM (Yet Another Hack Manager) and FontHackV, you can load any replace all 4 of the default system fonts as well as customize the fonts used per application. Pretty rad stuff. Be careful, some of the fonts I tried caused crashes in DateBook and Todo List. Through trial and error I found a nice small font that works in all of my applications but Todo, and set Todo to the default fonts. Having small fonts is nice because you can fit more information on the screen at a time and still have it legible. (at least on today's devices, with good eyesight...)

I now own a Think Outside IR wireless keyboard and so far it's working good. So maybe I'll start writing my great cyberpunk novel again after all.... who knows? I could publish it to eBook format!

I'm also in the process of learning the rudiments of Palm development in C (and at some point in HandBasic for ease of forms dev) and so am of course playing with the OnBoard Suite. Cool stuff, you can code, compile and assemble working prcs right on the palm. For free!

Anyway, peace!
-tank.

TCPMP

2005-07-20T21:56:00.000-07:00

Their is a new version of TCPMP out. You can Download it here

Transport Tycoon Deluxe

2005-07-20T14:30:00.000-07:00

Transport tycoon Deluxe has been ported to the zodiac. To install it does require some files from the windows or DOS version of the game. I have gotten it running and it is very nice. It does need some improvements, but it runs pretty well. It has been signed by tapwave, so now you can run it without the DAA.

You can get it here

MinesFree

2005-07-20T13:46:00.000-07:00

Found a nice free Minesweeper clone for Palm (not as configurable as some, I guess, but it's pretty!) called MinesFree. You can find it here.

I've contacted the developer about improving the interface, particularly the mode of flagging potential bomb sites and allowing for larger minefields.

Enjoy! And feel free to contact me if you don't know how to play MineSweeper already!

-thynctank.

Inner Backup

2005-07-20T13:41:00.000-07:00

What looks like a promising and über-useful app is thus far a non-working frustration with a pretty interface on top.

Inner Backup, a freeware/donationware product of Inner Solutions, has a great Mac-like/XP-like shiny new interface, and promises to backup your entire system to VFS (that's your SD card, kiddies) and allows even multiple backups from different dates!

So far, I've had nothing but bad luck with the program, to the point where I'm forced to hard-reset the device after that horrendous staticky reset/crash I've experienced a few times with other apps, but I'm in contact with the developer and he is very receptive and he's put out a new version since I last tried the app.

It's a promising concept and I'll definitely contribute to his income if he can give me a nice, simple tool like this for backing up without a hotsync.

Still no further info as to why my Zod was locking up when scrolling through apps on the card, but I've reverted to Yoyo's ZQuake and still having the situation continue. Also deleted Zyrian, no luck.

I'm feeling like my SD card is conspiring against me, lately. *sniff sniff*

-tank.

New Game, Super Miners

2005-07-20T12:08:00.000-07:00

SUPER MINERS is addictive arcade puzzle game.With 100 Levels, multiplayer, online highscore sytem, incredible music and sound you can have countless hours of fun!

You can get it here It is available for Symbian S60/S90, Symbian UIQ, Pocket PC, Palm OS, and Smartphone.

Site Problems

2005-07-20T09:28:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry If you came here earlier and the site looked like, well, Crap! While trying to update and add features I ran into a problem. But I will have the site running great again eventually.

-Mitch

ZQuake iffy

2005-07-20T09:22:00.000-07:00

Well, as far as I'm concerned, at least for now, the new ZQuake is too buggy for my tastes. I haven't got to try it out over bluetooth or wifi, but just trying to load the one-player mode I get crashes. Not everytime, but just about.

I was even having issues with my launcher (default Zod launcher) freezing up when I'd scroll down to ZQuake. Weird. But I dunno, that might be related to the copies of Zot (the Bomberman demo from codejedi.com) or Zyrian...

So for now, it's back to Yoyo's copy for me.
-tank.

Site Updates

2005-07-19T20:52:00.000-07:00

I will be adding new features to the site over the next few days. i already have planned a hit counter and updated "Top News". I hope you guys enjoy the new features. If you don't like something, just post it in the forums (they will be down for a few hours tommarow, so post after that).

Thanks,
Mitch

forums Down

2005-07-19T19:30:00.000-07:00

we will migrate to new servers on the 21th July 2005 at 13:00 GMT. Downtime will be around 2-4 hours.

