Geez, I’ve been meaning to put many more posts in this journal this year, but I keep forgetting to get round to it. I guess it’s partly because I haven’t been up to anything that interesting, with the exception of some of the Python work I’ve chronicling over at my GameDev.net journal (under Trapper Zoid, if you aren’t from there originally).

Today I’ve started teaching tutorials and labs again, after a several year break. It’s a way to refresh the ol’ teaching skills - and the extra cash will be handy too. Today went a bit badly by my view - nothing disasterous by any means, and I’d probably view it as okay back when I was younger, but given I’ve got experience at tutoring I should’ve been a bit peppier and more prepared. Unfortunately though the content of the tutorials isn’t very fixed until right up before I teach them and I’ve been up early in the morning most nights the last month so I’m pretty fatigued (up to three last night preparing for this weeks classes, an hour later than usual).

Hopefully the rest of the week’s teaching will go better now I’ve had one to learn from, but I’m too exhausted tonight to do any extra replanning.

Incidentally, if any of you need to know tips on computer vision, as a tutor I should be up to speed in a month or two

Today I turn thirty. I thought that was important enough to warrant a post in my journal.

I’ve (finally) got my MacBook Pro back, now with Leopard. The techs said it didn’t show and problems with the new OS, so I’m hoping it’ll be a lot more usable and a lot less crashy now. So far I’ve been using it a fair amount and it’s had one lock up - one too many perhaps, particularly due to the behaviour it showed (screen backlight went out, required hard reboot to fix) but I’ll see if it’s a reaccuring problem. For now I’ve installed a widget to control the MacBook fans and am running them at higher rates than normal - my hunch is that with all the fixes this particular MacBook as had that something might be overheating, so with some extra airflow it might be more stable. We’ll see if that proves true.

I’ve also placed an order for a 20″ iMac to replace my beige box PC. I like Mac OS X as an operating system and it’ll be great to have a desktop capable of running it and Mac apps; I think it’ll make a better workstation than my current computer. I also sprung for the wireless keyboard and mouse, mainly because Apple forces you to get a keyboard and mouse and I’ve already got a wired version of their new aluminium keyboard. I might go back to using the wired model and a corded mouse (the Mighty Mouse is weird, although it does have a nifty horizontal scrolling function), but it’d be useful to have the wireless models as an option for a cluttered desk.

I spent ages deciding between the 20″ and 24″ models; the 24″ looks impressive, and the LCD panel is of noticeably higher quality, but I decided to get the 20″ so I can pair it up with a second display; the 24″ is a bit big for that. To start with I’ll stick with just the iMac, but I’ll keep my eyes open for a good deal on a top notch LCD display to go with it. The Mac1 Apple reseller in Canberra often has firesales where they slash the price of a good-as-new Apple Cinema Display by about a third; so I’ll pounce next time that comes around.

A minor annoyance is that I won’t have a copy of Windows for a while, so I won’t be able to run Win software until I get a license I can use. I might give WINE a go to see how well it runs under Mac OS X, but I’m foreseeing problems. Still, at the moment not being able to run PC games can be considered a benefit; gives me one less thing to be distracted by.

On the weekend I spent a bit of time estimating how I can fit my Ph.D. program, webcomic project and game programming alongside each other for the next couple of months. My conclusion is that I can’t - not extensively, at least. For the next few months at least I can’t really set any deadlines or milestones except for those involving my studies.

While I am still going to work on both cartooning and game programming as a break from my work, I am not going to be setting any targets or projects until my Ph.D. is over; I just don’t have the energy for it. As far as I can see, I don’t think I’ve got the time to work on anything substantial until about April - not unless I want to give up sleep.

This might be for the best, as it’ll give me some time to work slowly on building up my skills rather than feeling pressured to rush things out. While I really wanted to launch my webcomic early this year, I feel I can’t really warrant the time to do so until I’ve got my Ph.D. thesis off my back. Instead I can put the extra few months into more planning, getting my drawing skills up to scratch and getting familiar with the tools available. Likewise, instead of working on any decent sized game I can use the time to get to grips with Python and Flash without feeling guilty about not releasing anything.

Of course I’m still not sure if I’ll have the time after I’m done, because it’s still up in the air of what I’m going to do when all this is over. I’m hoping a month’s holiday isn’t out of the question.

I’ve been feeling guilty about letting my journal stand idle for so long, so it’s time for a general update. It’s not as if I haven’t been busy, it’s more an issue of not really meeting any milestones that I felt were worthy of posting about.

