The Ryan Burke Archive
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I’m thinking Osteria Del Figo for dinner tomorrow night. Howell Mill and 17th. Anyone interested?
Just read a little blurb about test-driven design. Neat idea. How have I never heard of it before? The concept is if you write your tests before you code, it demonstrates true understanding of your goals and code design will naturally emerge. I’d like to give it a shot on a future project and see if it helps.
I don’t know why, but “Journey sucks” and “Fuck world trade” cracked me up.
[ Posted Sat, 16 Oct 2010 15:28:35 ]
Survived my first weekend in command. No one died and I wasn’t fired. I call that a win. A serious head cold sure made it difficult, but I think I can do this job until they find a full time replacement.
Omw back to Atlanta. Already.
Thanks to everyone who sent me a post-convention note! Makes me feel good that you enjoy my company. Wish I had time to write back, but life is kicking my butt for a little while. I hope you understand and that we are still friends ;)
I have accepted a position at Dish TV as a Java developer! w00t!
Finished Uncharted 2 this morning. A solid blockbuster adventure, though rather than try anything new, it played up existing techniques excellently. I know the multiplayer is tons of fun, but I’ll probably send it back to Gamefly on Monday.
Total Game Overload
[ Posted Mon, 19 Jul 2010 09:24:06 ]
I officially have too many games to play! That’s not even considering StarCraft 2 in 9 days. Here’s everything I’ve bought due to recent Steam sales:
Burnout Paradise Ultimate, Crysis, Crysis Warhead, Darwinia, DEFCON, Just Cause 2, Multiwinia, Uplink
I also jumped on the GameFly sale and have Uncharted 2, Red Dead Redemption, Alan Wake, and Heavy Rain to chew through in the next 3 months.
On top of that, we have plenty of board games that we are still actively playing, such as Agricola, Puerto Rico, Dominion, etc.
On top of THAT, we’re getting back into Team Fortress 2 and Left 4 Dead 2 (when it’s Mac-enabled).
Did I also mention that we’re trying our hand at a D&D campaign? You can see my dilemma.
Let the Right One In was excellent. Available on Netflix Instant. Thank you for reminding me it’s ok to be a vampire movie and not follow pop conventions.
Tim Schafer says no sequel to Brutal Legend is coming, and my heart dies a little.
I’ve been doing hamburgers wrong my whole life. What was missing? Pineapple.
Right at Your Door is a great movie! Check it out on Netflix Instant Watch. Totally digging Rory Cochrane after that and A Scanner Darkly.
Hey! Predators wasn’t bad! Nice to have a movie in the franchise since 1987 that doesn’t suck. Are you listening, Paul Anderson?
I was just carded for an R-rated movie. FML
Today, game design and the study of nuclear reactors were the SAME THING.
I’m in the wrong town. Checking out and driving 2 hours up the road -_-
On my way to LA and then San Luis Obispo. 4.5 hr flight is good for sleepy Ryan.
Had some weird, Dominos-induced dreams last night. I consider dreams to be weird when totally plausible events happen, but you are another person. It’s like spending time as someone else and to me that is… weird.
Just downloaded an LED flashlight app for iPhone 4 so bright that I gave myself a giant sunspot. Five stars!
I’m not sure where I stand on Blizzard’s choice to use real names on the forums, but this comment is worth reading.
Interesting crowd-sourced video project, submit your footage of July 24th, 2010. To be edited and shown at Sundance 2011.
Anamanaguchi makes me so happy. http://www.anamanaguchi.com/
I had a good first experience with iPhone FaceTime. It’s not new to video chat over an internet connection, but the convenience of it in your pocket is commendable. The front camera is as good as a regular web cam, too. I won’t suggest using it whenever possible, but sometimes it will be a nice perk.
Some great comics are coming to Denver in the next few months. Brian Posehn, Tracy Morgan, Jay Mohr, Bill Burr, Bob Marley, John Caparulo, Kevin Pollak, and more. Have you seen any of them? Do you have any recommendations?
Giant bowl of oatmeal and Wimbledon.
YUSSS! There are only 9 people ahead of me in line. #iphone4 #att #Denver
I’m getting up at 5am to stand outside AT&T in the hopes of getting an iPhone 4.
These gorgeous images of old video games make me happy.
OnLive First Impressions
[ Posted Mon, 28 Jun 2010 17:08:38 ]
OnLive has set out to make a splash in the community by offering a way to play computationally-taxing games without spending hundreds on hardware. I applaud the notion, but the company won’t succeed until they can combat their biggest enemy: latency.
Straight up, the OnLive software is FANTASTIC. The interface is slick and responsive, the games work properly, and the initial features made available by an all-streaming-video service are innovative. Nothing needs to be added to make this a compelling product. I was able to load up games and play within seconds. I could jump into other users streams and record my own segments with ease. No downloading required. All games streamed at acceptable picture quality in 720 resolution. What kills this solution is latency.
