BBACE

66WPM Typing Speed

2007-08-29T04:08:00.000-07:00

I just did one of those online typing speed tests to see whether I have improved or not since I last did one and I got 66 words per minute speed with 1mistake which I think is better than my previous test which was 64WPM.

To try the test go to typeonline.co.uk

Sites that make you ROFL XD

2007-08-28T17:35:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to post these sites for a long time only cause whenever I look at them I burst out in extreme laughter. There are some other sites that I cant remember the links of but will post them soon...

#1 - BikerFox - this site is too funny. The guy who's pic is plastered everywhere does some really funny posing lol

#2 - Morbid Optimism (Americans Shouldnt Cosplay) - Another funny link where pics are displayed of people in cosplay who just look too funny for their own good! the naruto pic gets me everytime XD

#3 - Websites That Suck - they actually made a site like this and funnily enough it is referred to by many IT courses at universities.

English Bloopers

2007-08-27T08:23:00.000-07:00

Found this list of english bloopers at Rediff news. Its funny to see how sentences end up when they get translated from another language into english :)

Private school:
No trespassing without permission.

Hotel bedroom, Japan:
Guests are requested not to smoke or do other disgusting behaviours in bed.

Doctor's surgery, Rome:
Specialist in women and other diseases.

Cocktail lounge, Norway:
Ladies are requested not to have children in the bar.

Hotel, Acapulco:
The manager has personally passed all the water served here.

Hotel air conditioner instructions, Japan:
Cooles and heates: if you want condition of warm air in your room, please control yourself.

Zoo, Hungary:
Please do not feed the animals. If you have any suitable food, give it to the guard on duty.

Restaurant, Nairobi:
Customers who find our waitresses rude ought to see the manager.

Car rental brochure, Tokyo:
When passenger of foot heave in sight, tootle the horn. Trumpet him melodiously at first, but if he still obstacles your passage then tootle him with vigour.

River highway:
Take notice: when this sign is under water, this road is impassable.

Poster:
Are you an adult that cannot read? If so, we can help.

Restaurant:
Open seven days a week, and weekends too.

Automatic hand dryer in public lavatory:
Do not activate with wet hands.

Maternity ward:
No children allowed.

Cemetery:
Persons are prohibited from picking flowers from any but their own graves.

Restaurant menu, Switzerland:
Our wines leave you nothing to hope for.

Temple, Bangkok:
It is forbidden to enter a woman even a foreigner if dressed as a man.

Hotel bedroom, Thailand:
Please do not bring solicitors into your room.

Hotel brochure, Italy:
This hotel is renowned for its peace and solitude. In fact, crowds from all over the world flock here to enjoy its solitude.

Hotel bedroom, Japan:
You are invited to take advantage of the chambermaid.

Hotel, Yugoslavia:
The flattening of underwear with pleasure is the job of the chambermaid.

Hotel lobby, Bucharest:
The lift is being fixed for the next day. During that time we regret that you will be unbearable.

Supermarket, Hong Kong:
For your convenience, we recommend courteous, efficient self-service.

Hotel, Moscow (opposite Russian orthodox monastery):
You are welcome to visit the cemetery where famous Russian and soviet composers, artists, and writers are buried daily except Thursday.

From the Soviet Weekly:
There will be a Moscow exhibition of Arts by 15,000 Soviet Republic painters and sculptors. These were executed over the past two years.

Newspaper, East Africa:
A new swimming pool is rapidly taking shape since the contractors have thrown in the bulk of their workers.

Black Forest, Germany:
It is strictly forbidden on our Black Forest camping site that people of different sex, for instance, men and women, live together in one tent unless they are married with each other for this purpose.

Hotel, Zurich:
Because of the impropriety of entertaining guests of the opposite sex in the bedroom, it is suggested that the lobby be used

Laundry, Rome:
Ladies, leave your clothes here and spend the afternoon having a good time.

Advertisement for donkey rides, Thailand:
Would you like to ride on your own ass?

Hotel bedroom, Moscow:
If this is your first visit to the user, you are welcome to it.

Tourist agency, Czechoslovakia:
Take one of our horse-driven city tours. We guarantee no miscarriages.

Dentist's advertisement, Hong Kong:
Teeth extracted by the latest Methodists.

