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  • Pinterest and Social Commerce: The Social Networking Site Retailers Shouldn’t Ignore

    - by Jeri Kelley
    If you are in the midst of remodeling your home, researching the latest spring fashion trends, or simply trying to figure out what to cook for dinner you’ve probably been on Pinterest, and like me, find it extremely useful for generating new ideas and storing them all in one place. Gone are the days of folding over corners of magazines or bookmarking the URL of a Web page – Pinterest makes it easy for you to “pin” ideas, photos, links, and more to virtual bulletin boards where your “followers” can repin, like, and share. As a consumer, Pinterest has gained my attention and I’m definitely not the only one. According to a Monetate infographic, Pinterest’s unique visitors increased 329% from September to December 2011. With this explosion of users, what does it mean for social commerce? Also according to Monetate, Pinterest is one of the top traffic drivers for retailers – driving even more traffic than popular social networking sites like Google+.  For businesses, creating a presence on Pinterest is a great way to extend the reach of your brand, increase inbound links, and drive more traffic to your site. Socialnomics has a great post on how some of the biggest retail brands are using Pinterest to connect with consumers, offer cool content, and engage on a more personal level. When evaluating your social commerce program, while Facebook still delivers the most referrals, Pinterest shouldn’t be ignored as a way to help reach and connect with as many consumers as possible.

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  • Add collison detection to enemy sprites?

