12:33 UTC - Peace. Out.
03:46 UTC - Our game is now on E4 - http://www.e4.com/game/crisis-christmas-crossword/play.e4 - is there no stopping us now?
22:29 UTC - I created an algorithm which fitted all the family's presents so they exactly filled the suitcases I'm taking home. Then I remembered there's two more presents awaiting collection from the post office. :(
19:37 UTC - 10 days. 5 developers. 5 TV stars. 1 game-that's the Crisis Christmas Crossword. As well as the game, we made a tracking & reporting system; framework logic; Facebook connectivity; server-side API; find, film, edit, & prepare footage of 5 celebs; source a script and music; liaise with agents and legal; and create the deploy scripts necessary. A truly wonderful display of engineering, project management, and chutzpah!
17:56 UTC - ...is doing stats analysis on the Crisis at Christmas game; but I'm doing it on the live database, so my results change each time I run it. Go go bleeding edge...
09:04 UTC - David Mitchell - yes that one, from Peep show - just tweeted about the game we made with him (http://apps.facebook.com/crisis_at_christmas/)... we got another 100 plays in the first 37 seconds :)
10:51 UTC - Today is not the day to soft launch my first Facebook game since leaving Playfish, since it's the day after the PF xmas party. But it's here anyway. It took 10 days to turn-around, so testing is required, please!
http://apps.facebook.com/crisis_at_christmas/
11:12 UTC - An interview with, er, me!
http://forum.gpm2world.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1256
At least a couple of people on the forum found it interesting :)
23:29 UTC - So few songs deserve the description "sublime". Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah is one of them. Jamming along with Jeff Buckley's version on piano just makes me feel so fuzzy inside. Oh, to achieve that level of greatest...
12:25 UTC - I can't be added as developers of apps because of the "Your account must be verified..." box? Pah!
11:36 UTC - A game I wrote in 1996 - Grand Prix Manager 2 - has a fan site. And they've just asked me to do an interview. This is probably the only time I know what it's like to be a rock star. I wonder what game I'll say was my "difficult" second album...
23:44 UTC - Only 1800 lines of code written this weekend, but I also munged some graphics, generated display/interface files, and wrote gameplay code - a notoriously tweaky discipline. So I think it's pretty decent progress, TBH. I now have a reasonable draft of a complete data-driven crossword game for the Kindle. Now for beer and burgers in celebration...
19:00 UTC - I've only written 2000 lines of code this weekend, but that comprises of "complete" graphics, input, timing, filesystem, font, and GUI subsystems for the Kindle. All without a debugger. It's spiritual port of SGX, TBH, so it was less thinking and more doing. Being productive is good!
09:06 UTC - spent his extra hour in bed reading about the graphic design changes made to the London tube map since 1931. Sad or stupendous?
09:00 UTC+01 - wishes the best of luck to all his friends laid off by EA yesterday, and fingers crossed for those rumoured to be going today. :(
11:46 UTC+01 - doesn't like the fact that FB goes through other peoples email address book to suggest them as 'People you may know'. Particularly as it (appears to) remove that person from your 'block list' in order to do so.
23:13 UTC+01 - had a smart observational comment about "The Social Network", but Lawrence Lessig has already made it.
20:10 UTC+01 - has seen a great use for a phased array of microphones: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/10/super-microphone-picks-out-single-voice-in-a-crowded-stadium/
18:53 UTC+01 - is annoyed at structuring and classifying data, despite professing a love of taxonomy.
20:17 UTC+01 - has released another major versino of Minerva. Finally! Now, if you have a Bluetooth photo frame, you can send the weather report, currently playing music, and Google calendar data to it. Combine it with the new 'data sets' functionality, and Minerva will notice what film you're watching and download the appropriate cast list (and their biography and other films) to your photo frame as well.
20:05 UTC+01 - wonders if he can get away with a 16 bar, and 40 second, long verse when there's only 15 words in it...
11:56 UTC+01 - Something I punched up last night...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IALIF_KHfv8
10:09 UTC+01 - has his ticket for board game camp (http://boardgamecamp.eventbrite.com) - is anyone else going?
09:50 UTC+01 - is in a (slightly) good mood after recieving a book I'd forgotten I'd ordered. A breakdown on the ZX Spectrums ULA chip - circuits, timing, control logic... everything to rebuild a Spectrum from scratch, basically :)
08:07 UTC+01 - has packed his memories into boxes, and hidden them in the loft. There will be soon a clean slate - one way or another.
08:02 UTC+01 - is making tough decisions.
15:34 UTC+01 - is watching many years of his life become unraveled. What was the point in helping anyone?
