Zero Punctuation:Mass Effect

The rambling Aussie puts in his two cents on BioWare's new space opera

Random Video: Guitar Hero Kid shreds GH3

If you haven't heard of the Guitar Hero Kid, then prepare to be amazed this little (now 9 year old) kid has basically completely dominated GH song library and no set his site on (what I think is) the hardest Guitar Hero song ever. Through the fire and flames by DragonForce.

Game of the Year 2007

Well its nearing the end of the year meaning it year end awards. Unfortunately in the world of video games these awards don't mean much mostly due to the fact that there so many Game of the Year (GoY) Awards. Seriously why the hell are there like 13 of these damn things?

Not only are there numerous GoY Awards given out by different media/publishing companies but they're not even consistent with each other making the whole award pointless. Don't get me wrong a lot of the times these awards do highlight great games but more often then most they act as another marketing ploy on a game that probably had significant hype surrounding it. So what am I going to do about it? Well I'm going to make my own picks of course.

I'll start with the list of contenders

Bioshock - This cinematic game made me hate seeing the words immersive in game reviews but it delivered just that in a nice (though at times creepy) tight story line. The game itself had solid game mechanics and stunning visuals that made it one of the must own games of the year.

Super Mario Galaxy - It took them a year after their next gen console release but Nintendo has finally stepped moved its Wii a step forward with the release of a Mario game. The game takes a unique change with its game mechanics while pushing the envelope for 3D platformers. However, despite being one of my favorite Mario's this is probably the weakest title on my list since it tends to incur a love it or hate it relationship among gamers.

Mass Effect - The giant space opera that is Mass Effect has shown that Bioware is still one of the best game developers out there. The game features a great deal of story and replay ability. However the flaws in Mass Effect lie in some of the game mechanics (with the exclusion of the real time battle controls) the game controls seem a bit jenky.

Call of Duty 4- Finally CoD has moved away from its WWII background into a more modern military shooter. The game features a stunning graphics engine and a much improved multiplayer experience. The problem with the game is that its extremely short and often leaves the player wishing someone would have taken the extra time to create a few more missions.

Halo 3- People now have reasons to own an Xbox (360) again, Halo 3 fills the gap of the must own title for the 360 putting it up there with Gears of War. The game features a ton of multiplayer updates making the game play balanced again and of course allows fans of the series to "Finish the Fight". The main issue with this game is a consistency issue in its level design. Some levels are designed perfectly for single/cooperative play and are a lot of fun to play, while others will often feel frustrating on single player or dull. This is a minor issue but its a significant one in fact that the campaign is much shorter than previous installments of the series.

And the winner is ...
Bioshock. I'm actually pretty surprised by the out come of this one being a pretty big Halo fan I could have easily given the chief the nod for the final installment of the series. However, Bioshock delivered in almost every aspect a game should, however I would have really liked to see a multiplayer aspect of this shooter.

Bioshock combines a great story with incredible visuals and sounds. Along with solid game mechanics Bioshock is one of the most enjoyable games I've played all year.

Special Should have been GoY Award - Portal - this awesome little puzzle game has taken the gaming world by storm. I was tempted to put this on the list but left it off mostly due to the fact that it was part of a bundle, this would be a killer DLC game for Xbox Live or PSN.

Must own game of year - Orange Box - take the industry shaping Half Life series add in a few expansions and two additional games (Team Fortress 2 and Portal). Gives you the must own bundle for any gamer for just about all platforms. There cannot be enough said about this bundle expect, if you don't have it go buy it.

Zero Punctuation: Guitar Hero 3

Today Yahtzee puts his two cents in on the Guitar hero franchise and does what he does best by reviewing Guitar Hero 3. Prepare for the stupid fingers.

XNA 2.0 Announced

Microsoft finally released version 2.0 of the XNA framework. For those of you with that confused look on you face, the XNA framework is a programming framework that is geared towards developing games for Microsoft platforms. The new version support network interfaces that allow for multiplayer games to be developed. You can check it out here.

Random Music Video of the Day: Tim McMillan "Blackout (Remix)"

In my random searches for good music I stumbled on to an impressive Aussie Guitarist by the name of Tim McMillan, apparently he's doing a European tour now (check out his myspace page here to check out more of his stuff).

Zero Punctuation: Assassin's Creed

This week Yathzee has decided to give his two cents on Ubisoft's latest (franchise?) game Assassin's Creed

Random Music Video of the Day: Johnny Online "Day to Day"

It's been a while since I've put up one of these but I just haven't been able to get this song out of my head the last few days. This is an original from the guy brought you the Love two point OH! song.

Zero Punctuation: FEAR Perseus Mandate

After taking a week off from producing his weekly video game review Yahtzee is back and review the new expansion for FEAR Persesus Mandate.

Why a iTablet or Mac Touch doesn't make sense

Despite really wanting Apple to produce a tablet base Mac computer it's probably not something Apple should make. Why do you ask? Well it's simple the concept of a tablet PC is a really good idea in general but is really only practical in a few niche cases. It's believed that the main short coming of this genre of computers is that it simply lacks any style or design in its interface that makes it practical. Which is something that Apple could bring to the table but probably not as a computer.

Now let me justify myself before I get into this, devices like the iTouch and the iPhone are computing devices but are not computers. At least not in the sense that everyone is hoping the mythical iTablet will be. This allows the device to be designed cleanly into a number of streamlined devices that have a specific purpose and additional computer like functions. As consumer devices like the iTouch mature they'll appear to be more computer like but as of now they're no substitute for the real thing. Generally this is where the Mac faithful come in an explain how Apple is so good at working these issues out. Which is true but Apple isn't just fighting interface issues they're facing technological ones that just aren't ready for prime time (yet).

In most cases there is a trade off when dealing with touch screen technology which boils down to image quality vs touch functionality. The iPhone and iTouch where a step in the right direction in getting rid of this problem but don't solve it in any way. The main draw for tablet computer systems is that it allows the user to interface with a computer in their own hand writing. This is where most tablet systems tend to screw up (not in the hand writing translation but) the pressure sensitivity of the touch/stylus interface. That's really where the trade off makes it's biggest difference currently you'll either get a great display with terrible pressure response or good pressure response with grainy displays. Now I know Wacom has made a some strides in this department but I'm not convinced its ready for prime time. Apple could make a tablet system and announce it in January but more than likely it won't be what everyone is hoping for mostly due to the face it just doesn't add up.

First Impressions Mass Effect

After getting a few hours into playing Bioware's latest title Mass Effect I'd have to say I'm not that impressed. The game delivers on it's promise in creating a new universe that will entice gamers to go into the journey of trying to save the galaxy (I know its cliched but that's the way it is). It has a brought a visual style that is very impressive considering the varying amount of environments. The facial expression engine works well enough but characters tend to suffer from (what I like to call) an evil eye problem (Everything about the characters show expression except their eyes like they're dead). Once the game gets into a nice flow it's actually a lot of fun with a great deal of depth in its story line. The action sequences are were the game starts to shine.

