After much angst and brain bending, I think I can finally announce that this game is ready to play.

I've had this idea floating about for a while, but I couldn't get much help, and I didn't want to hire freelancers since improving the game later on will prove costly.  A genius programming friend is apparently into physics right now.  Quote:

"I'm understanding how the world works!"

Good for you sir, good for you.  My other programming friend has no time, so the idea died early on.

Recently though, I've found myself hitting my mid-life crisis, so I decided to take on this task alone.  I've made a card game called Trex, which is pretty famous in certain dowania circles (it's pronounced Trix in Kuwait.)  Apparently, it's even more famous in Jordan or something, I don't know.  Holy lord, this is supposed to be a professional announcement?

Ahem.

The game is integrated into Facebook, so you only need a Facebook account to play.  You can find the rules of the game here on this wiki.  There's still a bunch of features I want to put in, and hopefully they will come in the following weeks.

I'll admit, I had a blast making this.  The whole card animation and effects thing was really enjoyable, even if it involved invoking my limited math skills.  Oh and don't get me started on the bots!

The one thing I really need is an artist.  Most of the artwork is public domain stuff I found on the net, but I really wish I could get my own art done.  Heck, I don't even have a background.

Anyhow, give the game a try!  I'd love to hear your feedback, feature requests, and bugs.  There's plenty of stuff that needs to be done, and I'll try my best to catch up.

Thanks goes to 3baid for the Trex icon :p  I do like it!

Mega thanks to a certain friend who pushed me when I was lagging and picked me up when I was down.  Here's some excerpts:

(4:27:23 PM) Bojacob: OH OKAAAAAY
(4:27:29 PM) Bojacob: SO IT CAN'T BE trexZone
(4:27:34 PM) Bojacob: IT MUST BE TrexZone
(4:27:40 PM) Bojacob: well I have one thing to say to you Java
(4:27:45 PM) Friend: looooool
(4:27:45 PM) Bojacob: [bleeeeeeeeeeep] YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
(4:27:53 PM) Friend: indeed
(4:27:57 PM) Bojacob: o salamatkom
(4:28:10 PM) Friend: 9a7 lsanik

---

(1:40:26 PM) Bojacob: oh ok so the class name must not be the same as the instance name
(1:40:32 PM) Bojacob: I swear I don't even know how I understand this stuff
(1:40:37 PM) Friend: ha?
(1:40:40 PM) Bojacob: it doesn't make sense
(1:40:45 PM) Friend: what
(1:40:47 PM) Bojacob: and therefore, since I don't make sense
(1:40:50 PM) Bojacob: I understand it perfectly
(1:40:54 PM) Friend: umm
(1:41:02 PM) Friend: if you say so :P
(1:41:05 PM) Bojacob: I do
(1:41:09 PM) Friend: ok
(1:41:34 PM) Bojacob: your agreement pleases me

--

Thank you! 

To those of you who play, enjoy!

Case in point:  I'm trying to put in 1st place, 2nd place things etc etc for the card game I'm making.  Here's the result:

Hey look it was tough.  I mean, it took me hours to find a picture of a podium.

What a travesty...

The glow of my screen shines on my face, in a room with only a lonely light.  I tapped away, trying to fix bugs and implementing the required features, until I heard scratching on the door.

*scratch*

Hm, we don't have a puppy here.  Nor do we have a cat.  In fact, I thought I was alone at home.

*scratch, scratch*

Voice:  immlegoo ....

It was only natural that the hairs on my back would rise when hearing this eerie demonic incantation.  I wasn't exactly scared though.  Of course I wasn't scared.

*scratch*

Ok, perhaps a little scared.  No no, not scared.  The word would be... startled.  Yes.

Voice:  YAAAAMGAAAAHAGA

Ok, I'm scared.

The door handle jiggles slowly.  I wondered if I should arm myself with this Turkish delight, or perhaps a pizza slice.  I abandoned the thought as my eyes met with my favorite weapon of all time:

The pillow. 

If it's anything I've learned from Mafia movies, the pillow is quite the deadly-

*dull thud*

Baby voice: .. unn ..un .. wwuhhhuhuh

A primal instinct rose, the instinct of an uncle nursing a baby when the frikkin dad is nowhere to be seen.  I opened the door, and sure enough, my baby nephew apparently fell flat on his diapers.

Me:  Well great, thanks for making me look silly, mighty ghost of the frikkin house.  Where's your maid anyway?

He stood up silenty, his height no higher than my knee.  He went through my legs and headed straight for my glowing keyboard.

Nephew:  mmbbe .. bu bub .. imblthh ..

Me:  Yeah, no.  If you don't want me going all Kung Fu Panda on you, you'd best leave that PC alone.

I pulled him back and sat on the chair.  Seeing a pillow in my hand, I gently threw it at him.  It bonked his head and fell to the side.

