Presenting SproutWorks 3D Digg Explorer

www.sproutworks.com/digg3d.php

I have just put SproutWorks 3D Digg Explorer online. It is my latest attempt to display textual information in an interesting way. I use JavaScript with jQuery to script the interactive elements of it. It fetches a JSON string from my server, and creates a three dimensional scene using the data from it.

www.problogger.net/archives/category/birthday-prize-giveaway/

ProBlogger is having a birthday bash with $54,000 in prizes. ProBlogger is a blog dedicated to the topic of making money with blogging. It is a tantalizing idea, but I tend to spend more time programming my site than writing on it. Still, I enjoy reading the tips about blogging, which I may actually implement someday.

I am writing this post as my entry to win 2 LG 20" USB LCD monitors provided by DisplayLink (www.displaylink.com) That would be an awesome compliment to my new 22" Viewsonic LCD.

So, everyone check out ProBlogger, it's an interesting read.

A while ago my old computer's power supply fizzled out. I bought a 430 watt Thermaltake power supply, but something was wrong with the motherboard (an Asus A7M266-D with 2 Athlon 1900 MP processors). I eventually replaced the motherboard with an Asus P5B Deluxe, an Intel Core 2 Duo 6600, with an Asus Radeon x1950pro video card.

The new computer is running great. I can finally play modern video games again. I have been playing a lot of F.E.A.R. Combat online. I just bought Quake 4 and FarCry, and have been having a lot of fun with both of them.

Now that I have a video card that supports shader model 3, I can finally mess around with the examples in my programming vertex and pixel shaders book. I started a new Visual Studio C++ project where I copied an example program from the DirectX 9 SDK. I have been making a basic framework for doing 3D stuff. So far it just shows a textured triangle strip plane spinning around.

It was my 28th birthday a little over a week ago. My little brother Garett got me a Nintendo DS Lite and New Super Mario Bros. It was a nice surprise.

The DS Lite is a smaller version of the original DS with a brighter screen. It has 2 screens in a case that folds like a clamshell. The lower screen is a touch screen, which adds a whole new dimension to gaming. The DS has 2 speakers, with a surround mode that sounds pretty good. It has a built in microphone for voice commands, a headphone jack, and a AC adapter port. It has a rechargable battery that is supposed to last 15-18 hours on the dimmest screen brightness.

When I turned on my DS for the first time, it had me go through some setup screens, like setting the time and date, choosing a profile name and color, and choosing some other preferences. After that it shows a default screen when it is turned on. The top screen has a clock and calendar, the bottom screen has buttons with different functions.

There is a built in picto-chat program, which can be used to chat wirelessly with other DS's. I wish the DS came with more built in programs, such as a notepad, ebook reader, and a scheduler. It would also be nice to have some built in apps that use the Nintendo Wifi connection, like a web browser or instant messenger.

New Super Mario Bros is a side-scrolling game that has elements from the 2D Mario games of the past. It has 8 worlds to explore. The world map is drawn in 3D, and is simular to the map style in Super Mario Bros 3 and Super Mario World.

The levels are drawn in classic 2D style, with updated backgrounds. Mario and some elements use polygonal models to enable some effects, such as the giant Mario. The graphics are drawn in typical Nintendo style, with bright colors and cute characters.

Every level has 3 coins you can collect, to open special paths with require spending 5 coins. If you miss some coins you can always replay a level to try to find them. There are red and green mushroom houses in many of the special paths. In the green houses you can get up to 10 extra lives by hitting a sequence
of blocks.

New Super Mario Bros. also has 18 minigames that are mostly played using the stylus. There are some creative uses of the stylus, such as using it to aim a slingshot, or draw trampolines. Dani has been playing these mini-games every day.

There is also a 2 player mode, which I haven't used because I don't know anyone with a DS.

Overall, my DS lite is a very fun toy. I look forward to getting some more games for it. I think I'll start with Mario Kart DS and Metroid Hunters. Brain Age also looks interesting. I hope Nintendo makes a full featured painting cartridge, and more educational games. I think the creative and educational potential of the DS has not been fully realized yet.

A few months ago I realized I would like to learn more about astronomy, and get a telescope. I spent a while researching telescopes. I found the Orion website (http://www.telescope.com) and ordered a free catalog. I spent a lot of time looking through the catalog trying to figure out what I wanted. I found their Dobsonian telescopes the most appealing to me, because they are relatively cheap, and they can use the Intelliscope object locator.

