HCS Forum - How I Spend My Time

by Elven Spellmaker at 11:33 PM EDT on March 26, 2011: Does anyone know how hard it would be to take a set of FLAC/MP3 files and try to find their loop points and then make something like LOGGs out of them?

I have an OST rip which is better than the in-game rip due to it being 44.1kHz instead of 32kHz, but would like the tracks to be able to loop infinitely.

Something tells me its hard. >.<
by Knurek at 7:24 AM EDT on March 27, 2011: Seems my ISP went under - so I've been internetless for the past week and currently I'm hit by the most severe onset of withdrawal syndroms. :)
by SmartOne at 6:32 PM EDT on March 28, 2011: The Sly Collection has scratchy 5-channel stereo audio during the FMVs. The developers of the port couldn't be bothered with proper sample rate conversion. Let alone attaining the studio masters and working from there. And the audio levels vary greatly from in-game to FMV.

For your information, since reviewers don't care about details.
by JudgeIto at 10:29 PM EDT on March 29, 2011: So there I was, digging through the data of the PS2 version of Army Men: Sarge's Heroes 2 looking for music to fulfill a request on another forum. I found it easily enough and, thankfully, didn't have to jump through many hoops to get it working. They were just renamed SND files, though not of the type that Windows Media Player or anything else but vgmstream could recognize. test.exe decoded them fine (though it didn't catch the endpoints) and identified the headers as those found in a Might & Magic game.

Interesting part starts here: As I double checked the converted files, there was one song that stuck out at me. It was a much longer song, 5:16 in length, and with much better production values than the rest of the soundtrack. It even had vocals; a trio or a quartet singing some nice soulsy, easy-listening lyrics. It's bugging me bad, so I take a 30-second clip and upload it to audiotag.info for identification.

The result? "Soul Food to Go (Sina)", a 1987 song by the pop/jazz-fusion group The Manhattan Transfer. I can't find any evidence that this song plays in-game or that it's even supposed to be on the game disc. A google search for "sarge's heroes manhattan transfer" turns up nothing, and some quick shuffling through Youtube videos for the game also turn up nothing. Easter egg? Non-utilized content? Some dweeb left his album rip on the game's gold disc?

I'm WTFing so bad. The walls are crashing down around me and the Earth threatens to melt away beneath my feet. I'm also sleep deprived, so it feels like a bigger deal than it really is. Still, I'm happy to discover something so wonderfully strange. (and to be introduced to The Manhattan Transfer)

edited 10:30 PM EDT March 29, 2011

edited 10:36 PM EDT March 29, 2011
by nensondubois at 11:01 PM EDT on March 29, 2011: Also on another hilariously strange note, Frogger for the SNES has stolen sound code from Ren & Stimpy Buckaroo$, another SNES game.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiZfRdUz-cw

edit: I tried audiotag.info and I couldn't identify 4 songs out 6 that I tried. Hmmmm...

edited 11:10 PM EDT March 29, 2011
by Lunar at 9:21 AM EDT on March 30, 2011: JudgeIto it might have just been in there as a test track and they forgot to remove it, i've seen things like that before (like virt's doctor who arrangement that he left in Batman accidentally!) another possibility is that it was intended for something in-game. quite what though i dunno... maybe to be used as diegetic music in a certain area -- but they were unable to reach a licencing agreement, so it was cut. i'm unfamiliar with the game so wouldn't have any clues to how it could be used.

great tune though, indeed.
by hcs at 11:12 AM EDT on April 4, 2011: Someone posted a video of a long talk and playthrough of Braid that Jonathan Blow did, which he recently linked to. A lot of it he's said before in other talks, but he goes into more detail.

Also I finally made it to the last(?!) level of SpaceChem. Check out the demo, if you like it the full game is definitely worth it.

edited 11:20 AM EDT April 4, 2011
by Knurek at 6:01 AM EDT on April 10, 2011: I've finally cleared my first 30 in Pop'n Music.
Jeez, what a ride it was.

Now on to more practice so that I can clear them consistently. Shouldn't take more than a decade. :)
by Lunar at 3:36 PM EDT on April 10, 2011: interviewed Soyo Oka

lol!!!! ;J
by anewuser at 4:04 PM EDT on April 10, 2011: awesome reading, man. Great interview. How did you arrange a meeting with her? I'm jealous >_>

me? Reading Edward Bono's book regarding creativity, which I'll use not my classes perse, but to help develop my right hemisphere and stop being too critical and logical to become more "animal" or instintive. To have my gut feeling let me do stuff as most people do.

Phew, hard, but elimination critical judgement for a second helps GREATLY to increase the flow of ideas in any creative process. Do try it if you feel like expanding your universe, be it musically, on programming, or writing. I do this in an attempt to make equals (or more similar) my two hemispheres. Rough moments, but facing it well, I guess. I want to improve myself.

\o/
PS: edward bono's lateral thinking.
by anewuser at 4:13 PM EDT on April 10, 2011: also, listening a lot of norman vincent pale's lecture and public speeches. Man's tough as hell. Love his speaking style...so church like...

"Life's Toughest problems"
by hcs at 12:08 AM EDT on April 11, 2011: I have a copy of Lateral Thinking, but haven't got very far in it.

