There used to be something else here, but now it’s gone. Sorry about that. I’m afraid I linked to a site that was a little undesirable.
Let’s just pretend this never happened…
Tutorial Updates
I’ve recently updated my tutorial Managing Game States in C++. I added a port of the source code to Object Pascal provided by Marko Peric. Also, I have a link to the French translation of the tutorial provided by Ceasy. Thanks to both of these guys for their hard work.
Also, due to quite a few e-mail requests, I’m in the process of writing another C++ game programming tutorial. I’ll hopefully have it done in a week or so. In the mean time, you can check out my other tutorials on Game Programming, Lua, and SDL if you’re interested.
Game Room
Now this is what I call a game room. It looks like he has at least one of every game system I’ve ever seen, along with enough games to fill every free moment for the rest of my life. Be sure to click around on his home page and see what else he’s up to.
This is why I try not to collect things. Once I get started I just can’t help myself. I have two closets full of vintage computers that will probably just collect dust until the end of time. Even worse, I tend to collect things in cycles. About 10 years ago I sold all of my comic books, then about 5 years ago I became obsessed with buying them all back.
Just Do It
I am, obviously, no fan of golf. As a matter of fact, I don’t really care for any televised sports, or television in general. But occasionally, I will see something that impresses even me to the point that I feel compelled to share it with the world.
I think that everyone can recognize a fantastic play even if they don’t care for the sport. You know the type – an outfielder who snatches the baseball from just over then fence and turns a grandslam into the game winning out, or the basketball player who throws the ball from half court just as the buzzer goes off and score the three points that win the game.
There’s a video clip of Tiger Woods demonstrating just such a play going around today. I’ve heard this is from the 16th hole at the Master’s (whatever that means). Anyway, a clever guy named Joseph Jaffe converted this into a Nike commercial and posted it on his website. You can see it for yourself at Jaffe Juice. The 60 second version is 4 MB, but it’s well worth the download.
This is almost as impressive as my amazing hole in one through the blades of the wind mill and up the hill. Unfortunately, I never could master hitting the ball into the clown’s mouth…
Code Sharing
This is another one those posts that will probably only be interesting to about 1% of the visitors to the site. But, I wanted to mention this anyway since I think it’s a really good idea. So, unless you’re interested in programming, scroll on down to a cute picture of Matthew in his Star Wars outfit…
Still here, OK. O’Reilly, the people who publish some of the best technical books in the world, have just set up a new website for sharing Java code. It’s called CodeZoo. They describe it as “getting you past the repetitive parts of coding, and onto the rest and the best of your projects.” They have quite a collection of software in a variety of categories.
Another similar site that I’ve just discovered is called Code Snippets. This site has sample code in a variety of languages including Ruby, Python, Javascript, PHP, Perl, and Java. These tend to be shorter examples often demonstrating one part of a program, but they can sometimes be just what you need. The other intersting thing about this site is the use of tags. It’s easy to filter the snippets and find just what you’re looking for.
Some Kind of Monster
VH1 showed the Metallica documentary Some Kind of Monster last night commercial free. So, being a pretty big Metallica fan, I watched it.
I’ve gotta say I was a little surprised by this movie. It was a lot more real than anything you’ll ever see on “Reality TV”. I think the main reason I like it is because I’ve followed the band for so long and I really felt like I knew the characters.
Seeing what really goes on in the lives of people like James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich was interesting. On the one hand I feel like these guys have more money than they’ll ever need, and they should just get over themselves. But, at the same time I can see what they’re arguing about. It’s the same kind of stuff that lots of us go through. Everyone wants to be in control, and no one is willing to compromise.
It was commercial free on VH1, but unfortunately it wasn’t uncut. This led to what was in my opinion one of the best scenes from the movie. Everyone in the band was really frustrated, but still trying to work. The dialogue went something like this…
Bob Rock: OK Lars, as soon as the drums kick in I want you to scream *beep* as loud as you can.
The music starts and Lars gets ready to scream.
Lars Ulrich: *beeeeeeep* (for about a minute straight)
I’m sure it was very therapeutic at the time, but on VH1 it reminded me of the test of the emergency broadcast system.
I just hope this post doesn’t draw out the raving, all-caps typing lunatics like my last mention of Metallica. Also, if you’re that guy and you’re reading this: My opinion of St. Anger is still pretty much the same. I actually want to listen to it every once in a while, but it will never be as good as Master of Puppets or …And Justice for All.
Drivey
Here’s a very impressive demo of a new graphics engine being developed by a guy named Mark Pursey. It’s called Drivey. It has a really nice old-school look to it. The picture below really doesn’t do it justice. You’ve got to see it moving to really get it.
Download the demo at http://drivey.com/. There’s no installation required, just double-click the file to run it. Once you get it going, hold down F1 on the keyboard to see all of the controls.
Who’s Your Daddy?
I’ve been meaning to post this picture for a while now. It’s almost two months old. I figure since I made fun of Ben for wearing a “Dukes of Hazard” shirt around their baby the other day, I should show what we’re doing to Matthew.
For those of you who aren’t Star Wars fans, like Paula – that’s Darth Vader on the shirt and it says “Who’s Your Daddy?”. That’s funny because Darth Vader is really Luke’s father… Sorry if I just ruined the Empire Strikes Back for anyone.
Blame Geoff for this outfit, he bought it for Matthew.
More Google Maps
In case you just can’t get enough of the satellite pictures on Google Maps, here’s the perfect site for you: Google Sightseeing. They’ve picked out a lot of interesting places to see like Niagra Falls, Golden Gate Bridge, Hoover Dam, and lots more.
This is the last time I’m going to mention Google Maps, I promise…
Water on Mars
How could I have missed this? I used to check the Astronomy Picture of the Day religiously.
Back on April 1, they showed a picture of Water on Mars. Those rocket scientists sure are clever.