"Only religious fanatics and totalitarian states equate morality with legality,
Did he really say that? I can't believe it. Take away the law as a measure for morality and you take away the measuring stick for trust. Take away the measuring stick for trust and you take away society/civilization/yeseveniPhones.
As a Linux user, morality is always on my mind. In fact the GPL that the Kernel uses is grounded in morality. What gives?
Sigh...I guess he's trying to say "...equate *this kind of hypocritical* morality with legality"...in which case I might agree.
Maybe somebody's already told you this, but that system is going to run GNOME very slowly. If you want a rich desktop experience that should be faster, try installing Kubuntu (just apt-get it) and see if you like it. I have an Athlon XP 3000+ with 1.5GB RAM and an FX5500, and GNOME is annoyingly slow, so I use Kubuntu. It's much faster, very close to pre-installed-Windows responsiveness levels. But I like KDE so it's no biggie.
If you want a fast desktop experience, I'd recommend something like XFCE. Should speed things up quite a bit, maybe even faster than Windows. But I know what you mean when you say that the GNOME responsiveness is not on par with Windows on the same machine. It's really too bad.
Strange that you can't get movies to play either...that usually works without a hitch.
32 bits total s usually 24 bits + 8 bit alpha (or transparency). But you're probably talking about 32 bits per channel, which is a newer item for off-the-shelf photo editors. In the open source world, Cinepaint and Krita can definitely handle this that I know of, and I think some of the more popular photo-editing-only apps can too. I don't think CS2 can do this, so yeah, you'd probably need Photoshop CS3.
Last I heard, OpenEXR uses 16 bits per channel, and HDR can use either 16 or 32. But it's a little fuzzy here - all I care about for work or play purposes is the increased tolerance for really messing with a photo without messy blends caused by rounding artifacts, etc.
GIMP can do 24 bit color - that's 8 bits per channel, RGB. 48-bit color is 16-bits per channel. Cinepaint can do 48 bits, Krita can do it, digiKam can do it, etc.
8-bit color would be 256 colors.
If you want to work with 16 bit images and still work in the GIMP, you're correct. You need to open one of the aforesaid image editors and do color corrections like tone mapping before saving for the GIMP. Most people do color correction work first anyway, so that's why I say it's not a big deal. Also, through the miracle of adjustment layers in Krita, and layers in GIMP, it's even less of a big deal to make corrections later and update the final.
Idealism and reality *can* be different, but it depends on your circumstances. I teach Photoshop because the college doesn't have room in the schedule for a GIMP course, let alone 3D graphics courses, and more students will recognize the Photoshop name. At work, however, I can use whatever I feel gets the job done.
BTW Povray and other 3D software packages support 48-bit images in HDR or OpenEXR because lighting can be derived from the high dynamic range. Many 3D packages can also save renders to HDR formats for editing in capable software. I use this feature all the time.
It doesn't even have 16 bit colour channels whereas Photoshop has 24 bit channels. And I've hear CS3 will have 32 bit channels.
I'm a professional. I even teach Photoshop classes. And this is not a big deal. Really you need the added bit depth for photography work. But when I do come across this shortcoming of GIMP from time to time, it DOES make itself annoying. So what do I do? Open the image in another open source image editor that can handle the extra bits. Make my edits. Back to GIMP.
The only thing that Adobe's done for me (as someone who makes a living in computer graphics) is make me aware that they are attempting to force me to be their customer by monopolizing the industry. THAT feels really great to my sensitive, artistic side.
There's just no way GIMP comes close to being a dropin replacement for Photoshop!
I disagree - all it takes is a short discussion about Adobe to convince many pro artists that O/S software like GIMP is based on superior principles. After realizing that, most people will MAKE it work for them somehow.
Linux users have been profiled by market research firms for a long time now. If you want proof, check out this transcript from Frontline's "The Persuaders":
Do a text search for "linux" on that page, then back up a bit and read it in context. If you watch the show online, it's even better - and more creepy. They don't call 'em "persuaders" for nothing.:-)
Ubuntu has never been as good in the auto-screen-recognition portion of the install as some other distros. If you don't mind doing some Googling, just query "[your laptop make and model] xorg.conf" and copy the screen/monitor/device sections over.
A lot of new users think this is solely a graphics chipset driver problem, but actually Ubuntu usually does a great job with auto-installing drivers and a not-so-great job with screen frequency/resolution detection.
It did the job for what I was trying to do, but I would have been happier to use an actual CAD program.
Darn, all you had to do was ask;-)
One good place to start is here: http://www.linuxlinks.com/Software/Graphics/CAD/...and if you have an open mind about Java, maybe this section is worth checking out too: http://www.linuxlinks.com/Java/Graphics/CAD/
A lot of people use software like http://www.inkscape.org/Inkscape for this. It now has dimensioning capabilities too, I think. Heck, I would rather use GIMP than OpenOffice draw - Gimp paths aren't that bad.
If you use SVG in e.g. Inkscape, you can import your SVG drawing to a program like Art of Illusion (Java-based 3D studio), extrude, and render for a nice 3D view. Or use Sketchup, depending on your platform.
