The current computing paradigm is so problematic as to demand that the change away from locally administered machines WILL happen. It's only a matter of time.
What is remarkable is the amount of time we spend discussing the present and near future when the bit more distant future is the real matter at hand.
I cannot believe I'm saying this, but a "trusted source" in the industry who butters his bread with writing on the current paradigm believes it is destined to fail- imagine a world where infections from spyware and adware are something out of the quaint computing past.
And let's not forget what Moore's Law will do the machines of the future, particularly on the server side.
"In reality, the number of files on the Net ripped from store-bought CDs, DVDs, and videogames is statistically negligible. People don't share what they buy; they share what is already being shared - the countless descendants of a single "Adam and Eve" file. Even this is probably stolen; pirates have infiltrated the entertainment industry and usually obtain and rip content long before the public ever has a chance to buy it."
Assuming that this statement is true, then the RIAA and NARAS have got the whole thing backwards. While they devote prosecution dollars to individual users, the real players in the industry are playing behind a curtain.
Without question, the RIAA suits are then like the DEA going after individual users instead of focusing all efforts on those who are doing the real dirty work.
So, the big question- do these shadowy corners actually help or hurt the film/software industries?
When I needed to get to software before release, I had an insider who knew just where to go. Major magazines can get material before it is released through the same illegitimate channels that the pirates use. And, it's better for the industry for the pundits to have the stuff in hand before release- do you think that those industry "just released" articles on releases just materialize out of thin air? No sparky. There are others who snoop with impunity.
Oh, and there is not a problem getting films before their release. It's an easy scoop for a reporter.
I wholly agree that the government shouldn't be doing the parenting. HOWEVER, there are many other factors in play here. What about the time when you are your parenting are simply out of the picture? It happens, and unless you live on the moon there's little that you can do about the influence of societal acceptance of a violent gaming paradigm.
And indeed, there is societal accpetance. Every day, I have the thrill of watching Channel One news at school, and as such see a pretty fair amount of exactly what is being directed toward kids in the school- hopefully the most protected of atmospheres.
The number one advertiser on Channel One is the US government, shilling participation in the armed forces and drawing comparisons between "playing soldier" sand living a real life.
The one that troubles me though is the incessant ad for Tony Hawk's Pro Skater. In the ad, the characters spend a fair amount of time doing your basic garden variety vandalism. Slashing tires, tagging walls, etc. While the game doesn't seem violent in nature, it sure puts a premium on anti-social behavior. There's no way that you, the parent, know when the kids are seeing this maner of ad.
Now I'm not a prude- my kids Halo away on weekends, but I worry for those who do not take the time to put the needed effort into decent parenting. It begets the question of whether we should protect our kids from the parents who throw the kids to the fancy of the game designers.
The parents, already strapped for time, don't take the time to learn parenting skills. Who needs to pick up the slack then?
It appears that we are in a bizarre universe when it ocmes to the question of legality in any of this.
Downloading music you don't own is illegal, but we do it anyway.
Downloading copyrighted software is illegal, but we do it anyway.
One would think that knowingly polluting an individuals machine is just as illegal. The RIAA is entering a weird world where they are justifying a bad action with another bad action. Fixing the problem would seem to have a whole lot more to do with education than with monkeying with code in files.
Even worse, all this is getting foisted onto to consumers who don't know their ass from their elbow. In a lot of cases, you've got kids downloading material onto their parents' computer and thereby mucking up the works. Often the parents know little about how all of this works, and they are then unwitting victims of the actions of both the industry and the kids.
The only solution to this starts with decent ethical education.
Or, get everyone in the universe to listen to Gratefu Dead shows downloaded from archive.org (or my kids' band at Pure Volume- they guarantee their downloads to be completely adware free.
Microsoft's basic strategy in this battle seems predicated on the basic strategy that is payed out again and again in America these days. When lacking a substantive argument, play on fear.
Take a look around at the political climate, and just about every pundit will tell you that fear is by far and away the best motivator for making someone do one thing or another.
