My name is Kenneth and I write cool Mac and iPhone software. This is my personal weblog where I post about stuff I find interesting. I usually write about Mac development, the business of shareware and the Mac community in general.
read more →Update: This tutorial is obsolete. Check out the nifty Mac application I made that does all of this for free and without hassle: Warmonger
To all those who are heavy Warcraft III players, this is for you. This tutorial will show you how to set up an autorefresh bot, so that you do not have to open and close slots manually every time you host a game. (it can be very tiring)
Download The Software
To start you need to download this windows (.exe) autorefresh: Click here
(This fileis a zip archive. Since it’s missing the extension, you might have to change its same to something.zip and then unzip it.)
Next you need to download the mono framework: Click here (warning: big download: ~50MB)
Installation
Mount mono’s disk image and install the framework using the installer package inside.
Now check wether you have X11 by searching for it in the /Applications/Utilities folder. If you already have it, you can skip to the next section. Otherwise, you need to install it from the Mac OS X install disc. Insert your Tiger disc. You then need to scroll down:
Open “Optional Installs”
Now check only the X11 row and proceed with the installation
Setting up
Unzip Warcraft3AutoRefresh.zip and open the folder you just unzipped. Now open Terminal.app (you can find it in /Applications/Utilities) and type “cp ” (do not forget the space after “cp”) and then drag Warcraft3AutoRefresh.exe to the Terminal window.
Now, type ” .autoref.exe” and press return (don’t forget the space before ”.autoref.exe”)
You can now exit Terminal. Open X11 (you can find it in /Applications/Utilities). Go to application menu and choose “Customize Menu…”
In the window that pops up, click add, then double-click on the new item’s “Menu Name” column and set it to something like “AutoRefresh” (it doesn’t actually matter what it is, it’s your choice). Next edit the “Command” for it and set it to “mono .autoref.exe”.
Usage
Now everything is set up, well done! Now, when you want to use autorefresh, just open X11, and choose “AutoRefresh” from the Applications menu. (Obviously, it will only work when you’re hosting a game on BNet)
Update: download link for autorefresh fixed, thanks VoltmanEXE!
Update 2: forgot to mention that the downloadable file for the autorefresh is a zip archive. Since it’s missing the extension, you might have to change its same to something.zip and then unzip it.
Everything about nothing
So Daniel Jalkut wrote a post about blogging… And he is right, I should blog more. Actually it would be a really good thing to do now, if it wasn’t 5am and if I wasn’t so sick I have to sleep in the bathroom in the fear of throwing up on my keyboard. But hell, since I’ve got nothing better to do, I’ll blog anyway.
Hmmmm, let’s see, what to blog about? Something that gives me a good image, and that makes people buy my software, therefore making me rich enough to be able to afford medical aid. Okay, here go: BUY BUY BUY my software!!! Buy Buy! All your cash are belong to ME! Maybe this isn’t such a great idea… I sound too much like PC marketing.
What shall I write about then? *pause* I’ll think about it in a warm bath.
…
Ooops, I’m afraid I passed out yesteray this morning… I’m angry at being sick, I hate not being alright… What do you do anyway, when you’ve got no inspiration whatsoever? Daniel said write something you’re passionate about. Hold on, that’s more like it.
You know, I’ve just found what I’m gonna post about: links! Yay! Firstly, I’ve you’ve never been here, check out this post. (First result in google for “becoming a mac developer”. Now, isn’t that great for traffic?) Something I’m passionate about, heh? Games, especially Warcraft III. Maybe I’ll write a quick tutorial on how to get an autorefresh working for mac. Yeah, that’s a great idea! Lucky me, I found something interesting to blog about.
To end with, let me remind you of Hijack. I can’t wait for this app to come out. I’ve always needed this. In fact, I’ve even tried to code it myself, and then when I realized that I didn’t have the energy to complete the project, I posted it to MDA too.
Why pay more when less is just as good?
Why pay more when less is just as good?
iPod for 25$? WTF!
Price sends a message. Imagine the iPod was sold 25$ instead of 200$. People would think the iPod is a cheap mass-market junk if it had this pricing. I personally would. Those people who strive to have the hype-est toy will go buy something fancy that will set them apart from others. (And we don’t want the Zune to be the luxury item, do we?) People want luxury. They feel good about being able to afford the elite stuff.
Quiksilver rocks!
Take for example Mr. Price vs. Edgars. I’m not sure if those shops exist in the united states, but all you need to know is that they both sell clothes. Mr. Price is where you can buy cheap-ass stuff that still look good. Edgars is the luxury expensive shop that sells branded clothes (Quiksilver, Billabong…). The shirts are probably the same quality, but Mr. Price sells them at 7$ a shirt, while Edgars sells them at 50$ a shirt. And guess what, I buy ALL my clothes at Edgars. In fact, I have only very few items in my wardrobe that aren’t branded with some famous but expensive brand. The difference of the price I paid at Edgars to the price I would have paid at Mr. Price for the same amount of clothing is phenomenal, and amount to hundreds, if not thousands of dollars for this year. Is this a stupid and pointless waste of money? Yes! Will I spot doing so? No! I buy with the expensive shop because of the message it sends out. Edgars is reputed to be the most expensive shop, and the fact that I shop with them makes me feel better about myself. It also makes others look in envy at me! That’s what I paid that extra premium for.
