The Mad Tooey Blog

The Mad Tooey Blog The Mad Tooey Blog http://www.madtooey.co.uk/Tooey-Stuart-James.aspx http://backend.userland.com/rss RSS.NET: http://www.rssdotnet.com/ Muhahaha take that servers! <p> Today I have started an assault on the CVSSP processing servers, they thought they were safe after that last mass of processing done by one of my centre colleagues. I decided to prove them wrong by writing up a few scripts to dump down a load of work on them.</p> <p> Also played around with some Linux  environmental variables that allows you to switch between platforms and have hostname dependent configurations may come in useful for anyone working with multiple servers.</p> <p> </p> <blockquote> <p> switch(`hostname`)</p> <p>       case "workstation**":</p> <p>             setenv LD_LIBRARY_PATH "/MachineType/opencv:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH"</p> <p>             breaksw</p> <p>       case "Sever**Ubuntu":</p> <p>             setenv LD_LIBRARY_PATH "/MachineType/opencv:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH"</p> <p>             breaksw</p> <p> endsw</p> </blockquote> <p style="text-align: right; "> Note: * is used as wildcard so all servers of that type use the same config</p> <p> Just a little logon script to change between libraries in my case was in ~/.cshrc</p> <br /><a href='http://madtooey.co.uk'>Tooey ( Stuart James )</a>  <a href='http://madtooey.co.uk/muhahaha-take-that-servers-2010-09-01.aspx'>...</a> http://madtooey.co.uk/muhahaha-take-that-servers-2010-09-01.aspx Wed, 01 Sep 2010 13:29:11 GMT iPad Copy or just a fake? <p> While looking on amazon for some accessories for my Dell Streak one of the links they had was to this</p> <p style="text-align: center; "> <img alt="" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31amOgzUqiL._SL500_AA300_.jpg" style="border-top-width: 5px; border-right-width: 5px; border-bottom-width: 5px; border-left-width: 5px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; width: 300px; height: 300px; " /> <img alt="" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31Y9h29EUzL._AA300_.jpg" style="border-top-width: 5px; border-right-width: 5px; border-bottom-width: 5px; border-left-width: 5px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; width: 300px; height: 300px; " /><img alt="" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21ZIf1lh3WL._AA300_.jpg" style="border-top-width: 5px; border-right-width: 5px; border-bottom-width: 5px; border-left-width: 5px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; width: 300px; height: 300px; " /></p> <p style="text-align: center; "> Incase you didnt realise this is apparently: </p> <p style="text-align: center; "> 7" 4GB Rockchip 2808 Dual Core Android Tablet PC with HD video playback and Wi-Fi</p> <p style="text-align: center; "> Reference: <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rockchip-Android-Tablet-video-playback/dp/B003USHQJM/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&s=computers&qid=1282826049&sr=8-12">Amazon Link</a></p> <br /><a href='http://madtooey.co.uk'>Tooey ( Stuart James )</a>  <a href='http://madtooey.co.uk/ipad-copy-or-just-a-fake-2010-08-26.aspx'>...</a> http://madtooey.co.uk/ipad-copy-or-just-a-fake-2010-08-26.aspx Thu, 26 Aug 2010 12:42:37 GMT Matlab Student Software well kind of <p> I often moan about the University network and the license server to people so I invested in Matlab Student copy for my open network PC in Uni, this made sense at the time since I aim to get away from the reliance on computer support that as always are over worked and students sit quite low on the ladder. When I originally got this i was over the moon I thought it was great £70 for a copy of Matlab for me to work with and I merrily went on my way.</p> <p> Well as all good stories do things went terribly wrong I didn't think about it at the time but the only available version of Matlab available to students is 32bit now I am starting to move into video processing more my memory requirements are ever increasing wanting to store the hole few hundred frames in memory and do processing on it and why not I work on machines that have 6-8gb memory so its not unreasonable for me to want to really use that. So hense my new predicament.</p> <p> Well sadly this story doesn't have a happy ending after contacting Matlab Support they may of responded rapidly (same day) but were unable to help the only version available to students is 32bit and thats not likely to change.</p> <p> So its back to the University computer for me, and my opinion of Mathworks / Matlab has dropped considerably</p> <br /><a href='http://madtooey.co.uk'>Tooey ( Stuart James )</a>  <a href='http://madtooey.co.uk/matlab-student-software-well-kind-of-2010-08-24.aspx'>...</a> http://madtooey.co.uk/matlab-student-software-well-kind-of-2010-08-24.aspx Tue, 24 Aug 2010 14:55:15 GMT Its been a while <p> Its been a while since posting on my blog, so I thought I would catch up a little I am still working on Video Retrieval at the moment my work is based on Object recognition due to the completion of my previous segments that have been trajectory and colour.</p> <p> These three pieces should join together to make my first chunk of work and my first retrieval system. I am hoping this will be also merged with a nice demo that I am able to put online for others to enjoy, although at the moment that is a little way off.</p> <p> At the moment as I said I'm working on object recognition an area that my centre is well known for so I am quite glad to have lots of people to query about Bag of Visual words and the process used to be able to classify frames. </p> <p> My aim is to get back into posting on here to keep a journal of my work, so I am now aiming to post every week and hopefully provide a fruitful collection of photos snippets of my work that may be interesting helpful or just amusing.