HPLX.NET CONTESTS January 1998

Judging between the many fine entries received was no easy task, but here are the winners.

FIRST PLACE: Davis Chapel <chapel@cliffhanger.com>
Davis Chapel thinks he can write professionally. Now if only he can convince his agent and a publisher... after spending his life savings on postage stamps to New York city. Maybe then, he can afford a big keyboard, and write his novels faster than the 200LX keys allow...

***********BEGIN FIRST PLACE ENTRY***********
UNSPOKEN SPOKESMEN: Three famous 200lx users that will never go public
about their passion.

William Gates III latched the five titanium dead bolts on the door to his
den and flipped on the Maximus Sentry alarm securing his private quarters.
He squinted and shifted his head to both sides as he moved toward the
gabled alcove, where an original Pimbardi fresco of the Win98 logo hung in
the apex. Tossing his eyes about for one last glance, he swung the frame
on its pivot nail and uncovered a Vanadium-Carbonate safe with jeweled
spin-dials. The dials were phony, of course, as the safe opened by a
quick, but secure, Nd:YAG iris scan. He reached a hand into the dark
cavernous hole and extracted a velvet case. Looking about once more, he
closed the safe and unlatched the case, revealing a 32MB, triple-speed,
backlit 200LX. The best upgrade money could currently buy.
        His five-figure offers just wouldn't convince that Mack guy into making a
128MB upgrade. Maybe six figures...
        He snickered and carried the LX over to the cherrywood conference table
lined with every CE palmtop made and an assortment of NT laptops. With a
single swoop of his left arm he corralled the herd of devices off the edge,
smashing all into an electronic heap on the floor. He slapped the LX on
the bare table and punched it on, immediately going to his favorite app:
MAZE.
        His game hardly past level two when a loud knock startled him. He quickly
closed the lid and hid the LX in the folds of his Casmir robe. "Yes?"
        "Honey, it's me." The door muffled his new bride's voice.
        "Oh." He loosened his grip on the LX.
        "I put on that Bunny outfit, dear. Come out, please."
        Gates frowned at the door, looked down at his closed LX. Damn this
marriage thing. At first the money had kept her busy enough, but not
anymore. She always appreciated his all nighters at work as long as they
came with a mink or a new BMW. But now she had everything... Everything
except a 200LX of her own. Yeah... "I have important work to do. Tomorrow
night, hun, I'll bring you a surprise."

        * * * * *

Ken Starr, independent Whitehouse investigator, turned over the pale 200LX
in his hands. Scarred, splintered and war torn, it had seen a lot of
handling. A lot of manhandling.
        "And you're sure they can't crack a 64 character password-encrypted zip
file?" he asked his assistant.
        "No," said his aide, a stocky redhead in his forties. "I mean, geez, it
took INFOSEC at NSA six months just to crack the system's power-on
password. Then there was the Buddy password and..."
        "Yeah, yeah." Starr nodded, recalling how after finally getting into the
President's palmtop, they found the Notetaker files named: FLOWERS.NDB,
P_JONES.NDB, and lastly that strange one: LEWINSKY.NDB, which hadn't made
any sense until a month ago. Again, each NDB file was password protected.
The LX went back to the NSA, who then farmed out the Notetaker cracking to
some out-of-country genius named Brands. He sent back the infamous HPCRACK
code that had all of NSA, CIA, DOD and even HPLX-L buzzing. Then a team of
investigators and cryptologists had assembled with Starr, licking their
lips, as he typed in Bill's Notetaker password: OVALSEXISBEST.
        Inside, it read:

              begin 644    BC_diary.zip
              M4F%R(1H'`/'[<P$`#0`#D#$F$^ 45$% 4 $DMU#% YT7*^&. . .

        Damn Bill. The NDB files still weren't accessible. Instead of the juicy
diary notes they expected, Bill had pasted in the encoded ascii of a
password-encrypted pkzip file. The INFOSEC cryptologists just tossed their
hands up and mumbled themselves out the door.
        "Damn. If only he'd used a Pilot," Starr said. "We'd-ve cracked this
case a year ago."

