I suppose so... if you're a thoughtless moron. I'll never read another HPR interview again. Everything about this one stank. But after watching Colon Pole prevaricate in front of the UN today, what should I expect from men of this caliber ? Swine, all of them.
Gardner Dozois edits a yearly anthology of science fiction that has turned me on to a variety of excellent new (and not-so-new) authors. To name a few whose work I'll read anytime: Lucius Shepard, William Sanders, Michael Swanwick, Robert Reed, Howard Waldrop, Terry Bisson, Ursula LeGuin, Mike Resnick, Kathryn Rusch, Karen Fowler... well, just about anyone he selects. I know there are other interesting yearly anthologies out there, and occasionally I buy one, but I've been purchasing Dozois's every year for the past 8 years. Worth checking out, might even be at your local library.
Another cogent response ! And thanks for the pointer to linuxsound.at ! The site is also available at http://linux-sound.org. Btw, other worthy projects include Werner Schweer's MusE MIDI sequencer (http://muse.seh.de) and the recently updated Rosegarden (http://www.all-day-breakfast.com/rosegarden/). Not yet Cubase, but we're slowly getting there...
Nice to see someone recognizes that a lot of what's gone into Reborn (which is very nice indeed) has already been done in Freebirth. I should also mention the Ultramaster RS101, another excellent rhythmbox-synthesizer for Linux. Check it out at http://www.ultramaster.com/rs101/index.html. Btw, Freebirth, while still available, really needs some work on its functionality, so it could make a good project for an interested Linux audio hacker...
Very interesting message and neat-looking plugins! However, porting the VSTGUI is an issue that has already been discussed at some length among Linux audio developers. There are problems, particularly with Steinberg's position re: source code changes, but yes, hypothetically it's possible to port. Here's a quote from an article I wrote about LADSPA (at http://linux.oreillynet.com/pub/a/linux/2001/02/02 / ladspa.html):
"In the early stages of LADSPA development, some members of the LAD group contacted the Steinberg company in hopes of porting the VST architecture to Linux; alas, they got no joy. Steinberg's license does not permit the redistribution of modified versions of its freely available VST SDK (a situation that could be neatly resolved if they adopted the GPL); however, a greater problem is that most VST plug-ins rely either on the native interface or libvstgui, a graphic interface library that has not been implemented in any of the popular GUI toolkits for Linux.
Even this reliance could be overcome with a new Linux implementation of libvstgui, and although the documentation for libvstgui fully specifies the API and even includes some source, this is a substantial programming effort that nobody has been willing to undertake to date. As a result, despite its theoretical portability, the VST API remains tied to the Windows and Mac interfaces..."
Just thought you'd like to know that it's been considered. Of course we'd still like to see VST plugins available for Linux, but meanwhile LADSPA programmers have already cooked up some pretty nice plugins themselves...
I'm consistently amazed at the ignorance of so many/.ers when it comes to music and sound software that runs under Linux. I've written a book about the subject, I've maintained a focused Web page on the subject for more than six years, and I've published more than 16 articles on Linux audio issues in the Linux Journal, on the O'Reilly Network, on Freshmeat, and in the Linux Gazette. I've even indicated where you can actually *hear* music made by people using Linux audio software such as SpiralSynth, Pd, Csound, and many other apps. Linux sound support now includes the Hammerfall and Hammerfall DSP cards, the MIDIman Delta series, and a host of consumer-grade cards (including the SBLive and Audigy cards). ALSA brings a very high-quality audio and MIDI API to the kernel sources. Audio performance latencies can be brought down to the under-2msec range by simple kernel patches. Software such as terminatorX, SpiralLoops, Ceres3, and RTCmix may not fit the average Win/Mac user's idea of what constitutes music software, but that doesn't mean it's not usable (i.e., musical) software ! I've said this so many times it's becoming a litany response: Cakewalk and Cubase have been in commercially-supported production since the late 80s, years before Linux even existed. And as Paul Davis (Ardour developer) points out, absolutely *no* source-code models exist for learning how to achieve designs similar to those commercial packages, so almost everything has been learned from scratch. Yes, it takes time to write a professional-quality hard-disk recording system, a lot of time. AGNULA's time-span extends over a 2-year period: Last year at this time Ardour wasn't even usable; this year I'll be lecturing about it to students in Barcelona in June. So what will the situation be like in two more years ?? Okay, I understand clearly when someone says they must have Windows in order to create their music *now*. That's fine, but judgments upon software they have *not* learned to use are irrelevant. So go ahead, stick with Win/Mac: meanwhile we're the ones who are working to bring something better to Linux users who want pro-audio software. Helpful support is always welcome, and you can find links to such groups as the Linux Audio Developers and Linux Audio Users mail lists by following the URL in the title to this post.
