Daily DidntYouHear.com readers probably noticed that the site was down for a few days recently, and that things are still a little funky around here.
Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) the problems were due to issues beyond my control, since DYH’s host ran into some serious hiccups that lasted for a few days while their servers took a nap and took DYH down with them.
Thankfully, things are slowly but surely returning to normal as the backups are filtering in and the dust is starting to settle. It’s going to take a few days to iron out all the kinks, but for now, DYH should return to its regular posting schedule, and you’ll have your daily serving of the latest and greatest to help get you through the day in no time.
Thanks for sticking it out with me, and if you notice anything in a few days that still just doesn’t look right, please feel free to get in touch and let me know, as there’s only so much that I can check by myself.
- Cory O’Brien
Jon Hicks is probably most famous for his designing of the Firefox and Thunderbird icons, but it’s also interesting to take a look into his design process for other icons as well and see how they evolve into a final design.
Recently, he finished a series of icon designs for the Linotype FontExplorer app (aka FEX), including 280 new icons in several different sizes, and he uses his blog to highlight some of the initial concepts sketches for the Pro and Server editions, as well as some hurdles faced along the way.
[Hicks Design - FontExplorer]
[Via: Drawn!]
Call me an online gaming Newbie, but the concept of an Achievement Farming Server was news to me.
For those of you in the same boat, let me explain: In certain games like Team Fortress 2, items and weapons are unlocked only after a player achieves a certain number of achievements (milestones that mark goals or difficult tasks within the game). For those that can’t just wait to play through the game and earn the achievements like a normal player, Achievement Servers get set up with the express purpose of unlocking certain achievements for everyone playing.
Thus, though there might be two different teams playing, everyone is basically on the same team, and working together to earn achievements.
Need to kill 10 guys in 30 seconds?
Though this might be a tough task on a regular server, it’s easy on an Achievement Server when you have 10 volunteers join one team and then just stand still in a single spot while players on the opposing team take turns slaughtering the 10 opponents in one fell swoop like some sort of communal firing squad. Then, once everyone from one team unlocks that particular achievement, the roles are reversed, and it’s the next team’s turn.
Seem a little…unfair?
I thought so too, but apparently these types of servers are pretty common for games like TF2, as players are anxious to ‘earn’ their new toys and try them out.
Click the link to follow one man as he journeys through an Achievement Server for the first time, and witnesses the power, and the shame, of Achievement Servers firsthand.
[Rock, Paper, Shotgun - Pyro Maniacs: Achieving Nothing In TF2]
Faithful DYH readers,
Good News: DidntYouHear.com is now on a new, and hopefully 20 times better host! (Full explanation of the reasons for the switch, along with impressions of the new host coming soon.)
Bad News: It took me over 6 hours to make the change, and now I need some sleep!
Thus, DYH is going to be a little lite on the updates today, but I’ll have some new stuff up ASAP, and the site should be fully functioning and normal again in about 24 hours. (For now, everything has to cycle through http://s18719.gridserver.com/)
Thanks for your understanding,
Cory
