Matrix-style Screen Saver

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www16.brinkster.com/motbe/ce/matrix.asp' target='_blank'>http://www16.brinkster.com/motbe/ce/matrix.asp</a><br /><br /></div>Want something fun to look at while your Pocket PC is in it's cradle? Check out this Matrix screen saver for your Pocket PC.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/Matrix.gif" /> <br /><br />You'll need Pocket Candy installed to use this, but it's <a href="http://www16.brinkster.com/motbe/ce/PocketCandy.asp">free</a>.

[icatar]

Doh! Looks like the site reached its bandwidth limit for the day.

[heyday]

I got it before the bandwith limit.

Kind of cool... I wonder how much it slows your system down....

heyday

[masseym]

I have a funny feeling that this post had something to do with the bandwidth running out ;)

If anyone was able to get it, can they post it on a mirror?

[Pocket Lee]

just kdding.

man, i love matrix screan saver!!!!!

when ever i see it, it makes me feel like i am in the matrix

[motbe]

Yeah, since I go for free hosting (until I start charging for software), I don't usually get much bandwidth per day. Normally the site can handle it, but not today.. It was similar to the "Slashdot effect".. Now we've got the "PocketPCThoughts Effect" going on..

Just now I put a copy of the software up on Handango, so you can download it there (http://www.handango.com/PlatformProductDetail.jsp?productId=52804).

Thanks Jason for the posting!

[heyday]

"What is the Matrix?"

[perfyct]

Can someone post a mirror of PocketCandy as well?

[retlaw]

http://www.handango.com/PlatformTopSoftware.jsp?siteId=1&jid=BAEDE3A31BX7A973XCAE94FCD235D5C9&platformId=2&title=Strickland+Consulting&authorId=69595

[Sparkomatic]

You can find it on handango:


Here (http://www.handango.com/PlatformProductDetail.jsp?siteId=1&jid=387559DCF417523F83D69BDC37F6X3A2&productId=14879&optionId=1_2_2&productType=2&catalog=30&txtSearch=pocketcandy&sectionId=0&platformId=2)

[perfyct]

This board rules... Talk about quick response time! Thanks.

[Ekkie Tepsupornchai]

Hmmm.... Never noticed until now that the Matrix screen consisted of Japanase Kana & Kanji flipped horizontally (along with numbers)...

[Sparkomatic]

That's a pretty cool screen saver.

Thanks for the app! :wink:

[Bearjaw]

This is a great little app! I cant tell you how many times I've been at my desk saying " I wish I could have a nice screensaver on this thing!" I have a question though. Will this shorten the life of my screen? Jeff

[Ekkie Tepsupornchai]

This is a great little app! I cant tell you how many times I've been at my desk saying " I wish I could have a nice screensaver on this thing!" I have a question though. Will this shorten the life of my screen? Jeff
Shouldn't have any impact on the screen. If anything, it will use slightly more processing power than if your PPC had been idle which will in turn may use more battery, but that should be it...

[motbe]

I've actually thought about the "battery use" thing quite a bit (since I started writing PocketCandy several years ago).

I saw that I mostly use PocketCandy when my PocketPC is in the cradle (or when I started writing it, my HPC was plugged in).. And that's because when the device is on battery power, it turns off anyways (thus stopping all the running processes, and not consuming any more battery power). When on AC power, it's always running unless you've changed the options to turn it off.

I concluded that it's really going to use a negligible amount of battery power. PocketCandy runs a small background process to monitor when you input things into the system (so it can track when to launch a screensaver), and that process lies dormant most of the time, consuming very little of the CPU. And consequently, very little extra power.

And specifically regarding the screen, when your device is in the cradle, by default the screen's on all the time (unless you turn yours off), so your screen life is really not affected by PocketCandy.

[Bearjaw]

Thank you for the quick response! I love this program. My wife even commented about it! She walked by and said"thats cool!" that is the first time I have ever heard my wife say anything gadget I have is cool. Well except for the fact that I can fit 500 ebooks in the palm of my hand and it takes 8 full bookshelves to store her books.! LOL anyway thanks for the great program! Jeff

[Xyress]

Very cool. And it's free! Nice work! This just might be that "killer app" that will get people to buy PocketPCs :lol:

[Ekkie Tepsupornchai]

I concluded that it's really going to use a negligible amount of battery power. PocketCandy runs a small background process to monitor when you input things into the system (so it can track when to launch a screensaver), and that process lies dormant most of the time, consuming very little of the CPU. And consequently, very little extra power.

The background process is negligible. I was thinking whenever the screen save kicks in and you don't have the thing plugged. Even then, it's not a big deal b/c the unit will auto power off UNLESS you're doing something to keep it on (such as MP3 playback).

[thanos255]

I love this screen saver. It is great. Here are my questions though. Can someone explain the settings to me please.

Thanks
Thanos

[Jonathon Watkins]

"What is the Matrix?"

:lol:

You're definately part of it!

[heov]

this would look so much cooler on my jornada 548 screen because it is passive matrix, and thus it gives it a "blur" effect, which I believe the original matrix thing did...

Anyway, is there anyway to get this screen saver to leave like a little blurred "trail" behind?

Also, where can I get more screen savers? I never knew about this app...

[dean_shan]

Yahoo! I've been waiting for an app like this. A matrix screensaver was one of the apps that i've missed from my palm days, i'm glad to see that someone has made one for PPC.

