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marc hawkins - marchawkins.com

Latest Posts by Category

Use the links below to browse my latest blog posts by category. Click the category name (in bold) to see all posts from that category. Click any individual post title (in red) to read that full entry.

  • Collecting:
    • Home Office Additions: 4/29/2010
      Finally got around to unpacking some recent figures from Sideshow Collectibles. Had to do a little re-arranging, but I've got them setup. Unfortunately, I think I've about hit the limit of what the of...
    • Darth Vader Life Size Bust
      Here's a pick of Vader's new digs. This piece is beyond words, man. Awesome.
    • Captain America: Reborn
      Last week brought to a close a 6-issue (originally planned for 5) mini-series from Marvel Comics, Captain America: Reborn. The series chronicles the aftermath of the death of Steve Rogers and the even...
  • Downloads:
    • Capture and upload a webcam still with Flash
      Ok, so it's not just Flash, but a combination of Flash, PHP, html and (in my case) some javascript. You can see this in action on my Say Cheese page. As I say on that page, this project was directly i...
  • Family:
    • Maddie's 5th Birthday Recap
      Thought I'd put together a 'documentary' post to capture Maddie's 5th birthday party while it was still fresh in my memory. Maybe someday she'll go through these archives for a laugh. The birthday (2/...
  • Gaming:
    • Forza 3: Gran Turis-who?
      I've been fortunate it enough to be on a roll of picking up some awesome 360 games lately. I traded in a ton of stuff (Gamestop was running a 50% bonus on trade-ins last weekend) and picked up Tropica...
    • Assassin's Creed 2: The beginning
      Yes, I know that's not the tagline for the game. I'm only 4 or 5 hours into the game (ie. the 'beginning'), but I already feel compelled to post a quick update singing the praises of this game. Wow. W...
    • Left 4 Dead 2: More of the Same (goodness)
      Ok, I was a big fan of the original Left 4 Dead and was really looking forward to this sequel. Unlike a lot of the press, I didn't have a problem with a sequel coming out so soon after the first game....
    • PS3 MAG: Session 1
      Finally got a chance to try out the new multiplayer (massive?) first-person shooter, MAG. Initial impressions are pretty good, but I really only went through the tutorial and played a couple Suppr...
  • Me:
    • Twitter Weekly for 2010-07-25
      Brushing the dust off the PS3. Happiest discovery so far - "The Midway" in Playstation Home. Finally something fun to do in there. # Ah, nothing like a head cold in 90+ degree heat. # Is...
    • Twitter Weekly for 2010-07-18
      Almost halfway through summer and have yet to see any daisy dukes, let alone ones with bikinis on top. # flickr: IMG_0023: marchawkins posted a photo: Back Camera http://bit.ly/9FXffL # flickr...
    • Twitter Weekly for 2010-07-11
      Kicking back with a cold one in honor of Capt. America. # MJ was completely un-impressed with my $10 bag of fireworks from Target. "Why don't we make them go up in the sky like everybody ...
    • Twitter Weekly for 2010-07-04
      flickr: Tree Hugger: marchawkins posted a photo: Maddie stops to pose by a tree. For no reason at all. http://bit.ly/cVjjTn # 13 days of 90+ degree temps in June in the same year as record snow...
    • Twitter Weekly for 2010-06-27
      IPhone shipment notification. Happy Father's Day to me ;-) # Maddie's first dance recital + dinner at Hibachi with the family + surprise ice cream cake from DQ = awesome Father's Day...
  • Model Railroad:
    • First Scratchbuild Test
      I finally made the jump from reading about N-scale modeling and actually started building my first N-scale structure. I have no intention of every using this in a layout, but I wanted to get a feel fo...
    • Model RR: Benchwork pt. 1
      After a couple months of investigation, I decided to try my hand at a simple model railroad layout. Due to space (and financial) constraints, I've decided to go with an N-scale layout on a small 2'x4'...
  • Site News:
    • Capture and upload a webcam still with Flash
      Ok, so it's not just Flash, but a combination of Flash, PHP, html and (in my case) some javascript. You can see this in action on my Say Cheese page. As I say on that page, this project was directly i...
    • Posting from the iPhone
      Trying out a post from the iPhone. Obviously not an ideal platform for composing long posts, but handy to have the capability nonetheless. Couldn't connect the app to my blog a couple of months ago, b...
    • WordPress: Take 7
      Once again, I've decided to install WordPress as the de facto CMS for this website. I've set it up on a number of sites recently and am really enjoying the advancements in the admin interface over the...
  • Tech:
    • iPhone 4 Camera Test
      Wow. So the iPhone 4 camera is fantastic, in my opinion. Only surpassed by the freakin' gorgeous Retina Display. I think it actually looks better than the iPad, despite being a fraction of the siz...
    • iPad: Day 3
      Ok - this thing is much cooler than I thought it would be. Granted, there are shortcomings, but the pros far outweigh the cons. Since my last update, I've tweaked my synced content a little, downloade...
    • iPad: Day 1
      [caption id="attachment_244" align="alignright" width="215" caption="Photo from Apple.com"][/caption] So I am in the fortunate position of being able to test out my wife's iPad. I just got it synce...
    • Facebook "Like" Button Implementation
      This is a big nerd post, so if you don't build websites you'll probably want to pass. Thought I'd throw together a quick post about how I got Facebook's new "like" button (plugin?) to function corr...
    • Tritton AX 720 Headphones
      Picked up a pair of Tritton Technologies AX 720 headphones a couple weeks ago. I recently reconfigured my home office and moved my xBox 360 into the room. The downside is that my office is right below...