HDMI is actually worse at long runs than VGA/DVI/HDSDI/10BaseT. One major advantage of VGA is that it doesn't carry that fsking EDID (Extended display identification data) signal.
Ever had an issue with plugging a video source (laptop/xbox/camera) into a monitor over HDMI and having the signal cut to black? Or when trying to capture video onto a laptop? It's because both the source AND the monitor have to do their little handshake and exchange EDID numbers if they're using HDMI.
This is a defect-by-design implemented to prevent piracy-- it's why you can't easily record a store-bought blu-ray or DVD onto a digital camera.
This has the added effect of causing connection failure at longer HDMI cable runs if you aren't using ACTIVE hdmi cables, signal boosters, or EDID spoofers, since any interference at long runs can cause the EDID signal to be lost, and the monitor will automatically take a shit on you.
I'd rather use VGA than HDMI for this reason-- the resolution isn't 1080p, but the signal is stable at least. This is why you'll see VGA being used in auditoriums, lecture halls, etc-- the presenter tends to be really far from the projector.
From TFA:
"What should developers who can't attract designers do?
They shouldn't wait around. If they can hire a designer, great, but.... developers should look to improve their own design skills"
As a dev, I want every possible option and every possible option to be exposed to the user, 'cause that's how I think as I'm programming.
As a designer, I know better-- a good interface HIDES options and choices from a user (and the less technical your expected audience, the more should be hidden) until necessary.
There's been many times where I've found that design choices can eliminate many programming problems and bottlenecks.
They need power and they're semi bulky (about the size of two decks of cards) but there's a VGA and HDMI version, they have no lag, they're cross platform.Lots of configuration and resolution options as well-- especially helpful if you have differently sized monitors.
Video techs and staging crews use them for video presentations or video installations. And the price point is better.
With the risk of un-hijacking this thread I notice you didn't specify comic book reading suggestions, just reading suggestions connected with comic books and a certain period of history. There's a couple great histories of the pre-comics code comic book industry: The Ten Cent Plague-- The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America
You can also check out Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters, and the Birth of the Comic Book
I didn't read the first, but it's supposed to be pretty good. The second focuses on some of the cool and quirky characters that really were the founders of a new industry. I found it entertaining and inspiring.
you would think that the money involved would bring creativity, but it's quite the opposite. Keep in mind ad agencies are slaves to their clients (the days of renegade "mad men" are long gone, and I suspect their gonzo reputation of yesteryear was a fabrication) and as a result the typical creative process is:
--Look at the ad trade magazines from last year.
--See which ads "did the best" which really means, which ads all the other advertisers ranked the highest.
--Do exactly that same ad, but tweak it for whatever pop culture thing is hitting as of six months ago.
--The metric ad agencies give to their clients is not how much product got moved-- it's what "rating" their superbowl ad got.
The superbowl is a money laundering scheme for advertisers-- it's very incestuous and the only real beneficiaries of the superbowl are the ad agencies. Certainly not football fans.
Why is this marked troll? I have a prime account, and I've often noticed that I can find something "not-prime" cheaper, even when shipping is included. Hard-to-find items in particular.
You should get to it before someone else does... I'm thinking something along the lines of Larry Niven's body banks... or the premise of the (terrrible) Repo Men
You, sir, are a do-er of good. If more people would treat advertising as the noise it is, rather than an annoyance to be endured (we kill mosquitos, don't we? Why put up with ads?) the world would be a better place.
Before someone flames me for "Won't someone think of teh jobz", full disclaimer: I'm occasionally employed by ad agencies. Can't stand it... til I get the paycheck.
Responding to undo my -Offtopic mod, when I wanted to mod Funny. "TubeShark-aggedon" could have some crossover with "Sharkonado", maybe set in the midwest..
You're completely right-- and sometimes it's a real bummer when we show up at the place (stadium, concert hall, ballroom, corn field, whatevs) and all the info we need to set up boils down to "isn't that a power outlet over there? It is! Good luck!"