Nephew:  eheheeehe

Me:  Ah, like father, like son....

Nephew:  mmmbz?

Me: ....you're both weirdos.

I got back to my work, trying to catch my train of thought.  Yes, this event-based coding actually sucks sometimes to be honest.  I have to frikkin write-

*guitar strum*

I have to-

*louder strum*

Me:  Hey Alfredo, mind turning the flamenco down?

Nephew:  geehe..

As if to spite me, he pulled my guitar strings so far back that I almost heard a cry from strain.

*STRUMMMM*

Me:  Ok that's it!  No guitar for you!

I picked up the damn thing (the guitar) and put it at the top of my cupboard.

Me:  There.  Now what other form of entertainment can you find in my room?

He stood silently, looking at me and smiling.  I should pinch him for being so cute.  I suppressed the need, however, and went back to my chair.  He followed me.

Nephew:  mmma

Me: What?

Nephew:  mmmaa

Me:  I don't follow.

He got closer and wanted to climb up into my lap

Nephew:  mmmmma

Me:  frikkin-

He looked at me, and I saw the saddest set of eyes I have ever seen.  It's as if he was saying "my life depends on doing this.  I must get on your lap and play or we will all be doomed.  I'm only doing this to save you, even if it means at the cost of my own life.  I'm begging you.  Please."

I sniffled, blew my nose and hugged him for his noble sacrifice.  I picked him up and put him on my lap, facing my keyboard and screen.

*bang bang bang*

Nephew: heeehehehehehee!!!!!!

Me:  Ok let me open up notepad at least and you can type whatever you want

*bang bang!*

Me:  Would you hang on for just a minute!  Look you're adding to my code.  Even if your code makes more sense than mine.

I quickly opened up notepad and maximized the screen.  He can bang to his heart's content. 

*bang!*

What's this?  His tiny hand is moving for the mouse! 

*click click!*

Me:  Who the hell taught you that!  You make a geek proud!  Oh my .. oh no I'm not gonna cry..

*click click close 8 gig download*

Me:  Ok now I'm gonna cry.

*bang bang click click create shortcut for Internet Explorer*

Me:  Ok buster, you crossed a line now!  Off!  Go!

I picked him up and put him on the floor again.  The blue glow of the "Power" button seemed to entice him.

*PUSH!*

Me:  No nononono!  Oh ... oh man whew, Vista just cancelled the shutdown.  At least I can save my files!

*PUSH RESET BUTTON NEXT TO POWER BUTTON*

The computer screen blinked.  My eyes blinked.  I put my hands on my head, despair mounting each passing moment as I remember what I didn't save.

Nephew:  aammueugguh!  heehee 

I wondered if I should squish this little squirt.  I looked his way, and he was still pushing the reset button.

*push push*

sigh.

Maid:  Is he having fun with you?

Me:  Huh?  Where were you?

Maid:  He wanted to come into your room.

Nephew:  daaada.

He came and raised his hand, waiting for me to shake it.  I shook his tiny little hand and saluted the execution of his terrorist plans in record time.

Me:  You can get him now.

She comes and picks him up.

Maid:  Say bye bye to uncle!

Nephew: bubyyee..

He waved his hand at me, blew me a kiss, and left the room.

I blew a kiss back as he left the room.  I sat there once more, watching a rebooting computer in front of me.  Losing hours of work because of a little terror...

Crazy as it may be, I really couldn't help but smile :)

twerp.. I'll get him when he's older.

Her voice was melodic, almost as if she was giving out a present to a kid.

I sat down on one of the comfy white chairs in the brilliant white room.  The taste in design was surprisingly exquisite.  Perhaps there's something to this Asnan Clinic after all.  Neon lights were tucked in behind ledges so they stay unseen, and the lights change colors from blue, to green, to red, to violet, etc.  This was all topped off by white iMacs around the room.  They have WindowsXP installed, which sucks, but you can't expect a clinic to work on MacOS sadly.  Ah well.

I was quite relaxed.  The environment was soothing and peaceful.  I even forgot I was at a dentist!

Doctor:  Is Mr. Bojacob here?

Receptionist:  He's sitting over there.

Turning towards me was a doctor with a wide smile on his face.  His white uniform worked quite well with the environment, as I couldn't tell if he was floating or not.  Running behind him was his assistant, a tiny angel that almost has wings on her back.  I smiled wide and forgot all my dentist concerns.  Both walked towards me and I could almost imagine white pigeons flying out of their clothes.

Assistant:  Please follow me.

Me:  m'kay!

And so I followed the angels from heaven to their playhouse.  They couldn't possibly hurt me.

I walked inside and sat down in the white dentist chair.  Everything was white in here too, along with the color-changing neon lights.  I am so lucky...

