Samsung Galaxy S3 Sensor Data

Recently I was fiddling around with a program on my S3 called Sensor Dump which just dumps the raw data from the various sensors onto the screen, and/or saves them into a CSV file.

Looking at the mag-field data on a graph is pretty interesting. This is where I passed my phone over the top of a laptop power supply.

It occurs to me that you could overlay this data on a camera display and do some kind of really low-resolution magnetic field camera thingie.

Hmm.   I wonder how directional it is.

Further tests required.

Ah, Android. Always looking out for me.

So my phone, currently being used to play MP3s while I type documentation, just informed me that I should "consider reducing the volume to prevent damage to your ears" - well, thanks Android Music Player, that's very kind of you to say so. You're right. You're just 30 years too late.. (Damn you Not-Sony Not-quite-Walkman!!)

And also hugely underestimating the crapness of these £1 headphones - they don't go loud enough to damage my ears.

Why I can't play Angry Birds Space.

I wanted to play Angry Birds Space.  It's a simple thing. Should've been a no-brainer.

I tried it on my iPod touch, but it doesn't have iOS 4, so I'm deemed not-worthy.  I can't upgrade to iOS 4 because to do that requires a newer version of iTunes than my Mac OS version will let me install.  I can't upgrade my Mac OS because it's an old Mac and won't RUN a newer version..   So, to play it on my iPod, I would need to buy a new Mac.
Not going to happen.

Or I could install iTunes on my Windows PC and struggle to sync my music over, and then struggle to get it to do anything because the Windows version of iTunes is just not very good. (Sorry)

So, I thought I'd try the Android version on my phone..  I went to the Google app store thing (or Google Play as it now appears to be called) and went to download it.  Glancing at the permissions made me stop in my tracks..

Weekly Links #3

Some interesting stuff this week, but not a huge amount as I've been pretty busy.

Microsoft Augmented Reality system - based on a bunch of Kinect units, some micro projectors, and some very clever code to link it all together - the projectors act as a kind of flash-light onto the virtual world, overlaid on top of the real world. The real clincher is at the end of the video, with virtual bouncy balls rolling around on a real desk, and into a real drawer.

First manned flight of an octocopter.  Quadrocopters are all the rage at the moment, for their size and maneouverability - however e-volo have taken it a step further, added more rotors and a seat, and made it flyable. It's very obviously a first generation prototype, made from wood, gaffer tape and a fitness ball, still controlled with a standard model plane controller, but it works and they lift off the ground.

"No, I don't know what
 you want for tea!"

Siri equivalent for Android - SpeakToIt Assistant is free, does a lot of the things that Siri does, and also appears to do some stuff that Siri can't do - "Where is the closest Sainsbury's" for example.   It can be used to write emails or SMS, search for music, answer random questions ("How big is Mars" was one we asked, and were very surprised when it told us the estimated mass of Mars)  It also can do searches, calendar related tasks, and in theory, translations, although we couldn't get that to work.   The developers appear very open to ideas, so suggestions for future features stand a good chance of being listened to.   All in all, pretty good fun.  Whether it's actually faster or more useful than the standard text-based interfaces, I don't know.

Make your own mini Arcade Cab - exactly what it says on the tin - how to make your own mini arcade cabinet!

"Do a barrel roll" - In Google Chrome, do a google search for Do a barrel roll.  It's pointless, but actually pretty funny.  In a really geeky way.