Jeremiahto

Made for the "non-human player" themed Ludum Dare this weekend, Gaming Cockroach by Jonathan Ellena (schizokoa) is a game about a tiny cockroach that loves to play Tetris.

Every move becomes a chore due to the insect's relative size to the controller. Moving a piece left or right and flipping a piece can't simply be "tapped" or "jumped" on; you must walk on and off each, further making this version of Tetris difficult.

You can grab Windows or Mac builds on the Ludum Dare site below.

[Gaming Cockroach]

This came via the ever wonderful Boing Boing – and shows the power of adding two small dots to the Russian logo…..

Some beautiful work by Danielle Evans, playing with food, and typography!!! Amazing results!

via foodtypography

Pretty simple template to make your own Hipster Logo.
Reminds me of the “hipster branding” tumblr feed.

via hipsterlogo.com

Gerry O (and lots of others) kindly sent through this great site that shows how it’s possible to create a 3D effect by simply adding two white bars onto animated gif….

Check out the site for other great examples!

It was the ginger cake that did it. I'd come up with the perfect recipe for my G2 column sticky, squidgy and fiery sweet only to have a reader describe the accompanying image as looking "like something the dog regurgitated". Ouch. Clearly, taking pictures of food and "food photography" were very different things.
My pride dented, I embarked on a crash course, badgering professional food stylists and photographers for tips and obsessively studying cookbooks, magazines and blogs, trying to figure out what works and what doesn't.
I'm still no pro, but here are my dos and don'ts.

Do think about colour
I love the greens and whites in my shot of watercress soup (above), and the way the bubbles in the soup and the seeds in the bread mirror each other. It's simple but very pleasing. Use natural light to get the truest colours, and keep your camera still by balancing it on something, or invest in a mini tripod you can get one for about £15 online.

A few months ago, I released a short, autobiographical comic called Something Terrible, about my life growing up with fictional heroes, and how imaginary heroes had somehow managed to rescue me here in the real world. In the story, there’s a page I call “You’ll Be Safe Here,” an image that has bounced around a good bit on the internet on its own. This one page took me thirteen days to draw, working eight to fourteen hours per day.

Because of my association with the idea of superhero redesigns, I didn’t want these to just be the current or most popular versions of the major characters shown here, but rather to look like I’d been in charge of their stories for a little while, so I came up with little ideas for each redesign. There are well over a hundred characters in this image (you can check the guide here), but with the already-funded Kickstarter for the print edition of Something Terrible only a few days from ending, I thought I’d finally do a little spotlight on my own redesigns. So here we go!

Catwoman: One of my main themes with these redesigns was the familiar Waid/Morrison mantra of “include and transcend,” so you can see here I tried to find a winding middle-path here, combining my favorite elements of Bruce Timm’s Animated Series Catwoman with Darwyn Cooke’s 2001 redesign, and Anne Hathaway’s Selina Kyle from The Dark Knight Rises. With all of these redesigns, I wanted them to have a distinctive look, but be very clearly recognizable.

Nightwing: There’s not a lot you can do to improve upon Brian Stellfreeze’s Nightwing redesign from the late 90s, so I didn’t fool with it too much. I added a ring of pouches like the ones on his gloves to his biceps and created a slight indication that the v-points coming off his shoulders are overlaid pieces, maybe snapping into place. A lot of folks try to give him a belt or incorporate the Animated Series bird emblem, but I just don’t see that as an improvement. His black and blue costume was perfection.

Oracle: This whole scene takes place in the TARDIS, so I was able to pluck characters from my favorite eras, and while Batgirl getting paralyzed was maybe not the best choice at the time, I grew up with Oracle, one of the few women powerful and vital enough in the fight against supercrime to be a member of the JLA. A simple black and gray outfit with a gold bat pendant to remind folks where she’s from. I always liked Dick and Barbara together, so here they are.

Batwoman: I couldn’t fit everyone in this piece, and I already was getting pretty heavy on Bat-Family characters, so I decided to nab the next Batwoman out of the timestream, Stephanie Brown. At some point, Kate took her under her wing-shaped cape and now Steph’s got the mantle, honoring Kate’s uniform and bringing her own trademark colors into it.

