Friday, March 31, 2006

Things I Gots To Write About

I went to school and had to finish a paper right after class so I wouldn't get a grade penalty on it. As a result, I used up part of my lunch hour. I finished it, but then I had to get home as soon as I could so I could actually have time to eat. So when I got home, I had about 7 minutes to before I had to leave for work! I ate my lunch as quick as I could, and then I went on out the door. I got to work 5 minutes late (no big deal to them thankfully) and had to work for 5 hours. Now it wouldn't have been so bad if I had been able to have part of my lunch time to relax. But since I didn't, I wasn't too happy about that!

I finally got my Sonic Boom CD back. It was at my mom's house. I started to miss it, so I went down and got it. I absolutely love that CD! I've always been a fan of the music from Sonic CD (the American version), and my favorite tune is "Workbench Workout". It's danceable, funky, has a great beat, everything! So lately I've been playing it on my keyboard. I am thinking of doing a recording of it, so look out for a saxified version of the song.

Also, I often get the question "why doesn't ProSonic support MP3 files?" I got it again recently on a message board, and so I will answer that question. The reason for it is because of the legal issues with it. If ProSonic was to be used to make a game (non-Sonic) that could be sold, for it to be legal to sell you could not use the MP3 format. Using MP3s means you have to pay royalties for it. Why bother when you can get the same quality sound without paying royalties using the OGG format? So I am having it only support MIDI and OGG files, and more recently the enhanced Genesis/32X sound emulation.

Thursday, March 30, 2006

ProSonic YM2612

After a long while of pondering, I have decided to allow the ProSonic engine to support YM2612 emulation. It already supports OGG and MIDI files, but the addition of YM2612 emulation will add to the flexibility that people will have when they use the engine to create their Sonic games. Essentially what emulating the YM2612 chip means is people can reproduce the music and sounds used in the original games if they wish. In fact, I'm thinking of possibly expanding onto it to allow '2' YM2612 chips to be emulated (allowing people to have 10-12 FM channels, and 1 or 2 DAC channels if they choose). What this means is I'll probably have to emulate the PSG also in order to keep compatibility friendly. I might as well add support for the PWM also.

Likely, the end result will be that people will be able to import music form the original games into ProSonic. I was leaning against supporting Genesis/32X sound emulation, but I have changed my mind in order to make my engine even more unique. This will cut down on file sizes too. People will still be able to use OGG and MIDI files along side the Genesis/32X sound emulation.

Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Stuff That's Happenin'

I'm trying to figure out what to do with Sonic QX. I created this program 2 years ago and it has basically been sitting, collecting dust. In case you don't know, Sonic QX is the only music editor available for the original Sonic games. I'm thinking of releasing it in an editable form so people can modify it, or at least see how it does certain things. I still want to write a C version of Sonic QX, but right now my time is focused on the ProSonic game engine I'm writing.

Oh, has anyone seen the show "How I Met Your Mother"? I've got to say that it is the funniest show I've seen in years! When I first saw it when it was first put out on TV, I thought "aw man, this is a really sappy and unrealistic love story", but I've grown attached to the show now. It has a bit of drama and love obviously, but it's absolutely hilarious! It really fits my style. Barney and Marshall really make this show a blast. It comes on CBS on Mondays at 8:30pm EST if anyone is interested.

My dad is finally putting the pressure on me to go to a 4-year school. He's getting tired of waiting for me to get a degree at Lord Fairfax Community College. He says it's a waste of time for me to continue going to school and never actually get anywhere. He told me a person can only learn so much in school, and that there's lots more to learn out in the real world. So basically he wants to pick me up and throw me in the water as if I new to swimming. You either swim, or you drown. So now the pressure is on me to make up my mind within a year where I want to go next. I don't like this one bit, and he wants me to go to a school that's not local. I've got a lot to think about now, and that increases my stress. I hate it.

Sunday, March 26, 2006

SatAM Sonic Theme Covers

Me and someone at FUS have decided to take our SatAM covers and swap vocal work. I did a cover of the SatAM Sonic theme about a year ago, and this guy Heart Of Blue has done one of his own recently. His doesn't have any vocals, but he said he'd like to put his voice to my version, and I thought that would be great. And I would put mine to his version too.

