"Bullshit. FH is intuitive BECAUSE IT WAS DESIGNED THAT WAY."
Please. Don't give me this. I like AI better, so I'd say we just have a difference of opinion. Save your caps and cursing.
I agree on the multiple pages criticism... I've been suggesting that feature on AI for years.
Quark? I detest them as much as you. I remember using version 3.35... Terrible customer service, astronomical upgrade prices, etc. The "upgrade" from 3.32 to 3.35 (more of a bug fix) was almost as much as a new license. They had the corner on the market, and they took advantage of their customers. I'm glad InDesign is quickly replacing it.
No offense, but what has Macromedia actually produced themselves instead of buying it from somewhere else? Freehand was from Aldus (they had a magazine that was GREAT), Flash is from FutureSplash... Director was cool back in the day, but it's become irrelevant. It's unfortunate that they've been eaten up by Adobe, but it was obvious something had to happen.
But back to the Aldus Freehand thought... Adobe swallowed up Aldus but sold off Freehand to Macromedia. They didn't want it then, maybe they don't want it now. There's hope.
Let's not be so negative. I think Adobe will incorporate a lot of the features you and others loved so much about FH into AI.
I used to use both AI and FH all of the time. They're both vector drawing programs with comparable features and have both been in development for a long time. The concepts are the same, you just have to learn a new interface. You've already done the hard part (learning the concepts). FH is intuitive cuz you know it better. Don't even try to tell me that the freeware apps are even close to either AI or FH. If there is one, I'll drop FH and AI instantly.
Sidenote: I don't know if I can consider a program that crashes twice a day a "better application".
Hmmm. I don't want to get religious about software (it's just software!), but the reason I don't use Corel software is how bloated and dirty their files are. I used to work in pre-press, and AI and FH files came in beautifully. Coreldraw files required a lot of cleanup. It's not really a big deal if you're just outputting to a home printer, but if you're doing commercial output, I'd consider it. I do admit it's been a while since that job (college), so maybe they fixed it.
On the flipside, Corel has a lot of tools that AI and FH need to get. Nice functionality, and the user interface is decent. Really as long as it's a competent package, it'll do the job whether you choose AI, FH, or CD. The concepts are the same, just the specific way to do it is different. Not that hard to switch, honestly.
P.S. I have to admit that when I first saw the Coreldraw packaging back in the day, I couldn't take it seriously. I know you can't judge a book by its cover, but in this situation it's a tool for graphic designers... Shouldn't the box be pretty? If the package of a design tool doesn't look good, what does that say about the tool? Sounds silly but I really do think that the rainbow hot air balloon and the other really, really ugly clip art they used was a detriment to Corel. It's better now, but man... shiver! Whoever designed those packages should be shot.
Re:Single video card not going to cut it?
on
SLI Primer
·
· Score: 1
How is this insightful? The OP states, "It looks like one video card is not going to cut it any more, at least for the hardcore gamers out there".
What's wrong with Javascript, rasterized text, or tables? Javascript is used quite successfully on many, many sites. Rasterized text, as long as an alt attribute is supplied, is fine, and there are things that are just plain easier to do with rasterized text. And tables are a tried and true way of doing layouts... sure the more contemporary thing to do is to use CSS positioning, but that doesn't make tables invalid.
Two things: if you're looking for artistic advice, always look at the website listed under their name. Particularly if you don't like what they have on their site, take their advice with a grain of salt.
Second point: I don't really mind the first two steps (although there are some copyright issues), but I do have an issue with step three. "Colorise the new layer with all your knowledge of gradients, textures, etc."... that's horrible advice. You want to make something look shitty? Go crazy with gradients, textures, and filters.
Simplicity is always the better way to go if you're not artistically inclined.
Of all the advice I've read, the parent gives the best. Seriously, listen to a designers advice, not another programmer turned "artist". No offense, but programmers usually don't make the best designers (rather unsophisticated). It's the same as asking an artist who dabbles in programming for software engineering advice. I'm speaking in general terms (I've met some great designer-programmers and programmer-artists), so save your flames.:D
To add to the parents advice, I'd say to look at fashion magazines for color schemes. Also, pick up a book on graphic design.
