defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE

You’ll need to restart the Finder to make this change go into effect, by either:

• log out and back into your account
• use the Force Quit dialogue (command+alt+esc and relaunch the Finder)
• or type “killall Finder” in the Terminal window

The rialvalue article also mentions an applescript that allows you to open a terminal in the current Finder directory, but I find it easier to do the following:

• open a Terminal window
• type “cd” and then click-and-drag the Finder window onto the Terminal Window

Are there other hidden OS X tips that saves you a lot of time?

sources:

Some little gems on OSX you might want to know (via Flash Art of War)

Top 15 Terminal Commands for Hidden Mac OS X Settings

Buying here not only gets you a great deal on indie games, the proceeds go directly to the developers. The Indie Bundle sale lasts through Friday (2/19)

http://www.theindiebundle.com/

The problem is that such control makes us all less safe. Whether the eavesdroppers are the good guys or the bad guys, these systems put us all at greater risk. Communications systems that have no inherent eavesdropping capabilities are more secure than systems with those capabilities built in.

U.S. enables Chinese hacking of Google (via Lifehacker)

It’s a bug, Jim

AME 4.2 supposedly fixed deinterlacing if Max Render Quality was set for interlaced sources. Instead, the clip looks like it was possibly encoded at 15fps but is playing at 29.97, interpolating “missing frames.” I thought it was a playback issue, but I had encoded a sample clip earlier with AME 4.1 and using the same flv player, in this case VLC, you could still see a difference between the two clips. Here are two sample clips, one encoded with AME 4.1 and the other with AME 4.2. Take a look and you decide:

Video encoded using AME 4.1[See post to watch Flash video]

Video encoded using AME 4.2[See post to watch Flash video]

Although it’s not as obvious at this frame size, at 640 x 480, you can see how much sharper the image looks in the 4.1-encoded clip and the weird interpolating in the 4.2-encoded clip.

Solution and Workarounds

The current solution is to stick with 4.1. Already updated AME to 4.2? You have a couple of options:

Uninstall AME – Unfortunately, this is easier said than done: AME is a shared component, which means you have to uninstall every Adobe software that uses it. This is a royal pain for those with tweaked out preferences and/or using a Creative Suite. And don’t bother using AppCleaner; you’ll still be forced to re-install the “main” software (Flash, After Effects, Premiere Pro, etc.).

Use Leopard’s Time Machine to restore from an earlier point - This is the easiest solution, assuming you’ve been maintaining regular backups of your system. I recommend renaming the current Adobe Media Encoder CS 4 and then restoring to a version before 11/10/2009.

Copy AME 4.1 from another system - Fortunately, the AME app contents is self-contained within the Adobe Media Encoder CS 4 folder, so you can copy it from a another system that hasn’t updated to 4.2 yet. Rename or delete the 4.2 folder before you copy it over though, to make sure that you’re not mixing 4.1 and 4.2 stuff.

Another option is to encode straight from one of the “main” programs, in my case, After Effects. The disadvantages of this is that you no longer have access to to 2-pass VBR and longer encode times as the file has to also get rendered, unless you pre-render the clips and then set up the render queue to then encode them.

I must be the only one that’s seeing this bug because I couldn’t find any related posts either on the Adobe site or from a Google search, but I’ve posted this stuff in the hopes that it may help someone else and reduce their frustration with Adobe support. Note to Adobe:

• include a bug report link on your support pages.
• include support pages for the shared components like AME. It’s not worth posting on the forums if I don’t know where to post it in the first place and reasonably get feedback.

Has anyone seen this bug? Leave a comment.

Students who develop one of these games for Tiltfactor (with ample feedback from us) up to a working, fun, usable prototype will receive a Tiltfactor Fellowship, which comes with an honorarium of $1,000.

Jane McGonigal of Avant Game is seeking game assistants to help run EVOKE, a World Bank Institute funded “10-week crash course in changing the world:”

The goal of the game is to help empower young people all over the world, and especially young people in Africa, to come up with creative solutions to our most pressing problems: hunger, poverty, disease, war and oppression, water access, education, climate change.

Both projects sound challenging and fun. Why not apply and see what happens?

tiltfactor announces game design fellowships

URGENT EVOKE: help us run a 10-week crash course in changing the world

The Association of American Colleges and Universities recently asked employers who hire at least 25 percent of their workforce from two- or four-year colleges what they want institutions to teach. The answers did not suggest a narrow focus. Instead, 89 percent said they wanted more emphasis on “the ability to effectively communicate orally and in writing,” 81 percent asked for better “critical thinking and analytical reasoning skills” and 70 percent were looking for “the ability to innovate and be creative.”

