How I learned how to program
Posted by Malcolm Micallef in Funny on March 9, 2010
A great little comic I stumbled onto today on how one person learned how to program C++ in 21 days.
Portal 2 Confirmed for Christmas 2010 Release
Posted by Malcolm Micallef in Awesome, Games, General, Technology on March 8, 2010
This is a good news, bad news post. Sorry I know its Monday and we all need to be cheered up but I had to tell you the catch about Portal 2. For those who don’t know Portal is a great game with a very simple concept. Its simplicity is not its down fall. The game is executed so well that if you play games and you haven’t played Portal then you should go out and get a copy. You won’t be disappointed.
Anyway back to the bad news. Portal has been purchased by Valve. Portal 2 will not be bundled with other games (as Portal one was). It will be released as a standalone game, meaning it will cost the standard price for a full standalone game. I am assuming around 30-40 Euro. Also there probably still won’t be cake.
Now for the good news. Portal 2 will be released December this year (take note people who buy me gifts for Christmas). Portal 2 will take the series in a slightly different direction. Valve is promising “new game play mechanics, storyline, and some surprising new twists”. One of the new features is co-op gameplay. Co-op will work online and locally, with new weapons such as a tractor beam being worked into the feature list.
Story details have been leaked by retailers (SPOILER ALERT!) which reveal that players will explore new areas of Aperure Science and be introduced to two new characters in a separate co-op campaign. The new characters will be bi-pedal robots (one an enhanced Turret, the other a mobile GlaDos unit).
The singleplayer campaign will take place hundreds of years after the first game, but will still star Chell. Aperture Labs has been ravaged and overgrown in the time between the two titles.
Also for people who played the game awhile back ago, Valve has released an update which adds an extended ending to the original game. The ending can be seen in the video below (or you can use this as an excuse to play the game again, I know I am).
iPad to hit the streets soon
Posted by Malcolm Micallef in General, Technology on March 7, 2010
The eagerly wanted and probably the best selling gadget of the year will start selling on the 3rd of April. Techie people prepare for all tech websites not to stop talking about it. I still haven’t figured out what I would use it for and I since I hate all products Apple I obviously won’t be buying one.
The 3rd of April debuting day is the date the iPad will start shipping in America. All models will hit shelves in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the U.K. by late April, with later rollout dates for other nations. U.S. customers can begin pre-ordering both models beginning on March 12.
In Malta the product will be available I would assume some time after. Since Malta is not considered to be part of the world.
I wonder if we will start seeing lots of people with the iPad all around Malta…
Maybe at university, MCAST and bus trips. Queues to get to Gozo will never be the same again 
Useful tool for anyone writing a document (or in my case blog posts)
Posted by Malcolm Micallef in Guide on March 6, 2010
Paper rater is a free online tool which analyzes your writing and offers feedback on your grammar, spelling and more. For anyone who knows me will understand how I found and how much I start using this tool.Paper rater is a free online tool which analyzes your writing and offers feedback on your grammar, spelling and more. For anyone who knows me will understand how I found and how much I start using this tool.
The tool is completely fool proof. Just paste the text you want analyzed into the text field and select what type of content it is (research paper, personal narrative, essay, book report, speech/presentation, short story, movie review, and other) and submit it for review. Within seconds, Paper rater generates a report that analyzes several aspects of your submission.
The tool looks at your grammar and spelling, but it also gives feedback on your writing style and choice of words. It can also suggest replacement word and phrases by just right clicking on the highlighted words in the generated reports. Paper rater also detects plagiarism by comparing the content you submit with the published online content to see if there are any similarities. This won’t be caused if you use the proper citations in your text.
Paper Rater is a solid tool for double-checking your work as you prepare your next speech or presentation. Also helps the would be blogger who’s English is quite up to scratch.
OK GO tops their previous video
Posted by Malcolm Micallef in Awesome on March 3, 2010
One of my favorite music videos of all time is OK Go Here It Goes Again. Its creative, original and fun. A secret a fantasy of mine was to recreate this music video. Came close to doing it at university but the stupid treadmills didn’t have a reverse gear so I couldn’t try treadmill ski.
OK Go have released This Too Shall Pass. Not only is it a good song but the video is legendary 
Check it out below.
Definition of Irony
Posted by Malcolm Micallef in Documentaries, General, Technology on March 2, 2010
Today’s clip is the definition of irony and its brought to you thanks to Steve Jobs and a 1996 PBS documentary called “Triumph of the Nerds“. Apple at the moment are sueing HTC for 20 patent infringements. In the clip below Steve Jobs says “Good Artists Copy, Great Artists Steal”. Today’s lesson is irony…
Update: Apple are sueing HTC to attack the Nexus One. HTC are the developers of the phone.
Putting off formatting your computer?
Posted by Malcolm Micallef in Guide, Technology on February 28, 2010
Let’s be honest a lot of computers need to be formatted but the people responsible for them wouldn’t feel like backing up all the critical data and also installing the software on the fresh computer would be a huge chore.
In a previous blog post I mentioned that an user should keep data backed up all the time and I mentioned tools to help the user to accomplish this regular back up. So the last part that needs to be addressed is the installing of software.
When formatting a computer the process is practically all automated. The user just has to start the process and then they can enjoy a nice cup of tea while the operating system formats and installs the new OS. Once complete the user needs to install the software they usually do. To accomplish this faster and easier there is a new service called Ninite.
This service allows you to select some software you wish to install. Once selected you download a small executable which will then download all the selected software and also install them for the user. During this process the computer is completely usable but feel free to get more tea.
The service contains software which I gurantee you would install on any system, such as Chrome, Firefox, Skype, Messenger, VLC, iTunes, Winamp, Adobe Reader, and many more.
For all you who have been putting off formatting your computer you now have one less excuse on why not to do it.
Geocaching in Malta
Posted by Malcolm Micallef in General, Technology on February 26, 2010
Recently I discovered Geocaching from watching the gadget show. Geocaching is a worldwide game of hiding and seeking treasure. A geocacher can place a geocache in the world, pinpoint its location using GPS technology and then share the geocache’s existence and location online. Anyone with a GPS unit can then try to locate the geocache.
Geocaching for some reason not apparent to me stuck in my head. In the episode a presenter used his iPhone to locate some geocaches which the show’s produce hide for him in a forest. The caches were personal transportation devices (bike and skateboard). In the show this presenter was trying to evade some trained military forces who were hunting him.
Today I found a couple of geocaches in Malta (there are some in Gozo and even Comino). Unfortunately some people are complaining that some of the caches were stolen but some remain active. Some have even been found recently (7 days ago). Some geocaches involve hikes with incredible views and others even have climbing and some even have walking into dark caves.
I shall try convincing some of my friends to do this walk. I am not sure if it will be difficult to convince them to do this or really simple. Hopefully it would be the later because it sounds like a fun way to spend the afternoon. If you are who I would ask leave your response here. We shall see how many read my site 
Once done I shall post photos and results from the city dwellers gone treasure hunters.
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