ASCII art Toril MUD intro

The above graphic is actually an updated version (color!) of the intro screen I saw when jumping on Telnet to play my Multi-User Dungeon game, Sojourn/TorilMUD.  Though (kids, avert your eyes for a second) to be honest, this was the only “graphic” in the whole game (you can look now, younger gamers).

Surprisingly, ASCII art never really died.  Whether through nostalgia, the now-a-novelty factor, or a lasting and genuine appreciation of the technique, the mosaic of the late twentieth century still survives.  Bit Rebels has a great post about some ASCII art made on a typewriter – quite a feat. Here, we’ll take a look at a few of the more impressive examples online.

 
 
 
 
You can Google “ascii image converter” to find a slew of programs that will turn your everyday photograph into a unique piece of digital art.  This one from flickr stood out to me for its contrast and the general clarity of the characters.

ASCII Portrait by macattack

 
 
 
This piece is not quite so crisp since it uses less “pixels” (characters), but you can see how the variation of the characters’ colors does more than the characters themselves to define the image.  On a purely geek note, notice how the use of a sans-serif font and heavier font-weight add to the blurred or smudged feel, like a watercolor.

ASCII shooter by waltimo

 
 
 
One of my personal favorites, this photo-turned-ASCII-art relies more on subtle shading effects to create its image.  It almost feels like a pencil sketch. In a higher resolution, this could be background-worthy.

ASCII rose

 
 
 
You can’t talk about geek art without mentioning Star Wars.  I particularly love how simple it looks enlarged, yet how complex it looks in miniature.  There’s actually a site detailing the making of this wall-plaque etching.  Click on the larger photo when you’re done here to learn more.

Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories

 
 
 
Not only would it take forever to make the Statue of Liberty in ASCII by hand (as was done here – no converter), every character in this piece, if typed in the existing order with proper line breaks, spells out the script for a simple program that prints the text at the base of Lady Liberty.  Oi.  I’m not sure I would have the patience to make something like that.  But it’s beautiful.

Lady Liberty Ascii Art by StevenANichols

 
 
 
And to leave you with a smile, check out the ASCII Walking Man that’s floating around the interweb.  I just get a kick out of watching him.  It takes vision to make good frame-by-frame animation.  Especially with ASCII.

 
 
 
Did you enjoy this collection?  Do you have any ASCII art you’d like me to put up here?

 
Comment and share to keep the discussion going.  And subscribe via Email or RSS if you like this blog!
 
 

Idyll Ramblings

Alta A La Violencia by Rosaura Ochoa

This recent Businessweek article about the strategic purchasing options of Twitter has got me fuming, and it’s not just because I’m a Google guy.

Barry Ritholtz, a widely followed financial analyst and blogger, argues that Apple should buy Twitter, primarily because doing so would add the crucial social component that Apple still lacks, despite its growing dominance in personal electronics and entertainment.

I’ll be honest – there’s a large philosophical divide between the Apple and Google approaches to the digital age, and I now sit firmly with the search giant.  But I adored my iPods and iPhones for years, and I continue to laud the company for its vision, innovation, and ability to bring technology so effectively to so many people.

Twitter Follower Mosaic by Joe Lazarus

No, my biggest problem with that article is the way Twitter is discussed.  Is Twitter a cork to patch up the holes in a larger company?  Is it a shiny feature to enhance an already successful product?  What is Twitter to you?

To me it’s a platform for building communities, sharing ideas, and effecting change in the world around us.  Twitter gives a voice to the ninety-nine percent, brings social purchasing power to those with a need, and serves as a global billboard for anyone – anyone – to say, “Look at me.  What I think matters.”

Let’s not forget that Twitter (among many more examples):

• is used to rally global support for events like the 2009-2010 Iranian election protests (“Green Revolution”) and 2011 Egyptian revolution
• has been adopted by the Red Cross as a vital tool in disaster coverage and response for fires, earthquakes, terrorist attacks, and more
• is successful in raising public awareness of anything from cause-based fundraising to commercial products to network television events

And perhaps the most amazing thing about Twitter is that it evolves organically with its users in real time.  During election campaigns, Twitter recruits you.  During crises, Twitter informs and organizes you.  During times of prosperity, Twitter markets and connects you.  No one tells Twitter what to be – it is what we make of it in the moment.
 

