I'm still here on LJ, and I do catch up on everyone's posts regularly, even if I rarely comment. I do intend to write a proper LJ post at some point in the near future too. It will be about 'fun stuff wot I did recently', probably. Or maybe a cake recipe. Or something else light and fluffy as usual.

So it's about time I posted this:


The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me.

My choice. For you.

This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

* I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!

* What I create will be with you in mind.

* It'll be done sometime this year (2009)

* You have no clue what it's going to be. It may be something written, some physical thing made, could be anything at all, but I will make it myself. It's entirely my choice what it is. No quibbles, no refunds.

* I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.

The catch?

Oh, the catch is that you put this in your journal as well. If you don't.. You don't get anything.

( and some vids )

I'm tempted to create some more creatures now, with a rule that parts of them are generated by algorithms, and with some randomness in place (otherwise where's the fun). So - tentacles, shells, maybe scales? If I make a series I could offer them as cards and prints on knockmysocksoff.co.uk :)

I had a play around with some code meico  posted recently, and ended up downloaded Context Free to try a few more ideas out. Which then got me in the mood for trying out Processing. It reminds me of the time I used to write code with AMOS Basic on the Amiga in the early nineties, because it was enjoyable and easy to get into. My friend John and I used to compete to create interesting code, whether it be fractals, 3D stuff, image processing, rendering animations, or copying nice effects we'd seen in the amiga demoscene.

I never quite managed to keep a copy of all the source code, and I'm kicking myself over it now. What I do remember though was one simple effect my friend came up with, so as a quick test, I've ported that to Processing.

Scrolling fractal triangle.

This port I've written runs through each pixel applying bitwise XOR and shifting the result along. If we were doing the same in AMOS at the time, it would never have been realtime. Fortunately, we could do graphic operations with the blitter chip to 'XOR copy' a whole line in one go so it ran just as fast. I wonder if there are more efficient ways (like blits) to do this in Processing.

Must go back to bed ... might be able to sleep now.

</lj>

Just having some fun comparing photos from my visit a couple of years ago, to some photos of Obama's inauguration. I was wandering around there on a fairly quiet winter day in 2007, on a break from some contract work there. I had a good day. I'd managed to track down a goth club there so that made it all the more fun (getting distracted now, I just found myself taking a peek at their set lists, not that I expect to be back anytime soon!). Better get back to work.

( Quiet vs busy )

Anyone remember this?



Actually, maybe no one here. *shrugs*. Super Mario Brothers clone that got into hot water with Nintendo and taken off the market shortly after it went on sale. But then everyone had pirate copies of it. It was fun at the time.

( only worth reading on if you're interested in C64/Amiga music stuff )

Ahh, nostalgia.

Meme nicked from johnnyrandom's facebook note.

1. Put your iTunes/iPod/MP3 player on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS!
4. Tag any friends who might enjoy doing the same as well as the person you got the note from.

....

( Read more... )

Oh well, made me giggle for a bit. Back to making some chocolate...

Well, I think it's about time I put some proper 'interests' into my livejournal profile rather than just films and music.

sleepycinderell's cards are now available on the website!

Have a peek

I'm now wondering where to advertise the site. I've got the facebook campaign which has resulted in a couple of fans (!), plus a good few click throughs. I've also set up google ads and had a few click throughs from there. Wondering if there's a relevant LJ community I'd be allowed post an advert on...

The website I've been putting together for artist friends is up and running and you can have a browse through some cards, prints, and Mo's mirror frames here at KnockMySocksOff. More to come.

I've created a page on facebook for which I'm running a small ad campaign for over the next week to test the water and see how the 'targetted ads' system works out. I'll also have a go at google ads, I'm just hesitant about doing that because I feel that there should be a few more artists and artwork in place and a nicer site design (in progress) for it to work effectively. If there's anyone I've asked (or not) who has some artwork or craftwork kicking about they'd like to sell as prints, cards, originals, etc, let me know.

On another topic, I'm growing a moustache for charity this month. I shaved my beard off completely on 1st Movember and I've been working hard to grow a Fu Manchu-style moustache.

