SequenceGen Bug

Found a bug in SequenceGen. File was truncated when the output text is too large. Fixed in v0.00.03.

WebHoldem: Download

This Windows application allows users to play Texas Holdem over the Web.

Current version 0.06.00 [download]

v0.06.00 (2004/12/16):

• a more discreet "Discreet Mode"
• dealer button only shows up when it's needed
• Action window only shows up when it's needed
• text-to-speech pronounces certain acronyms in full words
• bug fix: shitload of them

v0.05.00 (2004/12/09):

• a new "Discreet Mode"
• when minimized, taskbar shows "YOUR TURN" when it's the player's turn
• bug fix: server polling is stopped when a user cancels a chip transfer

v0.04.* (2004/12/07):

• chat messages no longer go to the little player windows
• staging area now changed to a list
• added tooltips
• reorganized the config file to be more intuitive for beginners
• bug fix: fixed "Extra" menu not visible bug
• players have zero chips and are by default in "listen mode" when they connect
• players who loose all their chips get put in "listen mode" in the next game
• players in "listen mode" can watch the game and chat but do not play
• added instructions in readme.txt
• added application-driven dealing capabilites
• new table layout
• automatically figuring out whose turn it is
• big buttons for BET, CHECK and FOLD will appear when it is the player's turn
• warning message when bet amount is insufficient
• one-click dealing using only a single button or Ctrl-Enter
• changed Checking key from spacebar to F6
• changed Show Cards key from F6 to F9
• players' cards are no longer inverted

Special thanks:

• to Jonathan Evraire (SK), for implementing the HTTP message redirection server.
• to everyone who wouldn't stop bitching about the user interface

*** note: this application requires an HTTP message redirection Web application to work (specs supplied)

72-hour Game Development Competition

the challenge: building a computer game from scratch using only publicly available libraries in 72 hours by a maximum of 3 people per team.

the BIGGER challenge: getting the 3 people to agree on how they will make the game.

personally, I think a team of one will be more efficient with this kind of project. just imagine all the design meetings at work you need to sit through just to decide who does what. 3 days will only be enough to decide whose turn it is to bring the donuts for the next meeting.

[continued in the comments...]

for those who are interested in the competition, here's the link:

http://www.finalredemption.com/72hourgdc/board/index.php

Something worthy of version 1

finally NetworkHoldem is ready for version 1. I can name a hundred things that can be added to the program, but screw it, it can play a complete Texas Holdem game from start to end, and that's all I care about.

Download it here.

if you've tried NetworkHoldem (and have figured out how to use it despite the lack of help file), and liked it. I encourage you write an end-user documentation for the program to help the less-gifted. I'd be more than happy to include you in the credits in future distributions. if you're like me and think it's their problem that they can't figure it out...

... rock on.

Let's play lunch time poker!

DocNsanE introduced to me a library called cards.dll which came with Windows for card games like solitaire and hearts. before I knew it I spent half the night up building a network-enabled poker game client. it has no game logic, only cards and chips handling capability. it took longer than I thought it would (more than 30 minutes), but I had fun making it.

... now I just need to find some lunch time poker buddies.

NetworkHoldem: Download

This Windows application allows users to play poker-type games, e.g. Texas Holdem, over the LAN.

Screenshot:

Current version 1.00.00 [download]

v1.00.00 (2004/11/16):

• added text-to-speech messaging (download voices)
• added "check" functionality, shown as (C)

v0.00.07 (2004/11/15):

• fixed problem when a player folds she stays folded for subsequent games

v0.00.06 (2004/11/11):

• fixed "show cards" function that wasn't working on game host
• newcomers can now see the cards that were dealt before the connection

For previous history, please refer to readme.txt.