In order to play specific genres like fighters, shooters, and racing games, player input needs to be near instantaneous. With just 200ms of latency, player-desired actions can become impossible. I was able to adjust to the latency in Dirt 2 and drive somewhat competently, but the fact that I had to do so means this process doesn’t work. Gamers are picky sons of bitches and they won’t participate in the product once it causes them to lose.
OnLive might find a better market in letting gamers try out new games before upgrading their hardware or making purchases. It might also find a foothold in being a game portal for non-twitch games with the cool video stream features it brings to life. If they can expand their data centers to more cities, the latency may become playable, but until then, I will continue to upgrade my gaming desktop.
As a side note, I noticed that each build of the games I played were custom made for OnLive by the developer. Specifically, video configuration options were removed. While this makes sense for OnLive since they don’t want users altering resolutions or otherwise creating instability, I don’t see publishers spending time and money for each game to accommodate this. It also makes me wonder what other kinds of tweaks have been made to the games.
I’ll be reflecting on my first 30 minute session with OnLive as I drive to my interview. I’ll post my thoughts later.
My video card got a bid on eBay! Yay! Placed my order for an ATI 5770 this morning.
Left 4 Dead 2 is on sale again! Get it in preparation for the day it gets mac enabled and we play a bunch!
Finished my first 5-player game of Ticket to Ride. Great game, love how defensive play, card luck, and task prioritization come together.
I got my email acceptance to OnLive today! I’ll check it out on Monday and let you know what I think.
I can’t even mentally process the sale going on at Steam right now. Insanity.
Top Smartphone Comparison
[ Posted Wed, 23 Jun 2010 12:35:03 ]
I could spend an hour writing about all the interesting points found in this chart. I’m on my phone now, so I’ll just link it for now. Pardon the mobile link.
Your homework assignment for today: watch the first episode of indie sci-fi drama Pioneer One and discuss it with me.
Consequently, we are now moving houses so that we can play Rock Band.
Pandora just played Creep followed by Say it Aint So. It’s Rock Band launch party all over again.
Description of “The Windup Girl” sounded good. Anyone read it? Any good?
Good news, Fat Princess add-on adds 4 new characters and 4 players per PS3!
WAAAAANT
[ Posted Wed, 16 Jun 2010 07:54:07 ]
Nintendo just KILLED their E3 press conference! Way to go!
Interesting technique to achieve glasses-free 3D television.
Good grief! Bulletstorm is the prettiest game I’ve ever seen. Why does the game have to be so juvenile?
We have a new frontrunner for E3 Worst New Product Name: EA’s Gun Club
They named it ‘Kinect’? REALLY? what is with MS and ‘kin’?
YES!!! I have successfully migrated my media drive to another computer and setup iTunes to read from there instead. AND NOTHING BROKE.
“Project Hatesphere” is the best nickname for Kirby EVAR
I want to protect a desktop PC and router from power surges and brown outs. Does anyone have recommendations for a home UPS product?
I have an itch to buy a new video game, but I should probably just start GameFly again. This wasn’t a problem when Starcraft 2 beta was around!
My new home server is coming along nicely. Tomorrow, add media drives.
This Dish TV pre-application assessment test is one of the more difficult tests I’ve taken in my life. 3 minutes per question, each question requires several steps of logic deduction, no indication of how many more questions are left. I finally hit a checkpoint so that I can take a break.
“Halo 3 has outsold Resistance 1 + 2, Uncharted 1+2, Killzone 2 and God of War III COMBINED.”
http://www.destructoid.com/ms-halo-3-outsells-major-ps3-exclusives-combined-175996.phtml
Sad.
Utterly stoked about Rock Band 3! 25-key keyboard that doubles as a keytar, pro-modes for keys drums and guitar, support for a custom six-string guitar, drop in and out of songs, and a sick setlist so far!
iPhone game Shift is a pretty cool platformer and FREE today. Grab it!
Good article on being frugal by a no-nonsense kind of guy.
Amtrak is brining free Wi-Fi to all their trains. Thanks, I guess? Next time I take Amtrak somewhere, I’m gonna be all over that Wi-Fi hotspot… if the 3g connection is spotty.
Toy Story + Google Search Story
[ Posted Tue, 08 Jun 2010 17:03:04 ]
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I turned off auto brightness on my iPhone and set it to 20%. I am amazed at how much more battery life I get! Try it out.
E3 and WWDC coming up! What an exciting week for nerd news :)
I’d rather spend the rest of my day building josh’s new computer and configuring his old one as my new server. Instead, I get to ride a chair through the sky.
I can’t believe someone can lie that boldly. How is an additional $10 charge a customer-oriented strategy? Sorry for the crappy link, it came from Google Reader mobile.
30 lunges wore me out so much I took a nap. I rarely nap.
Good video preview of some PixelQi screens. No Notion Ink Adams here, but the video provides a better understanding of why the PQ screens are so good.
