Thursday, April 12, 2012
Shadowrun Returns
A team, which includes the orignal designer of Shadowrun, is doing a kickstarter project to create a new and awesome sounding version of the game. Development has already been funded, but if they reach a new $1 million goal (only $150,000 to go as I write this!) they will add Linux support! Go check it out!
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
AMD Open Sources HD 7000 Driver
Check this article on Phoronix.
This is too little, too late for me, as I already bought an nVidia card. But this is great for Linux graphics in general, and the next time I have money to throw away on a GPU, I will definitely revisit this.
This is too little, too late for me, as I already bought an nVidia card. But this is great for Linux graphics in general, and the next time I have money to throw away on a GPU, I will definitely revisit this.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Someone Reddit This Immediately
OpenMW 0.13.0 preview! Terrain and water! Please note that these two features became functional within the past few days, so there's still a lot of work to be done on them. This is also from a development build of OpenMW, not the current or possibly even the next release. But this is Morrowind running (for some value of running) in an open source engine on Linux!! Wow!
My Social Media Quandry
I'm really in a pickle lately when it comes to Social Media. Let me break it down:
Facebook: I hate Facebook with a passion. I recently deleted my account. I had to remake it though, as it's the best way for me to keep in touch with my local salsa scene, of which I am a very active participant. I use my new facebook exclusively for networking with salsa people, which I much prefer to using it as a general networking tool. However, while narrowing my use case for Facebook has made it much more functional for me, I also find myself yearning for an avenue to share the more general stuff I used to share on there. I won't return to using Facebook as a general social media platform though, I refuse to provide content to a platform that is predatory to its users' privacy.
Google+: Google+ really could be cool and useful. It's only real shortcomings are the lack of an active user base, poor visual design, and the lack of a groups feature. I'm lucky to have quite a few active friends on there, but nothing close to the kind of audience I would like to be able to reach. Also, since my Google+ profile is tied to my real name and primary email, I have to filter what I share on there, and don't really do any public sharing. That's no fun.
Twitter: I use twitter, and I really enjoy it, but I have to confess that I am a pretty passive user. I don't like sharing links because I use it on my phone. Phone browsers are just not up to the challenge of handling the real Web. So, Twitter is just a very casual and passive channel for me, it's not something that I take very seriously.
This Blog: Obviously I don't update this blog very often, and obviously it doesn't really have a following. I doubt anyone will even read this post. I use this basically to just write up articles on software/internet subjects that interest me. It's more a notebook for my own thoughts than a channel through which to reach an audience.
So what would I like to accomplish with social media? There's basically three subjects that I am interested in sharing about:
Software/Internet Things: The idea behind this blog was to have a place to rant about Linux, Internet freedom, and any other software or technology subject that I wanted. I think this blog mostly fails because I don't update it. If I were to write on it more consistently, and promote it to audiences that would have an interest in it, I might be more successful with it. Hmm.
Electronic Music: I'd really like to have a place to share sweet dubstep/drum & bass tracks that I find. I used to do this by posting to Facebook and Google+, but that audience is limited to the people who are friends with me. I don't want to publically post music on Google+, because some of the stuff I listen to I don't necessarily want associated with my name in search. Not because it's bad or incriminating, just because there's a ton of people out there who don't understand electronic music and artistic expression, and they might make false assumptions about me based on my taste. I don't really know what the best solution for this is. I've thought about setting up a Wordpress blog, so I can just post whatever I like, but I'm not 100% sure that's the most effective thing to do. I'd love to hear any suggestions anyone has on this subject.
Salsa: I'm a very active salsa dancer. As has been previously stated, most of my salsa social media needs are satisfied through Facebook. I guess this is a Good Enough solution, it's just dissatisfying that I have to resort to a platform that I absolutely hate in order to communicate with the people that I want to. Ho hum.
So there's my story. Just some musings for now. Maybe writing this all out will inspire some idea in my head, or maybe I'll just be stuck in the same spot months from now. We'll see!
Facebook: I hate Facebook with a passion. I recently deleted my account. I had to remake it though, as it's the best way for me to keep in touch with my local salsa scene, of which I am a very active participant. I use my new facebook exclusively for networking with salsa people, which I much prefer to using it as a general networking tool. However, while narrowing my use case for Facebook has made it much more functional for me, I also find myself yearning for an avenue to share the more general stuff I used to share on there. I won't return to using Facebook as a general social media platform though, I refuse to provide content to a platform that is predatory to its users' privacy.
Google+: Google+ really could be cool and useful. It's only real shortcomings are the lack of an active user base, poor visual design, and the lack of a groups feature. I'm lucky to have quite a few active friends on there, but nothing close to the kind of audience I would like to be able to reach. Also, since my Google+ profile is tied to my real name and primary email, I have to filter what I share on there, and don't really do any public sharing. That's no fun.
