Category: Computers & Programming | August 24, 2010, 5:34 PM
With CS3, Adobe incorporated features from ImageReady into Photoshop, so you can now create animated gifs completely inside Photoshop. Here's how:
1. Create a new document. I made mine 60 x 60 pixels, but you can make yours whatever size you would like for your animation.
2. Create or add the frames of your animation, each on its own layer. I am creating a loading icon that spins in 30° increments, so I have 12 layers that each contain a different frame of my animation.
Notice I kept the background layer as well. This is because each of my layers is semi-transparent and anti-aliased.
3. Now open the Animation Window.
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Category: Computers & Programming | August 20, 2010, 11:32 PM
Want to send someone a link that will take them directly to the High Definition version of a YouTube video? It's really quite easy. Take the base YouTube URL, which looks something like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCOY82UdFrw
Note: If there is an & (ampersand) after that, remove it and anything following it.
Now add &fmt=35 after it to link to a 480p video, &fmt=22 for a 720p video, or &fmt=37 for a 1080p video. Here is an example:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCOY82UdFrw&fmt=35
Links to the 480p version (if available).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCOY82UdFrw&fmt=22
Links to the 720p version (if available).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCOY82UdFrw&fmt=37
Links to the 1080p version (if available).
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Category: Miscellaneous | August 11, 2010, 5:53 PM
It's rant time again. I was on Facebook looking at events, and in the upper-right corner of the page there was a picture of me at some party, with a message asking "Whose face is this?". Apparently this "Tag a Friend" box pops up occasionally now, on random pages while you're using Facebook, and displays pictures from your friends' pages that aren't tagged.
So in Facebook's never-ending quest to connect anything and everything, their face-recognition software is now finding random non-tagged images and displaying them randomly to people and asking them to tag them. Is there something wrong with a non-tagged photo? Apparently to Facebook there is.
I don't even know why I use Facebook anymore. I can't even put something in my interests box without it being automatically "Liked" and the page for it connected to my account. So I deleted everything, and just have the most basic information. I'm sure Facebook will do something else to annoy me, they seem to be on a monthly schedule of "improving connectivity" (IE: improving advertising revenue).
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Category: PC Gaming | August 1, 2010, 4:01 PM
Starcraft II offers a very refined and lengthy campaign mode with wholly unique and fun to play missions. For those upset about only having a Terran campaign (with the Zerg and Protoss campaigns saved for future expansions), let me quell your distress by saying that the campaign mode is easily more in-depth and lengthy than all 3 campaigns from the original combined. Each and every mission feels as though it was given individual attention, and most missions will take you between 20 minutes to an hour to complete, depending on your skill level. The time spent in-between missions allows you to dive into the Starcraft lore a bit, without requiring you to. You also access new upgrades and techs during this time, and can take on missions in the order you choose (mostly).
There are also challenges, which are short single-player missions designed specifically to teach you about unit combinations, counters, and tactics. They are a nice addition and should help new players before moving on to multiplayer.
As with SC1, there is a skirmish mode with the AI. You are limited to the same 8-player limit as before, and the whole process has remained mostly the same, with a number of improvements. Replays are saved automatically into a temp folder and are deleted automatically as new replays are generated. You can choose to save any replay, which moves it into a permanent folder.
There are many improvements to the interface and intuitiveness of the gameplay. Clicking on your Command Center and then right-clicking on a mineral field will set the rally point of any newly created SCVs to the mineral field, and they will start mining automatically. In the campaign, SCVs will also automatically repair nearby damaged buildings and units, if they don't have any orders. For Zerg (when playing multiplayer), you can right-click the mineral field and then ctrl-right-click elsewhere to create two rally points -one for your drones and one for other units. This is just an example of the many minor, but very welcome, improvements to the gameplay.
Overall, Starcraft II will be very familiar to players of the original Starcraft. It is by all intents an evolution of the original. This I hope will be welcome news to every player, since the original Starcraft certainly didn't need any major changes. Starcraft II gets a perfect rating from me... if I had a rating system for game reviews (maybe in the future).