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great trailer, really excited for another Edgar Wright movie and featuring Anamanaguchi soundtrack!
Prototype of a robot that will probably kill you one day in the robot uprising.
There’s a ten degree difference between the two floors of our house. Damn I love basements.
After taking 2 disconnect losses in my placement games, I’ve finally worked my way back up to the Diamond league in Starcraft 2. Go me.
I signed up to attend a TechCrunch meetup in Denver on June 11. You should come, too, or attend the meetup nearest you!
What would you think of MS releasing Natal with the name “Wave”? Good name, bad name?
Rilo Kiley
[ Posted Wed, 26 May 2010 19:31:15 ]
Adam turned me on to Rilo Kiley today and I am HOOKED, YO! Listen to any of the top five songs on this link.
http://www.playlist.com/searchbeta/tracks#rilo%20kiley/all/1
I can’t believe you can’t sort by Release Date when browsing items on Xbox Live’s website.
We are playing this as soon as everyone gets home!
it's still not cool to be a gamer.
[ Posted Mon, 24 May 2010 17:05:53 ]
oh, cracked… always right.
iPhone Catan AI was tired of losing to me. It became sentient and went into hardcore cheater mode. For the rest of the game it rolled the only numbers I didn’t have (9, 2, 11) and sevens so all three AI players could take my remaining goods. Then the yellow AI won with three VP cards and the largest army. Uh huh.
Time spent dancing before annoying my wife: 8 seconds! We’ll always have our wedding first dance
I don’t approve of playing the short radio cut of Bryan Adams “Everything I Do” at a wedding reception
Getting positive feedback about Blizzney Land. I’ll draw up some specs and call Rob Pardo
There could even be a WOW quest system!
Walking around Magic Kingdom and I yearn for a Blizzard theme park. Zergburgers, Meet Thrall, and Raynor’s Vulture Rides!
Completely awesome dinner at the Biergarten at Epcot
Funnel cake is OP
@physicistlisa is basically live tweeting our weekend at Disney, check out her stream
On our way to Orlando for Walt Disney world and a wedding. And we’re doin it first class.
StarCraft 2 Attacking Thor with Mutalisk
[ Posted Wed, 19 May 2010 13:18:23 ]
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StarCraft 2 Attacking Thor + Marine with Mutalisk
[ Posted Wed, 19 May 2010 13:18:23 ]
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CBS is moving Big Bang Theory to Thursdays and following it up with a show called Shit My Dad Says. Wow.
Wait for the ridiculous part. Thanks, @moltenink!
[ Posted Wed, 19 May 2010 10:46:44 ]
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investigating SMS tools for web applications. shout out if you know any good ones
Two nights, two new games
[ Posted Tue, 18 May 2010 22:37:48 ]
In the last few weeks, my group has accumulated something like 7 new board games and/or expansions. In the last 48 hours, we played two of them.
Last Night on Earth
We played a five person game of this yesterday, using the basic rules and objectives. I think for the most part we enjoyed it, but the game seems to favor the zombie player(s). We’re also looking forward to the more interesting game objectives.
Agricola
YESSSSS. I’d played this game once before, but several months ago. Ever since, I’ve been itching for another game. Fortunately, I got it for my birthday! Yay! We sat down for a four person game tonight and covered the setup/rules in the time it took to order and receive pizza. Everybody at the table liked the game! It takes up more space than I remember, so if we get all five of us in the next game, we may need to use a bigger table. Love the balancing of time & resources, as well as breadth & depth of point scoring. Highly recommend.
That’s what I’m talking about, Social Media.
DNS Question
[ Posted Mon, 17 May 2010 09:21:00 ]
DNS question for anyone- Tumblr is now properly appearing for http://theryanburke.com but not for www.theryanburke.com. In my DNS settings, I have CNAME ‘www’ pointing to ‘@’. Any idea how to fix?
Edit - checked it in IE8 and www is forwarding properly. Why would this be a Chrome-specific issue?
Edit 2 - Cleared my Chrome cache and it works now. Thanks, @LouManglass!
I own a bar of soap from these folks in the color and shape of the original gold Legend of Zelda NES cartridge. Check them out to find awesome geek soap and other handmade crafts!
Pre-Theatrical Rental
[ Posted Sun, 16 May 2010 22:29:45 ]
That’s a term I never thought I’d see. Amazon is letting folks digitally rent the new Survival of the Dead movie online… and it isn’t even in theater yet! Thanks, @schmarty!
Note to self, don’t make updates to Tumblr in the middle of DNS migration.
Mowed the lawn. Consumed a cupcake and Capri Sun. Now on our way to Hubble Imax, narrated by the smooth vocals of Leo DiCaprio. Gonna be thinking of him & Inception for the first five minutes.
First Tumblr Post
[ Posted Fri, 14 May 2010 21:26:16 ]
Does it also post to Twitter and Facebook?