Southlake, TX
Imparting game development wisdom of dubious quality a ridiculously long time.
October 02, 2007
If you're not signed up with paperbackswap.com yet (and you're in the US), now's the time to do it. If you're not familiar with paperbackswap, it works like this.
1. You sign up and list all your old books on the system. They have a nice ISBN-lookup thingy, so this is easy.
2. Once you list your firs…
1. You sign up and list all your old books on the system. They have a nice ISBN-lookup thingy, so this is easy.
2. Once you list your firs…
October 01, 2007
As Shelly has said, I had one of those "oh you KNOW you're gonna blog about this" moments yesterday.
While reading somesuch article/editorial/blog-post about I-don't-remember, the writer mentioned the feeling one gets when looking up the names of old grade-school crushes in google.
Well, the last tim…
While reading somesuch article/editorial/blog-post about I-don't-remember, the writer mentioned the feeling one gets when looking up the names of old grade-school crushes in google.
Well, the last tim…
September 28, 2007
Yep, I've been gone for an entire week. A while back, my folks offered to give Maggie and her cousins (ages 4 and 7) and their folks a 3-day trip to Disney. How could we resist? So we took off for the Happiest Place On Earth(tm) last Saturday and had a good time of it. We also grabbed an extra coup…
September 19, 2007
Well after a little work, I have some database communication working now via SWX. It's the account manager, which was chosen because the network communication for it is pretty simple, although the interface and the amount of field-validation isn't.
You can try it out at http://s26354.gridserver.com/…
You can try it out at http://s26354.gridserver.com/…
September 19, 2007
Well deal dot com dot com went live, and it's even more vile than I thought. The description made me think "woot clone", except with products that people probably wouldn't want, as it's the only way to get a 35% kickback.
And my prediction came dazzlingly true. It's woot right down to the snarky des…
And my prediction came dazzlingly true. It's woot right down to the snarky des…
September 18, 2007
Okay, so the email problem's fixed and hopefully the cgi-bin problem won't crop up its ugly head again. Still, I got the new hosting so I'm going to work on adding some new capabilities to the site, as this gives me some time to get things working in a "sandbox" type environment before I actually d…
September 17, 2007
My cgi-bin directory has had invalid attributes set for three days now, and I can't raise anybody at my hosting provider to help me with it. That means that some daily puzzle stuff isn't working, specifically the RSS feed and the daily score emails. Also, my sales and download server are essentiall…
September 15, 2007
Maybe it'll be something big, and maybe it'll fizzle into nothingness. It's dealdotcom.com (yes, that's deal dot com dot com, which makes no damn sense, I'm sure deal.com cost nine million dollars).
And it's a woot knockoff. Or at least it appears to be, because that's what it sounds like. It starts…
And it's a woot knockoff. Or at least it appears to be, because that's what it sounds like. It starts…
September 14, 2007
Okay, minor rant about install programs here. If your installer has an option that makes no damn sense, then leave it out!
This is prompted by my recent download of Microsoft Expression Media 1.0 SP1, formerly iView Pro. Notwithstanding the fact that I had to first uninstall Expression 1.0, the inst…
This is prompted by my recent download of Microsoft Expression Media 1.0 SP1, formerly iView Pro. Notwithstanding the fact that I had to first uninstall Expression 1.0, the inst…
September 13, 2007
I did a little minor site change, prompted by my wife. She wondered why I have something pointless and dull (i.e. the site news) on the front page while the actual games menu lives a level deeper.
So I changed things a bit. I expanded the carousel games menu to include all the games, and I moved the…
So I changed things a bit. I expanded the carousel games menu to include all the games, and I moved the…
September 12, 2007
I did a lot of recreational reading this summer, mainly because our local library made up an adults' version of the venerable "kids' summer reading club". Basically ours was "book bingo". We had a bingo-card with various topics, and every time we got a bingo, you got an entry in a drawing for stuff…
September 11, 2007
I grow frustrated.
My old tried-n-true hosting provider for thecodezone, crazywebhosting.com, is giving me fits. I know it's really more of an avocation rather than a vocation for its owners, but it's just one thing after another.
First off, things just sort of randomly go down (as you might've notic…
My old tried-n-true hosting provider for thecodezone, crazywebhosting.com, is giving me fits. I know it's really more of an avocation rather than a vocation for its owners, but it's just one thing after another.
First off, things just sort of randomly go down (as you might've notic…
September 11, 2007
Gonna be gathering up the Austin reports and posting 'em this week on the front page. I have some good stuff. I mostly attended the sponsored sessions and left the keynote stuff to the new kids. . .I mean reporters.
I just finished watching "Death Proof", which is the Tarantino half of the "Grindhou…
I just finished watching "Death Proof", which is the Tarantino half of the "Grindhou…
September 05, 2007
Yep, I'm in sunny (actually gray and damp) Austin to write up a little coverage of the AGC. If you see me anywhere, give me a shout.
September 04, 2007
this is a test entry for some press coverage. Ignore at your leisure.
August 30, 2007
Boy, if there's one thing that's better than having a bug that hides for a long time, it's having a SIMILAR BUG IN EVERY FREAKIN' SUBSYSTEM.
