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  1. updates galore!

    Hellohello!

    The unemployment is going wonderfully. I've had a nice amount of time to work on the site in this short window of time before life gets serious again. So here it is: a brand new game for your gaming pleasure. Actually, two games in one. Check out the "focus" page, and be sure to notice the buttons in the lower corners.

    Oh, and I couldn't get that stupid Men Without Hats "We can dance if you want to" song out of my head, so I did a cover of it to mock it. Check it out on the music page. Sadly, the damn thing is still stuck in my head.

    Believe me, more updates are soon to come. The upcoming project should be VERY cool when it's ready.

    Peace out!

    Posted 2004-08-22 00:00:00 PST by henriquez. Comments
  2. it's unemployment!

    Long time, no blog, eh? Perhaps I've been feeling more than a little sheepish at having pansied out of my truck unloading job. Having heavy machinery fall on your head and getting thrown into piles of damp, filthy laundry does tend to make a person less enthusiastic. But the temp agency has gotten me various other crappy manual labor jobs since. Whatever.

    In any case, I've saved enough up to return to Santa Cruz and get a place, so that's good. Speaking of Santa Cruz, the Univerity (which I can no longer afford) sent me a packet with some forms the other day. But it wasn't just ANY packet of forms. No, it was super deluxe. The forms arrived in a high quality, full-color printed folder that looked like it had been designed by a professional graphic designer. "WOW," said I, "this is eye-catching and aesthetically pleasing!" And it only probably cost $3 to print the damn thing. Multiply that by 15,000 resident students (forget postage and graphic designer fees), and the whole project still doesn't cost as much as it would cost me to go to school there this fall as an out-of-stater. But that's not my point.

    What really bugs me is that the place spends tens of thousands of dollars designing, printing and mailing total frivolities when they're broke, their students are broke and they have to raise the cost of tuition faster than inflation to keep from totally collapsing. It just doesn't make sense! I tell you, it's crazy!

    Um, as for the site, no major updates lately. I've been thinking about making a computer game in Flash and even designed a few sprites. Here's our hero, the fabulous undefined:

    will you be punished

    Hope you like. Ta ta for now.

    Posted 2004-08-06 00:00:00 PST by henriquez. Comments
  3. it's work!

    Howdy.

    Last time I blogged, I believe it was the night after my first day on the job, I was raving about my crappy job. Thankfully, my company rewards the long-time employees who tough it out and hang in there. So on my second day, I got promoted.

    Now I work on the loading docks. It's 50 hours a week of heavy manual labor. And you know what? I love it. It's much more fulfilling than folding napkins all day, it's getting paid to work out, and it's driving trucks around. And all the overtime I'm getting makes it even better!

    Ahh, I love my job. I suppose the promotion could have had something to do with the last person who had the job being fired, (and who subsequently returned to threaten my manager, if only to have the police called on him) but I like to think of it as a gift from heaven.

    It is all part of my plan to return to Santa Cruz this fall. Since I'm out of state AND the economy is fucked, it would cost $40,000 to go back to school at the University of California in Santa Cruz for another year. Screw that. I'm saving up money to move down there, get a place, and work until I establish residency. Then it will be relatively free to go to school there and Pop Tarts will grow on trees.

    And no more undefined.

    Posted 2004-07-19 00:00:00 PST by henriquez. Comments
  4. chess update

    Per the request of the illustrious undefined (who totally kicks my ass at chess) I've made it so that each player starts out with their pieces on the bottom. Before, white would always be on the bottom, and black would always be on top, but no more!

    I had to modify quite a bit of code to achieve this, so new bugs may have been introduced. So, as always, be on the lookout!

    I hope this makes the game feel more like natural to whoever plays as black. I really appreciate comments, suggestions and feedback, and hope to get more of them!

    Blah, it's 5:40 AM and I have to go to work soon. Which sucks (more than it normally would) because I can't sleep because I've been having nightmares about how I hate this job. I have to stand slightly hunched over for 8 hours in this 120 degrees Farenheit laundry room and fold napkins and towels as quickly as possible as they're spat out of this giant industrial drying machine that blasts hot air in my face. It's so much fun, the nightmares were about how I wish I could work their 24 hours a day, 7 days a week but CAN'T.

    Whatever, at least it's $$$. Peace out.

    Posted 2004-07-14 00:00:00 PST by henriquez. Comments
  5. Z-Chess Beta

    Well, I finally buckled down and finished it. Z-Chess is ready to go! It's a real-time two player chess game. Just find a friend, sign up and get a game going. Right now it's still in beta testing and may be a little buggy, but it's playable (when the server isn't being all erratic).

    I wrote it because I like playing chess with my friends. We're all spread out across the country now, so there's no way to play in person, and Yahoo chess is ugly and distracting (banners). I've made Z-Chess to be aesthetically simple, yet extensively functional. I hope you'll agree.

    It should work fine, but if something DOES go wrong, try closing your browser and coming back. As long as one person stays in the game, it won't disappear off the list.

    Oh, and another thing: if you find that it won't let you move a piece to a place you normally could, IT'S NOT A BUG! You'd be moving yourself into check, and the game treats it the same way as if you tried to move a rook diagonally.

    Anyway, be on the lookout for bugs (and a man called X) and give me a holler if you find any. Enjoy! :-)

    Posted 2004-07-10 00:00:00 PST by henriquez. Comments