Last piece of advice: don't be too literal when designing icons... usually an icon that is too literal is also rather busy and hard to understand. It seems that the tendency is to take a metaphor and tobrun with it. Fight the urge and find a simpler way to represent the same idea.
I think you're thinking of the system from Actuality. Or at least I was thinking of them when I saw this.;)
Re:Company's brand way too strong
on
Dell CEO Tells All
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
$550 versus $1400 for a 1.8 GHz, 14" LCD, 512 MB RAM laptop? The difference in price looks a little hard to believe. Did you check to see if that's a barebones system on Pricewatch? I clicked on quite a few of the links that were listed under "Windows Installed", and most of them were configurator pages (where you still had to pay extra for Windows). $550 was the base price, and it was *possible* to configure the machine as you listed, but they were not selling the configuration you stated for that price.
Don't get me wrong... I've seen plenty of crapola Dell laptops, but I think you didn't check out the actual deals thoroughly enough. I will say that the ads were definitely misleading. It's okay, you're still an intern.;)
It's free... but the Orange Book covers much more. I just bought the Orange Book because of that promotion on the front page (35% off). $60 is a little rich.:D
I don't know if it's better or worse, just that the ARB chose a different method.
I agree with the other posters that the GLSL way could help with optimizations. However, given the problems I've had with ATI's drivers, I'm more than a little worried about the quality of ATI's shader compilation.:P
Just out of curiosity, does anybody think that the extra effort to do a driver with GLSL support will affect how often we'll see drivers for platforms other than Windows? I'm thinking back to when it was hard to find full OpenGL drivers (ugh miniGL).
As much as I like Firefox and the other browsers, I haven't seen much innovation from any of them. They're mostly what IE *should* have been... Reimplementations of what we've already seen (like this new plug-in architecture).
Does anybody else remember Apple's Project X (aka Hot Sauce)? Does anybody else feel like the Web has gotten a little stale? Why is Web 3d so elusive?
A little off-topic, but has anybody wondered why MS stopped IE development? They are sneaky bastards, and I don't think they would let the other browsers truly overtake the marketshare they fought Netscape over without a fight. Is it possible they've been working on a new browser for Longhorn? I wouldn't put it past them.:|
I'm fortunate in that I'm a decent programmer and a pretty good artist... this has opened many doors for me. What do other/. readers think about more cross disciplinary students? I know there will always be a place for pure programmers, but I also hope to see more programmer-minded people in different fields. Will the declining enrollment in SE/EE possibly result in this trend?
I've never seen power cables under the seats of an airplane unless it's an international flight. So if you mostly travel on domestic flights, don't buy an airplane power adapter.
I talked to Bill Buxton (chief scientist at Alias), and he basically told me that the effort it would take to port Studio to the Mac wouldn't be worth it. Considering how small Studio's market is, I don't doubt that. Just guessing here, but seeing all of the weird interface crap in Studio, I'm thinking that it'd take longer than two months to port that baby to Mac.:|
If Apple IS the unnamed party, I hope they keep the PC version of Alias alive. BTW, my Windows box runs Studio faster than the IRIX boxes at work.
Right now I'm looking for a new laptop, and it occured to me that it'd be great if Knoppix came with SPECviewperf so it could do benchmarks while you're shopping.
I like the Vanguard aluminum cases personally. They're not as expensive as a Haliburton, and they look and function the same. Look around, you'll see these for around $50-80 (cheap for a hard case).
http://shop.store.yahoo.com/sjgreatdeals101/comn ot cas.html
I'd love to see a smaller DVD. I have a Teac MP3 player that uses those small 3" CD-R's (holds around 180 megs). It'd be great if those had the same data density as a DVD (with Ogg's smaller size, you could hold quite a few songs). However, while it'd be easy to produce, I think it'd cut into CD-R sales, so we won't see them anytime soon.
Uh... laser cutters have been around for years (more like decades) and are limited in what they can cut. Waterjet cutters on the other hand can cut metal (titanium even!).
Check here (MIT) for a few resources on laser cutting and the feasibility of producing laser cutters at a cost comparable to injet printers.
Not a big deal... just know that it's not the first laser cutter.
Slashdot Mirror
"Bullshit. FH is intuitive BECAUSE IT WAS DESIGNED THAT WAY."
Please. Don't give me this. I like AI better, so I'd say we just have a difference of opinion. Save your caps and cursing.
