GPS, phones and more… April 4, 2008
Posted by Martin in Geocaching.Tags: Geocaching, pda, software
1 comment so far
A few months ago I started posting about my search for a GPS enabled phone. As I have already written, I settled for a HTC Touch which made an external GPS receiver a necessity. The receiver that I have bought is the Holux M-1200. (more…)
Phone + GPS (update) November 21, 2007
Posted by Martin in Hardware.add a comment
It seems that I am not the kind of blogger that posts every day… It isn’t even once a month… But I do like to tell about the things that keep me busy so here is a little update on my quest for a GPS enabled phone.
I have found a new phone and have bought it two weeks ago. Although I wanted a phone with built in GPS functionality I have chosen the HTC Touch. The reason for this is that it is really compact while its size doesn’t compromise the screen-size. I still have to find a suitable GPS receiver for it but I am looking. Perhaps I will even blog about it soon (if I can find some spare time).
My goal is having a nice GPS receiver which is small, has a long battery-life, can do its work from the inside of a pocket or bag and communicates through BlueTooth. It would be a plus if the receiver logs its position.
To make use of the GPS receiver and my phone for Geocaching purposes I need some applications which are Windows Mobile 6 professional compatible and give me the tools I need. The minimum is:
- Has a compass which points to the cache location (as the crow flies)
- Tells me the distance to the cache
- Enables me to enter the data I get from Geocaching.com (manual as I am not a premium user (yet))
- Enables me to log my visits and finds.
If the app can also draw a map (Garmin mapsource style) and draw my position and track-log, it would be the perfect geocache app for PocketPC. If you know any, please let me know by writing a comment.
New server June 21, 2007
Posted by Martin in Hardware.add a comment
It’s been a bit quiet lately on my blog. It’s is about time for a new post.
My file-server is getting old and needs replacing. It is making too much noise because it gets too hot. I decided to buy new hardware and assemble a new server making use of silent hardware.
For this reason I chose a fan-less motherboard and silent Hard-disk. Unfortunately it takes a while for all the parts to arrive. Today the case for the new server arrived. Below are some pictures.
Phone + GPS January 20, 2007
Posted by Martin in Hardware.1 comment so far
My trusty mobile phone is dying… 9 out of 10 times I need to remove the battery to reset it before being able to make a call. And since my wife and I wanted to purchase GPS navigation I thought why not buy a device which can do it all at once.
My too old phone
height (with antenna): 13.2 cm
width: 4.6 cm
thickness: 2.5 cm
I thought a simple Google search would come up with lots of models, but unfortunately it appears my requirements are not that widely spread yet. Most of the GPS enabled devices are just that; GPS devices. There are PDA’s with GPS functionality ofcourse, but I would prefer a smart-phone with integrated GPS antenna.
These are the devices I came up with (more will follow, suggestions are welcome)
MIO A701
From what I found this is a device with lots of pros but unfortunately there are also some serious cons.
It appears that this device takes about 50 seconds from the moment you turn it on until it can be used. Starting the GPS software takes another 30 seconds… The biggest pro is that it’s much cheaper than the only alternative device I found this far.
Nokia N95
This phone has it all. It has phone functionality, it has Music player functionality, it has GPS functionality and it has a humongous price…
The most impressive feature is it’s camera. I already have a Canon A95 Camera so I don’t care about the camera quality but it is impressive that this phone has the same amount of Mega-Pixels as my A95!
Eten x500
I found some more GPS enabled phones. This is the Eten x500.
The most interesting feature in my opinion is it’s small size. Most of the above mentioned phones have a >2cm thickness which can make them a bit less usable as a phone (although my C35 is 2.5 cm thick). This phone however can be considered thin with its 1.5 cm.
It’s also just a bit wider than my old C35 which makes this a good candidate as a replacement for my old and dying phone. But there are more Eten devices so lets look at another smart-phone from this company.
