Yup, it's about that time of year again.
The time of year I have to update the "Age" box on my FA profile!

I'm now 28.

Which is getting dangerously close to the 30 at which my mom has basically promised that she's going to start pestering me about getting married... =>.>=

You know that feeling you get when you've accomplished something kind of big, then realize that you're the only one who benefits from it?

Well, I'm feeling like that right now.

As I'm a programmer, I've written a few small programs to make my life a little simpler, especially in the area of storing links.
When I got my new Android tablet, I found out my web script doesn't work so well on tablets.

So I've just spent the last few days rewriting the script so I can have two different web interfaces to it, one for mobile devices and one for larger screens.

The problem is that I'm the only one who benefits from this change, as it's a single-user system right now...

Yeah, I don't post much here, but I thought I'd let you guys know a bit of what's been happening around here.

I haven't been doing much in the way of art these last few months, mostly because my perfectionist tendencies haven't been letting me.

Just recently, a third company found me through one of my online job profiles (something like Linked-In, but for programmers in this case) and wanted to recruit me, then said they were going to consider other candidates.

I'm feeling rather discouraged and depressed right now.

 neko-maya is running a raffle for free art to celebrate over 4,000 watchers!

Check it out, and be sure to read all the rules, here:
http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/3509010/

I don't usually go in for memes on here, but this one looks interesting enough to do...

You vs. Your Fursona MEME

(1) What is Your Real Name (First)?
Daryl.

2) What is your gender?
Male.

3) When Is Your Birthday?
January 2nd.

4) Natural Hair Colour?
Light brown.

5) Eye Colour?
I have eyes? =0.0=

6) Taken or Single?
Single, but not yet looking.

7) Favorite Colour?
Green

8) Favorite Food?
Pizza, though hamburgers are easier to find...

9) Favorite Clothes to Wear?
Jeans and a t-shirt, or sometimes a polo shirt.

10) Favorite Movie(s)?
The Princess Bride, The Cheap Detective.
(ultimately, too many to list here)

11) How Would You Describe Yourself?
Very geeky, but quiet about it.

12) Occupation?
At present, newspaper carrier.

13) Dream Career?
University instructor or Game developer.

Now Let's Go To Your Furry Self

15) Name?
Carl Foxmarten

16) Species?
Red Fox/Pine Marten cross.

17) Pelt colours?
Reddish brown with a light grey face.

18) Feral or Anthro?
Anthro

19) Physique?
On the slim side of average.

20) Likes?
Loves fixing things and taking photos.

21) Dislikes?
Non-consensual stuff, being pestered, and the war on fun.

22) Eye color?
Green.

23) Features?
Body of a Pine Marten, tail and head of a Fox. =^.^=

http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/3409072/

Winner gets a free "eye-con"! =^.^=

I don't talk about it much on my art galleries, but I'm (still) working on a game for Android.

It's called Dig Site, and is a form of match-three game, similar in style to Chuzzle, but without the pesky locks.

I'll be releasing a slightly stripped-down version for free on the Android Market and at least one more Android App store, then using any feedback I get to help refine the game further for a full release that I'll be selling for about a dollar each.

I've also posted what I'm planning to use for the main menu art here, so any feedback you guys can provide would be greatly appreciated.

:userAnniepopokios: is running a raffle for a free character reference sheet.
She's a great artist, so check her raffle out:
http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/3358086/

robertge is doing an unusual raffle.

Post a comment on his entry (link is below), and if you're chosen, he will pay the artist of your choice for a commission for you.
($40 limit of course)

http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/3352612/

To celebrate 300 submissions to FA,  RedDyeNo5 is doing a free raffle:
http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/3276145/

I've written up a relatively quick con report for VancouFur 2012 that I've posted to my LiveJournal, which you can find here:
http://carlfoxmarten.livejournal.com/98173.html

If you don't want to read it, read this instead:

It was lots of fun, I met a few people, had lots of fun, and will be going again next year. =^.^=

Apparently, you can't really play the multiplayer portion of Mass Effect 3 without having at least one teammate, otherwise you just can't throw enough damage to keep the enemies at bay.

It would really help if I could find some friends on Origin...

 theLily is doing some free art. Ten spots, of her choosing:
http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/3159830/

No, not me, this guy:
 duskyasher
http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/3147696/

I told you it runs on my tablet! =^.^=

I'm quite happy today, my Android game works on my Tablet, it supports both orientations (vertical and horizontal), and lets you choose to continue the last game you played.

Up next (as it's nowhere near being done) is to use images instead of coloured squares, add support for the navigation buttons (it only supports touch right now), some game-play tweaks (it's far to easy right now), and high-score saving.

For more information and updates, please check out my software development blog:
http://dvh-dev.tumblr.com/

I have a rather strong reaction to seeing injustice, and it makes me so mad to see what the US government is doing with SOPA/PIPA.

Now, as a Canadian, there isn't much I can do to deal with this threat, and I'm getting sick and tired of hearing about it all the time.
(also, any comments that insist in an annoying way that there is something I can do, will be hidden without warning. I'm that tired of hearing about it)

:usershana: is running an art raffle and does some great art, so go watch her and check out her contest!
http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/3084703/

I haven't updated anything here for a while.