    - by xBroak
    i'd like to add the same collision detection used by the player sprite to the enemy sprites or 'creeps' ive added all the relevant code I can see yet collisons are still not being detected and handled, please find below the class, I have no idea what is wrong currently, the list of walls to collide with is 'wall_list' import pygame import pauseScreen as dm import re from pygame.sprite import Sprite from pygame import Rect, Color from random import randint, choice from vec2d import vec2d from simpleanimation import SimpleAnimation import displattxt black = (0,0,0) white = (255,255,255) blue = (0,0,255) green = (101,194,151) global currentEditTool currentEditTool = "Tree" global editMap editMap = False open('MapMaker.txt', 'w').close() def draw_background(screen, tile_img): screen.fill(black) img_rect = tile_img.get_rect() global rect rect = img_rect nrows = int(screen.get_height() / img_rect.height) + 1 ncols = int(screen.get_width() / img_rect.width) + 1 for y in range(nrows): for x in range(ncols): img_rect.topleft = (x * img_rect.width, y * img_rect.height) screen.blit(tile_img, img_rect) def changeTool(): if currentEditTool == "Tree": None elif currentEditTool == "Rock": None def pauseGame(): red = 255, 0, 0 green = 0,255, 0 blue = 0, 0,255 screen.fill(black) pygame.display.update() if editMap == False: choose = dm.dumbmenu(screen, [ 'Resume', 'Enable Map Editor', 'Quit Game'], 64,64,None,32,1.4,green,red) if choose == 0: print("hi") elif choose ==1: global editMap editMap = True elif choose ==2: print("bob") elif choose ==3: print("bob") elif choose ==4: print("bob") else: None else: choose = dm.dumbmenu(screen, [ 'Resume', 'Disable Map Editor', 'Quit Game'], 64,64,None,32,1.4,green,red) if choose == 0: print("Resume") elif choose ==1: print("Dis ME") global editMap editMap = False elif choose ==2: print("bob") elif choose ==3: print("bob") elif choose ==4: print("bob") else: None class Wall(pygame.sprite.Sprite): # Constructor function def __init__(self,x,y,width,height): pygame.sprite.Sprite.__init__(self) self.image = pygame.Surface([width, height]) self.image.fill(green) self.rect = self.image.get_rect() self.rect.y = y self.rect.x = x class insertTree(pygame.sprite.Sprite): def __init__(self,x,y,width,height, typ): pygame.sprite.Sprite.__init__(self) self.image = pygame.image.load("images/map/tree.png").convert() self.image.set_colorkey(white) self.rect = self.image.get_rect() self.rect.y = y self.rect.x = x class insertRock(pygame.sprite.Sprite): def __init__(self,x,y,width,height, typ): pygame.sprite.Sprite.__init__(self) self.image = pygame.image.load("images/map/rock.png").convert() self.image.set_colorkey(white) self.rect = self.image.get_rect() self.rect.y = y self.rect.x = x class Creep(pygame.sprite.Sprite): """ A creep sprite that bounces off walls and changes its direction from time to time. """ change_x=0 change_y=0 def __init__( self, screen, creep_image, explosion_images, field, init_position, init_direction, speed): """ Create a new Creep. screen: The screen on which the creep lives (must be a pygame Surface object, such as pygame.display) creep_image: Image (surface) object for the creep explosion_images: A list of image objects for the explosion animation. field: A Rect specifying the 'playing field' boundaries. The Creep will bounce off the 'walls' of this field. init_position: A vec2d or a pair specifying the initial position of the creep on the screen. init_direction: A vec2d or a pair specifying the initial direction of the creep. Must have an angle that is a multiple of 45 degres. speed: Creep speed, in pixels/millisecond (px/ms) """ Sprite.__init__(self) self.screen = screen self.speed = speed self.field = field self.rect = creep_image.get_rect() # base_image holds the original image, positioned to # angle 0. # image will be rotated. # self.base_image = creep_image self.image = self.base_image self.explosion_images = explosion_images # A vector specifying the creep's position on the screen # self.pos = vec2d(init_position) # The direction is a normalized vector # self.direction = vec2d(init_direction).normalized() self.state = Creep.ALIVE self.health = 15 def is_alive(self): return self.state in (Creep.ALIVE, Creep.EXPLODING) def changespeed(self,x,y): self.change_x+=x self.change_y+=y def update(self, time_passed, walls): """ Update the creep. time_passed: The time passed (in ms) since the previous update. """ if self.state == Creep.ALIVE: # Maybe it's time to change the direction ? # self._change_direction(time_passed) # Make the creep point in the correct direction. # Since our direction vector is in screen coordinates # (i.e. right bottom is 1, 1), and rotate() rotates # counter-clockwise, the angle must be inverted to # work correctly. # self.image = pygame.transform.rotate( self.base_image, -self.direction.angle) # Compute and apply the displacement to the position # vector. The displacement is a vector, having the angle # of self.direction (which is normalized to not affect # the magnitude of the displacement) # displacement = vec2d( self.direction.x * self.speed * time_passed, self.direction.y * self.speed * time_passed) self.pos += displacement # When the image is rotated, its size is changed. # We must take the size into account for detecting # collisions with the walls. # self.image_w, self.image_h = self.image.get_size() bounds_rect = self.field.inflate( -self.image_w, -self.image_h) if self.pos.x < bounds_rect.left: self.pos.x = bounds_rect.left self.direction.x *= -1 elif self.pos.x > bounds_rect.right: self.pos.x = bounds_rect.right self.direction.x *= -1 elif self.pos.y < bounds_rect.top: self.pos.y = bounds_rect.top self.direction.y *= -1 elif self.pos.y > bounds_rect.bottom: self.pos.y = bounds_rect.bottom self.direction.y *= -1 # collision detection old_x=bounds_rect.left new_x=old_x+self.direction.x bounds_rect.left = new_x # hit a wall? collide = pygame.sprite.spritecollide(self, walls, False) if collide: # yes bounds_rect.left=old_x old_y=self.pos.y new_y=old_y+self.direction.y self.pos.y = new_y collide = pygame.sprite.spritecollide(self, walls, False) if collide: # yes self.pos.y=old_y elif self.state == Creep.EXPLODING: if self.explode_animation.active: self.explode_animation.update(time_passed) else: self.state = Creep.DEAD self.kill() elif self.state == Creep.DEAD: pass #------------------ PRIVATE PARTS ------------------# # States the creep can be in. # # ALIVE: The creep is roaming around the screen # EXPLODING: # The creep is now exploding, just a moment before dying. # DEAD: The creep is dead and inactive # (ALIVE, EXPLODING, DEAD) = range(3) _counter = 0 def _change_direction(self, time_passed): """ Turn by 45 degrees in a random direction once per 0.4 to 0.5 seconds. """ self._counter += time_passed if self._counter > randint(400, 500): self.direction.rotate(45 * randint(-1, 1)) self._counter = 0 def _point_is_inside(self, point): """ Is the point (given as a vec2d) inside our creep's body? """ img_point = point - vec2d( int(self.pos.x - self.image_w / 2), int(self.pos.y - self.image_h / 2)) try: pix = self.image.get_at(img_point) return pix[3] > 0 except IndexError: return False def _decrease_health(self, n): """ Decrease my health by n (or to 0, if it's currently less than n) """ self.health = max(0, self.health - n) if self.health == 0: self._explode() def _explode(self): """ Starts the explosion animation that ends the Creep's life. """ self.state = Creep.EXPLODING pos = ( self.pos.x - self.explosion_images[0].get_width() / 2, self.pos.y - self.explosion_images[0].get_height() / 2) self.explode_animation = SimpleAnimation( self.screen, pos, self.explosion_images, 100, 300) global remainingCreeps remainingCreeps-=1 if remainingCreeps == 0: print("all dead") def draw(self): """ Blit the creep onto the screen that was provided in the constructor. """ if self.state == Creep.ALIVE: # The creep image is placed at self.pos. To allow for # smooth movement even when the creep rotates and the # image size changes, its placement is always # centered. # self.draw_rect = self.image.get_rect().move( self.pos.x - self.image_w / 2, self.pos.y - self.image_h / 2) self.screen.blit(self.image, self.draw_rect) # The health bar is 15x4 px. # health_bar_x = self.pos.x - 7 health_bar_y = self.pos.y - self.image_h / 2 - 6 self.screen.fill( Color('red'), (health_bar_x, health_bar_y, 15, 4)) self.screen.fill( Color('green'), ( health_bar_x, health_bar_y, self.health, 4)) elif self.state == Creep.EXPLODING: self.explode_animation.draw() elif self.state == Creep.DEAD: pass def mouse_click_event(self, pos): """ The mouse was clicked in pos. """ if self._point_is_inside(vec2d(pos)): self._decrease_health(3) #begin new player class Player(pygame.sprite.Sprite): change_x=0 change_y=0 frame = 0 def __init__(self,x,y): pygame.sprite.Sprite.__init__(self) # LOAD PLATER IMAGES # Set height, width self.images = [] for i in range(1,17): img = pygame.image.load("images/player/" + str(i)+".png").convert() #player images img.set_colorkey(white) self.images.append(img) self.image = self.images[0] self.rect = self.image.get_rect() self.rect.y = y self.rect.x = x self.health = 15 self.image_w, self.image_h = self.image.get_size() health_bar_x = self.rect.x - 7 health_bar_y = self.rect.y - self.image_h / 2 - 6 screen.fill( Color('red'), (health_bar_x, health_bar_y, 15, 4)) screen.fill( Color('green'), ( health_bar_x, health_bar_y, self.health, 4)) def changespeed(self,x,y): self.change_x+=x self.change_y+=y def _decrease_health(self, n): """ Decrease my health by n (or to 0, if it's currently less than n) """ self.health = max(0, self.health - n) if self.health == 0: self._explode() def update(self,walls): # collision detection old_x=self.rect.x new_x=old_x+self.change_x self.rect.x = new_x # hit a wall? collide = pygame.sprite.spritecollide(self, walls, False) if collide: # yes self.rect.x=old_x old_y=self.rect.y new_y=old_y+self.change_y self.rect.y = new_y collide = pygame.sprite.spritecollide(self, walls, False) if collide: # yes self.rect.y=old_y # right to left if self.change_x < 0: self.frame += 1 if self.frame > 3*4: self.frame = 0 # Grab the image, divide by 4 # every 4 frames. self.image = self.images[self.frame//4] # Move left to right. # images 4...7 instead of 0...3. if self.change_x > 0: self.frame += 1 if self.frame > 3*4: self.frame = 0 self.image = self.images[self.frame//4+4] if self.change_y > 0: self.frame += 1 if self.frame > 3*4: self.frame = 0 self.image = self.images[self.frame//4+4+4] if self.change_y < 0: self.frame += 1 if self.frame > 3*4: self.frame = 0 self.image = self.images[self.frame//4+4+4+4] score = 0 # initialize pyGame pygame.init() # 800x600 sized screen global screen screen = pygame.display.set_mode([800, 600]) screen.fill(black) #bg_tile_img = pygame.image.load('images/map/grass.png').convert_alpha() #draw_background(screen, bg_tile_img) #pygame.display.flip() # Set title pygame.display.set_caption('Test') #background = pygame.Surface(screen.get_size()) #background = background.convert() #background.fill(black) # Create the player player = Player( 50,50 ) player.rect.x=50 player.rect.y=50 movingsprites = pygame.sprite.RenderPlain() movingsprites.add(player) # Make the walls. (x_pos, y_pos, width, height) global wall_list wall_list=pygame.sprite.RenderPlain() wall=Wall(0,0,10,600) # left wall wall_list.add(wall) wall=Wall(10,0,790,10) # top wall wall_list.add(wall) #wall=Wall(10,200,100,10) # poke wall wall_list.add(wall) wall=Wall(790,0,10,600) #(x,y,thickness, height) wall_list.add(wall) wall=Wall(10,590,790,10) #(x,y,thickness, height) wall_list.add(wall) f = open('MapMaker.txt') num_lines = sum(1 for line in f) print(num_lines) lineCount = 0 with open("MapMaker.txt") as infile: for line in infile: f = open('MapMaker.txt') print(line) coords = line.split(',') #print(coords[0]) #print(coords[1]) #print(coords[2]) #print(coords[3]) #print(coords[4]) if "tree" in line: print("tree in") wall=insertTree(int(coords[0]),int(coords[1]), int(coords[2]),int(coords[3]),coords[4]) wall_list.add(wall) elif "rock" in line: print("rock in") wall=insertRock(int(coords[0]),int(coords[1]), int(coords[2]),int(coords[3]),coords[4] ) wall_list.add(wall) width = 20 height = 540 height = height - 48 for i in range(0,23): width = width + 32 name = insertTree(width,540,790,10,"tree") #wall_list.add(name) name = insertTree(width,height,690,10,"tree") #wall_list.add(name) CREEP_SPAWN_TIME = 200 # frames creep_spawn = CREEP_SPAWN_TIME clock = pygame.time.Clock() bg_tile_img = pygame.image.load('images/map/grass.png').convert() img_rect = bg_tile_img FIELD_RECT = Rect(50, 50, 700, 500) CREEP_FILENAMES = [ 'images/player/1.png', 'images/player/1.png', 'images/player/1.png'] N_CREEPS = 3 creep_images = [ pygame.image.load(filename).convert_alpha() for filename in CREEP_FILENAMES] explosion_img = pygame.image.load('images/map/tree.png').convert_alpha() explosion_images = [ explosion_img, pygame.transform.rotate(explosion_img, 90)] creeps = pygame.sprite.RenderPlain() done = False #bg_tile_img = pygame.image.load('images/map/grass.png').convert() #draw_background(screen, bg_tile_img) totalCreeps = 0 remainingCreeps = 3 while done == False: creep_images = pygame.image.load("images/player/1.png").convert() creep_images.set_colorkey(white) draw_background(screen, bg_tile_img) if len(creeps) != N_CREEPS: if totalCreeps < N_CREEPS: totalCreeps = totalCreeps + 1 print(totalCreeps) creeps.add( Creep( screen=screen, creep_image=creep_images, explosion_images=explosion_images, field=FIELD_RECT, init_position=( randint(FIELD_RECT.left, FIELD_RECT.right), randint(FIELD_RECT.top, FIELD_RECT.bottom)), init_direction=(choice([-1, 1]), choice([-1, 1])), speed=0.01)) for creep in creeps: creep.update(60,wall_list) creep.draw() for event in pygame.event.get(): if event.type == pygame.QUIT: done=True if event.type == pygame.KEYDOWN: if event.key == pygame.K_LEFT: player.changespeed(-2,0) creep.changespeed(-2,0) if event.key == pygame.K_RIGHT: player.changespeed(2,0) creep.changespeed(2,0) if event.key == pygame.K_UP: player.changespeed(0,-2) creep.changespeed(0,-2) if event.key == pygame.K_DOWN: player.changespeed(0,2) creep.changespeed(0,2) if event.key == pygame.K_ESCAPE: pauseGame() if event.key == pygame.K_1: global currentEditTool currentEditTool = "Tree" changeTool() if event.key == pygame.K_2: global currentEditTool currentEditTool = "Rock" changeTool() if event.type == pygame.KEYUP: if event.key == pygame.K_LEFT: player.changespeed(2,0) creep.changespeed(2,0) if event.key == pygame.K_RIGHT: player.changespeed(-2,0) creep.changespeed(-2,0) if event.key == pygame.K_UP: player.changespeed(0,2) creep.changespeed(0,2) if event.key == pygame.K_DOWN: player.changespeed(0,-2) creep.changespeed(0,-2) if event.type == pygame.MOUSEBUTTONDOWN and pygame.mouse.get_pressed()[0]: for creep in creeps: creep.mouse_click_event(pygame.mouse.get_pos()) if editMap == True: x,y = pygame.mouse.get_pos() if currentEditTool == "Tree": name = insertTree(x-10,y-25, 10 , 10, "tree") wall_list.add(name) wall_list.draw(screen) f = open('MapMaker.txt', "a+") image = pygame.image.load("images/map/tree.png").convert() screen.blit(image, (30,10)) pygame.display.flip() f.write(str(x) + "," + str(y) + ",790,10, tree\n") #f.write("wall=insertTree(" + str(x) + "," + str(y) + ",790,10)\nwall_list.add(wall)\n") elif currentEditTool == "Rock": name = insertRock(x-10,y-25, 10 , 10,"rock") wall_list.add(name) wall_list.draw(screen) f = open('MapMaker.txt', "a+") f.write(str(x) + "," + str(y) + ",790,10,rock\n") #f.write("wall=insertRock(" + str(x) + "," + str(y) + ",790,10)\nwall_list.add(wall)\n") else: None #pygame.display.flip() player.update(wall_list) movingsprites.draw(screen) wall_list.draw(screen) pygame.display.flip() clock.tick(60) pygame.quit()

