In March of 2008, I spent 5 nights in New York City. It was a fantastic trip and I would recommend it to anyone that is any age. One of the downsides with New York City are that the hotels can be a bit pricey compared to what you may be used to. However, my in-laws recommended a fantastic little place called Hotel 31 with more reasonable prices that I would also recommend.

The Price

We found $110/night on Expedia, but since Expedia requires you to pay up front we thought we would phone and make a reservation (just in case something changed before we went). They were willing to go down to $120 from the higher price quoted on their website.

At this price, we had a room without a bathroom, but it did have a sink in the room. There is air conditioning as well.

Where Is Hotel 31 Located?

Hotel 31 is on 31st Street between Park Avenue and Lexington Avenue. It is on the south side of the street.

Overall Quality

For the price, I would say it is pretty good. We had a nice clean room that was kept clean everyday. The staff seemed very helpful when we had any contact with them.

There is an older style elevator in the place if you are concerned about doing stairs as well.

One annoyance is that there was a small fee for local or 1-800 calls. It was a flat rate, but you still expect those to be free.

What Is Nearby?

There are a few things. The 33rd Street metro station is right there. The 6 train comes through there and you can switch up trains at Grand Central Station to the north or at Union Square to the south. It doesn't take long and you can go quite aways. There are entrances on 32 street, so it is only one small city block that you have to walk as well.

Grand Central Station is 11 blocks directly north on Park Avenue. This is a typical tourist destination and a good place to catch other subway trains.

The United Nations is a few blocks east and 12 blocks north. It was a $6 cab ride from the hotel.

Just a few blocks to the west is the Empire State Building. A must see for you first time in New York.

Around 8 blocks to the southwest is Madison Square Park and the Flatiron building. Just cool to check out as you might remember it from a few movies.

On the corner of 31st and Park Avenue are two different cafes where you can get breakfast in the mornings for a reasonable price. I had eggs benedict and bagels at the cafe on the south side of the street and they were fantastic.

Post a Comment ... (3 Comments)

March was finished a couple days ago and it is time for the earnings report again.

Thoughts From My Life Traffic Stats for March 2008

March's numbers and February's numbers are in brackets.

• Page Loads: 21,599 (20,484)
• Unique Visitors: 14,029 (12,907)
• Average Uniques/Day: 452 (445)
• Lowest Uniques/Day: 299 (301)
• Highest Uniques/Day: 630 (628)

Traffic was consistent the whole month. Most of my traffic came in for the same articles as last month:

• Acer Extensa 5420 review
• Acer Extensa 5420 Black Screen On Startup
• Frets On Fire - Free Version Of Guitar Hero
• Getting Frets On Fire Working On Vista
• Getting Frets On Fire Working On XP

Still showing very strong page views are my articles on the Best Nintendo DS Homebrew and Aeroplan Versus Air Miles - Comparing Them.

I definitely need to get some new good content out there. I will be doing a few travel articles for New York. The overall New York City article was published a few days ago.

March 2008 Traffic

Thoughts From My Life Revenue

Overall, my earnings for March 2008 were $190.63. Here is the breakdown with last month's numbers in brackets.

• PayU2Blog: $10.00 ($110.00)
• Adsense: $129.26 ($94.29)
• Kontera: $40.87 ($29.67)
• LinkWorth: $10.50 ($10.50)
• Azoogle: $0.00 ($0.00)
• Commission Junction: $0.00 ($0.00)

My Adsense and Kontera set new records. Kontera smashed the old one by 33% more and almost as much for Adsense.

PayU2Blog was the biggest drop off. I didn't do some of the articles to meet this month's cutoff so they will go into next months, but I was still given a lot less articles to begin with. Not really a big deal anymore as my passive income like Adsense and Kontera have really picked up. 95% of my income was passive this month!. That is a new record as well! (Read more about Active and Passive Blog Income)

My 2 new revenue sources in Azoogle and Commission Junction haven't made a penny. I have realized that they take more work and involvement than just throwing them on your site. I thought I would at least get a couple of signups, but no luck. They are getting click throughs though, but I can see it in my statistics.

Overall, I am quite happy with the month again. I would definitely like to find some content to boost the traffic even more, but it always seems hit or miss.

