Where I discover how depended I’ve become on technology. Update :-(

Updated: 09-25-2012 (integrated the information I got back from DevArt)

Last week I updated my iPhone to iOS 6 and I was thrilled (in my way) to see all the new features and changes, after some initial fun with Siri (now actually understanding what I’m saying) I found out that most really interesting stuff just doesn’t work over here in the Netherlands.

But the feature that I’m using and really works for me is the “do not disturb” function and to be more specific the scheduled version of it, so from now on I can sleep thru the night without being waked by a new follower on twitter or a mail containing only advertisement.

After setting this function I also am able to change the sounds for “new mail” and “tweets” to more elaborate ones than the simple beep that I was using to keep the disturbance during the night at a minimum.

For until now I was using an App by DevArt called CalAlarm for my schedule/calendar/appointments for it allows the use of different sounds for each separate Calendar and not only using the standard build in sounds but also imported ones so I had my iPhone set up with 6 calendars (I will write them or better the new setup of them below) and using meaning full sounds to indicate what I have to do when an alarm sounded. Like when it is time for me to eat, a female voice said “Hey, it’s time for lunch” and when it is time for me to rest or go to bed a bunch of sheep sounded.

My PC also lets me know that there is new mail by actually telling it. But the fact that these sounds on my iPhone, until now that is, where also played at night I had to use for other events than scheduled alarms, the least intrusive beep.

The thing here is that when I hear a beep, beat, tjielp, dong or ding my mind doesn’t connect the dots as it does with you guys (it is again an autism thingy), so having actually a voice (or a cryptic sound like “dinner bell” or “sheep”) telling me what I am supposed to do (without having somebody physically around) works wonders.

So to my horror the next day I wasn’t waked by the “fur Elise” but only the basic “three tone” sounded, it woke me never the less, because it is a sound that is “wrong” for that time of day. Totally disoriented I finally figured out, that it WAS the alarm I had set for me to wake up and only much later that the iOS 6 update disabled the sounds from the CalAlarm app.

Note: I have been in contact with the app makers and they told me that they are working on it but didn’t think it wasn’t working, so I set out to discover why it didn’t do what it supposed to, after trying some settings finally found that the imported sounds didn’t work, but for now I can set different sounds for the calendars but only the standard sounds of the iOS and as I explained that doesn’t work very well for me. After explaining to DevArt what I had discovered they replied that after some extra testing on their side they figured that out also and have set a programmer on it to get it fixed as soon as possible.

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Update: Last night I got the information back from DevArt and it isn’t good news.
(this text below is written in my words and how I understand it, compleated with my thoughts and it is not the exact info that DevArt provided to me)

As it turns out the security settings in iOS 6 are changed (tightened) so that 3rd party developers aren’t allowed to play uploaded tones/sound from outside their app anymore.
This means that as long as the app is active, onscreen and the iPhone is not in sleep mode they can play the uploaded sounds/tones, but when there is another app or the springboard onscreen or the iPhone is in sleep mode, they are only allowed to play the sounds/tones that are included/imbedded in the app.
I have asked if they could play the custom/uploaded/bought ringtones from the iOS itself but that is not allowed by Apple.

So their advice is to downgrade back to iOS 5 (if this is possible, if you have a backup) to keep using the uploaded sounds/tones if this is paramount, otherwise use the sounds/tones that are included in the app.
They also added that there is or will be a request to Apple to make this possible again, but I don’t know if this means only a setting for the CalAlarm app has to change to allow it again or that it has to be an iOS update change.
But we all know that Apple isn’t the fastest on the block if it is about react to requests so this can take weeks or months if it happens at all.

I do not want to stop using the do not disturb function so I will not downgrade and have to figure out what to do, this may be time to look better into Android or more likely Windows Phone 8, for I use outlook and it supports different sounds for each alarm maybe WP8 will support this also, but I don’t know if there is a (scheduled) “do not disturb” function or app that allows phone calls and alarms but blocks all other sounds.

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Now two days after the iOS update I have come to grips with the fact that as I suggest in the heading of this post am heavily depending on a technology like this. This type of technology is making my life so much more livable and I’m fine with that, the only thing that somewhat disturbed me was that I wasn’t aware or fully aware of it. But it works, it simply just works, the hard part is setting up those calendars and the alarms in them, but when done right, being reminded that it is time for lunch and yes I (sometimes) need that.

But being reminded that it is time to do something and because it is “said” and so is registered right isn’t the only thing it does, it also allows me to be more relaxed (or less uptight) for I know, that if I would lose myself in doing something, that I will be reminded, on time and in a way that “reaches” me.
So I allow/force myself not to look every 10 seconds at the clock and go over the mental list of things that I maybe have to do, or I can dive a little deeper into something without having to fear that I don’t take my midday rest moment and wear myself out before it is bedtime.

But now knowing the dependency and all the benefits it gives me, did you see that I managed to use the normally negative associated “dependency on technology” with a positive twist, makes me think how can I improve on it. Only making me realize that I already had thought of this when I started to use specific sounds for alarms on my PC the first time, but decided to park the idea because I had no idea how to accomplish it.