Subliminal messages
This theory also applies to software pricing. Between two products, one priced 10$ and the other priced 50$, John Doe will automatically think that product A is cheap crap, and product B the quality product. In reality, this may not be true, but it’s the message that this pricing gives.
The correct spot
In the end, it’s all about finding the right price. But under-pricing can be much more harmful than over-pricing. I remember reading a blog post about someone who under-priced. He sold his software for a really low price, and barely made a thousand dollar in a year. He then went on to narrate how he then increased the price, twice and how his sales jumped to 25k$ a year. While this is an extreme example, it illustrate this theory well.
Another example in the Wii. It is also under-priced, and Nintendo can’t supply the demand. It’s basic economics. Apple didn’t make this mistake, and priced the iPhone 600$ to lower the demand, so that their supplies would hold. Now that the supply has increased dramatically, they adjusted the price to increase the demand.
Of course, over-pricing can be just as harmful, take the PS3 for example. It’s so unbelievably expensive that it wasn’t the success that Sony hoped it would be. Back in the Mac shareware world, take a look at Stone’s products. Did you see that price? How the hell does it even sell? Well, unlike what people most would think, they are not actually over-pricing. If it sells well, then you’re price is not too high. It’s all about what your target market is, and what they can afford.
So, Why pay more when less is just as good?
Because I can afford it, and Quiksilver is THA SHIT!
/me R kewl!
Sometimes I wonder, have I priced Exces too low?
Burn Baby Burn!
I’ve just added Google Analytics and FeedBurner support for my blog, and I was really surprised when I realized that quite a few people actually read my blog. What a warm fuzzy feeling. That will surely motivate me to post some more good quality content.
I started a piece on why piracy doesn’t matter, and I hope to finish it one of these days.
While I am going on about my life here, I will point out that one of the places I am very active recently on the internet is, surprisingly enough for a coder like me, deviantART [note: link points to my dA profile]. I just purchased a Wacom Graphire4 6x8, and will most probably post a review on it as well.
Le cinéma du futur.
Il est 10h du soir. 2039. C’est le grand jour soir. Le soir de l’ouverture du premier cinéma à sens multiples de l’hémisphère sud. Et il est inauguré ici, à Durban. À Musgrave, pour être précis. J’ai acheté mes tickets il y a déjà 3 mois, et je suis vraiment excité d’être un des premier à y avoir accès. Il y a une queue énorme. L’endroit est bondé. Je plains les vielles grand-mères qui étaient venu ici pour faire les courses, et qui se sont fait coincées dans la foule en fureur. C’est même pire qu’au concert de Linkin Park, l’année passée. Et ce n’est pas peu dire ! Il est 10h17 à présent. Ils ont du retard… Ils auraient dû nous laisser entrer, il y a deux minutes. C’est inacceptable. J’ai payé pas moins de dix milles rands pour cette place. Ah, enfin, ils ouvrent les portes.
Yeah ! J’ai réussi à me procurer un siège tout à l’avent. Je n’ai jamais vu de sièges pareils auparavant. Ils ressemblent un peu aux sièges qu’on trouve dans les TGV. Elongé. En cuire noir. Ils ont un aspect très futuriste. Je m’assieds, un goblet de Coca-Cola dans les mains. La radio est jouée dans des haut-parleurs invisibles. Au bout de la salle, une façade noire et mystérieuse nous fais face. Les visiteurs sont presque tous entré et assis. Tout à coup, la musique de 5FM s’arrête. Les lumières s’assombrissent lentement, et après une minute, il fait noir comme dans un four. Tout le monde est silencieux. Puis, la façade noire, qui était en fait des rideaux, s’écarte. Un titre est affiché : « Pokémon : The Movie ».
Il m’est impossible de dire sur quoi l’image est affichée, mais ça ne ressemble pas à un écran traditionnel. Le film commence ! Ce n’est pas vraiment captivant. Ça parle d’un petit garçonnet de 10 ans qui reçoit une petite souris jaune pour son anniversaire. Ah, mais ça devient légèrement plus intéressant. Il fait des combats avec sa souris avec des gens qu’il rencontre. La sourie, nommée Pikachu, est furieuse tout à coup. Argh, au secours ! Que m’arrive t’il ? Mes cheveux se dressent sur ma tête. Pikachu envoie des petits éclairs partout.
Oh non ! Un des ennemis à une bête du type « eau ». J’anticipe le pire. BEURK !!! Je suis trempe. Mes pop-corn sont plein d’eau. J’accorde de tout cœur le trophée du film le plus réaliste du monde au réalisateur. De pire en pire, c’est un Pokémon sable qui apparaît. Il crée une tempête de sable. Mon coca s’est transformé en ciment. Grrrrr. Oh non ! Un Pokémon entouré de fume néfaste apparaît à l’écran. C’en est trop ! Je prends mes jambes à mon coup et m’enfuis.
Le cinéma à multiples sens, c’est super, en théorie. Mais moi, je reste à regarder des DVD à la maison.