Post a Comment ... (0 Comments)

Just to let everyone know, if you actually care, that I am trying out the Master Cleanse

I started yesterday and am still doing it today. It is interesting. The basic drink is as follows:

• 10 ounces of filtered water.
• 2 tablespoons B grade maple syrup.
• 2 tablespoons fresh squeeze lemon juice.
• 1/10 teaspoon of cayenne pepper.

You drink this as much as you want or just filtered water and nothing else!. The recommend taking a natural laxative like herbal tea of a salt water solution as well.

Anyhow, we'll see how I feel after a couple days.

You can find more information at the following sites:

• The Master Cleanser
• Master Cleanse on Wikipedia
• Master Cleanse Secrets

Post a Comment ... (0 Comments)

I just made my first high dynamic range photo today. It is most commonly referred to as an HDR photo or HDR image.

What Is An HDR Photo

Basically, it a single image that is made from multiple images to offer a greater range of photographic detail. The different images are usually taken with different exposure settings so that more detail may be captured in light or dark areas.

Why Would You Want HDR

It can complete a scene by filling in areas that are too dark or too light. You can also use it to make a photo look unrealistically cool by blowing out colors and making it look surreal.

The example I will show you is for filling in a scene with more details. It is a photo taken from within a house that also wants to capture scenery outside that is a lot brighter.

How To Create An HDR Photo

These are the steps I took to make my HDR image. I used Adobe Photoshop CS2.

1. You need multiple photos of the exact same scene taken at different exposure settings.
   
   My example photos are from the lobby of a bed and breakfast I was staying at. I wanted to capture the atmosphere of the lobby, but also show the view of the mountains in the distance.
   
   You can see in each of the 3 photos below, that I would either capture the mountain detail and the inside would be too dark or I would have the lobby detail and the mountains would be to bright.
   
   Note: You need to take these from a tri-pod and not have any other subjects in your photo moving. For the photos to be merged for and HDR photo, they images should be as exact as possible. A lot of cameras have a bracketing feature which helps to take different exposure levels without changing any settings between shots. Check the user guide for you camera.
   
   Inside Details Visible but Outside is Washed Out
   
   
   In Between Shot - Still Not Very Good
   
   
   Mountain Details Visible but Inside is Too Dark
   
   
2. Open up Photoshop
3. Drag and drop all 3 photos into Photoshop
4. Select File -> Automate -> Merge to HDR....
5. In the Use dropdown, select Open Files. The files you have in Photoshop should be listed. Click OK.
6. You will see a preview screen called Merge to HDR, just click OK.
7. You will now have a new file open in Photoshop that doesn't really look any better. Just save it for backup purposes. Please note, the file size will be fairly large. This is a 32 bit image with a lot of data being stored in it.
8. Select Image -> Mode -> 16 bits/channel. You will be presented with a new pop up window called HDR Conversion.
9. In the HDR Conversion window, in the Method picklist, select Local Adaptation. Click the Toning Curve and Histogram arrows to open up the Histogram if it is not showing already.
10. Manipulate the histogram.
    
    Move the bottom left and top right control points on the line in the histogram to the edges where the shadows are. You can also add more control points inside to manipulate the image for a more realistic look. For more on histogram techniques, just Google or look it up. Click OK when you are finished. It will take a few moments to do the conversion. You now have your new image and it should look a lot better.
    
    The Final Image
11. The final step (so that I could save it as a JPEG) was to select Image -> Mode -> 8 bits/channel. When you select File -> Save As you will then have the option to select the JPG or JPEG file type in the file type picklist.

This photo could have been done better, but this is a quick and dirty way of getting it done.

Summary

Creating an HDR image in this fashion takes a bit more time, but sometimes it is the only way to show the correct amount of detail in a picture. Remember, if you think you want an HDR image. Fix you camera in place, take multiple exposure shots of a scene, and then find an applcation like Photoshop to do the HDR prcoessing.

For more examples of what HDR can do, do an HDR tutorial Google search for other tutorials and search for HDR on Flickr to see some really coold examples.

Post a Comment ... (1 Comments)

I recently set up Visual C++ 2008 Express Edition and OpenGL on my Windows XP and Windows Vista computers. I had a few issues, but it is working now. I have a step by step tutorial below and also outlined some of the issues I had.

