rdegree

Remember The Cheaper Alternatives Too

Otto Rask — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 09:37:02 +0000

I had a problem with my phone for a while. “While” meaning nearly six months. It kept depleting its battery quite often, and lately it had turned itself off even with its battery loaded at 80 percent (or 4 blocks as its shown on the phone’s screen).

I asked some pals about the problem and how to fix it. Everyone said I should replace the phone. It is five years old, doesn’t have any new cool things such as a huge (touch) screen, painless web browsing, email things, etc. Although it has a 1.3 megapixel(!) camera.

But it works. I can call and text message people. I can keep some notes, view the calendar and so on. But if it didn’t work as expected, what could I do?

I was looking for new phones and struggled to keep my old phone turned on (loading it twice a day sometimes). Some looked nice, some bad, some were cheap, some expensive. I wanted a “superphone”, for a change from my old one. I considered an iPhone or a new Nokia Communicator… But they were too pricey.

When finding nothing which would fit me, I walked towards the doors. Then it hit me. If the battery keeps depleting, why in the hell not try a new battery?

I turned back, asked for a battery for my phone model, handed the clerk 35 euros, headed home, plugged the new battery in, loaded it and then waited…

Right now I’ve been running on that same load for two and a half days. Not a single “block” has dissappeared from my screen. Remember folks, there is almost always a cheaper alternative.

By the way, anyone know how to fix an unresponsive phone button? My “7/pqrs” needs some extra pressing to work properly.

WordPress 2.8

Otto Rask — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 11:42:36 +0000

I just heard WordPress 2.8 has been released. WP developers say its cooler, smoother and simpler to use for blogging. I wonder if that goes to other things than blogging too. I haven’t used 2.8 yet, but once I do I’ll be sure to make a little post describing my experience.

If you wish, you can view the big list of changes from version 2.7 at their Codex. The biggest changes they seem to be promoting are themes and widgets. No wonder, as widgets are now even easier to use, manage and customize, and themes have gained the popular “one-click-install” procedure as well.

Remember to backgroundify your <body> elements

Otto Rask — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 09:25:20 +0000

Today I was in trouble. My girlfriend had turned the user setting of the page background to black on her Opera. This she did to “save energy”, which sounds a bit trivial to me, as she has a small LCD.

Anyway, I tried to open a page, but I didn’t see anything but blue links and a few images. I wondered what was going on, but realized that it must be the black background doing its tricks here. I didn’t know where or how it could be set to white again, so I took a deep breath and opened the page in Internet Explorer. It loaded fine and everything was viewable again.

So this is a word of advice to all CSS coders: remember to give a background color and a base text color to your elements:

body {
          background: #FFF;
          color: #000;
     }

Now user settings will be over-written and texts are readable with some basic CSS and you can override these styles later on in your CSS files.

I also told my girlfriend to change the black background to a dark gray. It’s still dark but I don’t need to open IE if an accident has happened.

I’m Officially A Senior High School Graduate

Otto Rask — Sat, 30 May 2009 09:52:35 +0000

Finished, done, over, whatever you wan’t to call it. But my senior high studies are exactly that.

White cap has been given, summer hymns have been sung and each of the graduates have been applauded and congratulated. Damn I’m glad. You might not be as excited but I am, and with a long lasting smile I could walk out of the doors of our school.

But I need to prepare for a day-lasting festive here at my place. Got to go.

Next up: army in july.

Been Busy, UT3 Modding And Web Developing

Otto Rask — Mon, 11 May 2009 16:44:53 +0000

I’ve been quite quiet (as always maybe). Just thought to let you know that I’ve been doing some level designing for UT3 and web developing for a few sites. I’ve also got a somewhat secret game project going on with UT3, but I’ll share something if I actually get the thing off the ground.

I’m also working on a few tutorials soon, depending on the time on my hands. And sometime this summer I might release a punBB theme.

Anyways, I’ll be updating later on. Thanks for reading.

