I agree, I ditched symantec a couple of years ago. Nod32 is great. The scanner doesn't suck up as many resources and according to some of the stuff I've read it has a higher reliabilty rating (YMMV). It does have an issue with one of the later version of azereus, some sort of java issue, but there's a work around. I just downgraded back to the older version of azereus and have no more problems.
In my experience most motherboards go up if a whiff of smoke because the power supply went bad. Before you get that new motherboard, I recommend that you check out/replace your current power supply.
I'd hate to rear-end that guy! I don't know about you guys but I don't think my insurance policy could cover the equipment in that car. I'll be more cautious tailgating white ford tauruses in the future.
For some of us, water never left the datacenter... I know of a few Amdahl mainframes that are still in use in large datacenters. They always required deionized water.
I love my new mac mini, the only time I have ever heard the fan was when I was running catman in the background of the terminal while doing a bunch photoshop stuff at the same time. The fan was barely noticible compared to my dell across the room.
Ok so I should have titled the parent "Get the most out of your current scanner."
Some people have pointed out the problems with currently available software on Linux. I tend to agree that while the software is available on Linux to do what the poster needs done, it might be more of a pain in the ass. It *can* be done in Linux. It just might not be available in one package.
The poster needs to byte the bullet and get photoshop. If he hates, Windows for whatever reason, then a Mac should suffice. You get all the GUI/Photoshop goodness along with all of the Unix goodness too... It's a fair compromise.
OK, so Linux can do what you need to do as far as processing goes. That fact should not be in dispute. Your real problem is not software. It is in your scanner.
I have an Epson 2450 Photo and I've found that scanning any type of film, positive or negative, is abysmal at best. The problem lies in the focal plane of the scanner. Becuase the scanner does not refocus properly on the image it cannot get a crisp scan. What I did to *improve* my film scanning was to build a little test rig out of thin cardboard like the kind off of the back a notepad. Basically, I stacked overlaping layers ranging from directly on the glass to 3-4 millimeters above the glass so I could figure out where the focal plane was on the scanner. If I remember correctly, the film adapters hold the film about 2mm off the glass, but I discovered I got crisper scans at 3mm. Consequently, I had to build little 1mm shims to hold my film adapter up a little higher.
Aside from that, the *unsharp mask* is your best friend. Any digitally acquired image should have an unsharp mask applied to it to help reduce the digital artifacts. In fact film is often treated the same way to reduce the appearance of the film grain. Don't set it and forget it, different photographs will need different values in the unsharp mask. Experiment and you'll get the hang of it.
I have to point out, if you want to be a professional then you need to invest in a true film scanner. That's the only way you're really going to get crisp scans. You don't need to drop $10,000 on an oil mount drum scanner. Read Epinions or some other review site. Check ebay for some used models. Get the highest DPI you can afford (or the lowest you can tolerate). Also, make sure you buy something with a fast interface. USB v1 sucks, SCSI is ok, USB v2 is better, Firewire (IEEE 1394) is the best.
Hope that helped! If you need more deatils on how to build the cardboard test appaeratus let me know and I will post in more detail.
Here here... Thank god there are some people in this world that understand that. My parents whooped me when I was a little shit and because of it, I'm a lot more respectful of my fellow humans than a lot of the teen and twenty-something brats running around in this world. Children need boundries, and they need enforcement. Until they can think on a mature level, rationing with them can only get you so far.
Now if only I could spank other people's children...
The poster mentioned that he might use a Christmas themed background. I would recommend against this if you want people to take it somewhat seriously. Since it's a live CD and you can't save config files back onto the CD, on the holidays are over they're stuck changing their desktop away from your Christmas theme every time they load up.
How many prople do you know that listen to Christmas music once the season is over?
Although something that suprised me was an interview with Ralph Nader the other day. In it he decried the Democrats and said the blame lay mostly on their heads for outsourcing. I thought it was a little odd because a lot news sites seem to be trying to only blame the Republicans. Of course he also said that both party's have gravitated to an imaginary middle and are virtually indistinguishable. I don't know what to think, it's almost a farce at this point.
Did I say I liked them? I just try to be pragmatic. Discounting them would be foolish. Any OS can be made unstable if you "push the wrong buttons." The real test is whether it remains unstable as the version number increases, and it's clear that MS is making significant strides.
Actually, I like to recompile my kernel (wank it?), becuase there's a lot of shit that I don't need in it. Modules are all fine and good, but that still requires a stub for that particular module to be compiled in the kernel. A HAL could eliminate this by generalizing the ABI for particular functions. Reduce, Reuse, Recylce.
