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games

Dragon Age 2: More Thoughts

April 10, 2011 16:27:55.658

The Hawke Files

Now that I'm well into my second playthrough of Dragon Age 2 on both on both my Mac and the XBox, I have a few more thoughts on the game

First, I should address some of the complaints about the game I heard on The Dragon Age Podcast. I had a long talk with my daughter about the podcast while we listened to it (she's a big fan of the game as well) - I should have recorded the conversation :) Basically, I have to say this: the guy who complained so much about the combat wasn't paying attention. Why do I say that? Well, his primary complaint seemed to be that lots of the battles involve endless waves of lower level foes. That's only true if you don't find the boss and kill him. Each of the big battles has a boss; the waves of reinforcements keep coming until you deal with that boss. How have I been dealing with that boss?

  • Keep two tanks in the party, one mage with healing, and one rogue
  • Focus the tanks on the boss, peeling one off if the mage gets attacked directly
  • Have the mage heal - especially with "Aid Allies" - often
  • Buy lots of elfroot potions to fill in the cooldown gaps with healing
  • Keep hammering the boss until he or she dies

There's exactly one battle in the game where I had to kite (on normal difficulty) - the duel against the Arashok at the end of act 2. I was playing a mage in that battle, so kiting would be expected. Heck though, you can avoid that dual and just fight the room (and that ends up being easier, as you have your whole party).

Ultimately, it sounds like the host wanted to play a rogue like he was able to play one in DAO. In DAO, you could level a rogue's dexterity up high enough to make them effectively unhittable, and basically play the rogue as a tank. You can't do that in DA2 - you have to run your battles more tactically, and make use of one or two warriors. By the same token, I found warriors to be really hard to play in DAO (underpowered compared to rogues and mages), while in DA2, they are on an equal footing. Yes, the map reuse is annoying. But if you hate the combats, I strongly suspect that you're doing it wrong.

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posted by James Robertson

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IM 24: Smalltalk in the Cloud (AAC)

April 10, 2011 10:21:35.698

Welcome to episode 24 of Independent Misinterpretations - a Smalltalk and dynamic language oriented podcast with James Robertson, Michael Lucas-Smith, and David Buck. This week's podcast was recorded at Smalltalk Solutions 2011 in March, 2011. It's my talk on "Smalltalk in the Cloud" - focusing on running a Smalltalk server using cloud services, and utilizing other cloud services.

You can find my slides here, and all of the slides here.

You can subscribe to the podcast in iTunes (or any other podcatching software) using this feed directly or in iTunes with this one.

To listen now, you can either download the mp3 edition, or the AAC edition. The AAC edition comes with chapter markers. You can subscribe to either edition of the podcast directly in iTunes; just search for Smalltalk and look in the Podcast results. You can subscribe to the mp3 edition directly using this feed, or the AAC edition using this feed using any podcatching software. You can also download the podcast in ogg format.

If you like the music we use, please visit Josh Woodward's site. We use the song Troublemaker for our intro/outro music. I'm sure he'd appreciate your support!

If you have feedback, send it to jarober@gmail.com - or visit us on Facebook - you can subscribe in iTunes using this iTunes enabled feed.. If you enjoy the podcast, pass the word - we would love to have more people hear about Smalltalk!

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posted by James Robertson

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IM 24: Smalltalk in the Cloud

April 10, 2011 10:21:26.068

Welcome to episode 24 of Independent Misinterpretations - a Smalltalk and dynamic language oriented podcast with James Robertson, Michael Lucas-Smith, and David Buck. This week's podcast was recorded at Smalltalk Solutions 2011 in March, 2011. It's my talk on "Smalltalk in the Cloud" - focusing on running a Smalltalk server using cloud services, and utilizing other cloud services.

You can find my slides here, and all of the slides here.

You can subscribe to the podcast in iTunes (or any other podcatching software) using this feed directly or in iTunes with this one.

To listen now, you can either download the mp3 edition, or the AAC edition. The AAC edition comes with chapter markers. You can subscribe to either edition of the podcast directly in iTunes; just search for Smalltalk and look in the Podcast results. You can subscribe to the mp3 edition directly using this feed, or the AAC edition using this feed using any podcatching software. You can also download the podcast in ogg format.

If you like the music we use, please visit Josh Woodward's site. We use the song Troublemaker for our intro/outro music. I'm sure he'd appreciate your support!

If you have feedback, send it to jarober@gmail.com - or visit us on Facebook - you can subscribe in iTunes using this iTunes enabled feed.. If you enjoy the podcast, pass the word - we would love to have more people hear about Smalltalk!

