Researcher Vinay Deolalikar from HP labs claims he has solved this Millennium Prize. The 100 page document has not been peer-reviewed yet so there still is hope. If you get a few hours free and want to try keep the hopes of computer scientists alive I attached the document link in this post so feel free to dig in and find some flaws (link). The bad news is that the little information I found on this Deolalikar makes him to be quite a genius. Unfortunately it seems to be the real deal this.

Given that the $ 1 million prize money from the Millennium Prize fund is involved, will guarantee that this document will get enough scrutiny.

For those who didn’t understand the joke in the title read up this link.

So the world is still around. Nothing much has changed. I am officially a 23 year old and having back problems. That has more to do with the horrible chairs at work than my age but I am still going strong. My half life 3 announcement was completely wrong but hopefully it will still happen since its one of my favourite FPS games of all time.

The buzz word in technology is 3D has I predicted in a post some time ago. It seems that one in every 4 or 5 movies can be seen in 3D at the cinemas. So far the only good 3D movie I have seen is Avatar. It was obvious that for Clash of the Titans the 3D version was just added to try encourage people go to the cinema. Right now I will always prefer HD over 3D.

Though the next 3D movie I will watch will be Piranha 3D. It will probably be a stupid movie with a very bad story line but I expect it to be full of funny scary scenes so it might be worth watching it in 3D. The nudity and all the bikinis are just an extra positive (Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GT1XUWMqQq0).

When the porn industry backs a technology that is when the technology becomes mainstream. Happened recently with Bluray disks and now 3D has their backing. This is bad news for Flash because they are embracing HTML5 but that is a whole other story. Probably right now I seem like a porn addict.

3D is also popping out in the wild. Samsung and Panasonic pushing their very expensive 3D home solutions which require glasses. Nintendo releasing their new DS which is 3D, requires no glasses and most importantly affordable. You do not need to sell and organ or your first born to buy this gadget. The screens have a poor viewing angle but that is not a problem since to play you need to look directly at the screen. The screens the DS uses is produced by Sharp. Sharp realised that they are leading the way with this technology and hence are now releasing the first 3D smartphone by the end of this year.

Chelsea just lost against Manchester United in the Community Shield so not the best start of this year season but it could be worse and there was a spark from the Chelsea team not like the other boring games from preseason. They should be able to beat WBA next week. Even Sky now are showing the games in 3D. Maybe the next TV I buy will be a 3D flat screen…

Once work dies down I can start working on my side projects again

During my studies I have managed to create some games for several different reasons.  Most of the reasons were to learn a specific language or to learn new skills in that particular language. The first game I ever produced was a clone of master mind. I had created the game for my A-level practical project. I developed the game using the then antic Turbo Pascal; not sure how you would describe it now.

I had even developed a simple AI for the game so that it could have a single player mode. However, it was intended mainly for multiplayer support. Obviously I did not build any network support into the game.

I have built clones of many games. I decided to build clones and not original games for two reasons:

• No unique idea for a game (well at least anything feasible).
• Developing clones is the best way to learn basic and advanced game development techniques.

I have developed games on machines of all kind each with their unique challenges. One of my funniest projects involved developing a map for Enemy Territory. The map used the Sliema Balluta front as the war zone where the allies and axis team battled each other for gold. The map involved using a tank to blow up the doors of Ballutta church to gain access to the gold. This involved building a map which was capable of running on a Celerons which had 256mb of RAM and looking good on dual core computers with a stunning 512mb of ram.

I have even developed a game for my Symbian mobile. The game, named Speed Ball, was a single player version of pong. Imagine your pong paddle stuck in a 3 sided room. The object of the game was to keep the ball in this room. Every time the ball bounces off the paddle you get a point. The more points you get the faster the ball moves. Also once you get a high score the ball also stops travelling in a straight line. The game also had an online high score system.

Anyway now to the reason why I decided to write this article. If you want to start developing games I suggest you start making clones. Clones will allow you to learn the basic skills you will need to develop more complicated games. Each of these games come with their own set of problems.