        * * * * *

Teflon Don Gotti hurled the Velo CE device at the far wall, smashing it
into plastic bits. "Whatsa matter with you, Vinnie? You got mush for
brains?"
        Vinnie, the tallest of the Don's shoulder-men, shrugged. "Hey, it was
like the sales guy said, these things are the latest, you know."
        "How many times I gotta tell ya? Two-hunnred-L-X." Gotti rapped Vinnie on
the head with his knuckle ring. "We needa real system, like we always had
before. Howwa the guys gonna get through those new fangled home security
systems with the toys you bring me? Howwa they gonna break into banks with
cutsie touch screens, huh? And what about my accountants? They gotta have
real machines, when the tax man comes."
        "I dunno, Boss. I can't buy no more HP's."
        "Whatta ya talking about?"
        "Stores don't carry them no more. Stocked to the gills with them HP CEs
now."
        "CE!" Gotti went red-faced. "No more 200?"
        Guido, the shorter but smarter bagman, stepped forward. "Hey, Boss. I
got this list of users off the HPLX-List. There must be something like
a-hundred palmtops between them, if you don't count this Sargeant guy who
has a few all to himself."
        "Yeah, Boss," Vinnie piped in. "We could go breaka some fingers, ya want?"
        "No, no. I gotta better idea." Gotti smiled impishly, huddling his
fellas in close. "Vinnie, Guido. Go make a visit to Corvalis. Convert
that HP CEO. Tell him Singapore should tool up for the 260LX."
        "Okay, Boss."
        "You tell him, the Don wants VGA. Got that? V-G-A."
***********END FIRST PLACE ENTRY***********

SECOND PLACE: Jeff Johns <jeffj@scott.net>
We all know the palmtop is useful, but for Jeff, a part-time Deputy Sheriff, it can even help enforce the law. Now all he needs is an IPEX-enhanced database with mug shots...

***********BEGIN SECOND PLACE ENTRY***********
First let me tell you a bit about myself. My name is Jeff Johns, I'm 29
years old and reside in the Metroplitan Birmingham, Alabama area. I work
a full time job in the Industrial Fluid Sealing Industry and work another
20-30 hours a week for the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department. My
trusty, little 200LX has served me well over the past couple of years. I
upgraded from a Apple Newton MP120 to the HP200LX and boy am I ever glad
that I made the switch!!!

I use my 200LX daily, without exception. In my full time job I use the
200LX to write letters using the built-in Memo app as well as designing
and maintaing my company's internet site. The HP Calc function makes
shortwork of converting metric measurements to the domestic equivalents
as I also handle the international end of the business. I read and write
email from the palmtop along with sending faxes to customers and vendors
from this little DOS machine. There has even been an occasion where I
have had my full size "dumb terminal" go on the blink and through some
creative manipulation of cabling have hooked my 200LX to our wide area
network, thus saving me some downtime. The 200LX has proven to be
invaluable in business applictaions. It truly is an asset and I would
highly recommend it to anyone who has such business needs.

For my part-time job as a Deputy Sheriff with the Jefferson County
Sheriff's Department in Birmingham, Alabama (USA) the HP200LX proves to
be a real asset in crime fighting. While on patrol I remove the Megahertz
X-Jack 14.4 modem and insert a 1MB SRAM card. The SRAM card contains the
databases that I use when working patrol. I maintain a database of those
people I encounter while riding my beat. By having quick access to my
database of offenders/suspects I can make quick decisions of what to do
with the people when I encounter them again. I also maintain a database
of houses and business where I have been dispatched. Upon being
dispatched, I check the address against my database to see what the
previous call, if any, was at the address. During patrol duties the 200LX
has encountered many situations that no ordinary computer could handle.
It has been involved in 10-100 (high speed chases), it has fallen out of
the patrol car and hit the asphalt on more than one occasion and has been
soaked in the rain and snow. The little palmtop has even been sprayed
with pepper-spray and it just keeps chugging along with no ill effects.
Many times I am dispatched to take a report and many of these times I
carry nothing but my 200LX to aid me in this. I simply use the Memo
function and enter the dispacth number, complaintant's name, address,
phone number, etc.. I then save this information with the dispatch number
as the file name. Once I get back to the substation or a nice dark hiding
spot I can copy the information to an Incident/Offense report. It's so
funny to see the look on John Q. Public's face when I arrive at his door
and start asking questions all while entering this information on the
200LX. More than once I've been asked, "What the heck is that thing?"
It's great advertisement for the Palmtop.

