ashNOLOGY

According to an article on ExtremeTech.com, Mr. Joswiak thinks that the iPhone is a better gaming platform, even saying that "The DS and PSP are outdated". What do you think? I personally disagree. the iPhone / iTouch both have great potential for being an Apple Handheld, but I don't see myself buying a Phone to play video games. There are a lot of thinks to consider, like how many games will the iPhone/Touch hold until you have to either upgrade to a larger memory, or start carrying your games on an external device (game CDs?). With the DS & PSP, that is not an issue. I'm a huge fan of the PSP, I don't see it as a "gaming device", its almost a mini-computer. With all the cool features and updates that were added only last year (such as using it as a camera, and using skype) it is nothing short of a portable communicator. Besides, shouldn't the iPhone focus more on getting their battery life & firm ware issues fixed first, before they decide

The Zune has released an update today [3.1] , and this one really rocks. For those Sudoko lovers out there, you can now enjoy it on your Zune, that's right. The update also allows the Texas Hold'em game to be a multi-player, and they also added checkers, as well as fixed some problems. I totally called it when the Zune came out, that it is an excellent prototype for a Microsoft handheld gaming device, and before you know it, the 1st generation Zune was being hacked and games were played. Not too long after that the 2nd generation with flash-base Zunes came out, and voila. I would not be surprised if a separate handheld shows up on the market soon...can you imagine an xBox handheld? holly crap! that would be AWESOME!! South Korea is known for its hardcore gameness, the players there are of celebrity rockstar status. So, how would a country with such a large group of hardcore gamers, persuade the young to join the armed forces?..well easy, make a Halo suit . Yup! SK is working on

I have run into a few intresting and entertaining news relating to games, and game technology, so I thought I should do another one of my "multi-article" posts =) Create your own game console (kit). Tatsunoko vs Capcom (mini-games). Want a Wii for Christmas? its now in stock, almost everwhere . Valve tries to trick the Half Life 2 Hacker . Enjoy =) -Ash

I'm so proud of Microsoft, not only because I love my 1st gen Zune, but because they are really utilizing it really well. They now have a Gears of War 2 limited edition, which would have the Crimson Omen logo in the back, and it would come preloaded with pictures, videos, and game soundtrack. This is a really great move, especially since there are SO many awesome 360 games out there, could this be a move for them to start making ZuneGames?...enthusiast all over the internet have done so, using the XNA framework, and share their games on forums such as ZuneBoards . I'm pretty sure the HALO Zune won't be too far from arriving now =) Here is more Zune News for November =) Enjoy =) -Ash

So, if you haven't heard, Mgestyk has developed an "eye-toy"-iesh device, only its for your hands. So you control everything on the screen, by motioning with your hand toward the screen. You can scroll through your albums, zoom in/out, and of course play video games. No keyboard, no mouse, and no controllers. Don't believe me?...here is a Demo Video with the device in action =) enjoy =) -Ash

So I learned a new term today, SlipStreaming. Basically, it means to "create the latest windows installation disc, with the latest drivers/service pack". Its a pretty cool thing actually. I found an article in the LifeHacker Blog that gives you a step by step instruction on how to create your ultimate installation disc. I will actually be making one to use at my work place, and then another one for my personal use. Here is how to Slipstream Windows XP with Service Pack 3 . Enjoy =)

I'm SO excited about this. FINALLY, the google phone is here. You read right, G1 will be the HTC developed phone, who will be carried by T-Mobile. It will be running Android, google's Open Source mobile OS. I read about the Android and downloaded their kit, but didn't get a chance to actually use it yet. Find out more about what we geeks call The gPhone , which will be hitting stores next month or so. Awesome. Google is SO going to take over the world, we will literally by a GoggleEarth. Have a great day.