This is also a guide on just setting up your development environment on Windows for OpenGL programming. If you are like me, I am starting out doing game programming and want to add OpenGL graphics.

The OpenGL tutorials I am using are from NeHe's Website and here is a Visual C++ 2008 and OpenGL Guide I used.

Getting OpenGL to Work With Visual C++ 2008

Follow each step, unless you have already done one of these steps.

1. Install Visual C++ 2008 Express Edition

This is a free C++ IDE from Microsoft that is an excellent tool to start with, if you are interested in programming on a Windows environment.

You can find Visual C++ 2008 on the Visual Studio Express download page on Microsoft's site. It only works on Windows XP and up. If you have an older version of windows you might want to find Visual C++ 2005 and then use this Visual C++ 2005 and OpenGL tutorial.

2. Install Windows SDK for Windows Server 2008 and .NET Framework 3.5

This is the equivalent to the Windows� Server 2003 SP1 Platform SDK that Visual C++ 2005 users installed. It contains the main OpenGL libraries. You can download the Windows SDK for Windows Server 2008 and .NET Framework from the Microsoft website.

The installation will take a little while.

3. Install the GLUT Libraries

These are additional libraries that come in handy down the road. Some code samples you find may use them, so I find it best to just have them around right off the bat.

GLUT itself is a bit old, but there is another one called freeglut that is a little more actively maintained. I install both of them. Download freeglut from the freeglut SourceForge page. I download the original GLUT from Nate Robins' site.

For both downloads, unzip them and do the following:

1. Copy all the .h files into the C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v6.1\Include\GL folder. This should be glut.h, freeglut.h, freeglut_ext.h, and freeglut_std.h.
2. Copy all the .lib files into the C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v6.1\Lib folder. This should be freeglut.lib and glut32.lib.
3. Copy all the .dll files into the C:\Windows\system32 folder. This should be freeglut.dll and glut32.dll.

4. Create Your First Project

Create a project in Visual C++ with whatever name you like and set the template as Win32 Project. Click OK.

Click Next on the following screen and you will be taken to Application Settings. Check on Empty Project and then click OK. Your new project has been created.

Declare the dependencies for your project.

1. Click on Project -> [project name] Properties.
2. Expand Configuration Properties.
3. In the Configuration dropdown, select All Configurations.
4. Select Linker -> Input.
5. In the Additional Dependencies field, enter in GlU32.Lib OpenGL32.Lib freeglut.lib glut32.lib. Then click OK.

5. Create Your First Source File

I recommend a .cpp file. I recommned downloading the source code from NeHe's Lesson 2 and copying into the file you just created.

Press F7 to compile it and F5 to run it.

It should be working at this point. If not, post a comment and I will try and help out.

Problems Setting Up OpenGL and Visual C++ 2008 Express Edition

Character Set Error

When I try to compile the project, I get the following error:

------ Build started: Project: Test, Configuration: Debug Win32 ------
Compiling...
main.cpp
c:\documents and settings\neil galloway\my documents\visual studio 2008\projects\test\test\main.cpp(87) : error C2664: 'MessageBoxW' : cannot convert parameter 2 from 'const char [29]' to 'LPCWSTR'
        Types pointed to are unrelated; conversion requires reinterpret_cast, C-style cast or function-style cast
c:\documents and settings\neil galloway\my documents\visual studio 2008\projects\test\test\main.cpp(92) : error C2664: 'MessageBoxW' : cannot convert parameter 2 from 'const char [34]' to 'LPCWSTR'
        Types pointed to are unrelated; conversion requires reinterpret_cast, C-style cast or function-style cast
c:\documents and settings\neil galloway\my documents\visual studio 2008\projects\test\test\main.cpp(99) : error C2664: 'MessageBoxW' : cannot convert parameter 2 from 'const char [31]' to 'LPCWSTR'
        Types pointed to are unrelated; conversion requires reinterpret_cast, C-style cast or function-style cast
c:\documents and settings\neil galloway\my documents\visual studio 2008\projects\test\test\main.cpp(105) : error C2664: 'MessageBoxW' : cannot convert parameter 2 from 'const char [24]' to 'LPCWSTR'
        Types pointed to are unrelated; conversion requires reinterpret_cast, C-style cast or function-style cast
c:\documents and settings\neil galloway\my documents\visual studio 2008\projects\test\test\main.cpp(109) : error C2664: 'UnregisterClassW' : cannot convert parameter 1 from 'const char [7]' to 'LPCWSTR'
        Types pointed to are unrelated; conversion requires reinterpret_cast, C-style cast or function-style cast
c:\documents and settings\neil galloway\my documents\visual studio 2008\projects\test\test\main.cpp(111) : error C2664: 'MessageBoxW' : cannot convert parameter 2 from 'const char [28]' to 'LPCWSTR'
        Types pointed to are unrelated; conversion requires reinterpret_cast, C-style cast or function-style cast
c:\documents and settings\neil galloway\my documents\visual studio 2008\projects\test\test\main.cpp(147) : error C2440: '=' : cannot convert from 'const char [7]' to 'LPCWSTR'
        Types pointed to are unrelated; conversion requires reinterpret_cast, C-style cast or function-style cast
c:\documents and settings\neil galloway\my documents\visual studio 2008\projects\test\test\main.cpp(151) : error C2664: 'MessageBoxW' : cannot convert parameter 2 from 'const char [37]' to 'LPCWSTR'
        Types pointed to are unrelated; conversion requires reinterpret_cast, C-style cast or function-style cast
c:\documents and settings\neil galloway\my documents\visual studio 2008\projects\test\test\main.cpp(169) : error C2664: 'MessageBoxW' : cannot convert parameter 2 from 'const char [94]' to 'LPCWSTR'
        Types pointed to are unrelated; conversion requires reinterpret_cast, C-style cast or function-style cast
c:\documents and settings\neil galloway\my documents\visual studio 2008\projects\test\test\main.cpp(176) : error C2664: 'MessageBoxW' : cannot convert parameter 2 from 'const char [24]' to 'LPCWSTR'
        Types pointed to are unrelated; conversion requires reinterpret_cast, C-style cast or function-style cast
c:\documents and settings\neil galloway\my documents\visual studio 2008\projects\test\test\main.cpp(209) : error C2664: 'CreateWindowExW' : cannot convert parameter 2 from 'const char [7]' to 'LPCWSTR'
        Types pointed to are unrelated; conversion requires reinterpret_cast, C-style cast or function-style cast
c:\documents and settings\neil galloway\my documents\visual studio 2008\projects\test\test\main.cpp(212) : error C2664: 'MessageBoxW' : cannot convert parameter 2 from 'const char [23]' to 'LPCWSTR'
        Types pointed to are unrelated; conversion requires reinterpret_cast, C-style cast or function-style cast
c:\documents and settings\neil galloway\my documents\visual studio 2008\projects\test\test\main.cpp(241) : error C2664: 'MessageBoxW' : cannot convert parameter 2 from 'const char [34]' to 'LPCWSTR'
        Types pointed to are unrelated; conversion requires reinterpret_cast, C-style cast or function-style cast
c:\documents and settings\neil galloway\my documents\visual studio 2008\projects\test\test\main.cpp(248) : error C2664: 'MessageBoxW' : cannot convert parameter 2 from 'const char [35]' to 'LPCWSTR'
        Types pointed to are unrelated; conversion requires reinterpret_cast, C-style cast or function-style cast
c:\documents and settings\neil galloway\my documents\visual studio 2008\projects\test\test\main.cpp(255) : error C2664: 'MessageBoxW' : cannot convert parameter 2 from 'const char [27]' to 'LPCWSTR'
        Types pointed to are unrelated; conversion requires reinterpret_cast, C-style cast or function-style cast
c:\documents and settings\neil galloway\my documents\visual studio 2008\projects\test\test\main.cpp(262) : error C2664: 'MessageBoxW' : cannot convert parameter 2 from 'const char [37]' to 'LPCWSTR'
        Types pointed to are unrelated; conversion requires reinterpret_cast, C-style cast or function-style cast
c:\documents and settings\neil galloway\my documents\visual studio 2008\projects\test\test\main.cpp(269) : error C2664: 'MessageBoxW' : cannot convert parameter 2 from 'const char [41]' to 'LPCWSTR'
        Types pointed to are unrelated; conversion requires reinterpret_cast, C-style cast or function-style cast
c:\documents and settings\neil galloway\my documents\visual studio 2008\projects\test\test\main.cpp(281) : error C2664: 'MessageBoxW' : cannot convert parameter 2 from 'const char [23]' to 'LPCWSTR'
        Types pointed to are unrelated; conversion requires reinterpret_cast, C-style cast or function-style cast
c:\documents and settings\neil galloway\my documents\visual studio 2008\projects\test\test\main.cpp(358) : error C2664: 'MessageBoxW' : cannot convert parameter 2 from 'const char [42]' to 'LPCWSTR'
        Types pointed to are unrelated; conversion requires reinterpret_cast, C-style cast or function-style cast
Build log was saved at "file://c:\Documents and Settings\Neil Galloway\My Documents\Visual Studio 2008\Projects\Test\Test\Debug\BuildLog.htm"
Test - 19 error(s), 0 warning(s)
========== Build: 0 succeeded, 1 failed, 0 up-to-date, 0 skipped ==========