Airline, Copenhagen:
We take your bags and send them in all directions.

And finally on gate outside our society compound:
Warning: trace passers not allowed

Teh Album

2007-08-27T07:28:00.000-07:00

Here is the upcoming BBACE album

These images were made in reference to the abstract tutorial posted earlier. It shows the different things that can be done using the brushes and glows ;) Look at the abstract tutorial for more info.

Photoshop: Abstract Tutorial

2007-08-26T15:13:00.000-07:00

Difficulty: MODERATE

Here is a quick tutorial on how to make easy abstract images in Adobe Photoshop to be used as banners, signatures, avatars, etc.

Step1: open photoshop (I used photoshop CS3 for this one) create a new image of any size you want. I chose 300 x 100 for a signature based size

Step2: go to filter and then render clouds

Step3: next go to layer and create a new layer. You can also just press Ctrl+Shift+N

Step4: click the brush tool and use a brush type you want and just brush over the new layer a few times until you get the desired effect. For some brushes it might be best to just click a few times instead of trying to brush over the layer. You will have to experiment to see which looks the best

You can get abstract brushsets from:-
GetBrushes
DeviantArt
or do a search on Google!

Step5: add a few lens flares to the layer you brushed on or the clouds layer to see some glows. Then go to layer->new adjustment layer->color balance

Step6: play around with the sliders until you end up with something that looks cool. You can select tone balance of shadows, midtones and highlights

Step7: you can also create more than one color balance layers. This is how it looks on mine in the layers panel. After you have experimented with the colors click ok. I have added some text and different brush designs in this image

and thats pretty much how you can create a quick abstract image using photoshop

here are some more I did using different brush sets

also used in album covers seen here

Photoshop CS3!!!

2007-08-26T15:11:00.000-07:00

Its been a long time but I decided to go out and upgrade my version of photoshop from version 6(too old!) to CS3 and after using it a bit I am already liking the new stuff added in it :-)

Upload Files

2007-08-26T14:15:00.000-07:00

Some cool sites to upload files on to for free. If you're looking to upload any projects, documents or videos then these sites should help out

Mega Upload - I use their service and their uploading function works really well!

Files Upload

Wiki Upload

HyperFileShare

Upload Images

2007-08-24T17:07:00.000-07:00

Here are a few sites where you can upload images for free

Photobucket - This site is really good! you can create albums and subfolders. You will have to create an account with them.

Imageshack - Use this to quickly upload an image without having to register.

Flickr - Another uploading service.

Picasa - Use this to organise your pictures on your desktop. You can also upload images to your blogger account with this.

Photoshop: Signature Tutorial

2007-08-19T06:05:00.000-07:00

Difficulty: MODERATE

This tutorial helps create signatures using Adobe Photoshop for forums and other places like myspace, etc.. it doesnt take long and you can use many images and patterns to create these.

Step1: open photoshop and create a new image, file->new

Step2: use the fill bucket tool and fill in the layer with a white foreground

Step3: for a quick colored gradient select chiseled sky in the styles panel on the right

Step4: the chiseled sky actually creates a bevel and emboss on the image so it looks more like a button. So we are gonna get rid of the button-like effect. Right click on the layer and select blending options.

Step5: once blending options comes up, untick the bevel and emboss box so it turns it off. Then select ok to close the options menu

Step6: next we will add a pattern to the image. Go to layer and create a new layer. When a box comes up just click ok and the new layer should be created

Step7: the new layer will look like this

Step8: select the bucket fill tool and choose pattern as the fill type

Step9: there are many patterns to choose from and you can even download new ones but this time I chose fractures which is one of the defaults

Step10: fill the pattern into the new transparent layer

Step11: right click on the pattern layer and select blending options

Step12: in blending options lower the opacity to something like 25% and then click ok

Step13: save an image you want to use for the signature on your computer. Then go to open and select the image

For the image I used this sonic one

Step14: click on select and choose all. Alternatively you can just press CTRL+A

Step15: go to edit and choose copy. Alternatively you can just press CTRL+C

Step16: select the signature window and go to edit and choose paste. Alternatively you can just press CTRL+V. Position the image so it looks good in the signature

Step17: depending on the image, it may have the white background still attached to it

Step18: select the magic wand tool and click on the white area you wish to delete

Step19: press delete on your keyboard to get rid of the white area and then press CTRL+D to deselect the highlighted area

Step20: its time to add text to the signature. Select the text tool and click in the area you want text and start to write what you want. Ive used impact font in black color

Step21: a good thing to do is to add a outer color to the text, so right click on the finished text in the layer window and select blending options. Then click on stroke and select a color that matches with the text. I chose white

Step22: you may choose to display some additional text in your signature.. sort of like a description or sub-text. Personally I find the font 04b_03b to be best for this.