We haven't actually done it yet, but I'm anxious to do it. If you haven't heard the recordings, my synth+vocal version can be heard here, and his new guitar version can be heard here. If you don't know what SatAM Sonic is, someone should punch you right now, or you should go to FUS immediately!

Oh and by the way, I have added a few new questions to the ProSonic FAQ. I hope that helps some people. I will continue to add questions to it as I get more, so don't be shy!

Thursday, March 23, 2006

Kong, Audrey, And ProSonic

I saw King Kong tonight. Wow, bad bad acting! I have never seen such horrible acting in my life... well, as far as modern movies go. I did moisten a little. I absolutely do not cry, I moisten. Just so you aren't confused. You have to feel sorry for Kong though. He just wanted some peace and quiet with the girl he loved, and nobody would leave them be. I moistened at the end.

Last night, I talked to Audrey, and she definitely wasn't happy. She cried over some stuff she'd probably prefer me not talk about, and I kept sitting there wondering "what can I possibly do?". You often see those sappy movies where the girl cries, and the guy always seems to have the right thing to say. Let me tell you right now, I don't care what kind of guy you are or how slick you may or may not be, those movies are fake! Occasionally I may know what to say, but not this time. I didn't want to leave her be, but at the same time I couldn't figure out how to comfort her. The best I could do was listen to her. She's probably not doing that great even now because she hasn't called me tonight. She should know that I care and even if she's going to cry the whole time, I still like to hear her voice.

And finally, ProSonic has had a couple positive developments. I am going to hopefully have the title card system complete soon, and I'm rearranging some of the code to make it even more accurate, as well as to fix some bugs. It's getting there, but the biggest disappointment was I worked so hard to fix a certain bug in there. When I finally got that fixed, then I worked on another bug. When I got the second bug fixed, the first bug was there again. I can't seem to win!! Oh, and don't forget the FAQ is still available here, and the screen shots can be found in the articles below. I'll try to have some new stuff available soon.

Tuesday, March 21, 2006

Some Stuff To Say

Today has been boring!! I have done absolutely nothing useful today at all. You might as well call this day completely pointless. So instead of talking about how boring it was, I'm going to instead talk about a couple of other things.

First, I finally have an FAQ on my ProSonic game engine. If you still don't understand what it is or have some various questions about it, I've got 9 questions I've answered in the FAQ. You can read it here. And don't forget I have screen shots and other information in the articles below, so read them if you haven't already.

Also, I am happy to advertise some work my good friend QJimbo did. He did some reporting on the possibility that Michael Jackson did music for Sonic 3. I'm not sure exactly how true this is, but it's a nice theory and worth looking into. You can view his reporting here. It's quite interesting.

Finally, I have been doing palming today to help me aid my vision improvement, and I have to say that it does just what they say it will. Of course, I've still gotta try and wear my glasses less and do palming more often than I have been. I'm very excited about improving my vision. I am hoping within a month, I can notice some sort of difference. We shall soon see (no pun intended).

The Hits Sky Rocket!

First things first... wow, the hits my blog has had over the past couple days have been huge! I think the last time I got this much attention was back around 2001-2002 when I was still running Sonic sites. I hope the attention is positive attention. Of course I know my very close friend Audrey always gives my blog positive attention, among other friends, but there are so many people who are looking now who I haven't seen in ages. It's almost scarey.

Well my day was pretty decent. I spent the day mostly goofing off. I'm on spring break, so I have that opportunity. I made a deal with work to allow me to still only work the hours I had been when I was going to college every day. But with a week off of college, I have time to relax and get caught up on school work -- mainly Java!

Me and my brother were supposed to see a movie today after I got off from work, but that didn't happen because of bad timing. We were going to see King Kong at the 2 dollar theater. I don't know if it's any good or not, but I'm always up for giving a new movie a try. Hopefully sometime Thursday or Friday we'll see it. I haven't seen my brother in a while, so it'll be nice, even if he dresses like a weirdo *rolls eyes*

I've been trying to get back into stocks lately. I haven't been paying too much attention to what's been going on in the stock market lately, but I need to. Even though I don't have the money to trade right now, I need to keep practicing at it to make sure I am ready to do the real thing when I do get the money. I want to do it online, and I've been looking at Scottrade lately. They have some pretty impressive rates. I am considering possibly signing up with them when I get the money. We'll see how it works out.

