2015-10 summary

October 2015 recordings (dates are catalog metadata, not verified event dates) show three main strands: travel vlogs in Norway, the Heathrow pod and a supermarket trip; hardware unboxings of a MacBook Air and an ASUS laptop; and self-taught iOS game development in Xcode.

Game work progressed from copying a Flappy Bird tutorial to modifying a Space Invaders tutorial, then to a zombie shooter with custom art, walking animations, bug fixes and a tank-contact kill mechanic. Daniel planned more levels, power-ups, traps and obstacles.

Daniel's hardware changed during the month: a MacBook Air was set up early in the month, and by late October it showed high memory and swap use, while a newly arrived MacBook Pro began downloading Xcode.

Other recordings covered commentary on YouTube subscriber metrics, Star Wars trivia, webcomic hosting and monetization, and an unanswered doorbell.

Travel and outings: Stavanger sights, a missed fjord boat tour, a bus trip to Bergen, the Heathrow pod and a supermarket visit.

Laptop unboxing and setup: MacBook Air account setup and updates, ASUS Transformer Book Flip modes and Windows 10 upgrade, and performance comparison with a Chromebook.

Xcode game development: animations, collision mechanics, bug fixes, gameplay balance and future design ideas.

Online creator economics: subscriber counts versus views, ad revenue, and webcomic hosting with Google Ads.

Star Wars production facts: actor pay and contracts, design history and cast injuries.

Recording dated 2015-10-01: a grocery trip to an Asian supermarket with shopping for durian, chicken parts and ice cream, plus legal comments about killing live animals in Canada and cooking preparation (Korean-language summary).

Recording dated 2015-10-05: Daniel explored a quiet road in Stavanger, Norway, saw a wooden ship named Noah's Ark, and found the fjord boat tour did not run on Monday and only ran Wednesday through Friday.

Recording dated 2015-10-05: a ride on the Heathrow pod from Terminal 5 to Business Parking Station B, with a brief wait for a free bay and exit instructions.

Recording dated 2015-10-07: Daniel prepared to check out of the hotel and travel by bus to Bergen in cold, windy weather.

Recordings dated 2015-10-11: Daniel unboxed and set up a metal MacBook Air, registered a new Apple ID, and began an El Capitan update over slow Wi-Fi.

Recording dated 2015-10-11: Daniel ran a Flappy Bird-style game from tutorials on an iPhone 6 simulator, having started Xcode the day before.

Recording dated 2015-10-13: an unidentified visitor kept ringing Daniel's doorbell and Daniel ignored them and demanded they leave.

Recordings dated 2015-10-18: Daniel discussed PewDiePie's 40 million subscribers versus 2 to 3 million views per video and what subscriber counts mean for revenue.

Recording dated 2015-10-20: Daniel redesigned a Space Invaders tutorial project in Xcode with pixel art for ship, fireball projectile and space background, tuning projectile position and speed.

Recording dated 2015-10-22: unboxing and setup of an ASUS Transformer Book Flip, including updates, a Windows 10 upgrade and Fresh Paint flickering.

Recording dated 2015-10-23: a collection of Star Wars behind-the-scenes facts covering cast pay, injuries, costumes and production design.

Recording dated 2015-10-25: Daniel added a hand-drawn zombie graphic to his shooting game, verified enemy respawning, and listed design needs.

Recording dated 2015-10-26: Daniel fixed hit detection, corpse-block duplication and unintended enemy deaths by moving the hidden bullet's start position off-screen.

Recordings dated 2015-10-27: development updates on the zombie game covering walking animations, a Tank Runover mechanic and the arrival of a MacBook Pro downloading Xcode.

Recording dated 2015-10-28: Daniel introduced Comic Fury, showed his webcomics and mentioned Smack Jeeves as an alternative.

An unverified report, heard by Daniel, alleged that Islamic State militants were destroying Star Wars set structures in Tunisia; this is not confirmed.

It is unclear whether the ASUS keyboard disables itself when the screen is flipped and whether the laptop has an SSD or an HDD.

During the MacBook Air unboxing, the purpose of a second plug, the battery's prior charge, the old Apple ID email, and whether the neighbor's shouting was audible on the recording are unclear.

Daniel did not know how to slow the tank, create explosion animations or implement sound, and was unsure whether recording sound effects from YouTube is legal.

Daniel was unsure about imported zombie image quality, how to animate walking or show defeated enemies as blood pools, and why the gun stopped working after a menu restart.

Daniel's understanding of copied tutorial code was estimated around 40 percent; the legality of using search-engine images and how to send a background image behind storyboard elements were unresolved.

The PewDiePie discussion left open whether subscriber count matters, whether higher view-ratio channels are more successful, and how many subscribers are inactive, deceased or imprisoned.

The identity of the doorbell visitor is unknown.

The meaning of a road sign in Norway and the cost of the sandwich and pasta (about £4) were guesses.

In the supermarket recording, several reasons and details remain unknown: why a fish is called Scotty fish, why so much was purchased, how to kill and cook live animals, and whether anyone knows if someone is 22.