Journal
October 12, 2007 | General
My blogging has been rather slow for the last few weeks. I have a number of small posts lined up for publishing but haven’t had the time to finish any of them. Thankfully it hasn’t just been laziness - I have actually been doing something.
I’ve been making a game in Adobe Flash.
The Reason
I decided to make the game when I saw a game development competition over on Jayisgames.com. I’ve read the site for the last couple of years and have seen all of the dev competitions they have held. Unfortunately the themes didn’t interest me and the deadlines were too short - however this time they had a cool theme (ball physics) and 2 months to make the game in. I decided to try out.
The prize for the competition is a full version of Flash CS3 and $2500, but there were other reasons for entering. I …
October 11, 2007 | Links
In the UK Ratatouille is coming out this week (Friday 12th to be precise). I got to see a preview screening of it a couple of months ago and loved every moment (read my review here). I highly recommend everyone go and see it (and suspect I may go again).
One thing that has changed, and I can’t decide if this is good or not, is that the voice of the restaurant critic has been changed to that of Jamie Oliver. I have nothing against Jamie, he seems like a really nice bloke… but that’s what I think is wrong with him playing this, rather dark, part. I can understand why they did it but I wonder whether it will ruin the effect for me. I wouldn’t worry too much though, the critic doesn’t have a huge amount to say and only really shows up towards the end - and …
October 9, 2007 | General
Radiohead have released pre-orders for their new album… kind of. The album is a pre-release (before release in the shops), and can only be purchased online, from their website. The most interesting part? You pay as much as you want for it.
I think this is a great idea. Not only will they get publicity but i reckon they could end up earning more.
The audience for a stunt like this is bound to pay for it, and I reckon they will pay more than the cut that Radiohead would get from album sales. For example it’s not worth getting the credit card out for less than £5 (at least in the I wouldn’t bother), so that’s between 30% and 50% of the cost of a cd in the uk. Knock of whatever overheads they have and I am pretty confident that they will end up with a larger cut. Of …
Just a quickie to let you know that the new version of the 9rules website (codename Ali2) has been launched.
I’ve been a member of 9rules for a couple of years now and have nothing but good things to say about them. The people over there are great, and this update turns the site into even more of a community.
Aside from the visual updates there are now clips and cliques, two new interaction methods. There is also slightly more emphasis (over the last version) on member content. All good things.
Even if you’re not interested in joining you might as well head over and browse around for a bit. It’s hard to describe the appeal of the site, but the design on it’s own is enough reason to have a look.
If you’re a member then feel free to add me as a friend - …
This has done the rounds a bit lately but it really is inspirational so I had to publish it again. A US Computer Science professor, Randy Pausch has recently completed one of his last lectures (maybe THE last). He has a terminal illness, with only a few months left to live, and talks openly about how he feels. You have to see it to understand but it really is inspiring stuff. The things this man has accomplished are amazing, and he has no regrets. I hope one day I can say something similar… but I doubt it will be anything like this.
I’ve had some issues with the video not displaying, so if you can’t see it then watch it on the Wall Street Journal website.
I’m inspired!
October 4, 2007 | Links
Anyone else get wound up by justified text?
It’s not always a problem but there are times when I notice it, and it makes things harder to read. Something to change the text to left justified (as it should be IMO) would be so handy… and now Joe Lencioni has come up with a simple bookmarklet, named Unjustify, that does just that.
Check it out over at ShiftingPixel.
By the way… Joe takes some pretty good photos too.
Binary Moon
Bubble Bomb
Rocket Boards
Bubble Blitz
Gun Wing