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I’m taking a software engineering class, and for our group project we had to come up with a piece of software and then design it over the semester. My biggest problem with the class was that it doesn’t actually get into any programming; It just covers the processes behind software creation (Agile Software Development, the Waterfall Method, Use Case diagrams, etc). That’s fun and all (and important), but I like doing the actual dirty work instead of talking about doing the dirty work.
So, here’s Tippa. We decided on a really basic program so our diagrams and such wouldn’t be overly complicated throughout the semester. I thought it’d be pretty a pretty easy app for Android, so I threw it together in a little over a day. It wasn’t that bad, but there were still some things that slowed my progress down.
Anyway, Tippa helps you calculate tips based off of different percentages. You can then split the check between different people and it will tell you the total. It also has a tip suggestion screen that gives you general guidelines for tipping different people (Delivery, taxi, bar, etc). That’s about it. Yeah, I know, there are millions of tip calculators out there, but it was fun and easy and it gave me a chance to use ViewPagers and some other things I’ve never used before. So get it NOW!!!!!
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Songwriters On Process Interview
A great look at the creative process in music from one of my favorite singers/songwriters/multi-instrumentalists, Matt Embree.
Matthew Embree, RX Bandits, Love You Moon
The RX Bandits sound fuses elements of rock, reggae, ska, and jazz. Their multi-dimensional approach should come as no surprise, though, once you understand the creative process of songwriter Matt Embree. He writes all the time, and not just songs: Embree is an avid poet. And like any good poet, he finds inspiration everywhere. He doesn’t necessarily seek out inspiration, but he puts himself in situations where it comes easily: he’s gone on a 2,000 mile motorcycle ride, and he’s hitchhiked all throughout Central America. When you engage with your environment as much as Embree does - whether it’s the physical environment of the wilderness or the people in a small village in Costa Rica - inspiration is easy to come by. And the songs that are the product of that creative process are rich in their influences.
RX Bandits are now on their farewell summer tour, though according to band member Steve Choi, they aren’t breaking up. Rather, they are just doing their last tour. So have no fear, RX Bandits fans, they will not disappear. Read my interview with Matt Embree after the video.
What other creative outlets do you have besides songwriting?
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SARGENT HOUSE: RX Bandits Announce Summer Tour will be the Last. →
It is with an incredible sadness that I relay this news. The band that started it all for me and who were so instrumental in the creation of what has now become Sargent House. The one, the only, the great loves of my musical life, RX Bandits have decided that this Summer’s US tour will…
Oh, man. This is such a bummer. These guys put on the best shows I’ve ever seen. I don’t think I know of any bands that can fill the void that they will leave behind. :(
There’s no way I’m going to miss their last show in SLC.
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So I finally figured out how to get Grim Fandango to work on my Windows 7 64-bit machine. It took a bit of work, but it’s worth it. Here’s what I did (You need a windows xp disc/ISO and the Grim Fandango CDs):
1 - Install Virtualbox
2 - Set up a Windows XP guest with sound (I just gave mine 10 GB of space). If you haven’t used Virtualbox before, don’t worry. It’s pretty straight forward. Just click “New” and follow the instructions. Any extra stuff like sound is in the “Settings” area.
3 - (This one is optional but very helpful) With the Guest Windows XP machine running, click on Devices -> “Install Guest Additions” so you have better mouse integration etc.
4 - After windows is installed, do any windows updates you might need on it.
5 - I have a USB Xbox 360 controller, so I had to enable usb (I enabled usb 2.0 which requires the Oracle VM VirtualBox Extension Pack) in the Virtualbox settings and add a filter for the device. Mine showed up as “Controller” in the list. Also, I had some issues at first but I think restarting the virtual machine/virtualbox fixed them.
6 - Use Grim Fandango Setup to install the game
7 - With the Guest Windows XP machine running, go to Machine -> Switch to Scale Mode
8 - Double click the Grim Fandango shortcut. Make sure “Run Grim From Hard Drive” is checked in the options before you launch the game.
9 - Maximize the window or go to full screen.
10 - Run Grim Fandango in full screen mode (On my computer, if I resize the virtualbox window it makes everything go black, so make sure you’re happy with the screen size when you start the game).
The reason I went through all this trouble was because Grim Fandango freezes Windows 7 64-bit completely (I had to turn off my pc - pretty frustrating). It also has some weird sound issues that were extremely annoying. This method seems to fix all that, and when it’s all set up it runs really nice.
Enjoy playing this amazing game!
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Abby
Made this for my wife. Description on deviantART:
For my wife.
This is our cat Abby. She absolutely loves this weird rubber ball we got her. Nine times out of ten, if we can’t find it anywhere, it’s under the couch. When we fish the ball out from under there, Abby FLIPS out in excitement. Seriously, I’ve never seen a cat do this. It’s like when a dog starts barking in excitement when you are going to take it for a walk, except replace those barks with meows, and you’ve got Abby. On top of that, she actually plays fetch with the thing. You throw it, and she brings it right back and drops it by your feet. This further proves our theory that Abby is actually a dog in disguise.
Created with an Inkscape .48 prerelease build.(Click the thumbnail to see a bigger version)
