Ingress

When Niantic Labs @ Google announced Ingres,  I was very excited and immediately signed up for the beta.  But when I got in,  and tried the concept of real life gaming overlay,  or want nearly as cool as i had thought it would be.

I was expecting a treasure hunt and to find gold occasionally,  but not to be playing against others.  And I remembered why I have up so easily when playing first-person shooters in the early days. I want expecting to be the prey.

Granted it is somewhat possible to get around Ingres undetected,  collecting XM being anonymous.  But as soon as you begin to interact with a portal,  building or hacking,  you garner the ire of real people.  Some players are trolls, some protectors,  some warriors, and some are rogues,  but all are players and in the real world too.   There isn't much to escape back to once you've left the game.

I played for several weeks in the beta release.  My game crashed or seized often and it was discouraging.  But I reset and continued on.  I played for the Enlightened because I saw them as the Alliance from Blizzard's World of Warcraft. I played Horde for nearly 8 years,  and I wanted to see the enemy's territory from their eyes.

Of course Ingres is not much, if at all,  like WoW, but there are still sides, communications, and targets to consider.  There is no hand-to-hand combat,  only the indirect conflict of node generation and destruction.  It is however on a global scale and for a game that is free, making the stage the whole planet is fairly impressive.

What I could really go for is Google Glass or some other heads up display for a more realistic augmented reality feel. And maybe some gun-toting robots... yeah BIG, gun-toting robots.

The Utility of Waze

I've been using waze for about 2 months, again since I found out how awesome it can be.  I signed up with the service when it debuted several years ago, but because there were so few users, I abandoned it. Today I learned exactly how useful it can be, and not just as a police spotter.

On my way to work, I drive over a bridge that offers a fairly decent view not only of the 101 Freeway, but of the airport in San Jose, CA.  I noticed that the Northbound traffic was at a standstill.  Normally at that time of the day (2:30 PM) the traffic is flowing smoothly, if not sparsely.   I happened to glance down at Waze and I saw a plethora of notifications of heavy traffic, so I followed it.  

About another two miles up the road were several reports of an accident.  Some of the Wazers that were caught in the traffic managed to get some pictures of the scene.  I suddenly realized why I had been overtaken by a police officer 15 minutes earlier on the expressway, as he was likely heading toward the action to perform a traffic break.

All this information was more than I might have gotten from either the radio or Google Maps current incarnation.  People who were in within the event were making note it, taking photos, reporting traffic and the incident.  Even Twitter can't really do as much as Waze can in this sort of situation, because it lacks a map.

 What this event showed me was that Waze had some pretty powerful functionality.  I can get traffic data and incident data from Google Maps, but the incident data is from the CHP, not users.  The CHP doesn't show pictures of what is happening.  Google Maps can show which side of the road is affected by the speed of the traffic on that side, but it's only in three colors, Waze provides the average speed.

Waze is really quite good on its own and I can see now why Google would want it.  It's too bad that APple and Facebook couldn't get enough money together to buy it.  Google really picked a winner.

Google Racer Web App

Ok, so Google Racer is not an Android app specifically, but it works on Android and iOS, through multiple devices.  It is a new step into an idea that has existed since the web began, but was not often utilized.  In the browser alone if you visit http://g.co/racer you can test this out with multiple devices.  Below you can see my live demo of this cool app.



What do you think of this?

A GrooVe Kind-of IP

I would give most of the credit to drastic improvements in Samsung hardware, Android OS, and Google's generosity, but GrooVe IP is the best VoIP App I've used.

The programmers over at snrb Labs have managed to develop a fairly solid application.  Users who are only interested in basic calling functionality can forego the paid App and get free calling over WiFi only.  I, however, have gone for the full app and can now make calls over 3G / 4G.

After using the to make at least 10 calls of varying lengths, I have come to the following conclusions.

1) If the signal for WiFi is poor, the call may drop, be static-y, or not start at all.
2) With a strong signal, there is no noticeable difference in the quality of audio, from non-VoIP calling.
3) Calls can be made from just about any Android OS from Eclair (2.0) to Jelly Bean (4.2).

Check it out on the Google Play store
(Sorry iPhone users)

Tablets: Trading Down

I started out, back in November of 2010 with the  Samsung Galaxy Tab, the first Android tablet to hit the market.  I appreciated it so much that I started a blog (deleted) called Galaxy Tab D2D (Day-to-Day). I kept the tablet until June 2012 when I gave it to a friend, as I had only recently purchased the ASUS Transformer.

After 5 months of ownership I came to the realization that I almost never use the ASUS.  It's quite large at 10-inches and noticeably heavy, by comparison to the Tab.  I would begin to use it and my arm would get tired or I would find myself constantly switching between landscape and portrait mode to get the best keyboard layout.  I've used Swype (and clones of Swype), but on a screen of that size it's better to just use two hands.

I used the ASUS until about a month ago when I accidentally pulled it off my desk, when the wheel of my chair snagged the power cable. It landed on the charging interface and broke the connector off inside the case.  Needless to say its a tough fix.

Although I have yet to purchase the Nexus 7, (and the bonus deal for $50 of free media ends with September) I am quite sure that it is the right idea, right size, and best all-around for my uses and needs.  The Galaxy Tab was great and I look forward to exploring the Nexus 7

Instant Weather

   As it affects us all, the first topic most often discussed is the weather.  I recall, as a child, my mother hijacking the television from us (her children) around 6pm nightly to check the local weather report.  We lived in Bakersfield, the results were rarely news-worthy; it would likely be either cold and dreary or blisteringly hot, depending on what half of the year was current.

   Ah, but now the weather is instantaneous.  I can get all the information that a meteorologist would have been able to present in a 5-minute expose, in the palm of my hand.  Better yet I can get up-to-the minute temperature, humidity, wind-speed, barometric pressure, radar, and satellite imagery for nearly any location in the world. While I relax in San Jose where (as shown in the image above) it is cool and cloudy, I can view the heat wave roasting my friend Ray in Texas.  No more is the weather a topic fallback topic for simple chit-chat.

   For more information on the app in the image check out WeatherBug

An Alarming situation

I never quite adjusted to the blaring honk of morning alarm clocks, whether it be from a clanging bell of the more traditional clocks or the ruckus of a digitally-generated klaxon. I realize that the purpose of these wake-up tools is to prevent me from growing accustomed to them and peacefully missing my appointments.

 Alas, my salvation came in the modern mobile digital era.  No more am I regimented to obnoxious noises to end my rest, but have an almost innumerable list of new choices.  Options range from a soothing intro to any song from my music collection, or any internet or traditional radio station.  I could choose to have a combination of lights slowly brightening the room along with the possibility of any one of hundreds of recorded natural sounds.  There are dozens of tones and muses included in most smartphones for optional wake-up calls.  I could even set progressive timers to re-enable in case I accidentally miss the snooze and turn off the alarm.

Best of all my alarm clock goes with me, no travel alarm necessary. The clock in most mobile phones is set by the mobile phone carrier signal upon arrival in any new time zone.  And even if I found myself in the back-waters of the Congo, a clear shot of the sky and the GPS chip in the phone will determine my exact location on earth and will automatically set the local time.

For more information check out these Apps

LightingBug

 Sorry no iPhone App




Sleep Cycles