One might ask what you can learn from developing a Pong clone.  From developing Pong you will learn how to make graphics move on screen and how to update the screen. You will also be required to create a very basic AI and/or how to make a game multiplayer. One can then start adding advanced features to this game; such as developing a network enabled multiplayer system, etc, etc.

The list below shows the games (starting from the simplest to create and finishing off with the most challenging) that any budding game developer should really consider making:

• Tic Tac Toe – Simplest game to create and hence why the perfect starting point. This game involves very basic graphics and user interface development. What great about this game is that the user can really experiment with developing AI. One can create a very simple AI (random play or simply an AI that always blocks a winning move) to an unbeatable AI (MinMax tree to scripted moves).
• Who wants to be a millionaire? – User interface important in this. Also can be modified so that it works online. Developer has to decide on how to store and access the questions. A simple data file can be used but features such as downloading new questions from online and allowing users to contribute new questions into the game.
• Pong – Simple game to create. Allows you to create your first game engine. Teaches you to take user controls into consideration and graphics. Many AI possibilities and has room to grow as I explained before.
• Tetris
• Pacman
• Bomberman
• Mario
• Overhead shooter

As for a starting language anything really will suffice. Flash would make developing the graphics easier but I would recommend either C++, Java or C#. Using these languages you can learn skills which can be applied any almost any other language. The skills you will gain from using flash will not be easily transferred to other environments but Flash is a very powerful tool to develop games in. Most games online are created using flash and flash does run on all computers and most mobile devices (apart from the flash hating Apple products).

The rumors are now saying that Valve are going to be announcing a new source engine and so Half Life 3 is coming out. Half life 3 will be episode 3. These rumors coincide with the rumors that episode 3 was going to be too large to release as just an episode.

Watch the inter web guys for the announcement of HL3 next week.

It is no secret that the N97 has undergone many issues and embarrassments since its release. The N97 has many many flaws but I still think it is one of the best phones you can get right now. The N97 can handle anything you throw at it. This makes the phone the ultimate Jack of All trades phone.

Here is a list of some of the flaws of the phone:

• Made completely out of plastic. A metal phone always feels like it has more quality and sturdiness.
• Some of the design features actually damage the phone. Such as the camera glass protector. This is the ultimate definition of irony. The phone has a lens protector to protect the camera lens from getting scratched. Ironically by using the lens protector you would be actually damaging the lens. Nokia released a fix for this last year but I am still not able to get this fixed because I live in Malta so I would have to pay for the repairs.
• The phone needs a beefier CPU and more RAM and internal (C:) memory. Symbian is very memory efficient though it still needs RAM. The lack of internal C: memory is very annoying. It because a juggling act installing some applications which install on to C: without any option. This leaves the users often backing up, formatting and restoring to try free up some C: memory.
• The keyboard layout could be better. I have gotten use to typing using the keyboard but I still find it awkward inserting phone numbers and pressing spacebar.

There are other issues with the phone but right now that’s all I have come up with. The phone has a lot going for it.

