metalbabble.com/technobabble

Yes, these pictures are showing a Motorola Droid running Windows. Here’s how to pull it off…

First off, think of all the cool uses for x86 emulation on an Android phone. All those old PC games that ran under DOS or older versions of Windows, and just the pure nerdyness of it all… it’s too much to resist.

First step: Android SDK

To get started, you will need to install the Android SDK. The reason being is you’ll need the program “adb” which essentially allows you in debug mode to issue commands to the phone (like installing programs) you can get and install the sdk here: http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html

Actually getting set up with a working development environment for Android is a whole other story - you’ll need a IDE like Eclipse. But for now, all we’re concerned about is that adb program in the tools subdirectory.

Get your phone ready

Your phone will need some settings set up, go into your settings application and then “applications” you’ll see a section for development settings. You’ll want debug mode on, you’ll want the phone to stay awake on usb, and you’ll also want the setting in applications to allow installation from unknown sources. After this is all set, plug the phone in via usb, and mount it.

Getting the emulator set up

For this, we’re using DOSBOX - which is a handy emulator for many, many platforms. The android version is available here: http://androiddosbox.appspot.com/

The instructions for installing DOSBOX are on this page. Essentially you’ll be using adb to send the .apk file to your phone. It’s simple, just navigate to the tools directory and type “adb install” followed by the name of the apk you get from the downloaded zip file.

Example, on the mac terminal: ./adb install ~/Desktop/WVGA/aDosBox.apk  (In this example I’m in the tools directory running adb and pointing to the extracted zip file on my desktop - a folder called WVGA containing aDosBox.apk

Next, we need to copy a configuration file for dosbox. Use adb followed by “push” and the name of the file and then the destination. For example: ./adb push ~/Desktop/WVGA/dosbox.conf /sdcard/dosbox.conf (first is adp, then push, then the source, then the destination)

Edits

You can use phone itself if you have a file manager program like ASTRO, or just use your computer - but you’ll want to make some tweaks to the dosbox.conf file. First off, give it additional memory. 8, 16mb — enough to run windows 3.1 or 9x. (Sorry I hope you weren’t expecting Windows 7 here!) Also feel free to add your own commands to the autoexec.bat section of the config file. Old skool users will remember that autoexec.bat is just a batch file that runs at startup.

Also, on the phone I made a dosbox directory organize all the x86 stuff.

Windozing

Well, at this point you should have the DOSBOX application on your phone which will fire right up into DOS. You can technically but any executables and run them from the prompt. I really cheated, what I did was install the Windows environment in a virtual machine on my laptop and then, copy the windows directory onto the phone. Nothing is stopping you from copying the setup files to your phone and running setup.exe — but do you really want the pleasure of sitting through a windows installation on a cell phone? Well maybe you do, since you’ve gone this far!

Final Thoughts

Launching windows is done with the “win” command, you can add this to the configuration file under the autoexec section or just run it manually at the prompt. Enjoy!

A quick and dirty top 15 list of geeky, useful, AND FREE android apps:

AK Notepad
A simple note taking program. Quick, painless, and free.

Aldiko
An eBook reader with access to lots of free eBooks online.

Android LightSaber
You need this, to battle iPhone users and their lightsaber apps.

Android VNC / Remote RDP Lite
These allow you to remote into macs and PCs. Slow, but still usefull and downright fun.

ASTRO (or ES File Explorer)
A program like ASTRO is practically essential. Use it to browse files on your phone, LAN, or even over FTP. So incredibly useful it should be shipped with each phone!

Barcode Scanner
Not only for the fun of scanning products, but the barcodes you encounter online and in real life that point to android apps and content!

Barnacle Wifi Tether (for rooted phones)
For those of you who have been able to root your phone, you can use this app to transform your phone into a mobile access point for laptops, ipads, etc. Killer!

Goggles
Mostly for the fun-factor, this app will scan, identify, and lookup objects just using your camera. It also can identify businesses similar to Layar and Wikitude which also belong on this list probably!

Google Sky Map
Simple and awesome, point it to the sky, see what stars/planets are there.

Meebo IM
The best way to IM on your phone - includes support for AIM, ICQ, and many other popular clients.

Mojo NES / SNesoid Lite
To me, this is the example of why Android is a better platform than iPhone. Because unlike the iPhone which has a restrictive app store - you get things like these which are in the grey area of what’s legal and what’s not. But anyways, there are plenty of emulators including the two mentioned above. There are also emulators for genesis, gameboy advance, and various other platforms! The free versions do the job, the pro versions give you some essentials like saving games, etc.

Pandora
Put in a name of a band, and listen for free as you discover new music. Songs will be selected for you, you rate the music, and it will start finding new stuff for you! Also of note is Shazam, which will identify music it hears. Great for finding the name of a song you hear out somewhere that you like.

PDA Net
This doesn’t require any hacking or rooting, what it does is allows you to use your phone as a modem for your laptop. Works great with my MacBook. The free version limits some stuff like https sites, so it’s worth paying if you use it intensively.

Terminal Emulator
Simply gives you access to a shell, linux and unix users will be right at home!

Trapster
This app shows you where speed traps are. You can identify speed traps and warn other drivers.

Obviously it’s hard to limit this list to just 15, there are plenty of incredible apps for Android.

Somebody recently asked me what game I had the most fun making, and then which game I thought came out the best on metalbabble.com - turns out it’s the same answer to both questions: MegaMac 5.

If you’re new to metalbabble.com you’ve probably never heard of MegaMac before - if you’re asking what it is, well you should probably just download it and see for yourself. The MegaMac series is a cross between an ode and a loving parody to classic console games like Super Mario Bros, MegaMan, etc. Music and other elements are brought in to make an experience like none other.

