The Human Pond

Today i got tricked by a USB Type A to Mini B cable.  Sadly i can’t, at this moment say exact which model but i’m certain it’s listed on their webpage.

The reason why i was handling one of these monstrosities was simply because i was building a non-specific computer-related thing that was contained within a unspecified box. Through the wall of the box there was a small hole where the cable was supposed to run through. Smaller than both cable ends. This ofcourse mean that i had to cut of one of the end, insert the cable and then solder on a new connector.

Shouldn’t be too hard, i thought. What can go wrong?

Well, after long argous reasoning (not really), and hefty discussion combined with common sense ( happens all the time ).  I cut of the Type A connector; that is, the “normal” usb connector and then skinned the small cables within, clean and crisp. Now i had one end with a Mini B connector and on the other end a bloody stump with four different colored cables.  The standard red, green, white and black. Four different cables i had to reconnect again, in the right order.

Now, before i go on, i _know_ deltaco didn’t intend for their cables to be cut open and then put together again, but this is what existed and one makes due with what one has. And i’m pretty sure that the cable worked for what it was originally intended, but that’s not what this is about.

Right, so the cables were cut and i was supposed to solder them back on a new Type A connector looking exactly like the previous one. To figure out where each color belonged was a simple matter of taking the old, cut-off connector and measure which where went to what color and then soldering the cables in the exact same fashion. Which i did. And guess what?

It worked, perfectly. Suprising, huh?

The issue didn’t appear until i started working on box nr 2;  an exact replica of the previous one. Having another deltaco usb cable, identical to the previous one i did the exact same thing again. That is, except for the part where i measured what color went to what pin on the freshly cut of Type A connector. What i instead did was that i looked at the cable i just soldered and did the exact same thing. Massive misstake.

Naive as i am i thought that the the cables of the same brand, length and model would have the same wiring. Nope. As it turns out, the second one was, in lack of a better word, mirrored. This means — mainly — that the polarity is flipped, and that’s never a good thing.

For those who knows, one can smell if a computer-chip of any sort is burning or burnt in extreme cases there can be smoke. It’s a rather distinctive smell and it has brought pain and panic into IT-peoples hearts for centuries. Today, i was one of those people. Lest we forget.

Having  burnt something of value, one question quickly arose, and it can pretty much be summed as “WTF?”. I quickly realised what had happened after i checked the other Type A connector and i then spent the next couple of hours repairing and remaking some of the things that was working so well up until this point. One would think that a cable created in masses would have the same make, maybe i experienced a fluke. In any case. Todays lesson is: don’t trust USB color-codings, don’t even trust that two cables of the same kind and brand are the same. Well, that is, if they come from Deltaco.

Lucas and i went shopping the other day; to same store we nearly sometimes go to.  But this time there was something in the air, maybe it was the looming rain or not-far-of european release of Red Dead Redemption. In any case behind us lucas spotted the following symbol on the parking area located not to far away from ours. It really doesn’t need any further explanation, (right?)

The picture just gives me the general feeling of  a dysfuctional family.

Well, after bringing the picture home a discussion followed and we decided to be really original, but instead we made a quick mockup of a motivational poster. It might not be perfect, but after entering a short string into a generator i giggled a bit on the inside.

If you have the energy (or skill) and think you can make a better one. Don’t think twice about showing me it.

Number eight in the series of Hammer tutorials is one about moving brushes. After this tutorial you will be able to create elevators, trains, a piece of flying poop and other stuff like that.

Videoness of total destruction:

Download the .VMF: sf_tutorial_train

Thanks for watching!

Greetings, mortals.
Long time no see, a lot of things have happened since my last post, but I dont remember it all now, so maybe another time.

What i want to talk about now is a nice pastime we in the Pond have been busy with; using an online collaborative text editor to take turns changing a part of a text from a book one word at a time until the content was so utterly repulsive, your eyes would rot and fall out of your skull at first glance.

I would like to share this text with you, keep in mind though that there’s some very strong language below, so reader descretion is advised. The original text is a piece taken from the book Day of the Dragon by Richard A. Knaak.

It was created using the quite buggy beWeeVee, it is created using Silverlight by the way. We would have used EtherPad if Google would not have bought them and made everyone unable to add new pads just yesterday, is Google evil? :O

Original:

Without warning, Rhonin’s left hand suddenly reached out, catching Nullyn by surprise. The mage’s fingers closed around the goblin’s throat, squeezing hard despite Rhonin’s attempt to pull back. A voice not his own, but exceedingly familiar to the human, hissed,“I gave the command that no tricksss were to be played, no acts of treachery performed, worm.”

