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Today I was going to post a new WordPress plugin. I had the screenshots prepared, the .zip archive uploaded, and a halfway decent headline already in mind. The customary anxiousness of being faced with a blank text field was also setting in, and with it the usual doubts – “Is it worth it? Does anyone […]

This is an experimental, physics-based game prototype that I wrote in two weeks. It didn’t come out quite the way I hoped it would, but it might still give you a couple minutes of fun. About The Game Objective Collect as many points as you can by destroying enemies. Detailed description You control a small […]

I’m not a game developer, but, as most programmers do, I’ve always had some interest in the field. The first game that I wrote back in gymnasium was a two-player version of Snake. Written from scratch in Turbo Pascal 7, it featured such innovative design decisions as a completely text- and number-less HUD (I couldn’t […]

A recent pop-sci piece Think You’re Operating on Free Will? Think Again caught my eye. The article is well-written, but it focuses mostly on examples of priming and doesn’t even come close to debunking free will. However, it inspired me to write up my own thoughts on the topic. Here they are. Whether we have […]

Here are a number of links that I’ve recently (and not-so-recently) discovered and think might be of interest. Topics range from blogging to programming and the Singularity. 22 Linkbait  Headlines Almost Every Blogger Can Use Making the WordPress .htaccess more efficient Making Money With Open-Source (a StackOverflow thread) Harmony – Procedural Drawing Tool (can turn […]

I’ve wasted three days trying to come up with something to blog about. Three days that could’ve been spent on more productive and enjoyable things – like finally updating Broken Link Checker, or setting up an AdWords campaign for my first commercial plugin. I could’ve spent them reading my recently acquired copy of Neal Stephenson’s […]

There’s an interesting post/survey combo up on LessWrong.com that discusses the effectiveness of various techniques for defeating procrastination and akrasia. At the moment it lists more than 20 different tactics, ranked based on the feedback of the people who have actually tried them. Go check it out. Here’s a quick run-down of the techniques that […]

Sometimes, Google’s query auto-completion feature can provide unexpected insights into what goes on in the minds and souls of Internet users world-wide. So lets see what those crazy, crazy minds and souls are most excited about, shall we? Here are the Google search suggestions for “is awesome” : Google, and Avatar, and Windows 7, oh […]

When we hear the word “cyborg”, we usually think of chromed endoskeletons, glowing camera eyes and data-jacks at the back of the neck that that let you hook the Net straight into the brain stem. What we often forget is that this is an image manufactured by contemporary writers and film-makers. It’s meant to impress, […]

Lately, I have noticed that blogging has become harder than it should be. Even when I have a decent post outline ready, I still spend 30 minutes obsessing over every sentence, never sure if it’s good enough. This kills the “flow” and results in a stilted writing style. In short, I’ve fallen victim to premature […]

And now for something completely different. Quantum immortality is a controversial speculation supported by a handful of quantum physicists and abused by many science fiction authors. In essence, it states that the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics implies that conscious beings are immortal. In this post I’ll attempt to show that quantum immortality is completely […]

Most computer keyboards have one or more keys that see next to no use in day-to-day work. The standard 104-key Windows keyboard has a whole bunch of them – ScrollLock, Pause/Break, CapsLock, the Menu key. Depending on your typing style, even more keys – like the extra Alt and Ctrl keys to the right of […]

Are you’re interested in Google Wave, but still haven’t got an invite? I’ve recently got my hands on some spare invites, so leave a comment on this post and I’ll send you one (just make sure you enter a working email address in the appropriate comment form field). For those not in the know, Google […]

I must admit, I’ve always been a sucker for sandbox-style gameplay. I’ve wasted hours playing with Falling Sand and it’s variants, spent weeks building fortresses for alcoholic dwarves, and I still log into Minecraft almost every day. So it was only natural that when I heard that an alpha version of Love was available, I […]

“Be yourself” is wonderfully versatile piece of advice. Whether you’re looking for ways to improve your blogging skills or your love life, someone will invariably suggest that you just need to be yourself and success will follow.  Got an empty page and nothing to say? Write about things you find interesting. Want to come up […]