A dobsonian scope is a Newtonian reflector scope mounted on a base that sits low to the round, rather than a tripod. It uses 2 mirrors to collect light, rather than a lens. Large mirrors are cheaper to make than large lenses, so you can get a larger aperture for less money. Well, I read that since you can't add a tracking motor to a Dobsonian mount (at least not Orion's models), they aren't suitable for astrophotography.

I wanted to try to take pictures with my new scope, so I started looking at other models. I found the StarSeeker 130mm to be interesting. It it a go-to scope, which means that it can find objects for you when you select them with a keypad.

In the end, I decided that I should learn how to navigate manually, and settled on the Orion SpaceProbe 130ST EQ. It is a 130mm reflector scope on a equatorial mount, with a 650mm focal length. It's shorter focal length is supposed to be brighter than the longer tube version. It's also supposed to be "faster" for astrophotgraphy, which I don't quite understand.

So I placed an order for my scope on June 29. It arrived by FedEx around 10:30 on July 1. I spent about an hour assembling it and reading through the manual. The scope came with 25mm and 10mm Plossl eyepieces, a 6x30 finder scope, and some mounting point for extra stuff. The tripod has a tray to put things in.

After assmbling the scope, I waited and waited for the darkness to come. I took it outside around 9pm. The first thing I looked at was the moon. I looked at it with both eyepieces. Next I found Jupiter, it was easy to find. I could just make out its stripes, and it's moons looked like pinpoints of light.

I have not been able to find any other interesting objects. None of the other planets have been out at night. I have tried to look for nebulas, but I think there is too much light pollution where I'm located. Plus, I still don't quite understand how to use the setting circles.

Every day I try to learn a little more about the constellations, and telescope techniques. I use the Starry Night program that came with the scope to look at cellestial information, and print charts. I also use the wonderful free program Stellarium. I wish it was able to print, though.

I will try taking my scope to star parties and learning from astronomers. Stay tuned for furthur updates.

I just found this site called theBroth, where you can drag colored tiles around the page, and collabote with other people online. Please visit my sproutworks room and help make a picture.

http://www.thebroth.com/sproutworks

TheBroth runs with PHP/MySQL, and AJAX for the interactive parts.

I couple days ago I received my new Hoover Windtunnel Powered Hand Tool (model # 40200013). We have a Hoover Fold Away vacuum, which is okay, but I want to upgrade to a Hoover Fusion. We have never bought a new filter for our vacuum, I just shake the dirt out of every once in a while. I think $30 for a small paper filter is overpriced, it's not even a HEPA. The Fusion doesn't need filter replacements, much like the more expensive Dyson vacuums.

The powered hand tool says on the package "for use with all Windtunnel uprights only!". The Hoover website says it works with most of their vacuums, however. It comes with an adpater for their canister vacuums, which I don't need.

The tool itself is 4.5" wide, with a rotating brush with neon green bristles. The top is clear blue, and can be removed by pressing two buttons on each side. Inside is a small turbine which is connected to the brush with a notched belt. The turbine is geared to spin at a higher speed than the brush, giving the brush more torque.

The first time I tried using this tool, I was underwhelmed by the brush's rotational speed. The next day I cleaned the filter, which made a huge improvement in the turbo tool's speed. We have 5 cats and a dog, so needless to say we have a lot of fur around the house. I used the turbo tool to clean under our bed, the living room curtains, and our couch. It performed very well, and it inspired me to use it for 2-3 hours non stop.

The Hoover Powered Hand Tool is easily best vacuum attachment I've ever used. I bought it for about $15 from homeandbeyond.com. It is a wonderful addition to my Hoover vaccum cleaner. If you have a Hoover vaccum that accepts attachments, I highly recommend this tool.

http://ueba.com.br/html/Incredible-Little-Mech-Sculpture

I just came across this incredible mech sculpture. It is a very good robotic approximation of the human body. If moters were installed in this model for limb movement, I would find it even more impressive than it already is.

A while ago I decided to track how long my bottle of Dawn Direct Foam would last. It says it contains 250 pumps. The bottle lasted us a little over 3 months, averaging a cost of about $1 per month. I wonder how this compares to a bottle of regular dish soap that costs $1.

My blog and RSS feed search engine is almost to the point of indexing 5 million blogs from Blogger.

I have implemented a new rating system. When you click on a blog, please vote on it.

http://www.sproutsearch.com