[AccessD] Child computer Game timer

Because I won't know what games your child is playing.

John W. Colby
www.ColbyConsulting.com

On 7/18/2011 10:12 AM, Drew Wutka wrote:
> Why not just detect the game he is playing based upon the window's that
> are running?  Each game should have a window that should be easy to
> identify.
>
> Drew
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com
> [mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of jwcolby
> Sent: Sunday, July 17, 2011 1:23 PM
> 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.
>