This is to improve the forums, Sorry for the Downtime. Hope you enjoy the new servers! :)

The Official thynctank-certified list of Palm/Zod apps

2005-07-18T10:58:00.000-07:00

Well, it's here, broken down into a few essentials categories and games (and whether an app is free or not):

PIM:
MyCheckbook - one of my most frequently accessed apps! I manage mine and my girlfriend's checking accounds, credit cards, and other credit accounts all within this one great, simple, free program! It even has autofill for the payee line! Free.

DiddleBug - a nice simple handwritten note-taking app that allows you to set timers to remind yourself of things, and also has facility for easily entering text versions of the same information and transferring to DateBook, etc using plugins! Free.

Documents2Go - the ultimate in MS Office connectivity. No need to even hotsync if you have an SD card reader on your desktop machine! Just create Word docs on either the desktop or the palm and either place! Flawless. Not free.

Inspiration - a bit over-priced, but this planning software can not be beaten. If you need visual planning software that can also pack a major project/paper outlining punch, this is it. Syncs to desktop version for major visual editing. Not free.

HappyDays - so the Contacts software that came with your Zod (or earlier OS5 or less Palm) doesn't have functionality for entering birthday info and reminding you of birthdays? Try this free software, which turns one of your custom fields in Contacts into a birthday field and will automatically enter birthday reminders in your DateBook for the next year or more! Free.

MetrO - if you need to get around town but don't know Main St from a hole in the wall, this program is for you. It'll show you how to navigate the city's (almost any major city in the world, really) subways and bus stations, tell you how much it's gonna cost, and has information on tourist spots to boot! And it's free, of course.

Util:
3XCom and FileZ - both file managers, both have good qualities. 3XCom has split screen multi-location views and dedicated buttons for delete, copy, move, and easy multi-file select. FileZ has filters... I can't get rid of either. Both free.

Fitaly - the Zodiac version of this rapid text-entry system is more of a hack than a proper version of the program, but even this bastard software is awesome. I've never entered data faster on the palm. It replaces the DIA (graffiti area) with an optimized key set and allows for quick entering of words or phrases by "sliding" off these virtual keys in any given direction. Also includes certain launcher facilities for quick-jumping to your favorite apps. Comes with SkinTW, which can allow you to further customize your zod with skins from Velo (you can make your own too, if you're inclined...) Not free.

Graffiti Anywhere - I mostly use fitaly for text-entry, but certain symbols are just easier to perform using graffiti. This app allows you to write graffiti anywhere on the screen, either by tapping a special button it layers over the interface, or (as I have it set) by holding down a hard button while entering graffiti. Free.

Lightspeed - the Zod doesn't see as big an increase as other palm devices from this overclocking app, but it's definitely noticeable. Just try out an emulator or other proc-intensive program and you'll see what I mean. Badass. Not free.

Media:
eReader - I never thought I'd get into reading ebooks but I've changed my tune majorly. Just give it a try, download a few. I'm never looking back. And I don't need the few features the pro version affords, the free one is great as is. Came with the Zod, there's a newer version out but I dunno what it adds. Free.

Plucker - Got HTML-formatted user guides you'd like to carry around in your pocket? Check out Plucker, a free program with a desktop conduit that converts HTML and other formats to view on the Palm. Way cool.

MoePaint - I only discovered this program a few days ago, but it's definitely another must-have for anyone who even remotely fancies himself an artist wannabe. Free.

TCPMP - the next killer app for Zods, picard has optimized this next-gen player to hardware decode mpegs using the built-in ATI graphics chip as well as utilizing the chip for bilinear scaling. Amazing program, reads more than half of the movies you'll find littering the internet and does so with style. FREE!!

Bhajis Loops - kick ASS program for sequencing beats and melodies, sampling (not on the Zod) and general noise-making fun. Not free.

Dev:
OnBoard Suite - Free C Programming and compilation using GNU tools on the Palm device itself! Together with Bird (a free resource compiler alternative to RsrcEdit)

DevAccess - this is the holy grail of dev utilities for Zod. It allows non Tapwave-signed apps to be run on your device, so even if that killer new game that's out wasn't approved by the man yet, you can still play. Free, but you've got to apply for this one at www.tapwave.com

Games:
Cubis - an awesome 3D puzzler. One of many great games (Bejeweled, et al) from Astraware. Not free.

Jewelator - free Lights Out clone. Great puzzler.