Hence, the comparison to someone getting back from Ikea with an electric couch and setting it up with... instructions in Swedish?.
Mod parent up. I work with licensed sound engineers, gaffers, and A/V techs all the time...we get loads wrong all the time, and we're trying to do it right.
Either "electric furniture" is your new business model (yikes!) or don't do it, ever.
Mod this up! Professionals in the field often have to refer to or re-use assets from previous jobs-- do you think those stupid superbowl robots you see every year are re-built from scratch?
What happens when a deadline hits and a quick re-skin turns into a total rebuild because Adobe's servers went down that week... or Adobe has gone out of business?
A couple (>10) years back I was at Denis' Place for Games over on Belmont in Chicago. Found a wallet on the floor. Walked outside to find a cop, tried to hand him the wallet.
Cop: "Is there any money in it?" Me: "No, I didn't check" *looks inside, finds 20 bucks* Cop: "Keep the money, give me the wallet." Me: *uncomprehending look* Cop: "If I take this to the precinct, the money will be gone in minutes. You might as well get a reward". Me: *looks suspiciously at the cop* Cop: "Here, take it. Get out of here." Me: Goes back in to play Mortal Kombat 2.
Is it weird that I think this is a good thing for app developers? Along with some apps on the various app stores, I have an online store (PayPal, barf) that I use for selling video plug-ins. Since it's "my" store, I get all customer information every time there's a purchase. As a result, whenever I have updates or new products I like to be able to send out an email to all my customers with a promo code and a quick "Thanks for buying from me in the past, as a reward here's a discount code for some new stuff!"
I get a lot of new sales that way.
With these app stores, I don't have a lot of info about my customer other than the poorly managed review process, and in the case of Apple, the remarkably shitty "sales manager" window.
I like knowing who my customers are, it helps me be a better vendor. Of course, I'm not an evil email harvester or spambot.
Mod this Anonymous Coward up. Niche markets are great for little side projects-- they tend to have a userbase that is starved for choice, so they are more inclined to spend money... and when you're talking software, a niche market can be comprised of hundreds of thousands of people.
AV covers more than lighting systems for home entertainment, it can involve visuals for nightclubs, cool DMX interfaces, etc. This industry has some nice perks (rock and roll, hookers and blow), and when you get into stadium-sized projects the money can be pretty breathtaking as well.
As a side note, what's the OP's problem with making 20 bucks? Do more advertising, expand your user base by 10000, and you've done quite well.
I read it in a game blog somewhere... it must be true!
My impression was that the prototype/proof-of-concept was built in flash, with (as you suggested) the native-code versions built later. I, of course, could be completely mistaken in which case I'm sure someone will correct me, preferably with an anecdotal car-analogy.
Flash compiles to Android and iOS without any problems-- beyond the hassle of dealing with the App store and developer certs of course.
Angry Birds was originally written in Flash. So was Canabault-- which you may not have heard of, but every "running" game out there owes a debt to. There's tons of iOS apps built in Flash.
I'd be perfectly happy to see flash off the browser and used for what it's best at-- desktop or mobile applications.
Before I get flamed for suggesting that Flash is an appropriate dev tool for mobile, keep in mind that a crappy app with a lame UI and tons of memory leaks is not the fault of the platform-- it's the fault of the programmer. JAVA, I'm looking at you here, with a degree of sympathy.
Slashdot Mirror
HDMI is actually worse at long runs than VGA/DVI/HDSDI/10BaseT. One major advantage of VGA is that it doesn't carry that fsking EDID (Extended display identification data) signal.
Ever had an issue with plugging a video source (laptop/xbox/camera) into a monitor over HDMI and having the signal cut to black? Or when trying to capture video onto a laptop? It's because both the source AND the monitor have to do their little handshake and exchange EDID numbers if they're using HDMI.
This is a defect-by-design implemented to prevent piracy-- it's why you can't easily record a store-bought blu-ray or DVD onto a digital camera.
