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| MMM Sticker | ||
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Reviewer:
Stefan Smith First Written: 20 Mar 98 Last Updated: N/A |
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 MMM Sticker by Micro Cheng |
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| Pleasant Surprise Before I say anything else, I must tell you how surprised I was when I visited Micro Cheng's web site to discover just how far MMM Sticker has progressed! I plan to do a "big" head to head comparison of the many note taking / jotter programs currently available. So, as part of this I went on a downloading exercise across the Net. In the old days... It's going back a few months now, but I remember when MMM Sticker was first released. This was the same sort of time as Jason Kneen's Backlite started to develop. MMM Sticker was a tiny application that did nothing more than allow you to post "sticky notes" across the screen of your Psion. Things have obviously changed! This program employs some fantastic concepts...one's that I for one would like to see in other similar applications. MMM Sticker now... This had definitely progressed into a mature application. The main emphasis is still on sticky notes, but there are many other features. You can control the backlight, contrast, have a shortcut button bar to quickly launch other applications and so on. The former is the exciting part of this program when you realise just what you can do!  Screenshot: See the different types of sticky note you can use. Sticky Notes... MMM Sticker caters for several different types of sticky note. In fact there are 6, to be precise! Yup, you can do more than just draw and type text. Each sticky note can be date stamped and have a title. In the title area of any note, there is a small icon which when pressed hides the content. This makes it easy to store a number of notes on your screen without things getting too cluttered. Text Notes This is the most basic type of sticky note, where the contents is just plain text. You can enter up to 240 characters of text which will appear as a large note. Unfortunately, unless I missed something really obvious, there are no scroll buttons. So you literally have to drag the note up the screen to see the bottom half of larger notes. This was a disappointing feature. One saving grace is how easy it is to start typing a note. You can of course use the button bar on the right hand side of the screen, but the author has seen fit to include the ability to just start typing. When you do so it automatically brings up the new sticky note dialogue. Draw Notes If you don't fancy using the keyboard, or you want to sketch a quick map, then you have the option to create a Draw Note. This opens up a new screen which is completely blank, except for a number of control icons on the right hand side. You can scribble, draw, write or whatever takes your fancy. Hitting the "Confirm" key gives you the option to give a name to your new sticky note. You piece of art is then displayed on the main screen. Calendar Notes What a neat idea! On your your virtual desktop, MMM Sticker allows you to place calendar notes that have additional icons in the toolbar to allow you to navigate to whatever month takes your fancy. And, you can have as many calendar notes as you like. Picture Notes These simply allow you to view a picture within the confines of a sticky note. Clock Notes As you would expect, these allow you to view a running clock inside a note. The clock can either be digital or analogue. More importantly, you can set a time differential, allowing you to display clocks for different parts of the world. Data Notes This is what impresses me most about the sticky notes feature. From within side a note, MMM Sticker allows you to view the contents of any database file on your S5 or Geofox. Hitting the icon in the title area reveals a drop down menu. One of the options available is the ability to search the database. A backwards and forward indicator, also located in the title area of the note assists in navigating through the database.  Mini Calc As an addition to the program, the author has thoughtfully added a quick access calculator, in the form of MiniCalc. This sits on either side of the screen (you get to specify which). One click opens out a dialogue from where you can quickly do some simple calculations. Toolbar At the bottom of the screen, you can choose to have the MMM Sticker toolbar appear. This can contain a number of small icons that represent different functions on your S5 or Geofox. For example, there is a small lightbulb simple that is used to represent the backlight. There are also meter's on the left hand side of the toolbar. These can be configured, but could reflect the amount of free memory available or whatever. If that weren't enough, there is also provision for shortcut icons. Micro Cheng has provided some, such as a direct link to the Web Browser or Email editor. Other Features As I have already mentioned, MMM Sticker has a number of other features...some of these include bringing the application to the foreground on switch on, battery monitoring, backlight and contrast control etc. Interface There's a lot to like about this program. However, I wasn't that struck on the overall interface. If you elect to have your sticky notes pictured above the system screen, things can get a little "mucky". The menu system, which against Psion tradition rises from the bottom of the screen, makes things worse. I also found the menu system a little cumbersome and slow.  Screenshot: Menu system that appears from the bottom of the screen Virtual Desktop MMM Sticker goes beyond basic note jotting. With the different types of note, you can almost create a virtual desktop. The most innovative function must surely be the Data Notes, where you can interface with any database of your choosing. Conclusion This program is hard to fault. It has come a long way from its first release and has the capabilities to compete with its competitors. Only you will know whether you need the types of function provided by MMM Sticker, but if you're always writing lots of notes and interrogate databases then this is the program for you. If you're after something that will just allow you to just jot notes, then this may be a little too much. I rate this program so if you are not sure then why not try it. Failing that, you could always wait for the definitive 5 Alive roundup of note takers & jotters which is coming soon. This program is shareware and can be downloaded from http://home.hkstar.com/~micro/sticker/sticker.html |
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This Article is capture at 26th June 2000 from 5Alive web site, afterward the web site is already closed. |
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