diff --git a/example/basic/main.go b/example/basic/main.go
index e4909d5..c03f508 100644
--- a/example/basic/main.go
+++ b/example/basic/main.go
@@ -2,17 +2,17 @@
 // Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style
 // license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
 
-// An android app that draws a green triangle on a red background.
+// An app that draws a green triangle on a red background.
 package main
 
 import (
-	"bytes"
 	"encoding/binary"
 	"log"
 
 	"code.google.com/p/go.mobile/app"
 	"code.google.com/p/go.mobile/app/debug"
 	"code.google.com/p/go.mobile/event"
+	"code.google.com/p/go.mobile/f32"
 	"code.google.com/p/go.mobile/geom"
 	"code.google.com/p/go.mobile/gl"
 	"code.google.com/p/go.mobile/gl/glutil"
@@ -30,7 +30,6 @@ var (
 )
 
 func main() {
-	log.Printf("basic example starting")
 	app.Run(app.Callbacks{
 		Draw:  draw,
 		Touch: touch,
@@ -64,11 +63,10 @@ func touch(t event.Touch) {
 func draw() {
 	if program.Value == 0 {
 		initGL()
-		log.Printf("example/basic rendering initialized")
 	}
 
 	gl.ClearColor(1, 0, 0, 1)
-	gl.Clear(gl.DEPTH_BUFFER_BIT | gl.COLOR_BUFFER_BIT)
+	gl.Clear(gl.COLOR_BUFFER_BIT)
 
 	gl.UseProgram(program)
 
@@ -89,24 +87,16 @@ func draw() {
 	debug.DrawFPS()
 }
 
-var triangleData []byte
+var triangleData = f32.Bytes(binary.LittleEndian,
+	0.0, 0.4, 0.0, // top left
+	0.0, 0.0, 0.0, // bottom left
+	0.4, 0.0, 0.0, // bottom right
+)
 
-func init() {
-	buf := new(bytes.Buffer)
-	if err := binary.Write(buf, binary.LittleEndian, triangleCoords); err != nil {
-		log.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	triangleData = buf.Bytes()
-}
-
-const coordsPerVertex = 3
-
-var triangleCoords = []float32{
-	0, 0.4, 0, // top left
-	0, 0, 0, // bottom left
-	0.4, 0, 0, // bottom right
-}
-var vertexCount = len(triangleCoords) / coordsPerVertex
+const (
+	coordsPerVertex = 3
+	vertexCount     = 3
+)
 
 const vertexShader = `#version 100
 uniform vec2 offset;
diff --git a/f32/f32.go b/f32/f32.go
index e194a4b..b466d9f 100644
--- a/f32/f32.go
+++ b/f32/f32.go
@@ -25,7 +25,11 @@
 // non-obvious. Be prepared for the package name to change.
 package f32
 
-import "math"
+import (
+	"encoding/binary"
+	"fmt"
+	"math"
+)
 
 type Radian float32
 
@@ -57,3 +61,33 @@ func Sqrt(x float32) float32 {
 func Tan(x float32) float32 {
 	return float32(math.Tan(float64(x))) // TODO(crawshaw): fast version
 }
+
+// Bytes returns the byte representation of float32 values in the given byte
+// order. byteOrder must be either binary.BigEndian or binary.LittleEndian.
+func Bytes(byteOrder binary.ByteOrder, values ...float32) []byte {
+	le := false
+	switch byteOrder {
+	case binary.BigEndian:
+	case binary.LittleEndian:
+		le = true
+	default:
+		panic(fmt.Sprintf("invalid byte order %v", byteOrder))
+	}
+
+	b := make([]byte, 4*len(values))
+	for i, v := range values {
+		u := math.Float32bits(v)
+		if le {
+			b[4*i+0] = byte(u >> 0)
+			b[4*i+1] = byte(u >> 8)
+			b[4*i+2] = byte(u >> 16)
+			b[4*i+3] = byte(u >> 24)
+		} else {
+			b[4*i+0] = byte(u >> 24)
+			b[4*i+1] = byte(u >> 16)
+			b[4*i+2] = byte(u >> 8)
+			b[4*i+3] = byte(u >> 0)
+		}
+	}
+	return b
+}
diff --git a/f32/f32_test.go b/f32/f32_test.go
index 457891f..d662fe6 100644
--- a/f32/f32_test.go
+++ b/f32/f32_test.go
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@
 package f32
 
 import (
+	"bytes"
+	"encoding/binary"
 	"math"
 	"testing"
 )
@@ -328,3 +330,32 @@ func BenchmarkSin(b *testing.B) {
 		}
 	}
 }
+
+func TestBytes(t *testing.T) {
+	testCases := []struct {
+		byteOrder binary.ByteOrder
+		want      []byte
+	}{{
+		binary.BigEndian,
+		[]byte{
+			// The IEEE 754 binary32 format is 1 sign bit, 8 exponent bits and 23 fraction bits.
+			0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, // float32(+0.00) is 0 0000000_0 0000000_00000000_00000000
+			0x3f, 0xa0, 0x00, 0x00, // float32(+1.25) is 0 0111111_1 0100000_00000000_00000000
+			0xc0, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, // float32(-2.00) is 1 1000000_0 0000000_00000000_00000000
+		},
+	}, {
+		binary.LittleEndian,
+		[]byte{
+			0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00,
+			0x00, 0x00, 0xa0, 0x3f,
+			0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0xc0,
+		},
+	}}
+
+	for _, tc := range testCases {
+		got := Bytes(tc.byteOrder, +0.00, +1.25, -2.00)
+		if !bytes.Equal(got, tc.want) {
+			t.Errorf("%v:\ngot  % x\nwant % x", tc.byteOrder, got, tc.want)
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/gl/glutil/glimage.go b/gl/glutil/glimage.go
index 66c9437..e0b21c8 100644
--- a/gl/glutil/glimage.go
+++ b/gl/glutil/glimage.go
@@ -5,10 +5,8 @@
 package glutil
 
 import (
-	"bytes"
 	"encoding/binary"
 	"image"
-	"log"
 	"math"
 	"sync"
 
@@ -238,24 +236,16 @@ func (img *Image) Draw(dstBounds geom.Rectangle, srcBounds image.Rectangle) {
 	gl.DisableVertexAttribArray(glimage.inUV)
 }
 
-var quadXYCoords = toBytes([]float32{
+var quadXYCoords = f32.Bytes(binary.LittleEndian,
 	-1, -1, // bottom left
 	+1, -1, // bottom right
 	-1, +1, // top left
 	+1, +1, // top right
-})
+)
 
-var quadUVCoords = toBytes([]float32{
+var quadUVCoords = f32.Bytes(binary.LittleEndian,
 	0, 1, // bottom left
 	1, 1, // bottom right
 	0, 0, // top left
 	1, 0, // top right
-})
-
-func toBytes(v []float32) []byte {
-	buf := new(bytes.Buffer)
-	if err := binary.Write(buf, binary.LittleEndian, v); err != nil {
-		log.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	return buf.Bytes()
-}
+)