This can be fixed by doing the following:

1. Project -> [projectname] Properties
2. In the Configuration dropdown, pick All Configurations.
3. Expand Configuration Properties.
4. Select General.
5. Change the Character Set to be Use Multi-Byte Character Set.

The errors should go away the next time you compile.

Can't Include glaux.h

The first time I compiled, I received the following error:

------ Build started: Project: Test, Configuration: Debug Win32 ------
Compiling...
main.cpp
c:\documents and settings\neil galloway\my documents\visual studio 2008\projects\test\test\main.cpp(12) : fatal error C1083: Cannot open include file: 'gl\glaux.h': No such file or directory
Build log was saved at "file://c:\Documents and Settings\Neil Galloway\My Documents\Visual Studio 2008\Projects\Test\Test\Debug\BuildLog.htm" Test - 1 error(s), 0 warning(s)
========== Build: 0 succeeded, 1 failed, 0 up-to-date, 0 skipped ==========

This is because the glaux.h has not been added to the include folder. You can do this if you want, but the glaux.h library is old and out dated based on most user comments on the internet. A lot of the examples, especially from NeHe, do not even use the code inside it anymore. I can usually just comment out or remove the

#include 

from the code and it will be fine.

Set Up Dependencies For The Project

When the dependencies are not there, I received the following error trying to compile:

------ Build started: Project: OpenGLTest, Configuration: Debug Win32 ------
Compiling...
WinMain.cpp
Compiling manifest to resources...
Microsoft (R) Windows (R) Resource Compiler Version 6.0.5724.0
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation.  All rights reserved.
Linking...
WinMain.obj : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol _gluPerspective@32 referenced in function "void __cdecl ReSizeGLScene(int,int)" (?ReSizeGLScene@@YAXHH@Z)
WinMain.obj : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol __imp__glLoadIdentity@0 referenced in function "void __cdecl ReSizeGLScene(int,int)" (?ReSizeGLScene@@YAXHH@Z)
WinMain.obj : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol __imp__glMatrixMode@4 referenced in function "void __cdecl ReSizeGLScene(int,int)" (?ReSizeGLScene@@YAXHH@Z)
WinMain.obj : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol __imp__glViewport@16 referenced in function "void __cdecl ReSizeGLScene(int,int)" (?ReSizeGLScene@@YAXHH@Z)
WinMain.obj : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol __imp__glHint@8 referenced in function "int __cdecl InitGL(void)" (?InitGL@@YAHXZ)
WinMain.obj : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol __imp__glDepthFunc@4 referenced in function "int __cdecl InitGL(void)" (?InitGL@@YAHXZ)
WinMain.obj : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol __imp__glEnable@4 referenced in function "int __cdecl InitGL(void)" (?InitGL@@YAHXZ)
WinMain.obj : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol __imp__glClearDepth@8 referenced in function "int __cdecl InitGL(void)" (?InitGL@@YAHXZ)
WinMain.obj : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol __imp__glClearColor@16 referenced in function "int __cdecl InitGL(void)" (?InitGL@@YAHXZ)
WinMain.obj : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol __imp__glShadeModel@4 referenced in function "int __cdecl InitGL(void)" (?InitGL@@YAHXZ)
WinMain.obj : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol __imp__glEnd@0 referenced in function "int __cdecl DrawGLScene(void)" (?DrawGLScene@@YAHXZ)
WinMain.obj : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol __imp__glVertex3f@12 referenced in function "int __cdecl DrawGLScene(void)" (?DrawGLScene@@YAHXZ)
WinMain.obj : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol __imp__glBegin@4 referenced in function "int __cdecl DrawGLScene(void)" (?DrawGLScene@@YAHXZ)
WinMain.obj : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol __imp__glTranslatef@12 referenced in function "int __cdecl DrawGLScene(void)" (?DrawGLScene@@YAHXZ)
WinMain.obj : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol __imp__glClear@4 referenced in function "int __cdecl DrawGLScene(void)" (?DrawGLScene@@YAHXZ)
WinMain.obj : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol __imp__wglDeleteContext@4 referenced in function "void __cdecl KillGLWindow(void)" (?KillGLWindow@@YAXXZ)
WinMain.obj : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol __imp__wglMakeCurrent@8 referenced in function "void __cdecl KillGLWindow(void)" (?KillGLWindow@@YAXXZ)
WinMain.obj : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol __imp__wglCreateContext@4 referenced in function "int __cdecl CreateGLWindow(char *,int,int,int,bool)" (?CreateGLWindow@@YAHPADHHH_N@Z)