</p> <br /><a href='http://madtooey.co.uk'>Tooey ( Stuart James )</a>  <a href='http://madtooey.co.uk/its-been-a-while-2010-08-23.aspx'>...</a> http://madtooey.co.uk/its-been-a-while-2010-08-23.aspx Mon, 23 Aug 2010 15:03:36 GMT Guess Who <p> Was just sorting out some files and found something I generated a while back while playing, guess who you think it is then hover over to find out!</p> <p style="text-align: center; "> <img alt="My Dog Pixel" src="http://www.madtooey.co.uk/Data/Sites/1/images/imagesblog/guesswho.jpg" style="border-top-width: 5px; border-right-width: 5px; border-bottom-width: 5px; border-left-width: 5px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; width: 300px; height: 358px; " /></p> <br /><a href='http://www.madtooey.co.uk'>Tooey ( Stuart James )</a>  <a href='http://www.madtooey.co.uk/guess-who-2010-08-23.aspx'>...</a> http://www.madtooey.co.uk/guess-who-2010-08-23.aspx Mon, 23 Aug 2010 14:59:27 GMT I am now a member of IEEE <p> I am now a member of IEEE I may be collecting memberships a little but IEEE is one that I have been planning to join for years.</p> <p style="text-align: center; "> <img alt="" src="http://madtooey.co.uk/Data/Sites/1/stuart-james-ieee.jpg" style="border-top-width: 5px; border-right-width: 5px; border-bottom-width: 5px; border-left-width: 5px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; width: 400px; height: 253px; " /></p> <p> Despite getting IEEE Explore for free on University Network is good to be a member and get member perks more magazines!</p> <br /><a href='http://madtooey.co.uk'>Tooey ( Stuart James )</a>  <a href='http://madtooey.co.uk/i-am-now-a-member-of-ieee-2010-07-28.aspx'>...</a> http://madtooey.co.uk/i-am-now-a-member-of-ieee-2010-07-28.aspx Wed, 28 Jul 2010 15:12:50 GMT SIGGRAPH 2010 <p> Its on its happening and this is a clip from there site:</p> <p style="text-align: center; "> <object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/yW9b3GLXuSU&hl=en_GB&fs=1" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><embed allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" height="385" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/yW9b3GLXuSU&hl=en_GB&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="480"></embed></object></p> <p style="text-align: center; "> <a href="http://www.siggraph.org">http://www.siggraph.org</a></p> <p style="text-align: center; "> WOOP For Siggraph 2010!</p> <br /><a href='http://madtooey.co.uk'>Tooey ( Stuart James )</a>  <a href='http://madtooey.co.uk/siggraph-2010-2010-07-28.aspx'>...</a> http://madtooey.co.uk/siggraph-2010-2010-07-28.aspx Wed, 28 Jul 2010 15:05:39 GMT Turn your laptop wifi card into an access point to solve Android Ad hoc problem or connect multiple devices <p> While on holiday I was hit by annoying dilemma, I have the Android Dell Streak, that has the inability to connect to an ad-hoc wifi without rooting the device. So after looking around I found an interesting solution for Windows 7 users.</p> <p> Hidden away in the code of Windows 7 is some functionality that never got completed, and seems to be taken on by a company called <a href="http://www.connectify.me/">Connectify</a> this allows you to not just create a one to one ad hoc connection but also to change your little wireless card into an access point.</p> <p> This is very very useful and solves the Android problem since it see's a access point and is happy. I installed the latest version and had alot of problems that I was a little disheartened about. In that version they had developed there own equivalent to Internet Connection Sharing(ICS) to solve the problems with xbox etc. This didn't seem to work but the earlier version worked smooth as a charm.</p> <p> So if you are looking for a free easy solution to get your Android phone working easily with your laptop connection or just want to boost the speed by a local access point try Connectify is a great tool and just a tip be patient it takes a little time to set up the <span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: nowrap;">access point when you click Start Access point.</span></p> <p> Note: Please note this software only works with Windows 7 all other versions wont work sorry XP Guys.</p> <p> View Developer Site: <a href="http://www.connectify.me/">Connectify.me</a></p> <p> To Download the latest version goto: <a href="http://download.cnet.com/Connectify/3000-18508_4-75024171.html?part=dl-10061477&subj=dl&tag=button">CNET Download</a></p> <p> Download the Older version ( 1 . 2 ):  <a href="http://www.connectify.me/download/1.2/ConnectifyInstaller.exe">http://www.connectify.me/download/1.2/ConnectifyInstaller.exe</a> (<a href="http://connectify.blogspot.com/2010/07/community-update.html">Read Source Article</a>)</p> <br /><a href='http://madtooey.co.uk'>Tooey ( Stuart James )</a>  <a href='http://madtooey.co.uk/turn-your-laptop-wifi-card-into-an-access-point-to-solve-android-ad-hoc-problem-or-connect-multiple-devices-2010-07-08.aspx'>...</a> http://madtooey.co.uk/turn-your-laptop-wifi-card-into-an-access-point-to-solve-android-ad-hoc-problem-or-connect-multiple-devices-2010-07-08.aspx Thu, 08 Jul 2010 09:23:18 GMT Holiday Hotel <p> I am currently on holiday in Taba Egypt, staying at the Intercontinental in Taba Heights. I don't have a particularly luxurious view since it could be over the sea with the moon shining on the ocean. But instead I have what I consider to be quite a reasonable view of the Sinai. See below a shot from my balcony.</p> <p style="text-align: center; "> <img alt="Taba Heights Intercontinental Sinai View" src="http://madtooey.co.uk/Data/Sites/1/GalleryImages/54/WebImages/dscf1237.jpg" style="width: 412px; height: 550px; " /></p> <br /><a href='http://www.madtooey.co.uk'>Tooey ( Stuart James )</a>  <a href='http://www.madtooey.co.uk/holiday-hotel-2010-06-30.aspx'>...