D x

Popped into the 'red sugar' raw food shop for lunch today. They've started doing savoury food so I wanted to try some. They've got flat breads with dips, salads, and other things I've yet to explore. I had a selection of flat breads, unusual and not really bread like at all. Very tasty nonetheless, and the 'pine nut cheese' dip works really well. Then I picked up some of their raw cakes, including an experimental one - absolutely delicious as always.

I also got carried away in the shop and picked up some:

o bitter apricot kernels
o mesquite powder (adds texture to recipes and staves off hunger very well apparently)
o lucuma powder (a popular ice cream flavour in some places, tastes of vanilla and maple)
o dark agave syrup (fructose/glucose sugars - nice and sweet and contains iron, calcium, potassium, magnesium)
o cocoa butter (like all the above, I've yet to try using it in any recipes)
o and more cocoa beans.

I've just eaten a few bitter apricot kernels. They're really yummy and have a *very* strong amaretto flavour that's lingering in my mouth. I could easily munch through lots of them, but I stopped when I read the warning that there's the risk of cyanide poisoning. It's advised to eat less than 8 kernels within an hour to avoid the risk, and eating the whole pack in one go, although not worthy of a Darwin Award, would nevertheless be a rather stupid and horrible way to go. Now I know.

So, I need to come up with some ideas for what to make with all of this! Smoothies are the easy option, cakes would be more fun to try.

Oh, and I spotted that someone tried to make a 2D version of Portal.

Lots more TF2 and HL2 and Halo vids under the cut

( Read more... )

A couple of songs that were bugging me because they were getting stuck in my head. Couldn't find the lyrics for them anywhere, so I ended up writing them down to see if I could figure out what they're about :/

( KLOQ - I Never Said (Vid + Lyrics) )


( KLOQ - Connecting (Vid + Lyrics) )

The cakes are not a lie
Originally uploaded by doxley

o Rum and Calvados Muffins

o Vodka Fairy Cakes with Midori Icing and Curacao Icing.

o Midori Jelly (agar based, vegetarian)

nom nom...

Edit: the wee jelly is cat shaped, not sure if that's clear here

Been around a while, so might be old for some.

here

Yeah yeah it's old hat but it's a nice crisp version compared to others I've seen. Now I want to see if I can track down my turntable illusions book, it's been a while...

Buckwheat and Chestnut cake recipe

It's been months since I last made one of these. I'm not going to bother with writing out the full recipe, just follow the madeira cake recipe here. Instead of using self raising flour, use buckwheat flour (easy to find) and chestnut flour (if you can find some). I find two thirds buckwheat and one third chestnut works well, and remember to add a few teaspoons of baking powder. Also, less sugar is needed because the chestnut flour is sweet. So far all the cakes I've made to this recipe turned out rather dry, but still quite tasty, and they go down very well with a cup of tea.

Tonight I've tried to make it less dry. Thanks sabledemon, for the idea to use creme fraiche or mascarpone, I didn't have either at hand so thought I'd try using *soya yoghurt* instead. Ended up dropping a whole 500ml tub in by accident. It's a much lighter fluffier result, yay!

One evening last week I was sitting in the livingroom watching telly, when out of the corner of my eye I noticed there was something running quite fast across the rug. My first thought was 'mouse!' We've had a few mice in the past, and they tend to appear towards the end of the year. Anyway, I turned to look for it and no, it was a f***ing big spider. It disappeared under the sofa bed I was sitting on.

I went off to get a torch, and coming back I shone the light under the sofa. I expected it to be long hidden by then so I was looking off towards the far ends of the sofa, but then I realised it was just a few centimetres from my face and staring right back, flexing it's mandibles.

After recovering from that second shock, I managed to coax it out from there, and it ran off again really fast. Fortunately though, it ran to the sideboard which doesn't have any gaps to hide in or under. Trapped it in a glass and put it outside quite far away from the flat. I know they're completely harmless, but large ones like that just freak me out.

I'm wondering if it was disturbed by a mouse try to find it's way in. I've been hearing some very faint scuffling noises these last few evenings.