What I have been reading a lot of is Management and the Computer of the Future, an early 60s lecture series on where computers were and should be going. I picked it up specifically because of the chapter on computers in the university, which is largely about programming education. There are some interesting discussions of it on Mark Guzdial's blog and in depth on Grand Text Auto.
by Lunar at 4:19 AM EDT on April 11, 2011: anewuser: the owner of SEMO contacted me saying an interview with her was planned, and asked me if i'd like to suggest some questions (knowing that i was a fan.) so not all those questions are mine, about half of them i think.
by SmartOne at 8:22 PM EDT on April 24, 2011: Why can't I use a Wii Remote to control emulators? :(
by Mouser X at 9:58 PM EDT on April 24, 2011: On the PC, on the Wii, or what? It depends on the method of implementation used, as to whether or not the Wii controller can be used to control your emulator of choice. Have you heard of "Joy 2 Key"? That can convert Joystick inputs into a keyboard. I've actually typed messages (short, and broken) using my NGC gamepad. Maybe Joy 2 Key would work for you? I don't have a bluetooth adapter, otherwise I'd be using my Wii controller on my PC. It'd make my PC much more functional (since I pretty much only use it to watch movies, listen to music, and occasionally play a game on it). Doing a quick search, I found 3 different links that all look useful/interesting, regarding Joy 2 Key:

Joy 2 Key English version - I have this version, and I know I've used it. However, its version number is lower than that of the non-English version, so I'm pretty sure I use the non-English version most of the time.

Joy 2 Key Win7 instructions - I haven't used Joy 2 Key on my Win7 machine yet, so I had no idea that it might not work properly. This site gives instructions which might be useful (and a link to the higher version of Joy 2 Key).

Open Source Implementation of Joy 2 Key - I only very briefly looked at this, but as near as I can tell, someone is either working from an early version of Joy 2 Key, or they've re-written/rebuilt it for a more modern implementation. Give it a try, I guess. I've never seen it before, so I couldn't tell you what to expect.

Anyway, hopefully you can figure something out. I agree that it sucks that you can't use your Wii controller on emulators. Hopefully this helps. When I do (eventually) get a bluetooth adapter for my PC, I intend to get a Wii controller to go with it, and use that as my main input (instead of a mouse, I mean). We'll see if that ever happens.... I don't have enough money to get an adapter (and certainly not a controller, though I already have 2 for my Wii) at the moment, so it will be awhile before that happens. Let us know if you get it working. Mouser X over and out.
by SmartOne at 10:43 PM EDT on April 24, 2011: Thanks for the links, but I've been all over the Internet trying to figure out why my "HP Integrated Module with Bluetooth 2.1 Wireless Technology" does not properly sync with Wii Remotes. Oh sure, they pop up when I add a new device, but the LEDs flash forever. Or by some random luck I get LED1 and LED4 to light, but GlovePIE doesn't recognize any inputs.

I have issues, naturally. Looks like I'm in the market for a Bluetooth dongle.

And the BlueSoleil "stack" doesn't work, either.
by hcs at 10:51 PM EDT on April 29, 2011: Once again doing Ludum Dare this weekend. Probably won't go as all out as I usually try to (not that it shows).
by SmartOne at 10:20 PM EDT on May 2, 2011: $1.99 Bluetooth adapter + BlueSoleil = Success!
by Elven Spellmaker at 2:05 PM EDT on May 9, 2011: PunBB 1.2.23

...

Thanks to hcs for report.

Don't even ask how I ended up on PunBB page, I can't quite remember.

Either way, is that this hcs?
by hcs at 11:08 PM EDT on May 9, 2011: I don't think so, never heard of it. Sounds like it'd be right up my alley by the name, though.

edited 11:09 PM EDT May 9, 2011
living by anewuser at 12:12 PM EDT on May 10, 2011: Facing my fears.

Lately my plan on life is to attack all my fears. Being male, and getting a girl being one of them (?) I should really be dedicated to studies more, and finding work, but a part of me believes that won't ever happen.

Turns out that you are truly and solely a man if you HAVE a job. Took me a few years to realize that (or at least that's how I feel) so this past season I've trying to find a job to hopefully find a relationship and 'enjoy' life and social activities more. Duh! you can't do much fun stuff, or social stuff, without money. Still trying to find something stable. Again out of work! and not dedicated to studies as I should. Sort of going out and dating. Errr, I'm doing the wrong thing on the long run, but having fun now. I'm sure I'm doing the wrong thing.

Let's correct the course I guess. Painful conciousness, and thinking. How to stop it?

duuuuurrrrrrrrr
by SmartOne at 11:55 PM EDT on May 10, 2011: Wrexsoul makes me kill my characters. :(

What a flawed boss battle. X-Zone is required, but the characters in my party haven't learned it. If you opt to beat him without the spell, you have to guess which character to kill to make him briefly appear to hit him with Chain Saw and Bum Rush (if you're lucky). Thus you have to kill your party while still dealing enough damage to the main part which keeps disappearing.

It's like Dark Link in Zelda: Ocarina of Time. No good strategy (except the X-Zone exploit).

edited 12:49 PM EDT May 11, 2011
by SmartOne at 5:05 PM EDT on June 1, 2011: Don't you love it when copy protection mechanisms prohibit the legitimate enjoyment of a game? Civilization III: Play the World's faulty CD check forced me to download (after much searching) a lost patch plus the correct version of a no-CD crack. Now I can play the game and maybe even enjoy some multiplayer.
by Elven Spellmaker at 9:01 PM EDT on June 1, 2011: It's like Dark Link in Zelda: Ocarina of Time. No good strategy

I seem to remember my brother never having a problem with this.
He just used to run up to it and just repeatedly hit it with the mallet.