Perfect case in point? The Y2K stuff. I was one of the rare few who actually ran into a Y2K glitch (at LaGuardia Airport using a phone) but for mthe most patrt, peoplemade money off the entire deal. There was nothing to be afraid of that couldn't be rectified with advance planning.
Now, a government tosses us into a war, and we don't toss 'em out becasue we are afraid of what will happen if we do. As a people, we fear the unknown.
Linux is for most, the great unknown. For those who understand, there is no fear. For Microsoft, who does understand, fear is there in spades. In fact, they have so much fear that they are willing to spend large totals of cash to trash an OS that hasn't even bit them in the butt yet. It's all about fear
A ringing confirmation. There's nothing "wrong" with Unix at all.
Indeed it is so right that as people work with it for an extended period of time they come to see, dispute the initial difficulty of working with the OS, that its power far outweighs anything that could be wrong with it.
Of course, you could argue that the fact that it is rather steep on the learning curve could be fixed. However, it is just that steepness that offers some of its strengths.
Unix is not for everyone. Never will be. Is is however for those who truly seek to understand how an OS should function.
IMHO Unix should be taught to every single kid in a high school who professes a desire to really understand computers. Understanding Windows XP is fine, but the flesh and blood of the OS is invisible. Unix is flesh and blood- stripped clean of artifice and prepared for real use.
Any student I've got in an intro class who shows inititative is immediately given an OpenBSD box, taught how to do a basic install, and then set loose on the machine. They possess an understanding of how files interact that I can never teach them- they learn by living in the OS. Moreover, they have the pride of knowing something that few others really know.
And that's the reason OSX is finally the proper education answer- you can teach basic literacy AND dive into the real nature of Unix.
I've used scads of free software in my time- many tools that I depend on are free. However, I've yet to see anything that allows me to take apart to the source code for the software and redevelop it, or to add features to it.
Working with students daily, I emphasize the difference. If you have the skill, you can bend open source software to your particular needs- Apple has certainly made a prudent decison by open sourcing Darwin. With open source, everybody wins because everyone has a vested interest in the development of the software.
Free can be free but still quite protected by copyright standards. Open source depends on creating an atmosphere where individuals can contribute to the development of the whole.
Free can still keep a number of secrets- open source lets those secrets out. One is about community, another is about altruism. I'll take a community over simple altruism any day of the week.
Given the incredible number of factors that can effect the travel of an object through space, worrying about something that might happen in 25 years if everything goes about as wrong as it can possibly go is an exercise in futility.
It's just that those NASA guys are truly paid to address the incredibly small worries of life. Hell, never mnd that a piece of insulation can poke a hole in the wing of a space shuttle and take out a few astronauts. Let's all worry about the things that really matter.
"Gee whiz Sparky- hold your thought on that reentry computer, I just spotted something a zillion miles away that seems to be headed for us."
As I genuine treehugger, I really don't see a problem with providing wireless into state parks.
Hell, with a satellite dish you can get anything you need, and we are already bombarded with enough excess radio to render us all infertile.
The WiFi Pandora is out of the box so to speak- bitching about it as akin to bitching about cell phones there. 'caus with a cell phone you could already find out about that blue-green warbler anyway.
The real reason I'm sure is that the state parks generate serious revenue in terms of camping, and the laptops are definitely coming along. So, serve the consumer becomes the rule.
I believe I read recently about Philadelphia considering going wireless- it's only a matter of time before WiFi coverage simply expands into areas we never even considered.
And of course any good bird watcher isn't checking the net- they're checking their Audobon guide like I did this morning to identify the Carolina Wren that arrived at the feeders in heavy snow.
Tell me if you've heard this one before- upstart company led by a couple of charismatic characters who build a piece of technology that transforms the way we go about doing things....
The big difference is that this time Microsoft may well be a giant with seemingly unlimited resources as opposed to a rising company that toppled Apple rather neatly with a mix of good business and mean business.
