Enable Wakoopa tracking within ScummVM

[kwill]

I use Wakoopa to track my software usage. As well as desktop apps it can track which webapps you're using within a browser, so I figured why not track which apps you're using within ScummVM? (Originally I was thinking of DOSBox but the same thinking applies to ScummVM)

Unfortunately the Wakoopa dev team aren't focussing on supporting new (or rare ) platforms, at least they gave me an honest answer at http://www.getsatisfaction.com/wakoopa/ ... _platforms

What I'd like to find out is if anyone on the ScummVM project has ideas on how to make it easy for Wakoopa to support SVM, and get in touch with them. The way I see it what needs to happen is that SVM needs to make the current EXE or COM filename available for inspection, in a similar fashion to how the Wakoopa tracker can find the browser's current URL. Then, it'll be up to the ScummVM player/Wakoopa user to update the "dott.exe" entry to read "Day of the Tentacle" and attach screenshots, etc.

Feel free to add your support or input on the GS thread linked above so the Wakoopa team can see it. If you haven't used Wakoopa before, you may want to start at http://wakoopa.com/software/scummvm

d<3vid

[bobdevis]

If Wakoopa can keep track of some random programs you start, there would be no need for special support inside ScummVM for individual games.

You can make ScummVM launchers for individual games and keep track of those. For example, the internal name of Discworld1 in ScummVM is 'dw'.
If you make a launcher that starts "scummvm dw" instead of just "scummvm" and keep track of how long you have that running you will know how much you play Discworld 1.

[fingolfin]

Maybe you should have started the question by explaining what this "Wakoopa" thing is, including links etc?

Anyway, this looks like something requiring a dedicated PC or Mac software to interface, with no portable way to access it, and in any case seems like something *highly* specific. Maybe there are 10 other platforms like it out there, why should we go with this particular one?

[Reckless]

From their about page, like fingolfin I had no idea what this was...

Wakoopa is an online social network that helps people discover the best software, games and web applications on the market. It's the Yellow Pages of software discovery. Sign-up, install a small tracker on your desktop and automatically create your own online software profile that you can share with friends and the world via widgets – including Facebook. Wakoopa keeps you updated about what your contacts are using, and sends them smart recommendations based upon their own software usage. Games, audio & video players, instant messengers or office tools: Wakoopa helps people discover the best desktop and web applications on the market. Software discovery is social again.

Which sane person would actually *want* this? Mind you, I personally think anything that proports to be anything 'social' is a complete waste of time/effort.

Secondly, I would imagine the priority of adding or improving support for a game would outweigh the 'Jimmy is now playing Broken Sword through ScummVM' 'social networking' feature...

[Longcat]

time for me to shamelessly plug:

http://windows.iusethis.com/
http://osx.iusethis.com/
http://iphone.iusethis.com/

go there, don't be square:P

[Red_Breast]

What's the point of tracking your software usage? Is it for people with bad memories who can't remember what software they use?
I'm with Reckless on this. As soon as I saw "online social network" I lost interest.

[agentq]

Hi everyone,

kwill had this reply rejected as spam, so he PM'd it to me. I don't see anything too spammy about it, so I'm posting it as is

- agentq


----------------------------

Hi all,

Let me start with why I'm persuing this (and thereby encourage you to read this lengthy post!). I just like these ideas:
* Monkey Island and World of Warcraft getting equal treatment despite their difference in age (whether it's in a book on gaming history, a Wikipedia article or a Wakoopa software page)
* newfangled web 2.0 support for old apps (the same reason I like the idea of being able to play Prince of Persia on Vista)
* seeing ScummVM and DOSBox listed as platforms next to Windows, Apple, Web, Linux, SymbianOS, Android...

A bit more about Wakoopa: the tracker is a Win/Mac (and soon Linux) tool that monitors which desktop apps you are currently running. It reports usage times to the Wakoopa website. The data is then used to make aggregations[1], graphs and suggestions, kinda like Last.fm for software.

Reckless and others: I understand that social networky tools aren't everyone's taste. (You must use Last.fm, though, right, right!? ) Personally I can't imagine socializing on the site, I use it mainly to find new software via suggestions and comments (and have done so successfully). Eventually I hope it will track new versions too. As a LibraryThing user I also have a compulsion to catalog things, and nothing brings me greater joy than fixing an icon on a new application.

Now, in addition to all this the Wakoopa devs added the ability to track webapps as well. So instead of tracking a gazillion hours in Firefox(Chrome/Opera/Safari/IE, your religion of choice), you can track usage of Gmail, Google Search, Wikipedia, Get Satisfaction, etc.

So, I figure that if they can sniff out a webapp URL from 5 different browsers, how hard can it be to sniff out an EXE name from ScummVM and DOSBox?

The Wakoopa devs are currently beta-testing Linux and looking to support mobile platforms, and as they said in the Get Satisfaction post I linked above, ScummVM and DOSBox are just not on their priority list. That's why I came here looking for suggestions or solutions.

In reponse to my post in the sister forum for DOSBox, I learnt that DOSBox exposes the current EXE name in it's title bar, does ScummVM do anything similar?

(bobdevis, I haven't missed your suggestion, I just have my doubts that the tracker will see the difference. I will try it out though!)

fingolfin, you raise a good point about supporting one service over others. Why should you? I have several answers, which I'll append to the end of this post.[2]

Jonatan, you'll see that iusethis has entered my Wakoopa stream [3] at least for a while , I'll try it out more after the weekend. How does it compare to Software Informer? (As soon as Wakoopa provides version updates I plan on ditching SI.)

