Oct062010

Savin’ money on Apple gear

I’ve been toiling away for the past four months on my faithful 3 year-old Gateway NX100X, but it’s soooo slooooow and really wasn’t fast even when it was new. Trying to run two web servers, multiple browsers, edit a PSD and listen to music all at the same time basically kill the machine. Umm, so I’m probably going to bite the bullet and snag a new MacBook Pro. Now, I realize that it’s almost an oxymoron to be a cost-conscious Apple devotee, but that’s the sad state I find myself in. Usually my first thought is to run to the “refurb” section of the Apple Store, where you can get pretty good hardware for anywhere from 10%-20% off. However, after my recent Mac Mini purchase, I recommend that you buy your Apple gear new from Amazon instead of getting it used from Apple.

Here’s the breakdown:
Apple Store (refurb): $1019 + $68.78 (6.75% sales tax) = $1087.78
Amazon (new): $1149.99
Difference: $62.21

The difference is that Apple will charge you sales tax, while Amazon doesn’t. After factoring that in, the discount you get for refurb hardware just isn’t compelling. I’d rather pay an extra $62.21 for a brand new machine, where I know that the screen (and especially the battery) have come directly from the factory, unused.

My advice is to make a mental note of this next time you’re in the market for some Apple kit.

No comments · Written by Nathan at 4:30 pm · Tags ,

Sep212009

Reading Drawing on the Right
Side of the Brain

About two weeks ago I borrowed a book called Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain from the local library. I’ve been somewhat despondent regarding my artistic ability for a while now, and wanted to at least take some steps in the direction of improvement. I didn’t really have any sort of rationale for picking that particular title, other than the fact that Derek Yu referenced it in a blog post. I have a lot of respect for him due to the fact that he completed his undergraduate studies in Electrical Engineering/Computer Science and yet is also a very accomplished artist. In this particular post, he rants a bit about the “left-centric” state of the American educational system, which typically does not contain a lot of artistic instruction. The rationale is always that art is not “practical,” which I guess makes sense for a lot of people. I guess if you end up making a living by being a salesperson or accountant, you won’t have much call for drawing skills in the daily grind. But when did our educational system start being concerned about vocational training? I thought it was all about getting a broad background in the liberal arts, to prepare you for whatever you might encounter in life.

So right now I’m finding out that I was not really prepared in regard to artistic output. Most of that was my fault, to be honest. In my early life, I never really had a reason to want to draw. I was much more interested in playing games (of course). However, now that I have an interest in actually creating games, I want to do everything myself, including the art. It will definitely be bad, but I want to be able to execute my own vision myself. Kind of selfish, but since I’m not doing it for money, there’s no reason not to. Plus, I like the idea of making my brain more “well-rounded,” and also not being embarrassed when I have to draw stick figures :/

As an introductory exercise, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain has you complete three pencil drawings: a self-portrait, another person from memory, and your own hand. Chandra and I sat down last night in front of a mirror and completed all three in one go. Her self-portrait was way better than mine, which I entitled, “Fat-faced, angry man.” It can only get better from here.

No comments · Written by Nathan at 1:45 pm · Tags , ,

Aug102008

Tutorial: Use gcc/g++ with Cygwin

One of the problems that I always faced as a developer was what compiler to use on the Windows platform. While Linux-based operating systems come with their own compilers, Windows users are kinda screwed… I think the last tool that came with DOS/Windows and allowed you to make programs was QBasic. So the question is, what’re some free tools I can use to make Windows binaries?

Enter Cygwin, a Linux-like interface for Windows. It has the bash shell, as well as lots of popular tools, such as C/C++ compilers. This is pretty much just what we want, eh?

Let’s download and set up Cygwin. Hit up the website and click the “get Cygwin” link on the right. Run the installer, and make sure to have the ‘developer tools’ option checked during setup. When you’re done with that, this readme has all the information you need regarding installing the SDL library. OpenGL libraries will be installed with Cygwin by default.

That’s it! You’re ready to rock. Just compile your SDL/OpenGL program using a command similar to this:

gcc -o test.exe main.c `sdl-config --cflags --libs` -lglu32 -lopengl32

If you’re using SDL, make sure to have a copy of SDL.dll in the directory your program is in.

No comments · Written by Nathan at 6:18 pm · Tags ,

Sep272007

Chat log

2:10:19 PM Glowenfone: ok im going to watch this pile of shit uwe boll movie Alone In The Dark
2:10:25 PM butr0s: don’t do it
2:10:28 PM butr0s: you’re giving him the power

1 comment · Written by Nathan at 2:36 pm · Tags

Aug282007

Hooorj!

Lot of stuff happening. I ran twice yesterday.

Run #1
Run #2

Of course, I was locked out of my house when I got back from the second. Jerks. I was getting so dehydrated and hungry, all I could think about was what I was going to eat when I got back. I ended up buying a box of Golden Grahams, and destroying half of it. I fell asleep in my clothes, woke up at 4:00AM, ate another bowl, and went back to sleep.

I finally got my new bicycle, too. The frame is a 56 cm Surly Steamroller, which I am really liking so far. I didn’t ride it to work today due to overexertion yesterday, but it handles nice. It has a front brake this time…

My roommates and I are getting possession of our new house on Friday, but I’m not sure how much stuff I’ll be able to move due to the annual Xenos College Ministry Holden Beach Trip Extravaganza. No one else in my homechurch is going, ‘cos, like, they’re too old, or something. Actually, that’s not quite true… the only “real” (i.e. non-married) girl in my group is going, too. I bought two books that I’m saving for next week: Spook Country by William Gibson, and After Dark by Haruki Murakami. Awesome! I think I’m going to bring my Game Boy and get some oldschool handheld action in as well.

1 comment · Written by Nathan at 11:26 pm · Tags

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