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Resistance 2 Beta...

Thu, 08/14/2008 - 11:26am

Yesterday I got an unexpected e-mail from Sony inviting me to the Resistance 2 Beta that will be happening for the next several weeks. It was unexpected because news stories had been popping up about the hoops players would have to jump through in order to get a chance to enter the beta. Yet that wasn't suppose to happen until next week.

For those who may not know, the purpose of a beta is to test the game outside of the development studio. When invited, you download the current build of the game, which isn't the final version. After playing the game during the allowed time frame, you fill out a survey representing your experience with the game. This is so the developer knows if there's any issues with bugs, internet connections, gameplay balance, playability, and whether or not its just fun to play.

It looks like this beta will only test the online multiplayer which includes: competative matches up to 60 players, and an 8 player co-op campaign. None of the single player elements are included, which stars the game's main character Nathan Hale (seen on the right, showing his "O" face).

Upon receiving my invitation, I started downloading last night. Yet since it's roughly a 1.7 Gigabyte download, it didn't finish until 4am this morning. I have yet to play any of it, and probably won't get a chance to really sink my teeth in until next week. Any more info on the beta will be posted at my 1up blog.

OS X 10.5

Sun, 08/10/2008 - 11:12pm

LA or Bust

Sat, 08/09/2008 - 5:56pm

Its official. Joe and I are going. End of the month/beginning of next. Who’s commin with?

Making Time to Make | 43 Folders

Wed, 08/06/2008 - 10:05am

Making Time to Make: Bad Correspondence | 43 Folders

Merlin Mann of 43 folders and You Look Nice Today fame is writing a series of articles about this. Interesting reading for all of us who consider ourselves creative people whose life passion is communicating ideas to others.

iPhone WordPress app seems to work well…

Mon, 08/04/2008 - 6:55pm

Besides the oops! post earlier, the app seems to do an OK job. However, it has the same problem most of these apps have; they don’t handle rotated mode for easier typing.

I for one would like for apps that require typing to allow rotation so that we have access to the larger keyboard. My six year old daughter, with her slim delicate fingers might do fine. Her ten year old brother, or her 39 year old dad, would have a much easier time in the other orientation.

Panasonic AG-HMC70 looks like my next camera.

Mon, 08/04/2008 - 4:02pm

I recently read Jan Ozer’s test drive of the Panasonic AG-HMC70 in Digital Content Producer. Lots of good info and images shot with the camera. I must say it sold me.

This is, essentially, a shoulder mount version of the Panasonic AG-HSC1U. It records everything to SD or SDHC cards in AVCHD at 1920×1080 60i. This makes for nice tight files but obviously will degrade the image due to compression artifacts and sensor size.

In still tests this can be seen but is nigh invisible when watching actual footage in motion. Down-converted to 1280×720 it’s even less noticeable. The camera has a number of features that the beginning pro will love such as built in XLR for audio, a real viewfinder and zoom rocker and, of course, the shoulder mount design.

Panasonic also has an AVCHD to DVCPROHD transcoder software so that you can integrate these two types of footage together.

The camera runs $1999 from B&H which is only $150 more than the AG-HSC1U. Keep in mind you would need a BeackTek adapter or similar to get the XLR microphone input on the HSC1U. That would run around another $200.

Bottom line, if you need the pro camera look and feel this is the camera for you, and me!

Long week of P2 shooting in corn (and soybean) country!

Mon, 08/04/2008 - 3:26pm

Wow. It’s been interesting dealing with the workflow issues involved in shooting entirely P2. Overall, it is not much more demanding than tape and has a number of distinct advantages.

Except for manning the boom microphone for two interviews and some grip work, most of my time was spent wrangling P2 data. It takes about 50% of the time needed to capture from tape to transfer the P2 files. The process can be done in the field and saves back-end time when returning to the office.

We shot footage for four different projects, two of which needed to have burned in time-code (BITC or WindowDub). In a tape based workflow, we would shoot, return to the office, and then prepare DVDs with BITC for the client to review and make shot selections. With P2, I was able to drop footage on an FCP timeline, apply the time-code reader filter, export to Compressor and create the DVD . All of the DVDs were created before we returned home which meant I didn’t have to mess with them here at home. A great time saver and better use of travel and “slack time” then sitting around waiting for things to happen.

I can’t speak for the other videographers but I’m embracing tapeless workflow completely. I feel no need to mess with tape ever again.

Whoops!

Mon, 08/04/2008 - 11:06am

Sorry about that last post (Which I deleted). A slight glitch testing out the WordPress iPod Touch app.