MSVCRTD.lib(crtexe.obj) : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol _main referenced in function ___tmainCRTStartup
C:\devkitPro\projects\OpenGLTest\Debug\OpenGLTest.exe : fatal error LNK1120: 19 unresolved externals
Build log was saved at "file://c:\devkitPro\projects\OpenGLTest\Debug\BuildLog.htm"
OpenGLTest - 20 error(s), 0 warning(s)
========== Build: 0 succeeded, 1 failed, 0 up-to-date, 0 skipped ==========

To set up OpenGL dependencies for a project, refer to the declaring the dependencies section in Create You First Project section above.

That should fix the problem, try recompiling now.

Change the Application Type

I have also experienced the following error when I compile:

------ Build started: Project: OpenGLTest, Configuration: Debug Win32 ------
Linking...
MSVCRTD.lib(crtexe.obj) : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol _main referenced in function ___tmainCRTStartup
C:\devkitPro\projects\OpenGLTest\Debug\OpenGLTest.exe : fatal error LNK1120: 1 unresolved externals
Build log was saved at "file://c:\devkitPro\projects\OpenGLTest\Debug\BuildLog.htm"
OpenGLTest - 2 error(s), 0 warning(s)
========== Build: 0 succeeded, 1 failed, 0 up-to-date, 0 skipped ==========

This was caused by not picking the right application type when I created the project. In this example, I chose Win32 Console Application at the startup. To change it, I did the following:

1. Click on Project -> [project name] Properties.
2. Expand Configuration Properties.
3. In the Configuration dropdown, select All Configurations.
4. Select Linker -> System.
5. Change the Subsystem field to be Windows (in the case it was Console or try the opposite if it already is Windows). Click OK.

Post a Comment ... (78 Comments)

While writing my OpenGL and Visual Studio Express 2008 article, I had a number of times where I wanted to include source code or error logs from the compiler. These are large sections of code that I want to display exactly as they printed out.

The problem with HTML, is that browsers will not render consecutive spaces, line breaks, and other information unless it is written as an HTML tag. So it doesn't look the same as you typed it in. It won't keep the text formatting in HTML.

I found a solution to the problem however...the pre tag. Just encapsulate your text with this and it will display exactly how you want it. Multiple spaces, new lines, and whatever else. The pre tag will preserve text formatting for you!

One problem I found is the the pre tag would not word wrap or line wrap by default. This can be fixed in your CSS style sheet for the page.

This link is where I found the solution: Forcing Long Text Lines To Wrap.

This is the code I added to my CSS file to make it work:

pre {
white-space: -moz-pre-wrap; /* Mozilla, supported since 1999 */
white-space: -pre-wrap; /* Opera 4 - 6 */
white-space: -o-pre-wrap; /* Opera 7 */
white-space: pre-wrap; /* CSS3 - Text module (Candidate Recommendation) http://www.w3.org/TR/css3-text/#white-space */
word-wrap: break-word; /* IE 5.5+ */
}

Try it out for yourself to see how well it works.