When I moved into the house where I‘m living now, I had to create a day schedule which kept me functioning without draining the reserves.
Since that first setup I have changed it, more than once to accommodate new insights and/or made improvements on it to make it easier to use, often together with or after intervention by my coaches.
First I kept it on paper and used alarm clocks for the real important stuff, but after getting my pc up and running in a way that I could rely on it, I put the schedule into Outlook and that allowed me to use different sounds for the alarms.

This was the moment that I figured out that using voice notifications just work the best for me, naïvely I thought that it would be peanuts to find all the wav files online that I needed, only to find myself lost in many haystacks to find the needle of the few lines (and those spoken in a way that would work for me) I needed. after a week or two searching I made the decision that I would stop and use what I had, limiting the real potential of making this work for me and my autism. Effectively putting the whole idea on hold for when I can find someone who is willing to provide my with these lines, my coaches are very well able to provide this but I also concluded that it has to be someone I don’t speak regular in person for that will be confusing for me is it an alarm or is this person here around, to be short it will scare the s#$% out of me, thinking when half awake that I am being waked by my actual coach “what is wrong, did I overslept, didn’t I react to phone calls, was I passed out, that they had to come to my house to check on me if I am still alive”

After going over my options finally I thought that when my website is up, I will put a request on it for someone who read it to provide it, but only now I was reminded of my intentions back then.
I will make a separate page on my website in a week or so.

Note: I also said that I would be translating that big piece this week but beside being big it also is to philosophical for a straight forward translation so I will need more time for that one and I will not place it here as a post for I concluded that it isn’t right, maybe I will place a subscript of it with a link to the whole piece but that is also to worry about later.

But shortly after making the PC alarms working, the shortcomings where obvious for when on my balcony or away from house or even when sleeping the set alarms where useless, that made me look for a solution to take the alarms with me, a PDA was the one thing that came to my mind (yes, being ancient and for years not able to keep up with technology, while I was recovering from my breakdown) but these where no longer around, smartphones or tablet where to expensive, so when one of my coaches told me that a iPod touch could do that and it was just affordable enough for me (now I know that there were/are plenty alternatives around).

So I bought the iPod, only after some exploring I found out that it didn’t support more than one sound  for alarms, but at least I could take the alarms (without the right sounds) with me. But I could not imagine that there wasn’t an app that could do that what I wanted and that was when I found CalAlarm, it doesn’t support different sounds for alarms but it does support separate sounds for each calendar and this can be custom sounds imported into the app.

So the only thing I had to do was group some of the alarms into a calendar so I could use the few sounds I had found online, in a way they still made sense.

I have upgraded to a iPhone 4S since then, but still using the app and heavily relying on it as it seems now, but now because for the moment it doesn’t work perfectly, I was reminded that the setup wasn’t perfect from the start for I’m missing the right sounds/tunes and now I’m going to give that a new try.

To give some insight into how I want to make it work here is a list:

Calendars (main category’s):

• Wakeup (alarm clock)
• Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner
• Cooking
• Rest period / Bed time
• Day structure (tasks)
• Calendar (appointments)

Needed wav files (for me a pleasant/enthusiastic female voice works best):

• Good morning, it’s time to get up.
• Good afternoon, it’s time to get up.
• Good day / Hello, It’s time to get up (as possible replacement for the previous 2)
• Hey it’s time for breakfast.
• Hey it’s time for lunch.
• Hey it’s time for dinner.
• Hey it’s time to eat. (as possible replacement for the previous 3)
• You should start with preparing/cooking your meal.
• Sorry but it’s time to go to bed / bed time.
• Sorry but it’s time to take a break / break time.
• Sorry but it’s time to rest / resting time. (as possible replacement for the previous 2)
• Hallo, there is a task planed for you to do.
• Hallo, look at you schedule there is something you supposed to do.
• May I have your attention, this is a reminder that you have planned something.

When I get the website page up I will also request other languages/dialects and male voices for I know that these will be beneficial to other people with autism, for everybody reacts differently to different voices, this way people can search for the ones that work best for them .
The sentences are only guide lines, the voice actress who is willing to provide me with the sound files, has free hand in how or what she actually says, just make them as naturally spoken as possible, but try to start the same type sentences with the same sound or word.
You can add any sentence you think that can be used for reminders, in the line of what I’m trying to achieve.
(I mentioned wav files but just use any record format you want, I will have to encode them into the m4r format for use in the CalAlarm app.)

You can send them to me attached to an mail or by providing the links where I can download them.

Also when you provide the files you agree that they are free of copyrights and freely used by me and in a later stage freely redistributed by me or others to use by everyone for free.
If this is not the case than stipulate the/your terms in a mail, before you send the files to me, so I can decide if I want/can to comply to these terms.

Here is a link to the “Hey it’s time for lunch” I use now, just as an idea what works for me.