Using BASIC to prove a (dumb) point.

I recently got lured in to downloading some casual game for my phone. (Thank you, gas station rewards program, for telling me I could earn a bonus from you if I downloaded this stupid game.)

I gave up these time wasters years ago when I realized how much time they wasted.

But with this addictive substance back on my phone, I was thrown back in and realized… nothing has changed. It’s even worse. These games are not games. They are ad platforms. Every few minutes you get an ad. Or, you have to watch an ad to get something you need.

I will repeat… These games are not games. They are ad platforms.

But, once new trend is how many ads for other games I see that offer “real cash” for playing them. They show folks who are broke pulling out their phone and then playing to get the money they need. “It’s just that easy!”

Obviously, if you could easily make hundreds of dollars playing a game, you wouldn’t need to pay to advertise that game. People would all know about it from word-of-mouth and we’d all be doing that.

What is even more amusing (at least to me) is how many ads warn you about “scam games” … while basically being the same game they are warning you to avoid.

But one thing caught my attention… These ads will claim to be “skill based” games. Many of them are card games like Solitaire.

While it is true there is skill to know how to play a certain set of random cards you have been dealt, there is zero skill that can prevent you from losing if you get enough bad hands. Likewise, any “skill” game that uses a roll of the dice you can 100% be guaranteed to lose if you had enough random bad rolls of the dice and your opponent had enough random good rolls.

And that gave me a (dumb) idea…

The house always wins.

As a kid, I remember playing Battleship with friends. In case you are unfamiliar, here is the wiki page for this game:

Battleship (game) – Wikipedia

Basically, you place your ships on a grid, aligned vertically or horizontally, and your opponent does the same. You then call out the coordinate you want to “bomb” on your opponent’s grid, and they tell you if you had a “hit” or a “miss.”

Some of us cheated.

Since there was no way to verify where the ships were, if your opponent called a shot that was a “hit,” you could easily move your piece out of the way to a new spot and report “miss.” Evil. But fun. This caused LONG games, playing until you basically got down to where the ships had no other place to be.

Because of this, I never trusted the Battleship clone I played on my Radio Shack Color Computer. How could I ever trust that computer wouldn’t “cheat” the same way?

But hey, Battleship is a game of skill — after all, it does not use any random roll of the dice or deal of a card.

But the card and dice games are completely “random” and no matter how skilled you are, you can have a hard time winning against bad randomness ;-)

I thought it would be fun to write a simple BASIC Blackjack (or 21) card game, except the computer would cheat. It would have a list of all un-dealt cards, and ensure it always gives the best card to the dealer, and the worst to the opponent. If things were truly random, this is a possibility with a truly random outcome.

The same cheating computer could be done for any random game — just as Monopoly. Imagine ALWAYS getting a roll that makes you pay rent or Go To Jail, while the computer always got a roll that got them to a safe property, or one they could buy.

Shall we play a game?

I will not present code for this yet. I have not written it. But, perhaps one of you will beat me to it.

My idea:

  1. The cards are in a random array of 52.
  2. The computer dealer will always get the best cards. Initially a face card and an ace, then as those cards are depleted, two cards totaling ten. At that point, there is no way the player can ever get two cards at 21. And, if the player got 20, the “house always wins” so even if that happened, the computer wins.
  3. After the player receives its cards, any request to “hit” would be a card just enough to make them bust.
  4. This process would continue through the rest of the deck.

I am unsure if, at some point, it would ever turn into a “fair” game. And this is why I want to write this dumb idea.

Thoughts?

Insta360 X5 night shooting – 360 Video versus PureVideo

The local government is about to tear down some intersection fountain displays, so I have been capturing them in photos and VR. I was hoping to get some night video as well, with the lights on, but the lights may no longer work.

Anyway, here is a recording using fully automatic 360 “Video” mode, versus fully automatic 360 “PureVideo” mode. The 360 video was then exported as a flat video in 4K, then combined as a split screen using Final Cut Pro. The video is shown in horizontal split screen, then again in vertical split.

What do you think?