PixelJunk: Eden

Sat, 08/02/2008 - 12:51pm

One added appendage to this current generation of console games that I have found most welcoming is downloadable titles from smaller development teams. While Nintendo's Virtual Console has been scratching my niche itch, it's the newly developed games that have been catching the most attention.

For instance, PixelJunk Eden is a game that came out this week on Playstation Network that is truly unique in all the right ways. The concept is rather simple, yet its explanation is difficult. The main character can navigate through a 2D space by jumping, gripping, and web-swinging on plants. You collect pollen to sprout new plants, so you can reach the treasured goal called "Spectre".

One thing that PJ: Eden gets right is it's difficulty curve. It seems with other downloadable games, even previous entries from PixelJunk, their method of increasing difficulty is statistical (i.e. more enemies, or repeated enemies with harder stats). Yet with PJ: Eden the difficulty curve is mastering the platforming physics, as future environmental arrangements challenge those developed skills. This method of progression, I feel, is much more rewarding.

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Tue, 07/29/2008 - 4:16pm
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/07/29/fast.food.ban.ap/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

That's my neighborhood they're talking about. The Jack In the Box in the picture is about a block from the lab where I work :-P

So Many Projects

Mon, 07/28/2008 - 10:03pm

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Thu, 07/24/2008 - 5:20pm

This is Amanda. She works with me at Double Fine. I haven't figured out how to get pictures off my cell phone except to send them here, so...look! A picture of me and Amanda! Woooo!

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Game’s I’m Playing.

Thu, 07/24/2008 - 1:09pm

Since I have had a little bit of free time in the last few months, somewhere between work and the courses I am taking on FXPHD (www.fxphd.com), I have finally started playing games again.

First off is GTA4, which I have not completed because of time. So far its been great, and many of the issues I had with previous titles, (missions too complicated to be fun, stupid PS2 motion blur, feeling too confined within the world, etc.) have been taken care of, and I actually find myself being immersed in the somewhat disjointed plot. We will have to see how it continues in the future.

Second, Mount and Blade. I cannot say enough about this game. It is an open ended game based around medieval themes. Think of it as Sid Meyers Pirates! but with horses and castles and stuff. It is still in beta but every update has been a great improvement to gameplay and I cannot wait to see the first release. You an find it here http://www.taleworlds.com/

Third, Toribash. This one is a bit weird, because it is a turn based fighting game with rag dolls. You control their muscles and joints to make them do different moves. It’s extremely tough to grasp but makes for some really funny moves, and in the end mine always end up flailing against one another. This has been a big time waster for me because its causal and amusing. Eventually if you play online you an level up and get new belt colors, like a martial art, and other add ons. I’m just not good enough for that yet :( Free download here http://www.toribash.com/

so much rain

Tue, 07/22/2008 - 3:38pm
FRIDAY:
went to the apple store and brought in bigmac and they reinstalled leopard and it started to run better but the stupid lines werent appearing >_* of course they never show when you bring it in so then shes like im going to wipe it and reinstall the OS its almost 9 and shes like its going to take like 15-20 mins so i said id come back since i need to go to american eagle to adjust some prices. they over charged me. so i get back and shes like the line showed! so you need a new graphics card and im like yay we figured it out so they need to replace my logic board thank god i got my 3yr warranty and still with a yr left :D huzzah!

so i got back and went to jers and hug out at nicks a bit but it was super humid ugh >_* then smickens and amy came (we were suppose to go see dark knight but it was sold out and for the next 2 weeks!) and we played bags which apparently im a hustler in that too XP (i play better when i dont have a giant pixie stix in my hand) so me and jer won 2 games woot!) ive never really played before and they made their own version with 2 holes an its red wht and blue blue is -1 but if you get it in the hole in the blue its +4 wht/red +1 in the hole in red +2. i never know what the score is either i just throw the bean bags and thats hit or miss too >_> sometimes it goes really high and not very far lol. but other times im sinking them in the holes so whatever we won XP then me and jer ducked out early cause he was tired we went back to my house.

