the morsewhisperer

So, I was dinking around with morse code some more and have come to discover that although there is a wealth of free trainers that most of them want to spew out random letters and give you zero control over the input.

I hacked together a quick python script that lets you input a letter or phrase and echoes it back in morse. It's using winsound, so... windows only (I know, I suck) and you'll need to install ActiveState's Python to run it.

Here's the zip file.

Credit for the dit/dah wav files goes to acclivity on freesound for posting a sample I could chop up. :)

quake live beta and the mystery of the reappearing invites :o

So, the bad news is that I just sent out the last 3 of the 5 invites I had.

The good news is.. when I logged in to do that, I noticed I had been given 2 new invites to replace the ones I'd already sent out. \o/

So, it looks like the beta invites might be an unlimited resource, but you can only add 5 people at a time. Will find out if I get 3 more back after the monkeys I invited accept tommorrow.

The other good news is that I used the invites for 3 of my friends from Doomcast. They should have their own set of invites to hand out in a short while, and I'd point you to this thread on the Doomcast forums if you're looking for one.

quake live first impressions

Haven't had a whole lot of time to bang on the account, but here are the important points from the little time I've spent with the beta:

1) the game runs via a browser plugin, and as far as I can remember, it's exactly the same as if you were playing on the PC. Graphics seem to be better than what I remember of q3a, and the game runs suprisingly smoothly considering the environment it's in.
2) the main difference is scripts/aliases... not sure if it'd be possible to load up my old complex key bindings
3) when you create a new account, you go through a "tutorial" with Crash (the easy-kill chick from the first level), but there's a twist. As you keep fragging the bot, it subtly notches the difficulty up to figure out where you're at skillwise. I didn't notice this until the bot suddenly side-strafed a rocket that should have gone straight into her face, and she ended up just chainsawing my lead down in pretty short order. :(
4) right now, it's kind of hard to find matches because there aren't many folks in the beta. It looks like when everything is live (or when more invites go out), though, getting into a decent game with folks around your skill level should be a piece of cake.

And yes, there does appear to be a way to send out invites to others. No, I don't seem to have any at the moment.

Personally, I think this is going to fill the "I just want to shoot something in the face" niche quite nicely.

Update: Found the invites \o/ and got 3 left. Drop me an email or IM if you want one.

communicating at the speed of morse

So for some reason, radio (ham, not AM/FM) has been a recurring theme for me since Christmas. The last straw has been the discovery that SiX is learning morse code with an eye towards getting a ham license... and if that knuckle dragger can do it, how hard can it be?

I haven't really committed to, like, getting the ARRL study guide or looking into where to go to do the exam. But I have started dinking around with morse code (which you don't need for the technician's license), and I've manage to get A-0 down pretty reliably at 5 wpmin about 2 days (with J and G being the only ones I'm shakey on).

I'm hoping that, at the very least, I'm able to figure out what the hell is being tapped out in the opening credits of Jericho pretty soon. ;)

quake live beta invite

Just got an email for a Quake Live beta invite. Going to check it out later on tonight and see what's up. It might be interesting to see if there's anything different about the game beyond the scoreboard and account stuff.