Oh, and for those looking for more information on the ProSonic engine I'm writing, I will try and have an FAQ on it to do additional clarifying on the project. I've had several people mistake it for a level editor for Sonic 2, which it is not! Read the articles previous articles for more information on it. People have been asking for a time frame when it'll be out, and all I can say to answer that is "I don't know". I wish I did, but there's really no way to tell at the moment. But sooner or later, it will be made public. And there are a number of reasons why I don't believe this engine will fail to satisfy people's needs unlike some other past engines different people have made. I will be outlining those reasons in the FAQ also.

Saturday, March 18, 2006

New Project Build Screen Shots

I have taken some more screen shots of Project Build, which for now on I will refer to as "ProSonic" since "Project Build" was only a codename I gave it while it was a secret project.

- http://www.shadowsoft-games.com/saxman/dump3.gif
With ProSonic, you can create your own objects for your Sonic game. Here, a beach ball has been created. When the player jumped on it, he is bounced up. Falling on it at a certain height will make it burst.

- http://www.shadowsoft-games.com/saxman/collide.gif
This is the collision editor. It shows you the current block you're working with, and allows you to modify the solidity. It also shows you both the solidity and the block in the center of the screen so you can see where the pixels line up at.

- http://www.shadowsoft-games.com/saxman/block.gif
"Block-It" allows you to modify any of the 256 tiles in any level. You can change the plane of each block, and you can apply attributes like draw flipped, draw mirrored, platform, barrier, and so on.

- http://www.shadowsoft-games.com/saxman/object.gif
The object editor allows you to place objects in a level, as well as delete object. It makes use of the mouse, and the keyboard can help navigate in even intervals to make sure that objects are lined up nicely.

- http://www.shadowsoft-games.com/saxman/eztile.gif
"EzTile" allows you to import a 256-color PCX file into your level as a fully constructed tile. The only thing it won't do is apply attributes for the blocks, but that's what "Block-It" is for.

- http://www.shadowsoft-games.com/saxman/limp.gif
"LIMP" is a Sonic 2 level importer. It imports the art, tiles, attributes, solidity, and object layout (rings only). Sonic 3 will be supported eventually, and there may be a possibility of supporting other Sonic games too.

- http://www.shadowsoft-games.com/saxman/script.gif
This is an early version of the scripting language known as "SAXY". It will eventually look much more like C than it currently does. Everything in that script file works. When SAXY is redone, it will also be more readable and easier to understand. And if that wasn't enough, the event editor program will eliminate the need to learn the scripting language.

Friday, March 17, 2006

Lots Of Different Things

Spring break is here! This either means I get time off from work and school, or it means I just get time off from school, made up instead by more work.

Oh, and I have gotten interested in letting my vision improve naturally. I always knew glasses only made your eyes worse, but I was always too lazy to do anything about it. But recently, I read a website full of information about this. I have decided to make it my goal to improve my vision by becoming less dependant on my glasses, practice getting into good habits such as blinking more often and getting more sun, and palming (basically a form of meditation that helps improve eyesight). I'm up-beat about this, and I know I can do it. The problem is I'm so blind that I can't hardly tell what's in front of me, so it'll take some getting used to.

I'm still looking for more information on how to get more money. I'm not thinking that after my 6 month CD is done, I'll invest that money into a Roth IRA. I would also get into stocks, but I don't have enough money for that sort of thing yet. I've been practicing at the stock market game, and I'm fairly good at it I think! So I'm also very anxious to do that. I don't know why, but I look at the money I've been saving, and I look down the road where I want to see myself. It really makes me aware that I need to save now and not later. I definitely don't want to make the kind of mistake my brother has made -- taking $18,000 out of his CD and spending it all but $5000, which is what he started the CD with many years ago. He's going to have a heck of a time retiring, and I don't want to be dumb with money like that.


