Windows Mobile/PocketPC

[wibbble]

I'm going to go and pick-up (or at least order) a Windows Mobile phone this week. I've not used Windows Mobile/PocketPC before, so I've been searching around for what software's available and suchlike. I've been using a Sony-Ericsson P910i until now, and I've previously used PalmOS PDAs years ago - oh, and my day job is tech support for a major

Comments

[t3dy]

that reminds me of a great technopagan icebreaker/pickup line: "so what software do you run on your PDA Talisman?" it's cool that we can finally fit the magic book into the magick wand.

i'd be interested to see somebody write text adventures (and other genres of magical text) while using one of those things in a ritual context, dedicating it to the purpose of carrying on the specific artistic/ritual work. the big question as ever is whether to keep it separate from the gadget/toy realm.

[wibbble]

I don't see any need to keep it separate - it's a device that I'll be using all day, every day. That gives it a powerful connection (and I don't just mean the cellular radio).

[t3dy]

word... the whole "esoteric" distinction causes problems when the sacred gets labeled profane. i'm all about mixing gadgets and talismans, me.

[tlttlotd]

Been there, done that. A couple of years ago I built a LambdaMOO as a ritual implement. My group and I got quite a few years of interesting results using it, mostly self-transformative workings and not a few servitors, but when they blow up, boy do they blow up.

I recommend the plain-jane LambdaCore over JHcore because it's better documented.

[wibbble]

I was always a TinyMU* person, myself.

[tlttlotd]

Why, if you don't mind my asking? I'm always interested in the reasons people use various engines and platforms.

[wibbble]

MOO platforms were mostly used for socialising rather than RP-based games. MUD (LP, etc) platforms were typically used for hack-and-slash rather than 'proper' RP games.

I was familiar with TinyMUX (and TinyMUSH 3, which is derived from the TinyMUX line), which was versatile enough to do whatever I wanted.

[tlttlotd]

That makes sense. Thank you.

I preferred MOO systems because of the programming environment. I was really into OO at the time, and it was too perfect a match for my purposes.

[wibbble]

The TinyMUSH/X line used a scripting language known as 'softcode' (as opposed to 'hardcode', the C/C++ used in the actual server). It's been compared to line noise, and also described as a write-only language

[tlttlotd]

Code like that was what turned me off to TinyMUSH. Lambda code is much more intuitive - it reads more like Perl or C, though it has a couple of constructs that aren't native to either language.

Here's a link to the programmer's guide if you're interested.

The object hierarchy, once you figure it out, is easy to make use of, though determining which methods need to be overloaded if you're going to do something interesting (like writing a semiautonomous construct) can be tricky.

[wibbble]

My toy dog was entirely smoke and mirrors - it 'listened' to its environment and responded to a set list of phrases (with certain words being interchangeable from a larger list). It was convincing for newbies, though.

I've looked into MOO, and the other platforms, before - but I'm not really in that scene any more and wouldn't gain much from spending time learning a new platform for it. I'd be better off working on one of my projects that might actually have a useful return. (Like maybe, one day, finishing my bloody cpanel system so I can launch my hosting company and stop pissing the colo fees down the drain every month.)