To everyone, thanks your input and thoughts. My next step is get some technical info from the Wakoopa team on how they interrogate browsers. If it's an easy or common-enough application feature, I hope I've made a case for implementing it, even though there are those that wouldn't have a use for it.

d<3vid

[1] Hey, I wonder what we'll find in the top ten virtualization tools? http://wakoopa.com/categories/utilities/virtualization

[2] Why I think supporting Wakoopa is worth it *and* isn't cutting anyone else off:
* I don't believe that there is anything else like them. Apps like Software Informer inspect what you have installed but nothing else (that I know of) tracks real-time use (and ratings and comments and suggestions)
* There have been hints (and nothing more than that I'll grant you) that Wakoopa will open its API and/or open source its tracker
* If we look at the example of Twitter and Identi.ca, it seems likely that if Wakoopa remained closed, an open source clone would follow; if so, having an existing hook would encourage and ease both adoption and support
* Users own their Wakoopa data - http://wakoopa.com/about/privacy - making such a migration a viable option

[3] http://wakoopa.com/kwill - but I am *not* looking for virtual friends

[Longcat]

I'm not really familiar with Software Informer, and can't really give you an objective opinion on iusethis as the site belongs to my brother, but I strongly recommend that you check it out anyway:) The windows version was recently launched, and is therefore not as frequently used as the mac edition yet, but the site has 100.000+ users so far AFAIK and is rapidly growing. I personally find it very intuitive and practical to use. Give it a shot at least:)

If you are wondering anything in particular, ask away.

PS. I think that this thread might belong in the junkyard actually, though:)

[fingolfin]

All in all, I am rather opposed to adding support for such a service. Even if somebody wrote all the code required and submitted it as a patch, I think I would veto adding it in. Besides various technical points (such as the fact that such code has to be maintained as it else bitrots, and the other problematic points that it would have to be GPL compatible), my main objection is a possibly somewhat personal one: I do not want to support services like this one, or Facebook, or MySpace, etc. -- anything that is about strip mining your privacy. While arguable everybody has to decide for him/herself whether (s)he likes doing a personality strip tease, I just do not want to support it actively or be involved with such active support in anyway.

Therefore, until I leave the project (or somebody makes a fork), this won't happen. End of discussion.

[Red_Breast]

Sorry agentq I haven't been convinced one bit. I will add I'm talking about how it will affect me. In other words I appreciate not everybody's me (thank god, that would be weird)

First off no matter how powerful the PC I have is I hate stuff that runs in the background hogging sys resources.

About Last.fm. I've never heard of it so I checked. Music stopped meaning anything to me years back, say mid-20s. Back then I listened to Miles Davis, Charlie Parker etc. I think music belongs to eras. I liked some punk music but if the same music came out now I wouldn't like it because it wouldn't sound right. I don't hear anything I like these days and anyway with my sister right below me it's not worth playing anything. I wouldn't hear it anyway.

Finding new software. My method for this is to put what type I'm after into Google. Jot down the 5-10 most mentioned and try them all. I couldn't look at a chart of most used and get the top one and that's it. I like to do it myself, albeit a little Google help.

Going back to personal software usage I go back to my first post. I know what I use. Don't others or do they need to fill in a form sometimes like a tax return saying how long they've spent using something.

It appears to me it's something like other social networking apps. What they do is bring parts from other apps all under one roof and maybe that's what some people want but I get the feeling I'm being nannied (for want of a better word). It's all there already. Add/Remove programs in Windows tells you how much you use something.

[Longcat]

Well, knowing what kind of software is used by MOST people can actually be kinda interesting. I agree that I wouldn't want to participate in that kind of network, but I can at least see the use people can put it to.
Knowing what software you yourself use the most is really not interesting since I presume most people know that without having to look it up.

And I find it really sad(mind you, I'm not trying to be patronizing in any way) that you can't appreciate music anymore. I really can't imagine living without it, it's such a huge part of my life, not to mention my memories and emotions. But like you said, people are different. Some people are just so different I can't seem to set myself in their place.

[fingolfin]

Sorry agentq I haven't been convinced one bit.

Just to clarify this: It was not agentq who wrote that. As he stated, he simply forwarded a message.

[Lostech]

From a user point of view (me): I would not use ScummVM anymore if it would have such a builtin tracking/data mining functionality because I´m not willing to give up my privacy for such a useless service.

[Red_Breast]

Sorry agentq I haven't been convinced one bit.

Just to clarify this: It was not agentq who wrote that. As he stated, he simply forwarded a message.

Thanks for clearing that up.
About music Jonatan. Maybe I worded it wrong. I think I can appreciate it still. I come across music in games I haven't played before and like it. I still listen to the jazz that I mentioned. I was a teenager during the punk/new wave era, living in London going to all reggae sound system parties. I saw Black Uhuru and Bob Marley's last UK gig. I could still listen to that stuff but I prefer not to. It's like thinking about an old girlfriend.
As for these days. I just never hear anything that grabs me.
When I say I think I can still appreciate it I hear musicians sometimes that sound really good but it doesn't lead to going out and buying it.
I can't really explain why or how this change happened. All I know is that it's cheaper.
With that this thread had better get back on-topic.

[kwill]

With that this thread had better get back on-topic.

LOL... Thanks for your comments off-topic and on, Red_Breast, fingolfin, Jonatan and others. (And thanks agentq for the post.)

I completely understand not wanting to actively support something you're opposed to, fingolfin, so I'll leave it at that.