Finally, there has been intense interest in Project Build over at SFGHQ. I am happy about the heavy interest and feedback. I want to clarify some things about the game engine:

- The engine will use the Allegro library. I originally didn't want to use something someone else already did, but I got smarter about it because I figured I would never finish the engine if I tried to do all the work myself. Plus, even professional companies use libraries that others have created, and since this library has been around for many years and has been programmed by people a lot smarter than me, I decided it was in my best interest to use Allegro. The other advantage is that Allegro is easy to work with, so people who want to modify the source code shouldn't have too many issues.

- It will use OGG files for sound, mainly because WAV files are too big, and MP3 files have copyrights which could possibly create legal issues.

- The engine will be fully compatible with Sonic 2 and 3 levels. Levels from Sonic 1 and CD are not guarenteed to be directly supported, though this may very well change as development continues. The Sonic 2/3 format is much easier to work with, and it is more flexible too, so it only makes sense for my engine to absolutely support that format.

- Objects will be scripted in a scripting language of my own. I call the scripting language 'SAXY' because it's a play on words (SAX-C). Right now the language is similar to BASIC and assembly combined, but I plan to change it to make it resemble actual C code. In addition, I will likely create an "event editor", which would basically allow people who don't understand the scripting language to still program objects using an easy-to-use interface.

- Objects will be able to talk to the player, and objects will be able to create other objects. However, one object may not talk directly to another object. Though there will be global variables that are accessible to all objects, so indirectly they could communicate.

- The engine runs in two modes -- 320x200 and 320x400. This is basically to make porting as friendly as possible, and to make it close to the Sega Genesis resolutions of 320x224 and 320x448. The engine will make use of 256 colors, and each level will be allowed it's own set of 224 colors. 32 of the 256 colors are reserved for things such as the player, rings, and other things that will be used throughout the entire game.

- Translucency may be added. If I add it, I will likely offer 3 levels of translucency -- 25%, 50%, and 75%. I figure for what this engine is for, that should be flexible enough. If not, maybe I'll increase it to use 7 levels of translucency.

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Project Build Unleashed

After teasing readers for a while, I've decided to release two pictures of what is actually going on. So check out the following:

http://www.shadowsoft-games.com/saxman/dump1.gif
http://www.shadowsoft-games.com/saxman/dump2.gif

Project Build is the codename I've been giving my Sonic the Hedgehog enhanced replicated game engine. It uses the same algorithms that make up the original Sonic games. You don't do Sonic ROM hacking for more than 6 years and not learn how things work. Since I'm a math-oriented person, it only made sense for me to put my knowledge to use.

There are several utilities that allow people to design levels from scratch, design tiles, and modify properties in levels. A script format is being worked on to allow people to code their own objects without having to change the code in the engine itself. Sonic 2 levels are backwards compatible with this engine as shown in the pictures, and there's even a utility to import them (which is what I used). The engine will not be limited to what the original Sonic games offer though. My engine will be advanced and 100% open source when it is complete. Anything the original Sonic games could do, this engine will allow you to do. The engine is written in pure C to make it fast and portable, but may include assembly code versions of some of the code for x86 platform builds.

There is already a game being developed using this engine, but I cannot talk about that at this time. Only after this game is completed and released will my engine be available to the public.

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

Wondering Feeling, Wonderful Day

I love this day. I got a good bit to write, so here it goes:

I finally am learning something easy in math! I'm usually not as excited about easy stuff, but because of how poorly I've been performing in math this semester, anything easy is a blessing. I also found out today that the math test I took last week got a passing grade. It was a 76% which is a C. Not great, but not terrible either.

I also had my stress management class today. Now again, I'm only taking it for the credit. I will say I have learned a good bit from it. Today she told us to close our eyes and put both arms straight out in front of us. She was telling us to picture on our right arm, a balloon filled with helium that was rising up and up in to the air. Then she said that on our left arm was a 50 pound weight hanging from it. She told us to open our eyes. I realized my left arm was lower than my right arm! We all looked around the room to see it was the same for everyone else. She said the body reacts to thoughts and words, and this was proof. Then she said since this was the case, this could be a tool for relieving stress. If my arm was sore, I could concentrate the technique to make my arm not feel as sore anymore.

