Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Electronics - Atari Punk Console

A couple of months ago I decided to tackle my first real electronics project, the Atari Punk Console. Basically it's a circuit that uses two 555 timer chips and some variable resistors to make some Atari like noises. The original circuit is by Forrest M. Mims but here is the schematic I used from Kaustic Machines:




Two hours after my initial trip to Radio Shack the prototype is functional.


I can't just leave it on a bread board! Time to bread out the soldering iron and drill for a more permanent solution.


Doesn't the final product look like a face?

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Stuff I've Created in Java

So just to log what I have made in Java here is a list of all runnable programs I have made so far:

Ultimate Tic-Tac-Toe:

   Let's face it, Tic-Tac-Toe is kinda boring. The game is just about impossible to win and it gets boring after a while. Ultimate Tic-Tac-Toe is a game some friends and I used to play when we got board at school. You have a sheet of graphing paper and one player places an x and the other places an o. The game utilizes the entire piece of paper, the first one  to 5 in a row wins! In this computerized version you have red and blue tiles, same rules of course.

Play it here!



Pong:

    Pong is a classic, and is usually something I make when either learning a new language or just playing around. This pong clone was created in under 2 hours and may contain some bugs, but contains working sound effects and everything!

Play it here!



Fun with Trig Functions!:

    Fun with Trig Functions is just a little java applet I made when I started my trigonometry class. Basically you have two balls move up and down the y axis in a sinusoidal motion. The balls also move along the x axis in  a sinusoidal motion. So double sine'd!

Play it here!







Java Cook Book Arrived

The other day I received my Java Cookbook in the mail the other day. I think this book will be great, it is mostly a reference book. This is the first programming book I have actually bought, I have read Head First Java plus watched all The New Boston's tutorials. 


I even got some sticky notes to match.


Opened to a page about adding a sound clip.

Monday, August 13, 2012

Java Programming #1

Today I'm working on Java game programming. I am currently following thenewboston's Java Game Programming tutorials. After about tutorial six I realized that I might be able to apply some previously attained knowledge from mybringback's Java Game Applet series. Anyways long story short I made this:


I meant to center the circle, instead got this cool 3D effect.



With the circle centered.

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Codecademy

      Let's start this site off with a link to something cool. Codecademy is a website that teaches people how to code using interactive lessons. Here you can learn the basics of the web (html, css, javascript and jquery). As well as programming languages such as Python and Ruby. The site also uses badges and points for you to keep track of your progress and keep you motivated. It is important to remember that you will not be a brilliant programmer after a couple of lessons and that you will most likely have to look into other resources as well such as books to further your programming knowledge.