Need for sequence generation

I initially needed a tool to generate an HTML page to display images (image01.jpg, image02.jpg.... image56.jpg). I couldn't have just used a javascript loop because I wanted to put different captions under some images. a javacript function that takes the image number as parameter would've worked, except I wasn't sure all the people who would browse the page would have JS enabled(I know I don't). so I wrote SequenceGen to help me generate a static HTML template that contains all the image links.

the tool is useful for generating program code and scripts ("why not just create the loop inside the program I'm writing?" you might ask. well, sometimes you'll find you can't. I'm not going to explain why here.) it can also generate table templates of this sort:

-	AA	AB	AC	BA	BB...
009	-	-	-	-	-
010	-	-	-	-	-
011	-	-	-	-	-

"I can just use XSL" you might say. well, good luck when you try to generate URLs for the HREF attribute inside of links.

there are limitations as to what the program can do. such as a sequence variable cannot be used to define the sequence range of a nested sequence block (bravo if you understood what the previous sentence means). nor is it capable of excluding a range of values or supporting conditional outputs. but I'll keep them in mind for future releases.

SequenceGen: Download

This Windows program generates sequences of letters or numbers from a template.

Current version 0.00.03 [download]

What's new:

v0.00.03 (2004/11/28):

• fix truncated file problem with large output

v0.00.02:

• Simplified syntax
• Better support for XML/HTML
• A new preview window

Why security on YOUR desktop matters

The following is from an email by SK that fell into my inbox this morning:

-- quote from email --------------------------

Subject: Why security on YOUR desktop matters

[All facts taken from: http://www.computerworld.com/.../0,10801,97157,00.html]
According to this independant study (and if you'll read it, you may be surprised that I chose to use this one), a third (32.7%) of successful break-ins into computers are against end-users. "The company estimates that worldwide economic damage in 2004 from these intrusions at between $103 and $126 billion." So 32.7% of $126 billion is $41 billion dollars of damage in 2004 alone caused by people like you and Ed who have their computers connected to the Net, but don't use a firewall.
That's putting a number to what I've always said, that it doesn't matter what intruders do to your system, it's what they do WITH your system that affects others, and ignoring that is plain and simple being irresponsible, particular when you're an advanced user who understands the technology. (End users can be more-or-less pardoned for their lack of knowledge... they don't really know what a firewall is most probably think it only applies to corporations.)

WebSource: [embeds] not working

it turned out [embeds] really didn't work and I fixed it for WebSource v0.00.08.
I also found that the program crashes more often than I'd like when there's a lot of javascript and forwarding going on. I'll have to look into that.

WebSource Download

This program displays the HTML source of a webpage in a tree view structure and allows users to browse directly from the source. It also retrieves external javascript and stylesheets files.

Current version 0.00.08 [download]

What's new:

• fixed [embeds]
• fixed startup error message

WebSource v0.00.07:

• minor bug fixes ([embeds] may still not work)
• handles popup windows better
  

RE: WebSource

roy pointed out to me that FireFox does a very good job with its source viewer, and I agreed completely. what WebSource does different is the way external files and links are handled. In WebSource:

• external (linked) javascript and stylesheet files are downloaded and can be viewed at the same time with the HTML
• links can be opened from within the source tree, and user has the options to open the link's source HTML or the link in a browser window (especially handy for javascript links)
• users are always asked whether or not to continue when the page they download is configured to automatically forward them to another page. If users choose NO, WebSource opens the HTML source of the original page.

but where WebSource falls short (which is many places), FireFox does very well. maybe somebody can take some time to add what they like in WebSource to the FireFox source viewer.

Dissect those huge and complicated webpages

quite often I found myself dissatisfied with the way web browsers do "view source". either I couldn't find what I was looking for (because some files are linked externally) or the HTML was just way to messy for me to comprehend.
so I took a few hours and wrote this program: WebSource
it's not the prettiest program in the world but it does the job of laying out structurally a complex HTML file. windows only. sorry linux people, I'm sure you can write your own easily.

New template!

Made a new template that includes the codehead logo. ;)

It's really a rip off of the old one, ah well. This one is more space efficient tho.

HD based MP3 players

From roy's blog:
Let the knock-offs begin!