Flying In Roogz' Dream

WDTV Live Streaming (WDTV LIVE2)

2012-01-16T11:46:00.003+08:00

I'm using WDTV Live Streaming (WDTV LIVE2) bought last 2 weeks in the US... I must say it's a lot better than my WDTV Gen1 and WDTV Live by far!

Already got 2 firmware updates while using it for weeks and it looks like there's plenty of stuff they need to enhance... though I haven't experience any problems at all.

Got 2tb+ of hd movies, 1.5tb of shows (not full), wifi network shares, youtube and they work just fine as expected.

Remote is awesome, I'm actually wishing my WDTV Live had a remote like this but anyway they actually made it this time! The only thing missing I think is the volume but that's not biggie.

Bought it $99 -- really cheap for a small monster featured device!

Happy New 2012!

2011-12-31T22:43:00.000+08:00

Have a Blessed Year 2012 to Everyone!

Cheers!

My CDR King experience...

2011-12-11T02:16:00.001+08:00

Well, who would have thought that my newly bought CDR King cheap 2.1 speakers beat my Altec Lansing 5.1 in terms of sounding? Hahaha. Satisfied? Yes! Even if it broke within a year...

It's the risk you have to take. Don't blame CDR King for your bad warranty experience, you always have the chance to buy something from better stores in the first place instead.

Being a wise buyer, I don't buy a lot from CDR King but I can say all the items I bought from their store for 5yrs+ are all still working... maybe including the CDs, DVDs and USBs.

Next target: CDR King Flash (TT520) @ P1.8k

Chrome passes Firefox in Market Share

2011-12-03T00:51:00.000+08:00

Not so surprising, I never installed Firefox on all my systems (now including 3 systems & 1 in the office)... ever since. IE9 built-in to OS & Chrome neat/light design really grabs my taste.

Free Source Code: Payroll Application written in C / C++ / Java / C# / VB / ASP / .NET

2011-11-30T00:16:00.000+08:00

How lazy are you? Are you expecting a copy-paste code from this page? Then if you answer YES... YOU FAIL lazy dumb-ass.

Well, somehow you're in luck and I'm going to help you with your code in a different way. Let's get this straight to the point and just follow accordingly.

You better...

- Start to learn to add, remove, and display from the linked list / array using your preferred programming language. I'm probably old school but books are always effective then e-books.
- Explore and practice. Yes, exploit your code!
- Collect some information regarding basic payroll flow in the internet.
- Integrate your flow and ideas on your programming language.
- Try and try until you succeed?
- ...until you reach the dead end problem:
1. Have your brain get some rest and re-think again.
2. Google.
3. Ask at C++ Forum / Newsletters, etc.

DON'T...

- Get your luck in Googling with different search keys eg. "payroll c++ source code"
- Have someone FEED YOU with their dumb codes (like in TipidPC.com)
- Wait

If you want to get it right, do it in a right way! Don't abuse Google too much.

3x LG Flatron E2360 23" + MSI Twin Frozr II AMD Radeon 6950 2GB = Eyefinity mode!

2011-11-17T13:39:00.003+08:00

Eyefinity project done!

My setup use 3x LG Flatron E2360 23" and MSI Twin Frozr II AMD Radeon 6950 2GB. I have to buy separate mini display port adapter to enable 3rd display plug.

Got good deals with the same LED models I have and I think my model is almost phased out hehehe. For my videocard, I sold my 6850 and replaced it with 2nd hand MSI Frozr 6950 so technically I spend only P5k from my savings. Totally worth it!

Through single monitor, all my games can play 60fps max out settings but it's nothing compared to the Eyefinity's wideness experience awesomeess. Larger desktop space can be more productive than ever... 1st for my desktop icons + visual studio, 2nd (center) emulators + tools + active apps, 3rd for websites + monitoring torrents etc.

Will I go back to No-finity desktop? probably not. Actually, I can imagine having 3x Dell UltraSharp flat panel monitors someday... in my dreams for now :)

PC System Upgrade CPU vs GPU?

2011-10-24T17:58:00.001+08:00

Sa gaming ala masyado maitutulong ang CPU compared pag inupgrade mo GPU as it will only improve overall performance. That is kung galing ka sa cpu from ancient generation, probably better CPU will show improvement but not that much. How come?

I won't go into details but it should be obvious lalung-lalo na pag ni-claim sarili mo na techie :)

I remember I almost upgrade my q6600 P35 system to i7 860 but since I'm cheap and tight on budget it would be wiser for me to upgrade the GPU sell my current GPU instead. It turns out my system gained significantly faster gaming performance and I save almost 8k-10k. After more than a 1 year, I'm still happy!

What if I upgrade my system to 8core BD FX?
- I would be happy with my smoother overall system performance, especially loading apps and booting and something I could brag to my facebook friends 8CORE!!!
What if I upgrade my GPU to 6950?
- I would definitely be much much happier because of smoother gaming experience, plus I save more bux!

Forget "bottleneck" or any shit like that, any Phenom2 or Core2 2/4core 3-3.2ghz CPU can still keep up with the latest GPU.

Just spend your money wisely.

Rant: Globe Tattoo / Mifi / Superstick with 3 - 7mbps

2011-10-19T19:41:00.001+08:00

Some benchmark using Tattoo stick + Plan999:
Malabon - 1-2mbps
Tandang Sora - 1mbps
Ortigas Ave - 3.5mbps!

Mapapansin nyo napakarami nabubwisit sa service ng Globe regarding of wireless connection (don't get me started on Globe DSL upload speed!!!!). Masyado marami naaakit sa marketing nila and to think about it sino ba aayaw sa 1299/mo na aabot naman ng 7mbps?

Actually it's all about signals. Pag di makakuha ng maayos na 3g signal pero fullbar ang gsm nag aaverage lang ng 2mbps tapos nag upgrade pa smart at globe ng 7mbps to 12mbps. Walang effect!

!@#$% kung ako sa kanila annouce nalang nila na dodoblehin nila mga towers instead na ads.

Kung iisipin nyo mas ok magkaroon ng steady 3mbps lagi kesa 7mbps ang plan pero sobrang hirap umabot ng 2mbps at ubusin oras sa kakalipat lipat ng antenna.

Nikon D800 or D700s to replace D700?

2011-10-19T12:22:00.000+08:00

If Nikon will follow the steps of Apple, they should release the D700s soon. Lol!

Does AMA Computer College school sucks?

2011-10-17T14:16:00.003+08:00

I choose AMA QC kasi malapit sa bahay... super lazy ako nun pero ngayon lazy nalang (improving!).

I believe na napakarami magagaling sa computers at doon ako naging competative at naging adik narin sa computer specifically programming. In my college days in AMA, I won a programming contest twice and joined AMA team for Microsoft Philippines competitions several times with the Dean's Listed guys.

Dean's Listed... henyo? hell no! I took Trigonometry 3 times and Calculus 2 times. Hahaha :D

So yes, asa diskarte ng student yan.

I graduated at AMA QC in 2001, now almost 12yrs experience in different local and international c/c++ companies with consulting and app development sidelines.

Planning to venture out and create my own games for Windows Phones and already consider Android and iPhone if my time permits.

Well... who knows what I am now if I accept Lasalle or Ateneo offers but I thank God I studied at AMA and met my good friends there.

If you're dumb enough to blame your school because of your failure, better blame yourself first.

Are you a Copy-Paste Programmer?

2011-10-13T13:24:00.002+08:00

Most programmer will probably say YES as it does really save time, no doubt about it.

I'll probably say YES but for only codes that is cryptic, that is waay beyond my knowledge and skills how the code works and probably too desperate to use.

Really I'm a NO, most of the time I type the code I'm copying from the net from scratch. I believe that way I analyze the code better and at the same time I improve I scale and I optimize much faster.

I have my own coding standards in development so I NEED all codes that I'm integrating especially to my game engine should conform very well.

I'm a perfectionist and I hate it... sometimes.

AMD Radeon HD 6950 vs Nvidia GeForce GTX 560 Ti... which is which?

2011-10-11T22:52:00.004+08:00

Simple, let's put it this way...

AMD Radeon HD 6950 = Eyefinity
Nvidia GeForce GTX 560 Ti = Physx

In Comparison...

Probably you won't see any speed difference between the 2 except for PhysX exclusive games in favor of 560ti.

6950 1gb & 2gb is identical in terms of speed but both takes the lead by a great deal in a shader driven game compared to 560ti.

6950 2gb can be more smoother with larger resolutions like Eyefinity setup with 5760x1080 resolution.

6950 1gb is the cheapest by P1k and energy efficient at load.

Power consumption? [url]http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/nvidia-geforce-gtx-560-ti-gf114,review-32102-15.html[/url]

Personal Verdict...

It would really matter now what brand (Nvidia vs AMD) and what feature is more appealing to you.

For me, I'd go for AMD 6950 2gb not for branding but for my upcoming Eyefinity setup. Better gaming experience.

My next game... Battlefield 3

2011-09-16T14:35:00.003+08:00

After I finished Battlefield Bad Company 2 game, I can say it was the best game ever. I was a big fan of that game. It was like more than a year ago that I told myself that my PC should be ready for their next game.

I saw many games that was released after but I wasn't impressed with the gameplay... and probably won't run playable on my PC (Crysis2).

