Backlog Log Blog 8/21/2012

It’s been what...a month and a half since my first entry into the Backlog Log Blog? It seems as though the last two months of summer vacation have flown by in an instant. I feel like the Fourth of July was only last week. Even so, I’ve played/watched a good deal since that time. So much so that I doubt I’ll really remember everything I wanted to say about these topics at the time. If I do, this will probably get to be super duper long. I’ll try to keep it a reasonable length, but we’ll see.

A lot has happened since my last post. I went on vacation, got a little part time job, and of course, played a shit ton of games. As usual, I haven’t really watch any TV (I’d rather just watch the Breaking Bad season on my own time once it’s out), but I was able to catch the two big super hero movies of the summer in The Amazing Spiderman and Dark Knight Rises. Lastly, I managed to finally finish A Game of Thrones, so I’ll be giving a quick rundown of my thoughts on that book down at the end.

Learning How to Program Episode 4

So, I decided to change things up a little bit. I actually went back and rerecorded the first parts of my second and third episode to make the learning process a little bit easier for those who may watch this in the future, that way people aren't spending hours actually learning how to learn this stuff.

I actually made these two videos a few weeks back, but didn't get around to posting them. That being the case, Episode 5 will probably be right around the corner. I'm hoping to finish it before school starts next week, but we'll see.

Thanks to those that are watching. I'm getting at least a couple views on everything, so I'm glad to see at least someone is paying attention, even if they aren't actually using these videos for their purpose.

Learning How to Program Episode 3

So here is the third episode of my learning how to program series. For everyone/anyone who watched the last episode, this one is much shorter. Also, I did realize after listening to the next lectures and doing this next problem set that the Week 2 Monday lecture should have been listened too along with PSet1. I think I'll go back and add a comment to my second episode just to make sure anyone watching knows in the future.

This episode delves deeper into C by actually using it to encrypt text. After completing this problem set there are some important concepts about command line arguments and functions that you should have a firm grasp of. There is definitely not as large of a learning curve for this problem set as there was for the last problem sets, but maybe that was just me. Regardless, the more I learn about this stuff the more excited I get to learn more, so I'm probably going to jump right into the next lectures after I'm done writing this.

In any case, I hope this at least helps one person who wants to get into teaching themselves to program. If you've tried before and failed, or just don't know where to start I hope I can give you a good jumping off point. Also, there are definite times where it feels like you're hitting a wall, and you just kind of want to give up, but if you walk away and come back and then just push past it you will feel and immense amount of satisfaction. If this is you're first time seeing this you can just go to my youtube channel or look at my other blog posts for the first episodes if you want to start off from the beginning.

So again, comment if you have any suggestions, and hopefully I will crank out the next episode a little faster than the 3 weeks it took me to get around to this one.

Backlog Log Blog

This past week has been pretty busy with all the 4th of July nonsense, relatives coming in from out of state, my sisters’ graduation party, and a bunch of other craziness going on. So, I haven’t really had time to play many games in over a week and a half, not that there’s really any games coming out now. In fact, other than Diablo III, this summer has been pretty much barren in terms of games. A great chance to dig back into the pile of games I have always wanted to get around to, but never really found the time to play. So along with the other stuff I’ve started doing this summer, I’m also going to start a sort of “log” (or as I decided to call it the “Backlog Log Blog”, because I’m an idiot who thinks he’s hilariously clever) of all the older games I have finally decided to play.

Whether anyone ever actually reads this or not, it’s at least going to be fun way to motivate me a little more to dig back into those games I’ve had sitting there, begging to be played for years. And it never hurts to document your thoughts and get some extra practice writing. So why don’t I stop explaining what I’m going to do (like always), and just get to it.

Learning How to Program Episode 2

Finally, after two weeks, I have made the second episode of Learning How to Program. From now on I am hoping to be able to make one of these a week, but who knows what's going to happen. All I know is that I've really learned a lot in the past week or so, and I am extremely excited to learn more. Chances are I'll be diving in to the third episode as soon as possible, if all this 4th of July nonsense doesn't keep me away from my beloved computer (which it most definitely will).

My journey into learning this stuff has not been an easy one, which is why I hope these videos can help make the learning process a bit smoother for someone out there. I probably spent like 6 hours over 3 days learning how to make the very first program, and I almost hit a wall at one point. Maybe I'm just an idiot, but I'm still super happy about what I've already learned.

Recording this episode wasn't easy either. I probably changed the format about 4 or 5 times, and even lost 20 minutes of footage at one point. The good news is that I've finally nailed down the format by dividing each episode into multiple parts, and the actual production of these videos will only get easier from here. Anyway, enough of my rambling.

In this episode I dive straight into the language C. I go over some basic things at first, and then try to give some extra advice to any of you out there who just can't seem to wrap their minds around some of the math, syntax, or implementation of concepts in the language. Then, in Part 2, I proceed to show you the actual code I wrote for all three programs. Like I say in the videos multiple times, if you are actually trying to learn this stuff, don't skip ahead. You are only hurting yourself by looking to Part 2 before you are done coding the three programs. As I say in the videos too, leave any questions in the comments (or here) so I can try to help you if you get stuck.

Lastly, thanks to everyone watching these videos and subscribing. :D

Learning How To Program Episode 1

So this is my first video of the Learning How To Program series I am embarking on. I don't really have much to say about this first episode other than it's my first episode, so any and all advice is welcome. I'm planning to make the next episode within the few days, as well as start making some other video series so look for them.

To summarize this first episode, I explain how this video series is generally going to go, and I start by exploring the first few lectures and the first assignment of a Harvard course available for free online. I'm not sure where I'm going to go after i finish this course, but I'll get there when I get there. As I say in the video, if nothing else I'm going to be teaching myself something, but hopefully someone out there will benefit from this too. So, I hope you enjoy it :)

Minecraft: The Super Sneaky Time Sink

(Warning: This first section was written like 2 weeks ago because thats how long it’s been since I wrote then recorded the thing I mention at the end :P )

So you’ve probably never heard of this game before, but theres this super addictive game you should play called Minecraft. I know, I know, another small indie game that no one’s ever heard of, but guys trust me, this game is awesome and will absorb your life if you aren’t careful.

With the recent release of Minecraft on XBLA, and the sudden influx of time I have due to summer break, I was suddenly reminded that I might as well spend dozens of hours mindlessly building things in minecraft...for PC of course. This sudden realization has caused me to rehost a server for my cousin and I, and has also caused my girlfriend to discover a game that has miraculously rivaled her Sims 3 infatuation. I’m not trying to complain. I mean, I love being able to catch up on the four or five months of Tested podcasts and the last month of Giantbomb casts, I love finally finding a game to play with my girlfriend that we seem to enjoy equally, and I obviously must love building random farms, orchards, mansions, mines, and castles, but I can’t help but get the strangest feeling that I will never be productive again when my days look something like this: