Sandstone

Sandstone is a small utility I made for macroing commands to the numpad, for Minecraft servers.

 When you first launch the program, it creates a file called macros.txt. It looks something like this:

1=
2=
3=
4=
5=
6=
7=
8=
9=

You can easily modify this file by right clicking the Sandstone icon in the system tray, then clicking on "Edit Macros". You then simple type a command beside the "=" sign, and it will automatically be typed in when you press the assigned numpad key. You must make sure to type the talk key first however, or it won't open up the chat/console box. Here is an example using the "5" numpad key:

1=
2=
3=
4=
5=t/give 50 64
6=
7=
8=
9=

This would open up the chat box (notice the t), then enter the command "/give 50 64". If you want to assign a mouse click to a numpad key, you can type [leftclick] or [rightclick] after the "=" sign (this cannot be mixed with other keystrokes).

After you finish adding all your desired macros, you must right click on the Sandstone icon in the system tray, and then click "Update Macros". This will map your newly created macros to the appropriate numpad keys. You can exit Sandstone by righclicking it's icon (just like before), and clicking on "Exit". Sandstone icon art property of Mojang AB.

Download Sandstone

Voltage Horizon

Voltage Horizon is a small app I made that puts a little tiny 2 pixel wide battery meter at the top of your screen. I'm surprised I'm the first person to come up with this idea! The % of the screen the bar takes up represents the amount of battery left. If the bar is the size of half your screen, then you have 50% battery left. at 50% the bar turns yellow, and at 35% it turns red.

In order for Voltage Horizon to start every time Windows starts, you will need to put Voltage Horizon.exe in Start Menu> All Programs> Startup.

Download Voltage Horizon

Umbra Console

 

UC is a project I'm working on to provide Windows with a convenient access drop down console, which also shows live system performance. Development progress can be followed here: http://umbraconsole.blogspot.com/

Windows 9x Clouds Remake

After searching and searching the internet, I could not find one single remake of Microsoft's signature wallpaper, "Clouds". So I set off to make one. The original picture was a 1024x768 grainy JPEG file. It was included in both Windows 95 and Windows 98 as selectable wallpapers, and it was the background found in the cover art of both releases of Windows 9x. My remake is a 1680x1050 PNG which I made fully from scratch, using Microsoft's Clouds.jpg as reference.


Windows 9x Clouds Remake by ~BrianMatte on deviantART

Blackbird Flame

I took the blackbird image from Alter Bridge's album Blackbird, and gave it a candle flame effect. It took awhile to get the blue part of the flame right though... I totally love how it turned out. I might print it on a shirt...

Aquarium

Finished setting up and planting my aquarium! Living here is:

1 - Pleko
2 - Crabs
2 - Kuhli Loaches
4 - Dwarf Puffers
? - Plants
? - Snails

Grouse Feather Hunting Ornament

I made this ornament awhile ago, out of used shotgun shells and grouse feathers. The feathers are placed inside the empty shells, which are bound by large band elastics.

Indoor Pond + Hydroponics Design

Watch YouTube Animation

This is a Sketchup model of an indoor pond with a built in hydroponics trough, which I plan on building this summer.

The pond will be filled up 2" with coral sand, and will be occupied by tadpole shrimp and snails. A water pump located below the pond will pump water to the end of the trough, which will flow along until it falls back into the pond. Bamboo will grow through the four holes on the trough. It's roots, along with some java moss, pebbles, and foam will filter the water as it works it's way down the trough. This way, there is a perfect relationship between the creatures and the plants; the creatures add nutrients to the water as they eat and poo, while the plants filter the water for them.

Ocean Storm Oil Painting

This is my first ever oil painting. I followed one of Bob Ross' videos, and finished it within two hours. I made the foam on the waves wispy, and they even have a 3D "sticking out" effect.

Walking Stick / Bludgeon

A while ago I carved a branch into a walking stick and stained it. I then created a tutorial on how to do so here. But since then, I've somewhat improved it as both a walking stick, and a club/bludgeon. The grip part of it is made up of three layers: duct tape (sticky side up), then a wrap of twine, and finally black hockey tape. The metal end is made up of two iron wires twisted together, then finally twisted around the end of the stick. The finished product almost looks like a combination of a medieval European weapon, and an Asian marshal arts staff/cane.

Chinese Wall Picture

I made this antique looking Chinese poster completely by accident. It was originally supposed to look like golden Chinese lettering on a red silk background, but as you can see, the project kinda veered off course!

First, I took a standard piece of printer paper, and penciled in the letters. I then used yellow marker to color in the letters, and then used a sharpie to give it a reflective gold look. But while I was working with the sharpie, I accidentally shaded the whole first two letters without realizing it...

So I just continued on shading over the letters until I finished, when it just looked like boring black letters on a white background. So finally after an hour of painting, gluing, burning, and antiquizing, I came up with a neat looking thing with my name on it.