I actually stopped playing for over a year and never tried any fps games. I was busy trying new things.

Now here it is... Battlefield 3 is coming! I'm actually exited to try these in my upcoming Eyefinity Project Setup soon.

Wait, am I only the one who thinks BFB2 & BF3 are better than COD MW franchise?

Accelerometer with Windows Phone's SDK 7.1 - Mango

2011-09-04T23:56:00.002+08:00

I've been trying out Accelerometer in Non-Mango or Nodo sdk version but it's nearly impossible to test it without using your actual device. Now with the release of Mango SDK, they finally added accelerometer in the emulator. I'm quite amaze how easy to code and use it on the emulator... why would Microsoft took so long to develop/release this such useful feature?

Anyway, the moment I test it I immediately integrate the Accelerometer in my engine.

device.AcceleratorActive = true;
..
foreach (SphereObject obj in listBalls)
{
obj.Force += device.AcceleratorReading * 50.0f;
}

There are so many new features in Mango SDK update that I wanted to try out but I'm more exited with Sockets... here's my rant before: Programming Sockets with Windows Phone 7

Here are the list of updates and the bold letters what I think a must try:

Local database support (SQL CE)
Direct access to video and photo camera streams
Ability to add ringtones
Support for background agents
Network-independent live tiles and toast notifications
Access to the compass and gyroscope sensors
Sockets
Silverlight + XNA integration
Application profiling
Emulator with accelerometer and location support
Built-in support for integrating Microsoft-based ads
Ability to share content with linked system accounts from third-party apps
Improved access to user data
OData integration

So, what's your favorite feature?

Manny Pacquiao vs Shane Mosley... then Floyd Mayweather?

2011-05-09T02:46:00.003+08:00

After watching Pac vs Mosley, I was starting to think like I don't really know how Mosley fight so my curiosity begins.

Then watching this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAC6o9420fc and other videos for hours, I was like wow! Mayweather fighting Pacquiao? uhm....

I mean c'mon Mosley CONNECTS punches on Floyd but nearly NONE on Pacquiao. If Floyd keep THAT stunt forever during his fight... he'll get murdered by Pacquiao for sure.

Mosley is not that bad during his fight, he's good actually but not good enough.

Anyway congrats Manny Pacquiao!

Nikon D90 vs Nikon D5100

2011-04-28T12:54:00.009+08:00

You can get a D90 body for only 36k or with a 18-105 kit for 47k... that is already available.

Obviously if you like to shoot on lowlight more often or probably capturing videos more than shooting photos then probably D5100 would be ideal for you.

Yet it is fact that D90 still have acceptable high ISO capabilities and video quality. D90 already gained one of the greatest reputation and well respected camera for about 4 years.

If you are a beginner, try not to fall or waste your money into some better sensor marketing ads but rather try to hold the camera yourself, feel the body and weight, check if the functions/buttons has better access through your fingers, check the viewfinder... then try another camera and compare! I'll bet you'll fall in love with the D90's sexier body.

D90 in my opinion is probably better investment, why? because of better 'pro' feature:
- larger and brighter viewfinder
- better view coverage
- better manual settings
- better build quality and ergonomics
- longer battery life
- built-in AF motor
- supports battery grip by Nikon
- Creative Lighting System (thanks logbi77, I completely forgot!)

I already sold my D60 body (same as D5100) and it was my first DSLR and used it for 2 years but after using D90 in just few minutes, I already told myself I will never go back to D60-level bodies again... that was an easy decision for me.

If you want the best of both worlds? You should check out D7000! I have posted an article regarding D7000 vs D90 as well. If you are intrigued just go here :)

I'm only stating the fact and by experience as well. In the end it's still your money and your choice, goodluck!

What's the Funniest Naruto episode you have ever seen?

2011-04-21T22:01:00.000+08:00

Question: What's the Funniest Naruto episode you have ever seen?

Answer: Episode 101, when Team 7 tries to take off Kakashi's mask!

Programming Sockets with Windows Phone 7

2011-04-17T15:04:00.004+08:00

I've been coding sockets for more than 10 years and it is very important because most of my ideas are all network based or multiplayer based - it's just part of my coding life.

So, I spent hours and hours looking if there's a Socket for WP7 and the only information I got is Windows Communication Foundation using single request/response access to HTTP.

That's !@#$%^ slow and not my style! I want to create real time network games with using small chuck of packets with fast asynchronous data transfers and NOT WCF's bulky xml data and slow send receive HTTP protocols.

I think that's retard for Microsoft for limiting the access... iPhone and Android have it!

I'm hoping Microsoft will be adding socket support on this Mango release. If so? then I'll probably start making network based games and probably buy another WP7 phone for my girlfriend that I could also use for my testing.

Right now I'm still disappointed. :(

Shipment experience from EBAY: Hong Kong to Philippines

2011-03-29T17:50:00.002+08:00

UPS: Few weeks ago I ordered a phone costing around P19k and delivered to me with P2k tax charges... fine.

DHL: A week later, I followed a replacement battery and wall dock charger which cost P3k. The seller was very accomodating so I waited. Then I noticed it's been 6 days and I should have already received the items 3 days ago. So I visited DHL tracking site.

I called them and notify DHL about the delay. DHL called few hours later and told me that the items was stuck in the customs (as expected) and the tax charges initial estimate was P3k?!!

They put a value on the charger for $250!

I'm so pissed right now. I don't know how am I going to receive the item with that kind of price.

Fucking corrupt...

Windows Phone 7: No offline Contact/Calendard synchronization...

2011-03-17T22:54:00.004+08:00

PocketNow stated...

Everyone has always complained about problems with ActiveSync on the desktop. Many people often ran into errors and wished it would just go away. Well, with Windows Phone 7, ActiveSync is gone. Windows Phone 7 only connects to Zune when you plug it into the PC and only syncs music/videos/podcasts/pictures. That means there will be no more errors or frustrations for you when trying to sync all of your personal information management data between your Windows Phone and Outlook.
...
How to Sync Windows Phone 7 with Outlook

That's PURE CRAP!

You just need to install Active Sync (only WinXP or lower) and Office Outlook first then plug in your Windows Mobile through your USB -- it works every single time.

Unbelievable... I've been using PocketPC/Smartphone WinCE 3.0 -> Windows Mobile 6.5 part-time/fulltime Winmobile Dev and never had problems syncing with ActiveSync on office/work pc. Disappointed... that is one thing that keeps me from using Windows Mobile.

Until I haven't figured out how to sync my contacts from my Omnia Pro to my new HTC HD7, I won't use my HD7 as my primary phone.

THAT's the only thing I hate about Windows Phone 7 so far...

Pinoys should look for another Marcos to rule the country...

2011-02-25T22:08:00.000+08:00

nuff said

Dance Central's Just Dance - Hard Pure Perfection?

2011-02-18T10:57:00.002+08:00

If you don't have xbox/kinect/dance central I suggest you buy one and you won't regret it.

Dance Central's Just Dance - Hard Pure Perfection? Not me, I wish! You need to watch this guy... I don't dance and I only dance with my friends just for fun :))

I can tell how it looks so easy when watching him but he's dance will trick you --he's really that good! It's really damn hard to get "Flawless" move especially when turning around with fast pace changes. I get mostly "Good" greens, sometimes unfinished yellow, and reds... on easy difficulty lol!

I'm just wondering how much time would I spend dancing with xbox-kinect in order to beat this guy...

Choosing between Nikon D90 or D7000?

2011-01-26T13:16:00.001+08:00

D7000 is a lot better than D90 for one reason that it already match (or somehow beats) D300s feature... or more.

The reason I would probably get D7000 for it's better AF, more AF points, better video recording and more external function -- but using weak lens then it's pretty useless. Thanks to my Nikon 85mm/1.8, video with my D90 looks awesome (except the wobbling).

Dual SD is more like a PRO function to me. I never had any jpg/raw failure from my D60 for the past 2yrs to D90 1yr plus as well. I always move files thru my backup machine when I got home and keep my SD card clean.

Faster FPS is a plus if you shoot action or sports, but for me it's more like a good to have feature coz I don't usually use burst shot.

I own D90 with Tokina 11-16/2.8 (landscape/wide), Tamron 28-75/2.8 (clean portrait) and Nikon 85/1.8 (bokeh portraits) and actually tried D7000 and feel like I can't justify an additional 30k of price difference.

Although grabbing a better body like D7000 would probably extend your itch on buying much better body maybe let say for another 1-2years that is if you can buy without problem or your budget permits. If not then forget it... my D90 can produce the same quality!

Demo game and updated particle system

2011-01-18T17:01:00.002+08:00

This is just a demo game screenshot for my game engine. The game has all features I have in my engine except for Scrolling Background and AI (check my previous post) which I haven't really thought of the right concept to match the actual game.

Art sucks I admit! Every image/texture resource was just a re-use from the old test apps. I wish someone could help me on this department! =)

Anyway here are the screenshots...

I also improved the Particle system with a full property feature which made it more flexible, fun and easy to use.

Cheers!

XNA Game engine status

2011-01-11T17:54:00.006+08:00

What have I done so far...

