Master Lock : Built for the video game generation.

Been using this lock for close to a year now.  It may well be the last one I buy.  

My experience with conventional locks, will inevitably involve either losing the key or forgetting my numbers.  This little Master Lock invention solves both issues.  And rewards video game skills:

  • The button slides in 4 directions - up, down, left and right.  From this, you can build your own combination sequence from 2 to 90.
  • You can also unlock it one handed.
  • The build quality is highly sturdy and solid.

My personal combination utilizes a code that'll be familar to anyone who played games in the mid 80's.  Many Konami fans will easily guess this.  However, this is primarily used for the sweat locker at the gym...it's unlikely that folks are going to want what's behind that door<g>.

Mac Book Air : Instant On!

Been using the Mac Book Air for almost a year now, and this is the first computer (that isn't a tablet) that I actually love.  My interest in hardware is fairly neutral: You can get work and play done with just about any device IMO.  But the Air distinguishes itself by nailing the day by day values:

  • Instant On
  • Magazine Like Form Factor  
  • Human-centric Touchpad
  • Sharp Vibrant Display

I was especially surprised by how much 'Instant On' matters in practice.  Going back to anything else feels painfully sluggish.  

The Mac Book Air may have yesterday's spec, but the user experience oddly feels like it's from the future.

Opencanvas : SpeedPaint

Here's a video of a couple of my older Opencanvas timelapse paint sessions.  

  • Dolphin was Gamecube's code name during development.  
  • One of the games and activities at family union barbeque a few years back, included wearing cheap white t-shirts for us all to mark up:).

Photoshop Tool : layersToStrip.jsx

I do a healthy amount of graphic debugging and profiling.  This includes taking screenshots, making A/B comparisons, and laying them out into a report format.  This script automates the layer->strip(or stack) aspect of that.  

Code is available at: https://github.com/miketon/Photoshop_Scripts/tree/master/source

Next up is updating this with a UI interface and generalizing it into a much friendlier tool.  Currently things like space offset between stacks are hardcoded.  

Nook Touch : Loving It

Been using the Nook Touch for a couple of weeks now and are loving it.  A good deal of my reading recently has been on Google Ebooks.  After massing a couple of hundred dollars of books in my library, it was time to get a dedicated reader. Reading on the Iphone was starting to strain my eyes, particularly when I'm out and about during daylight hours.

I rooted mine : http://youtu.be/eFZVpCSRpeI .

And it surprisingly makes a great web browser(provided that your web usage is mostly about reading; as opposed to watching videos) with Opera Mini installed.  It's even really great at reading Kindle books:).

HighSchool Deluxe Paint Animation

Created using Deluxe Paint on the Amiga 500 in about a week.  In the last weekend stretch when I was working late into the night, my brother Ike would do some of the flood fills and solid coloring during the day while I slept.  

Animated using a tablet that from a gig doing art for a shareware game(hired through fan art posted on a BBS site).  This video was part of a portfolio that earned me full 2 Year Scholarship to the Art Institute of Dallas' Computer Animation and Multimedia program.