Segway Ninebot Max G3 and jerky acceleration

The Max G3 is an amazing piece of tech. While this $1200 scooter does not have even half the range my $799 Kugoo G5 had, nor the smooth ride (thinner tires), everything else about it seems much better. However, if you look at some reviews, and search posts on REDDIT and Facebook groups, you find many users reporting jerky acceleration. My unit definitely has this issue, and I’ve been e-mailing with Segway Support over it the past 7 days since I initially received my unit.

This post is a compilation of what I have learned so far, based on user reports and official information from Segway.

Known Issue: Riding is jerky

First, Segway has posted an article, which I found inside the Segway App’s help section, specifically about riding feeling “jerky”.

You can also read this article on their website:

Riding is jerky | Segway eKickScooter Ninebot MAX G3 Series/F3 Series | Ninebot

Whatever this issue is, it is common enough for them to address it inside the app and on the website. However, as I went to write up this post, I found they have similar entries like this for other scooters, so it is not limited to just the Max G3 and F3 series.

The jerking is just the acceleration being awesome.

Another common report of “jerky acceleration” is likely just that this scooter has WONDERFUL torque and accelerates incredibly fast. Reports from users with “good” Max G3s say this is wonderful and super smooth. However, the throttle is touchy and if you are trying to hold a slower speed (i.e., you are in Sport mode with a max speed of 28 mph then you want to slow down to 15 and cruise through some tricky spots), the scooter will feel jerky, as if the motor is pulsing on and off.

On my scooter, this is very noticeable. As I ride, it feels like the motor is cutting off and I am pushed forward a bit towards the handles each time it happens. Very annoying. And, when I was initially trying out Sport mode, it felt dangerous. Because of that, I have been riding in lower speed modes, and avoiding Sport entirely.

There are reports that the earlier firmware had issues like this, but an update solved it. Recently a new firmware was released which some users reported made it better — but that update was quickly removed. I have not seen it pop up in the USA yet.

I think there are two issues here. The touchy throttle sounds like something they can fix in firmware, or maybe make go away completely just by reducing the acceleration. (I’d suggest slow acceleration in normal mode, fast acceleration in Boost mode.)

Max speed can still have “jerkiness”

But for my problem, I feel the jerking even when running with the throttle all the way down in Drive mode (16 mph). While I certainly do have the problem when trying to maintain a slower speed, it still happens when I have it maxed out — which tells me my scooter has a different issue than “acceleration is really fast.”

Not variable speed? That’s what they say!

A real puzzler is how many users responded that this scooter does not have variable speed. They say the motor is either on or off and that “all Segway scooters are like this.”

However, when I asked Segway Support about this, they said it 100% has variable speed and you should be able to maintain any speed level you want. I suspect the users saying this have the same problem I have and may not know it’s a problem — they think “that’s just the way it is.”

My scooter is perfect!

And then there are plenty of folks saying everything is perfect — specifically, every YouTube review I have seen so far. Not one of them mentioned any issues with acceleration. Perhaps they had review units that were inspected to make sure they were 100% working?

Conclusion

I will update this page with more details. Segway Support thinks something is wrong with my scooter, and asked me to disassemble some stuff to send to them for inspection and repair. When I explained I just got it last week, they suggested returning it to the seller for replacement.

I will be doing that, and if my second unit has the same issues, I plan to return it. Mine is not a pleasant experience compared to every other scooter I have ridden.

Segway Max G3 charging question…

Here is something I am wondering about … When I plug in the Segway Max G3 to charge it, the tail light will light up and slowly fade up and down as it charges.

At some point, I heard a sound I did not recognize. I assume it was a sound from the scooter. I opened the Segway app, and saw that the scooter was now at 100%. I now assume this sound means “I’m done charging now.” I also noticed that the brake light was solid red instead of fading. I now assume that “fading on/off means charging” and “solid red means done.”

Screenshot

You will notice it says 100% with an estimated range of 40 miles. This means the app is showing the low-end of the “40-50 miles” range that their marketing states of this scooter:

However, you will also see that the time left for charging says 33 minutes. So are we done, or are we not?

I left it plugged up to see what happened. After a half hour or so, I noticed that the brake light as now completely off. I now assume “off” means “I am done charging now, for real this time.” The app still shows the same 40 miles estimate, but no longer has the “time left” readout:

My question is … what is the purpose of having the initial “I’m done” with the sound, 100% in the app, and the brake light changing to solid, but still having a “oh, but wait, there’s more time to charge” indicator. I wondered if that extra time would get the range estimate higher than 40, but as you can see it did not.