[motbe]

thanos255:

The settings on the "General" tab are:

Screen Saver: allows you to select which screensaver runs
AC Power Delay: How much idle time that goes by before a screensaver is launched when your device is plugged in
Battery Power Delay: How much idle time that goes by before a screensaver is launched when your device is on battery power
PocketCandy Status: Either "enabled" if screensaving is enabled or "disabled" if not (i.e. whether or not PocketCandy will launch screensavers)
Daemon Status: Whether or not the background process that monitors user input is running. PocketCandy needs this to determine when to launch screensavers


For the "Advanced" tab:

Display status in the system tray: If checked, displays an icon in the system tray (at the bottom of your screen) on the Today screen of your PocketPC. The icon allows you to quickly get to the settings screen for PocketCandy.
Load PocketCandy at Device Startup: If checked, PocketCandy automatically loads when your device is soft-reset, meaning that it will automatically begin monitoring input, and then will launch screensavers accordingly.
Disable while on Battery Power: If checked, will cause PocketCandy to not launch screensavers when your device is on battery power.
Disable while Full Screen applications are running: If checked, will not launch a screensaver if you have a full screen application open, such as a game that's running full screen
Disable if the SIP is active: If checked, will not launch screensavers if the Software Input Panel (SIP) is up on screen (i.e. when you're writing something using Character Recognizer, Transcriber, or the like)
Log activity in "PocketCandy Log.txt": If checked, will create a log file named "PocketCandy Log.txt" in your \My Documents\ directory. The file will contain information that's helpful to me in debugging problems with PocketCandy.


You can also tap on Start->Help when PocketCandy is open, and that will open up the help file for PocketCandy.

[motbe]

...
Anyway, is there anyway to get this screen saver to leave like a little blurred "trail" behind?
...


Well, since I only ported the code, the original code didn't have the feature. It's something that I'd like to include, so possibly on the next release I can get to it. I'll put that down on my list of possible updates. Since that screensaver was also covered under GPL (if I remember right), I'll be releasing the source code to it, so anyone can take a stab at making it even more like the true effect in the Matrix..

...
Also, where can I get more screen savers? I never knew about this app...

Well, unfortunately, not many developers have taken to the idea of creating "screensavers" for the PocketPC. In some ways I feel like AfterDark did when they released their product long ago before Microsoft ever included screensavers in Windows 3.1. There are about 20 screensavers that I've created myself, and there are other applications that are out that can be used as such. I don't remember all the links right now, but you can check back with my site once it's up again, since there's a list of other ones up there.

Lately the trend has been to include Flash "screensavers" on the Today screen. Although the idea's cool, I guess I've always been partial to "true" screensavers like PocketCandy provides (but yes, I guess I'm biased). Anyhow, I've been toying with the idea of creating a framework for allowing Macromedia Flash developers to generate their own screensavers for the PocketPC. In fact, I've completed development on a basic version of this, I just haven't had the time to fully test it, and to recruit some flash developers to help in creating good content for it. If anyone's interested, you can let me know!

[asatyss]

This is great!! I just installed it, and it goes great with my Matrix today theme! Awesome!! :D

[Don't Panic!]

500 Internal Server Error at Handango. Any other sites to get this from?

Don't Panic!
Bobby

[motbe]

I just can't win today when it comes to posting things up on the web for download.

A friend of mine mirrored it for me at: http://www.mobilevisionssoftware.com/files/MatrixSetup.exe

PocketCandy is also mirrored there too: http://www.mobilevisionssoftware.com/files/PocketCandySetup.exe

[Don't Panic!]

Handango is back up. Thank you anyway motbe. :D

Don't Panic!
Bobby

[ECOslin]

"What is the Matrix?"

It's a floor wax and a healthy dessert topping!

[Rirath]

Hmm... I almost always turn my ppc screen off in the cradle using Nyditot, something about having it burn 24/7 just seems like generally bad idea. (But Rirath, just turn it off at night! -- No, that's the best part!) This almost makes me want to say heck with it and change my ways though. :wink:

Eh, still great work man. I love how it uses Kana... not sure how official that is (don't remember seeing that) but I love Japanese so it makes it even cooler.

[Kevin C. Tofel]

Free your mind!!!!

I LOVE IT!!!

:rock on dude!:
KCT

[hollis_f]

"What is the Matrix?"You obviously took the blue pill.

[Ekkie Tepsupornchai]

I love how it uses Kana... not sure how official that is (don't remember seeing that) but I love Japanese so it makes it even cooler.
There's some kanji characters in there too. I'm tempted to watch the Matrix again just to check if that's what was originally displayed on those screens. I'm not sure though if there's any scene where they are visibally noticeable though.

[Andy Sjostrom]

Pocket Candy? One of my Internet IDs is "PocketPCAndy"... :roll:

[motbe]

Pocket Candy? One of my Internet IDs is "PocketPCAndy"... :roll:
Hmm.. I'm not sure who had the name first.. .. Yeah, I think I saw your ID somewhere a while back, and it threw me for a loop at first. PocketCandy just sounded cool at the time (and I still think it does)... I think it came from "eye candy" for the PocketPC.. Thus the name.. "PocketScreensaver" or anything like that sounded a bit too boring to me then.. So I never went with that route...

Rirath and others:
The Kana/Kanji charset was used by Jamie Zawinski when he wrote the original Matrix Screensaver for XScreensaver (or XLock, I don't recall which) on Unix/Linux (which was the first incarnation of the code for the PocketPC version.) I think there was a comment somewhere in the code as to why he chose that set.. I think he said it took him a long time to find something that looked close to what he could see in the movie.. (and then took a long time to actually get the chars to look washed out like they do)...

[KISSONLINEMobile]

Not knowing what is involved in porting a screen saver, I do not know if this is possible, but there is a killer Star Trek LCARS saver available at http://www.mewho.com/system47/ that would look so cool on my iPAQ.

Please tell me this is do-able. I'd pay for this one :D!

[awierenga]

Any of you seen LockTheMatrix:

http://www.jgui.net/ltm/