</a> http://www.madtooey.co.uk/holiday-hotel-2010-06-30.aspx Wed, 30 Jun 2010 19:42:51 GMT Samsung NC10 with Windows 7 and 2GB Upgraded RAM <p> Over this weekend I have been going through the process of reformatting and upgrading my little NC10. I decided to take the plunge from Windows XP to Windows 7 with an upgraded RAM. The main reason I upgraded the RAM was to help run Matlab but I really enjoy using Windows 7 so it made sense to go for it.</p> <p> The NC10 is a Netbook with the following specification:</p> <table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width: 80%; "> <thead> <tr> <th scope="row"> ,</th> <th scope="col"> Factory Specification</th> <th scope="col"> Upgraded Specification</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <th scope="row"> OS</th> <td> Windows XP</td> <td> Windows 7 Dual Booted with Ubuntu</td> </tr> <tr> <th scope="row"> Processor</th> <td> <p> Intel Atom processor N270</p> <p> (1.6GHz 533mhz 512kb 2.5w)</p> </td> <td> </td> </tr> <tr> <th scope="row"> Main Chipset</th> <td> Intel 945GSE + ICH7M</td> <td> </td> </tr> <tr> <th scope="row"> Memory</th> <td> 1GB DDR2</td> <td> 2GB DDR2</td> </tr> <tr> <th scope="row"> LCD</th> <td> 10.1" WSVGA (1024x600)</td> <td> </td> </tr> <tr> <th scope="row"> Graphics</th> <td> Intel 945GSE 128MB Integrated Graphics</td> <td> </td> </tr> <tr> <th scope="row"> Sound</th> <td> HD Audio</td> <td> </td> </tr> <tr> <th scope="row"> Hard Disk</th> <td> 160GB 5400rpm</td> <td> </td> </tr> <tr> <th scope="row"> </th> <td colspan="2" rowspan="1" style="text-align: right; "> <em>For Full Spec See Samsung Support <a href="http://www.samsung.com/uk/support/detail/supportPrdDetail.do?menu=SP01&prd_ia_cd=&prd_mdl_cd=&prd_mdl_name=NP-NC10">Here</a></em></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <p> The memory change was easy and went over with no problems excepting me miss placing the tiny screw but found and is all sorted now. The Windows install was very quick I have only installed Windows 7 on more powerful PC's like Duel cores etc, but this seemed to install in not far off the same time despite the limited resources.</p> <p> The boot up into Windows 7 isn't the fastest but when all is loaded I have been pushing the little NC10 quite hard and it has put up a valiant fight even when doing several installs and a eclipse build.</p> <p> I tried KUbuntu on the machine and sadly that seemed to struggle quite a lot so was a little disappointing so have resorted back to Ubuntu with the Gnome desktop environment.</p> <p> Other than that must say big thumbs up for Windows 7 runs very well on limited resources.</p> <br /><a href='http://www.madtooey.co.uk'>Tooey ( Stuart James )</a>  <a href='http://www.madtooey.co.uk/samsung-nc10-with-windows-7-and-2gb-upgraded-ram-2010-06-27.aspx'>...</a> http://www.madtooey.co.uk/samsung-nc10-with-windows-7-and-2gb-upgraded-ram-2010-06-27.aspx Sun, 27 Jun 2010 22:34:48 GMT Research Dog! <p style="text-align: center;"> <img alt="Pixel Research Dog" src="http://www.madtooey.co.uk/Data/Sites/1/images/imagesblog/dscf1211.jpg" style="width: 550px; height: 413px;" /></p> <p style="text-align: center;"> Pixel the Research Dog!</p> <br /><a href='http://www.madtooey.co.uk'>Tooey ( Stuart James )</a>  <a href='http://www.madtooey.co.uk/research-dog-2010-05-08.aspx'>...</a> http://www.madtooey.co.uk/research-dog-2010-05-08.aspx Sat, 08 May 2010 11:40:11 GMT Day 2 How I missed University systems <p> At the moment my work involved working on Matlab to implement a paper that was done about 2 years ago by Mitsubishi in Guildford. Unfortunately this requires Matlab to actually work today was broken by Matlab not being able to access the University license server.</p> <p> But all is not bad, I went through some more image processing theory with my Supervisor and then finished at midday to come home and do some reading. I haven't covered fourier transforms before so I have had more to learn since this is the next step in the method. This also means I have to touch up on some more trig and also learn complex numbers.</p> <p> Outcomes:</p> <ul> <li> Improved Image Processing theory</li> <li> Recapping Maths and expanding</li> </ul> <p> Homework:</p> <ul> <li> Complex Numbers</li> </ul> <p> Wednesdays Work:</p> <ul> <li> Continue recapping</li> <li> If Matlab is available then implement the fourier transform step</li> <li> Continue image processing theory</li> </ul> <br /><a href='http://madtooey.co.uk'>Tooey ( Stuart James )</a>  <a href='http://madtooey.co.uk/day-2-how-i-missed-university-systems-2010-04-06.aspx'>...</a> http://madtooey.co.uk/day-2-how-i-missed-university-systems-2010-04-06.aspx Tue, 06 Apr 2010 14:00:00 GMT First Day as a Research Student <p> Well I finally got sorted and have come in for my first day, start off with a chat to John about what I'm going to start on where the project is going and how best to proceed.</p> <p> Once I started working I have had a few new challenges,</p> <ul> <li> Linux - I have used it a few times in the past but wouldn't say I'm a linux guru</li> <li> Matlab - I have completed a Neural Networks coursework using Matlab but that's it actually programming with Matlab is a new experience. </li> </ul> <p> Well once I got going things seemed to go quite smoothly had a few problems with the maths since I am a bit out of practice that is one of my "homework tasks".</p> <p> So what I actually did today, was work on implementing a image retrieval system using the Hough transform. This works by taking an image, performing an edge detection on it then using the Hough transform to populate the accumulator space. This is a space of angles and distances from the origin using maximised values of the columns allows us to generate a histogram fingerprint.</p> <p> Well this is about as far as I got today, the next step is to perform a comparison on the histogram to be able to lookup on the fingerprints.