Google is Apple this time out- the interface is cool, the engine has become part of the lexicon (can we ever escape Googling?) and anything Microsoft does will not be able to eclipse a tool that is so simple and deceptively powerful. We are just seeing the tip of the iceberg.
2. Whither the Internet in all of this? In such a short time, the public Internet has grown into a web of mind-boggling power and complexity. When considering Google, isn't also important that we consider exactly how seamless the experience of working with the Internet will become in the near future? As I write on a wireless laptop, I know that the machine has become a font of information for me. As I teach, the Internet is an ever-present part of my existence.
I don't think that Microsoft is really a player in this area- we can search with MSN all we like, but Google has a substantial head start, and the brain power is still in force. And, they don't really have to worry about anyone buying it- just consuming it.....
It's all the more amazing if you ever visit the NASA museum in Huntsville, AL and see the technology first hand.
The Apollo guidance computer is there in all its glory, as is the Airstream trailer that they had on hand for the astronauts headed straight for quarantine after the flight. It's a far cry from today's astronauts stepping down onto the runway after a flight.
The sheer scale of the Saturn V lifter is almost beyond belief- all of that power, directed by so little in the way of processor power. No joke- they were riding an explosive into the unknown.
No matter how far our technology goes though, the human factor still takes center stage. I retrospect, who among us would have the courage to do what the Apollo guys did.
Just wondering and looking at the stars on a Christmas night...
I'm an old/.'er. The toys of my youth are not there in any way shape or form. For those of you inclined to laugh at someone who grew up in the early 60's:
Lincoln Logs.
Tinker Toys.
Erector Sets.
A good wagon.
An equally good toboggan or sled (New England bias>)
A plain old drum.
Bridges and Girders.
Skittles
The list goes on forever- did I see Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots?
Most notable? Nothing on this list required electricity in any form to function. How times have changed.
Trying to draw any comparison between Paint.NET and The Gimp is just plain silly. It will not, and cannot do any of the myriad tasks that I have been able to use the Gimp for.
Warts and all, the Gimp is a fully developed application with a history of growth.
Paint.NET is exactly what it purports to be- an application developed by a number of students to be a replacement/upgrade for the MSPaint application. It performs that function extremely well. MSPaint is a notoriously limited application that has little or no purpose.
On the other hand, I can see users who need relatively simple answers using PAint.NET for simple needs.
As built, the Gimp will not challenge beyond a discrete community of users who have both the technical ability to use its power and the imagination needed to take advantage of everything that happens to be in there.
Just try using the animation abilities to make shorts that resemble Terry Gilliam's animation work. The Gimp makes it wholly possible. It's dissolve function makes the impossible seem simple- seamless transition from frame to frame in animations.
Paint.NET? Good work students, and I'm sure that MS will enjoy putting you to work for them for long hours with little pay when you are ready.
Any attempt to legislate away something that appears to be a victimless crime in nature is doomed to failure. So it will be with DRM.
Someone, somewhere, will always work to break free of the restrictions that the music and film industries try to force upon them.
As I see high school kids every day, I will make the general statement that the priacy that exists in this age group is not drastically damagin the industry. Crappy product? That's damaging. Kids download songs, not albums, picking and choosing the best material they can get their hands on. The lack of uniform quality causes trouble.
Even the CD format shares blame. When albums clocked in at 45 minutes max, artists made quality music through the album. The cover art had value. A CD? 60 some minutes of material that didn't have to see the light of day, and wouldn't have 25 years ago.
In film, the studios are not losing money. The number of films created that go straight to DVD is amazing, and the creative accountents can make a successful movie appear to lose money.
TV too- they are mining gold when releasing old sitcoms. Money that would have never been made before.
Has anyone looked at the film and music execs? Do these guys look poor?
The potential damage is to the bottom line for small artists trying to make the leap. They however WANT you to copy and play their music.
...then actually getting our hands on the piece of software is an absolute essential.
The Gimp does have an abysmal user interface, BUT, that interface must be seen in connection with the OS you are using. On OpenBSD it makes perfect sense. As you go on using it, you learn to deal with its oddities.
