Archive for May, 2008
ZendFramework 1.5.2 Released
Posted by aubrey in Coding and Development on May 16th, 2008
New ZendFramework release out today, fixing three pages of bugs this time (A fair number of them on the newer Zend_Form stuff that was added in 1.5.0). Pretty impressive, the ZF team is quite busy.
So far in my experience with ZendFramework I’ve not come across any bugs that hindered my development or required me to log a bug or even have to do any workarounds for an irritation that I found in the framework, which I find comforting actually. It means that the functionality of ZF that I’m using (So far it’s quite limited to simple CMS-type websites, nothing complicated) is fairly mature, and became mature quite quickly.
Go team ZendFramework! You guys rock!
Parkour game coming to 360, PS3 and PC
About a year ago I spent half my measly 3GB cap watching parkour videos on Youtube and Google Video. I find it amazing what these guys can do. A small part of me thinks “Wow, I wish I could do that.” (Don’t know what Parkour is? Also called “Free Running”, the first 5-or-so minutes of the most recent Bond movie, Casino Royale, is pure parkour, featuring parkour legend Sebastien Foucan. Or just watch any of these.)
Well, now I can! 
I just watched an awesome game-footage video of a new game coming our way called Mirror’s Edge. Gamevideos.com has the video up, and it’s really worth downloading the 43mb highdef quicktime file though. I can’t wait, it looks fantastic.
Previously though, there were games already that featured parkour, amongst others almost all of the Prince of Persia games on the PS2 (and other consoles), and then also a lesser known game called Free Running (oddly, not released in the US, see the Free Running page on Gamespot), also for the PS2 (and PSP). I’ve not played any of these, so not sure how good the parkour is in them, but the Prince of Persia games look fantastic, and features some nice wall-running and what not, so can’t be all that bad.
OK, now I *want* to play GTA IV
What I said about not wanting to play GTA IV? I take that back.
Yes, probably not surprising.
It’s been a week, and every Tom, Dick and his dog has given the guy a near-perfect score.
And no, that’s not why I want to play it.
Why then?
Well, I just read this write-up by a lad called Jim Sterling on destructoid.com, dissecting some aspects of the game, and the actual emotions one would feel while doing certain (morally objectionable) things in the game, and how Rockstar are in fact not blindly putting out arbitrary actions in a game, but really thought it through. And I have to admit, now I’m intrigued.
Read Jim’s article, it’s a really great read. I can’t confirm anything he says, as I’ve not seen anything of the game, but I enjoyed reading it, and it made me think. And it made me want to play the game. Out of pure curiosity y’see.
May Geekdinner
So it’s another other-month, and it’s time for another GeekDinner.
I try to make the GeekDinners when I can, sometimes it’s just too far, and other times it’s too expensive. I count cents you see.
But, this month is different.
This month we’re off the Mel’s Village Kitchen (no site, but see a pic here)for the Geekdinner, on the 28th. Nice, it’s after pay day (My current employer pays salaries *before* the last day of the month, like *normal* people…), and Mel’s is in Rondebosch. And on the menu, for a mere R115, is a typical 3-course meal (Soup, bread, curry buffet, baked choc pudding), and we’ll likely get wine sponsored by one of our previous sponsors. (There’s talk of Perdeberg being involved, more about that later). Previous sponsors included Stormhoek and GetWine and Blank. They all have some awesome wine (I’m not ‘spurt on wine though, but what I’ve had tasted nice, haha), and you can even own a vine in Stormhoek’s vineyard too if you have some cash to help them out.
Anyway, the Geekdinners have always been fun. Lots of interaction with old colleagues (mostly from IOL) and fellow geeks, funny-as-hell Slideshow Karaoke, and some (usually) interesting and (usually) informative talks. It’s very informal, and there’s a small group of people that usually take charge and run the thing, keeping tabs on the time for talks and introducing the next speaker, or generally just talking crap while some poor sod tries to get Windows and the projector to talk nice.
So, I’ll be there, very, very likely. Not talking about anything (I don’t think I have much to say yet…), just enjoying the interactions and the wine. Maybe, the wine.
Oh, and if you use/like/develop for WordPress, you can swing past the 3rd Cape Town WordPress Meetup at the Bandwidth Barn in town, right before coming through to the dinner. I use and like and (can) develop for WordPress, but don’t think I’ll make the meetup. I might have to make a plan though. *ponders*
Stargate Worlds beta starts
We’ve been big fans of Stargate for a long time now. We watched all 10 seasons of it one episode after the other, stopping only for food, sleep, work, kids and life in between. We’re even watching with bated breath for Stargate Atlantis to start up again.
A few months/years back I was very excited to see there will be a Stargate game for the PC called Stargate SG-1: The Alliance, and then soon after I was very disappointed to learn that the game was cancelled. I even went as far as to source the Roleplaying rules book (ok, in PDF form…) for the Stargate Roleplaying game, but nobody in our RPG group seemed to be remotely interested.
More recently though, there was an announcement that there’s a Stargate MMORPG coming. Called Stargate Worlds. Hurrah! (See the trailer)
And now, while catching up with my Kotaku RSS feed, I came across the announcement that the game has entered beta-testing stages (invite-only currently), and that a lucky few people that sign-up at the Stargate Worlds Game website, will earn a beta-testing ticket.
So if you’re remotely interested in Stargate, and even a bit more interested in playing the game, all you need to do is head over the the Stargate Worlds Game website at www.stargateworldsgame.com, sign up to the site (It’s really quick), and play some Asteroids. (OK, you need to be *good* at Asteroids…) Read more here.
UPDATE: You need to sign up at register.stargateworlds.com and tick the “By clicking this box, you are signing up for our beta test for Stargate Worlds!” tickbox too! And then play some Asteroids. (OK, OK, the Asteroids thing is an additional chance to get a beta ticket, but ja.)
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