Gaming inputs for iPhone

Product idea: create an add-on to the iPhone that adds some gaming controls (like direction keys or a joystick. The iPhone as a gaming platform may not have been the original intention, but if you want to port over a bunch of cool FPS games then the device tilting just won't do as a viable input.

Deluxe idea - in addition to some kind of joystick functionality, add speakers and an extended battery to take advantage of the screen.

Yes, I am still trying to inspire someone to build another Atari Lynx around the iPhone's kickass screen and connectivity. I'll go one step further - build-in an emulator and include the entire catalog of Atari Lynx titles. :-) Here's what it could look like (artist's rendering, lol!):

Come on now, tell me you cannot see the iPhone sitting inside an enclosure like this, only much smaller...

This week one of my Vista Ultimate 64 PCs failed to start. I saw a black screen with a blinking cursor at the top and Vista would not boot. Most people think this is the black screen of death and start reformatting their harddrive. Please don't, it's a fairly simple bug, but it looks 1000x worse than it is.

Vista is apparently waiting to install three new Automatic Windows Updates (or a printer driver, or any other kind of new device) but there is some kind of invisible prompt on this screen that does nobody any good. This bug affects the restart process and it's quite scary because it looks like your hard drive is toast! Note: my Vista OS is not on C:\, but rather on G:\ so the boot instructions on C:\ point to G:\ for the OS location. This might help the boys in Redmond (or Calcutta) troubleshoot the situation. For good measure you may want to disconnect your printer, web camera or other external devices outside of mouse, monitor, and keyboard, especially if this occurs after a device driver update. In my case it was just some operating system updates so I didn't need to.

Here is how I fixed it:

You will need to locate and insert your Vista CD and boot from it. In many cases you will need to set your PC's BIOS to Boot from CD. In my case I could tap F8 repeatedly during bootup and it would present a boot menu. There I would select the CD-ROM as the boot device. This may be specific to my PC's BIOS, so your best best is usually to go into the BIOS at startup and set the CD/DVD device containing your Vista DVD as #1 in your boot order.

Most people can access the BIOS when the PC first starts up by clicking either F2 or the DEL key when all the numbers appear on th screen. Then you look for a menu that says Boot Devices or Boot Order. Note that in must BIOSes you will need to use the arrow keys and ENTER key to navigate. Once done you make sure to Save Settings and Exit. Usually this is done with F10, but follow on-screen instruction as not all BIOSes are the same.

To fix my Vista boot problem I ran the Bootrec.exe tool. To load this, start the Vista CD (if you get a prompt to boot from the CD by clicking any key, please do so). Hit the Click space bar if you don't have the "any key." Sorry, bad geek humor. The Vista boot CD will take a while to start up,with first a progress bar, and then a colorful but empty screen will frustrate you for a while. Have patience, it will pass.... Next you will be asked to select a language, a time, a currency, a keyboard or an input method. Click next and then click on the link at the bottom of the sceen to "Repair your computer." The mouse pointer will be "busy" for a while, so wait. Select the operating system you want to repair when the mouse icon becomes a pointer and then click Next.

The first option is an auto repair option. If you do this and it says nothing was wrong, then you need to use the following instructions. Try it first and reboot to see if your OS is working (you may still have it set to boot from CD first, so avoid clicking on the "anykey to boot from CD" and it will eventually continue. If at this point you still get the flashing black cursor with nothing happening you will need to get back into the recovery console and follow these steps:

1) In the System Recovery Options dialog box, click Command Prompt.
2) When at the command prompt in the DOS console, type the following two commands followed by hitting the ENTER key:

bootrec.exe /FixBoot
bootrec.exe /FixMbr

These commands should return with a simple affirmative statement. When done, close the black DOS window and click the restart button or hit the reset button on your PC. Allow it to start Windows Vista from the hard drive. If all is well you will see "Installing Update x of y" and all will be well again.

Apparently in some rare cases the boot instructions get messed up during an install that requires a restart. This is something that needs to be fixed because this can be alarming to someone who has no other PC to search for solutions while this is happening.