Honestly, reading some of these posts makes me think of what the responses were like when Linus announced his intentions to the world. "Oh, you'll never be able to [favorite Win/Mac activity here] on Linux". Ten years later a lot of those posts read like they were written by some rather short-sighted whingers...;)
Thank goodness, someone else has read Stapledon ! I've given away many copies of Last & First Men, and everyone who's read it comes back with the same response: "He's awesome !". Yes, he was. IMO, a budding SF writer can pillage a few pages out of Olaf and make himself a career out of the plunder. And I must agree with your assessment: Last & First Men is indeed beyond any description I can give it...
I read a fair amount of SF and try to keep up with the latest scribes. I'm pleased to see so many names I recognize, but it was very disappointing to not see certain others, particularly Robert Reed, Lucius Shepard, and William Sanders. Ah well, maybe they'll produce something more worthy this year. The movie selections were just awful, all kids' stuff (but I gotta say I loved Shrek). And yes, I agree with the fellow who suggested that if you think LOTR was high-achievement literature then you need to get out more. And when will one of those ceremonies finally give Olaf Stapledon the award he deserves ? I swear, he gets more imagination in three pages than most of our contemporaries get in three volumes. Btw, if Greg Bear's stuff gets any worse I'm gonna have to write another letter...
At 5 AM November 18 I walked my dog for an hour out in the unlit countryside in the Rawson/Bluffton area. I saw probably about a hundred shooters within the hour, a very beautiful and wonderful sight. Many thanks to/. for reporting the Leonids: this is the first year I actually got to see the grand display ! FYI, my dog showed no interest at all in the phenomenon.
Ja, I was going to post this info too. There was once a copy of the letter WD sent Igor (published in one of the Stravinsky bios I think), it was pretty raw, concerning the fact that since he was a Russkie they just didn't need his permission. Btw, I believe Stravinsky referred to Fantasia as an imbecility. Right on. Disney makes crappy movies for morons, always has, always will. So stop watching crap. Read more books. Go hear more live music. Stop supporting the RIAA and the MPAA, don't buy their swill anyway. Learn to play an instrument, make your own music.
I still can't get past the fact that it's legal for the local CD store to buy & sell used CDs. The owner (I used to work for the place) makes an incredible amount of money by purchasing used CDs at $4 (tops) and selling them for $8. He keeps *all* the profit, not one penny goes back to the artists, the record labels, or the RIAA. So here's how it goes: it's illegal for me to *share* my CDs but it's legal for him to *sell* them ? Dylan described it best: "Money doesn't talk, it swears".
Just a note to say that one of our local ISPs does the same thing to users known to be carrying viruses on their machines. My Better Half's machine was cut off from the Net, she had no idea why (she's not computer-savvy), and she only found out after calling the ISP's tech support. To their credit, they really helped fix the problem (infected Outlook Express, of course) to get her back on-line, then I finished the job with Norton antivirus software (which had to be updated before it could even find the virus; kakworm, I think). I still have some problems with the ISP's rationale regarding the customer (shut 'em down and wait for their distress call) but I'm not sure they can realistically do anything else. The amount of infection they deal with is impressive, and they don't have the manpower to telephone so many people every week. They are open to a better solution: anyone have one ?