</p> <p> Outcomes</p> <ul> <li> Implementation of a standard fingerprint system for images</li> <li> Getting used to working in the University</li> </ul> <p> Homework Tasks:</p> <ul> <li> Revise A-Level maths</li> <li> Look into hough transform and search methods</li> </ul> <p> Next Tuesdays work:</p> <ul> <li> Retrieval method</li> </ul> <br /><a href='http://madtooey.co.uk'>Tooey ( Stuart James )</a>  <a href='http://madtooey.co.uk/first-day-as-a-research-student-2010-04-05.aspx'>...</a> http://madtooey.co.uk/first-day-as-a-research-student-2010-04-05.aspx Thu, 01 Apr 2010 18:00:00 GMT Welcome to Guildford <p> I haven't really blogged in a while, I've been very busy sorting all sorts of things out. I intend to catch up and write post about the things I have been upto but I want to catch up with where and what's going on.</p> <p> I am now officially living in Guildford, me and Nettles have a little flat and its great. We moved in yesterday and were very impressed and settled in quickly. Even managed to have Roybott over last night that was good fun had a few drinks and watched pulp fiction. Today Nettles went to work for her first day was very exciting and I'm sure she has done amazingly well got a celebration meal for tonight that I hope she likes.</p> <p> Okey now Ill back track I have been offered and agreed to complete a PhD in Sketch Based information retrieval, what that means and what I will be doing will be covered soon but to summarise its very cool ... although I may be a little biased.</p> <p> So to summarise last few weeks PhD at University of Surrey flat Guildford.</p> <p> Will explain more soon, but yets just say WOOT!</p><br /><a href='http://www.madtooey.co.uk'>Tooey ( Stuart James )</a>  <a href='http://www.madtooey.co.uk/welcome-to-guildford-2010-03-23.aspx'>...</a> http://www.madtooey.co.uk/welcome-to-guildford-2010-03-23.aspx Tue, 23 Mar 2010 19:08:47 GMT New House in Guildford! <p> Ill be moving into my new house in Guildford next monday cant wait not long now and I start my Ph.D.</p> <br /><a href='http://madtooey.co.uk'>Tooey ( Stuart James )</a>  <a href='http://madtooey.co.uk/new-house-in-guildford-2010-03-17.aspx'>...</a> http://madtooey.co.uk/new-house-in-guildford-2010-03-17.aspx Wed, 17 Mar 2010 21:01:06 GMT RoundCube Webmail and Windows <p> I spent some time today battling to try to get <a href="http://roundcube.net/">RoundCube</a> webmail to work well with:</p> <ul> <li> Windows 2008</li> <li> SQL Server Express 2008</li> <li> hMailServer</li> <li> IIS 7.0 With PHP</li> </ul> <p> Well it took some fiddling but after some time I got it to work. My major issue seemed to be getting PHP to see MSSQL extensions. I found the documentation a little misleading not realising that you needed to install FreeTDS.</p> <p> But after getting that setup all worked well will give it a try as a webmail client see how it goes if not might try migrating to Google.</p> <br /><a href='http://www.madtooey.co.uk'>Tooey ( Stuart James )</a>  <a href='http://www.madtooey.co.uk/roundcube-webmail-and-windows-2010-02-23.aspx'>...</a> http://www.madtooey.co.uk/roundcube-webmail-and-windows-2010-02-23.aspx Tue, 23 Feb 2010 22:29:04 GMT My first good thing to say about hosting companies - Streamline <p> I have ranted a lot in the past about Fasthosts and Streamline with poor customer service and bad uptime and what not. But today I'm proud to say I have something positive to say.</p> <p> After slating Streamline for there poor uptime they made a suggestion that worked. I moved my MySQL database from one server to another, seems simple enough. But has moved me from 85-90% uptime to near enough always 100%</p> <p> I am not sure what that says for people who don't have multiple SQL servers to move between but it atleast suggests if your having problems its worth uprooting and moving your db to another server. I also don't know what this says about the quality of Streamline servers.</p> <p> None the less my first positive comment and about Streamline!</p> <br /><a href='http://www.madtooey.co.uk'>Tooey ( Stuart James )</a>  <a href='http://www.madtooey.co.uk/my-first-good-thing-to-say-about-hosting-companies-streamline-2010-02-15.aspx'>...</a> http://www.madtooey.co.uk/my-first-good-thing-to-say-about-hosting-companies-streamline-2010-02-15.aspx Mon, 15 Feb 2010 08:13:53 GMT The Bible in Cockney... <p> I was watching Would I lie To you on the BBC (<a href="http://bbc.co.uk/i/m7059/">Link</a>) and something that astonished me is the Bible was produced in Cockney.</p> <p style="text-align: center; "> <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bible-Cockney-Well-Bits-Anyway/dp/1841012173"><img alt="The Bible in Cockney from Amazon" height="240" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51JTX1B4TFL._SL500_AA240_.jpg" width="240" /><br /> </a></p> <p style="text-align: center; "> All I can say is what the? but if you are desperate to get your hands on this fine tomb then its available from <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bible-Cockney-Well-Bits-Anyway/dp/1841012173">Amazon</a></p><br /><a href='http://www.madtooey.co.uk'>Tooey ( Stuart James )</a>  <a href='http://www.madtooey.co.uk/the-bible-in-cockney-2010-02-08.aspx'>...</a> http://www.madtooey.co.uk/the-bible-in-cockney-2010-02-08.aspx Mon, 08 Feb 2010 13:33:43 GMT My Sites Need More Pictures Help! <p> I was looking at my website and realised how bland all the websites I make are they don't tend to have many if any pictures. So I've decided to cram some in and ask for people to give me some pictures to liven up my website.</p> <p> I'm no artist so please help a developer have a pretty site <img alt=":D" src="http://madtooey.co.uk/ClientScript/ckeditor30/plugins/smiley/images/teeth_smile.gif" title=":D" /></p> <p style="text-align: center; "> <img alt="Random Rolling Hills Picture" height="262" src="http://www.madtooey.co.uk/Data/Sites/1/images/imagesblog/rollinghills.png" width="350" /></p> <br /><a href='http://www.madtooey.co.uk'>Tooey ( Stuart James )</a>  <a href='http://www.madtooey.co.uk/my-sites-need-more-pictures-help-2010-02-03.aspx'>...