For fun (no I don't work all the time), I use my 200LX as a packet radio
terminal using the Baycomm modem. The 200LX has allowed me as an amateur
radio operator (KF4KGQ) to become truly mobile and portable. I also use
my 200LX to plays games such as Solotaire, Checkers, Mines and hundreds
of other readily available DOS software games.

I'm not a programmer by any means and I'm not the most technologically advanced
user, but I do use my palmtop in many varied aspects of daily life. I
would highly recommend the "PC in your pocket" to anyone considering the
purchase of a handheld PC.

***********END SECOND PLACE ENTRY***********

THIRD PLACE: BO SVENSSON <no mail address>
Bo Svensson of Gothenburg, Sweden, has asked that his mail address remain anonymous, as he fears repercussion from the manufacturers of Windows CE HPC's and the PalmPilot.

***********BEGIN THIRD PLACE ENTRY***********

Why the HP 200LX is better than Windows CE machines or the
PalmPilot...

In my opinion, HP 200LX palmtop is the best PC in the world and most
probably it will stay at number One even 10 years from now (or even
longer!). Why? Simply because Microsoft decided to jump into the
handheld market with their new platform- Windows CE. Other palmtop
PC's, or maybe we should say organizers, such as Psion and the
PalmPilot has not a chance against 200LX. I don't need to go into
details, it's enough to give you an example: "Oh, I need to convert my
incoming faxes to text files in order to make it easier to reply- how
can I do that using only my palmtop?"

Psion users will say- "I can't do that! Psion has not made a program
for this and frankly speaking they have hardly an internet solution. I
wait and see if they one day come out with an OCR program. Oh, shoot,
the new 5 series made me drop the palmtop since the keyboard push away
my supporting thumb."

A PalmPilot user might say- "To bad I can't do that! Oh, no I
dropped my PalmPilot and now it's broken!!!

While a HP 200LX user simply connect his palmtop to the internet and
does a search on "+DOS +OCR" in for example Altavista and 1/2 hour
later he has downloaded the zip file, unzipped it and installed the
program (using ONLY his 200LX) which is called OCRSHARE on his
palmtop!

A lots of people say that Microsoft can't do anything right. When I
hear that I usually say that Microsoft is not That Bad, they did MS
DOS 5.0 which I am running on my 200LX palmtop!!! During all the years
DOS was the most common platform for PC's around the world (as late as
1994, DOS was still the most used platform) about 2-3 million DOS
programs was created around the world. Personally, I estimate that at
least 100,000- 200, 000 of those programs can be run on an HP 200LX.
So if we now compare that to the amount of programs that can be used
on other palmtop PC's (actually organizers), including Windows CE
machines- I only say: I Rest My Case!!!

Since Microsoft Windows CE seams to be the new platform for handheld
computers and more and more hardware manufactures jump into it, let's
concentrate on this platform from now on.

According to Microsoft, Windows CE doesn't mean anything- same as NT.
It's just a name with no special meaning. But we all know that if you
install NT 4.0 on your desktop, you can chose to format the harddisk
for NTFS- which according to Microsoft stands for New Technology File
System. So what is then NT 4.0??? Same thing with Windows CE. What
ever Microsoft say- don't bother to listen. If you where browsing
Microsoft's web site about 15 months ago, you could clearly see that
Windows CE stands for Windows Consumer Electronics. So even if that's
not true, according to Microsoft, it makes sense- right? In fact,
Microsoft openly talks about their intention to make the Windows CE
platform to be the future operation system for Consumer Electronics!
So personally I get scared when I hear this and I have some visions
about the future if this becomes true:

