It is October first. It is the start of a fascinating time. Today is the
deadline for me to start programming my 3D engine in Android. The last
few months I have spent getting acquainted with Android. Testing out
several development platforms and deciding which one I will choose to
carry me into the future in Android development.
While it is mid
night and time to sleep, I cant wait to type the first line of code in a
new project that will transform over time into what I aim to be a
fantastic 3D engine, and learning so much more than what I have already.
What do you do when you know everything? You learn that you don't
until you do. As a human race, we will always be in that paradox, and
that is the best part and its fun! So let the fun begin!
Friday 30 September 2016
Friday 23 September 2016
Over a month later update
Hi,
It's been over a month later since my last update. It has been a busy time work wise but I have also realised that I have not posted much with regards to how my Android development learning is going.
Sometimes some things has to take precedence and so it did. The Android development did reduce as a result. However it is progressing towards that 3D engine.
Android Studio 2.2 has been released with a host if interesting features. The most important for me which I haven't had a chance to explore yet is the GPU debugging and improvements to its C++ support. Also the last time I talked about Android was when I was deciding whether to use Android Studio or Visual Studio for the development. I have chosen to go with Android Studio so I will discuss this first.
Google has pulled support for ADT for Eclipse and that rang some alarm bells. Visual studio relies on Cordova and Xamarin to provide the cross platform programming for Android. However given Googles recent moves I feel that Google is going to work on Android Studio as their focus and version 2.2 brings in some spectacular changes. Although at the moment I feel that Visual studio is a far superior IDE for development, I cannot see myself developing Android in it with the risk that Android Studio will be the more preferred. Android Studio also provides IntelliJ and 2.2 brings even more improvements to that. Given these odds I felt compelled to use Android Studio for Android development.
So what have I learnt for Android so far? Quite a bit. Setting up emulators, images, etc. But peering into the UI, its use of xml to make component changes. Modifying Gradle scripts. Learning the signature of the IDE that is Android Studio. By Signature I mean every IDE does something every other IDE does but in its own way, its signature. For instant "Nuget plugins" in Visual Studio versus "JetBrains" plugins in Android Studio and so forth. I had never had to use JNI in Java previously but it was an interesting experience to learn how to get two-way communication going between Java and C++ and this is just the ticket to keep the UI in Java and the heavy lifting in C++.
It is a new and fantastic experience. In many ways however the crucial of which is that it is something new to learn. We as a species thrive, and improve when there are new things to learn, to build, to go beyond what we ever thought possible. From the world being flat to setting foot on the moon. Programming for Android pales in comparison to those amazing events like sending robots to Mars, but it stands with them because its an achievement, an aim, an opportunity to produce new things. That is how I am feeling right now and it is amazing.
It's been over a month later since my last update. It has been a busy time work wise but I have also realised that I have not posted much with regards to how my Android development learning is going.
Sometimes some things has to take precedence and so it did. The Android development did reduce as a result. However it is progressing towards that 3D engine.
Android Studio 2.2 has been released with a host if interesting features. The most important for me which I haven't had a chance to explore yet is the GPU debugging and improvements to its C++ support. Also the last time I talked about Android was when I was deciding whether to use Android Studio or Visual Studio for the development. I have chosen to go with Android Studio so I will discuss this first.
Google has pulled support for ADT for Eclipse and that rang some alarm bells. Visual studio relies on Cordova and Xamarin to provide the cross platform programming for Android. However given Googles recent moves I feel that Google is going to work on Android Studio as their focus and version 2.2 brings in some spectacular changes. Although at the moment I feel that Visual studio is a far superior IDE for development, I cannot see myself developing Android in it with the risk that Android Studio will be the more preferred. Android Studio also provides IntelliJ and 2.2 brings even more improvements to that. Given these odds I felt compelled to use Android Studio for Android development.