SATURDAY:
had crunchy waffles >_< cause the fridge is broken apparently. took jer home after he was playing video games with matthew. got ready to go to cantigney (pronounced: CAN-TEENY) park in wheaton for the support our troops illinois fundraiser with gary sinese and the lt. dan band which hes just the basist. anywho it was storming and raining all morning and we didnt want to go but then it was magically ok after that >_> so then after staking a claim on the lawn me and matthew went exploring esp the visitors center with AC and bathrooms! so i grabbed some literature took tons of photos the gardens and flowers they had. theres a rose garden an idea garden and fountains gazebos and all that jazz then we went into the robert m mccormick museum which hes from chicago and founded cantigney. it was cool but i wasnt in the mood for reading so we just walked through and we didnt know how to get out so he cut through cause matts like go through here and im like are you sure? we he wasnt cause we were in a whole new area and did it backwards. then took photos of the tanks and found these crazy seed pod things with spikes on em so matthew got a stick and whacked one off XD i guess they were super spikey though so i said grab a leaf and wrap it around it and hes like ahh its poking through so we wrapped it in the map. mom kept calling so we went back after using the bathrooms at the museum and good thing cause the line was super long! but then i found a secret lone portapotty XD

we hung around and ate while we waited around. i got me a stupid bra strap tan now too >_* mom and dad got garys autograph on the forrest gump DVD while we were gone. then there was a beattles cover band named american english they were pretty good and had sgt. pepper outfits sound quality wasnt there though. then comedian tom something from harvey, IL. we were hoping to leave early since we didnt have to set up but not we didnt end up leaving till 10 anyways >_* ugh. then i went over to jers for an hr and came back.

SUNDAY:
went to church then to danny/ken sook* b-day party thing at the forrest preserve. there was a trouble game and i got super excited i won like 8 games lol. that about all i did cause it was hot out >_* got me some cheesecake though yum! : d then we went to chinatown for dinner at my grandrents. my uncle paul and his family were in town too they gave me a houng bow** and some drawing pencils and a pretty blue silk robe with gerber daiseys on it from hong kong and it has a matching night gown too. they even replaced the tires on our other accord! its funny the kids eat all the meat and makes up for them not since theyre veggetarians. : P

*ken sook is our "uncle" sook is chinese for uncle hes a big white guy lol
**houng bow is a red envelope that money comes in thats given at weddings, b-days, travel, graduations, parties, special occasions, holidays etc like a card with money that white ppl do.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): You must take a step upward in professional responsibility. You're feeling inadequate to the task, and may find it hard to give up the desire to have fun or to let others do most of the decision-making.



Your Fitness Type: Playful



You enjoy exercise as long as it doesn't feel like work.

Working out is your playtime, and you're up for any exercise that's fun.



Try exercise that involves a little friendly competition, like basketball, softball, or volleyball.

Or you may even like exercising with a fitness video game. Anything that makes you feel like a kid again.

How Should You Get Fit?



You Are Ready, Willing, and Able to Commit



You are not scared of commitment in the least.

In fact, there's a good chance that you're already committed to someone you love.



You are willing to give up a little freedom for relationship stability.

And once you're in a relationship, you'll do almost anything to make things work.

Are You Afraid of Commitment?



What Your Sunglasses Say About You



You are competent, direct, and powerful.

You are focused on success in all aspects of your life.



You need to be shaded from moochers and parasitic people.

You feel sunniest when you're around people as driven and and brilliant as you are.

The Sunglasses Test

i broke the silence

Wed, 07/16/2008 - 4:54pm
things are once again ok or at least much better than before. i still dont know whats going on but hell come around eventually? >_> hes like im not answering any questions right now like he was being ambushed by news reports and he was a criminal coming out of court >_> but yeah mustang has air conditioning now though. he called to say hell talk to me tomorrow cause hes going on his walk and he loved me so good signs. :) cant brood on these things more than a day which i dont i get over it i just needed a good rant.

coming home this weekend. in need of some good fun at nicks and going to spend the night at jers fri. dark night comes out fri too! :D woot woot! im excited! went to walmart to get lilas baby shower gift and got 6 cute wash cloths. found a chevy hat for jer on clearance, cute undies/bra, and an awesome swimsuit halter in teal/brown/silver but no bottoms >_>not even one color one that were ginormous. ill need to check all the other walmarts now or maybe marshalls or whatnot.

had a good meeting apparently with eureka :D AND they picked my design too! :d im super excited i hope they pick it! and since the meeting went super awesome we decided to go on a design awesomeness lunch to old chicago on the dept! :D:D:D then we were talking about free candy and pauls like then you do this and knocked his dirty napkin off the table but instead of going on the floor it went into one of the buffet salad bins! XD it was hilarious!

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Put emphasis in psychological and spiritual growth. It's very important that you stay grounded and put your beliefs to work. You must show your inner changes in the way you behave and relate to others.



Your Bedroom Personality: Healthy



In the bedroom, you are open, honest, and giving.

You are the ideal partner in many ways! Anyone is lucky to be with you.



You see physical intimacy as an opportunity to grow and connect.

You are up for experimentation, but you don't require it.

What's Your Bedroom Personality?



You Have a Fairly Strong Willpower



Temptation doesn't get the better of you all that often.

If you set your mind on a goal, you'll do your best to achieve it.



