More German advert humour

Another classic advert from Germany.  This one is a fairly old advert but just has always remained in my mind as a classic. Enjoy by clicking the link below or watching it on the youtube insert in the page.

Watch on youtube.com

Real leaked court document makes for funny reading.

Somethings you see on the internet and you really and truly are astonished with the stupidity.... this image below is a real document of a conversation in a courtroom between the Judge and a witness whom is a Doctor.

Read the image and try not to laugh as this friggin happened...... Pleased the Doctor saw the funny side, the judge is probably still thinking!

German commercial which makes me smile....

Just sit back and watch. Nothing like a bit of German humor.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeA5xU2YjXk

Choosing an IDE for my Java Application development....

Okay folks, this is a quick post. I have been sitting here for the last day and a half deciding on which IDE I would like to use for creating a small Java Application. I want to write a security program called FileKiller. More on the app later.... For now what were my choices of IDE?

I occasionally code for android and use the Android Studio platform. This platform has come a long way since it's beginning only a year ago. The Android Studio has been coded and ported from the IntelliJ IDEA (www.jetbrains.com) community. I really do like this IDE for Android so I installed it on my Linux laptop without hesitation. Unfortunately it seems for simple Java Swing development it is overly complicated and took a long time to set up to even begin coding.  They also have a unique way and structure in dealing with Java projects that you create. It was not long before I was looking for a quicker more straight forward solution as I am not a heavy developer. I may return to this IDE at a later date.

Everyone knows of Eclipse, Eclipse has been the IDE of choice for multiple programming languages, it is heavily supported and there are a bunch of docs and community aid online.  I have used it before and it's known for having a couple of weird bugs here and there which can be frustrating if you do not know all of them. Thus, you can be looking at fault in your code for days to finally find out that the null pointer exception was a compiler error (might be a poor example but think this has happened to me on several occasions). I also do not like the feel of Eclipse visually or intricate design layout.. So Eclipse is a bit like Marmite. You love it or hate scenario. I am impressed with it...but I don't enjoy to use it.

NetBeans is what I have ended up with. There are others to choose from but it just seemed logical to myself to use a dedicated Java Platform IDE for developing a Java Swing Applications. I have installed it as I did with the other two and found I was rooted into coding my new app instantly. It looks like a basic IDE and it seems to have all the features of both mentioned above for what I am doing, I also managed to get started, designing and coding my app within minutes of installation. I was at least one hour on each other platform before I even started to look at coding. No imports or plugins needed just a raw coding platform with a GUI designer. Simple.  I downloaded the latest version as the one Ubuntu have in their repositories is ancient. Years old.... sort it out Ubuntu. So hats off to my new IDE of choice NETBEANS! You made things easy and I am enjoying coding together my app. Wish I only had more of a clue about Java.  Referencing has become a 3 minute habit.  Brain is fried.



FILE KILLER Alpha .007 in development.

Quick note about File Killer. I will be releasing this app on the GNU public license. The application will take in files that you wish to be terminated from your computer forever. No return, not with the best techs out there. My app will kill that file, and all that ever remained on that part of your HD. Using the choice of pfitzner7, pfitzner33, gutman35, USArmy AR380-19, and DoD 5229.22M security to destroy the files and their locations on your disk.  A real way to destroy info off an HD before you throw it to the trash.  I expect Beta 0.1 will be out in a month and will be posted here!

Drive Club... worth the wait?

Drive Club is a beautiful game. We have all seen the E3 demo's, read articles in magazines and on the internet as to how brilliant and amazing this game will be even although it has been delayed for a whole year.  The reason for the delays were to perfect the ultimate racing game which encourages multiplayer racing.  So the PlayStation Store finally had a copy of it on their PlayStation Store. I was hooked into the hype so thought nothing about parting with a bargain of £34.99 which was offered as an apology from Sony and the Studios involved for releasing a game which was supposed to be released on the same day as the console first launched. Let me get into the review.....

