Date: 2008-11-02 11:52:02 Created: null
Yesterday Filip somehow discovered that Quake 2 has been ported to Java. The implementation is called Jake 2, and I was very pleasantly suprised by it. Once I got it working at all (I tried it on Pomum first, but the installer didn't finish properly. The developers are asking for Mac help, so no hard feelings and high hopes for the future.) the game ran perfectly in all ways I could think of, and the speed is nothing to sneeze at. I played some deathmatches against Filip over the internet and didn't notice any slowdowns or glitches anywhere. Perhaps I should consume first person shooters a bit more often, even if they don't seem too innovative. It was fun to play this one again, and it certainly didn't break any new ground.
Also, I must have played Quake 2 back in the days a lot more than I remembered; I felt the weapons were mapped to logical number keys. Logical. The scars run deep ...
Today I've been reading a bit about Office 12 user interface things. I had seen a shot or two of the new "ribbon" interface layout before, but hadn't done anything to get part the initial reflexive skepticism. But now I've done some reading and looking, and it's starting to look like a good thing indeed. As soon as the download finishes (it's a lot slower here than it was at work, for some reason), I'm going to watch a video interview about it too. It seems like the worst that can happen is that everyone hates the new layout before they've learned to use it, and that there's a switch somewhere that puts you back in mess-of-menus-and-toolbars-and-and-and-land before even trying to get your bearings.
Nobody likes Microsoft as a whole, but there are tons of parts that seem really nice in themselves. Aren't developer blogs just great?
The blob looks a bit blurry here, is that just me?