Twitter is the pulse of the digital age.

 
I realize that in our economy, everything gets bought sooner or later.  I particularly don’t want Apple – a company famous for its closed and authoritative approach to development – to own so free and fluid a thing as Twitter.  But more than that, I am pained by the thought that any company might buy Twitter to shore up its “presence in the social software end of things.”

When Twitter is bought, let it go to a company whose philosophy complements its nature.  Let it be free of a company with an agenda, rather let Twitter remain what it is: a reflection of who we are and what’s important to us at any given moment.

What does Twitter mean to you?  Do you think Twitter should be bought?

Thanks to @DvinMSM for showing me this article. Comment and share to keep the discussion going.  And subscribe via Email or RSS if you like this blog!
 
 

Idyll Ramblings

Leave it to the Japanese to make use of every available nook and cranny to make something cuter. It’s way beyond customizing the phone cover you already have – it’s inventing new jewelry that originally served no other purpose than adding character. Enter: the phone charm.

Considering the human tendency to decorate *everything* (Bedazzled jeans, anyone?), it’s only natural that we would come up with endlessly creative versions of our necessary accessories like phone covers.  And with the rise in status from convenience tool to near body-part that our phones have quickly assumed, I suppose it is also only natural that we’ve invented jewelry just for them.  I just didn’t think it would be so…elaborate.  Here’s the first and simplest iteration of the phone’s own “necklace.”
 

Full Circle Cell Phone Charm by BeInspiredDesigns

 
On a lanyard reminiscent of camera hand straps – back when people carried actual cameras.  But this is where it gets interesting: Have you ever thought, “Gee, there’s a sad and empty hole at the top/bottom of my phone for headphones.  Why don’t I stick something pretty in there when I’m not using it for music?”  Yeah, I never thought that, but someone did.  So now the necklace becomes a “piercing.”

 
Then human ingenuity took off and decided, “Well, it’s pretty, but why can’t it be functional, too?”  And so we end up with a charm that looks cute and attractively (or tackily) alerts us to new phone notifications – the latest and greatest in phone couture electronique.

19/366 by Lo8i

 
I can’t help but draw a parallel between this evolution of phone decoration and the extension of our own self-image.  Phones were originally tools of convenience, but they evolved to become the center of our sense of connection.  They became, if you’ll excuse the metaphor, another face to represent us in society.  Through this evolving jewelry, we celebrate both the chance to extend to that face our own personalities and to give that face its own unique personality.

Oh, and yes, geeks – that’s a light-up, spinning Tardis.  You can have one, too.

What are your thoughts on the decorations we give our gadgets?  Is there anything you’re waiting to see?

Comment and share to keep the discussion going.  And subscribe to Idyll Ramblings via email or RSS if you like what you see!

Idyll Ramblings

It’s not all GPS.  How exactly does an Android device obtain your current location?  I had to hunt the webs for each answer separately, so for users and developers alike this article quickly highlights the three ways Android discovers where you are.  In order of power consumption, Cell-ID, Wi-Fi, and GPS can be powerful tools.  Now let’s begin.
 

globe by Judy **

Cell-ID

How it works: You probably already know that your phone is virtually always connected to the nearest cell tower.  Each cell tower’s exact location is known by its operators and is assigned to the tower as a Cell ID within a Location Area Code (LAC).  Your phone stores the Cell ID and LAC of every tower to which you connect, giving it a rough idea of your location. To handle the higher densities of people using up tower bandwidth in urban areas, operators build more towers that each cover smaller areas.  Therefore, in dense cities like Los Angeles, the Cell ID can actually be fairly accurate.  In general, though, not so much.  Note: Cell IDs are actually codes that must be looked up in secure databases to find the associated latitude and longitude.  There are public projects that aim to catalog these Cell IDs for average user look-up, but in general, no one can simply read the Cell ID itself and know where you are.

