An Advanced Alarm Clock Application Idea.

[Sugar_Kane]

In low power mode with the display turned off? VERY little impact on the battery. Probably just a couple of mA power drain.

Sorry, what I mean is the overall lifespan of the battery. I wasn't sure how having it on constantly, even plugged in, would lower the life expectancy of the batt.

 

[lulzfish]

The devs say it will run fine with the AC plugged in and no battery, as long as you don't strain it.
If you're really worried about your battery, you could take it out and put it in a lead-lined steel box in the refrigerator for the night. And post armed guards outside the fridge.

The battery is only affected by charging and discharging. If the Pandora is plugged in with the battery topped off, nothing will happen to it besides normal degradation.

 

[DAP]

Cron has a fundamental flaw. It can not cause the computer to power on to execute an event. Worse, there is no way in the syntax of the cron files to specify if an event must happen even if the computer is off, can be skipped, or can be done the next time the computer is on. (anacron addresses the last problem, but a comprehensive solution would be better)
cron needs to be rewritten to include this functionality (also so that it sleeps until the next scheduled event instead of waking every minute). The cron source code is so old that it is still in the K&R format.

 

[dflemstr]

I don't know why, but for some strange reason, I instantly came to think of that scene in Iron Man where what's-her-name wakes up in Tony Stark's house and is greeted by a window with misc. news info:


Anyways, I agree with B-ZaR that this is a perfect fit for QtKinetic for the GUI part of the app. Clutter might be impressive for basic applications, but if you want to create an eye-popping effect, Kinetic is the way to go.
Well, at least if looks matter at all.

 

[fraseyboy]

Actually, I started coding an alarmClock app for my use
I stopped it, but will resume when I have my (1st batch) Pandora.
i will think about integrating your idea.

I have a problem. I want to be sure how "loud" the alarm is. Is it possible to read teh value of the HW-volumeWheel some how?

BTW, why I code my own and don't use cron:
You may have heard of the sleep cycles your body goes thru. if you awake on a "good spot" on that cycle you awake more refreshed.
These cycles are around 90 minutes.

My idea:
When you go to sleep (after reading the latest forum posts on your Pandora) you click a "button" on the P or the touch screen.
In advance you have set wake-up time, say, 08:00am. You activate the alarm Clock at 01:30am. The program then tries to awake you with a not to loud sound (volume Wheel problem!) at 07:30am. If oyu are at a "good spot" in your sleep cycle you will awake fresh and in a good mood. Even in a better mood as you have 30 minutes extra fro a cup of coffee When you do not awake it tries 10m or 15m later and if everything fails at 08:00am it goes off like a real alarm clock.

I am sure that this all can be done with a basch script, however, I want to make it nice with some Clutter-GUI


PS:
that wouldn't be my first project I started but never finished. So if anyone finds the idea good, please tell me so that might motivate me more.
If anyone wants to make the graphic design that would be even more motivating.

That sounds like a fantastic idea! Including some (or all) of the features I've suggested would make it even MORE awesome. It would be like the most perfect alarm clock application ever.

I'm sure it would win a multitude of awards and make you rich and famous if you did develop it. In my humble opinion it is a no brainer. I'm TERRIBLE at graphic design so I can't help you there. I can offer input and advice though, so if you find that you're not sure whether it would be better to _______ or _______ then flick me a message and I'll give you my alternate opinion.

 

[TrashyMG]

Cron has a fundamental flaw. It can not cause the computer to power on to execute an event. Worse, there is no way in the syntax of the cron files to specify if an event must happen even if the computer is off, can be skipped, or can be done the next time the computer is on. (anacron addresses the last problem, but a comprehensive solution would be better)
cron needs to be rewritten to include this functionality (also so that it sleeps until the next scheduled event instead of waking every minute). The cron source code is so old that it is still in the K&R format.

You know I said cron as a joke..

 

[zevdawg]

Great idea... I have a physical alarm clock, which has two alarms. It doesn't seem to work, and when it does, it goes off on its own unscheduled times (even without having the alarm set).
For now, I'm using a combination of either my cellphone, or the ProdMe widget under OSX; that (actual) alarm clock works when it wants to work it seems, and I've been late for work on multiple occasions because of it

It would indeed be nice to have something that's automated on wake-up. FWIW I spend 30 minutes at home before I bolt off to work in the morning. Check weather, read sports, Engadget articles, and forums (this is on top of eating and getting ready for the day of course)... Widgets are desireable for the simple task of checking weather, RSS, sports feeds, etc. So it would be cool to see the Pandora connect to WiFi, gather data, display it within the perimeters of said widgets. I say this because that's what I've been using on my mac, beats opening up a webpage to do the same, and faster (actually it might be easier to setup a widget based system so that you're not having it open up a bunch of applications, then have to go about closing said apps later).

I agree with having a pre-alarm, but that too should be customizable (in 5 minute increments up to say half hour before the actual alarm, but the pre-alarm should emit a certain tone (short bleep-boops maybe?) at the right frequency, and at the right dB level).

I'd be willing to test this (I have backups if it ever fails) if some devs get on with it ^_^

(says BETA TESTER in my sig for a reason, after all)

Edit 2: I know quite a few good artists, but not certain if they'd want to charge a commission on artwork... if programmers need graphics, I could look around (actually that brings to mind that I have a couple friends who also do 3D renders, I *know* one who'd be more than happy to do 3D artwork for ya).

 

[davidgro]

Cron has a fundamental flaw. It can not cause the computer to power on to execute an event. Worse, there is no way in the syntax of the cron files to specify if an event must happen even if the computer is off, can be skipped, or can be done the next time the computer is on. (anacron addresses the last problem, but a comprehensive solution would be better)
cron needs to be rewritten to include this functionality (also so that it sleeps until the next scheduled event instead of waking every minute). The cron source code is so old that it is still in the K&R format.

Nokia has solved all of those problems (including powering-on for events and managing events from multiple apps) on their OMAP3 and Linux based N900 (also on the earlier Internet Tablets) - with libalarm, Documentation (Thanks B-ZaR).
Source tarball here - as well as armel .debs

In my opinion this library should be used by any alarm or calendar apps. Ideally it should come with the firmware.