FUNside

After spending some time with AS3 (almost a year) I can now make that (weird) statement. For those that have no idea what I’m talking about, let me make a brief introduction:

Flash, the major player in online rich-media, started as an animation-drawing tool and not a platform for full-blown apps. It took years of effort from the software developers to get rid of its ancestry - and all those years actionscript sat on top of the drawing platform, more in an assisting role rather than a proper scripting language. But now it’s a reality. It has a learning curve over the previous actionscript 2 and that is frustrating at first but it’s all for the best.

Experienced programmers appreciate the new syntax and object oriented structure, bringing the platform up to date with other “proper” scripting environments. But for the non-coders the new structure just seems more logical. And although you can do most of the things you want with AS2, noone can deny the fact that AS3 is waaay faster.

That fact made (finally) possible the implementation of 3D graphics in flash. A series of engines have been created for flash, nowhere near software 3D engines but it’s a start…

Here comes the show off part so feast your eyes with some 3D goodness:

More resources on Flash 3D:

• http://drawlogic.com/category/3d-engines/
• http://blog.papervision3d.org/
• http://blog.alternativaplatform.com/en/
• http://papervision2.com/
• http://www.cs54.com/blog/?cat=15

I envy the new developers that start learning AS3 straight away. They don’t have the baggage of the previous experience of the more limited previous versions of Flash. But it’s a state of mind I guess to simply discard the past and embrace the possibilities of the future.

The other day I was looking into Processing (actually I was reading the blog of Felix Turner and stumbled on it)…

Processing is an open source programming language and environment for people who want to program images, animation, and interactions…

Hmm, that sounds interesting. Even more interesting are the examples I found from Robert Hodgin and Lennyjpg:

To top that Processing has supporter developers that have integrated OpenGL textures and GPU-accelerated effects (GLGraphics) as well as connect it with Sunflow, a ray tracer written in Java (P5Sunflow).

Looking through the structure I can’t say it’s anything groundbreaking. The coding part is pretty standard. I’d even go as far as saying that Flash 3D is probably more promising (although it is meant to be on the same level as C++, with which there is no comparison really…)

Hopefully I’ve given you enough insight to check it out yourselves. If you want to experiment with graphics in Java (and I can’t stretch the word “experiment” enough), this is a good environment for you to start playing

Voila:

Yes, I did it. I made a movie comparison with the Matrix. I always detested when an action movie was compared with the Matrix but I think that enough time has passed and bullet-time could be cool again…

“Wanted” doesn’t even try to replicate its predecessors. I think the director understands the essence of what made those movies a success and doesn’t try to follow any specific recipe of success.

But the general outline is the same: Take a normal human with an ordinary life and seconds-thoughts about the meaning of his existence and put him trough a mind expanding journey. From there on, it has the bullet time and all the stunt work of the Matrix and the brutality and self-narration of Fight Club.

Generally, I applaud these kinds of stories because they help all us with the 9-5 lives make a reality check and consider that there could be something different out there. And although I like the attitude I don’t think that this movie will change anything in the common people minds.

Don’t forget that both the Matrix and Fight Club are already a decade old - and what has changed since then? But this is not the point. The movies are created to entertain - and if they have underlying criticism about society all the better but that’s just an artist’s voice against the world.

In the end all that remains is the visual impact (which was outstanding in this movie) and the joy it brought to the masses (I have a feeling it will go well there too). I kinda got bored seeing each bullet being stopped by another bullet (yeah right…) and I have a few other objections like the one dimensional characters of the fraternity, but the good certainly overthrow the rest:

Good performances from the actors, natural blending of the special effects, a screenplay with a fine balance between the action and story telling and a realistic ending that is satisfactory.

I would recommend this movie simply because its a notch above other action movies you can see at cinemas these days, but if you also want to get into a self-realization experience it would indeed be what you’re looking for…

I’m always keen to blog about games that have a unique approach in their presentation and are aiming to provide the user with an experience rather than a stress reliever.

When I first came across Flow (as a Japanese release) it seemed mysterious, dreamy and out of this world. I’m pretty sure this was the intended image the creators wanted the game to project. After playing it all the way through though I can say it’s pretty straight forward - a unique but simple game.

Here you can see an extended walkthrough of the game, which includes almost everything you will do with the game:

I certainly don’t want to start negative comments but having an 8 min vid summing up the whole experience is pretty embarrassing. The game does VERY WELL what it’s title is, setting up a floating universe but other than that its a stale environment where nothing really changes throughout the game… You will get to control half a dozen cell-sized “creatures” which you can size up to a multi-cell form by eating other creatures - and that’s it. So, gameplay-wise don’t expect too much.

To be honest games like these are ment to be this way. Having real challenges and a morphing scenario my alienate a group of people that simply want one easily to absorb experience. And people of older ages, that will most likely play this game, don’t have much time to get immersed in a real full-blown universe…

I loved paying this game right before I went to bed because it was calming and I didn’t have to strain myself to complete achievements. It was a doorway to dreamland (for real) and for that I will always keep it dear to my heart

Read other reviews of this game

“When will the day come that I can make enough money from my blog to leave my stupid-ass job!”

Isn’t that the secret hope of every blogger? There are of course some popular blogs out there but the reality is that it’s hard to build steady traffic that will generate enough income from the ads displayed on your blog.

As an alternative, a blogger can be hired to write for a specific product and get paid for the article. This is all in the sphere of viral advertising and aims in producing a word of mouth effect that will advertise the product without the use of (expensive) traditional media.

Many services have been created to establish relationships between bloggers and advertisers. I had the chance to try a couple of them as an advertiser (since I release a few products a year), and had a first hand experience how things work.

Sponsored Reviews
Very pleased with this service. It has an easy to use interface, top notch bloggers participate although there is a wide range in the prices. Partly here applies the usual “you buy what you pay for”.

ReviewMe
Didn’t make any impression to me, positive or negative. The service works great but their blog pool isn’t as refined as the one at Sponsored Reviews. Used it once then quit.

Social Spark
This has more of a social network feel than any of the other services mentioned here. It’s relatively new and got into it recently. They have custom terms like “spark” and “prop” and to be honest I’ve already got tired of hearing those words over and over again. This service has more controlled payouts for bloggers but potentially offers greater volume of work.

Pay-per-post
Never used it, never seen someone else use it - just mentioning it because I found the website.

Making money through your blog is a worthy effort, especially if you keep high standards for your work. That way you’ll be making a living while having quality content to show-off and your integrity intact.