In case you were sleeping... FireFox2.0 and Internet Explorer 7.0 are both out.

Iris wrote some interesting things about game characters in her blog.

Some other interesting Podcasts if you are into web 2.0 development.

• Ruby on Rails Podcast - especially the interview with Glenn, Vanderburg.
  
• Ajaxian Podcast- especially the interview with Glenn Vanderburg
  

or into technology entrepreneurship:

• Venture Voice

  ¶ 6:59 AM 1 comments

  Ruby on Rails ... is GREAT. It is fun. It is the best way to write a web application. Get it here now! Ruby is a pure object oriented programming language that uses meta-programming (use programs to write programs)

Ruby on Rails (RoR) is a web framework built on Ruby that uses a modified version of the Model-View-Controller design pattern which every good programmer must know and use for User-Interfaced based applications - like a website and a game.

It includes a web server but you can also run it on Apache and IIS with some changes. I think it is not necessary to do that until you want to deploy.

If you use Windows and want to try RoR:

1. Download the Ruby for Windows Installer.
2. When you have installed it, start the command prompt and type: gem install rails --include-dependencies
3. To use MySQL with RoR, download the MySQL/Ruby driver instead of using the built in gem -install (assuming you already have MySQL server installed).

If you want a PHP framework that is based on the design of RoR check out Code Igniter. But seriously, you should take a look of RoR.

The Wikipedia article on RoR is a good introduction.

Check out BaseCamp and CampFire, which is done by 37 Signals - a pioneer in the concept of web 2.0 and AJAX.  ¶ 6:14 AM 1 comments

  Microsoft Firefox 2007
System Requirements

• Microsoft(R) Windows(TM)/Vista Operating System
• Microsoft Office 2007, Firefox must run with Word and Excel.
• 2GB of DDR-3 RAM because of massive memory leak problems due to javascript hack.
  
• 1GB Hard Disk space.
• Microsoft Paint - all bitmap files will be saperated displayed here.

COST: US$1, 000, 000 per license  ¶ 5:45 PM 0 comments

  Web 2.0 and Gaming There have been much hype on "Web 2.0" over the last few years and it has finally reached backward Malaysia. And I, being in Malaysia for two years have caught on the backward bug. I remember e-xiang talking about AJAX-based technology about a year and half ago but I didn't bother. Now Hatchlings Games is developing a prototype trading card game for the web.

So yeah, we are developing a trading card game. I can't tell you the details of the game yet but I hope you can see the alpha version live for yourself at the end of the month. Nevertheless, we are about 40% to alpha release. Zie Aun is doing concept and design. Iris, Kwang, Moy doing art & animation. Kuan is doing the flash client & java server. I am working on the web app and database.

But this post is not about Hatchling’s first game, but rather about the design (not talking about game mechanics design), technologies and the near future.

Combining Web 2.0 (think Google, Flickr, BitTorent, Digg) and online gaming means using the web as a complete platform to deliver entertainment. Think YouTube; which disrupted the entire platform for video publishing and distribution.

A game of the near future:

• has the usual good gameplay, graphics, etc.
• doesn't take longer than 10 seconds to load
  
• allow for user expression and encourage emergence (i.e. Will Wright’s Spore)
• has a fun underlying game mechanics but the game mechanics (not just the social element) becomes more fun as more people play it
• is for everyone (blurring the line between the demographics)
• is educational besides entertaining
• is linked to other media
  

A Web 2.0 site:

• is an attitude; let's blog, go google that up, tag me, subsribe to my feed
• treats the web as a complete platform, filling in the space between the user's browser and the web's contents (by the user and other users).
  
• is made up of small components loosely coupled together at the request of the user
• 's most valuable asset is its data that is generated by its uers.
  
• allow content to come to the user rather than the user going to the content; like www.onelurv.com
• is about participation rather than publishing and servers.
• is made for more than just the web browser.
  
• is in a perpectual beta; The Google / Open Source way, no scheduled release but rather: release early, release often.
• is all about the user.
  

Web 2.0 IS about PLAY, so where are the games? Are you ready for the Web 2.0 Game of the near future?

Lastly, if you haven't already, do checkout JumboPlay, which allow you to download and stream (yes STREAM) full original games to your hard disk. I highly recommend it.  ¶ 7:03 AM 0 comments

  Iris's Shubi Shubi Animation Assignment   ¶ 6:35 PM 0 comments

  Meet Kiera, my Dell XPS m1210 Laptop

Some of the readers here know that I have a new Dell Laptop. Incase you didn’t, her name is Kiera (Kiera Knightley) and she is a Dell XPS M1210. Her brain is Dual Core 1.83 GHz with 1GB of RAM. She has stomach for 80 GB (really just 75 GB with those stupid Dell Partitions) and a surprisingly cheap nVidia 256 MB GeForce Go 7400. Best of all, this baby is only 12” in width, 7.5” in height and weights only 1.83 kg!

Kiera can play Oblivion on 75% of the highest setting smooth enough. The upside of that is that I do not need a next-gen console until Bioshock, Mass Effect or Tennis comes out. The downside – Oblivion, although not a very good game, is very addictive.

The Dell XPS M1210 is one of the best Core Duo based laptops in the market today. It is built on extremely solid base, has GREAT performance, is the cheapest of its kind (mine cost about RM 5500 (plus software RM700, a RM350 bag, etc)) and is fully customizable (add more RAM, CPU, HDD, etc).

  ¶ 3:44 PM 2 comments

  Innovation & Entrepreneurship Professor Peter Sheldrake, professor of Business Entrepreneurship from RMIT, Australia was on MMU campus this Thursday. I will start referring to Prof. Peter as just Peter now less he gets the impression that I am trying to get money from him. He mentioned twice, once to a group and once to me personally that people that call him Professor tend to want money from him. Peter gave a very good presentation. He is very experience, intelligent and emphatic at the same time. Peter’s presentation is on Innovation and Entrepreneurship and touched the core. After the presentation, he answered some interesting question.

Change – The Challenge of Today

I like any entrepreneurship/management talk that starts and focuses on Change - especially someone who truly understands it, someone that walks the talk. There are two main themes of change – strategic and fundamental change. Strategic change: Amazon taking bookstores online. Fundamental Change: Automobile industry. Change happens and is here to stay. The world changes so rapidly; if you do not understand how it is changing, you will not be able to do anything in today’s world.

Three themes of Innovation

1. Resilience
2. Renewal
3. Revolution

Companies need to be resilience in order to stay in business today. That means companies that do know how to change will not be able to stay in business in the new world. This applies to both startups and big corporate firms.

Companies need to undergo renewal in order to make money today. Companies that take a look at how they are doing things and then improve certain key functions have higher chances of making money today. A startup that does the same thing as people in the past will not succeed.

Companies need to revolutionize the way they think about their business if they want to be at the top of their game. Today we live in the idea age. Innovators, those who have the knowledge, experience and courage to create and lead will win.

Three questions to ask as a startup

1. What need does this product/service meet?
2. Why is this solution better than any other solution to fulfill this need in your market?
3. How competitive is my way to meet this need?

  ¶ 7:02 PM 0 comments