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My big news for the week — hernia surgery.  Yeah, it was loads of fun.

I’ve been bothered by an inguinal hernia for a couple years now, we finally decided now was the time to get it done.  The procedure went smoothly enough, but now I’m looking at 4+ weeks before resuming normal activities.  Fortunately I do expect to be back to playing ultimate, soccer, basketball, as well as hunting, yardwork, all that fun stuff when this is all done.

I’m moving slow but it’s going okay.  I decided the worst part is the narcotic pain-killers they put me on — been giving me crazy dreams and I haven’t slept well.  So no more of that.  Hopefully ibuprofin will keep me from here on out…

Here’s a video of the current state of CowPotato, a game for the Android platform that I’ve been working on with some partners.  We will be submitting this to the Android Developer Challenge at the end of August — there’s still a lot to get done.

But just for comparison sake, here’s the video of the game as of week and a half ago:

That’s the video I made for presenting at the Aug 18 BDNT meetup in Denver.  I’m presenting again at the Sept 1 BDNT meetup in Boulder as well.  Then I’ll be taking a break for a few days…

(cross-posted from jeremyslade.com)

'alibaba' game project for Stanford cs148

I’m working on some OpenGL-based games for Android, so I pulled out code for a project I did for a class at Stanford in 2003 — my first and only game to date. It was fun to reminisce, and perhaps someone else might have some fun with the code (see below).

From the README, describing the basics of the game:

You control a flying magic carpet, pursuing Ali Baba and his 40
thieves across the desert. The object is to kill all of the thieves,
by lobbing exploding coconuts at them, before they make it to the
safety of their cave.

And of course this great memory, also from the README:

Just for humor: my two sons (5 & 3) were very fascinated with the
game, anxiously following the development. One night they were
sitting on my lap actually playing it, when the 5-yr-old puked up all
over my desk, keyboard, red book, laptop, etc (vertigo?) That was a
bit of a setback

The sacrifices we make to bring you great games…

I had to hack the source a bit to build with more recent versions of g++ etc. I’ve included two tarballs with the full source plus binaries for two platforms:

• WinXP - alibaba-cs148-winxp-cygwin.zip
• Ubuntu 9.04 - alibaba-cs148-ubuntu-904.tar.gz

Enjoy! You’re free to use the code however you want (except to claim it as your own and submit it for another school project)

BTW — Nothing there yet, but I’ll be putting the Android games over on CrazyheadGames.com

I would probably try all of these, two — after reading the doorbell, of course.

An excellent address from 1978, very appropriate still:

“We are now entering a time of incredible ironies. Let us cite but one of these ironies which is yet in its subtle stages: We will see a maximum, if indirect, effort made to establish irreligion as the state religion…
“Your discipleship may see the time when such religious convictions are discounted. M. J. Sobran also said, “A religious conviction is now a second-class conviction, expected to step deferentially to the back of the secular bus, and not to get uppity about it”

Things like the situation at the Washington state capitol — it is time to stop being a silent majority, to not apologize for basing our lives on principles of faith and discipleship.  It doesn’t mean to rely on the tyranny of the majority, but simply to be involved and be open about what and why we believe.

It’s turning cold, definitely getting to be time for fall. It’s not unusual for Fort Collins to get snow in September, though it doesn’t look like that is going to happen this year — it’s not that cold. But fall and winter are on the way. I know Trent’s excited: he’s been asking summer about when we can go skiing again. So this week I got to stand in line with a bunch of other crazy folks for some ski passes to Copper Mountain. It will be fun when we can all go as a family, but for now I enjoy alternating trips with one boy at a time.

But first we have to finish up soccer season. Both Caleb’s and Trent’s teams have been totally dominating in their games — total combined scores of something like 40-8. Tp add some excitement, Caleb’s coaches offered to reward the team with pizza if they score off a header. So they’ve been working hard on it the past few weeks at it, and this week they managed to get one. Within a few seasons, the team will probably start to split up as some go to the more competitive leagues, which play on Sunday, unfortunately. But we figure there will be other sports to be involved in, so we’ll get over it.

Alec had his first music program at preschool this week. It was great fun to see him beaming. There are so many simple pleasures like that in being a parent. Along with the cold this week, we also got some rain and thunderstorms — Our dog, Madi, freaked out and escaped from the back yard. We had to pay to get her back from the Humane Society the next morning. That part is definitely not a pleasure, but she has been a welcome addition to our household, and the boys were all very relieved to have her back at home.

I’m staying extremely busy with work. The interviewing I had been doing didn’t really go the way I was hoping, but I’m glad I’ve done it, it was educational. I do feel like I’m at a bit of a crossroads in my professional life, trying to decide what the next 10 years will be spent on. But it looks like I’ll keep chugging away where I am for now at least. I just want to be ready to recognize and sieze on the opportunities that are prepared for me when that time comes.

One good thing about the cooler weather: it’s great sleeping weather. Even with the temps dropping down to 30’s and 40’s at night, Kim’s a furnace and wants the windows open. That’s quite a reversal! Still about two months to go for the next baby — it feels like it’s been a year at least so far, but no doubt the last stretch will not be long enough. We have plenty to do to get ready, like find the infant cloths, make room for the crib, and think about some names. Any suggestions?

More pictures here … Until next time!