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August 08, 2006
The agony has ended. I've finally found suppliers who actually carry stock of Conroe CPUs and compatible motherboards, and made the big plunge.
Now I just have to wait on shipping. There's also a small chance that the place I got the CPU from will be sneaky filthy bastards and drop it on back-order,…
Now I just have to wait on shipping. There's also a small chance that the place I got the CPU from will be sneaky filthy bastards and drop it on back-order,…
August 07, 2006
So I've been catching up on my web reading after my trip, and I came across Daerax's post about the school system. I find my own story remarkably similar, and my opinions about the ssytem just as strong.
It wasn't until fourth grade or so that I really cottoned on to the fact that the system was act…
It wasn't until fourth grade or so that I really cottoned on to the fact that the system was act…
August 04, 2006
It's hotter than Satan's balls on a barbeque.
I'm going to bed.
I'm going to bed.
August 02, 2006
I'm going to interrupt my two-part brain dump on future hardware and programming technologies, for a couple of reasons. I'll start from the beginning so that hopefully my explanation is vaguely coherent. (That's unlikely, though, considering the extremely advanced state of sleep deprivation I'm in …
August 01, 2006
I had a scary realization a short while ago, the kind that fills you up with feelings of age, the shortness of life, and - perhaps paradoxically - a deep sense of fulfillment at what has been accomplished in a fleeting span of time.
You see, it's been five years. The landscape of games technology ha…
You see, it's been five years. The landscape of games technology ha…
July 29, 2006
Always name your variables well - even if you're just writing temporary hack code to try something out.
I spent several hours today (well, most of it was yesterday) tracking down a bug in some experimental vector math code of mine. It's the kind of stuff that's sensitive to real-time behavior, so yo…
I spent several hours today (well, most of it was yesterday) tracking down a bug in some experimental vector math code of mine. It's the kind of stuff that's sensitive to real-time behavior, so yo…
July 27, 2006
So I've been thinking about running for President. (Don't get your hopes up - thanks to some age discrimination in our vaunted constitution, it'll be a few years before I'm eligible.)
I've come up with a few major points for my platform so far. It's an interesting mental exercise, and I think it'd b…
I've come up with a few major points for my platform so far. It's an interesting mental exercise, and I think it'd b…
July 25, 2006
So I was doing the rounds of the blogs and such that I follow regularly, and an interesting question arose. I'm really tempted to make a joke about a train of thought hitting me, or something like that, so I'd probably best shut up and get to the thought itself.
The question is deceptively simple: w…
The question is deceptively simple: w…
July 21, 2006
Being technically inclined is a bloody curse. Sure, there's the usual nightmare of relatives asking us to discard our holidays to "fix my slow computer" and such inanity. But that's tolerable, for the most part. Usually it's either so simple that you can earn a few extra brownie points and only mis…
July 21, 2006
You win some, you lose some.
On the plus side, I was able to hold to my position and refuse the extra job. That wasn't too bad.
On the negative side, the original "short" task I contracted for ended up ballooning into a slightly more involved list than I would have liked, so I haven't technically ful…
On the plus side, I was able to hold to my position and refuse the extra job. That wasn't too bad.
On the negative side, the original "short" task I contracted for ended up ballooning into a slightly more involved list than I would have liked, so I haven't technically ful…
July 19, 2006
Life is just too darn short.
I think, at some point or another, pretty much everyone realizes that. Sometimes it's fairly early on. Other times, it's late in life - maybe even painfully late. It's certainly no new, deep, meaningful insight. Plato has not rolled over in his tomb.
It may not be news, b…
I think, at some point or another, pretty much everyone realizes that. Sometimes it's fairly early on. Other times, it's late in life - maybe even painfully late. It's certainly no new, deep, meaningful insight. Plato has not rolled over in his tomb.
It may not be news, b…
July 16, 2006
Persuant to my goal of not working this weekend, I decided to fire up my recently-upgraded gaming rig and install the copy of Tomb Raider: Legend that came bundled with the GT7900.
It didn't quite work as planned. In fact, I think some of the lingering effects of yesterday oozed through the space-ti…
It didn't quite work as planned. In fact, I think some of the lingering effects of yesterday oozed through the space-ti…
July 15, 2006
I'm on the verge of screaming.
Either that, or breaking down and weeping in a high-pitched wail until I drown in a pool of my own tears. I'm still trying to decide.
The last couple of days have been a nightmarish marathon of convoluted debugging work. It started yesterday, at some early hour, I can't…
Either that, or breaking down and weeping in a high-pitched wail until I drown in a pool of my own tears. I'm still trying to decide.
The last couple of days have been a nightmarish marathon of convoluted debugging work. It started yesterday, at some early hour, I can't…
July 14, 2006
Every now and then there's a lot of waffle about innovation in UI technology, extending or replacing the metaphors we use to interact with computers, blah blah. Usually this centers around some abstract 3D file browser or some kind of cheesy and thin analogy that conjures up unwanted memories of Mi…
July 14, 2006
The last couple of days have been pretty tough, hardware-wise. I bit the bullet and rigged up my shiny new 7900GT in my gaming machine (and fixed the northbridge cooling) over a week ago now, but I haven't had the heart to play much with it. Meanwhile, I'm still hobbling along on my old development…
July 13, 2006
I have a lot of fun hanging around here, especially the For Beginners forum. Watching people develop their skills and progress to bigger and better projects is fascinating for me, and it's always fun to see what dedicated and hard-working people can create.
