Two Threads Collide:
I randomly came across a reference to Flash Player 8, which promises to be focused on designers as opposed to developers (i.e. more speed), and then on FLOG I saw a reference to a video demo of the player alleging speed increases of 145%. That's cool! I am wondering if they're finally integrating video hardware features into the players. I'd like to see something compile into native code as well. Flash Desktop, anyone?
I've also heard of processing, the artistic programming language, in the past. It's a graphics programming library based on (and in fact written in) Java. I took a browse through its [core functions]. It has 3d primitives built in, with lighting, and that's an interesting plus over Flash. Speed, it's noted, should be comparable if not better than Flash Player 7.
The only thing that keeps me from looking at Processing is sheer obstinance... I'm not a big fan of Java development if only because the IDEs haven't been very cool. Like the painter who enjoys the smell of turpentine, I'm the sort of computer user who loves a solid GUI. Bad interfaces grate on me, and as a result I tend not to use new tools unless the benefit clearly outweighs the mental anguish :-)
On the other hand, it's been a few years since I've looked at Java, computers are faster now, so it may be worth looking at again for me. If i were to choose a programming language now (and actually, I am), it would probably be Windows C++ or C#.
I came across 60Hz is the Holy Grail in a Game Development Algorithms List archive posting. There's a lot of very interesting information about frame rate and visual perception, posted by people you may even have heard of.
I love things that move at 60+ fps...as a child, I was drawn to video games because of the mesmerizing effect it had on me. So smooth and otherworldly...
Speaking of my sister, she relayed to me important intelligence regarding the America 24/7 book for cats and dogs. You can submit photos of your pets via the link on the America 24/7 Website. If you're picked, you'll win stuff, and get your cat/dog in the book. Yay! You have until October 31 to enter.
Duncan, always alert for the next big thing, forwarded me a link to Moon Song, an uninhibited proclaimation of love for the moon. "Because we like the moon! It's not a spoon!"
It took a few minutes for this to grow on me because it's not a slick piece of production, but there's something very authentic about a piece like this that that works so little—yet so hard—to entertain. It reminds me of when I was a kid and would make up songs about my sister to annoy her. You know, classic stuff like "Emileeeee! It rhymes with PEEEEEEE!" Heh heh.
Moon Song is a good example of unencumbered creativity that really seeks to entertain on its own merits. The audience may be small, but the motivation and intent is 100% authentic. It's real content, as far as I'm concerned.
Another picture of Tommy, Mark's Russian Blue.
Jenny came to visit for several weeks. She is a very bouncy and confident cat...and very playful! One of her favorite games with me was to chase things through this tube. If you dangled a small toy mouse on the other side, she would track it and then rush through in the blink of an eye. She seemed to never tire of this.
The view is not nearly as dramatic from the other side :-)
The Sox did it! On to the World Series! Congratulations to you diehard Boston fans out there!
In celebration, I gave Kat and Kate some wet food...a whole can each!
I was browsing shauninman.com, which is a really nice personal-yet-slick site, and came across a couple good links. The inspiring one, other than Shaun's site in itself, is a version of Lemmings written entirely in Javascript. Not Java. Javascript.
I'm not sure I really believe it. Still, Lemmings is a classic game...go play!
This is my sister's cat, and we all hang out on the holidays. When my sister is around, Audrey is shy and friendly. When she's not around, Audrey hides from me. When Audrey stayed with me for a week, I had to use a motion-sensitive webcam to verify that she was indeed eating and healthy. But she's still a good cat despite that.
Deepak over at Active Edge forwarded me this online report for where to find the cheapest gas in New Hampshire on any given day. Worth a look, fellow Granite Staters!
