Skype Translator

There has been rumor going around that the online video calling service, Skype, will become a piece of software no one will want to go near.
Why?
Because of it's unreliability and slightly better competitors such as Apple's Facetime and Google's Hangouts.
However if Microsoft have developed anything worth while for Skype since they bought it in 2011 for $8.5Billion, than this is it: http://blogs.skype.com/2014/12/15/skype-translator-preview/


This newly developed piece of software for Skype allows for real-time speech to text, then translation and then text to speech. So simply it reduces the language barrier in communication.

Do you think this development from Microsoft will help Skype? or might it's competitors still have a chance in taking over?

Personally I believe the only money Microsoft could make from this is by selling this software to governments or military's, but what do you think?

Samsung Galaxy Note EDGE!

The Samsung Galaxy Note Edge hit Australia not that long ago. It features a curved edge display allowing for more multitasking options. This new feature might be the next big thing... Or a flop just the the Galaxy Beam was...

Anyway this short video quickly shows how the display could operate on a daily basis to show you whether or not you think you need one.

Why it's better to PRETEND to not know ANYTHING about Computers.

Want a laugh? Check this out: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/computers
I couldn't stop laughing.

Two new tabs!

If you haven't already noticed, we now have two new tabs! Repairs and Websites. As the tabs say, I am now beginning to build websites for small businesses and have been doing a few iPhone repairs lately. So feel free to check out the pricing online or email me if you have any questions mildflame@live.com.au

Blender Progress

It has been a long while since I last posted and I think it's time I update you with my latest blender work.

(3D Moddeling software website.)

You saw my first Cycles (render system) tutorial I followed a while back and since then I learnt more about the material properties after following this tutorial containing glass.

I expanded on my knowledge of cloth collisions, From what I learnt from those two tutorials I decided to go ahead and challenge myself by making a scene containing a glass cup and water collision.

I modelled the cup and got the texture correct for that, then started messing around with the water domain however my laptop kept crashing. I transferred this project onto my video editing PC with more RAM (Memory) that allowed me to do the liquid simulation at a low resolution. I turned up the resolution as high as the computer could handle simulating before setting up the texture.
As you can see the water does look quite 'blocky'.

My next idea was to create an animation so I used my dodgy modeling skills to model a wineglass and wine collision.

I gave up and got bored on that project, moving onto a bigger one.





As I was searching for previous tutorials, for documentation purposes, I came across this teddy bear tutorial that interested me and had techniques I hadn't learnt before so I did it.

For full resolution version, click here.

And to push this further I have attempted to make this bear look as unloved as possible:

Windows 8.1 update! (KB2912355)

Loving the new windows 8.1 update! (KB2912355) So much more user friendly for the pre-windows 8 users! Amazing!

For those of you who haven't got the update yet it features;
-a close and minimize button for full screen apps,
-power button in the start menu,
-right click features in metro mode,
-open apps appear in start bar as well as app switcher and heaps more.

More info and manual downloads here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2919355

Mildflame, Sr. Pinball Sale

Mildflame Photography spent all day Saturday photographing Mildflame's Dad (Studley67)'s Pinball Machine collection. Studley67 would like to sell his entire collection before he moves interstate.

I appologize if this post is too large to view, there are over 100 photos and browsers and slow internet connections don't seem to like that much. I have had some viewers saying they can't view the photos. Some ad blockers block the photos coming through so you may need to disable your ad blocker or click "View album" on the image placeholder.

6 Million Dollar Man (1978) Info

Baywatch (1995) Info

Cheetah (1980) Info

Cleopatra (1977) Info

Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1978) Info

Cue Ball Wizard (1992) Info

Doctor Who (1992) Info

Earth Wind Fire (1981) Info

Flash (1979) Info

Frankenstein (1995) Info

Galaxy (1980) Info

Genesis (1986) Info

Goldball (1986) Info

Gorgar (1979) Info

High Roller Casino (2001) Info

JackBot (1995) Info

Lethal Weapon 3 (1992) Info

Magic Castle (1984) Info

Mata Hari (1977) Info

Maverick (1994) Info

Phoenix (1978) Info

Playboy (1978) Info

Road Show (1994) Info

Soccer Kings (1982) Info

Star God (1980) Info

Street Fighter 2 (1993) Info

Strikes and Spares (1977) Info

Supersonic (1979) Info

If you are located in Australia and are interested in any of the above machines comment below or e-mail me at mildflame@live.com.au. I can provide more info on request.

Blender

Blender Website

If you've never heard of blender before it's basically free 3D Animation and Modelling software available for Windows, Linux and Mac. I have been forever interested in this program however it can be a little difficult to learn. A few days ago I stumbled across a tutorial on modeling a coffee cup. I'd never attempted modeling before and I really wanted to learn, besides the tutorial didn't look too long. So I watched the tutorial and then tried it out for myself.