Beauty and the beast is a good way to describe Drive Club.  It really is amazing how the next gen platform games are coming along graphically.  Drive Club is no exception.  Backgrounds so beautiful you forget to see where the hell your going at 160 MPH. The cars have a level of detail we have not seen in a racing game before.  I have never seen light physics been put to this much of a test before either. Every indicator, paint glissen, or glass reflection has been done with intricate lighting techniques which only a next gen console or PC could handle.  It really is a masterpiece to look at.

What about the Cars and the Tracks? Pretty important in a racing game I would say. Well this is a
mixed bag. The Cars are perfect replicas. You could not tell any details which defect from the real thing. There is a good selection of cars but not hundreds. A few hand picked great cars worth driving. They have modeled them so well I can see why they did not go crazy building lots of cars. To build one of these must have taken forever. So hats off to the developers for this.  The tracks are another story. No real world maps are included. None. Not one. This for me was a massive let down. A huge hole in a racing game. They have made up their own tracks. None of which flow well or give you that technique and feedback making you feel the need to master the road ahead.  The tracks are mainly just sections of road in what they consider exotic locations, Scotland, India, Canada etc.. In those Countries there are a couple racetracks rather than roads. The tracks again are fictitious and lacking. They have no feel of a real racetrack. Poorly designed and I can't see how they will create great racing either. I have driven on them all and none have grabbed me as " a track I gotta improve on".  Okay, so Cars look good and the tracks suck for a dedicated racer.... what's the actual physics like...?

The physics are sadly again on my list of disappointments.  Far too close to an arcade racer, no competition to Forza. Not even competition to Sony's Gran Turismo range. I could put it in the same par as Project Gotham Racing. Personally I think that Project Gotham Racing was better also.  I really do not have a good feeling from the cars. The button mapping can be changed but do not let you use the sticks for accelerating and braking...the real only true way to control a simulator by easing on the brakes and slowly accelerating finding the limit of adhesion. Its trigger pull and trigger snap for braking. The cars waft round corners...sometimes I feel like the track is just going under you and your not actually in any real control of left and right... you just have to turn right when its right... turn left when its left. Okay there is a little more to it than that but it just doesn't cut the mustard. Forza has no rival. It is the only game I miss by leaving Microsoft and going to PlayStation.  So the physics are completely lackluster for a racing game.  The environmental physics on the other hand are great. Real night to day light changes, weather, leaves flying, the smoke from burnt rubber, all of that helps to its authenticity as a racing game but the car and track physics fall to short for the environment physics to overtake the let down.

Damage on the cars is present which is a welcomed addition to these types of games. I know that manufacturers generally do  not like Game Studios adding real world damage physics as they want their car represented in the best possible light. Well Drive Club have managed to somehow get over that with the manufacturers and included a limited damage system. Although I say damage is included we are talking purely aesthetic.  You can drive as fast and as hard as you like into any object without any real threat of anything except for loosing time. Once again very disappointing. Not every person will agree with me here...many find car damage very frustrating which I understand but at least turn damage off. At least have an option. Another let down which makes this game a stupid arcader dressed up to try and be something it will never be.

I am also disappointed with their method of starting a race. No Qualifying, just a random place on the grid which is never pole position.  No lights, not even a countdown, just "READY" and when that disappears, which happens way to soon, the race has begun. Their is no feeling of lining up on a grid, the need for a perfect start, any tactic to be thought about for heading into turn 1... its all just go and lets smash everyone out of the way as I dont even bother to brake for turn one...who cares? no damage, no costly effects, no thrill, no need to race. The more I write the more I hate this game. I am actually getting more and more disappointed as I write.

Well okay it's just a really pretty arcader, but isn't this all about the online elements of the game? Oh
my god...where does one start. The Developers have apologised....... their game doesn't work online yet. Yup.. thats the short of it. Its an online racer which is not working. If you have seen the news they are struggling to maintain their servers and they have all been overwhelmed. Okay... be slightly sympathetic, all games have a bump here and there on release. Battlefield 4 was the biggest bump I ever had hit before. Drive Club takes the biscuit. They have actually had to cancel some parts of the online play until they can fix it. Oh dear, the problem is you can't even get online. The servers are down all the time.  If you do manage to get online... the online racing is no better than any other game. They have taken a new angle to try and build online clans and teams to drive together in. I just cant see how this will hold any value if the game itself is not playable to any standard of a sim. Arcade bashing and crashing offers no skill reward and no reason to be in a team or even try to work together. Their is zero realism so why bother.