Alright now that you know what is done well, here is what's bad. The majority of the game mechanics seem poorly thought out. For instance the control for vehicle steering and aiming is poorly implemented. (Translation: the controls suck in a way that will make you want to take your life) The game lacks any kind of useful training system leaving players to fend for themselves.Though the game looks pretty good I've been seeing a good amount of frame rate drops and noise in the overall scenery. The in game dialog scenes are placed in some of the most inconvenient places (i.e. just before a major fight). Often forcing the player to have to repeat these fill in the blank scenes over an over again should they die in combat (The auto-save should have been implemented better). The major problem that I'm seeing with Mass Effect is the never ending elevator load screens. However, this maybe my biggest complaint it is also the one flaw that I'm really willing to over look since the game itself is quite massive and the 360 doesn't have an abundance of memory. That being said BioWare's Mass Effect is still a good game but it's not to the caliber of most of BioWare's back catalog (i.e. it is not great).

Zero Punctuation: Clive Barker's Jericho

Now with all the big title games coming out, I haven't heard much about Clive Baker's Jericho but Yahtzee has. However, based on his review he probably wished he didn't.

Zero Punctuation: Zelda Phantom Hourglass

You'd think I'd be getting sick of these rants ... but no, not at all. Enjoy!

Zero Punctuation:Medal of Honor Airborne

Apparently my super busy schedule has put me behind on the latest rants of Yahtzee. So to make up for lost time (at least in my own little mind) here is his review of Medal of Honor Airborne

Social Network Bankruptcy

I've decided to basically declare bankruptcy on all social networks, I've been all networked out and really don't want to whore out my personal info anymore. Now this doesn't mean that I'll stop blogging/twittering/powncing? but if any else really comes along I'll need to just be left out. At first I thought I was just getting over the social network phase and really just waiting for something new, but I'm finding that the constant stream of info about my friends makes them seem either unintersting or stupid/crazy.

This is mostly based on the fact that your friends will do one of the following they will update their networks with tons of information about every little piece of minutia that occurs in their day to day affairs. Which is potentially interesting if your friend is like a super hero but more than likely it's just boring. The other variation of this is the person who doesn't put up every little bit of information about their lives instead they try to put up witty/funny updates that will in some hopes make them .... seem cooler? To be honest very few people can pull this off especially on a some what regular basis, for the most part we can all get in a few good lines but to do consitently over and over again. Well, let's just say that their is a reason why most of us aren't comic writers. Now if your on one of these social networks you'll notice that most people fall into this general cliche (myself included) . Unfortunately the social network platform really only works when the network can entertain itself indefinetly.

Guitar Hero 3: Mini Review

Guitar Hero 3 in the next installment of a very successful game once known as Simon says (just kidding...sort of). This next installment finally brings multi-player to a game that should have had in version 2 and now has boss battles. Alright here goes the rant so fan-boys avert your eyes or just skip down to the end of the post.

First off, Boss battles! Seriously this is the new innovation in Guitar Hero? Having players face off against legends and pretend to have that kind of skill? The reason why their legends is because no one else has that kind of skill. Now personally I think the game concept of a boss battle is over played and really should be put to rest with only a handful of exceptions (God of War comes to mind). The rest of the games out there could do just fine with out it. The song sets are a bit inconsistent in tempo and don't really keep up the same kind of energy. I thought I was going to fall a sleep after playing through the first couple of sets, sure there are a couple of very good songs in the early sets, but the rest of the songs seem to drag on. My next issue is the same issue I had with the second installment the wide spread in difficulties, transitioning from easy to medium takes a good amount of time if you haven't played before. And transitioning from anything from pretty much any level to the next is just painful (I had a metaphor for this but I'll spare you the gruesome details). My last complaint is actually pretty small, the integration of online multi-player is great but should have been in Guitar Hero 2. Now I haven't really had a chance to mess with it too much so the multi-player portion of this review doesn't exist.

Alright now on to what I like, the game is finally out on all consoles including the Wii, I just wished that some one would have done more with its motion sensors ( I really wanted to see my guitarist swing his guitar around). This in my opinion is version of the game has the strongest song line up with music from The Killers, Rage Against the Machine, Guns 'n Roses, and other big name bands. Overall the game hasn't gone away from its original winning formula, which is make gamers feel like actual rock stars. I'm pretty sure the only other way to enhance this experience is to have a groupie sold with each copy of the game (drug addiction and other rock cliches sold separately). Bottom line is the game is still fun and has tons of replay ability. So if you're a fan of the series or think you would be go pick this one up otherwise see if you can go over to a friends hows and rock out on their system.

Zero Punctuation: Super Paper Mario

Yahtzee is at it again, this time he's got an Italian plumber in his sights

Zero Punctuation: The Orange Box

It's been a while since I've picked up Half Life 2 but it was a great game when I last played it so when orange box was announced I was pretty exited. However, since I'm no pundit (at least I'm pretty sure I'm not) let's see what does Yahtzee has to say.

Random Video of the Day: Halo The Future of Gaming

An interesting look at a post-Halo world.

Why Vista matters

With Windows Vista coming under critical fire, most would ask why would Microsoft push this monster on the computing world. Especially if the majority of the current computer specifications can't meet the minimum hardware requirements. Though its hard to argue against the performance issue, it is something that will go away over time. The big reason for pushing Vista has very little to do with the consumers but more so the developers.

For years Microsoft has been trying to fade out their Win32 API, this API is one of the most powerful API's on Windows and is also one of the biggest problems. In fact a great deal of the security related problems were related to the Win32 API's design, it wasn't design with Security in mind. So with Vista Microsoft is trying harder to branch away from this API and it seems that they're trying to replace it with their .NET framework. All of this is an effort to move more developers into the managed code philosophy. They've event extended it providing more media focused interface layers that are meant to provide the ground work for future third party applications. This is why Microsoft wants Vista out there but it seems that their commitment to managed code is starting to bite them where it counts. Even though there is a lot they can improve on and maybe .NET is not the answer for Win32. The idea of going into a completely "managed" environment, is very compelling and definitely reason enough to push out Vista to the world.

There are lots of reasons to move to managed environment most of which is to reduce (if not eliminate) problems such as memory leaks and pointer problems. The only thing that gets sacrificed is the unlimited access to everything, which isn't entirely a bad thing. That being said, there is also the possibility of introducing the ability to have your code be more portable, since managed code is interpreted it can (theoretically) be but on a different platform and run with out having to recode. So in theory Microsoft is creating a tremendously powerful platform for developers, as long as they can get Vista into the hands of users. Unfortunately its the users that will have to sufferer through this performance issue transition.

Zero Punctuation:Tabula Rasa

I've never heard of Tabula Rasa, but it sounds like just another MMORPG. However it never hurts to hear a Zero Punctuation review about a game that's not even out yet.

Random Video of the Day: Red vs Blue in Halo 3

It seems the guys over at Rooster Teeth (Better known for their Red vs Blue series) got a little cameo in Halo 3. It is the awesome and of course it's funny.

Retrospective on the Halo Series

In the last few weeks Halo mania has engulfed the gaming world so much so that it has broke records and also seem to have marked the end of an era between Bungie and Microsoft. Now that the Halo trilogy has concluded it seems that a little look back at the series shows how far the series has come.

The original Halo was an anomaly in the ranks of console shooters, it was one of maybe a handful FPS games that really worked on the console platform. This very notion would set the tempo for the future of console gaming. It created a large expansive world that tied into a nice tight story line and also included a localized multi player. Well it seems that Halo came just at the right time and caught on to mainstream audiences becoming one of the big reasons to own an Xbox. There was very little missing from the original Halo which seemed to put a lot of pressure on Bungie Studios (developer of the Halo series).

