Talk Binary

Can you run that PC Game?

Diego — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 16:59:14 +0000

Before buying a PC game you must be asking yourself, can I run this? Looking at the System Requirements is sometimes not enough. Or simply, you don’t know what your computer has. Can You Run it? provided by System Requirements Lab allows you to find out whether or not any specific PC game would run on your PC.

So, can you really run it?

After selecting a game, the browser requirement will be installed with your permission. It will then gather information from your PCs hardware and software. It will then give you a nice detailed analysis rating your computer. It also offers suggestions if you failed some of the requirements. I tried Crysis, and here are the results.

They even provided me with a link to update my video card drivers! This is a great resource for those wondering if there system can handle that PC game.

iPhone App Review: MySpace

Andy — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 02:32:23 +0000

If you have ever used an iPhone you should already know that you can access MySpace through the Safari web browser. As handy as that may be, if you are surfing the net over an EDGE connection it might take you over a minute to simply connect and log in. This is no more with this outstanding and intuitive app designed for the iPhone.

So how much better is it against logging in from Safari?
If you noticed on the picture above, MySpace automatically signs you in when you start the app. Yep! Only type in your info once and every time after that it will sign you in automatically. How convenient is that? Once you are logged in you can immediately see what’s new. From messages to comments and friend requests.

You can easily change your status directly from your iPhone. One of the best features is that you can upload a picture instantly. Yeah, that mean that it you want to show where you are you can simply take a picture and upload it. This app works very fast because of it’s awesome integration with the MySpace site. All of the content you see is simply updated, the GUI is all stored locally on your iPhone making faster loading times.

Navigating to your Messages and Friend requests is as simple as tapping the respective buttons on the bottom of the screen that are accessible at anytime while using the program. When you preview photos you can easily scroll up and down with no lag!

With this awesome application you can stay connected with friends and family in just the time it takes you to update your status. I 100% recommend this app simply because it keeps you in touch with all your …

How do I get this app?
Simply download it from Apple’s App Store. It’s free.
( Requires you to have an iTunes Account )

PlayOn! Watch Hulu, CBS, ESPN and more on your next gen console

Diego — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 15:28:27 +0000

Want access to Hulu, CBS, ESPN, YouTube, and Netflix on your console? PlayOn! provides the solution for Playstation 3, X-Box 360, and soon the Wii. Netflix support is coming soon…

PlayOn!

Simply sign up for the beta, it is open to everyone. I received an invitation within two days. I then installed the software, ran it on my pc, and seconds after I had PlayOn! capabilities on my XMB within my PS3.

Videos take about 10 seconds to load but after that, I had video up and running. Quality is same found on the websites so don’t expect HD quality. You get what you paid for! I mean, you did pay a lot for it…(it’s free).

With Netflix support coming soon, this application looks very promising. So what are you waiting for?

iPhone App Review: AIM

Andy — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 05:27:31 +0000

Although this app was not on the pictures that I showed on an earlier post, this is one of those apps that makes the iPhone super sweet! AIM ( AOL Instant Messenger ) on the iPhone is so easy to use and it works great when you are connected with EDGE (big plus).

The fact that this application works well with EDGE data means that you don’t have to worry about being in a “Hot Spot” ( area with Wireless Internet )! Lets see whats so great about this app…

If you have never used AIM before you might want to head over to their web site to Create an Account. Once you have your account set-up simply log in on the first screen. When you log in you will notice on the bottom of the screen that there are four tabs to choose from. The My Info Tab shows your status. You can customize your personal message and also add a picture directly from your iPhone.

As you can see the tabs are straight fordward… Buddy List takes you to your Buddy List, IMs are your active IMs, and Favorites are your Best Buds!

To compose an Instant Message simply tap on your buddy and IM away. With the iPhone’s full qwerty keyboard it works seamlessly.

So there you have it, AIM on the iPhone. Just Another great app for the iPhone. And don’t forget that these apps are also available for the iPod Touch!

How do I get this app?
This app is available directly from Apple’s App Store so head on over there and download it because it’s free!
( Requires you yo have an iTunes account )

iPhone App Review: MxTube

Andy — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 17:47:20 +0000

MxTube is a very impressive app designed by a thirteen year old. Yeah, you read right… a thirteen year old. This app is the perfect substitute for the iPhone’s YouTube application. In simplest terms, it is a super YouTube app for the iPhone. Although, the version of the app that I am reviewing is in beta, it has been out for quite some time now.

