Recently, however, I again discovered the seedy underbelly of the handheld gaming world - this time in the form of "expansion" cartridges, which, in theory at least, enable one to play homebrew games on the DS. These cartridges also enable you to create and play backups of your games. The key here being play, as there is very little need for the average gamer to create backups - you can easily find any and all games available for the platform online. And when I say "any and all," I really mean ALL... Be they games for the U.S. market or any other market on the planet. You can usually find the same game in English, in Japanase, in Korean, and in a plethora of European languages. Trust me when I say that you won't feel left out, no matter where you are or what language you speak!
So, I again challenge you to go find some "old" tech you have sitting around and bring it back from oblivion. I'm a firm believer that curiosity did not kill the cat. It did, however, make it smarter! Let me know what you're doing to exercise the ol' noggin' these days by leaving a comment below...
So, here we go again... Some might call it hacking, some call it modding, the term for what I've been doing with my GPS device is unlocking. A couple of months ago I bought a small, portable GPS device to use on one of my Segways. [Yes, I'm a total geek - let's move on]. After some research, I decided on the Mio C230. Mostly, it had the features I wanted and the price was right as an online refurb special. It also looks good. Aesthetics always play a part in decision-making. Well, it does in my decision-making process! Anyway, the Mio has mostly been sitting around sucking juice from the wall as I "work" on making a suitably good looking mount to attach it to my Segway (damn aesthetics again).
In the meantime, for reasons unrelated, I had to drive a minivan from Houston, Texas back home to Iowa. Though I have a proper car GPS system in my FX35, I couldn't very well rip it out of the dash and take it with me on my trip. Luckily, I had the Mio, so I took it instead. It worked well for the trip, and barring a couple of bouts of confusion with road construction in Wichita, Kansas, the Mio performed admirably. But me being me, I knew I could have more! I figured out that the C230 is, as many portable GPS units are, nothing more than a glorified Windows CE device, factory tweaked to run a particular GPS application. In this case, the C230 runs an environment appropriately called MioMap. As I delved deeper into the online world of GPS unlocking, I found that MioMap is actually based on another platform called iGO, and hey, there was a newer, better version of the iGO software than Mio could give me. OK, now it's time for serious tinkering. Let's figure out how to get the iGO environment running on the Mio. So I did. It worked. But I didn't want to just replace MioMap with iGO8... No, I wanted to choose between both systems and run the one that came to my fancy at the time. To make a really long story much, much shorter, I unlocked my Mio, which basically turned it back into it's alter-ego, a Windows CE device (that happens to have a built-in GPS receiver). Once this is done, you can do a lot of things which you normally don't see people doing with their GPS devices. I can run games, utilities, applications, even play music or video on my Mio. So, to solve the basic problem, I made a "chooser" screen, with nice, large, thumb-friendly buttons, so that I could launch either MioMap or iGO8. From there, you can cycle through other screens where you can have all those cool gadgets I mention above.
So there you have it: Unlocking your GPS device. There's a lot to keep a geek like me entertained doing this kind of stuff. From the image editing, to the scripting that makes it all happen, it's really "nerdvana." But don't let the mere mention of the word geek deter you. Go out and learn something new today. Go find out how to unlock your GPS device, and maybe next time you take it on the road, you can also use it to play a game of Tetris or watch a movie when you stop at night to relax.
No, not Stereotomy, the Alan Parsons Project album from the mid-eighties... Stereography, as in stereo photography or 3D photography. Every time there's a new mission to Mars, most recently the Phoenix Mars Lander mission, I get reminded of my love of stereo photography. I think it's really great that NASA also loves stereo photography and has had the foresight to incorporate stereo imagers in many of their recent missions, especially to ones that land on other planets! Since a person can't yet be there to witness these extra-terrestrial environments, a stereo imager is not too far from being The Next Best Thing, as it can gather a whole lot more depth of information than regular, flat images (yes, yes - pun intended).
There are many ways to convince our brains that two separate images are actually one three-dimensional one. Perhaps the most common method, and the one favored by NASA for general release of stereo images to the public, is known as the Anaglyph process and can be seen on the image at right. Anaglyph pictures are made by superimposing red and cyan tinted versions of the left and right images of a stereo pair. To unscramble the picture and send each image to the correct eye, you use a pair of glasses which have red and cyan tinted lenses. Each lens blocks that color from reaching one eye, thus the brain can interpret this single, blurry looking image, as two separate images and form the perception of a three-dimensional image. Two other common methods of stereo image distribution are Free-View and Cross-Eyed pairs. These two methods are essentialy the same, only the images are swapped left-to-right. In a free-view situation, the left image of the pair corresponds to your left eye's version of the image and the right image to the right eye. As you might guess, presenting a stereo picture in a cross-eyed situation simply reverses the images. Left image to right eye, right image to left eye.
The top example above shows a stereo pair with a free-view delivery. I find this method very difficult to see using the naked eye. The trick is to let your eyes drift apart, let them relax, until your left eye is looking at the left picture and your right eye at the right picture. Ouch! To help achieve this, there are some optical devices available, usually involving lenses, that help direct the correct image to the correct eye. The device I use most often is called a Pokescope. I think it works well, especially for viewing images on your computer's monitor. The next pair above shows a cross-eyed view of our image. To me, this is very easy to view with the naked eye. You just have to, as the name implies, cross your eyes and look at the virtual image that's created between the two actual images. If you can pretend to be eight again and cross your eyes as effectively as I can, you'll be rewarded with a fantastic view of a three-dimensional image - no lenses or flimsy colored plastic film between the image and your brain, just pure 3D goodness.