Device - main game engine / framework
Screen states - small framework to handle screens eg. start menu, ingame, options
Input manager - keyboard, mouse, keypad
FPS utility - simple benchmark monitoring
Font manager - handles all font files
Texture manager - handles all texture files
Sound manager - handles all sound files with XACT

GUI manager - button and label with full property and event driven

Cell animation - generate sprite animation out of image / texture files

Scrolling background - layered / parallax driven background images

AI includes Object manager, State machine, Message manager

Physics manager - mass, acceleration, gravity, friction, collision, etc.

Particle manager - simulates particle from texture with physics enabled.

Sadly, for now I can only use Microsoft platform which includes PC, Xbox, and Windows Phone 7. Though all codes should be easily portable to OpenGL so I might decide to use Android and iOS4 along the way.

I think the engine needs finishing and I'm only a few steps away to start creating a real game. I hope to start writing a prototype game next month. What I only need for now is motivation and luck maybe...

Cheers!

ArithmeticException was handled. Function does not accept floating point Not-a-Number value

2011-01-05T19:02:00.007+08:00

After my years of game engine writing this is actually my first time to write a working physics engine with a simple sphere-sphere, sphere-box 2d collision. Though one thing bothers me is that at some point the application crashes randomly.

So I noticed that my application consistently crashing at Math.Sign() with NaN values passing in it. I tried to fix the bug the whole day without luck -- the bug is very trivial what causing it.

I also override the XNA's Vector2 object with NaN value to a corrected one but the physics movement make it worst.

Tried looking in the net as well but I think nothing really that helps. In the first place I thought my engine now written in C# should be flawless. !@#$ I was very frustrated! Then I decided to continue the other modules and almost got me thinking not to use physics for now.

After few days I realized, Hey! why not brute force assertion on suspected codes and slowly dig more....

Code:
System.Diagnostics.Debug.Assert(!float.IsNaN(value));

Success! At some point on 2 objects colliding, you will get a perfect 2 radius delta length value (ex. 40.0f) subtracted from 2 object position. By computing the minimum translation distance you will need to subtract the delta length to 2 radius added so resulted to 0 and need to divide again to delta length and will result to Not-a-Number value in C#.

Blablablah! it only means at some point I'm dividing a perfect 0 value. Heheh

So far everything is working fine and I'm almost done with the engine writing (maybe for a very simple game).

Now I'm off to test the codes to my Xbox360 and to WindowsPhone7 emulator =)

Happy New Year! (2011)

2011-01-01T01:38:00.000+08:00

Have a Blessed Year 2011 to Everyone!

Porting my old C++ Templates code to C# Generics

2010-12-27T14:33:00.010+08:00

I'm quite pessimistic about using C# Generics and how will affect the design and how it behaves but I have no choice I'm now using C# so I'll give it a try.

Part of c++ template code from my D3D game engine...

   template<class T>
   class TState
   {
   public:
   virtual ~TState() {}
   virtual void Enter(T*) = 0;
   virtual void Execute(T*) = 0;
   virtual void Exit(T*) = 0;
   virtual bool OnMessage(T*, const tTelegram&) = 0;
   };

... and new C# code for my XNA game engine.

   public interface TObjectState<T>

{

void Enter(T t);

void Execute(T t);

void Exit(T t);

bool OnMessage(T t, MessageTelegram telegram);

}

Yeah, now I'm very impressed how easy it is and it only took me less a minute to port all my template codes!

So far I'm liking XNA and it's pretty neat if ask me!

Cheers!

Merry Christmas Universe!

2010-12-24T15:32:00.005+08:00

First, here are the stuff I would like to do this Vacation:

- Sell LG 22" LCD and/or AMD HD 6850 Videocard.
- Buy wireless mouse for my Laptop.
- Finish XBOX's Naruto UNS2 though.
- Know how to dance with XBOX's Dance Central.
- Backup files (photos / games / old files).
- Learn how to code Silverlight with Windows Phone 7.
- Fix the damn bug in my XNA physics engine.
- Write a prototype XNA game.
- Post process some pics for Flickr.
- Watch Circus at Araneta Coliseum.
- Re-organize and clean room.
- Loose 10 lbs of fats.

I would like to greet you all an AWESOME Merry Christmas!

Enjoy your day!

Asus K42ja vs Acer Aspire 4745g

2010-12-14T21:29:00.006+08:00

Which one is better? here are the specs...

Asus K42ja
Intel Core i5 460M
2GB DDR3 Memory
320GB HDD SATA
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5730M 2GB DDR3

Acer Aspire 4745g
Intel Core i5460M
2GB DDR3 Memory
640GB HDD SATA
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650 1GB DDR3

Comparison and personal opinion...

Both have at very similar price.

For gaming, HD5730 is a BIT better than HD5650.

As for HDD, I really don't need much large disk on my laptop. I only use visual studio, adobe, office and lotro at the moment. I still have my PC for my main workstation, storage and for heavy gpu games. HDD is getting cheaper by a month and it can be replaced in the future, CPU/GPU is not. I guess it's a matter of personal preference.

Better looks and finish! and I know for some time that ASUS makes exceptional laptops.

Now the best thing why I bought my k42ja is that they offered me a very good deal with free 2gb upgrade.

I hope I made the right choice for buying this laptop as a Christmas gift for myself hehehe.

Flickr

2010-10-20T00:16:00.002+08:00

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Busy Weekend

2010-10-18T01:17:00.003+08:00

I was busy moving out my stuff from the condo I'm renting at Ortigas and I'm now staying at my old place with my parents. I hope this is only temporary.

Anyway everything goes into plan with the help of my girlfriend and a friend with his van. We started moving things since Thursday and then cleaning on Saturday. After got home, I'm still busy organizing things and setting up my computer hehehe.

I also terminate my Globelines & DSL account and they are awesome! I'll get Globe DSL next time for sure. I got my computer work then while trying to load webpages bam! !@#$%^& no connection... I shouldn't be surprise they're still using PLDT DSL at home after all. The next day I discovered I'm just obtaining failed DSN IPs from their servers and got it working by using OPENDNS.

Me and my girlfriend prepared a small party for my 29th Birthday and I really enjoy this day!

Thanks to all who greets me on my facebook, I really appreciate it!

Ang Pagbabalik!

2010-10-15T14:47:00.003+08:00

Hehehe trip lang binago ko na template ng blog. Matagal ko narin plinano buhayin at baguhin template -> Migrating to new blogspot?

Pero di pa tapos, mga placing ng widgets, at medyo exiting din lagyan ng content yun mga pages ko na Game Development, Photography, Rigs at About Me.

So far ok naman buhay at work. =)

Cheers!

Intel vs AMD CPU Dilemma

2010-10-15T12:21:00.004+08:00

People tend to exag things (mostly in tipidpc.com). You buy AMD doesn't mean you're lacking money, Intel doesn't mean you have more money. Unbiased-people choose their system by optimizing their money wisely for their needs... for some reason I always mention rendering/video editing for i7 vs gaming system for PhenomII.

The reason why I bought my Intel Q6600 before because that time AMD Phenom alternative (here in Philippines) is just as expensive as Q6600. Same goes with my cheap Intel Atom330 system.

Why do I care on such ultra$$$-high-supreme-to-the-max++ i7 system? I only use my computer for multimedia, compiling & games. But yes, it amazes me how Intel innovate things... that's it.... it all boils down what I can only spend for my money.

If Intel wins on high-end benchmark it doesn't mean you have to lean towards on cheaper Intel cpu. It doesn't work that way and it makes you a FANBOI... same goes with AMD.

If you can't understand the hell what I'm trying to say here then you fall yourself joining into FANBOI club.

Happy Holidays! =)

2009-12-30T13:26:00.006+08:00

Here are the list of what I bought for myself this Christmas!

- Samsung Omnia Pro (basically a need, my old winmobile just died)
- Nikon D90 + Tamrac Bag (sold my D60 and just paid half the price of this new camera)
- Korg Pandora PX5D (bought in the US, my sister paid the half of it as her xmas gift for me :) )

more stuff to come next year...

- 2TB HDD
- WDTV Live /w DTS
- Akustik guitar (steel)
- Xbox360 vs PS3 vs Wii
- ATI Radeon HD5850 vs HD5770
- Logitech racing wheel
- 70-200/2.8 lens
- drumkit? LOL

for my place...

- Vacuum cleaner
- thin book shelf or side table.
- thick carpet for my living room

G.A.S.!!! :))

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year Everyone!

Let's welcome this coming new year 2010 with renewed hope for a brighter future!

How does it feels to loose 50GB of important data?

2009-11-04T01:19:00.008+08:00

While browsing my server PC and checking the downloads... all of a sudden I heard this noise clicks coming from the harddisk and I noticed that some of my partitions including my Photography Photos are like gone. The red light hdd indicator at the case is steady and not blinking. I reboot many times, reconfigure the plugs but same shit happens.

I search the net about HDD services and recovering files and it turns out no good. Recovering files is really serious. I saw 1 company which is I think a Seagate Partner and the quote will cost me P90k converted yet the probability of recovering the files are still very low.

At that moment, I thought all of my photos will be lost for good.... I feel crashed... :(

Desperately, I cancelled all my work, shut down the PC and removed the harddisk from the server then plugged it in to my desktop PC. It started to boot and I'm like WOW! I can't hardly believe what I see in the BIOS with my 200gb detected! So I continue booting vista, check the partitions and everything was there. What the hell... I immediately transfer all of my photos and just tolerate the stupid click sound -- it was really loud. Sometimes it fails that it needs to confirm to retry. I can't believe that it survives 30min of continuous transfer and was all successfull! My 200GB Seagate is still working but I'm going to consider it worst as BRICK.

