Are there some things about your Palm OS PDA that you wish you could change? For instance, do you try to pull down the menu from the top of the screen like on your desktop, even though for some reason the menu key is on the bottom? Because everyone has their own preferences, developers have created hacks. These programs are simple extensions that modify little things on your PDA. By using a program called Hackmaster, you can install these hacks to customize your PDA's functionality.

	Launcher with Hackmaster

Hackmaster by Daggerware is a shareware application that allows you to pick and choose which hacks you want to use. After downloading and installing Hackmaster, it will appear in your application launcher. You will use this program to activate and deactivate hacks as you try them out and decide whether you want to keep them. Hackmaster's interface is extremely easy and intuitive to use. As you download and install hacks they will appear in the hackmaster application. Take a look at the screenshot on the right. This is a picture of the hackmaster application's main screen. On this screen, there is a list of all the hacks which you have installed. By checking the boxes to the left of the hacks, you can instantly activate and deactivate hacks as you see fit.

Which hacks should you use? To get you started, we have listed a few of the more popular hacks in this article. However, countless new hacks are being submitted everyday by Palm OS developers around the world. Periodically, you might want to check the hacks section at PalmCentral, which contains almost every hack available.

	Hackmaster Main Screen

Do you ever try to access the menu feature of the Palm OS by tapping on the top of the screen like on your desktop, only to remember that the menu button on your Palm PDA is on the bottom of the screen? MenuHack solves this problem. By installing this simple hack, you can access the menu of any application by tapping on the top of the screen with your stylus. This hack sounds trivial, but over the life of your PDA, it makes your life easier.

FontHack is one of the more popular hacks available. It allows the user to designate whatever font they would like to appear on their Palm PDA. If you find the Palm PDA default font hard to read like many users, then install FontHack and you will be appear to pick your font of choice to make using your Palm PDA easier.

This is a particularly helpful hack that helps to remind you of appointments and to-do's. By installing this hack, your Palm PDA will show upcoming appointments and to-do's every-time you turn it on. This can be helpful if you use your PDA for lots of scheduling. The clock and date that appear on the top of the screen can also be helpful.

This is a particularly useful hack. If you switch back and forth between two applications this program can save you a lot of time. Let's say you are switching between the memo pad and your calendar to take some notes on a meeting you just had. Instead of having to switch back and forth using the buttons on your PDA, you can make a simple stroke with your stylus to switch back and forth. SwitchHack also has a new feature which pulls up a quick menu of the last ten applications you have used for easy launching.

3AlarmHack is a utility that enhances the alarms on your PDA that run Palm OS 3.x. It includes a selection of alarm sounds to replace the standard tone. It allows you to select the number of times to play the sound (1-9) and repeat the alarm any number of times (0-9999) at any interval (1 second to 9999 minutes) or flash the backlight while sounding the alarm, or just turn it on and leave it on (great for night-time alarms). This hack supports the TaleLight and TaleVibes devices which give the user a silent alarm, using only the backlight and Tale device.

GreenLightHack is a hack that reverses the polarity of the screen when the backlight is turned on (all white pixels become black and all black pixels become white). This has the effect of making the backlight on the old Palm models (Palm III and below) look like the new ones, and the backlight on the new ones (Palm IIIx and above) look like the old ones. This hack is designed for the PalmPilot, the Palm III, the Palm IIIx, the Palm V, and the Palm VII.

Installing Hackmaster and a variety of hacks onto your PDA isn't going to change the world or solve every problem you have. However, it does allow you to fix a few of the things you may not like about your PDA and allows you to customize your PDA to fit your needs.