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User: Qbertino

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  1. Grafic Designers 3D on Mac? C4D or Carrara. on Which 3D Rendering Package Do You Recommend? · · Score: 2

    I've looked into tons of 3D packages and worked with a lot of them.

    Maya, Softimage, Houdini, 3DSMax and even Lightwave would be somewhat of an overkill for what you're looking for.
    Most of these Programms have an extensive (and expensive) plugin architecture that usually attribute to the needs of film and video studios, with tons of stuff for movematching, compositing and NLE integration and all that kind of stuff.
    What you want is a package that gets the 3D looking good and the job done hassle free, with a rock-solid renderer integrated. Free packages like Blender can be very good (Blender is), but they pack to much of a steep learning curve and to much fiddling to get the actual pic looking good.

    Cinema 4D (http://www.maxon.de/) quite possibly could be your ticket to ride. It's easy as 123 for n00bs, has one of the fastest and best internal renderers and has a top-notch mac version. And - a very important must-have for grafic designers - it's, afaik, the only package that comes with a set of standard 2D vector format import filters. Read: 2D drawing in Freehand (or whatever), import to Cinema, extrude to 3D model, profit. :-) (SCNR)
    This funcionality costs a fortune with other packages like Realsoft3D or Maya.

    The alternative that could be interessting for you is the new kid on the block "Carrara". Its very easy to use, feature rich, cheap and has a mac version aswell (http://www.eovia.com/). It could very much be the upcoming cinema-killer. I don't no about that must-have 2d vector import though. Check that out before buying.

    Once again: The often recommended Maya, Softimage, Houdini and co. are cool, but actually only for people who do nothing but living on 3D day-in and day-out. Or do you give a shit if you've got HDTV format compatability? Thought so.

  2. Only: You're not quite right. on How Do People Evaluate a Web Site's Credibility? · · Score: 2

    I've seen lots of people indicate that they prefer content to style.

    Your doing the usual mistake here and overlooking a simple fact:

    They way content is delivered (aka "Style") is a subtancial part of the content itself.

    If I write an Essay and print it out in the Font "Impact" you'll know what I mean.
    The, in this case visual, quality and appearance of Data and Information are essential to wether Information can be transported or not.

  3. Shure enough: German geek rooms. on How Looks Your Geekroom? · · Score: 3, Funny

    Those shure are mostly german geek rooms.
    Wooden paneling, old walls, square 9cm pine beams from the "Baumarkt", 230 Volt powerconectors, suse stickers, 'Kaltgeräteanschlußkabel' (sorry, don't know the english word for that :-) )...

    Just then I noticed the '.de' in the URL.
    Bingo.

  4. Entry: Slashdots NoClueOnDesign AntiFlash Zealots on How Do People Evaluate a Web Site's Credibility? · · Score: 2

    If a Site offers what I want I'll use it. If not As far as I know everybody else does the same.

    And to all the freaks here jumping to conclusions about good-looking sites == no quality: You don't know squat what you're talking about.

  5. WTF is credibility??? on How Do People Evaluate a Web Site's Credibility? · · Score: 3, Interesting

    What's this talk about credibility???
    I go for Sites that have quality!
    www.bbspot.com, for example, looks like crap, but the humors great. If I want satire, I go there.
    www.deviantart.com has near to zilch user communication exept from "Hey, great picture!" but the Art just plain rulez. If I want Art, I go there.
    www.xfree.org looks like someone got paid to make an extra crappy website. But if I want to know more about xfree I'll have to take it.
    www.nosepilot.com has exactly zero user interaction but is the ultimate flash-vector-animation joyride. I look at that movie twice a year. It has credibility for being one of the references in flash.
    slashdot.org and journalisim are wide and far between, but they tend to talk about the stuff I'm interessted in - as far as 'picking interesting stuff' goes, I guess /. is credible. No?
    Quit generalizing.
    But yet again, expierience tells me that good looking sites tend to be good.

