Sierra Kilo

I’m predicting that “Traveller” will be the best show on TV this summer. Unfortunately, as much as I like some TV shows, they often meet an untimely death (see Drive). Here’s to hoping the bottom-line TV execs give this show a chance. It got me thinking: Why don’t TV networks use the summer season to show new, interesting content? Buy or develop several shows whose initial storyline can be wrapped up in 6 episodes. Show them for 6 weeks and see which ones swim. You can usually tell after 2-3 episodes, but let them play out. If they sink, don’t continue them, but at least let them wrap up. If they swim, give them 18 more episodes leading up to your big daddy, prime-time, fall season shows.

This looks nice. Unfortunately, I can’t see too many practical uses. If you spend a lot of time looking through piles of photos, planning trips using a map, or buying things at a kiosk, I guess it would be useful.

What I thought was interesting is that you’ll be able to play with them at T-Mobile stores. What is Microsoft’s connection to T-Mobile? I suspect something sinister here. T-Mobile is the first (and so far, only) US cellular service to have Windows Mobile 6 phones. Now, Microsoft is letting them be a demo location? Could Microsoft be planning to turn T-Mobile into a Microsoft-branded cellular service? Will this be their answer to the iPhone? “You’ve got a phone? So what? We’ve got a phone COMPANY! Boo ya!” As long as the prices, phones, and service remain decent, I’m okay with that. Maybe they’ll even drop the price of the data plans

I threw together a quick Windows Mobile application in about an hour. It’s an enhanced version of the application I made for my old Smartphone. It’s very simple and very quick, but has a couple of options for rounding. If you have a Windows Mobile device (PDA or phone), check it out here. It requires the .NET Compact Framework (1.0 may suffice, but there’s a download for 2.0 on the page). I would open-source it, but it’s so simple you could probably figure it out yourself.

In version 2.0, I plan to add tip logging as well as adding your reviews and ratings. That way, you can keep track of your experiences at each restaurant. That will lay the foundation for version 3.0, which is where the fun really starts. I plan on adding Google Maps integration as well as integration to a website that will allow you to share your experiences with others. You’ll be able to see the ratings and reviews as well as the average bill and tip amounts. I’ll also allow users to rate and recommend certain dishes. Some version might include a random restaurant selector for those times when you simply can’t decide where to go eat. Of course, don’t expect those versions any time soon

I got a new phone over the weekend. It’s the T-Mobile “Wing.” It’s got Windows Mobile 6 Professional, which is the version for touch-screen (PDA) phones. Believe it or not, it’s only slightly larger than my old phone (the T-Mobile SDA with Windows Mobile 5 Smartphone [non-touch screen]). So far, I like it. It’s got a slide-out keyboard, which is best for entering text. Trying to type something out using the phone’s number pad is a huge pain. I figured as gung-ho as I am about text-oriented gaming and instant messengers, I should probably do more SMS messages. The blue rubberized finish is nice. Screen size is decent, buttons are decent. The keyboard keys should have a bit more definition, but for their size, they’ll do. It has a voice command feature, so you can press a button and say a command, “Call Laura Work,” and it does it. Not sure exactly what good that does, but I guess it would be useful with a Bluetooth headset (if it works like that). Speed isn’t bad, but could be faster. I’m having a heck of a time getting it working with my Mac. I was using Mark/Space’s Missing Sync, but it doesn’t work for Windows Mobile 6 (which requires ActiveSync 4.5). I tried to send files and contacts over Bluetooth, but that won’t work. I was able to do it over IR, but that’s slow and requires line-of-sight. Anybody know how to configure Bluetooth that way?

I got it to do some development and I fully intend on doing so. My first application will be to port my tip calculator. Next might be an AIM custom client (to use AIM over the internet connection rather than over SMS). If that one goes well, I might tack on Yahoo! and MSN if the SDKs are easy. I’d like to see if I can use the voice notification feature like the Windows speech features and have it read incoming IMs or something. Can anyone think of an application that would be the killer app for Windows-based phones? If so, that’s the one I want to do

This article describes some interesting features about the upcoming MySims game for the Nintendo Wii and DS. It sounds like it’ll be a mix between SimCity, The Sims, Lego, Animal Crossing, and Viva Pinata. Your character lives their little life with your help (like The Sims and Animal Crossing), but you also need to build the community (like SimCity, and Viva Pinata) in order to bring in new characters (like Animal Crossing) and keep them there (like Viva Pinata). Everything must be built using blocks (like Lego), which you can get for doing tasks for other characters (like Animal Crossing). It definitely sounds interesting. I’ve always liked the idea behind Animal Crossing (especially the real-time clock) and I still enjoy playing SimCity once in a while. The building blocks would be an excellent addition for an MMO. Think of them like a collectible card game, where pieces could be rare, unique, or even one-of-a-kind. I always liked that aspect of the Diablo games, which was carried over to WoW: items had a frequency and collecting a full set of armor and weapons was a great accomplishment.

First, is it just me or is Twitter always slow? It’s probably getting hammered with traffic, but still. As I’ve said before, I like Twitter, even though I’m not a very social-type person.

Second, I’m interested to hear what Kevin “Digg” Rose has in the pipeline. Rumor is that it’s an IM competitor. It’s definitely something “social network” and I’d love to see a new open IM protocol. If anybody could launch and make a new IM protocol popular, it’s K-Ro. Web-based is cool and all, but it would also need to be included in multi-protocol apps like Adium, Trillian, and Pidgin (the application formerly known as Gaim). Hopefully it’s not a MySpace/Facebook competitor, though.

