Database Develop

Funky tool and toy for electronics junkies. thank me later.

http://www.gabotronics.com/product-info/xprotolab-pictures.htm
I have to admit.. it's not the highest specked one.
But surely is the smallest and still has many awesome applications and features.
It's open source and runs off of a AVR.
so cool.

Pretty cool bit of kit. I like the altoids touch.
How about a tiny Linux box for $25?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1240667

Exactly what did i just see? (link in OP)

BazookaAce said:
Exactly what did i just see? (link in OP)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dual trace oscilloscope, 8 bit logic analyzer and AWG "wave generator"
in a tiny DIP package.
Uses a O-led screen and is very low on power usage.
It's open source and is capable of quite allot for testing and prototyping projects.
It uses a AVR chip... probably the most popular microchip architecture currently.
I can play PONG and Asteriods on mine.
Other than that.. beats lugging around a oscilloscope, a logic analyzer and a AWG.
When i can just pop mine into my pocket.
Named the 'Xmega Xprotolab'
Xmega = the AVR chip used. "not affiliated with me in any way"
Xproto = Extreme prototype
lab = Laborotory
But since we mostly love the droids here..
http://projectproto.blogspot.com/2010/09/android-bluetooth-oscilloscope.html
Bluetooth Android Oscilloscope.
Assembly required.
Also... http://www.jc-omega.com/ not affiliated
:edit...
Bad X-mas gift?

[Game] Gargs - Tower Defense

Finaly I managed to complete my first game for WP7
- Programming and Graphics done by me
- Music - Kevin MacLeod
GARGS:
Gargs – Challenging Tower defence !!!!
Play as Chixa's last hope and defend it from evil Gargs.
Test your defending skills featuring:
- 10 different Maps
- 9 different weapons
- upgradable weapons
- unique bosses
- unlockable weapons and awards
- mechanic, organic, air and shield units
- epic music by Kevin MacLeod
- free gameplay
Mighty defender, prepare yourself, Gargs are coming!!!
Marketplace:
FREE: http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/apps/012d2409-55e0-4bd8-a770-da1dd2102f23
NO-ADS: http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/apps/b7279f0b-1277-4315-8a91-6b4e6180ae72
Both version have same content.
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/DigitalSwell
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqLlagl8VUQ
PS. Enjoy the game
If you like this game - please leave a review.

I'm enjoying the game. Thanks for making it.
I have a thought though. I always love in these games that you can power up the weapons. i find it frustrating in yours that I don't seem to be able to max any of them out. The attacks are such that I need so many weapons to keep up. Or... if I build up something good (lv 4: 2 lazers, 10 guns, 1 turret) and get them to some good levels and am getting somewhere... then there's a flurry of planes that need some other weapon. Ugh!

Hi,
First of all thank you for your positive feedback. This is my first game ever and I am still learning.
It took me quite a while to create the game… especially graphics, since I am not a professional graphics artist and really can´t draw , so I created 3d models for everything you see in the game and then created spritemaps.
Sure they can be maxed, but you need better strategy
Some game tips:
1.) You need to check which weapon makes most damage to which type of units.
- machine/gatling tower does most damage to infantry.
- missile/rocket tower to vehicles,
- laser tower to shields
etc.. (just press the tower icon for more info)
2.) Also check how to place towers. Make sure to destroy shields with laser, put them before Gatling towers. Best strategy is to have laser tower first, then missile towers and at the end Gatling. After you unlock plasma or nuke tower, strategy may change
3.) Unlocok tower price drop... and other upgrades.
This way you do not really need to build a lots of towers
Thanks for playing

What do you get for a Gargs tower upgrade?
I'd like to know what kind of increases you get for upgrades to the different towers. For example, if I upgrade the fire tower, I can see how much the range increases, but what about the damage it can inflict? A laser is an expensive upgrade, for example, so should I work on that or go with upgrading a different tower? Most TD games seem to show you what you get for your upgrade cost. Thanks.

good game, still playing now

Limitations Make you a Better Dev: How to Improve Efficiency and beyond.

