Smoko's Den

Rate My Signature

Fri, 16 Nov 2007 18:32:32 GMT

I got bored this morning and decided to make a new signature for forums I post on. Because I've recently gained a God Of War obsession, it was easy to think of a subject for it.

Update on what I've been doing.

Tue, 02 Oct 2007 06:50:38 GMT

I've been surfing, and doing some minor web development. Photo and details inside.

Surfing Photo:
http://smokedev.com/img/smokeimage/ 2007051026smokosurfingthecube.PNG

Web Development:
I have been bored, so I've tried my hand at trying to make my own versions of simple sites I use frequently. My main reason for this, is because I usually end up losing the links and have to refind or reupload.

Currently Underway:
SmokeURL and SmokeIMG.

Planned:
Nothing.

Details:
SmokeIMG - Similar to ImageShack, only not as fancy. It allows for image uploads, and viewing of what has been uploaded.

URL: http://smokedev.com/img
List URL: http://smokedev.com/img/?list (Possibly offensive)

SmokeURL - Similar to TinyURL. It has a slightly longer URL and 3 second wait before redirection. You can also view every URL that has been made.

URL: http://smokedev.com/url
List URL: http://smokedev.com/url/?list

Neither of them are all that impressive, but I've found them to be useful. I eventually plan on merging them together and having a registration option, so you can get easy access to your links. Once I'm satisfied with their performance and code or I stop working on them I'll release the source.

I did the tattoo, only not as planned.

Sat, 15 Sep 2007 01:46:48 GMT

Well, like promised I got a tattoo. The problem is, it would of been too hard to get the text in properly. So I ended up getting some pirate skull with swords, quality isn't that great which makes it lol worthy. Next time my friend comes down he'll bring more needles, so we can add in some more detail.

Link: http://files.byondhome.com/Smoko/AUT_0041.JPG

BYOND, I need your help to do something stupid.

Sat, 01 Sep 2007 07:26:22 GMT

I've written up my request here, so everyone can comment and pick.

http://tattoopick.blogspot.com/

Help me ruin my skin, you'll get lols out of it. I promise.

Finally, 18.

Sat, 18 Aug 2007 21:23:49 GMT

http://jacob.smokedev.com/stuff/18th

Nintense

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 06:35:36 GMT

Not long ago, I posted(link) about a Nintendo Wifi Community. It was hosted on a subdomain of smokedev, but it now has it's own domain name and seems to be running smoothly.

What is Nintense? It's a website, aiming to get a database of friend codes for Nintendo's wifi service and make finding people closer to you or your skill level to match easier.

At the moment, we currently have 34 members and 41 friend codes. Please feel free to join up and add yours, maybe even contribute to the discussions on the forums.

You can find it here(link).

Pidgin

Sun, 08 Jul 2007 04:04:29 GMT

I recently read something about Windows Live Messenger and felt the need to write this post, even though the author is probably already aware of this program and others like it. All the content, is taken directly from Pidgin's website.

What is Pidgin?

Pidgin is an instant messaging program for Windows, Linux, BSD, and other Unixes. You can talk to your friends using AIM, ICQ, Jabber/XMPP, MSN Messenger, Yahoo!, Bonjour, Gadu-Gadu, IRC, Novell GroupWise Messenger, QQ, Lotus Sametime, SILC, SIMPLE, and Zephyr.

Pidgin can log in to multiple accounts on multiple IM networks simultaneously. This means that you can be chatting with friends on AIM, talking to a friend on Yahoo Messenger, and sitting in an IRC channel all at the same time.

Pidgin supports many features of the various networks, such as file transfer, away messages, and typing notification. It also goes beyond that and provides many unique features. A few popular features are Buddy Pounces, which give the ability to notify you, send a message, play a sound, or run a program when a specific buddy goes away, signs online, or returns from idle; and plugins, consisting of text replacement, a buddy ticker, extended message notification, iconify on away, spell checking, tabbed conversations, and more.

Pidgin runs on a number of platforms, including Windows, Linux, and other UNIX operating systems. Looking for Pidgin for OS X? Try Adium!

Pidgin integrates well with GNOME 2 and KDE 3.1's system tray, as well as Windows' own system tray. This allows you to work with Pidgin without requiring the buddy list window to be open at all times.

Pidgin is under constant development, and releases are usually frequent. The latest news regarding Pidgin can be found on the news page.

What is Finch?

Finch is the text-based version of Pidgin. It supports the same IM networks, but you can run it in a console window. You can use it on Linux, BSD, and other Unixes.

