tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-107652832024-03-14T22:47:34.456+13:00The Fat Lazy GuyAn insight into the inner machinations of a fat and lazy male.Apex Zombiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04831580250709824079noreply@blogger.comBlogger46125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10765283.post-64541466818191709942009-12-03T22:30:00.002+13:002009-12-03T22:33:05.921+13:00I'm blogging elsewhere!Join me at:<br /><a href="http://thefatlazyguyslog.blogspot.com"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Fat Lazy Guy's Log</span></span></a><br /><br />This blog has had it's time. Concentrating all my blogging efforts at the above link.Apex Zombiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04831580250709824079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10765283.post-19212803200807058022008-09-01T18:28:00.003+12:002009-12-03T22:33:35.903+13:00ShadWow, long time no post. Honestly, this blog is so under used. Sorry about that.<br /><br />Anyway, I just randomly caught this video clip from Shad on Alt TV. It's called The Old Prince Still Lives at Home. Check it:<br /><br /><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/pHhxbMSk7J8&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/pHhxbMSk7J8&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" height="344" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br />Dude's really got some old school flavor, but it sounds fresh. Really tight.<br /><br />Check some other vids on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9e98UE5dhY&feature=related">Youtube</a>. And check out his <a href="http://www.myspace.com/shad">myspace</a> for a free download.Apex Zombiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04831580250709824079noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10765283.post-19236723551352697472008-06-19T23:14:00.003+12:002009-12-03T22:37:28.023+13:00Firefox 3It's finally here, and it's AWESOME.<br /><br />Yes, Firefox 3 has now been officially released, and you can download it <a href="http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/all.html">here</a>.<br /><br />Let's just face it, Firefox pWns IE. And now, Firefox 3 pWns it even harder. Right after installing I could tell it was faster. I've never bought into that whole faster thing. With FF2 and IE7, I couldn't tell the difference. But with FF3... it's discernibly faster, and that is awesome :D<br /><br />But yeah, aside from that, there are some cosmetic changes, and it's now rendering the "dotted" border attribute as rounded dots, rather than square dots, and that's about all I really notice at the moment.<br /><br />So go <a href="http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/all.html">download</a> it!Apex Zombiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04831580250709824079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10765283.post-69378570229107887302008-06-18T20:46:00.007+12:002009-12-03T22:37:53.105+13:00CDex IconSo, remember how I was talking about that <a href="http://cdexos.sourceforge.net/">CDex</a> icon? This one:<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM5vATZwDAPWS9TTjyesDLsddh2uq7O40zBjmKS2ILKCkQ-7DD3LYq_51bIx29Tkyx9MzbI7z_asKdxa1UVmcupkdUYFyJ6JlirdrDVks-MZFEZqnhhghatTC13qdeGkTK0Qeu-w/s1600-h/CDex.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM5vATZwDAPWS9TTjyesDLsddh2uq7O40zBjmKS2ILKCkQ-7DD3LYq_51bIx29Tkyx9MzbI7z_asKdxa1UVmcupkdUYFyJ6JlirdrDVks-MZFEZqnhhghatTC13qdeGkTK0Qeu-w/s400/CDex.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210660552307036194" border="0" /></a><br /></div>I mentioned I was going to make a new one, and well, I've done just that. Take a look:<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Old7XYDmczY_8BJdHsTqN53i_LfDNq9m7OJnennU13R2W3VwCKj5F-5N6pUP0CYW5bCNrDlwUFxIZIdLJbLXgdqoDmM8FL5x-DydN05BGp0pAsp8vWKA2Rc-HM_LECmrnWR8rw/s1600-h/CDex.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Old7XYDmczY_8BJdHsTqN53i_LfDNq9m7OJnennU13R2W3VwCKj5F-5N6pUP0CYW5bCNrDlwUFxIZIdLJbLXgdqoDmM8FL5x-DydN05BGp0pAsp8vWKA2Rc-HM_LECmrnWR8rw/s400/CDex.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5213154700289137378" border="0" /></a><br /></div>So yeah, it pretty much looks nothing like the old one. I originally had the idea to do just do a CD with "ex" in small letters in the bottom corner or something. Then I saw this icon:<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5domqfmMx2JPpDC28M2H2vvz9LFvnEliYuvsog00rRSg8kZm7_DLXb8VEyje7I4tBla9L1E8ppvz3o2a1xEzCPjr-YDRmDTwUKTGX3uVbTBh_aL8D_OOkLWyqyJZjB9aN_KmYGA/s1600-h/CD.png"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5domqfmMx2JPpDC28M2H2vvz9LFvnEliYuvsog00rRSg8kZm7_DLXb8VEyje7I4tBla9L1E8ppvz3o2a1xEzCPjr-YDRmDTwUKTGX3uVbTBh_aL8D_OOkLWyqyJZjB9aN_KmYGA/s400/CD.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5213195492895344674" border="0" /></a><br /></div>designed by <a href="http://www.gluelondon.com/theteam.php">Simon Cook</a>, and I thought the X in the middle was great. So I made my own CD with the X in the middle, then put the "e" on the left. It didn't quite feel finished, so I put an upside down "e" on the other side. I thought about doing "e"s all the way around, but it wouldn't have been right.<br /><br />Like the K-Meleon icon, it took quite a long time. Lots of masks. Lots of different colour choices, but that orange just got into my head.<br /><br />Anyway, if you want to use it, click <a href="http://www.zshare.net/download/13802742d72f0a70/">here</a> to download it.Apex Zombiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04831580250709824079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10765283.post-7818586739526638732008-06-12T04:30:00.004+12:002009-12-03T22:38:22.775+13:00Karma K-MeleonGeez, it's been about a month since I've posted in here. I haven't had much to post about, and I hate just regurgitating other information, so blah.<br /><br />But anyway, I've found a new hobby (sure to last only a few days). That hobby is creating icons.<br /><br />It started when I began trying to make my own PS3 theme. I scoured the net for icons to use on the XMB, and came across some really great icons. <a href="http://www.iconarchive.com/">IconArchive.com</a>, <a href="http://iconbase.com/">iconBase.com</a>, and <a href="http://www.iconspedia.com/">IconsPedia.com</a> have some great selections (though you'll find plenty of overlap).<br /><br />So I d/led some icons to replace various ones on my computer, and started noticing all the ugly icons I had left that I hadn't been able to find replacements for. Well, there was only about 4 or 5 that I thought needed changing, and now there are only 2.<br /><br />The first icon I made was for Google Talk. The original icon: <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQGcgyIZr81ua6ddk54mG2ChcX6rTiCOOSeYtfcnEr_lDAUjtjzOW_n9tcpyU5rJv8OPLWrRaCZfCh16iibK7eENe34fFQ_LwSplVLHdlnEL6rvvQo6XME4kRfh7GDkS6nhkBC8w/s1600-h/google_talk-icon.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQGcgyIZr81ua6ddk54mG2ChcX6rTiCOOSeYtfcnEr_lDAUjtjzOW_n9tcpyU5rJv8OPLWrRaCZfCh16iibK7eENe34fFQ_LwSplVLHdlnEL6rvvQo6XME4kRfh7GDkS6nhkBC8w/s400/google_talk-icon.