Twitter: I use twitter, and I really enjoy it, but I have to confess that I am a pretty passive user. I don't like sharing links because I use it on my phone. Phone browsers are just not up to the challenge of handling the real Web. So, Twitter is just a very casual and passive channel for me, it's not something that I take very seriously.
This Blog: Obviously I don't update this blog very often, and obviously it doesn't really have a following. I doubt anyone will even read this post. I use this basically to just write up articles on software/internet subjects that interest me. It's more a notebook for my own thoughts than a channel through which to reach an audience.
So what would I like to accomplish with social media? There's basically three subjects that I am interested in sharing about:
Software/Internet Things: The idea behind this blog was to have a place to rant about Linux, Internet freedom, and any other software or technology subject that I wanted. I think this blog mostly fails because I don't update it. If I were to write on it more consistently, and promote it to audiences that would have an interest in it, I might be more successful with it. Hmm.
Electronic Music: I'd really like to have a place to share sweet dubstep/drum & bass tracks that I find. I used to do this by posting to Facebook and Google+, but that audience is limited to the people who are friends with me. I don't want to publically post music on Google+, because some of the stuff I listen to I don't necessarily want associated with my name in search. Not because it's bad or incriminating, just because there's a ton of people out there who don't understand electronic music and artistic expression, and they might make false assumptions about me based on my taste. I don't really know what the best solution for this is. I've thought about setting up a Wordpress blog, so I can just post whatever I like, but I'm not 100% sure that's the most effective thing to do. I'd love to hear any suggestions anyone has on this subject.
Salsa: I'm a very active salsa dancer. As has been previously stated, most of my salsa social media needs are satisfied through Facebook. I guess this is a Good Enough solution, it's just dissatisfying that I have to resort to a platform that I absolutely hate in order to communicate with the people that I want to. Ho hum.
So there's my story. Just some musings for now. Maybe writing this all out will inspire some idea in my head, or maybe I'll just be stuck in the same spot months from now. We'll see!
Sunday, January 22, 2012
SCaLE 10x
I went to SCaLE 10x! It was awesome! I volunteered at the Ubuntu California Loco booth, which was really awesome. The Loco people are great, and it was fun talking to Expo attendees about Ubuntu (and plugging Xubuntu, because why not) and seeing all of the booths and generally having a great time! Some highlights:
OpenShot Video Editor: I got to talk to Jonathan Thomas, the Creator and Lead Dev of the OpenShot Video Editor. I used it recently for a quick and dirty video project, and it worked quite well! This is super exciting! I've been waiting for a good video editor to land on Linux, and I think this is it! OpenShot gets overlooked a lot by serious video people like me because it appears to have a dumbed-down interface, but the truth is that it is actually quite powerful. I went to Jonathan's talk, and he demonstrated many of the capabilities it has, including the chroma key effect which can be used for green screen stuffs. It's a very serious and awesome program, and if you've been looking for a Linux video editor, it's definitely worth checking out! This is coming from someone who was formally trained on Final Cut Pro, so take me seriously!
The Open Photo Project: I only go to talk to the Open Photo guy very briefly, but I am very excited about the project! It's advertised as the "Wordpress for Photos", but you could also think of it as what Diaspora was to Facebook, Open Photo is to Flickr. Though Open Photo looks much much more promising that Diaspora. Very exciting!
VideoLan: Just putting this here because I got to talk to the VLC Devs and they are awesome. :D
The FreeBSD people were there (I got a FreeNAS cd!), and a ton of others. I played Unreal Tournament 2004 (without sound, because you need a workaround to get sound working on modern distributions) at the ZaReason LAN party which was awesome. Overall it was a really awesome experience, and I hope to go again next year! I'm kicking around preparing a talk on Linux Gaming, and open source game engine ports.
OpenShot Video Editor: I got to talk to Jonathan Thomas, the Creator and Lead Dev of the OpenShot Video Editor. I used it recently for a quick and dirty video project, and it worked quite well! This is super exciting! I've been waiting for a good video editor to land on Linux, and I think this is it! OpenShot gets overlooked a lot by serious video people like me because it appears to have a dumbed-down interface, but the truth is that it is actually quite powerful. I went to Jonathan's talk, and he demonstrated many of the capabilities it has, including the chroma key effect which can be used for green screen stuffs. It's a very serious and awesome program, and if you've been looking for a Linux video editor, it's definitely worth checking out! This is coming from someone who was formally trained on Final Cut Pro, so take me seriously!
The Open Photo Project: I only go to talk to the Open Photo guy very briefly, but I am very excited about the project! It's advertised as the "Wordpress for Photos", but you could also think of it as what Diaspora was to Facebook, Open Photo is to Flickr. Though Open Photo looks much much more promising that Diaspora. Very exciting!