If the survey numbers from this article are accurate, a broad-based curriculum is what employers want. Given the recent economy woes and increasing tuition costs though, such an education sounds more like a luxury. Maybe it’s an issue of quantifying learning: on a resume, it appears more impressive when you can list several specific skills, versus listing that you “work very well with others and articulate.”

What do you think?

Making College “Relevant” [via tiltfactor]

• allows a developers to concurrently work on the same section of code
• experiment with new designs without fear of breaking the current site/program/document
• document the development process, very helpful for troubleshooting and/or reverting to an earlier version.

Flash Guru Jesse Freeman offers some tips on setting up version control for a blog or small site, using Git and Wordpress as case examples. It’s a nice outline of a version control process in general.

5 Tips For Version Controlled Site Deployments

It was lying in the middle of a crosswalk, in front of a taxi that was veering to the side of the road to avoid it, mirroring the shifting crowds of shoppers, twenty crossing every minute, hundreds
crossing every hour, carefully skirting around that spot to as to avoid it on their sunday trip to the shopping district. Its eyes looked past me into the distance, its yellow eyes unblinking, body motionless. It seemed hidden in the field of white bars, accented by the cat’s brown fur and spackles of blood in front of it. It must have been hit by a car, as this was a busy area with cars and scooters moving through the area, looking for passengers, looking for parking.

I could only think of one thing: I must move this cat to the side of the road.

I recalled going home one night along Fuxing N. Road, where I saw an animal strewn across the road. It was not roadkill. Not anymore. It was a scattering of dull, pink, fibrous muscle atop the pavement in the right lane. I could not tell what animal it was, dog or cat or other. Not anymore.

I didn’t want this to happen to the cat, so I walked out to the center of the road and carefully slid my hands underneath its small frame, careful to hold the cat evenly, supporting its head to tail with my two hands. Something in me was worried that it could be dangerous, that I shouldn’t be doing this. The rest of me didn’t care. Its fur was dry, soft, as it would be normally. It lay still in my hands, its body light but with a weight of its own. I walked to the nearby corner and set it down, its white fur breaking the red no parking strip of the curb, where it would be easily seen yet not easily hit again, and I walked away.

I walked west, then north towards the game area to exchange my game disc. I didn’t know what exactly I was doing, a million thoughts running through my head. I think too much. I know this. What else could I have done? Should I have called some sort of animal services? I didn’t know if there was anything similar in Taipei. Should I have found another place to place the body? Maybe a trashcan, but seemed wrong, too cruel to dispose of a cat as such. Maybe some dirt, but that would be near impossible to find near the main train and subway station. Maybe a veterinarian, I could call my own and see what he could do with the body. But what could he really do? How would I even bring the cat? I couldn’t just carry it into a taxi and tell him to drive. Could I have given some sort of last rites for the cat? Shit. I should have. At least something. Shit. I didn’t even close the cat’s eyes, so that it could finally sleep. Shit. I haven’t even checked the cat’s eyes to see if its pupils would dilate, to see if it could be….

…alive? there wasn’t much blood, just specks out on the street – it hadn’t bled out – the fur was dry – the body had not gone cold – it was sunny outside so maybe that’s it but still – i hadn’t checked for a pulse – how could i be so stupid – the body hadn’t gone stiff – why didn’t i check for any of this – i could take it to a vet still – i would need to find a box to keep it level and cover it to take in a cab – should i call my vet – i’m so far – what if it’s still alive – could it be still alive – what should i do

I promised myself I would hurry up and finish my business at the game shop, then run back as fast as possible and examine the cat. If it showed any possible signs of life, I could take it to my vet. Then it would at least have a chance. If not, I did all I could, so be it.

I arrived at the game shop, and told the clerk my problem, that the game disc wouldn’t read, that the Xbox 360 always thought it was a DVD, and so forth. I hoped they would simply exchange the disc and I could be on my way, back to check on the cat. Not so. They took out a 360 to test the disc.

why is it taking so long to check the disc – can’t they just hurry up – what if the cat is dying while i’m dicking around with this fucking game disc – i’m already here it’s only a little bit before i can exchange this – come on just connect the a/v cables already i could do this – no don’t sync the controller you can see the problem if you just put the damn disc in and watch the error come up – god what am i doing here what are my priorities

The small 9″ TV screen brought up a blurry, cramped image of the Xbox 360 dashboard, and I ejected the tray and put in the disc quickly as I had grown impatient waiting for the wireless controller to sync. A game screen appeared, then a message saying “put this in an Xbox 360″. Finally. The shop worker tried loading the disc again.

come on can’t you see it isn’t working – just hurry up dammit – why don’t they just get it

The next time, a full read error message appears on the screen, and a co-worker tells him to simply change out the disc. He grabs a game off the shelf, opens the package, and puts it in to make sure it works. I go through the start screens and it works fine. I grab the replacement and run out of the shop.

