Sierra Kilo

I’ve got the basic functionality of my AIM Relay application working. I’m using AIM’s SDK. Here’s the low-down:

It logs on as one of my AIM screen names (ex: Server). I log on at another location as another of my screen names (ex: Laptop). From Laptop, I send an IM to Server containing a command to tell it where I can currently be reached (ex: @here). The AIM Relay sets my current location as Laptop. Now, if anyone sends a message to Server, it will forward it to wherever I currently am (i.e. Laptop). Now, if I send an @here IM to Server from my cell phone (ex: Cell), it will change my location and begin forwarding IMs to my cell phone. This way, I only have to give out one AIM screen name and people won’t have to send IMs to multiple screen names to figure out which one I’m currently at.

That, in itself, is pretty benign. It gets more powerful when I integrate it with Outlook. I mentioned this the other day, so I won’t go into it. What I’m really looking forward to is meshing it with other system functions, doing word replacement (to keep input to a minimum, while maintaining readability), and hooking up to an SMTP server for email. What I really want to do is hook it up to a MUD. One step at a time. Any other ideas of what this could be used for?

I stumbled across this article in my daily reading today: UFO: Afterlight. It is the next game in the UFO/X-Com series, started by the Gollop brothers. Speaking of Moore’s Law, X-Com: UFO Defense was the game that made me want to upgrade our 8 MHz 386 with 256KB to the all-powerful 16 MHz 486 with 1MB and VGA!

Anyway, the new game looks fantastic. I love the stylized cartoon-y feel. The UI looks very clean, too. I might have to get this one when it comes out.

Also related to the UFO series is Rebel Star. I wrote about this GBA game a little while back. It is a great turn-based strategy game. I haven’t played it in a while (due to Zelda and now FFTA), but I might have to pick it up again sometime.

The Thanksgiving holiday went well. I had plenty of time to R&R, eat, and see family. Did a little shopping. Went geocaching yesterday. That’s always fun when you have a free afternoon. We were 3/4 finding the caches.

Best Buy had Neverwinter Nights 2 for $25 this weekend, so I grabbed a copy. At first, it didn’t like the graphics card in my laptop, but after updating the drivers, it runs (albeit a little choppy). [rant] My laptop is a Sager with a 3.2 GHz desktop P4, 1GB RAM, and an ATI Radeon Mobility 9600. It’s about 3 years old now. What really chaps my hide is that I barely meet the minimum specs for NWN2! The graphics aren’t too much better than the first NWN. The problem, methinks, is Microsoft. With Vista coming up (or here already?), they are pushing for high-end graphics, so they threw all of these features into DirectX. While it’s backward-compatible, if you don’t use those functions, you’re forcing your users to have the best graphics capabilities. My 3-year old laptop is still a powerhouse (not to mention power-hungry), even with today’s dual-core processors. Creating software whose minimum specs are high-end at the time of the release is not a very good business model, especially if the graphics aren’t THAT much better than the first game. [/rant] Anyway, if anyone else has the game and would like to play, drop me a line.

So now, it’s time to get back to the grindstone and hit my projects hard for one last push this year. If I can finish my large project in the next week or two, I can cruise a bit through the next holiday.