I recall a few years ago reading an article in Keyboard about sequencer timing accuracy. One of the suggestions they made for Windows was to close EVERYTHING else -- no screensaver, no browser in the background, basically nothing but the sequencer should be running. They also suggested turning off unused MIDI channels during playback. The idea was to give as much processor time as possible to the sequencer and the channels it is really playing.
Failing that, I might borrow a friend's drum machine, dump the drum track to that, and set it to clock-sync to my sequencer.
Apologies if you've already tried all this. Just thought it might help.
Thanks for the info. I was under the impression that the "intelligent mode" of the MPU-401 is what handles the SMPTE/MTC/MIDI clock signals. If it's available through the existing driver interfaces, then I'm a little more optimistic.
Is there a mailing list or site for more information on SoftWerk? I'd be really interested in anything that would listen to the MIDI clock on my old Akai HD recorder.
With all due respect, even MPU-401 support for Linux is not 100%. It's fine if you want your Linux box to always be your clock source but, in the real world, that's just not always the case. People using standalone digital recorders, for example, may want the recorder to be the clock source.
When I downloaded Jazz++, I found that it came with a code patch to allow my MPU-401 to operate in Intelligent mode (external sync). Unfortunately, the patch did not compile on my system. A quick check of the code led me to believe that it was written for older libraries. I don't think anyone is maintaining it.
Sorry, but the vast majority of Linux "audio" software seems targeted at guys with semi-pro soundcards who want to goof around with sequencers and maybe a loop or two. FWIW, BeOS, with all it's "media OS" claims, is in the same boat. (Yes, I know Logic is "coming". Where is it now?)
The market for professional audio software is small enough without targeting an operating system that is still very much in the minority. This kind of software is very time-consuming and difficult to write (I *have* considered it). That's why even the Windows versions cost so much. There's also a culture barrier -- Linux users are accustomed to Free Software while Steinberg, Logic Audio, etc. are most definitely trying to get every dime they can from their products.
192R, 192G, 192B also matches the default grey in Windows.
In hex, it translates to C0C0C0. "#C0C0C0" if you're trying to set the color in HTML.
I only mention it because, at one point, I also had to figure it out. Of course, being a young-un, I just sampled it into one of them fancy newfangled graphics programs. Didn't have to walk 5 miles uphill to code on a 50-pound keyboard missing a few keycaps or any of that stuff. Yep, we sure have it easy these days.:)
This was actually the topic of an "Ask Slashdot" some time back. If I wasn't lazy, I'd dig up the URL.
I'm all for XML Config files and any software I write in the future that requires a config file will most likely use an XML format. Of course, this will make me an oddball for a while.
The problem with XML Configs on Linux and Unix in general is that the platform philosophy is to have multiple small reliable tools. It works, but each of the tools often requires its own configuration file. In the case of Linux, the maintainers of these tools are often working for free on their own time. First, they have to be motivated to convert their home-grown file parsers to XML (or link to xmllib). Then, they have to define a grammar for the configuration file. With XML, defining a good grammar is most of the battle.
For developers who have become accustomed to "linefeed, parse, repeat", converting to XML is time that could be spent on bugfixes or new features.
Also, if Apache, VIM, emacs, sendmail, and ftpd are all using XML files with different grammars, what has improved? We've traded one format for another, but not really improved consistency.
And if you think new users are scared of space-and-linefeed delimited config files, wait until you show them tagged config files with less than/greater than signs all over the place! For XML to truly make configuration easier, it will require a graphical general-purpose configuration tool that reads a DTD for the config file and presents the configuration in a point-and-drool framework.
The good news is that this can been done. I really hope it happens.
It's interesting this topic comes up today. I just read an editorial in Newsweek suggesting that internet sales should be taxed. For what it's worth, I have written my senator regarding the issue.
I see some very real flaws in the argument that not taxing internet sales amounts to an unfair subsidy. First, it seems based in the wrong-headed assumption that everything should be taxed. It is an extension of the absurd notion that wealth belongs to the government and the government "allows" people to gain wealth. This is just backwards. People could gain wealth just fine without government. However, governments usually gain wealth by taking it from their population.
