Scylla & Charybdis

Monday, August 22, 2011

Firefox 6: Ok, it's still cool.

I've nearly defected to Opera on Windows because the graphics are so good with all the plush antialiased hotness and scaled fonts with serifs and everything! But then Firefox 6 is pawing at me to upgrade (half the uptight sites I know can't even support Firefox 5 yet) and I did it. Which led me to this incredibly cool feature which was simply a twenty question quiz to make a cute collage. The best web apps are this: one-off wonders with cheap thrills and a share link. We make something, we share it, we comment, our friends do it, and it's a conversation. Good job Firefox! Unify is alluring, but that browser has more compatibility problems than you, even (what it does with Javascript is such a pain, who has to be W3 ALL THE TIME). So for now, I'm still on board, and making my own personas.

Friday, July 22, 2011

Scarygirl: 2d needn't be a bore

Scarygirl Game Trailer from Touch My Pixel on Vimeo.

What a job. Part of my work right now involves Unity3d a gorgeous gaming engine. As a result I've been kicking around in gamedev circles more than ever, especially indie games. Some of my favorites are those with 2d graphics that pull out all the stops. This trailer for Scarygirl showcases an endless variety of stylish designs. The characters are lovingly detailed and produced, the colors incredible. I'll be posting some more of my faves this month so stayed tuned if you're into that.

Friday, June 10, 2011

Thanks Google, I needed that.

I found the Les Paul Doodle at 2am when I was supposed to by studying for a final. It's the kind of thing that gives me hope. As a programmer, there's a demand for all kinds of work that's not audio, and not shared, and for the most part I'm just doing what comes my way these days. But once in a while I get a chance to make some music or play with some sound and I really remember why I came to digital in the first place. It makes music so easy and so spontaneous. Who didn't play that doodle guitar? It was irresistible. When we look at the future of music, the future of folk music especially, we ought to remember my mother's definition: folks play it, don't they? Audio has long been the ugly stepchild of the web: there's not much capability for looping and layering without a plugin like Flash, and browsers may or may not support Javascript without latency. HTML5 has a new standard for audio, but when can we use it for complex projects? Even though Apple supported it with Safari, they only supported their own MP3 format, not even open-source OGG. BOOOO Mr Jobs! Anyway, the Google guitar is programmed exquisitely: the sound is dynamite, there's no latency on my machine, and you can play chords. Plus they released the code. I love you Google. There will be a marimba on my home page soon.