Re:This is not multimedia, it is audio
on
DeMuDi Linux
·
· Score: 1
PLEASE: We need your help and advice then ! I'm a member of the group, and I've noted that we need input from graphics/animation/video people. You're right, it's currently heavily biased towards audio. So get on the list, write to Guenter, help us out, please !
...is a book by Jerry Mander that changed my life. I haven't owned a television for more than 20 years. Amazing what I've missed (i.e., avoided): never seen an episode of Dallas, or MTV's RealWorld, or Survivor, and so forth. OTOH, I've learned a lot of things I could never have learned had I wasted my time in front of such a time hog. So I say to anyone who listens: Don't like what you see on TV ? Stop watching it, you're doing absolutely nothing useful. Start actually doing something with that time. Or maybe you have time to waste ? Lucky you. Anyway, the book is available at my local library, maybe it's at yours too. Of course you can always check with the on-line booksellers too. And yes, Mander took on computers in his second book (In The Absence Of The Sacred). Read 'em and learn. While you're at it maybe you should start reading Noam Chomsky's political stuff or Clyde Prestowitz's "Trading Places". At least then you won't wonder why America is the strange place it's become over the last 50 years.
I've had excellent experience with my DSL connection, but it certainly bears out the reports from other users here. I'm two blocks from the switching station, my apartment wiring was fine for the connection, and I did the install myself. Ameritech is my provider: two other DSL services here couldn't compete (duh, Ameritech owns the DSLAMs they had to lease) and went belly-up after only a few months in business. I don't know why those providers thought Ameritech would somehow play fair with their lease pricing, but I felt that the writing was on the wall, and sure enough, they failed. Ameritech charges $40 per month for a 24/7 connection (dynamic IP though), and I've had very few problems with my connection. And btw, much more information on the whole cable/DSL issue can be found at http://www.dslreports.com. So that's my two drachmas...
Check out these Flash sites (they work with the Linux Flash plugin for Netscoop) :
http://www.brittle-bones.com/
http://www.once-upon-a-forest.com/
And 'State Of Mind' is a must-see demo:
http://skal.planet-d.net/mind/index.html
I'd also suggest viewing some of the incredible fractal animations available on the Net.
so don't buy it...learn to listen to better music instead of metallica and 95% of the other pap ladled out to you...don't be so fsck'ing lazy when it comes to listening to music...as mike watt once said, "there are too many liars singing songs these days"...of course the advice is useless when your ears can no longer tell when someone is lying, and mtv and the other culture-dispensers have made damned sure that most of you can't tell sonic shite from shinola...just my two cheerful drachmas, of course...:)
M$ Press once published an interesting book with that title, and Raskin's interview in it was almost the same screed as he's making now. Funny how the book was published in 1986. Jef's just moving right along, isn't he ?
Actually, he's a brilliant man. Jaron Lanier is also interviewd in the book. He's a bit stuck these days too. Andy Herzfeld's in there, he's definitely unstuck now...
That book is listed as out-of-print at Amazon, and someone has a used copy for $250US. Yikes, I guess I'll keep my copy...
I've been trying all morning to download it from the CodeWeaver site but it isn't found. Is there a download mirror anywhere ?
Or is CW updating the package ?? Was gibt ???
The people who shat out Phantom Menace are calling *us* thieves ???
Bone up on your Karl Marx, kids. There's NO WAY the affected industries will willingly give up that fat revenue pipe they've worked so hard to build. As one industry rep has already stated, there's *NOTHING* they won't do to stop anyone in their way. That means that they will invest enormous amounts of money and energies into throwing out your constitutional rights. They don't care.
Remember: America has no political agenda. Capitalism is an economic practice, not a political philosophy. Democracy was a political philosophy that got shucked in the USA in favor of amorality and greed. You can fuck over anyone here as long as you can pay the lawyers.
Slashdot Mirror
Good summary. However, I'd rephrase that last comment. They don't want to stop new technologies, they just want control over them.