So a recent job I've applied for had asked if I knew SQL, I unfortunately don't. But they said it was a "preferred" skill. So I thought to my self, well why not learn SQL. I'm already familiar with MS Access, true its not the same, but at least that makes me familiar with the database terminology. So I started searching the net for tutorials on SQL, and I came across an awesome tutorial. Its simple to understand, has examples, downloadable data, and its free. After I finished reading the first section on how to create a database, and populate it, it then gives you a little assignment to try it for yourself. Very neat. If you would like to learn some SQL for an upcoming project, or just to add it as a skill on your resume, make sure to check out the Web Developer's Note: SQL Tutorial , its really quite good, and it provides you with links to free software to use, such as MySQL . Have a nice day. =)

Zune has +1Uped their game. A lot of people were talking down about the Zune, especially the so called "useless feature" of having an FM tuner. Well, now you will know how "useless" it is. With the new 3.0 Upgrade, you will be able to: -Tag music you hear on the FM tuner to download later (not so useless now is it). -Browse and buy music from the Zune Market Place, wirelessly. -And play games, legally =) + other features as well. To download and learn more about the upgrade, just go to the What's New section of the Zune site. Enjoy =)

So apparently there is new open source Photoshop Alternative out there. Its called Artweaver . Its more like a stripped down version of Photoshop, which sounds fine to me. So if you use GIMP this might be a step up, and if you need a free photo manipulating software to play around with, then this is for you. Try it out and feel free to comment back here and let me know what you think. Have a good weekend.

So we all know about the "Academic" version of software, such as Adobe CS3, its less expensive but still expensive. Now there is an even CHEAPER option. Adobe now provides something called the Student Licensing Option, in which you get the FULL version, for a much cheaper price, for example the CS3 Design Standard for $200, or the CS3 Master Collection for $500. That is a pretty good deal considering the original price of the actual software. It would make sense for Adobe to make a step like this, since its products such as the world known PhotoShop, end up being one of the most "Shared" software amongst students. Feel free to research this some more, I had just heard about it and did a quick google search and found this information for you. Information from the Adobe site about SLO could be found [ here ]. Creation Engine provides the software online [ here ]. have a great weekend everyone. -Ash

Peter Rojas(founder of ...) and Ryan Block (editor-at-large of ...) Engadget have joined forces once again. They have JUST launched (today 9/4 was the first broadcast) their podCast called gdgt , this will be a weekly installment of your gadget fix. Enjoy! I know I will =) Take care. -Ash

This is beautiful. Arcade Heroes has started a contest to ask Game Developers to create games for children who have difficulty playing the normal games that we play. Its mostly geared towards children with mobility disability, so modifying controllers is a HUGE part of this project, which they call "A Game for Helen". Other project relating to this one are Special Effect & Helen and Douglas House which is a charity providing end of life care to children with life-shortening conditions. This is a great thing, I love it when I see the game developing community trying to reach EVERYone, and to show the world that there is more to this awesome industry then just random violent products.

Gunnar Optiks have created Gaming Glasses , claiming that they will reduce eye strain & fit comfortable with headphones, allowing you to game more. How nice of them =) Super Mario RPG game has been released. Enjoy. The PS3 is 1Up-ing its game, by releasing a wireless headset , it will hit Japan on October 30th. Infinite Combo, glitch or feature? Apparently the character El Fuerte in Street Fighter IV has the frowned upon infinite combo (Oops), and so the game has been labeled as broken? .

Since I’ve finished school I have found my self to be reading quite often, and it seems that it’s a hobby I quite enjoy. Since I’m also a big gadget fan, I started shopping around for an eBook reading device. The two dominant readers that are out there at the moment are Amazon’s Kindle & Sony’s eReader. It’s a tough decision, because they both have great features, but the question is, which one is for me. So I decided to do a little comparison between the two, and to also find out what is it that I need from an eBook reader. So here we go =) Amazon's Kindle around $400 Comes in white, and has a built in Keyboard EVDO internet Plays Audio SD card slot Wikipedia Dictionary Blogs $1/each RSS feed $1/each Transfers texts & PDF’s for $0.10/each Kindle bookstore Sony's eReader around $300 Comes in silver or black, and has side buttons for naviagation No internet Plays Audio SD card slot/Memory stick Blogs / RSS feed – free Reads PDFs, TXT, RTF, and DOC files – free. eReader

Who needs the Wii Fit, when you can engineer a treadmill to help you race your Elf avatar in World of Warcraft. Yes, you heard right. A couple of guys wanted to see if they could have a "physical" race in the virtual world. I must admit, it was pretty cool. It even gives me ideas, because since this is possible with a couple of amateur engineers, that means a Wii Fit type device is plausible for PC gamers. Those two may not realize it, but their little experiment could be VERY beneficial for the Gaming & Health community. Who knows, maybe even a WoW-Lympics =) Here is the article and the video , via the good people of Engadget. Enjoy =) -Ash