Mainly I’ve been writing up my thesis dissertation, which is an exercises fraught with writer’s block and bad grammar. It’s a painful process that’s moving slower than I’d like, but it’s starting to come together. Hopefully it’ll be in a better position by the end of the week.

As a break from writing I’ve started working through some beginner Python exercises. Python looks like a nice language for quick development, and with a Tk library built it it’s probably a good platform for home brew GUIs and tools. I haven’t yet figured out the best way to approach building applications or games in Python; I still haven’t done anything sizable enough to get to grips with the language. I’m puzzling over the best way to get from a Python dabbler through to building proper Python programs.

I’m also chipping away at my webcomic project, which may have come a little off the rails too. I find it a lot of fun developing characters, sketching out what they look like and getting a broad idea of their personality. But I might have reached the point where the combination of what I’ve got doesn’t really make sense. My idea about the whole premise of the comic has shifted multiple times over the last few weeks, and I’m not sure if the stuff I was doing a fortnight ago works with what I’ve been doodling now. I may need to take a step back and ruthlessly prune what I’ve got to something that actually works as a comic premise.

Also, I haven’t got my MacBook Pro back yet; will be picking it up sometime in the next day or two. I think the verdict from the repairers was that there’s some bizarre conflict between Mac OS Tiger and my machine, which doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me. The laptop was working fine with Tiger before the screen blew the backlight, and I don’t know how replacing that could cause a hardware conflict. But if upgrading to Leopard seems to fix the problem (and their tests seem to suggest it does) then it might be enough of a reason to upgrade so I can get my working Mac computer back.

I’m also keen on getting an iMac sometime soon as a desktop replacement, although I don’t as of yet know exactly which hardware configuration is best for me. I mainly would like a second Mac with a better screen on my desk so I can use that when working at home. My current Windows PC is okay for what I used to use it for, but it doesn’t run my Adobe CS3 software or VoodooPad, plus my CRT monitor is positively ancient now. When MacWorld is over I’ll start making the decisions I need to choose a desktop replacement.

For now, that’s all. I’ll post more regularly in 2008 so I can get my money’s worth out of this site. I also need to replace this long running poll with something a bit more topical; first I need to think of what I’d like to ask.

I got my MacBook Pro back yesterday with a new hard drive. With Leopard (Mac OS 10.5) and a copy of my applications installed it seems, but [i]not[/i] my project and work directories for some reason (which thankfully I’m mostly sure I’ve got backed up).

Since I only own Tiger (Mac OS 10.4) I decided to wipe the hard drive and start afresh (plus most of my apps did not like their forced change of OSes). But unfortunately, after I had a fresh install of Tiger I found that the new hard drive did not fix my problem - it still randomly reboots. So I’m without my MacBook Pro for a few more days at least.

Dammit.

Happy New Year, and welcome to year 2008! Wishing you all a very good year.

I’m back from visiting family in Melbourne. I had a reasonably good time just hanging out with my family; I had plans to get some hobby stuff done while I was away but it never got around to happening. This was partly due to the weather; the temperature got pretty hot late in December and I lost all energy to do anything.

The presents I gave were well appreciated (mostly printed books of webcomics), and I got some nice gifts myself; mainly books and DVDs, although I did also get a new mobile phone. The phone was free with part of a new package, and seeing that my old plan is pretty old now it seemed a good idea to upgrade. It’s a Nokia 6300, and looking around at the included files it seems to be Flash Lite compatible which gives me another platform to potentially develop for. Great!

It’s probably going to take me a few days to get back into working, but I’m going to be pretty flat out with work for the next three or four months. My PhD scholarship runs out in late March, and I’m hoping to finish off my research by then or April at the latest (so I don’t have to scrounge for money to finish my degree). Consequently things might get a bit hectic over the short term. Plus I’ve still got to arrange something for after I graduate; it still seems an eternity away but it really isn’t that far off.

I’m still going to try to put some time in hobbies (I’ll need an outlet to keep sane), but I don’t expect to be able to put too much time into anything over the next few months.

As it’s the New Year, it’s also time for New Year Resolutions. This year I’ve got two: improving time management and my own health.

Time management is something I’ve had trouble with all my life, and this year I don’t really have time to spare. I keep feeling annoyed with myself for squandering my time, and this year I’m setting it as my prime goal to fix this. I’m hoping by the end of the year to feel satisfied with my delegation of time to tasks.