• The LCD screen is transflective. This means that you can see the screen in direct sun light. The N97 is one of the few phones out in the market that support this. The screen will never be as clear as a iPhone and other devices but it’s a phone and you have to be able to see the screen during the day.
• The battery life is utterly epic in this device. Without advancements such as OLED screens and other details the phone is able to function for an irrational amount of time. Under very light usage I can get away with charging my phone every 6 days. The phone can easily cope with heavy usage and will last a day under conditions of checking twitter, facebook, uploading photos, phone calls, checking emails etc. There is also an option to replace the 1500mAh Nokia battery with the 3600mAh Mugen battery which will double the battery life.
• The device has an FM transmitter built in. This allows you to hear songs while you are driving without the use of wires or cradles. Some people also buy FM transmitters to connect to their device.
• Camera protective glass lens. Yes on the original phone it actually damages it. But most people can have this fixed at no added cost. This repair also improves GPS reception. Ohhh Malta Nokia representatives should really stop being so difficult on getting these things fixed.
• 32GB of mass memory on board the device. You know how much data that is. I can carry all my mp3 collection on my phone and still have plenty of space for documents, videos, photos, etc. You even have the option of installing a microSD card to add another 32GB ?!?!?!
• The QWERTY keyboard layout isn’t the best but it is still a good keyboard to use. Allowing you to type very fast. Allowing using to type messages faster than anyone can on touch screen devices.
• When you open the keyboard the screen is angled is allows for easier viewing. It doesn’t always the better text input scenario but when using on a desk this tilted display is a God send. You often see people propping up their devices with books, toast, cats, stones, etc. The most classic I have ever seen was a guy using his iMac Book to prop up his iPad while on the phone using his iPhone.
• The phone has a very capable camera. It would have been better if the phone had Xenon flash. The phone is capable of producing very stunning photos under most circumstances.
• It’s a Nokia device. This means that you will be getting many more services even after you bought the phone. From updates to the OS and applications to services such as free world wide GPS offline navigation.

Not sure how many benefits I have written down but the positives really outweigh the disadvantages.

I have owned the N97 for almost a year as of writing this. Right now I am not thinking of upgrading to another device but when the time comes I will happily consider getting another Nokia phone even though this phone had so many flaws.

• Avon vonBrockdorff
• Chelsea supporters club Malta

Two very useful sites. Especially if you want to go abroad to watch a Chelsea game

]]> http://malcolmmicallef.com/2010/05/19/finally-got-around-to-updating-the-website-portfolio/feed/ 0 http://malcolmmicallef.com/2010/05/10/electric-and-hybrid-cars-in-malta-can-work-forever-thanks-to-this-device/ http://malcolmmicallef.com/2010/05/10/electric-and-hybrid-cars-in-malta-can-work-forever-thanks-to-this-device/#comments Mon, 10 May 2010 13:56:42 +0000 Malcolm Micallef http://malcolmmicallef.com/?p=415 Electric cars and hybrid cars are gaining popularity in Malta or else I am noticing them more. Either way we cannot continue using petrol and diesel in the rate we are using it. It will either finish or we won’t be able to afford it. In this rate we won’t be able to afford it soon.

Some young boffins had the great idea of using the wasted energy from shock absorbers (car’s suspension) to generate electricity, named Levant Power’s GenShock. All hybrid cars generate power when the driver brakes. Instead of using brake pads (or together not sure) the electric motor is used to slow down the car and by doing so it generates electricity. This electricity is stored in a battery for later. It’s a good idea to do so because in normal cars braking just produces heat.

With the state of our roads in Malta if an electric car owner had to place this device on their suspension the car would generate enough power to continue going forever. Ok I don’t know how much power it would produce but if you are driving on some bad roads I am sure the battery would charge. This would bring a whole new transport situation in Malta. We would start seeing people making more holes in the roads, adding more speed bumps, etc. Malta would be the first country in the world to have their transportation system petrol and diesel free.

This makes me even want to get an electric car.

If you know anyone who has an electric or hybrid car do the right thing and give them this link.

5 points for anyone who can guess what these specific parts will accomplish. These points are not redeemable for anything useful. These points are used to gauge how intelligent I think you are

This is also my first official unboxing. Exciting stuff.

P.S. Ignore my foot in one of the photos.

This June is the return of another important TV event. The I.T. crowd season 4. This is the original UK episodes not the US or German versions. For those who don’t know what the I.T. crowd check out the youtube videos below.

For some strange reason YouTube seems to have disabled embedding the videos into the site. So I will just have to send you to YouTube. The links below will take you a few clips of the I.T. crowd. You don’t have to be a geek to understand the humour.

The I.T. Crowd – This is the Internet

The I.T. Crowd – Customer Support

The I.T. Crowd – Piracy