Second, let's talk about taxing entities. Do I have to pay California sales tax if I order a NIC from a company in California? If so, why don't I just go with a different company in a less-taxed state? If the states set and collect internet sales tax, we will undoubtedly have a few states which will NOT tax goods sold over the internet. They will do this to spur growth of technology companies in their states. Smart companies will incorporate and locate in those states and internet-based business in the other states will dry up. Ever wonder why credit card companies are concentrated in a handful of states? It's because the laws in those states are favorable to them.
So, if there is no state internet sales tax, then it should be federal, right? The federal government could just collect the tax and give the money back to the states, right? Wrong. This gives an unfair advantage to brick-and-mortar businesses in states which do not impose a sales tax. Wasn't this all about fairness?
Well, maybe the federal government could just keep the money. The problem here is that the federal government is not in the sales tax business. Nobody wants it in that business -- not the states and certainly not us, the loyal subjects. It might pass if it was offset by a decrease in income tax, but Congress has this neat way of forgetting about tax cuts. We will end up with a net increase in taxes. I guarantee it.
The argument for internet sales tax keeps repeating the word "fairness" but since when has business been fair? It's not fair that companies who have yet to show a profit get to go public with huge market caps. It's not fair that the infrastructure costs for an internet business amount to a few servers, software, and bandwidth.
"Fairness" has nothing to do with it. It's about money. It's about government getting a slice of a real free market. It's about preserving for nostalgia your aunt and uncle's general store.
It's not fair that your delivery service switched to trucks when everyone else was using horses and buggies either. Business is not fair. Deal with it or get out. It's time for your aunt and uncle's general store to pony up for some server space and SSL.
And no, it's not fair that brick-and-mortar businesses have to deal with state sales tax hassles. However, the solution is to ease their burden, not put the same burden on others.
Your statement that we're all different is wonderfully tolerant and inclusive. The problem is that, as a whole, slashdot isn't tolerant and inclusive.
I see the group mentality of slashdot as somewhat closed minded, sometimes insulting, and very often arrogant. Go back and read the article on running Linux on an S/390. One of the first and most highly-rated posts basically said nothing more than, "I think mainframes are obsolete." A huge portion of the article explained the amazing things that modern mainframes can do and why they are still relevant.
Nevertheless, someone who probably has no experience with modern mainframes -- whose entire computer world consists of x86 boxes with maybe the odd Sparc or Alpha -- runs as high as a 4 for spouting a pretty uninformed opinion that happens to be shared by a lot of "people like us". Personally, I don't want my misconceptions reinforced. I want them blown away. At their best, the posters and editors on Slashdot can do this.
It's silly for me to say, "I agree Slashdot's editors can post whatever they want (shareholders permitting:P )." That fact is self-evident. That's why I also think whining about "This isn't News for Nerds" is kind of pointless.
But I think that Slashdot, both its editors and participants, needs a big dose of criticism now and then. The group-think and self-congratulating gets pretty thick around here sometimes. Rob, JonKatz, and Co. *are* capable of posting articles that could rightly be considered "offtopic", "flamebait", or "redundant" and I don't see the harm in pointing out when it happens.
C'mon wimps! Is that the best you can do? I'm laughing in your humorless, petrified, grits-covered, moderating faces.
What is that!? A FreeBSD pin!!?? ON YOUR UNIFORM!!!???
Just you wait.... I won't be the last. Even if you crush my karma with your dogma; even if you cancel my login, there will be others. Foogle has already started to turn. I am convinced that Signal 11 will someday turn. In fact, I believe that Signal 11 is already a troll who is just building up unstoppable karma for THE DAY OF RECKONING.
As Mariah Carey sang so eloquently in "The Matrix", "My Heart Will Go On."
