Sierra Kilo

So it’s been a while since I’ve written anything. Life has taken its toll on one of my creative outlets. I’ve found that sometimes it takes too long to write something meaningful and organize my thoughts. Even my Twitter-ing has slowed. Anyway, on to the post.

So the iPhone 3G comes out next week (11th). I won’t be busting the door down, but I plan on purchasing one shortly after the release (probably over that weekend). While I like the customizability of my WinMo T-Mobile Wing, I’ve found that it is a bit slow and cumbersome. I like the fact that I can write .Net applications for it, but I’ve only written a few and hardly use them. Plus, the one I use the most, I’ve basically rewritten as a JavaScript web-app anyway. I’m sure I’ll use the web browser a bit, but I’m curious about how I’ll use the iPod functionality and how quickly the GPS novelty wears off. Geocaching will be fun and I might create a few caches myself initially. Geotagging pictures is an interesting concept, but, honestly, who’s interested in exactly where I take pictures? I’ll probably watch my podcasts on it, maybe audiobooks, but I love my 60GB iPod for carrying my music. I guess I’ll find out soon enough.

4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons is on order with Amazon and so far is looking like August for shipping The wife and I played with a coworker of hers and his wife over the weekend and had a good time. I DM’d 2nd Edition for the first time in probably 10 years. My descriptive skills need a little work, but I was able to wing it pretty well with a dungeon I threw together sometime in college (about 10 years ago). For the 4th Edition game, I might put a good interwoven plot together. Laura played a tree-hugging druid, but I think she’d get more out of playing a slightly-evil rogue (my favorite, too). It’s so much fun to cause strife in an imaginary environment when you have to be so good in real-life.

I also installed Vista Ultimate on my “server” box at home. I wanted to play with the Media Center Extender functions with my XBox 360. So far it’s crashed a couple of times and rebooted itself (probably driver issues). I see why the Vista Nanny is getting so much press. As the saying goes, “At least she’s pretty.”

So, after the kid was sick, the wife was sick, I was sick, trying to catch up on work, prepping and stressing for daughter’s upcoming Cochlear Implant surgery, falling behind on mowing the lawn and watering plants, etc. I find that the site’s been down for a week. It looks like everything’s back up and maybe the well-oiled machine will continue to churn after all.

After the iPhone GPS announcement and playing golf with my dad last week, I had an idea for an iPhone application that someone needs to put together (because I don’t have the time). The cart that dad and I had had GPS and hole layouts displayed. We’d pull up to the ball, get the yardage, and select our club accordingly. It was very cool.

A couple of weeks ago, I was driving somewhere and wanted to see a list of restaurants and gas stations that were nearby along my route. My car can display the POI (points of interest) on the map, but can’t list them out.

Both of those features would be very cool to have on the 2nd-generation iPhone with built-in GPS. I got to thinking and had an idea for an application that could handle both features and be Web 2.0-y. There would be 3 parts: a map display on the iPhone, a map display on the web, and a database. The iPhone interface would show your location on Google Maps. An “Add POI” button would ask, “Where is the POI located?” with three options: current location, select location, and enter address. Current location would use your current lat/long, select location would allow you to select a lat/long point on the map, and enter address would get the lat/long from an address (after locating it through Google Maps). Then, you would enter the POI name, a short description, and several searchable tags, then pick an icon and/or snap a picture of the POI. When you save the POI, it would call a webservice on the server and save the POI. When you load the map view, you enter your search criteria to view the nearby POI. When a POI is selected, it would display the distance from your current location (units of measure would be an option: feet, meters, yards, km, miles, etc). You could also view them in a list, ordered by distance.

I’m not sure how to do the POI along a route, though. I guess you could plot the route, then search POI at certain intervals and display them that way.

Anybody got the developer chops to do something like that? Most of the hard work would be on the web server end, since the webservices would handle most of the heavy lifting (searches, uploads, etc). The iPhone application would just be a front-end that leverages the location functions of the device. Or perhaps the web-side is already done somewhere?

I was reading an article at MacWorld about Apple’s decision to use a push notification service on the iPhone v2 instead of allowing background processing. I think they should allow background processing. Consider this:

1. Windows applications exit when you close their window, but there are some that live in the System Tray or as Services. In general, when you’re done with it, it goes away.
2. Mac applications exit only when you explicitly tell them to Quit (closing the window doesn’t quit the app), but there are some that live in the Menu bar or as daemons. In general, it stays running until you tell it to quit.
3. Windows Mobile applications almost always remain in the background until you kill the process. In general, it stays running until you tell it to quit.
4. iPhone applications will all be single-task. When you’re done with it, it goes away.

The mobile offerings from both companies are backwards: WinMo works more like Mac OS X, and iPhone works more like Windows! I understand wanting to conserve battery life, but it would be nice if that were an option for the user. By default, spoonfeed the user one app at a time, but allow power users to multitask. Maybe Apple has a thing against power users. OS X seems to be focused on the lowest common denominator user. I haven’t checked, but does “jailbreaking” your iPhone allow background processes?

