I found an excellent browser based MMO called Fallen Sword-
I didn't think just HTML and PHP could pull off a game that is very fun but they have done it. Best of all it is expansive, offers many features, and is free. Plus it is easy to jump in and jump out of the game, making it a great game for more casual players like myself.
Check out http://www.huntedcow.com/ , they make quiet a few BB games, all of them look pretty good.
A Southwestern adventurer striking out into the badlands of the Midwest for fun, profit, and for a wife who wouldn't move back to the Southwest :)
Monday, November 24, 2008
AQ Thanks Iran for Its Support
I know many in the left don't want to link Iran and Al Qaeda, but AQ doesn't seem to have such a problem.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/3506544/Iran-receives-al-Qaeda-praise-for-role-in-terrorist-attacks.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/3506544/Iran-receives-al-Qaeda-praise-for-role-in-terrorist-attacks.html
Saturday, November 22, 2008
DARPA to Develop SKYNET
Remember the movie the Terminator? SKYNET was the AI in charge of Norad that decided that ALL humans were a threat, not just America's enemies, and thus started a nuclear war to try to rid the world of humans.
Well it looks like DARPA is trying to build SKYNET. Heck, you could even have this Slashdotted article as a movie prolog leading up to the early days before SKYNET.
Read onward here-
And for some fun reading to prep you for the release of Terminator 4: Salvation, click on the image above to take you to a site that has some great writing based on the original Terminator Movie.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Basic: Adding JavaScript Confirmations to an ASP.Net Button
Adding Javascript generated confirmations to your ASP.Net buttons is easy, but I always seem to forget how to do and my first and second guesses are usually wrong. So instead of using google to find the answer next time, I will use google in a new way (my blog) to store the answer. Ok here goes.
btnCancel.Attributes.Add ( "onclick",
"javascript:if(confirm('" + CancelMessage + "')){do stuff;return true;}else{return false;}" );
Not All Mysteries Have Been Solved
Scientist find a new species of dolphin in Australia
http://www.cryptomundo.com/cryptozoo-news/new-dolphin-oz/
Also, check out cryptomundo.com, it is a great site, and they post new species discoveries, weird sightings of creatures, and other oddities that bring a little mystery back into our digital age.
http://www.cryptomundo.com/cryptozoo-news/new-dolphin-oz/
Also, check out cryptomundo.com, it is a great site, and they post new species discoveries, weird sightings of creatures, and other oddities that bring a little mystery back into our digital age.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
The ACLU Lost One, Let's Hope The Trend Continues
The ACLU in my book is pretty much an enemy of the state, which is a shame, because they should be providing a needed service to protect people's rights rather then be involved in societal transformation.
Anyway, they lost a court battle. Excellent.
http://www.theindychannel.com/news/17999573/detail.html
Anyway, they lost a court battle. Excellent.
http://www.theindychannel.com/news/17999573/detail.html
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Campaign Coverage Leans Left: Suprise!!!
One major newspaper admits it, but without appology.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/07/AR2008110702895.html
After all, when you are on the side of righteousness, who dares question you? [sarcasm]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/07/AR2008110702895.html
After all, when you are on the side of righteousness, who dares question you? [sarcasm]
File This Under...We Will Think About It Later
This is one example of many of the types of things that pop up on the radar from time to time that just doesn't fit into a secular humanist's world view. So how do our secular humanist scholarly scientist types deal with this stuff? Dismiss, deny, forget.
Prayer Helps with Fertility-
http://www.obgyn.net/newsrx/womens_health-Fertility-20011018-16.asp
Prayer Helps with Fertility-
http://www.obgyn.net/newsrx/womens_health-Fertility-20011018-16.asp
Breakthrough: Organs Grown to Order
Look like they can grow replacement organs in a lab now. Drudgereport.com posted three links. Check 'em out.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/3479613/British-doctors-help-perform-worlds-first-transplant-of-a-whole-organ-grown-in-lab.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-wellbeing/health-news/the-medical-miracle-1024576.html
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article5183686.ece
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/3479613/British-doctors-help-perform-worlds-first-transplant-of-a-whole-organ-grown-in-lab.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-wellbeing/health-news/the-medical-miracle-1024576.html
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article5183686.ece
Monday, November 17, 2008
Silverlight vs. Flash...Silverlight 3 May End The Battle
I like Flash, though I've only used it to do progressive video streaming and a few other minor text spins on a page. I don't like Flash's IDE. Flex's eclipse might be better, but I did one check of it and it didn't offer full intellisense (even though it is advertised as such), so at the time I decided to back burner learning Flex.