Power usage: Since the mobile network is the core service of any phone, requesting your location by Cell-ID requires very little extra load in terms of processing and power consumption.  If you’re worried about draining the battery, this is the best option to start with.

Accuracy: Cell-ID is notoriously inaccurate, but I’ve occasionally achieved GPS-level accuracy using it with Wi-Fi and GPS disabled.  It largely depends on where you are and how long you ask it to keep requesting updates.  I wouldn’t depend on it alone under normal circumstances.

How to use it in your app: The long way is the first one you’ll find when searching for Android Cell-ID. This involves creating an instance of TelephonyManager to acquire the Cell-ID, then routing it through a super-secret-special Google Maps API for which a Java code routine has been widely published online.  But forget all that: what few sites mention is that the standard requestLocationUpdates() called on NETWORK_PROVIDER already uses your Cell-ID to obtain your location so long as you have your mobile network enabled.  See the end of the post for a code example.
 

Free WiFi by xcode

Wi-Fi

How it works: Unless you opt out, your phone is periodically sending anonymous data to Google with, among other things, your last known location and any Wi-Fi network you were connected to at the time.  The accumulated data builds on a database begun by traveling Google Streetview cars that recorded Wi-Fi networks available along their routes (the cars no longer do this).  So, like the Cell ID database, your current Wi-Fi networks can now be cross-referenced to find your approximate location.  By default, Android overlays this information with your Cell-ID location range to get a fairly accurate idea of where you are.

Power usage: Wi-Fi runs on a separate chip in your Android device, likely a chip that handles both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth communications simultaneously.  This chip only draws power when in use, but it draws considerably more power than your phone uses under normal operation.  Although each location request only runs for a matter of seconds, these bursts of extra power usage add up over time.  On the plus side, you likely already have Wi-Fi enabled (like your mobile network), and Wi-Fi uses less power than GPS.

Accuracy: This service depends on having available Wi-Fi networks and whether those Wi-Fi networks have been previously catalogued.  If those conditions are satisfied, you may get a nicely accurate result.  It is best (as Google Maps will inform you) to use Cell-ID and Wi-Fi together so each can cover the other’s weak spots.

How to use it in your app: Code-wise, Wi-Fi-based location is obtained alongside Cell-ID location through a requestLocationUpdates() called on NETWORK_PROVIDER.  I haven’t been able to find a way to get the location from Wi-Fi only, but I wouldn’t really want to.  Disable the mobile network before calling this if you really need to limit it.  For the code example, see the end of the post.
 

ROSAT satellite by YU-bin

GPS

How it works: Google “how does GPS work” to find the details of three-dimensional trilateration.  Simply put, your Android device requests its distance from satellites in the GPS network and plots the intersection points along the boundary of the described spheres.  The more satellites respond, the more accurate your estimated location.

Power usage: Like Wi-Fi, GPS runs as an independently-powered component.  Since we don’t use GPS for data-transfer, it largely sits dormant – this is good, since it eats through power like a streaming high-definition video.  Use it sparingly and only if you need great precision.

Accuracy: Like any location service, GPS is dependent on your surroundings for its accuracy.  Unlike the others, it is capable of placing you within feet of your exact location and even includes an estimation of your elevation.  Although typically best when out-of-doors, GPS on modern phones and tablets can still be extremely accurate in moving cars and in multi-level buildings.

How to use it in your app: Requesting GPS-only locations is simple in Android.  Call requestLocationUpdates() on GPS_PROVIDER.  See below for a code example.
 
 

Code

//The basics for Android SDK location retrieval.