More when I can actually get my hands on Paint.Net.
Most interesting though is that Microsoft actually has some hand in aiding the creation of this software. If so, does that give us any indication that Microsoft might actually try to go after sections of the user market that are already ceded to other vendors?
What happens if Microsoft suddenly embraces Open Source development for its products? Given the level of piracy that abounds, they might get a better handle on some profit by transferring from a product based to service based model. Hm.
"I personally don't care if people choose to run Firefox or Linux or any other software on their computers -- it's their computer, after all -- but we'll never get past the spyware / adware problem if people continue to think that installing unsigned code from random web sites is A Good Idea.
I've always been of the mind that you spend time writing because you have a personal investment in your topic. Does this guy seriously want us to believe that he doesn't care what we run? Of course he does. He's saying not to use it. That it's a BAD idea.
He's like the obnoxious asshole that stands over your shoulder telling you that he wouldn't fix the car that way, but "Hey, it's your car- I do't care!"
Note to a moron. I've been using it for months. Ever since I got wind of it. Every tech person I know worth his or her salt is using it. Glad I'm a part of your nightmare.
After 47 years of extremely personal and individual research on this I can most assuredly tell you that indeed, drugs do have a substantial effect on your brain.
After 47 years of extremely personal and individual research on this I can most assuredly tell you that indeed, drugs do have a substantial effect on your brain.
Anyone else that every single one of these product damnings also includes a link to the related product guide on the site?
I guess the basic nature of this column is:
A: Do the customary bitching about Dvorak. (Not to say that Dvorak bashing isn't okay- he loves it and uses it to his advantage.)
B: Drive traffic deeper into the site to increase revenue during the Christmas season.
And people wonder why I'm like the freaking Grinch around this time of year.
Bah humf*ckingbug.
Compelling reasons to use the Gimp
on
GIMP 2.2 Released
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
I've been using the Gimp for four years now in an educational setting. For a variety of reasons, it is a compelling choice.
1. Students can use the Gimp at school and at home. It's a natural to stop them from violating copyright law.
2. The Gimp is a remarkable testimony to GNU software's ability to create powerful application software.
3. With limited documentation, The Gimp is perfect for teaching kids how to actually learn a software package.
4. Once they "get it," they appreciate what the Gimp can do for them.
5. There's no better way to teach them the real nature of cell animation.
6. For Unix kids, the Gimp is an awakening. When they move from Windows Gimp to Unix Gimp, they suddenly discover that the difficulties inherent in Windows file structure are an impediment to their computing.
7. Even of they move on to Photoshop, learning on the Gimp provides them a much better understanding of the nature of image manipulation.
8. It's not an easy answer. Kids like easy answers.
9. Nobody can figure out what the icon is, and it's hilarious when a kid shouts out "I love the gimp!"
Mr. Levine asking the FCC to level the playing field has more than a bit of irony. He appears to complain about indecency, but I sense it is more than that.
Leveling the playing field IMHO involves making sure that all capitalists are able to get an equal shot at the financial pie. He is therefore asking the FCC to censor the freedoms given to satellite so that he can make a profit.
Stern will draw a substantial audience, and garner substantial profit. Levine clearly understands that when the gloves are taken off, Stern will be able to draw that much more revenue, potentially damaging his own revenues.
This is not about indecency. If it was, things far more indecent than a weekly session with the robospanker and liberal use of the f-bomb would never see the light of day. The FCC does not see fit to censor violent images eminating from Iraq or broadcast television.
And any regular listener of Stern with half a brain undestands that he is merely bringing the underbelly of society- a bizarre (and yet occasionally poignant) truth into the open. If you really listen to the man you can see the intelligence behind the show.
Slashdot Mirror
The current computing paradigm is so problematic as to demand that the change away from locally administered machines WILL happen. It's only a matter of time.
What is remarkable is the amount of time we spend discussing the present and near future when the bit more distant future is the real matter at hand.
