Yikes!::02.24.06\\

OK, my bad. With just getting through our first year of business as blurredistinction, things have been hectic as you know what. But, we're getting more and more in the groove of things and so I will attempt to update this more frequently from now on. I think it needs a new look too... I haven't worn that jersey in the pic, or a camelback, in a couple of years. heh

For some actual news - XYZ*Bert is back online! It was offline for a while because it was being deep linked to by sites like minijuegos. My monthly bandwidth allocation is just 20GB. In one day minijuegos gobbled up 50GB of my bandwidth, causing me to remove it until proper security measures were put in place. Thanks to Ben at RobotDuck, and the DirGames-L list, XYZ*Bert is no longer deep linkable.

hiatus?::04.29.05\\

Not really, but it has been a while. Now that winter is gone, I'll make an effort to make more frequent updates. I'm happy that racing is back! Tomorrow myself and a few family members will be doing a 12 hour mountain bike race. That should be a blast!
As for Director - I added a couple of new tips to the Tips page, and keep watching for some new demos to appear - along with source.

Yet another errata::12.26.04\\

First of all a very Merry Christmas to you!
Over the weekend I was alerted to another typo in my book - on Page 164 there is a getPropertyDescriptionList handler, along with some property declarations. The very first line of the property declarations reads: property framesToFade, perFrameBlend
The framesToFade property should actually be framesToBlend
Sorry for the trouble, any errors caught now, will be fixed in the book's second printing.

blurredistinction::12.10.04\\

While this is my personal site, my new companies site is finally live. It looks really nice too - thanks to Jacqueline, designer extraordinaire. I did some of the coding, including the PHP/mySQL backend for our news and contact sections. Have a look!

Errata number one!::12.03.04\\

Damnit! At least it wasn't my fault. I'm not sure how it could've happened, but I got an email this morning about two missing lines of Lingo in my book. In Lesson 12 - Handling the Keyboard - page 341 - under Controlling the Ship. The first step tells you to add two lines of Lingo to the startMovie handler. However, there is no code listed... the two lines to add are:

_global.shipVelX = 0
_global.shipVelY = 0

I looked at my original lesson in Word, and also the edited, and reviewed, lesson and the code is indeed there. Maybe it was the printer, maybe not... but, like I said - at least it wasn't me.

yet another lesson!::11.19.04\\

The missing chapter on creating a high score table using PHP and mySQL is now available on the Peachpit site. Click here to visit the site - click the Files option under the More Information menu. Also, as of today Amazon.com is finally showing my book as shipping instead of saying it's not yet released... it's been released for 2 weeks now. Geez, Amazon is slow.

It's alive!::11.06.04\\

Director MX 2004: Training From The Source is now shipping! I got my copies yesterday and they look great. It's nice to finally see one in printed form. The book's official website is here. This is also where you'll find the missing chapter on creating a high score table
Also, my new companies web site has been launched. Go to www.blurredistinction.com to see some of Jackie's great Flash work.

Another chapter::10.21.04\\

Literally. One of the chapters I'd originally planned on including in the book got pulled due to time constraints - i.e. I'm slow, and the book had to go to print without it. That chapter is "Creating a High Score Table" and goes through setting up a mySQL database, the PHP scripts to talk to it, and the OOP Lingo that talks to them. I wish it could've made it into the printed material, but instead it will be posted on the book's web pages within the PeachPit site. I'll post the exact URL once it's been posted.

Nothing much::09.30.04\\

Fixed a bug in HTMLingo where the color selector, in Preferences, wasn't working properly. Get the newest version on the Downloads page.

Back from a break::09.27.04\\

Sorry for the complete lack of updates this summer, but I have been busy writing another book. This time the book was for Macromedia, and I am excited to say that it should be out next month. The book's title is "Director MX 2004 - Training From The Source", and is available for pre-order from Amazon.com now.

HTMLingo V3::09.27.04\\

Recently a thread started on DirGames-L about converting Lingo to HTML, so I updated my HTMLingo program to version 3. This version, besides getting a facelift, gets rid of the now deprecated <font> tag, in favor of the <span> tag. There's also numerous improvements, and cleanup as well. Because it uses the new DOM, Version 3 will only work with Director MX 2004 and later. Grab it from the Downloads page.

Team macromedia::04.03.04\\

I got asked by Macromedia to be part of their Team Macromedia Program, for Director. I thought that was pretty cool, and said yes of course. Basically, I'm supposed to do what I always do - help out in the newsgroups mostly, and also write an article or two for the Dev Center. There's even a little bio about me, and a picture, on Macromedia's site. Under Team Members by Product - click Director.

Utilities cast updated Again::03.08.04\\

Modified the bd_model_viewer behavior so that it uses independent horizontal and vertical dampening. I also changed the baked texture mapping demo, on the Demos page, to use the new behavior.