VideoLan: Just putting this here because I got to talk to the VLC Devs and they are awesome. :D
The FreeBSD people were there (I got a FreeNAS cd!), and a ton of others. I played Unreal Tournament 2004 (without sound, because you need a workaround to get sound working on modern distributions) at the ZaReason LAN party which was awesome. Overall it was a really awesome experience, and I hope to go again next year! I'm kicking around preparing a talk on Linux Gaming, and open source game engine ports.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
In praise of Minecraft
I've been meaning to do a post on Minecraft for a while. The game is absolutely ingenious, and here's why:
1. It's written in Java. I remember back when any game developer would scoff at Java as a noob language for people who didn't want to do real programming. Point any of those scoffers to Minecraft's multi-million dollar profits, and they'll shut up right quick. While it's no Id Tech 5, it gets the job done, and has one very important benefit: Java is multi-platform. Minecraft can be played natively on any OS with OpenGL a suitable JVM. That means I'm playing it on Linux without a hitch.
2. It's a true sandbox. A lot of games tout themselves as sandboxes, but then only deliver a little pile of sand on top of a lot of cement. The world of Minecraft can literally be dismantled down to the bedrock, and rebuilt in whatever fashion the player wants. The game delivers the experience of an unlimited set of Legos, but to scale with the player, so you can walk around inside your creations.
3. The world is procedurally generated, and is a joy to explore. There's a few key things to note here. First, every world is different, so your experience changes with each world you play. Second, with mountains and forests and cave systems and chasms, there are truly gorgeous bits of scenery to discover. Every time I start a new Minecraft world I am driven by the thrill of exploration. Third, because the world is procedurally generated from a limited number of assets, the majority of the content created by the developers was programmatic, rather than artistic. Instead of being bogged down with hours of modelling and texturing, the devs spent time writing algorithms that would generate an effectively unlimited amount of compelling content.
These last two points, and especially the last part of this last point, are where the true ingenuity of Minecraft lies. Instead of pouring millions of dollars and countless man-hours into producing a blockbuster AAA title with fancy graphics and marketable characters, the creators of Minecraft made a game that makes itself. Minecraft gameplay is centered around the player establishing their own objectives, and essentially entertaining themselves. Minecraft content is procedurally generated, making the experience different and compelling in every new world the player enters. Combining these things with the fact that the game is playable on any OS, on almost any system, and it's easy to see why the game is so successful.
1. It's written in Java. I remember back when any game developer would scoff at Java as a noob language for people who didn't want to do real programming. Point any of those scoffers to Minecraft's multi-million dollar profits, and they'll shut up right quick. While it's no Id Tech 5, it gets the job done, and has one very important benefit: Java is multi-platform. Minecraft can be played natively on any OS with OpenGL a suitable JVM. That means I'm playing it on Linux without a hitch.
2. It's a true sandbox. A lot of games tout themselves as sandboxes, but then only deliver a little pile of sand on top of a lot of cement. The world of Minecraft can literally be dismantled down to the bedrock, and rebuilt in whatever fashion the player wants. The game delivers the experience of an unlimited set of Legos, but to scale with the player, so you can walk around inside your creations.
3. The world is procedurally generated, and is a joy to explore. There's a few key things to note here. First, every world is different, so your experience changes with each world you play. Second, with mountains and forests and cave systems and chasms, there are truly gorgeous bits of scenery to discover. Every time I start a new Minecraft world I am driven by the thrill of exploration. Third, because the world is procedurally generated from a limited number of assets, the majority of the content created by the developers was programmatic, rather than artistic. Instead of being bogged down with hours of modelling and texturing, the devs spent time writing algorithms that would generate an effectively unlimited amount of compelling content.
These last two points, and especially the last part of this last point, are where the true ingenuity of Minecraft lies. Instead of pouring millions of dollars and countless man-hours into producing a blockbuster AAA title with fancy graphics and marketable characters, the creators of Minecraft made a game that makes itself. Minecraft gameplay is centered around the player establishing their own objectives, and essentially entertaining themselves. Minecraft content is procedurally generated, making the experience different and compelling in every new world the player enters. Combining these things with the fact that the game is playable on any OS, on almost any system, and it's easy to see why the game is so successful.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Power Users vs Usability
The big quote of UDS seems to be: "There is a bit of a myth that power users don't like and aren't interested in usability and ease-of-use. I think that’s nonsense."
You're actually correct, Mr. Shuttleworth. And that's why all of your power users are switching away from Unity. They want usability and ease-of-use. Which happen to be things that a rigid, non-customizable interface does not provide.
Mark, you need to start thinking of usability as User-Ability. Are you giving your users the ability to do what they want with your interface? No? Then you're not providing usability.
You're actually correct, Mr. Shuttleworth. And that's why all of your power users are switching away from Unity. They want usability and ease-of-use. Which happen to be things that a rigid, non-customizable interface does not provide.
Mark, you need to start thinking of usability as User-Ability. Are you giving your users the ability to do what they want with your interface? No? Then you're not providing usability.
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