I'm soooo relief right now. I'm not sure if i'm saying this right but I guess if you have a 4yrs old HDD better not to use it as a backup drive.

Migrating to new blogspot?

2009-10-26T02:24:00.004+08:00

I've been thinking lately to start blogging again though one thing bothers me is that I'm still using the old blogspot templates. For sure using the new blogspot templates will make my blog full featured like adding of widgets. Honestly I like it this way but the way I want to expand this seems to be a headache if you ask me. Migration is critical and I'm afraid I might screw up... I need to read a lot of blogs regarding this issue.

I'm also thinking of porting my D3D-2D engine (2d chat) to windowsmobile (wm5-sm6.5). I got this idea while browsing at MS' Mobile2Market and upgrading my 5yrs old HTC Blue Angel ROM to WM6.5 heheh. I mean I could use that site to expose my work.

I will probably go laylow on photography for a while but I will still continue shooting family/events but you might not see me post process pics and uploading photos very often like I used to.

Anyway this is just something came up coz I'm BORED. Now, I like to go back playing guitar and become active on game development again.

I miss my blog :(

Not another online 2d chat...

2009-07-02T19:09:00.007+08:00

It's been a month since my last update from my game project.

Ok it's not a 'game' yet but it's more like a online 2d chat but hoping to get there... y'know mmog! ^^ adding inventory, trading, and point system would be nice feature to add.

I bet my game server can hold more than 255 players online but I haven't really tried it yet. I'm only hosting it on my Atom330 pc plus my crappy ISP is a big factor.

I'm using Direct3d, a free map editor that extracts xml file and all other resources are downloaded from the net. My big problem right now is I'm no good at photoshop.

Here are my todo list:
- Optimizations (Frustum)
- Channel Support
- Sound Integration
- Maps (at least 5)
- UI / Artworks
etc..

Rebuild of Evangelion: You Are (Not) Alone Episode

2009-06-25T15:52:00.005+08:00

I really think the movie is so good. Recreation of arts, animation, added scene and in HD format are amazing. While watching this episode I'm reminiscing about the highschool days and of course my sister who is really a fanatic. We used to watch together but she lives now in the US.

Anyway you should check the wiki: Rebuild of Evangelion Wiki

...and here is some snaps comparing episods from Evangelion: Neon Genesis =)

Can't wait to watch the next one!

Belated Happy Holidays!

2009-01-14T22:51:00.006+08:00

Am I too late?... I think so :D

Belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I think I just forgot Blogspot for this long. I'm addicted to TipidPC.com right now and reading about AMD Phenom 2, i7, ATI 4xxx Series etc., of course something I want to buy for my PC.

So far my only gift for myself is MSI 4830 OC videocard in replacement for my Inno8600gt. Bought this card for only 6k cash! cheap! It's already used but only for few days. Yeah good thing I didn't have some kind of G.A.S. syndrome... if I do I might have bought 4870 OC instead! I guess power-consumption is more important -- I only overclock from 585/900 to 650/975 and that's it.

Oh yeah I also bought Team XTreme Dark DDR800! overclocked to 500Mhz@1.9v (DDR2 1000 effective) together with Slightly overclock Q6600 cpu to 3ghz at stock voltage.

3DMark 06 1280x1024 = 12513
3DMark Vantage = P6936

If you think about it... it's not bad at all. Even with cpu and gpu on stock speed, Racing Grid and Call of Duty 4 max out settings still runs very smooth which is actually already an overkill card for me.

One thing, my PC is almost 1yr old! Yeah I did manage not to upgrade except for the videocard(which is acceptable at this generation), 4gb CL4 ram and aloy casing. Q6600 will still be a mainstream quadcore processor and I'm really in luck on choosing this processor.

Check my previous post: New Rig: Erika

Enough with the geeky stuff.

Here is my list of things I want to do this year:
- create at least 1 game... 0_0!
- avoid foodchains (mcdo / jolibee)
- stick to 1 rice (try)
- new investment (other way to save my money)
- new ultra-wide-lens
- new phone (windows mobile for life)
- trade my honda city
- probably a gf (hehe, still no luck)
... no plans of moving forward to a gamedev career yet.

My sister can't go home yet but of course we are all happy during holidays.

If there is something I miss I'll just follow up on my next post =)

Cheers!

Building an Atom 330 Server PC

2008-12-03T01:00:00.007+08:00

Here are some of my insights...

I'm building one for my 24/7 server like web, ftp, NAS, my-game-server and torrent of course.

I read somewhere that atom is 200%+ much faster than p4 2.8ghz when doing mysql queries (a big plus for my project)... P4 is what i really plan to build in the first place but i change my mind.

It's not a plus but it looks cool hehehe. I found out that it can run 4 threads at a time at full speed. you can check that there are 4 cores registered on the OS. It's dual core with hyperthreading.

I do really love the size!

I'm just renting and paying on my own. Obviously low power consuming pc is a big plus for me. Full setup of Atom only draws 30-40 watts of power instead of lowend c2d pc are using 50-80 watts.

Someone might wonder.. nope this is not going to be my desktop pc. I wil still use my quaddy for multimedia, encoding, games, surf chat etc..

I might add internal tv tuner + blue ray drive (if it's supported) + mediacenter for htpc slash server but that is too much for now hehe.

(I'm putting this post on Gamedev category. This is going to be my test game-server for public use.)

That's all for now, cheers!

New Home

2008-11-08T17:44:00.007+08:00

I finally got a new place to stay for a while. I'm renting a unit at cityland-owned bldg. near Robinsons Galleria :P and already stayed here for almost a week now.

Im posting some of the pics. It's not wide enough sorry but I prefer lowlight shot, it looks more dramatic so I use my tamron 28-75/2.8 =)

I bought a few new furnitures and grabbed most of my stuff at home. Yep! got my new globe dsl internet connection + phoneline as well. I can't really decide if I'm going to bring my computer with me... you know that it's built with quadcore, high wattage psu and 2 lcds! Anyway, I really want to know how much electricity cost me for this month first then I decide... if worst comes then I'll have to downgrade! =(

'Living solo' is something I get used-to. In fact I've already experienced staying at the hotel and condo alone while working at Singapore for almost 2 years.

Oh well, sorry for my late post (no post for 2 months). A lot of things happens, good and bad, work related, personal etc. and to sum up... I'm still alive and kicking!

ciao

I got sick!

2008-08-10T11:10:00.009+08:00

Ok lets get back 2 weeks earlier.

Our company is having a problem in dealing on a client where the project has been failed to deliver on-time. So the client / manager (they say) finally set a meeting, head to the office, made a demo to the client, and maybe a lot of pressure going on there I don't know... I'm not there and I'm supposed to be but I can't I'm busy with the other project!

Anyway in the end client always win, we can't blame Bangalore branch for their inaccurate response on every email but partly our fault -- our project manager is inexperience.

I've mention only one project, wait there's more...

There's the other client from Sacramento which I'm handling the project alone and somewhat exited to finish all as soon as possible. I can't say I'm pressure because I get used to that a lot... well until I decided to shift my time to work on midnight. In that way my consultant on the project and me are in sync and can work faster. While doing this work I'm still doing consultancy on other projects.

Then 2 new potential project pops up from nowhere and surprisingly those 2 where assigned to my embedded team as well. Specs analysis, rough-estimates and trainings already started.

All in all there are 4 active projects as a result last week, I GOT SICK! hehhehe... a Flu... really sucks, I lose some resistance and it's really weird because to the fact that I'm always eating right, exercise and taking vitamins every morning... maybe my body is not ready to do midnight work yet :(

My body is somewhat recovered and I'm sure I can head to the office tomorrow. My motivation? the payday is near... my new lense and speedlight for my D60 are almost mine!

...and will talk to some brokers this week who offers condominiums - I guess this will be a start of a new adventure.

Roogz Passion

2008-07-18T21:07:00.005+08:00

I'm just presenting my new site Roogz Passion at multiply. This is a new concept site for my new hobby like Photography though I'm planning to share vids me playing guitar as well - yeah I can still play! >:)

Well I think this is just my temporary hapiness. When I feel bad I tend to seek for another interest and it seems like same thing happen to my guitar playing days and game development... rusted? no or maybe not yet. It's just a matter of time before my interest shift to another one... this can be a cycle I don't know.

I think emotions can be apply to images via post-processing but I like in a natural look and feel. Optimizing images is something I do back in my webdevelopment days at http://www.ph/.

Anyway here are some of my pics at my multiply, hope you enjoy it. Till next time.

Shadow Trees

Sense of Vision

Lifeless

It Hurts...

2008-06-22T11:45:00.009+08:00

...no it's not like that.

We went jogging at Manila Polo Club, McKinley Road Makati for almost 3Km and I swear I will start having a full cardio on my workout plan at least once a week. I'm always focusing on my strength and forgetting about my stamina. See, I haven't reach 1Km yet and I started to catch my breath and start walking at 1.5Km in a minute.

*Maybe for one reason, I just got to gym and train my Legs and Back before that day and forgot about the jogging. tsk tsk.