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Category: PC Gaming | July 27, 2010, 5:01 PM
Today is the big day! Starcraft II:Wings of Liberty is out, and only 12 years after the first (but who's counting?). I haven't picked up my copy yet but I plan on doing so in the next couple days. All the major retailers are charging full price ($59.99) and most have free shipping. If you find someone selling for less, make sure they aren't adding in shipping or handling charges to make up for the price.
Here is a list of some of the major online retailers and their product pages for Starcraft 2, if you're ok with waiting for it to be shipped that is. Some may charge tax depending on your location, so be sure to check the final price before buying.
Newegg - $59.99
EBGames - $59.99
BestBuy - $59.99
Amazon - $59.99
Buy.com - $59.90
Update: My awesome friends bought me the game yesterday evening, so I was able to play through the first few levels. It has a very different feel, while still maintaining similar gameplay. The plot progression is approached quite differently than in the original Starcraft. Read on for my impressions and the major changes. I'll try not to ruin anything.
The time between levels has a lot more going on, including technology upgrades, research, and dialog. You can explore various parts of these areas by clicking on highlighted objects or people, which usually results in dialog and a cut-scene. On that topic, the in-game, voice acted scenes are all top notch and there are a lot of them.
In the original Starcraft, every level you played contributed greatly to the overall plot progression. In Starcraft II, each level is more gradual, and you can select different missions to accept, which each have unique bonuses and rewards (not sure if the different selections lead to different overall outcomes yet). The levels so far take about the same amount of time, if not more, than each original Starcraft level. There are supposed to be more levels than there were in all three SC1 campaigns.
The graphics are very nice, but not over-the-top. SC2 should run good maxed out on mid-level machines. The art style took me a few minutes to get used to, but now I really like it. The environments are more dynamic, and so far I have noticed that some levels have changing time of day and lighting effects.
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Category: Miscellaneous | July 27, 2010, 2:29 AM
Here are the 2009 model year fleet sales (rental, government, & commercial) for all the major U.S. brands and manufacturers. The first list shows individual brands, while the second list shows the major automotive companies.
The data above represents combined car and truck numbers. The data is compiled from automotive-fleet.com's 2009 statistics PDF. Download the Microsoft Excel editable version I made if you want to toy with the numbers or create a graph (Office 2007 or newer required).
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Category: PC Gaming | July 22, 2010, 7:20 PM
Blizzard just released a new trailer for Starcraft 2. Have a watch if you haven't already:
Blizzard has always done a great job with their cinematics, and this is no exception. What interests me is how movie-esque this trailer is. If you didn't know what Starcraft was, you'd surely think it was a trailer for a new CG movie. With Blizzard making a movie based on World of Warcraft, how long until a movie based on Starcraft comes out? I say make it a CG movie akin to the Final Fantasy movies. Blizzard appears to already have the talent needed in-house.
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Category: Computers & Programming | July 11, 2010, 8:10 PM
This is a price and feature comparison to determine the value of building your own PC versus purchasing a Dell. Dell's generally offer a good value in the low to mid range and represent the most common OEM-bought PCs.
Some things to note: The Dell prices include the tax and flat-rate shipping fee Dell charges. The custom-built prices include shipping, which could vary by $5-10 based on your location. Also, the custom-built PC prices include the full retail cost of Windows 7 Home ($99). If you have an operating system already, or can get an inexpensive copy through school, it will increase the value proposition of the custom-built PC considerably.
Home or Home Office PC
The first comparison is an identically-configured home or home office PC. It comes with a 2.8ghz dual-core Intel Pentium (E5500) and Intel on-board graphics. Both PC's include a 320 GB hard drive, keyboard, mouse, and DVD burner.