Job done.

edited 9:01 PM EDT June 1, 2011
by SmartOne at 1:40 AM EDT on June 2, 2011: I swear that doesn't work. When I do it.
by Lunar at 6:04 PM EDT on June 2, 2011: i spend my time writing songs for a homebrew NES game. you should spend your time playing it !~!~!
Lunar spamming his works? AWESOMENESS. by anewuser at 8:29 PM EDT on June 4, 2011: No computer to work with or play. Not even a hdd-less machine (motherboard blowing up....)

Happy as ever. Focusing on schools and kissing girlies.

Tears of joy today due to family being around. At least my other/new family (nephews/dad).

Sad for not being around...

Have a good time people!
PS: Lunar, you're an excellent musician, and I know I'm no virt ( XD ) but your nes works (and midi ones) are amazing. Keep at it! (FM FUNK MADNESS <3)
by hcs at 7:06 AM EDT on June 12, 2011: Been catching up on Mark Guzdial's blog, came across this interesting video about learning from videos. The gist is that if the video doesn't challenge misconceptions, it tends to only reinforce them, even if it is completely correct and clear.

Incidentally this is something that labs and simulations can be good at, if well designed: showing that an idea doesn't work.

edited 7:17 AM EDT June 12, 2011
by SmartOne at 8:28 PM EDT on June 13, 2011: Bought a complete Sega 32X, box and all for $4.

Does anyone know of a Real Time Strategy game like Age of Empires where the workers make a distinctive grunting sound when chopping down trees? I'm trying to uncover one of the last forgotten games of my childhood...
by SmartOne at 9:56 PM EDT on July 17, 2011: Sonic the Hedgehog 3 locked on Sonic and Knuckles in Sega 32X in Sega Genesis. Because I can. Now I just need a Game Genie.

There should be a Knuckles Chaotix hack were you play as Sonic alone. That would probably be more fun.

Why don't PCSX2's custom rendering resolutions work? :(

edited 10:03 PM EDT July 17, 2011
by Lunar at 2:33 PM EDT on July 19, 2011: familiar with Sonic Colors, specifically its music? Myself and my friend Aivi teamed up on a Planet Wisp arrangement with live piano~

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1uh9dW5yFw

spamspamspam~
by Elven Spellmaker at 7:16 PM EDT on July 20, 2011: I finally found a very recent (and new) driver, boxed by mudlord called BASSMIDI System Synth, which allows SoundFonts to be used as the default MIDI device on PCs.

Amazing!

If only I could force games that specifically target the MS Synth (instead of the default) to play using this driver and also use my VST Reverb plugin.

edited 7:20 PM EDT July 20, 2011
by Elven Spellmaker at 2:31 PM EDT on July 22, 2011: Out of interest, does anyone know if ripping a song using one of the default file output plugins takes the EQ into account in the output file?
by SmartOne at 1:12 AM EDT on August 4, 2011: In Winamp? I don't think so?

A Dell PC won't boot a working Slax Live CD. What can I do to get it to boot?

Ah, had to swap the IDE DVD and CD drives. They were in the wrong positions on the cable.

edited 10:24 PM EDT August 4, 2011
by hcs at 11:14 AM EDT on August 15, 2011: Just kind of came rolling off my brain this morning after one about Napoleon Bonaparte (so nicknamed by the British for his "bony-parts"). Not too original (or accurate), but hey. In the style of John Hodgman's Today in the Past:

March 4, 1966

John Lennon utters the controversial statement that he and the Beatles are "Bigger than Jesus". When later forced to defend himself before the Inquisition, Lennon clarifies that he was only referring to relative size, given the vast improvements in nutrition over the millennia; and also that he and his band consisted of four men, while Jesus was largely considered to be only two or three men in a Jesus-suit.

The Pope was unconvinced, and pronounced a terrible curse on the musicians. From that day forth they would wander the earth alone and unloved by more than 25% of the world's population at any one time.

It happened today, in the past.

edited 11:16 AM EDT August 15, 2011
by SmartOne at 11:57 AM EDT on August 17, 2011: Why is it so hard to build projects? How am I supposed to learn if I can't even compile due to missing files? The only project I've been able to build is Genesis Plus GX. This is because eke is extremely organized and knows how to write instructions.

I want configurable channel panning in NEZplug++. Thought I'd take a look at the source (which is way over my head) because no one else is interested, but I can't build the plugin because files are missing and stuff is undefined.

How do people get so good? Especially the 20-year-old (or younger) prodigies who pick up programming no problem. I guess it would help to have a mentor or some family history.

Everything cool is in C and/or C++. All I can handle is baby C# and Java code.

Building stuff is hard. I need experience, but can't get experience, because building stuff is hard.

Hmm.
by Captain Ron at 12:08 AM EDT on August 18, 2011: It's not exactly experience you need; it's the proper tools. I usually find it hard when someone compiles a project using Visual Studio because I use mostly free & open-source software (like GCC in Ubuntu, DJGPP/GW-BASIC/QuickBASIC/Open Watcom/Magic ASM in real-mode MS-DOS, Open Watcom/MASM32 in Windows XP, etc.). That's besides my doing web-based stuff (you should see my web-based project at http://browzos.i-console.com/; it's in a stalled state because nobody's willing to join the bandwagon on this).