Year 2003, May 15th- "Yesterday I tried to wash my laundry using my
Samsung Win CE 15.01 washing machine. However, it was not successful
since my washing machine hanged and I had to reboot it. I lost all my
clothes but since I have a backup of all the clothes I buy, I could
still go to work today! But 3 days ago I wanted to wash my underwear
and socks. After I have entered all the data, using the console of my
washing machine, I got an Error message- "Unable to recognize
material". First I removed my underwear and tried to wash only the
socks. But then I got the same Error message- ""Unable to recognize
material". Since I only tried to wash two types of clothes, then I
thought- put in the underwear only and give it a try! So I did and I
still got the same Error message!??? Now I was very confused and I
had no idea what to do. So I called Samsung. Samsung's support line
told me that this is most probably a software problem and that I
should call the Microsoft Support Line. So I did that and after 2
hours of waiting, I could explained my problem. The guy on the line
asked if my laundry was corrupted. What you mean with "corrupted
laundry"- I said. You know if you put in laundry that is Very Dirty,
the laundry may not be recognized he said. Hmm- that was the first
good information I ever received from Microsoft. So I hand washed my
underwear and socks. When I had finished the washing (by hand) I input
the same laundry in my washing machine and pressed start. Now my
washing machine started and washed it without any Error message! I was
of course very happy since my laundry finally came out nice and clean.
However, later I realized that I don't need any Win CE Laundry
Machine- so I went to my cellar and found my old nice Samsung SW-T65A1
from 1997 without any Windows operating system. Now I can s**t in my
pants of frustration when my Windows CE palmtop and my NT 12.03
desktop hang and I can still get it cleaned up using an old fashion
washing machine- the same day!"

Year 2003 May 16th- "This morning I wanted to have some breakfast
before I went to my office. I wanted to take out some bread, butter,
cheese, strawberry jam and a package of milk having the idea of a
small and fast, but nice breakfast. However, since my Sanyo
refrigerator is controlled by a platform called Win CE 15.01, I had to
struggle with the door for some time. The console outside the
refrigerator door told me that I can't open the door due to low
temperature inside the refrigerator. How can that be- I thought!? I
have not been able to open it up for the last 6 days!!? After I took
out my tool box and used some major force on the refrigerator, I could
get what I wanted. Then I thought that I may get a breakfast today.
But you can't imagine how wrong I was! After I have removed all the
required items from the refrigerator - I realized that the fridge was
connected to my local police station. So after have been handcuffed,
taken to the police station, beaten up- the police finally admitted
that they made a mistake (after they have called Microsoft) and they
let me go. When I was finally home, I tried to insert a Enriched White
Bread into my toaster. Then it hang and when not even a reset could
make it work- I called the Microsoft Support Line (again....).
Microsoft told me that it may be due to a software problem. They said
that I should try to reboot the toaster and insert a ScanBread (which
has to be a bread made of wholemeal flour). I did that but I guess
that the ScanBread I used was not of the correct type, since the whole
toaster exploded in my face!!!

Year 2003, May 16th, 4:17 PM- my boss called me at the hospital
wishing me good luck with my new MS Windows CE Face/Brain Enhanced
Control unit. The funny thing was that I wanted to tell him to @#%$
off. But whatever I wanted to say and what came out from my mouth was
totally different! Then I realized that I got "Windowzeeed". Which in
the year of 2003 means that you don't have any choice other than
praising Microsoft Windows since they control the World. When I write
this, it's in the year of 2009, October the 6th. It's my birthday and
I try to pass my time in prison reading old fashion books (which costs
a lot since it's not legal). I got a life sentence because the police
took me while I was using a HP 200LX on the street. I know I did a
big mistake. But I couldn't help it! I just needed to use my palmtop
from 1996 since my Windows CE V34.211 palmtop hanged and I couldn't
find my colleague's telephone number.

Microsoft has changed our lives- that we all know. But is it for
better or worse? Let's take a look at what we have today and try to
forget my visions of the future which I gave above.

