Tech Level:15

Google vs. FaceBook

2011-01-21T10:13:00.005-05:00

Is Eric Schmidt going to be the new FaceBook co-CEO? What a tech battle that would make Google vs. FaceBook! He is stepping down in April, FaceBook could IPO by April, he could join before the 1st public report...

I personally would like to see more companies stick with their founders as CEO, for better or worse. Also I think Google will be a much better company from a users perspective after this leadership shake up...

Entertainment Only

2011-01-21T10:13:00.002-05:00

All post of for entertainment value only, they may even not be that useful for that.

Kinect vs iPad Sales

2010-11-30T09:58:00.002-05:00

Why compare Kinect vs. iPad sales this Christmas shopping season:

A lot of comments on the web from people who don't understand why this matters.

Here is why:

#1 Makes the X-Box a hot product again, and the Kinect may be the hot product for Christmas, little Jimmy which do you want for Christmas an iPad or the Kinect?

#2 Battle for the living room, X-Box is back in the front of people's minds here vs. Apple TV. Don't miss the ESPN content deal that also happened on X-Box.

#3 The amount of consumer $$$ spent on video games shifts back to consoles from the app stores.

Now some of these are false choices as I believe in the era we live in computing technology and interactive entertainment of all kinds will flourish it is not an either or scenario. House and cars sales not so much, but that is another story...

Blu-Ray 99% on Power DVD 9

2010-09-21T22:54:00.002-04:00

From AVS forum, Problem with an invalid certificate. Unchecking "Allow connection for Invalid certificates" and then going to Advanced... Manage Certificates and deleting them...

Blu-Ray the gift that keeps giving, I have bought a few and rent them from Netflix, if they worked as well as DVD do on my PC I would buy a lot more...

iPhone Stylus

2010-05-04T16:08:00.001-04:00

I just want a stylus today with my iPhone, I had trouble selecting the middle of a tweet that I wanted to add a space to. It kept wanting me to copy and paste or would auto-correct and add a period. The real problem with all of the Microsoft's early tablets was they didn't drop the keyboard and they were not as sexy thin as the iPad.

Maybe all of this was caused because I found my old Palm IIIx in the closet this weekend, the stylus, the scribble writing, the memories...

Now if I could just find that old HP T-1000 tablet...

Mobile LandScape

2010-04-29T09:24:00.002-04:00

So HP buys Palm. Huge move and it puts them into mobile in a big way. This gives them leverage when dealing with Microsoft and it gives them patent protection versus Apple, just ask HTC how important that is. Well done HP and well done investors like Elevation Partners in Palm, you saved a company that was well worth saving.

Windows Classic

2010-02-18T13:24:00.001-05:00

I bet they turn XP into Windows Classic on the desktop...

Oddly enough I find myself equally excited about the iPad and the Windows 7 Phone (needs a new name btw). I can see using both with AandA (my new RPG that is under development). Would like to see you be able to use the Zune Phone as a controller on the X-Box and for it to have an Indie Games store via XNA.

For the iPad I want native PDF viewing and a better UI than just a scaled iPhone one. Can't wait to have more pixels for iPhone apps...

Disqus

2010-02-18T13:23:00.000-05:00

Added Disqus for comments, enjoy! My twitter is: @RealZenfar it is what I use with Disqus very nice...

Windows 7 Mobile

2010-01-19T10:05:00.000-05:00

Zune Phone!

The only choice for MSFT at this point. You have to have a hardware baseline and you have to have an app store. This device will have both of those. Also they will catch up in number of apps available as they have a huge developer community and better development tools.

Now the question is if this enough to beat the iPhone or just be a solid 2nd place. Time will tell, of course Apple is already moving on to strike back in the Tablet wars, as an owner of one of the first Tablets the T1000 from HP power by a Transmeta Processor, I can tell you that it doesn't matter who is first in the tech game, but who gets it right...

Now Playing

2009-12-07T09:53:00.001-05:00

Now Playing: Torchlight (PC) Maffia Wars (iPhone) Gerbil Physics (X-Box Indie Game) Now Watching: Spell Fury (youTube)

XNA on the Zune

2009-12-04T16:31:00.003-05:00

All I want for Christmas (other than Peace on Earth) is an Indie Game store on the Zune and Windows 7. Well and the ability to write an Indie Game that uses multiple Zune in 2 way communication with an X-Box Indie Game on my Plasma TV...