Thoughts?

The tech in this scooter is amazing. There is a TON of battery diagnostics. I’ll have to post about that at some point. But first, I need to finish my multipart blog post about what I dislike about this scooter, in hopes it might save someone from making a $1200 mistake if they also don’t like those things ;-)

Until then…

Segway Ninebox Max G3 electric scooter problems

I have a writeup in progress that will document the things about the Segway Max G3 electric scooter that I really dislike. (Sneak preview: If I had test ridden one first, I would not have gotten one. Period.)

But, as I learn that more and more owners are experience the same jerky throttle issue that is my #1 complaint, I thought I’d post this quick update. Inside the Segway app, the jerky motion is addressed with the following entry about a hardware issue:

Perhaps this is why all the YouTubbers have amazing, fantastic glowing “reviews” of the scooter, and then there are those of us experience absolutely awful throttle control wondering why none of them mentioned how bad this scooter rides.

More to come… (Including how awful the range is on this $1200 scooter.)

Experimenting with Insta360 timelapse…

A feature I have only played with a few times (on any camera) is timelapse. The first time I did it with an Insta360 camera was when I got my first one – a ONE X2 – and tested it while visiting Universal Studios Florida. While having a meal, I let the camera run . This video is on my Park Hopping YouTube channel:

Later, when I upgraded to an X3, I stuck it on the top of my car with a magnet mount and just let it record the sky.

I did a few tests like this, and they are somewhere on my Sub-Etha Software YouTube channel.

By the time I had an X4, I think I only used this feature one time — and that was just a few weeks ago. I let it record while folks where leaving Silver Dollar City at the end of the day. That video is posted on my DisneyFans.com/ParkHopping.com Facebook page, I think.

And that was the end of my experiments with timelapse…

But recently, I saw an interesting “day to night” timelapse posted by Best360:

This motivated me to began experimenting again. I used an external battery pack handle, attached to the top of my tripod, and set up my camera to record from 7:30pm until it was dark at 8:30pm.

My first attempt failed. Apparently I did not hit the button properly…

My second attempt went much better, but at the end of the timelapse, everything was still pretty bright due to the new X5 producing a brighter image. I am unsure if the camera is doing something to change modes as it gets dark — I just used the “Timelapse” mode and let it do whatever it wanted to do.

My third attempt I ran from 7:30pm to 9pm. It was even more dark, but you can see it still does not look dark in the timelapse:

It is an interesting feature, but quite boring unless you actually reframe it to pan the video and give it a bit more motion.

Have you done much with this mode? If you know of a good use for it, leave a comment.

Until next time…

Microsoft Bugs

There is an old Disney urban legend that Walt Disney was cryogenically frozen and, when medical technology has evolved to cure his cancer, he will be thawed out and cured. In modern internet times, this tale really took off with Disney fans, leading to several books and even a movie:

The Further Adventures of Walt’s Frozen Head (2018) – IMDb

If I recall, my name is in the credits of that movie … because I backed it on Kickstarter or whatever fund raisingsite it was using at the time. ;-)

But I digress…

It has been claimed that Disney’s “ice princess” movie was released under the title Frozen so when people web search for “walt disney frozen” the search engines will return hits about the movie Frozen instead of the urban legend. “Ah! It’s a cover up! It must be true!”

And this is clearly not true, because if you web search for that, you get a bunch of front page results about the urban legend, well before you get to anything about the animated movie.

What Would Microsoft Do?

But this does give me an idea. Microsoft has released a number of games for Windows over the year, such as Microsoft Solitaire, Microsoft Freecell, Microsoft Minesweeper and Microsoft Pinball Arcade.

I propose Microsoft create a new game for Windows called “Bugs” — perhaps some modern update of Dung Beetles (known as Mega-Bug on the CoCo).

That way, when you web search “microsoft bugs” you get results about the game, and not about the frustrating thing that just got pushed to your PC in the latest Microsoft Windows Update.

Just a thought…

Until next time…