If you'd like to give this a try for yourself why not check out the tutorial here: http://youtu.be/y__uzGKmxt8

And feel free to get a copy of blender from the official blender site: http://www.blender.org

New Video Editing PC

I am proud to say I am happy with my new computer. Most powerful PC I have ever built! All set for more video editing. Its running but not very stylish at the moment. It gets hot in that tiny case. Custom case for this one is this in design stage. Can't wait to get it water cooled!

Staring:

Samsung 840 EVO 120GB SSD

3x WD Blue 250GB 2.5" HDD (in RAID0)

ASUS M5-A99X EVO R2.0 motherboard.

AMD FX-8320 CPU (8 core, 3.5GHz with boost 4Ghz)

2x Kingston 8GB 1600MHz RAM (Total of 16GB Memory)

GIGABYTE nVidea GTX 560 (1GB graphics)

Antec power supply 620W

Pinball

Hello readers. One hobby of mine is Pinball, as in the Pinball Machines that were once found in bars, pubs, fast-food stores and arcades but have now mostly disappeared from the view of the public.

Photo of personal collector's collection (August 2009)

Most machines have been moved into personal collections (may contain 1-3 machines) or collectors (who usually have more than 3) such as this one:

Photo of personal collector's collection (August 2009)

These machines were once part of my dad's collection, some have been sold and others he still has. He collected them and could repair them with his understanding of electronics and many, many hours.

Over the years my interests increased, I learnt more and more about how these machines worked and how to fix them just like my dad. I eventually learnt about Photoshop to try and restore artwork on the machines.

Playfield art for Wild Fyre 1978 restored in Photoshop by Mildflame

Scanning the damaged artwork.

It was always an interesting adventure!

I eventually got to the point where I wanted to test my skills and knowledge. I had learnt all this information and I wanted to see what I could do with that I knew. My dad gave me his worst machine for my birthday. I asked for a challenge and I sure got one! For my 14th birthday I got a 1979 Williams Flash and to this day I still haven't seen a Pinball Machine in worse condition, at-least not in person.

I had to learn how to airbrush in order to touch up all the paint that had flaked off the playfield and paint any areas I could get or make decals for. Luckily I could buy a decal for the worst part and stencils for the cabinet. If you are interested in how I did these stages in detail I have it all posted on a forum however the forum requires you to be a member to view the thread. If you really badly want to see the rest of the thread register here and you can find the thread here: http://aussiepinball.com/index.php?topic=6396.0

Taken September 2013

However after painting the cabinet and playfield, applying according decals, spraying the playfield with a clear for protection, assembling the machine and re-populating the playfield it has become to look like this: 

The machine still has some things it needs doing such as touching up the paint on the backglass and some minor electrical work but I'm proud to say I took on my biggest challenge yet and came out with my biggest success.

How it came to be, FRANKENSTIEN

About two months ago my laptop broke and I needed something to use to finalize my assignments. I bought $60 worth of old computer parts from a mate as he just upgraded. So for $60 I got an AMD AM3 socket GIGABYTE branded motherboard containing an Athlon II dual core CPU clocked at 2.9GHz that came with 2x sticks of DDR2 2GB. I also got an ATI Radeon 4000 series graphics card (I don't remember what it was)

I used a power supply, case and old 80GB IDE (PATA) hard drive from the shed, all thickly covered in dust.

I used this to get me by. Games weren't playable on the crappy graphics card and there was no space to install games on the hard drive anyway. I then realised I had a spare 250GB laptop hard drive laying around waiting to be converted into an external hard drive. I put that in, formatted it and used it for all my programs and games. I later had a nVidea GT430 given to me which replaced my old graphics card and I also needed a DVD drive to install Mafia 2 on it so I found one laying around.

Thats how it became Frankenstien. My mates and I joked about how it's so dodgy looking and how shocking it is that it performs well with Windows 8 and all games playable at 720p resolutions...

We were organizing a LAN party and I kept saying everyone will get to meet Frank. It then later came to me that I had 100's of LED's and decided to hook one up... Then another. 

I liked how it looked so the next day I found some green paint in the shed and went mad. Frankenstien was finished. I did a dodgy paint job to add character and it worked!

Post by Mildflame.

I was considering making a 4-5 minute long video explaining most of what I explained in this post and show more of the beast. If you think it sounds like a good idea like either my G+ post on it or this Facebook post:

Post by Mildflame.

If you have suggestions for the video comment and let me know please.

New Blog

Hello everyone. I've never had a blog before so I hope this doesn't become too messy.
Thanks for any support! Feel free to follow me on YouTube, G+ and Facebook.

Now I have to go and post all my other work here to catch you up.
Happy Following! -M