weewar.com corner
Travian.com
Jun 28

Sweet: Flatpack house $22,000…wha-wha-what?

Hmm: Pownce KRose’s new project is a Twitter-meets-Meetup-meets-de.liciou.us-meets-File-sharing site. I hate the whole “invite-only beta” web site thing. If it eventually allows camera phone picture uploads via MMS, it would be excellent.

iPhone: Can you say Paris Hilton Goes To Jail?

TV: Eureka is coming back soon. Dr. Who is coming back soon. Traveler is still excellent. SG1 is gone (except for the DVD movies). Atlantis is gone for a while (and may be going downhill).

Jun 26

I’ve been slowly trying to learn more web development. My senior project in college was an online quiz system that me and my partner did in ASP (version 1 was in Java Servlets). This was back in 2000 or so, and web development was still largely static HTML. Since then, server-side scripting (ASP, PHP, Ruby On Rails) and client-side scripting (JavaScript) have taken off. Style sheets, DIV containers, and XML are now the big dogs.

I’ve been stuck in VB6 and .Net thick-client land for a while, so it’s time I stuck my head out to see what else there is. I’m starting to drink the web-based application Kool Aid. From a business standpoint, web apps are great for a service-oriented approach. You don’t need to distribute application installs or large patches, you simply publish to your web server and it’s live. All of the infrastructure is maintained internally, so you don’t need to rely as much on the IT staff of your customers or even go on-site. One drawback to this, of course, is that the majority of responsibility falls on you. You’re responsible for the availability of your service, so uptime is crucial. You’re responsible for the data, so backups and maintenance is crucial. The only thing that the customers are responsible for is data entry, and making sure their connection to you is working.

So, I’m concentrating on CSS, AJAX, ASP.Net, and PHP. Personally, I like PHP because the syntax is easy and the code is in-line with the HTML. I haven’t quite wrapped my head around how ASP.Net works yet. CSS is fairly simple. AJAX is simple in theory, but the actual implementation takes some getting used to. I’ve worked in procedural/synchronous VB6 for so long that it’s hard to think asynchronously.

Jun 21

I was just thinking about how “Web 2.0″ is the “SDK” for the iPhone. I may have to revise my previous opinion on this move. As a developer who is stuck maintaining (and sometimes enhancing) Visual Basic 6 applications, I’ve been falling in love with the idea of web applications more and more. While full OS-level integration is not available yet, advances in technology such as AJAX are going a long way toward making web-based applications a viable solution for desktop (and mobile) computing. One problem with web apps, though, is that, while a few can operate stand-alone (like TiddlyWiki), most require an internet connection. At $30/month, a mobile internet connection is still too pricey for me on top of what I already pay for my connection at home. With the proliferation of free, open WiFi connections, though, it’s less of a problem. I’m just saying by requiring a mobile internet connection, you can drive the cost of ownership beyond the means of the average user.

What’s interesting to note, however, is that since the announcement, there are a ton of iPhone “applications” (read: websites) that are coming out. The iPhone Application List has a few already. 37Signals is working on iPhone-factor versions of their tools. I’m sure Google is pounding out the iPhone versions of iGoogle, GMail, Google Calendar, Google Docs, Google Reader, Google blahblahblah… It’s amazing how a company like Apple can say “Our device can browse the web and we encourage you to format sites specifically for it” and web developers jump at it. The PocketPC has had a web browser for years, but PDA versions haven’t garnered the same fervor.

Jun 20

My head is constantly filled with project ideas. Some of them I write down and flesh out a bit, others I just let bake for a while. I thought I’d spew a few of them out to see what reaction I got:

Cizzash
- PocketPC money management application
- Tip calculator (see Diner)
- Round tip or total
- Easy, touch input
- Shopping cart minder (to curb those $200 grocery store trips)
- Add items (with price) to a list
- Running total
- Estimated tax
- Social rating system for restaurants (eventually)
- Star rating
- Reviews
- Recommendations
- Uploads your bill total and tip amount to website (for average bill/tip)
Social information website
- *Like Twitter with pictures and chat
- Short “what am I doing” posts (like Twitter)
- Small “check this out” pictures
- Chat via username links (like Twitter: @username)
- All posts have separate RSS feeds and one main feed
- Post via SMS/MMS/IM
- Notifications via SMS/MMS/IM
- Customizable home page (via CSS)
Pervasive multiplayer online RPG
- Full-featured PC client
- Less-featured web client (full and mobile versions)
- Event notifications via RSS, SMS/MMS/IM
- Integrated AIM/MSN chat (or new proprietary protocol for IM)
PocketPC Single-player RPG
- Stylized 2D graphics (like Zelda)
- Living sandbox world
- When not questing, player can simply “live” in the world
- Animal Crossing-like minigames
- Fishing
- Collecting
- Farming
- New quest packs can be created and downloaded easily
Landscaping/Patio
- Vegetable garden
- Stone border
- Modified sprinkler system
- Pergola
- Flagstone path from front to back
- Level trashcan pad
- Plant two shade trees in back
- Stone border around trees/planters
- Retaining wall on west side (rosebush, hose, etc)
- Planter and front lights hooked to sensor or timer
- Storage (bench/building) for outdoor equipment/supplies
Interior
- Closet shelving
- Laundry room cabinets
- Toybox/bench
- Reorganize office space/guest room
- Wire NE corner by fireplace for cat-5 (external conduit)

As you can see, there are a few web-based and PocketPC ideas as well as projects around the house. Some have to wait for funding, others can be done as time permits. The trick is keeping the projects manageable.