Quote of the day

2009-12-04T16:28:00.002-05:00

Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves."

President Ronald Reagan

Now Playing

2009-12-01T11:04:00.002-05:00

Torchlight, Champions, Left4Dead 1, Fallout 3 (expansions and just wandering the wasteland)...

2009-12-01T11:02:00.002-05:00

"... the vigor of government is essential to the security of liberty;"

The Federalist Papers

Smashing Atoms

2009-11-30T10:01:00.005-05:00

We live in the future. At least until 2012 :)

iPhone vs. Nintendo

2009-11-13T11:04:00.000-05:00

The iPhone is a great platform for casual games and it really hits Nintendo right in the DS. Apple is very happy to have games on the iPhone, as long as it does not dominate the device, in my humble opinion.

One important thing to notice about the DS, Wii, and iPhone is the include a ton of ways to interact with the real world and the device that are not in traditional game platforms or controllers. This is a big deal and part of what makes them so compelling. When Microsoft adds the Natal we will see a revolution on that platform as well.

It is all about the sensors and interacting with the real world. And the more of this the better. Would like to see a standard sensor filled controller for the PC.

NASA on a crusade to debunk 2012 apocalypse "myths"

2009-11-10T09:29:00.004-05:00

NASA Debunk not as much fun as Mayan Countdown! available on the X-Box and other platforms soon...

Xonar D2 and Fallout 3

2009-11-04T09:15:00.002-05:00

So the main problem with my Rig was the settings and drivers for the Xonar D2. I got the latest drivers from ASUS. Then I had to set the microphone to on (even though I don't have one) so that the Windows sounds would work correctly. Next I had to turn off the games mode (glowing green button on the ASUS control panel), to stop the crashes in Fallout 3 and Blu-Ray problems. Everything seems stable now.

Windows 7 is a worthy competitor to OS X. The taskbar is improved and once you turn UAC off things get close to the way they should be. I still like the everything for an application is one folder convention from OS X makes a lot of sense when you consider the amount of disk space available on a modern machine.

Torchlight rocks btw! When ever you can buy digital and buy direct, of course I say that on my way to pick up Dragon Age at Gamestop (still fun to make a game run for the big ones).

Direct Games!!!

2009-10-30T13:49:00.001-04:00

Wow take a look at these digital and direct games:

Natural Selections 2

Torchlight

League of Legends

The future of PC Gaming is here!

Windows 7 not just an Update

2009-10-26T10:26:00.003-04:00

Windows 7 is not just an update to Vista. I think I would like it more, if it was, because then all of the drivers would not have to be updated. It is clear that the drivers and the internals of the OS have changed. It appears that there is no easy way to make yourself Admin other than right clicking and saying Run as Admin on every .exe you want to run. It removed my Vista Windows Mail during the upgrade for no rational reason as well. I now have crashes in Fallout 3 and my LG Blue-Ray/HD-DVD combo drive crashes regularly. Still the OS starts faster before is crashes.

Slowly things are getting better, ASUS has drivers for the XONAR D2 PCI card, of course ASUS is kick ass company, just like Nvidia which has the best drivers in the biz. LG is not keeping their firmware current on the Blu-Ray/HD-DVD drive. Also Power DVD does not have an Update for PowerDVD 7 for Windows 7, since PowerDVD 9 does not play HD-DVDs, buying it is not an option at this time.

Microsoft let people run as Admin if they want to ok? Also this whole we don't support 7 from third party software and hardware companies has got to go. I want to see 7 be a hit, but when you upgrade it has issues. Also we need an XP to 7 upgrade disc.

Thanks Microsoft things are getting better but we are not there yet, also you should buy Palm.

NPD

2009-10-20T10:40:00.000-04:00

Is this the peak for Wii? This could be the waiting for a price drop crowd on the PS3. When will Natal launch?

Should traditional games on the iPhone be tracked for mobile?

NPD Report

AppStore Millionaire

2009-10-16T09:33:00.003-04:00

So what is an AppStore?