Drill:  whirrrrrr.... whirrrrr...

I am .. lucky?

Doctor:  Assistant?

Assistant simply stares at my open mouth.  What was that gleam in her eyes?

Doctor:  Assistant!

She snaps out of it

Assistant:  Sorry, yes?

The doctor smiled as if he knew something.

Doctor:  Let us begin.  Hand it to me.

Assistant:  You mean....?

Doctor:  Yes .. the BANJ!

DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!!!!!

Me:  Oh shit...

Doctor:  YEHAAH!  HERE WE GO!

Me: OH SHIT!

Assistant:  DO IT!  DO IT NOW!!

Doctor:  AAHAHAHAH IN YOU GO MR NEEDLE!!!

Me:  AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!

Doctor:  OH MR BOJACOB YOU ARE ALREADY A FAVORITE OF MINE NOW!  LET ME INTRODUCE MY LITTLE FRIEND!!

Me:  oh god no..no not the DRILL NNOOAAAAAARGH!!!!

Drill:  WHIRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!! GNAWWWGNAWWW

Me:  YAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!

Assistant:  YOU MISSED A SPOT YOU MISSED A SPOT!!

Doctor:  YOUR EYES!!!  THEY ARE SO WELL TRAINED!!  YES!  THIS IS WHAT I'D EXPECT FROM MY SITH APPRENTICE!!

Me:  What?  wtf ... OUUUUUUUUUUCH!!!!!!

God damn it all :(

I just don't remember the sky looking like that, but hey, cameras don't lie yeah?  15 second shutter times can get some pretty unexpected results.

Oh, the moon sure was in a good mood when it produced a large halo last night.  I'm not sure if this picture shows it, but if you look really hard...

You can see it.

Click on the pictures and just change the image size in Flickr.  My blog width isn't all that much, so I couldn't put up the whole thing.

Photography is getting pretty interesting.  Hm.

Do I need to cut down on the geeking a little?  I don't think this is supposed to happen.

Picks:

Today, I went to McDonald's for lunch and ordered a salad. The man behind the counter looked at me and said "Well, at least you're trying." FML

Today, I told my parents how grateful I am for having them in my life and that not many kids are as lucky as me. My mom texted me after I went out 10 minutes later: "Are you ok? You seemed depressed earlier." FML

Today, my grandmother called. She greeted me by my mother's name. When I told her it was not my mother, she apologized and corrected herself, but this time she addressed me as my sister. When I told her it was not my sister either, she said "Sorry, wrong number" and hung up. FML

Today, I lost 200 dollars while playing poker with my new sunglasses. Turns out you can see the cards in the reflection. FML

Today, my boyfriend's sister called me to wish me congratulations and ask me when I was due. I said I wasn't prenant to which she replied "Yes you are, my brother just told us the good news". Long pause. "Oh wait is this Mary or Morgan?" I'm Morgan. Who's Mary? FML

Ouch...

And then there was silence.

What do we do?  I have absolutely no clue what app we should do.

Help?  What do Kuwaitis want?  (or perhaps Arabs in general?)

I'm not even sure why I'm writing you, as if you're some sort of person or entity.  I suppose in some ways, you could be alive, since I can't figure out for the life of me how a single month of yours could contain happiness, awe, worry, depression, anxiety, curiosity, fear, pride, suffering, love, and some other emotions I forgot.  Sigmund Freud would have had a field day.

I'm not exactly feeling too good right now, so I may as well blame you.  Perhaps I'm being too unfair, but then, why not?  You're just a year.  If I can't take it out on people, I may as well take it out on you.  It's not like you'll feel depressed (read: it's not like you'll have a bunch of neurotransmitters firing into some receptors that tell your brain to make the host feel like shit.)  That's what separates us, a soul (read:  a brain that is controlled by a bunch of chemicals.)

Is this pessimism I read in my words?  Hmm, must have been a rogue 5-hydroxytryptamine.  If you're wondering about my Biology prowess, it's just Wikipedia.  It turns any freak into a doctor, don't you know?

Look at me rambling!  It seems like I'll have to keep my chemicals in check.  Bad Serotonin! 

I really just wanted to tell you one thing.  Here's a hint, it start with a big fat F!

2009:  What is it?

Me:  GA-!  wtf!?

2009:  Sorry if I scared you.  But, what is it?

Me:  Uh, what is what?

2009:  I can see you're writing me a letter.  You don't seem very happy.

Me:  ... I'm not.  You know, privacy is a good thing to respect?

2009:  You're writing ME a letter that I can't read?

Me:  Am I supposed to make sense when I'm depressed? 

2009:  Listen, you really think these things don't happen for a reason?  You never know what's at the other end.

Me:  I guess.  I just wish this reason shows up already.  Ah well, good things come to those who wait, yeah?

