Programming Stuff

So I have been getting questions about what software I have been working on. I normally don’t post anything about work, but I might as well share some images of the latest projects I have been working on.

The first program, called AM Plat, is something that I wrote myself from scratch. The program takes data about arrays of AM radio towers and draws a sketch of them to scale. This image can then be printed, or exported to be used as a map overlay in software such as Google Earth. The towers are described in such a way that they are related to each other. For example, Tower #2 is X feet away at Y degrees from Tower #1. Of course the data isn’t actually in feet but electrical degrees, so some conversions have to be done there before anything can be drawn. To get the data needed, program can connect to a SQL database, can import files from other software, or the data can be manually typed in if the array does not already exist in the database. Of course the program also can save and load projects in its own file format, which is XML-like. The program also has a number of other features such as recalculating the values based on new tower references.

The second program that I am working on is maintaining a rather large FCC Database search program. The program allows the user to search for FM, AM, and TV data from the FCC database. The results are displayed using Crystal Reports. The program also has a number of other features, such as the ability to view the antenna pattern for any tower in the database. I have added a number of new options to customize search queries, and I have rewritten much of the antenna pattern viewer from scratch as the original code was buggy.

Ubuntu 10.04 “Lucid Lynx” Released

Ubuntu has just released the newest version of its Linux distribution, 10.04 “Lucid Lynx”.  Lots of new features this time around. Some highlights include:

• A new “Me Menu” that directly incorporates Facebook, Twitter, Digg, and other services into the user interface
• New music player with Ubuntu One Music Store integrated.
• Ubuntu Software Centre 2.0 – a library for browsing, downloading and installing software
• GNOME 2.30 desktop system
• Uses Linux 2.6.32 kernel
• More features here.

Overall this is one of the biggest changes in Ubuntu in years. I have been using it for a few days and so far its great. Absolutely worth upgrading.

Games For Windows LIVE Client Impressions

So the folks over at Games For Windows Live are running a great 75% off sale for Batman: Arkham Asylum, which brings the price to $12.50. Of course to take advantage of the offer, you have to first install their Games for Windows Live client, which gives you access to their Games on Demand store. I already had the software installed since I used it to buy some of the DLC for Fallout 3, but this is the first game I have purchased using the software. My impressions:

What was good

• As soon as I loaded it up, the Batman 75% off sale was right there on the man page in their banner rotation. This made finding the page to buy the game easy.
• You are offered the choice of paying for the game with Microsoft points, or directly using your credit card. I have been wanting to lower my Microsoft Points balance for a while now, so I was glad that I could use them here.
• Buying the game automatically adds the game to your download queue.

What was bad

• The UI doesn’t show download speeds, only percent complete.
• The download was extremely slow. Perhaps its because of the sale, or maybe buying games on here always takes this long. Either way it took hours to download the game. Of course I cant tell you exactly what speeds I was getting, because of my first issue.
• The GFWL client locked up at about 40% downloaded. This was well over an hour and a half into the download. After restarting the software, the download did not resume from where it left off. Instead, the download started over again. I have never heard of a download manager not caching or downloading in chucks to avoid this. This was pretty poor, and made worse by the slow download speeds.
• Once the download was finished, I clicked the install button. I was prompted with some of the usual stuff, such as language and the license agreement. However, I was never asked where to install it. This resulted in the game being installed on the wrong hard drive. I later found the setting hidden in the menus, and changed it to the right location.
• After uninstalling the game so I could reinstall to the right drive, I had to download the game for a 3rd time.
• I am still waiting for it to download for a 3rd time.

Hopefully I will actually be able to play this sometime tonight. Games on Demand does have some potential, but at this point I would never buy a game using that client over Steam unless Games on Demand had a significant price savings.

Firefox 3.5 Released

The next version of the award-winning Web browser just got released. If you have not made the switch yet, now is a great time to jump on the bandwagon. Its the safer and more featured alternative to Internet Explorer. Your bookmarks can automatically be imported to Firefox when you make the switch. There is nothing to lose, give it a try today!

Nvidia Adds Ambient Occlusion

Nvidia recently added support for Ambient Occlusion to their new drivers, and I have to say that I am pretty pleased. Ambient Occlusion adds realism to scenes by reducing the intensity of ambient lights on surfaces blocked by surrounding objects. It enhances depth perception by providing a soft shadow effect for objects based on their placement in the scene.

Standard lighting models compute the color of a surface based on its properties and the lights in a scene. Objects that are in the path of a light cast shadows, otherwise, their presence does not affect the lighting of other objects. Ambient occlusion improves this model by accounting for the dimming caused by objects that block out ambient light. An example of this is the junction where a wall and a ceiling meet; while no direct shadows are cast, the corner nevertheless appears darker. Ambient occlusion simulates this phenomenon, along with all other cases where objects are close enough to block out ambient light.

Currently only 22 titles are enabled with ambient occlusion profiles, but they managed to hit most of the games I am currently playing on the PC anyway such as Fallout 3, Team Fortress 2, and Counter Strike Source. Hopefully more support for other games will be coming soon.

The following 22 titles are enabled with ambient occlusion profiles:

• Assassin’s Creed
• BioShock
• Call of Duty 4
• Call of Duty 5
• Call Of Juarez
• Company Of Heroes
• Counter-Strike Source
• Dead Space
• Devil May Cry 4
• F.E.A.R. 2
• Fallout 3
• Farcry 2
• Half Life 2 series
• Left 4 Dead
• Lost Planet: Colonies
• Lost Planet: Extreme Condition
• Mirror’s Edge
• Portal
• Team Fortress 2
• Unreal Tournament 3
• World In Conflict
• World of Warcraft