Author Archives: Chief Cobra

The invasion of the giraffes

Posted on March 26, 2011 by Chief Cobra

Since the baby Cobra joined us late last year, there has been a marked increase in the number of giraffes in our house. From where I am sitting, for example, I can see four giraffes – which I believe is … Continue reading →

Posted in Miscellaneous rubbish | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

A bad travel day

Posted on March 24, 2011 by Chief Cobra

So my conspiracy theory is that Shell, Esso and BP sponsor our county council to ensure that there is always at least one set of complex roadworks making town ‘bastable’1 – that’s ‘not quite impassable’. I imagine council bastabling clerks … Continue reading →

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That’s right, Paisley, the specification

Posted on March 22, 2011 by Chief Cobra

Ahhh, the software specification. Other than arguing over whether this year is the year of Linux on the desktop or not (it isn’t), never have I seen anything more contentious than the software specification: particularly those for computer games. I … Continue reading →

Posted in Software development | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

When O-Level French just isn’t enough

Posted on March 19, 2011 by Chief Cobra

I am learning French at the moment and have been for some time. Needless to say, due to ‘spare time’ constraints my French has made the same general progress as my iPhone game: I am regularly overtaken by snails. It … Continue reading →

Posted in Learning French slowly | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

It has 64 bits, so it must be better!

Posted on March 17, 2011 by Chief Cobra

Since, oh, 1989 or so, I have been developing on 32 bit platforms. First it was the Amiga and then the PC. Even when 64 bit capabilities arrived, most stuff was 32 bit and I didn’t really need those extra … Continue reading →

Posted in Software development | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Pause for thought (or not, as it turns out)

Posted on March 15, 2011 by Chief Cobra

For more than ten years, I’ve been generally working on massively multi-player technology. One of the things with that sort of stuff is that “Pause” is not a feature that you need. In fact, the software is usually asynchronous, heavily … Continue reading →

Posted in My iPhone game | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Corks-a-poppin’

Posted on March 12, 2011 by Chief Cobra

Here’s my expression when I checked my email every morning for the past few weeks: It’s what I expect is the standard expression for iPhone developers going through app approval the first time. Here is the full sequence of sheer … Continue reading →

Posted in My iPhone game | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Parallax scrolling in 2D: revisiting my past

Posted on March 8, 2011 by Chief Cobra

The last time I did parallax scrolling in a game was back in my Amiga days in the early 90s. I had forgotten just how much value for money one could get from the technique. This isn’t just your average … Continue reading →

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Khaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!

Posted on March 3, 2011 by Chief Cobra

Some problems deserve immediate attention and simply can’t wait… a swarm of angry bees in your living room, for example, must be dealt with promptly especially if one wishes to have sex on the sofa. Other problems, such as several … Continue reading →

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The Welcome Snake Welcomes you!

Posted on March 2, 2011 by Chief Cobra

Yey! It’s the welcome snake! And he says “Hello (rattlerattlerattle)”. You can chalk art up on the substantial list of things that I can’t do – still, it’s the thought that counts and welcome snake looks pretty cheerful and non-poisonous. … Continue reading →

Posted in My iPhone game | Tagged , , | 1 Comment