Of course, there's another side to 3D photography, namely, the actual photography - capturing the two images that make up the stereo pair. Here too, there are many methods to accomplish this, but I will leave it to another day and another post.
My renewed interest started a few weeks ago when I went to see some friends in the LA area. My friend Glenn has also had a PSP since the early days, and like me, had lost interest and watched his PSP sit charging and unloved for months on end on his bed stand. Glenn is a tech-head like me, and during my visit, he showed me what he had recently done to his PSP. Yes, he had also rediscovered the CFW scene and all the modern tools and tricks used to turn your factory boring device into the coolest handheld gaming device out there. What's so cool about it? Why bother with any of this? Well, for one, installing a custom firmware allows you to backup your games to files on a memory stick. Why? For the same reason people backup their DVDs and CDs - so that if the disc is destroyed, your investment isn't. You see, Sony distributes almost all games on a small spinning disc, called a UMD, which is very similar to a CD or DVD. And yes, they can get scratched and destroyed just like their larger cousins. As a matter of fact, Glenn has several UMDs that are damaged and unusable. Another reason for using CFWs is that it allows you to run homebrew applications and games. There are lots and lots of free, home made games available for the PSP as well as many useful and fun applications. One example that comes to mind is PSPTube, an app which allows you to watch unaltered videos, streaming directly from YouTube. And with some custom scripts added to it, you can watch videos from many other Flash based streaming sites on the web! How cool is that?
Of course, I won't be providing any links to sources for any of the stuff I mention above, but anyone who's heard of a little site known as Google can find any and all of the necessary instructions and software to make changes to your own PSP. As usual, your mileage may vary. I take no responsibility for any damage you might do to your device if you choose to go down this path, but I will tell you that the risk is low and the reward, well, rewarding... So, go and take some of your old tech and bring it back from oblivion - even if it's just for the challenge and the learning of a few new things!
Update: The auction for the unopened Starcross game pictured at left just ended on eBay. It sold for $1,224.95!
Yes, I remember when kids could read. Not only could they read, but they would read for fun! They played games by reading and writing. And by using their imaginations. What about 3D graphics? Hey, text adventure games, as they are called, didn't even have 2D graphics. No graphics, no sound, pure fun. Some of my best memories of playing games on computers are from playing text adventures on a monochromatic screen, with green text on a black background. Kids today have no idea how spoiled they are. They get to see and hear the world they're playing in. Their games are full of special effects, sound effects, and full-motion video. But you know what? I don't envy them. None of those whiz-bang graphics, multi-channel sound, or force-feedback controllers can hold a candle to one's imagination. What's funny is that the old text adventure games weren't exactly great works of literary art, but you don't really need elaborate scene descriptions and strong character development to create great imaginary worlds, you just need imaginative kids.
Probably the most successful gaming company producing text adventures was Infocom. They made over thirty games that appealed to kids of all ages. Best of all, these games weren't limited to killing, shooting, running people over, breaking the law, or blowing stuff up as most modern games seem to rely on. Infocom produced games in many genres such as mysteries, science fiction, fantasy, and comedy. Violence was sometimes present, but was not required. We had a good time nonetheless.
What's amazing is that there are many "older kids" out there that not only have fond memories of the old text adventure games, but have some disposable income to spend on those memories. Starcross, one of my favorite Infocom games, when found in mint, unopened condition like the one seen above, can demand more than a thousand dollars from collectors. I would love to have one of these mint Starcross "saucers," but I find that the real value of these games are in the games themselves. Thankfully those are much easier to find and for a lot less money! After all these years, though, you still need to know how to read to enjoy these games...
Update 11/1/2008: Resolution here.
Update 6/3/2008: See this comment for more information on where things stand now.
I hate batteries. I don't hate the freedom they provide, I just think that battery technology lags behind most other technology a little too much. A perfect example: I love the Segway Personal Transporters. Awesome tech, fun to ride, good for the environment. PTs run on batteries and use some of the most advanced battery technology around. You can go twenty-four miles on a charge. That's pretty impressive given the size and shape of the battery packs used. But did you know that if you leave your Segway unplugged for too long the battery packs discharge so much that they no longer work? Unfortunately, we're not talking about replacing a pair of AA Energizers here. The Segway's battery packs cost $800 each - and you need two! Don't you think that an $800 battery should know that it's unplugged and getting discharged and thus prevent itself from draining so completely that it no longer works? I know I do! To be fair, this problem is common knowledge to Segway owners and we are a careful bunch when it comes to maintaining our PTs, but stuff happens...
So what does all this have to do with a Bench Power Supply? Well, the answer is simple. Before discarding $1600 worth of batteries, I can't help myself but to try and revive the beasts. What happens to most batteries that "kills" them is that their voltage drops below a certain level after which the charger will no longer charge the battery. Often, if you can get the battery back up above this cutoff voltage, the charger will once again work and the battery can be put back in service. I don't recommend that anyone do this. Batteries can be very dangerous and can cause severe damage to life, limb, and property. So kids, don't try this at home! I, however, am going to try and do just that. I'm going to use this power supply I bought to try to manually charge my two dead PT batteries back to life. I don't know if this will work, but the investment in the power supply was low enough that it's worth a try. I'll let you know what happened in a few days. Wish me luck!
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