Also in stress management class, we went outside and flew kites we made! Mine flew... sort of. Actually the wind picked it up slightly, but it pretty much just spun itself around in the air. It was still fun nonetheless, and it was certainly a beautiful day out for it. I felt really good when I came back inside. It was so refreshing. I felt like the kid in me got out for a change.

Also today, I worked on Project Build, and I made some fantastic progress. I fixed some major problems that I couldn't figure out about a month or two ago. It was a huge improvement by far. My partner is also supposed to deliver something to me that I can use in the next thing I wish to add to the project which will make things a little more visually attractive. I'm excited about it.

Sunday, March 12, 2006

Fun Stupid Test!

I just took a test to test my stupidity, because I knew there had to be some floating around up there. Sure enough, the quiz tells me I am 32% stupid! Woohoo! I have stupidity!


The Stupid Quiz said I am "Fairly Smart!" How stupid are you? Click here to find out!


Tell me what you score, I am interested to know. But more importantly, remember that it's just a little test for fun, so don't get offended and take it seriously if it says you're a complete idiot. If it says that, tell me and I'll beat it up for you!

Project Build Takes Progress Forward

I'm very excited about Project Build because of how smoothly overall the development process has been. This Sonic the Hedgehog project is really getting somewhere, and I think my partner would gladly agree. She finally tried the new utility I wrote to make her job easier to perform. She had a little difficulty at first, but it worked out for her eventually. I'm anxious to get feedback from her when she uses it some more.

I am also going to add some new features to Project Build. It already offers scripting which although isn't complete, still works partially. Now I want to add some more text drawing functions to it. I figure it's about time I make it look a little more visual.

In addition, I have changed the way it plays music to simplify some things. It sounds great! I was using Huey Lewis music to jam to as I tested it. I would have used a Sonic song, but I didn't have any on hand, so Huey and the News ended up helping me. The percussion and guitars especially stand out.

Project Build is also unique because it will be 100% completely customizeable by anyone with the know-how, and at least 80% customizeable by any person who isn't too technical. This along with the extremely high-level accuracy of the project and a few other little things makes it something that has never been done before in the Sonic community.

Finally, for those who don't know what the heck Project Build is, I'm planning to talk with my partner to see exactly how far in detail I can go at this point. This is definitely the most detail I've given on it, but if my partner is willing to let me, I can give even more details that may either give my readers an even bigger idea what this project is about, or reveal what it actually is! We'll have to see where things are and if the timing is right first.

Tell all your friends about this, because I think it'll be a bigger deal than some people are expecting it to be. You can support the efforts of me and my partner by keeping those ad clicks coming -- one or two clicks per person will be fine. I didn't create this blog to make money truthfully, but I do realize it to be an asset when I'm promoting a project I think will create a big impact.

Friday, March 10, 2006

Music, Reading, and Money

My dad bought a really thick physics book for me. I was having a problem figuring out a particular formula about a month ago, and someone helped me with it which I am grateful for. However, as I continue to design parts on the CNC mill, I'm going to have more problems to figure out. I'm usually pretty good at figuring math out, but when in doubt, I can now refer to this handy-dandy book. It's loaded with math material -- very exciting stuff for me!

I have been thinking of what song I could record next. So In Love certainly raised some eyebrows, so I figure since I have some people's attention now, it would be pefect timing to work on something new. I could do another acapella song since I love acapella stuff. I would also like to do just a regular song with vocals and instruments and such, but I get annoyed when people tell me my equipment sounds out of date (which it is truthfully). I don't have a band of my own, so it's hard to do some things I wish to do. I don't have a powerful computer to meet today's demands, so using high-quality sound fonts isn't going to work. I will definitely try and come up with something new though... hopefully very soon!

I got my new checks today which I was happy about. I have yet to write a check, but it's always nice to have that checking account there for me just in case I ever need it. And since I have switched it over to a money market account, I can now earn interest on my money. I calculated it to be $1.01 per month added to my account. That's practically nothing, but yet it's something. It's better than letting it sit there and not grow at all.

I finished reading this book by Bo Peabody, titled "Lucky Or Smart?" and I have got to say that it's interesting reading about how an average entreprenuer went from nowhere to everywhere. Bo Peabody was the guy who founded Tripod for those who don't know. Some day I may own my own business, so it's definitely something I got into. For anyone interested in entreprenuership, I strongly recommend this book. It's very informative and interesting.

