Update: 3-22-20

Howdy, folks! Hope you’re all staying safe and/or warm! 🙂

I still haven’t received my Librem5 smartphone yet, but, this is understandable due to the COVID-19 pandemic that the world is currently dealing with, and the fact that the phone is manufactured in China. >_<

I have also ordered a Pinebook Pro from PINE64, which only costs $199. The website indicates that orders will be shipped out by May. So, once we finally make it there, either I will have a 64 bit ARM laptop, or (hopefully) smartphone to tinker with.

I have also recently purchased a $40 Android tablet that I am looking into root-hacking so that I can get a Linux distribution running upon it as well. However things may pan out, I want to get started with my “Linux mobile” game development series so people can begin to migrate away from x86/x86-64 hardware.

So, why migrate away? Recently, more vulnerabilities have been published (more variations of side-channel attacks) that demonstrate that x86-based processors are not that secure. As a hardware developer, it seems clear to me that Intel’s relatively unchallenged market position made the organization overconfident and complacent when it manufactured the majority of their chips, and now AMD joins them. Note that most ARM-based mobile devices contain an A53 processor which is not vulnerable. However, a list of ARM-based processors that *are* vulnerable can be found here.

So, please bear with me as I try to get a Linux mobile environment set up. I think it’s very important to find a cost-effective, open-source solution for everybody. One I have found that, I will begin this new journey into a world of post-x86 game development. 🙂

Oh, yeah! Once RISC-V becomes more mainstream, I will probably being using RISC-V hardware exclusively. So, I’ll make sure to write articles that educate readers about it as well.

Until next time!

Cheers! 🙂

LMMS 1.2.0 Released

Finally, after four years of development, the LMMS Digital Audio Workstation has been officially updated to version 1.2.0! This update brings about major UI improvements, tons of bug fixes, and the application itself is now distributed as an AppImage for those of us using GNU/Linux. You can just download it and give it a go. Convenient! 🙂

The LMMS AppImage can be downloaded directly from the LMMS website, or you can grab the application’s source over on Github, if you prefer.

Happy music-making, everyone!

Cheers! 🙂

Ludum Dare, Godot Engine, and Other Stuff

Hey, hey, hey! 😀

The latest Ludum Dare results are up and running. Some of the game entries have incorporated the constantly-evolving Godot Engine (which has just released another 3.1 Alpha update recently…) I’m including some links below to games that both demonstrate the 2D and 3D capabilities of the engine, and they’re also open-source to boot! Check ’em out! 🙂

–Spaceship

–Soul Traveller [sic]

I’m excited about Godot’s upcoming OpenGL ES 2.0 support! For those of us who use Linux/*BSD, ES 2.0 covers the widest range of hardware platforms currently available on the market (including many inexpensive Single-Board Computers). So, once version 3.1 is released, I believe there may be an opportunity to expand beyond x86 and provide even more freedom to users.

I’m currently mulling also diving back into Godot just to see how much it’s improved. We’ll see. 🙂

Well, that’s all the news that’s fit to print! See you next time!

Cheers! 😀

“What the Heck’s a ‘Kuwanger’?” New Thoughts for a New Year

Howdy, folks! Happy New Year! 🙂

As we begin our journey into the many possibilities of 2018, I (as I usually do) reflect upon the more important questions of our mind-boggling existence. I’ve learned, after decades of shrugging and brushing it aside, that a “Kuwanger” (as in “Boomer Kuwanger” from Mega Man X) is some kind of beetle. I don’t know why CAPCOM didn’t simply put “Boomerang Beetle” (or something to that effect) for Mega Man X, but hey, it’s their game.

Moving on… >_>

There are a lot of exciting things coming up this year! On my end, I’m working on a sustainable technology platform that should lead to computers that operate at least an order of magnitude faster than what currently exist. On top of that, these machines are sourced from renewable materials, which will allow for a more inclusive hardware infrastructure. I’m also expanding my operating system development chops, and am becoming more familiar with the Rust Programming Language for bare-metal systems programming. So far, things seem promising!

On the Linux front, there are a lot of exciting updates for Blender, Krita, GIMP, and other Free Software tools just around the bend! I’ll be sure to post any news when it arrives.

I hope everyone reading this has a wonderful 2018!

Cheers! 🙂

Update: 5-26-16

Bonjour!

I’ve been very busy lately working on a personal project as well as dealing with some personal business.

I’ve also returned to working with Swift after much thought and consideration. I know I had previously proselytized Rust, however, after digging deeper into its Foreign Function Interface, I don’t think it’s as intuitive as I’d like. Doing the same thing in Swift would provide a zero-cost abstraction that I will find more useful for my purposes.

Besides that, I’m starting to get more and more into ARM computing for everyday use (including gaming!). I recently bought an ARM-based Chromebook that I’ve hacked to get Arch Linux running. It has been a very productive exercise in System Administration due to the “from scratch” nature of Arch. I recommend people willing to try something new to give it a shot!

I’ll do what I can to keep updating the blog with important topics. Unfortunately, most of the tools I’ve listed on this site haven’t had any significant updates in a while. : /

If you have any thoughts about a subject you’d like to learn more about, feel free to comment below. I’ll consider anything relevant to the domain of Free/Libre Open-Source Software.

Cheers!

Update: 6-21-15

Hello!