Jun 19

Test post from phone

Uncategorized (Tags: ) 1 Comment »

Posted by mobile phone:
Test post from phone
I wrote this post from my phone to see how it worked. I also uploaded a picture, so we’ll see how that works…

File info:
Type: image jpg
Size: 37.56 kb
Laughing baby

Jun 19

Mobile Version

Uncategorized (Tags: ) No Comments »

I updated the site with a mobile version. When you visit on a mobile browser (like Pocket IE), it will render in an easy-to-read format. Now to find a mobile version of the post page so I can post from my phone…

Jun 18

Half-Life 2 is coming to the XBox 360 along with the semi-sequels Episode 1 and 2, Team Fortress 2, and Portal. October 9th, it looks like. I’ll be picking this one up. I’ve been wanting to play HL2 and TF2 will be fun multiplayer. I’ll have to make some time here and there for playing. Maybe if I schedule it on my calendar and have my phone remind me that I’ve got an hour or so to play, I’ll actually do it.

The Bioware MMO is planning to release sometime in 2009. By that time, I’ll be 32 and the kiddo will be 2. Wonder how much time I’ll have to play it?

Fallout 3 sounds like it’s shaping up nicely. The Oblivion engine is beautiful and fairly easy to use. Managing your action points will be interesting, though.

I think I figured out the best way for a Sci-Fi MMORPG to work. First of all, it would need to have twitch-based combat. It doesn’t make sense to have turn-based combat with ranged weapons in a real-time environment. For melee weapons, turn-based combat works because there is more involvment: dodge, parry, stab, slice, etc. Ranged combat is more frenzied and chaotic. It’s less about biding your time and anticipating your target’s next move, and more about accuracy and ammunition management. So, using an FPS engine would be a good start.

Next, there needs to be a seamless transition between modes of transportation. In most MMORPGs, transition between walking on foot and riding a horse is a simple animation. The on-foot game and the on-horseback game is the same engine. For a Sci-Fi game, being in a vehicle or ship needs to take place in the same engine with a seamless transition. Something like the Battlefield 1942/Vietnam/2/2142 engine, which transitions well between ground and air. Loading screens are bad in a real-time environment.

The game should focus heavily on combat, aiming toward the overlap between FPS gamers and RPG gamers. Combat should be more than just a grind- or frag-fest, however. Strategy and management should be paramount. A military/faction system of rank should be created where players can be promoted. The higher rank you are, the more management ability you have. You can, then, create mission objectives, which lower-ranked players can attempt to achieve. Experience would not be awarded based on kills, but instead would be based on the effectiveness of the player to achieve the objective. A social Digg-like voting methodology could be used here, promoting certain individuals to the higher echelons or demoting them. This would do several things: bring social and (in-game) political influence, allow user-generated content, and do away with brainless grinding.

I envision a game where you can leave your player-owned house, run to where you parked your ship, climb in the cockpit (or run through the corridors to the command deck), fly to your headquarters, disembark, attend a mission briefing, return to your ship with your orders, join your squadron in space, carry out your orders, and then return home for some R&R. You may smell some hints of Star Wars Galaxies here, but it would be much more than what SWG offers, and would be executed much better.

Jun 15

As often happens, I was looking for one thing and stumbled on another. These guys have extracted parts of the HTC Touch UI and made them available for other Windows Mobile devices. The Today plugin is excellent. I love the large clock, especially. Weather information is nice, but you need an internet connection and I could always look outside. I really enjoy the dark theme, too. With the iContact software, which allows you to “flick” through contacts, driving the phone interface with your fingers is much easier. Hopefully iContact will add contact pictures and a few more features in the future.

Jun 13

The ISS is now using solar power. I don’t know a bunch about the ISS, but it would seem to me that solar power would be one of the first things I implemented on a remote space station. It’s an easily renewable source of power. There was probably some problem…like protecting the array from space trash.

Jun 12

Only Steve Jobs could take such a basic feature, such as the ability to browse web pages, and turn it into a hype machine for an Apple product. Everyone’s talking about how there’s no real SDK for the iPhone. Jobs says you don’t need one because you can make Web 2.0 apps for it. That’s all well-and-good, but I could make Web 2.0 apps for any platform. It’s like…um…the whole idea behind the platform. HTML and JavaScript were created to be platform independent. Jobs thinks that it’s all Apple’s doing. Anyway. From what I’ve seen of the browser on the iPhone, it looks good. If it acts exactly like a desktop browser with a new interface, it will be a nice addition, but who browses the web from a phone anyway? So what if there are hooks to certain iPhone information (contacts, etc)? I could create an ActiveX control to do the same thing on my WM6 phone.

OS 10.5 Leopard is, indeed, evolutionary, not revolutionary. The feature called Stacks is just the file structure laid out like a menu. Windows has been doing that for years with their Start button. Not that I’m defending Windows, just saying it’s nothing new. It will be a welcome feature to me, though, because I hate that I have to open a Finder window just to launch apps that I decided not to place on my Dock bar. iChat is very cool, but I can’t use the best feature (webcam video chat) because nobody else I know has iChat. Adium hasn’t included it, either, so no AIM or MSN video chat. I do have to admit that it’s an interesting move for Apple to release Safari for Windows. If they ported all of their big applications, it would be a huge step toward more switchers…like gateway drugs. Get Mac and PC users talking on iChat and watch how many people take the train to Mac world.