I cannot believe I'm saying this, but a "trusted source" in the industry who butters his bread with writing on the current paradigm believes it is destined to fail- imagine a world where infections from spyware and adware are something out of the quaint computing past.
And let's not forget what Moore's Law will do the machines of the future, particularly on the server side.
"In reality, the number of files on the Net ripped from store-bought CDs, DVDs, and videogames is statistically negligible. People don't share what they buy; they share what is already being shared - the countless descendants of a single "Adam and Eve" file. Even this is probably stolen; pirates have infiltrated the entertainment industry and usually obtain and rip content long before the public ever has a chance to buy it."
Assuming that this statement is true, then the RIAA and NARAS have got the whole thing backwards. While they devote prosecution dollars to individual users, the real players in the industry are playing behind a curtain.
Without question, the RIAA suits are then like the DEA going after individual users instead of focusing all efforts on those who are doing the real dirty work.
So, the big question- do these shadowy corners actually help or hurt the film/software industries?
When I needed to get to software before release, I had an insider who knew just where to go. Major magazines can get material before it is released through the same illegitimate channels that the pirates use. And, it's better for the industry for the pundits to have the stuff in hand before release- do you think that those industry "just released" articles on releases just materialize out of thin air? No sparky. There are others who snoop with impunity.
Oh, and there is not a problem getting films before their release. It's an easy scoop for a reporter.
I wholly agree that the government shouldn't be doing the parenting. HOWEVER, there are many other factors in play here. What about the time when you are your parenting are simply out of the picture? It happens, and unless you live on the moon there's little that you can do about the influence of societal acceptance of a violent gaming paradigm.
And indeed, there is societal accpetance. Every day, I have the thrill of watching Channel One news at school, and as such see a pretty fair amount of exactly what is being directed toward kids in the school- hopefully the most protected of atmospheres.
The number one advertiser on Channel One is the US government, shilling participation in the armed forces and drawing comparisons between "playing soldier" sand living a real life.
The one that troubles me though is the incessant ad for Tony Hawk's Pro Skater. In the ad, the characters spend a fair amount of time doing your basic garden variety vandalism. Slashing tires, tagging walls, etc. While the game doesn't seem violent in nature, it sure puts a premium on anti-social behavior. There's no way that you, the parent, know when the kids are seeing this maner of ad.
Now I'm not a prude- my kids Halo away on weekends, but I worry for those who do not take the time to put the needed effort into decent parenting. It begets the question of whether we should protect our kids from the parents who throw the kids to the fancy of the game designers.
The parents, already strapped for time, don't take the time to learn parenting skills. Who needs to pick up the slack then?
they yell back if they want to answer.
First prize: a year on Mars.
Second Prize: two years on Mars.
My eyesight is fine. A little reading difficulty, but I can still hit a baseball.
However, can we please apply all of this engineering to:
Peripheral neorupathy. It's a bitch to see your toes and not feel them.
Solve that and we've got a winner- there's less and less that I really want to see everyday.
"Isn't that blatantly illegal?"
It appears that we are in a bizarre universe when it ocmes to the question of legality in any of this.
Downloading music you don't own is illegal, but we do it anyway.
Downloading copyrighted software is illegal, but we do it anyway.
One would think that knowingly polluting an individuals machine is just as illegal. The RIAA is entering a weird world where they are justifying a bad action with another bad action. Fixing the problem would seem to have a whole lot more to do with education than with monkeying with code in files.
Even worse, all this is getting foisted onto to consumers who don't know their ass from their elbow. In a lot of cases, you've got kids downloading material onto their parents' computer and thereby mucking up the works. Often the parents know little about how all of this works, and they are then unwitting victims of the actions of both the industry and the kids.
The only solution to this starts with decent ethical education.
Or, get everyone in the universe to listen to Gratefu Dead shows downloaded from archive.org (or my kids' band at Pure Volume- they guarantee their downloads to be completely adware free.
Microsoft's basic strategy in this battle seems predicated on the basic strategy that is payed out again and again in America these days. When lacking a substantive argument, play on fear.