With Halo 2 the story continued from the story arc of the original creating a larger story "universe" that also introduced an additional character. However, Halo 2 did a lot more than expand the Halo Universe it pushed the limits of Xbox console with its rendering engine and introduced a feature many fans of the series have been waiting for online multi-player. The online multi-player aspect of Halo 2, seemed to give Halo 2 infinite replay ability. However, Halo 2 didn't inherit all the positive aspects of the original. The level design though graphically impressive seem uninspired and very closed off, this was almost a complete 180 from the wide expansive level designs of the first. The second major flaw of the second installment was the story not so much that the story was bad, just that it didn't really end. The ending for Halo 2 is considered to be one of the most frustrating moments of the franchise. With a story line that needed closure a Halo 3 was inevitable.

Halo 3's launched has over shadowed it predecessors release by putting up sales numbers that are normally synonymous with Hollywood block buster records. The game itself added a flurry of new features that enhance the game play. The newer Xbox 360 has allowed Bungie to enhance their game engine that blows away their previous attempts. The game itself completes the small amount of story left that seems to take a bit away from expectations. However, like the second installment Bungie was able to future enhance the multi-player aspect. Halo 3 seems to have a lot more influences from the first game but seems to fall short in delivering the complete experience. In the end Halo 3 will be well received by fans and its publisher (Microsoft).

However, one can only wonder what could have been. The franchises few deficiencies seems like they should have been avoidable. The faults in the campaign in the second and third installment seem to be related to time. If Halo 2's campaign level design was designed similarly to the third or even the first installment, it would have been a much richer game experience. While the third installment seemed to improve on the level design it seemed to have half a campaign, the story flows very well but is almost excessively short. So much so that is feels like the missing ending from Halo 2. In hindsight Bungie should have made the Halo multi-player portions a spin off as stand alone game. This probably wouldn't have put up the same kind of sales numbers but would have given them a lot more time to work out the kinks with the story line and delay it long enough to take advantage of the newer Xbox 360 hardware. After which a sequel to multi-player spin off could be made to take advantage of the new game engine. It's purely speculation but conceivably the end result would have been a nearly flawless game franchise.

Zero Punctuation: Halo 3

After putting in my two cents about Halo 3, it's only fair to hear what good old Yahtzee has to say about it. Needless to say if you're a Halo fanatic, you may want to sit this one out. Otherwise, get ready for the usual entertaining rant.

iPhone the end of Apple?

In recent weeks Apple's gone from gadget golden child to the top of the technology hipster hit list. Why you ask? Mostly due to the fact that in recent weeks it has done the one thing that no one really expected from Apple, they showed disregard for they're fans. What seemed like a simple software update to their popular iPhone line has "bricked" all unlocked iPhones to a non-phone like state. So now that Apple has tarnished their reputation, the question is have they gone too far? The whole thing seems a bit overly dramatic I know but the out cry can't be ignored and could be the point in which the Mac faithful begin to question the big fruit?

Obviously Apple won't fall over night but the companies image isn't invulnerable to heavy criticism. The mystic of Apple is one thing the company can't afford to loose at the moment. It's iPod line is mainstream but they're still dealing with a growing product line with the iPhone and bad press is really what they don't need with an upcoming European launch. So unless his Jobbiness pulls out another apology with a fix or the community cracks it again. Expect the out cry to only get louder at a time where Apple's iPhone is losing its luster, could this mean the end of Apple?

UPDATE: It seems you just can't keep a good community down, the iBrick is a phone once again. It seems that if Apple really wants a closed system, they'll be dealing with a software arms race.

Random Video: Bungie guys drive real life warthog

Title says it all, this all seems very meta

Featured Website: Bungie.net

Today's website is meant to go along with all the Halo 3 craziness that has been surrounding the tubes the last week or so. Bungie.net is not only a great site to keep track of major Halo news but it's also a great site to check out your Halo 3 stats and rankings. The list of features for the site has only grown with the list of new features in Halo 3. It's an awesome site for the Halo fan. Check it out here.

Zero Punctuation: Peggle

It seems that with the launch of Halo 3 there has been very little noise about other games. So just sit back and check the latest Zero Punctuation review of "not Halo 3", actually its a casual game called Peggle.

Halo 3: My review

So just in case you don't know I'm a huge Halo fan so if I gush too much you'll know why. It would be easy to say that Halo 3 is the best of the trilogy and call it a day but it seems I should have some sort of explanation so here goes.

The campaign is told through a run and gun method that has a few cuts scenes in between, this has pretty much been a staple of the series since its inception. I personally like it since you get a choice of your game experience, i.e. play for target practice or play for story.The main thing you'll notice about Halo 3 is the levels, they're huge and have a much grander feel to them. Not only that but there is action all around you, it's kind of sad that some of most interesting and fierce battles don't have you in it. Don't know what I mean? Watch a saved film every now and again and you will. There are a few instances where the arbiter looks like a one man recking crew (unfortunately most of the time its when he's not around you). I do like the throw backs to the original Halo game but some of the levels feel like a re-design rather than a new experience.

In fact a lot of Halo 3 feels like the original Halo, but who's to say that is a bad thing? Personally I though the original Halo was better game than Halo 2 and the big reason for Playing Halo 2 over the original was Live support. The next thing to talk about is AI and the strange balancing act on both sides. You're accompanying AI is pretty stupid and really only serve the purpose of moving meat shields.However, the enemy AI is very aggressive and "intelligent". So much so that it picks its moments so much so that you'll have trouble playing through the same areas the same way this is part of Bungie's balancing act that is the campaign. In general the enemies in Halo 3 are tougher than the previous games, jackals, grunts, and drones are actually viable threats. The Brutes are still pretty dangerous but are more fun to kill in this installment. For some reason it felt as though the easiest enemy to take out were the blue armored brutes, I don't really have a good explanation of this other than it seems that this enemy variation is highly susceptible to a mid-range fighting preference. Overall many of the missions are fun to play over and over again, just to see what kind of approaches you can take but some are just down right frustrating and require better help from supporting AI (I can't tell you how often I've been blown up by friendly grenades).

On a side note the ending won't make you throw your controller at the screen but you won't be happy either. Overall the campaign is fun to play through and wraps up a lot of the questions from the series. The different ways to play through the co-op mode does stretch out the campaign modes re-playability but overall the game feels short (especially in co-op) and doesn't quite give us the ending you'd expect. Overall my experience with the campaign was good but not great, I'm not sure why it didn't grab me as much as the original but it did seem to lack something.

Now for the multi-player this is where Halo 3 shines and delivers on its promises. The multitude of new features alone warrant the purchase of this game. First of all the theater mode is a great way to learn from your mistakes and figure out the best patrol routes. It's also an awesome way to show off your pwning skills. Matchmaking options allowing for people to choose based on connection, rank, and language is a small feature that makes big differences in the multi-player experience. The new maps and map modder tool (Forge) will drive even more game types that have never been seen on a console shooter before. In general Bungie, got a lot right with multi-player with Halo 2 and have pushed it even further with Halo 3.

Since, there isn't too much more to say about the game than go buy it. I will leave you with this comment, though this is the last of the Halo franchise, Halo 3 brings something else, a real reason to own an Xbox 360. Yes, ladies and gentlemen the 360 now has game that will push console sales, now the console wars have really begun.