Step23: I decided to write it in white and in font size 8

Step24: similar to the original text, I created a outer color for it but this time in black

Step25: once your text and sub-text are in place you can finally flatten your image by clicking on layer on the top and then select flatten image to group all the layers together. I also added a lens flare effect (see lens flare tutorial)

and thats it! your signature image is now ready to be saved and used on forums ;)

About BBACE

2007-08-19T04:25:00.000-07:00

The Site

The primary aim of this site is display interesting content such as technical posts, tutorials, and anything that interests me...

This blog is set to display the latest 5 posts on the main page. For older posts please use the blog archive on the right.

I will try and keep it updated when I have the time and hopefully it should grow within time.

History

Some of you may remember BBaCE while others might not.. anyways, for those that dont, BBaCE was my first project involving the open source forum package phpBB.

BBaCE premodded phpBB is now closed!

It was a pre-modiffied package that users could install and would have various modifications pre-installed on it. The name BBaCE refered to 'Bulletin Board Ace'. The factor that was probably unique about it would be the RPG and Gaming mods on it.

Here are some screenshots of BBaCE in action:-

A list of mods that are installed in the BBaCE package:

Site Mods installed:
- Cash (Xore)
- Lottery (Zarath)
- Bank (Zarath)
- Job (Zarath)
- Shoutbox (Niels)
- Gender (Niels)
- Birthday (Niels)
- Zodiac (Niels)
- Last Visit (Niels)
- Calendar (WebSnail)
- Quick Reply (Smartor)
- Chat Room (Smartor)
- ezPortal (Smartor)
- Overall Forums Permission (Smartor)
- Avatar Select on Register (Smartor)
- Page Generation Time (Smartor)
- Sort Memberlist (FB-ke)
- UT2003 Avatars (Lion)
- Mini Icons (Forum Images)
- Fading Links (Scotty)
- Staff Site (Acid)
- Admin Salary (Moogie)
- Links (Roman Malerev)
- PhpbbMyAdmin (Armin Altorffer)
- Statistics with Modules (Billy Sauls, Acyd Burn)
- PM Quick Reply (Garold W. Robinson)
- Random Quotes (Yo^Bam)
- Faq Manager (Selven)
- Categories Hierarchy (Pierre)
- Post Icons (Pierre)
- Split Topic Type (Pierre)
- Gender Number on Index (Dioxins)
- pafiledb Integration (Mohammed Al-Basri)
- Polls Page (FR, Php Styles)
- Bottom Aligned Signature (ET, AbelaJohnB)
- subBlack (Gamerhaven)
- Statistic Signature (Flaming_cows)
- Online/Offline Indicator (Rick Beckman)

RPG Mods installed:
- Advanced Dungeons & Rabbits (Lapin-Malin)
- Rabbitoshi Pet (Lapin-Malin)
- Moogie's Rpg (Moogie)
- Moogie's Rpg PvP Arena (Nuladion)
- Moogie's Rpg Userstats (Ymor)
- Moogie's Rpg Power Pack (NoMercy)
- Moogie's Rpg Speed Battles (RCTycooner)
- Moogie's Rpg PvP Admin CP (Seteo-Bloke)
- Store (Zarath)
- Auctions (Moogie)

Gaming Mods installed:
- Activity Arcade (Napoleon)
- Lucky Dice (RCTycooner)
- Chance Ace (Strike)
- Slot Machine (tHe LiNk)
- Black Jack (Austin-inc)
- Fortune Teller (Phpika)
- Hangman (unTouched)

For anyone looking for the packaged download and still wants to use it, then please email me and I will send you the link for it. (Please note that the last version is very vulnerable and its phpBB version is not up to date)

Main reasons for closing the project:-

- People attempting to hack into our database and deleting our records.
- Major exploits that rendered our package almost useless in its current stage. EXAMPLE: http://www.milw0rm.com/exploits/2468
- Staff members leaving and having trouble finding new members to help out with updates and templates.
- Newer versions of phpBB coming out and our modifications running into problems when updating the core of phpBB.
- Unable to further modify the package since it was already heavily modified and this also lead to various forum errors.
- Lack of time from the admins and moderators since we all became very busy with other things and could not offer much support to its users.

