This is the first growing season in our new house. We have quite a bit of gardening space, so my wife and I will be attempting to fill that space with beautiful and edible plants.
In an attempt to keep this information handy for my own reference, I have decided to start a journal. I’ve made it public in the hopes that it someone might care to share some advice or learn from my inevitable mistakes.
The blog is called The Nu Leaf.
Check out the Google Code Project.
Available soon: WiiSaber source as well as several of my most popular PHP utilities.
Due to the popularity of MacSaber and WiiSaber, I have received several requests to write iPhoneSaber. Now that the accelerometer has been unlocked, this has become a distinct possibilty.
There’s just one problem. I don’t have an iPhone.
To be honest, I just bought a house and my finance manager (wife) won’t allow the purchase. Therefore, I turn to you. I’m not one for begging, but I have been convinced this is for the greater good.
If you’re interested in a MacSaber port for the iPhone, please consider sending your spare change my way.
Thank you for your consideration.
Update
Thanks to everyone who helped! See next post for more information.
There was once a time when having a Gmail account made you part of an exclusive, trendy club among some subcultures. Having Gmail invites at that time made you even more popular. During those days, I ran a Gmail invite spooler that distributed over 1.2 million invites, making it the most popular Gmail invite service. Two years after pulling the plug, it is still the 4th most popular non-Google Inc. search result for the word Gmail.
Over the past few months, I’ve been asked several times to set up a similar service for Joost. After much procrastination, I’m now dusting off the invite spooler service, giving it a new face, and adapting it for Joost and other invite services.
This is where I need your help. I’ll need at least one invite in order to test the updated tool. If you have a joost account and have invites to share, please send an email to joostinvite@isnoop.net.
After just one or two revisions, your site’s CSS can get pretty cluttered with redundant content and inconsistent formatting. I’ve written a simple tool called the CSS Superdouche that programmatically rewrites your CSS, removing all superfluous elements and reformatting it in an attractive manner.
The CSS Superdouche is capable of streamlining already highly optimized CSS. It attempts to detect whitespace-stripped code and, if necessary to shrink file size, it will do the same.
Check out the CSS Superdouche
It seems that many people are in the market for an HDTV right now. With the Super Bowl fast approaching and the holiday splurges fading from memory, the lure of that new TV is hard to resist.
There are a lot of decisions to be made when choosing an HDTV. Do you want Plasma or LCD? Direct view or rear projection? How many inches? And then there’s the thousand-dollar question:
What resolution do you really need?
Of course, almost everyone would take the very best solution they can manage. However, you can save yourself a considerable amount of money if you realize that you can’t see or dont’ care about the difference between 720p and 1080p. That knowledge could mean a difference of $1,500 or more for the same size television.
I have found composed a resolution comparison demo video help illustrate the differences between the different television resolutions. The source file is a 1080p clip made by Red Digital Cinema with their jaw-dropping Red One (2540p @60fps native) camera.
The video is 1920×1080, silent, and composed of several sections:
SD (standard definition)
ED (enhanced definition)
720p
1080p
In the full-length comparison, each of the reduced resolutions is demonstrated in two ways. First, it is displayed in native resolution to demonstrate the original pixel dimensions of the clip. Next it plays again in fullscreen to simulate the picture quality of a television of a fixed size stretching the indicated resolution to cover.
The comparison ends with a fullscreen side-by-side comparison with 1080p, 720p, and 480p bars of the same film striped across the screen. This side-by-side segment is also available by itself in a separate download.
Most computer screens aren’t as big as 1920×1080. If your screen is not that big, I suggest watching the video at 100% zoom so the pixels aren’t distorted.
There are two versions of the HD resolution comparisons available:
Torrent full comparison video. (232MB)
You might recall an application I wrote earlier this year called MacSaber. If so, my new Cocoa application should be quite familiar.
Hiroaky just released a handy bit of code that adapts the Nintendo Wii’s “WiiMote” wireless controllers for use on the Mac. I have taken his idea and merged it with the magic that made MacSaber to bring you a new breed of audio Lightsaber simulator.
This application looks and works just like MacSaber, but the input device is the WiiMote instead of your Apple laptop. I plan on adding more features including more visual response and multi-controller capabilities soon, so check back again later.
MacSaber 1.1 has been released, now with expanded 17″ PowerBook support and keyboard backlight effects. I invite you to take your very expensive laptop into a dark room and swing it around* for improved dramatic effect.
Download MacSaber 1.1.
*Don’t break your laptop, okay? If you do, don’t blame me.
UPDATE: Version 1.1 is now available. It includes keyboard backlight effects.
MacSaber 1.0 Final has been released. This new version includes support for iBooks and PowerBooks equipped with SMS. It also includes a “Check for updates” menu item and debug output if you are having problems (the report button is not yet available).
Compatibility notes:
iBook: SMS only exists on iBooks built after July 26, 2005. These iBooks are either 1.33GHz or 1.42GHz. All 1.42GHz iBooks have SMS. Only 1.33 GHz iBooks with a scrolling trackpad, 512MB RAM (stock), and 40GB HDD (stock) have SMS.
PowerBook: SMS only exists on PowerBooks built after January 31, 2005. These PowerBooks are either 1.5GHz or 1.67GHz. All 1.67GHz PowerBooks have SMS. All 1.5GHz PowerBooks without backlit keyboard have SMS. 1.5GHz PowerBooks with both backlit keyboard and the 8X superdrive have SMS.
Thank you to those who have provided their feedback. I have released MacSaber 1.0 with support for iBook and PowerBook machines. Please read here for more information.
I sure wish I had a PowerBook and an iBook right now. In lieu of that, I am calling on you to test for me.
Beta4 of MacSaber is available below. Please read this whole post before downloading. This is a limited test release that *should* work on iBook and PowerBook model laptops.
To report your results:
1) Please make sure you are running “Version 1.0 BETA4i”
2) Include the second value for “tilt” in your results. This should be either “t1″ or “t3″ if you are running an iBook or PowerBook.
3) Post your results here.
This version isn’t for MacBook users. Please stick with the previous version for now.
iBook Note: Sudden Motion Sensor (SMS) technology only exists on iBooks built after July 26, 2005. These iBooks are either 1.33GHz or 1.42GHz. All 1.42GHz iBooks have SMS. Only 1.33 GHz iBooks with a scrolling trackpad, 512MB RAM (stock), and 40GB HDD (stock) have SMS.
PowerBook Note: Sudden Motion Sensor (SMS) technology only exists on PowerBooks built after January 31, 2005. These PowerBooks are either 1.5GHz or 1.67GHz. All 1.67GHz PowerBooks have SMS. All 1.5GHz PowerBooks without backlit keyboard have SMS. 1.5GHz PowerBooks with both backlit keyboard and the 8X superdrive have SMS.
If your iBook or PowerBook does not meet the specs above, it is not SMS equipped. Otherwise, download MacSaber Beta4i here.
Thank you for your help!