This blog has moved to a new location! http://iqandreas.github.com/

Monday, May 24, 2010

Calvin and Jobs

It seems like these comics have been around for a while, but considering the circumstances, I believe it to be appropriate to "rebump" them.
http://gizmodo.com/5033627/calvin-and-jobs-kick-steves-nuts

These were not made by the original Calvin and Hobbes writer Bill Watterson, but instead by MAD Magazine.

I do not hold any sort of copyright for these images at all. I wasn't satisfied with the original qualities, so I made a few quick touch ups in Gimp. Enjoy...

Calvin and Jobs - 64 Million

Calvin and Jobs - Ads

Calvin and Jobs - Bullies

Calvin and Jobs - New Clothes

Calvin and Jobs - Virtues

Calvin and Jobs - Court Practice

Calvin and Jobs - Trash

Calvin and Jobs - Pixar

June is SWF Protection and Encryption month!

Time for a themed blog month!

This June (only one week left-gasp) I will be gathering and sharing information on all things regarding SWF Protection and Encryption.


As we all know, SWFs are able to be decompiled (quite easily as well), and if you spent two months fine tuning and working on this FWA worthy site, or a really neat, new template, or perhaps a great new game, you don't want your work ripped right out from under you and replicated without your permission, control, or royalty.


If anyone has any experience with, links on, or articles written about protecting your treasured Flash work, leave a comment or send me a private message directly on this form. I'd be glad to either link to (or host if you don't have a site of your own) any information on this topic. Even information on SWF Decompiling is welcome!

Steve Jobs responds regarding Flash

"We also know first hand that Flash is the number one reason Macs crash." [...] "Perhaps Adobe should focus more on creating great HTML5 tools for the future, and less on criticizing Apple for leaving the past behind." — Steve Jobs

Finally, someone from Apple responded to war on Flash in an official statement — Mr. Steve Jobs himself! That letter can be found at http://www.apple.com/hotnews/thoughts-on-flash/

In the letter, Steve Jobs points out six main points why Flash is the enemy that has infested the Internet, and must be weeded out and slaughtered before it kills us all. Here I list the "abbreviated" version of his letter without any personal opinions or replies; I'm saving those for later.

First, there’s “Open” Adobe's products are 100% closed and proprietary. Adobe updates when THEY want to, and sets whatever prices they like. Although Apple has closed products, standards like HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript are entirely open and available to all, and therefore all work with Apple's products.

Second, there’s the “full web”. Almost all popular video on the Internet can be viewed in a newer, more modern format, H.264. Even though users cannot play flash games, there are over 50,000 applications in the App Store, and many of them are free.

Third, there’s reliability, security and performance. Symantec recently highlighted Flash for having one of the worst security records in 2009. We also know first hand that Flash is the number one reason Macs crash. We don’t want to reduce the reliability and security of our iPhones, iPods and iPads by adding Flash. In addition, Flash has not performed well on mobile devices.

Fourth, there’s battery life. Most Flash video is saved in formats which need to be decoded first; this takes up valuable battery life. On an iPhone, H.264 video can play for 10 hours until the battery dies, while most other formats only last the battery 5 hours.

Fifth, there’s Touch. Flash was designed for PCs using mice, not for touch screens using fingers. Apple’s multi-touch interface doesn’t use a mouse, and there is no concept of a rollover. Most Flash websites will need to be rewritten to support touch-based devices.

Sixth, the most important reason. Apple doesn't want any third party standing in between the developer and Apple. If Apple releases new updates, the users have to wait until the third party has updated their software to match, and are at the mercy of the third party. Although Flash is intended to be "cross-platform", Apple is very much against this thinking. Apple wants all their apps MADE FOR the iPhone or iPad, optimized with all the features available to "iProduct" developers, not available to iProducts as a "side feature".


Some of Steve Jobs arguments are a little shaky, and a lot of the time, he is pointing out a flaw in Adobe, while four fingers are pointing right back at Apple. But I'll post counter arguments and opinions on the matter another time.

This article is part 2 of 3 in the series "The Apple vs. Flash Wars"
  1. "Go screw yourself Apple" — Lee Brimelow
  2. Steve Jobs responds regarding Flash
  3. Thoughts on the Steve Jobs reply [in progress]

Sunday, May 16, 2010

The Humble Indie Bundle closed [Plus free Portal!]

See also http://iqandreas.blogspot.com/2010/05/pay-what-you-want-for-five-edit-six.html

Sadly, the Humble Indie Bundle didn't last forever, and eventually (or rather abruptly) came to a close. I wish I had found out about it sooner, and I would have been able to tell more people about it.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

[CLOSED] Pay what you want for five [edit: six] awesome games!

The Humble Indie Bundle is now closed.
For further information, see the Wolfire Games Website, or the follow up post

The Humble Indie Bundle


When World of Goo was released on the Wii (via WiiWare) I bought it nearly immediately, and it is definitely one of my favorite games of all time (still doesn't beat Portal, sorry, but it comes close)


I found this out a bit late, but luckily, not too late.

For a limited time, you can buy the following games:

Normally it would cost $80 if you bought them directly, but now you can choose what price you want to pay for these games, weather it be one penny or the full $80. All money received will be split between the developers, and in addition, two charity organizations, Electronic Frontier Foundation and Child's Play Charity.


All games are available for all three major platforms, Windows, MAC, and Linux (yeay!)

Not only that, but since the total number of donations exceeded $1,000,000 (that's one million US Dollars) Aquaria, Gish, Lugaru, and Penumbra will be releasing the sources of their games with the GNU Public license!

But hurry, if I understand correctly, the entire deal ends in 3 days and 19 hours from the time of this writing (there's a timer on their site if you don't feel like doing the math)

For more information, see their site, or this "rap informational video"


So go out and spread the word!

A Game a Week #1 - Temperature

Sammo over on the Kirupa Forums has started a new "game" (I'm really not sure what to call it) on creating games.

I'll just quote him...
Welcome to the first A Game a Week, this is an experiment inspired by 2D Boy's Experimental Gameplay Project. The idea is simple, you have one week to make a Flash game, from concept to production. You are not required to enter, it is not a contest, it is just for fun and for practice. Most importantly though; it is not a contest.

The rules are very few and very simple. The rules are:
  • You must include the FLA (or AS or even FXG if you're feeling fly) file.

  • That is all.

    This week's theme is Temperature, and the deadline is May 18, 2010.


    For more details, visit the official Kirupa thread:
    http://www.kirupa.com/forum/showthread.php?p=2553233#post2553233


    If I have enough time among all my work, I will try to get a submission in, but I tend to procrastinate, so any work will likely be done on the 17th. ;)