  6. Yesterday, at the Wince Promotion Con... on Sendo Can't Get Microsoft Source; Ditches Windows · · Score: 2, Funny

    Steve-O: "Yay! WHOOOOHOOOO! Developers, Developers, DEVELOPERS! WHO TOLD YOU TO SIT DOWN?"
    Jules: "Nobody."
    Steve-O: "What did you say?"
    Jules: "I said 'Nobody'. Don't you speak english? What country are you from?"
    Steve-O: "What???"
    Jules: "'What' ain't no country I ever heard of. Do they speak english in 'What'?"
    Steve-O: "What...."
    Jules (draws gun, points at Steve-Os face): "Say 'What' again, SAY 'What' again, I dare you motherfucker, I double-dare you, say 'What' again..."
    Steve-O: "But...but...I just was saying that our Software is sooo sweet and you should dance and sing and not sit down...."
    Jules: "You don't give us the sources, so we're not dancenig our singing or buying no Software from you."
    Steve-O: "What?"
    BLAM!BLAM!BLAM!

  7. Photopaint (CPP) vs. Photoshop (PS) on Corel Cuts 220 Jobs to Save $12M · · Score: 2

    - PhotoPaint. It's easily as good as Photoshop. It does have a rather different UI, but the power is there.

    Well, not quite actually. PS rulez through filters. That's why PS is the industry standard. For good reasons too. CPPs filters just plain suck.

    But I do agree that workspace management and the tools are on par with PS and Corel Script kicks the crap outta PS-automation.

  8. I'm an american german - I wanna laugh too. on Buggy Bugging Backfires On German Police · · Score: 2

    And Kwitchurbelliaken.

    I understood the joke in every fake german word, but what you mean with "And Kwitchurbelliaken." I really couldn't figure out.
    Could you get closer to real german spelling or give a translation of what's that suposed to mean?
    Thanks. :-)

  9. -1, Troll. Didn't get it, eh? on Competiton: Mozilla's 200,000th Bug · · Score: 2

    You didn't get the joke, did you?

  10. What??? on Competiton: Mozilla's 200,000th Bug · · Score: -1, Troll

    What kinda crapsoftware is this open source stuff anyway?
    'zilla has 200K Bugs? Jessus Crickey, I'm switching to IE6 today!
    200000 Bugs. And these OSS people even brag about it...unbelievabe.

  11. At the analysts party... on Microsoft takes on PDF · · Score: 4, Funny

    And now, Ladys and Gentlemen,
    "...a new Microsoft PDF-killer technology..."
    PDF-Killer. Yeah! New Technology! WOOOOP! Developers, developers, developers! Yeah. GIVE IT UP FOR ME! Dig it. WHO TOLD YOU TO SIT DOWN??? *hopping, screeching, headbutting and making satan-finger-sighns*

    Dear Stockbrokers, M$ CEOs and Marketeers, what ever you smoked, don't ever offer me anything of it.
    "PDF-Killer"...I just don't believe all this. Is this just me or the world or /., or whatever?

  12. Abits reputation on Taiwanese Capacitors Leaking, Exploding · · Score: 2

    The BP6 is the coolest Mobo to date, and is that which gained Abit that super-dooper reputation they have (had). The sucker even has 4 (!!) EIDE Controllers on board, so that Debian/Woody won't find my HD that's as far of as 'hdg'.

    There is probably no other Mobo that has been f+cked around with and modified and tweaked more often than the BP6.
    In fact, I know of no other Mobo with actuall third party Fansites (http://www.bp6.com/).

    But I guess I'm gonna double check from now on, if I ever consider buying an Abit again.

  13. Re:Mouse settings? on Moving to Mac Made Easy · · Score: 2

    Nittpicker.
    Macs got all the mousespeeds you need:
    slowest, slow, normal, fast, fastest

    Ain't that enough?

  14. Beautyfull? on Beautiful Case Modding · · Score: 2

    I wouldn't go so far as to call these mods 'beautyfull'. The Furby-modded case shure is cool and shows a stylish consistency thoughout - allthough I don't like the style.
    But the rest? Cutting holes, spraying bizare paint and setting up even more bizare lighting isn't what I call beautyfull.
    In fact, that monitor-mod really is ugly as hell.
    I do admire his craftmanship and clean work though. He must have a good shop in order to get that finished in 6 hours.