This has the added effect of causing connection failure at longer HDMI cable runs if you aren't using ACTIVE hdmi cables, signal boosters, or EDID spoofers, since any interference at long runs can cause the EDID signal to be lost, and the monitor will automatically take a shit on you.
I'd rather use VGA than HDMI for this reason-- the resolution isn't 1080p, but the signal is stable at least. This is why you'll see VGA being used in auditoriums, lecture halls, etc-- the presenter tends to be really far from the projector.
From TFA: .... developers should look to improve their own design skills"
"What should developers who can't attract designers do? They shouldn't wait around. If they can hire a designer, great, but
As a dev, I want every possible option and every possible option to be exposed to the user, 'cause that's how I think as I'm programming.
As a designer, I know better-- a good interface HIDES options and choices from a user (and the less technical your expected audience, the more should be hidden) until necessary.
There's been many times where I've found that design choices can eliminate many programming problems and bottlenecks.
No one here has used these? http://www.matrox.com/graphics/en/products/gxm/th2go/displayport/
They need power and they're semi bulky (about the size of two decks of cards) but there's a VGA and HDMI version, they have no lag, they're cross platform.Lots of configuration and resolution options as well-- especially helpful if you have differently sized monitors.
Video techs and staging crews use them for video presentations or video installations. And the price point is better.
With the risk of un-hijacking this thread I notice you didn't specify comic book reading suggestions, just reading suggestions connected with comic books and a certain period of history. There's a couple great histories of the pre-comics code comic book industry: The Ten Cent Plague-- The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America
You can also check out Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters, and the Birth of the Comic Book I didn't read the first, but it's supposed to be pretty good. The second focuses on some of the cool and quirky characters that really were the founders of a new industry. I found it entertaining and inspiring.
you would think that the money involved would bring creativity, but it's quite the opposite. Keep in mind ad agencies are slaves to their clients (the days of renegade "mad men" are long gone, and I suspect their gonzo reputation of yesteryear was a fabrication) and as a result the typical creative process is:
--Look at the ad trade magazines from last year.
--See which ads "did the best" which really means, which ads all the other advertisers ranked the highest.
--Do exactly that same ad, but tweak it for whatever pop culture thing is hitting as of six months ago.
--The metric ad agencies give to their clients is not how much product got moved-- it's what "rating" their superbowl ad got.
The superbowl is a money laundering scheme for advertisers-- it's very incestuous and the only real beneficiaries of the superbowl are the ad agencies. Certainly not football fans.
Why is this marked troll? I have a prime account, and I've often noticed that I can find something "not-prime" cheaper, even when shipping is included. Hard-to-find items in particular.
THAT IS A GREAT IDEA FOR A BOOK/MOVIE!
You should get to it before someone else does... I'm thinking something along the lines of Larry Niven's body banks... or the premise of the (terrrible) Repo Men
You, sir, are a do-er of good. If more people would treat advertising as the noise it is, rather than an annoyance to be endured (we kill mosquitos, don't we? Why put up with ads?) the world would be a better place.
Before someone flames me for "Won't someone think of teh jobz", full disclaimer: I'm occasionally employed by ad agencies. Can't stand it... til I get the paycheck.
Mwa ha ha ha!
Mod parent up, please. I kill all kinds of insects that invade my personal space without compunction-- but living creatures of any kind are not toys.
There's plenty of grey area to go around, I guess-- would I feel the same about building a treehouse? Probably not.
That sounds JAWSOME!
Responding to undo my -Offtopic mod, when I wanted to mod Funny. "TubeShark-aggedon" could have some crossover with "Sharkonado", maybe set in the midwest..
I saw what you did there. Spelling's a beach sometimes.
You're completely right-- and sometimes it's a real bummer when we show up at the place (stadium, concert hall, ballroom, corn field, whatevs) and all the info we need to set up boils down to "isn't that a power outlet over there? It is! Good luck!"
Hence, the comparison to someone getting back from Ikea with an electric couch and setting it up with... instructions in Swedish?.
