http://m.imore.com/ingress-googles-augmented-reality-game-hits-iphone-and-ipad
Ingress is the game I’ve been playing for the last 18 months or so. Very much a social oriented game I’ve also managed to lose about 18 pounds and gotten in much better shape playing.
Think geocaching mixed with War or King of the Hill.
Check out the link and download it. Ingress is free (except for your time and possibly gas…)
Currently the DOS based games are offline. I am currently running under Win 7 and just haven’t had the time to configure things properly (or really see if it’s possible lol)
Everything else is up and running.
… So after messing with the Vera for a couple of days and figuring out that I was not going to be able to get X10 working properly with my TI103 interface I broke down and ordered an Insteon PM from Amazon after a conversation I had with Doug Gregory from DKC Automation (a very helpful guy and a great site by the way. I’ll post a link in the sidebar when I get the chance, or you can just Google it)
I received the insteon modem and hooked it up successfully as far as I could tell. The logging mechanism on the Vera sucks balls so I was never very sure about what I was doing. Anyway, I added a couple of my devices and managed to get them to each turn off once and that was it. Couldn’t dim, wouldn’t turn back on unless I did it manually.
By this time I was pretty pissed off. It works fairly well for zwave but I only have a couple zwave devices right now and I have an existing Aeon Labs stick for my Homeseer computer for those.
I shipped my Vera 3 and the Insteon modem back to Amazon and have already gotten refunds for them. I’ll probably order a couple of zwave modules now and call it a day.
Overall the Vera 3 is a good idea but definitely not mature enough for a robust home automation system, at least not if you use a lot of diy stuff like a lot of people. If you are strictly zwave and don’t need a lot of events and intelligent decisions it’s not bad. I’d say for the beginner it’s probably even great but it’s frustrating for several reasons :
1. Lack of documentation and help files. The links to the are there in the interface but they are broken.
2. No support for a lot of existing automation hardware except for plugins (that you might or might not be able to access)
3. Tech support that won’t give you a clear answer or help. I was forced to go to an outside vendor for help with items. He’s great but I didn’t even buy the main product from him, just a lamp module (which I’m still using by the way.)
4. A backend in the cloud that is broken and doesn’t communicate well together.
There seems to be a growing community for the Vera and as it matures and grows I’m sure the how to’s and help files will improve but until then I’ll be sticking with Homeseer.
The move to its own computer has finally been accomplished. I’ve gotten Shadowscope up and running on a partially dedicated laptop instead of a VM now. I say partially because it also houses my home automation software. That’s more for ease of use because I’ll be somewhat integrating the two. Nothing on the surface, mainly just so I can get mobile notifications of new users, logins, etc.
The connection may not be the fastest initially because I currently have it sitting in my living room on WiFi until I finish configuration on everything. Once I put it back on a Wired connection things should be better.
You can still access the board via telnet port 23 at bbs.shadowscope.com or click the link at the top of the page to log in from here. If you have any issues please contact me via Hangouts or through the contact link on the sidebar of this page.
So a few months back my old laptop that ran Homeseer, my home automation software, finally died.
I’ve used it for quite a long time and mostly ignored it. I’ve been running Homeseer for about 13 years now and ported my setup from a couple different PCs but always managed to save my configuration through the transfers and upgrades. This time I don’t have a backup unfortunately.
I’ve invested a lot of time and money into the system over the last decade and a half. Most of it is x10 hardware but there are a few other kludges in there as well. My weather system, a zwave module or two and a boatload of scripting. The last five years or so I’ve deactivated a good bit of it but left the core system up and running that I didn’t have to tinker with.
After my system died I figured it was time to move on to some newer technologies. Zwave is supposed to be more reliable and it’s wireless so I wanted to make sure that I could use something that was compatible with old and new. Homeseer is but I also wanted a dedicated controller as well.
After reading some (obviously not enough) reviews and docs I settled in the Vera 3 from MiCasa Verde. Quite a few of the other Tasker users I communicate with use the Vera and there is a plugin that let’s you communicate and hook Tasker up with it. Pretty cool.
The Vera (the lite version and the 3, which is what I purchased) are pretty cheap for HA hardware. According to their web site it’s compatible with Zwave, insteon and x10. I figured it would be a win/win. Something to help me move into new territory but still stay on a budget.
I received my unit last week and immediately set it up. Several things I noticed right off the bat. Initially you go to getvera.com and create and account, which redirects you back to the home network and finds your vera(s). This has its good and bad points which I’m not going to get into.
