I've been tagged

This is rather excellent idea that's spreading through the tech world at the moment - blog tag!

I was tagged by Alison of Astraware who was tagged by MayC of Palm Discovery. She in turn, was tagged by Matthew Miller of The Mobile Gadgeteer. I'll be passing this tag along to 4 really nice people to share some info about themselves, but in the meantime, here's 5 things you may not know about me:

1. I'm a huge U2 fan. I have all of their CD's of which are played over and over. As I've gotten older I've attended fewer concerts as the crowds have been a bit crazy but still think they are fantastic live.

2. I must be close the ocean. I grew up on sailboats and surfed as a teenager. I now live on Puget Sound which is not the ocean but fulfills the need to be near the water. At my new house I am near some prime Kayak spots and hope to find time to give it a try in 2007.

3. As a teenager I worked at Robinson's selling China and Crystal. Too this day I can recognize a Wedgwood pattern or Waterford from across the room.

4. I love Canada and try to visit Vancouver as much as I can. There is something about that city with it's international flavor that keeps calling to me.

5. I grew up in a large family, two brothers, two sisters, and two dogs. We only had three bedrooms for 7 people, it was crowded but fun. Well more fun for me than my older teen aged brothers who shared a room with me, the youngest of all the kids.

I will be tagging

Shaun McGill of PDA247, an excellent Palm Site
Adam Steinberg who writes great songs
Kevin Agot who writes for Palm Addicts and has a great blog
Darren Adams who writes about his family and technology

Win A Copy of Smart Box Design Palm or Pocket PC Game

Palm Addict Christmas / New Year Contest

Welcome to the Palm Addict Christmas / New Year Contest running between now and the 5th January. Here are a list of the prizes as donated by the relevant hardware and software companies for which we thank them.


Here are the prizes which you can choose from:
• 5 winners can choose any Smart Box Design titles including WordPop, Farkle from SmartBox Design.- 1 unlocked Palm Treo 680 grey colour.
• 1 Extended 2400 mah battery for Treo 680 from SeidioOnline
• 1 Enfora WiFi Sled
• 1 bottle of "Comte Audoin de Dampierre Champagne"
• Brando from Shop Brando has come forward to offer 5 Palm Addict Readers $100 Gift Vouchers as part of the Palm Addict Christmas / New Year Contest
• $50 Voucher for Borders
• 3 copies of Trip Boss and 3 copies of Date Wheel from Creative Algorithms
• Benoit HERVIER has donated copies of kLauncher
• 3 copies of the game My Little Tank for the runners up again from Astraware
• 1 case, 1 screen protector, & 1 cable of the winners choice from Boxwave
• Accessories, Charger, Cases donated by Proporta
• TreoTastic Bundles from Hobbyist Software
• Copies of mRSS and mRing from Motion Apps
• 1 copy of Agendus for Palm OS Professional Edition from Iambic
• 1 copy of Agendus Mail for Palm OS SSL Edition from Iambic
• 1 copy of Agendus for Windows Outlook or Palm Desktop Edition from Iambic
• 1 copy of YourCall for Palm OS from Iambic
• 1 copy of TravelTalk for Windows Mobile (PPC or Smarthpone depending on the winner's device) from Iambic
• 1 copy of EzQuote for Windows Mobile (PPC or Smarthpone dependingon the winner's device) from Iambic
• 1 copy of Propel for Palm OS Standard Edition from Iambic
• 5 copies of any title from iliumsoft.com


How to enter: Everyone can enter [including Associate Writers who can just post directly], let me know how you have been using your Palm / Treo device. Give me a line give me a paragraph it's up to you how long your user thought is. Simple that's all there is to it.

Choose your preferred prize and a secondary prize, IMPORTANT put XMAS in the subject and give your entry a title [please do not use how I use my Palm device].

Failure to enter the correct subject line and give your thought a title will mean we cannot enter you as your entry will fall into our spam folder. Send to Palm Addict - sammymcloughlin@gmail.com.

Winner will be chosen at random and the contest ends at midnight US ET Monday 5th January.

Thanks to all the sponsors, enjoy the contest and warm wishes to you and those close to you this holiday season.

Season Greetings

Every year I am grateful to the people I have met that have enriched my life in so many ways. I wish you and your family a happy, healthy, and humorous holiday and great prosperity in the New Year.

Warmest regards,

Todd Sherman, President, Smart Box Design Games

Changes to WordPop! for Pocket PC

WordPop! for Pocket PC was released over a year ago and over that time we have received some great suggestions for the game. Below is a list of changes we plan to make. If you have some additional ideas please feel free to post them at our forum or add a comment to this blog. Here is what we are working on for a new release early next year.

• Add ability to clear High Scores / Best Words


• Add Quit to Game Menu, which removes the game from memory (Windows Mobile leaves all application in memory unless it is explicitly removed)


• Add additional sound and music preferences


• Add Playing Tips


• Update the word list incorporating the many suggested words I've collected from players


• Add 240 x 240 Art so it can be played on the Treo 700W and other square screen devices


• Fix saved registration bug. When some PDAs crash the registration is lost and the player has to to reenter the reg key.


• Code optimization for newer devices

I look forward to hearing from you.

Gaming Forum Grand Re-Opening

Our brand new engaging Gaming Forum is open and ready for your comments.

Would you like to show off your high score?

Now you can at the Game Forum!

Post your best words from WordPop!

Suggest words for Word Watch.

Swap Farkle Dice strategy tips.

Suggest new product features for Word Monaco.

Ask questions about any of our games.

Visit the tech news and rumors section for all the latest trends.

See you at the forum. Visit the Gaming Forum by clicking here.

WordPop Winning Strategies - Tip 3 of 5 - Using Bonus Tiles

Chances are, no matter how well you might plan the round, you often find yourself down to your last 3 or 4 letters but without a solution to clear the board. This is the perfect time to use a bonus tile, especially the blank bonus tile. The blank bonus tile can be used as any letter. To use it, tap on it then place it on an empty location on the board. For example you find you have the letters R, C, and H. By placing a blank tile next to the R, you can make RICH. But if you use up your bonus blank tiles too early, you may not have a way out. You can try WordPop here.