I agree on the multiple pages criticism... I've been suggesting that feature on AI for years.
Quark? I detest them as much as you. I remember using version 3.35... Terrible customer service, astronomical upgrade prices, etc. The "upgrade" from 3.32 to 3.35 (more of a bug fix) was almost as much as a new license. They had the corner on the market, and they took advantage of their customers. I'm glad InDesign is quickly replacing it.
No offense, but what has Macromedia actually produced themselves instead of buying it from somewhere else? Freehand was from Aldus (they had a magazine that was GREAT), Flash is from FutureSplash... Director was cool back in the day, but it's become irrelevant. It's unfortunate that they've been eaten up by Adobe, but it was obvious something had to happen.
But back to the Aldus Freehand thought... Adobe swallowed up Aldus but sold off Freehand to Macromedia. They didn't want it then, maybe they don't want it now. There's hope.
Let's not be so negative. I think Adobe will incorporate a lot of the features you and others loved so much about FH into AI.
I used to use both AI and FH all of the time. They're both vector drawing programs with comparable features and have both been in development for a long time. The concepts are the same, you just have to learn a new interface. You've already done the hard part (learning the concepts). FH is intuitive cuz you know it better. Don't even try to tell me that the freeware apps are even close to either AI or FH. If there is one, I'll drop FH and AI instantly.
Sidenote: I don't know if I can consider a program that crashes twice a day a "better application".
Hmmm. I don't want to get religious about software (it's just software!), but the reason I don't use Corel software is how bloated and dirty their files are. I used to work in pre-press, and AI and FH files came in beautifully. Coreldraw files required a lot of cleanup. It's not really a big deal if you're just outputting to a home printer, but if you're doing commercial output, I'd consider it. I do admit it's been a while since that job (college), so maybe they fixed it.
On the flipside, Corel has a lot of tools that AI and FH need to get. Nice functionality, and the user interface is decent. Really as long as it's a competent package, it'll do the job whether you choose AI, FH, or CD. The concepts are the same, just the specific way to do it is different. Not that hard to switch, honestly.
P.S. I have to admit that when I first saw the Coreldraw packaging back in the day, I couldn't take it seriously. I know you can't judge a book by its cover, but in this situation it's a tool for graphic designers... Shouldn't the box be pretty? If the package of a design tool doesn't look good, what does that say about the tool? Sounds silly but I really do think that the rainbow hot air balloon and the other really, really ugly clip art they used was a detriment to Corel. It's better now, but man... shiver! Whoever designed those packages should be shot.
How is this insightful? The OP states, "It looks like one video card is not going to cut it any more, at least for the hardcore gamers out there".
The cube style form factor is pretty cool... I never liked the vertical style.
Yep
What's wrong with Javascript, rasterized text, or tables? Javascript is used quite successfully on many, many sites. Rasterized text, as long as an alt attribute is supplied, is fine, and there are things that are just plain easier to do with rasterized text. And tables are a tried and true way of doing layouts... sure the more contemporary thing to do is to use CSS positioning, but that doesn't make tables invalid.
;)
Not everybody uses Lynx.
Two things: if you're looking for artistic advice, always look at the website listed under their name. Particularly if you don't like what they have on their site, take their advice with a grain of salt.
Second point: I don't really mind the first two steps (although there are some copyright issues), but I do have an issue with step three. "Colorise the new layer with all your knowledge of gradients, textures, etc."... that's horrible advice. You want to make something look shitty? Go crazy with gradients, textures, and filters.
Simplicity is always the better way to go if you're not artistically inclined.
Of all the advice I've read, the parent gives the best. Seriously, listen to a designers advice, not another programmer turned "artist". No offense, but programmers usually don't make the best designers (rather unsophisticated). It's the same as asking an artist who dabbles in programming for software engineering advice. I'm speaking in general terms (I've met some great designer-programmers and programmer-artists), so save your flames. :D
To add to the parents advice, I'd say to look at fashion magazines for color schemes. Also, pick up a book on graphic design.
Last piece of advice: don't be too literal when designing icons... usually an icon that is too literal is also rather busy and hard to understand. It seems that the tendency is to take a metaphor and tobrun with it. Fight the urge and find a simpler way to represent the same idea.