Post a Comment ... (0 Comments)

What a wonderful country we live in...right? Well, I woke up today to quite a sight. Calgary is getting bucketed on with snow right now. My wife's normal 20 minute drive to work is now at 2 hours and she just pulled into the parking lot at her school and got stuck. She opened her door to step out and the door was pushing snow.

Apparently everything is severely backed up, people are turning around on hills and off ramps and driving back down them. City is at a stand still.

I'm staying put for a bit, but will try to head in later. My truck is useless on hills when the whether is like this (and I have to go up one to get to work). Anyhow, here are a few snapshots from our house.

The Street Sign on the Corner Looking South West


Cars On The Street


Out the Kitchen Window Looking South


Out Our Back Window

Post a Comment ... (3 Comments)

I think I found one of my new favourite games and I can't believe it has taken me this long. Twin Isles is an excellent homebrew game for the Nintendo DS. It has the basic gameplay from the original Civilization (in my opinion).

I have added it to my Best Nintendo DS Homebrew list, just after Warcraft Tower Defense. Twin Isles is by far the most commercial feeling game I have played yet from the homebrew community.

The graphics are clear, there are sound effects, some decent background music, a tech tree, a dozen or so structure that may be built, in game tips (which can be disabled, and just fun to play.

I definitely recommend playing it if you were ever a fan of the Civilization series. The game has a number of great features:

• Free Play Mode where you can just practice by your self.
• Versus CPU to challenge a computer opponent. First to 100,000 population or destroy the other island.
• Scenarios where you have to complete a specific task. i.e. Grow the population to 500 before the time runs out.
• Save your game! If you have SRAM on your homebrew cart.
• Save your replay. You can watch your game. Same SRAM requirement.
• Nice menu system with more options to turn off music and sound.

The game has a very polished feel. Everything from the sound, menus, and help system would make you think it is a commercial game.

The game was written and available from h4ck3r's homepage. Just look down the page for the Twin Isles section.

What Does It Look Like?

The graphics are simple, yet very crisp and well put together. Here are some Twin Isles screenshots. The first is the main game screen during play, the second is the buildings list, then the technology tree, and last is the in game tool tips that you can turn off if you want.

Gameplay	Buildings
Tech Tree	Tips

Getting It To Run

It was very simple to get running since there is no file access needed in the game.

My Hardware

I have Nintendo DS Lite (NDSL) with a Supercard Lite and Super Key. The Supercard Lite takes a microSD card for memory storage. I use the 1GB Kingston microSD.

Getting Twin Isles Running

I am just writing about what I had to do to get it working for myself. If you have any suggestions or instructions for other hardware, let me know. I will post it and put a link to a site for you with whatever keywords you want in this article.

Instructions for NDSL, Supercard Lite, Super Key

1. Download the latest version of Twin Isles from h4ck3r.net. I personally downloaded Twin Isles Second Release.

   He provides it as a zip file so you will need a program to unpack it if you aren't running Windows XP and higher.

2. In the zip file is the file twinisles.nds. Copy this into a folder of your memory card.
3. Boot your NDS and load the file twinisles.nds.
4. Enjoy!

There are more instructions throughout the game as pop up tips that work very well. Remember, they don't pause the game when they come up though.

Problems

I have had no technical major technical problems with this game yet. The only noticeable problem is when running the game in an emulator, the tech tree doesn't display right until you move it slightly to one side.

Post a Comment ... (0 Comments)

It has been busy that last little while. Some of the reason I haven't posted much (other than just being lazy). The other thing I was working on this weekend was my taxes. I still have a few pieces of information I need to collect before I get them finished off by my tax person.

Anyhow, if you live in Canada and didn't remember, taxes must be done by the end of the month.

Post a Comment ... (0 Comments)

Unbelievable!

This the game I would love to see come to the Nintendo DS. StarCraft is one of my favorite real time strategy (RTS) games of all time. There were rumours of it coming to the DS, but is has never been announced by Blizzard and I can't imagine them doing it now.

Anyhow, a group of guys did a "proof of concept" for the game. I downloaded it from the StarLite download page. Unfortunately, they have already been shut down by Blizzard I have heard, so this will be as far as it goes I suppose.

Watch the video, this is how the downloadable version plays exactly.

Post a Comment ... (3 Comments)