2009:  Better things come to those who take action.

Me:  mehh.. are you going to talk to me about spinning some gear crap to make things happen?

2009:  Did it once already.  I think you know what you're supposed to do.

Me:  I don't, I really don't.  Help me out here.

2009:  You'll find out.  Bye.

Me:  Wait! ..wait..sigh

.....

I really just wanted to tell you one thing:

F... ...

Forty-two.

day 1:  Investigation and Price Check

I'm in control of everything.
I'm a smart buyer.
Prices cannot be higher than Amazon.com

day 3:  Calculated Purchasing

2008:  Hey hey, look, I have a joke

Me:  2008, I'm really sick of you and your jokes.

2008:  Listen, listen!  What's the difference between 2007 and 2008?

2007:  Huh?

Me:  I don't know, what's the difference between 2007 and 2008?

2008:  A YEAR!  AHAHAHA lololoilolo

Me:  I hate you so much...

2007:  That was actually funny lol.

Me:  peas in a pod, so it follows that I hate you too.

2009:  Listen, you can't really blame 2008 for anything.

Me:  And why not?  He brought little good.  I mean, look at him.

2008:  Hey hey, what's the difference between 2007 and 2009?!

Um, whoa.

Apparently, the 30gb Zunes turned into bricks at midnight last night.  How in the blue hell could something like that happen?

My god, I feel so sorry for Microsoft right now.  I cannot even visualize the code that could allow this to happen.

if (currentDate > macWorldDate-6 ) {

stopWorking();

} 

That still can't be right...

eesh, my sympathies I guess.

To those of you who actually remembered, thank you.  It means a lot :) 

To those of you who had Facebook remind you, well, thank you too :)  Still means a lot! 

To those of you who friggin timed the greeting card to be sent today (from like last year), thanks as well :)

To those of you who forgot entirely, thanks!  Last thing I need is a reminder right now.

To mom, thanks for the donut!

Of course, I got the celebratory influenza.  It was so thoughtful as to bless me with its sickness on this very day (from like a whole year of flu-freeness.)  Thus I spent the day in bed watching Ga Rei Zero (which was pretty good, gotta admit.)

As for the birthday gifts I've received?  Well, I got only one, from a friend that understands me quite well.

You, my friend, are a magnificent bastard.  :)  Time to get drunk!

Now what other celebration is on the list?  I kinda lost track...

Dum de-dum de-dum de-dum de-dum de-dum de-dum de-dum

We walked around the Avenues
Lookin' around for a bunch of shoes
'till he finally broke the news
Of great International Cliniiiiiiic

I explained my hate for needles
He said he hated the Beatles
But in his senseless drivels
He said "International Cliniiiiiiic"

He tells me of this new syri

Alarm Clock: …..............…tock..

Tumbleweed rolls.

Alarm clock: BRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-

SMASH SNOOZE BUTTON!!

Alarm Clock: ..BRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-

SMASH SNOOZE BUTTON HARDER!!

Alarm Clock: .....BBRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-

SMASH SMASH SMASH SMASH CURSE CURSE!!! Alarm Clock falls violently on floor.

Alarm Clock: ding.. ring ..

Realizes with horror the Alarm Clock is out of reach!

Alarm Clock: ring … rriiiiing ..

Don't you dare!

Alarm Clock: … RRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINGGGGGGGGGGNNYAAAANYAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!

Gets out of bed and kicks the living daylights out of Alarm Clock

Alarm Clock: RRIRRIGNIAAAAAAAAAIGIGIGIGIGIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNGGGGIGINGGG

Kicks the piece of crap against the wall.

Alarm Clock: ..dung …

Now wide awake. Takes another look at Alarm Clock

Alarm Clock: ………….

Jumps back in bed with throbbing pain in foot.

Alarm Clock: ………….

Just doesn’t want to go to work today. Closes eyes. Remembers dream.

Maid: *knocks on door* Babaaaaaa?

Fists clench

Maid: I make your rooooom. It’s seben portyyyyyyy!

High pitched complaining

Maid: I … make room later then.

Ferverent agreement.

Maid: oki dokii

Determines he’s going to sleep if it kills him.

iPhone SMS: DIIING.

Wants to jump out of window now.

Alarm Clock: ……..tick, tock, tick..

Constant worry about SMS sender

Gets up and checks SMS.

SMS from G: Hi can you call me when u wake up thanks

Pure.  Hatred.

Alarm Clock: … tick, rrrrrr..rrrrr

Eyes Alarm Clock in disbelief!

Maid: *knock knock*

Alarm Clock: …BRRRRRIIIIANAIIIIIINNNNNG

Maid: BABAAA! YOUR MAMA SAY WAKE UP WORK!

iPhone: DIIIINGGG!!!

Me: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaa#@$@#$@#

Goes to work :(