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210642980195053634" border="0" /></a> isn't necessarily ugly, I just wanted something a little more polished. Having searched for that icon up there, it came to my attention that there are quite a few custom icons for Google Talk, but never mind. Anyway, so this is what I came up with:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicQD-h3d5v9jfAuvk8l-7GqMQc2quv1kk0TzbRFivTuU23triiYsCe8hoO-Kw1Dh_SLoOkKAt2auKfiTxyO70bvrL5TqPA9vTwwK6TeAMgpFew3DZEdRdZvc3FPR5rfaybfhMfoA/s1600-h/Gtalk.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicQD-h3d5v9jfAuvk8l-7GqMQc2quv1kk0TzbRFivTuU23triiYsCe8hoO-Kw1Dh_SLoOkKAt2auKfiTxyO70bvrL5TqPA9vTwwK6TeAMgpFew3DZEdRdZvc3FPR5rfaybfhMfoA/s400/Gtalk.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210648382057469154" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />Note: The pink/green background isn't there on the actual icon.<br /><br />My second icon was made for <a href="http://kmeleon.sourceforge.net/">K-Meleon</a>. A little known browser running off the same gecko engine as Mozilla, Firefox, etc. I've become a bit of a browser collector lately, using Firefox, Opera, K-Meleon and (only when necessary) IE. But anyway, this was the original icon for K-Meleon: <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV2bgi0WnAYBEYqhYaOPSQ-AJk-8KDq_R_guhNqGSoTHoC6IjjdLalGUx4pnFj_2uzaSf5IJIMxec0g7K92xYddAZjladUG_CPODBhz9rdq_C532EFMc8VHuYb6_d93SmoEhcsEA/s1600-h/K-meleon_icon.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV2bgi0WnAYBEYqhYaOPSQ-AJk-8KDq_R_guhNqGSoTHoC6IjjdLalGUx4pnFj_2uzaSf5IJIMxec0g7K92xYddAZjladUG_CPODBhz9rdq_C532EFMc8VHuYb6_d93SmoEhcsEA/s400/K-meleon_icon.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210650348908644530" border="0" /></a> Kind of cutesy, but very pixelated, and not transparent. I went searching for custom icons on Google, but there was nothing. Anyway, it was a VERY long process, but in the end I came up with this:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguE4PivXtOFdEJXGrn3xRKPjdPbo1mtZM2QR_UApmErfkKGXyvReDTFW3CDjBkl_bRWt5I20oBOA6Rje1g3TcFw2GZp71Gn4EuqZcyAeRvuHgyDPMHONY2D1IHtzHI6hBxlLKkeA/s1600-h/K-Meleon.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguE4PivXtOFdEJXGrn3xRKPjdPbo1mtZM2QR_UApmErfkKGXyvReDTFW3CDjBkl_bRWt5I20oBOA6Rje1g3TcFw2GZp71Gn4EuqZcyAeRvuHgyDPMHONY2D1IHtzHI6hBxlLKkeA/s400/K-Meleon.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210660546989540754" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />Much better if I do say so myself. And again, the pink/green background isn't a part of the actual icon.<br /><br />The next couple I want to replace are the icons for <a href="http://audacity.sourceforge.net/">Audacity</a> and <a href="http://cdexos.sourceforge.net/">CDex</a>. There are a few custom Audacity icons around, but only one of them is any good (to me, at least), and that is this one <a href="http://johnlepinski.com/free/2008/02/audacity-simple-audio-editing-fx.html">here</a>. If you want to use the icon, just ask him (I did) and he'll send you the png which is awesome. So here's a plug to <a href="http://johnlepinski.com/">JohnLepinski.com</a>. He is one heck of a graphic designer.<br /><br />The current CDex icon is just plain horrible: <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM5vATZwDAPWS9TTjyesDLsddh2uq7O40zBjmKS2ILKCkQ-7DD3LYq_51bIx29Tkyx9MzbI7z_asKdxa1UVmcupkdUYFyJ6JlirdrDVks-MZFEZqnhhghatTC13qdeGkTK0Qeu-w/s1600-h/CDex.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM5vATZwDAPWS9TTjyesDLsddh2uq7O40zBjmKS2ILKCkQ-7DD3LYq_51bIx29Tkyx9MzbI7z_asKdxa1UVmcupkdUYFyJ6JlirdrDVks-MZFEZqnhhghatTC13qdeGkTK0Qeu-w/s400/CDex.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210660552307036194" border="0" /></a> I mean it's pixelated, it's not keeping in with the current trends. It's a very Win95 icon :D There's a couple out there for it, but they're not that great either, so I'll have to see what I can come up with.<br /><br />Btw, if you want that Google Talk icon, it's available <a href="http://www.zshare.net/download/13463861c7099661/">here</a> (<a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/"><img alt="Creative Commons License" style="border-width: 0pt;" src="http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc-sa/3.0/80x15.png" /></a>).Apex Zombiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04831580250709824079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10765283.post-30457639791110978172008-05-10T01:34:00.008+12:002009-12-03T22:38:57.418+13:00Savage -Swing (remix ft. Soulja Boy)So we've heard lots of news around the blogs about Savage doing great on the US iTunes, and that his single "Swing" would be getting remixed, and someone would be jumping on the track with him. Well, turns out it was ultimate love-to-hate/hate-to-love artist today, Soulja Boy.<br /><br />Here's the track:<br /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.daviddallas.co.nz/wp-content/plugins/podpress/players/1pixelout_player.swf" id="audioplayer1" height="24" width="290"><param name="movie" value="http://www.daviddallas.co.nz/wp-content/plugins/podpress/players/1pixelout_player.swf"><param name="FlashVars" value="playerID=1&bg=0xb56e2f&leftbg=0x825023&rightbg=0x6d431e&rightbghover=0xb56e2f&lefticon=0xcce80f&righticon=0xf33cb5&righticonhover=0xcce80f&text=0x402c1a&slider=0x402c1a&track=0xFFFFFF&loader=0xcce80f&border=0xf33cb5&autostart=no&soundFile=http://www.rapbuzz.com/mp3/2008/may/savage_ft_soulja_boy-swing.mp3"><param name="quality" value="high"><param name="menu" value="false"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.daviddallas.co.nz/wp-content/plugins/podpress/players/1pixelout_player.swf" quality="high" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" autostart="false" menu="true" height="30" width="300"></embed></object><br /><br />Personally, I never really liked the original song in the first place, and Soulja Boy's presence doesn't make it any better. In fact his little intro thing completely puts me off from the beginning. And what's this "Oh na na?"<br /><br />My final word on the track is if it's making a New Zealand artist some money, then I'm all for it. So go ahead Savage, and make your money.Apex Zombiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04831580250709824079noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10765283.post-264697358539759152008-04-28T21:20:00.000+12:002008-04-28T21:07:17.883+12:00MTV Australia AwardsFirst off, just wanted to say that the GTA: IV available in NZ is NOT the unedited version, it is infact the Aussie version. Stupid Take Two submitted the Aussie version to be classified. So it's not the NZ censor's fault, it's bloody Rockstar!<br /><br />But anyway, the awards.<br /><br />Absolutely horrible. We'll start with the beginning. That is Mischa Barton introducing the show and the host... "Wyclef Gene." [sic] From that moment on, it was destined to failure. Next came Wyclef's failed attempts at trying to connect with the Aussie audience. Then awards, and failed humor, performances, and more awards and everything all over again until it finished.<br /><br />Highlights of the night:<br /><ul><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Scribe</span> - It was pretty obvious Scribe would win, hell he was sitting right there with Sir-Vere. But the best part was his drunken speech. F***ing o-sum!</li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">The voiceover dude from Mythbusters</span> - You know that voice that would come out of no where to announce a performer or a presenter? That's the dude that does the voiceovers on Mythbusters! The narrator. <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1564951/">Robert Lee</a>.