Overall what do I think? Sadly this is my let down of the year! or should I say "2 year let down", as thats how long we have waited for this. The driving physics are far too basic, their is no element of this to make it feel like a serious or realistic racer, its an arcade bash about with an online element which isn't strong enough to overcome the poor tracks, design and gameplay. I tell you what it is.... a creation of beauty and light dynamics.  It's the sort of thing I would watch as my computer did a benchmark test. About as fun as well. No replays, no strong driving connection, no roads worth learning and overall a complete waste.  I have driven all morning and afternoon to unlock a few cars, have no real excitement, definitely no heart pumping moments and I am more disappointment than 'an elephant without a trunk in a watering hole'. The short of this means a game with nothing new to offer the next gen. It's an arcade racer that we have all seen before. It is just prettier. No new concepts.  I think I would have accepted this if this is what they advertised it as. Unfortunately they claimed it was the future of racing and groundbreaking. None of these claims are true. Think I can't wait for PlayStation to finally come out with an amazing racing game. They need to get on it.

Will definitely be interested in "The Crew"... will review that when I get the chance to play it in on release day. Sounds like an arcader which offers a lot more than this!

GRAPHICS 9 / 10
GAMEPLAY 3/10
ONLINE 3/10 (if you can get on)
PHYSICS 3/10
TRACKS 3/10
OVERALL 4/10

Twitch's popularity grows but what is it?

Okay we all like to play a game or two from time to time. Occasionally you may peer over the shoulder of another to see what they are playing maybe buy it yourself if you like it.  Maybe your just waiting your turn to unleash mayhem with a buddy next to you... So a site completely dedicated to live streams of people playing video games can't be very successful? Surely?

Twitch is growing in popularity fast. So fast in fact people are now actually starting to earn money by playing video games and streaming continuously their gameplay. They respond to comments and have a screen capture of themselves making a unique advertising possibility appear.  Some gamers are even sponsored and you can sponsor them to play which will ensure that their channel of game streaming will continue. We have all seen the adverts in YouTube, well think of this as a dedicated gaming advertising platform.

I'm not entirely sure when I talk about Twitch I can explain or get across what this phenomenon is. I explain it and it sounds like the most uninteresting and impossible business platform to make any money what so ever. Then if you actually go to Twitch you can find yourself watching for more than just a few minutes. Hours are even possible watching someone else play.  It has a certain freedom to let you interact with another gamer, find out their favourite parts of the game and also to see tactics and maybe gain some inside knowledge of how to better play the game of interest.  Eve Online is definitely a popular game online, having players stream their gameplay can help a newcomer to the game to advance at a much faster rate in one of the worlds most complicated and epic games.

So other than looking for tips and advice, tactics or cheats what else is capturing audiences in such great numbers to watch video gameplay? There is an interaction with the gameplayer (host) you can chat through voice or simply type text into a message window which the user can hear or read and respond to you.  I have often also watched games which I thought i wouldn't buy or play and actually found that I like the game.  So I find myself looking at Twitch to see gameplay of a game to confirm my decision about which games I purchase.  Long gone are the days of the demo.... so this really is a neat alternative.

One of the greatest and probably least recognized feature of Twitch is the fact that you can actually see games before they come out.  This is amazing.  You can actually see gameplay of games which have not even gone to gold (been printed on CD).  Games like Elite Dangerous and Drive Club are often viewed as developers and testers air their game time on occasion.  This is a real sneak peak into the actual progress and gameplay and I feel gives more perspective of the finished product than a E3 display.

