Anyone used to Java will probably feel right at home. Most of the concepts seem to be there as well as some taken from PHP; Like the ability to assign default values to a function parameter and the foreach loop which is just lovely.

The reason why i’m looking at XNA is because of a mandatory course i’m taking at BTH. Otherwise i probably wouldn’t be looking at it in fear of closing myself into an environment i don’t like.

I’m not going to go as far as recommending XNA and C#. But, if you’re for some unknown reason forced into it, i guess you could be worse off.

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.

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.

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

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!

But the cure is here, simply watch this video below and we guarantee your need will be gone in no time. If you would still not be satisfied, just comment below and tell us about it and our trained experts (me) will help you as soon as they can.
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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!

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