Thursday, January 16, 2014

Java Troubleshooting

Hello everyone.

Recently Oracle made an update to their utility known as Java. Since then I haven't been able to start up any online Java applications, even to the point where the Java Icon doesn't appear on my Dock and a Java console window won't appear on the top-left of my screen. It may be related to my home folder not being in the same hard drive as my system's Library (Java Preferences do not allow me to change the location of the main Java data files).
I also should note I have Adblock on. Because screw you I don't want any spyware and tracking cookies on my Mac.

If you want to help, I need some checking with what I have checked under "Advanced":

Friday, January 3, 2014

Tetris Printer Algorithm

First off, Happy new year to all my readers!

I know this thing has already existed for seven months on the internet and was spread around to death, but I do want to make my say on this little project from Michael Birken:

This is a tool designed with the mind of making pixel art out of Tetris blocks, explained in full detail at this link. As a quick Tl;DR version, basically by placing and eliminating just the correct blocks and rows on an enlarged Tetris board (20 blocks wide), you can form pixel art of up to 8 colors. After seeing this I contacted Michael about the possibility of making an online tool for taking low-res pixel art and turning it into a GIF image that simulates the experience of the video above, and he considered it as a "Part II" of the algorithm.

As for the artist's edge of things, I'm still not really in full swing yet. Damn you Mega Man 8-Bit Deathmatch and your large online community!