Agreed, however people like Nvidia and ATI are concerened that opensource drivers might reveal something about the underlying hardware that their competition might want to know, or worse yet IP problems. Not that they can't get it already, it just costs them more money and time.
Compared to Linux, Windows is a breeze. If someone wants ease of use they should get a Mac, or better yet a typewritter, calculator, and a xbox. (Note: I said ease of use not convenience)
Actually, as a Mac/Windows/Linux user... I have to say XP is very compelling. I can run it full-tilt (compiling, rendering... etc) for weeks without a reboot. It's not the Windows of 5-10 years ago. Of course some people like to hate Microsoft just because it's "cool", and those people will never change their minds. Me, I live in the real world where I have to run lots of different systems. I admit that I HATED Microsoft from Win3.1-2000, but it would be hard for anyone that has used their products through the various revisions to say that Windows has not improved significantly.
As for security, the only truely SECURE system is one that is unplugged and sitting in a locked closet. Otherwise, get a firewall, get a virus scanner, and don't open weird email attachments.
As the article points out Linus is vehemently against making the kernel API/ABI's stable. On the one hand this allows them to add knew stuff all the damn time, but it breaks drivers. In my opinion this is what's holding linux back. It contributes to Linux having crappy hardware support. (Yes it has crappy hardware support people!) Sure it supports LOTS of devices, but a lot of them require some voodoo to make them work. That's all fine and well for people like me, but average users don't want to dick around with modprobe.conf. I'm sure a lot of vendors would be more willing to put out their own drivers if they didn't think they'd have retest/recode every kernel release
For what it's worth, I'm somewhat sympathetic to Linus. Look at what HAL did for/to Windows. Crappy driver/HAL implementations were responsible for a lot of Windows perceived and real stability problems. Now Microsoft likes to certify drivers (WHQL), so they only take the blame for their own damn bugs.
Basically, it's a double-edged sword. Convenience vs. Stability. Personally, I think if Linus is serious about the desktop there needs to be some compomise. Me, I just dumped Linux on the desktop for my sweet new OS X system. Viva la UNIX!
So you did manage to get XPostFacto to work on your Wallstreet? I haven't tried the latest build but the last two builds would just fail over and over. Maybe I'll give it another shot this evening.
I know what you mean about the Wallstreet, mine just refuses to die too.
I grew up using Mac and PC, but the old Mac OS got cheap and crappy so I gave up on them. (No preemptive multitasking? No dynamic memory allocation? WTF!?). With OS X, I think Apple has finally crawled back out of its coocoon.
I have an old Powerbook G3 wallstreet that I play with OS X on. I guess I never found that option. Probably because I've checkout out every other preference but that one. I'll check it out... Thanks for your advice!
Sorta off topic, but the only reason I can't make the switch (and I want to) is keyboard shortcuts. I'm not talking about ctrl-a vs command-a. I'm talking about the fact that I can opperate windows entirely without the use of a mouse. From navigation to button pressing. Plus a lot of apps seem to have poor support for things like: ctrl-tab (to switch betweens windows in a single app), navigating dialog boxes, or even pulling down a menu (i.e. Alt-F for File). I love the new Mac OS. I love Unix, I hate the mouse. I use it when it's appropriate or faster, but I can't take using it for everything.
Apple are you listening!? You know those little lines under menu items in windows? Those are for navigation! Make your interface more keyboard friendly. It won't offend the dumbed-down-mouse-only users if it's OPTIONAL!!
Slashdot Mirror
I agree, I ditched symantec a couple of years ago. Nod32 is great. The scanner doesn't suck up as many resources and according to some of the stuff I've read it has a higher reliabilty rating (YMMV). It does have an issue with one of the later version of azereus, some sort of java issue, but there's a work around. I just downgraded back to the older version of azereus and have no more problems.
In my experience most motherboards go up if a whiff of smoke because the power supply went bad. Before you get that new motherboard, I recommend that you check out/replace your current power supply.
The only thing that bothers me about your post is the fact that you can't keep straight which is which, Time and Starlog. I mean c'mon... ;-)
After swimming in that cold water, I would hate to see the size of his cluster.
Note the subtle Coca-cola product placement in the background of one of the photos.
I'd hate to rear-end that guy! I don't know about you guys but I don't think my insurance policy could cover the equipment in that car. I'll be more cautious tailgating white ford tauruses in the future.
For some of us, water never left the datacenter... I know of a few Amdahl mainframes that are still in use in large datacenters. They always required deionized water.
Hooray for the OSI data link layer!