To me there are a few things that define an AppStore:

1) Direct link to the customer, the only other company involved is the one running the store.
2) 70% for the developer.
3) Ability to sign up and submit on-line.

I plan on creating an App for every AppStore that follows these guidelines. So far that includes X-Box Indie Games and the iPhone AppStore.

Tech Question

2009-10-15T10:26:00.003-04:00

If I change my RAM speed from 1333 to 1600, you think that will be noticeable? Worth doing?

Some gain, you have enough RAM in the system already I assume. The biggest gain is from having enough RAM so that the swap file is not over-used. You may want to but the swap file on a different hard drive than the OS. Make sure the system is stable when you increase the speed, I have had to back it down before. Have you tried an Intel Solid State drive yet?

Blu-Ray

2009-10-15T09:51:00.001-04:00

Why can't I continue from where I was last playing a Blu-Ray disc? This works fine for DVDs on my PC and TV but no many Blu-Ray disc don't want that to happen. The constant firmware updates continue to annoy as well, perhaps the worst part is that the firmware is not available when the movie is. In addition the firmware is often times only related to content protection and not features. It is sad to see the movie industry going down the path of the music industry, please stop punishing your paying customers. I would buy 2 or 3 times as many Blu-Rays as I have already if they let me resume from where I was last playing them and they played on the day I buy them and not weeks or months later. The problem is extremely bad on the PC side, I have add a few blue screens of death while trying to play the Watchmen BD. Quit it the pirates are enjoying your movies, let the paying customers enjoy them as well.

The Collider

2009-10-14T09:46:00.004-04:00

File this under the maybe bogus but sure is fun theory dept.:

"“We are all agreed that your theory is crazy. The question that divides us is whether it is crazy enough to have a chance of being correct.”"

-- Niels Bohr

Time Travel and The Collider

Mayan Countdown

2009-10-12T11:37:00.003-04:00

2012

"One of them is Monument Six.

Found at an obscure ruin in southern Mexico during highway construction in the 1960s, the stone tablet almost didn't survive; the site was largely paved over and parts of the tablet were looted.

It's unique in that the remaining parts contain the equivalent of the date 2012. The inscription describes something that is supposed to occur in 2012 involving Bolon Yokte, a mysterious Mayan god associated with both war and creation."

It is the Mayan Countdown!

ZenHak V 2.0

2009-04-23T09:58:00.002-04:00

Look for Version 2.0 it is up!

The description has Version 2.0 in it. Also the file size is 48 megs. You have to delete your old version and download the new one. New content, skill trainers, and AI help screens for the Haking mini game. Let me know what you think and what you want in V 3.0.

And of course it is a free update for gamers who already own ZenHak.

XNA cover art mania!

2009-04-23T09:56:00.003-04:00

Check out this huge collection of XNA cover art:

XNA Box Art

I had a fun time hunting for ZenHak in there. Also the images are not cached so this monster will just keeping on growing and growing. Amazing to see all of the games that have been cranked out.

(-0-)

Virtues

2009-04-16T16:58:00.001-04:00

The three chief virtues of a programmer are: Laziness, Impatience and Hubris.

Larry Wall

Half-Way

2009-04-02T10:29:00.000-04:00

I want to explain where I am going with ZenHak, I want to bridge the gap between the way computer games were and the way console games are today, with some new ideas just to make it fun. I want the audience to meet me half way. I am not there yet, and I probably won't get there on the next update, but I will keep listening and updating until I get it right. I will also add features and content with each update to reward those who bought ZenHak.

I have made a simple change in the Haking game that makes it much more clear. A list of winning and losing numbers is shown so that you can see the direct result of placing bots and haking. I have a little more content to add and some mini game instructions (delivery via vid net (video phone)) before I post the update. Stay tuned.

Cheers and thanks for getting ZenHak into Top 10!

ZenHak Approved!

2009-03-13T20:41:00.003-04:00

Much easier than getting a game into CompUSA in the 90's! ZenHak is for sale on XBox MarketPlace Community Games!

Check it out: ZenHak.

Keep it up folks, make the world flatter one step at a time...