Take a look around at the political climate, and just about every pundit will tell you that fear is by far and away the best motivator for making someone do one thing or another.
Perfect case in point? The Y2K stuff. I was one of the rare few who actually ran into a Y2K glitch (at LaGuardia Airport using a phone) but for mthe most patrt, peoplemade money off the entire deal. There was nothing to be afraid of that couldn't be rectified with advance planning.
Now, a government tosses us into a war, and we don't toss 'em out becasue we are afraid of what will happen if we do. As a people, we fear the unknown.
Linux is for most, the great unknown. For those who understand, there is no fear. For Microsoft, who does understand, fear is there in spades. In fact, they have so much fear that they are willing to spend large totals of cash to trash an OS that hasn't even bit them in the butt yet. It's all about fear
A ringing confirmation. There's nothing "wrong" with Unix at all.
Indeed it is so right that as people work with it for an extended period of time they come to see, dispute the initial difficulty of working with the OS, that its power far outweighs anything that could be wrong with it.
Of course, you could argue that the fact that it is rather steep on the learning curve could be fixed. However, it is just that steepness that offers some of its strengths.
Unix is not for everyone. Never will be. Is is however for those who truly seek to understand how an OS should function.
IMHO Unix should be taught to every single kid in a high school who professes a desire to really understand computers. Understanding Windows XP is fine, but the flesh and blood of the OS is invisible. Unix is flesh and blood- stripped clean of artifice and prepared for real use.
Any student I've got in an intro class who shows inititative is immediately given an OpenBSD box, taught how to do a basic install, and then set loose on the machine. They possess an understanding of how files interact that I can never teach them- they learn by living in the OS. Moreover, they have the pride of knowing something that few others really know.
And that's the reason OSX is finally the proper education answer- you can teach basic literacy AND dive into the real nature of Unix.
I've used scads of free software in my time- many tools that I depend on are free. However, I've yet to see anything that allows me to take apart to the source code for the software and redevelop it, or to add features to it.
Working with students daily, I emphasize the difference. If you have the skill, you can bend open source software to your particular needs- Apple has certainly made a prudent decison by open sourcing Darwin. With open source, everybody wins because everyone has a vested interest in the development of the software.
Free can be free but still quite protected by copyright standards. Open source depends on creating an atmosphere where individuals can contribute to the development of the whole.
Free can still keep a number of secrets- open source lets those secrets out. One is about community, another is about altruism. I'll take a community over simple altruism any day of the week.
With GOOD reason.
Given the incredible number of factors that can effect the travel of an object through space, worrying about something that might happen in 25 years if everything goes about as wrong as it can possibly go is an exercise in futility.
It's just that those NASA guys are truly paid to address the incredibly small worries of life. Hell, never mnd that a piece of insulation can poke a hole in the wing of a space shuttle and take out a few astronauts. Let's all worry about the things that really matter.
"Gee whiz Sparky- hold your thought on that reentry computer, I just spotted something a zillion miles away that seems to be headed for us."
The wildlife will be fine.
As I genuine treehugger, I really don't see a problem with providing wireless into state parks.
Hell, with a satellite dish you can get anything you need, and we are already bombarded with enough excess radio to render us all infertile.
The WiFi Pandora is out of the box so to speak- bitching about it as akin to bitching about cell phones there. 'caus with a cell phone you could already find out about that blue-green warbler anyway.
The real reason I'm sure is that the state parks generate serious revenue in terms of camping, and the laptops are definitely coming along. So, serve the consumer becomes the rule.
I believe I read recently about Philadelphia considering going wireless- it's only a matter of time before WiFi coverage simply expands into areas we never even considered.
And of course any good bird watcher isn't checking the net- they're checking their Audobon guide like I did this morning to identify the Carolina Wren that arrived at the feeders in heavy snow.
I didn't reach for the laptop.
"it's very important to land with zero injuries,"
I knew that.
1. Isn't this familiar?
Tell me if you've heard this one before- upstart company led by a couple of charismatic characters who build a piece of technology that transforms the way we go about doing things....