Robin: OH DID YOU REALLY THINK DAMIAN WAS GONE FOREVER? Nope. He’s totally fine and back in uniform, this time going a bit more superhero-y, with a look combining the best elements of Dick’s, Tim’s, and Damian’s own original uniform.

Captain America: For Cap, I tried to find a simple middle ground between the Avengers movie costume and his classic uniform. I slanted the stripes and changed the font of his “A” just to be different.

Wonder Woman: I basically combined the promo version of the New 52 Wonder Woman with the Terry Dodson hybridized emblems version I liked a lot from the last version of the DCU, and I made her tiara star metal rather than jeweled just to be different.

Doctor Strange: The cape and Eye of Agamotto are too distinctive to fool with, so I just gave him a classy suit to wear when he’s not battling myriad magical monstrosities.

Impulse: Bart was always my favorite Flash sidekick. I remember picking up his first issue. I redesigned him years ago in our tribute to Mike Wieringo, so in this update, I just modified that slightly, with a new white jacket.

The Flash: Too much detail distracts from how good the Flash costume is, so I kept it simple. I added a lightning bolt shape to the form of the cowl and gave it the shiny look he often had in the 90s.

Aquaman: For Arthur, I really just wanted to incorporate Daniel Govar’s symbol move from his winning Aquaman: Sea Change redesign with the classic look.

The Fantastic Four: Here, I just wanted to imply the white costumes of the Future Foundation with the very classic look Mike Wieringo drew them wearing. I gave the Thing an emblem of his own, finally. Do you really think Reed can’t make a removable quantum magnet version for Ben?

Dream: I just wanted to include the Sandman here, so I gave him planets, stars, and moons! Dream is now part of a complete breakfast.

Green Lantern: As you’ve likely been beat over the head with by now, I’m a 90s fan. Kyle’s my GL. I’m an artist, he’s an artist. I’m an interplanetary crime-fighter, he’s an interplanetary crime-fighter. Wait. Forget that. Secret identity, Trippe! Get it together. Anyway, I’m not sure this look is the best Lantern redesign ever or anything, but I wanted to imply some elements from Kyle’s original uniform and make him look a bit more like THE Green Lantern, by centering his emblem and using the Timm Animated symbol.

Spider-Man: Peter Parker’s another guy whose costume is a bit too perfect to mess with, but I took a shot at tilting his symbol and having the legs stretch out into the blue areas. I don’t know if this is entirely successful, but it’s different. At least you can tell it’s him.

Hulk: I gave Bruce a dogtag that lets him calm down and remain Hulk’d out so he doesn’t have to stay angry all the time. Haha. I don’t know. I got a lot of comments calling this “Emo Hulk,” and dudes, like, it’s okay for Hulk to smile. IT HAPPENS.

Iron Man: My favorite comic book look until Adi Granov’s mid-2000s redesign, which went on to be the main influence in his movie looks, was the Silver Centurion. So this is like that, with some glowy red lines and a big repulsor array on the chest.

Martian Manhunter: I gave J’onn a blue uniform with a red X, similar to his last look before the New 52, I guess, but gave him a white cape like Miss Martian, and toned down the collar a bit. I think this looks pretty slick and is clearly the Martian Manhunter. I think I’d go with sleeveless or shortsleeves just to show off his big, beefy, green, shape-changing arm muscles. The X on the cape mirrors around on the back, btw, stretching down to the points.

The X-Men: I had an idea for the X-Books back at SCAD I always wanted to do, with major characters leading their own teams, so I swiped that for this, in the hope that the current mutant schism (which I am LOVING) is eventually resolved. The underlying theme elements are from the Morrison/Quitely run, but with more interchangeable pieces and team theme colors. Red Team leader, handling worldwide mutant threats is Cyclops, zipped all the way up. Gold Team leader at the school is Wolverine, and Storm leads the Blue Team which works more closely with the Avengers and other superhuman groups. Black Team not pictured, not acknowledged, and where are you even hearing these rumors? There is no Black Team.

Captain Picard and Ensign Crusher: These are little edits, but I wanted to put my own spin on these uniforms. Again, just a combination of various eras for Picard, and for Wesley’s, I just made it complement the official uniforms a little more.