It also reminds me of my own early days, o…
It also reminds me of my own early days, o…
July 12, 2006
Today, I'm going to tell you how getting a mouse with extra buttons will make you richer. No joke, and no Nigerian scam.
We've all been there: you're supposed to be someplace, and it's a couple of minutes before you need to leave, so you plop down and fire up Minesweeper (or whatever your crack-equi…
We've all been there: you're supposed to be someplace, and it's a couple of minutes before you need to leave, so you plop down and fire up Minesweeper (or whatever your crack-equi…
July 11, 2006
A longstanding tradition in my family is the making of Chex Mix. I'm the third generation of the family to carry on this hallowed duty. It began back in the days before you could get Chex Mix in little prefab baggies - and, I daresay, it's a lot better than the mass produced stuff.
The traditional f…
The traditional f…
July 08, 2006
Lookout, suckas. I'm motivated.
Couple of housekeeping notes:
- Superpig brought up a reasonably good point about the logistic interpolation, namely that it doesn't have a 0 gradient at the entry and exit points. There are some evil tricks that can be used to fix this, but I've forgotten them. When…
Couple of housekeeping notes:
- Superpig brought up a reasonably good point about the logistic interpolation, namely that it doesn't have a 0 gradient at the entry and exit points. There are some evil tricks that can be used to fix this, but I've forgotten them. When…
July 07, 2006
Interpolation
Interpolation is a very common technique used all over the place, especially in computer graphics. Pretty much every game programmer can code a simple linear interpolation in his sleep. Interpolation is everywhere, especially in the realm of animation.
Linear interpolation is simple and…
Interpolation is a very common technique used all over the place, especially in computer graphics. Pretty much every game programmer can code a simple linear interpolation in his sleep. Interpolation is everywhere, especially in the realm of animation.
Linear interpolation is simple and…
July 06, 2006
I'm working on resurrecting my gaming machine. (As you probably don't recall, the northbridge cooling fan crapped out a while ago, as those cheap fans are wont to do.) I've got the replacement Zalman (I always want to write "Zahlman"...) passive heatsink all set up and the motherboard is resting lo…
July 05, 2006
One of the side effects of being a highly thought-oriented professional (ok, dammit - a geek) is developing a genuine propensity for spotting patterns and trends, and then drawing out weird conclusions from them. It's the sort of connect-the-dots-except-whoops-half-the-dots-are-missing puzzle that …
July 04, 2006
Holy. Mother. Of. God.
The United States government does absolutely disgusting things to people who are self-employed. The tax system is utterly ridiculous.
The next time I hear some politician bitching about economic recession, I'm going to personally introduce a blunt object to his head, at high ve…
The United States government does absolutely disgusting things to people who are self-employed. The tax system is utterly ridiculous.
The next time I hear some politician bitching about economic recession, I'm going to personally introduce a blunt object to his head, at high ve…
July 03, 2006
Does anyone besides me think it would be incredibly cool - nay, not merely cool, but quite possibly the validation of one's entire existence - to be on one of those "Making Of" documentaries for a game?
I'm some kind of megalomaniacal freak, probably. But hell, if I'm going to find anyone else in a …
I'm some kind of megalomaniacal freak, probably. But hell, if I'm going to find anyone else in a …
July 02, 2006
OK, I finally got sick of that psychotic rock-asplodey-man avatar and switch back to my classic standby. To be honest, I was having a heck of a hard time finding my own posts when skimming threads, and that just got annoying [grin] So now everyone who had nightmares from my avatar, you can finally …
June 30, 2006
OK, I've finally gotten around to putting out the first Preview Release of TKC2.0 (Taste the Goodness). This release, as you'll probably notice very quickly, does pretty much nothing. Heck, it doesn't even have that fancy trademark TKC icon yet.
This release is not so much about functionality - it's…
This release is not so much about functionality - it's…
June 29, 2006
Today I'd like to share one of my favorite recipes. It's for a scrumptious little number I like to call The Happy Geek. This is a bit of a personal thing - it only serves one - so it's great for those all-by-yourself weekends when you just want a special treat. Don't enjoy this around your friends,…
June 28, 2006
One of my favorite pieces of tech equipment is my LCD projector, which delivers a glorious 84 inches of visual hotness. (I know for a fact the model I have can do nicely at up to 25 feet of screen space, but I lack a wall that large.) The great thing is that it's a massive display at HD resolutions…
June 26, 2006
A certain substance has just hit the fan - and, thankfully, the fan wasn't turned on, so not much happened. In fact, overall, my situation is now greatly improved.
Towards the end of last week, I had a fairly long conversation with one of our other programmers about all this engine-rewriting busines…
Towards the end of last week, I had a fairly long conversation with one of our other programmers about all this engine-rewriting busines…
June 21, 2006
Alright, this should be interesting. The DVD/RW drive has shipped and is estimated to arrive Friday. The case and graphics card have also shipped, and are estimated to arrive next Monday. The hard drive has not yet shipped.
This means that I get my hardware goodness spread out over several days, whi…
This means that I get my hardware goodness spread out over several days, whi…
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