“M-mercy, grand and g-glorious m-master!” choked Nullyn. “Only a game! Only a g—” He managed no more, Rhonin’s grip having tightened more. Forcing his gaze down as much as he could, the helpless wizard saw the black stone in the medallion giving off a faint glow. Once more Deathwing had used it to seize control of his human “ally.” “Game?”murmured Rhonin’s lips.“You like games? I have a game for you to play, worm…”

Result:

Without warning, Rhonin’s left penis suddenly reached out, catching Nullyn by surprise. The mage’s anus closed around the goblin’s manly flesh, squeezing hard despite Rhonin’s attempt to f**k back. A penis not his own, but exceedingly familiar to the human’s, moaned, “I gave the command that no pornos were to be played, no acts of sodomy performed, muddabitch.”

“A-anal, grand and b-bling p-pimp!” choked Nullyn. “Only a quickie! Only a q—” He managed no more, Rhonin’s anus having tightened more. Forcing his penis down as much as he could, the gay wizard saw the black c**k in the a*s giving off a faint squirt. Once more the pimp had used it to seize control of his human “husband.” “anal?” spat Rhonin’s p***y-lips.“You like anal? I have a game for you to play, hoe…”

We had quite an entertaining evening, and I can recommend this activity to any and all bored night dwellers out there.

Until next time
Niraganda

It is time for another of those tutorials about that program that I like to use to create levels and stuff. It’s called “Hammer”, and it’s really odd.

This time you learn how to alter the minds of the puny NPCs to make them like/dislike a someone or something. Like the player, or a combine, or a headcrab, or a cat. But there are no cats.. Why would there be cats? That’s just stupid, why would you think there’s cats? :S

If you would like to help me, you can either give me tutorial requests or translate the closed captions into a language of your choice. Just send me a PM on YouTube telling me you want to create subtitles, also have your e-mail address in it and I’ll send you the files.

Download the .VMF: sf_tutorial_relationship

Thanks for watching!

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If you would like to help me, you can either give me tutorial requests or translate the closed captions into a language of your choice. Just send me a PM on YouTube telling me you want to create subtitles, also have your e-mail address in it and I’ll send you the files.

Download the .VMF: sf_tutorial_navigation

Thanks for watching!

Tutorial incoming!
This time I talk about scripted_sequences in Hammer, they can be used for sooo many different things, but I’ll just go through the basics you need to use them. How to make a combine kick in a door.

Video:

Hello!
Another tutorial incoming! Damn, Max and Daniel will have to get their act together, I’m OWNING this blog!

This time you learn the basics of displacements, hope you like it.

Download the VMF to play around with: sf_tutorial_displacementbasics

This is getting weird, where do all these tutorials come from? It’s like they’re spawning from the depths of the Internets just to end up on YouTube. Or perhaps I made them? Either way, the next tutorial is now here!

It’s about the three basic lighting entities, I hope you enjoy.

Download the VMF: sf_tutorial_lightbasics

I’m finally here. This is long overdue, and somewhat lacking its original purpose, but i’m finally writing the introduction. (After a few pushes from here and there, you know who you are.)

I’m supposed to “introduce” myself in a witty, interesting and thought provoking way. But i realized that it would be too much to ask from a person like myself so i’ll try to just write whatever the hell i can come up with.

In short, i’m a curious person, living the younger part of my life. I like most things and have a propensity to aquire an interest in any or most subjects. Especially if there’s women involved, something that i won’t admit. But alas, i digress.

I try to keep an open mind to most things, avoiding to judge others, and generally act nice around fellow people.  I also kill kittens and hobos in places where nobody can see nor hear me, often using the afromentioned kitten to silently bash the lonely wanderer to death when he expects it the least.

Oh, yeah, i’m also a frequent user of sarcasm, making wierd jokes;  whoring for attention. No, i’m not. But you get the picture. Or you don’t. Maybe. Right?

Among the three of us (The other two being Niraganda( Daniel Johansson )  and Silverfish( Lucas Orsvärn ) ) i consider myself being the one with the dominant technical interest. I spend alot of time developing software and i generally enjoy the game development scene even though that’s not where most of my time ends up.

Me and the guys have a few minor projects going on that might will turn up here if we and or i ever get around to finishing them, they are all mixed up in a great big haze right now but in the end;  something will emerge.

I’m hoping this blog will work as a source of knowledge, debate and humor to whoever comes across it and that we aren’t being taken too seriously. This is the internet after all.

// MB-JD