Maxping, arguably the best resource for news about virtual worlds, have just opened the virtual doors to their brand new user forums. This is a great place to get together with like-minded folks and discuss virtual world technology.
Microsoft unveiled their new Xbox 360 controller, or, lack-of-controller today at E3. Yes, I’m referring to Project Natal.
If you haven’t heard of it yet, you obviously don’t have a Twitter account. All of the videos I’ve seen thus far are pre-recorded, but if this thing works as good as they make it look, we are all in for a treat. Check it out:
Looks pretty fucking awesome, if I do say so myself.
I have a few questions, which I’m sure you all do as well. Mine are
Will the sensor be a USB device?
If so, has anyone hacked their own drivers yet?
How long until someone uses it in a virtual world, like OpenSim?
Combine this with a projection-cube-room like this one, a treadmill floor so you can actually walk, and you’ve got yourself a holodeck, son.
This is the most requested item out of any of my blog posts or pages. People are always asking “how the heck do I use your Aptana color themes?” It’s actually easier than you think. Follow the un-aliased arrows in this 5-step tutorial to theming bliss. If you haven’t already, open Aptana.
1. Click on Window -> Preferences
2. In the pop-up window, expand Aptana -> Editors
3. Click the Import button for whichever language you want to import the colors into
Okay, okay. This one goes without saying. I just figured I should throw it in.
Hopefully this has gotten you off-the-ground with respect to Aptana color themes. If you have any questions, please feel free to post comments and I’ll do my best to get back to you. Thanks!
Am I the only late-20-something that’s sorely disappointed that Virtual Reality has basically dropped off the face of the planet?
When I was young, Virtual Reality was supposed to be the “next big thing.” And for a while, it was. I played Dactyl Nightmare with the best of them on a Virtuality machine in a mall in Port Huron and anxiously awaited any tidbit of news to come from Atari about their Jaguar 3D headset.
Then, all of a sudden, VR disappeared.
I think it’s because of the Virtual Boy. I really liked that system, but I guess at the time it made a bunch of people sick and companies got scared to try it again.
Here’s what I want:
A lightweight, high-resolution, full-vision 3D display headset with built-in (at least Stereo) sound. If it needs to take advantage of dual-header DVI graphics cards, so be it.
Two Nintendo PowerGlove-ish devices that let me manipulate objects in 3D.
Can you do it for cheap?
Does anyone know of a high-quality headset like the one described above? Let me know in the comments!
As far as the gloves… I was thinking about getting 10 Nintendo Wii controllers and removing and then mounting the IR units on the tips of my fingers. Take advantage of the many open-source Wii controller drivers around the net to build a PC joystick driver that can work in engines like Torque.
I often fool around with 3D tools like blender and Torque Construction Set. I get frustrated at the interface with my computer. Not only is any size screen too small, a mouse and a flat 2D display just can’t manipulate the objects fast enough. I want to use my hands, damnit!
Just think of how cool it would be to wave your hand and have a forest grow behind it or earth raise into a mountain. The Matrix, here we come!
Posted April 19, 2009 by John Rockefeller under under Web Development
www.onlineclock.net
Since just after boxing day of 2008, I’ve been following the Everyman sleep pattern. I’ve stumbled a few times and had to reset, either from sickness or missing a nap. When things are running smoothly, I rely on Onlineclock.net to wake me up, wherever I am.
The site is simple and sweet. When you first navigate there, it displays the current time in red. You select from two drop-down menus what time you’d like the alarm to go off at. Make sure your sound is on and hit the sack. Nap time!
If you’re a developer looking for something to do on Tuesday nights, look no further: Coffee and Code has come to Guelph. We meet between 7:30pm and 9:30pm to network, discuss relevant programming topics, and get some work done. It’s a great opportunity to meet some like-minded individuals and work in a setting other than your usual lair. Bring your laptop and whatever else you’ll need to do your thing.
Cory Fowler began the Coffee and Code event in Guelph a few weeks ago and has been diligently building up some momentum with it. I think it’s been going for 5 weeks now. I started going on the third week.
Next meeting place: The Albion on Gordon St. Hopefully we’ll see you there!
Coming up fast is the next DemoCamp in Guelph. It’s scheduled for May 13th and this time it will be at the eBar on Quebec St. Attending the DemoCamp is completely free and definitely recommended if you’re into programming, new technology, servers, hardware, software, games, or anything else with computers. Usually there are drinks and food included, so come and have fun!
As a web developer my job is more than just programming code. I’m required to cut up graphics, keep up-to-date with web standards (CSS, XHTML, et al.), and build a reputation for myself in a way that many other workers in many other jobs simply aren’t required to do.
There has always been a need for every worker in every industry to maintain a good level of professionalism and efficiency in order to gain a good referral when looking for future employment, but with web developers this is amplified.
Why?