Zero Punctuation: Manhunt

It seems Yahtzee is still at it, with his latest review of the highly controversial game Manhunt. Now I know its an older game but he still manages to make some decent point and be pretty hysterical in the process, so enjoy.

Halo 3: "Enough already!"

Now if you've been following this little blog of mine for a while, you'd probably be able to figure out that I'm a pretty big fan of Halo. No I'm not that little 5 year old cursing like a sailor on Xbox Live, but I'd say that it's easily one of my favorite games of all time. For me it is the reason to own an Xbox/Xbox 360.

Now all of that being said, can we stop with all the name throwing already? I don't mind the little diorama videos (I kind of actually want one... built with legos) but the rest is just annoying as hell! I'm glad that I can pre-order Halo 3 just about anywhere I could concievably think of but seriously Barnes and Noble? It's afreak'n book store!

I know Halo has a lot of brand recognition but Microsoft (Bungie this includes you too) is just whoreing out Halo like its a pimp with a drug problem. I'm sure there are worse names for soft drinks than Game fuel but come on! Caffine practically sells itself when dealing with long sessions of gaming. I don't even want to get into the car sponsor ship portion either, unless Pontiac is going to seel a warthog with a working gun turret there is no point to this promotion.

Alright now that I've rambled on for a bit, I'll be back to waiting for the fight to begin!

Zero Punctuation: Tomb Raider Anniversary

Tomb Raider has never been a game that I've enjoyed but at least has at least one funny review

Featured Website: XNA 101.net

After contemplating a bit about my next XNA project, I thought it would be good to check out a few XNA tutorial sites. XNA 101 .NET is a blog/tutorial site written by Bill Reiss (XNA MVP) who has some great tutorials on how to get started with the XNA framework. Check it out here.

Quick Tip: C++ Bit Fields

Since it's been a really long time since I've done one, I figure its time to write a programming tip. The C++ bit fields is a nice little C++ trick to limit the size of data type. Now it may not be apparent but this is a super easy way to build a structure with variable size data bits.

So lets say you have a message packet that has 8 different flags that is 1 byte a piece, normally you'd probably do some sort of bit shift operation and some masking. However, you can skip all that nonsense and write something like this


struct Flags{
unsigned short A:1;
unsigned short B:1;
unsigned short C:1;
unsigned short D:1;
unsigned short E:1;
unsigned short F:1;
unsigned short G:1;
unsigned short H:1;
};


Thus allowing you to use a nice well defined structure rather than doing all that unnecessary bit shifting. The bite field operator is used in conjunction with a variable definition by using the colon operator (Example int test: 5;) this example specifies a signed variable that has a 5 bit length.

Quick Tip: When Linux Locks Up

If you've finally figured out away (accidentally or on purpose) to get your Linux box to freeze and not respond. Just channel Douglass Adams for a moment and DON'T PANIC! The experienced Linux user would probably try a few things before even considering the ultimate computer "fix" (reboot the system). So here are a few steps you can go through that will hopefully get you back to all the open source goodness.

1. DON'T PANIC! (I'm not sure what font constitutes as friendly but seriously, don't freak out yet, more than likely some process is locking up your desktop environment.)

2. Try a combination of Ctl+F1..F4, by default most Linux distributions have multiple sessions that are mapped by pressing Ctl and F1...F4. This forces the system to jump out of your GUI Desktop Environment session (Ctl+F1) and into a command line login (Ctl+F2..F4). That way you can login through the command line session and either restart X server (Window Manager) or kill the process that's causing all the problems. Most distributions have at least the 4 sessions but you can usually set it up so that all 12 function key has new sessions associated with them.

3. If you just want a quick way to kill X (Window Manager) just press Ctl+Alt+Backspace. This is effectively the kill button for your current X session. Note if a process is locking up your machine, this probably won't do much.

4. Don't press the power button just yet, there is yet still another way to reset you r machine. Found this tip on FOSSwire, check it out here. Basically you need to hold down Alt+SysRq(Print Screen) buttons and type the following REISUB, this should reboot your computer. If not go to step 5.

5. Alright press the power button or reset button (which ever you prefer)

6. Wait if your system is still shot after this ... IT'S TIME TO PANIC!

7. Alright don't panic but your more than likely going to have to reinstall or boot up with a live CD and start editing some configuration files.

Random Music Video of the Day: Love Two Point OH! by johnnyOnline

Wow, my random searches through the tubes has lead to some pretty interesting stuff. Most of it suited towards the most nerdy of people out there, which leads me todays vodeo. The song is actually pretty catchy and definetly doesn't take itself to seriously. It's worth checking out, if only to hear a love song about Web 2.0

My take on the Format Wars

Alright so let me get this straight, with the new HD (HDDVD or Blueray) format's I get new higher resolution images in my video quality right? So anything shot with HD cameras will look considerably better, which is true but only a handful of people are pushing this stuff out now. So then the question why the hell do I care more than half the content I care about isn't/wasn't shot in digital, which means its up converted. So then the question is why switch from DVD? So until there is a lot more HD content out, the HD format wars are a complete joke. Until then I'll just a get a rocking up-converting DVD player, so screw you Format Wars!

Random Video of the Dat: If Simpsons Was Star Wars

This is just the awesome!

Zero Punctuation: Bioshock Review (Best Review)

This is the best Bioshock review I've seen

Software Pick of the Day: Abiword

There are days that you wish that there was something other than Microsoft Word. When you have those days, you have Abiword. This nice little free word processing application, that I think works just as well as Microsoft Word. I've been a huge fan of this little application for a while, its my goto application when I can't stand using Word. Check it out here.

The Big Purple Elephant: New iPods

Alright since I went through the trouble of speculating on what Apple would do in it's little keynote. I guess I should go over some of my speculations since some of it was right on the nose and some not so much. Hooray for random guessing!

What I got right:

iPod Touch - yay! I got the name... not like it was all that hard to figure out but it counts. Wireless iTunes store, yeah I was just as suprised as anyone about this one.
iPod Classic - more hard drive space.
iPod Nano - got the video treatment and a larger screen.
iPod Shuffle - More colors (apparently Shuffles are the new M & M's)

I pretty much got everything else wrong, which if your curious can be found here.

Now on to the big purple elephant in the room.

First of all, did anyone actually think Apple wasn't going to announce new iPods? Alright just checking, in fact Apple announced a couple of different iPod lines one of which had an extremely easy name to guess. That's right the iPod Touch is very iPhone like and what makes the whole thing seem that much more desirable is that its got WiFi. Not only did Apple announce the long rumored WiFi enabled iPod but it'll serve a purpose such as purchasing from the iTunes store and surfing the web. Needless to say I'm a bit excited about this new addition to the iPod family.

The iPod Classic got the usual hard drive upgrade and has dropped the classic white look, which I'm seeing as an end of an era. The polished white iPod has been the iconic face of the iPod family line for a long time now.

The iPod Nano got a few changes that pretty much everyone saw coming. With video playback and a lager screen Apple has added the one feature the Nano line has lacked. However, I'm not entirely sure if it was needed. Sure I could watch videos on it, but would I really want to watch video on it is an entirely different story. Not to mention I'm not crazy about the Nano's updated design granted there probably wasn't a good way to fit the larger screen and scroll wheel, but come on this is a copout!