Hear me out for a few minutes guys.
Programmers now days are great...right? No... they really are not. Because programmers are making programs/games on extremely powerful machines (if you think about it) and have zero concept of "limits". A game for example, Titan Fall on PC is 50GB's. Why... for the love of all that is good, is this game 50GB's? Why? Because the programmers that made it suck. There are so many games that take up WAY too much space and take WAY too much power to run...
BUT
But this is NOT the programmers fault... They were not trained correctly. Hence my topic point.
Limitations Make you a Better Dev.
What is a limitation? It's something that limits you, like a gallon container can... only hold a gallon. Makes sense right? Well, let's move on the programming. Most programmers now days are making games/programs in what I like to refer to as "Creative Sandbox Mode". They don't really have limitations. They can almost do anything! But this is a problem... let's see an example to illustrate the reason why.
We will use the game "Kerbal Space Program" as our example for this topic. (Fantastic Game BTW) For those who have not seen/heard about it. It is a game where you build space rockets in, for the most part, a very well simulated Solar System. You start from a planet similar to earth. The only difference is the size of everything is scaled down. But just keep in your mind, "You build rockets to go to space".
Now, moving on...
When this game came out at first as early access. It was basically a sandbox, while you had no "God mode", you had access to all the rocket ship parts and they had zero costs. You could build anything, and people made all kinds of nonsense, went to the Mun (Game's name for the planet's moon) and beyond to other planets.
Sounds great right? It was... but then something changed a few years later.
Career and Science Sandbox were added. What is this? Well it's a mode with progression in mind, Career has you earning money through space missions and contracts, and Science Sandbox requires no money... but requires "science" points to acquire new parts.
You start out now...with very limited parts, and the things you are asked to do in the missions seem "impossible" at first.
"You mean I have to get to orbit with ONLY these parts? WHAT? THERE IS NO WAY!..."
Except...it was possible. Suddenly people, while under a great limitation, began to progress. They learned new and better ways and deigns to make more efficient rockets. You advance, and learn and become better. You progress, slowly unlocking more parts...but always being under this limitation wall, it forces you to grow and learn even more.
Now...end game. You've unlocked all the parts. You build the "best rocket" you can muster. Compare it to your "best rocket" while you played in Free Sandbox mode... It's a 1000x better. It can go much further on less fuel, it's less heavy, and it has far more research and science ability that ever before. Smaller rockets can now go beyond the moon and back, where as before, huge ones barely made it into orbit...
What does this mean? Now...with your super efficient skills, you can go EVEN further than ever before, you're able to truly maximize the potential of the parts given to you.
You've become efficient . You've become a better player.
But the KEY here for relation to my topic is... "truly maximized potential"
Now, let's get back to programming. Now that we have an understanding of what my point is. Back in the day, game developers had extreme limits. Hyper tiny storage sizes, extremely low amounts of ram and processing power. You couldn't just do whatever you wanted. The PC wouldn't even run.
Look at games like Super Mario Bros, a classic simple game... But, fast forward to later in the NES's lifespan, look at Megaman. The difference in total quality, and game play, it's a night and day difference. You go from a super basic, jump on enemies, beat the same boss over and over, running through basic one color levels... to a game that has a "level select" and unique and difference bosses, and... TONS of different enemies. You see levels with lots of animations and color! Holy crap! This is amazing! AND WHAT!? YOU GET WEAPONS THAT DO DIFFERENT THINGS!? *mind explodes*
See what happen? NES programmers got better over time, they learned to maximize what the NES could do despite its limits. Games that at the start of its' life that would have been thought impossible... were suddenly happening.
So let's fast forward to today... what do we have? For the most part... our computers today have near limitless abilities. Most computers have over a 1000GB's of storage, over 4GB's of ram (if not over 8GB), and processors that can do millions, if not nearly billions of calculations per second... Vs computers with 32KB's of Ram, 1 MB of storage, and a 10 mhz processor.