The format of the game is just like MegaMan: pick a boss, play the level, get a new ability. If you grew up with these classic console games, and even if you didn’t - you’ll love MegaMac!

MegaMac 5, and all the MegaMac games were simply loads of fun to make, and I’m always playing around with ideas of where to bring the series next!

Here’s a quick round-up of some of the awesome, nerdy, and delicious cakes Amy has made for me…

* Slime cake - from Dragon Quest

* Penguin cake - Linux, and of course penguins are awesome!

* Black Truck - Looks like a Chevy Colorado (even has pin stripes)

* 1-Up - from the Mario series

* Katamari - I made this one, which is why it’s a bit lop-sided!

(See photos!)

Some things get better with age, and if you’re a retro game fan like me - then you’re in luck.

What is Abandonware?

Abandonware refers to software that is old, abandoned, and usually no longer supported or protected by the creators. It can be a gray area because companies are usually very protective about their copyrights - even those that are quite old. Nintendo, for example, has traditionally held a tight grip on their copyrights to older titles. Now that we have Virtual Console, we can understand why.

Old computer games are a little different.  (Sometimes) There are many games that have gone free, open source, or just fallen out of the interest of the orginating companies - if they even still exist. If you grew up with DOS or MAC you may have some old favorites you might like to play again.

This article will focus on old DOS games and getting them to play - not just on Windows but also Mac and Linux.

First up, you need something that can run the games. In many cases emulation or virtualization will do the trick. For old DOS games many people turn to DOSBOX. It’s a great little program that is available on various platforms.

Get DOS BOX here: http://www.dosbox.com/

Other ideas include VirtualBox, Virtual PC, VM Ware Fusion, or Parallels

If you’re using DOS BOX you have some configuration to do. When you run the program you get a usual DOS prompt. To get at your files, you have to mount the location. So, if in Windows you have a directory of games at c:\games you can type “mount c: c:\games” to get that directory into DOS BOX.

Other useful things will be going full screen (alt-enter) and adjusting the speed of emulation: ctrl-f11, ctrl-f12. Many old games will run extremely fast on newer machines, so some throttling will be necissary.

DOS BOX also has many front ends available for it, dosshell, boxer, and so forth. These make it easier to have multiple configurations for multiple games. It also simplifies the loading proess for your programs. If you enjoy tweaking your system, you can locate the DOS BOX configuration file (in Windows it’s in your install directory) — in the configuration file you can change defaults such as starting full screen, sound/graphics options, speed, and so forht.

All you need now is some programs. There are many sites out there with Abandonware galore. One I used to find some of my old favorites was: TheOldComputer.com

The Basics

You’ll need a computer and a TV. My TV made it easy because it has VGA output. But ideally you could even run HDMI if your PC had it. The machine I used for the job was my old Mac Mini. Not only was it small and unobtrusive, but it has infrared for remote-control and frontrow - apple’s media center software that comes with pretty much every mac now.

Along with this machine I brought along a spacious external hard drive with my music collection, movies, and other stuff. The thing is on all the time and shares it’s filesystem so I can get at it from my laptop.

Oh and if you’re not into Macs, check out Windows Media Center or Myth TV for Windows and Linux respectfully.

Universal Remote

I have a “learning” remote which I can point a remote to it and it learns the commands automatically. This made it very easy to have my Mac respond to my universal remote commands. For example, hit menu for front row, volume, next tracks, arrows, etc. Again I think you’d have to have a learning remote for this to work… but it works PERFECTLY

Keyboard/Mouse - or lack thereof

The last thing I wanted was a wired keyboard and mouse running across the floor. You can get a wireless keyboard and mouse for around $30 at Target, but I was kind of a chump and sprung for the Logitech diNovo edge. It has an integrated touchpad and all the media buttons, plus it’s small and rechargeable. It’s pricey but it’s the best thing out there. They made a smaller version just for this purpose. http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/keyboards/keyboard/devices/192&cl=US,EN

Oh yeah, they make a mac and a pc version… but the pc version is cheaper and works on the mac anyways

Recording Video

You’ll need either a video capture card or a similar usb device if you want to have your media center perform dvr functions. I’m not the person to ask about this because this wasn’t one of my goals with the project - verizon already provides a multi-room dvr so the pc doesn’t worry about this.

Next Steps

This is the fun part, you can set up your machine to behave however you want. See what goodies are available for your platform. I made a “TV” guest login with just the essential icons - web browser, tv listings (widget), games, and links to watching shows on iTunes, Hulu, and other TV stations. I also have all of my games ready to play full screen and on the nice surround sound setup. This part just takes some creativity.

Mimi

This is a PowerMac 7600 upgraded with a Sonnet Crescendo G3 card and LOTS of ram. It has 4 hard drives, a cd, zip, and a floppy. Extra hard drives are cooled by two fans all on a seperate power supply in the lower case. One computer, four hard drives, two cases, unlimited fun.

Running

• Mac OS X
• Voice Recognition

Lessons Learned

• You can install OS X on an older machine, or at least an older machine with a G3 upgrade card.
• A 300mhz mac can run Mac OS 9 running Windows 98 running Mac OS 7 running Apple II running DOS. EMULATORS RUNNING EMULATORS! See Larger Screenshot

ABOVE: Mac running Windows running Mac running AppleII running DOS

Lil Bandit

Started out life as a laptop. After being trampled and catching fire its board was used in a “custom case” that I made out of lego blocks.

As you can see it’s running Red Hat Linux