However probably the most interesting aspect of todays keynote is that most of the rumor sites were right on the money with the product releases. Is Apple slipping in its tight lipped ways or was this just a fluke? In any case it seems Apple is still setting the bar when it comes to the portable MP3 market.

The Way Game Reviews Should Be Done

Even if you don't play video games, this video is worth checking out. The creator of this witty fast paced demo review is an Australian who is now developing content for a video game review site known as The Escapist (here) The this review who obviously drinks way too much caffeine, has his own site,which some more content that I'm pretty sure he produced. In any case I really wish more game reviews were like this and by that I mean show opinion and talk specifically about good and bad experiences. Personally I think the number rating system sucks out loud and could easily be replaced by buy it, rent it (if its and option), or avoid it like the plague.

Random Music Video of the Day: Hip Hop Violin

Give a person enough time in a music genre and they'll blow you away. At least that seems to be the case with today's video.

Random Video: 3 Ways the Internet Keeps You from Scoring

3 Ways The Net Keeps You From Scoring - Watch more free videos

Alright normally I don't post videos that revolve around this topic, but this is actually quite funny and yes the girl is quite hot. She's actually only got a couple of videos up, but all in all they're pretty good;she either does or knows someone who does a Christopher Walken impression. (Check here).

XBOX 360 Weekend Deal

For the few of you own Xbox 360's there is a nice little sale going on this weekend only (as far as I know). Where all xbox live arcade games are half off, so now you don't have an excuse to not have that full copy of geometry wars.

Bloglines BETA goes public

On any given day I read 12 to 15 different blogs, so after a while I decided that I needed an online RSS reader. I eventually decided on Bloglines, which recently opened up to the public a beta version of its newer RSS reader. Basically it uses a lot more AJAX and has some neat interface views that I really like, check out the beta here. Signing up for a Bloglines account is free and simple to setup.

Tutorial: How to setup VNC server on your mac

With my new media pc in place (mac mini) I have found the need to control it with something a little more sophisticated than the little Apple Remote. So after a little bit of Google searching I have discovered OS X (10.4) has a built in VNC server that can be setup by messing with the Sharing Setting under the System Preferences window. It looks like its a really quick and easy way to setup a VNC server on the Mac. Check out the tutorial here.

Some Thoughts About the New Generation of iPods

Within the last few days the Apple rumor mill is buzzing (is there actually a time where its not buzzing?) with an upcoming Apple Event (Sept 5). Now it seems pretty apparent that Apple will probably be announcing the next generation of iPods at this event. So its time to speculate... because what's the fun in waiting and hearing from his Jobiness himself. So here are the things that are likely to happen to the product line.

iPod Nano - will get the video treatment along with a larger screen size. I'd expect some form of an scroll wheel, but I'm not sure if a physical scroll wheel will allow for a larger screen;I'm guessing the range of the video iPod size.

iPod (Video) - this will probably get the full glass treatment and has the highest probably of getting some version of OS X. Expect these to be hard drive based and as usual have a decent storage capacity upgrade. I don't think WiFi or Bluetooth are likely since it would make it too iPhone like. I'd also expect a special edition version as well, maybe we'll finally see the Beatles iPod.

iPod Shuffle - I wouldn't expect anything really exciting about this product expect for higher storage capacity and probably more colors.

iPhone - 3G model will see simultaneous release in Europe and the USA in early to mid 2008.

iTunes Store - more movie and video content, iTunes HD gets released and corresponding store goes live the same day. Games for touchscreen devices.

Okay so those are the same rumors that everyone else has been throwing around so now let's have some fun and just make up some fun what ifs.

iPod Video - Product line is put to bed in favor of a new design and "Face" of the iPod product line the iPod Touch or something like that.

iPod Touch (Full touch screen) - this iPod will have definite iPhone influences but will probably come in classic iPod white and also come in black that will cost $50-100 dollars more (Hello Apple tax). Supports multi touch and mini OS X, meaning new cover flow interface. New form factor brings more device convergence, so the iPod now has IR and supports expanded FrontRow (Bluetooth/Wireless would work too, but not likely due to lack of support for AppleTV). No Internet but we may get wireless based iTunes Store access. (Just to make all other online music stores seem really dated) .

iPod Nano - similar full glass implementation (maybe time to invest in some glass companies?) and multi touch. Expect video support and higher flash memory for storage. Also get built in Bluetooth support for data streams and Bluetooth stereo headphones. I'd also expect to hear about new partnerships with other Sports wear companies Adidas and Reebok will add support for iPod pedometer in some of their new running shoe lines.

iPod Shuffle - gets mini multi touch display that allows you to flip through mini cover flow images.

iTunes Store - Apple announces funding for Indie label X, who will do major of distribution through iTunes. New iTunes HD gets released that allows HD TV Shows to be streamed. iPod Touch version also gets released.

iPhone - new version planned for FY08 will coincide with Europe launch. 3G support, GPS, and more flash storage. Announcement iPhone SDK beta and upcoming plan to allow true third party iPhone applications.

Alright so there you have it. Now note, other than the Apple Event Scheduled for Sept. 5, I have no clue what Apple is actually going to announce, so pretty much all of the above is speculation and should no way be considered factual.

Random Video: Live Action Halo

With Halo 3 being a few weeks out, I thought I'd put up this live action clip that we can only hope makes it into a live action Halo movie. You can check out a high def version here (requires sliverlight).

More Quicksilver Tips

With the arrival of my Mac Mini I finally had a chance to work with the latest version of Quicksilver I've been working with the B31 version (For those of use still in 10.3). Which has lead me to todays post, which includes tips on how to setup Quicksilver to automate application installations. Check out the post here, thanks to Lifehacker for the link.

Random Video:Lego building Lego's

I saw this video and thought this is one of the coolest Lego setups I've seen and who the hell has this much free time, check out the video to find out what I'm blabbing about.

Quick Tip: Automate Handbrake

My Mac Mini arrived today...horray so my quest to make a media center pc starts today. So on that note here is a quick script that will help automate Handbrake, you know for backing up DVDs. Check out the post on macosxhints.com, here.

UPDATE:Turns out the article is kind of dated but I still think I know of a good way to automate Handbrake based on the provided script so this may yet prove to be useful. Stay tuned for details.

Random Video: Team Fortress 2

I was looking at some game trailers and stumbled upon this awesome trailer for Team Fortress 2. I always wondered why they were called zoo's

Quick Tip: Using Quicksilver as a Dictionary

Today I discovered the dictionary plug-in for Quicksilver, which is my new favorite use for the little launcher application that does just about everything else. Check out the tutorial on how to set this up here. Thanks to Lifehacker for the link.

Random Music Video of the Day: Sum 41 "88"

Can't get this song out of my head, so enjoy

Software Pick of the Day: iRed Lite

Today's pick extends the functionality of the little Apple remote that is used to control Front Row. Basically it allows you to control just about any application on your Mac through a series of Apple Scripts. It sounds like a pretty cool way to get even more out of that little Apple remote. This free download is currently in beta but is definitely worth checking out. Check it out here.