I suppose so... if you're a thoughtless moron. I'll never read another HPR interview again. Everything about this one stank. But after watching Colon Pole prevaricate in front of the UN today, what should I expect from men of this caliber ? Swine, all of them.
Me, I'm going into the designer body-bag biz.
Gardner Dozois edits a yearly anthology of science fiction that has turned me on to a variety of excellent new (and not-so-new) authors. To name a few whose work I'll read anytime: Lucius Shepard, William Sanders, Michael Swanwick, Robert Reed, Howard Waldrop, Terry Bisson, Ursula LeGuin, Mike Resnick, Kathryn Rusch, Karen Fowler... well, just about anyone he selects. I know there are other interesting yearly anthologies out there, and occasionally I buy one, but I've been purchasing Dozois's every year for the past 8 years. Worth checking out, might even be at your local library.
Another cogent response ! And thanks for the pointer to linuxsound.at ! The site is also available at http://linux-sound.org. Btw, other worthy projects include Werner Schweer's MusE MIDI sequencer (http://muse.seh.de) and the recently updated Rosegarden (http://www.all-day-breakfast.com/rosegarden/). Not yet Cubase, but we're slowly getting there...
Nice to see someone recognizes that a lot of what's gone into Reborn (which is very nice indeed) has already been done in Freebirth. I should also mention the Ultramaster RS101, another excellent rhythmbox-synthesizer for Linux. Check it out at http://www.ultramaster.com/rs101/index.html. Btw, Freebirth, while still available, really needs some work on its functionality, so it could make a good project for an interested Linux audio hacker...
Very interesting message and neat-looking plugins! However, porting the VSTGUI is an issue that has already been discussed at some length among Linux audio developers. There are problems, particularly with Steinberg's position re: source code changes, but yes, hypothetically it's possible to port. Here's a quote from an article I wrote about LADSPA (at http://linux.oreillynet.com/pub/a/linux/2001/02/02 / ladspa.html):
"In the early stages of LADSPA development, some members of the LAD group contacted the Steinberg company in hopes of porting the VST architecture to Linux; alas, they got no joy. Steinberg's license does not permit the redistribution of modified versions of its freely available VST SDK (a situation that could be neatly resolved if they adopted the GPL); however, a greater problem is that most VST plug-ins rely either on the native interface or libvstgui, a graphic interface library that has not been implemented in any of the popular GUI toolkits for Linux.
Even this reliance could be overcome with a new Linux implementation of libvstgui, and although the documentation for libvstgui fully specifies the API and even includes some source, this is a substantial programming effort that nobody has been willing to undertake to date. As a result, despite its theoretical portability, the VST API remains tied to the Windows and Mac interfaces..."
Just thought you'd like to know that it's been considered. Of course we'd still like to see VST plugins available for Linux, but meanwhile LADSPA programmers have already cooked up some pretty nice plugins themselves...
A somewhat rambling rant:
/.ers when it comes to music and sound software that runs under Linux. I've written a book about the subject, I've maintained a focused Web page on the subject for more than six years, and I've published more than 16 articles on Linux audio issues in the Linux Journal, on the O'Reilly Network, on Freshmeat, and in the Linux Gazette. I've even indicated where you can actually *hear* music made by people using Linux audio software such as SpiralSynth, Pd, Csound, and many other apps. Linux sound support now includes the Hammerfall and Hammerfall DSP cards, the MIDIman Delta series, and a host of consumer-grade cards (including the SBLive and Audigy cards). ALSA brings a very high-quality audio and MIDI API to the kernel sources. Audio performance latencies can be brought down to the under-2msec range by simple kernel patches. Software such as terminatorX, SpiralLoops, Ceres3, and RTCmix may not fit the average Win/Mac user's idea of what constitutes music software, but that doesn't mean it's not usable (i.e., musical) software ! I've said this so many times it's becoming a litany response: Cakewalk and Cubase have been in commercially-supported production since the late 80s, years before Linux even existed. And as Paul Davis (Ardour developer) points out, absolutely *no* source-code models exist for learning how to achieve designs similar to those commercial packages, so almost everything has been learned from scratch. Yes, it takes time to write a professional-quality hard-disk recording system, a lot of time. AGNULA's time-span extends over a 2-year period: Last year at this time Ardour wasn't even usable; this year I'll be lecturing about it to students in Barcelona in June. So what will the situation be like in two more years ?? Okay, I understand clearly when someone says they must have Windows in order to create their music *now*. That's fine, but judgments upon software they have *not* learned to use are irrelevant. So go ahead, stick with Win/Mac: meanwhile we're the ones who are working to bring something better to Linux users who want pro-audio software. Helpful support is always welcome, and you can find links to such groups as the Linux Audio Developers and Linux Audio Users mail lists by following the URL in the title to this post.
