August, 2009

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23
Aug 09

My first Stylish script

Hey for all you WordPress junkies out there who are sick of squinting at the screen when writing blog posts, here is a Stylish script to increase the font size!

http://userstyles.org/styles/20377

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16
Aug 09

Impromptu Fireworks

Impromptu Fireworks 1

Tonight, I was treated to some lovely (if brief) impromptu fireworks. I had just enough time to grab the Gorillapod and camera to take a few snaps.

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2
Aug 09

Here’s to Internet fraud!

Prevent me from buying MP3’s online will you, Apple? I think not!

After some furious Googling, this Australian has successfully purchased content from the US iTunes store. And without a credit card!

The biggest hurdle was getting a US iTunes account (trivial, now that I know).

  1. Open iTunes and go to the Store.
  2. Sign out of your “real” account.
  3. Find any free iPhone application and Buy it.
  4. When asked to sign in, Create An Account (make sure you select  US as country). Tip: if you use Gmail,  use username+us@gmail.com as your email address.
  5. Fill in your fake US address details as generated (I used my real name).
  6. When asked for a payment method, choose None.

Now you need some iTunes credit.

  1. Find a store that sells online iTunes gift cards, such as OffGamer. Note, you can expect  to pay a premium for the online service. Some have  reported success with eBay but OffGamer were quite speedy.
  2. Pay with your PayPal account. If you don’t have one… uh, why not?
  3. When you get the gift card code (online), simply redeem it in iTunes.
  4. Purchase your content!

I still have US$12 left in my fake iTunes accounts, which I’m sure will come in handy later. It’s not going anywhere.

Oh, and your US iTunes account can also be used to download iPhone apps that aren’t yet released in Australia, such as the Last.fm app. I can’t believe I didn’t realise this sooner, duh!

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2
Aug 09

Awesome video game music

Whilst rummaging through the demos on XBLA the other day, I came across N+, which is a port of a Flash platformer/puzzle game involving Ninjas. The game itself is kinda frustrating but I can see its appeal as it accurately simulates the discipline required to be a Ninja. Your character is super-fast and can jump quite high, cling to walls etc. But the gameplay requires a lot of patience, which is something I find annoying. It’s like being a superhero then having to exercise restraint with your powers, this I simply couldn’t handle.

But I digress. The game’s music by Joris de Man totally blew me away; an awesome mix of 8-bit chip tunes and modern beats, but with a dark, serious tone, which is something you don’t often get with this kind of “chippy” music. The best quality can be heard on the composer’s website under the Projects section (flash site so no direct link). Interestingly, his KillZone work appears strongly influenced by Harry Gregson-Williams of Metal Gear Solid 2 fame.

Now I would buy this music in an instant, but annoyingly, BOTH the iTunes and Amazon MP3 stores impose geographical purchase restrictions on the album. WTF? Encourage piracy, what? Annoyingly, I can’t even find it on the usual pirate channels.

While I’m on the topic, another awesome theme can be heard in Geometry Wars Retro Evolved on XBLA – a game which can only be described as “Asteroids on Acid”. Check out the music and the truly chaotic gameplay in this YouTube video. The sequal is also awesome but lacks the variety in weaponry.

And just for good measure, here’s a list of my all time favourite video game music, with links where I could find them (I take back every bad thing I said about audio-only YouTube videos).

Inspirational!