I realize I haven’t been blogging for a while now. First reason is that my Acer Aspire notebook is dying. For some weird reason, at seemingly random moments, my laptop simply powers-off without any warning. I’m getting quite frustrated by it, as I’m loosing productivity. For some reason, the cpu usage will sometimes go up to 100% for long durations. Sometimes the laptop even unexpectedly powers-off in the middle of the Window’s loading screen when it’s starting back up. When I boot to Linux, the intermittent powering-off problem still happens, so I’m guessing this is a hardware problem. Sigh. My laptop is taking Shutdown Day a little too seriously.

Second reason is that exams are coming. My first paper is on the 23rd of April, which is about a week from now, and my last paper is on the 4th of May. This is where I’ll scream and shout, primarily because calculus sucks ass. I’m a programming/designing person, not a math person. I’ll be very happy indeed when I’ve cleared all of my math modules. It’ll be like getting a haemorrhoidectomy. Math will just be haemorrhoids that have been stapled away, and finally, a ray of light at the end of the tunnel!

I’ve had haemorrhoids once, and it was the most traumatic 5 years of my life. Then one day it permanently prolapsed (4th degree piles), and I finally had a surgery. The doctors removed 3 bloody piles, each the size of a golf ball. The next 6 months or so was horrible too, as there were some complications, and I hated going for follow-up medical reviews.. because you know what these doctors do..

I googled for haemorrhoids, and found this link for those who wants to know what haemorrhoids are. I also saw a google ad titled “Haemorrhoid Sucks” in the search results, which linked to this website. Amazing isn’t it? An internet marketing sales letter on haemorrhoid treatment! There’s almost no niche internet marketers haven’t penetrated yet.

I hope you weren’t eating while reading this post.. because now’s a good time to get some tasty sandwiches. Then, check out wikipedia’s entry on haemorrhoids (evil laughs).

I haven’t been posting for a while now due to the complications during surgery to reattach my mouse. The mouse couldn’t make it in the bag of ice for 24 hours. Oh well, I guess I got to use my old Logitech mouse.

Shutdown Day was an interesting day. I switched off my computers, and I took it a step further by not turning on the television nor the radio. Thought of going outside, but for some reason I didn’t. So I lay on the bed and waited. And the next thing I knew, Shutdown Day was over!

I went online to see what effect this Shutdown Day has caused. First I opened Outlook Express to check my email. There was a flood of emails notifying me that I had new subscribers to my mailing list. Whaa.. Then I came here and looked at The Creativity Club’s stats (enter 18-25 Mar to get the graph below).

WTH? Aren’t you supposed to be shutting down? Shame on you.

Next, I went to Shutdown Day’s website, and noticed it was shut down till Monday. On Monday, the website was updated to show some stats on Shutdown Day. Apparently, among the most popular activities was “I used my computer”, and “sex”. Shutdown Day was fun, but life is certainly better with computers.

The One Million Masterpiece attempts to create the largest global artistic collaboration ever, and raise money for various charities worldwide. Free registration, no artistic ability required, just passion to support international charity work.

How can you create a true snapshot of our global society, and sum up its diversity in one single picture? Simple. Get together one million ordinary people from all around the world, and get them to work on the picture together in the world’s largest ever artistic collaboration. A collaboration where everyone is equal, where all outcomes are valid.

Upon registering, you get a square block on which you will draw your artwork using their own Flash-based painting application. You can view the other blocks around you, allowing you to collaborate with other artists, or simply to get inspiration. You don’t really need artistic ability to participate. Just need a passion to support international charity work and a favourite doodle or sketch.

Here’s my contribution to the global masterpiece. Use the controls to play the animation at different speed.

It’s titled Almost Naomi, because it was my first ever attempt in drawing a digital portrait of a person, and the eyes are a bit off, and the shadows on the chin didn’t look right. So it’s not really Naomi Watts.

Claim your spot on The One Million Masterpiece and be a part of the largest global artwork today!

Start from Level One

Things are getting tougher. You need to be resourceful to get through this one.

It’s hard to believe I’m finally at the point where I’m putting this online, but I’m happy to say that the demo for my first long-term game project, Gesundheit!, is now available. Help an allergic pig save a city from snot-eating monsters! Featuring handmade scratchboard graphics and a toy instrument soundtrack, the demo contains twelve levels and a tutorial to teach you how to sneeze. It was made using AGS and requres Windows to run.

It’s a game with very cool art! Go check it out.
http://www.underwaterbase.com/

Start from Level One

The challenge is knowing where to enter the clue.

Start from Level One

The solution lies inside level 1. Search for the solution.

I enjoy solving puzzles, and decided to have a segment here on the Creativity Club dedicated to puzzle solving. Puzzle solving requires some brain processing, and remember, there’s always logic in the solution. Don’t be afraid to think out of the box and solve the puzzles creatively!

This is the first puzzle. Be the first to figure out the answer, and post a comment to show that you solved it! The first answer is simple. Type in the first answer in the password box below.

VS

Welcome to Whose Site is it Anyway, the post where websites gets reviewed, and the points don’t matter. Today we’re going to compare 2 online dating sites, eromance and Fervor. There’s so many dating sites out there, and I specially pick these two because they both contain a combination of both good design points, and bad design points. The main highlight is the design of signup pages, however, points are awarded for both design and service. Clicking on any thumbnails below will show a larger image. Let’s get on with the review.

The frontpage. Eromance’s design is aesthetically pleasing with good use of whitespace. More on that later. Really. Fervor’s design on the other hand lacks whitespace in some parts, and has abundance of it in others. Lacks whitespace between the panels and the ads. Possibly done on purpose? Hmmm… 10 points to Eromance.
Read the rest of this entry »

These are really cool designs that make your laptop look really cool!

Check them out at:
http://www.garskin.com

I’ll let the pictures do the talking. Click the thumbnails below to display a larger image.

Lot’s more beautiful laptop pics after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »