I got a couple of bumps from people interested in getting my games on an iPhone and/or helping me get there. Looks like it'll require an iPhone SDK subscription ($99) an OSX update on my little Mac Mini ($129) and an iPod touch for device testing ($229). Unfortunately I already wrote a paycheck from The Code Zone, so I'm gonna have to wait until I get some more available cash before I can buy the bits necessary. Figure I'll be able to get all this stuff sometimes in October. I'll keep you posted.

Most annoying thing is that the plan is pretty locked up. Basically everything's a ground-up rewrite. Even if there was another way to get apps on the phone, Apple won't let you use 'em.

I'll also take a close look at Android games. Android development is cheaper (specifically free), so that'll be on the horizon too. Android's gotta catch on first, so I have a little elbow-room there.


Next is my zillion-dollar idea. Backup hard drives with automated software and such are handy but they have one big problem, and that's that they're usually at the same location as the machine they're backing up. My idea is for a little self-contained backup box (i.e. a little tiny Linux motherboard hooked up to a hard drive) with wifi, and you can set the unit to sleep 23 hours a day and wake up just long enough to copy the changed files from yesterday.

And the housing is weatherproof and the whole unit works on 120 volts or 12 volts. That way you could stick it in a toolshed in your backyard or in the trunk of your car or in your neighbor's garage or anywhere else with electricity and will be safe if your house burns or floods or whatever.

And the drive encrypts everything so nobody will have your data if it gets stolen.