What is libpurple?

libpurple is the programming library that powers Pidgin and Finch. It's responsible for connecting to all the IM networks, and for managing your accounts and preferences. It's written in C and makes heavy use of Glib.

What's wrong with friend codes?

Sat, 23 Jun 2007 23:24:59 GMT

I've written an article for Nintense on why friend codes are bad. Here is a short excerpt from it:

Another problem is sharing them with your friends, and getting theirs. For two people to add each other, you'll need to both write out your 12 numbers making it 24 numbers being dealt with. But if you want to add each other to two games it'll be 48 numbers, three games will be 96. The more games you add, the more numbers you get, which makes it easy to get lost in and make mistakes which in turn makes it even more time consuming.

You can view it here(link).

Nintense: Nintendo Wifi Community

Thu, 21 Jun 2007 05:09:35 GMT

Some friends and I have been working on a site for Nintendo's Wifi Connection, and it's pretty much finished now.

It has a friendcode database, so you can easily add your own, or search for other peoples friendcodes and arrange a match with them. Or just discuss gaming related stuff with other members on the forums.

Link: Nintense

Please check it out and tell me what you think, or help fill the friendcode database.

I'm now a pensioner, and how I spent $1067.90c in 4 days!

Fri, 27 Apr 2007 05:46:41 GMT

It's now official, I'm a pensioner. I put in my forms for it several months back and the week before the one just gone, I got accepted and had back payments put in my bank from when I applied.

The total of that was $821.23. With that, I went on a quest for cheap Laptops/Notebooks. I found one for $998, after cashback it would of been $798.

So I was excited. Really excited. The most money I'd had in one go before now was $145. Then I was looking around and seen that Big-W(Link) had a Lenovo 3000 C200(link) on special for $898 without cashback, which was awesome.I don't like the idea of cashbacks at all. At this price, I'd have to borrow $70 from Mum and Dad. But they'd be getting it back in three days, when I got my first real payment of $293.

I went into town last Friday, and checked out some other stores too see if I could find anything better. I couldn't. I went to Big-W and had a little play around with the display model then payed for it, in cash. I felt so good. Then it was taken back to the car, and I put the battery in it and set it up while Mum and Dad done the shopping.

When we got home I installed Firefox, foobar2000, Gaim and BYOND. Ran system update, and then started playing with it. I came to the conclusion that Windows Vista Home Premium isn't all that bad. But I woulndn't buy it by its self or upgrade my Desktop computer to it if I got it for free.

What I like about Windows Vista, is the part of the Start menu. As most of you probably know by now, there is a little search bar at the bottom of it. You can type all, or part of a program/files name in it and it will then find it really quickly. I don't like how it displays things like like the "All Programs" menu though. But with the search function, you don't really need to use it at all, or very often.

Aero. The ever so hyped feature of Vista. It makes it look pretty, I'll give it that. But the card like presentation of Windows is fairly pointless, but is fun to use when you're bored. I'm hoping they introduce multiple desktops with a "Desktop Cube" somewhat like Beryl has. Untill a good official one is made I'll continue using Yod'm 3D(link)

All in all, Vista hasn't been a terrible experiance. But it's not really worth using unless you're buying a new computer/laptop with it preinstalled. I know I could be getting faster computer speeds and using less memory with Windows 2000, Windows XP or a Linux Distro(Slackware), but I'm not really concerned about it. Because when your desktop computer is a Pentium 3 with a clock speed of 733Mhz and 224MB of RAM then you start using a computer with a clock speed of 1.7Ghz and 1GB of RAM everything just flies.

With the extra money I had left after paying my parents back, I bought my self Excite Truck and Splinter Cell: Double Agent for the Wii from Myer. It was the first time in that store branch for at least 5 years. They were still using the same layout as the last time I went into one, which was mighty handy because I didn't have to waste time looking for what I wanted, or get lost. They both cost me $79.95 each.

In Myer the Home Entertainment is located upstairs, and they still had the old step esculator system going. Only this time the second floor was higher up, and a steeper climb. I had minor panic attacks going up and down it, but I'd do it again for games that cheap.

I also bought my self a fridge on the Weekend for $10, which is now in my room filled with softdrink. My pensioner card came today so I'll be able to get cheaper medice and public transport fees, possibly even the movies, I hardly ever use either of them, but when I do it'll be nice to save some money.

I'm currently "earning" $293 a fortnight(Every two weeks), and Monday is my payday. I think I'll just pay my parents back some more money, and then just save some so I can build a shed out the back and be self dependant.