February 2009
1 post
Links
Layers - Great little app to take layered screenshots. It cooks a nice PSD with the different windows in its own layer.
Wattson - Know how much energy your home is using.
Popularity EnhancEr - iPhone framework with farts and flashlight… (used by the cool Tweetie twitter client).
Comics Grammar & Tradition - Very nice article about lettering in comic books. They also have a cool...
January 2009
1 post
Links
Evolution of Game Controllers - Very cool. Moreover, I always found interesting that some controller designs allowed the devices to be used normally by left-handed people (i.e. Atari Lynx, Nintendo Virtual Boy, and now the Nintendo Wii). Also, Sony seems to be stuck with their original Playstation controller design…
HTTP Client - Useful.
World of Goo - Amazing little game, beautifully...
December 2008
8 posts
BioShock
It is not just another game with awesome graphics thrown in, it’s much more than that, it’s an experience - it makes you feel, disturbed mostly, and makes you think about what happened to Rapture: Politics, science, ethics and morality. But it doesn’t end there, as the player also has a moral choice to make: To harvest ADAM¹ from the little sisters - creepy little girls that...
Links
Oktapodi - Brilliant CGI Animation Short with lots of awards. Watch it here. I don’t think it will be there for long.
Jordan Mechner’s Blog - The guy that did Prince of Persia. The first one (and Sands of Time, also). I like his sketches.
Mazo - Mazo, the iPhone app rejected by Amazon and all.
Gears of War, Hell yeah!
I spent the entire afternoon playing Gears of War (the first). It’s like being in a bad war/action movie - bad actors, badass characters, big weapons, lots of blood, cheesy lines and all - but hey, the formula works really well with a video game.
The berserker part on the end of Act 1, scared the shit out of me.
Loving it.
XBox 360
So, I bought an XBox. Yes, from Microsoft! And I’m having a lot of fun with it.
I grabbed 4 “discount” games to begin: Assassin’s Creed, Gears of War, Halo 3 and Bioshock. I started playing Assassin’s Creed, and I’m loving it. Quietly slicing guards throats is awesome…
Not Dead...
…just busy. ;)
October 2008
4 posts
Links
Porsche Marketing vs Nissan Marketing - Porsche says Nissan kind-of-cheated on the Nurburgring GT-R time. Follow-up: Nissan says Porsche doesn’t know how to drive a GT-R.
iPhone NDA Lifted - Wow!
Nintendo DSi - Slightly bigger screen (3.25” vs 3”), two cameras, SD Card, online app/game store. Nice update. Update: WPA/WPA2 support. Finally.
Penny Arcade about Mega Man 9.
Leica Digilux 3
Always liked Leicas, they’re so simple and yet very powerful. Unfortunately I don’t own one, but I spend several hours reading and watching vintage Leicas on the net. I am absolutely fascinated by them.
Now, about the Digilux 3: In my opinion the most beautiful camera ever. Yes, I know, it’s not a pure breed Leica, it’s made from a Panasonic (the Lumix DMC-L1), but I...
September 2008
2 posts
Links
Hadron Collider - Pretty impressive photos. More about the collider on this very interesting TED talk: Brian Cox on CERN Supercollider.
Olympic Medal Count Map - Medals won by each country.
Face Your Manga - Make a cool, manga-like avatar of yourself.
PhotoCalc - The Photographer’s Calculator for iPhone.
August 2008
3 posts
Wall-E
Wall-E was finally released in Portugal. What a beautiful masterpiece, it’s perfect in almost ¹ every aspect: Storytelling, Cinematically, Humor and Technically. Full of subtle (and not-so-subtle) jokes and references, like for instance: 2001 A Space Odyssey, Aliens, ET, Fawlty Towers, Apple and more. I’m sure that if I see it again I will catch more delicious references.
The...