As the first example I would like to mention a guy which I know (no
names). He has both Windows 95 and NT 4.0 installed on his desktop PC.
He told me that NT is much more stabile than Windows 95. However, it's
only a fraction of his original programs that runs on a NT machine,
that's why he has also Windows 95 installed. Due to some very good DOS
games (Yes, it's still out there!) he also has DOS partition. Anyway,
the interesting thing is that this guy is now planning to switch the
functionality of his PC's reset button (which is very small and you
need a pen to reset the PC) and his PC's On/Off button (very big and
it's convenient to push). Why you may ask? The answer is simple- it's
because of when he is running Microsoft Windows (any flavor) he uses
the reset button more often than the On/Off button! So what has this
to do with Windows CE? My answer is- everything! Microsoft told the
world that Windows CE is like Windows 95 & NT. Yes, Microsoft is
finally telling you, the end user, the truth. Windows CE is exactly
like 95&NT- a platform which hangs and make you loose data more often
that you can save it!

I also know a guy which was so happy about his latest toy- a Windows
CE 2.0 palmtop machine (until he used it for real!). He bought it
because he thought that this is the total replacement of a HP 200LX.
You know- Windows 95 & NT synchronization, Windows Graphical User
Interface and the MS Pocket PowerPoint!!! A few weeks ago, he went
for a seminar and the day before he prepared all his PowerPoint slides
on his desktop and downloaded them to his huge (compare to 200LX)
palmtop. After a while when he had seen the other presentations before
him, he realized that he has to add some slides to his own
presentation. Then he picked up his 6 pound notebook, added the slides
and downloaded the correct presentation to his palmtop. Then I asked-
"So you still use your notebook even if you have a palmtop?" I was not
surprised when I heard the answer to my question- "Yes, I have to
bring my notebook also since Windows CE is a PC Companion and it must
have a Windows 95/NT PC to connect to in order to make it work
correctly". Then I asked him if it's not better to leave the Win CE
palmtop at home and use the notebook for real good multimedia
presentations as the others gave during the seminar? Then my friend
looked like he had runned into a train-, for about 5 seconds, then he
said- you're right! Today he is using HP 200LX for serious work such
as quotations, product prices, customer contacts etc.

Of what I can see, Windows CE is a platform for people with a limited
PC knowledge. I am sorry to say so, but who else could accept a
handheld platform which in it's first version can't even handle
attachments in an e-mail, can't hardly print, don't have the basic
features of word processing which we 200LX users have used for years.
With Windows CE 1.0, Microsoft showed us how limited their knowledge
is about portable computing. Windows CE 2.0- yes, Microsoft did some
improvements but still we can't see features which we HP 200LX users
would like to see- such as graphs in a spreadsheet. The basic question
still remains- when will Microsoft come out with a platform which is
safe to use? We- the users have seen it everywhere: "Fatal Internal
Error" which results in lost data and effective computing time- both
in Windows 95, NT and now in Windows CE. I strongly feel it's safe to
assume that as long as you use a Microsoft platform- you will always
encounter a problem with data loss. Unless you use HP 200LX Palmtop
which again is using the only thing that Microsoft did right- MS DOS
5.0. On the other hand many people follow what Bill Gates says like
he was a god- "DOS is dead". May so be regarding notebook and desktop
computers, but not for a palmtop PC such as HP 200LX! So, Bill get
out of here and don't destroy another segment of the computer
industry!!!!!!!! We want quality, not a crappy platform!!!!!!

***********END THIRD PLACE ENTRY***********

HONORABLE MENTIONS

"HPLX Unplugged" http://comports.com/hplx

**** BEGIN HONORABLE MENTION ****
TOP TEN REASONS THE HP200LX IS BETTER THAN CE DEVICES:

10. Don't need Paul Bunyan palms.
9. The AC adapter is actually smaller than NY city transform stations.
8. An upgrade doesn't mean you buy the latest $699 machine.
7. The Notetaker or Database application doesn't cost an extra $49.12 +
your left knuckle.
6. The 16.37 MB ROM isn't a hardwired virus in OS clothing.
5. Even with a tenth the processor speed, Phone dbase searches finish long
before your contact moves to a new state.
4. You don't have to wear one of those baggy Italian suits to pocket the LX.
3. No need to carry a car battery for an hour of extended field use.
2. You get to keep that "Intel Inside" sticker.
1. LX Proprietary doesn't mean 10% of everything goes to Bill Gates.
0. Times2Tech only upgrades the 200LX.