So here’s the word from Apple today:

iPhone 3G: “thinner at the edges, has a full plastic back, solid metal buttons, 3.5-inch display, camera, flush headphone jack, and improved audio.” Looks nice. Battery life is meh, but decent. GPS is in there, too. But what for? Tracking/recording your movement? Surely there’s more in the pipeline and stuff in the App store will probably take advantage of it, too. Hopefully photo geotagging soon. Price? $199 for 8GB, $299 for 16GB (also available in white). Available July 11th.

MobileMe (www.me.com): “Like Exchange for the rest of us” (the few enterprises w/o Exchange, that is). Push email, contacts, calendars. Web 2.0 apps. Photo hosting, etc. AKA new .Mac ($99/year). It might be worth it.

App store: Sounds like a $10 price point is the norm. 10MB limit for cellular data download. Enterprises can distribute apps to certain iPhones via intranet. Ad-hoc distribution allows up to 100 installations w/o App store. Developers get 70% of revenue (Apple keeps 30%).

Save images to local Photos: This is nice (does it work in Safari or just Mail?).

Scientific calculator: Sure, why not.

Push notifications: Instead of running an app in the background to listen for IMs, etc., Apple is hosting a service for everybody to use. This, of course, means you need to be running a server. This is probably just a work-around until they can get background processing balanced w/ battery.

So, I’ll probably bite on a black 16GB version sometime in July (then again, I might wait a little bit). I like the flush headphone jack, metal buttons, and plastic back. I like GPS and hope that the app support will be there for it (especially geotagging photos). The price is good. MobileMe might be a good option for the wife and I to share calendars. Really, though, it’s all about the better browser for me. It’ll definitely be a great device, especially if the jailbreak apps go legit (or jailbreaking becomes less larcenous). We’ll see…

UPDATE: Officially, “iPhone even geotags your photos with information about where they were taken.” That’s good.

The developer’s conference for Apple takes place next week. There are a few rumors flying around about new hardware, OS version, etc. The Unofficial Apple Weblog made their predictions, so I thought I’d make mine, too:

iPhone v2: The 2nd generation iPhone device. I think this is a strong possibility, but it probably won’t be available for a little bit. It will have 3G cellular data capabilities, higher capacities (16-32GB), a better headphone jack that doesn’t require a special thin plug, and GPS. The 3G capabilities will scale back to 2G speeds when checking for email and other background tasks. The next version of the iPhone SDK will include the GPS functionality, but they will only demo it using the Google Maps app. The higher capacities will be needed for user-created applications via iTunes App Store. There may be a front-facing camera for video chat, but I doubt it. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a mobile version of iChat instant messaging, though. The 2.0 firmware will probably be released with the MS Exchange (ActiveSync) integration.

If a 3G, 32GB version with GPS is released, I’ll probably bite. My T-Mobile Wing is nice, but I’m finding that the keyboard isn’t used much and I have to pull the stylus out to tap around. I don’t use the browser because it’s slow and doesn’t format correctly. I basically just read email, return the high-priority ones, text message, and talk on it. With an iPhone, I would do the same without a stylus, but I’d gain a more full-featured browser and be able to watch podcasts, listen to music, and view photos easier. With GPS, I’d like to tinker with some location-aware applications, do some geocaching, avoid traffic, and search more up-to-date local POIs.

They might mention OS 10.6, but it’s probably too soon after the 10.5 update. Stability and security are not quite enough for a version bump. I’d really love to see a Mac Mini update, though.

Oh…and we’ll probably see an announcement of Me.com and/or MobileMe.com (probably in collaboration with Google web services) to replace the .Mac service. As part of that (and in conjunction with the GPS functionality in the iPhone), we’ll probably see geotagging of photos taken with the iPhone and displayed on a Google map.

I don’t think the designers quite gets the point of a cellphone watch. If they would stick to the basics and make the watch easy to wear instead of being a behemoth, it might fly. Why have an integrated music and video player, FM radio, and 1.3 megapixel camera? Why not just make a phone watch with speakerphone, Bluetooth, and touchscreen dialing? You could shrink it down and make it fashionable if you didn’t have a load of extra features bloating it.

I think the biggest news is the new Netflix player device. It allows you to view movies and TV shows from Netflix’s “Watch Now” collection on your TV. If you already have a Netflix account, the $100 device isn’t a large leap. There are 10,000 or so movies and TV series available. Unfortunately, I only have about 15 movies that I am interested in watching from that collection. I’m sure I could force myself to watch a few others, and I could continue Earth 2 instantly instead of getting the DVDs, but I’m currently satisfied. This might be a great option, however, for my parents. The $9/month plan allows one DVD at a time (all you can eat, but only one plate at a time), but gives you access to the “Watch Now” content through this device. HDMI output makes it simple to hook up to an HDTV for sound and video and it sounds like future HD content is on the way (although B-movies aren’t much better in HD, so hopefully they’ll get some higher-caliber content, too).

My brain is entering imagination time again. Here are the latest thought pellets: space colonization (recurring), alternate-reality steampunk, and parkour. In the shower this morning, I started imagining a story where an ex-military factory worker is woken by the door to his humble (Fifth Element-esque) apartment being busted in by government agents. He instinctively flees (parkour-style) through the dystopian city, enlisting his ex-military buddies and trying to figure out why the government is after him. Maybe I’ll actually start writing more of these ideas down one of these days.