Tutorial: Write a basic Linux GUI app

For most beginners developing graphical user interface (GUI) applications have always had a bit of a stigma. In the past the process was more complicated than it needed to be and a lack of solid design tools didn't make things any easier. Now with more powerful integrated development environments (IDE) its much easier to develop GUI based applications. The following article has a nice little walk through on how to make a simple Linux base GUI application using the QDevelop. The article is written for an older version of Ubuntu (6.10) but should work just fine for the current version for those of you interested in developing applications for Linux. Check out the article here.

Will someone please make this?

In my normal meanderings around the Internet, I Stumbled across a designer that is definitely influenced by the industrial design of Apple products. Yann Coroller is a very talented designer/illustrator that seems to have peered into the mind of many Mac users such as myself and designed a very slick Mac based consumer device. It's called myBook, which resembles a shrunken down iBook with some very nice tablet features. Now I won't go into the details of what this conceptual product would do but I will give my take on why it would compliment the current Apple product line and what I it needs to have in order to be a success.

Now by going over the basic design, you'd have an ultra portable mac that is targeted to the following functions well: e-mail, contact management, web surfing, and other little tasks, that would be powered by some version of OS X. Hmmm ... almost sounds like the iPhone doesn't it?
However, the design is pushed even further by under powering the machine and removing an optical drive to maintain a nice battery life which one would only hope wouldn't damper the machines performance. There by creating, in theory that is, one of the best web surfing devices the world has ever seen.

Now this would compliment Apple's current product line in many ways, so here is the quick list:

• Since it would be more of a computer derivative than a phone, it wouldn't directly compete with Apple's iPhone, instead it could come into the game as the ultimate ultra portable device for the average consumer (well a Mac consumer) . It would almost be like a UMPC except with an Apple touch or better yet an Iliad except with more features. More likely this could also be another consumer device that has many "computer" like functions.
  
• Even though Jobs has yet to admit it there are quite a few of us that are just pining for a successor the the 12" Powerbook, this could fill some of that void
  
• This is a relatively untapped market, the PDA has all but died and been consumed by the smart phone market. UMPC's aren't exactly flying off the selves or performing as expected. A solid little machine like this could clean up as long its not priced too high and performs as expected

Now of course there are a few things that I think need to be solved before this dream machine has a real chance.

The first major concern is function, this little tablet will have to function much like its iBook heritage suggests. It'll probably run a version of OS X but a cut down version would probably be a good idea, by keeping the OS light weight they can reduce amount of resources it'll need from the physical system hence improving performance without needing a lot bleeding edge hardware.

The next thing would probably be look and feel, I'm not talking about the physical design. I'm referring to the software/operating system look and feel. Either make it like OS X and add support software to aid in navigation and use. Another approach could be to make it more iPhone like have the screen utilize a multi touch interface, this would be a great idea but I do think that a stylus or pointer like device is still needed in a device such as the myBook.

Why, might you ask? Well if this device had great stylus support it would make it an awesome drawing tablet, they'd have Photoshop fans tripping over each other trying to get one. Not to mention somethings are just easier to do with a pen like device, such as drawing diagrams.

The last thing a device like the myBook would need is to be put in the right price range. The Apple tax will only go so far and marketing will only go so far. If the device is too far out in the price range it'll suffer the same fate as most UMPCs. However, if it's priced in between the iPhone and a MacBook Pro; it'll probably sell pretty well.

Now a lot of the above assumes Apple would make such a device, but the bottom line is that any company can pull it off as long they can do it well and generate some buzz. The latter is a given just by slapping on an Apple logo on it, the sad thing is that I'm probably right about that.

Beginners guide to PPC assembly

Now with more and more devices using some form of PowerPC processor its becoming more apparent to me that at some point I'm going to have to learn Assembly for the PPC. Luckily IBM has a nice little introduction into assembler for the PPC, but isn't a fully blown tutorial basically it acts as a good place to start. Think of it as the first few chapters of just about any generic programming book out there. In any case I found it helpful, so I figure it might help you too. Check it out here.

Software Pick of the Day: TimeDrawer

This Mac only application (10.4) is very cool little tool that helps with version control of pretty much any document your mac can handle (that is pretty much any document that spotlight supports). It's got a pretty slick interface and seems to be pretty straight forward to use, so until Apple drops Time Machine in our lap with the release of Leopard. This will just have to do, download here. Check out the video of the application in action.

XNA 2.0 is out and has networking

Well its finally happened, actually it happened when I was out on vacation and I just found out about it but Microsoft has release version 2.0 of their XNA framework. For those unfamiliar with the story the XNA framework is a managed support library that Microsoft has released that is optimized for game development. The idea is to create a nice base platform that allow third party home brew developers to write games that can run on the Windows operating system environment or the XBOX 360 environment.
The latest release finally supports integration with all versions of Visual Studio 2005 and not just the C# Express edition. The other big feature includes networking support that will work over XBOX Live, this will definitely make for some interesting games. In any case I'm pretty excited about the new versions features. I just now need some spare time to start developing with it and probably put up a few more tutorials. Check out the link here. (Thanks to Gizmodo for the link)

Best Mac Software?

Through my typical rumblings through the big wide cloud we know as the Internet I have found a rather awesome site that lists some of the best mac applications you can find. Now not all are open source and free but a lot of them are and its definitely worth checking it out at Best Mac Software (Really stretched on the name huh?), Click here to check it out.

The Comment Rant

For years I have done one of the most painful processes in software development. Re-coding/fixing someone else's program code. Now all programmers prefer their own "obviously" superior code to another's but that's not what I'm talking about. Today I'm seriously irked by the fact that very few coders try to write "readable" code. The reason why readable code is good should be apparent to anyone who's had to work with someone else's, but if your not sure what I'm talking about here is a scenario that you really just have to live through before you understand it.

Lets say you've been coding for a few years and you see the following lines of code

for (int x=0;x<10;x++)>Index(x);
}

Now through basic C++ you can figure that its for loop that will go through 10 times and pass the x value into a class method, where something will presumably happen or act on it.

The problem? It means nothing to you, if this was apart of some critical software system this wouldn't tell you shit. Sure you may be able to trace the class method and figure out what's going on but it still won't tell you about the magic number (10) in the for conditional section or what purpose the variable x serves. Now this is a simplified version made to prove a point, but if your one of the few who hasn't had to deal with this just imagine this type of coding on a large scale application. Don't believe it happens? It does.

Now there are tons of tips and even more excuses on how to approach/avoid this problem. Since the ability to read everyones coding style probably isn't a good option, here are a few tips I wish more programmers (even myself at times) would do more often

- Use variable names that mean something, this is easy to over look when writing code constructs you've done a couple of hundred times. (i.e. the x in the for loop)
- No Magic Numbers (Use constants or enumerations)
- Clever things need to be commented on (you probably won't be as clever 3 months down the road when you stare at the code blankly and neither will the next person who reads it)
- Code like someone else is going to read it, I know it sounds dumb but it forces you to code for readability and function.
- Be consistent, programmers tend to mix their preferred language coding styles (habits they've formed recently) with their basic coding style (habits they've formed when learning to program). It's maddening, stop it ... no seriously stop.
- Don't comment to make code look pretty or fuller, comments should be useful to someone who isn't you, i.e. they need to tell someone else what your trying to accomplish and more importantly how your doing it. Dumb comments don't help they just make other programmers glaze over useful ones.

Now before you give me the whole, "that takes too much time" bit the bottom line is that you've learned to code this way because its a habit. So the only way to fix it is to make this a habit, the speed portion will come with practice, now go a more enlightened code ninja.

