52197851
submission
cyclomedia writes:
The Decibel Kid — The artist responsible for this summer's Ipswich Zelda Map — has released a music video comprised of elements of the 1992 film Sneakers, combing electronic dance music with film geekery AND computer geekery: The software used is a MIDI controlled "video sampler" he coded himself using (brace yourselves) C#.Net and DirectX, allowing on the fly triggering and looping. A little info on the inner workings of the software can be gleamed from this early demo video on YouTube
48512855
submission
cyclomedia writes:
Over a number of years my company has managed to slowly shift from a free for all (pick a developer at random and get them to do what you want) to something resembling Agile development with weekly builds. But we still have to deal with constant incoming feature changes and requests that are expected to be included in this week's package. The upshot is that builds are usually late, not properly tested and developers get the flak when things go wrong. I suspect the answer is political but how do we make things better? One idea I had was that every time a new request comes in — no matter how small — the build gets pushed back by 24 or even 48 hours. I'd love to hear your ideas or success stories. (Unfortunately quitting is not an option)
47507023
submission
cyclomedia writes:
Switch Fringe is a relatively new not-for-profit annual music and arts festival in the UK town of Ipswich, and this year's programme features a full page map of the town with details about each venue. Unlike most other maps this one is in the form of a Zelda level. This is in part due to this year's theme "Reimagining Ipswich", that PixelH8 is coming out of semi-retirement to play a gig during the preceedings and possibly due to the fact that the map's designer — The Decibel Kid — spent too much time playing Zelda on a Gameboy Color during the first Web bubble.
27876890
submission
cyclomedia writes:
Over the past four years I've been developing a piece of software, it's related to web development and MS ASP.Net and does wonderful things like, for example output HTML5 if the users browser supports it, or HTML4 + javascript if not when creating a date input. It's a lightweight, fast, flexible framework that basically throws out all the crap and bloat that ASP.Net normally forces on you and it's been used by a good handful of websites. But I'm moving away from web contracting into music (including writing interesting software where appropriate). I could GPL it, but can't be bothered with the ongoing support that that entails. Ideally I'd want to spend a couple of months cleaning up the code and documenting it properly and then sell it as a bit of tech. Not for billions, probably for enough money to buy some boxen with buttons on for making noise. Aside from ebay, what are slashdotters recommendations?
8014226
submission
cyclomedia writes:
After what seems like an age the BBC Trust — the semi-independent body that decides what the Beeb is and isn't allowed to splash cash on — has finally given the thumbs up to the Project Canvas, er, Project. Naturally the Murdoch Empire is not too keen on an open, level playing field for internet TV as it has the potential to remove the need for the middlemen content distributors, and therefore cash from his pockets. No one is entirely sure what it is, even wikipedia only knows the rough outline. Essentially it's going to be an open IPTV standard that set top boxes and digital TVs are expected to support. Though I'm not sure what they need £120,000,000 for when we already have Media RSS.
56244
submission
cyclomedia writes:
This has been thrown around occasionaly on slashdot in the past and here's my fleshing out of the idea.
- first, start pre production soonish but hold off a few years, bring it out on the 25th anniversary of TNG.
- second, give them a decent ship that looks mean and doesnt have a barber shop onboard. preferably something akin to the sleek and fast-as-a-bastard Exelsior class
- third, show some of the dark side of the federation, TNG and DS9 occasionally allowed us a peek into dimly lit bars, spaceports and mercenary cargo ships, sure you don't need to go all the way to firefly extremes, we want it to be trek afterall
- fourth, give them a proper mission, or three over the course of the series' run, sure have monster-of-the-week episodes to get people interested but also expand on the DS9 theory of an overall plot (but at least decide in the first place what it is).
- finally, install a now older, wiser, and not at all anoying: Captain Wesley Crusher
Here's how i see it playing out in my geek brain, it just needs a few, er, important blanks filling in. the first half of the double-length pilot will see a retiring admiral picard meet up with Crusher at his ben kenobe style hut on some rocky planet somewhere. For $REASON (to do with his experiences gained whilst off with The Traveller perhaps?) starfleet have sent picard to get Crusher on board for $MISSION. They go off somewhere and get stuck up a mountain and after a reversal of fortune on TNG's "Final Mission" with picard helping him out crusher realises he now owes the old boy a favour. so he agrees to go along back to starfleet to check it out. Picard cheekily flies by the shiney new ship to bait Crusher along. and after having dinner with his mum, probably, Crusher takes on the job under certain conditions, especially that he wants a couple of his own guys on the crew (who specialise in Tactical and $SOMETHINGELSE), but not in a Maquis-on-Voyager-oh-dont-we-all-get-along-nicely- after-all way, more like Garak-and-Odo-on-Defiant way, not in uniform, not technically starfleet but under Crusher's command nontheless. For the hell of it you could throw in a bunch of rowdy often drunk klingons, instead of bloody vulcans. Crusher, being a kick ass pilot and engineering wizz will also not be entirely liked by the crew: the sexy assed Youngish ensign girl who he keeps supplanting so he can steer the ship himself (though they end up finally getting it on eventually, probably), his first officer, who's pissed that this guy just got handed a captaincy and he was overlooked despite years of butt licking and the Chief Engineer, because crusher's not only always interfering but also crashing into things.
Set them off on their $Mission, and let battle commence!