//Declare class variables in this example.
private static LocationManager locationManager;
private static LocationListener locationListener;

//Instantiate when ready to use.
locationManager = (LocationManager) this.getSystemService(Context.LOCATION_SERVICE);
locationListener = new LocationListener() {
  public void onLocationChanged(Location location) {
    //What to do for each location "fix."
  }
  public void onStatusChanged(String provider, int status, Bundle extras) {
    //What to do if, say, the user loses or leaves the service area.
  }
  public void onProviderEnabled(String provider) {
    //What to do if Mobile, WiFi, or GPS are enabled during process.
  }
  public void onProviderDisabled(String provider) {
    //What to do if Mobile, WiFi, or GPS are disabled during proccess.
  }
};

//Cell-ID and WiFi location updates.
locationManager.requestLocationUpdates(LocationManager.NETWORK_PROVIDER, 0, 0, locationListener);
//GPS location updates.
locationManager.requestLocationUpdates(LocationManager.GPS_PROVIDER, 0, 0, locationListener);

//Refer to the Android Developers resources for more.

 
Whether you’re a developer or you’re just curious about how Android goes about getting your location, I hope this saved you some hunting and answered your questions.

Any tips or information to add?  Comment and share to keep the discussion going.  And subscribe via Email or by RSS if you like this blog!
 
 

Idyll Ramblings

Dear Readers,

Idyll Ramblings has moved from Blogger.com to a self-hosted WordPress!  I’ve lost the retweet/like counts, but everything else is here and on its way to better than ever.

It’s been a long time, folks.  I had a strong start, disappeared, tried to come back, and disappeared again.  I loved pursuing acting here in Los Angeles, but I’ve rediscovered my true passions for programming, development, and entrepreneurship.  I’m moving back to Austin, TX, in a few weeks to finish the degree I abandoned in coming to LA.  Part and parcel to this is rediscovering my love of sharing what I learn.

So Idyll Ramblings has been reborn with a spiffier platform and a slew of new ideas for articles.  I won’t be able to post as frequently as I did in the beginning – especially while taking classes – but I’m happy to be back in the game, period.  Please stick with me as I continue to improve the site and generate better and better content.

On that note, I apologize to my email subscribers for the long, multi-post Feedburner email that went out yesterday.  I’m trying to keep this blog as clean and tight as possible.

And on that note, any and all comments or suggestions for my blog are very, very much appreciated.  I have only my one perspective over here, and y’all’s input would be invaluable.

Thank you,

Wade Burch

Idyll Ramblings

It’s becoming hard to imagine a life without GPS.  In our quest to find ourselves and connect with others, this tool offers instant results and emergency assistance.  However, as recent events and reports point out, there can be a terrible price to pay for relying too heavily on our guardian satellites.

You may not have thought much about it, but satellite systems like the US-based Global Postioning System (GPS) are widely used commerically – not just for car navigation and smartphone apps.  According to a recent Raw Story article, GPS is used even in opening train doors upon arriving at a station, in addition to the more obvious cases of commerical flight, emergency response, and cargo tracking.  In fact, the British Royal Academy of Engineering cites a European Commission study showing “that six to seven percent of economic growth in western countries [in the EU] … is already dependent on such navigation.”

So what happens in the case of a GPS techincal failure or malicious signal jamming?  Planes and doors can still be operated safely, but the sudden loss of tracking and navigation information on a wide and persistent scale could cause a cascading effect of lost productivity and efficiency.  Financial impacts could be substantial – and that’s just now in 2011.

Even if the sky isn’t falling, the rising trend of blind obedience to GPS navigation is still unsettling.  I’m not the first to recount the recent fiasco of Albert and Rita Chretien who became lost and stranded in the Nevada wilderness earlier this year.  Attempting to take a GPS-suggested shortcut through unfamiliar mountain territory, the couple turned onto an unforgivingly muddy road and disappeared.  Forty-eight days later, a weakened Rita was found by hunters in the area; Albert is still missing.  “I think that GPS really screwed them up,” said Ryan Stowell, whose family owns the ranch where Herman [the hunter] made the 911 call. “There’s no reason for us to be up there.”

Those of us keeping to city streets may not be in mortal danger from GPS over-reliance, but there is still an unfortunate side-effect.  Take my former roommate, Adam, who could drive to the same place six times and was still not able to do it alone for the seventh because there was no nav screen telling him when to turn.  Or my recent coworkers who spent two hours getting to work six months into the job when a simple city street detour would cut the drive to 75 minutes.  If you’re only watching arrows or listening to “turn left ahead,” you’ll never learn how to read a map and make your own, often better, decisions.