Batman Beyond: Probably the most frequent mildly negative comment besides “Emo Hulk!” and “Where’s Deadpool!?” I got on this piece was “Batman Beyond didn’t have a cape!” Yeah. I know. This is Terry after Bruce has died. (GASP! BRUCE CAN NEVER DIE!) So here, his uniform is showing a lot of wear and tear, as Mister McGinnis continues the fight without Wayne to help him repair the suit. He’s becoming more of a force in the shadows. Wayne Manor is gone. The Batcave is still accessible, but he’s operating mostly out of makeshift outposts around New Gotham.

Superman: I don’t like too much fooling around with Superman’s uniform, so I tend to draw a fairly classic version with a bit of obvious influence with the Superman Returns costume’s belt, minus the belt-loops.

Supergirl: I’ve had this in mind for a really long time, but I honestly think this is Supergirl costume perfection. Shoulder sleeves, red skirt, blue tights. It’s youthful, feminine, tough, and fun to draw. This is the only costume I’ve drawn on Supergirl for years. Don’t stop redesigning her, Cory, but I already figured this one out.

Superboy: Okay, so this one’s more of a story, but this is Chris Kent, back from the Phantom Zone, having been stripped of his powers in the escape, now wearing a silver Superman ring that replicates Conner Kent’s powers, which he picked up in the future in the Fortress of Solitude, now holographically maintained by Kal-El, whose real self is presently in the sun. This is the Superboy I’d write.

Well, as you can see from scanning around this page, I did a lot of redesigns for this piece, and while not all of them are that noticeable or revolutionary, the slight updates to the uniforms that are, are pretty cool, I think. I hope you enjoyed this look around You’ll Be Safe Here, and if you haven’t read Something Terrible yet, you can check it out here. -Dean

Let me tell you about something that has been working in our house for the past few weeks. First though, l should admit that we are a family that hates cleaning. We put it off as long as possible until one of us cracks and initiates a whirlwind cleaning campaign around the house, which usually leaves everyone tired and grumpy because we just lost a perfectly good weekend.

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Vancouver is the first city to ban the use of doorknobs in favor of a less discriminatory, more universal lever design. The building code amendment, made in September, does not apply to existing houses.

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  More than a few of you were surprised to learn, on closer inspection, that this image for the new show ‘The Great Art Robbery’ was not a painting on […]

The post How To Paint Derren Brown appeared first on Derren Brown.

在不少華人社㑹的打工仔心目中，公司辦公室總是沉悶且充滿厭惡性壓力的地方，你絕對不想多留一分鐘的時間。想要體驗到一些特別的文化，你可能就要找一份由外國人所創立的公司。在香港，擁有獨特文化的辦公室並不多，像Google這樣的更是少得可憐。那Google辦公室有何特別呢？來跟者筆者一起遊歷一下吧！

繼續閱讀>>: 帶你遊歷Google香港新搬的Office，吃喝玩樂式的工作環境很想要吧！？

網站主頁: i ♥ Apps

The post 帶你遊歷Google香港新搬的Office，吃喝玩樂式的工作環境很想要吧！？ appeared first on i ♥ Apps.

October is the time of year that all of my creative energy is focused into a single, solitary purpose: the design and making of an unreasonably complicated Halloween costume for my son. This year, I was determined to reflect his outsized interest in aviation by building him his very own airplane. Something with an open cockpit. Something with a propeller. Something vintage. I started by touring the 3D Warehouse, collecting models of airplanes that might be good candidates. I settled on a WWII-era F4F-4 U.S. Navy fighter because I liked its shape, and because the model I found (by D.James) was beautifully executed.

I found this Grumman F4F-4 on the 3D Warehouse. It was modeled by D.James.

Opening it in SketchUp, I began the process of simplifying the plane down to its most basic forms by hiding or deleting stuff I didn't need. The landing gear and propeller went. So did the wire-looking thing (I'm not much of an engineering buff) that connected the tail to the cockpit canopy. Eventually, I grouped the remaining bits of airplane together and put them on a single layer that I called "Reference."

The first step was to strip away the details that I didn’t think I’d need.

Next, I set about creating a brand-new model of the fuselage and tail by using the Circle, Push/Pull and Scale tools to create a form that (more or less) matched the existing model. I worked right on top, using the original geometry as a snapping guide for the new. This didn't take as long as you'd think, and it resulted in a simple form that I could easily manipulate later on. For the wings and stabilizers (the smaller wings on either side of the tail) I traced basic, flat shapes; I knew I wouldn't end up making them aerodynamically correct, so I didn't bother giving them a realistic thickness. It is, after all, illegal for a two-year-old to pilot aircraft in the state of Colorado.