So we should be seeing games with extremely outrageous levels of ability and graphics right...? No... we don't. Well, we have a few. And I think the reason is older devs who were used to coding efficiently. They suddenly become god like. But new programmers? They don't understand limitations like older ones do... so they code poorly without knowing it. This is why you have games like Dark Souls 2, which on PC runs at 60fps at 1440p without the SLIGHTEST hint of issues. (Seriously, it's the smoothest PC game I've ever seen). But then games like Arkham Knight, just barely run at all. (if it even starts...) Also... the version of the Dark Souls 2 that contains all the DLC and improvements to the game (SotFs), weighs in at 23 GB's. Whoa... that's so much! ... Well, it's an extremely huge game, most playthroughs will last you at least 50 to 70 hours. There is so much to see in the game, and it's intense. And...then you have Titan Fall. A multiplayer game with a few maps, no singleplayer (at least when I played it), and it's 50GB's? What? Why? Even GTA 5 is 55GB's (ish) and it's an absolutely MASSIVE map, with detail unlike any seen before. And they crammed it into 50GB's? Wow. While Rockstar and From Software have had a few bad ones *cough* GTA IV and Dark Souls 1 on PC *cough*. They still proved in the end, they knew how to properly make a PC game.
Also, for an example of "getting a ton" from very little processing power. Look at the gameboy advance. It had a 16.78 MHz processor... yet look at the outrageous abilities it had. Look at the games, compare them to mobile "games" (Mobile games are trash). Could you honestly recreate The Legend of Zelda: A link to the past run with just 16mhz of power? If someone didn't tell you it was possible, you'd most likely say, "You cannot do that...". But you can, they did. This is highly efficient coding.
Another example is Roller Coaster Tycoon 1 and 2. If you've not played this game series, I advise you ALL to look it up. This game, released in 1999, was coded by one man. And in 1999 (where the average CPU was Pentium 3) this game let's you build Parks, like with roller coasters and rides. This game could have THOUSANDS of guests (People in your park, 1000 to 4000+) , all with different likes and needs (ride types, needs like food or the restroom), with dozens, if not 50 to 100+ rides going on at the same time... and it ran perfectly fine. In fact, when I played it, I never remember it ever slowing down or crashing, not once. Could you build an entire game with 100s of rides and 1000s+ of guests each with their own unique needs, and plus all the other things going on, on a Pentium 3? With ZERO lag and near instant startup?
This is just one of my issues with devs/programmers today. It's not just about games, or graphics in games mind you. It's about programs, applications, media, just everything. Devs today, learn in a near unlimited environment. They don't learn tricks, they don't learn workarounds, they don't learn how to truly maximize what they have because nothing forces them too.
Now, as a big note... I don't want to sit here and sound like I'm saying any devs are dumb, or don't work hard. I don't mean that at all, because it truly isn't their fault. Schools and such today don't teach with limitations, in computer science and in everything else (that's another topic).
They don't force you to make a massive game that fits in a CD (700MB) that runs well, they don't teach you how to truly optimize, they don't teach you how to overcome limitations because they don't challenge you with limitations.
Limitations, force you to get better. I ask that all new and aspiring devs now days, to try to limit yourself... because in the end... you'll become a far better programmer than you thought possible! You created an android app that runs fine on a snapdragon 810? Alright, how about you make that same app run just as well on a phone with a dual core processor and half a GB of ram from 2010. Start with limitations, you'll think... "This is not possible" , but image to yourself that it is the only way... you soon start finding tricks and learn how to overcome the limitations and create an app that works fantastically with very minimal power and resources. Then, with your new found efficiency skills, you'll see a whole new world of possibilities on more powerful chipsets. Just like in the space game, when you are forced to do more with less, you soon found yourself able to go much further than before when you did have more.
Limitation Forced Growth increases your efficiency. This can allow you to make night and day more powerful applications that run with far less power.
Discuss.