  15. One word: Jabber. on AIM And ICQ to be Integrated · · Score: 2

    IM makes sense for telephone independent dating and sceduling. Like Clan matches or teamcommunication ("Could you send me testmail to me@mynewmailserver.net. Thanks.")
    And for that, in the Clan and with my friends, I'm willing to go into the lobbying for the best IM standard out there:
    Jabber.
    Why is it the best?
    1. Decentralized structure.
    2. No AOL/TW, NSA, CIA, Bundesverfassungsschutz (german bad-ass agency) or [fill in your favorite big brother here] in control or in watch over the system.
    3. Fully Asymmetric crypto capable. Ergo: Absolutely no NSA, CIA, etc...
    4. No spam.

    No way am I ever gonna use a proprietary protocol for chatting. .cdr for vectorgraphics is just about all that I can take.

  16. IT Dresscodes and 'fashions' - and some advice on Suit Up Or Ship Out? · · Score: 2

    After my art-diploma I shortly considered studying fashion-design. I didn't , but eventually joined the IT field instead.
    One thing that realy caught my interesst during the dot.com craze is, that managers would actually pick the let's-go-visit-our-customer-this-morning show-of geek by the geekiest of clothing. The weirder the better.
    bizarly dressed geek == top class programmer
    The cliche really sticks, even if not allways and for shure.
    I actually chose to be left alone, but be taken serious when I actually do have something to say. Thus I settle for the supersafe classics for IT-pros, and if you're not shure about how to dress, take this as an advice from someone who knows a little about fashion (and has sewn the one or otehr garment allready):

    1.) Double-black thick jeans that *fit* (find your brand, messurements and model) and are long enough to cover the top of the shoes when standing.

    2.) Top quality sports or leisure shirt. I'm serious. Do not - under any circumstances save money on a shirt if money's gonna get you a good one. Then rather buy less. Cheap shirts allways look and fit like cheap shirts, even if they're new. The last one I got is a thick, blackish-green checkered Ralph Lauren without pockets (leisure shirt?). Cost me 80$ (Sale!). Once it's dry, I just put it on and even when I have to where it for days in a row it still looks like freshly ironed.
    Don't be afraid of non-ceo colors or aparently old-fashioned colors though. You wan't to look good and classical, not spineless. And if it's a good shirt it will look good.

    3.)) Black or very dark kneesocks. Kneesocks is a no-brainer. If I ever catch you in short, tennis, sports or no socks you'll get wrapped into barbed wire and shot into the sun. No kidding.
    Only exeption: Summer heat. Then you wear no socks and dark, moderatly colored Teva Sandals (a modern classic that allways fits in summertime) - but wash your feet and clip those toenails!!!
    Summerheat is also the time for an all-out attack from your geek t-shirt collection.

    T-Shirt fitting rule: You lean, mean and slender? Tight fit. You a little pudgy (or a fatso?): The looser, the better.

    And: T-Shirts only, no sweaters! If it's chilly you get a moderately colored pullover or knittwear jacket. Again: quality pays!

    4.)Shoes, not> sneakers (british: trainers). Black. Or other fitting dark color combos. Dockers/Dock Martins will do fine, but better quality shoes that have a more refined style are better. Again, same goes as with shirts: Don't save money in the wrong place. Afer all, you're gonna wear them all day.

    The fashion statement:
    While this outfit may not be the same as standard ceo-look - your an intelligent programmer after all, no ceo, you can attend any ceo meeting in it with a strait face, and might even get positive attention for your outfit. Add a good blazer (Armani or a not so expensive equivalent maybe) and you can even go to the opera without changing.
    And you still won't look overdresed at an emacs developers convent. :-)

  17. American nextgen fan vs. german nextgen Fan on Next Generation Fans · · Score: 2

    Figure this:

    America:
    Guy 1: "There's no biz like showbiz, let's make a next gen fan."
    Guy 2: "How that?"
    Guy 1: "Oh, we just mold them in see-through plastic and put some cool 'Blinklichter' on. They'll think it german tech and pay a tripple price with no sweat."
    Guy2: "Cool."