Utilities cast updated::03.08.04\\

Updated the bd_model_viewer behavior in the Utilities cast (on the downloads page). The update gives the behavior velocity dampening so that during arc-rotate operations the camera will ease to rest, instead of simply stopping when you release the mouse button.

It's March First!::03.01.04\\

Okay, I just couldn't think of a better title for this update... I added a imaging lingo kaleidoscope to my Demo's page - check it out, I think it turned out pretty nice. And at 4156 bytes it could be another entry for the 5K competition.

The 5K::02.25.04\\

I've been trying to come up with a cool entry for the 5K competition but really haven't gotten something I think would have a chance at winning yet. It's a surprisingly difficult challenge. Go to The5K.org for more info on this cool event. You can find my latest attempt on my Demos page near the bottom.

sex2xes::02.13.04\\

Yup, I made a palindrome. I think it's clever too. If you didn't hear Director MX2004 got released yesterday too, and an awesome piece of work it is. Go get it now so you have some reason to be here.

It's the little things::01.22.04\\

Changed the key control in XYZ*Bert so you can now use the cursor keys if you like. Also toyed around with adding reflections to the cubes but it slowed the game too much so I ditched em like I'd ditch you on a mountain bike. I also got some feedback that it was a little too hard at first... so now recoil doesn't appear until level 2.

yet another movie::01.15.04\\

Finally got around to adding the "hover discs" to XYZ*Bert. Now, just like in the original, you can jump on a twirling disc to avoid recoil - or just because you like the ride. It is plush... Also, for any of you that've been playing XYZ out of my dev folder - it's gone. Presto, Change-O and all that. It's now on the Demos page, because it's not so much in development any more.

working away::01.15.04\\

Fairly decent update to the bd_model_viewer behavior located within the Utilities cast. If you've use this before, or just want a general 3D model viewer that mimics Director's own w3d viewer, then go to my Downloads page and grab it now.

Nothing to see here::01.13.04\\

I added a nifty little 3D assembly instructions demo to the demos page. I think this a great use for 3D on the web, and at just 289K it's usable by even you slowpokes with regular phone modems.

A Quickie::01.06.04\\

The Utilities cast has been updated - specifically the bd_model_viewer behavior has been given an overhaul in its key handling code. It now works much more like Director's own viewer in that the Ctrl, Shift, and Space keys now act as modifiers to whatever tool being used. It's much more intuitive to move around a model this way. Get it from the Downloads page. Additionally, the RSS feed is now working.

Go pack go!::01.04.04\\

Finally, we got some snow today and the Packers beat the Seahawks. And I added a little texture baking demo to, of all places, the Demos page. Oh, and Happy New Year and all that jazz - only four months to the start of bike racing season now.

Damn it's cold::12.12.03\\

It's like 10º outside right now - it was 40º just two days ago. Damn. The utilities cast has been updated so grab it now - I fixed yet another small bug with the SuperSlider behavior, and added a new setting to the bd_model_viewer: invert pan. XYZ*Bert is all but finished, though I still may add a few "hover discs" since I've been asked about them a few times. If you want to play, it's here.

New and improved::11.21.03\\

Except for the RSS feed, all the pages should be working now. Added a bunch more links to the links page. Added some more demos to the demos page - and of course, you'll be able to grab the source for all of it eventually. Also, be sure and check out XYZ*Bert too - and please report any bugs you might come across.

Under Development::11.09.03\\

I've been busy working on a 3D version of that old, lovable favorite - Q*Bert. It's not finished yet, but it's pretty fun nonetheless, so I thought I'd unleash it. You can check it out by clicking here. If you have any comments, suggestions, flames etc. just send em on over by clicking Contact in the menu.

newest::11.04.03\\

Added some more links to the links page, added a new demo and started compiling some tips and such for the tips page.

Stuff::10.30.03\\

A few people have written me in the last weeks wondering where the chapter downloads for my book are. Sorry about that - they're now in the Downloads section, like you might expect. I also added some more links to the links page - go check out the Lego sculptures.

demos::10.17.03\\

Started putting together the new demos section and I've included some newer stuff, including Flash work, I've done. The demos page will (eventually) also contain many of the demos referenced by my book, if that's what you're after.

it's alive::10.16.03\\

Finally got a little free time this morning and began getting everything moved from the old site. If you're looking for my MIAW tools, or the Utilities cast - check the Downloads page. Also, not all the menu links are working yet - if you click one and get an error well... you know why.

A New Home::10.09.03\\

Welcome! As you may have noticed my old site at crackconspiracy.com is down, and will most likely stay down. But, I've found a new home and will be moving all of my Director support stuff over here in the next couple of weeks as I have time. So, update your bookmarks and links as this new site will be permanent.