[AccessD] Child computer Game timer

William Benson (VBACreations.Com) vbacreations at gmail.com
Sun Jul 17 22:18:09 CDT 2011


OMG that is soooo funny..... I needed a laugh Doug.

-----Original Message-----
From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com
[mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Doug Steele
Sent: Sunday, July 17, 2011 10:31 PM
To: Access Developers discussion and problem solving
Subject: Re: [AccessD] Child computer Game timer

John's doing it right, in my opinion.  If Robbie wants more time, he's
going to be forced to learn to hack John's program.  Then, before he
knows it, no more computer games, just huge SQL databases to maintain
while John enjoys his retirement...

Doug

On Sun, Jul 17, 2011 at 6:09 PM, Jim Dettman <jimdettman at verizon.net> wrote:
>
>  Check your router too...a lot of routers know have bandwidth monitoring,
> parental controls, and the ability to filter (by Mac address) based on a
> schedule.
>
>  I've got mine set to cut out all internet access from 2:00 - 6:00 am.
>
> Jim.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com
> [mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Jim Lawrence
> Sent: Sunday, July 17, 2011 03:24 PM
> To: 'Access Developers discussion and problem solving'
> Subject: Re: [AccessD] Child computer Game timer
>
> Hi John:
>
> You could just get something like the KidLogger.
>
> http://kidlogger.net/download.html
>
> Jim
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com
> [mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of jwcolby
> Sent: Sunday, July 17, 2011 11:23 AM
> To: Access Developers discussion and problem solving
> Subject: [AccessD] Child computer Game timer
>
> I have designed a game timer for my son which I am making available to
list
> members if they want it.
>
> This timer is designed for children who are old enough to play
> "unsupervised" and I want them to
> have a set time that they can play per session.  I want to record when
they
> start and stop and have
> a display of how long they have been playing.  I used to have Robbie
"write
> it down" and set a timer
> on the stove.  Both of which he "forgot" more often than not.
>
> This is not a "dishonest teenager" control mechanism, I am not getting
into
> trying to outsmart a
> teenager here.  It is merely meant to allow me to see how much time my son
> is playing.  I removed
> all of the shortcuts from the desktop etc so that the way he opens his
games
> is through this
> database.  I actually copied one of the shortcuts into the startup
directory
> for one game that
> required a shortcut.
>
> I then informed him that there are consequences if he is playing without
> going through the timer.
>
> The timer is an Access form which has a game combo and a child id combo.
 In
> my case only my son
> uses it at the moment, though I will probably have my daughter use it as
> well.  It is FE/BE.
>
> The form consists of:
>
> 1) A game combo
> 2) A child combo
> 3) A start time
> 4) A stop time
> 5) The minutes they are allowed to play, fixed ATM though it could be
> included in the child record.
>
> Status controls are:
>
> 1) Last Play elapsed time
> 2) Last play time stopped
>
> At the very bottom of the form is an elapsed time.
>
> So the child selects the game they will play.  The game has the stuff
> required to actually open the
> game, usually the filespec for the game (path and file name) but it can
also
> use a shortcut file if
> the game requires starting directory etc.
>
> Selecting the game starts a timer which shows up on the "Elapsed time" at
> the bottom, and records
> the start time.  There is a button which enters the stopped time and moves
> to a new record.  Once a
> record is "stopped" it can no longer be edited.  No records can be deleted
> (through the form).
>
> When the time is up, my son often does the "I need to do this one small
> thing before I quit"
> routine.  In order to allow that but still encourage him to get off, i
built
> in an annoyance timer.
>  The database does not (yet) shut down the game automatically (though I
> might go there) but it does
> beep a series of beeps when time is up, and then starts beeping at him
every
> N seconds.  N decreases
> over time until it is beeping every second.  This is truly annoying (to
> anyone in the room) and
> encourages him to finish up and get off.  It also alerts any adult near by
> that "time is up".  In
> fact it is so annoying that he was turning down the speaker when it
beeped.
> I had to inform him
> that there would be consequences for that.  ;)
>
> The system is working fine so far.  I am finally getting his times logged
> regularly and getting him
> off when his time is up.  We shall have to see how it works long term.
> Adolescents can be sneaky.
> Total loss of gaming privileges for breaking the rules is the consequence
of
> being sneaky.
>
> Possible enhancements:
>
> 1) Times of day allowed to play
> 2) Total time allowed to play
> 3) Play time allowed per child
> etc.
>
> --
> John W. Colby
> www.ColbyConsulting.com
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> AccessD mailing list
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