These were just the main reasons but we are sure you get the idea behind it.

We would like to thank all the people who have been involved with BBaCE,
all the Admins, Support staff, Templates makers, Hosting providers,
and all the Members for being involved in a friendly online community project.

About Me
Not much to say really... but check these tags:-

Fast Rap!!

2007-08-19T04:14:00.000-07:00

Was on youtube in search of some Japanese rap but came across this song which is Korean but its really good!! Its by MC Sniper and the rapping in it is so fast it sounds really cool especially when Outsider starts rapping in the middle...

Photoshop: Lens Flare Tutorial Pt1

2007-08-18T14:48:00.000-07:00

Difficulty: EASY

Here is a quick tutorial on making use of the lens flare filter in Adobe Photoshop. The lens flare can be used for many things such as shines, glows, etc.. but Ive decided to use it as a lunar/solar effect.

(Click on the images to see them in full screen mode)

Step1: open photoshop and select file->new. Create it with transparency selected.

Step2: Ive used a sphere which I made earlier using the 3D render function in photoshop and added a few blending options to it to make it look sort of like a planet. (the sphere was made in a transparent layer and a new layer was created to fill in the black as a background) see the cube tutorial for more info.

Step3: this is the shpere with its options turned off so it looks basic

Step4: select something similar to this in the outer glow settings

Step5: color overlay settings

Step6: pattern overlay settings. I used clouds as the pattern

Step7: select the layer with the black background filled in it

Step8: click on filter->render and select lens flare

Step9: you can select different lens size types and place them in different areas

Step10: this is what I got with the 35mm Prime at 56%

Step11: I decided to use 105mm Prime at 95% and placed it a different place

and thats it! you can create many cool effects with the lens flare filter in photoshop.

Photoshop: Mirror Text Tutorial

2007-08-18T07:34:00.000-07:00

Difficulty: MODERATE

This is a tutorial on how to create a mirror text effect in Adobe Photoshop. This effect is done to make it seem as if the text or image is on ice or water.

(Click on the images to see them in full screen mode)

Step1: open photoshop (I use version 6)

Step2: go to file->new and create a new blank template with transparency

Step3: click on the fill bucket icon and hold it until you see the gradient tool icon . Select the gradient tool icon. For the foreground color make sure you decide on which colors you want to blend. I chose blue and white as seen in the pic

Step4: with the gradient tool selected, draw a line across the template area measuring it within its width area and then let go

Step5: you should see a gradient like this

Step6: next select the text tool icon

Step7: start to write your text after clicking in the area with the text tool selected. The color of text does not matter but I have used black to start with. The font used for this is called Broken74

Step8: after writing your text you will notice it has created a text layer in the layers box. I have written the text REFLECTION in the box but you can write anything you want.

Step9: next right click on the text layer and select blending options

Step10: select gradient overlay and keep the settings as they are, then click on

Step11: right click on the text layer again and select duplicate later

Step12: you will notice it has created a copy of the original text layer

Step13: right click on the copy text layer you just created and then go to edit->transform and select flip vertical

Step14: after flipping the copy vertically it should look like this

Step15: now select the move tool and move the flipped copy underneath and exactly the same width as the original

Step16: right click on the flipped copy of the text layer again and select blending options

Step17: go to gradient overlay and instead of 90 input -90 (minus) for the angle so the gradient is switched to face the opposite direction

Step18: then change the scale to a lower value. I chose 40%

Step19: then click on blending options which is under the styles button and change the opacity to a much lower value. I chose 7%

and thats it! you should see a mirror reflection type image in front of you. You can also edit the main text to look more attractive.

After you are done with all the editing go to layer on the top options and select flatten image to lock all the layers together and then save the image.

