Category: General

Everything that doesn’t fit into any other category.

60Hz revisited

Jim got a copy of the old 60Hz CVS repository on CD-ROM and wanted to put some of the old projects on the OneTwenty SVN server.

The entire process was pretty easy using cvs2svn. We migrated the Clean Rendering Libraries first. It seemed the easiest one to transfer since it’s just a bunch of text files (no binaries).

On the machine with the CVS repository, I ran:

cvs2svn --default-eol=native --dumpfile clean.dump [cvsroot]/clean2

and then on the server with the SVN repository, I ran:

svnadmin load [svnroot] < clean.dump

This promoted a single project within the CVS repository to be the main line of a new SVN repository. Which seemed like the thing to do, since the 60Hz projects are pretty loosely coupled.

How to automatically publish WordPress blog posts to Facebook

Simon sent me an email asking how to automatically publish (WordPress) blog posts to Facebook. There are a few ways to go about it – here’s what I recommend:

  • Install the Feed Facebook, Leave Facebook plugin to create a custom RSS feed (with brief article text and a link to the original article).
  • Follow the instructions in this WordPress.tv video, but use the above custom RSS feed rather than your normal article feed.

The only real shortcoming is that the blog posts won’t appear immediately since you have to wait for Facebook to check for feed updates (maybe every couple of hours or so) before they will appear in your profile.

Still, I think that this is best way to go about things for a few reasons:

  1. Importing your main article feed usually means that the full text of your articles appear on Facebook. A partial (excerpt) feed means that interested readers visit your website for the complete article.
  2. When importing feeds into Facebook, it isn’t always super-clear that the source is an external website. This technique adds “[…]” (to indicate that there is more) and a “Read the rest on my blog” (to show where it came from).
  3. There are other plugins that post immediately, but they must do so via your Facebook account (so you need to provide them with your account details). I don’t know, this seems potentially dangerous.

I’m not really that big on Facebook. I view my blog as a sort of personal journal, and I’d prefer to have comments and conversations here so that I look back on them in future (and not lose them if/when Facebook is no longer “the” major social networking site).

Hmmm… this initially informative post turned into a bit of a rant…

Mice

Note: Sorry if you find these photos a little gross!

Mao caught a baby mouse last night. She staked out a gap between the floorboards for two hours – waiting intently for the mouse to reappear. When it did, she caught it, killed it and presented it to us:

dscf3923 (Modified in GIMP Image Editor)

When Heidi saw how small the mouse was, she noted that “if there’s one baby mouse, there’s bound to be more”. Today, Moa caught three more mice. I put them into a plastic container with an air-hole in the top:

dscf3938 (Modified in GIMP Image Editor)

I’m not sure what to do with them (or rather I don’t really want to do it). I’m fine with killings things when they are injured, but Mao brings them in alive and (generally) unharmed. On the other hand, it’s bad to release them anywhere in Australia (they’re pests in both urban and rural areas). We definitely don’t want them multiplying further.

Whoa, Mao found another one while I was writing this post! She didn’t catch it though. Blech; it’s an awful feeling knowing that there’s a mouse crawling around your house somewhere.

Update: Moa caught the forth one. I imagine that there’s probably more. Not too concerned since I don’t see them bothering us much with Mao around.
Update: Five. I also heard some giddy screaming from the neighbours – maybe they have seen mice as well.
Update: Six? Six!?! This is nuts.
Update: Seven…
Update: NINE!?! Is this for serious? Looks like some sort of infestation – but then again, Mao brings them in from outside.

Studio Ghibli films make me sleepy

I like Studio Ghibli films, but they do tend to make me sleepy (I guess they are just very relaxing).

I usually find myself drowsy and nodding off towards the end of the film. As a result, I’m generally in a half-awake state-of-mind when the meaningful big finale comes about.

ponyo

On a related note, I saw Ponyo last night at Cinema Paradiso. It was enjoyable and less heavy-handed than many other Studio Ghibli films.

MEGAPOST!!!

I tend to leave webpages open until I have a chance to get back to them, but the number of windows and tabs that I have open in Firefox is getting ridiculous.

I figured that I’d post a sort of executive summary – and then I can close everything and just refer back to this post. Here goes…

Independent Game Development (and Game Competitions):

Starting a Business:

Marketing:

Monetisation:

WordPress:

Random:

Videos:

I guess that I’ll end this oversized post with a quote from a page open in a browser tab:

“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum to the women and men to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.” – Antoine De Saint-Exupery, The Wisdom of the Sands

Best description of leadership I’ve read all day. 😀

Games I’m looking forward to playing

First the ones that I anticipate buying on release:

  • The Last Guardian (PS3)
  • God of War 3 (PS3)
  • Picross 3D (DS)
  • Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box (DS)
  • Scribblenauts (DS)
  • FEZ (PC, 360)

Now the wait-and-see games (probably pick them up on special):

  • Bayonetta (PS3, 360)
  • Heavy Rain: The Origami Killer (PS3)
  • WET (PS3, 360)
  • The Unfinished Swan (PC)
  • No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle (Wii)
  • Killzone 2 (PS3)

10 years ago this list would have been huge! Then again, I ended up playing through a bunch of pretty “meh” games. I guess that I’m getting more selective.