The hottest thing in the laptop world right now are MiniNotebooks. I first heard of this when I was reading about Asus's Eee Pc a few months ago, but today even the big boys like HP are entering the market with their 2133 Mini Notebook ($600). But the one that I'm very delighted about is Acer's Aspire One ($380-$425) It runs on Linpus Lite Linux, uses the new intel Atom processor, and is very sleek and cool. The link provided is from Laptop Magazine , it has an in depth look as well as (7) minutes of hands on video with the machine, that you should check out. Enjoy, Have a great weekend everyone. -Ash

xBox 360: --------- So 2 very exciting news: #1. The price is coming down, and the storage capacity is going up. You read right, according to an article from SEATTLE's Associate Press, the 360 is planning to increase the hardware capacity to 60gb ($350), and the price of the 20gb 360 will go down to ($299). This is great news, especially for those (like yours truly) who have been too busy to actually get one these. The full article [ here ]. #2. Microsoft announced that they will be giving the dashboard a major face-lift, a 3d face-lift to be exact, including 3d avatars, video chat capabilities and all the extra goodness that comes with the 360 and then some. The full article [ here ]. Flash: ------ Do you like flash games? Do you like card games? then "The Continuum" is defiantly for you. Seven Lights is the publisher of this new card WarGame, and they are targeting the HardCore gamers. They claim that its not one of those 30 minute games that flash developers tend to ma

I've been reading many tech blogs recently, and a subject that keeps coming up is the Asus Eee PC 900 . Its a brand of laptops that are coming out, mostly known for their super light weight and open source compatibility. Since almost every device coming out these days has some sort of TochScreen technology implemented, many techies have been wonder as to when the Eee PC will start to support it. Well, look no further, through the Engadget blog , I was linked to jkkMobile.com , and he has successfully moded his Eee PC with a TouchScreen, you can check out his video [ here ]

The Zune in Education: :::::::::::::::::: This is awesome. A teacher by the name of Eric Langhorst did something very "cool". He started a blog, and put up "StudyCasts" for his students to download. The cool thing here is that these digital study materials are formated to be used by the Zune , Microsoft's portable media player. I love the fact that teachers are starting to think outside the box, and use untraditional methods to get material to their students, this is a great idea. Not only is it engaging the student at their level, but the material will always be on the blog for the students to re-download, and they don't have to carry their notes, books, or laptops..unless they need to check their emails =) Looks like Microsoft is 1Uping their game! =) check out the full article [ here ] The Zune in Gaming: ::::::::::::::::::: This is also awesome. With the release of XNA 3.0, you can now play games on your Zune. Which means for those savvy XNA /C# programm

This article really jumped at me, I've always heard of Open Source Software, but Hardware? What does that mean? Well VIA OpenBook did something revolutionary in my opinion, they provided the CAD files for their laptop designs for people to download. What they are trying to accomplish is encourage those of us who are designers in heart, to start, well, designing laptops. So pretty soon their will be a plethora of new companies, having ultra thin "cool" designed laptops. Who knows? maybe even a company that allows you to send them the design you want for your laptop, not just the specs, but how it actually "looks". This takes customizing to a whole new level. You can check the full article [ here ].

Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have created an avatar called Edd, Edd is not controlled by another player, but by a computer. What this research did is basically gave this avatar Artificial Intelligence, Edd currently "understands only English that has previously been translated into mathematical logic." The full article by Michael Hill can be read [ here ] This story is very near to my heart, a couple of semesters back I was in Simulation class, and every other week we would all meet online in Second Life. So to find another school utilizing virtual reality in such a way just makes me smile with joy. Second Life being used as a Testing Ground for A.I.? Brilliant!