Quicksilver is going Open Source

Its seems my favorite productivity tool, Quicksilver for the Mac is going open source. According to a post by Alcor the developer of Quicksilver. The move will occur some time after the release of Leopard. There are more details at tuaw the why so check out the forum post here. Thanks to TUAW for the link.

Software Pick of the Day: nLite

If your a Windows user than you probably know about the 6-12 month re-install rule that you need to follow to ensure a trouble free Windows experience, right? If I just mentioned something completely new to you then consider that your first piece of tech advice.

In any case I don't know of a single person that enjoys this re-install process, so todays software pick is to help solve this very problem. No, it won't make Windows run better for longer, but it will allow you to create a custom Windows installer. Which basically means you won't have to re-install all of your applications after you've completed the install. So what magic software do you need to put this together? Well none other than nLite, which is basically a deployment tool that allows you to create a customized Windows installation and burn it to a CD. Best of all its free. Check it out here for the software and more info.

It's Freak'n Lasers

Laser Flashlight Hack! - video powered by Metacafe

Ever wonder how to make a hand held laser beam device? Check out the video for the details, but just letting you know this laser does a little more than just point. Thanks to Lifehacker for the video

Halo 2 played with Wiimote on a XBOX360

Video: Playing Halo 2 (Xbox 360) with a Wiimote

Obviously someone went to a lot of trouble making this work, but its doesn't make it any less awesome. Check out the details of this rather elaborate setup in the post here. (Thanks to Gizmodo for the Link)

Wiimote in XNA?

Apparently someone has cleverly made a managed library that interfaces with Nintendo Wiimote. Now the reason why this is note worthy is that since someone has built a managed library for the controller device you can now interface with it in an application built on Microsoft's .NET platform. Better yet, you now have a device interface for your XNA games, congrats home brewers you've got a new interface toy to play with. Check out this link for more information on the library here and where to get it. I'll post a full blown article on the library when I get a chance to play with it some more and manage to "borrow" one of my roommates Wiimotes.

The Linux Challenge: The Geek Stuff (Part 3)

Since I began this little challenge testing out if Ubuntu Linux was really ready for the lime light. I've successfully installed Ubuntu on my low spec'd Dell. The whole install process was a breeze as expected but now comes the fun part, I need to accomplish two other requirements for this to be successful.

Now this isn't so much a part of the challenge but a request by my Dad, which is to allow the computer to display most/all of its interface in Chinese basic. Now most users will download and install Ubuntu in their own regions but if Ubuntu can do this easily then I'm pretty much sold. The other task of mine is to setup an SSH session that I can log into and perform quick fixes. Now I've got a few configuration changes to make before this goes out to my parents house.

I'll document any neat little scripts I decide to add into the mix, but so far I'm pretty happy with all the basic Linux functionality I got from Ubuntu with little to no effort. So I've decided to add a few geek requirements into the mix to make it interesting but the Challenge will really start when I give it to my Dad for use. Check back for more updates, I suspect that they'll be more spread out since I'm going to keep the challenge going for at least 6 months.

Random Video: Guitart Hero 3 First Look Dragonforce "Through the fire and flames"

Now I'm a fan of Guitar Hero 2 but come on. Seriously they expect people to actually play this? Even the Guitar Hero Kid would probably faint

Beefing Up SSH

The iTWire has a nice little post about how you can improve the security of your SSH Daemon. Some simple tips include disabling root login and changing the default port. However, the article has a few more tips that should help keep out any unwanted guest. Its a good read, check out the article here.

Software Pick of the Day: Ethereal

Whether developing a simple network application or trying to debug network traffic, there is one tool that I turn to right away. Ethereal is an open source application that analyzes IP based traffic over an Ethernet port, giving you a complete capture of the traffic going on in your network. I use it pretty regularly when testing out my client and server applications. This full featured network protocol analyzer is one of the best and its also free to use on any platform. Check it out here.

Apple Media Center : Mac Mini or Apple TV

Well today, I felt the need to do a little speculation about Apple's product line. In the last year Apple has been pushing harder into the consumer electronics market with its iPhone and AppleTV products. Now it's a pretty natural transition to see that Apple hopes to make the iPhone the future of the iPod family and they're well on their way to doing so.

The AppleTV is a slightly different beast in itself, now one could argue that its an obvious derivative of the Mac Mini and based on the design of the device its pretty hard to argue. So I thought it would only be fair to compare the two to see which is better for the home theater. However, the basic functionality of the AppleTV makes it more iPod like than a Mini, which is probably to streamline its core functionality to fit the living room environment. So what did Apple do to make this a reality?

1. Syncing from iTunes
2. HDMI/ Component Cable connections
3. Simplified Software/UI all geared towards playing media

Now the overall problem with this is that though it does its job pretty well but people will always want their Apple device to do more. This is where the Mac Mini fills in the gap quite nicely, after all its a computer that can handle just about all of your media center needs right? Sort of, lets see what the Mini has going for it to fill in the gaps:

1. Ability to manage and play just about any kind of media
2. DVD playback
3. You aren't tied to iTunes or Apple software for that matter

Now it would seem that the Mac Mini is the perfect media center device disguised as a computer, but it has some pretty big deficiencies. Lack of HDMI or any TV standard connection is a pretty big problem for those who aren't tech savvy. Some people just want something they can plug into their TV and have it just work. DVI is an option but converter cables shouldn't be necessary. The other issue is navigation, there really isn't a hand held remote that's good at running OS X so expecting Apple's trimmed down version isn't going to cut it. Note: Front Row is a great software navigation for playing media but not managing it.

So which is the better home media device... well its got to be the Mac Mini simply since it can do a lot of which the AppleTV can do and then some. Now for most Apple fans this article is terribly dated and doesn't tell you anything you don't already know. However, what this does bring to light is that the AppleTV and Mac Mini could merge into a family line that could kick some serious butt in the home media market. Also with lingering rumors that the Mini is doomed it seems that a natural transition would be to fold a lot of the Mini's strengths into the AppleTV line. Giving us a device with the following:

1. HDMI/Component Cable hook up
2. Simplified UI optimized for TV
3. DVD Playback (or ability to import DVDs like CDs)
4. Media Management and Playback

It would seem another winner would be in works if ever happens.

Build Your Own Moleskine

Since I've been working a lot lately I've found that I like to sketch and doodle in my spare time. I won't push my really bad sketches on you, so no need to shut off your monitor ... for now. However, due to my little hobby I've become a fan of the Moleskine, its a notebook brand, yep just a blank notebook. However, the brand itself has a nice little history behind it, in short lots of renowned writers/thinkers/artist has used it in the past. Currently the brand has had a resurgence as a really good productivity tool, who am I kidding its a freaking to do list. In any case, I like using it as a sketch book, but if you want more info on it check out the Moleskine site here.

So now that you've read through my rather long setup todays post is about making your very own Moleskine. The post goes over the entire process which requires a bit more tools than I thought it would but its a good little tutorial to try out if you're a do it yourself type. Check out the how to post here, Thanks to Lifehacker for the link.

The Linux Challenge: The Machine (Part 2)

Yesterday I posted about my new experiment to see if Ubuntu Linux, was really ready to start delivering the goods. So let's start with the machine that this little experiment will take place on.