But yeah; Java's still pretty good for emulation projects (VirtualNES, JPC & JStella come to mind). There also used to be PotatoEmu, but the idiot that created the applet version (based directly from the source code to MESS) sold single-server licenses for $150, before he decided to stop his project & rat out his customers for "copyright violations."
by BtEO at 5:34 AM EDT on August 18, 2011: If you do happen to find any good help on setting up build environments and fixing problems with missing libraries (especially if as in some of my experience you're sure they're there and the project has the right paths included) please do link.

I'm not sure I've ever managed to take an open source C/C++ project and compile it, let alone start to add whatever I was planning on adding that made me try in the first place.

All the books I've ever seen just skip over what seems like some bloody useful info in favour of covering syntax — I've done enough programming in enough languages that learning syntax (even C/C++ with its myriad ways to shoot yourself in the foot) is not a huge problem.
by Captain Ron at 9:38 PM EDT on August 18, 2011: Well, typical open-source projects involve the use of widely-available libraries that are listed in the package's readme file. Others, though, require some other libraries & even other compiler/virtual computer systems.

For Windows users, using the GCC tool chain with either MinGW or Cygwin solves quite a few problems when compiling Linux programs. Most Linux-based projects that are ported to Windows tend to use Cygwin because it actually emulates an X Windows system. MinGW only serves as an equivalent to the Java Runtime Environment.

There are many libraries available; only the readme files for each package will tell you which ones are needed (or you can always blast an e-mail & join the project's forum).
by SmartOne at 3:13 PM EDT on August 20, 2011: I have managed to build NEZplug++. Yay me. There's got to be some values in here that I could tweak to at least hard code some channel panning...

I know nothing about digital sound processing. If someone wants to lend a hand... :D

Pointers... I need a function to return two values.

edited 8:37 PM EDT August 20, 2011
by Captain Ron at 6:31 PM EDT on August 21, 2011: You can't readily return 2 values in C or C++, but...

http://www.dreamincode.net/forums/topic/26506-return-multiple-values-in-a-function/

That should help you.
by SmartOne at 7:59 PM EDT on August 21, 2011: Thanks!
by nensondubois at 9:27 PM EDT on August 22, 2011: Been working on a music hacking document for the SGB versions of the Pro Mahjong Kiwame songs. A little more is written on my notepad then there is present on the thread:
http://luigiblood.0fees.net/board/thread.php?id=29

I have eventual plans to create custom songs with MML, but not until I at least map out the first song, which is coming along nicely.

Here is a small example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-fe9UA2ei4
by hcs at 12:04 AM EDT on August 27, 2011: Ran across this anecdote in an essay in The Art of Human Computer Interface Design:

A few years ago I was at the annual Siggraph film show, the largest of these events, standing next to a young security guard in a mobbed colosseum. After a couple minutes a shot of a (fractal) mountain scene appeared on the screen and the audience applauded. I noticed the security guard getting tense. Shortly after that, (ray traced) shiney steel balls were shown hovering over a chessboard. More applause. Then a (atmospheric) foggy outdoor forest scene appeared and the audience exploded. At this point the security guard snapped. He grabbed my arm ("something weird is going on here man") and demanded an explanation.
by hcs at 11:47 PM EDT on September 2, 2011: Let's see if I can describe this with text.

I was walking home from Trader Joe's, down through the strip mall in front of the buildings. The building is L-shaped, and my apartments are on the other side, so I have to walk to the inner corner, turn right, and go all the way to the end and loop back around. Which has always struck me as kind of a pain, even though it's just 200 feet or something.

Well, I was almost to the corner, when I saw a guy on a bike coming along the other way. I assumed he would be making the turn and coming towards me, so I prepared to avoid him. Instead, he went straight into the wall.

It turns out that there is a gap between the two buildings that I had never noticed despite making a right turn there a dozen times. It's easy to notice if you're coming the other way and making a left turn, but for whatever reason I always came around from the other direction. It was a magic moment to see this guy completely defy physics as I understood it. And I get to cut some distance off my route.
by snakemeat at 12:05 AM EDT on September 3, 2011: awesome, just awesome. I can only imagine the mind f**k that provided.
by Mouser X at 3:41 AM EDT on September 3, 2011: I had a similar experience a few years ago. I was at work (I had been working here for a few months by this time), and the supplies are way clear in the back. About half way towards the back, on my way to get supplies to refill the shelves, my supervisor walked out of a solid wall. I stopped, and went back to look again. It turns out there was a door there I had never seen before. It wasn't hidden, it had a doorknob, and everything. I just somehow had never seen it before. It seriously blew my mind (for one thing, seeing someone walk out of a solid wall will do that to you, and secondly, I was amazed that I'd been working there for months, without ever noticing a door before). It turns out they were doing a lot of remodeling at the time, and previously, the room had stored all kinds of computer equipment (which had absolutely nothing to do with my job, so I had never had a need to go to the room before). They were moving the computer stuff to a new room, and this room which previously didn't exist (in my reality) was being converted to a stock room.