Photoshop: Cube Tutorial

2007-08-18T03:25:00.000-07:00

Difficulty: EASY

Here is a simple tutorial on how to render a 3D object in Adobe Photoshop. You can render a cylinder, sphere and cube but Ive chosen a cube this time.

(Click on the images to see them in full screen mode)

Step1: open photoshop (I use version 6)

Step2: create a new image (file->new)

Step3: you will see a blank template

Step4: go to filter and then render, then select 3D Transform

Step5: it will display the transform window

Step6: select the cube and just drag on the area to render it

Step7: the cube is transparent so use the trackball tool and rotate it until you see different shades

Step8: after rotating, it should look a bit like this

Step9: select the cube in the layers panel

Step10: right click on the layer and select blending options

Step11: in blending mode, select and tick the color tab on the left and select color in the drop down box

Step12: click on the colored box to choose its color. I chose blue.

Step13: next select the pattern overlay on the left and tick it. For blend mode select difference and alter the opacity and scale. For the pattern I chose clouds.

Step14: go to filter and then in the artistic section select plastic wrap and click on ok

Step15: next you will need to create a background layer with color to get rid of the transparency around the cube. Go to layer on the top, select new and then layer and hit ok

Step16: the new layer is created on top of the cube layer, so you will need to click it and drag it underneath the cube layer

Step17: once the layer is underneath, click the fill bucket tool, select a foreground color and fill it in the empty layer. I chose white but any color can be chosen. Make sure it fills it in the new layer and not the cube layer

Step18: it should look like this

and thats it! a simple looking 3D cube has been created. You can use this for projects, logos, banners, etc.

If you click on layer on the top, you can select flatten image to group all the layers together and then save as PNG or JPG. The image can then be resized.

Word Verification!?!!!?!

2007-08-17T14:42:00.000-07:00

Dont you just love word verifications?? I mean they are so much fun when you enter something in the box and it tells you that its incorrect, so you have another go and after inputting it hmmm about 5 or 6 times you start getting a little annoyed... this is bit of a rant but recently I was greeted by a wonderful word verification which looked like this:-

ok most of the time I get these pests correct but this one was a bit tricky :o I mean c'mon... is that a U or a an I..... or is it a N...... have they used a font where N looks like a R and I, im pretty sure I got the H and J figured out.... The guessing game can be fun at times, but when you're in a hurry to post something on a forum or register an email account it becomes an annoyance lol

anyways I was greeted with this wonderful message after my first attempt:-

To be fair to these I will agree that they can help stop spammers drastically... but it would help if the words are written just a little bit more clearly :)

(ironically I have to fill out a word verification to submit this post)

Fonejacker

2007-08-17T14:33:00.000-07:00

This prank show is funny!

More clips:- http://www.fonejacker.tv

Useful Apps

2007-08-17T13:49:00.000-07:00

Anti Virus/Spyware

AVG - free anti-virus software that does the job nicely!

Spybot - use this occasionally and scan your comp for spyware.

Ad-aware - use this with spybot.

Windows Defender - use this with the above software and it will help out greatly in protecting your system.

Internet Browsing

Mozilla Firefox - nice free browser with lots of plugins(better than IE :p)

Opera - alternative to firefox.

Compression

Winrar - install this and you shouldnt have any decompression probs ;)

Winace - alternative to winrar.

Winzip - useful for zip compression/unzipping.

7zip - nice compression software if you're after those extra bytes :)

Mp3 Software

Winamp - mp3 playback, online radio/tv streams, nice app!

Foobar2000 - cool music player if you want less ram usage on your comp.

Video Playback Software

VLC - plays most files with ease and good active community

K-Lite Codec Pack - use this if you have file/codec probs! get the mega-pack and you'll be happy with your media playback! highly recommended!!

Misc

(Uncategorised apps are listed here)

Infra Recorder - burn CD/DVDs for free!

uTorrent - use this to download .torrent files ;) fast and easy to use.

Irfan View - nice alternative to viewing images. Has other options too.

OpenOffice - don't wanna buy Office XP?? then get this! its free and looks almost the same.

FileZilla - nice and easy to use FTP client.

BlueVoda - free website builder thats really simple to use.

Contact Me

2007-08-17T11:00:00.000-07:00

Email: RPGRED9 (at) YAHOO.COM