D.James’ model is very complex, so I made myself a simpler version (grey) by modeling directly over the original (blue). The wings and the horizontal stabilizers are just flat faces.

Not being able to find a decent model of a small child anywhere online, I used a toddler-sized cylinder as a scale reference as I scaled down the entire vehicle to fit him. "Rough" doesn't begin to describe the level of accuracy I employed at this stage of the engineering process; I basically held a ruler next to his waist and decided that he could squeeze into a ten inch tube. I did NOT at any time actually squeeze him into a ten inch tube. Mostly because I didn't have one handy.

At this point, I set about changing the proportions to increase the airplane's overall level of adorableness. To do this, I grouped together the body, wings and tail bits, made a copy off to the side, and used the Scale tool to stretch and squish the whole thing.

Starting with a squashed cylinder to represent a toddler, I used the Move tool to change the proportions of the airplane until it looked wearable.

At this point, I'd pretty much decided that the airplane would be made out of laser-cut cardboard (more on that later), so I continued modeling with the assumption that the wings and stabilizers would be 2D shapes, and the body would be a more organic, 3D form. This part of the process was the most time-consuming and fiddly—it was just a matter of tweaking the shape of each element until I was happy with the overall proportions of the plane.

The intermediate state of the airplane is actually very basic.

As I settled on a material and construction method, I spent a lot of time on the website of a New Zealand and US-based company called Ponoko. They offer laser-cutting and 3D printing services, and their material selection is terrific. Ponoko has also been a good friend of SketchUp since they launched several years ago. Frankly, I'd been waiting for an excuse to try them out; their offering seemed really slick.

Before I could go any further on the airplane project, I needed to know more about the material I'd be using: its precise thickness, what sheet sizes are available, and its cost. Weight and budget were my major concerns, so I settled on double-layer corrugated cardboard with a thickness of 0.264 inches (6.7mm) and a maximum sheet size of 31.1 x 15.1 inches (790mm x 384mm). Sheets that size cost $3.50 apiece, which is cheap, plus file setup and cutting, which is decidedly less so. When I uploaded a test file to Ponoko to see what this undertaking might cost, the average price per sheet of cut parts was about $25.00. I figured I'd need about ten. This was turning out to be a very expensive cardboard airplane.

The double-layer corrugated cardboard page on Ponoko’s website. Make note of the material thickness for accurate modeling.

Back in SketchUp, I set about figuring out how to build the project out of interconnected, flat pieces. I started with the easy parts: the horizontal section of the body, which included the wings, and the vertical section, which included the tail. These two components were the structural parts of the plane, so I made them out of three layers of cardboard, laminated together for stiffness and durability.

The horizontal fuselage sheets (which include the wings) provide the airplane’s back-to-front structural strength. The vertical pieces are necessary for forming the nose and tail.

To design the rest of the plane's pieces, I copied the 2D profiles that made up the fuselage, made them into faces, and extruded them to the same thickness as the cardboard. Each piece was an individual group at this point; I didn't bother making named components until I was further along.

The ellipsoid “fins” that march down the length of the airplane are the key to defining the fuselage’s sleek, rounded shape.

Next, I used the maximum sheet size for the cardboard to figure out which parts would need to be subdivided and re-assembled after they'd been cut. This task was made a bit simpler by the fact that the biggest pieces of the plane—the horizontal and vertical "slabs" I'd started with—were each made up of three thicknesses of material. I just figured out a design that would hide the seams on the outside, visible layers, while allowing the middle layer pieces to overlap enough to form a strong sandwich when I glued everything together.

Parts which would ideally have been cut from a single sheet of cardboard had to be broken up into smaller pieces due to the small maximum sheet size for that material. These were then sandwiched together with glue. The resulting triple-layer laminates ended up being very stiff.

One of the last steps in the design process was to design the slots that would allow all (or at least most) of the pieces to interlock together. Figuring that the kerf (the width of the cut made by the laser) would be very small in this material, I decided to make the slots exactly as wide as the material thickness. This part was actually kind of fun—it's the closest I've ever come to modeling a 3D puzzle.

There are lots of ways to cut slots in the pieces; I used the Line and Push/Pull tools in combination with the Copy and Paste in Place commands.