Secondly I’m going to make an effort in improving my own health, which I feel has been slipping over the last year. I’ve been slowly gaining weight and getting a bit flabby, and this is resulting in me generally not feeling my best and having low energy. As I’m nearing middle age I’ve got to put more effort into looking after myself, so I’ll try to cook more, skip more of the unhealthy foods and most importantly get some more exercise.

I’ve also got to decide what I’m going to do with this website. It’s been languishing a bit over the last month or two. I’ll need to put some more stuff up here too.

I picked up my MacBook Pro from the repair today, but I’m not sure it’s fully fixed. The original problem seems to be gone; the screen back light is working now. However in my test run this evening I’ve had my laptop freeze up once and reboot twice for no apparent reason. I haven’t a clue why it would be doing this, so I’m worried it might be a hardware short. It could possibly be overheating but I’ve had it act weird soon after bootup when I’m not doing that much.

I’m debating whether it’s worth testing it some more and possibly risking further damage, or just contacting the techs again tomorrow morning.

To my annoyance, it looks like there’s a fair chance I’ll be without my MacBook Pro over the Christmas break, which means I won’t have my digital research notes and won’t be able to work on Flash games until next year. Grrr.

I checked my MacBook Pro into the local Mac store for servicing. Taking into account the shipping time to the repair shop and waiting for parts and labour I reckon it might be away for a week. I could have shaved off a day or two by taking it to the repair shop myself, but I’m feeling mildly unwell today and don’t fancy driving to a place I’ve never been to while my head is swimming.

It’s a royal pain to not have my laptop for a week, as nearly all my work and hobbies either depend on it or work better with it. My note-taking software is all Mac OS only, and so is my Adobe Creative Suite. I’m considering getting an iMac in the New Year so I can have a Mac compatible desktop as well, but for now I’m back to my old tools. At least I don’t need much more than a text editor for writing documents, and I’m still happier using Inkscape than Illustrator so I can spend some time working on vector art. I haven’t been using my WinAMD desktop (what is the AMD equivalent of Wintel, anyway?) for more than a DVD player for a while, so I might be a bit rusty on things. I seem to have gotten used to having the menu at the top of the screen for starters.

Incidentally, while the Mac keyboard I bought for the weekend was expensive I found it really nice to type on. It might be because I haven’t tried many keyboard styles other than the standard ten year old model I’ve been using for my PCs since I started buying them, but the thin line keys work rather well. I can get a really zippy typing speed using it which I can’t match on my old Windows keyboard right now.

Now I’d better see what I can salvage from my backups off my laptop and see if I can get some work done today on this old thing.

It seems my MacBook Pro screen is going to have to be repaired again. This morning as I was checking my email I got up to get a cup of coffee, and when I headed back the backlight in my laptop monitor had gone. I’m not sure if it’s a software problem or the backlight is blown, but I’m probably going to be spending a significant chunk of next week trying to fix it - which isn’t time I can really afford. I really need my laptop at the moment as it’s got all my research notes on it. I have backups of my thesis draft all over the place but I’ve been entering my notes last week into VoodooPad, and it’d be a real pain to have to re-enter them. Not to mention it’s annoying not having a mobile computer.

For now, I headed into the local Apple store to check the problem and will be back on Monday when their resident tech expert is in. I’ve bought myself a Mac keyboard so I can use my laptop like a desktop over the weekend. Although the Apple keyboards are a bit overpriced by my tastes it’s handy to have a spare Mac keyboard around, particularly if I get myself an iMac sometime soon.

In another act of negative karma, I found a parcel from Amazon as I was heading out to the car to go to the Apple store. Due to my general cluelessness I managed to drive off with the parcel on the roof of my car. It managed to stay there for about a kilometre or two before falling off; thankfully I heard it drop and saw it in the rear vision mirror. No harm ultimately done except for my pride.

The books themselves were for cartooning, in particular on writing. One of them is a specific writing book: Make Your Words Work by Gary Provost. I realised I didn’t have many general writing books, which is a hole in my library when I’m writing up a thesis and occasionally other things. The other is a specific cartooning book: The Everything Cartooning Book by Brad J. Guigar, which I had recommended to me as a good general purpose book for comic strip creation (as opposed to comic books or manga).

I’m hoping that the problem with my laptop can be fixed swiftly so I can keep using my MacBook Pro. I’ve built up a nice collection of software over the last few months that I need a Mac for, and it’s going to be a real pain for nearly everything I do not to have it.