The machine is Dell Inspiron 531S (I known buying big box bad, but it was really cheap)
This little machine holds AMD64 X2 Dual Core 3800+ processor, 512MB of RAM, 56k modem, built in Ethernet, on board sound, and on board video. It comes with Windows Vista Basic installed on it.

Yeah... so a nice little setup for a Linux box, but definitely not Vista ready. Seriously Windows Vista is REALLY slow on this machine. I'm sure it has everything to do with the machine only having 512 MB of RAM, but that should be good enough to run Ubuntu pretty smoothly. However, I really wish that Dell would have put XP on this machine instead. Today I'll start the install of Ubuntu and see if it can live up to the hype.

The Linux Challenge: The Concept (Part 1)

Today I'm going to start what I consider to be the ultimate challenge to see if Ubuntu Linux is ready for the mainstream. The "challenge" is to see if my father can use a computer without getting too frustrated. A little background on my dad he is a man who has literally never used a computer. Now this kind of a risky move, since my mom is very much a basic Windows user and will probably try to help my dad perform basic tasks. So the challenge isn't all in the distributions hands the environment surrounding the user (my father) will also play a big role.

So you may be asking yourself, well if you already have one Windows user in the house why not just give him a Windows box and let your mom help out? Well mostly because my mom really doesn't use Windows very well but I've purposely trained her to do the tasks she needs to do on the computer so she doesn't really understand what she does. The other reason is that with all of the problems my mom had I wasn't able to troubleshoot her issues over the phone very effectively, Linux will give me a better option with the power of SSH. I could go on about my reasoning for this decision but I'll save that for a later date.

The basic goals for the challenge are pretty simple

Have a computer that can connect to the internet safely
- How this will be achieved
-Connect to Internet through dial-up
(Yes, I know I'll get them on Cable/DSL one of these days)
-Firewall (It's Linux, take your pick many different firewalls)

Provide a User Interface that can be easily taught
- How this will be achieved
-Point and Click are pretty straightforward
-The biggest issue my dad doesn't like English, meaning the UI needs to have the ability to
switch from English to Chinese (Mandarin) and visa versa

Allow for basic remote access to fix issues
- How this will be achieved
-SSH (very little I can't fix over SSH)

Software Pick of the Day: Wubi

If you're a Windows user that's curious about moving to Linux and are just too lazy to burn a live CD and too timid to consider the prospect of dual booting your machine. Today's software pick will give you a better option. Wubi is a Linux installer that pretty much makes installing Linux, in this case Ubuntu as easy as installing a Windows application. The application installs Ubuntu on your local Windows partition and modifies your boot to allow you to boot into Ubuntu. Yes, is a real installation and you can uninstall it just like you can for any Windows application. This is a great way to get your feet wet in Linux or just visit your old stomping grounds. Check it out here, and like most applications I recommend its open source, meaning free as in beer. Check out the Wubi site for more details.

Quick Tip: Best of Vim Tips

Today I have found a list of one of the largest vi/vim tips I've seen in a while. The post covers almost everything anyone would want to do in vi. So check out the post here.

Software Testing Testing Your Coding Habits

Like most developers I have developed a rather long list of coding habits, some good and some bad but after reading this article posted on Object Mentor I'm probably going to change a few things. The article titled "Testing Will Challenge Your Conventions" is an interesting post about how coding habits or standards affect a Software Tester. I particularly like the part about how tests are like "code clarity". Now of course I don't agree with all of it, especially since its heavily weighted on unit testing and I don't think that's the end all to be all testing solution. Which makes it kind of silly to gear your coding standards to one testing method. However, its a good read for any developer check out the post here.

Quick Tip: Basic Guide to Pointer Arithmetic

The use of pointers is often improperly used in the world of C/C++ coding and usually takes budding programmers time to understand how to use them. This is why pointer arithmetic is usually avoided like its some weird phobia.

So here is a quick tip to help you keep your head on straight when thinking about these operations. When you declare a pointer such as unsigned char* pData =NULL; you'll have effectively declared a variable that has the value of an address, in this case a NULL address. Now when performing operations such as pData++ you are adding 1 to that address value meaning your pData now points to an address of 0x1 or 1 from the start address. Simple right?

Well this is the part that most people tend to forget the operators work on the
address values, but the value contained in that address is based on the pointer primitive type. So in our current declaration of pData we can only move one byte (unsigned char == 1 byte) at a time when performing the operation pData++ . So if our pointer had the primitive of an unsigned short int (unsigned 16 bit value) then the operation would move in 16-bit chunks, this is very important to note when dealing with data parsing. It's really straight forward but you'd be surprised how often people forget/just don't know how this works.

Random Music Video of the Day: Paramore "Pressure" Acoustic version

It maybe a week later but I've still got this band's songs stuck in my head. Paramore is a new generation of punk rock band thats got a good amount going for it, including a lead singer that can really sing. Hey that's kind of rare, in any case Paramore has/will be on my playlist so I thought I'd share, enjoy!

6 Ways to Writting Comprehensible Code

IBM has a nice little posting that gives a few simple tips to write more comprehensible code. If you're not entirely sure what I'm talking about then perform a simple test write a routine that does a few math operations on a value. Better yet, implement the operation using shift operators (just because) then have someone else (a coder, your grand mother probably won't work in this case) look at the code and have them explain to you what the routine does. If they can't figure out your code in like 5 minutes. Then you REALLY should follow these tips otherwise you should check out the follow. Check out the post here.

Quick Tip: Porting C++ Application to a 64-bit Platform

The code project has an excellent post on issues you'll run into when porting 32-bit C++ to a 64-bit environment. It's a nice little article for those of you who are making the jump.

Quick Tip: Setting Default Command Selections for Quicksilver

Today I have to give credit to Lifehacker and 43Folders for this neat little Quicksilver option I didn't know about. You can set a default action for partial commands then start typing your command, such as "PHOTO" for Photoshop. Then Ctl+Click on the application/action you want to launch with your partial command and select the "Make Default" option. The more I learn about this launcher the more I wish I had it everywhere.

Gentoo Founder is pissed at Gentoo Foundation

In my normal rumblings around digg, I have stumbled across this posting from Daniel Robbins, who is better known for putting together the Gentoo Linux Distribution. Now being a huge fan of Gentoo and in particular of its portage system, I was pretty curious to find out what the originator of the project thought about the direction of the Gentoo Foundation. Apparently he's not that pleased, in his post he talked about how the foundation he helped setup is more or less getting cold feet about the project and their plans to move Gentoo's intellectual property to another foundation. Daniel's post goes into more detail but needless to say he's kinda ticked, check out his post here.

After reading the post Daniel is referring to (here) I can kind of see why he's pissed. The thread goes on talking about why they should move to another foundation, without really explaining much on what they need to do to become a better foundation. It ends up sounding like, this is too much work for us so we think it should go to someone else that's not us. Now I'm a huge fan of Gentoo, but as of late things seem to be slowing way down, which might be the reasoning for their post. So even though I'm disappointed in this posting I'm still hoping the community will respond to this and get the project rolling again.

Random Music Video of the Day: Bad Religion "Do what you want"

Today, was my first time attending a Warped Tour and I have to say it was all that I could hope for, which means it was awesome. So in honor of this eventful moment I'm posting of the bands I saw and I think pretty much stole the show. Bad Religion "Do what you want"