Went through a tutorial from PHStudios on XNA with C# and created this classic pong-clone.
You control the left paddle. See if you can beat the computer player on the right.
Click on the image to download the installer for the game. Leave a comment if there’s problem installing.
Start of a new year and a new decade. Things have gotten a little clearer. Gotta continue moving forward. Let’s hope this year would be the year. Cheers.
Did another tutorial few weeks ago on creating a simple scrolling shooter game. The game only has one level, and the final boss cannot be killed 
Here’s a video capture of the game test.
Today, while having lunch with a buddy, he shared with me an interesting analogy. Purpose is like a cup, and life is the water in the cup. When you find the right cup, that’s when life becomes full. It’s not so much of trying to compromise in life so that you live life to the fullest. Don’t think that’s the purpose, otherwise, that would just be unfair to ourselves.
Expanding on what I know of thus far, in programming, we have frameworks like .Net, J2EE, RoR, and design patterns to help us realize our software requirement much easier and faster, assuming the frameworks and design patterns suit the requirement. The success of a software project would then depend on first getting the requirement right, or in other words, what is the purpose of coming out with the software. It does not matter what language or fancy framework is used, as long as it serves its purpose.
In forex trading, I see it as a self discovery tool. The feedback is pretty much immediate, and any negative impact is not life threatening. Get it right, and we will be rewarded. It pretty much mirrors real life, albeit, a simpler model. There are technical and fundamental indicators, much like life indicators. There are the emotion and risk management. And there are decision to be made if one should enter a trade, hold the position or exit the trade, much like in life where we decide to embark on certain path, keep going the same path, or give up the path. The goal is to establish a consistent source of income. The purpose is to improve life.
So, what of life?
My cousin, niece and nephew came over to Singapore for a visit (to the shopping malls) last week. Lots of shopping at Jurong Point, Orchard Road, Bugis. Also visited Sentosa island, Esplanade, The Flyer. It’s quite an intensive weekend workout, lots and lots of walking about. Luckily, the weather was sunny, rather than rainy.
I observed that my niece and nephew were very well connected, WIFI and SMSes. Well, can’t really fault them as their friends are also keeping in touch with one another through technology all the time. It’s kind of ironic that I work with technology, yet, I refuse to be assimilated into the network.
Maybe it’s a sign of aging, when I can see my past through them. It’s kind of like watching a movie from a third person perspective. I see the idealism in them, the excitement of entering into university.
Maybe that’s why old folks like to play with small children. On the other hand, I’m not that old yet to experience that.
Hasn’t been updating this blog, been busy with work, learning to trade forex, and playing computer games, haha!
The results from forex trading hasn’t been consistent. I guess I just need to be patient and continue to practise.
Been itching to learn how to create games, so, today I downloaded the GameMaker and started going through the tutorial. It’s a pretty good tool. Here’s a screenshot of the game.
It’s a pretty simple clicking game, basically, you try to click on the bear as it bounces off the wall. The bear will speed up each time you successfully click on it, and it will also move randomly after some time.
As I trade more, I realize that forex mirrors life, or even a game. To be honest, my result so far is not very promising, I guess I’m in the survival phase of a trader’s life. This weekend, I would revise on how to determine which trading strategy under ranging and trending market conditions, how to identify them, and money management. Well, I might need more than one weekend, we shall see.
Well, after a good start, it seems that I got a little carried away. Lost 3 consecutive trades after that. Trading will have to resume next week. In the mean time, it’s back to reading up and a bit of trade reflection.
1st loss trade:
- Missed out on trend confirmation for longer period. Up trend was approaching peak.
2nd loss trade:
- Missed out checking of stop loss against price movement range.
3rd loss trade:
- Entered too early before candle was fully formed for trend reversal.
Went back to KL over the weekend to visit my parent. One of those times when I feel helpless, and the feeling sucks. Conversation with the elders revolved around medication and health.
Anyway, I entered 2 trades last Friday and they didn’t turn out well. Both hit stop losses. Will take a break to monitor the market and look for suitable opportunities.
I just got my live account activated two days ago. Yesterday, I entered a long position on GBP/USD pair after checking through some of the currency pairs.
It was my first time trading live, and I had to consciously suppress the feeling of fear of losing when the trend seems to reverse in the short term by putting faith in the strategy that was taught by Koon Lip.
I also distracted myself by playing Warhammer Online, so I would not watch the chart movement constantly. I guess this would be my Game-Break strategy, hehe.
An hour ago, the position closed after hitting the trailing stop. Felt rather happy and wish more would come my way. And of course, thanks to the people at the academy for sharing their knowledge and time.