;)
I'm consistently amazed at the ignorance of so many
Honestly, reading some of these posts makes me think of what the responses were like when Linus announced his intentions to the world. "Oh, you'll never be able to [favorite Win/Mac activity here] on Linux". Ten years later a lot of those posts read like they were written by some rather short-sighted whingers...
Thank goodness, someone else has read Stapledon ! I've given away many copies of Last & First Men, and everyone who's read it comes back with the same response: "He's awesome !". Yes, he was. IMO, a budding SF writer can pillage a few pages out of Olaf and make himself a career out of the plunder. And I must agree with your assessment: Last & First Men is indeed beyond any description I can give it...
I read a fair amount of SF and try to keep up with the latest scribes. I'm pleased to see so many names I recognize, but it was very disappointing to not see certain others, particularly Robert Reed, Lucius Shepard, and William Sanders. Ah well, maybe they'll produce something more worthy this year. The movie selections were just awful, all kids' stuff (but I gotta say I loved Shrek). And yes, I agree with the fellow who suggested that if you think LOTR was high-achievement literature then you need to get out more.
And when will one of those ceremonies finally give Olaf Stapledon the award he deserves ? I swear, he gets more imagination in three pages than most of our contemporaries get in three volumes.
Btw, if Greg Bear's stuff gets any worse I'm gonna have to write another letter...
I wrote an article about low-latency for audio
/ 17 /low_latency.html
applications under Linux, you can read it here if interested:
http://linux.oreillynet.com/pub/a/linux/2000/11
It's more of a hands-on article, tells you how
to do it yourself with Andrew Morton's patches.
At 5 AM November 18 I walked my dog for an hour out in the unlit countryside in the Rawson/Bluffton area. I saw probably about a hundred shooters within the hour, a very beautiful and wonderful sight. Many thanks to /. for reporting the Leonids: this is the first year I actually got to see the grand display ! FYI, my dog showed no interest at all in the phenomenon.
Ja, I was going to post this info too. There was once a copy of the letter WD sent Igor (published in one of the Stravinsky bios I think), it was pretty raw, concerning the fact that since he was a Russkie they just didn't need his permission. Btw, I believe Stravinsky referred to Fantasia as an imbecility. Right on. Disney makes crappy movies for morons, always has, always will. So stop watching crap. Read more books. Go hear more live music. Stop supporting the RIAA and the MPAA, don't buy their swill anyway. Learn to play an instrument, make your own music.
I still can't get past the fact that it's legal for the local CD store to buy & sell used CDs. The owner (I used to work for the place) makes an incredible amount of money by purchasing used CDs at $4 (tops) and selling them for $8. He keeps *all* the profit, not one penny goes back to the artists, the record labels, or the RIAA. So here's how it goes: it's illegal for me to *share* my CDs but it's legal for him to *sell* them ? Dylan described it best: "Money doesn't talk, it swears".
Just a note to say that one of our local ISPs does the same thing to users known to be carrying viruses on their machines. My Better Half's machine was cut off from the Net, she had no idea why (she's not computer-savvy), and she only found out after calling the ISP's tech support. To their credit, they really helped fix the problem (infected Outlook Express, of course) to get her back on-line, then I finished the job with Norton antivirus software (which had to be updated before it could even find the virus; kakworm, I think). I still have some problems with the ISP's rationale regarding the customer (shut 'em down and wait for their distress call) but I'm not sure they can realistically do anything else. The amount of infection they deal with is impressive, and they don't have the manpower to telephone so many people every week. They are open to a better solution: anyone have one ?
