23 Jun 2013
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blog
Kerbal Space Program is a) the game NASA should have made long ago and b) something that should be in every classroom. The game centers largely around two modes: build a spaceship out of somewhat realistic parts (rockets, fuel tanks, solar panels, crew pods, etc.), and then attempt to launch your rocket into space, where you can orbit your planet, travel elsewhere, perform a spacewalk or whatever you’d like. The only failure state is crashing (or your rocket exploding from poor design or overheating), and goals are whatever you decide.
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18 Jun 2013
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blog
Last week I went on a bit of a road trip of California, starting with a three day hike through the Sierras. My friend Janet and I had a little experience with odd hikes as kids but it’d been a fair while since we’d done any long treks, especially overnight, so oddly we decided to do a somewhat strenuous 30 mile hike over the course of three days. My dad had recommended it as one of his favourite hikes in the Mammoth area, and he’d mentioned something about hot springs, so we were sold.
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22 Apr 2013
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blog
A while ago I saw amBX online, a lighting system for your computer that changes colours depending what is on screen. Kind of cool but not really necessary. However, after receiving my Phillips Hue lights, I wondered if I could hack together the same thing.
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04 Apr 2013
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blog
Once a quarter, we hold an ‘Innovation Week’ at Sonos, where employees are mostly free to take a break from their regularly assigned work and make something cool that’s Sonos related. Sometimes these hacks can make it into future products or software releases, sometimes they are more funny than useful, sometimes they end up not even seeing the light of day (a week isn’t a very long time it turns out!). For me it’s a great way to put my rusting programming skills to use and learn a thing or two while I’m at it.
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09 Jan 2013
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blog
There are plenty of video games that match the bullet points on an imagined box for Hotline Miami. Plenty of senseless killing, fast action, gratuitous violence - it sounds like just another game action game, so why does it feel so different? It’s hard to rave about the game without using phrases that are so overused they just sound generic (heart-pounding, gripping), but I think they are accurate.
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