Well, I'm glad I did. Flash 10 supports quasi 3D, but it looks like Silverlight will support full 3D. Read towards the end of Scott Guthrie's Blog here-
http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2008/11/16/update-on-silverlight-2-and-a-glimpse-of-silverlight-3.aspx
Very signifigant. I've been looking for the holy grail platform to do browser based game development for a long time. Flash works, but you have to hack at it. And you don't get true 3D. MAYBE, just MAYBE, Silverlight 3 will be the killer web game app, as well as business RIA creator, that I've been waiting for.
After Christmas it is time to start diving in to Silverlight.
Well, I'm glad I did. Flash 10 supports quasi 3D, but it looks like Silverlight will support full 3D. Read towards the end of Scott Guthrie's Blog here-
http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2008/11/16/update-on-silverlight-2-and-a-glimpse-of-silverlight-3.aspx
Very signifigant. I've been looking for the holy grail platform to do browser based game development for a long time. Flash works, but you have to hack at it. And you don't get true 3D. MAYBE, just MAYBE, Silverlight 3 will be the killer web game app, as well as business RIA creator, that I've been waiting for.
After Christmas it is time to start diving in to Silverlight.
Labels:
Flash,
Game Development,
Silverlight,
Web Development
Monday, November 10, 2008
Access Stored Proc Output Parameters in a SQL Data Source
The following Blog sheds light on how to access an Stored Proc output parameter from a SQL Data Source.
http://www.velocityreviews.com/forums/t86158-re-how-to-retrieve-an-output-parameter-using-sqldatasource-control.html
http://www.velocityreviews.com/forums/t86158-re-how-to-retrieve-an-output-parameter-using-sqldatasource-control.html
Saturday, November 08, 2008
Some JavaScript Plugins/Code Worth Checking Out
I can't vouch for these, but over the course of the last few months the following links have shown up on my RSS radar, and they look promising. Take a look for yourself.
Spin JS, which turns textboxes into clickable number up and number down boxes-
http://acidmartin.wemakesites.net/?pageId=SpinBoxJs
A Javascript Graph Plotting Tool-
http://www.jslab.dk/plottool.htm
A jQuery based Color Picker-
http://acko.net/dev/farbtastic
Easy Google Map Marker Creation-
http://ajaxian.com/archives/google-maps-utilities-for-creating-markers-and-loading-kml
Javascript/PayPal supported Simple Shopping Cart
http://www.thewojogroup.com/2008/10/simplecartjs-paypal-e-commerce-in-minutes/
Another Javascript Table Sorter
http://www.leigeber.com/2008/11/javascript-table-sorter/
CSS Menus
http://lwis.net/free-css-drop-down-menu/
Thanks to Ajaxian and Web Resources Depot (see sidebar under useful links) for making me aware of these resources.
Spin JS, which turns textboxes into clickable number up and number down boxes-
http://acidmartin.wemakesites.net/?pageId=SpinBoxJs
A Javascript Graph Plotting Tool-
http://www.jslab.dk/plottool.htm
A jQuery based Color Picker-
http://acko.net/dev/farbtastic
Easy Google Map Marker Creation-
http://ajaxian.com/archives/google-maps-utilities-for-creating-markers-and-loading-kml
Javascript/PayPal supported Simple Shopping Cart
http://www.thewojogroup.com/2008/10/simplecartjs-paypal-e-commerce-in-minutes/
Another Javascript Table Sorter
http://www.leigeber.com/2008/11/javascript-table-sorter/
CSS Menus
http://lwis.net/free-css-drop-down-menu/
Thanks to Ajaxian and Web Resources Depot (see sidebar under useful links) for making me aware of these resources.
Labels:
Javascript,
Web Development,
Widgets and Plugins
Auto Ajaxify A Static Web Page
Ajaxifying a web page by just dropping a javascript class onto the page? Sound to good to be true? It probably is, but the author seems to have allowed for exceptions by including the ability to create rules for the javascript class.
Looks worth checking out-
http://www.bydust.com/examples/com.bydust.ajax/
Source: http://www.webresourcesdepot.com/
Looks worth checking out-
http://www.bydust.com/examples/com.bydust.ajax/
Source: http://www.webresourcesdepot.com/
Thursday, November 06, 2008
So I won't forget this the double split
coming back and editing this later. nothing that anyone couldn't figure out on their own, just something I bump into, here for ref
declare @p_value_rows as varchar(300)
set @p_value_rows = '234f~asd4adsfa~0dfsg'
SELECT
SUBSTRING(value_desc,0,CHARINDEX('~',value_desc))
, SUBSTRING(value_desc,CHARINDEX('~',value_desc)+1,LEN(value_desc) - CHARINDEX(value_desc,'~'))
FROM [db splitter function here](@p_value_rows, '')
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
Obama Wins
Sighs...