Finally, I am interested in putting together a CD of songs I've done recently, as well as in the past. I would likely aim for about 11 or 12 tracks, and possibly more. I would likely sell it for around $8.00, and I would promise to include material not released to the internet (otherwise, what would be the point in buying it?!). Would anyone be interested in this? I'd love to get some feedback if you have any requests for possible songs I could do, or any songs I've done that you would really like to see make the CD. The songs I would put on the CD would be straight form the original masters, so they would be better quality than the MP3 files I have on the net.

Wednesday, March 08, 2006

Optimistic!

Things are looking very positive for me right now. I'm pretty excited about what has happened and what I can look forward to.

Java class was great today. The assignment that I 'still' have not completed will be able to be finished without a zero! I'm happy about that, and my professor is going to clarify her notes to me. This is a positive step in the right direction. She's been very helpful. I also had a big mid-term exam in that class today, and I'm confident that I passed it! I know more about Java than I thought. I'm expecting at least a 90% on the exam.

My "So In Love" recording has recieved pretty good feedback. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to convince (or trick!) people into listening to it, but they came around. I like getting people to listen to my recordings not so I can say "hey look what I can do", but to get feedback on how I did in their opinions. I am always looking to improve my abilities. If you still haven't heard, you can still download it at http://www.shadowsoft-games.com/saxman/songs/So%20In%20Love.mp3.

Also, I haven't been giving out many clues on Project Build, so here's one: I'm writing a program, and it'll be open source when it is finished. Yes, it is Sonic related, and although it's been done before, it's never been done exactly like this. Not only will the Sonic hacking scene like it, but others outside the hacking scene will likely enjoy it too. This project will attempt to bring Sonic fans of all sorts together. I'm pretty excited about it, and I can promise that progress has been made on it recently.

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

So In Love

I finally got around to doing a new recording. It's a cover song, but I love it. It's called "So In Love", and you can get it at http://www.shadowsoft-games.com/saxman/songs/So%20In%20Love.mp3. I had trouble doing the bass because a person's voice can only reach a certain range before it bombs out. I hope you enjoy it! If you like it, think of that advertisement at the top of my blog as a bucket to throw change in. You can choose to click it if you like if you enjoy what you hear and want to hear more. If you think I could do a little better, I'd like to know -- you can click the "comments" link to leave me comments on what could be better and such.

I stayed after school today to catch up on some assignments I had to do. I was supposed to go to work today, but I told them I couldn't make it. Unfortunately I didn't get it all done. The Java assignment that is now past-due is hard! A friend of mine in class, she has trouble with it too. My professor's instructions are too difficult to understand. It's really frustrating me.

I did do something I was quite happy with though. I changed my free checking account at the bank to a money market. I figure, what good is money if it just sits there, no checks being written to withdraw it? So I figured I might as well put my money to work. The interest rate is only 0.9%, but it's better than nothing at all. I'll also have a PIN number for my VISA checking card, so I'm excited that I'll have the closest thing to a credit card now. I feel like I'm moving up in the world. It's a good feeling!

Oh, and I'm interested in knowing what people would like to see here. It's just a blog of course, but I'm always searching for ways to not only get people's attention with this, but to keep them coming back! If you have any requests for things you'd like to see me put here, let me know. I'm not looking to make this the next Sonic 2 Hacking Guide, but I sure would like to get a decent flow of traffic each day.

Monday, March 06, 2006

I'm All Shook Up

Go Elvis! w00t! I downloaded "All Shook Up" today, and I really got into it. I like that old rock & roll like that. You can hear the piano doing that old school doo-wop scale, and the rhythm of the song is actually something you can dance to. That is unlike today's rock music which is extremely plain and has no groove to it at all. Rock & roll really is dead my friends, and it's a shame. If the king were still around, he would be crying over it.

Oh, and I talked to my friend Royce today. I've known him for years, and he's always been a super good guy. He has a Sonic site that he's been trying to get some attention and get people to submit stuff to. I've been there before, and it's not a bad site. It feels a bit empty though because people aren't really helping him with content. Submit stuff to him damnit! The site is located at http://mach.digibase.ca/ -- be supportive of this good man.