Someday, perhaps even Bruce Perens will submit a down-moderated post? WHAT WILL YOU DO THEN? Will it be the end of everything you've believed in? Will it be the end of all you hold dear? Will you have to go back to actually WRITING CODE instead of sharing your feelings on what it means to be a geek?
I know some of you long-time slashduh readers will be frightened by my tone. Fear not. I'm still the same warm, fuzzy, lovable DonkPunch. You can still order plush DonkPunch toys from the Copyleft website.
But the humorless moderators have wronged me and today I must dwell in the land of the trolls. You know what? It's kind of nice here! These guys have cable and a VERY nice cappucino machine. Best of all, they actually WRITE CODE instead of whining for big companies to do the work for them. If Trollmastah, GritsBoy, and NakedAndPetrifiedMan don't mind, I might stay awhile.
AAAALLLLLLRIIIIGHT! My first down-moderation! I LOVE IT!
BRING IT ON! I've got 100+ Karma to burn and it STARTS TODAY!
Let the word go out to both moderators and trolls alike, TODAY DONKPUNCH IS OFFICIALLY ON THE DARK SIDE! I have become a moderator's worst freakin' nightmare -- an over-caffeinated offtopic troll with a default 2!
Why did this have to happen? Where did things go wrong? Was I forced into it? Did the down-moderation destroy my self-esteem? Am I just a burnout? Is my unique humor and insight unappreciated by my peers in my time? Will I be remembered as a misunderstood genius when I'm gone?
I predict a new article: "Ask Slashdot: DonkPunch -- when good posters go bad. How can we keep this from happening again?"
E! News and VH-1 will feature a special "Behind The Dot" episode: "The Rise And Fall of DonkPunch's Karma" They'll show scenes of me posting pro-Linux suckup posts to desperately get my Karma back up to 50 or so. All of my posts will be at least 200 lines long, requiring a "Read the Rest of This Comment" link.
Ye Gods, Moderators, don't you see what you've done? You've created a monster! You've banished me to the land of the trolls AND I LIKE IT HERE! Seems to me the trolls have a heck of a lot more fun on slashduh anyway.
Now you will pay the price for your lack of vision!
I know that they're hyped to no end as a sports supplement, but MetRx bars are the closest thing I've found to Human Chow.
They meet all of your criteria (don't spoil, easy to carry, no prep, high nutritional value). They also have the distinct advantage of not making your butt too wide for your chair anymore (unlike pizza, Ramen, etc.)
Personally, I've always thought MetRx bars come closer to being "geek food" than Ramen noodles, pizza, burritos, or Doritos. They're much healthier and you can eat them at the keyboard. Heck, they're even labeled "Engineered Food".
A relative of mine is an attorney. We had a real interesting discussion last Thanksgiving. I enlightened him on, "...this whole Linux thing." He clued me in on things to watch out for in IP law -- when to talk to an attorney, etc.
He also said that there is a huge demand for attorneys who also have technical certification. Certified engineers with law degrees are highly sought-after these days. The field of IP law is also growing.
Slashdot Mirror
I recall a few years ago reading an article in Keyboard about sequencer timing accuracy. One of the suggestions they made for Windows was to close EVERYTHING else -- no screensaver, no browser in the background, basically nothing but the sequencer should be running. They also suggested turning off unused MIDI channels during playback. The idea was to give as much processor time as possible to the sequencer and the channels it is really playing.
Failing that, I might borrow a friend's drum machine, dump the drum track to that, and set it to clock-sync to my sequencer.
Apologies if you've already tried all this. Just thought it might help.
Thanks for the info. I was under the impression that the "intelligent mode" of the MPU-401 is what handles the SMPTE/MTC/MIDI clock signals. If it's available through the existing driver interfaces, then I'm a little more optimistic.
Is there a mailing list or site for more information on SoftWerk? I'd be really interested in anything that would listen to the MIDI clock on my old Akai HD recorder.
With all due respect, even MPU-401 support for Linux is not 100%. It's fine if you want your Linux box to always be your clock source but, in the real world, that's just not always the case. People using standalone digital recorders, for example, may want the recorder to be the clock source.