There’s a lot on my plate lately, so I thought I’d post a status report:

Joost - I downloaded it for Mac and I’ve watched about 30 seconds of a Robot Chicken episode. We’ve been caught up in the season finales of broadcast TV lately, so throwing in more videos to eat up my time won’t work. This summer when everything is a repeat, I’ll probably delve into it more. I did notice that the video was a bit grainy, though, which is not promising. I’m not sure where the social aspect is supposed to come in, either.

Games - Between playing with the kiddo and the dog, fixing dinner, housework, and my job, I have very little time to play games. I get a little time here and there on the weekend, but the single-player games I have aren’t exactly suited for quick play sessions. I was able to play a little Oblivion this past weekend, though. Still as gorgeous as ever, but there’s just as much piled on my character’s plate as there is on mine

Current Development Ideas:
- Global Comment - A website where users can add comments to any website article or weblog post. Why does every site have their own comments section, requiring you to give your email address? If all comments were posted to a single site, searching would be easier. This takes the idea of Gravatar to the next level. Maybe it could be called “Gromment - Globally Recognized Comment”? I could see syndication (RSS) being a very important part of this.

- Casual multiplayer web-based game - I’m compiling a few ideas about a “casual” multiplayer web-based game I’d like to do. It will have some kind of “action point” system to curb play time (so hardcore players don’t max out in a day). It might also have some kind of social “click here to build my army” element like Kings of Chaos. I’d like to build in an element of pervasiveness like email, IMs, SMS, Twitter, and/or RSS. I’d also like to include elements of strategy and RPG-like character building. The main vision is to allow players to “play” for 5-15 minutes 3-4 times a day, but have the game in the back of their head all day.

- Windows Mobile application - Since I’ve seen how simple it is to develop an application for Windows Mobile in C#, I’d like to put something together that leverages the features of a Windows Mobile phone: camera, contacts, possibly even GPS. I can think of a great application for our suite at work as well as an application for realtors. I really want to put something together that would be useful for many people, not just a single market. I haven’t quite figured out what, though.

http://www.talesofthenewrepublic.com/

Nobody’s sure if this is the official animated series from Lucas, or if it’s fan-produced. Remember, Lucas announced that they were doing an animated series, a live-action TV series, and a couple of spin-off (TV or DVD) movies. It looks pretty official to me, especially since it matches the Star Wars Animated style of the Gentle Giant maquettes. If so, Lucas must like unique animation styles for his cartoons.

“New Republic” means it’s after episode 6 (Return of the Jedi). This could stomp on (or take advantage of) the “Expanded Universe” continuity that was introduced in novels and comics. Since I never got into the EU books, I could probably watch this and not be too concerned about continuity like I was with episodes 1-3.

Here’s to hoping it’s official, well-produced, well-written, action-packed, and long-lived (and full of hyphens).

This (via Raph) is where I think the operating system interface should go. Mac OS X, Windows Vista, and the Beryl and Compiz effects in Linux are a step in the right direction, but when the “giant leap” comes, I think it’ll be in the form of a virtual world like this. Second Life can already embed web pages in their virtual world. Combine a 3D virtual world with some form of physical file management like the BumpTop interface and a haptic (force-feedback) input device and you’d have a revolutionary OS. The problem is trying to justify how such an interface could improve productivity. It might be great for browsing the web and watching videos, but how will it help you write documents, speed up data entry, or code faster? The answer is that it probably won’t. It may replace your web browser and media player, though. Such tasks are often meant for entertainment anyway, so why not add another element for that purpose? Shared viewing would be easy if this was a multi-user environment. You could be watching a video of your child’s first steps in your very own virtual theater with some of your relatives’ avatars. A teleportation system would allow you to teleport to any virtual location by entering the address (like http://steve.madrogue.com does for web pages), and search engines (like Google) could aggregate related virtual locations based on your parameters. You could also bookmark locations for fast teleportation.

How would the current web translate to this 3D environment? YouTube would probably become a virtual cineplex with a theater for each user’s submissions. There might be “magic” search doors where you enter your critera, and are presented with several doors to each theater. Entering the door would produce the same result as if you had walked to that user’s theater. This possibility is very Matrix-like (see keymaker scene from Matrix: Reloaded). Of course, it would probably be overcome with ads like the ones suggested in Red Vs. Blue “The Internet” PSA with people or bots coming up and yelling at your avatar.

Anyway, cool stuff.

Starbreeze Studios is going to (re-?)release the Chronicles of Riddick game for the 360. It sounds like it’ll be Escape from Butcher Bay with a single-player expansion called Assault on Dark Athena. Sign me up. I loved Butcher bay on the XBox. It had great gameplay elements: melee combat, stealth, a great story in a great setting. It was the first game I’d played in years that I actually played all the way through and enjoyed the whole time. With the inclusion of a multiplayer mode, it might make it more than a great rental.

Oh, and Blizzard announced StarCraft 2. Is there still a market for RTS games? I enjoy them, but don’t have the time to invest in the typical harvest/build/stock-up elements that an RTS delivers. I guess the pro gamers over in Korea would still eat it up, though. On a related note, I still haven’t played the C&C 3 demo on the 360 yet. Maybe I’ve just been away from RTS for too long.