July 2008
13 posts
Sound Bits
I like pretty things. When I needed speakers for my Power Mac, I kept postponing the purchase because I didn’t like what was available inside my defined price range. I was about to buy the JBL Creatures II before I stumbled on those gorgeous JBL Spot: They’re not very powerful, but have very good sound quality, they do their job very well.
That brings me to what I was wanting to talk...
Links
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed - For iPhone, pretty impressive despite the low framerate.
iPhone OS 2 Changes - by Shawn Blanc. And a little addendum.
Wii MotionPlus - 1:1 Movements for the Wii. Wow.
Global Rich List - How rich are you?
Angus MacLane of Pixar - Interview to read after seeing the movie. Damn, can’t wait to see this movie…
Conversation with Michael B. Johnson...
Traboules
Traboules are passages inside old buildings, between parallel streets, made to easy the transport of silk and other goods. We can find them on the old Lyon and Croix Rousse. They are quite dungeon-like and sometimes creepy, with a small interior yard where you can see the sky. These are mostly private areas, but most are open (just push the door to enter), you have to know them though, because...
Links
Under the Hood: The iPhone’s Gaming Mettle - About the iPhone’s hardware. Interesting.
Drobo - The Drobo just got alot better, now with Firewire 400 and 800 support.
10 Ways to Take Stunning Portraits - Very nice advices.
Amazing Ball Girl Catch - Truly amazing!
The Shawshank Redemption
Just saw this movie, one in my long list of movies-i-missed-and-must-watch-before-dying. The movie has a very good reputation (#2 in IMDB’s Top 250). Does it deserve it? Yeah, I guess. Maybe not that high, but it is an excellent movie.
Links
The Amazing Shit Box - Awesome site design. Crazy Product. Love It.
Hello, WALL•E: Pixar Reaches for the Stars - Bookmarked, but not read. Not until I see the movie.
Puzzle Farter - The name says it all.
Diablo III - Blizzard announced Diablo III, not quite as dark as the previous opus, but very nice looking game. Productivity killer, I say…
June 2008
17 posts
Links
How Gaming’s Affecting Pixar - Nice interview to Ralph Eggleston, Pixar’s production designer behind Wall-E.
Apple’s Next CEO - My guess: Schiller or Cook.
New Coca-cola Identity - They’re getting it right in terms of design. Don’t forget to check the video.
George W Bush Sewer - Great!
Links
Nokia Buying Symbian - Never though Apple and Google could shake the mobile phone market this much. Now, what about the other manufacturers that use the Symbian platform? Will they remain developing Nokia’s open source platform, or will they be pushed towards Android?
Long Nails and the iPhone - Never crossed my mind…
Links
Pixar in-jokes and self references - For Pixar fans.
What is good tequila? - Even if I am unable to drink one drop of alcohol, it’s a very interesting post.
The Machine That Changed The World - Old documentary about the history of computing, made available by Andy Baio. There’s a torrent link to get all five episodes somewhere in the post.
iSobre - Interesting idea for a Macbook...
iPhone Developers
We’ve been accepted by Apple in the iPhone Developer Program. We’re happy!
Application Development, Part II
The second most tedious and pain-in-the-ass task in application development? Localization.
Mechanical Pencil
I tend to draft a lot of interface sketches on paper before prototyping them on Photoshop, for that I use a pencil, a mechanical one… I love mechanical pencils, not just any mechanical pencil, a good one, and I’m very, very picky concerning mechanical pencils. Ok, I guess you got it…
Anyway, while searching for a new one, I found this unknown brand - at least to me - and bought...
Japanese Sites
Japanese sites have unique look and feel that fascinates me. I often find myself surfing through them, even if I don’t understand a thing. Try it, it’s like entering another dimension! :)
BTW, have you seen the japanized Google page?
Geneva
Awesome city, been there 2 days and fell in love with it. I already miss it. It’s hard to explain. I must go back, preferably in the winter, it must be beautiful all snowy…
PS: Bought myself a neat swiss army knife.
Application Development
The most tedious and pain-in-the-ass task in application development? Writing a user manual.