LJZ - Little Johnny Z, the multi-system emulator software for Zods, which now has a regular Palm version as well. On the Z, it's the killer app. NES, Master System, SNES, Genesis, NeoGeo, GameBoy Color..... oh the joy, it's enough to bring you to tears. Free!

Orbital Sniper - fun little port of a PC game that was created for a video game contest. Zoom in with your satelite cam, and drop a payload on threats to your VIPS. Rad. Free.

Warfare Incorporated - really cool RTS on the Palm/PocketPC. Even has multiplayer (when you beat it :( between Palm and PocketPC devices over BT.

ZQuake - that classic FPS game right in your hand. With LightSpeed running, this runs just as fast as the original. Bitchin! And now it's even multiplayer! Free, though you'll have to supply/find the .paks yourself.

Stuntcar Extreme - yeah, I know it came free with the zod. And yeah, I know it's not the best racer in the world, but it's definitely cool. It's great for showing off what the Zodiac can do to woo potential fanboys and girls into the fold. Especially the vibrate features and the brilliant colors. Free!

[EDIT] And Noiz2SA!!! Awesome abstract space shooter, at least we think that's what it is. Anyhow, plays great! Free.

That's all he wrote.

-tank.

Edit 7/22/05:
Definitely check out HandyShopper if you're like me and take your zod everywhere you go (well maybe not the shower) it's a great reusable shopping list, meaning you can tick items off and refresh for next trip when you're done. It's also got a lot of other features to help you organize your trip. Obviously there's item categories, but there's also Store definitions, each store can have particular items defined as being in a certain aisle and at a certain price. When you create your current shopping trip list from your master list of items (don't ever bother deleting shopping items again!) you set a quantity, and HandyShopper will calculate the total cost of your trip based on this quantity and prices you enter once and forget (unless they go up which they almost certainly will at some point down the road...) it'll even calculate sales tax for you! You can sort by aisle in a given store, meaning you never have to run back and forth through Giant again! Your trip will probably be 1/2 as long as it was before! Lots of people use this app for other purposes, I just figured I'd give it a writeup here as a mandatory prog for any serious Palm/Zod user. It's also fullscreen on the Zod. Free.

Mo News

2005-07-18T02:39:00.000-07:00

So more of what's new with me and my Zod:

Bluetooth dongle for the lappy. I'm now hotsyncing over BT among other things. When I can figure the damn configuration details for the dongle drivers. (accidentally rearranged the setup and haven't been able to fix anything since except hotsync)

Ordered a couple wireless (Just IR, not BT, I'm a poor man!) keyboards for my Zod and my girlfriend's Palm. One's a Targus and one's a Think Outside. We'll see which we like, though my heart is already kinda set on keeping the Stowaway one for myself hehe.

Thinking of using MoePaint (see previous post) for doing a ZodAttack logo, as well as some more general work for my own sites, etc. Here's a simple little dog I drew. It's facing away from the viewer. Considering using either it or PenPenCol as my notetaking app in the coming school semester. I tried using DiddleBug last semester but the small available screen/"paper" size is a major hassle. But it's still my reminder-note taking app of choice.

Trying a few new day managers like Today and PlanMyDay (which is more of an organizational prioritizing app thingy) so far digging on both of them, though PMD is a bit much to learn in under a minute. Least neither of them is f***ing with my digitizer like A5 was! Least, not so far.

Also just discovered Zodiac Mobs. Will definitely have to either join or set one up in the area if one doesn't exist. And start recruiting.... muahahaha.

Haven't tried ZQuake out yet but will definitely update you when I know something.

-tank.

ZQuake Update!

2005-07-16T12:54:00.000-07:00

Apparently ZQuake can now be played multiplayer over bluetooth or TCP/IP. Which means you can play the big Q versus your Windows and Linux fragfest brethren! Right on!

Here's a link to the story at the EmuBoards . It also has an onscreen keyboard so you can send that "gotcha" message right before you blow your buddy's face off. Way keen!

Haven't tried it myself yet (wanna dl it on my laptop so I can write straight to the SD card!) but as soon as I can get hold of my friend with a zod I plan on it!

-tank.

¡Bienvenidos a Mi!

2005-07-15T15:58:00.000-07:00

What's happening, gang?

Looks as though I'm the new kid in town. (I won't go referencing Eagles songs again- promise!)

Mitch has gone and done did the unthinkable: unleashed a monster of unspeakable, well, monstrosity and ZodAttack will never be the same. Or something. This post may be a bit longer than your average Joe Blog, but I promise I'll cut em short in the future.