</li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Juliette Lewis and the Licks performance</span> - No, I didn't put this as a highlight because it was great. It was okay... up until the extended, full-band drum solo, or whatever it was. I had to change the channel, then change back, then change away, and then back, many times. Finally it seemed over, until Juliette proclaimed that we thought we knew her. Then the madness went on for about another minute or so. So satisfyingly horrific, I wouldn't be surprised to find it on Youtube one day soon.</li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Potbelleez performance</span> - The only performance that seemed to really connect with the whole crowd.</li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Swearing</span> - 'Nuff said.<br /></li></ul>Lowlights of the night:<br /><ul><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Veronicas having their mic's turned off</span> - At the beginning of the performance, they had their mics turned on, but their voices kept on being drowned out, so the directors or whatever decided to turn down their mics and turn up the pre-recorded vocals. And the tell tale sign was when they came together and walked to the front of the stage. They were saying things in the mic, but nothing was coming out :D</li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Wyclef hosting</span> - Dude's a great performer, song writer, all that. I'll give him props. But dude can't host awards shows. Get someone who knows what they're doing.<br /></li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">The whole freaking concept!</span> - Sports, acting, and karma awards, etc.? What the hell happened to best R&B/Hip Hop? Best Rock? Album of the Year? Way to go MTV Australia, you devalued all of your artists by not giving them something to go up against, just themselves. And you devalued the NZ artists. You completely fail at awards.</li></ul>It had it's moments, but mostly it was just a study into the depths of mediocrity. Let's hope next year they get their act together and do a proper awards ceremony.Apex Zombiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04831580250709824079noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10765283.post-63717492789073663152008-04-24T22:47:00.003+12:002008-04-24T22:52:14.582+12:00Lost Theft Auto: IVOnly a few more hours till Episode 9 of Season 4 finally hits our screens! I'm planning on rewatching all of Season 4 so far tomorrow, and finish it off with the new episode. I hope it lives up to all this hype :D<br /><br />Also, I preordered GTA:IV. Thank god New Zealand has an R18 rating, unlike Aussie. That's right, UNEDITED! Woo! April is a month of greatness!Apex Zombiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04831580250709824079noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10765283.post-52602490230386500722008-04-10T19:22:00.002+12:002008-04-10T19:45:05.692+12:00Lost - Midseason Break: Week 3Well, it's the end of our 3rd week without Lost, most of my withdrawal symptoms are fading, and I'm just generally looking forward to seeing some more Lost.<br /><br />As of this moment, only 14 more days left to go!<br /><br />Okay, so I lied, I'm dying for a Lost fix. I'm so tempted to buy the Lost season 3 dvds, but I really want to get them on Blu-ray, and they're not available on Blu-ray over here. So I'm forced to rewatch Season 4 so far, again. Did any of y'all catch the changing machines and the different breathing apparatus of that dude when Michael was in the hospital and he dreamed about Libby? I thought that was strange.<br /><br />But anyway, not a whole lot of info. According to <a href="http://darkufo.blogspot.com/2008/04/extra-hour-of-lost-for-season-4.html">DarkUFO</a>, there may be another hour of Lost this season! So that takes it from 5 remaining hours to 6!<br /><br />What are y'all doing to sate your Lost cravings?Apex Zombiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04831580250709824079noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10765283.post-70084501441280956692008-04-08T16:58:00.001+12:002008-04-08T17:00:08.792+12:00Hip Hop Blog UpdateSo as you are probably all aware if you keep up with the NZ Hip Hop blogs, the Tour of Dirty has made it's way around NZ, and that's pretty much all the talk has been on the blogs. Well there have been a few gems posted up lately that everyone should take a look at.<br /><br />First up, over on <a href="http://slicktalk.blogspot.com/">Slick Talk</a>, Slick-Van XL (a.k.a. PNC) has a <a href="http://slicktalk.blogspot.com/2008/04/swagger-jackin.html">great post up</a> about his song Just Roll. He's got a mix up that takes all the lines he references from 80s and 90s songs and puts them actual song. See if you can get them all :D He also explains about how he got the sample for the song, and it's quite an interesting story.<br /><br />Next, over on <a href="http://pmoneymusic.blogspot.com/">Full Disclosure</a>, P-Money's got a <a href="http://pmoneymusic.blogspot.com/2008/04/selling-beats.html">post about the NZ music industry</a>, and how one might go about selling beats. The disclaimer at the start mentions it's not an indepth explanation, but even this on-the-surface look at the NZ music industry is fascinating, and worth the read.<br /><br />Over on <a href="http://movingthecrowd.blogspot.com/">MTC</a>, they've got a few vids of their artists up. The two I found most interesting are of Young Sid. One is a <a href="http://movingthecrowd.blogspot.com/2008/04/young-sid-making-of-my-letter-video.html">behind the scenes clip</a> of the making of Sid's latest video for his single "My Letter", and the other is a <a href="http://movingthecrowd.blogspot.com/2008/04/young-sid-my-letter-video-preview.html">preview of said video</a>. The video looks like it's set to be pretty good from what I can see on the behind the scenes clip, although the preview looks quite... self-indulgent. So I won't make any decisions or anything till the whole thing comes out. I'm a fan of Sid, being from South Aucks and all, so yeah.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.daviddallas.co.nz/">David Dallas</a> is still pumping out the content like nobody's business. You'd think he'd want to relax after being on tour, I suppose that's why his manager <a href="http://www.daviddallas.co.nz/2008/04/01/p-money-featuring-david-dallas-pnc-get-back-41-remix/">upped the latest mix</a>. 41 has just remixed one of my favourite songs off of Magic City, Get Back, which features none other than Dave and PNC. If I'd never heard the original beat for this, I think this could have been a great choice, but the original can't be surpassed on this occasion. So go check it out, and if you haven't heard the original, watch this after the 1.59 mark:<br /><br /><object height="355" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/7TaY2dVVq88&rel=0&hl=en"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/7TaY2dVVq88&rel=0&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="355" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br />One more MTC post, this time from veteran <a href="http://www.back2basics.co.nz/default,107,blog.sm">DJ Sir-Vere</a>. Dude put up a <a href="http://www.back2basics.co.nz/default,1585,news_smashproof_newness.sm;jsessionid=66E3442C9D2B4354C37ACE829F0CD94B">post hyping Smashproof's new stuff</a> hard, and I've got to say it's got me excited. He makes a great point concerning Tyree, and people not feeling his flow or lyrical ability, and I have to say I was one of them. I know the guy has musical talent (I was in his music class in High School, the dude is hella talented), so it's great to here Sir-Vere say he's a lot better than he was. So yeah, I'm looking forward to hearing some new Smashproof.