One of the weirdest moments of my life.... Though, I did once have a dream where MacGyver was shooting a handgun (he wasn't very good at it). That was pretty weird too (since MacGyver never uses guns, except as a wrench). More likely though, is that my NCIS and Transformers crossover dream was weirder.... The characters from NCIS (it's a TV show. Look it up. It's pretty good) were fighting off a zombie apocalypse, which had been brought to earth by the Transformers. Optimus Prime felt really badly about that, so he was helping the NCIS people out (they had really big, awesome, energy weapons). Seriously, if my dreams were heavily analyzed by some quack doctor, I'd probably be committed. Mouser X over and out.
MacGyver dream by Yoshinkeru at 3:20 PM EDT on September 3, 2011: @ Mouser X: Sure your MacGyver dream wasn't just this comic?

edited 8:09 PM EDT September 3, 2011
by Mouser X at 1:28 AM EDT on September 4, 2011: 1000% certain. For one thing, you got the link wrong (put your mouse over the link), and for another , it was Richard Dean Anderson (mullet and leather jacket and all), not a stick figure. Also worth noting - I knew what the link was, without even looking at the link. There was no dialogue involved in my dream. Just MacGyver shooting a gun (and not doing well at it). I'm sure there was more, but that's all I remember. There is an episode where MacGyver tries to use a gun (he has amnesia), but he can't get himself to pull the trigger. It's possible my dream took that episode, and embellished/twisted it. Honestly, that's much more likely, than the XKCD comic being the possible origin.

That said, it is a funny comic. It made me laugh. Mouser X over and out.
by SmartOne at 12:49 AM EDT on September 30, 2011: Multiple Jobs – buffering and spooling

Tape to Disk transfer – code for job one 0

Tape to Disk transfer – code for job one 50

Disk to memory transfer – code for job one 100

Disk to memory transfer – code for job one 105

Disk to memory transfer – code for job one 110

Disk to memory transfer – code for job one 115

Code for job one in memory 120

Start executing job one 120

Tape to Disk transfer – data for job one 120

Data for job one on Disk 170

Disk to memory transfer – data for job one 170

Input buffer full for job one 175

Tape to Disk transfer – code for job two 175

Tape to Disk transfer – code for job two 225

Tape to disk transfer – data for job two 275

Job one done 320

Data for job two on Disk 325

Disk to memory transfer – code for job two 325

Disk to memory transfer – code for job two 330

Disk to memory transfer – code for job two 335

Disk to memory transfer – code for job two 340

Code for job two in memory 340

Start executing job two 345

Disk to memory transfer – data for job two 345

Input buffer full for job two 350

Tape to Disk transfer – code for job thr 350

Tape to Disk transfer – code for job thr 400

Tape to Disk transfer – data for job thr 450

Data for job thr on Disk 500

Disk to memory transfer – code for job thr 500

Disk to memory transfer – code for job thr 505

Disk to memory transfer – code for job thr 510

Disk to memory transfer – code for job thr 515

Code for job thr in memory 520

Disk to memory transfer – data for job thr 520

Input buffer full for job thr 525

Job two done 545

Start executing job thr 545

Job thr done 745

All jobs done 745

Time to complete all jobs 745

Time spent executing user jobs 600

Time spent by the system 145
by hcs at 12:09 AM EDT on October 6, 2011: I've bleated several times about my love for SpaceChem, here's one more shot to convince folks to try it out:

There's currently a Humble Frozen Synapse Bundle running for another week or so, pay what you want for a bunch of games, and SpaceChem has just been added to it. So throw some money (doesn't have to be much) at them and charity.

And here's my most popular YouTube video, my solution to the SpaceChem level Every Day is the First Day, posted the day after it was released when it was a lot easier to have the best known solution to one of these puzzles.
by hcs at 10:38 PM EDT on October 7, 2011: Hey, look, fun times:
The Games Programmers Play
by SmartOne at 10:22 PM EDT on October 11, 2011: There aren't any free, simple MIDI sequencers, are there?
by Yoshinkeru at 10:29 PM EDT on October 11, 2011: A few.
by SmartOne at 10:59 PM EDT on October 11, 2011: Already looked. I want to change some instruments. That's all. Anvil Studio won't import the MIDIs.
by Elven Spellmaker at 3:40 AM EDT on October 12, 2011: I use SynthFont for playing MIDI files and it can also edit MIDI files (basically as you wanted).

If there are already Instrument events then that can change them.

If the MIDIs won't load then post them on his forum and ask him to look at them.

Failing that Jazz++. (Although that has problems with certain MIDIs such as overlapping notes).
by RukarioGyiyg996 at 10:36 AM EDT on October 12, 2011: Started to upload a few MIDI soundtracks to my youtube since it's taking me a long time to get around to making my LP's and module music again.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBRTZwltEII
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kksTaZXAjgU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gToiv-8mq9s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTl75pN1bFs

While GeneralUser GS is fine, the one major problem with it is the instruments are not fine balanced, so some songs sound great, others sound like complete ass. It's all subjective though. I just pick the cream of the crop to put through GeneralUserGS because it sounds good enough to me.

In other news: Legend of the Seven Paladins sucks, but has great music.
by SmartOne at 12:44 AM EDT on October 22, 2011: Would one of you C people know why fread is only reading ID3 and similarly RIFF when I try to read MP3 and WAV files into memory, respectively? How do I make it read entire files? Is some kind of evil character?
by hcs at 4:33 AM EDT on October 22, 2011: If you're treating the output as a string, then yes it's going to consider the string terminated at the first 00 byte.
by SmartOne at 10:52 AM EDT on October 22, 2011: So I shouldn't be using a char* to the buffer? How do I read the file into a binary buffer? Use void*?