So want to find out what it’s all about? Lets see!

Why is MxTube one of my favorite apps?

Well first off, it’s allows me to download YouTube videos direcly on to my iPhone. To download a video is as easy as searching for the video you want and tapping a few buttons. Like this:

Search ……………………….. Select Video…………………. Select Connection Speed

Download

It is as simple as that. The menus and GUI are releativly similar to the iPhone’s YouTube app so it will not take long getting use to. Once you have downloaded a video you can play it back whenever you want without having to re-download it.

This is a really great app for sharing those hilarious videos you can find on YouTube. Not only can you access them directly as you would with the regular YouTube app but you can download your favorite ones.

How do I get this app?

For this app you will have to JailBreak your iPhone. It is available through both Cydia and Installer. Please stay tuned for a great source on how to get these great apps on you phone.

iPhone App Reviews

Andy — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 18:32:52 +0000

Do you own an iPhone? Have you been wanting to download applications from the App Store but don’t know if it would be worth it? Well stay tuned even if you don’t own an iPhone because I will be reviewing 25 of my favorite applications available for the iPhone.

Some of the apps are not available in the app store so if you don’t have a Jail Broken iPhone, don’t worry! I will soon post a source that has all the information that you need on how to Jail Break your iPhone.

These are images of the apps I will be reviewing:

Expect to see a new app reviewed every day with detailed descriptions, images, and instructions on how to get them. I will not review apps bundled with the iPhone unless I receive a request. So, If you want me to please feel free to ask.

Don’t see an app you want to know more about, let us know what it is and we will do our best to get you informed on what the app is all about!

Glassdoor - Company Ratings, Reviews, and Salaries

Diego — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 23:17:41 +0000

Ever wanted to know what employees at places like Google and Microsoft are making and what they think of their jobs? Well, Glassdoor provides you with Ratings, Reviews and Salaries of the employees themselves. They are anonymous of course. In other words, employees are more likely to give out the complete truth without worrying about being exposed.

Find out about the company you want to work for

The site is in beta so apparently it’s still launching. Either way, the amount of reviews, ratings, and salaries submitted is good enough to give you a great idea of what working for the company feels like, the perks given, the pros, cons, salaries, management, and more!

In other words, find out if your dream job is really…your dream job!

The site layout is clean, user friendly, and has a lot of useful information. In the pictures provided, I show you the layout of the site, a preview of a reviews page for a company, and the average salaries page for that company.

A couple of quotes from former employees

Here are some pros from Google

I have never met so many brilliant people at one company ever. I have worked for 8 years in industry now. Seriously, there is not a single dumb employee.

You interact with great developers, original thinkers and interesting people all the time. Unlimited munchies are great, three free meals a day (or two in satellite offices) is great, medical benefits, partial subsidy of fitness membership, subsidy for ongoing education (though in reality you are unlikely to have time to use it) are all pluses. Being on the winning team feels good, especially when winning an uphill battle against an entrenched monopolist.

And now the cons…

Extreme preference is given for manager feedback during performance review cycles. Some managers have no clue about the products they are managing, In such cases, employees who are more vocal and are manager suck-ups get preferential treatment during the review cycles. But engineers who make more contributions, are recognized by peers but who are not in “good books” of their direct management or a level above, get penalized.

The days when Google was the coolest place in the world to work are gone. Google is deteriorating at the edges. Many managers at Google got their jobs just by having low employee numbers and are otherwise unqualified. Once entrenched they tend to show little concern for their reports, concerning themselves with “managing up” to their own manager.

In other words there are as many positives than there are negatives in lots of these reviews. Finding if they outweigh the positives is your job!

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in these previous quotes do not represent what Talk Binary thinks of the previous company. This is simply a review showing the reviews found on Glassdoor made by anonymous users and not Talk Binary.

