Smart alarm clockApril 21, 2009
Something that I've wanted to try for some time is to create a smart alarm clock that would determine whether you have an appointment the next day and wake you up in time. (I'm great at forgetting that I have a chiro appointment at 8:15 am)
The other half of this is to have the alarm clock speak useful information to you such as:
  | The current weather and forecast weather. |
| What appointments you have that day. |
| What birthdays of family or friends are that day, or what wedding anniversaries. |
| etc. |
I got a BlackBerry last month and realized shortly thereafter that it, in combination with its charging dock, make a great piece of hardware for implementing this alarm clock.
Here's a videoI also came across
this link today which is quite interesting.
Paper meets computerApril 16, 2009
I had an interesting thought today: Imagine, say 30 years in the future, you're sitting at your desk and in front of you is what looks to be an 8.5x11 sheet of paper. It's a bit thick, around 1/32 of an inch, and it's glossy. It's also flexible.
But this paper is special: You use it much like we use computers today, using your finger to navigate through menus, scroll through documents, etc. You can use a stylus to write information, or an on-screen keyboard that works like the keyboard on today's iPhone. You can even speak at this little piece of paper.
It has a very small internal battery, but it derives most of its power wirelessly from the table below it. Its onboard electronics are responsible for transmitting input to a computer somewhere else, which is responsible for actually running the programs. Screen updates are passed back wirelessly and rendered on the screen. And once the image has been rendered, it takes little-to-no power to keep it there.
The paper can be taken virtually anywhere, and it still works, so long as it has an energy source.
Throw it in your backpack, head off to classes, and you're set, with access to all of your lecture notes, the Internet / email, etc.
The devices are so cheap to produce that virtually every person on the earth affords them, and if one breaks, you throw it out and grab another one.
My first BlackBerry applicationApril 6, 2009
A couple of weeks ago, Meredith came home from work with a shiny new BlackBerry Bold for me, which I had been eying for quite some time. Getting a data plan through Rogers turned out to be more than a little frustrating: A $25 data plan quickly turned into $43/mo because they charge you $10/mo for not taking a voice plan (lame) and another $7/mo for a system access fee. (sigh)
Anyway, once I started playing with the device, I was curious to see what the development tools were like, and I have to admit, I'm impressed! RIM makes available a Java Development Environment "JDE", which consists of an IDE and tools for copying apps to the device, etc.
Last weekend I got
my application up and running. A fun experience!
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