At this point, I began the delicate process of converting my groups into components; piece by piece, I exploded each group and then immediately made it into a component with a meaningful name. Where I had a pair of identical, flipped parts (this was actually the majority of the airplane), I made sure both were instances of the same component. The airplane is made out of 58 individual parts, but only 32 unique components.

Because the airplane is so symmetrical, most of the parts are flipped and duplicated component instances.

Just for fun, and because I knew it would look really cool, I copied the plane onto a duplicate layer, and used the Move tool to arrange the parts as though they'd been exploded out from the object's center.

All of the airplane’s parts, exploded outward for visibility.

To have something laser cut by Ponoko, you give them a vector file (EPS or SVG) with all of the parts laid out flat. They provide Adobe Illustrator templates for all three of their standard sheet sizes, which makes things a bit easier. In order to go from a 3D, assembled object in SketchUp to a series of 2D cutting files in Illustrator, I needed to disassemble the plane piece by piece. Figuring that it would be easiest to have the assembled and flat versions adjacent to each other, I made a copy of the airplane off to the side and proceeded to take the copy apart with the Move tool. I used the Move tool's rotation grips (and occasionally the Rotate tool) to spin pieces around so they lay flat.

I made sure not to forget any pieces by literally taking apart an assembled copy of the airplane, laying the parts flat on the ground as I proceeded.

Almost there. I drew a rectangle that matched the sheet size of the cardboard, turned it into component, and made a dozen copies. Then I went through the laborious process of figuring out how to lay out all of the airplane pieces in an efficient way. Having done some experimentation on Ponoko's website, I'd discovered that it's significantly cheaper to produce two copies of the same cutting file than it is to make two different sheets. Good thing, because it turns out that most of my airplane parts are symmetrical; they're mirrored copies that exist in pairs. To take advantage of this, I arranged all of the symmetrical pieces on five sheets and produced two copies of each; all of the "singles" fit on only two more. In total, I had twelve sheets of parts.

The grey rectangles represent 31” x 15” sheets of cardboard. Notice that there are five pairs of identical parts sheets, plus only two unique sheets (in the upper left corner). This significantly reduced the laser cutting costs.

Digging around on Ponoko's website a little more, I discovered a mention of something called "nodes" which help to keep slot-assembled parts from wobbling and falling apart. Basically, it involves adding rounded bumps to the slots in your pieces. The size, position, and number of nodes depends on your material and its thickness, and the website didn't provide any specific tips for my double-layered corrugated cardboard, so I made an informed guess and crossed my fingers: I settled on a node height of 1/16th of an inch, which, multiplied by two, represented about a quarter of the 0.264" thickness of the sheet. That's a lot, but I figured that cardboard is a pretty compactible material. I was lucky; the nodes ended up working perfectly.

Nodes help to keep the parts snug when the final object is assembled.

One at a time, I copied each sheet to a new SketchUp file, set my camera to a top, parallel projection view, applied a simple, white Style with no profiles edges or other effects, did a Zoom Extents, and exported a PDF at 1:1 scale. Then I opened each PDF in Illustrator, copied just the parts, and pasted them on a new layer in the template provided by Ponoko. I went through this process a total of seven times—once for each unique sheet I'd be sending them.

The sheets are exported out of SketchUp Pro as 1:1 scale PDF files. These are then opened in a vector illustration program like Adobe Illustrator or Inkscape.

In order for Ponoko to convert an Illustrator EPS (their required upload format) into whatever file they send to their laser cutters, you need to make sure all of the edges in your drawings are colored and sized correctly. Blue lines tell the laser to cut, whereas red lines are used for engraving. Just follow the instructions on the template and you'll be okay.

After uploading my files, putting in all my credit card details, finalizing the order, corresponding a few times with the friendly staff at Ponoko, and waiting a couple of weeks, a box arrived at my house. I opened it up and was nearly knocked over by the smell of laser-cut cardboard. It's an odd odor; not terrible, but definitely not pleasant. I quarantined the pieces in the spare bedroom and went to work punching everything out.

The accuracy of the cutting was astounding. I've never laser cut anything; I expected the pieces to look good, but the quality of what I got made me alternate between grinning and literally giggling. For a person who spent hundreds of hours in architecture school hacking away at cardboard, foam core, basswood and plexiglass with an X-Acto knife, the extravagant expense of laser cutting instantly justified itself. I was hooked.