So what have I learnt for Android so far? Quite a bit. Setting up emulators, images, etc. But peering into the UI, its use of xml to make component changes. Modifying Gradle scripts. Learning the signature of the IDE that is Android Studio. By Signature I mean every IDE does something every other IDE does but in its own way, its signature. For instant "Nuget plugins" in Visual Studio versus "JetBrains" plugins in Android Studio and so forth. I had never had to use JNI in Java previously but it was an interesting experience to learn how to get two-way communication going between Java and C++ and this is just the ticket to keep the UI in Java and the heavy lifting in C++.
It is a new and fantastic experience. In many ways however the crucial of which is that it is something new to learn. We as a species thrive, and improve when there are new things to learn, to build, to go beyond what we ever thought possible. From the world being flat to setting foot on the moon. Programming for Android pales in comparison to those amazing events like sending robots to Mars, but it stands with them because its an achievement, an aim, an opportunity to produce new things. That is how I am feeling right now and it is amazing.
Saturday 13 August 2016
Windows 10 Anniversary Update
Hope everyone is enjoying some new features in the Windows 10 Anniversary Update!
I like the changes to the start menu with the system control icons on the left edge and all my applications to its right and then the pinned items as tiles at the right hand end.
I also like the notification icon on the task bar that shows windows messages as well as showing hte Action center with icons for things like network, all settings, etc.
I don't know if this is part of the new update but I noticed that the one drive app now lets you access all your PC's files through the one drive website. All that needs to happen for this is for your PC to be on and running the Onedrive desktop app.
I like this new model by Microsoft. Lets just forget that the current iteration of windows is called Windows 10. Let's just call it simply "Windows". Now we can see the advantages of this model. "Windows" will now keep on improving with each update. More features, optimizations, support etc will make us eager to wait for each update. Something so far the Android and IOS users have been enjoying.
I like this. I like it very much!
I like the changes to the start menu with the system control icons on the left edge and all my applications to its right and then the pinned items as tiles at the right hand end.
I also like the notification icon on the task bar that shows windows messages as well as showing hte Action center with icons for things like network, all settings, etc.
I don't know if this is part of the new update but I noticed that the one drive app now lets you access all your PC's files through the one drive website. All that needs to happen for this is for your PC to be on and running the Onedrive desktop app.
I like this new model by Microsoft. Lets just forget that the current iteration of windows is called Windows 10. Let's just call it simply "Windows". Now we can see the advantages of this model. "Windows" will now keep on improving with each update. More features, optimizations, support etc will make us eager to wait for each update. Something so far the Android and IOS users have been enjoying.
I like this. I like it very much!
Saturday 9 July 2016
Mechanical keyboard by Focus Electronics from 1993, model FK-9000
Mechanical keyboard by Focus Electronics from 1993, model Key-Pro FK-9000. The keyboard that was the gamers keyboard without even trying to be one!
See the video of it at the end of this blog.
In 1993 when I was a young teen, my dad bought a computer from a company in New Zealand called PC General. At the time they only had two branches with one in Wellington and one in Christchurch. We lived in Auckland so it would not normally make sense to get a PC from Wellington, however this company had excellent reputation at the time. Turns out it was a good decision as that company flourished, and two branches in Auckland opened allowing for easier service. Mind you we had very little issues with the machine to begin with anyway. It especially helped that I was learning about computers in school and had a strong interest in electronics.
However the history of my computing isn't the focus of this post, it is what came with that first computer, is. I was used to 101 keyboards at the time as the most common IBM and compatibles AT keyboards. So when PC General were advertising their computers with the 129-key keyboard, it definitely drew attention.
The first time I used the keyboard when the computer arrived, I fell in love with it. Remember this is at a time when there were no gamer's keyboard and Wolfenstein 3D had not even been out for that long. I learn't to type properly on this keyboard, I did a lot of projects for school on this keyboard. I did a lot of assignments, projects and reports when I studied Electronics engineering from 1995-1998 on this keyboard. Of course, a lot of Doom and Quake games were won using this keyboard! My first ever experience with a 3D video game was also on this keyboard since the computer came with shareware Wolfenstein 3D. I guess that the memories and how much I loved this keyboard is the reason I still kept it. The key-switch keys felt just so good to type on! It became so addictive that when I used a keyboard at somebody's house, or at Polytechnic, I just could not wait to come home and type on my keyboard again! This keyboard, without even trying to be one, was the ultimate gamer's keyboard too!
