Creative Technologist
It was a perfect match. I get to use one of my primary tools, the awesome Unity engine, to develop a handful of projects for a permanent installation at a Long Island state park. Some projects were slated for either a rack mount Windows machine or a BrightSign.
Continue reading “Unity + BrightSign, part 1”It’s been over a year. I’ve been searching for the right decoupled Content Management System (CMS); avoiding the obvious and exploring the limited open-source systems out in the wild world of the internet. During this time, I’ve gotten my feet wet in the DevOps pool and venturing in exploring Node.js and app deployment to Amazon Web Services.
What is the obvious? If I were to say “More than 25% of websites on the internet run on this system (including this one).” You would know, right? WordPress is the answer. For a creative tech, some times we want to go to the edge, only to realize we should just sit down and work with what we know.
Continue reading “Headless & Decoupled CMS”
There are infinite routes in software development that lead to the same destination. Some paths are “Intellectual” while others are just “down and dirty. I’d like to think my approach is some where in the middle. Logical, but also making the deadline; going for speed, readability, and efficiently. And of course without the bugs.
Over the past year, off and on, I’ve been updating some inherited legacy Unity 4.x code; bringing it into the latest Unity version (2019.3x). What started out as a Windows desktop app is now being published as a WebGL project. The future may also include iOS and Android deployment as well.
Continue reading “Happiness with Unity’s Cinemachine”There is no better time than to observe users in the wild than day one of a trade show. After setting up monitors and computers, techs must be around but not in the booth. If we’re lucky there are tables near the exhibit. During this time, I like to observe not just how users interface with machine and software but it’s also a time to reflect on what the agency and/or developer did with the software that powers those interactives.
Continue reading “Suggestions for the Event Software Developer”My first bit of coding wasn’t a webpage or application but a laserdisc controller. The RA Gray IDC-02 was a small metal box about half the size of a standard book. I remember I was handed this device and told to re-engineer the functionality to an existing installation. I used Happ Control arcade style buttons connected to a button encoder which plugged into the IDC-02 via DB-25 connection. It was a hands on learning experience. I soldered a lot of RJ-11 to DB-25 serial cables making sure I got the pins correct in order to tell the Pioneer LDV-8000 Laserdisc player where to go.
Continue reading “My First Code”