Still alive in 2012
Sorry, dear readers. Or reader, more likely. I’ve been slacking off for the last few months and now my self-guilt compels me to update.
My work on a branch of PackBSP to handle more game-engines didn’t go so well. I painted myself into some of the same “massive rewrite” corners I vowed to avoid, and then spent so long doing other things that it’s hard to pick up again. On the other hand, I think I’ve worked my way through some architectural problems, and the silver-lining of having no other code-contributors is that I don’t need to worry about backwards-compatibility very much.
Currently my interest is on the Netbeans Platform, and how I might be able to use it to streamline PackBSP and break away from the limitations of a wizard-centric interface. Actually, my daydream is to create a bunch of Netbeans plug-ins that turn the Netbeans IDE into a Source-engine-related powerhouse, but with the VIDE making a surprise return from the dead, perhaps that niche is already well on its way towards being filled.
Lastly, as a matter of interest, I temporarily fixed my video card with the “oven trick” (8 minutes at 375 Fahrenheit) but a week or two later it failed again, so I may just put it up on Craigslist as a challenge to anyone who thinks they can make it stick.