…before jumping into things at work:

Laura broke my XBox 360 by trying to watch Disney’s Enchanted (now with “FastPlay” technology). A few seconds into the movie, it froze up. Subsequent reboots resulted in the dreaded “Red Ring Of Death“. Microsoft support was very eager to send me packing supplies, repair my problem, give me a month of XBox Live, give me another 90 day warranty on the repaired box, and give me a 3 year warranty against the “Red Ring Of Death”. So, we’ll be without a downstairs DVD player and no CoD4 or Rock Band for 3-4 weeks as we wait for the repair. I guess we’ll have to live with the Wii for games. I’ve been enjoying some Super Mario Brothers on 50 inches, though. It’s amazing how much you remember from back in the day. My brother-in-law remembered more than I did, though. He made it to the last level thanks to the secret warp zones.

I’m still waiting for that Mac Mini update to come along. It has been 281 days since the last update and the average time between updates is only 188 days, so it’s due. A processor, memory, and hard drive bump are all I’m asking for. A graphics bump that allows dual screens wouldn’t be bad, either. I’m anxious to set one up to handle podcast viewing, torrent downloads, webcam monitoring (I know that dog has parties when we’re not there), some DVR functions, checking weather, browsing the web, and handling some server-type tasks. Eventually, I’d like to set up some home automation functions for scheduling exterior lights and remotely controlling other lights (like turning on entry light via instant messenger so we don’t walk into a dark house). It’s always fun to tinker with stuff like that and it seems to be much easier on a Mac thanks to AppleScript.

I haven’t been playing much of Mythos, but I read the other day that they’re going to make it more MMORPG-y than it currently is. This might be to help differentiate them more from Dungeon Runners. There will be less instancing in common areas, allowing for players to interact more. I also hope they put some downtime activities in such as fishing, mining, farming, etc. As fun as it is to loot dungeons, I’d like to participate in the economy and display trophies (largest fish caught, largest melon grown, etc), too.

We’ve also been busy with Eleanor’s implantation. Research, tests, meetings, therapy, etc. She’s a smart little rascal and she’s a handful. We are usually running around chasing her, playing, learning, or feeding when we’re not working. We’re hoping all goes well with insurance and we can do the implants in August after our family reunion. Fingers crossed.

Games:
With all of the MMORPGs being developed, why isn’t there one that I really want to play? Granted, there are a couple who have not released enough information (I’m looking at you Bioware and 38 Studios), but from what’s known, I’m a little disappointed in the future of the genre. One player in my disappointment is the lack of console MMOs (specifically XBox 360). I can jump into a CoD4 frag-fest and play for an hour or so in the evening. I’d rather play from my comfy couch in 720p on my 50″ TV than in the upright chair in the confines of my office. Maybe XBox Live is to blame? Is it not possible to develop an MMORPG for that console? Playstation 3 has their virtual world “Home” coming out soon, so it’s not impossible for that platform. It’s not the control scheme. With the chatpad attachment, it would be easy enough to map actions to keys rather than having to navigate menus with the controller.

Right now, I am actually looking forward to Stargate Worlds. It looks like it might be very interesting. I might even be able to get the wife to play with me. Earthrise and Fallen Earth are also intriguing (I’ve been following FE forever). Still, none to be played in my living room

D&D 4th Edition: Pen-and-paper WoW? I happen to like 2nd Edition AD&D best, but the online component to 4e looks interesting. D&D seems to use much less imagination lately, though. With all of the miniatures, rules simplification (yet complication due to the multitude of extra sourcebooks), and multi/prestige/hybrid classes, D&D seems much less about roleplaying and more about gaming. I’m interested to play a 4e game on “D&D Game Day” and read the rules, though.

Gadgets:
No updated Mac Mini yet. By the time they update it, I’ll probably be over the whole Mac in the living room thing.

The Goods:
Hellboy 2 looks much better than the original. Del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth comes through a little, which is cool.

Yesterday was my 31st birthday. I celebrated Office Space-style. I did nothing! I watched TV, played games, and that was it. I had grand plans to wash the car, but news of rain stayed my hand.

I played Call of Duty 4, mostly. I gained a few levels and opened up a few new weapons and equipment. I thought about hopping on Dungeon Runners or Mythos, but never got around to it. In hindsight, there were a few other things I would have liked to do, too, but didn’t think of at the time. None would have broken up my day of doing nothing.

I saw a show last night about the 2007 Solar Decathlon. It was very interesting. I love the prospect of modular housing and wish it were more widely accepted. Many modern technologies are modular and upgradeable, so why aren’t homes? If my computing needs call for more memory, I can slap a new stick of RAM in my PC. I’d love to see a neighborhood in my area of North Dallas that consists of modular houses. The area is fairly progressive and tech-savvy, so it would probably do well. SIPs, recycled/renewable materials, energy efficiency, and smart home technologies are something I’d love to have in my house. If I could easily slap on an extra room in about a week for a few bucks, I’d be all about it. All I’d need is some land and money, I guess…