Afterwards, we played basketball. Of course we(my team) loose! What do you expect... the last time I played basketball was in 2nd Year College hehehe and I was about to join a Basketball League in our place that time but I recently get a foot injury - I don't know why but then I just stop playing and decided not to join my friends. I never realized I really really really do miss playing basketball after I hold a ball, drib and made shot for the first time.

On my way home, I dropped by at Slimmers World to schedule my derma consultation. Walk around the mall for a bit then my legs is starting to hurt.

I wake up this morning and my back and legs is in freaking pain. I walk like a penguin, and I get up like an old man LOL! Yeah, no pain no gain... pain is good and it's a great feeling. It's healling now and I will be fine by tomorrow.

It's a great experience... I'll start running and play basketball from now on.

Home sweet home

2008-06-06T10:29:00.007+08:00

Mabuhay! I just arrived from the airport and got home around 10am and now I'm back to my homeland. God I miss the traffic.

A quick flashback from last week. Check my previous post here...

cont.
On the next few days I finally decided and bought my Nikon D60 and I'm happy yet I had to return the Compact Flash I bought... duh! I made a few shots but it's all on Automatic settings and still impressed with the output. <-- noob!Work is good. I successfully execute my ultimate technique to impress my bosses and gave me Windows Vista Ultimate dvd for free, hihihi.Tried different restaurants though I don't remember all the names, old man's restaurant (IHOP i think - dun ask), In&Out, KFC, korean, chinese, thai, mexican and yeah Brookfields Restaurant at the front of our hotel.We also went to see Barnes&Nobles and VitaminShoppe... if only I had prepared larger bag or bought a box for a 2x 12lbs whey protein.The best thing about my trip in US was going back to San Francisco on weekend with a good friend of mine. There are no words to express how I feel that day. Then bummed-out on the next day... bitin.

now.
Check out Roogz Photography. Just started to make a new site concept and there I will put all of my artistic side using photography and photoshop as well.

Back to my room with a nice warm climate, a stable internet connection, guitar, computer and especially my bed.

California: San Francisco to Sacramento

2008-05-27T14:39:00.005+08:00

We already made it to San Francisco at stayed at Holiday Inn hotel for a day. Love the place and made a few shots of the famous golden bridge -- well believe me it's not golden in the afternoon hehehe, the view of alcatraz island, steep roads, trams etc...

Then we drove all the way to Sacramento afterwards and we dropped by at circuitcity to get my Nikon D60 which I didn't... I should've just bought it anyway :S. Now I'm staying here at nice La Quinta hotel and will wake up early like I never used to and head to the office at 9am!

9am!

I will post some pics soon I'm quite tired right now. Cheers!

Perparing for D-Day...

2008-05-24T23:07:00.005+08:00

I'm almost packed and going for a work trip to Sacramento, California tonight. I will be staying there for only 10 days and will probably head to Minnesota, Minneopolis to meet the other new client.

The thing that really exites me is that this will be my first time to visit US, going to meet a very good friend of mine :-), make a few calls to my relatives, buy stuffs like d40, me-20, protein stuff (maybe) and probably visit places like disneyland or somewhere like that, then after that I definitely can go home.

--as you can see my topic is somewhat WWII and yes for me it's something like that. I don't want to but I have to, I signed for a paratroopers and there will be a jump at San Francisco exactly 2100 then join the regiment and try find easy company, wait for further instruction and will push through Sacramento and that where the battle begins.

Upcomming project?

2008-04-27T00:35:00.006+08:00

I got bored playing WOW and a 'game' concept I came across while surfing. By randomly clicking through websites I happen to read this article "Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo HD Remix" game -- hehe haba eh noh. It's not new but just a remix and I think just to support HD screens.

Writing a streetfighter game? not really. I will sure post some of the details here but not now. I'm exited but the thing that struggles me is the artworks. I can do photoshop but not 2D arts like sprits. So in the meantime, I will be using streetfighter sprites I downloaded from the net =D

If you want to help, join, or happen that you are a skilled 2d sprite artist, or you have a great casual game concept, or something like that just lemme know!

Cheers

March '08

2008-03-31T23:38:00.005+08:00

It has been more than a month since my last post and yeah well I have to post something for this month right? so here goes...

Work.

It's a bit challenge for the company maybe? where some of our colleages are leaving. It can somehow demotivate and affects work... I'm not like that. Yes, I can be easily demotivate on some level but I'm self-motivated person (confused? lol). Get this idea - smaller team has a better advantage over large team... your performance can easily be notice by your team leads or supervisor!

On the other hand, I already met Roger from Synergex (client) for my new project. He visit our office here in the Philippines, setup a new computer and a dedicated dsl connection for their domain and voip. It's a $4M project if they say so... no pressure ;-)

Geeky Stuff.

My new quad setup is stable OC@3GHZ at stock voltage.
I wrote a tetris game in a Verifone Vx terminal just for fun.
I just reached level60 yesterday at WOW toxic server.
I bought a book 'Designing Virtual Worlds' - inspired by WOW and UO.
I had to start reading MFC again for the office project... pffft! -_-

Family.

I welcome Kathy (my bro's wife) and Riel (my sister's husband) as new member of our family =)

cheers!

Happy Valentines Day

2008-02-16T10:34:00.005+08:00

Singles awareness day hehehe!

Trading Yesterday One Day

If I could change the currents of our lives
To make the river flow where it's run dry
To be a prodigal of father time
Then I would see you tonight

If I could find the years that went away
Destroying all the cruelty of fate
I must believe that love could find a way
Tonight

Lonely finds me
One day you will come
But I'll wait for love's sake
One day to me, love

If I could see beyond the here and now
If you could hear me calling you somehow
If I could know that love is reaching out
To find you with me tonight

Then hope could make these promises come true
Beyond what I could say, what love can do
With every moment leading me to you tonight

Lonely finds me
One day you will come
But I'll wait for love's sake
One day to me, love

I will stay forever here to wait for your love

If I could change the currents of our lives
To make the river flow where it's run dry
To be a prodigal of father time
Then I would see you tonight

Lonely finds me
One day you will come
But I'll wait for love's sake
One day to me, love

Lonely finds me
One day you will come
But I'll wait for love's sake
One day to me, love
One day to me, love
One day to me, love

I will stay forever here to wait for your love

New Rig: Erika

2008-01-27T13:39:00.001+08:00

I already bought a new rig and has been stable for almost 2 weeks now.

Presenting Erika...

Core2Quad 6600

Boxes... still thinking where to dump them.

ICute casing

ICute casing with Arctic Freezer Pro 7 lapped in my quaddie.. hihihi >:D

I'm still doubting motherboards temperature result. ABIT BIOS13 seems to have issue with this. I will update my bios back to 12 or 14 or 15 if i need too.

Inno 8600gt temperature also bothers me and it runs 53c idle, up to 70c upon full load esp. when running Crysis. GPU-Z and no room for overclock yet.

Overclocking with this kind of setup is a piece of cake. CPU-Z and i'm just warming up.

Tried playing Crysis and the game actually uses 4 cores but not utilizing it's full usage - 8600gt bottleneck?

Downloaded bunch of tools for monitoring and stability tests including Everest Ultimate, CoreTemp, CPU-Z, GPU-Z etc..

System specification:
new...
Intel Core2Quad 6600
Abit IP35-E
Arctic Freezer Pro 7
2x1gb Team-Elite 800
NVIDIA GeForce 8600GT
HEC Winpower 550AB
old...
ViewSonic VP720 17" LCD
ViewSonic VX724 17" LCD
SATA Seagate 250GB
Samsung Keyboard
Logitech LX7 Mouse

...

Now off to gym! :D

To Infinity and Beyond...

2008-01-20T22:53:00.001+08:00

Today is my brother Kevin's first death anniversary. We celebrate this by having short mass with our relatives on the cemetery and continue the celebration at home.

Everything went perfect in the cemetery. There was this light rain when we get there, and it was stopped when everyone gathered to start the prayers. It's not hot, not crowdy, sky is calm and the place is peacefull. I will tell it was setup for us by Kevin =)

Toy Story is his 'favorite' movie of all time and the famous line of the movie is also his 'favorite' line while playing with his 'favorite' toys (Woody & Buzz) ^^...

That line will be the qoute of my blog starting today and I'm happy to say that this blog is dedicated to my little bro Kevin.

You'll be in my heart always, To Infinity and Beyond...

WindowsMobile Customization : IPhone

2008-01-06T12:55:00.001+08:00

I'm not into customizing things, I like things simple, fast, and practical to use that makes my XP OS skin is in classic style and my windowsmobile devices are all in defaults homescreen. This morning while doing some research about IPhone. I got a feeling that most people are being fooled by it's UI screen and on some level I know what pocketpcs are capable off. So I end up customizing my 3 yrs old HTC BlueAngel (WM5) to make the screen look like IPhone! Not exactly because of IPhone's hardware features especially the touchscreen.

I just modified/skinned 3 things. Check this out...

Phone Locked

Unlocking Phone

Home/Today Screen

Media Player

Here are the 'search key' if you want to try:
- iPhone_WM2003.tsk
- Iphone1000QVGA.zip
- iLock-1216.zip
- res_ppc-custom.icons.zip
- Slide2UnLock1-1.21-WM5.cab

Enjoy!

Happy New Year!

2008-01-01T11:09:00.001+08:00

Happy Year 2008!

