Category: Technology

I got a new toy over the weekend, and so far I really like it. I couldn’t resist the lure of Apple computers anymore, so I bought myself a Mac mini.

I’ve only been using it for about 3 days and I already think it’s going to be my main computer from now on. Everything about it makes me happy. It’s practically silent and it’s extremely small.

That giant beige box in the background is my old computer. When it’s on you can hear it humming all the way down the hall in our bedroom. Maybe I just won’t turn it on anymore.

Even better than the computer itself is the software that comes with it – iMovie and GarageBand are amazing. I’ll be making movies and music in no time. I’ll probably even sell my old four track recorder now that I have this.

Mac OS X is solid as a rock and UNIX based which is perfect for me. All of the low level stuff I’m used to from Linux is still there only there’s this nice candy coating on top that makes it so easy to use.

So far I’ve typed up about 55 pages of content for the PC Basics and Troubleshooting class I’m teaching this Friday. By the time I’m finished I should have around 80 pages of content plus a 20 question quiz at the end. Hopefully I’ll be able to get this done over the course of tonight and tomorrow at work.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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…

The other day I was raving about how cool Google Maps is. It seems they’ve gone and made it even better.

Now you can get Satellite imagery at the same time. Just click the Satellite link in the top right corner to see switch. For example, here’s our house. Unfortunately, it’s pretty low resolution. It’s pretty easy to see the airport and the highway, but that’s really about all it’s good for.

The resolution is a little better around the major cities. Here’s Preston Rd. at 121 in Frisco. It’s neat that you can see cars in the parking lot at the mall. But, that picture is obviously pretty old, since I don’t think there are any vacant lots in that area anymore.

Oh well, I’m sure they’ll have have high resolution, real-time images before long. Then you’ll be able to watch me mow the yard…

Researchers have now discovered the first computer virus that can spread to humans. It spreads through contact with keyboards on infected PCs. An earlier version of the virus infected cats and other whiskered animals last year as they walked across the keyboard. You can get all of the details of the virus in this article at SC Magazine.

The first computer virus that passes from PCs to humans has been discovered in the wild. Leading anti-virus firms are putting users on high alert after Malwarlaria.B was spammed worldwide in the early hours of Friday morning.

Be sure your anti-virus software is up to date before you open any e-mail.

Got some time to kill? Here’s a game that should take care of it for you. It’s called N. You can get it at page.

You only use three keys on the keyboard to play – left and right arrow keys to move and shift to jump. But because of the physics built into the game, the possible moves are pretty much endless.

It takes a little getting used to, but give yourself about 10 minutes of practice and you should be flying all over the screen.

The best part is watching the poor little ninja explode when he gets shot or hits a mine. There are 300 levels to the game, so you’ll have plenty of chances to witness this first hand.