What is Flappy Bird? How did it succeed in the games industry?

The important thing to make a game success is "Know what the player want".

So that why everyone in the games industry is trying to figure out what "the people" want, and Flappy Bird is not an exception.

The big players in the AAA sector believe the people want military shooters and open-world games full of the old ultra violence. The indie community believes that what people really want is experimental games with heart and a unique visual sensibility. And puzzle platformers. And roguelikes.
The mobile and social game companies, like Zynga and King, are of the opinion that people want something inoffensive to click on every now and then, but not too often, unless they’ve got cash to spend.
Recently, the people have spoken, and what they’ve said might come as a shock to many of the prognosticators and taste makers across the video game business. It turns out that what the people really want, for the moment at least, is Flappy Bird.

Read more

[How to] Symbolic Links (symlinks) on Windows or Linux

Want to easily access folders and files from different folders without maintaining duplicate copies?  Here’s how you can use Symbolic Links to link anything in Windows 7, Vista, XP, and Ubuntu.

So What Are Symbolic Links Anyway?
Symbolic links, otherwise known as symlinks, are basically advanced shortcuts. You can create symbolic links to individual files or folders, and then these will appear like they are stored in the folder with the symbolic link even though the symbolic link only points to their real location.
There are two types of symbolic links: hard and soft. Soft symbolic links work essentially the same as a standard shortcut.  When you open a soft link, you will be redirected to the folder where the files are stored.  However, a hard link makes it appear as though the file or folder actually exists at the location of the symbolic link, and your applications won’t know any different. Thus, hard links are of the most interest in this article.
Why should I use Symbolic Links?
There are many things we use symbolic links for, so here’s some of the top uses we can think of:

• Sync any folder with Dropbox – say, sync your Pidgin Profile Across Computers
• Move the settings folder for any program from its original location
• Store your Music/Pictures/Videos on a second hard drive, but make them show up in your standard Music/Pictures/Videos folders so they’ll be detected my your media programs (Windows 7 Libraries can also be good for this)
• Keep important files accessible from multiple locations
• And more!

Read more

The Basics for Beginners to learn with Canon's Virtual DSLR Website

If you’re just starting out in photography, there are a lot of resources out there to help you understand the basics before you just jump in. And while books and videos are certainly helpful, one of the more fun ways to learn your way around a camera is by using an online DSLR simulator. We’ve shared one with you before, and now Canon Canada has released a simulator website of its own dubbed Outside of Auto.

Read more

Online SLR Simulator - an Easy Way to Learn Camera Fundamentals

Online SLR Camera Simulator is a neat flash app that helps teach the fundamentals of using an SLR camera by letting you tweak different variables and settings, then showing you what the resulting photograph would look like. It’s a great way for any beginner to become more familiar with a camera’s controls, though nothing beats going out and practicing by taking real photos — though this app would have been a lifesaver before the digital era.

Read more

Yahoo malware outbreak when visit Yahoo.com

The Yahoo logo is shown at the company's headquarters in Sunnyvale, Calif. in this April 16, 2013 file photo. (Robert Galbraith/Reuters)

Two Internet security firms have reported that Yahoo's advertising servers have been distributing malware to hundreds of thousands of users over the last few days. The attack appears to be the work of malicious parties who have hijacked Yahoo's advertising network for their own ends.

Read more