TOP TEN REASONS THE HP200LX IS BETTER THAN PILOT DEVICES:

10. Entering data during bus rides and earthquakes won't irreversibly
lacerate the screen.
9. The LX alarm can wake up a whole platoon, while it lays under the treads
of a burning M2 tank.
8. Upgrading the memory doesn't cost 20x the original PDA price and add
twice the weight.
7. 80 columns means a lot more than your score in tetris or breakout, and
on the LX "vt100" is not the name of a London Punk band.
6. You can't program in the Pilot's only native language, Graffiti, no
matter how good you are with a marker or spray can.
5. Getting on the Internet doesn't require "docking" to a mother ship the
size of The Titanic.
4. The screen doesn't crack if you look or breathe on it before freshening
up in the morning.
3. The manufacturer isn't playing musical companies.
2. The LX doesn't carry secret names like "Dinky" and "Cute."
1. Pressing F10 doesn't require you to write a novel.
0. All LX units are the "Professional Edition."

**** END HONORABLE MENTION ****

Ian Butler <ianrb@caspers.net>

**** BEGIN HONORABLE MENTION ****
In Search of the 200

I carried my laptop to the store,
Where I asked for something less, with more.
They told me I would like a CE
but I told them, those didn't suit me.

They hemmed and they hawed
They shuffled and scuffled
But they wouldn't show me utopia
So I bought their CE, and left.

The second day I carried my CE to the store,
Where I asked for something less, with more.
They told me I would like an HP,
.. Just kidding! They'd never do that to me.

They hemmed and they hawed
They shuffled and scuffled
But they wouldn't show me what I wanted
So I got into my car and then I vomited
But it just wasn't enough for me.

The last day I carried my CE to the phone,
Where I asked for something less, with more.
They told me I should go away,
Because they had died, just that day.

They hemmed and they hawed
They shuffled and scuffled
But they didn't tell me what I needed
So their polite request I heeded
And put the phone down and stewed.

For a week I called and called and called
But no one would tell me what I knew,
The palmtop which I had eternally wanted
Was gone, like the beef in a stew.

I hemmed and I hawed
I shuffled and scuffled
But I couldn't find what I needed
So I quit my job and got another,
Pushing up daisies
From down under.

**** END HONORABLE MENTION ****

Bill Childers <childers@garlic.com>

**** BEGIN HONORABLE MENTION ****
The Palmtop Paper
April 1, 1998

Bill Gates snubs own technology, uses old DOS palmtop

Bellevue, WA- Today, the Palmtop Paper discovered that Bill Gates, President of Microsoft,
has so little faith in his own product that he uses a Hewlett-Packard 200LX as his personal
information manager. Sources close to the Microsoft bigwig say, "Bill's performance needs
are great. He requires a PIM that is ultra-stable, uses very little battery power, has quick
response time, and has a large installed base of software. Unfortunately, his WinCE machines
are NONE of the above. So, he carries a 200LX palmtop in his jacket pocket. The HPCalc
application and Lotus 1-2-3 allow him to compute and graph his net worth instantly,
anywhere. The database application gives him the ability to list the companies he wants
to put out of business in the upcoming year. The ability to associate programs to run at
a scheduled time is also a great asset, as he uses that feature to load different "ToDo" lists,
based on time of day. Also, the 200LX was tough enough to survive the creme pie assault
that he underwent earlier in the year. Lesser palmtops would have died under that abuse,
and Bill knows it."

Mr. Gates could not be reached for comment, but the bodyguards of the software magnate
confirm the story. They also hint that Mr. Gates is subsidizing development of a new DOS
palmtop in conjunction with Hewlett-Packard, although this is unconfirmed.