So why did I stop using it in the first place? It got old and the key's started multi-striking when pressed once. Since then I have been on the search for mechanical key-switch keyboard but never finding one. Then when manufacturers like Razor and Logitech started making them, I could not find one that would fully replace my FK-9000. A few weeks ago I decided that nobody will make a 129 key keyboard like this one so I might as well get what is out now. So I bought the Logitech G710+ mechanical keyboard. It has 6 programmable keys not 12 like my FK-9000. It has standard 4 direction keys not 8; has no calculator on board, or oversized Enter key. But it did bring back memories of my FK-9000 so I dug it out of storage and got it working on my I7-2600 based system. The motherboard has a PS/2 connector so I used a 5-pin Din AT to PS/2 adapter and got the keyboard working. I am writing this blog on my FK-9000 and I still love this keyboard. I still love typing on it. It just feels so amazing! I will stop using this soon and put it back into storage, but I wanted to write this blog first. It will probably be the last piece of work this keyboard does either for a while, or forever.
Please see my video of this in action!
See the video of it at the end of this blog.
In 1993 when I was a young teen, my dad bought a computer from a company in New Zealand called PC General. At the time they only had two branches with one in Wellington and one in Christchurch. We lived in Auckland so it would not normally make sense to get a PC from Wellington, however this company had excellent reputation at the time. Turns out it was a good decision as that company flourished, and two branches in Auckland opened allowing for easier service. Mind you we had very little issues with the machine to begin with anyway. It especially helped that I was learning about computers in school and had a strong interest in electronics.
However the history of my computing isn't the focus of this post, it is what came with that first computer, is. I was used to 101 keyboards at the time as the most common IBM and compatibles AT keyboards. So when PC General were advertising their computers with the 129-key keyboard, it definitely drew attention.
The first time I used the keyboard when the computer arrived, I fell in love with it. Remember this is at a time when there were no gamer's keyboard and Wolfenstein 3D had not even been out for that long. I learn't to type properly on this keyboard, I did a lot of projects for school on this keyboard. I did a lot of assignments, projects and reports when I studied Electronics engineering from 1995-1998 on this keyboard. Of course, a lot of Doom and Quake games were won using this keyboard! My first ever experience with a 3D video game was also on this keyboard since the computer came with shareware Wolfenstein 3D. I guess that the memories and how much I loved this keyboard is the reason I still kept it. The key-switch keys felt just so good to type on! It became so addictive that when I used a keyboard at somebody's house, or at Polytechnic, I just could not wait to come home and type on my keyboard again! This keyboard, without even trying to be one, was the ultimate gamer's keyboard too!
So why did I stop using it in the first place? It got old and the key's started multi-striking when pressed once. Since then I have been on the search for mechanical key-switch keyboard but never finding one. Then when manufacturers like Razor and Logitech started making them, I could not find one that would fully replace my FK-9000. A few weeks ago I decided that nobody will make a 129 key keyboard like this one so I might as well get what is out now. So I bought the Logitech G710+ mechanical keyboard. It has 6 programmable keys not 12 like my FK-9000. It has standard 4 direction keys not 8; has no calculator on board, or oversized Enter key. But it did bring back memories of my FK-9000 so I dug it out of storage and got it working on my I7-2600 based system. The motherboard has a PS/2 connector so I used a 5-pin Din AT to PS/2 adapter and got the keyboard working. I am writing this blog on my FK-9000 and I still love this keyboard. I still love typing on it. It just feels so amazing! I will stop using this soon and put it back into storage, but I wanted to write this blog first. It will probably be the last piece of work this keyboard does either for a while, or forever.
Please see my video of this in action!