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  • 14 WordPress Photo Blog & Portfolio Themes

    - by Aditi
    The best thing you can do to preserve your memories is to capture them. Photographs can help you relive all those sweet moments you had with your special someone or the ones closest to you. With the sudden explosion in the number of blogs on blogosphere it was quite obvious that many bloggers would like to share their most cherished memories on their blog. We saw blogs full of images along with the intricate details and now we are presenting you some WordPress themes to help you showcase your photography or make a photo blog so that you can share those small delights you captured with your special ones, no matter where they are. These WordPress photo blog themes are not just limited for personal use as some of them have been designed especially for professional use. Graphix Price: $69 Single & $149 Developer Package | DownLoad DeepFocus Price: $39 Package | DownLoad ReCapture Price: $50 or $75 Package | DownLoad PhotoGraphic Price: $50 or $75 Package | DownLoad PhotoLand Price: $39 Single & $99 Developer Package | DownLoad SimplePress Perfect Theme for showcasing your Portfolio, very simple & easy to navigate. Lots of Features. Price: $39 Single & $99 Developer Package | DownLoad ePhoto Price: $39 Single & $99 Developer Package | DownLoad Outline Price: $50 or $75 Package | DownLoad Gallery The theme features a simple options panel for easy setup, automatic resizing & cropping for thumbnails, and 5 colour styles. Price: $49 | DownLoad eGallery eGallery is one of the best theme to showcase your images. It has some features which you don’t see in any other themes of this kind. It’s particularly nice if you want to encourage social interaction as readers can rate and comment on your images. It is compatible with all major web browsers. Price: $39 | DownLoad Photoblog Price: $49 | DownLoad Ultra Web Studio Price: $30 | DownLoad Showtime Ultimate WordPress Theme for you to create your web portfolio, 3 different styles. Price: $40 | DownLoad Boomerang Price: $35 | DownLoad Related posts:6 PhotoBlog Portfolio WordPress Themes Wootube WordPress Video Blog Theme 7 Portfolio WordPress Themes

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  • How will technological singularity affect programmers?

