archives jun.2006
Get a Mac? Not likely.
(June 29th, 2006 - 7:09PM)
Surely you've seen Apple's "clever" new line of ads featuring John Hodgman and some punkass. If you're not sure what I'm talking about, the image below should refresh your memory.
HAHAHAHAHA THAT'S SO FUNNY! Look at how stodgy and boring the human representation of Windows is! And look at how cool and casual the human representation of the Mac is! You know he's better, because he's not even wearing a suit! It's like he doesn't care! Brilliant!
Oh, but there's just one problem. In reality, the ad should read more like this.
It turns out that in the real world, "being cool" isn't enough.
Damsel Fly rocks The Roxy
(June 19th, 2006 - 10:45AM)
The date: Tue. June 20th, 2006
The time: 7:30PM
Damsel Fly plays in 99.3 The Fox's 2006 Seeds finals! If they win...they are the winners! So be there and cheer them on!
<div> vs. <table> (Part 1/2)
(June 17th, 2006 - 1:01AM)
A recent conversation with Richard sparked my interest in writing this article. He was asking my opinion on whether it was okay to build a site layout using tables instead of <div>s. Here are my thoughts. But first, a bit of background.
How websites have evolved
In the beginning, Tim Berners-Lee created the World Wide Web, and the people filled it with textual content, and He saw that it was good. In many ways, I miss the good old days when you could go to any website - even websites for big companies - and get black text on a gray background. Easily readable, even by your grandmother.
But then the Web got pretty. People realized that Web pages can be more than just documents of text. HTML allows you to embed tables in your pages, and with a bit of Web wizardry you can use said tables to break a page into sections. A page could be a table with two columns: the leftmost column is your content, and the rightmost column is your navigation. How cool!
Before long, designers were using tables to make pretty, professional websites. No longer was the Web just a repository for documents. We owe a lot to the <table> innovation, because this allowed us to look at the World Wide Web from a more aesthetic viewpoint. Unfortunately, structuring a website with tables has some problems.
First and foremost, it's unnatural. Tables are meant to store rows and columns of data, not to format document layout. Building a website out of tables is like designing graphics using Microsoft Excel. The tool isn't right for the job.
Second, very rarely is a webpage built with a single, simple table. Table-based pages are often constructed from a whole orgy of tables nested inside each other. This results in an inflexible design and a maintenance nightmare. Below is a screenshot of the Eloquent Systems Inc. website with the tables and cells outlined. (It's interesting to note that this site was designed in late 2005, and still employs the dated tables technique; this is a good illustration of how prevalent this technique has become.)
Third, table-based pages have major accessibility problems. Blind users, for example, use computer speech readers to browse the Web. They don't surf the Web visually like most of us; rather, they experience it in audial form. When pages are broken down into tons of rows and cells for purely visual purposes, speech readers get confused and often can't recite the content as it was meant to be presented. This is a good example of how table-based sites violate a very important design principle: always separate data from presentation. Which leads us to the <div> technique.
<div> and Cascading Style Sheets
With the advent of Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), we gained the ability to completely separate presentation from data in our HTML. This gave us a lot more flexibility. You could now replace your website's stylesheet and give the user a completely different experience. For examples, see my alternate styles at the top of this page.
When making extensive use of CSS, you no longer need to use tables for presentation. You can replace that orgy of tables with a slightly less crowded orgy of <div> elements instead. (Note: Although you can use pretty much any element, <div> has become a de facto standard for this method.)
Despite being available for many years, the <div> method still hasn't been entirely adopted. This is unfortunate, but not entirely surprising. It turns out that it's a lot harder to build a website using only <div>s than using tables. A whole myriad of problems occur when you replace the reliable rigidity of tables with the flexibility of <div>s. I'll discuss that more in part 2.
What you've read so far may be mostly review if you're familiar with Web development. If that's the case, you're probably snickering to yourself because Steve is posting common knowledge that's been known for years on his site. Snicker away, you bastard. I'll try to make part 2 more inventive.
This article is continued as <div> vs. <table> (Part 2/2).
Quick reviews for The Longest Journey, Dreamfall, and Hitman: Blood Money
(June 11th, 2006 - 2:29AM)
The Longest Journey
(4.5 / 5 stars)
One sentence summary: An excellent old-school adventure game with a fantastic story.
Dreamfall: The Longest Journey
(3.5 / 5 stars)
One sentence summary: The Longest Journey's sequel has just as great a story as the original, but also has weak gameplay and leaves too many questions unanswered.
Hitman: Blood Money
(2.5 / 5 stars)
One sentence summary: It's just as well executed as its predecessors, but breaks no new ground.
Damsel Fly for President
(June 7th, 2006 - 3:42PM)
Damsel Fly is in the running to win 99.3 The Fox's 2006 Seeds contest! Give them a hand by voting for Damsel Fly at 8:00PM on June 8th, 2006.
Review: Half-Life 2: Episode One
(June 1st, 2006 - 10:48PM)
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| Alyx is back, and this time she doesn't find convenient excuses to leave you alone for hours on end. |
(4 / 5 stars)
One sentence summary: Short, but sweet.
I've been waiting since 2004 for more Half-Life, and today I finally got it. Unfortunately, I was able to beat it in a single sitting.
Half-Life 2: Episode One is the first in a series of short episodes that take place after Half-Life 2's ending. The idea behind episodic gaming is to release game content in smaller chunks, rather than in single large releases. And Episode One doesn't disappoint: it's certainly a small chunk.
Things I liked about Half-Life 2: Episode One:
- The gameplay is just as good as Half-Life 2's, and that alone is a major accomplishment.
- Having Alyx by your side throughout most of the game makes for some fun shootouts. I was particularly impressed by her AI; not once did she get stuck on a wall or on the other side of a door. I went out of my way to look for shortcomings in her behaviour, but didn't find any.
- The game is packed full of memorable shootouts and sequences. It seems like the high points came faster and more frequently than in Half-Life 2. Maybe the developers didn't feel the pressure to lengthen the game by adding fluff, and just put in good stuff.
- Alyx's character is developed substantially.
- It has HDR lighting.
- As always, the Source engine's performance is stunning. It's been over a year since it was released, and it still outperforms every other engine I've seen. Even with the resolution cranked up and HDR enabled, the game runs at a solid framerate.
Things I didn't like about Half-Life 2: Episode One:
- It's short, even by episode standards. I was able to beat this game in about four hours. Can a game that short justify a $20 price tag? That's steep, even for Half-Life.
- It took Valve forever to release this episode. According to GameSpot, Episode One was confirmed on April 8th, 2005. And it just came out today. Does that mean we'll have to wait equally long for Episode Two? I don't want to wait more than a year for four hours of gameplay.
- It's a Steam game.
- It's very easy, especially considering that Alyx is invincible. In most cases, you can just sit back and let her do all the fighting.
- As good as Episode One is, I can't help but feel that it's just more of the same.
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