<br /><br />Finally, we end our journey with <a href="http://marekothehorse.blogspot.com/">Straight From The Horse's Mouth</a>, Mareko's blog. Dude posted up some massive news about one of his Deceptikonz brothers, Savage, <a href="http://marekothehorse.blogspot.com/2008/04/can-you-plz-give-it-up-for-savaaage.html">making it all the way to #16 on the iTunes US Top 100 Hip Hop charts</a>. I think that's seriously the highest a New Zealand hip hop artist has ever gotten in any US chart... unless you count OMC as hip hop. But even then I can't remember how far they got. I may not like Savage's music, style or lyrics, but I got to give him credit for doing that, man. That's almost unbelievable.<br /><br />That's all for now.<br /><br />PeaceApex Zombiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04831580250709824079noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10765283.post-3251674119473808002008-04-06T23:47:00.002+12:002008-04-07T00:27:31.637+12:00Fat Lazy GamingAs a Fat Lazy Guy, it should be obvious that I'd like gaming. And I do. I have a PS3 and a Wii. Unfortunately, every day that I continue not to play my Wii, just makes me want to sell it that much more. It's not that I have anything against the Wii, it's just not for me. I played Wii Sports to death, and I haven't played another game that makes use of the motion sensing capabilities as good as it does.<br /><br />As for the Xbox 360, again, I have nothing against it, I just prefer not to own one. I mean most of the games that are available for the Xbox 360 are available for the PS3, aside from a few exclusives.<br /><br />But anyway, there are 3 or 4 games coming out soon (sort of) that I am absolutely dying to play.<br /><br />1. Gran Turismo 5 - This game is just... Okay, here's how good it is. The Prologue version which could be called a demo (BUT SHOULDN'T!) went platinum before one copy was even sold. That's right, over 1 million pre-orders. That's how much people want this game. Kazunori Yamauchi has already released info that damage could be coming to Prologue as soon as fall (in the northern hemisphere) this year... DAMAGE. The one thing people held against GT for all these years will finally be a part of the GT series. And you can bet your ass it'll be perfect. Maybe not in this first iteration, but come GT5, the full game, it'll just kick your ass.<br /><br />2. Grand Theft Auto: IV - If you've never heard of this game and you come from an English speaking country... I'm just sorry. One of, if not, THE MOST hyped games for this year, and it's almost here! There's not really much I can say about it except that it just looks freaking awesome.<br /><br />3. Rock Band - This one's just a personal one. I've never been a fan of Guitar Hero. Hell, I've never even played it. Maybe that's because I play guitar myself and actually appreciate the subtleties of the instrument. But Rock Band takes it further, and gives you the ability to take on the role of drummer, lead singer, guitarist, or bassist. The thing about Rock Band, though, is that it's already out in America. It has been for a good while now. It hasn't however, seen a PAL edition. Europe, Aussie and NZ haven't gotten a chance to play it yet. And now that they've actually set a release date, turns out it's just for the Xbox 360. There is the option of importing it, but there's no point in importing just the game, you have to import the big box with everything in it, and that costs. So hurry the hell up, EA!<br /><br />4. Home & Little Big Planet - I decided to put these together since they'll be released on the PSN, and technically Home isn't a game. Home is kind of like Second Life for the PS3, but then, it isn't JUST a Second Life-like app. It's really like a home for your PS3 online. Instead of using the chat feature on the XMB, you'd just go into Home and meet up with your friends. Then you can all decide to play a game. I believe GT5 is incorporating Home into the game, allowing you to go back and forth between them, inviting people to race and such.<br /><br />Little Big Planet... well the title just explains it, really. It's this small game that does huge things and is a huge step for Sony. It could almost be seen as Sony's attempt at a Wii game for the PS3, and based on the information and footage thus far, it just looks amazing. I almost hate to put it last, because it's certainly not my least wanted game.<br /><br />But anyway, those are just a few games I'm looking forward to, and y'all should be too!Apex Zombiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04831580250709824079noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10765283.post-56822049664106714172008-03-31T21:08:00.000+13:002008-03-31T21:10:16.154+13:00I Make Videos: Still Makin' EmDarren Rowse over at <a href="http://www.problogger.net/">Problogger.net</a> recently <a href="http://www.problogger.net/archives/2008/03/26/group-video-project-why-i-blog/">posed a challenge</a> to his readers to put together a video explaining why they blog. I decided to participate, and here's my entry:<br /><br /><object height="355" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/skzxOYs1V6M&rel=0&hl=en"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/skzxOYs1V6M&rel=0&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="355" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br />If you want to read more about my video, check this post.<br /><br />If you have any questions about how I accomplished anything, feel free to leave a comment and I'll be sure to reply. Or you can just shower me with praise :D<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Here are my previous video posts:<br /><a href="http://thefatlazyguy.blogspot.com/2008/03/i-make-videos-you-can-too.html">I Make Videos, You Can Too!</a><br /><a href="http://thefatlazyguy.blogspot.com/2008/03/my-first-real-video.html">My First Real Video</a></span>Apex Zombiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04831580250709824079noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10765283.post-66415724246026688332008-03-31T05:44:00.004+13:002008-03-31T05:59:53.087+13:00Lost - Midseason Break: Week 2<a href="http://thefatlazyguy.blogspot.com/2008/03/lost-midseason-break.html"><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Read my brief re-cap of the first 8 episodes of Lost's 4th Season.</span></a><br /><br />Hey there Lost fans. Well, we're heading into week 2 of the Midseason Break. As of this moment, there are now only 25 days till Lost returns. There's lots of things you could be doing right now to fill up your new found time (or should that be <span style="font-style: italic;">Lost</span> time?).<br /><br />You could be watching whatever show is filling that time slot in your area.<br /><br />You could be playing Lost: Via Domus (DON'T! It's not worth the time or money).