    - by Amir Rezaei
    I'm one of the believers that think that we will hit the technological singularity sooner or later. Then the question is if any profession will be unaffected by changes that will come. In the end it will be we programmers that will implement the first self-aware AI. How will technological singularity affect us programmer? What is your professional opinion regarding technological singularity? EDIT: By self-aware I refer to an entity that questions and seek answers, able to analyze and solve problem. Artificial neural network is branch in mathematics/statistics with many widely used algorithms. The algorithms are applied where recognition of data is needed. For example hidden Markov model is used for voice recognition. Another well-known area is business intelligence and data mining. Today algorithms are self-learning. That is a bit of AI what many never think of. Let an ultraintelligent machine be defined as a machine that can far surpass all the intellectual activities of any man however clever. Since the design of machines is one of these intellectual activities, an ultraintelligent machine could design even better machines; there would then unquestionably be an ‘intelligence explosion,’ and the intelligence of man would be left far behind. Thus the first ultraintelligent machine is the last invention that man need ever make. Link to Ref.

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  • How far to go with Domain Driven Design?

    - by synti
    I've read a little about domain driven design and the usage of a rich domain model, as described by Martin Fowler, and I've decided to put it in practice in a personal project, instead of using transaction scripts. Everything went fine until UI implementation started. The thing is some views will use rich components that are backed up by unusual models and, thus, I must transform the domain model into what is used by those components. And that transformation is specially "complex" in the view-to-domain portion, up to the point that some business logic is involved. Wich brings me to the questioning: where should I do these adaptations? So far I've got the following conclusions: Doing it in the presentation layer is good because, well, if that layer imposes restrictions in it's model, then it should be the one to handle them. But it's bad because there'll be some business leakage. If I do it on the services objects (controllers, actions, whatever), then it'd be good because there won't be any change to the domain API just because of presentation layer, but it's bad because then I'd have transaction scripts, wich is not the intended design. Finally, if I do it on the domain model, there'd be no leakage of business logic at all. But in the future I could expect an explosion of the API into a series of methods designed just to handle that view-model <- domain-model adaptation. I hope I could make myself clear on this.

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  • Modernising settings, packages

    - by Sam Brightman
    The update manager (possibly combined with the janitor) does a reasonable job of bringing packages up to date with a new release, removing ones that are replaced by different projects etc. However, I'm left with the lingering feeling that quite a few settings are lingering from old releases. For example, some packages may be left around that I installed myself whereas now the functionality is provided by default. Another example is that my user doesn't get the new theme, and the panel bar is a mess. I can compare against an inactive user on the same system: everything seems tidier. There are also things like the explosion of System Preferences, user groups (inactive user, more recently created, is in groups that the older, active user isn't). In other areas (e.g. default font) I do seem to get given the new defaults. Another example is Spotlight-equivalent search. I remember Beagle and Tracker, I remember removing tracker when it used all system RAM and swap for 2 entire release cycles, but I don't know what I'm "supposed" to be using now. Is there even a default indexing-search installed and exposed? aptitude install ubuntu-desktop doesn't do anything, so the basics are in place package-wise. Is there any way to update my settings to the modern "Ubuntu way" without reinstalling from scratch? Can I do so selectively i.e. show the differences? Most of the time package management on Linux is an absolute joy compared to the alternatives, but if the desktop gets messed up after only a release or two, we're back to reinstalling just like Windows.

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  • Doubling the DPI with a shader?

    - by Mathias Lykkegaard Lorenzen
    I'm developing a game where the map is generated with Perlin Noise, but on the CPU. I am generating some perlin noise onto a texture with a small size, and then I stretch it out to the whole screen to simulate a map. The reason for the CPU generating the noise is that I want it to look the same on all devices. Now, here's the end-result. Please ignore the bullets and the explosion on the picture. What matters is the background (the black/gray pixels) and the ground (the brown-ish pixels). They are rendered to the same texture through perlin noise. However, this doesn't look very pretty. So I was wondering if it would be possible to double the amount of pixels using a shader, and rounding edges at the same time? In other words, improve the DPI. I'm using SharpDX with DirectX 11, through its toolkit feature. But any help that'll lead me in the right direction (for instance through HLSL) would be a great help. Thanks in advance.

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  • How to Detect Sprites in a SpriteSheet?

    - by IAE
    I'm currently writing a Sprite Sheet Unpacker such as Alferds Spritesheet Unpacker. Now, before this is sent to gamedev, this isn't necessarily about games. I would like to know how to detect a sprite within a spriitesheet, or more abstactly, a shape inside of an image. Given this sprite sheet: I want to detect and extract all individual sprites. I've followed the algorithm detailed in Alferd's Blog Post which goes like: Determine predominant color and dub it the BackgroundColor Iterate over each pixel and check ColorAtXY == BackgroundColor If false, we've found a sprite. Keep going right until we find a BackgroundColor again, backtrack one, go down and repeat until a BackgroundColor is reached. Create a box from location to ending location. Repeat this until all sprites are boxed up. Combined overlapping boxes (or within a very short distance) The resulting non-overlapping boxes should contain the sprite. This implementation is fine, especially for small sprite sheets. However, I find the performance too poor for larger sprite sheets and I would like to know what algorithms or techniques can be leveraged to increase the finding of sprites. A second implementation I considered, but have not tested yet, is to find the first pixel, then use a backtracking algorithm to find every connected pixel. This should find a contiguous sprite (breaks down if the sprite is something like an explosion where particles are no longer part of the main sprite). The cool thing is that I can immediately remove a detected sprite from the sprite sheet. Any other suggestions?