Source: Professional XNA Game Programming for Xbox 360 and Windows By Benjamin Nitschke Section: Part III: Improving Your Game Engine Chapter 9: Adding Sound with XACT Integrating Audio into XNA A tutorial by Ashraf Dawod Integrating audio in the XNA frame work is done in five (5) stages according to the book, one thing they mention is the sound files have to be in .WAV format. So in actuality it should be six (6) stages, because your first step will be converting your audio files into WAV format. Here is a quick outline of this tutorial: What is Xact Xactly? Step 1: Converting your files to .WAV. Step 2: Creating your wave bank. Step 3: Compressing music data. Step 4: Creating a sound bank. Step 5: Cue Variables. Step 6: Creating a sound class. What is XACT Xactly? XACT is the name for Microsoft’s Cross-Platform Audio Creation Tool, which allows you to create audio projects for the Windows and Xbox 360 platforms. The reason you can’t sue anything but XACT is the fact that

This is the newsiest brainstorm from the magnificent mind of Jeff Bezos , the same mind that founded Amazon.com . In simple terms Cloud Computing is Net Storage. If you’re a small company who can’t afford the space for / or money to have a server to store all your essentials, or just need a computing infrastructure that is higher than what you have, then Hardware as a Service (Haas) or Cloud Computing is the way to go. Sean Knapp, chief engineer of Ooyala the new interactive “hypervideo” technology, uses Cloud Computing. One of the products is Justin.tv, which “serves up a half-million live videostreams daily thanks to Amazon hardware.” This is what Cloud Computing could do, amongst other things. Read the full web article [ here ] to know more. Have a good Wednesday everyone. -Ash

The infamous Games For Health Conference will be held at at the Baltimore Convention Center , from May 8-9. I also hear that on May 7th there will be a two (2) day long event dedicated to Virtual Worlds, Health & Game Accessibility. Make sure to check their website for more information. Have a good day -Ash

I JUST heard of this, apparently there is some kind of world wide summer internship program that is being sponsored by Google. That company just amazes me to no extend. So every summer they have this Codeing event, in which you would apply to one of the projects, who will have a mentor for you to work under, and you basically code to improve some kind of Open Source application, that is just fantastic. The Student Sign up Perdiod: per their Important Times & Dates page. Starts: 3/24/08 Ends: 3/31/08 For more info on this awesome project check out The Tor Blog .

I found the following game related topics very nice, and shiny (literally in some cases), and I decided to share them with you. Enjoy. DS-lite: No more just plain colored hand-helds, a company called ColorWare has a website in which you can customize the colors that you want for your DS-lite and they send it to you, so you could have a hand-held truly yours. PsP: 3.93 firmWare upDate The latest firmware upDate has now been released. What this includes is: 20 internet radio stations \ Skype \ Playstation Network. You could do the update either through the PSP or through your PC , choose your method. xBox Halo MOD: For 55 Euros, you will receive a kit that will allow you change you xBox 360 case, to a Green Halo MOD case . It actually looks wicked cool. Ash Games: I've updated my portfolio to include some of the Games that I've worked on in the past 2 years for my classes, so now I have a "games" page, as well as a "C++" page which includes the files as wel

This is a free downloadable hack for both the iPhone & iPod Touch, it basically turnes your iPhone/Touch into a remote control for your computer. It works with both PC & MAC. There is a video demo here . You can get more information at their website as well. TouchPad Pro

Justin Hall has come up with a new kind of online gaming, for his master's thesis. He calls it PMOG (Passively Multi-player Online Games). The concept is basically to rage technological warfare against your friends 'through' the browser. Which means you can go the sites that you know they visit often and set mines and traps to take away their data point (life). Its a pretty neat concept, but I think it would be a bit distracting, especially if your at work, or researching something important. I'm not quite sure what actually happens to the page your viewing, I just know that you can see your data points going down and it tells you what happened to cause that. I don't think it shuts down your browser or anything, but still I think its a very neat concept. You can read the article here , it will explain it better than I. Have a good day. -Ash

For those of you who don't know me, I'm a big advocate of the Open Source community. True I'm not 'creative' enough to be of any actual 'help', but I'm keeping the faith that one day I'll use my experiences to do something super useful to the beloved Open Source community. This topic is brought to my attention because of the FireFox 3 T-shirt design contest , I was at their site reading about the contest when I saw that one of the criteria of submitting a design, was to have the image created in an SVG program, such as Adobe Illustrator, or Inkscape [a FREE SVG program], so I got super excited about it. Because Inkscape reminded me of Open Office [a FREE word processor suit] & Blender [a FREE 3D animation program]. I also recently found out that there is a Photoshop-like open source program called Gimp . My question is this. Why aren't school utilizing these tools, true the work field asks for experience in the 'real' programs, but