The Dell comes in over $50 less than the custom-built PC, and is a great choice if you're wanting an Intel system. The strength of the custom-built PC comes with its available choices, and in this case the Intel Pentium may not be the best choice. The AMD Athlon II offers similar or better performance at a lower price, and the AMD 785 chipset is a better chipset. So let's look at this comparison again:
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Category: PC Gaming | July 2, 2010, 6:27 PM
Released June 25, 2010 | Marine Salvage Trailer
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Category: Miscellaneous | July 2, 2010, 2:31 PM
It's time for another real world mileage comparison for the major hybrid vehicles in the US market. The EPA and real world figures listed below are both combined figures (mixture of city and highway). The number of submissions is from www.fueleconomy.gov. A higher number will make the real world figure more accurate. I pulled data from current models unless otherwise stated:
The real world numbers are pretty close to the EPA ratings, with the exception of the Insight. Some hybrids are a little under, some are a little over. I wanted to include the Lexus hybrids and GM's full-size truck/SUV hybrids, but there simply wasn't enough data (6 or fewer submissions). Maybe next time.
The big story here is the Insight, which exceeds its EPA rating considerably. You may be tempted to chalk it up to only 29 submissions, but once you look at the specifications compared to the Civic Hybrid, the higher real world figure makes perfect sense. Consider that the Insight weighs 150 lbs less than the Civic Hybrid and has a very similar drivetrain with slightly less output. It also presumably has a more aerodynamic shape being a dedicated hybrid. Numerous magazine test drives have also confirmed that it is underrated. So why the low EPA rating for the Insight?
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Page 1 of 6
How-to: Animated gif in Adobe Photoshop CS3
With CS3, Adobe incorporated features from ImageReady into Photoshop, so you can now create animated gifs completely inside Photoshop. Here's how:
1. Create a new document. I made mine 60 x 60 pixels, but you can make yours whatever size you would like for your animation.
2. Create or add the frames of your animation, each on its own layer. I am creating a loading icon that spins in 30° increments, so I have 12 layers that each contain a different frame of my animation.
Notice I kept the background layer as well. This is because each of my layers is semi-transparent and anti-aliased.
3. Now open the Animation Window.
Back to top View/Add Comments (0)Category: Computers & Programming | August 20, 2010, 11:32 PM
Link directly to HD YouTube videos (480p, 720p, 1080p)
Want to send someone a link that will take them directly to the High Definition version of a YouTube video? It's really quite easy. Take the base YouTube URL, which looks something like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCOY82UdFrw
Note: If there is an & (ampersand) after that, remove it and anything following it.
Now add &fmt=35 after it to link to a 480p video, &fmt=22 for a 720p video, or &fmt=37 for a 1080p video. Here is an example:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCOY82UdFrw&fmt=35
Links to the 480p version (if available).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCOY82UdFrw&fmt=22
Links to the 720p version (if available).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCOY82UdFrw&fmt=37
Links to the 1080p version (if available).
Back to top View/Add Comments (2)Category: Miscellaneous | August 11, 2010, 5:53 PM
Facebook is getting ridiculous
It's rant time again. I was on Facebook looking at events, and in the upper-right corner of the page there was a picture of me at some party, with a message asking "Whose face is this?". Apparently this "Tag a Friend" box pops up occasionally now, on random pages while you're using Facebook, and displays pictures from your friends' pages that aren't tagged.So in Facebook's never-ending quest to connect anything and everything, their face-recognition software is now finding random non-tagged images and displaying them randomly to people and asking them to tag them. Is there something wrong with a non-tagged photo? Apparently to Facebook there is.
I don't even know why I use Facebook anymore. I can't even put something in my interests box without it being automatically "Liked" and the page for it connected to my account. So I deleted everything, and just have the most basic information. I'm sure Facebook will do something else to annoy me, they seem to be on a monthly schedule of "improving connectivity" (IE: improving advertising revenue).
Back to top View/Add Comments (0)Category: PC Gaming | August 1, 2010, 4:01 PM
Starcraft II Single-player Review
Starcraft II offers a very refined and lengthy campaign mode with wholly unique and fun to play missions. For those upset about only having a Terran campaign (with the Zerg and Protoss campaigns saved for future expansions), let me quell your distress by saying that the campaign mode is easily more in-depth and lengthy than all 3 campaigns from the original combined. Each and every mission feels as though it was given individual attention, and most missions will take you between 20 minutes to an hour to complete, depending on your skill level. The time spent in-between missions allows you to dive into the Starcraft lore a bit, without requiring you to. You also access new upgrades and techs during this time, and can take on missions in the order you choose (mostly).