EDIT: Yeah... Visual Studio's debugger simply wasn't showing the contents of the entire buffer because it shows the contents as a string. The entire file was loaded. I just wasn't passing the buffer and length to BASS correctly.

edited 4:40 PM EDT October 22, 2011
by hcs at 4:12 PM EDT on October 30, 2011: Ok, this is going to be the lamest rip of all time, 1:30 of the end of the classic Zelda Theme arrangement that I caught on the radio, from this upcoming album, performed by the London Philharmonic.

edited 4:13 PM EDT October 30, 2011
by CapComMDb at 11:12 AM EST on November 13, 2011: Playing around with the new version of EAC (actually the old version, 1.0, Beta 2). Significant upgrades over the first one! They added lots of new metadata features such as downloading album covers (I'd been doing that manually...), lyrics, etc. The pay database function is a sham though - Freedb all the way!

Also picked up Indie Royale bundle 2 (pay what you wish). Comes with NightSky and has soundtrack to that as well:

http://www.indieroyale.com/bundle/
by hcs at 3:18 PM EST on November 20, 2011: Oh, don't mind me, just a test.

edited 3:34 PM EST November 20, 2011
by mudlord at 2:14 AM EST on November 21, 2011: in the process of making x86 compression shiz public....
http://mudpack.mudlord.info
by SmartOne at 3:18 PM EST on December 5, 2011: Why are Playstation emulators and plugins so terrible? It's impossible to simply maintain the correct aspect ratio in fullscreen. And don't forget perfect XA streaming. The pSX emulator is the only one that's near accurate (none of this plugin nonsense), and it doesn't seem very active.

*Maintain aspect ratio
*No skipping or dropping of audio

Likewise for N64 emulation. Guess everyone's waiting on Project64.
by bxaimc at 5:52 PM EST on December 5, 2011: People just gave up
by Knurek at 9:16 AM EST on December 8, 2011: Polish hip-hop music videos can be pretty amazing
by bxaimc at 10:20 PM EST on December 15, 2011: Another year, another birthday to me.
19 isn't that bad so far. I might be able to get used to it :P
Search in thread! by hcs at 10:54 PM EST on December 20, 2011: Hey, you know how we have these 200 page threads? I've finally added a "Search this thread" feature so you can search within a given thread.
by SmartOne at 12:57 PM EST on December 21, 2011: Awesome!
by hcs at 4:23 AM EST on December 30, 2011: I spent much of this week accomplishing one of my lifelong dreams, Mystify for NES.

Well, at least I've been dreaming of it since August or so, when I started writing it. Source.
by nothingtosay at 9:19 AM EST on December 30, 2011: I'll just say it. Best NES game ever?
by hcs at 7:36 PM EST on January 3, 2012: I have continued to work on this at every spare moment. It is faster now.
Nestify v4

edited 7:38 PM EST January 3, 2012
by Knurek at 2:07 AM EST on January 4, 2012: Does anyone here has a cracked version of Pasofami emulator available here?

I'm asking since this emulator has a special tool which creates a working NSF file from a loaded rom and supports just about every Japanese Famicom/FDS game - would be really nice to have it to patch some holes in my NSF collection. :)

The version available for download is crippleware though - doesn't allow for any saving. :(

edited 2:07 AM EST January 4, 2012
by hcs at 3:25 PM EST on January 13, 2012: Went to an organ recital by Paul Jacobs last night at UCLA. One of the most striking pieces he played was La Présence multipliée from Messiaen's Livre du Saint Sacrement (played here by Olivier Latry).

edited 3:26 PM EST January 13, 2012
by hcs at 6:41 PM EST on January 16, 2012: Blip Festival Australia!

Not that I will be going (haven't been to any chiptune shows since blipfest 2008 and nowhere nearby), but I know we have a few Australians here and wanted to mention it for any who might consider it.
by Josh W at 3:44 AM EST on January 17, 2012: cool, that's like 5 miles from my apartment =D
by hcs at 4:10 AM EST on January 17, 2012: Do it! Looks like a good lineup, among the names I recognize, Trash80, Hally, Nullsleep all put on great shows. Bit Shifter was a little disappointing last I saw him at a Pulsewave, at Blip Festival he was quite good. And part of the fun is finding out what all these people you'd never heard of are up to.

edited 4:16 AM EST January 17, 2012

Some stuff from '08

edited 4:18 AM EST January 17, 2012

Nestify v5

edited 7:25 PM EST January 17, 2012
by hcs at 4:43 PM EST on January 25, 2012: Nestify v6

Also I see that we have had our first genuine spam attack! Oh happy day!

edited 4:43 PM EST January 25, 2012
by hcs at 11:39 AM EST on February 8, 2012: Nestify v7 has been out for a while.

Last night I was thinking about Cantor's diagonal argument in the finite realm. The following is probably either well known or wrong, but I found it amusing.

:

For b or fewer numbers of b bits, you can use the diagonal method directly: choose a different bit from each number and invert it to build another number. If you have fewer than b then you can choose any values for the remaining bits; if you're constructing with ORs you can just leave 'em 0.

---

I was then thinking about 2^b-1 unique b-bit numbers (and here I think I'm remembering a job interview question that I bombed). At first I thought about subtracting each from the sum of all 2^b possible, and the value remaining would be the missing one. It turns out that you can do this a bit more simply, by XORing all the others together.

This works because if there were 2^b unique values, each column (place value) would use 2^(b-1) 0s and 2^(b-1) 1s. If a column is missing a 1, it will thus have 2^(b-1)-1 1s, an odd count, so the resulting XOR will provide the missing 1. If it is missing a 0, there will be an even number of 1s so the result of the XOR will be the missing 0.