When I downloaded Jazz++, I found that it came with a code patch to allow my MPU-401 to operate in Intelligent mode (external sync). Unfortunately, the patch did not compile on my system. A quick check of the code led me to believe that it was written for older libraries. I don't think anyone is maintaining it.
Sorry, but the vast majority of Linux "audio" software seems targeted at guys with semi-pro soundcards who want to goof around with sequencers and maybe a loop or two. FWIW, BeOS, with all it's "media OS" claims, is in the same boat. (Yes, I know Logic is "coming". Where is it now?)
The market for professional audio software is small enough without targeting an operating system that is still very much in the minority. This kind of software is very time-consuming and difficult to write (I *have* considered it). That's why even the Windows versions cost so much. There's also a culture barrier -- Linux users are accustomed to Free Software while Steinberg, Logic Audio, etc. are most definitely trying to get every dime they can from their products.
It might cause her to walk in circles.
I wonder what my file looks like.
It's probably white, black, and dark-green, Rob.
*rimshot!*
New options for GNU software:
man -pottymouth foo
foo --f___inghelp
That's the most wheels off comment I've ever seen on Slashdot. Are you, perchance, in Dallas, Big Sky Country, or the Town of the Cow?
Stay hard.
I was about to suggest a picure of Bob Dobbs, but I like your idea better.
192R, 192G, 192B also matches the default grey in Windows.
:)
In hex, it translates to C0C0C0. "#C0C0C0" if you're trying to set the color in HTML.
I only mention it because, at one point, I also had to figure it out. Of course, being a young-un, I just sampled it into one of them fancy newfangled graphics programs. Didn't have to walk 5 miles uphill to code on a 50-pound keyboard missing a few keycaps or any of that stuff. Yep, we sure have it easy these days.
It is truely encouraging to know that there is a group of people out there with more enlightenment then your average 6 o'clock news show.
Hell, if the 6 o'clock news is your standard, you can beat that hanging around most day care centers.
Project "Re-enter Oz" failed due to a NASA miscalculation. While urban legend contends that it was an english-to-metric error, it wasn't.
Actually, NASA forgot that a multi-ton satellite re-entering earth's atmosphere in the southern hemisphere spins COUNTERclockwise.
Today's fonts were brought to you by the letter "A". :)
This was actually the topic of an "Ask Slashdot" some time back. If I wasn't lazy, I'd dig up the URL.
I'm all for XML Config files and any software I write in the future that requires a config file will most likely use an XML format. Of course, this will make me an oddball for a while.
The problem with XML Configs on Linux and Unix in general is that the platform philosophy is to have multiple small reliable tools. It works, but each of the tools often requires its own configuration file. In the case of Linux, the maintainers of these tools are often working for free on their own time. First, they have to be motivated to convert their home-grown file parsers to XML (or link to xmllib). Then, they have to define a grammar for the configuration file. With XML, defining a good grammar is most of the battle.
For developers who have become accustomed to "linefeed, parse, repeat", converting to XML is time that could be spent on bugfixes or new features.
Also, if Apache, VIM, emacs, sendmail, and ftpd are all using XML files with different grammars, what has improved? We've traded one format for another, but not really improved consistency.
And if you think new users are scared of space-and-linefeed delimited config files, wait until you show them tagged config files with less than/greater than signs all over the place! For XML to truly make configuration easier, it will require a graphical general-purpose configuration tool that reads a DTD for the config file and presents the configuration in a point-and-drool framework.
The good news is that this can been done. I really hope it happens.
It's interesting this topic comes up today. I just read an editorial in Newsweek suggesting that internet sales should be taxed. For what it's worth, I have written my senator regarding the issue.
I see some very real flaws in the argument that not taxing internet sales amounts to an unfair subsidy. First, it seems based in the wrong-headed assumption that everything should be taxed. It is an extension of the absurd notion that wealth belongs to the government and the government "allows" people to gain wealth. This is just backwards. People could gain wealth just fine without government. However, governments usually gain wealth by taking it from their population.