<br /><br />Or you could be doing something awesome like re-watching Lost from Season 1 all the way through to Season 4 Episode 8: <span style="font-style: italic;">Meet Kevin Johnson</span>, having scheduled it all out so that the second that Meet Kevin Johnson finishes Episode 9: <span style="font-style: italic;">The Shape of Things to Come</span> starts!<br /><br />If you're not awesome enough to do something like that (heck, even I'm not that awesome), then in the meantime you can drop us a comment and let us know one reason why you think Lost is the greatest show of all time. And you DO think Lost is the greatest show of all time... right?!Apex Zombiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04831580250709824079noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10765283.post-13586938332792363402008-03-27T16:58:00.004+13:002008-03-27T17:33:30.634+13:00I Make Computer Graphics, You Can Too!I make many things. As the last post attests to, I make videos (occasionally), but I also make computer graphics. In fact, I mentioned a computer graphics program and a couple of processes in the previous post.<br /><br />I started out tinkering with computer graphics and photo manipulation back when I was in high school with a version of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paint_Shop_Pro">Paintshop Pro 7 </a>I downloaded off <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kazaa">Kazaa</a> (yes, I know, not exactly a moral thing to do, but I was a kid, I wanted something, and I couldn't pay for it). I don't know why I didn't go with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adobe_Photoshop">Photoshop</a>, but that's not the point. I learned the basics from that program, and I still miss its interface from time to time :D<br /><br />Anyway, after playing with that for a good while, and learning of the dangers (and immorality :D) of filesharing, I decided I needed a change. I had read on a forum somewhere about this thing called the <a href="http://www.gimp.org/">Gimp</a> that was free (and opensource), and decided to check it out. I absolutely hated it at first. It was nothing like Jasc's PSP 7, and I couldn't do what I wanted to do with it. I decided to stick with it just because I couldn't afford anything else, and started to relearn how to do things in the Gimp that I used to do in PSP 7.<br /><br />Fast forward a few years to now, and I can say I'm definitely satisfied with the Gimp. I don't use all the features available, but I can usually get the results I desire. I've also added <a href="http://www.inkscape.org/">Inkscape</a> (another free and opensource graphics program) to my arsenal to handle vector graphics.<br /><br />As for things I've created with these programs, all the images used in the design of this blog (and my other blogs) were created with the Gimp and Inkscape. This banner I used for my travel blog (that hasn't been updated in a while :D) was made from a bunch of images that I chopped up and mashed together. And I made the backwards New Zealand sign in Inkscape. Here it is without the text:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrEBkHzL0HzqGdu5ytnrxoTXUS8OgXeDBZgZOB7DOnzLWiLC3JyS_B5-Q2ru0CHtV9SX78sOElV00OPJ8DFps4vT9eQEyKi6IoPLrc8FwfAU7uB6_56dBYHvo4KQbTwCsA-iHw0Q/s1600-h/banner+no+text.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrEBkHzL0HzqGdu5ytnrxoTXUS8OgXeDBZgZOB7DOnzLWiLC3JyS_B5-Q2ru0CHtV9SX78sOElV00OPJ8DFps4vT9eQEyKi6IoPLrc8FwfAU7uB6_56dBYHvo4KQbTwCsA-iHw0Q/s400/banner+no+text.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5182260459935235058" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I recently designed a banner for <a href="http://petitesvictoires.blogspot.com/">Cmae's blog</a>:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUynL3wGJ0z-9UprEvVIkDWk7VpI28FgGOm3UMOndfm4nXTfNkaeesWe_m2UYSCUthAD0Jmzq7wKObuZIy8U3ea8qFLBp1DizqaQPGunLRnBr38qxiWMsckYJfVA6tjdlPJ3RZNQ/s1600-h/small_victories.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUynL3wGJ0z-9UprEvVIkDWk7VpI28FgGOm3UMOndfm4nXTfNkaeesWe_m2UYSCUthAD0Jmzq7wKObuZIy8U3ea8qFLBp1DizqaQPGunLRnBr38qxiWMsckYJfVA6tjdlPJ3RZNQ/s400/small_victories.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5182260464230202370" border="0" /></a><br /><br />And although they haven't decided to use it, I designed a web 2.0 logo for <a href="http://www.shotthen.com/">...shot then.com</a> (my first real attempt at a web 2.0 style logo):<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/23124248@N04/2354448741/" title="shotthenlogo by gatekepa, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3016/2354448741_b992fc8254_m.jpg" alt="shotthenlogo" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="width: 200px; float: right;">I made this for a friend:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJU6gh06k8fKcGUg53j5wuqGLYkK3VRn63KylxAUfQpTlbqwdq-WI3QpBTg4Cnq0ADq8x1bqpDGnbnEqEf6bArriKR5C8_o1z5avVKu18mkxXN6BgvQ08M_BTLzNGWa4c8_mcNxg/s1600-h/El+Timbong.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJU6gh06k8fKcGUg53j5wuqGLYkK3VRn63KylxAUfQpTlbqwdq-WI3QpBTg4Cnq0ADq8x1bqpDGnbnEqEf6bArriKR5C8_o1z5avVKu18mkxXN6BgvQ08M_BTLzNGWa4c8_mcNxg/s400/El+Timbong.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5182260464230202386" border="0" /></a></div>Then there's my avatar:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFnNnpFjeeamlRnC3eudc4bPs5DFkzI_l-ESotRkuFaBhlXt_jLgtaUWNynSt9XYSy75jOhxuLiLH4ZBgJScpoitrilgLVBtOKD9xhDgs08ii-jaecfzBC8Aq1BbQ8opAPAxUkGA/s220/flgavatar.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFnNnpFjeeamlRnC3eudc4bPs5DFkzI_l-ESotRkuFaBhlXt_jLgtaUWNynSt9XYSy75jOhxuLiLH4ZBgJScpoitrilgLVBtOKD9xhDgs08ii-jaecfzBC8Aq1BbQ8opAPAxUkGA/s220/flgavatar.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />And then this for another friend's avatar (that Cap'n text wasn't originally there):<br /><div style="width: 200px; float: right;">Made this for another friend:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQShUMvSZtU7fywOnw5UYHQPXMjYKv6hZNYihBbKKsw2dglxS_aet5DsS12PGXSYugcNOYUPVD3Z5yyFv4KM9aj8bNJx8Jjp5B8NtaJC4pC11DGv5raXcNcpAW00KADizFhHEy4g/s1600-h/super+delicious+ppj.png"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQShUMvSZtU7fywOnw5UYHQPXMjYKv6hZNYihBbKKsw2dglxS_aet5DsS12PGXSYugcNOYUPVD3Z5yyFv4KM9aj8bNJx8Jjp5B8NtaJC4pC11DGv5raXcNcpAW00KADizFhHEy4g/s400/super+delicious+ppj.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5182260468525169714" border="0" /></a></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKfHuHXS7slCKvMRAhOBoCvG_OTVJUqcJaJp_vaMnFgQwcDBPuY86x96ibO3DQgcDlozNJmLojEq5UnI2adqAeyzC3mTsf-vdljmLXeq6F6n8x4saRKNbQbetRSSJkuQuSr8ANqQ/s1600-h/Cap'nClean.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKfHuHXS7slCKvMRAhOBoCvG_OTVJUqcJaJp_vaMnFgQwcDBPuY86x96ibO3DQgcDlozNJmLojEq5UnI2adqAeyzC3mTsf-vdljmLXeq6F6n8x4saRKNbQbetRSSJkuQuSr8ANqQ/s400/Cap'nClean.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5182260468525169698" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Another thing made for a friend:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbUc8foVZvTotNOhPqJ9xvXIsjzFRieGeo7KR7WEjWqKMe-mWwnT4Ic-FgA_ndLl4sCN4RJ1KBMSAS8_-hQvFFa62TugZ5ankUJcGraBqQMIV0XLkJ_dWrc5Zapk-7qHPDZZrD4g/s1600-h/art+face+off.gif"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbUc8foVZvTotNOhPqJ9xvXIsjzFRieGeo7KR7WEjWqKMe-mWwnT4Ic-FgA_ndLl4sCN4RJ1KBMSAS8_-hQvFFa62TugZ5ankUJcGraBqQMIV0XLkJ_dWrc5Zapk-7qHPDZZrD4g/s1600/art+face+off.