Nothing much of interest has happened recently, though I did get an Android tablet for my birthday from my parents.
It's to help me develop my game on an actual Android device, though I'm sure I'll play some games on it anyway.

I'm trying to rework my fan art for Code Name: Hunter, and have posted a (lack of) progress image on my DeviantArt gallery.

I need to work up my creative juices again so things move a little faster...

In other news, I'm trying to find a job in some aspect of the software industry.
I've created profiles on LinkedIn as well as Monster.ca, so we'll see what happens.
(ideally, I'd like a job in the computer games industry, though almost anything would be nice)

I think the problem I've been having with creating art recently is that I'm trying too hard to get it "ready" to see.

Do I really need to set the lights up perfectly for the very first image I post?
Do I really need to have all the textures accurate that soon?
Must I take all effects into account this early in the scene's life?

I think I should try, just once, to start on the objects' shapes first.
For the first few steps, just work on the how the objects are shaped.

Don't care what colour they are, how they're lit, what effects are applied, just the shape.

Then slowly (and I do mean slowly) add colours and textures, then lighting, then effects.

Maybe I'll be able to get another scene out faster...

Progress has been moving along fairly well since I started writing my game for Android.

You can find more information about it on my LiveJournal, in particular under the "Dig Site" tag.

Currently, I've reached a point where it would be best for me to add in some actual game graphics (instead of stand-in colours) to help me focus on game-play.

Problem is, I don't do this sort of thing quickly... =>.<=

If anybody's interested in helping me find ideas, here's my list of ideas for "cell types", or objects to be matched in the game:
1: Stone tablet
2: Square coin
3: Round coin (or maybe triangular, hexagonal, etc, I'm not sure)
4: Clay pot
5: Decorated clay jar (definitely different shape as well as colouring)
6: Cup (haven't decided on clay, stone, or metal)
7: Ring (probably gold)
8: Bracelet (likely silver or bronze)

Note that these are all ancient relics, as the whole game will have a archaeological theme.

It was suggested by one of my past university instructors that I try writing a simple game for Android and sell it in the Android Market as a demonstration to games companies I apply to that I have some experience writing games.

So I'll be busy for about a month writing a simple "connect three" game.
(current status: Less than one week into the project, and I'm close to getting something that emulates a connect three game, but I seem to have broken something and the screen isn't rendering any more)

Oh, and in case you're wondering, a "connect three" game is where you move differently-coloured items around in a grid to match three or more of the same colour together.
For instance, Bejeweled and Chuzzle are two games that fit this genre.

Once I have the game mechanics down, I'll probably use Blender to create the actual graphics, and will probably post a link to the Market page after it's live.

More news to come, though I'll probably be posting more information on my LiveJournal, especially my development updates.

Please do not post a response in this journal. Post it in your own journal, share it with the rest of FA. Post links to the answers to the following questions. I am interested in how the artist's favorites and the favorites of their viewers differ.

1. Post a link to your entry with the MOST VIEWS: if there is a tie, just post the top most one.
2. Post a link to your entry with the most favorites: if there is a tie, just post the top most one.
3. Post a link to an entry you can't understand why so many people favorited, because in your own opinion, doesn't deserve them.
4. Post a link to an entry that got the most comments.
5. Post a link to an entry of your OWN personal favorite drawing (post up to five)

So, here's mine:

1: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/1180312/ Krystal from Starfox (also my earliest post here)
2: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/1180312/ Same again (she's rather popular, I gather)
3: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/5530704/ Glowing Bulbs
4: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/4215331/ Fountain Base, wip 1
5: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/2242091/ Semi-formal dining room

I think that this meme started with  daniwolf, but I'm not sure...

Well, that was fun!

I attended SIGGRAPH, the world's largest computer graphics convention in the world (at least, in the English-speaking world) this week, and it's going to take me a couple of weeks to sort through all the information I received.

Some of the stuff I got was really cool, like some free products from Renderosity (a community for 3D artists, with tutorials, forums, and a marketplace), about half-a-dozen optical disks full of free or trial software and stuff, four T-shirts, a blinking badge from Simon Fraser University's School of Interactive Art and Technology, a model of the Android mascot, an 8GB thumbdrive from Intel, and at least one, more like two pounds of paper in the form of ads, recruitment flyers and other hand-outs.

When I get more of this stuff sorted out, I'll be submitting resumes to a few companies, in particular for entry-level programming jobs.
(they generally pay fairly well, and that's what my degree is for, anyway)

Yes, I found a new game.

This one's free and encourages you to only play occasionally instead of constantly.

It's called Spiral Knights and is being distributed by SEGA, of all companies, though you can also get it for free through Steam, and it even imports your Steam friends-list into the in-game friends-list!

You can find me under Carlfoxmarten, though I haven't made it to Haven yet, as it's technically my second character on my Steam account and I'm exploring the Rescue Camp more thoroughly first.

If you do try to add me, please let me know here so I know what you go by over there!

No, it's not out yet, and no, I will not be posting Portal-related art here.
(that would be what my DA is for, if I did any)

But, I have pre-ordered it now and am impatiently waiting for April 19th to roll around so I can download it and have some more fun!

Is anybody else interested in the Portal franchise?