Second, let's talk about taxing entities. Do I have to pay California sales tax if I order a NIC from a company in California? If so, why don't I just go with a different company in a less-taxed state? If the states set and collect internet sales tax, we will undoubtedly have a few states which will NOT tax goods sold over the internet. They will do this to spur growth of technology companies in their states. Smart companies will incorporate and locate in those states and internet-based business in the other states will dry up. Ever wonder why credit card companies are concentrated in a handful of states? It's because the laws in those states are favorable to them.
So, if there is no state internet sales tax, then it should be federal, right? The federal government could just collect the tax and give the money back to the states, right? Wrong. This gives an unfair advantage to brick-and-mortar businesses in states which do not impose a sales tax. Wasn't this all about fairness?
Well, maybe the federal government could just keep the money. The problem here is that the federal government is not in the sales tax business. Nobody wants it in that business -- not the states and certainly not us, the loyal subjects. It might pass if it was offset by a decrease in income tax, but Congress has this neat way of forgetting about tax cuts. We will end up with a net increase in taxes. I guarantee it.
The argument for internet sales tax keeps repeating the word "fairness" but since when has business been fair? It's not fair that companies who have yet to show a profit get to go public with huge market caps. It's not fair that the infrastructure costs for an internet business amount to a few servers, software, and bandwidth.
"Fairness" has nothing to do with it. It's about money. It's about government getting a slice of a real free market. It's about preserving for nostalgia your aunt and uncle's general store.
It's not fair that your delivery service switched to trucks when everyone else was using horses and buggies either. Business is not fair. Deal with it or get out. It's time for your aunt and uncle's general store to pony up for some server space and SSL.
And no, it's not fair that brick-and-mortar businesses have to deal with state sales tax hassles. However, the solution is to ease their burden, not put the same burden on others.
Who are the "people like us" on this site?
:P )." That fact is self-evident. That's why I also think whining about "This isn't News for Nerds" is kind of pointless.
Your statement that we're all different is wonderfully tolerant and inclusive. The problem is that, as a whole, slashdot isn't tolerant and inclusive.
I see the group mentality of slashdot as somewhat closed minded, sometimes insulting, and very often arrogant. Go back and read the article on running Linux on an S/390. One of the first and most highly-rated posts basically said nothing more than, "I think mainframes are obsolete." A huge portion of the article explained the amazing things that modern mainframes can do and why they are still relevant.
Nevertheless, someone who probably has no experience with modern mainframes -- whose entire computer world consists of x86 boxes with maybe the odd Sparc or Alpha -- runs as high as a 4 for spouting a pretty uninformed opinion that happens to be shared by a lot of "people like us". Personally, I don't want my misconceptions reinforced. I want them blown away. At their best, the posters and editors on Slashdot can do this.
It's silly for me to say, "I agree Slashdot's editors can post whatever they want (shareholders permitting
But I think that Slashdot, both its editors and participants, needs a big dose of criticism now and then. The group-think and self-congratulating gets pretty thick around here sometimes. Rob, JonKatz, and Co. *are* capable of posting articles that could rightly be considered "offtopic", "flamebait", or "redundant" and I don't see the harm in pointing out when it happens.
Hey, it's still a pretty cool site anyway.
I'm not really supposed to disclose this, but....
/* May be called anytime, anywhere */
/* Works best when passed a proper LITTERBOX struct */
/* If no arg, defaults to last FURNITURE struct */
/* May be called with claws=true/false and teeth=true/false */
/* Added 11/15/99. More realism. */
There is a software API for this thing. I wrote a large part of it. I basically modeled it on my own cat.
It supports the following calls:
sleep()
eat()
go_potty()
shred()
pounce()
sleep_more()
Pretty much covers it, I think.
*smack* THANK YOU SIR! MAY I HAVE ANOTHER?
C'mon wimps! Is that the best you can do? I'm laughing in your humorless, petrified, grits-covered, moderating faces.