Saturday 25 June 2016
Long live Turbo Pascal
Ahhhh...
Sounds like I just had a relaxing cup of coffee, or perhaps Java?
Configured my Android studio to look more like my old TPW IDE. For those who do not know what TPW is, it is the IDE that came with Borland's Turbo Pascal in the 1990's
So essentially this just means finding fonts available to Android Studio that at least closely matched the fonts from Turbo Pascal. Then finding the items and changing their colours.
I have to confess that there are way too many syntax highlight-able items than there were from back then and some are useful to be differentiated from the rest. To overcome this issue I injected some extra colours but ones that are visible without eye strain hence co-exist with the Turbo pascal colours. TPW mostly had white and yellow, with green for ASM, gray for comments, etc.
Here is an image of some sample code I threw togeather:
Long Live Turbo Pascal!
Sounds like I just had a relaxing cup of coffee, or perhaps Java?
Configured my Android studio to look more like my old TPW IDE. For those who do not know what TPW is, it is the IDE that came with Borland's Turbo Pascal in the 1990's
So essentially this just means finding fonts available to Android Studio that at least closely matched the fonts from Turbo Pascal. Then finding the items and changing their colours.
I have to confess that there are way too many syntax highlight-able items than there were from back then and some are useful to be differentiated from the rest. To overcome this issue I injected some extra colours but ones that are visible without eye strain hence co-exist with the Turbo pascal colours. TPW mostly had white and yellow, with green for ASM, gray for comments, etc.
Here is an image of some sample code I threw togeather:
 | |
| Click to enlarge |
Tuesday 14 June 2016
My Hololens Experience!
On Saturday when most people are out shopping, I was experiencing a piece of amazing, cool technology. The kind that feels right out of science fiction. This is my Hololens Experience!
A friend has been working with it and invited me to have a play and I can tell you it is an experience that no amount of video recording of it can do it justice. It really has to be experienced to be appreciated. In the video I have attached below, I have made an attempt to try to best show that experience.
As you can see from the above video, what you have, firstly, is your physical space. The stuff you can touch, the real world. On top of that real world you have virtual world objects. I believe these objects are called "Holograms". For instant you could have a tree growing in the middle of an office, or an astronaut floating in office space or a dinosaur crawling on the office floor.
Lets expand on the wording above, "On top of the real world you have virtual world objects". Through the glass of Hololens, the virtual objects no longer feel like that they don't belong there. They do not feel like they are "on top" of the real world. The virtual objects actually look like they are a part of the real world! The only thing missing is the ability to touch and feel it -Hologlove perhaps? There is even a game on it and I can say that Hololens really brought that game to life. That game aside, thinking of what Hololens can do for games is mind blowing. Imagine a detective game where your living room could be your virtual office one scene, and a crime scene in another. Your sofa could be host to a clue, your coffee table holding virtual evidence. What about those "arm chair explorers"? The kind who would sit and browse through a traditional atlas, wondering what's out there. Turn your living room into a living travel guide!
The imagination is unlimited and this is where Hololens shines above just VR(Virtual reality). For one you can see where you are going so you don't bump into things. Using real space as the backdrop to overlay content. Where VR differs from augmented reality hologram based Hololens is that with VR you are completely in a virtual world. With Hololens, you bring the virtual world into the real world but only through the glasses. Both have its advantages, however I feel that Hololens has a much wider range of applications simply because of its ability to bring virtual objects into the real world space. Holo meetings, real estate applications with clients walking with you through an actual property but by sitting comfortably in their living rooms.
The future is amazing! It is a great time to be alive because you can be part of one of two groups. You can sit back and enjoy the magic that is presented to you, or, you can be part of helping develop more magic.
Hololens shows how amazing we can make our futures!
A friend has been working with it and invited me to have a play and I can tell you it is an experience that no amount of video recording of it can do it justice. It really has to be experienced to be appreciated. In the video I have attached below, I have made an attempt to try to best show that experience.