</a> http://www.madtooey.co.uk/my-sites-need-more-pictures-help-2010-02-03.aspx Wed, 03 Feb 2010 23:21:48 GMT A look at ActionScript Games Programming <p style="line-height: 1.7em; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 16px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px;">Today I've started learning ActionScript to make a simple game of Asteroids, I have only looked at Flash that is for designers so it always seemed very alien to me. But ActionScript I am glad to say is a nice change and allows some quite easy programming of games.</p> <p style="line-height: 1.7em; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 16px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px;">I plan on doing some posts on how to use ActionScript for games programming but I want to complete my demo first so I can talk from experience.</p> <p style="line-height: 1.7em; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 16px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px;">If you would like to know more about ActionScript games programming a good place to start is:</p> <p style="line-height: 1.7em; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 16px; padding-left: 0px; text-align: center; margin: 0px;"><a style="color: #ffffff;" href="http://www.adobe.com/flashplatform/apps/playfish/">http://www.adobe.com/flashplatform/apps/playfish/</a></p> <p style="line-height: 1.7em; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 16px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px;">Playfish are a games studio that make flash games that integrate with social networking site API's.</p> <p style="line-height: 1.7em; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 16px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px;">Anyway, will post again soon with a beginning of ActionScript Games.</p> <p style="line-height: 1.7em; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 16px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px;">Play fair!</p><br /><a href='http://www.madtooey.co.uk'>Tooey ( Stuart James )</a>  <a href='http://www.madtooey.co.uk/a-look-at-actionscript-games-programming-2010-02-02.aspx'>...</a> http://www.madtooey.co.uk/a-look-at-actionscript-games-programming-2010-02-02.aspx Tue, 02 Feb 2010 22:49:11 GMT BSc Hons Computer Science with Games Development <p>I recently graduated from the University of Hull with a Second Class Division One BSc Hons in Computer Science with Games Development. I graduated from the winter ceremony so my parents could be in attendance.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a title="Test" href="http://www.madtooey.co.uk/Data/Sites/1/images/graduation/dscf1915.jpg"><img style="border: 5px solid white;" title="Stuart James Hull Winter Graduation 2010" src="http://www.madtooey.co.uk/Data/Sites/1/images/graduation/sm-dscf1915.jpg" alt="Stuart James Hull Winter Graduation 2010" width="150" height="112" /></a></p> <p>I wont say huge amounts about the photos, but this is me! <img title="Laughing" src="http://madtooey.co.uk/ClientScript/tiny_mce327/plugins/emotions/img/smiley-laughing.gif" border="0" alt="Laughing" /> This is before the ceremony and before the snow.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.madtooey.co.uk/Data/Sites/1/images/graduation/dscf1919.jpg"><img style="border: 5px solid white;" title="Stuart James Hull Winter Graduation 2010" src="http://www.madtooey.co.uk/Data/Sites/1/images/graduation/sm-dscf1919.jpg" alt="Stuart James Hull Winter Graduation 2010" width="150" height="112" /></a></p> <p>This is me and Ivan Zlatev, he is a close friend I lived with throughout University. For some reason in this photo my cape seems to be flying and Ivan has a blue gem on his suit. We wont question the wonders of photography.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.madtooey.co.uk/Data/Sites/1/images/graduation/dscf1924.jpg"><img style="border: 5px solid white;" title="Stuart James Hull Winter Graduation 2010" src="http://www.madtooey.co.uk/Data/Sites/1/images/graduation/sm_dscf1924.jpg" alt="Stuart James Hull Winter Graduation 2010" width="150" height="112" /></a> <a href="http://www.madtooey.co.uk/Data/Sites/1/images/graduation/dscf1925.jpg"><img style="border: 5px solid white;" title="Stuart James Hull Winter Graduation 2010" src="http://www.madtooey.co.uk/Data/Sites/1/images/graduation/sm-dscf1925.jpg" alt="Stuart James Hull Winter Graduation 2010" width="150" height="112" /></a></p> <p>Just a couple of shots of the ceremony, was really quite nice. Although me and Ivan were at opposite ends of the rows. Couldn't get further apart <img title="Smile" src="http://madtooey.co.uk/ClientScript/tiny_mce327/plugins/emotions/img/smiley-smile.gif" border="0" alt="Smile" /></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.madtooey.co.uk/Data/Sites/1/images/graduation/dscf1927.jpg"><img style="border: 5px solid white;" title="Stuart James Hull Winter Graduation 2010" src="http://www.madtooey.co.uk/Data/Sites/1/images/graduation/sm-dscf1927.jpg" alt="Stuart James Hull Winter Graduation 2010" width="150" height="112" /></a></p> <p>Me cantering along the stage, didn't really give Nettles a chance to take a picture. It was the evil stairs they distracted me <img title="Laughing" src="http://madtooey.co.uk/ClientScript/tiny_mce327/plugins/emotions/img/smiley-laughing.gif" border="0" alt="Laughing" /></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.madtooey.co.uk/Data/Sites/1/images/graduation/dscf1928.jpg"><img style="border: 5px solid white;" title="Stuart James Hull Winter Graduation 2010" src="http://www.madtooey.co.uk/Data/Sites/1/images/graduation/sm-dscf1928.jpg" alt="Stuart James Hull Winter Graduation 2010" /></a> <a href="http://www.madtooey.co.uk/Data/Sites/1/images/graduation/dscf1933.jpg"><img style="border: 5px solid white;" title="Stuart James Hull Winter Graduation 2010" src="http://www.madtooey.co.uk/Data/Sites/1/images/graduation/sm-dscf1933.jpg" alt="Stuart James Hull Winter Graduation 2010" width="150" height="112" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: left;">Finally throwing mortar board in the SNOW!!! How about that Winter graduation 2010 at Hull snowed for a few minutes around the throwing! Shame the town crier wouldn't be quiet and stop us getting soaked <img title="Laughing" src="http://madtooey.co.uk/ClientScript/tiny_mce327/plugins/emotions/img/smiley-laughing.gif" border="0" alt="Laughing" /></p> <h1 style="text-align: center;">Happy graduation everyone!