joshuahayes.blogspot has moved to http://codelines.net.au

I now have a new domain http://codelines.net.au which you will find me at shortly. The content of this blog specifically has been moved to http://codelines.net.au/codecutter as a general technical IT blog. I will shortly be starting another IT blog at http://codelines.net.au/blog; A blog about software development issues from a programmer, for programmers and the broader IT industry. This blog will not feature technical content (code postings, broad IT toptics etc. ) like codecutter. But rather some of the following topics. Lifestyle: What effects programmers and how they live Software: Software used, created Design: Methods and strategies for better, smarter design Development: A look at what development is, what it isn't and the forms it takes Models: Play an integral part in most if not all phases of the software life cycle model Testing: A look at different forms and approaches to software testing Industry: Where the software industry is headed. What is populat today may or may not be tomorrow Productivity: How to increase your productivity Tools: Tool sets used by programmers and the roles they play This blog, and parts of Codecutter are not yet complete, though will be shortly. Please be patient whilst I make the transition. I hope you enjoy my new website and blogs. The separation of these two blogs should provide a clearer focus for each whilst making it easier to subscribe to their different RSS content.

Choosing a widescreen LCD

I have been comfortable on my 3x17" Samsung lcd's (see this post for a writeup on my panorama) but am looking to move to larger screens. At the moment I'm considering the upgrade to two 21" or 22" Samsung's; the 215TW or 225bw respectively. The 215TW is a couple hundred dollars more but has extra inputs and supports PiP (Picture in Picture). Whilst handy, it's not a deciding factor for me. The larger screen size of the 22" is always nice for games and movies (even if it is only an inch). The dot pitch is marginally better on the 215TW (which is what you would expect on a smaller screen) that has had a chance to be refined somewhat. It just means you would have to sit the 22" back a few cm to not notice the larger pixel size (0.282mm). Since it's a larger screen, that's not a problem. One good thing to note is both models use true 8bit panels equating to 16.7 million colours. Cheaper lcd's sometimes use 6bit panels, which I think use 3bit dithering. Nearly every brand 21" and 22" LCD I have seen is still using the 1680x1050 (16:10). It's cheaper to produce and keeps the cost down from moving to 16:9 on the higher resolution like 1920xSomething :). You generally find the larger the panel the lower the quality as they are more expensive to produce. As competition becomes more competitive, you generally find each manufacturer tweak and optimise their panels. 17" and 19" lcd's are now very common place and are extremely well made from most companies now. Backlight bleeding, dead/bright pixels, uneven back lighting, poor viewing angles etc. are a thing of the past. As you progress up the size scale they tend to get a bit worse. Backlight bleeding on larger panels is more noticeable, uneven back lighting and sometimes smaller viewing angles (160/160 for instance) become more common. My 172x Samsung monitors are rated at 12ms which seems quite high today. But I still game with them fine. You do get some motion blurring in fps games but the quality of the image is still superb. The 21" lcd mentioned is rated at 8ms GtoG and the 22" is rated at 5ms GtoG (Grey to Grey). Motion blurring should be almost non existent. I'm almost ready to purchase two 225BW's but am a little weary on the backlight bleeding problems I have been reading about. From what people have been reporting it seems particularly prominent in this model. Chi Mei are one of the main companies producing 22" panels at the moment. Samsung might be producing a small amount. Some people have cracked open the hood of the 225BW and reported seeing either a Chi Mei Optoelectronics M220Z1-L01 panel or Samsung's own LTM220M1 (which is supposedly very similar). I've read that Acer and Dell's 22" models are also using the same Optoelectronics panel. This may or may not be the case now. However, the back light bleeding is cropping up in a lot of the 22" lcd's at the moment for this reason (many manufactures are using the same panel at the moment). Some people have been lucky reporting very little bleeding, whilst others have reported terrible bleeding to the point of making the monitor unusable for most tasks. I'm a big fan of Samsung and they have excellent service. I've never had to ring them for any of my lcd's as I never had any problems (and still don't). But a friend of mine did and they do door to door delivery of a new monitor no questions asked. Most Samsung lcd's come with a 3 year warranty. Another friend of mine has 2x215TW and they are very nice. If I do shy away from the 225BW I'll be getting two of those. I have until next week to decide when stores begin to open back up. You can check out the two mentioned models on Samsung Samsung 215TW link Samsung 225BW link

What makes a good RTS

For those of you that like RTS games Supreme Commander should be released around Feb 2007. Anyone who ever played Total annihilation that was released nearly 10 years ago will find this game comforting. Personally I've been through the C&C series (with C&C Generals being my favourite), the Age of Empires series, Rise of Nations and countless others and never found an RTS as good as the original Total Annihilation. I was always miffed that they never released a sequel. Shortly after releasing Total Annihilation Chris tailor left to start his own company Gas Powered Games (GPG). Because he no longer had the rights to Total Annihilation, the new "unofficial" sequel is dubbed under the name Supreme Commander. The game that is playable in an online beta at the moment, will support directx 10 when it is released which I will be looking forward to. Aside from this, Supreme Commander brings some interesting innovations to the genre; a full theatre of war perspective allowing much more strategic planning on the 'big picture'. Advanced build mechanics, advanced way point mechanics, mutli-core support and yes, dual screen support. The game also takes advantage of nice big screens by allowing you to split the screen in half. I find the dual screen very handy to leave completely zoomed out so I can see the whole picture and co-ordinate attacks, plan my appoints etc. I'll leave you with a few pictures. Yes the nukes are really big in this game. For anybody interested, I highly recommend you download this movie as it shows a much more interesting interview with Chris Taylor and plenty of the games features. This movie is floating around everywhere, but I'll link to it on 3dgamers