The big difference is that this time Microsoft may well be a giant with seemingly unlimited resources as opposed to a rising company that toppled Apple rather neatly with a mix of good business and mean business.
Google is Apple this time out- the interface is cool, the engine has become part of the lexicon (can we ever escape Googling?) and anything Microsoft does will not be able to eclipse a tool that is so simple and deceptively powerful. We are just seeing the tip of the iceberg.
2. Whither the Internet in all of this? In such a short time, the public Internet has grown into a web of mind-boggling power and complexity. When considering Google, isn't also important that we consider exactly how seamless the experience of working with the Internet will become in the near future? As I write on a wireless laptop, I know that the machine has become a font of information for me. As I teach, the Internet is an ever-present part of my existence.
I don't think that Microsoft is really a player in this area- we can search with MSN all we like, but Google has a substantial head start, and the brain power is still in force. And, they don't really have to worry about anyone buying it- just consuming it.....
With my luck my terabyte would somehow cause any OS, no matter how stable, to crash. It's only fitting.
and so it goes....
It's all the more amazing if you ever visit the NASA museum in Huntsville, AL and see the technology first hand.
The Apollo guidance computer is there in all its glory, as is the Airstream trailer that they had on hand for the astronauts headed straight for quarantine after the flight. It's a far cry from today's astronauts stepping down onto the runway after a flight.
The sheer scale of the Saturn V lifter is almost beyond belief- all of that power, directed by so little in the way of processor power. No joke- they were riding an explosive into the unknown.
No matter how far our technology goes though, the human factor still takes center stage. I retrospect, who among us would have the courage to do what the Apollo guys did.
Just wondering and looking at the stars on a Christmas night...
I'm an old /.'er. The toys of my youth are not there in any way shape or form. For those of you inclined to laugh at someone who grew up in the early 60's:
Lincoln Logs.
Tinker Toys.
Erector Sets.
A good wagon.
An equally good toboggan or sled (New England bias>)
A plain old drum.
Bridges and Girders.
Skittles
The list goes on forever- did I see Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots?
Most notable? Nothing on this list required electricity in any form to function. How times have changed.
Trying to draw any comparison between Paint.NET and The Gimp is just plain silly. It will not, and cannot do any of the myriad tasks that I have been able to use the Gimp for.
Warts and all, the Gimp is a fully developed application with a history of growth.
Paint.NET is exactly what it purports to be- an application developed by a number of students to be a replacement/upgrade for the MSPaint application. It performs that function extremely well. MSPaint is a notoriously limited application that has little or no purpose.
On the other hand, I can see users who need relatively simple answers using PAint.NET for simple needs.
As built, the Gimp will not challenge beyond a discrete community of users who have both the technical ability to use its power and the imagination needed to take advantage of everything that happens to be in there.
Just try using the animation abilities to make shorts that resemble Terry Gilliam's animation work. The Gimp makes it wholly possible. It's dissolve function makes the impossible seem simple- seamless transition from frame to frame in animations.
Paint.NET? Good work students, and I'm sure that MS will enjoy putting you to work for them for long hours with little pay when you are ready.
Any attempt to legislate away something that appears to be a victimless crime in nature is doomed to failure. So it will be with DRM.
Someone, somewhere, will always work to break free of the restrictions that the music and film industries try to force upon them.
As I see high school kids every day, I will make the general statement that the priacy that exists in this age group is not drastically damagin the industry. Crappy product? That's damaging. Kids download songs, not albums, picking and choosing the best material they can get their hands on. The lack of uniform quality causes trouble.
Even the CD format shares blame. When albums clocked in at 45 minutes max, artists made quality music through the album. The cover art had value. A CD? 60 some minutes of material that didn't have to see the light of day, and wouldn't have 25 years ago.
In film, the studios are not losing money. The number of films created that go straight to DVD is amazing, and the creative accountents can make a successful movie appear to lose money.
TV too- they are mining gold when releasing old sitcoms. Money that would have never been made before.
Has anyone looked at the film and music execs? Do these guys look poor?