---

I tried to see how this would extend to 2^b-2 unique numbers, but things begin to get a little more complicated. If you XOR all the numbers together, a 1 would indicate that the two missing numbers have a mismatch in that place, but we can't construct the two numbers directly from that. We may be able to use that fact in another way, though.

First, we can guarantee that there will be at least one 1 in the resulting XOR. From the argument above (the full 2^b unique values has an even number of 1s in each column), the result of XORing all 2^b must be all 0. For 2^b-2, then, the missing two values XORed together must give the same result as the 2^b-2, so that when these are combined the result is 0. Because we are dealing with unique values, these two cannot be the same value, so their XOR must have at least one 1.

A 1 in a result column must mean that there are 2^(b-1)-1 0s and 2^(b-1)-1 1s in that column, as that is the only way there can be an odd number of 1s among 2^b-2 unique values (2^(b-1)-3 1s would need 2^(b-1)+1 0s in that column, but there can be at most 2^(b-1) unique patterns among the other b-1 bits). So of the missing two, one must have a 0 and the other has a 1. We can find each of these by doing a second pass in the style of our approach for 2^b-1 unique values above, while treating the values with a 0 or with a 1 in that column as separate groups:

0. m is a fixed mask to select a bit that was 1 in the overall XOR result, u[] are the 2^b-2 given unique values.
1. v0 := 0, v1 := 0, these will accumulate the missing value
2. For each u[i] (i from 0 to 2^b-3)
2a. if m AND u[i] == 0, v0 := v0 XOR u[i]
2b. if m AND u[i] != 0, v1 := v1 XOR u[i]

It should be clear that this works in the same manner as above for the 2^c-1 values (where c is b-1) in each group, for the c bits besides the bit indicated by m. v0 will have a 0 in that bit, since it will be constructed from XORing 0s. v1 will have a 1 in that bit, since it will be constructed from XORing an odd number of 1s.

---

If we want to avoid the second pass, we can keep b pairs of accumulators on hand for the b possible masks (0 or 1 in each position) during the first pass, and at the end of the pass the XOR of all the values will tell us which of these actually contains the result (any of the positions with a 1 in the grand total XOR):

0. m[i] is a mask with bit i set, u[] are the 2^b-2 given unique values
1. v0[0..b-1] := 0, v1[0..b-1] := 0, these will accumulate possibilities for the missing value
2. a := 0, this is the overall accumulator
2. For each u[i] (i from 0 to 2^b-3)
2a. a := a XOR u[i]
2b. For each m[j] (j from 0 to b-1)
2b0. if u[i] AND m[j] == 0, v0[j] := v0[j] XOR u[i]
2b1. if u[i] AND m[j] != 0, v1[j] := v1[j] XOR u[i]

3. v0[i] and v1[i] (for any i where a AND m[i] != 0) are the missing values

This is of course more work overall, but there may be cases when we can only do one pass.

---

From this I'm getting a whiff of an approach to do this in general for 2^b-n uniques, but I haven't finished it yet. I also haven't actually tested any of it...
by mudlord at 6:53 AM EST on February 9, 2012: Knurek: Does it have a english translation?
Would help with cracking OR even keygenning it.
by Knurek at 8:55 AM EST on February 9, 2012: @mudlord: None that I know of, sorry.
by hcs at 10:47 PM EST on February 10, 2012: I was reading an article, A Brief History of Computing, the other day, and I saw some interesting references to a series of interviews called Pioneers of Computing. It appears to have been released as a series of 20 cassette tapes published by the Science Museum, London. There are ISBNs for a CD version but it doesn't seem to be on sale anywhere.

I haven't been able to track down any source for it besides Stanford (and one or two other libraries), which is actually not prohibitively difficult for me to get to, but I don't know if I'd be able to use the library to make a copy of the tapes (and I'd rather not have to make the trip if I can avoid it). Anyone want to join me on a wild goose chase?
[edit]
I'm thinking more and more seriously about staying in the area for a few days on my way back from San Francisco after GDC. I'll have to get in touch with the library to see if a visitor could get access to the media collections.

edited 1:02 AM EST February 11, 2012
using live distros... by anewuser at 11:32 AM EST on February 19, 2012: This MADE MY DAY
vgm on a linux distro without a hdd possible (puppy linuxgotta sponsor it now, wary 5.0, and audio overload compiled as .pet for this linux distro.

This mean I can listen vgm again on a more regular basis (thank god for the rockbox firmware. I've been listening the smaller, less processor intensive files on my sansa c240 [sap, nsf, spc, midi [manual advance? wtf]])

Winter Chip, I'll try and vote.

Also, there's a carnival down here so no classes. Quit my job when they didn't pay me for something. Lots of reading. Not much studying but looking on the future and objectives. Citing wanda sykes (among many others) "don't give a fuck" lately about much stuff.
by hcs at 1:54 PM EST on February 21, 2012: Saw an interesting demo and discussion on Mark Guzdial's blog.

edited 2:14 PM EST February 21, 2012
by RukarioGyiyg996 at 5:07 PM EST on February 25, 2012: Making covers of MSX2 music.
by Knurek at 8:48 AM EST on February 27, 2012: Look at the shit I'm supposed to translate to Polish at work:

"Looking at another time your movie about this specific issue, we haven't any other useful suggestion in addition to what already explained...also if checked and submitted your documentation again to our specialists. Obviously we are completely available to receive any your other information more on the question !"