As far as navigation goes, I’m a strong proponent of choosing your own directions and taking control of – and in the Chretiens’ case, possibly saving – your life.  But I have to admit I think the way GPS has revolutionized commerce and social media is pretty amazing, all dangers aside.

What are your thoughts on global satellite positioning systems?  How would a loss of signal affect your life?  Comment and share to keep the discussion going.  And subscribe via Email or by RSS if you like this blog!

Photo credits: GPS IIR-M  by Lockheed Martin
i got your turn left! by deidra_morrison
Garmin GPS by caribb

Idyll Ramblings

Why settle for filling a niche when you can cater to consumers’ instincts and take it much further?  Streaming media services Netflix and Pandora help sell themselves by scratching a basic human itch.

Your project barely made deadline (only thanks to your unpaid overtime), and traffic crawled all the way home.  You kick off your shoes, heat up the left-overs, and settle into the couch for some mindless entertainment.  Or maybe the guy you’ve been dating has been “crazy busy” at work for a while now and suddenly won’t return your calls.  You shoot a dirty look at your phone, change into PJs, and collapse onto the couch with a bowl of Rocky Road ice cream.

You want to feel a certain way, and you want to feel it now.

You might check your DVR queue or channel-surf with your fingers crossed, but more and more people are turning to Netflix.  Currently, 23.6 million people subscribe to the service, and Citi forecasts 50 million subscribers by 2013.  By current estimates, that’s one-in-five rising to one in every two households having a Netflix subscription.  That’s because when we really want to feel, we want something new.

You probably stopped crying through The Notebook after the third or fourth view, and the jokes in Hot Tub Time Machine likely get a lot less laughter now.  Music works much the same way.  The same song that turns you into a shower-time karaoke master or a car-dancing commuter now will have you shouting, “Next!” in a couple weeks.

Netflix and Pandora circumvent this natural media immunity by analyzing what you like or dislike and suggesting something in a custom genre that will carve new paths through your brain and satisfy your immediate need to laugh, cry, chill, scream, or sit on the edge of your seat.

In addition, it requires very little effort to find the desired content.  Movies on Netflix are sorted by genre and suggested by modifiers like “with a strong female lead” or “dark and cerebral.”  Songs on Pandora are generated per-station, each station being seeded by a song or artist that gives you the right feel.  No need to search titles, no need to think – just state how you’re feeling, and let them do the work.

This basic human instinct to continually find new ways to feel the way we need to feel is no longer limited to home entertainment, either.  Both Netflix and Pandora offer smartphone/tablet apps for mobile streaming, and each are wildly popular.  Pandora, for instance, sees more than 50% of its total listener hours streamed mobilely.  With 800,000 songs to choose from and 3.9 billion hours of music streamed last year alone, that’s a lot of traveling new music.

The bottom line: Humans always want something new, and feelings turn wants into needs.  Netflix and Pandora offer instant gratification of these emotional needs and help us to avoid the diminishing returns of permanent media ownership.

Do you agree?  What other products or services really scratch your itch?

Comment and share to keep the discussion going.  And subscribe via Email or by RSS if you like this blog!

Photo credits: Sleepless Night by Herlifewithin
dancing to the beat by generationexe

Idyll Ramblings

While some old favorites, like Pogs, are probably well and truly faded, some, like jukeboxes, are just waiting for the right new technology to rescue them from dusty obscurity.  In particular, the rapid expansion of wi-fi and smartphones paves the way for the revival of this magical music box.

Almost ubiquitous in ’50s-style diners are the miniature jukeboxes sitting at each table, promising aural joy for only a nickel.  As convenient and fascinating as these boxes can be, pocket change is going the way of the diner itself.  Most people pay with cards, and even those who carry cash often eschew the smaller coinage.