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posted by James Robertson

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games

Game Day

April 10, 2011 8:07:55.000

Looks like November 11 will be "game day" - Minecraft will be leaving beta, and Skyrim will be out:

We picked November 11, with the unofficial tagline 'us too'," writes the game's creator, Markus "Notch" Persson on his official blog. "It's the same date as a few other games and movies, and the one I'm the most excited about is Skyrim, so that will be a nice reward for me if we actually manage to hit that date!"

posted by James Robertson

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smalltalk

Why Smalltalk

April 9, 2011 8:05:08.746

Andy Berry explains why he has used - and continues to use - Smalltalk as his software development platform of choice.

posted by James Robertson

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st4u

ST 4U 67: Squeak Process Monitor

April 8, 2011 6:35:23.850

Today's Smalltalk 4 You looks at the Process Monitor in Squeak. If you have trouble viewing it here in the browser, you can also navigate directly to YouTube. To watch now, click on the image below:

Process Monitor

If you have trouble viewing that directly, you can click here to download the video directly. If you need the video in a Windows Media format, then download that here.

You can also watch it on YouTube:

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posted by James Robertson

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smalltalk

Updating Packages in a Bundle

April 7, 2011 11:48:12.888

The development process where I work treats bundles as configurations - manifests for all the proper (for that trunk/branch of development) that will go into a release. Given that, individual developers generally don't publish a bundle. A build is created, and part of that process spits out an associated development image. From there, the developer works (and publishes) the package(s) he or she is responsible for.

So... one of the things I got tired of was "let's see what packages have been updated inside the bundle" - so I added a method like this to the browser:


updatePackagesInBundle
	"add menu item to RB"

	<menuItem: 'Update Packages in Bundle...'
		icon: nil
		nameKey: #mesPackagesUpdate
		enablement: #isBundleSelected
		indication: nil
		menu: #(#pundleMenu)
		position: 200.1>

	| pundle stream version match |
	(self pundles size > 1 or: [Store.DbRegistry isConnected not])
		ifTrue: [^Dialog warn: 'Select one bundle and/or establish a Store Connection'].
	pundle := self pundles first.
	stream := pundle versionString readStream.
	stream skip: 1.
	version := stream upTo: $,.
	match := version size 

I have a class that handles the actual updating, BundleDef. The relevant code there looks like this:


getRecordsAndUpdatePackages
	self getMatchingRecord.
	self allContainedPackagesAndBundles.
	self updateAllPackages.

That gets any newer published package in the same branch (based on the version string passed in), and then iteratively updates each package (including those in contained bundles). The work is in the last two methods above:


allContainedPackagesAndBundles
	"get the full collection of contained packages and bundles"

	self allContainedPackagesAndBundlesFor: pundle.
	containedBundles add: pundle.

allContainedPackagesAndBundlesFor: aBundle
	"answer a collection of all the packages I have, regardless of bundles in the middle"

	| items  |
	items := aBundle containedItems.
	items do: [:each |
		each isBundle
			ifTrue: [self allContainedPackagesAndBundlesFor: each.
					containedBundles add: each]
			ifFalse: [containedPackages add: each]].

And finally, the check and update:


updateAllPackages
	"iterate over the packages and update them"

	containedPackages do: [:each |
		| all newerMatch |
		all := Store.Package allVersionsWithName: each name newerThan: each.
		newerMatch := all detect: [:each1 | versionFragment match: each1 version] ifNone: [nil].
		newerMatch 
			ifNotNil: [Transcript show: 'Updating: ', each name; cr.
						newerMatch loadSrc]].

I just verified that this works in the upcoming 7.8 release of VW; it probably does use the (soon to be deprecated) Store objects though. I'll have to investigate that soon

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posted by James Robertson

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js4u

JS 4U 45: JQuery Events

April 7, 2011 7:08:27.949

Javascript 4 U

Today's Javascript 4 You. Today we look at using JQuery selectors in conjunction with events. If you have trouble viewing it here in the browser, you can also navigate directly to YouTube.

Join the Facebook Group to discuss the tutorials. You can view the archives here.

To watch now, click on the image below:

JQuery Events

If you have trouble viewing that directly, you can click here to download the video directly. If you need the video in a Windows Media format, then download that here.

You can also watch it on YouTube:

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posted by James Robertson

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smalltalk

The Place for Smalltalk

April 6, 2011 14:30:04.000

A new Smalltalk hosting environment (code repository) is in the process of bootstrapping:

We've been working on a new code repository & project management application for Smalltalk with ESUG named SmalltalkHub. If everything goes fine, the app should be in public beta in a week. The source code of SmalltalkHub will be available at the same moment (the project itself is hosted by SmalltalkHub).

Nicholas Petton has posted a screen shot of the work in progress.

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posted by James Robertson

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st4u

ST 4U 66: Parsing XML in Squeak

April 6, 2011 9:36:25.620

Today's Smalltalk 4 You looks at the XML Parser that comes with Squeak 4.2. If you have trouble viewing it here in the browser, you can also navigate directly to YouTube. To watch now, click on the image below:

XML Parsing

If you have trouble viewing that directly, you can click here to download the video directly. If you need the video in a Windows Media format, then download that here.