    Germany:
    Guy1: "There's nothing like engineering, let's make a next gen fan."
    Guy2: "How that?"
    Guy1: "We get us five engineers, design, engineer and patent a 'Koaxialfliehkraftluftbeschleunigungstechnologie' and there you go."
    Guy2: "No one's gonna buy it. The name's to long and german."
    Guy1: Ok, let's just call it 'Verax' then. They'll probably think it's international and pay the quadrippled price with no sweat."
    Guy2: "Ok."

    Putting the jokes aside I might add:
    Verax 'Lüfter' rule! They cost a little fourtune (the equivalent of 50$ a piece), but they *do* rule. Toss your flimsy see-through Blinklicht-airpusher in the bin. Really.

  18. Just for a minute now... on Galileo's Flyby of Almathea · · Score: 3, Interesting

    ..I just imagined they find an abandoned settlement/station or reactor or something on/in that moon. I mean really. Just imagine.
    That would render all that debating about economy, sadam, snipers and all that stuff irrelevant, wouldn't it?
    Funny to imagine. Things shure would change. For a while that is.

    *sigh* Gotta get that code done... :-)

  19. High End Hogwash on Google Complies with Law, Excludes 'controversial' Sites · · Score: 2

    That Germany as a nation chooses to ignore and violate the right to freedom of speach proves they haven't learned much from Hitler's era, when human rights were completely ignored.

    You're into serious bullshitting territory without knowing squat what you're talking about. I suggest you ease down on standard resentiments about germany.
    What's with the DMCA and the Pop-under Patent? Does that show Americans haven't learned from Hitler or 1984? Would you please be so kind to explain to me why child pr0n should run under 'free speech'? It shouldn't? Well why not? Why is child pr0n exempt, if you're so pesky at defending no-holds barred 'free speech'? And what's that weird US profanity law that passed a few years ago? Hum?
    Oh, it's judged by common sense? Well now, how about that.

    Nazi propaganda is ILLEAGAL in germany. It's THE LAW MADE BY A DEMOCRATICALLY ELECTED GOVERMENT. Get over it.
    And, as I might add, other than in the US, the german gouverment actually DID get most of the votes.
    You call that 'democracy'.
    Aside from Nazi-Propaganda, speech is free, software and algorithims are unpatentable (still, at least) and, guess what, child p0rn is illegal too. Just as in the US. Differnt democratic gouverned countries deal certain issues differently. Is that to complex to deal with?

  20. Re:All you need is one of these: on The Most Dangerous Server Rooms · · Score: 2

    And it is even better than that: this is a French power plug, and French power plugs ALWAYS run on 220 volts. Not 110.

    It looks german to me. That would be 230 Volts. :-)

  21. Re:Debian ain't for n00bz. Get over it. on Progeny Announces Graphical Installer for Debian Woody · · Score: 2

    I'm not the kind to pee my pants for using 'not super-dooper free software'. SuSE has lockin mechanisims up their sleve and slips them in on every distro. Anyone savy enough knows that.
    I didn't switch to Linux for the sole fact that it's free - I did so because it will free me in the long run. I will never again have to learn a new OS just because Mickey$oft or somebody else thinks I should.

    Everyone who buys himself into the 'nixworld with a distro should look forward to become independent one day. Thus rendering him capable of getting usefull stuff done for himself and others rather than shelling out money for crappy EULAware. But he also should be glad to pay money whom money is due for a smooth startup if they offer a good product. It's not that SuSE isn't contributing, y'know?

