Update: The site is slowly getting back to normal, but unfortunately, comments are not working at all. They pretend to be, but they're not. I suck. Stay tuned for details.

It's been a while since I've had a server hacked by script kiddies, but as you can tell by the "plain ol' vanilla" look and feel of the site today, Turdhead.com is in the process of rebuilding. Stay tuned as I try to get the real Turdhead.com back up and running. Meanwhile, enjoy this, um… much prettier version of it. Hmmph.

This is a bittersweet day for me.

After 10 years of working on the net, I'm saying goodbye to the site that got me started in this whole world of Web site production. The site that, truly, has led me to where I am today.

The intro image from the 1998 version of the site.

Carteret.com, the first domain name I ever owned, and the site that taught me just about everything I know about the internet today, is now for sale.

Why? Because I've learned as much as I can from it now, and because, according to the offers I've already received for the name, it's apparently worth more money to others than it is to me these days.

The Web that was

So how'd this all begin?

(more…)

I'm one of the last people in the world to encourage the use of proprietary development products — especially those from Microsoft, producer of edlin — over comparable open-source development tools, but it's hard not to look when someone says "free."

Therefore, anyone wanting to check out the Visual Studio suite of development tools without breaking the bank or violating a license agreement may be interested to know that Microsoft has dropped the price of its Express editions of its Visual Studio products to $0. Gratis. Free.

A member of the the Visual Studio Express Team announced the promotion on a Microsoft forum this week.

I have no idea what an Express edition is, but according to Microsoft's Web site:

The Express products consist of:

Visual Web Developer 2005 Express Edition, a lightweight tool for building dynamic Web sites and Web services

Visual Basic 2005 Express Edition, Visual C# 2005 Express Edition, Visual C++ 2005 Express Edition, and Visual J# 2005 Express Edition, targeted programming tools for students and hobbyists who wish to learn the fundamentals of Windows programming

SQL Server 2005 Express Edition, a database for building data-driven applications

So if you want it, there you have it.

On the other hand, if you don't want to bother with a "targeted," proprietary development suite at all, the open-source Eclipse project also offers a free development platform — an open-source offering that works on Windows, Mac, Linux and a host of other operating systems. No registration required.

Oh yeah, and Eclipse works for ActionScript programming, too. And um, pretty much any other language you want to use.

I'm just saying!

Part of the fun of creating our new Flash-based game, Ballistic Stroke, is the ability to change "the rules" of what's expected: Things that are usually trivial can be raised to absurd heights of esteem. After all, the games' main characters are basically stick figures, doodles scrawn across a sheet of paper. But they do have their problems.

In keeping with this idea, we present the following "cinematic trailer" for Ballistic Stroke, due to be released in January.

The Doodle War is coming.

Hope you enjoy!

I finally got around to installing Flash 8, and so far I'm impressed with it. But thanks to an absurd patent and its subsequent enforcement, I can't use it in the way I expect to.

You may have noticed the problem too as soon as you started customizing your work space: What's with this new "Group Transform with…" dropdown? And why can't I just drag panels from one tab group to the other like I could with Flash MX 2004? Or with Photoshop?

Turns out the answer is that Adobe has patented this "drag a tab" process, and Macromedia felt obliged to "turn it off" after Adobe sued them for violating that patent. According to the Macromedia KnowledgeBase concerning FreeHand 10:

On May 2, 2002, a U.S. jury found that Adobe's U.S. patent number 5,546,528 regarding tabbed palettes was valid and that certain Macromedia products infringed that patent. Macromedia has respectfully complied with the court's rulings. In relation to Macromedia FreeHand 10 in the Macromedia Studio MX, we have taken steps to implement the ruling and changed features accordingly.

But… but… Aren't Adobe and Macromedia the same company now? And will they issue a patch to "uncripple" the tab-drag feature now that they love each other?

And will the U.S. Patent Office ever figure out that these kinds of software patents are crippling the industry?

I have no problem with copyrighting source code — in fact, the U.S. copyright laws are more than adequate to protect everything one types into a keyboard in the U.S. But patenting a process — or a "feel" — of a software product is sheer insanity.

And while we're on the subject, did you know the patent office is actually in the business of patenting storylines for unwritten fiction now? Yep. Thanks to crap like this, you can actually patent ideas and things without actually having to do anything. Just make money suing the people who actually do.

To learn more about how you can stifle creativity, eliminate new ideas and make workflow awkward for hundreds of computer users, see the following sites:

US Patent and trademark Office

Knight & Associates - Storyline patents and plot patents

The Electronic Frontier Foundation

NoSoftwarePatents.com