You can also watch it on YouTube:

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posted by James Robertson

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smalltalk

Pharo 1.2.1 is Out

April 6, 2011 8:31:52.968

Pharo 1.2.1 has shipped:

The Pharo Project is proud to announce the release of Pharo 1.2.1, the third major release of this clean, innovative, open-source Smalltalk environment.

Follow the link for more details and download info.

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posted by James Robertson

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smalltalk

More Pharo Doc

April 6, 2011 6:17:02.820

Looks like using Metacello in Pharo just got easier - there's been a doc refresh:

here is a new version of the metacello chapter. So we wrote it, rewrote it, rerewrote it. Now if this is of interest for you you can read it

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posted by James Robertson

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smalltalk

Running an Older VAST?

April 5, 2011 20:20:38.000

Instantiations has a really detailed migration guide online - looks like it has all the information about upgrading that you could possibly need.

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posted by James Robertson

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smalltalk

Packaging VA Smalltalk Apps

April 5, 2011 16:47:57.000

Looks like Thomas Koschate is going to be exploring the topic of packaging VA Smalltalk apps. I've done a lot of work on the equivalent process in VW; I'll be interested to see what he has to say for comparison purposes.

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posted by James Robertson

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gadgets

iPad Desire

April 5, 2011 11:51:51.000

In China, even the dead want iPads....

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posted by James Robertson

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js4u

JS 4U 44: More on JQuery Selectors

April 5, 2011 8:14:23.222

Javascript 4 U

Today's Javascript 4 You. Today we focus in a little more on how to use JQuery selectors to locate and operate on specific page elements. If you have trouble viewing it here in the browser, you can also navigate directly to YouTube.

Join the Facebook Group to discuss the tutorials. You can view the archives here.

To watch now, click on the image below:

JQuery Selectors

If you have trouble viewing that directly, you can click here to download the video directly. If you need the video in a Windows Media format, then download that here.

You can also watch it on YouTube:

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posted by James Robertson

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Talking Smalltalk

April 5, 2011 5:46:23.512

WebQA interviews Nicholas Petton about the various Smalltalk projects he's been involved with - including JTalk, his latest.

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posted by James Robertson

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Macintosh

Memory Restored

April 4, 2011 15:53:41.695

Last week my Mac starting having bizarre errors - games wouldn't run, apps started crashing. A trip to the Apple store diagnosed the problem - 4 GB of my 8 went bad. I contacted Crucial (the company I bought it from), they gave me an RMA, and shipped me a replacement. I just got the memory back in, and everything is back to the way it should be:

posted by James Robertson

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st4u

ST 4U 65: Using the Installer in Squeak

April 4, 2011 8:26:21.310

Today's Smalltalk 4 You looks at the Installer framework in Squeak 4.2 - which makes it a whole lot easier to install large packages (like Seaside). If you have trouble viewing it here in the browser, you can also navigate directly to YouTube. To watch now, click on the image below:

Installer

If you have trouble viewing that directly, you can click here to download the video directly. If you need the video in a Windows Media format, then download that here.

You can also watch it on YouTube:

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posted by James Robertson

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podcasting

Podcast Push

April 4, 2011 7:10:15.112

I had intended to put this week's podcast out today, but I think I'll just push it to next weekend, with this week being open. The people who provide the extras - Squeak News, Design Minute, and Jobs Report - were also unable to get me anything, so we'll just wait a week. Stay tuned, and the podcast will return on Sunday. In the meantime, just go grab something from the archives :)

posted by James Robertson

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general

The Past is a Foreign Country

April 3, 2011 8:02:34.176

That phrase really hit home with me in a personal way this weekend. I'm taking my daughter to visit colleges she's gotten accepted into (this is SUNY weekend - we hit Binghamton and Albany). I graduated from Albany back in 1984, so I was interested in seeing how the place has changed.

The biggest change I've seen thus far is how the move of the drinking age from 18 to 21 has impacted the place. There's no Rathskeller at the campus center anymore; it's a food court now. The "Across the Street Pub" is still here, but instead of an open floor plan, they now have booths and a restaurant - we ate dinner there last night.

Then there's the building boom. The Albany campus used to be pretty compact, with everything in the center, surrounded by the 4 quads. Now there's a ton of stuff on the periphery, with new buildings still going up (that last part is kind of ironic, given the wave of budget cuts that have hit SUNY over the last couple of years).

The "culture" of the place has probably shifted as well, although that would be harder for me to see. The drinking age change alone will have seen to that, never mind anything else that's happened since I left here.

All in all, it's a bit strange coming back after so much time. I haven't been on campus since 1985 or so - I visited once after I graduated. The past really is a different country - we did things differently there :)

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posted by James Robertson

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