Minecraft is a huge waste of time. By which I mean, of course, that it’s a hugely addictive browser-based multiplayer game (see my mini-review) that makes people stay up till 5 AM every daycycle just so they can finish the latest megaproject. But if we’re wasting time we should at least waste it efficiently, right? […]

Humanity is like a careless child dancing on the lip of an active volcano crater. Also on the scene is a massive asteroid that’s blazing through the sky, heading straight at the kid. And the air is filled with bloodthirsty robotic vampire bats. Which are on fire. And we’re skipping merrily along the edge, safe […]

Here’s a little webcomic about the most common ways an AI project can go (in fiction and otherwise). Click the image to see the the full-resolution version. Props to anyone who gets all the references.

Many applications have this convenient feature where they automatically save the current window state (like size and position) when they shut down and then restore it the next time you run them. For example, all modern web browsers will automatically remember their window size and most IM clients/media players/gadget apps will obediently stay put in […]

We all know the phrase “raised by wolves” – it’s as old as Rome. And it appears Internet users around the world have worked hard to come up with ever-stranger parental situations (you can’t just let our postmodern culture be outdone by some ancient fairy tale!). So here’s a chart of the results and their […]

Minecraft is a browser-based sandbox game where you can build enormous structures, explore underground caverns, play with lava and water… or just watch grass grow. The game world is very flexible, allowing you to completely reshape the terrain. If you register for a free account you can also do all of the aforementioned things in […]

And now for some useless stats. I know, I know – it’s a stupid question. You can’t really download the Internet. It’s so ridiculously huge and messy that even Google hasn’t indexed all of it. But what if a clueless fool eccentric multibillionaire came by and asked you to do it, stating that “money is […]

It is customary to laud every new Web 2.0 social networking semantic online service as The Next Big Thing. Facebook, Twitter, FriendFeed and friends all get their share of hype and fan fiction. And that’s fine, as some of those sites really have achieved a lot of success and influence. However, sometimes reviewers get carried […]

It’s pretty easy to get the average CPU usage, but how about calculating the per-code load on multicore systems? Turns out it’s also simple enough if you use performance counters. Windows API includes a subset of functions that provide various performance-related information, which includes data on how busy individual processors or cores are. In this […]

It seems clear that Internet users have grown to expect a certain minimum of cat pictures to be present on any worthwhile site. Unfortunately, the aforementioned fare has been decidedly scarce on this domain. Today I seek to remedy this lack by posting a small number of carefully selected images of the feline pesuasion. I […]

Imagine two Twitter accounts. One has 100 followers, the other 200. Which account is more popular? And yes, this is a trick question. At first it might seem like the answer is braindead-simple – users with lots followers are obviously more popular (on Twitter) than those who have just a small bunch of people looking […]

What is a .MDF file anyway? The .MDF file extension usually designates a proprietary disk image format used by Alcohol 120%. Like ISO files, MDF files contain an exact copy a CD or DVD. This format is typically used for backing up discs and also for sharing the “backups” over BitTorrent or other P2P networks. […]

Imagine the average Internet user. Would it be a reclusive nerd, or a companionable social networker? Would their favorite pastime be writing witty blog/forum posts, or commenting (ever so eloquently) on YouTube? Would they lol about lolcats? Here’s some completely unscientific research on these burning questions : The Myers-Briggs type indicator is a popular way […]

I need an embedded database for my next project. During the last few days I’ve done a lot of virtual leg-work researching and comparing the various alternatives, trawling through documentation and forums. The results are below. Hopefully, if you’re ever in the same situation, this list will make your life a bit easier. Of course, […]

263 identical tweets per minute – estimating from Twitter Search results, that’s how fast this little hack is spreading as I write this post. It’s almost enough to make me stop writing it – after all, with such a large scale infestation, every major “Web 2.0” outfit is already rushing to cover it. Oh, they […]