Boggle's Project Ideas
Also see: Boggle's Ideas about finding and starting projects
1. Directory Synchronising:
Take two directories, (e.g. one on fixed disk and
one on ZIP drive or one on a web-server), check
files existing and creation/update times, and
seek to make both the same, by copying and
deleting files. Need some control over process,
e.g. bidirectional synch, master/slave model,
individual file specifications.
I've picked up a heap of such programs from the
archives, but they're either brain-dead or undocumented.
2. Generic Print Utility:
On MSWindows9x platform - to offer print facilities
such as printing to a graphics file format
(like Mac 'print-to-pict' utility, or Adobe PDF maker)
or 4-up printing. Would need to sit between application
and chosen 'real' printer driver, intercepting commands
and interpreting. Initial prototype would just pass codes
on, giving a null facility.
3. Theatre Lighting Control:
There is equipment you can get to control lights (etc) from
a PC. We'd need firstly to get some of that kit (depending
on cost, I might be prepared to fork out for that, or get
our theatre group to fund it), then work out how to control
it at the technical level, then design and produce a program
that used that low-level control to offer useful facilities
for setting up and running lighting scripts.
4. WAP Simulator:
I don't know the details of WAP (Wireless Application Protocol
- i.e. web on a 'phone!), but it seems to be very much the
up-and-coming thing. Of course, you now need to design web-sites so
that they are usable on a very small, limited mobile phone screen.
My idea for this project is to produce a simulator that shows how
a site will look when viewed on such a screen. I would imagine that
different models of phone will have different screen resolutions etc.
The aim of this project is to produce an easily-customisable simulator,
so that you can test your site against a number of common phone
formats to check that it really is usable on the whole range, without
having to buy a dozen phones to try it on.