Your very own Mobile Internet Device

I am happy to announce the project I have been working on. I do not know what direction it will take from here but I thought it was a good time to show it.
A MID, UMPC, tablet, smartphone - anything you want it to be. This is a kind of hybrid between phonebloks/project ara and the nokia n900 series
The wiki should guide you through step by step and answer most questions you may have. I have always thought one of the most important parts of this project is being able to teach others to do this and make it as accessible as possible.
As the wiki mentions, please raise a ticket on the issue tracker if you have a problem. But if you just want to talk about it this thread would be fine and I will try to get back to it from time to time.
Special thanks to people on this forum specifically who made all those Windows Mobile editing toolkits way back and helped me realize what was possible with pocketable devices and move on from there.
Link to SFS MID wiki

I thought I would provide an update here. The project is still ongoing with a mainboard transition from the Raspberry Pi to the Odroid C0 SBC.
The hardware and software has come a long way making for a pleasant experience to use but yet enough flexibility for most situations and users.
As always, you can post here or on the issue tracker if you have any questions or just want to talk about MID development. Thanks and good luck.

This is a 6 month update. The project continues with a switch to the Lattepanda x86 SBC.
More positives than negatives come with the new ecosystem and the future is bright. It is hoped that with the x86 technology the project will become relatable to more people and the architectural reliability will prove to be an advantage.
You can always post here or on the issue tracker if you have any problems, questions or speculation on the future of MID development. Thanks and good luck.

This is one more 6 month update. I am using the Lattepanda x86 SBC exclusively now.
The layout of the devices has been redesigned to be more like a smartphone and there is a new shell available for 3d printing. In addition, the software has undergone an update and there are new development notes including testing with some Raspberry Pi 4 prototypes which ended up being too hot and using too much power. Finally, there are 5 new scripts uploaded and one included with the MID software which deals with multitouch gaming.
It works well but I am hesitant to call the project finished so if you have suggestions let me know.

Hello and welcome to another update on this longrunning project.
The launch of the Raspberry Pi 4 came and went without offering any power savings so the project continued on without it using some alternative platforms. On the dual goal of being able to play PC games, it is only until recently that the 8GB Pi 4 had that potential. Unfortunately there is not enough overhead for Linux gaming even on most low end x86 PC platforms so there is little hope current Pi versions will make for a good PC gaming experience.
If you read the development notes you will see some experiments with portable PC stick hardware running games such as Kerbal Space Program on Linux but those devices were a dead end as far as power savings go. Both in terms of lack of power saving features and in idle and load power draw.
Currently there does not seem to be a small x86 device that has working suspend/sleep/standby mode in Linux which renders the dual goal of a Linux smartphone device that can play modern PC games unattainable.
The VIM3 SBC does have a working suspend mode as well as a wide 5-20v input. This allows for much more battery power and energy without the corresponding
wiring complexity and loss of efficiency that you would have in a device that required "stepping down" the voltage to 5V. "Stepping up" from traditional smartphone and tablet batteries comes with it's own challenges as well. Namely, the effective current limit, maximum available power and conversion inefficiency from such low voltage batteries.
On the gaming front all hope for portable gaming is not lost. I have uploaded a bonus version of Retroarch with VIM3 support to the releases area as well. This release is intended for and works well for the older console systems.
Maybe one day we can get a device with 8GB+ RAM that can play PC games and go to sleep. Until then keep building!

