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Geekzilla's Web Site

What is this site about?

I get interesting ideas from time to time, and I'm a competent programmer with a highly varied background. This is just a place for me to update the status of various projects that I'm working on, or thinking of working on.

And yes, I know my HTML pages will never win awards for looking interesting. But what the heck, at least some corner of the web should be more about information than eye candy.

Why geekzilla.geekazoid.com?

Well, my machine at home, while always on the net, only has a 28.8Kbaud connection to the net, so it gets rather slow sometimes. A friend of mine that I consult for from time to time has a webserver on a T1, so that's why I have access to this server, and why I put it here. My job title with Geekazoid & Friends is Geekzilla (what's the fun of having a job if you can't make up your own job title?), hence the host name. If you don't like typing all that in to visit, bookmark it, or leave off the www. In fact, you can abbreviate it as gz.geekazoid.com and it will still work.

UPDATE:Home machine is on a cable modem and will soon be mirroring this site, but the uptime is better here.

So what projects am I thinking of?

I've had a Pilot since they were actually called a Pilot, way back in 1996. I've upgraded to a PalmIII, then a PalmIIIx, then a TRGPro, and now a HandEra 330, though the original P1000 still works. I've been studying PalmOS programming, so at the moment, most of my ideas center around Palm programs.

UPDATE: The P1000 finally died, the buttons started sticking, and I'm now carrying both my HandEra 330 and a Clie NX60. I'm trying to get a feel for the NX60 to see if the keyboard is as much of an annoyance as I expected it to be.

Note that some of these projects have been started, and some even have tangible results.

CryptoPad
I've completed enhancing CryptoPad for the HandEra 330, which has got to be the most interesting monochrome PalmOS PDA going.
Geekzilla's Calculator Review
A function comparison, and short reviews of the various infix calculator programs available for PalmOS. This one is reality. There are ideas and requests for improvements, but the information is there, at least. I'm also working on a version for AvantGo users, but the table is too big.
UPDATE: I'm looking at updating this page at some point, as it's a year and a half old, but it isn't a high-priority project.
NiMHSet
This is a very small program with only one function, hence it's the first program that I've made available, it being the easiest. Basically, on any reset that the program survives, it sets the battery type to NiCad/NiMH, the warn voltage threshold to 2.26v, and the critical voltage threshold to 1.60v. Source included.
HotSyncNag
Yes, it's been done, but what's been done isn't free, and it should be a good learning experience for the next project. The quick synopsis is that the user specifies that he/she wants to be reminded if a certain number of days pass without a HotSync. Maybe make it so it doesn't nag if none of the records/databases have been updated.
UPDATE: Pitch that idea, I've got base code started that lets you pick the databases to watch, and reminds you to HotSync whenever you turn it on (currently only with 3.5 or later) or it can check at a scheduled time. Also working on a companion program that uses FlashPro or memory cards to backup selected, modified databases to Flash on power-off (actually, a user-defined amount of time afterwards, in case it just timed out and you try to turn it back on).
GeekCalc
Here's a pure blue-sky project that probably won't have a single line of code written for it for at least six months, if it ever gets off the ground. Basically, it's a calculator with all my favorite features from all the other calculators I've seen.
IconExplorer
A program to explore/edit/add bitmaps to programs.
GeekSpell
Not sure how full-featured this would be. Probably wouldn't work on anything less than a 4MB OS3.5 Palm.
GeekAddr
The Address Book needs the ability to sort on first name. This will drop in priority when the 3rd party address books support the HandEra 330.
GeekTrans
A Voice Pad replacement that includes the ability to create appointments, address book entries, todo items, and memos while listening to a WAV file.
GeekLauncher
Low priority because Launcher III is already almost exactly what I want, it just needs to support the HandEra 330 better. We'll see what the future holds.
UPDATE:Dead, Launcher X hit the mark.
BatBelt
Basically, several features of ATool, BatteryInfo, and BatteryTool all rolled up into one program (actually one program plus a hack).
GeekSync
I still haven't found a unix palm-synchronization tool that I really like. What I want is something that can be automatically started as part of my login, by whatever process I think appropriate; allows me to send email, install new programs, and synchronize everything with one button push; and allows me to view the data on the unix side. PilotManager and Pyrite do a good job of the second part, jpilot does a good job on the third, KPilot requires parts of KDE to be installed, and PilotSync expects CDE apps. Conduits are planned for jpilot, so that may resolve this long before I could get to this project.
UPDATE: jpilot, with conduits has been released, so I will probably focus on improving that instead. It needs 1) generic backup conduit, so all files that aren't synchronized are at least backed up, 2) a malsync port, and 3) an email conduit that is at least capable of sending email. The ability to hit the hotsync button and just have it work would be nice.
GeekRestore
Something similar to FlashTools, but stores compressed backups of the databases. Include the ability to set the owner of the Palm (I'm pretty sure restoring the preferences DB will do this). !pZip is almost there, but the archives are made on the workstation, unlike FlashTools doing it on demand, so you have something to fall back to in case of hard reset, but would still loose anything since the last hotsync, and wouldn't have anything since the compressed backup was made until you were able to hotsync.
GeekDoc
Something Doc-reader compatible, maybe with the non-graphic TealDoc extensions. Probably start with, or just extend CSpotRun.
GeekQuest
I've played Kyle's Quest and looked at the epos web site, but neither are quite what I want. KQ is a little too restrictive when you're trying to design levels, and epos isn't here yet, so I really can't say how well it will fit my desire. GeekQuest is a project that I'm working on that will fall somewhere between the two, more programmable than KQ, but not quite as fancy as epos. The storage format is much more compact than KQ 3.2, as well.
UPDATE: Just got too busy to work on that one, and the follow-on to KQ is out now, which should have all the features I was planning on having, so this is a dead project.
However, Palm programming isn't the only thing I want to do. There's a FreeBSD project or two that I'd like to do.
IPSEC
Again, it's been done, but none of the IPSEC implementations allow the level of control that I'd like to see.
If you're interested in any of the above projects, or have ideas related to them, let me know at geekzilla@geekazoid.com.