Topaz Software

Ah yes, it's not very useful software. But it's cool anyway. A classical remake of Pacman. I'm not an artist so the graphics won't be amazing, but someone could easily change the graphics. This FlatRedBall version of pacman implements A* algorithm for following and a slightly modified version of A* for prediction.

There isn't much to say if you've played / heard of Pacman before, but for those who haven't heard of it: Pacman is a classical arcade-styled game where you control a yellow creature, Pacman. Your goal is to roam the map eating food, which is represented as little dots, as well as Energizers, which are larger dots. Meanwhile, four computer-controlled ghosts roam around the map trying to collide into you, causing you to loose the game. Likewise, you want to avoid them while still completing your mission.

This is where Energizers are your lifesavers, once you eat one of them you temporarily gain the ability to consume the ghosts. These ghosts aren't dead permanently (they are ghosts after all), but instead go back to their starting point and respawn as regular chase-you-down ghosts. As the levels increase, your time period to eat ghosts after consuming an Energizer gradually decreases until they only reverse their direction.

Oh and by the way, you get one-time extra life at 10,000 points.

Source code and Program can be downloaded here. Have fun! :)

Update again: Fixed a bug with some users in the FileTypeRegister App. Added logs for debugging.

Update: I created a bug with the progress indicator for zips in the 1.0.7.15 release. It is now fixed in 1.0.7.16 beta. Download link is updated to the new version.

New version of AutoExtract version 1.0.7.15 beta addresses these issues:

• Mac OSX zip archives weren't unzipping correctly. It's fixed now (at least I hope).
  
• Installer now checks to see if AutoExtract is running at (un)installer startup.
• Installer now closes after initializing AutoExtract FileType associator app instead of having to be manually closed.
  

Grab the updated version!

Current Windows unarchiving/unzipping utilities are rather inefficient at their main purpose. Sure, you may think that 3-5 mouse clicks is not a big deal, but if it can be reduced further, why not?

Introdocing AutoExtract(yes, another crappy name), it automatically unarchives your zips, tars, gzips, and bzip2's with just a double click on the file. Yep, that's it. For Mac OS X users or people who have used one, AutoExtract behaves very similar to the Unarchiving Utility provided by OSX. When unarchiving zips and tars, it places it's contents in a folder unless there is only one folder or file, which it thens places that content directly where the archive resides.

And some basic facts about AutoExtract for those who rather read bullet points than paragraphs:

• Unarchives zips, tars, gzips, and bzip2's with just a double click
• Smart extracting. That single file in the zip will be there instead of in a folder (as by default).
• Easy file association. No need to manually set it yourself. AutoExtract has a helper application that manages setting and restoring file associations.
• Simple. No fancy user interface, just double click on the archive and go!

But please note, this is a beta, it isn't fully tested yet, although I'd like to call it a final release. Bugs/comments/feedback is always welcomed :). Download it now! [link removed: see update post]

Since I haven't been posting anything, I thought I should start now...

Ever needed to hash up a quick todo list? Was Notepad's lack of text editing features such as Ctrl + Backspace making you mad? SimpleTodo provides a solution. As the names suggests, it provides a simple interface for managing a list of todo items. In addition, it provides a few text editing features that notepad lack:

• [Ctrl + Backspace] Deletes the current selection and the word before the caret or the "text cursor".
• [Ctrl + Shift + Backspace] Deletes all the characters starting from the beginning of the current line the caret is in up to the caret.
• [Ctrl + Delete (button above the arrow keys)] Deletes the current selection and the word after the caret.
• [Ctrl + Shift + Delete] Figuring out the pattern? Deletes all the characters starting from the caret to the end of the current line.

Besides providing a clean interface (and revealing possible projects I planned :P), SimpleTodo can also be minimized to the tray, reducing it's presence when you don't want the window to be hanging around.

And to top it all off, this application is open sourced and licensed under the Creative Commons. Although I'll admit the source code is rather messy at the moment.

Grab the Application Binary or Source Code today!

Why should you have to reach for the titlebar just to move your window? Why bother trying to grab the ultra-thin window borders to resize? It's needlessly cumbersome. With Grapple, you can move and resize windows quickly and easily:

• Hold down ALT and left-drag anywhere on a window to move it around.
• Hold down ALT and right-drag anywhere on a window to resize it from the nearest corner.
• Hold down ALT and middle-click anywhere on a window to send it to the bottom of all open windows. Convenient for revealing everything below a certain window.

Grapple lets you use the entire window as the "target area" to perform a move or resize operation. Try it for awhile, and you'll never notice how useful it is until you find yourself on a PC without it!