What is that!? A FreeBSD pin!!?? ON YOUR UNIFORM!!!???
Just you wait.... I won't be the last. Even if you crush my karma with your dogma; even if you cancel my login, there will be others. Foogle has already started to turn. I am convinced that Signal 11 will someday turn. In fact, I believe that Signal 11 is already a troll who is just building up unstoppable karma for THE DAY OF RECKONING.
As Mariah Carey sang so eloquently in "The Matrix", "My Heart Will Go On."
Someday, perhaps even Bruce Perens will submit a down-moderated post? WHAT WILL YOU DO THEN? Will it be the end of everything you've believed in? Will it be the end of all you hold dear? Will you have to go back to actually WRITING CODE instead of sharing your feelings on what it means to be a geek?
I know some of you long-time slashduh readers will be frightened by my tone. Fear not. I'm still the same warm, fuzzy, lovable DonkPunch. You can still order plush DonkPunch toys from the Copyleft website.
But the humorless moderators have wronged me and today I must dwell in the land of the trolls. You know what? It's kind of nice here! These guys have cable and a VERY nice cappucino machine. Best of all, they actually WRITE CODE instead of whining for big companies to do the work for them. If Trollmastah, GritsBoy, and NakedAndPetrifiedMan don't mind, I might stay awhile.
AAAALLLLLLRIIIIGHT! My first down-moderation! I LOVE IT!
BRING IT ON! I've got 100+ Karma to burn and it STARTS TODAY!
Let the word go out to both moderators and trolls alike, TODAY DONKPUNCH IS OFFICIALLY ON THE DARK SIDE! I have become a moderator's worst freakin' nightmare -- an over-caffeinated offtopic troll with a default 2!
Why did this have to happen? Where did things go wrong? Was I forced into it? Did the down-moderation destroy my self-esteem? Am I just a burnout? Is my unique humor and insight unappreciated by my peers in my time? Will I be remembered as a misunderstood genius when I'm gone?
I predict a new article: "Ask Slashdot: DonkPunch -- when good posters go bad. How can we keep this from happening again?"
E! News and VH-1 will feature a special "Behind The Dot" episode: "The Rise And Fall of DonkPunch's Karma" They'll show scenes of me posting pro-Linux suckup posts to desperately get my Karma back up to 50 or so. All of my posts will be at least 200 lines long, requiring a "Read the Rest of This Comment" link.
Ye Gods, Moderators, don't you see what you've done? You've created a monster! You've banished me to the land of the trolls AND I LIKE IT HERE! Seems to me the trolls have a heck of a lot more fun on slashduh anyway.
Now you will pay the price for your lack of vision!
I was 24% done with my first batch of grits!
"1 little, 2 little, 3 little endians...." :)
"Slightly difficult to make out are the 474 balls (small black dots) which enable its connections."
So I guess you could say that the Crusoe processor has a lot of balls.
(No, I'm not proud of this post. It's not my finest work. Post 2.0 will be better, I promise.)
I know that they're hyped to no end as a sports supplement, but MetRx bars are the closest thing I've found to Human Chow.
They meet all of your criteria (don't spoil, easy to carry, no prep, high nutritional value). They also have the distinct advantage of not making your butt too wide for your chair anymore (unlike pizza, Ramen, etc.)
Personally, I've always thought MetRx bars come closer to being "geek food" than Ramen noodles, pizza, burritos, or Doritos. They're much healthier and you can eat them at the keyboard. Heck, they're even labeled "Engineered Food".
...would it be a premature coronal mass ejection?
(completely shocked nobody else posted this first!)
Judging by the average post on the Slashdot, it's obviously not THAT hard. :-)
A relative of mine is an attorney. We had a real interesting discussion last Thanksgiving. I enlightened him on, "...this whole Linux thing." He clued me in on things to watch out for in IP law -- when to talk to an attorney, etc.
He also said that there is a huge demand for attorneys who also have technical certification. Certified engineers with law degrees are highly sought-after these days. The field of IP law is also growing.