</h1><br /><a href='http://www.madtooey.co.uk'>Tooey ( Stuart James )</a>  <a href='http://www.madtooey.co.uk/bsc-hons-computer-science-with-games-development-2010-01-31.aspx'>...</a> http://www.madtooey.co.uk/bsc-hons-computer-science-with-games-development-2010-01-31.aspx Sun, 31 Jan 2010 12:19:23 GMT International Trade using encryption <p>I was recently using Putty an open source SSH client software and I noticed a notice I had not seen before.</p> <blockquote> <p><strong>LEGAL WARNING</strong>: Use of PuTTY, PSCP, PSFTP and Plink is illegal in countries where encryption is outlawed. I believe it is legal to use PuTTY, PSCP, PSFTP and Plink in England and Wales and in many other countries, but I am not a lawyer and so if in doubt you should seek legal advice before downloading it. You may find <a href="http://rechten.uvt.nl/koops/cryptolaw/">this site</a> useful (it's a survey of cryptography laws in many countries) but I can't vouch for its correctness.</p> </blockquote> <p>Now this got me interested so I started looking into it more and found more and more worrying information. As I'm a UK Citizen my first country to read more into was the UK I found that it is legal to use encryption within the UK but you have to apron request be able to decrypt the information. That's not really an issue because they have to get a warrant to be able to ask you to do this and if they can do that they can take your PC that has the information on it anyway.</p> <p>So anyway back to my dilemma for <a href="http://toogaming.net">TooGaming</a> we are going to be international trade with countries such as India and the middle-east since it seems that these countries tend to big players of the older DirectX play games. Now looking into it I found an interesting issue under the Wassenaar Arrangement there are restrictions on distributing crypto information within certain countries.</p> <p>So when writing software that you are going to distribute you not only have to worry about tax, trading law you also have to go onto encryption law I am not sure what other issues there are to be looked into but I doubt this will be the last red tape that makes me go <img title="Undecided" src="http://madtooey.co.uk/ClientScript/tiny_mce327/plugins/emotions/img/smiley-undecided.gif" border="0" alt="Undecided" />.</p><br /><a href='http://madtooey.co.uk'>Tooey ( Stuart James )</a>  <a href='http://madtooey.co.uk/international-trade-using-encryption--2010-01-25.aspx'>...</a> http://madtooey.co.uk/international-trade-using-encryption--2010-01-25.aspx Mon, 25 Jan 2010 13:55:48 GMT Crossplatform for mobile games development, is java a solution? <p>I often have a lot of project ideas floating around, whether there little tech demo's like a HDR Scene or larger applications like a Nokia phone game or even to bigger projects like a 3D game engine.</p> <p>Some of these projects turn from concept and manage to get on the starting grid some just get passed by and never to be heard of again. Often when I start thinking of a project it often hits problems with financing or just is unrealistic.</p> <p>For example last night after talking to a friend got me thinking about developing for iPhone Android Windows Mobile and Nokia. Was just thinking of a small game of pool to get me started then work up. Near enough every project I do is done for free so it made an interesting dilemma. Most platforms now have an entrance fee to release onto there system they all use different languages in there SDK's and all have different API's.</p> <p>Now I realise there is a big escape root built into all of this, java most platforms support it to some extent and yes you can do quite a lot with it, but is it really the best idea for cross-platform mobile development? Especially in games?Crossplatform for mobile games development, is java a solution?</p><br /><a href='http://www.madtooey.co.uk'>Tooey ( Stuart James )</a>  <a href='http://www.madtooey.co.uk/crossplatform-for-mobile-games-development-is-java-a-solution-2010-01-25.aspx'>...</a> http://www.madtooey.co.uk/crossplatform-for-mobile-games-development-is-java-a-solution-2010-01-25.aspx Mon, 25 Jan 2010 09:51:10 GMT Things to think of early in software development project <p>After a long time of working on <a href="http://www.TooGaming.net">TooGaming</a> I have learnt a couple of things that really should of come earlier. Unfortunately these critical to a lot of projects. <a href="http://www.TooGaming.net">TooGaming </a>is developed with .NET2.0 for the client to get maximum OS compatibility so using the .NET framework gives us a lot of advantages. Some of the modifications that had to be changed after partially developed haven't set us back to much.</p> <p>Anyway...</p> <h3 style="padding-left: 30px;">1.      Application Localization (aka Multi-Lingual Applications)</h3> <p style="padding-left: 60px;">This is a huge one that you have to decide on at the start how many of us have written</p> <p style="padding-left: 90px;">MessageBox.Show("Ahh its all gone wrong");</p> <p style="padding-left: 60px;">Well there is a fundamental problem with that, to a person that speaks German that means nothing. So at the start of all projects decide who am I aiming this at, what languages do the speak, an annoying first question to is will I ever support multiple languages if yes put the work in first set up your resource files to support your applications future development and avoid any hard coded strings.