Just wanted to post a quick update before the month ran out.

I’ve been keeping an eye on the 4.2 release of the Linux kernel lately. The reason being due to its improved AMD GPU support, which will now sit directly inside of the kernel. This will eliminate the need to download any additional proprietary drivers (which I had to do after installing Debian “Jessie” on my Kaveri laptop).

My plan is to wait until 4.2 is released, purchase an AMD Carrizo laptop, and then finally make the switch to Debian “Stretch” (the operating system’s new “testing” environment).

Intel’s Skylake CPUs aren’t that far away, either, and I’ve read that they should be reaching laptops around the end of Q3 this year. 2015 is turning into an interesting and exciting year for computers! 🙂

Cheers!

Budget Laptops: Part Tres/Trois/Tre/Trei/Three

Hiya!

So, now that AMD has recently announced the release of its Carrizo mobile APUs (which means that everybody should see some laptop offerings in the near future), it’s time to cover budget laptops again. So, without further ado, here are two models that you can sink your teeth into.

The first offering, here, is a Intel Broadwell-based laptop with a 2.2 GHz CPU (two cores, four threads), 4 GB of RAM, and 500 GB of storage. The memory should be upgradeable to 16 GB, and if you look at the specifications sheet, you’ll see that it also comes with a Gigabit Ethernet port! Yay! 😀

The second offering, here, is a AMD A10-7300 APU-based laptop with a 1.9 GHz CPU (four cores, four threads), 8 GB of RAM, and 1 TB of storage. The memory here is also upgradeable to 16 GB, and it has a Gigabit Ethernet port as well. Having already owned a Kaveri laptop, I can attest to the value of this setup, and encourage people to try out a AMD machine if they haven’t already.

Both offerings are for less than $400.00 (which is great in my book), and are compatible with the current version of the Linux kernel. If you’re looking to try out a different Open-Source operating system, however, I read on Phoronix that DragonflyBSD has recently added Intel Broadwell graphics support to its repertoire. I don’t know if this feature has made it into a release candidate yet, but it’s worth checking out!

On the development front, I’ve pretty much finished my audio framework. The next step is to create some content and test out both the graphics and audio tools I’ve built. I’ll post another update once I’ve made some more progress.

Until next time! 🙂

Debian 8 “Jessie” Released

Debian 8 has finally been released by the Debian Project. You can grab the release and read about the latest changes here. In accordance with their “Toy Story” naming scheme, the “testing” branch has been renamed to “Stretch”. I don’t know when I’ll make the switch (to the new testing environment), but will probably do so when it becomes feasible.

So, go grab a blank DVD if you’ve got one, because (so far), Debian seems to be the best Linux distro I’ve used. Most of the articles I’ve written are with respect to users who are creating games within the GNU/Linux userspace.

Cheers!

A Note of Caution If You’re Just Starting to Use Windows 8+

Howdy!

So, I just got a new Dell laptop in the mail (which contains the latest Intel Broadwell chipset, a 4K-resolution screen, and a dedicated AMD 4GB card), so I was eager to try it out.

What I wasn’t so eager to do, was create a “Microsoft Account” in order to get the darn thing to finish setting up. Just so you know, you DON’T have to do this.

If you click on the “Create new account” link, you’ll find a “Create a local account” option at the bottom of the following screen. Using that will give you the standard-issue path of just creating a new user for your computer, and prompt you to create a username and password.

I’m against any attempts by any company to get you to reveal personal information just to use your machine, so keep your eyes peeled for that “local account” option if you’re new to Windows 8. It took me a second to find it, but I’m glad I did!

Sneaky, Microsoft. >_> Grrrrr. 😡

…

I post this in the hope that future Windows users will be able to retain their privacy and autonomy (which you can also easily do if you switch to Linux… just sayin’). 🙂

Cheers!

There’s Nothing Wrong With Being Nice

Hello!

So, there’s been some news recently about Linux and diversity. I don’t understand why this issue exists, and I fully support environments that encourage people from all backgrounds to learn about and write software.

As for Linus being a jerk, behavior like that is completely uncalled for. It’s almost psychotic how somebody can work in a profession that requires so much thought, yet demonstrate so little of it when they communicate with other people. I encourage anybody reading this to not identify with that kind of behavior, and to always make the effort to politely communicate your viewpoint. If you think that that makes you fake (which some people have written, but I won’t post that link because it makes me want to punch through a wall! 😡 ), then you’re mistaken. What’s wrong is not demonstrating any sensitivity toward your audience (which requires considering where they’re coming from (also known as “empathy”)), and not making the effort to be thoughtful with your words.

Perhaps, then, a better approach is to simply focus on the details themselves. Presenting your argument in a way that is objective, and lacking in personal volatility, doesn’t diminish its effectiveness, it will enhance it. Simply put, you are presenting the facts; immutable, solid, and without bias. If somebody takes offense to that, then it may be possible that your audience is hyper-sensitive, which makes their own behavior questionable. You can feel no guilt in taking them with a grain of salt.

…

Whew! 🙂

Haven’t blown steam like that in a while. If you take one thing away from this post, let it be this: Be Nice. When in doubt, regardless of the topic or the details about it, be nice.

Remember that John Watson quote: “Be kind to others, for everyone is fighting a hard battle.”

Cheers!