Everything about the web is social; we chat online, send E-Mails, play online games, receive world news instantly, and have public profiles on any number of social networking services - Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Orkut, and more. There is competiton everywhere. Everyone is fighting each other for attention and recognition.
Who’s out there?
Computerworld suggests that 1 in 5 employers looks at prospective employees on social networking sites (Facebook, MySpace, and others) to determine if that person would be a good fit for their company. With numbers like that, you cannot afford to be reckless with regards to your online persona.
What can you do?
This first part of this article is designed to get you up to speed on a few techniques and sites that will help you build an online persona that future employers, when searching for you, will find.
I got my first programming gig because my employer found me on Google. The same could happen to you. Let’s make sure what they see shows you in the most positive light possible.
The Basics
The most important things you can do when creating an online profile is ensuring that your data is always accurate, timely, and professional. Always imagine that your boss can see everything you put online — because he/she can! Never let data grow stale. Always be adding, updating, and building.
To start, there are three websites you will need to create an account on. Those three are Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. We’ll go through each briefly, but I always recommend that some time is spent with each one to get used to the features it offers.
Who hasn’t heard of Facebook? Unless you’ve been living under a technological rock for the past few years, you’ve at least heard of this service. Facebook is a website where over 90 million people have created profiles that allow them to share photos and contact details, network, and meet friends. Put simply: If you’re not on Facebook, who are you?
LinkedIn is Facebook’s older, more experienced cousin. This site’s specific purpose is to build an online resume and accomplishments list that other people in your industry can use to search and find you. While Facebook is geared to a more personal audience, LinkedIn is strictly for professionals. Over 35 million people have built online profiles already and there are more joining each day. Chances are someone you know or work with is on this site.
As you build your profile, consider it an online resume. This will help to give you an idea of what it should look like to someone reading it.
A neat feature that LinkedIn has is the ability to search your E-Mail contacts for people on LinkedIn that you might know. This saves you the hassle of trying to build an initial network. From there, you can be introduced to people that they know and so on, building your network even larger.
Ah, Twitter. You’ll either love it or hate it. I personally dislike this service, but I find myself using it every day. It is a uniquely simple but completely addicting service. The idea is called ‘micro-blogging‘, meaning that you send brief (140 letters or less) updates of what you’re doing or thinking and people can respond. The photo at the top-right of this article shows a typical Twitter experience.
As you continue to update the world to your thoughts and work, people will begin to ‘follow’ you and they will get your tweets (the term for each update you put out). In turn, you can ‘follow’ their tweets.
The biggest draw of Twitter is that you can find and communicate with very high-profile people you may never normally have access to. Some top CEOs and other big-wigs are on here. If you communicate often enough and start to gather a following, you can find yourself in a conversation with people you never thought possible!
This ends part one of “How to Network in a Web 2.0 World.” Check back here in a few weeks for Part 2. In the mean-time, continue to build your profile. Get out there and network!
Things have been crazy busy lately with work (both the full-time job as well as the freelance work I’ve been doing) and as such I haven’t had a chance to do a full blog post in a while. I appreciate all the great feedback I’ve been getting about the blog, though — I’m glad it’s helped a few of you already (and I’m not even to 100 posts yet!). Keep checking back as I’ll likely be putting up a few solid articles in February (possibly the continuation of my Subversion article!)
I just wanted to quickly post a link to a totally fantastic article I found about using the Singleton pattern for a database object. This is one of those times as a blogger where instead of re-inventing the wheel by writing about a similar subject you’re just better off setting your users up with a link to the best of the best and let it stand on its own. If you’re interested in learning more about the Singleton pattern, look no further.
I’m using a database class based off of the code in the article for a few of my projects currently, and I have to say, it works great. Let me know what you think!
Posted December 28, 2008 by John Rockefeller under under Linux and FreeBSD
Listening to Purple Motion in iTunes :)
One day, Philipp Keller got fed up with installing sound libraries to listen to old-skool music files, so he decided to write a script that takes the hassle out of it and convert any mod to an mp3 file. Now you can download his script for free and use it on your own Linux box to convert your precious mod collection to mp3 for on-the-go listening.
Last.fm Integration
Playing your music modules as mp3 files has the added effect of allowing you to scrobble your music to Last.fm. Typically, playing anything but an mp3 causes Last.fm to disregard your tune. I know that if Last.fm or the WinAmp Audioscrobbler plugin took my mod playing seriously, I’d have a way different collection. Now I can.
Posted December 19, 2008 by John Rockefeller under under Web Design
Exciting developments regarding Synn Studios: We’ve recently launched our new website which also includes launching our new branding logo designed by none other than Seth Rowanwood from Inklight. Along with this new look is an increased focus on bringing our web properties and our web presence up to the next level.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=168f36e4-6eee-40c2-91ef-d904cb069a9e)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=bba70333-a078-4276-a672-2c76fa977adc)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=6d67b817-4485-4938-ab36-1d11ab249de8)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=b49f8efd-a7d7-4d15-b620-6f7242bef79c)