The answer lies in the growing prevalence of wi-fi hotspots in popular public places and the burgeoning market for niche smartphone applications.  It would be simple to create a standard, cross-(mobile)platform application that would present connected users with an iTunes Remote-style library of available tracks for a particular location.  The musical offerings would be stored on a wi-fi-connected database operated by the company offering the app.  Customers could then queue songs for a quarter in the style of an in-app purchase.

To take it further, the queue order could be affected by “premium” usage fees, frequency of per-customer visits, and promotional events.  Adding elements from iTunes Genius and Pandora could yield song/artist recommendations and opportunities to purchase the music instantly if you like it.  Another step further, and your app could direct you to other patrons of the establishment who share your musical tastes.  A match made in music.

An app like this might already be in development, but if it’s not, it should be.  What else would you add to it?  Where else can you see a concept like this being applied?

Comment and share to keep the discussion going.  And subscribe via Email or by RSS if you like this blog!

Photo credits: Mini Jukebox by donkhuth
Sharing Tunes 3 by muffett68

Idyll Ramblings

It’s hard to think of hope as being a hindrance.  We’re taught from a young age to hold on to our hopes and our dreams no matter what happens in our lives.  While this may be generally good advice, there are times when holding on simply holds us back.
 

The following poem is the first I’ve written in quite some time, and I feel it encompasses this concept quite well.  As they say, “Hope springs eternal.”  In this case, the eternal spring was trapping me in a what-might-be that echoed a long lost what-might-have-been.  To step forward, we must let go of the past’s ghosts.

A many-headed demon hunts me;
Vanquished again and again, it seems,
Only to rise and roar and rage
And wound me from within.
I thought I killed this damnable hope
The first time years ago – in answer
To a sundered love and parted lives.
And yet, I find in retrospect
A reticence to yield my heart
Disguised in strength and folly.
And I’m left with a sordid truth:
All along I’ve fed this demon
The shreds of dreams I once shared,
The freedom I felt I didn’t deserve.
And the only way to live
Is to let it go.

While this poem was inspired by the relinquishing of a long-past relationship, there are many instances in which we hold ourselves back because of the hidden hope of regaining or retaining some cherished situation.  Our fond remembrances and subtle denial of the loss lead us to invent excuses to not try something new or to be overly critical of what might otherwise be a profound new experience or life path.

The idea of letting go is almost cliché, but have you considered that the reason you’re stuck is because you’re too optimistic?  That some part of you believes, against all logic, that what was lost will be returned to you?  Try keeping in mind that letting go of the faded good things will make room for the newer, vibrant good things in your life.  Only by clearing out the half-empty spaces in your heart will you be free to fill them with new sources of happiness.

Cheesy?  Yes, but true.

How have you dealt with this in your life?  Comment and share to keep the discussion going.  And subscribe via Email or by RSS if you like this blog!

Idyll Ramblings

You’re standing on-stage, in front of three hundred seated and raptly-staring people.  In your hand: your iPhone, remotely controlling the brilliant presentation you’re giving.  Suddenly, a little red box catches your eye from the laptop screen on the podium.
 

My second post at uTweet.it details a way to integrate emerging technology with large presentations to more effectively monitor instant feedback and help you more specifically address your audience.  Read an excerpt here:

The next, and coolest, step for the application would be to rate each comment on a spectrum from positive to negative and (perhaps) from mild to outspoken.  By analyzing the content of each blurb similarly to Facebook’s happiness index (rates positive, neutral and negative word usage), a value can be assigned as to the author’s feelings toward your current topic or product point.  By taking into account use of expletive punctuation or excessive capitalization, the comments can be indicated as being mild or urgent.

Displaying these scrolling comments on tinted, say, green, grey, and red backgrounds according to their rated values would provide a highly digestible and glance-ready metric for the status of your presentation.  The finishing touch would be to throw in a larger box with rotating popular keywords from the currently aggregated feedback and a background colored to reflect the overall/average mood rating. (Read more)

Click through to read this article, and take the opportunity to sniff around this awesome site.

Share if you like this post, and subscribe via Email or by RSS if you like this blog!

Idyll Ramblings