Anyway, so what's new in my Zod's world?

Well, I'm using picard's awesome TCPMP media player for movies and podcasted blogs like 1src and PalmAddicts. It just keeps getting better. And what's more, I'm doing the logo and banners for the upcoming TCPMP site! Fun stuff.

Lastnight I came upon quite possibly the second coolest app I've ever seen on a Palm OS device: MoePaint. This is like PhotoShop on the Palm, no joke! AND it supports the Zod's widescreen format, including hiding the DIA. It supports layers, gradients, fills, a lot of the drawing/painting tools you'd expect in a professional drawing program, but it's not even a fraction of the cost- it's free!

The first coolest Palm app, for me, is of course Bhajis Loops. This program, by French developer Olivier of Chocopoolp, is incredible. It's a multi-track sampler/sequencer with lots of audio possibilities. You can layer sounds, add LFOs, EGs and create complex drum and melody tracks all on the Palm. Then export as wav and load on any PC for playback and mp3 encoding! The program will run you 27 bucks, but if you're into music creation it is most definitely worth it. You can even record audio into the program if your Palm device supports it. (Zodiacs, sadly, have no microphone, one of their only detractors)

I've been doing a lot of tests of free software lately, and I have to say there's a lot of good stuff out there, but some of it seems intent on crashing my device, no matter what I try. Two different calendar replacements, A5 and KsDateBook, both presented me with major headaches. A5 refused to remain in portrait mode, my preferred method of viewing the datebook generally, and I eventually found it was the culprit behind a nasty case of digitizer drift my Zod had encountered. KsDateBook was nice and familiar, basically a repainted version of the built in DateBook, but it crashed my palm almost every time I opened it. I recommend you stay away from these two apps (on the Zodiac at least) until their bugs are worked out.

Next up- My "official thynctank-certified list of Palm/Zod apps". Never leave home without the whole listful crammed into your Zod.

Till then, happy Zodiacking. Or something.

-tank.

Zodiac review

2005-07-08T14:29:00.000-07:00

I've posted part 1 of the zodiac review on Tamspalm. Just click tamspalm on the right to see it.

Received it!

2005-07-07T18:11:00.000-07:00

I received my zodiac 2 from Jr.com yesterday. I will be posting a review on Tamspalm by wednesday. All I can say is WOW! it's very small! and I've only had one problem so far.

Thanks, Mitch

Hover Team Alpha for the Zodiac!

2005-07-04T08:43:00.000-07:00

There is a new game on the horizon for Zodiac users, called "Hover Team Alpha". From the screenshots, it looks like the most detailed and graphically beautiful game ever designed for the Palm OS. You can take a look at the shots and get more information here.

This game uses what they call the Magma engine. It is a graphics engine for the Zodiac, with capabilities far past what the basic Zodiac APIs allow. It creates an environment to develop games with a high level of detail and 3d environments.

Spotted on Palm247

New Zodiac version of TCPMP, and its extremely fast!

2005-07-04T08:14:00.000-07:00

I know I just wrote a media player article yesterday, but there has been an interesting development this morning. Picard released version .65z2 of the player, and he claims it uses hardware for decoding video, not just displaying it. On user is reporting a speed increase to 120-140fps, and though it is a low bitrate file, that is still very impressive.

New Zodiac test version of TCPMP

Please respond and tell us how it goes.

Media players for the Palm OS, and especially the Zodiac!

2005-07-03T11:54:00.000-07:00

Well, as most Zodiac owners know, the Zodiac is one of the only Palm handhelds with built in graphics hardware. It is the only PDA with open documentation for this hardware. Because of this, there are a good amount of Zodiac specific programs using the hardware. There are some Astraware titles such as Hellfire and GTS Racing, and many from other companies.

In the realm of media players on the Palm OS, there are not many titles. For audio, you may find PocketTunes, Busker Player, Aeroplayer, and many more. As for video players, you are limited to about 3 players. These are Kinoma, MMPlayer, and TCPMP.

The first two of these are commercial programs. Kinoma is a full media player, and can handle MPEG-4, AAC, JPEG, and 3GP. It generally requires conversion for playback except with low bitrate files. One notable aspect of this player is that it has the ability to stream files from sites that conform to the Kinoma standard. There are a few sites now that have compatable media, so it can be a useful feature.

