For two days I was trying to design an algorithm that would check if unit can go from hex A to hex B in real time – i.e when you move mouse over the battlefield. I’ve tried a lot of algorithms, recursive and non-recursive, I’ve searched the web. Still, nothing.

Until I’ve started up HoMM 2 (or, to be exact, FreeHeroes on my tablet), and… bingo! I understood that I should not try to find if unit can go from hex A to hex B. I should instead move the unit and see where it can go, and store that information. 15 minutes of coding later units moved on the battlefield as they should.

Here is a quote I found, that describes general attitude towards Notification ads:

“Immediate downrate of app, angry email to the dev, and uninstall of app.”

I can understand the anger – no one likes ads in general – but sending angry mail to the developer? Really? Why not send a mail when you like an app, or you found a bug – instead of posting “FC on Galaxy Tab” comment on Market, so I have no way of contacting user and finding the cause of the crash,

Another problem is, most of the users want all of the apps to be free – especially Android apps. I can understand it very well – I search for free apps myself – but I know that developing an app for any device or OS costs time and money. If you are not hired to write an app and/or live in the country where you can sell apps (here, in Poland, I can’t) – ads (in app, Notification ads) are the only way you can get some of the time and money you invested back.

In the end, I must say I understand developers using Notification ads – even if I don’t like them. And because of that, I will not use apps that have these kind of ads. It is as simple as that – I don’t like, I don’t use. There is no free alternative – I pay or create my own. But I won’t run around and scream “These stupid developers want to make money”.

Oh God, I think I have written enough.

I was happy – but I was disappointed with one thing – battery life. I had to turn off the device completely very often (using built in hardware switch) – because the device had broken sleep mechanism, and was draining battery like crazy (even on upgraded 2.3 firmware).

I got around 6hr standby time max (with WiFi radio off) – and this was when device was not used at all – even less than my MSI Wind U100 with new 7.2Ah battery running with WiFi on (this may not be the best comparison, but I hope you understand the reason for my disappointment).

Few day ago, while I was browsing slatedroid.com forum, I found a guide that mentioned recalibrating battery as remedy for short battery life – and to my surprise, it worked incredibly well.

From 6hr standby time, I managed to get 17hr, half of that time with WiFi radio on. I have not measured run time while browsing/watching movies (I don’t think I will be a lot better than before calibration), but now I know that I don’t have to turn my tablet off when I don’t use it.

Recently, I play a lot of computer games. I have bought most of them in summer sales in different shops (most of them on Steam Summer Sale).

Until last week I was staying at home, where I have decent internet connection (24Mbps), I did not have any problems – I’ve purchased a game, installed it and all the patches, and played.

Last Monday I’ve arrived at place I’ll be spending most of my summer vacation. I have a decent PC here, so I took several games with me – Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (retail, “EA classics” edition) and Frontlines: Fuel of War (Steam backup) among the others.

I have installed them, and I tried to play a little.

I tried. Instead of just “letting me play”, battlefield started downloading 2.4GB patch, with fixes related mostly to multiplayer part. 2.4GB, on 1Mbps connection, shared with 3 other PCs in the house. Frontlines, on the other hand, said that game is only installed in 58% – when total game size is 12.4GB.

My question is: Why? Why do I need to install a patch? Why did Steam backup only 58% of my game?

I just want to have a little fun, and watching download progress bar is as fun as watching a damn progress bar.

If only the weather were better…

PS. Today it is! Screw you, Battlefield, I’m going to read books in the garden!

Only way I found to get my settings back was to use “Screen Resolution – Detect Display” button – but this process was slow and very inefficient.

I’ve searched the net for answers, only to find that Windows 7 does this "by design”.

So, after uncle Google has failed me, I decided to sit down and deal with the problem myself. It took me about an hour, but now I can proudly present to you, one and magnificent, ultimate, old-KVM dual-monitor anti-configuration-breaking tool – KVM Display Detect.

KVM Display Detect download (free, of course)

How does it work? It simply scans your USB ports looking for HID devices. When you change output on old KVM, you disconnect your USB mouse. After you change it back – you reconnect it. KVMDD waits for this signal, and after detecting it, it runs system utility to force display re-enumeration. Simple, and works well.

To my surprise, I really like playing NFS:HP online. Playing with other people make races more fun and challenging.

But there is one things that I really hate about playing NFS:HP online – people that disconnect during a race. I know that sometimes you can’t finish race, but there is no need and reason to disconnect after wrecking other players, or just after start. It is just completely not fair, and ruins others pleasure and fun.

And yes, I know I lame at NFS, and this is just my excuse.

And when I say scared, I mean it. Especially the game – if played in a dark room, with headphones on, it really makes me shiver. Atmosphere of the book is there and you can feel that from every tunnel something evil gazes at you, and your fears are lurking in the corners of each station.

I don’t know, if anyone else had the same experience with the game and/or the book, but I must say – they made a great impression on me.

That is all for now. I think.

The pipes are calling me*.

*If you read the book, you know what I am talking about.

As I started using iPhone, I started using iTunes to sync music with it, managing my music, and repairing artwork.

Now, I use iTunes as my main music player, and I’m looking more and more into buying actual Mac.

The irony is, I always hated Macs and everything related. And, probably, I still do. I like Windows a lot, I know how to administrate it, I know how to repair nearly any Windows-related problem I encounter.

The thing is, I miss some kind of Mac simplicity. Mac is easy, Mac is intuitive (sort of). You can’t change a lot of things, many apps cost a lot, and you have to actually buy a computer to use it, but, for everyday simple tasks, I feel that Mac will perform better than Windows (of Linux) based machine.

And now, I really want a Mac.

Oh, crap. I’ve said it. Now, I’ll have to live with the consequences.

Sent from my pure Windows and Microsoft-based machine.

In one of my applications, KaeMDe, I use AdMob ads. Recently, I my fill rate on AdMob page began to sink, and from whooping 90% it went to 25%. And I couldn’t find the reason why. Until today.

I sat down, dug into AdMob settings, and found out that app path (and package name) was no longer actual. Since AdMob seems to be using package name for requesting ads, all my request were just ignored. After I changed app url to market one, and updated package name, poof, ads started appearing again, and my fillrate began to rise.

And tl;dr, for those of you who just want quick answer: after you change app package name, make sure AdMob recognizes it. Until then, no ads.

As I cannot easily but screen replacement, and I did not damage touch surface, I quickly searched the web to find possible remedies, with little to no hope of finding one. I stumbled upon page on wikiHow, and, to my complete surprise… one of the methods worked! Not 100%, but the scratch is a lot less visible now.

What I did is I found clean rubber (for rubbing out pencil), cleaned the screen and started rubbing the scratch. Scratch got less and less visible, and now, when screen is shining I can barely see it. I know it may seem impossible, and it may damage your screen, so you do it on your own, but if you scratch your LCD panel, you can try it.