Sunday, July 6th, 2008Welcome to March Twenty Productions!
I made my own iGoogle homepage theme with Inkscape. The creation process wasn't too bad, Google's documentation was okay, but as a web designer I wish Google allowed a bit more freedom in the design of a few of the graphical elements. I'll probably update it in the future, fix a few minor things. I may even do a winter theme as well down the road as well.
Another year older. Another year wiser. If you hadn't already guessed from the title of this site. And my book is now available on Lulu.com for your reading pleasure.
Obviously I didn't live up to my blogging promise. I really haven't felt compelled to write about anything over the past year, and I don't particularly like to write about nothing just for the sake of writing something everyday or so (or in my case every year). But to sum this year up, 2007 was a lot like 2006: for the better or worse, not much has changed.
Anyway, here's a quick update on my projects:
- REMLAB - I haven't worked on it all year. The truth is I can't remember the last time I played Battletech, so my personal incentive to keep working on REMLAB is pretty bleak. I'm pretty content with the state that I left the application in. At some point I may get back to working on it.
- Content Management System - My personal Ajax adapted CMS is largely completed. It's a tad quirky, but everything seems to work fine. I hope to use it to run my own site soon.
Mistletoe's Night - My children's book is finally coming together. I have the illustrations completed to the point where I a happy with them. I'm now in the process of reworking some of the text. I'm planning on self-publishing this book through Lulu.com. I had hoped to have finished it before Christmas, but the illustrations needed more work than I had anticipated. I now hope to finish it sometime in February.
Well, that's it for another year... well... maybe I'll post something sooner than that, once I come up with something interesting to write about.
It's been a while since I've written a blog, mainly because I don't have much to report on. I'm still in the hunt for a "satisfying" full-time job to replace my "not so satisfying" job, and find a publisher or agent for my book, which appears to a very daunting process. I may just go it alone and self-publish the book.
I wrote a new content management system from scratch. It still needs some bugs fixed and polish though. But other than that it turned out quite well.
I recently began work on REMLAB again and finished a massive code overhaul and UI update for it. Now I need to start working on expanding it and get it on Sourceforge.
This has been another pretty quiet year for me, besides a crummy job and limited social life, BUT I can now cross off two more things on my lengthy projects list:
- REMLAB is now officially completed from the standpoint of the initial goals that I intended to reach. I do plan on improving and expanding REMLAB over time (there's plenty to be included), but the bulk of that project is finished.
- I finished writing and illustrating my children's book. Of course, now comes the hard part... getting it published.
I'm still undecided as to what my next project will be for the new year. I have some ideas, but they need solidifying.
The college textbook that I designed the illustrations for using Inkscape is now in available in stores. You can also take a look at some of those illustrations right here.
First up, the next version of REMLAB is coming along smoothly. I have most of the Inner Sphere level 2 material and a little of the level 3 in (mostly weapons). I'll add the Clan material once I complete the IS stuff.
Second, I just set up a web page for my book. It's still under construction and doesn't actually have any info about the book besides a picture of the bear. I should have more info on the page soon enough. Now all I need is a publisher...
Third... I don't know. Once I get these two projects behind me (I hope) and I can finally move on to something else, though I'm not sure what that will be yet. 
I just setup my own CafePress online store. I plan to include some of my artwork™ on this site. Right now, I don't have much in it, but I will eventually. Personally, I have no idea as to the quality of the actual products this company makes, so if you order something let me know how what you think of it... the actual product, not my crappy “artwork”.
I just added REMLAB to SourceForge for all to see, play with, and then delete out of shear disappointment. Everything is there if you want to install REMLAB on your web server or local PC (more complicated than it sounds.) I will do my best at continuing development on it, but I won't make any promises.
And finally in my completely non-biased opinion, I think REMLAB is way cooler than all the other Mech designers out there. Hell, I think it's even cooler than Google Maps! And who needs maps anyway, when you can stay home and make Battletech record sheets until your eyes bleed.
Now if you will excuse me I need to go back to filling out a job application for a less than desirable job... err... career.
I think I've got everything now in place and working. There are just a few things I need to fart around with, such as the 'Available Crits' box, but other than that this thing seems to be mostly bug free. I think it's safe to say this version of REMLAB is now caught up with the original application in terms of completeness.
Now I just need to begin work on adding the Level 2/3 and Clan material.
