And here’s some of the features with this multi-purpose machine:
Windows Mobile 6 Classic OS, Microsoft Office Mobile (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), Microsoft Office Outlook Mobile; you can even view PDF documents
Okay. So all you need is a Pocket PC operating Windows Mobile 5 or 6. And soon you will be able to use the Palm Pilot.
Okay … so you have yourself a snazzy little computer that can write letters and work spreadsheets and more.
Now you need the software.
Guess what. It’s free. Yeah … it’s free.
eNotate. Just sign up for a FREE basic membership with the North American Chess Association and Sevan Muradian will give it to you as a free download. Manual too. And NACA is a USCF Gold Affiliate.
Okay … that’s pretty cool. But I can’t use it in a tournament now can I?
Yes you can. It’s already been USCF certified for an electronic scoresheet.
Using any of these in a USCF-rated tournament would require that they be certified in advance by the Rules Committee. I suspect that wi-fi capacity would be a deal-killer.
Check the certification link. The only requirement is that it is not a phone. The ratings committee may very well change their mind of course. They did not specify any thing about wi-fi capabilities. I think that might have been an oversight on their part. Although, I would think that as long as the wi-fi was turned off, it wouldn’t matter.
Since the MonRoi did not offer wi-fi capability (except for the dedicated one-way link to the hub), there was no particular reason to mention it. The only way to verify that the wi-fi was turned off would be to station a TD at the board, and I think it’s extremely unlikely that such a device would be approved. It is even less likely that a big tournament like the World Open would allow their use. All this was discussed here in 2006, and it seemed clear that a general-purpose device like a PDA simply would not do.
There is an inexpensive alternative to the MonRoi, however, which I highly recommend. It’s called “paper.”
Uni-directional is exactly as you describe, a one way link
But carefully note, it also has bi-directional capability. If you would have bothered to check your “facts”, you would have seen that, as well as the following.
Now, since this is so, that it only disables the bi-directional capability, then why couldn’t the Pockect PC do exactly the same under software control just as the MonRoi does?
And, if that still doesn’t satisfy you, there are Pocket PCs that don’t have wi-fi capability. And let me make it easy for you once again. The Trimble Recon 400X doesn’t come with wi-fi or phone capability. You can buy an optional wi-fi card which is removable thus eliminating uni- or bi-directional communications.
And, if that still doesn’t satisfy you, there are Palm Pilots that not only don’t have wi-fi, they don’t even have the option.
You may stay in the horse and buggy days if you wish. (Actually, I will also. Well, I would like to have something like the DGT board.) But for some people, they like their electronic toys … even if the cost would cover a lifetime’s worth of paper scoresheets.
I eagerly await another attempt to place this idea in the garbage. Even when it has USCF certification.
John - using eNotate has been approved because upon starting the software the Wi-Fi connection is disabled (and it has to be re-enabled manually - it doesn’t start back up).
Currently eNotate only operates only on Windows Mobile 5 and 6 devices (non-phone devices - there is a control built in to prevent it from being installed on a converged device).
Currently it is being ported to Palm O/S.
No other platforms will be supported.
I can find a Windows Mobile 5 PDA (Compaq / HP IPAQ 1955) on eBay for anywhere from $159-200. I’m going to start placing links to various devices on my website along with links for hi-life batteries (better known as 2250mAh batteries) which can last for 15 hours (mine has gone for 18).
I am at a loss here. Given the paranoia the MonRoi generated when it was first approved, how in the world can a program running on a general purpose PDA be approved? If people are allowed to use Palms or Pocket PCs what is to prevent them from running Pocket Fritz or one of the many other chess programs that run on PDAs? I agree that the MonRoi is too expensive (BTW, what happened to Moore’s Law? The price is not coming down at all.) but moving to generic PDAs doesn’t seem acceptable to me. Am I missing somthing?
Mike Regan
Mike - when eNotate has been activated you can’t access any other programs. That was tested by the committee. You have to leave the entire program to do that. Also when in recording mode, you can’t leave that mode without recording a result to the game. That was tested by the committee. Making recordings is a simple tap tap. Anything more would alert the opponent that something is amiss. Also the electronic scoresheet has to stay at the playing table which is one of the rules.
One of the security features that the MonRoi “system” has is the ability to monitor everything through the central hub and designed software. In my own experience, some of the opponents to the MonRoi have been much more open to its use once they had this explained. Does such software exist that can monitor PDA’s using eNotate?
The other major selling point, at least for organizers, is the ability to have a live broadcast of the games. Are there plans to incorporate this type of system, which of course would be difficult once the wi-fi has been disabled?
Sevan let us know when the palm port becomes available. I’ve got an old palm T3 that I could dedicate to it. I think it is great that you are doing this. Maybe even as a money making project on your end you could buy old palm pilots and install your program to make it completely take over the device and make it a cheap dedicated scorekeeper and then sell them at a slight profit.
Now playing Devil’s Advocate for a moment, how are you going to answer the following? As a TD how do I know if the device the player has actually has Enotate instead of a clone that looks like it? With a cloned program the player could actually be cheating with it somehow.
Maybe you could include a checksum of some type that would have to clearly identify your program?
Sevan I’m curious in how the game score is exported to be printed. I know the palm has programs available to print directly to portable printers. Can your program export to the memo pad? Then after the game is over the printer program wouldn’t be blocked and one could easily print out a hard copy that way.
Having had a bit of time to think about it I’m not sure a checksum would be good enough to prove that the program is a valid copy of Enotate. Its’ clone could simply mimic the correct checksum when asked. The point isn’t to have the TD go around and check these all the time, the point is to have a way to prove that it is invalid if necessary, as a preventive measure. So maybe a separate standalone program could be made that when necessary could be downloaded to the device. This program then would verify the geniuneness of the program.
The Monroi device could fall prey to this same problem. All one would need is to gut a Monroi device and place different computer innards in it.
But for 90 percent of the tournaments I don’t think you have to worry about this type of thing.
In the future we will just have overhead video cameras record the games and software that converts the games into pgn files. The players won’t even have to keep score.
Each game is saved as a PGN file. You can download the PGN file and print it out normally. Part of v2 will also include the ability to print out a nice looking scoresheet (well it will be downloadable and then printable in the nice looking format).
Well we aren’t looking at a basic checksum. So my use of checksum was incorrect. We will have a uniqueness capability built into the next version to get away from potential copies.
I also don’t think that in 99% of the cases of use we’ll have issues. It’s always the 1% that we have to account for - those evil-doers!
Overhead video camera’s huh? Funny I’m talking to one of the leaders in the VTC industry (video teleconferncing) just about that concept
After reading your post, I forgot what your question was. In fact, I learned more from your post than you will probably learn from other posts. I think you answered your own questions.