MMPlayer is a different type of player. It is a product of one developer. He has either written his own codecs, or liscensed them for use. It has a larger number of codecs than Kinoma, including "MPEG-1,2,4, H263, DivX, XviD and MJPeg video". Its noticable feature is that it supports WMA and WMV codecs because the developer liscensed these.

The third player is dramatically different. TCPMP (The Core Pocket Media Player) is completely open sourced (that means its free too). It is available for both the Palm OS and PPC, and Picard (The Lead Developer, his real name is Gabor Kovacs) is planning on porting it to other mobile devices. It was originally developed for PPC, and though the Palm version is relatively new, the first release for Palm was exceptional since the engine was already developed. It supports Mpeg4 (DivX and Xvid), H.263, MS-MPEG4-v3, MP3, Matroska, OGG (OGM and OGG), Mpeg1, camera codecs (MJPEG, ADPCM, Alaw, and MuLaw), AAC, MPC, .3GP, AC3, and it also includes the ffmpeg library, which allows the additional codecs MPEG2, Sorenson3, and H.264. TCPMP by far handles more types of files than the other two players. Unfortunately, for the moment it lacks WMA capability because the only open source libraries which support it are not compatable with the mobile processors. I can however decode WMV video streams. On the PPC side Picard has added hardware support for many devices. On the Palm side there are two series of devices that have this. They are the Zodiac and Sony Clies with the HHE hardware set.

From what I understand, Picard uses the Zodiac's hardware for video scaling and acceleration, however it cannot yet be used for MPEG decoding, as the docs for this are not present.

If you have a Zodiac, this player is the most often updated, the fastest, and the only one with hardware acceleration. It does not yet have the feature set of MMPlayer, such as skinning or streaming, but these features are high on the priority list, and will be added soon. Remember, it is also the only free player among these.

ZodAttack and ClieAttack?

2005-07-02T20:48:00.000-07:00

Since most of the PDA users that haven't upgraded to a newer device use a TH-55 or Zodiac, what would you think of making this a Th-55 and Zodiac specific site? Believe it or not but the Th-55 and zodiac are very similar, both have a graphics accelerator, both are 320*480, both have about the same speed processor, both have Bluetooth, and both the run palm os 5.2.x. I own a Zodiac and Brad owns a TH-55, So I think that we could keep this site running for both users.

What do you think?

Hello

2005-07-02T20:19:00.000-07:00

Well, you may have seen me on TamsPalm as an associate writer. Well, I am still there. This is a Zodiac site, and though I do not have a Zodiac, I am going to try to help Mitch keep the site updated with Zodiac information, while still writing both news and editorials at TamsPalm. I hope I can help to make this an informative Zodiac site.

New Writer

2005-07-02T18:36:00.000-07:00

We have a new writer. His name is Brad Green. Hopefully he can help keep the site updated. Once the forums get going he might also help moderate. His main PDA is a TH-55. So, welcome brad.

Zodiac 1 missing

2005-07-02T15:26:00.000-07:00

The Zodiac 1 is mysteriously missing from Tapwave's Website. When you "buy it now" the site says "that item not found". Does this mean the end for the Zodiac? Or is this just a mistake? Since Tapwave doesn't talk we don't know.

Is the Zodiac Dead or Alive?

It's Raining Zodiacs!

2005-07-02T15:16:00.000-07:00

Jr.com is selling Zodiacs at an incredibly low price! A zodiac 1 is $224.99, and a Zodiac 2 is $299.99. I just ordered a Zodiac 2, and will be reviewing it next week. So does this mean Tapwave officially quit making zods?

What Do you think?

Site Feed

2005-07-02T15:12:00.000-07:00

Site Feed, has been added to the links to the right. The link to Tamspalm, isabout Palm OS PDA's, Link to PDA Center is for all PDA users and News.

Write On ZodAttack!

2005-07-02T13:04:00.000-07:00

I'd like to have more than one writer on the site. So if you're interested in writing on the site, then send me an email at mrtungstent5@gmail.com I could also use a writer on our sister site PDA Center.

2005-07-02T09:54:00.000-07:00

Forums!

I've added forums to Zodattack! Just click the link to the right and register.

Thanks, Mitch

2005-07-02T09:28:00.000-07:00

Zodattack Launched,

I started The site today hoping for it to become a hit! Since the zodiac is much different than the other Palm OS Handhelds, I decided to create this. Hope to see many improvements over time. So enjoy!

Thanks, Mitch