I couldn’t believe the quality of the laser-cut parts that arrived on my doorstep.

It took longer to peel the paper backing off of the individual parts than it did to assemble the actual airplane (not counting the time it took for the glue to dry completely). With only a couple of exceptions, the parts slotted together exactly the way I'd designed them to. It was the most gratifying thing I've made in years.

It took me only a couple of hours to put the airplane together. The next version will have less glue—that was the most time-consuming part of the process.

As a devout follower of the Church of Making Things Overcomplicated, I decided early on that the airplane should have a custom-designed instrument cluster. And a steering wheel. And a working, motorized propeller. This is already a monster blog post, so I'll end the description of my process here. To conclude, a few photos of the end result.

The final result weighs somewhere between five and six pounds, but that includes the steering wheel, the propeller motor, and four AA batteries. My son (who’s two-and-a-half) had no trouble wearing it.

I designed the instrument cluster entirely in LayOut, using layers of translucent details to simulate reflections, highlights and shadows.

Posted by Aidan Chopra, SketchUp Evangelist

Richard’s Christmas card range is available from Lidl…

@TheArchini brought my attention to this great photo put out by @FacesPics – it’s a pig with a face like Yoda!

radagahst:

Yeti another Spelunky fanart! *o*

Continuing Nekogames/Yoshio Ishii's series of Hoshi Saga (find the star) puzzle games, Minna no HoshiSaga [みんなの星探] is a collection of 36 short, somewhat subverted puzzles and mini-games that require you to think outside the hako (Japanese for "box") to uncover one or more stars. This time around, over 30 Japanese developers contributed puzzles, with Yoshio Ishii overseeing the project.

You have to do more than just point and click to find the star, which seems apt coming from the developer behind such playful and popular experiments such as Which? and More Which?.

The hints are in Japanese, but just consider Minna no HoshiSaga to be the Hard Mode of the game, where you can't use any hints!

See how many stars you can find in Minna no HoshiSaga.

Lean lamb fillets, free of fat and bone, are fairly cheap and quick to cook – and they make the perfect midweek 'Sunday roast'

A fillet of lamb – the long, lean strip of meat from the loin – has no bones to pick at, no wrapping of fat to keep it succulent, and none of the crisp-skinned majesty of a glistening shoulder of lamb in its roasting tin. Yet it remains a useful, elegant cut. Lean as a whippet, with no sinew to remove, it can be on the plate in the time it takes to lay the table, make the salad and open the wine. It is useful, quick to cook, neat and fairly cheap.

But the fillet needs our help if it is to be truly delicious. Olive oil – lots of it – some black olives, a spice paste, maybe a thin sauce made from the roasting juices and a glug or two from the Marsala bottle. I have roasted it successfully with a paste made from rosemary, garlic and olive oil, and another from sundried tomatoes in oil and fresh basil leaves. You can smear it with mild mustard or pesto before roasting, introducing an intriguing crust around the rare meat. Once or twice I have spread it with mustard and coated it in breadcrumbs, too.

This is not a cut for those who take their meat well done. Rose pink is preferable for something as lean as this. One fillet will serve two, cut into strips as thick as a finger. To bulk it out I toss it with lightly steamed spinach leaves, a tomato salsa or a mixture of salad leaves, using the olive oil and juices in which it roasted, spiked with a dash of red wine or sherry vinegar, as a dressing.

This is not to be confused with neck fillet which is a much more hardworking joint altogether, and one for the pot. Slow cooking in liquid is probably the best way to go with that one.

I find it useful to sizzle a loin fillet of lamb in a little olive oil for a couple of minutes before putting it into a very hot oven. It encourages a delicious outer crust. Rosemary or thyme sprigs go in the pan, and maybe a crushed clove of garlic, too. What you bring to the table is a mini Sunday roast, easy to carve and sweet as a nut. The lack of bones and fat and the size means this is not a cut for a feast. But its usefulness and speed is what gives it space in my kitchen.

Roast lamb with olives and ciabatta

As the lamb cooks, the slices of ciabatta soak up the olive oil and juices from the meat. Serves 4.

lamb fillets 2, large
bushy rosemary sprigs 4
olive oil 100ml
ciabatta 4 thick slices
black olives 60g
mixed salad leaves 2 large handfuls

Set the oven at 200C/gas mark 6. Season the lamb fillets with salt and pepper. Bash the whole rosemary sprigs lightly with a pestle or rolling pin to realise their oil. Warm the olive oil in a roasting tin, add the lamb and brown evenly for no more than a couple of minutes, on all sides.

Put the slices of ciabatta in the roasting tin, turning them in the oil to moisten them, then place the lamb fillets on the bread. Tuck a couple of the rosemary sprigs under the lamb, and the remainder on top. Tip the olives into the pan then roast for 15 minutes. Wash the salad leaves.

Remove the meat from the oven and leave to rest, covering the tin with foil, for about eight minutes, then remove the fillets from the bread and slice into thick pieces. Divide the bread, which will have soaked up the oil, between four warm plates.

Toss the slices of lamb with the salad leaves and pile on top of the ciabatta. Trickle over any remaining juices from the roasting tin, scatter over the olives and a pinch or two of sea salt flakes, and serve.

Lamb fillets with garlic butter

A quick lunch or midweek dinner with just five ingredients . Serves 4.

lamb fillets 2
garlic 4 large cloves
anchovy fillets 6
butter 100g
olive oil a little

Set the oven at 200C/gas mark 6. Chop the anchovies finely, mashing them almost to a purée. Peel the garlic, crush it finely then mash it into the softened butter with the mashed anchovies and a little pepper.

Warm a little oil in a small roasting tin, lightly brown the lamb fillets on all sides. Remove the dish from the heat, then spread the garlic and anchovy butter over them. Roast for about 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave the lamb to rest for about 10 minutes. Carve into thick pieces and serve with any juices from the pan.

Cherry and strawberry salad

Apricots and honey have an affinity with one another. I sometimes stone the fruit and stuff it with sheep or goat's cheese, then add toasted walnuts and a trickle of honey. Earlier this week I stewed them in a honey syrup then tossed them with cherries and early strawberries. Serves 6.

apricots 250g
peaches 3
honey 4 tbsp
cherries 125g
strawberries 150g

Halve the apricots and peaches and discard the stones. Dissolve the honey in 400ml of water over a moderate heat in a saucepan, then add the apricots and peaches. Turn the heat to a low simmer and let the fruit cook for about 15 minutes till soft, but still keeping their shape.

Halve and stone the cherries then add them to the warm honey syrup and set aside. Halve the strawberries, then add them to the rest of the fruit. Serve, together with the warm syrup, in small bowls.

Email Nigel at nigel.slater@observer.co.uk

Connor Fallon and Valeria Reznitskaya are the primary developers behind this Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney point-and-clicker with a philosophical debate twist, Socrates Jones: Pro Philosopher. In a life or death situation, an ordinary accountant with the name Socrates taps into his seemingly inherited abilities to debate, with the help of his daughter.

As the opposition presents its arguments, players can ask for clarification, press for backing, question for relevance and challenge notions. However, if players challenge too many notions incorrectly, their credibility meter will deplete and they will forfeit the argument.

Socrates Jones: Pro Philosopher is available to play in browsers, waiting for intelligent players to poke holes in everyone's arguments.

It's amazing what a gloriously silly idea can do to Unity's rather dull tutorial racing game. Really, it is. It can turn a learning tool into SMS Racing and thus to the most competent accidental-suicide simulator of the latest Ludum Dare. And all you, the player, has to do is race a lap while texting. Simple.

@olliemealing brought my attention to this great illusion yesterday…..

And very good it is too. Like it?

Randomized punishing platformer and IGF award winner Spelunky ventures into new territory today, available for Windows on Steam and GOG for $13.49. While the GOG version will appease DRM-free fans along with the OST and some extra artwork, it's hard not to feel Steam gets the superior version with leaderboards and notably the Daily Challenge, where you get one chance to play a new challenge every day.

The 2012 XBLA hit is also coming to PS3 and PS Vita soon as a cross-buy, cross-play game. On Vita, you can move freely in co-op, whereas with other platforms players you have to stay on the same screen.

There may not be a demo, but the original freeware version should be more than enough to convince you to take the plunge and invest for you and up to 3 friends to start playing today.

Introducing a brand new feature exclusive to the upcoming Steam version of Spelunky: The Daily Challenge!