Day[9] - A Moving Story of a Pro-Gamer [Video]

Day[9] is a Starcraft2 commentator and a professional gamer (among other things). I have been following him for sometime watching his 'casts' of games. He just posted this video on Youtube (although its an old episode), its an incredibly moving tale of his journey through gaming to becoming one of the top players in the world. More than that he relates it to how his family have supported him through his passion and giving him belief to do what he loves.

If you enjoy gaming or know someone that enjoys gaming I cant encourage you enough to watch this video. Its quite long but I strongly encourage you stick with it till the end!



If you liked Day[9]'s quirky style of humor of  or are interested in watching some more of his casts you should checkout either his Youtube channel or his BlipTV archive.

Post To Tumblr Version 0.3

Just made a quick little update to my chrome extension "Post To Tumblr".

In this update I finally worked out how to catch bad username or password returns from the Tumbr API. Basically it just involved me using the ajax rather than the post jQuery function and using "async:false" like so:

[codesyntax lang="javascript"]

$.ajax({
		  url: 'http://www.tumblr.com/api/write',
		  type: 'POST',
		  data:o,
		  async: false,
		  complete: function(transport)
		  {
				if(transport.status == 200 || transport.status == 201)
				{
					 postingNote.cancel();
					 var postedNote = webkitNotifications.createNotification('images/icon48.png', "Image Posted!", info.srcUrl);
					 setTimeout(function() { postedNote.cancel(); }, 5000);
					 postedNote.show();
				}
				else if(transport.status == 403)
				{
					postingNote.cancel();
					var errorNote = webkitNotifications.createNotification('images/icon48.png', "Posting Error!", "Bad email or password");
					setTimeout(function() { errorNote.cancel(); }, 5000);
					errorNote.show();
				}

			}
		 });

[/codesyntax]

In addition I have added some notifications to indicate when the extension is doing something.

I have made a little demo video below to show this off:



Chrome should auto update for you. If you dont have the extension yet head over to the extension gallery to grab it now!

48 Hours Later - Timelapse & Gameplay Videos

Just made these two videos. One is the timelapse video I took to show my development process and the other is to show off the gameplay for those that cant run flash (Linux) or dont want to actually play the game, just want to see what the fuss is about :P

The timelapse was produced using 2300 ish screenshots, one taken every 60 seconds by Chronolapse.

Enjoy:





You can play the game here: http://mikecann.co.uk/ludum-dare/ludum-dare-hour-40-complete/#thegame

Assembly 2010 - CNCD & Fairlight Demo

It was the massive annual Assembly gathering last week. Traditionally its a place for the demo scene to gather and present their demos and to hack out new ones.

For those not in the know the demo scene or "scene" is where a team of people come together and compete to make a music video. Except that they arent videos in the traditional sense as its all generated using code and runs in realtime. This means that you have to be super efficient with your code. Some of the competitions are "64k" or even "4k" competitions which means that the whole demo must fit in 64kb or 4kb! The music is also produced by the groups and often excellent.

I have been checking out some of the demos produced by the teams this year and they are simply stunning. Every year they get better and better.

This one from CNCD and Fairlight particularly caught my eye as it has massive numbers of particles and a stunning soundtrack kinda reminiscent of glitchy Radiohead. Therefore I thought it essential I share it here.

Enjoy:



Oh while im at it check out this one from last year:



If you are interested in more demos from assembly you can get them all here: http://scene.org/newfiles.php?dayint=7&dir=/parties/2010/assembly10/

Oh I have also posted about the demoscene before here: http://mikecann.co.uk/art/andromeda-software-development-lifeforce-2007/

Flex 4 Spark & Rollover Group Containing Rect

Was working on my top-secret Flex-based project over the weekend when I discovered something I hadn't come across before.

The issue is that when you have a Spark Rect GraphicsElement within a Spark Group it seems that the rollover event of the group is triggered even though the mouse doesn't roll over the Rect.

Here is a video I made to explain my issue on Twitter:



The code in the video is as follows:

[codesyntax lang="mxml"]

<s:WindowedApplication xmlns:fx="http://ns.adobe.com/mxml/2009"
   xmlns:s="library://ns.adobe.com/flex/spark"
   xmlns:mx="library://ns.adobe.com/flex/mx"> 

	<s:Group rollOver="trace('ya')">
		<s:Rect x="100" y="100" width="20" height="20">
			<s:fill>
				<s:SolidColor color="0x00ff00" />
			</s:fill>
		</s:Rect>
	</s:Group> 

</s:WindowedApplication>

[/codesyntax]

It turns out (after posting the issue on the Adobe Forums) that I was simply missing the "mouseEnabledWhereTransparent" property on the Group. Setting it to false causes the mouse to perform a hit-test rather than a simple bounds check. Thank you Mr Shongrunden for pointing this out to me :)

So this now works:

[codesyntax lang="php"]

<s:WindowedApplication xmlns:fx="http://ns.adobe.com/mxml/2009"
   xmlns:s="library://ns.adobe.com/flex/spark"
   xmlns:mx="library://ns.adobe.com/flex/mx"> 

	<s:Group rollOver="trace('ya')" mouseEnabledWhereTransparent="false">
		<s:Rect x="100" y="100" width="20" height="20">
			<s:fill>
				<s:SolidColor color="0x00ff00" />
			</s:fill>
		</s:Rect>
	</s:Group> 

</s:WindowedApplication>

[/codesyntax]

I hope this helps someone else out!