*image taken from amazon.com

WindowsXP Service Pack 3

2007-12-25T21:08:00.001+08:00

From Microsoft: CNET Trusts Microsoft

Download SiteAdvisor Plus trial This is the self-extracting executable that contains the update package for Windows XP Service Pack 3. Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) includes all previously released updates for the operating system. This update also includes a small number of new functionalities, which do not significantly change customers experience with the operating system.

Note: This pre-release software is provided for testing purposes only. Microsoft does not recommend installing this software on primary or mission critical systems. Microsoft recommends that you have a backup of your data prior to installing any pre-release software.

Download Here

I haven't notice any improvement yet but hey at least my OS is updated.

Seasons Greeting: Merry Christmas!

2007-12-25T00:00:00.000+08:00

Merry Christmas to you and your family... God Bless!

Back to gamedev!: AI FSM + Entity Manager + Messaging

2007-12-23T21:21:00.000+08:00

I just got myself in condition to write some code again but this time it's more of an strategic and effective approach in coding AI using C++ rather than Game Engine / Graphics / Sound / Network... well i'm somewhat satisfied for now what my 2d engine is capable off... but now i'm better of doing other things to make my game more alive!

Please check Downloads category: AI_FSM_EntityMgr_Msging.zip

I wish next year of Q1-Q2 will be my first casual game release using my game engine. I'm planning at least 3 games before I start working on my 3D engine again.

This should work now...

Cheers and Merry Christmas!

edited: I forgot that this AI includes instant and delayed messaging capabilities! You will notice some 1sec delays before other entity response.

Reviving Natalie Part 2

2007-11-25T23:42:00.000+08:00

My computer is not working for more than a month now then I always brought the hp laptop from work with me on weekends. Kinda start getting lazy... so I decided to waste time fixing my computer. Bought a new casing, a new 250gb drive, and a keyboard!

Why part 2: reviving natalie (part 1)

Anyway, there is no good reason yet for upgrading my computer now. First I believe P4 with 2gb of ram and nvidia 6600 will suffice for my everyday use. I do used to code most of the time than playing games while on my computer y'know. Second, it's tooooo damn expensive just imagine replacing the motherboard, cpu, ram, casing, and powersupply. Third, I don't spend much time now on my computer I just track my downloads and go out most of the time. Ok now some of you might just wonder - I never get Idled at YM... well I simply and always disable the idle timer and keep my downloads up.

Sorry no pictures this moment.

Cheers!

Sound trip #1

2007-11-17T23:40:00.000+08:00

This is what I'm always playing while driving on my way home... damn I love this song. I tend to ignore the lyrics/vocals most of the time, and listen only music instruments first esp drums and guitar... yep that's me. Anyway I just read/sang the whole lyrics, very nice!. This song is so cool that if I have a chance to form a band, this is the type of music I want - of course as of now hehehe.

Just updated my "Mood Music" category, enjoy listening if its still in there.

Pardini Lou - What Might Have Been


Somewhere, lost in the wind
I'm watching you
Sunlight touching your hair
And I remember
Somehow, we said that we would never stray
But somehow we lost our way
Promises too often spoken
Are easily broken apart

I'm ready this time
I know that I'm no longer undecided
Don't wanna be
A fool wondering what might have been

Trace of forever lingering
Drawing me closer to you
A new beginning
Now I know
There is no doubt I understand
Just how fragile love can be
I can't forget
Your mem'ry found me
Now I know where I belong

I'm ready this time
I know that I'm no longer undecided
Don't wanna be a fool wondering
What might have been
Through every day, into the night
With only love to guide us
I'm ready to go, coz I've got to know
What might have been
Let the lovin' decide, I can't run, I can't hide

I want you to know
My heart will show that I'm ready this time
I know that I'm no longer undecided
Don't wanna be, a fool wondering what might have been
I've searched everywhere, and nothing compares
When we've got love to guide us
I'm ready to go, coz I wanna know what might have been
I'm wondering what might have been
We're gonna find what might have been
Oh I wanna know what might have been

Happy? Halloween

2007-11-08T14:41:00.000+08:00

This holiday becomes emotional to us. We (our family) visit our brother's grave (nov1) and stayed there for few hours, made a great chat, yes we had fun, on that same time my sister's surprise call comming from U.S., and the best thing is I know my bro is there and happy. Then we came back the next morning (nov2).

Before I'm demotivated... I guess it will better if I stop playin guitar, gamedev projects, sidelines, blogging "for a while" and focus things like my health, my job and my mom.

Now I want to do things again. Maybe start cleaning my guitar? upgrade my pc to start coding again?

...

Anyway I would like to say thanks to those who greets me on my birthday: my family of course, pau! :), mshel (advance pa), jojo, eya, carol, then sa mga pahabol hehehe! pier, dss dudlers, gene, mia, karla, and rye, etc.. Onti ba? I actually forgot or accidentally turn-off my birthday notification on my friendster hehehe - turns out marami naka depende na sa prenster nu ba yun!

Gym / Bodybuilding / bagong trippings...

2007-10-14T14:02:00.000+08:00

Ok this thing is not what I want to do, it's what i 'need' to do. I have a highblood/hypertension and while i'm still young maybe this is the right time - not perfect since I should have started a year ago.

Anyway most of my friends and folks know me I'm an 'ecto' coz of my skinny built hehehe. I can post my college/ecpay days pic... wait I change my mind ^^.

I already gained 9kilo (so about 19lbs) since last 4 months of trainning. Yep! 9kilo, I prefer kilo coz it's easier to remember! I am a hard gainer!, I need to plan my diet, add more calories and protein intake. I take supplements like whey protein, mass gainer, creatine, glutamine and calcium. Gainer shake is the most expensive of all but now I made my own formulation that will make this less expensive. 3-4x a week gym etc...

If you ask how crazy am I? Did I discover this stuff on my own? You don't know side effects! LOL!...
...First, I have a friend who has fitness trainor certification not just like those who only have PT degree you can see in fitness center, one of my best bud and obviously teaches me all those kind of crazy stuff. Now he's in Dubai working as fitness trainor in Fitness First. Second, medical education runs through my family. My dad is a doc, mom is a retired nurse, 2 sisters is a nurse and my older bro who used to be a nurse too.

Check my previous post: Getting busy (May 02, 2007)

Sorry, I don't want to get into details here i'm sure google is your best friend. I can't say if my plans really working but who cares... I still love doing it. If you are skinny like me, better get a doctor first. Health is the most important than anything.

My new graphic 'wrapper'

2007-08-29T00:43:00.000+08:00

Presenting my new wrapper! well not engine really, more of like direct3d wrapper :( hehehe!. Anyway this 'wrapper' can do 2D and 3D and mix at the same time - gui 2D using orthographic projection. This is still a prototype, but the 2D side seems to be good enough to create a simple casual game. This is actually a code re-write from my previous game engine. Some of the codes will still be used and planning to recode most of the graphic part for shader aproach. Everything still goes into plan. Here are the pics... :D

2D (shooter demo)
3D (box on grid)

Things to do:

2007-08-11T22:39:00.000+08:00

Lot of things happens to me this past few weeks... bad and good (most of it). Nothing's changed by the way, I still love what I do.

Here are some stuff that I need to get things done before I sleep...

1. Backup; I have 4 partitions on my 200gb drive and all of them has an average of only 500mb of disk space.
2. Directx SDK (August2007) Install; Yes, I will be re-writing my game codes again but this time I will use shader approach. Something that makes me occupied for a while :D
3. Check emails; Work stuff, my new boss(client) is damn workaholic! Also expecting an email from my consultancy job about my pending works (from my other boss ;D shhhh...).
4. Monitor my new PSU voltage rails; google.
5. Clean my room; why?
6. Check stuff that I can sell at tpipdpc.com.
6. Clean my guitars.
7. Hanap makakain. Hanap din mapatugtug.
8. Hanap pwede mapanood habang nag aayos ng kwarto / pwede TV nalang.
...antok na ako.

*slapped his face*

Ok, I'll better get started!

Mood Music: added

2007-07-27T00:28:00.000+08:00

Maybe just to add music to my blog... just stop it if you want. Right now I'm defaulting it to 'auto play' on load.

Anyway I really like the song and I might change it anytime soon depends on my mood ;)

More than meets the eye

2007-07-07T00:42:00.000+08:00

I have watch the Transformers movie for 2 times this week hehehe. All parts of the movie are great, fighting scenes, comedies, Megan Fox, Megan Fox, Megan Fox, the original voice of Optimus Prime, the models although they are in CG but it felt like real, music & effects sound.

At first why did they not use the original automobiles from the original cartoons, then while watching the movie I was like... oh ok. The only flow for me is in the movie they did not emphasize who really Starscream is and some noticable cut scenes in the cinema.

I'm not a big fan of Transformers cartoons really but I did get used to watch with my brother when I was still a kid. My bro is really a fanatic, he has (most i think) the collection of transformers toys from generation 1. The toys looks ugly now but they are priceless to most transformers collectors.

John Carmack's new game engine.

2007-06-13T11:17:00.000+08:00

You might want to check this out...
http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=7649

http://www.destructoid.com/id-software-s-new-engine-premiered-at-apple-worldwide-developers-conference-32813.phtml

This is interesting but what kind of technology did he add to his engine that can bring 'wow' factor to the gamers? I've seen Crytek engine, Unreal Engine and thing is I'm afraid that the output will be the same... but the big question is do I need to upgrade my PC again? =)

I need more news from John so maybe I can get my motivation back to game development.