ZenHak Y'all

2009-02-27T13:35:00.001-05:00

Hey Hey Hey ZenHak is on the way!

I have ZenHak in playtest over at: xna.com, check it out if you are an XNA developer. If you are a 360 owner look for us in Community Games starting in March!

If you are a C# coder checkout XNA it is good stuff...

The Future doen't have to be this scary...

2008-07-10T14:27:00.003-04:00

Real robot, real photo, real odd...

For more interesting views of the future check out the following:

Two Mile High Termite Nest for citizen!

It is your data now you can visualize it...

Wii Velcro Boxing

2008-01-21T13:09:00.000-05:00

My latest project DIGG it here. Or check out all of the details on the Zenfar site. The main idea is to use the Wii remote accelerometer and blue tooth wireless networking to record your punches and kicks while training. Prototype software is available for download as well as links to buy the materials needed for you own Wii powered punching bag!

Vista is Ready

2007-10-29T09:17:00.000-04:00

So I had some driver issues with my XP build that I had been running for about 5 years and had the crazy thought of doing a new Vista Ultimate install to fix everything. And to my surprise it worked out of the box with no issues. Windows Update for Vista even found all of the drivers I needed and updated them with no issues. Previously under XP I would not trust Windows Update for drivers only software updates. The Windows Firewall works as well and I haven't had to install ZoneAlarm. The only major problem is User Access Control which I had to disable. UAC was made famous in the security Apple Ad. To disable it just type msconfig in the Vista search bar and hit enter. Next select the Tools tab and scroll down until you see disable UAC. Launch it and then after it is done reboot.

With the one simple change Vista works like a dream with no Blue Screen of Pause that some of our Apple friends are dealing with.

SkyNet's First Attack

2007-10-19T09:52:00.000-04:00

And so it starts Robots going crazy killing people...

Robotic cannon turns Killer!

At least T3 is going to happen before Planet of the Apes.

Nine Great Books About The Future

2007-10-18T11:04:00.000-04:00

Nine Great Books About The Future, an excellent article on Forbes. Of the books on the list that I have read I can't help but agree with including them. It just makes me want to read the others as well, perhaps summer. Some missing titles may be Diamond Age, Friday, or Snow Crash? Diamond Age features China and Nanotechnology, Neuromancer (on the list) probably has Snow Crash beat. Friday had terrorism and alternative living arrangements.

I don't know about you, but I really enjoy reading about some aspect of the future and then seeing it in real life year latter. Starship Troopers had cell phones and in Snow Crash the author talked about Zombies people connect to the net that seemed to be having a conversation with people that aren't there, of course we see this all to often with hands free blue tooth phones.

ZenfarXNA

2007-10-01T09:23:00.000-04:00

ZenfarXNA is my XNA project in which I hope to capture the essence of role-playing games. What is that essence you may ask?

You find yourself in a 20x20 room with two exits. One exit to the north the other to the west. There is a strange console and one angry Chaos Warrior in the room. What do you do?

Replay that situation twenty times and you have a fun nights entertainment.

Amazon MP3

2007-09-27T10:37:00.000-04:00

I wonder if Amazon will allow associates to link to MP3 and get a % of the sales, such as it does with its other offerings. If so there could be hundreds of media applications that use the Amazon web service APIs and link to MP3 as well as play them. One of them would emerge as the killer app and then Amazon would reign supreme. One reason DRM fails is that it adds complication. Anything that adds complication to technology must be avoid like the plague.

Glen
Zenfar

Spyware

2007-09-24T10:32:00.001-04:00

I don't care that much about privacy, but I do care about ownership and it is your PC and you should know what is on it and stop people from watching your every move. Here are some great programs that can help with this:

Ad-Aware

Spy-Bot Search and Destroy

Enjoy.

Vista

2007-09-19T11:11:00.000-04:00

Know what you are doing and want control of YOUR PC back read on.

Vista has a built in administrator that is more powerful then the default one. To enable it right click on Computer from the start menu and select manage.

Next you can enable this account if you need a real administrator account. Right click on the Administrator account and select properties, and uncheck disabled.

You should log out at this point. Next log in add administrator and add a password. You can do this in Control Panel by selecting the User Accounts option.