Eten M700
This is the M700 model. Similar in size compared to the other model from Eten, this one comes equipped with a QWERTY keyboard which slides from underneath the display.
The M700 is nothing more than a X500 with a QWERTY keyboard since all the other specifications are equal to those of the X500.
This Eten is a very complete device against a reasonable price, but I have found one more device so let’s continue this GPS Phone overview. The next device is more PDA than phone.
HTC P3300
HTC is the brand-name which came to my attention first, when I started my investigation.
I’ve had never heard before of this company until I wanted to have a GPS enabled smart-phone. It’s actually the same device as the T-Mobile MDA Compact III.
One feature that stands out is the jog-dial which makes it possible to quickly navigate the screen without using the stylus.
Perhaps this device is too much of a PDA for me. But I think I will need to see the devices I’ve mentioned in real life first to make a decision. The only problem is; Where to find a shop that have them. Until now I’ve only seen them on Internet-shops…
Physics-based games November 9, 2006
Posted by Martin in Gaming, Physics.add a comment
Recently I have rediscovered my passion for physics-based gaming. Since the days of The Incredible Machine games puzzling with physics can make interesting games. And a few days ago I found a site wich sums up a lot of physics related games. Not all of them are really based on physics so I intend to form my own list. You can find it in the favorite games section of this blog. Click here to go directly to my list.
Uplink October 11, 2006
Posted by Martin in Simulation Games.add a comment
This is a very interesting game. A very addictive game as well. You play an Uplink-agent whose goal is to make lots of money, cause lots of mayhem and save the world from an evil company in the same time.
I have just played for a few days and already I have the best computer money can buy in the game. How I did this? Well I had to trace some money in one of the missions and I found out the target had enough off the digital green stuff to buy all the hardware and software there is to buy in the game-world. I hacked his account, made an account for myself at the same bank and by careful log-deleting transferred the money unnoticed into my own account.
Yesterday however, I noticed that there is about 100K missing. I think someone stole some money from me as well. I have no proof as all the logs seem to be gone as well…
See my blog post about hacking games for more about the subject.
Hacking games October 11, 2006
Posted by Martin in Gaming, Simulation Games.4 comments
Uplink
A few weeks ago it came to my attention that a very interesting type of game was released through the Steam platform. The game I saw was Uplink. It is made by the English company Introversion and is available since 2002, and as of august also through Steam.
In Uplink you play an Uplink-agent whose objectives are hacking into networks of competitors, banks and so forth. If you’re good at it, you get incredibly rich and have a very fast computer and lots of tools which enable you to break into the biggest mainframes, doing even more mischief and acquiring even more wealth. If you’re sloppy and forget to wipe logs, you’ll get busted and loose everything.
Hacking games
When I played Enter The Matrix a few years ago, I found the hacking feature the most entertaining part of the game. Unfortunately a google-search for hacking games didn’t come up with relevant results back then. I did that search again and (more…)
Weird WordPress Worries July 9, 2006
Posted by Martin in Wordpress.1 comment so far
After less than a week blogging with WordPress I’ve encountered my first disappointments with it as a blogging tool. It concerns the templates that are available to the hosted version. Not all are very usable. Some are outdated (newer versions available for the downloaded version of WordPress). And to make things worse most of those that are usable contain cross-browser incompatibilities. Something I didn’t expect from such a widespread used blogging system.
Grand Theft Auto July 8, 2006
Posted by Martin in FPS games, Gaming, PC games.add a comment
By far my favorite kind of game. The series started in 1997 with a semi 3D crime simulator with a top down view. I played this original so much, my eyes got soar :^P
It wasn’t for the 3D versions though until I really started to like the game. In 1997 I already speculated how cool a 3D version of the game would be, but I had to wait until 2001 when the first 3D Grand Theft Auto was released.
The genre is so addictive because it has a very open ended game style. You aren’t forced through small hallways to come to the end of yet another level such as seen in many first person shooters. It is actually a third person shooter, but I don’t really care about the difference.