Cheers!

Phenomenal acoustic guitar sounding

2007-05-19T12:37:00.000+08:00

If you never heard of Rodrigo y Gabriela's songs then i think you better watch some youtube videos of their live performances. They are extraordinary I never heard of that kind of music before which by the way has similar sound to flamenco but in modern way.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJG-OeCB-L8.
From start to 2:24 are my favorite parts.

I really love their music besides i'm on my way now to grab their cd includes 'Tamacun', 'Diablo Rogo' and 'Orion'... they are my favorites. I have their mp3 downloaded (sorry guys - can't help it) but my car only plays CD. I might buy their live DVD if there is.

Am I only one that has an impression like all mexicans are good in playing acoustic guitar? and Gabriela is HOT?

I would be happy if i can aquire like 1% or their skills. Maaan... never thought my acoustic guitar can be played this way.

Weeee... now my fingers starting to hurt :-(

Verifone Manila Summer Outing

2007-05-13T19:29:00.000+08:00

Our outing was held yesterday (May 13) at the Ensenada Beach Resort, Puerto Galera. It was fun, good, not great... I'm expecting something which is not there and silly games waste my time! yet somehow fun.

Other great stuff i saw while at the boat goin back to the bus... at least 15 dolphins like goin to our opposite direction. I'm afraid that will be my first and last time.

Now I just got home already, bummed out as usual. My phone's battery is drained, tomorrow is election day... also stupid day (yeah, governmet here in philippines is like fiesta carnival - think about it) and today is mother's day!

Happy Mother's Day.

Getting busy...

2007-05-02T16:20:00.000+08:00

I'm good, trying to get busy as possible.

Besides a friend of mine (whos been in gym for quite some time now) encouraged me to join him and sign up together for 3mo unlimited sessions promo at slimmers world so I did... yes it's a promo only for april. I already started, planned regularly and interestingly looking foreward to see what happen to me after a month. Y'know their stuff is too heavy? lol. I only have 2x15 dumbels and push-up bars at home and using them very often.

It's not planned all of the sudden, Ive been thinkin this over a year now. I just don't know how and where to start. It's all about health y'know and I kinda need it.

coding stuff:
I already have my multiplayer/network engine ready to be plugged at my game engine in no time!

video stuff:
Heroes rocks! can't wait to watch the episode 20 after work :D

games stuff:
Playing WOW together with my 2 adik friends.

work stuff:
Bored... I'm just waiting for the sign again if it's time ;-). Yeah, right now I'm blogging, see?

music stuff:
My mood is to listen alternative rock and akustiks music. Hmm... it's been a while since the last time i listen to dreamtheater and joe satriani songs.

guitar stuff:
I've been playing/singin "Hwag Nalang Kaya" and "Kung OK Lang Sayo" by True Faith. I already played the songs since HS but I tend to forgot chords.

missing stuff?
jaded...

---------
That's all, ciao!

Any BSG Fans?

2007-04-10T01:53:00.000+08:00

Well I am! check out my new prototype 2D game engine "Battlestar Galactica". Most of the resource are not original but anyway this is just for fun not planning for commercial; only to my friends and anyone who wants too :-P

http://rapidshare.com/files/25125720/roogz_bsg_game_proto.mpg.html

I use Direct3d, OpenAL Ogg Vorbis and Lua for this game. Pure arcade game, currently implementing multiplayer support and my bro will be on game design and arts.

cheers!

Worst vacation

2007-04-05T10:13:00.000+08:00

Could be... but i'm sure it's goin to be. Feel like all alone, bored and it sucks.

I will be leaving my pc for download and stay online on ym. Listen to music, guitar, eat and sleep for whole day. I'm not in a mood to code, surf or chat.

No clue yet? so am I, [Now playing: Splender - I Think God Can Explain]

Happy easter :-/

Driving

2007-03-29T23:41:00.000+08:00

Well I've been driving since my college days and I even had a car for everyday use. Last few years we just realised that my father needs car more than I do. So he bring the car along at the province for living. Since then I thought driving shouldn't be a big deal. My brother has a car but I barely use it.

Now i'm driving again, having crash course session with my brother and a1 to bring back the feel heheh yes honestly I feel like a noob again. Anyway, you will see me driving my Honda *toooot* hopefully next week ;)

Cheers

Surelock case

2007-03-19T18:45:00.000+08:00

I bought this pedal case last sunday and i must say... it's as nice as boss' bcb60. Besides i bought this very cheap and +discount at JB Stores :D. It has the exact size for the boss pedals although the store displayd only boston pedals in this case which also interest me for trying them. The only thing bother me is the base, it's not metal like the BCB6. Anyway it has plenty of room to put something in it.

Here are the pics.

Closed

Open!... with my Boss pedals.

Rakrakan na!

Running projects

2007-03-15T18:09:00.000+08:00

I just had this very unpleasant event happen this past few months... it will be easier for me to just put the whole thing behind me.

Well i'm back and will keep you updated.

What's new... i'm currently working on different windowsmobile projects from foreign companies, one from Singapore and one from Denmark. Why not locally? i believe here in Philippines there are like only 1% who knows what the hell is 'windowsmobile'. heheh. I hope it's gamedev project y' know.

Anyway I already managed my time for this project and so far everything still goes into plan.

Cheers.

Back to game engine: rewrite?!

2007-01-16T14:43:00.000+08:00

Hehehe... since i'm already bored here at work, i think 'now' is the right time to rewrite my code and redesign as well. This is my chance to use my new d3d shader approach book as my base rendering code and ai book.

Wish me luck!

Wolfgang / Razorback Alive 2007 (2nd set)

2007-01-13T17:08:00.000+08:00

We just watched the concert last night at music museum, greenhills with my officemates. Hell yeah it's Wolfgang with Razorback live! No further detauls, they are absolutely the best pinoy band and no other local bands that can ever rock the stage like how wolfgang perform. Surprises?! they just played their last composition just for the concert, the sound transitions, chord progressions... all good and we simply love it!

If you are a filipino, a rocker, live here in manila, and never watched wolfgang play... tsk tsk tsk! Don't worry they probably will play again next year! :D

Manuel Legarda, wolfgang guitarist the best! Actually after watching him play live for the first time, the moment absolutely convinced me to shift playing electric guitar from acoustic guitar and piano as well. After 3 days, i just bought my first electric guitar RJ Strat hehehe.

...nostalgic.

Happy New Year!

2007-01-01T00:06:00.000+08:00

My new year's resolution: To be a better man :D

Hope you all enjoy your evening...

Merry Christmas!

2006-12-25T16:10:00.000+08:00

We just spent our Christmas at home, everything seems to be great and only thing is that my sister is spending her Christmas at US. Anyway, all our attention was given to my little bro Kevin and so happy to open all his gifts. My mom got a new Samsung phone from me! =D and was surprised as well, great food, bro and me played dota till morning hehe.

again, Merry Christmas... Advance Happy New Year!

Game Engine: GUI / New Game AI Books!

2006-12-17T14:50:00.000+08:00

I'm quite busy this days and it does really affect my game engine progress. But anyway i'm still aiming to finish my first game engine Q1 of next year.

I just finished my basic GUI engine that is powered by lua scripting. GUI includes Panel/Parent Window, Cursor, Editbox, Button, Label, Checkbox, and Progressbar. Can modify it's color, texture, position, size, border(some) etc...

I think that's enough for now since i already covers most GUI controls that can bee seen in most games. Here are the screenshots:

I might go back to AI for a while... i just bought 2 books from the internet. Programming Game AI by Example by Mat Buckland and AI Game Engine Programming by Brian Schwab. I've already read some parts and i think it will help my engine to become more modular and systematic. I just wonder at first why these 2 books somehow have their own approaches in creating game AI... and just realized AI by Example is more beginner approach and AI Game Engine is for intermediate to advance which is kind of releif. I don't want to waste money for 2 beginner books. Well i can't really decide what book buy at first hehehe... so i bought both! They have really good reviews y'know. Can't wait to try them out.

Cheers all! and Advance Merry Christmas!

Razer Copperhead Mouse

2006-11-25T03:20:00.000+08:00

I had this Razer Copperhead Mouse (Chaos Green) bought last december christmas at singapore and obviously has been overused in games like quake3 and quake4. Last few months the left clicker seems to be worning off.

After confirming via email/web to Razer's tech support if how they can help me fix this stuff and even ask them how to open this thing! then I have been told to ship my broken mouse to Hongkong for replacemant and in just 2 days later without waiting a new razer mouse finally arrived! and this time without "First Edition" label thing. If i broke this one and warranty been voided, i'll probably get another one.

I'm now planning to upgrading my PC for this comming QuakeWars lol! Not really sure yet (e6600 is still expensive). At least my mouse is ready =D

OT: my new game engine is almost done with new rendering code, sound engine and GUI powered by lua scripting. i will keep this update after finishing some errands and hopefully will post a downloadable game sample.

cheers

Hotmail @ 1gig Storage?

2006-11-16T20:41:00.000+08:00

hm... i just noticed lately after having problem visiting hotmail and logging in, i saw this text "1% of 1000MB" instead of "1% of 25MB"?? i'm thinkin their having maintenance for upgrades or reconfiguration. well if this is true then it's about time. i'm just 1 of few guys who uses hotmail as their primary email and even i never use my gmail and yahoo for important mails.