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  • Back in Brazil! See you at JavaOne LAD this week

    - by terrencebarr
    It’s great to be back in Sao Paulo. I’m looking forward to a another buzzing JavaOne LAD conference and the energy of the Latin American Java community! And, of course, catching up with Brazilian friends over some serious Caipirinhas I’m part of the Technical Keynote on Tuesday, and doing three technical sessions: Harnessing the Explosion of Advanced Microcontrollers with Embedded Java, Dec 5, 11:15 A New Platform for Ubiquitous Computing: Oracle Java ME Embedded, Dec 5, 17:30 Java ME Embedded Profile 8—for an Embedded World with Increasing Demands, Dec 6, 11:15 In fact, I think I will morph the last session into a more wide sweeping introduction into Java ME 8 (of which the Java ME Embedded Profile 8 is a component) – there is so much new and cool stuff in the pipe that just talking about Java ME Embedded Profile doesn’t do it justice.   Plus, I’ll be showing some small embedded Java toys at the demo booth (in the Exhibition Pavilion).   Hope to see you there!   Cheers, – Terrence Filed under: Mobile & Embedded Tagged: "Java ME 8", "JavaOne LAD", Java Embedded, Java ME

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  • Huge Opportunity in Small Things

    - by Tori Wieldt
    Addressing the strong demand for Java in the embedded market, Oracle is hosting a new Java Embedded @ JavaOne event in San Francisco October 3-4. The event allows decision makers to attend the Java Embedded @ JavaOne business-focused program, while their IT/development staff can attend the technically-focused JavaOne conference. [Obligatory comment about suits & ties vs. jeans & T-shirts removed.] The two-day event includes keynotes, sessions and demonstrations. In his keynote this morning, Judson Althoff, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Alliances and Channels and Embedded Sales, Oracle explained  Devices are all around us - on 24x7, connected all the time. The explosion of devices is the next IT revolution. Java is the right solution for this space. Java embedded solutions provide a framework to  provision, manage, and secure devices.  Java embedded solutions also provide the ability to aggregate, process and analyze multitude of data.  Java is one platform to program them all. Terrance Barr, Java Evangelist and Java ME expert is enthusiastic about the huge opportunity, "It's the right time and right place for Java Embedded," he said, "Oracle is looking for partners who want to take advantage of this next wave in IT." The Embedded space continues to heat up. Today, Cinterion launched the EHS5, an ultra compact, high-speed M2M communication module providing secure wireless connectivity for a wide variety of industrial applications. Last week, Oracle announced Oracle Java ME Embedded 3.2, a complete client Java runtime Optimized for resource-constrained, connected, embedded systems, Oracle Java Wireless Client 3.2, Oracle Java ME Software Development Kit (SDK) 3.2, and Oracle Java Embedded Suite 7.0 for larger embedded devices. There is a huge opportunity in small things. 

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  • A Huge Opportunity in Small Things

    - by Tori Wieldt
    Addressing the strong demand for Java in the embedded market, Oracle is hosting a new Java Embedded @ JavaOne event in San Francisco October 3-4. The event allows decision makers to attend the Java Embedded @ JavaOne business-focused program, while their IT/development staff can attend the technically-focused JavaOne conference. [Obligatory comment about suits & ties vs. jeans & T-shirts removed.] The two-day event includes keynotes, sessions and demonstrations. In his keynote this morning, Judson Althoff, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Alliances and Channels and Embedded Sales, Oracle explained  Devices are all around us - on 24x7, connected all the time. The explosion of devices is the next IT revolution. Java is the right solution for this space. Java embedded solutions provide a framework to  provision, manage, and secure devices.  Java embedded solutions also provide the ability to aggregate, process and analyze multitude of data.  Java is one platform to program them all. Terrance Barr, Java Evangelist and Java ME expert is enthusiastic about the huge opportunity, "It's the right time and right place for Java Embedded," he said, "Oracle is looking for partners who want to take advantage of this next wave in IT." The Embedded space continues to heat up. Today, Cinterion launched the EHS5, an ultra compact, high-speed M2M communication module providing secure wireless connectivity for a wide variety of industrial applications. Last week, Oracle announced Oracle Java ME Embedded 3.2, a complete client Java runtime Optimized for resource-constrained, connected, embedded systems, Oracle Java Wireless Client 3.2, Oracle Java ME Software Development Kit (SDK) 3.2, and Oracle Java Embedded Suite 7.0 for larger embedded devices. There is a huge opportunity in small things. 

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  • Bejeweled-like game, managing different gem/powerup behaviors?

    - by Wissam
    I thought I'd ask a question and look forward to some insight from this very compelling community. In a Bejeweled-like (Match 3) game, the standard behavior once a valid swap of two adjacent tiles is made is that the resulting matching tiles are destroyed, any tiles now sitting over empty spaces fall to the position above the next present-tile, and any void created above is filled with new tiles. In richer Match-3 games like Bejeweled, 4 in a row (as opposed to just 3) modifies this behavior such that the tile that was swapped is retained, turned into a "flaming" gem, it falls, and then the empty space above is filled. The next time that "flaming gem" is played it explodes and destroys the 8 perimeter tiles, triggers a different animation sequence (neighbors of those 8 tiles being destroyed look like they've been hit by a shockwave then they fall to their respective positions). Scoring is different, the triggered sounds are different, etc. There are even more elaborate behaviors for Match5, Match-cross-pattern, and many powerups that can be purchased, each which produces a more elaborate sequence of events, sounds, animations, scoring, etc... What is the best approach to developing all these different behaviors that respond to players' "move" and her current "performance" and that deviate from the standard sequence of events, scoring, animation, sounds etc, in such a way that we can always flexibly introduce a new "powerup" ? What we are doing now is hard-coding the events of each one, but the task is long and arduous and seems like the wrong approach especially since the game-designers and testers often offer (later) valuable insight on what works better in-game, which means that the code itself may have to be re-written even for minor changes in behavior (say, destroy only 7 neighboring tiles, instead of all 8 in an explosion). ANY pointers for good practices here would be highly appreciated.

