Talk:Alpha Clock Firmware
This is the Alpha Clock Firmware discussion page. If you have suggestions for future versions of the Alpha Clock Five firmware, this would be a good place to leave them.
Count-down timer with elapsed rounds count-up timer with elapsed rounds
Documentation or feature demonstrating use of a common IR remote Documentation or feature demonstrating use of a solenoid or servo (useful for ringing a bell for example).
Documentation or feature demonstrating use of buttons ("mark time" or "laps", not necessarily stopping the clock).
- This is an excellent idea, but we'll probably want to implement it as a fork; an independently downloadable set of software examples. -Windell Oskay / Evil Mad Science (talk) 18:09, 20 September 2012 (PDT)
Five letter word clock
How about a 5 letter word clock option? I don't know if you are familiar with the four letter word clock? The clock randomly generates four letter words. See http://www.tubeclockdb.com/news/236-zetalinkbiz.html. (I'm not affiliated in any way, just came up near the top of a google search).
A four letter word clock would be a cool operating mode as well.
- The Four Letter Word clock was indeed an inspiration in building Alpha Clock Five. We weren't sure if people would be interested in that. ;) Tricky question: Do we use random words (like the original) or do we seed it with a big dictionary? -Windell Oskay / Evil Mad Science (talk) 18:09, 20 September 2012 (PDT)
Also, some animation options would be nice when the time changes: spinners, chasers etc.
- We're implementing fades between numbers. Spinners and chasers are something that we could consider for the future. -Windell Oskay / Evil Mad Science (talk) 18:09, 20 September 2012 (PDT)
How about a Bluetooth module that uses the serial interface which would connect to your computer and use the clock as a remote text display for tweets, stock ticker, emails notification, etc.
- It's certainly straightforward to build this (Here's a related example with an xBee: http://sentman.com/users/james/weblog/b7a59/ ) but we don't plan to build this as a stock option. -Windell Oskay / Evil Mad Science (talk) 18:09, 20 September 2012 (PDT)
Sports watch fork?
Sports watches have a great deal of functionality, and many have only four buttons. Perhaps there could be a "sports watch" fork of the firmware.
- This is an excellent idea. And yes, as we mentioned above, we'll want to implement these kinds of things as forks -Windell Oskay / Evil Mad Science (talk) 18:09, 20 September 2012 (PDT)
Would it be possible to buy an Alpha Clock case without the engraved labels on the top piece?
(For instance, for "no snoozing" contexts)
- Yes. Contact Evil Mad Science directly if you'd like to buy one. We will probably not put something like that up as a stock item unless there are a lot of requests. -Windell Oskay / Evil Mad Science (talk)
Countdown to Departure
I would like a countdown that automatically starts at a preset time. For example, at 6:30 am the clock starts a 60 minute countdown. That's when the kids need to leave the house. Thanks
- Another excellent idea, one that we've discussed frequently. As we mentioned above, we'll want to implement these kinds of things as forks -Windell Oskay / Evil Mad Science (talk) 18:09, 20 September 2012 (PDT)