The potential damage is to the bottom line for small artists trying to make the leap. They however WANT you to copy and play their music.
DRM is all about making MORE money. Not less.
The Gimp does have an abysmal user interface, BUT, that interface must be seen in connection with the OS you are using. On OpenBSD it makes perfect sense. As you go on using it, you learn to deal with its oddities.
More when I can actually get my hands on Paint.Net.
Most interesting though is that Microsoft actually has some hand in aiding the creation of this software. If so, does that give us any indication that Microsoft might actually try to go after sections of the user market that are already ceded to other vendors?
What happens if Microsoft suddenly embraces Open Source development for its products? Given the level of piracy that abounds, they might get a better handle on some profit by transferring from a product based to service based model. Hm.
So let's see if I read this bit correctly:
"I personally don't care if people choose to run Firefox or Linux or any other software on their computers -- it's their computer, after all -- but we'll never get past the spyware / adware problem if people continue to think that installing unsigned code from random web sites is A Good Idea.
I've always been of the mind that you spend time writing because you have a personal investment in your topic. Does this guy seriously want us to believe that he doesn't care what we run? Of course he does. He's saying not to use it. That it's a BAD idea.
He's like the obnoxious asshole that stands over your shoulder telling you that he wouldn't fix the car that way, but "Hey, it's your car- I do't care!"
Note to a moron. I've been using it for months. Ever since I got wind of it. Every tech person I know worth his or her salt is using it. Glad I'm a part of your nightmare.
I got this one handled.
After 47 years of extremely personal and individual research on this I can most assuredly tell you that indeed, drugs do have a substantial effect on your brain.
After 47 years of extremely personal and individual research on this I can most assuredly tell you that indeed, drugs do have a substantial effect on your brain.
Anyone else that every single one of these product damnings also includes a link to the related product guide on the site?
I guess the basic nature of this column is:
A: Do the customary bitching about Dvorak. (Not to say that Dvorak bashing isn't okay- he loves it and uses it to his advantage.)
B: Drive traffic deeper into the site to increase revenue during the Christmas season.
And people wonder why I'm like the freaking Grinch around this time of year.
Bah humf*ckingbug.
I've been using the Gimp for four years now in an educational setting. For a variety of reasons, it is a compelling choice. 1. Students can use the Gimp at school and at home. It's a natural to stop them from violating copyright law. 2. The Gimp is a remarkable testimony to GNU software's ability to create powerful application software. 3. With limited documentation, The Gimp is perfect for teaching kids how to actually learn a software package. 4. Once they "get it," they appreciate what the Gimp can do for them. 5. There's no better way to teach them the real nature of cell animation. 6. For Unix kids, the Gimp is an awakening. When they move from Windows Gimp to Unix Gimp, they suddenly discover that the difficulties inherent in Windows file structure are an impediment to their computing. 7. Even of they move on to Photoshop, learning on the Gimp provides them a much better understanding of the nature of image manipulation. 8. It's not an easy answer. Kids like easy answers. 9. Nobody can figure out what the icon is, and it's hilarious when a kid shouts out "I love the gimp!"
Mr. Levine asking the FCC to level the playing field has more than a bit of irony. He appears to complain about indecency, but I sense it is more than that.
Leveling the playing field IMHO involves making sure that all capitalists are able to get an equal shot at the financial pie. He is therefore asking the FCC to censor the freedoms given to satellite so that he can make a profit.
Stern will draw a substantial audience, and garner substantial profit. Levine clearly understands that when the gloves are taken off, Stern will be able to draw that much more revenue, potentially damaging his own revenues.
This is not about indecency. If it was, things far more indecent than a weekly session with the robospanker and liberal use of the f-bomb would never see the light of day. The FCC does not see fit to censor violent images eminating from Iraq or broadcast television.
And any regular listener of Stern with half a brain undestands that he is merely bringing the underbelly of society- a bizarre (and yet occasionally poignant) truth into the open. If you really listen to the man you can see the intelligence behind the show.