Now you can log in as a real Administrator, this is called Built-in Administrator in Vista, but I like to call him su (super user). But do we want to use this account all of the time, I would say no. I would want to use the Admin account I made on install or perhaps a new one, but I want it to act like a real super user account. More on that next post.

BioShock

2007-09-06T09:22:00.000-04:00

BioShock buy it! Play it! One great game and creepy too. I consider it a MasterWork along side of Oblivion...

MasterWorks is my term for a game that finally realizes the vision of the developer, other games before it hint at what is to come and then the MasterWork hits:

System Shock 2 -> Freedom Force -> BioShock
Daggerfall -> Morrowind -> Oblivion

Feel free to post about any other MasterWork chains in the comments.

Cheers!

Silverlight

2007-08-27T15:29:00.000-04:00

A new technology from MSFT, should allow web based games that are much better than what we have seen to this point, at least that is the promise.

We shall see...

X-Box 360 Mania

2007-08-09T20:58:00.000-04:00

So the long awaited price drop is here, we are talking $279, $349, and $449. The best bet is the $349 and make sure it has the HDMI port, that way you are getting a newer motherboard. Still I don't think it compares to PC gaming, what we need in X-Box Live and DX10 on Windows XP, that is what the market wants. We also need under $199 internal HD-DVD drives that come with Power DVD 7.

Fallout 3

2007-07-15T20:11:00.000-04:00

Don't know if I can make it until Fall 2008 for Fallout 3.

Spirits Within

2006-11-21T10:19:00.000-05:00

``I think that it's extraordinarily important that we in computer science keep fun in computing. When it started out, it was an awful lot of fun. Of course, the paying customers got shafted every now and then, and after a while we began to take their complaints seriously. We began to feel as if we really were responsible for the successful, error-free perfect use of these machines. I don't think we are. I think we're responsible for stretching them, setting them off in new directions, and keeping fun in the house. I hope the field of computer science never loses its sense of fun. Above all, I hope we don't become missionaries. Don't feel as if you're Bible salesmen. The world has too many of those already. What you know about computing other people will learn. Don't feel as if the key to successful computing is only in your hands. What's in your hands, I think and hope, is intelligence: the ability to see the machine as more than when you were first led up to it, that you can make it more.''

Alan J. Perlis

X-Box 360 < $100

2006-11-03T20:29:00.000-05:00

Ok you don't even have to pimp ringtones on your web site for this one. Just get a wired X-Box 360 controller and a copy of Marvel Ultimate Alliance for the PC and you are there! Ultimate Alliance is one of the 1st titles we have played that integrates the X-Box 360 controller into the PC version of the game completely. All menus can be controlled with it and the buttons are displayed in the on screen hints. Also there is a CG movie with Galactus which is worth the cost of all by itself.

DirectX 9.0b to 9.0c

2006-10-25T23:09:00.000-04:00

So I get Marvel Ultimate Alliance and it says it requires Direct X 9.0c. Of course 9.0c will not install and dxdiag keeps reporting that I have 9.0b. So I coppied the d3dx9_30.dll and d3dx9_31.dll files out of the .cab files and put them into windows system32 and then changed the following reg key:

From:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\ DirectX\ Version\4.09.00.0902

To:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\ DirectX\ Version\ 4.09.00.0904

Let me know if this helps any PC gamers out there. Alliance is a fun game, very X-Boxish and it is good to see it works well with the wired XBox 360 controller on the PC.

Auto Assault = Car Wars

2006-10-08T18:49:00.000-04:00

For those who long for Steve Jackson's excellent Car Wars, check out Auto Assault! MMORPG all on one server with a car and character to customize. ZenStrike is my test Alter Ego. Another great feature is that it work with the wired XBox 360 controller with rumble!!

Oblivion

2006-10-06T23:14:00.000-04:00

Speaking of today's greate CRPGs, let's look at one of the greatest today: Oblivion. It is hard to believe that a single player action oriented CRPG would be better than Wizardy Crusader's of the Dark Savant, but it is! It is even better than my fond memories of Ultima ][ on the Apple! It is that good, do check it out. While you are at it get a new GeForce 7600 or 7800 card to run it on, they have them in AGP goodness at newegg.com ...