And while you don't have a perfect record with willpower, you do okay.

If you fall off the wagon with something, you're usually not off the wagon for long.

Is Your Willpower Strong?

Finally Friday

Sat, 07/12/2008 - 11:47am
so super tired from the day that my money was missing and had to file reports which turned out i didnt need to anymore it was entirely a bank error >_* so i ended up going to bed at like 9! :O so yeah thank god it was friday the next day then. i decided i wasnt going to to go to erikas this weekend and to just chill for a while. i wouldve been nice to go though :( so got an hr lunch and to leave at 4 :d me and eric planned on going to olive garden and to see hellboy II after his class which was at 7 so that gave me 4 hrs to hang round cause i wasnt going to drive back to eureka then to p-town and back. was going to go to the bank but then they had corrected the issue so i didnt have to yay! :D so i was on my way to run errands and this stupid woman couldnt make up her mind to turn or not and was half in my lane and half in the turn lane so i honked at her jeez.

so then i stopped at target since i had tons of time and hadnt been there in a while so i of course dollar spot whored it up and got awesome kung fu panda goodies! :D 2 mini backpacks for the kids x-mas presents one for a boy and one for a girl and by mini these are like for moch to wear and maybe ill put one on him XD. ill probably put like candy and little stuff in them. i also found a sweet par of wedges on clearance that are the most comfortable shoes ive ever worn! OMG theyre not the best looking since the straps are elastic. and scored a pair of athletic sandals for 4.88 :D (they will replace the old ones i got and use them to wear in our kitchen nasty!) so then on my way out i was backing up and was already more than half way in the lane and this other woman was backing out and kept going so i honked at her and she stopped but REFUSED to pull forward to let me back out that bitch i shouldve just HIT her so then this old guy helped me out but i barely made it without hitting this jeep who was parked next to me >_* UGH! then she called ME a BITCH and said she was coming out first my ass if that were the case you wouldve been where i was and not the other way around! i seriously should of just hit that bitch! i hate peoria, i hate townies (that are not my friends) and i hate the fucking parking lots! >_* WTF???

then i went to the mall to return my stuff to american eagle and bought an edwardo pillow 50% :d it kinda makes up for the edwardo drawing mom pitched. then looked around a bit and then to kohls since its in the same retarded parking lot area as olive garden and the movie theatre. so i found the cutest purple heels on clearance for 9 bucks! pics later! and a sweet shirt that read "dont get all up in my grill!" with bbq items and a grill for half off. also was tempted to get these super cute bongo sandals which were red with a 3D flower on them but i had bought 3 pairs of shoes today >_> so i restrained. its called will power XD but then i forgot about grandpas b-day so mom said to get him a pair of shorts so that was half the bill. so then saw an awesome rainbow waiting for eric to show and without rain either! i figured hed be late and to get in line for a table anyways which it buzzed me before eric got there which is fine turns out there were some ppl photographing the class which he didnt want to be in and he said they probably didnt want him in them either which i thought was sad but yeah. he paid for dinner which was really nice of him. and then hes like why didnt you tell me the hulk was out? and im like well its been out do you want to see it and hes like i dont care but i really want to see it but whatever and im like eric if you want to see it just say so*. so we saw the 950 showing of the hulk and i do say it was pretty awesome plus edward norton was in it i love him. also it was waaay better than the 1st one which i didnt finish and caught bits and pieces when i was in london. i wont spoil the end if you havnt seen ironman. but yeah sweet deal!

*eric is the kind of person if you ask if hes sure hell say no and go with whatever you want to do but really wants to somethnig else but wants to make everyone happy.


awesome said peep-toe pumps which i never get a)pumps and b)peep-toes but hey they were clearance AND purple!


i know its backwards but im sure youre all very smart *hint: i already referred to what it said earlier >_>


and sweet-ass edwardo pillow *eeeeeee *_*

ingenious i say!
http://www.frostfirezoo.com/new-but-dirty-shirt

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): You are having financial worries but these can be overcome if you fret less and plan more. Having a course of action gives you courage, so don't rest until you have one.

3,000 Plays at Wiicade

Thu, 07/10/2008 - 1:20pm

Looks like I will be hitting 3k plays here very soon!

http://wiicade.com/playGame.aspx?gameID=1039&gameName=Avoidance

Demo Reel

Thu, 07/10/2008 - 11:04am


The first rendition of my 2008 demo reel. As always, I'm working on new material, so any updates will be immediately posted on this website. Also any feedback (positive or negative) would be appreciated.

A higher resolution version is available here.

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Sat, 07/05/2008 - 11:31am


Grandma=Minnie Pearl

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