An old enemy of mine came back from the unknown, and he annoyed me today with more of the same crap as before. This guy used to get on AIM and harrass constantly. When I went to certain forums, he was there posting stuff with the purpose of annoying me. He never said anything hurtful, just did everything he could to be annoying. It got so bad that people who didn't understand what he was doing were saying I didn't know how to take a joke! I joke all the time, and I laugh at myself a lot, but this guy was a trip. So he came back today to annoy me after he's been gone for probably a year. Here's what we said:

[22:05] KKnucklesKiller: Hey Saxman, how's the cactus business going?
[22:07] ymtx81z: Hi
[22:07] ymtx81z: Pardon?
[22:07] KKnucklesKiller: The Cactus business.
[22:07] ymtx81z: I don't know, I haven't sold any lately
[22:07] KKnucklesKiller: Do you have a Cactus COCK?
[22:08] KKnucklesKiller: I have something to tell you.
[22:08] KKnucklesKiller: My penis, it becomes enormous when I talk to you.
[22:08] KKnucklesKiller: I can feel it growing and throbbing inside my pants.
[22:08] KKnucklesKiller: I never before this even knew I had a penis.
[22:09] KKnucklesKiller: These sensations you give me...
[22:09] KKnucklesKiller: they are incredible.
[22:09] ymtx81z: Why did you suddenly start talking to me again, other than your penis?
[22:09] KKnucklesKiller: Because my COCK is broken. Can you point me in the direction of the nearest COCK repair shop?
[22:10] ymtx81z: I have a life that I'm happy with, and you should get one of your own instead of wasting your time talking to me.
[22:10] KKnucklesKiller: That's a shame. I find you a very fascinating individual.
[22:11] KKnucklesKiller: I find that you achieve the status of being "Hip", almost solely by exagerrated levels of being "Square" in a quirky manner.
[22:13] KKnucklesKiller: What do you think of me?
[22:14] ymtx81z: I don't like you, about like nobody else does
[22:14] KKnucklesKiller: That's a shame.
[22:14] KKnucklesKiller: Why don't you like me? Is my COCK not big enough?
[22:15] KKnucklesKiller: Who do you think I am?
[22:15] ymtx81z: Seriously, I'm curious why after all this time, you suddenly began talking to be again.
[22:17] KKnucklesKiller: Why, who do you think I am?
[22:17] ymtx81z: I don't need to guess who you are, you know I know
[22:18] KKnucklesKiller: But if I know you know I know you know, who knows I know you know I know he knows where his BIG PENIS went to?
[22:20] KKnucklesKiller: Please unblock dust hill guy, he would like to have a word with you.
[22:21] ymtx81z: If he wants a word, he can type something on one of the message boards he isn't banned from
[22:21] KKnucklesKiller: What message boards are those?
[22:21] ymtx81z: Not a clue
[22:21] KKnucklesKiller: Which ones do you go to that he may go to?
[22:21] ymtx81z: None
[22:22] KKnucklesKiller: Well, that was a pretty meaningless statement then.
[22:22] KKnucklesKiller: Almost like saying MY COCK IS ON FIRE AAAHGRH
[22:22] KKnucklesKiller: Seriously.
[22:22] KKnucklesKiller: He would like a word with you, or perhaps several.
[22:23] ymtx81z: Why?
[22:24] KKnucklesKiller: Please unblock dust hill guy. He is a noble man. You can save him the trouble of registerring an alt account.
[22:24] KKnucklesKiller: he says he has some apologies to make, and a score to settle.
[22:24] ymtx81z: Appology accepted, now tell him to go away
[22:25] KKnucklesKiller: He says that won't do.
[22:26] ymtx81z: If he wants to talk, he can talk through YOU
[22:27] KKnucklesKiller: He says he wants to ask about Sonic HAcking
[22:27] ymtx81z: I don't do that anymore


This isn't anything like the past stuff we've said. He's funny I'll admit, but his act is intended to be a burden to me which isn't funny. Shouldn't people like this be shipped to the sun or something?

