The efnx code blog. » Personal

No longer freelancing

Schell — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 16:43:47 +0000

I’ve signed on with my long time client Synapse Group Inc. This means more time coding for work (and maybe less time coding for fun). I have a couple speed projects in the works though, like continuing work on RTAudio bindings for Node.js. I’ve also switched names at github, which is inconvenient – but hopefully beneficial in the long run.

The blog has moved.

Schell — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 21:05:38 +0000

Yes, that’s right – I moved the blog again. Now we’re hosted at Linode, which is cheaper and easier than Media Temple. The main url is now http://efnx.com instead of http://blog.efnx.com (though both should still work).

Game Progress 1

Schell — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 16:41:08 +0000

I’ve been working on another game lately, it’s called Machinista – it’s a game where you control motors in a 2D physics simulation. The entire thing is built around Box2D, which is a great physics system. Last night I worked on using Brownian Bridge fractals for explosions – check it out! Use keys W, A, S, D and shift+click to control the tank and make explosions, respectively.

The Universal Law of Deadlines

Schell — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 22:08:55 +0000

A friend and I were talking about deadlines, as we’re often thrown into a rushed project together, and I came up with this equation which seems to accurately model a coming deadline in the information industry.

Scivally-Nagler’s Law

workload + stress = 1/(deadline - now);

Hannspree HF237 + Macbook Pro 2.16Ghz

Schell — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 07:20:51 +0000

I bought a new monitor today – a Hannspree 23″. I only paid about $180 for it, so it seemed like a sweet deal. TOTALLY WRONG. This thing hurts my eyes it’s so sh*tty. Some pixels are sharp, others are blurry. It’s like the monitor itself is stretching and interpolating the pixel points from my video card. Text is UNREADABLE on most resolutions and no amount of settings fidgetry seems to fix it. The pixels just don’t line up. This thing is auto-dithering my pixel art. I’m taking it back tomorrow and getting my money back. I’d rather have a used, scuffed up LCD from two years ago. Tried and true.

Altered States

Schell — Sun, 03 May 2009 07:14:03 +0000

I just saw this movie called Altered States, it’s pretty interesting – a little cheesy at times, but check out these screen shots:

Man, they don’t make movies like they used to.

New Hosting

Schell — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 04:44:23 +0000

Over the past month or so I’ve been having some hosting issues – my cats would attack the server, some how it would get unplugged, etc. So now I’ve switched everything over to hosting at Mediatemple.net, which seems pretty awesome so far. So here’s to no more downtime, 404s or 500s and hopefully instead we’ll get some 808s. *cheers*

My Bike

Schell — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 23:23:17 +0000

My bike up until this point has been a borrowed SR Maxima

Figure (A)

which belongs to my friend Chris [Chrispy Finch Fry!]. While he was living as a nomad I became the caretaker of two of his prized possessions: his bike and his goldfish [see Figure (B) ]. Since then I’ve continued to use his bike and take care of his goldfish.

Figure (B)

Until today! My parents came up North [from LA] this weekend to deliver my grandfather’s washer/dryer tower and brought with them my Dad’s old road bike. It’s an Austro-Daimler SuperLeicht from somewhere in the 70′s. Vintage ace. I went to the shop today and picked up a nice Brooks saddle for it. Looks sharp.

Check out these drilled out brake handles.

Originally it was a 10 speed, I believe, but one day my Father had some problems with the shifter while riding and when he got home he took it down to a single speed. I like it. The simpler the better. I don’t live in SF, so I don’t need a ton of gears.

The accessories are all vintage Campagnolo, aquired piece by piece in the 70s by my Dad. The next step to making this guy look really nice is some new tan bar tape.

OLPC Give One, Get One

Schell — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 01:06:32 +0000

The OLPC [One Laptop Per Child] Foundation is starting their annual Give One Get One campaign on November 17th! Last year I donated a laptop and got mine in the mail a few months later. It’s not the fastest computer, but it’s cute and rugged and novel [did I mention hackable?]. One laptop only costs $199, and I’m sure a lot of you out there are self-employed, which means you can benefit from the write off. You get a tax break and a kid gets a computer. Sweet deal.

OLPC Equation

ZendCon 08

Schell — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 22:18:15 +0000

I just got back from ZendCon 2008 and it was pretty fun. Much more fun than a typical work week. I got to learn a lot about the new features of PHP, some common and not so common security pitfalls and I met a lot of rad programmers. The highlight for me though, was the Yahoo party. Yahoo raffled off a Nintendo Wii, which I happened to win! When I went to pick it up from the rafflers the crowd of PHP developers started shouting “Speech! Speech!” So I stood up on a chair and told them I was an AS3 developer, and they promptly booed me down. I escaped unscathed, with the Wii.

Look at that happy lad! Time to get this thing ready for some homebrew apps.