I thought I would slip in and give an update just short of a year. A few patches may be still to come anyway.
The goal of a PC gaming phone-like portable has been largely attained. The Lattepanda Alpha SBC specifically has 8GB RAM and can suspend to save power. With a MID based on it you can do the kinds of things you would do on a smartphone as well as play PC games with a gamepad on the go, keyboard/mouse while docked or perhaps even with the touchscreen. The Lattepanda Delta can suspend and has 4GB RAM and is a cheaper alternative. Recent PC games can be played successfully but I would recommend something like a Steam Deck for cutting edge games. If using Android apps is something you would require in a personal mobile device then the large RAM of the Alpha is something that should make emulation possible. When finished you can put the device to sleep and put it in your rather large pocket.
There is something to be said for a smaller more manageable mobile device that is more the size of a smartphone. Even if that means gaming capability is compromised. The VIM 3 is smaller than the Lattepanda Alpha/Delta and has different USB functionality making for a smaller and simpler overall MID. This is more of a device that you can put in your pocket and hopefully not have it break. You can put a plastic shell around it like a commercial device but you will find that one large enough to give good protection makes the MID too large. I do not consider this a big deal since one of the goals of the project is to put more control into the hands of the user and this includes the realm of repairability. In other words if it breaks you can fix it.
Thus 2 parallel ARM and x86 codebases are being maintained for now. Extensive troubleshooting has been undertaken to fix some long standing hardware
stability problems on both MID platforms as well. Addditionally, all main wiki pages have received an update. Finally, another bonus compiled version of the latest Retroarch source has been added that focuses on PS1 emulation.
A special message for XDA Developers users. Don't throw away your Android phones just yet. As inexpensive as cellular plans are you can keep your phone and tinker with something like this too. But remember that when the automobile was first developed it was considered worse than the horse. Over time it was refined and eventually surpassed the horse as a means of transportation. I think as computer parts become more commoditized ever time something similar will happen and nothing will be able to stop us from putting together a phone ourselves.
I am not sure where it is going to go from here but I look forward to using the devices now that the dream has come true.

Hi, i'm Manuel

Hey^^
I'm Manuel (i've turned 16 in march), i've been here many times with my older phones when there were problems (such as move more stuff to sd card xD)
I spent the most of my spare time into gaming and my workout (started lifting 2 years ago, i do everything at home ^^, it's usually 1.5 - 2h per day)
but also more normal stuff like chilling with friends or watching stuff @ YT or Netflix
I'd also like to say thanks ^^ for providing fixes for more cheap phones from china (like the zopo zp700 )
Edit: And Yah i'm into Metal and more Emo Style ^^

Welcome aboard! Enjoy the XDA forums and keep rocking!

Hi. Glad to be here with you too. Welcome

galaxys said:
Welcome aboard! Enjoy the XDA forums and keep rocking!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks ^^; I'll and i'll never stop
Nameless Foe said:
Hi. Glad to be here with you too. Welcome
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you ^^

Manu-3m0 said:
Hey^^
I'm Manuel (i've turned 16 in march), i've been here many times with my older phones when there were problems (such as move more stuff to sd card xD)
I spent the most of my spare time into gaming and my workout (started lifting 2 years ago, i do everything at home ^^, it's usually 1.5 - 2h per day)
but also more normal stuff like chilling with friends or watching stuff @ YT or Netflix
I'd also like to say thanks ^^ for providing fixes for more cheap phones from china (like the zopo zp700 )
Edit: And Yah i'm into Metal and more Emo Style ^^
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Welcome to XDA. So you have the best of both worlds...great!
Cut back on the workout hours(?).
Increase the intensity and cut back to 1 hr maximum. Anaerobics first, cardio last if at all and no more than 20 minutes. Better to do cardio as a split training or on a separate day.
Do back squats once every 5-7 days. Rest/recovery and eating enough protein are a big part of strength training and bodybuilding.
Do Not overtrain. You're after results not to kill time... or yourself.
Add chinups if not already doing them.
Sprinting is high risk but highest hgh releasing exercise, like squats all muscles grow when you do them. Dead lifts are great too.
Always use strict form and technique. Don't go heavy until your form/technique is near perfect.
Avoid the machines especially leg extension; use the front squat instead.
Best to join a hard core gym; you learn new tricks from seasoned lifters. You benefit from lots of free weights, overhead bars, various benches, racks etc. You want lots of free weights, squat racks, benches and mirrors.
Done correctly weight lifting is a sport you can do your whole life.

