Technabob » guide

The Pac-Man Dossier: All the Information You Can Waka Waka Waka

Lambert Varias — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 11:40:08 +0000

I was never really into arcade games that much, so for me Pac-Man is but a simple game – eat the pellets before the time runs out, avoid the ghosts, eat the power pellets to eat the ghosts. So imagine my surprise when I came upon Jamey Pittman’s website, The Pac-Man Dossier. Pittman claims that his site has the “most complete and detailed study of the game”, and even though it was last updated last year, I will not doubt the man’s claim.

The real treat in The Pac-Man Dossier starts after dispensing with the requisite history of the game. Before providing strategies, Pittman breaks down the aspects of Pac-Man, with statements like “Whenever Pac-Man makes a pre-turn or post-turn, his orientation changes, and he starts to move one pixel in his new direction for every pixel traveled in his old direction, effectively doubling his speed as he moves at a 45 degree angle”, and pictures like this one:

And charts like this one:

And videos like this one:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

I doubt that I’d be able to apply the tips and strategies shared by Pittman, but I will definitely go back and read his site. To me it’s a fascinating reminder that video games are just a fun kind of math and physics. If you have the time, check out The Pac-Man Dossier.

[via 4 color rebellion]

Hey N00b, Here’S How You Install Os X on an Sd Card

Lambert Varias — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 12:39:39 +0000

Macworld Senior Editor Roman Loyola posted a video guide showing how one can install Apple’s OS X Leopard on an SD card. The new Macbook Pros (save for the 17-in) come with an SD card slot, so you can install apps on the SD card and boot from it if for instance you want to perform repairs on the internal hard drive. It’s a very straightforward guide, a format-this-and-install-that affair, but nonetheless helpful for non-techies.

Without fiddling with a Leopard installer’s disk image and throwing some stuff out, you’ll need at least an 8 Gb SD card to make a portable Leopard installation.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Wasn’t that easy? Now all you need to do is wreck your internal disk so you’ll have a reason to boot from the SD! I’m kidding. And before anyone asks, no, you can’t boot a PC with this card.

Pmpin’: Anything but iPod’S Mp3 Player Buyer’S Guide

Lambert Varias — Thu, 07 May 2009 12:34:50 +0000

If you’re planning on buying an MP3 player but your knowledge only goes as far as “iPod, iPod Nano, iPod Touch, iPod shuffle, everything else…”, then you should check out anything but iPod’s guide to buying mp3 players. The article breaks down the discussion by reminding us of the essential aspects of an MP3 player, such as sound quality, physical specs i.e. size, battery life and storage capacity, and of course price. At the same time, the guide also adds other items that may not be as essential but should be considered nonetheless, such as controls, video support or connection method.

The article also uses specific MP3 player models (other than the iPod) as examples to help you narrow down your options; last time I checked there were about 1,523,907 models of MP3 players out there. You’ll probably end up buying an iPod, but hey, at least you can say you thought things through.