Anyway, I set up my account through them, found my unit and started the setup. I was able to add my one Zwave module with no problems but that’s where the ease of use ended. You’re supposed to be able to go to apps.mios.com and browse/download apps from there. Sort of like the Google Play store. Not a bad idea at all. Unfortunately even though my Vera was linked to my account when I tried to go to the external app store it told me I had no units linked to my account. The answer from their text support? Download the apps from within the Vera interface. That’s fine and dandy but NOT what I was trying to do. I guess that’s not something they are trying to fix.
Another glaring omission is there are absolutely NO help files or documents to access from the Vera. Apparently a previous firmware upgrade in the last two years broke the links and they just haven’t bothered to fix it. Tech support did say they are working on a new release within the next two weeks that fixes the issue. We’ll see I guess.
I’m tired and have to work in the morning so will finish the second part of the review then…
So I’m finally in the process of moving my BBS to it’s own dedicated box instead of the VM it’s been running on for the last year and a half.
In the meantime I’ll update the software and some of the plugins and maybe even get around to checking my damned netmail that I’ve been ignoring. Ugh. Between work, family and Ingress I haven’t had much time for the BBS.
I’ll also be running my Home Automation software from the same laptop as my old OLD laptop died a few months back. Shouldn’t be any issues there.
One of my restaurants sits at a pretty bad intersection with no light. I opened the store in 94 and ran it for a few years, just picked it back up last month. It’s always been a really bad intersection but in the few years that I’ve been away from this particular store they’ve opened a movie theater and shopping center next door. Needless to say traffic hasn’t improved.
Luckily nobody was hurt but all three vehicles were pretty trashed. That’s the tailgate of the pickup in my parking lot. A wheel from one of them rolled across the parking lot just prior to me taking the pic and calling 911.
https://play.google.com/music/m/Bpu5jutgtyvqjfpfslndjagmhii
Really starting to like the band Halestorm. Judas Priest has always been one of my favorite bands and they’ve done a kickers job covering Dissident Aggressor.
So what exactly is it that’s taken up so much of my time the last couple of years and dragged me away from something I love so much?
Actually it’s several things and it’s somewhat complicated.
I think I really started to drive away in 2010 when my father died. Just had more important things on my plate at the time. This one and my other personal Blog I did keep writing here and there but my crime site still pretty much sits and sits and sits.
Facebook probably has a bit to do with it as well. Most of the other Jawja Bloggers are on Facebook as well you see and it’s so much easier to sit down and write a line of garbage than to actually think about what you’re going to post and well, post it.
Work also had a lot to do with it. I was sent down to south Georgia in August of 2012 until October to run 8 stores. Crappy Internet connection, etc…
Anyway, all of these just sort of came together over a two year period and took my attention away from writing anything. Then along came Ingress and that’s all she wrote.
Ingress is an augmented reality game from Niantic Labs, a division of Google. Currently it’s only available for Android but iPhone version is coming pretty soon.
Calling it an augmented reality game is like calling the winner of the Kentucky Derby a nag though. It’s so much more (and it’s a huge fucking time suck as well.)
Ingress aims to take you away from your PC and your house and makes you take a look at the cool stuff around you. It can involve a LOT of walking (352 kilometers so far) and driving as well if you want to.
It’s also really a social game as well, at least if you play for any length of time. I played line wolf the first three months and then started meeting people from outside of my area. Since then it’s been ON.
I’ve traveled for the game… Chattanooga, Nashville, Savannah, all over the state of Georgia and eastern Alabama. I’ll be in Birmingham June 7h for an event and there are several more scattered all over the world.
I’ve made countless new friends playing, both online and in person. That part is quite similar to blogging and I enjoy it. I’ve also introduced a few people to the game as well, including family members.
Really the best way to see what it’s all about is to just get the game and check it out but be warned, it’s higher addictive lol. ingress
If you’re on Facebook or G+ there are also open communities there that you can get more information from as well.
Yes, I’m still alive!
I had planned on getting online and writing a short review of the Themer app by MyColorScreen as I received my beta code this morning. Alas, that’s not going to happen this morning although I will try and get it online by the end of the day.
What I did find when I logged onto the site for the first time in months was that Google had decided my site was the home of malware and should be avoided. Dayum.
Earlier this year I started using a couple of 3rd party plugins that would pull in my posts from Google+ and turn them into blog posts. Seemed like a pretty cool thing to do and as I currently spend what little time online I have on G+ that was very convenient. Anyway, what I found was that the Google+ Blog plugin had pulled in everything I had ever posted on G+ and duplicated each of them 16+ times. WTF? So I ended up having to delete 2500+ blog posts that were all duplicates. Since I wanted to keep one of each I just couldn’t go in and blindly delete them all. Fucking asshats.
So I think I’ve gotten rid of all the duplicates now, if you notice any please let me know.
I have also disabled almost all of the 3rd party plugins I was using here on the site and gone back to the stock commenting system (actually using Jetpack for this now).