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5182262809282346066" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I made this just for fun:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin0WRru93_thCF4piWoc0eSRasFII3Ycx_W9vPLw4qz0pp7pliPV8x-BzKh6vqcsxVdmagoCDaIOtIYxdPcYzgXl6r9rgzAwvv8gZmKHpF4poLjQWPVmUhA9M-tPvOXV_qOGLetA/s1600-h/george_bush.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin0WRru93_thCF4piWoc0eSRasFII3Ycx_W9vPLw4qz0pp7pliPV8x-BzKh6vqcsxVdmagoCDaIOtIYxdPcYzgXl6r9rgzAwvv8gZmKHpF4poLjQWPVmUhA9M-tPvOXV_qOGLetA/s400/george_bush.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5182262813577313378" border="0" /></a><br /><br />This one was for a friend (the guy actually in the image :D He doesn't look like that in real life :D):<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_MU2DEBkPa5goW94itTJQMqxhM_JO9MCL3kGnck8GQ5LrcTcOA5rZAu-1S1S3pOE-AEQMYczRnsJTOkOASenkJ-7bu1JcFXuCzAjig4gCICvLoY80Q-xUZ2RKStZzOagiWfakew/s1600-h/aaron-fafa.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_MU2DEBkPa5goW94itTJQMqxhM_JO9MCL3kGnck8GQ5LrcTcOA5rZAu-1S1S3pOE-AEQMYczRnsJTOkOASenkJ-7bu1JcFXuCzAjig4gCICvLoY80Q-xUZ2RKStZzOagiWfakew/s400/aaron-fafa.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5182262813577313394" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Oh, and that image I made for Valentine's Day:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOJweeEjE2dLPgzBXT__Rp3gO3H4pBcAKori9tJcpwcP4x1mNm-vJxg1LitXey4tVBceQ2SC0Bq9CkpBZ7G-D0hFvq7pSly6Vi3DcXB0Nj0Y4QB7qwlTgoqm3K2pWEcliycMBOSQ/s1600-h/spear+thru+heart.png"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOJweeEjE2dLPgzBXT__Rp3gO3H4pBcAKori9tJcpwcP4x1mNm-vJxg1LitXey4tVBceQ2SC0Bq9CkpBZ7G-D0hFvq7pSly6Vi3DcXB0Nj0Y4QB7qwlTgoqm3K2pWEcliycMBOSQ/s400/spear+thru+heart.png" alt="Spear Thru Heart (C) Fat Lazy Guy" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5166432779574028834" border="0" /></a><br /><br />All images <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/"><img alt="Creative Commons License" style="border-width: 0pt;" src="http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc/3.0/88x31.png" /></a> where applicable.<br /><br />Haha, this turned into a gallery of sorts. I just wanted to show off some images I'm proud of.<br /><br />So yeah. I make computer graphics, and you can too!Apex Zombiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04831580250709824079noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10765283.post-772150511962041482008-03-26T21:15:00.000+13:002008-03-26T21:27:38.632+13:00I Make Videos, You Can Too!Yes I do. Well, I've only made two so far, this one I'm about to post, and one I <a href="http://thefatlazyguy.blogspot.com/2008/03/my-first-real-video.html">posted about</a> a while ago.<br /><br />Technically, with this video and the previous one, all I've done is animation and video editing. I haven't actually shot any footage. The main reason for that is because I haven't got a video camera (video mode on my kodak easyshare doesn't count), and I haven't got any good video editing software (Windows Movie Maker, while handy, is crap). Plus my hardware isn't exactly top notch either.<br /><br />So I would love to write, direct, produce, film and edit something, and maybe I will. Probably not in the recent future, though :D<br /><br />But anyway, here's the video:<br /><br /><object height="355" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/SvkaYvmKhcs&rel=0&hl=en"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/SvkaYvmKhcs&rel=0&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="355" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br /><a href="http://cactusfreek.blogspot.com/">Cactus Freek</a> asked me how I made it, so here's a brief tutorial:<br /><br />First off, I took photos of everything and opened them up in the <a href="http://www.gimp.org/">Gimp</a>, cut around them to remove the background (a LONG process, by the way), and scaled them accordingly. That's basically all the prep.<br /><br />Now comes the animation. With this I worked backwards. I started with the final image of everything unpacked by moving all the items to where I wanted them to be, and saved it as a jpeg. Then I continued working backwards, moving and rotating each item bit by bit towards the envelope, saving to a different image after each move (100, 099, 098, etc).<br /><br />After the main animation was done, I just reopened the first and last frames, added some text, and that was it for the all the frames of the animation. In total, there were 59 frames.<br /><br />It was then time to put all the frames together in Windows Media Maker. I know there are other tools better suited to this, but it was about 9 or 10 pm by this point, and I needed to get it done before the day was over. So I imported them, threw them in the storyboard, changed the length of time each frame is displayed, added some audio, and exported the wmv. Upped it to Youtube (which took ages because I exceeded my monthly bandwidth limit so it's shaped to 128k speeds), and what appeared above was the final product.Apex Zombiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04831580250709824079noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10765283.post-63278231218579340312008-03-25T02:34:00.006+13:002008-03-25T03:09:43.422+13:00More David DallasWhat can I say? Dude is just releasing crazy content right now, and you'd be a fool not to check it out. Right now over on <a href="http://www.daviddallas.co.nz/">his blog</a> he's releasing some remixes of some Frontline stuff, and as usual it's mean as.<br /><br />Just as a little taster, here's the first song from the remixes (peep the <a href="http://www.daviddallas.co.nz/2008/03/07/the-remixes-vol-1/">post</a> for the d/l link):<br /><br /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.daviddallas.co.nz/wp-content/plugins/podpress/players/1pixelout_player.swf" id="audioplayer1" height="24" width="290"><param name="movie" value="http://www.daviddallas.co.nz/wp-content/plugins/podpress/players/1pixelout_player.swf"><param name="FlashVars" value="playerID=1&bg=0xb56e2f&leftbg=0x825023&rightbg=0x6d431e&rightbghover=0xb56e2f&lefticon=0xcce80f&righticon=0xf33cb5&righticonhover=0xcce80f&text=0x402c1a&slider=0x402c1a&track=0xFFFFFF&loader=0xcce80f&border=0xf33cb5&autostart=no&soundFile=http://www.daviddallas.co.nz/podpress_trac/web/172/0/introremix.mp3"><param name="quality" value="high"><param name="menu" value="false"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.daviddallas.co.nz/wp-content/plugins/podpress/players/1pixelout_player.swf" quality="high" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" autostart="false" menu="true" height="30" width="300"></embed></object><br /><br />So go ahead an check it out. I also believe you can subscribe to his podcast and get all the remixes and everything via that, so check the link over on the <a href="http://www.daviddallas.co.nz/">blog</a>.Apex Zombiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04831580250709824079noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10765283.post-46462737435269955522008-03-25T00:39:00.002+13:002008-03-25T01:21:14.087+13:00Lost - Midseason Break<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Just thought I'd mention first to any New Zealanders reading this, it contains spoilers. If you follow along the American schedule, then you're all good.</span></span><br /><br />Wow. What an action packed 8 episodes. I've hesitated to post anything about the episodes in here because I've been discussing the episodes indepth over here (<span style="font-style: italic;">It's a small forum with about 4-5 regular posters</span>). But this month long break gives me a chance to recap some significant events.<br /><br />Lets start with the obvious/easy stuff first. Jack, Kate, Hurley, Sayid, Sun and Aaron are the Oceanic 6. The producers have confirmed it (in so much as they confirmed the promos), and we've seen them all off the Island. They get off, but they have to keep a secret, supposedly what Jack said in court about Kate, though he stopped before he could finish, and we don't know if he's the cause of the lie, or if someone external force is the cause.<br /><br />Kate is raising Aaron! Claire's Aaron. Wtf?<br /><br />Michael is Ben's spy on the freighter. He DID make off the Island, but couldn't deal with what he did to achieve this, so tried to kill himself. All his attempts fail, and he's contacted by Tom on behalf of Ben. He jumps through some hoops, and right at this point he's standing in front of the captain of the freighter having been outed by Sayid.<br /><br />Widmore is in fact the person behind the freighter! It seems both Penny and her father have been looking for Desmond. The big question at the moment is who is more evil, Ben or Widmore, and who needs to win in order for this whole thing to end?<br /><br />The sub isn't required to get off the Island. However only a certain few are able to (according to Tom). Ben proves this in Sayid's flash-forward episode, where we learn Ben has recruited Sayid to kill a bunch of people to protect his friends (but from who? Ben or Widmore?). If only Sayid knew... he wouldn't have taken such drastic measures with Michael :D<br /><br />These new people aren't there to save the Losties. They've made that very obvious, and given the last episode, it seems they're there to kill all the Losties instead. They were chosen for their specific skills or knowledge, and I hope we are privy to their studies/findings.<br /><br />Desmond can travel in time, though only his conscious. It seems that Daniel can as well, and perhaps others. And it also seems like there is a bubble of timewarping goodness around the Island as well.<br /><br />It is official, Ben is the best manipulator in the world. He manipulates people emotionally, mentally, and physically. He can get you to think you're hurting him when in fact you're just giving him what he wants. Ben is definitely the most interesting character in the show right now.<br /><br />And Jin is going to die (or be left on the Island). Jin is one of my favourite characters, so that's a sad thing to know. I'm hoping he's just alive on the Island, and Sun and the rest just think he died.<br /><br />That's about it for the significant stuff. Other things include Juliet was a ho (but an awesomely cool ho), Ben is obsessed with Juliet, Rousseau and Karl have been shot, Tom was gay (everyone knew that already, though), and, um... that's all I can think of right now. Suffice to say, Lost is the greatest show on t.v. right now.Apex Zombiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04831580250709824079noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10765283.post-29181622883224917422008-03-22T01:08:00.001+13:002008-03-22T01:13:17.142+13:00What To Do When Your Blog Is DyingThe FLG has never really caught on. It started out being my only blog, then I opened up <a href="http://thefatlazyguyslog.blogspot.com">The FLG's Log</a> to handle all the weight loss blogging while trying to keep The FLG as my personal blog. The problem soon arose, however, that I had nothing to post in The FLG because blogging about weight loss is very personal. Everything just seemed to drift over to the Log, and The FLG died.<br /><br />After closing The FLG I went on with things over at the Log, which had already gathered a few readers. It became my blog for everything I wanted to post, a jack-of-all-trades if you will. After a while I started to notice that it had become sort of bloated (pardon the pun), and I tried to scale things back as far as topics were concerned. This led to a stifling feeling, like I couldn't post anything I wanted, so I thought about it and eventually re-opened The FLG.<br /><br />The FLG opened rather unceremoniously, and I once again had an outlet for whatever I wanted to post. And I did... at first. Then I got caught in the trap of creating a concept that I couldn't keep up with. I wanted to make The FLG great, and put a spin on the concept, making this a blog about things average Fat Lazy Guys are interested in. Y'know, music, gaming, tech, etc. But I'm no authority, nor do I have an opinion on everything that's coming out. And so that brings us to now.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >What To Do When Your Blog Is Dying</span><br /><br />There's a number of things you can do, and they're probably really obvious.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">1. Close Your Blog</span> - Sometimes you just have to count your losses and move on. This doesn't mean you have to stop blogging all together, just in this particular blog. Be sure to save any good content, though, as it's yours, and you're free to reproduce and republish as you see fit.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">2. Reinvent Your Blog</span> - You may have a great title, great blog design, but a poor concept. Think about things you're passionate about, and have lots of opinions about, and blog about them. You can try to be like everyone else, or you can just be yourself. It's much easier to be yourself.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">3. Persevere</span> - You may be doing everything right, and still just have no readers. In that case, I'd just keep going, and keep at it. Have a look at sites like <a href="http://www.problogger.net/">ProBlogger,</a> and find ways you can advertise your blog. If your blog is worth reading, it'll be read eventually.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">4. Do Nothing</span> - Similar to closing your blog, only with less effort. Just let the blog die :D<br /><br />What am I planning to do? At the moment, #4. Then perhaps later, #2. We'll see :DApex Zombiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04831580250709824079noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10765283.post-22898652220491177792008-03-12T01:33:00.000+13:002008-03-12T12:52:46.131+13:00Aotearoa Allstars - Think Twice *update - video*<span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(243, 60, 181);">*Update. P-money upped the vid, got it embedded below. The track is released, go buy it!*</span><br /><br />Head on over to <a href="http://www.myspace.com/pmoneymusic">P-Money's myspace</a> to check out the track.<br /><br />It almost seems like it was a long time ago that 15-year-old Pihema Cameron was murdered by Bruce Emery, just a day after 22-year-old Saishwar Krishna Naidu was murdered by a 16-year-old. There was nearly a third murder that weekend as well, when a 36-year-old woman was stabbed by a 25-year-old. All in South Auckland, where I live, in the space of a few days.<br /><br />All this death and violence, well, I guess it got to some people. DJ Sirvere got a whole bunch of people together and decided to do a little something to spread awareness about all this. What resulted is Think Twice by Aotearoa Allstars.<br /><br />Scribe, Delani, Flowz, Awa, Che-Fu, Cyphanetik, Tek (of R.E.S.), Chong-Nee, PNC, Mareko and Savage all appear on the track and lend their vocal and lyrical abilities to help highlight this increasing problem in today's youth. P-Money and Evan Short (of Concord Dawn fame) lend their talents as producers.<br /><br />There's a video on the way, and the single will apparently be available to buy March 10th. All proceeds are going to Youthline. For now, as I said, you can check the track out on <a href="http://www.myspace.com/pmoneymusic">P-Money's myspace</a>.<br /><br /><object height="355" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/yG8mKcv6onw&rel=1&border=0"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/yG8mKcv6onw&rel=1&border=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="355" width="425"></embed></object>Apex Zombiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04831580250709824079noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10765283.post-75934144191166471272008-03-10T05:36:00.004+13:002008-03-10T05:48:32.076+13:00My First Real VideoSo after finally managing to find an .flv converter I put together a short little compilation of some of my replays from EA Skate. Took me maybe 30 minutes to an hour to put together the whole thing. I edited it all in Windows Movie Maker. Not the greatest of video tools, but it's all I have. The audio track is, of course, Get Out the Way by <a href="http://www.daviddallas.co.nz">David Dallas</a>. And yeah. Oh, and if you haven't played Skate, go do it. WAY better than the Tony Hawk games.<br /><object height="355" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/r9WcZrWQMWc&color1=0xcc2550&color2=0xe87a9f"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/r9WcZrWQMWc&color1=0xcc2550&color2=0xe87a9f" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="355" width="425"></embed></object>Apex Zombiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04831580250709824079noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10765283.post-89587741912680195092008-03-08T06:17:00.001+13:002008-03-08T06:18:49.271+13:00Happy Birthday to Me!Yep, another year older. The double-deuce, 22. Not really doing anything, got nothing planned, but we'll see how the day goes.Apex Zombiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04831580250709824079noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10765283.post-85161395635608213192008-03-07T23:03:00.009+13:002008-03-07T23:32:59.920+13:00South Auckland Twisters!<div style="float: left; margin-right: 5px; width: 204px;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://tv3.co.nz/Portals/0-Articles/48611/tornado3_large.jpg"><img style="margin: 2px 2px -4px; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://tv3.co.nz/Portals/0-Articles/48611/tornado3_large.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Photo courtesy of TV3 and Michelle</span></span></div></div>I first heard about these from my mum, but I thought she was just kidding. Then I just had a look over on Stuff and they've got a <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/4429942a10.html">little stab</a> on them as well. TV3 even <a href="http://tv3.co.nz/TornadoesreportedinSouthAuckland/tabid/209/articleID/48609/cat/87/Default.aspx">reported</a> on it! I talked to my mum a bit more about them, and it turned out she actually saw them as she was coming back from her course. Well, the one in Manukau anyway. Craziness. We've had some mini-tornadoes before around here. One was actually just a few streets away and took off someone's roof. These ones apparently didn't do any damage, and it's possible they might not have actually touched down.Apex Zombiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04831580250709824079noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10765283.post-55945207901059199262008-03-07T22:23:00.003+13:002008-03-07T22:37:24.692+13:00"When a scammer comes along, you must whip it!"Ah, thank you Devo.<br /><br />There's a great post on Deep Jive Interests about a new scam. You might remember the old <a href="http://thefatlazyguy.blogspot.com/2008/01/gone-phishing.html">post</a> on here about scammers and phishers. Well this new scam is aimed at site owners/bloggers. Basically they ask to buy a link on your site, they send too much money via cheque, ask you to send back the amount they overpaid you, and then you find out later that the cheque never clears.<br /><a href="http://www.deepjiveinterests.com/2008/03/06/bloggers-beware-nigerian-fraud-has-evolved-into-display-and-text-link-ad-solicitations/">Link</a> (via <a href="http://www.problogger.net/archives/2008/03/07/beware-of-possible-nigerian-online-advertising-fraud/">ProBlogger</a>)Apex Zombiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04831580250709824079noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10765283.post-88961811087500969742008-03-06T19:01:00.002+13:002008-03-06T19:18:21.794+13:00Don't Die... Or Else!I love the Oddly Enough section over at Reuters. <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSL0552076620080305?feedType=RSS&feedName=oddlyEnoughNews">This story</a> is a doozy. A mayor of a village in southwest France has told his people not to die because the cemetery is full. I think this is a fantastic strategy. A fantastic strategy for zombies!<br /><br />Say you're dead, you're buried, but you want to help out by giving someone else a turn at being dead. Well, all you have to do is get that satellite that the U.S. shot down (which supposedly had plutonium in it), give it a bit of a shake over your grave, and bam! You're now a flesh eating zombie! And, you're now able to rent out your grave to those who have recently departed, giving you a shot of income! And seeing as how in that area "eternal properties" are in such high demand, you could make quite a pretty penny!<br /><br />You could also have the option of simply not dying and instead becoming undead, again easing congestion. You could probably qualify for the sickness benefit as well, seeing as most employers are quite anti-zombie these days. It's so horrible to witness such lifism.Apex Zombiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04831580250709824079noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10765283.post-81643701209972668892008-02-24T01:38:00.003+13:002008-03-12T06:25:11.369+13:00W.A.L.E.D.A.N.C.E. Video Preview!So this is in no way an exclusive, but you have to enter a password to get to the vids over on Wale's blog on Elitaste, so just consider this an easier alternative. These clips are REALLY short as well, only like 5 seconds or so, but they let you know that it's pretty much a recreation of the famous Justice clip. I'll hopefully have to full video when it gets released.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/bkp3GMdZCGc&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/bkp3GMdZCGc&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object><br /><object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/K9GbzA78qwQ&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/K9GbzA78qwQ&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>Apex Zombiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04831580250709824079noreply@blogger.com0