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  • Disappearring instances of VertexPositionColor using MonoGame

    - by Rosko
    I am a complete beginner in graphics developing with XNA/Monogame. Started my own project using Monogame 3.0 for WinRT. I have this unexplainable issue that some of the vertices disappear while doing some updates on them. Basically, it is a game with balls who collide with the walls and with each other and in certain conditions they explode. When they explode they disappear. Here is a video demonstrating the issue. I used wireframes so that it is easier to see how vertices are missing. The perfect exploding balls are the ones which are result by user input with mouse clicking. Thanks for the help. The situations is: I draw user primitives with triangle strips using like this graphicsDevice.DrawUserPrimitives<VertexPositionColor>(PrimitiveType.TriangleStrip, circleVertices, 0, primitiveCount); All of the primitives are in the z-plane (z = 0), I thought that it is the culling in action. I tried setting the culling mode to none but it did not help. Here is the code responsible for the explosion private void Explode(GameTime gameTime, ref List<Circle> circles) { if (this.isExploding) { for (int i = 0; i < this.circleVertices.Length; i++) { if (this.circleVertices[i] != this.circleCenter) { if (Vector3.Distance(this.circleVertices[i].Position, this.circleCenter.Position) < this.explosionRadius * precisionCoefficient) { var explosionVector = this.circleVertices[i].Position - this.circleCenter.Position; explosionVector.Normalize(); explosionVector *= explosionSpeed; circleVertices[i].Position += explosionVector * (float)gameTime.ElapsedGameTime.TotalSeconds; } else { circles.Remove(this); } } } } } I'd be really greatful if anyone has suggestions about how to fix this issue.

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  • How do I process the largest match first in PHP?

    - by animuson
    Ok, so I tried searching around first but I didn't exactly know how to word this question or a search phrase. Let me explain. I have data that looks like this: <!-- data:start --> <!-- 0:start --> <!-- 0:start -->0,9<!-- 0:stop --> <!-- 1:start -->0,0<!-- 1:stop --> <!-- 2:start -->9,0<!-- 2:stop --> <!-- 3:start -->9,9<!-- 3:stop --> <!-- 4:start -->0,9<!-- 4:stop --> <!-- 0:stop --> <!-- 1:start --> <!-- 0:start -->1,5<!-- 0:stop --> <!-- 1:start -->1,6<!-- 1:stop --> <!-- 2:start -->3,6<!-- 2:stop --> <!-- 3:start -->3,8<!-- 3:stop --> <!-- 4:start -->4,8<!-- 4:stop --> <!-- 1:stop --> <!-- 2:start --> <!-- 0:start -->0,7<!-- 0:stop --> <!-- 1:start -->1,7<!-- 1:stop --> <!-- 2:stop --> <!-- data:stop --> So it's basically a bunch of points. Here is the code I'm currently using to try and parse it so that it would create an array like so: Array ( 0 => Array ( 0 => "0,9", 1 => "0,0", 2 => "9,0", 3 => "9,9", 4 => "0,9" ), 1 => Array ( 0 => "1,5", 1 => "1,6", 2 => "3,6", 3 => "3,8", 4 => "4,8" ), 2 => Array ( 0 => "0,7", 1 => "1,7" ) ) However, it is returning an array that looks like this: Array ( 0 => "0,9", 1 => "0,0", 2 => "9,0" ) Viewing the larger array that I have on my screen, you see that it's setting the first instance of that variable when matching. So how do I get it to find the widest match first and then process the insides. Here is the function I am currently using: function explosion($text) { $number = preg_match_all("/(<!-- ([\w]+):start -->)\n?(.*?)\n?(<!-- \\2:stop -->)/s", $text, $matches, PREG_SET_ORDER); if ($number == 0) return $text; else unset($item); foreach ($matches as $item) if (empty($data[$item[2]])) $data[$item[2]] = $this->explosion($item[3]); return $data; } I'm sure it will be something stupid and simple that I've overlooked, but that just makes it an easy answer for you I suppose.

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  • UIScrollView. Any thoughts on implementing "infinite" scroll/zoom?

    - by dugla
    So, UITableView supports essentially "infinite" scrolling. There' may be a limit but that sucker can scroll for a looonnnggg time. I would like to mimic this behavior with a UIScrollView but there are two fundamental impediments: 1) scrollView.contentSize is fixed at creation time. 2) zooming can blow any lazy-loading scheme all to hell since it can cause infinte data explosion. Have others out there pondered this idea? Yah, I know, we are essentially talking about re-creating Google Maps here. Any insights would be much appreciated. Cheers, Doug

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  • Rackspace Cloud Sites: Compute Cycles exploding. Very expensive.

    - by Jaap
    Hi All, Since last week my compute cycles (CC) went through the roof (Rackspace Cloud Sites). Normally I stay under the 10,000 cycles per month . Now this month I already have more than 75,000 compute cycles. I don't have more visitors and I did not change anything in the code. I looked in the raw log files, that didn't help either... This explosion of CC already costs me more than 750 USD right now. And still counting. Anyone know what to do? I have contacted Rackspace last week. But still no solution/answer.... Looks like Rackspace is liking the money! Help! Thanks.

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  • Why is C# suddenly so popular?

    - by leeand00
    Why is C# suddenly so popular? There's been like a repeat explosion in the blogs lately about it; It reminds me of the earlier part of this decade when all of those frameworks for Java came out like Spring, JSF, Hibernate, Struts, Struts2, Tapestry etc... I've actually been thinking about learning C#, and it seems to contain a lot of qualities that it has gotten from Java (aside from it being completely cross-platform) But, it almost seems like a step backwards to me...its not totally multi-platform, a language that's run by a corporation rather than a community... (But, knowing this isn't the case, I've come here to find out why it isn't...) P.S. And yes, I am aware of the Mono project so that you can run it on Linux, but isn't it always behind the curve? A new version of Java would be supported on all the platforms.

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  • iPhone+Quartz+OpenGL. What is the correct way for Quartz and OpenGL to play nice together regarding

    - by dugla
    So we know the CoreGraphics/Quartz imaging model is based on pre-multiplied alpha. We also know that OpenGL blending is based on un-premultiplied alpha. What is the best practice to avoid head explosion when doing blending with textures that are derived from pre-multiplied alpha imagery (PNG files generated in Photoshop with pre-multiplied alpha). Given the apples/oranges mish mash of Quartz and OpenGL, what is the correct glBlendFunc for doing the fundamental Porter/Duff "over" operation? Typical example: A simple paint program. Brush shapes are texture-map patterns created from pre-multiplied alpha rgba images. Paint color is specified via glColor4(...) with the alpha channel used to control paint transparency. GL_MODULATE is used so the brush texture multiplies the (translucent) paint color to blend the color into the canvas. Problem: The texture is premult. The color is not. What is the correct way to handle this fundamental inconsistency? Thanks, Doug

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  • how to have separate keys per record in mongo_mapper + Rails

    - by Vitaly Kushner
    When I'm adding a record in mongodb I can specify whatever keys I want and it will store it in the db. The problem is that it will remember those keys for the next time I insert another record. so for example if I do the following: Product.create :foo => 123 and then Product.create :bar => 456 I get :foo => nil field in the 2nd record. This is definitely not a limitation of mongodb itself, since if I restart the rails console and create yet another record with different set of columns, it will not add the columns from the 1st 2 records. So it seems like mongomapper remembers all the keys used and inserts them all into all records, even if values are not provided. The question is obviously: how do I disable this crazy attributes explosion? Basically I want only the 'permanent' keys that I specify in the model to be in every record, but all the 'extra' attributes to be specified per record and not to mess the consequent records.