I think you're thinking of the system from Actuality. Or at least I was thinking of them when I saw this. ;)
$550 versus $1400 for a 1.8 GHz, 14" LCD, 512 MB RAM laptop? The difference in price looks a little hard to believe. Did you check to see if that's a barebones system on Pricewatch? I clicked on quite a few of the links that were listed under "Windows Installed", and most of them were configurator pages (where you still had to pay extra for Windows). $550 was the base price, and it was *possible* to configure the machine as you listed, but they were not selling the configuration you stated for that price.
;)
Don't get me wrong... I've seen plenty of crapola Dell laptops, but I think you didn't check out the actual deals thoroughly enough. I will say that the ads were definitely misleading. It's okay, you're still an intern.
It's free... but the Orange Book covers much more. I just bought the Orange Book because of that promotion on the front page (35% off). $60 is a little rich. :D
I don't know if it's better or worse, just that the ARB chose a different method.
:P
I agree with the other posters that the GLSL way could help with optimizations. However, given the problems I've had with ATI's drivers, I'm more than a little worried about the quality of ATI's shader compilation.
Just out of curiosity, does anybody think that the extra effort to do a driver with GLSL support will affect how often we'll see drivers for platforms other than Windows? I'm thinking back to when it was hard to find full OpenGL drivers (ugh miniGL).
Are you kidding me? C# is a Microsoft invention, and Cg is the Nvidia language.
Maybe this is silly, but isn't it possible that sometimes the mistakes add to the replay value?
Just a thought... it makes me want to go back and see it again.
As much as I like Firefox and the other browsers, I haven't seen much innovation from any of them. They're mostly what IE *should* have been... Reimplementations of what we've already seen (like this new plug-in architecture).
:|
Does anybody else remember Apple's Project X (aka Hot Sauce)? Does anybody else feel like the Web has gotten a little stale? Why is Web 3d so elusive?
A little off-topic, but has anybody wondered why MS stopped IE development? They are sneaky bastards, and I don't think they would let the other browsers truly overtake the marketshare they fought Netscape over without a fight. Is it possible they've been working on a new browser for Longhorn? I wouldn't put it past them.
It exists. Check out what ZBrush is doing.
Also, I believe ATI has a tool to do this as well.
It exists. Check out what ZBrush is doing.
Also, I believe ATI has a tool to do this as well.
I'm fortunate in that I'm a decent programmer and a pretty good artist... this has opened many doors for me. What do other /. readers think about more cross disciplinary students? I know there will always be a place for pure programmers, but I also hope to see more programmer-minded people in different fields. Will the declining enrollment in SE/EE possibly result in this trend?
I've never seen power cables under the seats of an airplane unless it's an international flight. So if you mostly travel on domestic flights, don't buy an airplane power adapter.
I talked to Bill Buxton (chief scientist at Alias), and he basically told me that the effort it would take to port Studio to the Mac wouldn't be worth it. Considering how small Studio's market is, I don't doubt that. Just guessing here, but seeing all of the weird interface crap in Studio, I'm thinking that it'd take longer than two months to port that baby to Mac. :|
If Apple IS the unnamed party, I hope they keep the PC version of Alias alive. BTW, my Windows box runs Studio faster than the IRIX boxes at work.
Right now I'm looking for a new laptop, and it occured to me that it'd be great if Knoppix came with SPECviewperf so it could do benchmarks while you're shopping.
I like the Vanguard aluminum cases personally. They're not as expensive as a Haliburton, and they look and function the same. Look around, you'll see these for around $50-80 (cheap for a hard case).
n ot cas.html
http://shop.store.yahoo.com/sjgreatdeals101/com
I haven't seen one. :(
I'd love to see a smaller DVD. I have a Teac MP3 player that uses those small 3" CD-R's (holds around 180 megs). It'd be great if those had the same data density as a DVD (with Ogg's smaller size, you could hold quite a few songs). However, while it'd be easy to produce, I think it'd cut into CD-R sales, so we won't see them anytime soon.
Uh... laser cutters have been around for years (more like decades) and are limited in what they can cut. Waterjet cutters on the other hand can cut metal (titanium even!).
Check here (MIT) for a few resources on laser cutting and the feasibility of producing laser cutters at a cost comparable to injet printers.
Not a big deal... just know that it's not the first laser cutter.