Want One – Parrot Drone

I so, so, soooo want one of these.

New Glasses

I got some new glasses last week. I came to the conclusion that it would be nice to be able to see things closer than two feet from me, something which my existing specs didn’t let me do very well. I’ve already been able to fix my robot dog using my new super vision skills. I was actually able to see the deposit on the battery terminals from a leaky Duracell that was stopping him (it) from powering up.

I’m now going round the house looking at things close up and marvelling at the details.  The downside is that when I check the mirror I now look around 10 years older…

Things to Do

Got back to work and the first thing I did was make a list of around 15 tasks that I need to do. I like making lists of tasks. The first thing on the list is always “make a list of tasks”. Then, when I’ve finished the list I can cross that one off….

Angel of the North

We had our two and a half hour meeting this morning where we discussed all the marks and made sure everything lines up.  Then it was onto the road for the journey back. The route my SatNav  chose took me right past the Angel of the North sculpture. So I stopped to spend a couple of minutes taking pictures.

Off to Newcastle

Headed off to Newcastle for external examiner duties today. Used the SatNav in the car and got lost as usual. I’ve done this before in this town. For some reason the arrangement off junctions and roundabouts they have render instructions like “Turn Next Right” strangely ambiguous. The good news is that I never end up lost for long, as after a hundred yards or so the system tells me to turn round and head back.

Spent the day going through exams and project work (it is actually more fun than you might expect). Then a nice meal and off to bed.

The Web will Rot Your Brain

According to a scientific study (so it must be true) people who research by following loads of links on the interwebs and not concentrating on the job in hand don’t tend to do as well as those who focus a bit. No kidding.  I’d love to do a study like this. Take something that everybody with a bit of common sense already knows and then get paid a lot of money to prove that is is true after all. I suppose there are other studies in the works involving bears in the woods and the religious affiliation of the pope. 

If you follow things like LifeHacker you will know all about techniques that you can use to improve your focus, even going to extremes like turning off internet access so you can get on with something important. Worth a look.

Saturday in York

One way to fly the flag I suppose…

We had a nice trip to York today. The place was full of folks all dressed up for the races. Fortunately I was wearing my “wherewouldyouthink” T-shirt and so I was also looking ultra-stylish. I like York, you can point your camera in pretty much any direction and get a nice photograph out of it.

Boat and bridge

Bridge Side.

Summer Bash Fun and Games

We had a “mini-Bash” today, with those students who were still around on the very last day of the semester getting together for some fun and frivolity. We had enough people for a good game of Team Fortress 2, some Lego Rock Band, Buzz Quiz and Wii Sports, with some amazingly amusing sword fights… The pizza turned up right on time and fun was had by all. We even had a Super Word Search with Super Prizes.

Helen with one of the “super” prizes and a completed wordsearch.

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Sam discovers that yes, unfortunately the speakers are working….

Broken Wings

A couple of weeks ago I was in a toyshop with my dad. We were watching this awesome radio controlled helicopter buzz around the top of the shop.  I mentioned that the thing I wanted at that moment most in the world, really really wanted, was a helicopter just like that. So dad got me one for my birthday, even though it isn’t for a while. He even let me play with it in advance, which was great. It was just like being a kid again.

And, just like when I was a kid, I’ve gone and broken my toy. By cunning use of a wall I’ve managed to smash the rotor pivot thing which holds the blades on.  Fortunately I’ve found a supplier of the part needed to fix things up. If you have a Syma S032 “Fiery Dragon” you can get pretty much all the bits you’d need to build another one from here. You have to pay postage from Hong Kong, which is a bit of a pain, but the actual part is very cheap. I’ve bought two.

This is what the part should like. Mine is in more than one piece….

The only good news is that I used PayPal, and discovered that I had a little bit of money left on my PayPal account that I’d forgotten about, which means that I can regard the replacement bits as free I suppose.

I just hope I can get everything mended and working before dad comes round again…..