PLEASE: We need your help and advice then ! I'm a member of the group, and I've noted that we need input from graphics/animation/video people. You're right, it's currently heavily biased towards audio. So get on the list, write to Guenter, help us out, please !
...is a book by Jerry Mander that changed my life. I haven't owned a television for more than 20 years. Amazing what I've missed (i.e., avoided): never seen an episode of Dallas, or MTV's RealWorld, or Survivor, and so forth. OTOH, I've learned a lot of things I could never have learned had I wasted my time in front of such a time hog. So I say to anyone who listens: Don't like what you see on TV ? Stop watching it, you're doing absolutely nothing useful. Start actually doing something with that time. Or maybe you have time to waste ? Lucky you. Anyway, the book is available at my local library, maybe it's at yours too. Of course you can always check with the on-line booksellers too. And yes, Mander took on computers in his second book (In The Absence Of The Sacred). Read 'em and learn. While you're at it maybe you should start reading Noam Chomsky's political stuff or Clyde Prestowitz's "Trading Places". At least then you won't wonder why America is the strange place it's become over the last 50 years.
I've had excellent experience with my DSL connection, but it certainly bears out the reports from other users here. I'm two blocks from the switching station, my apartment wiring was fine for the connection, and I did the install myself. Ameritech is my provider: two other DSL services here couldn't compete (duh, Ameritech owns the DSLAMs they had to lease) and went belly-up after only a few months in business. I don't know why those providers thought Ameritech would somehow play fair with their lease pricing, but I felt that the writing was on the wall, and sure enough, they failed. Ameritech charges $40 per month for a 24/7 connection (dynamic IP though), and I've had very few problems with my connection. And btw, much more information on the whole cable/DSL issue can be found at http://www.dslreports.com. So that's my two drachmas...
Check out these Flash sites (they work with the Linux Flash plugin for Netscoop) : http://www.brittle-bones.com/ http://www.once-upon-a-forest.com/ And 'State Of Mind' is a must-see demo: http://skal.planet-d.net/mind/index.html I'd also suggest viewing some of the incredible fractal animations available on the Net.
so don't buy it...learn to listen to better music instead of metallica and 95% of the other pap ladled out to you...don't be so fsck'ing lazy when it comes to listening to music...as mike watt once said, "there are too many liars singing songs these days"...of course the advice is useless when your ears can no longer tell when someone is lying, and mtv and the other culture-dispensers have made damned sure that most of you can't tell sonic shite from shinola...just my two cheerful drachmas, of course... :)
M$ Press once published an interesting book with that title, and Raskin's interview in it was almost the same screed as he's making now. Funny how the book was published in 1986. Jef's just moving right along, isn't he ? Actually, he's a brilliant man. Jaron Lanier is also interviewd in the book. He's a bit stuck these days too. Andy Herzfeld's in there, he's definitely unstuck now... That book is listed as out-of-print at Amazon, and someone has a used copy for $250US. Yikes, I guess I'll keep my copy...
I've been trying all morning to download it from the CodeWeaver site but it isn't found. Is there a download mirror anywhere ? Or is CW updating the package ?? Was gibt ???
The people who shat out Phantom Menace are calling *us* thieves ??? Bone up on your Karl Marx, kids. There's NO WAY the affected industries will willingly give up that fat revenue pipe they've worked so hard to build. As one industry rep has already stated, there's *NOTHING* they won't do to stop anyone in their way. That means that they will invest enormous amounts of money and energies into throwing out your constitutional rights. They don't care. Remember: America has no political agenda. Capitalism is an economic practice, not a political philosophy. Democracy was a political philosophy that got shucked in the USA in favor of amorality and greed. You can fuck over anyone here as long as you can pay the lawyers.