Black Marble for the Micro Framework

This evening it was up to Black Marble for a talk about the .NET Micro Framework. This is the technology which lets you run your C# programs on tiny hardware platforms. I'm co-presenting a couple of sessions at TechEd 07 in Barcelona and those that turned up got a sneak preview of the material.

The talk went well, although the jokes could have been better received (although I see this as a failure of the audience, not of the jokes - of course...)

Next stop Spain.....

Ratatouille

Rat's are not generally nice. We don't root for rats. Ratatouille is a film with a rat at the centre. And not a stylised "cute" rat in the mould of Micky Mouse. This is a proper ratty rat, who scurries and scampers and has many hundreds of swarming friends and family. Who don't always wash their hands.

That you know all this, and see all this, and still want the best for Reny, the gourmet cook with the wrong kind of whiskers, is testement to just how good this film is. The story is good, if it does sag a bit in the middle, the characterisations and voice acting is great and the rendering is beyond reproach. Everything looks great, and the images have an effortless quality about them. One of the great things about CGI is that you can take the camera anywhere, and they do this wiith verve and aplomb.

This is an excellent film at every level. Just go see it and give thanks for Brad Bird.

A Sad Moment

All good things must come to an end, so they say. At the end of the week we turn off our old departmental forums. I set them up many years ago and they have been a roaring success. Many students have signed up for them and some have stuck around for years after they officially left Hull, passing on help to undergraduates. Some of the debates have been truly hilarious, and others very thought provoking.

However, with a move to a more unified and managed set of resources we are finally turning off the old forums and moving on to our new shiny system. I'm sure that they will will soon be hosting the same level of discussion, debate and odd bit of stupidity that made our old forums so much fun.

But I'll still miss the original system....

The Silliness Starts Here

I've put my first XNA file on VerySillyGames. It is just a silly screen display. The source code will be provided when the book is released. It is a nice example of how you can get really good graphical effects almost by mistake. You can find a runnable version of the program for the PC at www.verysillygames.com. It is optimised for 1280 x 1024 displays on a PC with the XNA framework installed. An Xbox version will be available later.

I've added rotation to the original program, let me know what you think

If you are lucky enough to be a student at Hull you can join the VerySillyGames.com development effort, where we are going to take some of the silly game ideas and try to make them real. This time next year we'll all be millionaires. Oh yes.

Rilo Kiley

If you are looking for something new to listen to you could do a lot worse than seek out Rilo Kiley. They are an indie rock band operating out of California, but none the worse for that.

Their latest album, Under The BlackLight is good selection of tunes in a variety of different styles. To me they sound a bit like Fleetwood Mac would sound if they were still making records.