Oh, and me and Audrey had some fun online. She as you may know is really close and by far a sweet and wonderful person. I think about her everyday. But today, she said something that made my level of fun drop out of the sky for a minute or two. I was just stunned over it! I won't tell you about it because I like to keep some things to myself, but I asked her about it. But when she reads this (and she will), she should know that it's not as big of a deal as I made it. It just wasn't comfortable hearing that. But nothing has changed, and I hope we can have fun again!

Sunday, March 05, 2006

A Day Of Stuff

I finished that tool to aid Project Build. Now that my partner has it, she can use it to do her work easier. I had a hard time getting the tool working though because when you do lots of work at once, your brain starts to stall and you make stupid mistakes. It's done now though and I tested it. It works quite nice. It's easier to draw a picture in a PCX file and import it than it is to do it by hand in one of my other tools.

I stayed after work today. The shop closes at 3:00 on Saturdays, but I stayed until 6:00 trying to get some school work done. My Java professor loves to ask hard questions and make us think on homework. I think too much... make the pain stop!!

I must say that today was quite cold! I went outside, and I was ready to go back in the moment I got out there. This winter has been all screwy from the beginning because one day it's hot, the next day it's cold. I'm not ready for spring just yet... still waiting for a good snow. I want the kind of snow that will allow me to miss school and work. That only happened one time this year, and I don't think that's enough.

My old friend GLink2K1 from some old Sonic forums I visited years ago presented some music to me today. I've never heard the music from Sonic Rush, but I like what I hear in is sequences. I recommend people check them out -- http://keoro.dyndns.org/misc/midi/. He's not a bad sequencer at all in my opinion. I sat and listened to them all, but I have to say "What U Need" is probably my favorite. It's very catchy!

Speaking of music, I have been listening through some really old recordings I did. These recordings are several years old. For the interest of Sonic fans, I thought I'd share three Sonic saxophone recordings I did. For some reason, people like these. I don't think they're that great, and I could do a lot better now. But here they are:

- Saxy Speedway
http://www.shadowsoft-games.com/saxman/old_Saxxy_Speedway.mp3

- Saxy Workbench
http://www.shadowsoft-games.com/saxman/old_Wacky_Workbench_[SAX]_Final.mp3

- Special Sax Blast
http://www.shadowsoft-games.com/saxman/old_Special_Sax_Blast.mp3

Have fun listening to these horrible performances!

Thursday, March 02, 2006

Stuff Going Through My Mind

I failed another quiz in math today. I'm not doing well in that class at all, and we're close to half-way done with this semester. I'm beginning to become very worried about the outcome and my GPA. I'm supposed to be really good at math, but evidently I just haven't been too lucky this semester. Too many new fomulas to remember at once!

I was very happy to have gotten an assignment in yesterday for my Java programming class. This assignment is several weeks late. My teacher gave me an extension on it, but I felt I had taken advantage of that long enough and stayed several hours after school to make sure I got it done. I still have two more to do (they're not late 'yet'). Hopefully I can get them in this week. Anything less than an A in this class is unacceptable because in all my programming classes thus far, I've gotten nothing less than an A. I know I can do it!

I worked a half-hour extra after work today. I figured that it's extra money, and I have every intention on collecting as much as I can. What I'd like to do is get a good amount of money to put into a CD or some other account that will grow. I'd also like to invest in some stocks once I get more money. I don't know why, but I've been in a money-making mood lately, and I know I have the knowledge and capability to grow more of it. The key is hard work, and Google Adsense is no exception -- I've made $3.70 since I started this blog! Thanks to all those who have been supportive. I want to make sure I make this blog worth everyone's time.

Project Build is back on track, and I'm working on a utility for my partner who's in on it too. This utility will help her do what she needs to do with greater ease. As the old saying goes "keep it simple stupid"... so hopefully this tool will make things more simple. It's also good to be working with her because if she has trouble doing what she was doing, then that makes me think others would have trouble with the same thing too. So in a way, she's also my tester!

And finally, on a more fun note, I have got to say that I'm happy to have heard Huey Lewis on radio for 3 or 4 times this week! Everyone knows I'm a fan, and what's better than hearing your favorite artist on radio, particularly when that artist is generally unknown to anyone your own age and younger?! Fun music... "yes it's true; I am happy to be stuck with you"! Good stuff to drive home with on a day of hard work.