I found an article that describes briefly what Linked-In is exactly, and also tells you how to use it properly. If you are unfamiliar with "Linked-In", its a Professional Network site, meaning, its NOT aimed to be used for 'fun' (that's what MySpace & FaceBook are for). Linked-In is intended to be used to literally network with business professionals in either your field or other fields your interested in. Hopefully someone in a company you admire, or would like to work for. So basically its another way to put your resume out there, in a more 'relaxed' casual environment. [ Get Ahead on Linked-In ] Have a good day everyone. -Ash

...Literally, Google and the X Prize Foundation announced official contenders to a Private Race To The Moon . Ten(10) teams from around the world, will be competing for a Thirty(30) Million dollar prize, by creating a robot that will land on the moon and send pictures back to Earth. This is the kind of innovation, and encouragement young engineers and scientist need. Don't get me wrong, I think NASA has done some great work over the years, but private projects such as these are pure innovation in my opinion, because the only restrictions they will have is gravity and physics. I can't wait to see the shiny uprising of MoonBots =). Have a good day. -Ash

This is very exciting, the University of Cambridge & Nokia have announced a joint "Nanotechnology Project" they call "Morph". The article by David Becker reveals that there is a new kind of cell phone coming out in the "future", saying that Nokia is hoping to have these new phones out with in 7 years. If that is possible, in my opinion, it will change our way of communicating for a good while. In the article is also a YouTube video of how Morph is going to be used, theoretically speaking of course. [ The Morph Article/Video demo ] Have a good week everybody. -Ash

Microsoft is giving its Visual Studio web applications free, to students. According to the article on WIRED magazine's website by Jessica Mintz, a technology writer for AP, the DreamSpark offer will include "Visual Studio Professional Edition, a software development environment; Expression Studio, which includes graphic design and Web site and hybrid Web-desktop programming tools; and XNA Game Studio 2.0, a video game development program." As a game developer student, this is HUGE. Students need access to these types of software, and not just in the school lab. Because the only time we are in there is when we have class. So having a non-water down version of the software is very helpful to us. To find out if you qualify for the DreamSpark download, go to [ channel8.msdn.com ]

I'm currently reading this great article on WIRED Magazine's website, talking about where the "Base" for the newest Air Force Cyber Devision will be. Its being called "Cyber Command", sounds like a term you would here on a Transformers episode, but its true. The article is five(5) pages long, so if you plan to read it make sure you have a few mintues to spare. [ Welcome To Cyberwar Country, USA ] The topic of Hacking and Cyber Crime has always been near to my heart, I honestly do think that the next major terrorist attack will be a digital one, which is why after I get my B.S. in Simulation and Digital Entertainment, I want to get a Masters in Computer Forensics. Hope you enjoy the article. Have a good Wednesday. - Ash

This was a very cool experience for me as a potential game developer. Last fall [2007], Dr. Harmeyer found out about a friendly competition called the “Ohio Game Jam”, she sent out an email to the SDE students to inform them of this event. Dakota LaMaster contacted me a week or so later, he said that he had two (2) game artists with him and needed another programmer to help even things out. I accepted the offer and before you know it we were all packed and ready for our gaming road trip. Ohio Game Jam This game jam isn’t about ‘playing’ a video game, its about ‘making’ one. As an SDE student at the University of Baltimore , I was very excited to put the skills I’ve been acquired to the test. So when this opportunity came knocking I anxiously opened the door. The idea behind this game jam is as follows: A theme will be revealed to the team of developers, then you have 24 hours to create a working, playable game. That’s it, plain but not so simple, as far as what program to use was up

For the longiest time I wanted to start a Blog, but I never did. Not out of procrastination, but because I did not have much to say, no actual experience or helpful input to give. But in my Game Project Management class (also known to us as The Seminar ) tonight, Dr. Harmeyer inspired me. She spoke to us about the importance of having a blog, not just any blog, but a helpful blog. So I intend to use this blog to be my "digital voice", to speak of the great technologies I've acquired, helped create (or break), and hopefully get some good feedback on how to improve on both my self and my skills. Hi, I'm Ashraf Dawod. A senior at the University of Baltimore , a Simulation & Digital Entertainment ( SDE ) major, and now a proud Blogger. Lets rock and roll. I want to apologize in advance, I will do my very best to update this blog and respond to comments, but please keep in mind that I'm in a killer semester. I'm taking 5 classes as well as working full-time as