Veteran software developer / sysadmin and holds a PhD in Computer Science. Avid computer enthusiast (geek) who has been dabbling with technology ever since his Dad brought home an 8086 computer.
Videogames
Cashtronauts is a twin-stick shooter [http://www.giantbomb.com/twin-stick-control/3015-3933/] where capitalism rules over all. The goal is to collect as much money as possible by salvaging crates, mining asteroids, fighting pirates or whatever else it takes. The game is a beautiful example of the contribution indie games can
Videogames
In 2013, I was working on a small RPG game for mobile devices. The idea was to make a game from core concepts of RPGs, such as Legend of the Red Dragon, to the smartphone. Unfortunately, several months before I could complete my project, Behold Studio releases Knights of Pen
Videogames
Anime in a Tech blog? In the world of Sword Art Online (SAO), thousands of players are trapped in a virtual reality MMORPG. If removed from the game, or if their character dies, they die. The only way to escape is to reach the 100th floor of the main dungeon
Networking / Linux
Last year, the development team for Ghost blog announced [http://blog.ghost.org/cloudflare/] a partnership with Cloudflare. The goal was to improve the Ghost(Pro) infrastructure, making it faster and more secure. With a little tinkering, Cloudflare can be used with any Ghost blog. Technodabbler received this upgrade a
Market
Technodabbler, like many tech blogs, is a labor of love. Unfortunately, love does not pay hosting fees or other expenses. Ads are common for monetizing blogs, but they provide very little money unless the blogs has a large readership. They are also ugly as sin. An alternative method of financing
Blog
Back in April 15, 2005, I wrote : > Why would I have a blog? I’ve had different webpages since I’ve been on the Internet (around 1996). But times are changing. Personnal webpages are out, Blogs are in. What’s a guy to do? Four days latter, I wrote my
Gadget & Toys
In the last ten years, a disturbing phenomena has emerged regarding the price of toy collectible. Although not the first time mentioned [https://www.technodabbler.com/markups-increasing-the-price-for-collectors/], recent price inflations on Transformers and Skylander toys make it worth revisiting the issue. Nostalgia Sells In 1984, Hasbro introduces a Japanese toyline
Computer
On December 16th, Jagex and Hasbro announced that Transformers Universe, a third person multiplayer online battle arena game featuring Transformers, would close. Both companies stated the "decision comes at an important time for both companies as they both realign their plans and focuses for 2015". The game was first announced
Computer
Blog : a discussion or informational site published on the Internet and composed of chronologicaly ordered posts. Popular blogs are composed of both the discussion and the information. To deny this is to deny how the Internet works. This is a problem, given that Ghost, the blog engine that powers Technodabbler,
Computer
It's a simple functionality: when going to sleep and waking back up, a computer should properly mount and unmount all drives. Yet, I was surprised to learn that MacOS X does not always properly external disk. This was particularly problematic for me, as I would lose my main external disk
Gadget & Toys
A few years ago, I was lucky enough to receive a Lego NXT Mindstorm kit as a gift from my wife. With it, one can build a robot using technical legos, motors and sensors. A special programmable brick is used to control the behavior of the robot. As a programmer,
Videogames
In the last few years, the indie game scene has been bursting with great success. However, few have been as retro as Kickstarter [https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/yachtclubgames/shovel-knight] success Shovel Knight [http://yachtclubgames.com/shovel-knight/]. Inspired by great NES classic such as Megaman, Castlevania and Metroid, the game
Videogames
In the last two weeks, I've had the opportunity to try out a couple of demos. Here are a few quick impressions. Tuscany [http://sixense.com/sixensetuscanydemo] was one of the first demo available for the Occulus Rift, allowing a user to visit a beautiful garden house. I was very
Videogames
When it comes to 3D VR technologies, I am negatively biased. Products like the Virtual Boy and the Nintendo 3DS offered a disapointing 3D experience, and the only added entertainment I get from a 3D movie in theater is a pounding headache. The first time I placed a Oculus Rift
Gadget & Toys
The Ouya is one of the most important Kickstarter success story, gathering $8,596,474 in funding. Ouya's promise: the revolution would be televised. The console would usher a new world of Android games on TV. The product itself was released about a year ago, giving developers fair opportunities to
Videogames
About a year ago, I switched both my laptop and desktop to Mac computers. With Windows as the undisputed king of PC gaming, this decision was less than ideal for gaming. As such, my friends did not hesitate to tease me about my lack of gaming choices. However, is there