Now then, I have a nice little step-by-step system that works when a person buys a game. The whole thing's automated so I don't really have to do anything. The…
Now then, I have a nice little step-by-step system that works when a person buys a game. The whole thing's automated so I don't really have to do anything. The…
August 27, 2007
Making a couple of invisible updates to the games. First, the dynamically-generated high-score tables will be changed to use swffix. After that, <famous last words>the mobile version of the site should be pretty easy</famous last words>.
Next, the "games you played today" panel when you …
Next, the "games you played today" panel when you …
August 24, 2007
I've been following the Brian May thing a bit over the past few years on his blog (which is a good read but doesn't have an RSS feed), and I just discovered that he got his doctorate in astrophysics accepted.
For the uninitiated, around 1971 Brian was a few months from getting his doctorate in astro…
For the uninitiated, around 1971 Brian was a few months from getting his doctorate in astro…
August 23, 2007
Okay, here's the first experiment with posting daily scores to Twitter. . .
http://www.twitter.com/johnhattan
It was actually fairly easy. My only complaint is that it's about all I can do. I'd like to make the post a bit richer, perhaps with a link or an icon of the game being played. That'd be pret…
http://www.twitter.com/johnhattan
It was actually fairly easy. My only complaint is that it's about all I can do. I'd like to make the post a bit richer, perhaps with a link or an icon of the game being played. That'd be pret…
August 22, 2007
I just got myself a Twitter account, mainly because it's just one of those things you're supposed to have. I still don't have a myspace account, but things have to happen one at a time.
One idea I had was that I could optionally drop your daily puzzle high scores to your twitter feed. I could add a …
One idea I had was that I could optionally drop your daily puzzle high scores to your twitter feed. I could add a …
August 22, 2007
Well happy first day of school to Miss Maggie. Even though we had her in a summer day-care that took her out to field trips 1-2 times a week, she's been ready for school to start since early July. This is gonna be her third year at Clariden Montessori, and her first year as a "primary", which is Cl…
August 20, 2007
Okay, I made a couple of big changes to The Code Zone. I'd be much obliged if you'd give 'em a look and let me know how things are working.
Changelog. . .
1. I removed the DHTML pull-down in favor of a modified version of the old Flash-based menu. As I mentioned before, this eliminates the need for t…
Changelog. . .
1. I removed the DHTML pull-down in favor of a modified version of the old Flash-based menu. As I mentioned before, this eliminates the need for t…
August 17, 2007
Number 1432b: It's hard to make something bad in a crock pot.
Recently I've made a habit of making one crock pot (which is a trademark, so I guess I should say "slow cooker") meal per week. I do the weekly grocery shopping on Sunday after cutting out the newspaper coupons and checking for the grocer…
Recently I've made a habit of making one crock pot (which is a trademark, so I guess I should say "slow cooker") meal per week. I do the weekly grocery shopping on Sunday after cutting out the newspaper coupons and checking for the grocer…
August 16, 2007
I gotta fix thecodezone.com. Specifically the menus at the top.
First, a little history. My little top-menus used to be handled by a little Flash-applet. They were a blatant ripoff of the old Macromedia-style menus. If you wanna see what that looked like, check out Menu style #4 here.
It worked just …
First, a little history. My little top-menus used to be handled by a little Flash-applet. They were a blatant ripoff of the old Macromedia-style menus. If you wanna see what that looked like, check out Menu style #4 here.
It worked just …
August 15, 2007
Sorry about the delay. I have been doing stuff. Actually if you look on the front page of gamedev.net, you'll see that I'm apparently writing about half of the new content for the site :)
We have individual reviews of pretty-much every product in the Adobe CS3 suite (Flash, Dreamweaver, Illustrator,…
We have individual reviews of pretty-much every product in the Adobe CS3 suite (Flash, Dreamweaver, Illustrator,…
July 30, 2007
Yep, it's raining again. For those who haven't been following things, we've been having record-breaking rains in the D/FW area over the past three months. We got a small respite for the past couple of weeks, but the rain is now back.
And a "record breaking" rain in July in Dallas pretty-much qualifi…
And a "record breaking" rain in July in Dallas pretty-much qualifi…
July 25, 2007
Looking back twenty years or so, I see three things about which I've made 180 degree turns. . .
Coffee
Until a few years ago, I was never a fan of coffee. And this was mainly because I was used to the stuff my parents drank, which always seemed to exist in the crossroads of watery, bitter, and burned…
Coffee
Until a few years ago, I was never a fan of coffee. And this was mainly because I was used to the stuff my parents drank, which always seemed to exist in the crossroads of watery, bitter, and burned…
July 18, 2007
Sorry about the lack of game updates. I'm still wearing my reviewer-hat. Also I'm running a bit of a fever and haven't slept worth a damn for the past two days. Bleah.
I noticed that the Zinc folks are holding a "make a game in Zinc and win some cool prizes" contest. Given that I've already got thre…
I noticed that the Zinc folks are holding a "make a game in Zinc and win some cool prizes" contest. Given that I've already got thre…
July 10, 2007
Sorry there hasn't been much to report on the game front. I decided about a month ago that I was a delinquent reviewer and that I wasn't gonna rest until I cleared out my review-queue completely. I still have a couple of books and software packages to go, but it's actually starting to clear out.
And…
And…
July 06, 2007
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