  22. Linking ain't illegal in germany! on Google Complies with Law, Excludes 'controversial' Sites · · Score: 2

    This is all just preemptive stuff by google.
    You can only get into trouble if you deliberately 'hardlink' a foreign site with illegal stuff (Nazi propaganda, Al Quaida rallying and the likes) and at the same time recommend contents of that link and make them part of your opinion ("sich zu eigen machen").
    If you've got a disclaimer on your site, you can even hardlink it. It is then seen as more of a kind of 'journalistic quote' than anything else.
    No need to go bashing at the 'krauts again. ;-)

  23. Debian ain't for n00bz. Get over it. on Progeny Announces Graphical Installer for Debian Woody · · Score: 2

    That's what you pay distributors for, y'know? Honestly, if you wanna switch from 'doze to Linux, you'll best be of on a money-making distro (or give that money to the Linux geek-friend for him setting up a system for you).
    Yet I don't get the heavy RH bias on /. - seems from the measily 30% of slashdotters using Linux regularly, 90% use RH with no knowlege of what's going on in the rest of the *nix world.
    Anyway, you want a graphic installer? I recommend SuSE and for good reasons too.

  24. M$ only cooks with water too. on Tim Bray on Microsoft Office · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I'm working with that weedy Word 2k at the office. And we use Outlook as a standard communication Platform. Believe me, that their Software often is such a pain isn't that much of a greater plan to rule the world, but more the flat-out ineptitude of delivering products with a conceptual consitency.
    Looking at Frontpain and Word HTML and extrapolating XML from that, tells me they're gonna do just a crappy job as usual and really think they've done a great thing.
    Just like the people sending me source code additions and DB content as Wordfiles. Nothing but simple inemptitude, I say.
    Not that my System of choice, Linux, is that much more consistent. Mind you. With a bazillion Font methods, every single one of them looking crappier than the next and QT, GTK+, Motif, Lesstif, Inbetweentif, Swing, TK and whatnot and none of them following the same Clipboard behaviour it's just as weedy. Only it is under *my* control to change it.
    That way, the bottom line is: With OSS if it doesn't work, there's another way. With M$ it's 'Game Over' with the first "Error in module [fill in random hexcode here]".
    That's the simple difference.

  25. What's behind Germany's dealing with Nazis & C on U.S. Ranks 17th in Freedom of the Press · · Score: 3, Informative

    ...the way they do.

    The Nazi Thing:
    In Germany offering 'Mein Kampf', saying 'Heil Hitler!' wearing Nazi Symbols, denying the Holocaust, calling Auschwitz a lie - aka 'the Auschwitz lie' and discriminating etnic groups or religions can get you a serious legal ass-chewing faster than going topless on a south-eastern US beach (SCNR :-) ).

    As an american pupil, I heard scottish pupils call me "Nazikid" just for the fact that I came to Scottland from Germany. Any german pupil in midgrades or higher would risk being chucked out of school almost instantly donig something like that.

    Today germans in general show no sense of humor what so ever when dealing with anything that has even the faintest impression of being fashitoid or Nazi-like. That has even trippled since Mölln and Rostock/Lichtenhagen. And comparing someone with anything like that is the severest of possible insults. You may have noticed that Herta Däubler-Gmelin resigned from her position two days after she had mentioned George Bush and 'Adolf Nazi' in the same sentence.
    You say one wrong word, or just even make the impression you where going to say it - and there goes your political career.

    The CoS Thing:
    Aside from the fact that, in germany, all religious and etnic groups are equaly protected under the german constitution, Scientology has officially been disqualified as a religious group and has the official status of a 'revenue orientated society' and has a set of sidenotes stuck on the fact that it poses a threat to democracy and the german constitution. Especially as total world domination (TM) is an official central goal of the CoS (sic!).
    And think what you will about the german 'Federal Bureau for Protection of the Constitution' (Bundesverfassungsschutz), it isn't that they officially anounce they're putting an organization under observation every odd month. Like they did with the CoS. Usually only sympathisants of groups that fly planes into skyscrapers get that sort of attention. That's all one needs to know about the CoS to know enough.
    And speaking of religious freedom: German Hare-Krishnas have officially applied for room and curriculum-time for religious classes (which are attended voluntarily of course) in Schools throughout Berlin jurisdiction. It was granted. Do you have that kind of freedom in the U.S.?
    So, don't jump to conclusions before you know the whole story.

    Bottom Line: If you want to know what trouble feels like, go to Berlin, stand at the 'Brandenburger Tor' wearing a CoS T-Shirt and yell 'Heil Hitler!' :-)