http://www.version2software.co.uk/index.phpVersion2software makes great software and widgets for Mac OS X.enVersion2softwareCopyright 2008 Version2software2010-08-19T14:00:17+01:00 hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 Thu, 19 Aug 2010 14:13:27 +0100Version2softwareProjects2010-08-19T14:00:17+01:00http://www.version2software.co.uk/files/Linux_Game_Development.php#unique-entry-id-46http://www.version2software.co.uk/files/Linux_Game_Development.php#unique-entry-id-46Love". The framework is based around the Lua programming language; Lua is widely used in the video game industry as it is very fast and has a small learning curve.

The tutorials on the wiki provide a good starting point for building your own game project and after working through them I had a basic physics engine with two controllable balls. After a few days work I had the essentials for my game: Physics game-world, Characters, scoring and lives.

The core game-play dynamic so far is to jump and avoid the orange delivery vans while collecting power-ups and bonus coins which float through the air. The game has a Japanese theme that changes from day to night depending on the actual time of the day when you play the game. The theme is still in an early stage of development however it gives a good preview of the game, I will add more screen-shots as the game progresses.



There is still much work to be done including improving collision detection, adding leader-boards and background music/sound effects, etc. Want to develop cross platform games too? Read the "Getting started" Guide and then check out the free Lua e-book: "Programming in Lua (first edition)".]]>Version2softwareProjects2010-04-15T11:43:24+01:00http://www.version2software.co.uk/files/gtd_iphone_app.php#unique-entry-id-45http://www.version2software.co.uk/files/gtd_iphone_app.php#unique-entry-id-45Harmony GTD; the current version uses a custom CSS theme but the new version will utilize the iWebKit framework.

The screenshots below show some of the new features including a separate menu page for the GTD areas. The iWebKit framework also works on the iPad which is very interesting and I can’t wait to try it out.

]]>Version2softwareProjects2010-04-02T12:09:36+01:00http://www.version2software.co.uk/files/Developing_for_the_iPad.php#unique-entry-id-44http://www.version2software.co.uk/files/Developing_for_the_iPad.php#unique-entry-id-44
I can’t wait to create an iPad optimized Web-App for Harmony GTD and look forward to seeing a new generation of Web-Apps that may even challenge the App-store; I believe that the iPad has the potential to fundamentally change the way that we create and consume content on the web.]]>Version2softwareLinks2010-03-15T18:06:57+00:00http://www.version2software.co.uk/files/free_icon_pack.php#unique-entry-id-43http://www.version2software.co.uk/files/free_icon_pack.php#unique-entry-id-43Tutorial9 and have used it in my latest project Harmony GTD. The Nixus icon pack contains 60 icons in transparent .png format in 64x64px, 48x48px and 32x32px sizes. They can be used without attribution in personal and commercial projects!]]>Version2softwareLinksProjects2010-03-06T15:32:55+00:00http://www.version2software.co.uk/files/the_five_second_test.php#unique-entry-id-42http://www.version2software.co.uk/files/the_five_second_test.php#unique-entry-id-42Harmony GTD I created a wide variety of possible layouts, logos and themes; deciding which to use was a real problem as I needed a visual identity that people could remember and most importantly associate with task management.

Our opinion is often formed within the first five-seconds of viewing a site; a great tool to find out your users initial reaction is appropriately called “Fivesecondtest”. The site works by showing users your design for five-seconds and then asking them to list five things that they remember.

Many of the mockups and designs had a 60’s theme with the intended atmosphere of a friendly and easy to use site; however when these designs were shown to users through the fivesecondtest website most only remembered the distinctive theme and none of the task management text or branding. To convey our intended visual identity every single element of the site needed to be in some way associated with task management; out went the other artwork and in came notepads, calendars and other task related imagery. After a few more design iterations all of the users responses were related to task management and GTD, success.]]>Version2softwareNews2010-03-05T15:52:19+00:00http://www.version2software.co.uk/files/Goodbye_flash_hello_Javascript.php#unique-entry-id-41http://www.version2software.co.uk/files/Goodbye_flash_hello_Javascript.php#unique-entry-id-41“Start-up airline Virgin America has decided HTML is "good enough" for animating online content on the home page of its brand-new website, which went live Monday, dumping Flash” - Source: The Register

From examining their website it appears that they are now exclusively using Javascript plugins and scripts such as “iCarousel” to animate their content. I wonder how much longer Flash will be used on the other major sites now that none of Apple’s mobile products support it.]]>Version2softwareProjects2010-03-05T13:56:14+00:00http://www.version2software.co.uk/files/Getting_things_done.php#unique-entry-id-40http://www.version2software.co.uk/files/Getting_things_done.php#unique-entry-id-40Harmony GTD was launched on the 1st of March 2010, the initial response to the site has been very good and there are now quite a few registered users. We have been featured and reviewed on a couple of sites and lots of people are talking about it; Twitter has been an invaluable tool and is really helping us attract new users to the site.

The iPhone and Prism Apps help Harmony GTD stand out from some of the other tools and provide two great ways of using the GTD system. Hopefully we can continue development and further improve upon these Apps to provide even more functionality.

I will continue to update this blog with news and status updates on the site that I hope will prove useful to anyone starting a similar project.]]>Version2softwareLinks2010-03-05T13:46:59+00:00http://www.version2software.co.uk/files/CSS_Border_Radius_made_easy.php#unique-entry-id-39http://www.version2software.co.uk/files/CSS_Border_Radius_made_easy.php#unique-entry-id-39Check it out]]>Version2softwareProjects2010-01-12T11:33:59+00:00http://www.version2software.co.uk/files/harmony_gtd_released.php#unique-entry-id-38http://www.version2software.co.uk/files/harmony_gtd_released.php#unique-entry-id-38www.harmonygtd.com

]]>Version2softwareProjects2009-12-31T19:50:04+00:00http://www.version2software.co.uk/files/Harmony_GTD.php#unique-entry-id-37http://www.version2software.co.uk/files/Harmony_GTD.php#unique-entry-id-37
I first started working with the GTD process whilst at University; David Allen’s philosophy really enabled me to better manage my assignments and other commitments. When given the choice for my final year project I leapt at the chance to develop my own GTD site.

Numerous reports, documents, presentations and one very comprehensive thesis later I had a fully functional and well documented GTD site. Whilst I was very happy with my work I also knew that there were areas in which I could develop further and improve on. Since then I have often thought of continuing the development of the GTD project however felt that the existing architecture and design choices held me back from my new ideas and goals.

This is where Harmony GTD comes in; it is a completely new project and has been coded from the ground-up to be fast, streamlined and user friendly. The whole design is minimal and is designed to keep out of the users way whilst they work with the GTD process.

The name of the site took careful consideration as I wanted something which really represented the sites purpose and not just a meaningless web 2.0 word. The name was chosen as I believe that by using the GTD philosophy the user does experience harmony and peace in knowing that their tasks are safe in the trusted system and can be acted on or added to at any time.

Numerous other GTD web-apps have come and gone however I hope that Harmony GTD will be able to overcome the other sites problems and design flaws and shine as a unique and well thought out GTD system that anyone can use.

Update: Harmony GTD is now online at: www.harmonygtd.com]]>