The future of Gaming?

I was sent a link to this YouTube video a couple of days ago, and it took me a bit of time to get around to watching it in its entirety. When you stop to think about what this means for the future of gaming, the future looks pretty cool. This type of thing could give a whole new element to not only first-person shooters, but many other game types too.

The video was done by Johnny Lee, now a quasi-famous Internet personality for a series of articles he’s done about Wii-hardware-related topics on YouTube. The other two being Finger Tracking and the Multi-Touch Whiteboard.

[youtube:http://youtube.com/watch?v=Jd3-eiid-Uw]

The software for the demos are available from his website. All of the PC development work has been done in C# using the Direct-X SDK and Visual C# Express (which I’ve blogged about before).

After seeing these videos I want a Wii more than ever.

Mac Lab Rat – GGP #72: The Gargle

Time for another Mac Lab update, this week for GGP #72.

FolderSplitter The first application this week is FolderSplitter written by Micheal over at QTSync.com.

FolderSplitter allows you to split one large folder into several smaller ones. It’s ideal for backups where you’re going to burn files to CDs/DVDs or media where storage space is limited.

Multiple splitting options:

Maximum size of dest folder
Maximum items in dest folder
Copy or MOVE files
Include hidden folders?
Keep files alphabetical, or minimize number of dest folders

It’s a fairly simple application that does what it claims. The only thing I think I’d have changed is size presets for CDs, DVDs and maybe the business-card CDs (I can never remember how big those are).

FolderSplitter is a free application.

SharpShooter Second on the block is my Killer-App pick for this week. It’s by developer Isaac Wankerl and it’s called SharpShooter.

This is an OS X menu-bar application that is automatically launched any time you use the Cmd-Shift-3 / 4 screen capture commands built into OS X.

SharpShooter does three things, and does them very well: - Preview screenshots - Rename Screenshots - Trash crappy screenshots

The application also has multiple monitor support including compositing (stitching) frames together.

I’ve only had this app for about a week and it has already worked it’s way into my regular-use arsenal. Between all the above features, the auto-start feature and direct integration with the OS X desktop Sharpshooter is a killer app and it’s a free application.

Lastly today three programs I’m dubbing the Sudden Motion Sensor Time-waster three-pack

These should work on any mac system with a sudden motion sensor (macbook, macbook pro, and some ibook variants.) There are also some iPhone rumours, but hell I’m in Canada where we’re not allowed to own and operate the toy of the year legally…

Tunnel (download) Tilt from side to side, don’t hit the walls or you die. - low-res graphics - no sounds - saves your high score

LiquidMac (download) Particle generator, behaves like liquid - tons of adjustable physics - full screen mode - does kinda look like digitized liquid.

MacSaber (download) <yoda>Seen this before, we have.</yoda> - Tilt move the macbook around to get light-saber sounds - sharper movements produce different sounds - don’t DROP your mac - Jedi certification not included.

Three MacSaber videos on YouTube.

MacUpdate Bundle Promo – 90% Discount!

The folks over at MacUpdate are doing it again. They’ve bundled together a ton of apps and are selling them off for one low packaged price. The deal is set to expire this Tuesday, December 12th at about 20:00 PST.

The software included in the bundle is:

Full retail cost for the bundle is nearly $600.00, and the bundle will be going for about $50.00 USD until Tuesday.

Random Image Selector 1.2.0 Released

I’ve just put the finishing touches on the latest version of the Random Image Plugin that I originally released in the summer. This plugin will allow you to produce an <IMG> tag containing a randomly selected image from a folder of your choice on any wordpress page (or post if you allow php).

The two biggest features in this version are:

Automatic discovery of your WordPress Folder: One of the biggest barriers to entry for the non-technical folks who tried to use this plugin was a lack of knowledge (or access) for finding the physical path to the WordPress installation. The plugin will now automatically detect and use this path. CAVEAT: If you currently point your plugin at a folder which is outside of your wordpress installation, you will need to move that folder to use the v1.2.0+ versions of the plugin.
Scaling/Sizing of the Displayed Images: One of the most requested features from the first iteration of the plugin was the ability to resize or scale images to fit in a particular location. With older versions, if you wanted all the images to display at the same size or proportions then you needed to resize them all prior to uploading. Well this is no more! Now you can upload tons of randomly-sized images and the plugin will take care of the dirty work (including the calculation of just how much to scale-to-fit.

I’d like to take the opportunity to thank everyone who has downloaded the plugin, and particularly those who have taken the extra time to send me feedback. As of this release the plugin has been downloaded over 2,400 times which far exceeds anything I thought I would accomplish.

So give this plugin a shot, and let me know if it works out for you!

Mac Lab Rat – GGP #71: Horse Kennel

Wow! This post is super late, but here’s the Mac Lab Update for Global Geek Podcast #71.

ScriptSaver First up this week is a Screen Saver application called ScriptSaver by Matt Swann. I call this a Screen Saver Application because though it’s launched by your OS X screen saver, it allows you to add an AppleScript to be run at Activation or Deactivation of the screen saver.

This will allow you to perform maintenance tasks, launch applications, automate some job while you’re away or any other myriad activities all by simply doing nothing.

The application will also allow you to select a screen saver to run while Script Saver is active.

Here are a few links to some applescript resources for those of you who aren’t inclined to write your own:

Give ScriptSaver a shot, and make better use of your down time!

Isolator Isolator is a simple OS X application which helps you to focus on your active window. It works by placing itself one layer below the active window so that it hides everything on your desktop (dock, icons, widgets etc. etc.) and leaves only your working window in focus.

Isolator integrates itself into your menu bar and can be controlled from there, or from an activation/deactivation hotkey that you set yourself.

I’m planning to give this a good test run for my school work over the next couple of months. I’ve got a bit of a tendency to procrastinate (hence why this post is almost a week late!!)

Versatile Unit Converter Last up this week is the Versatile Unit Converter widget. This was put together by a group at the university of Geneva. This widget will allow you to convert between various units of measure.

VUC will takes in an initial value and allows you to output it into different formats by specifying the mathematical or scientific symbols that make up the different units of measure. Converting things like temperature, energy, mass and distance just got a whole lot easier. Now I can explain more easily that where I come from, 32 degrees is well above freezing.

That’s it for this week. I’ll try and make sure the post for next week is on time… Maybe I’ll use isolator to help me focus!

Microsoft Releases VS 2008 “Orcas”

VS 2008 This news is a couple of weeks old now, the latest version of it’s development software, Visual Studio 2008 (formerly codenamed “Orcas”) has gone RTM. The newest version of (imho) the best IDE on the market follows the “Whidbey” release and has also shipped in “Express” editions.

For those of you who haven’t read my previous posts on the subject, the Express editions are standalone IDE’s for VB, C# and Web Development, as well as an express edition of SQL server which can all be used and distributed royalty-free.

I’m looking forward to poking around in VS 2008 a bit more in the coming months. So expect to see some more of this, and a bit less focus on the Mac platform for the next little while.

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