In the games you get to play in one big level which comes in the form of a busy city. Once you’ve settled in, you are free to do what you want to do. Earn some money as a taxi driver? Just steal a taxi/cab and collect some passengers. To get further in the game, you can search for some people that will offer you jobs. Most often, those jobs have a criminal nature but since this is a virtual city, who cares right?
Liberty City
DMA Design – 2001
Liberty City is where the main character lives and does his daily things until he gets double-crossed and caught by the police. When you manage to escape from custody, the game starts with you teaming up with a man called 8-ball. He tells you about Luigi and he is the first person you get to visit to get jobs from.
The game has many missions which follow a storyline. Along the way you can find lots of sub-quests which offer some nice distractions and are not necessary for completing the story.
The sub-quests:
- Collect cars for import/export garage
- Collect police-force vehicles (ship in harbour)
- Drive passengers around as taxi driver
- Bring wounded people to hospital as ambulance driver
- Extinguish burning cars as fire fighter
- Find and kill criminals as police officer
- Find 100 hidden packages hidden throughout the entire city
- Earn money by doing unique stunts scattered through the city
- Earn money by doing rampages
- Complete missions with remote controlled vehicles
- Compete in checkpoint races
- Do some missions for people who call you on the cities phone booths
Vice City
Rockstar North – 2002
In Vice City you are Tommy Vercetti. The game starts with a drug deal gone wrong and the game’s main story evolves around getting your money back. Among the new vehicles in this game are many different helicopters and motorcycles.
The new features:
- Drive motorcycles
- Fly helicopters
- Fly in a fully winged water-plane dodo.
The sub-quests (including all available in liberty city):
- Buy property
- Change your clothing
- Buy assets that make you earn money
- Deliver pizza’s to earn money
- Rob stores
San Andreas
Rockstar North – 2004
San Andreas is the newest game in the GTA series, available for PS2 since October 2004. The game became available to other platforms 6 months later. San Andreas is not a city as in the previous two 3D versions of the game. It is a state complete with three major cities, each the size of Vice City. The country site between those cities is littered with all kinds of interesting locations to go to, such as a big mountain which showcases the bigger view distance the game engine can render. The game world is 4 to 6 times bigger as Vice City and it is estimated that 150 hours of game-play are necessary to beat the game.
The new features:
- Break into houses
- Climb over fences
- Do 4 person drive-by’s
- Change your clothing (necessary to walk through certain neighbourhoods now)
- Buy food to prevent you from getting weak
- Ride bicycles
- Fly a fully winged dodo, as well as other planes and jets
- Drive 18-wheelers complete with detachable trailers
- SWIM!!! finally!
- Customize cars
The sub-quests (including all from the previous games):
- Rob houses to make money
- Work at a hotel, parking customers cars
- Drive the 18-wheelers with precious cargo to predefined targets
- Be a pimp (similar to taxi missions)
- Keep your girlfriends satisfied to earn special gifts
- Play in casino’s or betting shops
- New things to collect. Horse shoes, clam-shells
Splinter Cell July 8, 2006
Posted by Martin in FPS games, Gaming, PC games.add a comment
Splinter Cell can’t actually be categorized as a first person shooter, but I will do that anyway. The player sees the game world over the shoulder of Sam Fisher, the main character in this game.
The thing that makes this game stand out is the fact that the game evolves around getting through levels unnoticed. It is a true stealth game. Actually I think this game defines the stealth genre. This game started a tradition of real-time shadows which have to be used to stay unnoticed.
The best platform to run this game on is in my opinion the XBOX console, because of the many controls that have to be analog to be intuitive. Since the XBOX 360 Controller can also be used on PC’s the latest games in the series can be played with the same level of intuitiveness on PC, however part 1 and 2 don’t support this controller on PC (yet).
I’ll be looking forward to the next part in the series in which Sam Fisher goes undercover to be a Double Agent.
