Days go by, and still I think about you

Spending the new years all alone. Its no big deal if you really think about it, it makes perfect sense really. Everyone is back home with their families, and so no one decided to stay behind since no one planned any parties and therefore it makes sense when there isn't anything to do. And yet I still wish I could spend it with someone close, or a large group of friends. Either would be satisfactory, but when midnight strikes the old will be behind us, and the new will follow.

There's a saying that should be familiar to any Eastern European family, 'kak ti stratchish nov god, tak ti evo e provedosch', roughly translated "what you do when new years comes, is the way it'll pan out". So if your happy, it'll be a good year, and vice versa. So maybe I shouldn't greet it at all, maybe I should just go to sleep and wake up in 2008.

Well I'm not supersitious, and that's good since 2008 is very important to me. This will be my last year as a student, as a child, as a dependent. Time to grow up.

Dreams can be incredible healers. Letting yourself go without worrying about tomorrow, and allowing yourself to dream; I woke today with my feet and arms absent of the usual pain, and amazing energy for productivity.



Last night I was inspired to dream, after watching a fantastic film called "Paprika". Their were references to Millenium Actress, and Tokyo Godfathers so I'm only assuming it was done by the same art director, but quite on par with the visual quality of those films. I absolutly don't want to ruin a single moment of the film so I wont say a word more, but it's a must watch by everyone.


A few days I've also finished reading Ender's Shadow. The fourth book in the series from Ender's Game by Orson Scottcard. I was recommended to skip the second and third book and go straight to the fourth, and I enjoyed it just as much as the first. Orson's writing improved considerably, as I spent less and less time trying to outsmart little Ender, or in this case little Bean. Still, what's most fascinating about the series are the various types of games the kids play. As someone who still holds onto his childhood, and a game developer I am extremly enticed to maybe one day produce one of these games, especially the squad based AI.

That's pretty much it, I wanted to give you guys some updates, and a little entertainment. I guess I should get back to work.

PS: I finally got DXUT working, but the architecture still seems to puzzle me in several places. I just can't believe there isn't any documentation .... should I take the initiative?

For those who aren't familiar with DXUT, it's an API that's included with DirectX to be used for games. With convenient functions like DXUTInit( ), DXUTMainLoop( ). It is incredibly enticing and trying to build a Game Architecture based around it is incredibly temping. On the other hand, their is very little documentation on it outside of the MSDN that seems to be heavily DX10 oriented.

I am currently stuck at the fact that dxut.h doesn't have any body definitions for DXUTInit() and I am puzzled by my inexperience. If anyone is familiar with the API please leave a comment, or contact me?

I'm sure some have read books; some understanding the concepts, others not really, and some others, well they think they understand. For me, I found this amazing video online that simplified the entire concept (and I do stress concept) into a short little video that I can't help but share here.

So check it out. the string theory unraveled.

http://www.tenthdimension.com/medialinks.php

Stumble is fantastic, I guess I'm pretty addicted to it right now. With each passing minute I find something new. This might just be the one greatest thing invented by the internet. So I'll keep sharing fantastic finds in my blog.


http://www.pandora.com/
A pretty impressive Online Radio Station that changes itself to your taste in music. The way it's executed is just much too clever.

This thing is just too cool for words. Check it out!

http://www.sub-find.com/trilobis65.htm

I'm incredibly excited with so much to do in order to get prep. Finish a website, learn dx10 shaders, and find a roomate. Btw pictures from last year's GDC are here. Check em out, and shoot me an e-mail if your going.