**** END HONORABLE MENTION ****

Francois Ennesser <100774.3617@compuserve.com>

**** BEGIN HONORABLE MENTION ****
One day in Redmond, the next version of Windows (I believe it was release 3.1)
wasn't yet ready for the afternoon meeting, which had to decide on its
marketing strategy, after a demonstration to Mr. Bill himself. Thanks god, one
of the engineer with a Dos-based HP Palmtop (it might have been a 95 or 100LX
at the time) dowloaded the code to his big flashcard, got it ready on his way
to the meeting room, and finally made it to compile in time for the scheduled
demonstration (According to Bill's instructions, he didn't care about the
numberous bugs, which had to be left for the next planned release, in 1995).
Unfortunately, he didn't have the time to transfer the new program to a
desktop, and had to run the demo on his palmtop, in front of his big boss. "You
mean, you made Windows to compile on your calculator?" wondered Bill in
surprise. As he later understood the said calculator had all the capabilities
of a desktop PC, Bill became worried. "If that market ever comes to grow, I
will have to control it as well, otherwise people will realize they can be more
efficient with handheld computers, and won't buy fast desktops running Windows
anymore", he thought. "Well, first of all, I need to make it hard for people to
find DOS programs to run on their palmtops, so that this market doesn't grow
too fast! Then I will have to make sure the next palmtop generation is crippled
down enough, otherwise people might realize how inefficient our current desktop
programs are. We will have to make it run a specially bloathed version of
Windows for that! In the meanwhile, I will make sure the current version of
Windows won't run on that dreadful HP calculator!". "Remember our agreement
with Intel, you have to make sure Windows can't run on anything less than a 386
anymore, and make it slow enough so that people really need to upgrade to a
100MHZ processor to run it!", he ordered to his team.

Later in the meeting, the group was in need for some precise technical
information that was available in databases, such as those stored on the early
Windows NT machine connected to Microsoft's internal network. One of the guy
rushed for a PC connected to the network, booted it, launched Windows, and
began searching for the information. However, before he could even type his
request, our palmtop user, who frequently needed that kind of infos, had
already swapped his flash memory cards and found the information, thanks to a
fast DOS-based database program. Bill was surprised: "What, you had this
information on your calculator as well?", and was even more stunned at the end
of the afternoon, when the palmtop was used to print a report of the meeting,
complete with spreadsheet calculations and graphics, over an infrared
connection to a nearby printer. He thought "Hey, people should not be able to
access databases without needing to use a Windows NT desktop! We will have to
develop a new file system for our new handheld O.S., so that people cannot use
a database application on it. Also, people should really need a Windows Desktop
to print from their palmtop, and the handheld versions of our desktop
applications should be crippled down enough to be useless, without further
editing of the documents on one of our full-blown desktop programs!".

The following days, Bill ordered the development of a new handheld O.S. that
had to meet all of the requirements he had thought of during the meeting. He
also contacted HP to make sure they would not advertise the existence of their
little wonder openly, and would cooperate on his new handheld system he called
Windows CE.

**** END HONORABLE MENTION ****

Thanks to everyone who entered, and keep watch for new contests!

Entry Page

200LX Contest

Here is what you have to do to win valuable prizes:

Write up a short description of why the 200LX is better than Windows CE machines or the PalmPilot. Try to limit your response to no more than 1000 words (but if you can come up with more, feel free.) You can incorporate whatever you like-- humor, case studies, whatever. Send your entries to me at david@hplx.net, with the subject "Contest entry" and I will judge the three best entries. The grand prize winner will receive a free 4MB memory card from Times2 Tech, including installation. Second place will receive a speed upgrade from Times2 Tech, with installation. Third place will receive a pair of 1350 mAh NiMH batteries from Times2 Tech. Please enter even if you already have an upgraded 200LX-- there's always something that can be done with a free upgrade or batteries.

All entries must be received by Monay, February 9, 1998, 5:00 PM Pacific Standard Time. Winners will be posted and notified by e-mail on Tuesday, February 10. Winning entries and runners-up will be posted.

Some ideas off the top of my head: try something like making an ad HP would be using to position the 200LX against the competition. And remember, I like funny stories.