There are also challenges, which are short single-player missions designed specifically to teach you about unit combinations, counters, and tactics. They are a nice addition and should help new players before moving on to multiplayer.
As with SC1, there is a skirmish mode with the AI. You are limited to the same 8-player limit as before, and the whole process has remained mostly the same, with a number of improvements. Replays are saved automatically into a temp folder and are deleted automatically as new replays are generated. You can choose to save any replay, which moves it into a permanent folder.
There are many improvements to the interface and intuitiveness of the gameplay. Clicking on your Command Center and then right-clicking on a mineral field will set the rally point of any newly created SCVs to the mineral field, and they will start mining automatically. In the campaign, SCVs will also automatically repair nearby damaged buildings and units, if they don't have any orders. For Zerg (when playing multiplayer), you can right-click the mineral field and then ctrl-right-click elsewhere to create two rally points -one for your drones and one for other units. This is just an example of the many minor, but very welcome, improvements to the gameplay.
Overall, Starcraft II will be very familiar to players of the original Starcraft. It is by all intents an evolution of the original. This I hope will be welcome news to every player, since the original Starcraft certainly didn't need any major changes. Starcraft II gets a perfect rating from me... if I had a rating system for game reviews (maybe in the future).
Back to top View/Add Comments (0)Category: PC Gaming | July 27, 2010, 5:01 PM
Starcraft II is Out
Today is the big day! Starcraft II:Wings of Liberty is out, and only 12 years after the first (but who's counting?). I haven't picked up my copy yet but I plan on doing so in the next couple days. All the major retailers are charging full price ($59.99) and most have free shipping. If you find someone selling for less, make sure they aren't adding in shipping or handling charges to make up for the price.Here is a list of some of the major online retailers and their product pages for Starcraft 2, if you're ok with waiting for it to be shipped that is. Some may charge tax depending on your location, so be sure to check the final price before buying.
Newegg - $59.99
EBGames - $59.99
BestBuy - $59.99
Amazon - $59.99
Buy.com - $59.90
Update: My awesome friends bought me the game yesterday evening, so I was able to play through the first few levels. It has a very different feel, while still maintaining similar gameplay. The plot progression is approached quite differently than in the original Starcraft. Read on for my impressions and the major changes. I'll try not to ruin anything.
The time between levels has a lot more going on, including technology upgrades, research, and dialog. You can explore various parts of these areas by clicking on highlighted objects or people, which usually results in dialog and a cut-scene. On that topic, the in-game, voice acted scenes are all top notch and there are a lot of them.
In the original Starcraft, every level you played contributed greatly to the overall plot progression. In Starcraft II, each level is more gradual, and you can select different missions to accept, which each have unique bonuses and rewards (not sure if the different selections lead to different overall outcomes yet). The levels so far take about the same amount of time, if not more, than each original Starcraft level. There are supposed to be more levels than there were in all three SC1 campaigns.
The graphics are very nice, but not over-the-top. SC2 should run good maxed out on mid-level machines. The art style took me a few minutes to get used to, but now I really like it. The environments are more dynamic, and so far I have noticed that some levels have changing time of day and lighting effects.
Back to top View/Add Comments (0)Category: Miscellaneous | July 27, 2010, 2:29 AM
Automotive 2009 MY Fleet & Retail Sales by Brand
Here are the 2009 model year fleet sales (rental, government, & commercial) for all the major U.S. brands and manufacturers. The first list shows individual brands, while the second list shows the major automotive companies.
The data above represents combined car and truck numbers. The data is compiled from automotive-fleet.com's 2009 statistics PDF. Download the Microsoft Excel editable version I made if you want to toy with the numbers or create a graph (Office 2007 or newer required).
Back to top View/Add Comments (0)Category: PC Gaming | July 22, 2010, 7:20 PM
Starcraft 2 Cinematic Trailer (HD). We want a Starcraft Movie!
Blizzard just released a new trailer for Starcraft 2. Have a watch if you haven't already:
Blizzard has always done a great job with their cinematics, and this is no exception. What interests me is how movie-esque this trailer is. If you didn't know what Starcraft was, you'd surely think it was a trailer for a new CG movie. With Blizzard making a movie based on World of Warcraft, how long until a movie based on Starcraft comes out? I say make it a CG movie akin to the Final Fantasy movies. Blizzard appears to already have the talent needed in-house.