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  • dynamic directives in angularjs

    - by user28061
    The directive's attributes don't change when the scope is updated, they still keep the initial value. What am I missing here? HTML <ul class="nav nav-pills nav-stacked" navlist> <navelem href="#!/notworking/{{foo}}"></navelem> <navelem href="#!/working">works great</navelem> </ul> <p>works: {{foo}}</p> Javascript (based on angular tabs example on front-page) angular.module('myApp.directives', []). directive('navlist', function() { return { scope: {}, controller: function ($scope) { var panes = $scope.panes = []; this.select = function(pane) { angular.forEach(panes, function(pane) { pane.selected = false; }); pane.selected = true; } this.addPane = function(pane) { if (panes.length == 0) this.select(pane); panes.push(pane); } } } }). directive('navelem', function() { return { require: '^navlist', restrict: 'E', replace: true, transclude: true, scope: { href: '@href' }, link: function(scope, element, attrs, tabsCtrl) { tabsCtrl.addPane(scope); scope.select = tabsCtrl.select; }, template: '<li ng-class="{active: selected}" ng-click="select(this)"><a href="{{href}}" ng-transclude></a></li>' }; });

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  • DevConnections jQuery Session Slides and Samples posted

    - by Rick Strahl
    I’ve posted all of my slides and samples from the DevConnections VS 2010 Launch event last week in Vegas. All three sessions are contained in a single zip file which contains all slide decks and samples in one place: www.west-wind.com/files/conferences/jquery.zip There were 3 separate sessions: Using jQuery with ASP.NET Starting with an overview of jQuery client features via many short and fun examples, you'll find out about core features like the power of selectors to select document elements, manipulate these elements with jQuery's wrapped set methods in a browser independent way, how to hook up and handle events easily and generally apply concepts of unobtrusive JavaScript principles to client scripting. The session also covers AJAX interaction between jQuery and the .NET server side code using several different approaches including sending HTML and JSON data and how to avoid user interface duplication by using client side templating. This session relies heavily on live examples and walk-throughs. jQuery Extensibility and Integration with ASP.NET Server Controls One of the great strengths of the jQuery Javascript framework is its simple, yet powerful extensibility model that has resulted in an explosion of plug-ins available for jQuery. You need it - chances are there's a plug-in for it! In this session we'll look at a few plug-ins to demonstrate the power of the jQuery plug-in model before diving in and creating our own custom jQuery plug-ins. We'll look at how to create a plug-in from scratch as well as discussing when it makes sense to do so. Once you have a plug-in it can also be useful to integrate it more seamlessly with ASP.NET by creating server controls that coordinate both server side and jQuery client side behavior. I'll demonstrate a host of custom components that utilize a combination of client side jQuery functionality and server side ASP.NET server controls that provide smooth integration in the user interface development process. This topic focuses on component development both for pure client side plug-ins and mixed mode controls. jQuery Tips and Tricks This session was kind of a last minute substitution for an ASP.NET AJAX talk. Nothing too radical here :-), but I focused on things that have been most productive for myself. Look at the slide deck for individual points and some of the specific samples.   It was interesting to see that unlike in previous conferences this time around all the session were fairly packed – interest in jQuery is definitely getting more pronounced especially with microsoft’s recent announcement of focusing on jQuery integration rather than continuing on the path of ASP.NET AJAX – which is a welcome change. Most of the samples also use the West Wind Web & Ajax Toolkit and the support tools contained within it – a snapshot version of the toolkit is included in the samples download. Specicifically a number of the samples use functionality in the ww.jquery.js support file which contains a fairly large set of plug-ins and helper functionality – most of these pieces while contained in the single file are self-contained and can be lifted out of this file (several people asked). Hopefully you'll find something useful in these slides and samples.© Rick Strahl, West Wind Technologies, 2005-2010Posted in ASP.NET  jQuery  

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  • JSR 360 and JSR 361: A Big Leap for Java ME 8

    - by terrencebarr
    It might have gone unnoticed to some, but Java ME took a big leap forward a couple of weeks ago with the filing of two new JSRs: JSR 360: “Connected Limited Device Configuration 8″ (aka CLDC 8) JSR 361: “Java ME Embedded Profile” (aka ME EP) Together, these two JSRs will significantly update, enhance, and modernize the Java ME platform, and specifically small embedded Java, with a host of new features and functionality. JSR 360 – Connected Limited Device Configuration 8 CLDC 8 is based on JSR 139 (CLDC 1.1) and updates the core Java ME VM, language support, libraries, and features to be aligned with Java SE 8. This will include: VM updated to comply with the JVM language specification version 2 Support for SE 7/8 language features like Generics, Assertions, Annotations, Try-with-Resources, and more New libraries such as Collections, NIO subset, Logging API subset A consolidated and enhanced Generic Connection Framework for multi-protocol I/O With CLDC 8, Java ME and Java SE are entering their next phase of alignment – making Java the only technology today that truly scales application development, code re-use, and tooling across the whole range of IT platforms, from small embedded to large enterprise. JSR 361 – Java ME Embedded Profile ME EP is based on JSR 228 (IMP-NG) and updates the specification in key areas to provide a powerful and flexible application environment for small embedded Java platforms, building on the features of CLDC 8:  A new, lightweight component and services model Shared libraries Multi-application concurrency, inter-application communication, and event system Application management API optionality, to address low-footprint use cases With ME EP, application developers will have a modern application environment which allows development and deployment of  modular, robust, sophisticated, and footprint-optimized solutions for a wide range of embedded use cases and devices. Summary While these JSRs are still under development, it’s clear that there are exciting new times ahead for Java ME – turning into a serious application platform while maintaining the focus on resource-constrained devices to address the expected explosion of small, smart, and connected embedded platforms. To learn more, click on the above links for JSR 360 and JSR 361. Or review the JavaOne 2012 online presentations on the topic: CON11300: Expanding the reach of the Java ME Platform CON5943: Java ME 8 Service Platform And stay tuned for more in this space! Cheers, – Terrence Filed under: Mobile & Embedded Tagged: "jsr 360", "jsr 361", "me 8", embedded, Embedded Java, JCP