Slickdeals - Amazing Deals on the Web

Diego — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 05:14:50 +0000

Slickdeals is probably the most updated and complete deal site on the internets…I’m subscribed to them via RSS and I get deals users submit from major retail stores such as Best Buy,Amazon, Newegg, Ambercrombie, Seagate, Logitech, and much much more offering discounts from anywhere from 10%-90% off on computer parts, clothing, accessories, gadgets, and tons of other items! A definitely must for everyone to check out!

Today though, I came across this fantastic deal. Seagate had portable harddrives with 80gb,120gb, 250gb, and 320gb for $20, $29, $38, and $48 respectively.

I went ahead and bought a 250gb for $40 including tax and free shipping! So what are you waiting for? Go check this out!

Also, this offer will probably end very soon! So subscribe to them via RSS as well as us to receive more updates such as these in the future before its too late to take advantage of!

Advanced Control Flow - Switch Statements

Diego — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 18:35:48 +0000

A switch statement allows you to control the flow of your program similar to if and else statements, but can be easier for the user to understand.

The Switch Statement

The structure of a switch statement is the following:

switch(expression) {
case :
statements
break;

case :
statements
break;

//More cases…

default :
statements
}

The case to be executed is determined based on the value of the constant_expression. In other words, you may have an int, char, etc…They must be constants. The break statement once encountered breaks out of the switch statement. In other words, if you don’t include the break statement in one of your cases, it will simply execute the following cases until it reaches a break or the end of switch statement. The default case is simply all other cases not covered.

An example would be…

cin >> number;
switch(number) {
case 1:
cout << "One\n";
break;
case 2:
case 3:
cout << "My favorite numbers…\n";
break;
default:
cout << "What!?\n";
}

In other words, if the user chooses 1, they will encounter case 1, if they choose 2 or 3, they receive “My favorite…” statement, else they receive “What!?”.

Another example comparing an if else statement with a switch statement

Imagine a banking program in which the teller gives the program an integer value to perform a different action. Each action determines the reward the user receives.

1 - Gold Reward… Receives $100 reward plus all the other rewards
2 - Silver Reward… Received $50 reward plus the Bronze Reward
3 - Bronze Reward… Received $25 reward
* - Deduct $100 from their account

*Denotes any other value

How would this look like with a if and else statement?

cin >> action;

if ( action == 1 ) {
//Give Gold Award
//Give Silver Reward
//Give Bronze Reward }
else if ( action == 2 ) {
//Give Silver Reward
//Give Bronze Reward }
else if ( action == 3 ) {
//Give Bronze Reward }
else {
//Deduct $100 from their account }
}

What about with a switch statement?

cin >> action;

switch(action) {
case 1:
//Give Gold Reward
case 2:
//Give Silver Reward
case 3:
//Give Bronze Reward
break;
default:
//Deduct $100 from their account
}

In other words, once action satisfies one case, it keeps executing the statements until it reaches the break statement which breaks out of the switch statement. Wouldn’t this be much easier to for a reader to understand? Most likely in certain cases.

How to modify and run our source code for OpenGL/SDL projects

Diego — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 18:52:20 +0000

Wondering how to modify or run our source code for our OpenGL/SDL projects in order to start editing and learning how to make video games? No worry. Below, I’ll run you through the 3 steps in order to do so. (Yes, your heard it right, simply 3).

Setting up your enviornment

Step 1
First things first, visit Codeblocks with SDL Support to set up your enviornment. This is merely installing one or two files.

Game available with source code

Step 2
Secondly, download one of our games. Below are the ones we currently have.

Piranha Plant, Wario, and Coin Game - Based on an old puzzle, this game uses graphics, music, font, sound effects and animation. As well as keyboard and mouse input. Great way to learn how to program games with a variety of nice features.
Download

Classic Pong - Well, not classic but similarly to its original gameplay. Learn how to draw simple objects, use font, and how to make an interactive game with computer AI and some second player support.
Download

Opening the project, and running the program

Step 3
Simply open the project file once you extract the contents of the game you downloaded. It should be found in the main folder.

Codeblocks will be opened and you’ll see the projects. Now, was that hard? That is it in order to start modyfying our games! Now go learn.

To run the program in CodeBlocks, simply press F9.

To learn what files you need to modify, simply refer to the original post for the games release.

Have any other questions? Visit our forums and we’ll be more than happy to help! Drop a comment as well.