As far as the BBS, it’s still online and you should be able to get to it via telnet OR the applets linked to above. I haven’t even logged in in months or checked my netmail. That comes soon. It’s still hosted in a virtual machine on my desktop BUT I do have a laptop set up running Windows XP that I will be moving it to at some point soon. This will mean more resources for the BBS and more disk space as well for files. I’m still running Synchronet and will update it to the latest version as well.
As always, if you have any feedback for the BBS or my blog please feel free to contact me at one of the above links.
+Ingress I'm not one to complain much, at least not in public but just felt the need to say this.
I'm all for improving the game and as it is still a beta there are obviously going to be some things that are buggy.
How about before adding MORE animations, avatars and badges we fix some of the things that are broken such as:
1. The problem with fields and links not showing up like in my screenshot below. There are several fields that are all linked correctly but only showing the links in both Intel as well as the scanner. In one case a link I made after driving a hundred miles last night isn't showing either. Irritaring.
2. Or Portal Vectors. USELESS as is. I drove from Temple, GA to Weaver, AL tonight and while there put up another field. The vectors it showed me while in Weaver trying to hunt down the ONE portal that is there? 84 kilometers away. WTF? After I drove back to Temple (where there are around 30 portals in a two mile range) it only showed me vectors for a couple of portals 10km away. Or how about letting us get more info when we touch the vectors. "Target?" When I'm walking that's OK but when I'm driving that's another less than useful feature since it's not tied into navigation. You've already got it working with #fieldtrip why not steal some of that code?
Anyway, just my #rant for the evening. I do love the game, just would like to see the current bugs that actually impact game play fixed prior to adding more eye candy.
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I generally try and stay out of politics but you know…
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+citizen j
+Chris Lichowicz
+Michael Neidlinger
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Had a great time with folks from the West Georgia Ingress Resistance tonight at our second planned meetup. +Tonya Vots +stephanie miles +David Hearn +Eric Murphy +Destany Brown +Chris miles +Daniel Raffety
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+Joe Philley +Brandon Badger +Brian Rose #SaveNahallacOne of our most upstanding and dedicated #Ingress Agents +Jeff Callahan ( #Nahallac ) has apparently been banned with no explanation or word from #Niantic as to why.
There are literally hundreds of agents from both sides that can vouch for Jeff and have the utmost respect for him – he is a straight shooter and has never had a questionable moment in the field.
He is key in organizing operations for the #Resistance in the Portland Metro and we find this action against him to be unwarranted and unacceptable.
I'm not one to reach out for issues of this nature generally, but Jeff is the hardest working agent I've ever met and to see him blacklisted is going to hurt morale for the Portland area.
Anything you can do to get this resolved ASAP is greatly appreciated.
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Reshared post from +Stephen Feather
Props to the Southside Atlanta (OTP) Agents who helped throw this all together. +Daniel Sparrow +Caleb Feather +Daniel Plunkett 700k+ MUIt complements the work +Richard Miles put in yesterday fielding west georgia/east alabama
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Reshared post from +Omate TrueSmart
Win your very own Omate TrueSmart >> Simply +1 and Share our page to public!! We're watching and will be picking a lucky winner. Help spread the word, world's awesomest truly smart #Smartwatch, also world's smallest #Smartphone on your wrist, welcome to the new generation of Smartwatch 2.0Support us – thanks!
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Reshared post from +AgentsForADA
In the second part of our “Inventing XM Technology” series (see http://youtu.be/ewycsGSNAlA for the first video), Physicist and XM Engineer +Mark Casper, AKA Delta Function, reveals his second invention: a XM-powered microprocessor capable of directly interfacing with the Human nervous system via the spinal cord in the neck. Agent +Lissie Comte, AKA Lismalady, bravely agreed to be the first Human test subject, making her a true pioneer in Human Augmentation. The results were shocking…and better than expected. The future of XM…of Humanity…is here. Are you ready?We'd like your help to get this out to the world, +Ingress +DeCode Ingress +Niantic Project +Joe Philley +Brandon Badger +Anne Beuttenmüller +John Hanke +Brian Rose +raza ahmad +flint dille +Susanna Moyer +Scheurmann R. +H. Richard Loeb +Edgar Allan Wright +Thomas Greanias +Hubert Farlowe +JoJo Stratton +Linda Besh +Mustafa Said +Mike Wissinger and +Lukas Lentz.
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Reshared post from +Koushik Dutta
+CyanogenMod + ChromecastChromecast all the things? That's actually possible.
I added some framework extensions to +CyanogenMod to let any app which plays audio/video using the MediaPlayer to be sent to the Chromecast.
This supports both local content (stuff on the SD Card) and remote content (podcasts).
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