>Clearly, there are people still interested in Access, even if it’s only because they’re trying to untangle the mess left for them by a previous generation of hobbyist programmer.
My job function entails extending and maintaining an MS Access database that our small company still uses as its primary tool for data entry and reporting. It started on Access 97, moving up through a few new releases until about 2010, which we stayed on until just this year. It's now working with the O365 edition. It was first developed by someone with no previous experience, referencing a copy of Access 97 for Dummies. I learned on the job just by poking around - which is now, I think, the biggest pain point for how we use the software: how exposed everything is. Prior to this role, our company would contract out for development: we'd come up with a big list of things we want, and it would be done and deployed within a couple week's time, although it usually took many revisions to get right. Now that I am able to do this development work in-house, things go much more smoothly as I also work with the day-to-day processes the tool is used for, and I have a grasp on how systems operate within our office. It's very important to have database tools with a low barrier to entry, so I think there would always be some market for this; where it really shines is its straightforward reporting and form editing capabilities, along with its user-friendly query designer. Being able to generate complex datasets without having to think about SQL (though still being able to write SQL!) is powerful.
(as an aside, I feel that I'm ready to move on from my role, but my abilities with Access don't seem exactly desirable or hireable, and as the article describes, there's always a looming threat of it going away someday. I was given a title of "Database Administrator" from higher-ups who think of Access as some esoteric ability, although gambits for pay raise so far have been fruitless. I see it more like ability in using Excel. I have some experience with MySQL via personal projects and programming in PHP, but I wouldn't call myself a dba if I'm being honest with myself. I feel a little stuck by not having the abilities to match my job title when searching for new positions, and if I'm going to the trouble of getting a new job, I don't want a lateral move with the same compensation. The wise thing to do would be to learn competence in proper database tools. I'm young, without a degree, and any advice would be welcome)
If you want to learn to do similar work (CRUD apps that talk to a DB) in "real" languages, then I would recommend learning Ruby on Rails[1] or Django[2]. The overall concepts should be really familiar, because they're similar to the workflow you'd use in Access, but you'll learn web development and a marketable programming language along the way. You'll probably also pick up details about how to structure a database that would be useful for your work in Access. Of the two, I think Rails is easier to get started with, but Python is probably more marketable.
If you want to do a deep-dive into Computer Science and transition to a full-time software role, then you might want to look into Lambda School[3]. I don't have personal experience with them, but several people I trust claim their results are excellent.
this is the true problem with procedurally generated content in games. portrayed as infinite content, but you end up getting an infinite amount of the mostly-the-same content. would you rather play 10 different levels or one level 10 times?
i imagine he was asking about inflation. using this inflation calculator (http://www.in2013dollars.com/1795-dollars-in-2000?amount=2), which doesn't support entering cents, to find that two 1795 dollars equate to $26.47. dividing by 100 gives us about 26 cents. a bit less than i expected.
i had a similar experience. i was locked out for 6 months, during which time i couldn't even make payments to others with amazon payments. i missed out on several interesting kickstarter projects. i'm glad they're switching to stripe. have had no problems with them, buying or selling.
i am also studying japanese - i'm on a similar level i would say. i know around 150 kanji and forgotten about the same amount. my problem is finding someone on a similar level to learn alongside - i've heard it's wise to have not only someone above your skill level, but also someone at your equal, to compete and learn with. if you're interested, i'd like to study together - send me an email.
those transantarctic mountains have very jagged peaks - is this a result of less wind exposure, and therefore less erosion? the article also mentions that the horizontal scale is different from the vertical scale, so it might just be that.
neat effect i suppose, but i can't imagine it looking very good in-game. doesnt this go against the whole style of pixel art, being aligned to a grid, low palette colors and keeping the same pixel resolution throughout? i see way too many things that change pixel sizes even through the same sprite. i think this would be better suited to larger svg or even pre-rendered images.
I guess it depends an the game itself, it might not look too good if you just drop the effect into an existing game, but if the game is designed with this in mind it might actually be quite interesting.
I think it is an interesting visual effect. It clearly breaks the constraints which you mentioned. However, with the popularity of blocky Minecraft-themed lush toys, I can see how breaking such constraints while preserving the general pixel (or in the latter case voxel) aesthetic may be desirable.
I had the same thought. If it's meant to look cartoony it might be better to just deform a simple box/balloon and map that to the sprite. This is worthy work, I just think it's a little too realistic for the whimsical context and ends up failing to satisfy either criterion.
I wonder if perhaps you're not overlooking the trees for the forest here - maybe this effect doesn't apply too well to an 8-bit shooter ship, but there are certainly ways this effect can be utilized in other interesting 8-bit/pixel-style forms. Just adding structural deformation to a platformer, for example, opens up all sorts of interesting new dimensions - between the blocks. Sort of like Gish, I would suppose, and games like it ..
My job function entails extending and maintaining an MS Access database that our small company still uses as its primary tool for data entry and reporting. It started on Access 97, moving up through a few new releases until about 2010, which we stayed on until just this year. It's now working with the O365 edition. It was first developed by someone with no previous experience, referencing a copy of Access 97 for Dummies. I learned on the job just by poking around - which is now, I think, the biggest pain point for how we use the software: how exposed everything is. Prior to this role, our company would contract out for development: we'd come up with a big list of things we want, and it would be done and deployed within a couple week's time, although it usually took many revisions to get right. Now that I am able to do this development work in-house, things go much more smoothly as I also work with the day-to-day processes the tool is used for, and I have a grasp on how systems operate within our office. It's very important to have database tools with a low barrier to entry, so I think there would always be some market for this; where it really shines is its straightforward reporting and form editing capabilities, along with its user-friendly query designer. Being able to generate complex datasets without having to think about SQL (though still being able to write SQL!) is powerful.
(as an aside, I feel that I'm ready to move on from my role, but my abilities with Access don't seem exactly desirable or hireable, and as the article describes, there's always a looming threat of it going away someday. I was given a title of "Database Administrator" from higher-ups who think of Access as some esoteric ability, although gambits for pay raise so far have been fruitless. I see it more like ability in using Excel. I have some experience with MySQL via personal projects and programming in PHP, but I wouldn't call myself a dba if I'm being honest with myself. I feel a little stuck by not having the abilities to match my job title when searching for new positions, and if I'm going to the trouble of getting a new job, I don't want a lateral move with the same compensation. The wise thing to do would be to learn competence in proper database tools. I'm young, without a degree, and any advice would be welcome)