понедельник, 19 сентября 2011 г.
Re: Irritating security message on syncback startup
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Daily iPhone App: Dragon Fantasy
Dragon Fantasy is basically a love letter to the early age of console RPGs, when Dragon Warrior and Final Fantasy ruled the land. It's got classic 8-bit tile-based graphics, random encounters, silly villains and a nice chunk of content to explore and level up through. There's a nice, original soundtrack and a plucky bald-headed hero named Ogden. The one bummer, is that you're only playing with one hero -- even most console games had you building a party.
But that's just nitpicking, really. Dragon Fantasy is $2.99 on the App Store right now, and if you like these old-school Nintendo-era RPGs (and know how to play them -- this one can be a little confusing if you're expecting a game with a more modern take on the genre), take a look.
And there's an extra bonus here, too: the developers have a nice set of content planned out, including new story content and more. So if this is one you like, you'll be able to enjoy it for a long time to come.
Daily iPhone App: Dragon Fantasy originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 16 Sep 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Mac App Store now warns customers buying pre-installed apps
Macworld points out that Apple has added a new drop-down dialog box to the Mac App Store (above). It alerts customers who are about to purchase an app they've already got installed. While it doesn't fix an ongoing issue, it's at least a nice heads-up.
Software is being added to the Mac App Store all the time. Many are new titles while several have existed long before the store did. Today, customers who bought apps before the store debuted are faced with a dilemma: update that software manually or enjoy the benefits of the Mac App Store -- like simple updating and easy multi-Mac installations -- buy purchasing the app a second time.
While this warning hasn't eliminated the problem, it does tip customers off to the fact that they're about to pay for an app they already own.
Mac App Store now warns customers buying pre-installed apps originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 16 Sep 2011 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Bus times go mobile with beta test of Countdown app in London
Transport for London is trialling a mobile app that lets passengers know when the next bus is arriving
Are you a five-minute walk from the bus stop, and wonder if you should run or just walk to catch the next one? If you were at the stop, you'd know because of the "countdown" systems in place. But now if you've got a smartphone, wonder no longer: Transport for London has made public its Countdown service, which indicates how long it will be until the next bus on any service arrives at a location.
The service's existence leaked out after an internal memo was sent to all TfL staff telling them about it, at countdown.tfl.gov.uk. Though it was meant to remain in private beta, news of the service rapidly leaked out and was spread around by open data fans. There is also a mobile test version, though it's intended for developers only.
(In this, it's being pointed out, London is catching up with Edinburgh, which has had MyBusTracker for some time.)
The interface is very simple, and doesn't ask for much: "Enter one of the following: street, postcode, route number or bus stop code", it says.
Enter a postcode (the Guardian's is N1 9GU) and you get this page, which offers the bus stops in the area; click on one, and you get a list of bus routes that stop there, and the timings of the buses.
Jonathan Raper Malcolm Barclay of Placr, who tweeted about it on Friday when it first surfaced, noted that there wasn't yet an API, and asked developers to "please don't kill it by scraping it to death" ? through grabbing the code of the page and then repurposing it.
The site went briefly offline, but not before Barclay ? who has consistently called on TfL to make more of its data available ? could note: "Tests prove it works, challenge now is to scale it out in both human & machine readable versions. Just a Prague spring of joyous data release, snuffed out."
TfL has now issued developer guidelines for Countdown, noting that there will also be a new generation of countdown signs at bus stops.
Once the system is fully in place, "you'll be able to send a text with your bus stop code to receive realtime bus arrival times for that stop", TfL notes. "Visually impaired passengers will be able to use the text-to-speech facility on their mobile phones to get this information Texts will cost the standard network rate, plus a 12p charge to receive the response. You'll also be able to get the latest service information using mobile web or the internet. Search by street name, area and postcode. You'll also be able to use a map if using a desktop PC."
The ability to text for bus times won't sound new to Scandinavians, who have had similar systems for around a decade: the long walks to bus stops in cold weather mean that people try to time their arrival at the stop with that of the bus. Finland, home of Nokia, was particularly quick to see the potential of text messages about bus movements.
TfL has also given developers access to its live journey planner (but not bus timings) API ? the programming hooks that developers need to build apps, rather as Twitter does with its database of tweets to encourage the creation of thousands of Twitter apps. That is going to lead to the development of mobile apps, and that, in turn, should fuel a virtuous circle: developers write apps, people buy and/or download apps, people use apps to plan journeys using TfL services with confidence (because they know what connections to make, and in time will be able to see when the bus/tube/etc is arriving), TfL gets more revenue, TfL provides better service, provides broader API, devs write more apps, people buy more apps.