I guess I should start with translating this gibbering to English. :)
by anewuser at 3:10 PM EST on February 28, 2012: ROFL...

Sorry knurek. Good luck with that. Make sure you tell your clients the source material was written in "dummy and a half silly". BTW, is this material from what other translation. It clearly shows whoever wrote that doesn't know but only basic grammar.

Considering programming to fix issues with stuff not working on my 'life setup' (does't work? fix it sort of criteria).

Needing playlist support for nsfs on my rockbox firmware and a more proper playback of module formats (timed not endlessly).
by hcs at 1:45 AM EST on March 2, 2012: Been on "vacation" for a week, going to NYU tomorrow to meet with the CS department and chat with some people about the PhD program (to which I was accepted last month).

I ran across a really fun presentation Ken Perlin gave back in November and a parallel bubblesort implementation he did with the audience.
by hcs at 12:23 PM EDT on March 16, 2012: I sent in my acceptance paperwork to NYU today, very much looking forward to fall.

I realized the other day that this weird CD I picked up some years ago is Shiro Hamaguchi's demo "tape" as of December 1999, I brought it up over on VGMdb. I don't recognize anything on it but the One-Winged Angel arrangement from FFVII Reunion Tracks, most of it is probably anime I've never heard of.
by Elven Spellmaker at 6:48 AM EDT on March 18, 2012: Came across this a while back but only recently managed to get a link to it:

WAT Presentation

(The way he says wat irks me [but that could be because we say what differently to Americans], but the presentation is pretty funny).

edited 6:48 AM EDT March 18, 2012
by hcs at 12:42 PM EDT on March 18, 2012: It's pretty obnoxious to Americans as well, I assure you. But yes, whatever strengths JavaScript might have, using + for string concatenation is an awful idea. The only JS book I have is "JavaScript: The Good Parts" for essentially this reason, I don't have the time or patience to learn the bizarre pitfalls as I have with C.

---

I heard a few days ago a fascinating episode of the genre fiction writing podcast Writing Excuses, with special guest David Brin. I've not read any of Brin's work yet, but I enjoyed hearing him talk about writing. There's usually a lot more back and forth but he pretty much takes over this episode.

edited 5:54 PM EDT March 18, 2012
by Knurek at 7:15 PM EDT on March 18, 2012: Re: David Brin.
I've read Skydiver, and it was pretty terrible plot and writing-wise (it's a classic detective story, with parlor scene and all, but *in space* for some reason), but that was his first novel IIRC, so maybe he does get better. The hard sci-fi bits showed some promise.

edited 7:18 PM EDT March 18, 2012
by hcs at 11:11 PM EDT on March 18, 2012: Fwiw he touches on why it's a murder mystery in this little piece (only 15 minutes). The Stars My Destination (Bester) is apparently The Count of Monte Cristo in space and I found that awesome, so maybe I'd appreciate it.
by hcs at 2:46 AM EDT on March 22, 2012: Reading an interesting long article in Slate: Ruby, Ruby on Rails, and _why: The disappearance of one of the world's most beloved computer programmers

About a journalist learning to program, and the Ruby world.
by hcs at 8:39 PM EDT on March 26, 2012: Back from the Midwest Gaming Classic this weekend, met with some folks from the N64 and NES dev scenes. Wish I had taken more photos. Here's Tesla versus Edison, I don't know exactly what the story is behind it but this is the context.

edited 8:49 PM EDT March 26, 2012
by Knurek at 6:32 AM EDT on March 27, 2012: After a month and a half of reading, I've wrapped Neal Stephenson's "Cryptonomicon".

And damn, for a 1000+ pages novel, the ending feels rushed, even for Stephenson's standards. It's a great read, and comes highly recommended if you want something to keep you interested for a few weeks, but, as weird as that sounds, I wouldn't mind it having another 100 or so pages.

Now, next on the platter is... dunno, Lem's "Cyberiad" I guess.
by hcs at 6:51 AM EDT on March 27, 2012: Cool, The Cyberiad is awesome. I'd love to be able to read it in the original Polish, the English translation I have is very good but I'm sure it pales in comparison. I still haven't checked out any of the other Lem you've recommended.

I just finished Cryptonomicon again a few months ago, while I don't feel the ending is rushed per se I did find it pretty unsatisfying.

I just read The Algebraist by Iain M. Banks, which has a pretty lousy ending as well. So many things set up that are left unexplored, at least two characters who don't actually end up being all that involved in the plot. Disappointing, as the universe was a lot of fun. Maybe he'll come up with the trilogy he'd said it might become.
by Knurek at 2:55 PM EDT on March 27, 2012: To be honest, other than Lem you're not missing much when it comes to polish sci-fi - though Lem didn't though himself to be a sci-fi writer. But if you're feeling adventurous with regards to EastBloc sci-fi, I can recommend Strugacky brothers' Roadside Picnic.

I've read first Culture novel by Banks, Consider Phlebas, and I really need to read the rest of his work as well.

*sigh* Wish I had more time for reading, as it stands, I'm not gonna reduce my backlog anytime soon. :\
by hcs at 2:04 AM EDT on March 28, 2012: This is neat, by way of marshallh I just heard about this ZX Spectrum 48x emulator in Goldeneye which Zoinkity has hacked back into accessibility.

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