Embeddable Voicemail From Webpages to Iphone

My Odeo voicemail no longer works - the feature was apparently removed. A shame, because it allowed visitors to a web page to use an embedded client that leave voicemails for me to retrieve online. Odeo worked well because the person leaving the voicemail didn't need to sign up for anything at all. I could take the resulting MP3 and play it on the air as a request in my progressive rock podcast.

It was sweet. Now it's dead. :-(

I'd like to see a tool that allows me to take this a little further. I don't want to connect voicemail to a phone experience, I want to bypass the phone system altogether and keep it all in the digital realm if possible.

1. Embeddable tool for web pages/blogs that does not require people leaving messages to sign up
2. Use built-in PC microphones to leave voicemails on blogs.
3. Provide voicerecognition transcription or pass on as a digital MP3 file.
4. Retrievable via iPhone (app), iTunes, or regular e-mail client.
5. Not require the exposure of my phone number or e-mail.
6. Allow the caller to add a callback e-mail or number (The retrieval of this response would be the best place to ask for a sign-up if there must be one).
   

iPhone a Nintendo DS Killer?

The iPhone has the potential to be a Nintendo DS killer. I imagine being able to play games with others on the bus. Are there any plans to make these kinds of interactive multiplayer games that you can play with people within WiFi range (or using 3G).

Ok, so this is all just a modern variation on the old Atari Lynx and its 17 player networking capabilities. I saw a WiFi Scrabble app for the iPhone - that's a great start.

All hail Atari for pioneering this genre an reaping none of the rewards!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_Lynx

Little Computer People - iPhone app

Back in 1985 there was a nifty little game called "Little Computer People" by Activision. Anyone else remember this game?

I'd love to see an iPhone app that emulates this game. The premise was that a little person lived inside your Commodore 64 and that you could interact with him. This concept was later ripped off by The Sims. Perhaps I should use the word "inspired." Anyway, I'd love to see this developed on the iPhone!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Computer_People

I seem to recall that your little computer person could die if you left him without food, and that you could play some simple card games with him. There was also a pet that ran around the house, a record player, TV, and other things. Imagine how this concept could be updated with games inside games and tie-ins to your music player! What if the little beggar would have a musical preference of himself and would pick songs to play based on your collection? I could go on forever about this, but needless to say I'd love to see Acivision pick this project up again!

My iPhone Won't Ring - Help for the Audio Challenged

Help, my iPhone won't ring! I have heard this a few times and initially had to figure it out myself, so here's a quick fix for the situation.

The design of the iPhone's silent button is not obvious. It's the little toggle switch on the upper left of the iPhone's case, right above the volume control. If you accidentally switch this little devil you won't get audible rings. When you see the little orange ball you are in silent mode and if you don't have the silent mode vibrate option enabled you will miss all your calls.

First go to the Sound menu in the settings menu on-screen. The first two items on the Sound Menu on the iPhone (Settings/Sounds) has a Silent Vibrate (ON/OFF) setting followed by a Ring Vibrate (ON/OFF) setting. When the Silent button has been flipped, neither of these menu options will get you sound. The first option allows vibrate (ON/OFF) for Silent mode, but the current state of the hardware switch on the outside is not tied to the software settings. I'd probably want to see the audible Ring menu grayed out with a message about the outside switch being disengaged. There is an on-screen icon with a bell or a bell with a slash through it when you toggle the Silent switch, but that is not tied in to the Sound menu settings, so it's only helpful if you know the of button's existence in the first place and are looking at the screen when it is toggled. Granted there are only 4 buttons on the iPhone, but you would be surprised how many people get stuck on this. I think my suggested solution would probably solve most complaints.

What's this all about?

This is a blog to talk abou the trials and tribulations of technology. Some of it will be from a music-perspective, but hopefully there will be some occasional nuggest of wisdom that will benefit all mankind! Or not.

Enjoy,
Frans