Yes it is true! With the new DragonFireSDK you can develop iPhone games in Visual Studio with C++.
The SDK is very simple and easy to learn and there are some great examples. The iPhone simulator is great and even features emulation of the accelerometer.
The DragonFireSDK is the reason why I have been busy the last weeks on coding my very own iPhone game ‘World Topo’.
World Topo is an educational game to learn topography of the world. You have to guide your plane to famous places and capitals of the world. Your aim is to unlock all 3 levels and fly as far you can before you run out of fuel…
TouchTyper is great fun and learns users how to use Touch and Handwriting Recognition in Windows 7. TouchTyper provides Rich Animation using the Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF).
Goal
The goal of the game is to write the letters of the scrolling words with your finger, stylus or mouse before they reach the laser.
How it works
If a letter is recognized the ‘Touch Scanner’ will turn green and the letter dissapears. If not the light will turn red. If a word reaches the laser the letters will explode and you will lose your energy. The game is over when you run out of energy.
Technical information
The game is compatible with 32 bit Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7 and uses the Handwriting Recognizer.
For Windows XP you have to have the Microsoft Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005 Recognizer Pack installed.
In Windows Vista and Windows 7 you may have to activate handwriting recognition for the desired language.
The game uses a dutch word dictionary but I have also provided english words in the installation folder (default C:\Program Files\John Bruin\TouchTyper). Simply rename words_en.xml to words.xml.
Screen shots
Download
You can download the installation package for TouchTyper here: TouchTyper.msi
Back in the 80′s I really liked to watch Tros Wondere Wereld presented by Chriet Titulaer. Tros Wondere Wereld was a dutch TV program about new technology and gadgets. It really makes me happy to watch it again after so many years on YouTube.
I am hoping to use the USB Panic Button hack you created at a Halloween event that I’m putting on for kids. What would really make it great would be the ability for the button to select a random audio file from a particular folder each time the button is pressed. Even better would be if the picture coincided with the audio (Frankenstein photo with Frankenstein audio, Ghost jpg with a ghostly sound, etc.) Any quick fixes or batch files that would do the trick? Thanks so much!
Brian Wheeler
And therefor I have made this special add-on: RandomImageWithSound.exe
Copy this file in the Commands folder of the USB Panic Button software and select this command (…\Commands\RandomImagesWithSound.exe ..) as shown below:
Simply add pictures in the Images folder and the corresponding wav files with the same name in the Sounds folder and there you go! Have fun!
This movie may seem very futuristic but the best of it is is that this future is not far away! Check out this fantastic demo movie of the Sixth Sense a study project from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology:
I have got this gadget last year with Christmas and it looks very cool but with the included software it is pretty useless. It works like a boss key and when you hit it after a short delay it displays a low res chart on your screen…
It was on my “programming-for-fun-todo-list” for a whole year to make my own software for this cool gadget. I have used Jan Axelson’s Generic HID C# example to make it work. And finally it is here: USB Panic Button.zip(Updated version 1.1!)
With this new XP and Vista compatible software you can display any picture, play any .wav file and execute any command you want even simultanously. As a bonus I have include some image, sound and command examples, a cool earthquake effect and PowerPoint next slide control. This software requires the .NET 2.0 Framework.
Last week I ordered the übergadget at http://www.mn-shop.nl/ (very good and fast delivery!). The iRobot Roomba 530 is a real vacuum cleaning robot which does it’s work really well and my girlfiriend likes it very much. Although we are a little bit worried whether our future kitten will like it or not…
But on the other hand robots and cats can become very good friends too. Take a look at the Litter-Robot!
The Pacemaker DJ mixer is so cool! Mix your mp3′s while you are on the road and put them on the – maybe even cooler – pacemaker website. I have to add this device to my wannahave-list!
This weekend we have made a test drive in the Mini Clubman. And now the dillema is are we gonna choose with our brains or with our heart? What do you think?