It’s hot outside and I’m sweating, my face becoming slick as I run down the street in bursts. I want to wipe my face, but I’ve recently touched a dead cat. Not dead. I don’t know yet. I have to check.

I return to the crosswalk, but the cat was gone.

where did it go – what happened – who was here – i’ve only been gone fifteen to twenty minutes – did somebody take it – did somebody take it to a vet – does it look like anybody here saw what happened or who moved the cat

The curb had a tiny amount of blood where the cat used to be.

it was bleeding a little – it hasn’t bled out yet – maybe it’s still alive – who moved it – where could it be – did somebody dispose of it – there’s a nice hotel right here – maybe they moved it – maybe it looked bad with a dead cat near the entrance – it’s not that close – what if someone disposed of it in a trash can

I spent the next ten minutes peering into nearby alleys, streets, trash cans. No sign. I’m to go watch a movie with friends in half an hour and I’m late, and there’s nothing left I can do. I already missed my chance. I already made my mistake – why did I go ahead with the exchange when I could have done it some other time? Was I so wrong? What am I doing?

After the movie, I talked it over with a friend, and came to the conclusion that someone most likely had taken it to a veterinarian because the cat was gone, and it was daytime. In Taipei, nobody will touch or move an animal that has been hit on the street unless it is someone who will take the animal to a nearby hospital for help – it will lie there indefinitely. The only people who would otherwise dare or care to move it would be street cleaners. I thought back to the previous incident of the unidentifiable animal littered across the road. I was consoled by this fact some, but the empty hole of possibilities remained, and I didn’t actually know where the cat had gone to, who had moved it. Maybe I’ll find out someday. Maybe I never will.

Taipei Competition 3

The Sword into Tomorrow
This is also known as Tomorrow Step on the Sword in the full program guide, which is fantastic Engrish right off the bat. Basically, this is a very detailed, very well lit and polished 3D CG short about a tubby, smily ninja guy who wants to steal a scroll from some tomb, and has to fight a skeleton demon. The action is great as are the effects, but the whole film comes off as kind of dull as it has no real story to it. Well, okay, it has a story, but it’s so forgettable that it does nothing to support the rest of the work done on the piece and leaves it flaccid.

mommo
I liked this a lot – it’s about a boy who tries to help a rabbit fly across a chasm to get to a field of carrots. A lot of why I liked this is the fact that while it uses a paper-cutout/handicraft appearance to the animation, it still manages to be humorously bloody with its comedy. In other words, the appearance and feel lends itself to kids animation, but the content isn’t. Awesome.

The City of Oblivion
The first artsy piece of the show, it’s about an umbrella thrown away by a girl who has purchased a new one, and its nighmarish descent into awkward parallax animation and a world of discarded object creatures that work hand in hand with the loud music to give you a feeling of uncertainty and unease. It’s interesting, but I wouldn’t watch this before going to bed – you’ll dream some bizarre shit. Oh yeah, it’s supposed to be an environmental message too, so stop throwing away creepy umbrellas with buckets for heads, ok?

On a Diet
This was a hand drawn animation that was both detailed and stylized in a fat sort of way about the different things people do to lose weight and what they do when they diet. Short, focused, not bad. Kinda Plympton-y in some ways.

The Woman with Pearls
ARTSY FARTSY GET! This was a surreal piece about a woman who continuously splits pearls from her body, and the bird creatures that covet her pearls and stalk her as a result. This was a long piece, and was (from the following interview) intended to symbolize women’s fear of growing old. I would suggest knowing this before watching it, as you’ll get more out of it this way and you’ll be less creeped out by it.

Secret Piano
Another piece from Word Fisher Animation Studios (like the 2 in the last show), this one is about a boy who loves to play on his toy piano. His mother notices this, and buys a real piano for him, but there’s something about it that scares him. I liked this one a lot as it had a memorable story, sound that worked to enhance the story, and the animation style is both cute and expressive at the same time.

Grandpa & Bicycle
I saw this one previously in the animation segment of the Taipei Film Festival earlier, and it still retains its badassness – it’s simply a cute story about a Grandpa who goes apeshit on a bike trying to deliver his granddaughter’s forgotten wallet to her. The animation style is like cut out pieces of paper layered on top of one another, and it’s very well done. One thing I liked is that during the interview, the director said that his goal for the film was simply to tell a story. He’s done that, and I’d recommend looking for this short.

Childish Love
Though this film was kind of rough in terms of animation and general appearance, not to mention the fact that the kid’s face looks MESSED UP, it’s very good in delivering its message about domestic abuse, which is a problem in Taiwan right now to boot.

2007 The Auntie Tiger
This is an animated interpretation of a Chinese folk story called “Tiger Aunt”, which apparently goes like this: “There is a tiger aunt that visits children from time to time, and when the children go to sleep, she eats their fingers.” Kinda like a Candyman story for kids or something. Well, this animation shows a girl baiting and then savagely beating Auntie Tiger, mercilessly, enough to make you feel sorry for Auntie Tiger. I think this is pretty much like if you become vegetarian, then somebody waves a perfectly done filet in your face then beats you about the face and neck with a Datsun. Well animated, but kind of messed up.

Reminiscence
Another long, kind of artsy piece. The character’s faces are kind of rough, and the animation is a bit rough as well, but everything seems put together reasonably well. This is one of those “coming to terms with the death of {important person}” shorts. A bit long, but I’d say it was good.

Beaver
This is a short short about shaving…..HEY! NO! NO! BAD READER! BAD! How could you think of something like that! Look, so it’s named “Beaver” for some Engrish reason, but it has NOTHING TO DO WITH THAT! JEEZUS! Look, it’s about a guy whose facial hair keeps growing and he…hey, are you even listening? WTF? HELLO, MCFLY! Ok, it’s about his repeated efforts to shave his ever growing face, and it has a nice 70’s sparkle-fresh design to it, it looks like it’s too smooth, and it’s kind of short and a bit forgettable aside from the graphic design. Did you get that? Good.

Black Scissors
This one was pretty awesome, though I take issue with some of implied meaning of the short, in terms of “well, why the hell’d he do that?!”. Basically, a boy discovers a film reel that shows the events of his recent life in it, and a pair of scissors. Whenever he cuts a frame from the reel, that event becomes erased from history – it never happened. The look of the film is quite good, and the story’s put together pretty well – I like the concept, and I’d suggest looking for it.

Nian
Imagine taking a cel-shaded animation, and then thickening the lines by about 5-50 times and then giving everything a watercolor appearance, which also means that you remove almost all disernable detail from a shape. I know this was done to make the animation look like old Chinese watercolor paintings, but it’s kind of overdone. Also, the frame rate is too high, making the animation too smooth(looks “computery”), and doesn’t jive with the feel of the film. It’s okay in a cultural-neat sort of way though.

That’s all for now! I’ll post more later, including stuff on the Q&A session that followed this show.

Coming home on my scooter after watching an opposite-of-upbeat set of animations collectively titled “Abused“, I found that I was not able to take the usual roads home as a policeman was diverting eastbound traffic on Hankou St. to the north. There’s a lot of cops around and some military uniforms, so I get a little nervous and figure there might be something going down in the area. I get closer to Taipei main station, and am then stopped to let some vehicles go by. Military vehicles. Lots of them. Like over 12 or so.

It turns out (and I figured it out) that this is part of the rehearsal for Taiwan’s National Day celebrations, also known as Double-Ten Day due to its being on October 10th (10/10). According to the great and powerful Wikipedia, this day marks the beginning of the Wuchang Uprising, which led to the fall of the Qing Dynasty(China’s last Imperial dynasty) and the eventual creation of the Republic of China, which most of us simply know as Taiwan nowadays.

The military show is being criticized a bit due to the fact that military parades on Double-Ten stopped after the end of martial law. This year, the motivation for having a show again seems to be both internationally and domestically political – it’s to show the world that Taiwan is a country, and ready to defend itself if China loses its shit and goes nuts. It’s also to garner votes by showing the Taiwanese people that the politicians are doing their thing to promote Taiwan to the world. For me, it’s kind of like something they don’t really need to do, but it’s neat nonetheless, and Taiwan really needs to communicate itself to the world in ways other than through offbeat news about a man who got his scrotum stuck in a buckle, random fist fights, and food fights in the legislature.