Mod parent up. I work with licensed sound engineers, gaffers, and A/V techs all the time...we get loads wrong all the time, and we're trying to do it right.
Either "electric furniture" is your new business model (yikes!) or don't do it, ever.
Mod this up! Professionals in the field often have to refer to or re-use assets from previous jobs-- do you think those stupid superbowl robots you see every year are re-built from scratch?
What happens when a deadline hits and a quick re-skin turns into a total rebuild because Adobe's servers went down that week... or Adobe has gone out of business?
There's a great documentary about Harryhausen as well as some of the artists he inspired. It's on the Netflix for streaming, as I recall:
The Sci-Fi Boys
R.I.P Ray, your work with skeleton fights in "Argonauts" opened my eyes to the world of animation and all things morbid! You will be missed.
"The Problem Pit" by Fred Pohl. I forget how it ended... mass extinction? Incest? Everyone goes home happy?
A couple (>10) years back I was at Denis' Place for Games over on Belmont in Chicago. Found a wallet on the floor. Walked outside to find a cop, tried to hand him the wallet.
Cop: "Is there any money in it?"
Me: "No, I didn't check" *looks inside, finds 20 bucks*
Cop: "Keep the money, give me the wallet."
Me: *uncomprehending look*
Cop: "If I take this to the precinct, the money will be gone in minutes. You might as well get a reward".
Me: *looks suspiciously at the cop*
Cop: "Here, take it. Get out of here."
Me: Goes back in to play Mortal Kombat 2.
True story.
Is this "service pack 1" mentioned in the summary compatible with my XP installation?
If not, I'll wait for service pack 2 before installing sp1. It's just common sense.
Is it weird that I think this is a good thing for app developers? Along with some apps on the various app stores, I have an online store (PayPal, barf) that I use for selling video plug-ins. Since it's "my" store, I get all customer information every time there's a purchase. As a result, whenever I have updates or new products I like to be able to send out an email to all my customers with a promo code and a quick "Thanks for buying from me in the past, as a reward here's a discount code for some new stuff!"
I get a lot of new sales that way.
With these app stores, I don't have a lot of info about my customer other than the poorly managed review process, and in the case of Apple, the remarkably shitty "sales manager" window.
I like knowing who my customers are, it helps me be a better vendor. Of course, I'm not an evil email harvester or spambot.
If you're writing progress bars, I feel bad for you son.
I've got 99... wait, 45... wait... 85 problems and being trolled ain't one.
Mod this Anonymous Coward up. Niche markets are great for little side projects-- they tend to have a userbase that is starved for choice, so they are more inclined to spend money... and when you're talking software, a niche market can be comprised of hundreds of thousands of people.
.
AV covers more than lighting systems for home entertainment, it can involve visuals for nightclubs, cool DMX interfaces, etc. This industry has some nice perks (rock and roll, hookers and blow), and when you get into stadium-sized projects the money can be pretty breathtaking as well
As a side note, what's the OP's problem with making 20 bucks? Do more advertising, expand your user base by 10000, and you've done quite well.
I read it in a game blog somewhere... it must be true!
My impression was that the prototype/proof-of-concept was built in flash, with (as you suggested) the native-code versions built later. I, of course, could be completely mistaken in which case I'm sure someone will correct me, preferably with an anecdotal car-analogy.
Flash compiles to Android and iOS without any problems-- beyond the hassle of dealing with the App store and developer certs of course.
Angry Birds was originally written in Flash. So was Canabault-- which you may not have heard of, but every "running" game out there owes a debt to. There's tons of iOS apps built in Flash.
I'd be perfectly happy to see flash off the browser and used for what it's best at-- desktop or mobile applications.
Before I get flamed for suggesting that Flash is an appropriate dev tool for mobile, keep in mind that a crappy app with a lame UI and tons of memory leaks is not the fault of the platform-- it's the fault of the programmer. JAVA, I'm looking at you here, with a degree of sympathy.