I love my new mac mini, the only time I have ever heard the fan was when I was running catman in the background of the terminal while doing a bunch photoshop stuff at the same time. The fan was barely noticible compared to my dell across the room.
Zero Posts and it's already slashdot'd... so sad
Some people have pointed out the problems with currently available software on Linux. I tend to agree that while the software is available on Linux to do what the poster needs done, it might be more of a pain in the ass. It *can* be done in Linux. It just might not be available in one package.
The poster needs to byte the bullet and get photoshop. If he hates, Windows for whatever reason, then a Mac should suffice. You get all the GUI/Photoshop goodness along with all of the Unix goodness too... It's a fair compromise.
I have an Epson 2450 Photo and I've found that scanning any type of film, positive or negative, is abysmal at best. The problem lies in the focal plane of the scanner. Becuase the scanner does not refocus properly on the image it cannot get a crisp scan. What I did to *improve* my film scanning was to build a little test rig out of thin cardboard like the kind off of the back a notepad. Basically, I stacked overlaping layers ranging from directly on the glass to 3-4 millimeters above the glass so I could figure out where the focal plane was on the scanner. If I remember correctly, the film adapters hold the film about 2mm off the glass, but I discovered I got crisper scans at 3mm. Consequently, I had to build little 1mm shims to hold my film adapter up a little higher.
Aside from that, the *unsharp mask* is your best friend. Any digitally acquired image should have an unsharp mask applied to it to help reduce the digital artifacts. In fact film is often treated the same way to reduce the appearance of the film grain. Don't set it and forget it, different photographs will need different values in the unsharp mask. Experiment and you'll get the hang of it.
I have to point out, if you want to be a professional then you need to invest in a true film scanner. That's the only way you're really going to get crisp scans. You don't need to drop $10,000 on an oil mount drum scanner. Read Epinions or some other review site. Check ebay for some used models. Get the highest DPI you can afford (or the lowest you can tolerate). Also, make sure you buy something with a fast interface. USB v1 sucks, SCSI is ok, USB v2 is better, Firewire (IEEE 1394) is the best.
Hope that helped! If you need more deatils on how to build the cardboard test appaeratus let me know and I will post in more detail.
Now if only I could spank other people's children...
OK, great! So, what's the sourceforge project name? ;-)
How many prople do you know that listen to Christmas music once the season is over?
Although something that suprised me was an interview with Ralph Nader the other day. In it he decried the Democrats and said the blame lay mostly on their heads for outsourcing. I thought it was a little odd because a lot news sites seem to be trying to only blame the Republicans. Of course he also said that both party's have gravitated to an imaginary middle and are virtually indistinguishable. I don't know what to think, it's almost a farce at this point.
Did I say I liked them? I just try to be pragmatic. Discounting them would be foolish. Any OS can be made unstable if you "push the wrong buttons." The real test is whether it remains unstable as the version number increases, and it's clear that MS is making significant strides.
Actually, I like to recompile my kernel (wank it?), becuase there's a lot of shit that I don't need in it. Modules are all fine and good, but that still requires a stub for that particular module to be compiled in the kernel. A HAL could eliminate this by generalizing the ABI for particular functions. Reduce, Reuse, Recylce.
Agreed, however people like Nvidia and ATI are concerened that opensource drivers might reveal something about the underlying hardware that their competition might want to know, or worse yet IP problems. Not that they can't get it already, it just costs them more money and time.
Compared to Linux, Windows is a breeze. If someone wants ease of use they should get a Mac, or better yet a typewritter, calculator, and a xbox. (Note: I said ease of use not convenience)
As for security, the only truely SECURE system is one that is unplugged and sitting in a locked closet. Otherwise, get a firewall, get a virus scanner, and don't open weird email attachments.
For what it's worth, I'm somewhat sympathetic to Linus. Look at what HAL did for/to Windows. Crappy driver/HAL implementations were responsible for a lot of Windows perceived and real stability problems. Now Microsoft likes to certify drivers (WHQL), so they only take the blame for their own damn bugs.
Basically, it's a double-edged sword. Convenience vs. Stability. Personally, I think if Linus is serious about the desktop there needs to be some compomise. Me, I just dumped Linux on the desktop for my sweet new OS X system. Viva la UNIX!
I know what you mean about the Wallstreet, mine just refuses to die too.
I have an old Powerbook G3 wallstreet that I play with OS X on. I guess I never found that option. Probably because I've checkout out every other preference but that one. I'll check it out... Thanks for your advice!
Apple are you listening!? You know those little lines under menu items in windows? Those are for navigation! Make your interface more keyboard friendly. It won't offend the dumbed-down-mouse-only users if it's OPTIONAL!!