Defcon 2010 - Hacker Intercepts GSM

I know I have been posting alot of videos lately but this one caught my eye for a couple of reasons this morning.

Firstly its an impressive video showing how easy it is to intercept 80% of the worlds calls with just $1,500 worth of equipment. Also the source article over on Venture Beat says that he can also jam a band preventing calls just as easily which is quite scary.

The second reason why this video caught my eye is it appears that this brit-hacker is wearing high-heels throughout his presentation, check it out:

Starcraft II & TDs

I, like many others have been eagerly anticipating the latest Blizzard release Starcraft 2. I have been looking forward to the game but more importantly I have been eagerly anticipating the custom maps from the community.

I used to spend hours and hours playing the custom maps released with Warcraft III, I still log in every now and then to check out how its going and am suprised every time to see people still making new maps. Some of the most popular game genres in existence today wouldn't be around if it wasnt thanks to be map making community in WC3. Genres such as Tower Defence (TD) and Defence of The Ancients (DOTA) were born there.

So it made me extremely happy to see this video on YouTube showing that yes custom maps are possible in SC2 and yes you can make TDs with them, horaay!

The Fifth Element Fan? Watch This!

Its no secret that im a sci-fi fan and The Fifth Element is my favourite film. Watched it again in epic 1080p BluRay quality last night. Went poking about on Youtube afterwards and found this little gem:

I didnt even know it was possible to reach notes like that let alone move between them so quickly.

Incredible Particle & Physics Video

Saw this post on Gizmodo and thought I would share on my blog as I think its incredible.

Its a a physics engine called Lagoa and its by Thiago Costa, check it out:



Lagoa Multiphysics 1.0 - Teaser from Thiago Costa on Vimeo.

[Video] Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us

I have been meaning to post this one for a while, but only just got round to it. It was linked on the RobotLegs mailing list. Its an interestive watch if not just for the incredible artist animating it ;)

Android Running on the iPhone!

Wow! This is pretty mental. I know a while back someone had managed to get a Linux kernel running on the iPhone, but there wasnt much to see and I soon forgot about it. It appears now however that PlanetBeing from the Dev-Team has managed to take an Android build and get it to run on the iPhone! Check out the video of it below:



Very cool stuff. I cant wait to see some Flash 10.1 running on that!

Moved.. Again!

Well as I have announced (rather pointlessly) every time I moved in the past, I thought I would continue the tradition by announcing that I have moved again. This time its back again to my old room in one of my previous flats, The Grand Mancehster.

As I have already done a video of this place, Ill just reuse it:



EDIT: It would appear that Youtube have removed the soundtrack to the video, so, while watching this video imagine "Manson - Wide Open Space" playing in the background ;)

The Scale of the Universe in Flash

Got sent this today by a friend who linked to Newgrounds upload.

I think its actually quite genius:



It reminds me old the old powers of 10 video:

Jessie Warden - Flash & Flex Videos

Thought id mention these videos as I have been watching them and really like the content. They are a series of video blog posts by one of the 'celebrities' of the Flash and Flex world, in which he talks about lots of stuff related to whats going on in the industry and the various frameworks he uses or recommends (or doesnt). He also has a few things to say about beer, which is a bonus!

Anyways theres three of them so far, and can be watched over on his blog:

1 vs Many, Mediator vs Presenter, 30 mins – JXLTV – Episode #1
Conferences, Why Frameworks, Cairngorm 3 – JXLTV – Episode #2
Apple’s iPad, HTML5 Video, Gaia Flash Framework – JXLTV – Episode #3

Kitten vs Spam

Well im back from Germany and after a horrendous journey involving stolen passports, lost luggage, cancelled flights, 11 hour waits in airports and 9 hour bus journeys I needed something to cheer me up. This fit the bill nicely:

Tramp-tastic!

I used to be into messing about on trampolines which is why this video on Gizmodo caught my eye. I have watched it several times now and im half in awe of this and half cringing in fright of how dangerous the stunts are he is doing!

Andromeda Software Development - Lifeforce 2007

I know this is now a coupple of years old, but just stumbled accross it.

I have always been into the scene but from a distance, some of the stuff is ameturish, some is a programming marvel (the 4k,32k,64k comps) but this is just plain beautiful. Its a demo (all code) from ASD (look them up on youtube if you want more from them) called Lifeforce, enjoy!

Trifonic - Parks on Fire

Absolutely love the album, love the song and just discovered that I love the video, so have to post it really. Its Parks On Fire by Trifonic from the Album Emergence. Enjoy.

What is Google Wave Anyways?

I just thought that not everyone knows what Google Wave actually is. Well this video does a good job of explaining it in like 2 mins:

10/GUI

This sort of thing really gets my juices flowing. I want it now!