SuperPad is my MemoPad replacement for the USR Pilot. It contains many enhancements over the original, including support for records larger than 4K, and encrypted and compressed records.
The first thing you'll notice when starting SuperPad for the first time is that it looks pretty much like the original MemoPad application, with the addition of the Up and Down buttons. These buttons allow you to quickly scroll through your list of memos, and function similarly to the Up and Down arrows located at the bottom right of the screen. Since I find these arrows hard to tap accurately, I added the above functionality to SuperPad. At this point, you'll want to enter the Preferences dialog from the Options menu.
After you've done that, you may want to encrypt some data or you
may have some compressed records already loaded. You should note that
in the List view, encrypted records have a little
diamond next to their title, and compressed records have an
icon of a folded piece of paper with a black dot in the corner.
The Menus
This command will delete all the memos in the current category.
This does exactly what you'd expect it to do: it sorts the entire database based on the first line in the memo.
I'm frequently asked if it's possible to replace the default MemoPad application button with SuperPad. This can be achieved with the AppHack and HackMaster utilities from DaggerWare. See the web-site for details.
SuperPad does support archiving of deleted memos. To enable this feature, enable Confirm Deletes in the Preferences dialog. You will then be presented with the option to archive memos.
Please note, however, that if you select the Kill button or
Empty Folder commands, you will not be prompted to
archive memos nomatter what your preferences setting is. If you find
this too limiting, please send me email and I can incorporate a change
in a future version.
The compressor uses a variant of the byte-pair encoding algorhythm by
Phil Gage. The format of a compressed memo should be as follows:
Source code for the compressor should have been included in the
SuperPad zip archive.
The current version of SuperPad supports encryption of memos.
Currently, it uses the Safer-SK algorhythm (in CFB mode) with 8/40/128
bit keys (larger keys are present in registered versions).
Safer was chosen mainly because it is "lean", more easily implemented
than BlowFish, free from annoying licensing constraints, and appears to
be reasonably secure.
Please note that a memo that is encrypted stays permanently
encrypted. You will need the password to decrypt it.
Here is where you can find details on Safer.
Of course, there will be some of you who don't trust that I haven't
put in a trap-door; I would wonder the same thing. On the issue of
whether I'll release the source code - the answer is no, not for the
time being. You can verify the output of SuperPad, however, by noting
the format for an encrypted memo:
And finally, yes, I've been careful about zero'ing out all memory
buffers used for storing passwords and decrypted data so that someone
trying to cryptanalyze your data by dumping your Pilots memory won't
be succesful.
Please note that SuperPad is now shareware, and I'm asking that all
users register for the following reasons:
Registration will entitle you to priority on feature requests and the
availability of full 128 bit encryption (for US citizens only) and
40-bit encryption for non-US citizens.
To register, please send a self-addressed and stampted envelope, a
check or money-order for $10, and a pre-formatted Mac or PC disk (if
you'd like a diskette copy) to:
US citizens should also include a brief statement acknowledging the
fact that they are US citizens and agree to comply by the terms of
ITAR. Additionally, I can only send a 128 bit version to a US
address.
Electronic distribution can be arranged on an individual basis.
Please send me email for details.
Pilot shareware authors should contact me for information on how to
obtain a complementary copy.
Finally, if you're not 100% satisfied, I'd be happy to refund you
your money.
Description of the compression and
encryption algoryhthms
Compression
Encryption
Registration