Blog is moving

I'm moving this blog to a new URL. All the old content has been migrated.

New URL:

http://jx7.org

I'll probably leave this blog here, untouched.

Skateboard tricks at 1000 frames per second

Cat walking down a fridge

Portland time-lapse video

(via @wrenthereaper)

Diablo 3

Since Diablo 3 is coming out on Tuesday, I've been doing some reading about the mechanics and watched some videos to learn more about the game.

This here is a great article by David Sirlin (sirlin.net / @sirlin) about the ability system of the game.
And here is a great post from the Blizzard Forums about character customization, with links to interesting Q&A videos with Blizzard's developers.

And, as a side-note, I found an unboxing-video of the collector's edition.

Teaser for upcoming adventure game "Stasis"

The game is currently in development by Chris Bischoff (@StasisGame on Twitter). It's a one-man-project and it looks very promising.
More infos, screenshots and a dev-blog can be found on the game's official website, www.stasisgame.com.

Longboard ride down a mountain

The post I saw this video in said that it was probably taken in Maryhill, WA, which is also home to a Stonehenge-replica! How cool is that?

Cat uses doorstopper as alarm clock

A lynx in the snow

A lynx using a wildlife overpass to cross the Trans-Canada Highway in Banff National Park (via BoingBoing)

Aperture: Lab Ratt - Portal fan film

(found via Kotaku)

Codecademy

Note to self:
Get back into coding, maybe codecademy.com can help.

Also:
http://hackerschool.org/DefconCTF/17/B300.html
http://work.hackerschool.org/DOWNLOAD/
http://money.cnn.com/2012/03/05/technology/hacker_school/index.htm
http://insecure.org/stf/smashstack.html
http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2012/03/googles-chrome-browser-on-friday.ars
http://www.skillcrush.com

Insane downhill bike race in Chile

Indie Game - The Movie

Twitter - The company that couldn't kill itself has finally turned a corner

YouTube trend manager: Why videos go viral

Ben Her - Tattoos

Kotaku has a nice article about tattoo artist Ben Her, who went to Japan to become a tattoo-apprentice.
(Photo found here and here)

Keyboards

I've got the keyboard-bug.

It started a while ago when I started reading about mechanical keyboards (sometime last year when I was looking for components for a new PC). Back then, I was debating whether I should get a Das Keyboard Ultimate or a Razer Blackwidow Ultimate. I opted for the latter and am using that at home right now.
A couple of weeks ago, I decided to buy a Das Keyboard after all and use it at work. I went with the "Ultimate Silent" model (blank keycaps and quieter brown Cherry MX switches).
Both keyboards are a delight to type on.

I discovered geekhack.org, a forum for keyboard-nuts. It's crazy what's out there!
Some pics: [pic 1] [pic 2] [pic 3] [pic 4] [pic 5] [pic 6] [pic 7]
(most of these have custom keycaps, meaning some of the original keycaps were switched out for different ones)

Many years ago, a friend would often have visitors from Asia over at his house. When I saw their laptops, I loved the Chinese characters that were printed on the keycaps underneath the latin characters. I was reminded of that when I saw a picture of this keyboard on Geekhack. This one is sold in the US, but, of course, without the Chinese characters. And all the shops I checked only had it with Cherry blue switches (a Cherry red version supposedly exists as well). Luckily, someone going by the name of "qtan5370" runs an online-shop (he also sells on eBay) where one can get the Chinese version of that keyboard. Ordered! :) (with black switches)

Some helpful links / online-shops:

- The ultimate keyboard and switch guide
- Cherry-compatible keycaps on eBay (cheap and OK-ish quality, but nothing fancy)
- Elite Keyboards
- WASD Keyboards (custom keyboards and keycaps)
- Deskthority (another forum)
- Keyboard Lover
- Pimp My Keyboard
- Fentek
- Keycaps Direct

On the watch-list:

- KBT Race 75%, with white LEDs and black or red Cherry switches
- Vortex Pure 60%
- Happy Hacking Keyboard Professional 2

Monk and tiger share a meal

inkredibl piktchr.
(found via BoingBoing)

Gunpoint

I've read about the game "Gunpoint" (by Tom Francis) a couple of times already and it seems very interesting. There's a preview on BoingBoing.

Money and the App Store

Article found on Gamasutra:
Money and the App Store: A few figures that might help an indie developer

Sleeping Dogs Teaser

From what I've seen so far, this is going to be an open-world game, GTA-like. The combat seems to be a bit more complex than in GTA, maybe comparable to Arkham Asylum, with some Parkour-elements sprinkled here and there. "Sleeping Dogs" is not going to revolutionize the genre, but it may be a neat little game.

Anonymous' attack tools

Article on arstechnica.com: High Orbits and Slowlorises: understanding the Anonymous attack tools

Mohamed Ali vs. Ryu

Source picture (small resolution, unfortunately)

(via Kotaku)

Blackmill feat. Veela - Let it be

Emperor workstations

These are some really nice workstations made by MWE lab, called "Emperor 200" (45000 USD, yes those are three zeros) and "Emperor 1510" (6200 USD).
I'm looking into getting an Rseat or Obutto workstation soon. Not as fancy as the Emperors, but definitely more affordable.

Coding tutorials

Learn to Code in 2012 with Free Weekly Programming Lessons from Codecademy (lifehacker.com)

also: Plan Your Free Online Education at Lifehacker U: Spring Semester 2012

Music creation on portable devices

Found 2 nice articles on dubspot.com:
Portable Music Creation Tools | Nintendo DS: Korg M01 + GlitchDS
and
Dubspot - Beaterator Tips

Best & Worst games of 2011

Gaming's biggest joys—and most bitter disappointments—of 2011 (arstechnica.com)

iGlide - Castle Walls

Amazing moves by iGlide (member of the Remote Kontrol dance krew)
The track is "fAux's Dubstep remix" of "Castle Walls" by TI feat. Christina Aguilera made by DJ Auxiliary (Soundcloud, YouTube). (The remix is available for free, download-link is on his Soundcloud)