My New Canon EOS 450D & A Photoevening At Aulanko

Otto Rask — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 00:25:31 +0000

Here it is, laying on my bed. The humongous—at least when compared to my tiny Casio—thing really makes me feel funny inside. I’ve always dreamed for a fully-fledged digital SLR camera. Not the very best around, but absolutely good enough for an amateur-intermediate like me. My dad bought it for me as an early senior high school graduation gift.

For a day I learned the basic functions (of which some are still a bit of a mystery to me). The manual—which I actually read this time—is very useful. The software which shipped along is quite useful too. The 450D feels sturdy and solid, but still I’m a bit affraid to handle it. After using it only for a few days I can’t get thorough, but perhaps later on I’ll post my list of goodness and suckness of this camera. You’ll have to wait a while though.

Me and my girlfriend went to a photo session to a local natural park, Aulanko. It was fun and we both took pictures everywhere. The only thing that nagged me was that my computer froze from time to time when post processing the large resolution photos I took. Here’s some of them (click for a larger version):

It was a splendid evening. We just ran around trying to find subjects and what not to take photos of.

The 450D is very good, but I will need to go out there and learn the best methods to use it. We’re going on another photoevening with my girlfriend tonight. More time to learn new things.

What I have left to say is a thanks for my dad, who listened to my wishes and bought the SLR for me as a gift. Thanks!

Joined Twitter & New Space Art

Otto Rask — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 11:56:21 +0000

I decided to jump on the “Twitterbus” and start tweeting myself. If you use Twitter and need a follower, be sure to post a comment linking to your Twitter page and I’ll check it out.

I also made some space art last night. Nothing complex, a star field with a nebula. You can view it at deviantART. I’ve also got a print for it in the dA store, if you like to see unknown galaxies and stars around on your walls.

Portfolio Up And Running And A Small Design Update

Otto Rask — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 21:16:56 +0000

Portfolio

Hello world. My new portfolio called Rfolio is up. With a 125Mb package, you’re guaranteed to see—and even hear!—awesome things. Expect to see digital space art, photography, designs, music and other oddities.

But a word of advice: its not rdegree after that anymore. I decided to keep the two separated to keep my job smaller. I could whip up a design quickly and apply code to it. I have a bit more control how my things are displayed (pure HTML there). Et cetera.

Design Update

That’s right, I took the time to fix a flaw in the design: uninterestingness (is that even a word?). I added some graphics here and there, but not too distracting ones. Readibility and usability should be like it used to, or miraculously it got even better. And the icons on the sidebar (except the feed icon) were all created by me from scratch. Quite nice for a first timer, eh?

Anyways, enjoy the new portfolio and this design update. I’ve been trying to work on some more UE3 tutorials and other funky stuff.

School’s Done, For Now

Otto Rask — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 14:21:42 +0000

Whew, senior high school is finished! Three years have passed and here I am. More educated again and ready for new stuff.

I took six final exams, of which three were held last fall, rest this winter. I participated in the exams of History, Geography, English, Finnish, Physics and Extended Maths. I did somewhat well on classes too, gaining me a grade average of a bit over 8 (B-C for you who use alphabets). What’s left are the grand graduation parties and formalities. Unless I failed the damn maths. Let’s hope not.

I’m planning on keeping a long holiday before July 13th, the day I join the Finnish national army ranks. That lasts between half a year to a year. After that I’m headed to polytechnic schooling, concetrating on either media or information technology. Interesting things ahead, I might say.

Huge Discount For UT3 On Steam And A Free UT3 Weekend

Otto Rask — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 20:10:58 +0000

Previously the price of Unreal Tournament 3 on Steam was around 20 euros, but now they’ve really surprised me: get the game and the new Titan Pack (together called UT3 Black) for a mere 11,99€ (but be quick, the deal ends March 15th)! The Titan Pack includes new gametypes, maps and much more, you can read more about it in my earlier post.

And that’s not it yet, Steam offers a free tryout of UT3 for the rest of this week for all Steam users interested about UT3. If you have a Steam account, you can play UT3 for free for the rest of the week! Just join Steam and get playing! Be sure to take advantage of the great deal mentioned above if you like the game.