18:42 UTC+01 - is off to spend his last evening with the guys from the China office. More food. More beer. More fun.
02:45 UTC+01 - had his first foot massage last night. Thanks for Jo for suggesting it, and Andrew for knowing the place. If any of my (female) friends would like to practise, I will gladly offer my feet into service :)
08:56 UTC+01 - spent the morning walking along the Great Wall of China. Not all of it, of course, although it did feel like it at times. What did the rest of you do before breakfast? ;)
03:56 UTC+01 - has now eating Peking duck in Peking :) Thanks Jeremyn Yew Munn Yam !
22:55 UTC+01 - bought too much magic from the Mystic Ring bring and buy sale. But then again, is there such a thing as "too much magic"?
21:26 UTC+01 - calculus makes me want to derive off the edge of a clilff.
14:49 UTC+01 - has just been watching and listening to the world cup. I heard "Vuvuvuvuvuvuvuvuvu vuvuvuvuvuvuvuvuvu vuuuuuuuuuvvvvuu uuuvuvuvuv uvuvuvuvuvuvu uuuvuvuvuvuvuuvuuvu vuvvvvvvvvvvuuvuvuvuv uvuvuvuv vuvuuuuuuuuuuuu 1-0 vuuuuuuuuuuuuuu uuuuuuvuu vuvuvuvuvuvuvuvuvuvuvu vuvuvuvuvu vuvuvuvuvuuv uvuvuvuvuvuvu vuvuvuvuv uvuvuvuvu uvuvuvuv uvuvuvuvuvuvuvuvuvu vuvuvu 2-0 uvuvuvuvuvu vuvuvuvu vuvuvuvuvuvu vuvuvuvuvuvuvuvuvu".
08:14 UTC+01 - is impressed by the RBox, a $3 console. http://rossum.posterous.com/20131601 (that's $1 for the chip, $1 for the joystick, and $1 for glue components) Everything else is software. Now imagine a Beowulf cluster of those... ;)
13:58 UTC+01 - has a brain that can accurately recall each note of a 10 minute solo in a Soft Machine album he hasn't heard in years, but regularly forgets his own name.
12:37 UTC+01 - Also a great shame to hear that the brilliant Ray Alan died earlier today
07:33 UTC+01 - is already missing Martin Gardner. RIP, my favourite mathemagician.
20:18 UTC+01 - arrived from SF on Tuesday evening... after
leaving on Monday morning. This is an odd feeling of tired and fully
awake.
16:40 UTC+01 - is wondering how to update his status - mentioning the ghost walk, New York bagels, Sashimi, trolley cars, gift shopping, and walks under sun-drenched palm trees - without making all his UK peeps jealous...
17:05 UTC+01 - took a walk around San Francisco bay, snapping pictures of Alcatraz, the golden gate bridge, Lombard street, and a few other places. Then walked into work under the palm trees in the blazing sun. This sure beats the Piccadilly line at rush hour...
14:24 UTC+01 - As a true Brit would say, HOWS THE WEATHER OVER THERE?! ;D
16:52 UTC+01 - is in San Francisco. Wow! In the states for the first time ever. Being a true Brit I spent my first 20 bucks on beer, in the bar on the ground floor of our US office.
08:44 UTC+01 - voted tactically. My tactic was that I voted for the party I actually wanted to win. Novel concept, eh?
08:26 UTC+01 - is amused by the fact that Enya warrants an "ambient remix" album. And more amused that the remixes are less ambient by virtue of added drum loops.
13:00 UTC+01 - If it's worth buying, it's worth buying from my affiliate link. (Great idea Pedro!)
06:28 UTC+01 - has forgotten his "Bob" badge, on the first day in 15 years it might have been ironically cool to wear it...
14:14 UTC+01 - has taken delivery of 20 new books... all with his name on the cover :) http://www.apress.com/book/view/9781430227786
11:42 UTC+01 - Photo caption from HappyFunVille!Mon Mar 29 12:43:05 GMT+0100 2010
14:34 UTC - wonders when did battery chargers required software? Er, since Energizer wanted to install a backdoor on your system - that's when...
http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=5602
(I had to check whether it was April 1st, too!)
15:20 UTC - If you can't get enough of me talking about beer, there's another episode here:
http://thebeercrate.com/episodes.htm#ep35
At least with a podcast, you can turn the volume down. Or off!
09:42 UTC - FOSDEM 2010 is finally documented.
http://www.bluedust.dontexist.com/fosdem2010/
16:17 UTC - has just written the phrase "specificity of function" into the conclusion of Chapter 7 of his new book, and has a disproportional amount of love for it.
Marquis de Geek