blackhawk said:
Welcome to XDA. So you have the best of both worlds...great!
Cut back on the workout hours(?).
Increase the intensity and cut back to 1 hr maximum. Anaerobics first, cardio last if at all and no more than 20 minutes. Better to do cardio as a split training or on a separate day.
Do back squats once every 5-7 days. Rest/recovery and eating enough protein are a big part of strength training and bodybuilding.
Do Not overtrain. You're after results not to kill time... or yourself.
Add chinups if not already doing them.
Sprinting is high risk but highest hgh releasing exercise, like squats all muscles grow when you do them. Dead lifts are great too.
Always use strict form and technique. Don't go heavy until your form/technique is near perfect.
Avoid the machines especially leg extension; use the front squat instead.
Best to join a hard core gym; you learn new tricks from seasoned lifters. You benefit from lots of free weights, overhead bars, various benches, racks etc. You want lots of free weights, squat racks, benches and mirrors.
Done correctly weight lifting is a sport you can do your whole life.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks ^^
and yahh it really depends on the day/musclegroup, i don't go to a gym yet, my mom didn't allow me and now where i've turned 16, everything is closed due to covid :/
I do warmup before thats about 10-15 mins alone^^, i do mostly bodyweight ecercises, i've got 2 dumbbells (with up to 15kg each) and a bar in the doorframe, that's all equipment i have
Btw my body changed soo much already (i was super skinny before and now everything has muscles visble like i'm not suuper muscular but it's like skinny-ripped now), it's me in my profile pic ^^

Manu-3m0 said:
Thanks ^^
and yahh it really depends on the day/musclegroup, i don't go to a gym yet, my mom didn't allow me and now where i've turned 16, everything is closed due to covid :/
I do warmup before thats about 10-15 mins alone^^, i do mostly bodyweight ecercises, i've got 2 dumbbells (with up to 15kg each) and a bar in the doorframe, that's all equipment i have
Btw my body changed soo much already (i was super skinny before and now everything has muscles visble like i'm not suuper muscular but it's like skinny-ripped now), it's me in my profile pic ^^
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One or two sets of warm ups is enough, then gradually increase the working weight. You simply want to raise the temperature of the muscles, tendons and ligaments. Excessive warm ups burn up valuble glycogen in the muscles and liver that the fast twitch muscle need to fully activate; save that for heavy lifts. Never do static stretches cold; use full range of motion with your exercises to promote flexibility.
Your not gaining muscle because:
1. Not eating enough protein and/or calories
Get a good shot of protein and simple carbs right after a workout. You have a 20 minute window when the muscles are primed to absorb a lot of carbs and protein. Raw eggs are an excellent source of protein and other essential nutrients.
Eat .8-1.0 grams of protein per pound per day.
Go heavier on protein after a hard workout and the following 2 days.
2. Not enough sleep and/or inadequate recovery time. The muscle is fully recovered when it is; it's not an arbitrary time frame. May take 2 days or after a hard squat session up to 7 days.
Training every day isn't needed or even desirable especially as your learning.
3. Poor training techniques.
4. Overtraining.
You may gain muscle slower than some but gain you will if you train and eat well.
The squats are the king; when you do back squats everything grows.
Use a good pair of boots to squat; you want you feet planted on the floor; running shoes give way and can destabilize you during the lift.
You lift to -work- the muscle, not to lift the weigh.
Once you understand this your gains will accelerate. Lift for the burn.
Read as much as possible about body building or strength training. It's as much a mental and knowledge based art as it is physical one.
Get into a hard core gym as soon as possible.
Lol, the CCP virus ain't nothing... ditch the mask and get pumping.