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  • JSR 360 and JSR 361: A Big Leap for Java ME 8

    - by terrencebarr
    It might have gone unnoticed to some, but Java ME took a big leap forward a couple of weeks ago with the filing of two new JSRs: JSR 360: “Connected Limited Device Configuration 8″ (aka CLDC 8) JSR 361: “Java ME Embedded Profile” (aka ME EP) Together, these two JSRs will significantly update, enhance, and modernize the Java ME platform, and specifically small embedded Java, with a host of new features and functionality. JSR 360 – Connected Limited Device Configuration 8 CLDC 8 is based on JSR 139 (CLDC 1.1) and updates the core Java ME VM, language support, libraries, and features to be aligned with Java SE 8. This will include: VM updated to comply with the JVM language specification version 2 Support for SE 7/8 language features like Generics, Assertions, Annotations, Try-with-Resources, and more New libraries such as Collections, NIO subset, Logging API subset A consolidated and enhanced Generic Connection Framework for multi-protocol I/O With CLDC 8, Java ME and Java SE are entering their next phase of alignment – making Java the only technology today that truly scales application development, code re-use, and tooling across the whole range of IT platforms, from small embedded to large enterprise. JSR 361 – Java ME Embedded Profile ME EP is based on JSR 228 (IMP-NG) and updates the specification in key areas to provide a powerful and flexible application environment for small embedded Java platforms, building on the features of CLDC 8:  A new, lightweight component and services model Shared libraries Multi-application concurrency, inter-application communication, and event system Application management API optionality, to address low-footprint use cases With ME EP, application developers will have a modern application environment which allows development and deployment of  modular, robust, sophisticated, and footprint-optimized solutions for a wide range of embedded use cases and devices. Summary While these JSRs are still under development, it’s clear that there are exciting new times ahead for Java ME – turning into a serious application platform while maintaining the focus on resource-constrained devices to address the expected explosion of small, smart, and connected embedded platforms. To learn more, click on the above links for JSR 360 and JSR 361. Or review the JavaOne 2012 online presentations on the topic: CON11300: Expanding the reach of the Java ME Platform CON5943: Java ME 8 Service Platform And stay tuned for more in this space! Cheers, – Terrence Filed under: Mobile & Embedded Tagged: "jsr 360", "jsr 361", "me 8", embedded, Embedded Java, JCP

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  • Best Platform/Engine for turn based Client/Server Android game

    - by Paradine
    I'm currently designing a turn based game for tablets. Initially for Android with porting to iOS later considered in design. I'm having trouble narrowing down the available technologies to even know where to spend my research time. I am hoping that if I explain what I am trying to achieve someone may be able to suggest a platform and/or engine. I've looked into some of the open source Engines ( http://www.cuteandroid.com/ten-open-source-android-2d-or-3d-game-engine-for-android-developers ) and some appear to handle much of what I might require - although with a higher focus on graphics than i need. Mages looks interesting although development appears to have ceased. If I could somehow leverage GoogleApps that would be excellent. Here is what I am trying to achieve: PvP turn based strategy game over internet - minimal animation and bandwidth required Players match up online using MetaGame system MatchID created on Resolution Server and Game starts Clients have 30 second countdown to select MoveString Clients sends small secure timestamped and MatchIDed MoveString to Resolution server Resolution server looks up Move String for each player, Resolves and Updates Players status in MatchID on Server Resolution server updates Client Views Repeat until victory conditions met - MatchID Closed, Rewards earned in MetaGame There will also need to be a full social and account system and metagame backend - but this could be running on separate system(s) Tablet in Offline mode would be catalog browsing and perhaps single player AI - bum I'm focusing on the Resolution Server at this point I'm not even certain if I would be looking at an Android App or a WebApp at this stage! I want a custom GUI so I guess an app - but maybe as I have little animation a WebApp might also work. Probably some combination of both. There will be very small overhead in data between client server - essentially a small text string every 30 seconds sent to the Resolution server which looks up the Effect and applies it to the Opponents string and determines some results to apply to the match. The client view is updated minimally with the results (only 5 in game Integers tracked) - perhaps triggering small animations/popups on the client to show the end result. e.g Explosion. If you have suggestions for a good technology or platform to best achieving the Resolution Server I'd love to hear. Also if you have experience with open source Engines - and could narrow down which (if any ) might be most suitable that would be a big help. Thanks in advance

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  • Rapid Planning: Next Generation MRP

    - by john.bermudez
    MRP has been a mainstay of manufacturing systems for 40 years. MRP evolved from simple inventory planning systems to become the heart of the MRPII systems which eventually became ERP. While the applications surrounding it have become broader, more sophisticated and web-based, MRP continues to operate in the loneliness of the Saturday night batch window quietly exploding bills of materials and logging exceptions for hours. During this same 40 years, manufacturing business processes have seen countless changes and improvements including JIT, TQM, Six Sigma, Flow Manufacturing, Lean Manufacturing and Supply Chain Management. Although much logic has been added to MRP to deal with new manufacturing processes, it has not been able to keep up with the real-time pace of today's supply chain. As a result, planners have devised ingenious ways to trick MRP to handle new processes but often need to dump the output into spreadsheets of their own design in the hope of wrestling thousands of exceptions to ground. Oracle's new Rapid Planning application is just what companies still running MRP have been waiting for! The newest member of the Value Chain Planning product line, Rapid Planning is designed to empower planners with comprehensive supply planning that runs online in minutes, not hours. It enables a planner simulate the incremental impact of a new order or re-run an entire plan in a separate sandbox. Rapid Planning does a complete multi-level bill of material explosion like MRP but plans orders considering material and capacity constraints. Considering material and capacity constraints in planning can help you quickly reduce inventory and improve on-time shipments. Rapid Planning is an APS application that leverages years of Oracle development experience and customer feedback. Rather than rely exclusively on black-box heuristics, Rapid Planning is designed to give planners the computing power to use their industry experience and business knowledge to improve MRP. For example, Rapid Planning has a powerful worksheet user interface with built-in query capability that allows the planner to locate the orders she is interested in and use a mass update function to make quick work of large changes. The planner can save these queries and unique user interface to personalize their planning environment. Most importantly, Rapid Planning is designed to do supply planning in today's dynamic supply chain environment. It can be used to supplement MRP or replace MRP entirely. It generates plans that provide order-by-order details with aggregate key performance indicators that enable planners to quickly assess the overall business impact of a plan. To find out more about how Rapid Planning can help improve your MRP, please contact me at [email protected] or your Oracle Account Manager.

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