So to sum it up Twitch, although an unlikely business model has proved with great success that this unique platform is in demand. For a multitude of reasons seasoned game players all over the world are finding they are tuning into Twitch more and more. Hints, tips, tactics and just for the hell of seeing someone totally make a mess of things in GTAV will keep the masses entertained more than they realized. I really did not expect to enjoy watching other people play.... I was wrong!

Google talks with CyanogenMod....

Just a quick news flash... Recently heard that Google had been talking to Cyanogenmod with the rumor that discussions were put forward to buy out the most popular Android ROM maker. Now the  only reason we can tell they would buy it is solely for the purpose of closing down and locking the doors of one of the greatest branches of Android's open source.

It is obviously not that straight forward... I'm sure the Cyangenmod team would have been incorporated into the Google team as their is no denying just how brilliant the developers at Cyanogenmod are.  Google would only benefit from their coding practice and ideas.

Although these talks have taken place what we understand is the fact that Cyanogenmod have turned down Google for the buyout. Say What? Yep, they have turned down Google's offer. No  money figure has been released and talks have been rapidly brushed away by the Cyanogenmod team but we all know that Google do not give up so easily and I am sure will counter offer in the near future.

My thoughts are the Cyanogenmod team have stood strong in the face of corporate domination and have not sold out as they knew it would mean closing the doors of that wonderfully successful team as we all know it.

We know Google are just about to launch a new version of their Android system which does not include Dalvik runtime but a new ART runtime environment which is far more energy efficient and process and RAM friendly.  With this new system Google are trying to lock down the current fragmentation of the award winning and popular OS.  They feel they need more control of their system. Even although Android is based on Linux and the very idea of Linux is many hands make light work and further improvements are executed by the users.... this may not be so beneficial to the Android OS.
We shall have to wait and see if the Cyanogenmod team can hold out or if Google's strong buying power will see that our favourite open source ROM will come to an end.  Either way...Android will improve and the Cyangoenmod team can only be proud of everything they have done.

Linux - Bash's forgotten super tips!

Bash in Linux running the htop command

Hi folks... here I am again bashing on about Bash again.... Well here are some tips which are so worth remembering but most people forget to use.

Before responding in the comments about 50 million other tips I forgot, I thought the one's I have picked are useful to a new user and which are commonly never remembered but can make life super easy in the  land of BASH.

(ctrl R) press this whenever you want to find that command you typed in but cant remember. It is Bashes reverse search of previously typed commands. Just type in the start of a command and up comes the rest.

(ctrl U) just typed a whole line and its so long you think you make break either the delete key or your finger to clear it... ctrl-u will instantly blitz the line as it it never existed.

(ctrl W) damn number 2 s handy but I only messed up the end of the line.... ctrl-w will delete the last word of your command line entry.

(pstree -p) simply outputs in Bash your process tree from the cpu. Handy!

(lynx www.yoursite.com) Download lynx right now. This is a full blown web browser in Bash. Super cool if you only have a terminal to work with. Lots of power and just a neat different way to view the web. Get it: sudo apt-get install lynx

(lsb_release -a) Instantly find out your distro version and codename. Useful to know if your on the help forums.

(htop) Useful System Output where you can kill,pause,or modify processes and see cpu usage and memory usage. In fact a ton of info is in htop. Get it: sudo apt-get install htop

(mtr www.yoursite.com) a simple traceroute to help you figure out where your network is hanging. Very handy.

(whatis command) Not sure what something does? then type into Bash whatis then the program. It will quickly tell you what that command is for. e.g  whatis tar      tar  prints this (1)- The GNU version of the tar archiving utility

And finally (wc filename) Word Count. Take any document and type in wc -option(*) filename and you can get instantly what your after... here are the (*)options....

-c print the byte counts

-m print character counts

-l print new line counts

-L print the longest line length

-w print how many words

e.g wc -w bookmarks.html   (answer returned 3500 words) 

You can also add multiple files.... e.g

wc -w bookmarks.html pringles.txt suicidenote2.doc and it will give you the results for each.

Well thats my super handy top forgettable Bash tips for now. All super useful and easily forgotten to the newcomer or even some bearded linux historians occasionally forget ;)