Of course, it requires a subsidy kicked in at the start (those APIs and the cloud computing to run them don't come for free; TfL is one of Microsoft's successful demonstrations of its Azure cloud computing offering), but so did GPS: the US government still subsidises that to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars per year. That in turn fuels the virtuous circle of hardware makers selling GPS devices, people using them to not get lost (mostly) and arrive on time (or at least know what time they'll arrive), which leads to wider societal benefits from route planning. It's the open data catechism in its purest form.
For those who have to have it on the command line or else it doesn't happen, there's a Ruby version developed by Adrian Short, who has been an enthusiastic user of all the open data that the London Datastore and TfL have managed to generate, especially relating to the Bike Hire scheme (aka Boris Bikes). (You can also grab the code.)
It's interesting when seen in the wider context of "open" in government: as pointed out by Rory Cellan-Jones at the BBC (ably assisted by FOI researcher Julia Ross), the government faces a number of hurdles in moving to open source, principally the extent to which Microsoft contracts, and more widely the custom and practice inside government, militate against using free software and for proprietary solutions. (You can download the spending data by department as CSV files directly from that article page. Let us know what you find.)
guardian.co.uk © 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
воскресенье, 18 сентября 2011 г.
AT&T Gives Free Wi-Fi to 20 New York Parks
This comes years after varying plans and bidding proposals that didn't work: AT&T is paying for the cost of installing and operating Wi-Fi in 20 parts in the five boroughs of New York City, including the High Line, the park converted from old elevated rail lines, long abandoned. It's a several-year deal, apparently. Right not, three parks (Battery Bosque in Battery Park, part of Joyce Kilmer Park, and the rec center at Thomas Jefferson Park) have service. The rest are coming this summer.
Update: Please read the comments. Parks didn't bid this out or have an open process.
Bryant Park has long had free Wi-Fi, delivered through a series of hands, and it's been an apparent success as part of the terrific revitalization of a public space that was once abandoned to drug deals.
Karl Bode at DSLReports reminds us that last September, Time Warner Cable and Cablevision were planning to install Wi-Fi in 32 parks as part of their cable franchise extension, offering just 10-minute sessions up to three times a month before charging 99¢ a day. It's unclear where these two plans intersect.
Copyright ©2011 Glenn Fleishman. All rights reserved. Please notify us if you find this content anywhere but at wifinetnews.com or wimaxnetnews.com. Reproduction of full articles from RSS feeds is prohibited without permission.
Five apps for leaf peeping
It's that time of the year when the air turns crisp and cool and the leaves begin to change color. If you live in a seasonal part of the country like I do, I bet you can't wait for the bright and vibrant fall colors to reach their peak. Here are five apps to help you plan an excellent leaf peeping adventure:
TreeID with Fall Foliage ($2.99)
TreeID is an iPhone application that lets you identify trees and pull up their name, scientific name, tree characteristics and location. The app has more than a hundred new trees and can identify fifty foliage trees.
Foliage Leaf Peepr (Free)
Foliage Leaf Peepr is an application developed for Yankee Magazine. It'll let you rate the local foliage as the leaves progress from green to peak to gone. You can view these foliage ratings on an interactive foliage map hosted by Yankee Magazine. The map also displays photos uploaded to the map by users.
360 Panorama ($1.99)
360 Panorama is a photography app that takes panoramic pictures that extend up to 360 degrees. A versatile app, it takes horizontal and vertical photos so you can capture stunning photos of those patchwork-colored leaves. You can read our full review of 360 Panorama here.
MotionX GPS ($2.99)
MotionX GPS is an inexpensive GPS app that'll track your location on a map. You can record or follow your tracks and share them when your journey is done. You can also share tracks and waypoints on social networks like Twitter or Facebook and send a geotagged photo or two. It's an excellent app for marking where've you been so you keep track of the best leaf-peeping locations
IM+ Pro ($9.99)
When you're admiring the bright gold and deep red leaves, you may want to share your beautiful photos or chat with your family and friends. With IM+, you can send an IM through a variety of services, post to Twitter or Facebook, or chat via Skype. It's an all-in-one client that lets
Five apps for leaf peeping originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 16 Sep 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Levitatr iPad keyboard would offer keys on demand
Here's a compelling Kickstarter project that iPad keyboard jockeys will like. The Levitatr keyboard is ready for the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. It's a thin aluminum thing at 12.5mm thick and features Bluetooth connectivity and keys that pop up when you need them, and recede when you don't.
When you're ready to type, press a small button on the left-hand side, causing the keys to rise into view, ready for use. When you're done, press it again and they sink back into the device.
The Levitatr also offers a built-in stand for your device and LED backlit keys. Inventor James Stumpf says his ultimate goal is to get the retractable Levitatr keyboard built into the tablet of a major manufacturer.
His immediate goal, however, is to produce a batch of Levitatrs to sell. As of this writing, his project has accumulated US$15,598; short of his $60,000 goal. With over 30 days to go, there's hope.
Good luck, James!
Levitatr iPad keyboard would offer keys on demand originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 15 Sep 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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