Back to top View/Add Comments (1)Category: Computers & Programming | July 11, 2010, 8:10 PM
Computers: Build your own vs. buying a Dell
This is a price and feature comparison to determine the value of building your own PC versus purchasing a Dell. Dell's generally offer a good value in the low to mid range and represent the most common OEM-bought PCs.
Some things to note: The Dell prices include the tax and flat-rate shipping fee Dell charges. The custom-built prices include shipping, which could vary by $5-10 based on your location. Also, the custom-built PC prices include the full retail cost of Windows 7 Home ($99). If you have an operating system already, or can get an inexpensive copy through school, it will increase the value proposition of the custom-built PC considerably.
Home or Home Office PC
The first comparison is an identically-configured home or home office PC. It comes with a 2.8ghz dual-core Intel Pentium (E5500) and Intel on-board graphics. Both PC's include a 320 GB hard drive, keyboard, mouse, and DVD burner.
| Model | Key components | Total | Dell Inspiron 560 | Intel E5500 2.8ghz, Intel G41 chipset, 2x1gb memory | $381 |
|---|---|---|
| Custom-Built from Newegg | Intel E5500 2.8ghz, Intel G41 chipset, 2x1gb memory | $435 |
The Dell comes in over $50 less than the custom-built PC, and is a great choice if you're wanting an Intel system. The strength of the custom-built PC comes with its available choices, and in this case the Intel Pentium may not be the best choice. The AMD Athlon II offers similar or better performance at a lower price, and the AMD 785 chipset is a better chipset. So let's look at this comparison again:
Back to top View/Add Comments (0)Category: PC Gaming | July 2, 2010, 6:27 PM
New Crysis 2 Gameplay Footage! (HQ)
Released June 25, 2010 | Marine Salvage Trailer
Back to top View/Add Comments (0)Category: Miscellaneous | July 2, 2010, 2:31 PM
Hybrid Real-world Mileage Comparison July 2010
It's time for another real world mileage comparison for the major hybrid vehicles in the US market. The EPA and real world figures listed below are both combined figures (mixture of city and highway). The number of submissions is from www.fueleconomy.gov. A higher number will make the real world figure more accurate. I pulled data from current models unless otherwise stated:
| Make | Model | EPA | Real | Difference | Submissions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ford | Escape Hybrid (FWD) | 32 | 31.9 | -0.31% | 73 |
| Ford | Escape Hybrid (AWD) | 28 | 29.0 | 3.57% | 68 |
| Ford | Fusion Hybrid | 39 | 37.8 | -3.08% | 26 |
| Honda | Civic Hybrid | 42 | 44.8 | 6.67% | 252 |
| Honda | Insight | 41 | 47.8 | 16.59% | 29 |
| Nissan | Altima Hybrid | 34 | 34.0 | 0.00% | 46 |
| Toyota | Camry Hybrid | 34 | 36.6 | 7.65% | 167 |
| Toyota | Highlander Hybrid (AWD) | 26 | 24.8 | -4.62% | 82 |
| Toyota | Prius | 50 | 48.8 | -2.40% | 93 |
| Toyota | Prius (last gen) | 46 | 47.4 | 3.04% | 701 |
The real world numbers are pretty close to the EPA ratings, with the exception of the Insight. Some hybrids are a little under, some are a little over. I wanted to include the Lexus hybrids and GM's full-size truck/SUV hybrids, but there simply wasn't enough data (6 or fewer submissions). Maybe next time.
The big story here is the Insight, which exceeds its EPA rating considerably. You may be tempted to chalk it up to only 29 submissions, but once you look at the specifications compared to the Civic Hybrid, the higher real world figure makes perfect sense. Consider that the Insight weighs 150 lbs less than the Civic Hybrid and has a very similar drivetrain with slightly less output. It also presumably has a more aerodynamic shape being a dedicated hybrid. Numerous magazine test drives have also confirmed that it is underrated. So why the low EPA rating for the Insight?
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