</p> <h3 style="padding-left: 30px;">2.      Skins and Layout</h3> <p style="padding-left: 60px;">This is something that doesn't effect all projects but its something worth thinking about. Since our implementation was based on Windows Forms, we needed to be able to handle a more unique interface so that it didn't look like a dry windows application. Therefore we skinned the form to make it look more aesthetically pleasing.</p> <p style="padding-left: 60px;">Now making a form and deriving from it may seem obvious but plan it through first, think of what your layout is. We use a fixed layout with ajustable backgrounds so that we can simply change the style but this introduces limitations. We mainly did this for security we didn't want too much playing around with the underlying layout. None the less you need to think through what options you need.</p> <p style="padding-left: 60px;">Always remember the stray panel's like error messages critical errors we handle with the standard MessageBox but most of them should be handled with your theme in mind and therefore must look like they are part of your application.</p> <h3 style="padding-left: 30px;">3.      The wonders of Components</h3> <p style="padding-left: 60px;">On <a href="http://www.TooGaming.net">TooGaming</a> I went a little crazy with this one but In truth it helps being able to easily drop in a LogIn or a chat wherever you needed with minimal lines works well. This even led to the extent of a component based forms where you create a new form/control and the form will automatically layout it's self around the control this was a convenience for quick pop-ups.</p> <p style="padding-left: 60px;">Components give you a lot of flexibility and I've found made code a lot easier to re-read. Don't lock yourself down are you 100% sure you wont need that Contact Support form in the same or a different context in another place?</p> <p>These are just a few of my ramblings, and although <a href="http://www.TooGaming.net">TooGaming</a> is still in development I urge all to check it out. We aim to revolutionise PC gaming.</p> <p>(Yes I dream big <img title="Laughing" src="http://madtooey.co.uk/ClientScript/tiny_mce327/plugins/emotions/img/smiley-laughing.gif" border="0" alt="Laughing" />)</p><br /><a href='http://www.madtooey.co.uk'>Tooey ( Stuart James )</a>  <a href='http://www.madtooey.co.uk/things-to-think-of-early-in-software-development-project-2010-01-13.aspx'>...</a> http://www.madtooey.co.uk/things-to-think-of-early-in-software-development-project-2010-01-13.aspx Wed, 13 Jan 2010 12:55:50 GMT Making a MojoPortal theme takes its time <p>I originally made this theme that I am currently using on several personal sites to have something a bit different. I've slowly been changing it and improving the features and am now nearly at a stage for a final test and clear out of old files then upload for others to use if they so wish. I was quite surprised how long it has taken me to iron out the bugs and bugs there have been many. Since my theme was based on one by dcater there was lots of values I didn't consider.</p> <p>Maybe when making a theme you should sit down and go through every variable to make sure you don't get inconsistencies. Well none the less its almost finished I have anouther theme I'm making for a game I am developing and then have to dream up another for  a rpg game. The fun never stops Seems I spend a lot of time doing web development these days. <a href="http://www.toogaming.net">TooGaming</a> hasn't helped with that <img title="Laughing" src="http://madtooey.co.uk/ClientScript/tiny_mce327/plugins/emotions/img/smiley-laughing.gif" border="0" alt="Laughing" /></p> <p>For anyone who hasn't used MojoPortal check it out at <a href="http://www.MojoPortal.com">www.MojoPortal.com</a></p><br /><a href='http://www.madtooey.co.uk'>Tooey ( Stuart James )</a>  <a href='http://www.madtooey.co.uk/making-a-mojoportal-theme-takes-its-time-2010-01-12.aspx'>...</a> http://www.madtooey.co.uk/making-a-mojoportal-theme-takes-its-time-2010-01-12.aspx Tue, 12 Jan 2010 23:42:01 GMT Moving to a Fortress from a Vault <p>Today I made a shift in source control, previously I installed Source Gear Vault for a single user developer today I moved up a level and installed Fortress!</p> <p>A bold move I know not really adding much functionality, but the main reason was I am looking for some more task/milestone tacking facilities I was considering moving to  SVN and Trac to help me manage my projects but sadly to really be of use I would of needed to pay for additional hosting that didn't really make me bounce up and down with joy.</p> <p>There isnt huge amounts to say other than WOOT! it all upgraded fine my project source directories all seem intact. Will give more information on benefits soon.</p> <p>Happy Sourcing Folks!</p><br /><a href='http://www.madtooey.co.uk'>Tooey ( Stuart James )</a>  <a href='http://www.madtooey.co.uk/moving-to-a-fortress-from-a-vault-2010-01-12.aspx'>...</a> http://www.madtooey.co.uk/moving-to-a-fortress-from-a-vault-2010-01-12.aspx Tue, 12 Jan 2010 21:29:00 GMT Merry Christmas <p>Just a short note to wish all that view this a very very merry Christmas, be safe have fun and drink lots <img title="Laughing" src="http://madtooey.co.uk/ClientScript/tiny_mce327/plugins/emotions/img/smiley-laughing.gif" border="0" alt="Laughing" /></p><br /><a href='http://madtooey.co.uk'>Tooey ( Stuart James )</a>  <a href='http://madtooey.co.uk/merry-christmas-2009-12-25.aspx'>...</a> http://madtooey.co.uk/merry-christmas-2009-12-25.aspx Fri, 25 Dec 2009 19:10:30 GMT Problems with giving opinions <p>I got an email today from what seemed a repeatable company that asked the company I work for to put a link to a emergency dental website on our website. Now this got me thinking about how to comment on things that annoy you. This is obviously an SEO technique to try to get this website higher in the ranking. But my issue is if I then write a comment and link to the website I do there job for them annoying hey.