Ok hotmail, how about adding Search Box huh?

cheers for hotmail users!

game engine: AI Basic FSM (Finite State Machine)

2006-11-03T20:10:00.000+08:00

i almost totally forgot, actually this has been updated late last month. monster's AI are now more fun to attack rather than standing and waiting to get killed hehehe. FSM includes IDLE, WANDER, EVADE, DEAD.. that's all, i told you it's basic :D. i'm currently workin on revised code of my engine. anyway you can check the screenshots.

hey, one a time please...

kill kill!

ping!

2006-11-02T00:50:00.000+08:00

pong! still here., well so far not so good. my brother is still in the hospital for his treatment and sadly it's been almost 2 weeks already. i just need to wait till my little bro get well and back home for me to get back concentrate on my stuff.

i wil be talking about my sound engine using openal+vorbis, crappy razer copperhead mouse, updated engine using shadow volume(stencil) and AI Wisdom book for only P350... on my next post.

keep in touch.

birthday thing... y'know

2006-10-17T15:03:00.000+08:00

i just replaced my chat box to yellbox(.com). i'm not sure if tag-board.com if still alive but anyway i'm not goin to use that anymore. yellchat is good enough for my blog plus it's very simple.

who's birthday is it today?... me. happy birthday to me! :D hmm rainny day and loads of work... idunno today is just soo boring.

thanks to those who greets and those who forgot my birthday and also to those who don't care. hehehe peace :-)

edit: i got this surprise birthday cake in the office this afternoon, yeah was surprise indeed. big thanks to verifone guys for the cake, pics, everything. this year beats last year's birthday heheheh.

archie, thanks for the pics!

new game plan... sound programming?

2006-10-15T00:37:00.000+08:00

i decided to stop workin on AI for a while. for some reason i think i already know the basic theory how you implement it into your engine (ok fsm and stimuli probably). anyway for the last few weeks i've been playing my game with diablo2 soundtracks of Matt Uelmen (on winamp) and it realy came out good and the only thing missing is the sounds. then i realize based on what i saw in the net... sound programming should be easier than any of the modules in game development.

so instead i will just start studying the basics of sound programming using OpenAL with OGG Vorbis and my only goal is my engine to at least play stereo music and play mono sound streams that can change position.

...and after that i will jump back to scripting, AI and sounds should work cooperatively on scripts.

cheers

game engine: AI (Deterministic Algorithm) - Random Motion

2006-10-05T23:30:00.000+08:00

no big surprises, i just add another character WANDERING state if in boredom or no evading is involve. anyway check those minotaurs wander around the maps. yeah you wonder why it's slow / low fps, yes my code is not optimize yet plus my laptop's vc sucks. check the screenshots...

i spawned 10 creatures and works pretty well.
next stop, EVADING state most probably, if detected in line of sight and in distance then boom! creature will attack you... classic diablo hehehe.

Using AntTweakBar Library

2006-09-28T03:29:00.000+08:00

i am amazed how this little thing works and how will save my time and effort changing data inside the core (even using scripts). plus it only takes me less than an hour to understand and embed it to my engine. check this out:

my game engine using AntTweakBar
i'm looking forweard to check out those advance samples.

cheers!

game engine: avoiding objects

2006-09-23T02:57:00.000+08:00

i'm not sure i just made this up actually but actually works anyway. i know there are much better implementation around but sadly i never got a chance to seen one probably until my AI book will finally come. here is the screenshot: hope you get this hehehe.

whooops, sorry, comming thru, yes!

frank's d3d book!

2006-09-20T00:36:00.000+08:00

i just got my introduction to 3d game programming with directx 9.0c - a shader approach book. yes it's still new! "9.0c". i can't wait but i need to settle some of my stuff first and also lets just hope that this book will work on my gf6600.

i'm planning to just start reading chapter4, re-write code or start from scratch again, hm... but still an exception if my AI book comes very soon, i might still use my current code.

i already read some of the chapters... neat. it's about time for me to learn graphics programming to the next level.

R.I.P Crikey!

2006-09-05T15:35:00.000+08:00

as a fan of watching documentaries at discoveries i am horrified by steve's death yesterday. i didn't believe it when i first read it on other forums and was shocked after knowing it was true. i'm just one of milions of people that recognized and missed for his wonderfull work, his passion to animals and nature, and his wit!.

wildlife documentaries will never be the same without you, best thoughts to his family and friends.

"Crikey! would you look at the size of that one!"

game engine: character mouse over

2006-09-01T22:08:00.000+08:00

hi again! i just wanted to post my quick update for character mouse over. life meter and the text all displayed in orthorgaphic view. not probably the best solution but works for me and i think it should be faster than rendering it in perspective view. blahblah... check all the screenshots.

minotaur!
horse!
lagur mount at horse!
ciao!

game engine: added camera features

2006-08-29T21:50:00.000+08:00

i added some camera features to my engine. it supports rotation around the point and panning. check the screenshots.

i'm still developing the character selection, attack sequence and AI part of the monsters. it's not easy as it sound really... i have this regret that i should have tried AI before when i have plenty of time. anyway i'm really exited.

weird disturbances

2006-08-11T19:33:00.000+08:00

my sister got robbed by PAL(Philippine Airlines) from her baggage, blackberry phone, cams and other valuable stuffs, yes Philippine Arlines! well long story short on her flight from baltimore to san francisco it's ok to handcarry those stuff, then at PAL check-in they force my sister to put those stuff on her baggage! yes philippine airlines!...last few days i met someone and had a dinner then i realized that im actually wasting my time (sorry)... where are all my good friends oh' yeah they are all busy... yes i already experienced crash accident! - i'm good with a friend but my cousin is not, got minor scratches... i'm still trying to get my mood back on playing guitar coz im already getting suckier (if there is such word)... something tells me what the hell am i still doin here, this is not the kind of job i want!. when i'm home all i want to do is to check my little bro and go to sleep. i'm not sure what's happening but i can say that this year maybe the worst year of my life... sorry i need this stuff to get out of my system and sorry for my english. i'm just trying to figure it out how am suppose to get back in my game. only thing calms me down is to listen music... that's it.

you know i can freak out anytime soon?

game engine: attacking & realistic turn

2006-08-06T14:35:00.000+08:00

just added realistic turn(AI) of characters which comes out really good! check out my new screenshots that shows character attack animation.

normal standing attack position of 2 characters, nothing interesting...

...but this one is! here you can attack while riding your running horse (like rohirims at lord of the rings movie).

this still has plenty of problems that is need to fix, and there are some things i need to prioritize this comming week... i just hope.. even if i loose my momentum continuing my engine, i still be able to catch up without scanning my codes again.

cheers

game engine: updates as for July30'06

2006-07-30T14:32:00.000+08:00

here is my updates so far which includes character mounting and pathfinding. plus, i just bought gems 2 & 3 and got it discounted from macromind megamall, thanks guys!

anyway here is the list...

Updates
- Mersenne Twister Randomizer.
- Object manager.
   + Object Nodes.
   + Collision detection.
   + Fast Ray Picking.
   + Mount handling.
- Lua script test.
- Screenshot path.
- Texture Manager.
- DirectX File Mesh Loader.
   + Texture Path.
   + Optimizer and Cleaning.
- Navigation Mesh
   + A* Pathfinding.
   + Smoothing.

and some screenshot...

rohirim!

navigation mesh pathfinding - wireframe rendering.

navigation mesh pathfinding - solid rendering.

next stop i'm not sure yet but on top of my mind right now is encounter/enemy and battle sequence... ciao

rainny week

2006-07-25T12:36:00.000+08:00

so is it sunny now? i'm now looking outside and still dark :-(

office: it's been so boring yet somehow i still manage to finish work (yeah right). idunno but i think i've been affected by the weather... kinda want to sleep the whole time.

family: yes, good news for me... my sister(maryland) is goin to visit us on aug 5. she's goin to attend her friend's wedding.

...ok now i see rain showers wind s@#$% and more darker. i thought it's getting sunny already!

game engine: i did manage to work on navigation mesh pathfinding. basically i added AI to my game =D.

...now i need to sleep.

200gig sata hd

2006-07-13T23:51:00.000+08:00

well i bought this a week ago already. but anyway it's seagate 200gig sata. this gives me 24hrs waste of time just trying to make this thing work >:( ...and found out that it's all about SATA2 specification speed. i never thought about SATA jumper settings to downclock something the speed (3.0g/s -> 1.5g/s).

now my pc is happy again. if you ask... before, im only using 40gig and 20gig hdd.

cheers!

off topic: i'm almost done with my next game engine update including character mounting/riding horses and few others :P

game engine: chris mod test v1

2006-06-27T18:52:00.000+08:00

while doin some code cleaning up with no special update. my bro (chris) as a 2d/3d artist tried to mod my game engine just for fun... check this out. =)

game engine: orthographic ray picking

2006-06-24T16:00:00.000+08:00

presenting orthographic or my 2d panel including my mouse pointer with ray picking or object selection. this topic is included in the book as well but not in details as i expected... gamedev.net has all the stuffs!

in this screenshot i'm using controls and camera somehow similar to WC3's DOTA :D

ciao,