Lets expand on the wording above, "On top of the real world you have virtual world objects". Through the glass of Hololens, the virtual objects no longer feel like that they don't belong there. They do not feel like they are "on top" of the real world. The virtual objects actually look like they are a part of the real world! The only thing missing is the ability to touch and feel it -Hologlove perhaps? There is even a game on it and I can say that Hololens really brought that game to life. That game aside, thinking of what Hololens can do for games is mind blowing. Imagine a detective game where your living room could be your virtual office one scene, and a crime scene in another. Your sofa could be host to a clue, your coffee table holding virtual evidence. What about those "arm chair explorers"? The kind who would sit and browse through a traditional atlas, wondering what's out there. Turn your living room into a living travel guide!
The imagination is unlimited and this is where Hololens shines above just VR(Virtual reality). For one you can see where you are going so you don't bump into things. Using real space as the backdrop to overlay content. Where VR differs from augmented reality hologram based Hololens is that with VR you are completely in a virtual world. With Hololens, you bring the virtual world into the real world but only through the glasses. Both have its advantages, however I feel that Hololens has a much wider range of applications simply because of its ability to bring virtual objects into the real world space. Holo meetings, real estate applications with clients walking with you through an actual property but by sitting comfortably in their living rooms.
The future is amazing! It is a great time to be alive because you can be part of one of two groups. You can sit back and enjoy the magic that is presented to you, or, you can be part of helping develop more magic.
Hololens shows how amazing we can make our futures!
Friday 10 June 2016
Super Fast, Super Cool, Super Recomended Amazon and NZ Posts YouShop
On the ninth day of June 2016, YouShop delivered! That is 5 days
after leaving Portland, Oregon, USA. YouShop website continued to say
15th June but imagine my surprise! The parcel was delivered to my work
but I was not in office as I was getting my dad his chemo at hospital.
So I did not know it was delivered until in the afternoon when I got
home and checked the YouShop website which said delivered.
Here are some pictures of the delivery thanks to the YouShop Magic!
I have to confess that when Amazon indicated that they had delivered the parcel and nothing showed up on the YouShop website, I was scared. I waited a day and then emailed YouShop who were very nice about it and told me that it can take some time but to contact them if nothing shows up for 48 hours.
However once the parcel was confirmed to be in YouShop's hand, a sense of relief reached me. Firstly the parcel is now YouShop's responsibility until delivered. Secondly, if anything happens, I can deal with the local post office NZ Post (who run YouShop). Most importantly, however, was a feeling of relief that I am actually going to get my parcel now.
The YouShop site is amazing once feedback is enabled and it is these little things that make using a service very comfortable.
Recommendations after my experience:
Buy from Amazon: YES!
Use YouShop: YES! if you are having it shipped to NZ.
Both amazon and YouShop have magic. Amazon with their Supply Chain Management, and YouShop with their Freight Forwarding Supply Management amazingness.
In summary: super fast, super cool, super recommended Amazon and NZ Posts YouShop.
Here are some pictures of the delivery thanks to the YouShop Magic!
I have to confess that when Amazon indicated that they had delivered the parcel and nothing showed up on the YouShop website, I was scared. I waited a day and then emailed YouShop who were very nice about it and told me that it can take some time but to contact them if nothing shows up for 48 hours.
However once the parcel was confirmed to be in YouShop's hand, a sense of relief reached me. Firstly the parcel is now YouShop's responsibility until delivered. Secondly, if anything happens, I can deal with the local post office NZ Post (who run YouShop). Most importantly, however, was a feeling of relief that I am actually going to get my parcel now.
The YouShop site is amazing once feedback is enabled and it is these little things that make using a service very comfortable.
Recommendations after my experience:
Buy from Amazon: YES!
Use YouShop: YES! if you are having it shipped to NZ.
Both amazon and YouShop have magic. Amazon with their Supply Chain Management, and YouShop with their Freight Forwarding Supply Management amazingness.
In summary: super fast, super cool, super recommended Amazon and NZ Posts YouShop.
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