Football Crazy

I asked number one wife what she thought about the the world cup. She shrugged and replied “Humm. England are  around 8th or 9th in the world. Quarter Finals if we are lucky”.

I think that’s about all that needs to be said on the subject. Me, I’ve got boxed sets of “How I Met Your Mother”, “30 Rock”, “Chuck” and “Big Bang Theory”. Should be a great one….

Summer Bash

Yes, it’s that time again. In fact, it is very nearly too late. Because of exam timetabling issues and marking we will be holding our Summer Bash on the very last Friday of the semester starting at 4:30 pm in the department.

We will be having all the usual fun and games, including Rock Band, Wii Sports, Buzz Quiz, Team Fortess 2, Fizzy Drinks, Pizza and those little cup cakes with the icing on top. You know, the ones that you like so much.

Anyhoo, If there is anyone left in Hull who fancies a break from packing, then you can get your tickets (priced at an economical 2 pounds each) from the departmental office from 2:15 pm  tomorrow.

Support Jenny

Now, I don’t make many demands of my readers. In fact I’m perpetually surprised how many people keep coming back and reading my stuff. (I really must stop being perpetually surprised though, it is very hard on the eyebrows).

Anyhoo, I don’t ask much of you, dear reader, except every now and then. This is one such situation. Number one daughter, who you can see above doing something daring, is doing something daring again. For money. (at least I taught her that much…)

It is in a very good cause, and I’d be most gratified if you would swing along to her donation site and drop her a little something. They take Paypal, and if you are a UK tax payer you can get the Inland Revenue to bump up your contribution.  You can find the site here:

http://www.justgiving.com/Jennifer-Miles

Exam Fun

Choose your weapon….

Just spent a couple of hours invigilating. It was a law paper, and looked deeply scary. Then again, Computer Science papers probably look scary to lawyers…..

Plants vs Zombies

One game that seems made for the iPad is Plants vs. Zombies It is a bit like a tower defence game, but with fantastic graphics and beautifully paced gameplay. Number one son put me on to it, and I’m very glad he did.

Great fun.

Making Games close to the Edge

Calling a start to the event in noisy style..

Andy Sithers of Microsoft and a few Hull students got mention in an article in this month’s Edge magazine about some recent 48 hour game development competitions.  This is where a bunch of teams are given a theme, 48 hours and a lot of pizza to make a game. XNA is a brilliant tool to use for  this kind of thing, and Microsoft set up a couple of competitions this year.

Some students from Hull took part and while they didn’t win anything this year (having got a “Cheesiest Game” award last time) they did have a great time. I’d love to take part in one of these one day.

Ipad Wifi Fix

I think I’ve fixed the iPad WIFI now. Thank goodness.  I had to reset all the network settings and then I’ve told my home network to always give it the same IP address whenever it connects. The device itself is lovely. I’ve put a few games on it and the user experience really is great.

Ring in the New

Some old gadgets. And a new one.

Been clearing out the cupboard in my office as part of a stocktaking exercise. Somewhat nostalgic.  Do you remember all these?

Marking Fun

Spent pretty much all of today marking. I’m half way through my first red pen.

A Hot Day for writing Custom XNA Content Importers

In between gardening and feeling very warm I wrote a custom content importer for XNA 4.0 today. This is the way that you can bring in your own content into an XNA game. I’m playing around with some game ideas and I needed to get a bunch of data into my game engine so I can twiddle with it.

Turned out to be a lot easier to do than I thought it would be. Actually, the whole content setup is lovely to use in XNA. If you ever want to do this, you can find a really great start here:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb447754.aspx

The stuff seems to work fine in Windows Phone too. I really know how to enjoy myself in summer…..

Sad Rob

We were talking about different versions of Windows today and I mentioned that in Number 10 Downing Street they still use Windows XP on their systems. I told everyone that I’d seen it on the “historic” pictures taken inside the Prime Ministers’ residence during the election aftermath.

For some reason knowing this was regarded as sad…