</p> <p>This also got me onto the topic of how to review something without promoting something. There is very little ways around reviewing a product without linking to the spec or some aspect of details about the product.</p> <p>Its an interesting dilemma, especially with the time of year when lots of reviews come out</p> <p>Best Christmas Wishes</p> <p><em>The Mad Tooey</em></p><br /><a href='http://madtooey.co.uk'>Tooey ( Stuart James )</a>  <a href='http://madtooey.co.uk/problems-with-giving-opinions-2009-12-19.aspx'>...</a> http://madtooey.co.uk/problems-with-giving-opinions-2009-12-19.aspx Sat, 19 Dec 2009 12:40:59 GMT Weird Obsessions of the hardware kind <p>Its weird the unaware affiliations we create that cloud our judgement of power and performance, I got an email tonight that got me thinking along this strange path from XFX. I have always liked XFX graphics hardware it always comes in groovy boxes well kitted with accessories strange I know but its one of those things the last 3 graphics cards I have owned have been XFX. While on graphics cards consider the chip manufacturers ATI NVIDIA and Intel(Not really a player in my opinion) I always buy NVIDIA the drivers are nicer the additional software is nicer and I like the development tools they give.</p> <p>Moving onto motherboard, motherboards I tend to always go with Gigabyte or Asus, both providing good build quality and a variety of good quality accessories ok, when it comes to motherboards its more important to consider the accessories as this can pad up the price on a board but still the affiliates I develop tend to rule my judgements on purchases.</p> <p>Long ago there were big issues with AMD and over heating now im not entirely sure if this problem has been overcome but I am pretty sure that the issue is long in the past yet I still favour Intel having bought only Intel chips for years.</p> <p>Maybe next pc its worth taking a gamble and trying something new, does everyone have these weird obsessions?</p><br /><a href='http://www.madtooey.co.uk'>Tooey ( Stuart James )</a>  <a href='http://www.madtooey.co.uk/weird-obsessions-of-the-hardware-kind-2009-12-11.aspx'>...</a> http://www.madtooey.co.uk/weird-obsessions-of-the-hardware-kind-2009-12-11.aspx Fri, 11 Dec 2009 21:23:06 GMT Working with Microsoft adCenter wheres the CRAZY! <p>The company I work for is doing more advertisements and one of my roles is overseeing online advertisement so we have been with Pay per click google adwords for a bit now and had good success from the campaign. So we are looking into expanding into other search engines so I have spent a little time today setting up our account to get started in the new year.</p> <p>Now I know Microsoft in a way arent as dominent in the market in fact is 3rd place with a <a title="SEO Consultants Reference" href="http://www.seoconsultants.com/search-engines/">9.28% in September 2009</a> but on some mythical reasoning *taps nose* we are working on adwords equivalent for it. We all know MS spend big on projects but sometimes I do feel they get a little too serious. As I have had many conversations with colleagues about the wonders of making numbers go up and there is nothing better than visualising that with a crazy graph that really means very little. I think MS has missed a trick when you log into Google Adwords you get a great graph showing how things are going where your hard earned money is going, when I logged into Microsoft adCenter i get a table and a FAQ <img title="Frown" src="http://madtooey.co.uk/ClientScript/tiny_mce327/plugins/emotions/img/smiley-frown.gif" border="0" alt="Frown" /> where's the fun in that?</p> <p>Granted I haven't spent ages on Microsoft adCenter and I'm sure it can generate some nice business like reports but I think the UI could do with a little work. The graphs aren't only my niggle with the UI experience seems the Tools dint really work(may just be a problem on my computer). The sign up process doesn't support Chrome so I'm back on IE and still tools don't work. Its interface is very cold like it was designed for boring suite like people who look at reports instead of playing with mechano.</p> <p>Maybe it will grow on me but MS need to learn to be a bit more fun</p><br /><a href='http://madtooey.co.uk'>Tooey ( Stuart James )</a>  <a href='http://madtooey.co.uk/working-with-microsoft-adcenter-wheres-the-crazy-2009-12-11.aspx'>...</a> http://madtooey.co.uk/working-with-microsoft-adcenter-wheres-the-crazy-2009-12-11.aspx Fri, 11 Dec 2009 13:46:33 GMT Fable 2 Coop <p>I ordered Fable 2 Game of the year edition, from GameStation for the great price of £16 although having played it through before I wanted to experience the addons and replay the game a bit with Nettles. I have heard the Coop experience is terrible but I never tried it. Sadly the rumours are true and it works badly often camera being stuck on the person whos slow behind the corner at the top of the cliff. It reminds me of another game that did a similar style of camera but in that game it was much more 2D terrain and had the camera much further back that ment it worked a lot better.</p> <p>I still think Fable 2 is a good game but there are a lot of  little bits that just don't work or seem a bit rushed. Although this wont put me off buying Fable 3 think I might actually get that around launch <img title="Laughing" src="http://madtooey.co.uk/ClientScript/tiny_mce327/plugins/emotions/img/smiley-laughing.gif" border="0" alt="Laughing" /></p><br /><a href='http://www.madtooey.co.uk'>Tooey ( Stuart James )</a>  <a href='http://www.madtooey.co.uk/fable-2-coop-2009-12-04.aspx'>...</a> http://www.madtooey.co.uk/fable-2-coop-2009-12-04.aspx Fri, 04 Dec 2009 22:58:59 GMT