Well, the dems have the white house. I will try to be positive. Some good things I saw.
1) High voter turn out. A good sign, I hope the trend continues.
2) All in all things were civil.
3) A Minority is elected President. That is a good sign that America, for the most part, is moving beyond skin color and ethnicity in judging and individual.
Enjoy your victory democrats, both in the presidency and in various other offices. I and many others will be watching.
Well, the dems have the white house. I will try to be positive. Some good things I saw.
1) High voter turn out. A good sign, I hope the trend continues.
2) All in all things were civil.
3) A Minority is elected President. That is a good sign that America, for the most part, is moving beyond skin color and ethnicity in judging and individual.
Enjoy your victory democrats, both in the presidency and in various other offices. I and many others will be watching.
Monday, November 03, 2008
Work Begins On A River UUV
Check out ARES blog for info about a new river patrol unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV).
http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/blogs/defense/index.jsp?plckController=Blog&plckScript=blogScript&plckElementId=blogDest&plckBlogPage=BlogViewPost&plckPostId=Blog%3a27ec4a53-dcc8-42d0-bd3a-01329aef79a7Post%3aab9fb812-1470-4983-ae14-687b08d9ebd0
http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/blogs/defense/index.jsp?plckController=Blog&plckScript=blogScript&plckElementId=blogDest&plckBlogPage=BlogViewPost&plckPostId=Blog%3a27ec4a53-dcc8-42d0-bd3a-01329aef79a7Post%3aab9fb812-1470-4983-ae14-687b08d9ebd0
Next Administration Needs to Spend A Lot On Defense
Great article on the future defense spending. Think the dems, if elected, can rise to the challenge?
Restocking_For_Another_Decade_Of_War_Part_One
Restocking_For_Another_Decade_Of_War_Part_One
Georgia Leaves the CIS
Georgia decided it hasn't had enough @ss whipping by the Russians, and has decided to leave the Commonwealth of Independant States.
http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Analysis_Georgia_leaves_the_CIS_999.html
http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Analysis_Georgia_leaves_the_CIS_999.html
Metal Returns to Iraq
Yes, Heavy Metal is back in Iraq. A good sign for any nation.
http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/2008-10-29-iraq-heavy-metal_N.htm
http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/2008-10-29-iraq-heavy-metal_N.htm
Libya Offers Russia A New Base
Sensing U.S. Weakness, Libya decides it can now cozzy up to Russia.
http://www.spacewar.com/reports/
Libya_offers_to_host_Russian_military_base_report_999.html
http://www.spacewar.com/reports/
Libya_offers_to_host_Russian_military_base_report_999.html
Sunday, November 02, 2008
Saving XML to SQL and the Dreaded Parse Error
I recently at work tried to save an XML string to SQL Server 2005 and I kept getting the following error...
XML parsing: line 1, character 38, unable to switch the encoding
Turns out the solution was to just change the paramter datatype that I'm passing to the stored proc to a varchar (even though the stored proc expects XML) and the problem goes away and data is saved fine. Example of the parameter I passed to the stored proc-
SqlParameter p_xml = new SqlParameter ();
p_xml.ParameterName = "@p_xml";
p_xml.SqlDbType = SqlDbType.VarChar;
p_xml.Value = "your xml string";
The issue has to do with my string XML being UTF-8 based, and SQL 2005 wanting UTF-16. The above hack fixes the issue, and you can still pass UTF-16 based XML and the varchar handles that as well.
Credit for the fix goes to Bob Beauchemin at this link-
http://bytes.com/forum/thread498342.html
XML parsing: line 1, character 38, unable to switch the encoding
Turns out the solution was to just change the paramter datatype that I'm passing to the stored proc to a varchar (even though the stored proc expects XML) and the problem goes away and data is saved fine. Example of the parameter I passed to the stored proc-
SqlParameter p_xml = new SqlParameter ();
p_xml.ParameterName = "@p_xml";
p_xml.SqlDbType = SqlDbType.VarChar;
p_xml.Value = "your xml string";
The issue has to do with my string XML being UTF-8 based, and SQL 2005 wanting UTF-16. The above hack fixes the issue, and you can still pass UTF-16 based XML and the varchar handles that as well.
Credit for the fix goes to Bob Beauchemin at this link-
http://bytes.com/forum/thread498342.html
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