No, I'm Not Dead Dept: Been a while since I've updated this. I've posted two new columns (An Open Letter to Microsoft and A Year of Palmtop Punditry) and I've released a new book, a Dave Barry-esque compilation of my first year's worth of columns. It will be published on Free-ePress.com eventually, but for now you can find it here.

White Rabbit Dept: I know, I'm late. I'm working on something special for this week's column, so please be patient. I'll have it up as soon as I can.

Indecision 2000 Dept: I've posted a new poll on my eGroup about how I should approach the fourth edition of Writing On Your Palm. My initial plan was to combine coverage of both the Palm and the Pocket PC, and maybe even Psion (if I can get S3 to give me a Mako) into a comprehensive look at using palmtops for ultra-mobile writing. But given some of the comments I've seen lately, I'm not sure such a book would be welcomed. My Palm readers seem to resent anything Pocket PC-oriented, and my Pocket PC readers likewise don't care about the Palm (and the Psion readers are tired of being left out of the whole thing). So maybe writing this book will be a waste of my time and yours. Instead, I could update WOYP v4 to still include Palm-only content and write a completely different book on writing with the Pocket PC. This would take longer, and frankly, WOYP v4 would be pushed back in favor of writing the Pocket PC book (pipe down, you Palm guys already have three editions). I don't know. So go vote and tell me what you think. I'm not using punch cards, so this vote should go off without a hitch. :^)

Eureka! Dept: I finally figured out why Writing On Your Palm 3.1 wasn't viewable in the Pocket PC version of Reader. Turns out I had one small section in HTML preformat tags and Word interpreted that style by hardcoding the tab spaces. Once I removed the tab settings for that style, the book compiled fine into Reader for the Pocket PC. The zip file now includes XHTML and Reader format files. Download away!

Palm Coverage Dept: While there have been several Pocket PC-oriented columns recently, there has also been a review of Documents To Go and columns on ebooks (as there were before). But I put it to you, my readers: What do you want to see? Let me know what Palm topics you want covered, and I'll do my best to cover them. I haven't abandoned the Palm as a valid mobile computing platform for writers, but I've covered it in such depth that it will take a lot of Pocket PC columns for the site to swing towards being Pocket PC heavy. There are 30 Palm-related columns, 17 ebook columns and only 4 (count 'em, four) Pocket PC columns. Since I'm using the Pocket PC daily, and my ire with Palm's lack of direction has been clearly documented (I'll tell you flat out, I feel betrayed by Palm; it's OS/2 all over again), naturally I'm going to come up with more Pocket PC ideas myself. But if you have something you want to see,

Let Me Know!

I'll consider all suggestions. I'm here to help you, regardless what platform you use. I want to help mobile writers do their job. Help me help you. Let me know what you want to see. I'll do my best to report on it faithfully and honestly.

The Ultimate Pocket PC Dept: Rumor has it that HP is brewing a very special Christmas present: the new Jornada 550. If the rumors are true, it will have a Casio-like 16-bit screen and an iPaq-like 206MHz XScale processor, all in the same slim Jornada form factor we know and love. Pocket PC owners: if this device actually materializes, would it be compelling enough for you to switch? Vote here.

Oops Dept: In this week's column, I erroneously mentioned the Handspring Prism as being $499 rather than $449. This has been corrected.

Informed Christmas Shopping Dept: Just posted a new column, Pocket PC Buyer's Guide. If you're looking into buying a Pocket PC, this might help you decide which one is right for you.

Bezos' Not Gonna Like This Dept: In an article on MSNBC, it seems that Random House is going to start offering their Modern Library classics as ebooks directly to the consumer, bypassing Amazon and BN.com.