I think there is no doubt that the present leadership fears relaxing control, particularly over the media and discussions of events like 1989 and a myriad of others, because it fears that once the discussions begin -- like those demonstrations in 1989 -- they will be very hard to stop. In this they may be right.
But there is another theory that says if you allowed a modicum of discussion to go in an orderly fashion, it would serve as a pressure-release valve, whereas if you don't have any discussion, at some point the pressure will build up. What the Party has relied on to prevent the pressure from building up is to allow people to exercise all of their ambitions and urges to be able to advance themselves and to have lives on the economic side of the ledger. This was Deng Xiaoping's great moment of genius. After the massacre of 1989, he in effect said we will not stop economic reform; we will in effect halt political reform.
What he basically said to people was: "Folks, you are in a room. There are two doors. One door says 'Politics'; one door says 'Economics.' You open the economic door, you are on your own. You can go the full distance to basically whatever you want: get wealthy, help your family have a bright future, move forward into a glorious future. If you open the political door, you are going to run right into one obstruction after another, and you are going to run into the state." People logically being practical -- and Chinese are very practical -- opened the economic door. They wouldn't open the political door. It was foolish to do so.
Better to maintain strict control over a nation in poverty than be in charge of a prosperous one!
Actually, as I understand it the government of Iran gave its people the same decision that China did: Live in prosperity to the extent that you work for it, or fight a long, difficult political battle against the entrenched leadership.
The citizens of both countries (China after Tienanmen Square) took the "let us prosper economically and we will forget about opposing you" route.
The interesting thing is, high technology like the internet is meant to bring the world together, so the government finds itself in a difficult position: If you allow use of the internet as an incentive to behave, you have a hard time avoiding its detrimental effect on your leadership. If you disallow the internet, though, it starts to look like you are breaking your side of the agreement.
Together with the other improvements, this release probably makes it the best free image editor in the world.
Hm, there's flamebait if I've ever heard it. But I'll bite. Krita needs a lot more help than CMYK support. It's a promising app, but the interface graphics and overall experience could really use some polish. I checked out the changelog and I see there's a new icon set for the "too", which sounds promising...
might get tagged and investigated (like people in the United States do under the Patriot Act for checking out certain books from the library).
Interesting, can you share your source for that? I've heard of the government requesting library cooperation in certain cases when they want to know about a specific person, but I've never heard anyone say there is general monitoring going on. I wonder how many libraries would cooperate with that, and given the completely heterogeneous ecosystem of library computer installations, I wonder if it would even be *possible*.
The strength of Linux is in it's stable and secure kernel and low-level "plumbing." The same as BSD. An OS that includes a "Windows" experience on top of this solid foundation would for teh first time attract real attention and a real user base.
Another strength of Linux is that it is open source. If someone wants to, they can take it and work as hard at usability and just-workishness as they can. Later on, their efforts get added to other efforts, and before long there is great progress. In fact, maybe you missed it (or underestimated it), but there has been a tremendous effort in making "comfortable" Linux for a long time:
I look at the usability and overall experience comparison between Ubuntu Dapper Drake and Warty Warthog, and I'm amazed.
Interestingly, even smaller, specialized distros have taken up the charge to be more friendly and accessible. For example, look up the DreamLinux distro sometime.
And if you don't think the masses will ever "smarten" up and use Linux, take a closer look at your Tivo.
I disagree with your point, "religion is toxic to free thought." Indeed a lot of bad stuff goes on in the name of religion. However, the term "religion" is so diluted now that it has no meaning. And what is free thought? Are we not all free to *think* whatever we want?
Also, your argument ends up sounding much like the type of dogma that you preach against - you make broad generalizations and leave no room for exceptions. It would be easier for me to agree with you if you held off on that sort of talk.
BTW it's "turn a blind eye" that you want, not "turn the other cheek." Turning the other cheek is a way to be more...err...Christ-like, which I assume by your description does *not* fit the eBay profile.;D
The era of *really* ugly PCs has arrived. Really good, classy ID is one of those things you either nail on the head or miss completely. Expect to see a lot of clueless OEMs that follow this advice from MS and pump out machines that look like something ripped right off of Voltron's armor...
Slashdot Mirror
I posted this awesome cultural comment the last time this story was posted and nobody even replied. Now the dupe is just plowing up all those bad memories again. http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=246095&cid= 19763499
Did he really say that? I can't believe it. Take away the law as a measure for morality and you take away the measuring stick for trust. Take away the measuring stick for trust and you take away society/civilization/yeseveniPhones.
As a Linux user, morality is always on my mind. In fact the GPL that the Kernel uses is grounded in morality. What gives?
Sigh...I guess he's trying to say "...equate *this kind of hypocritical* morality with legality"...in which case I might agree.
...but the license and development paradigm will matter. Linux is currently helping us make sure of that.
Might as well post an explanatory link - it's a Japanese term, if anyone was wondering about the origin of the name: http://nobleharbor.com/tea/chado/WhatIsWabi-Sabi.h tm
Maybe somebody's already told you this, but that system is going to run GNOME very slowly. If you want a rich desktop experience that should be faster, try installing Kubuntu (just apt-get it) and see if you like it. I have an Athlon XP 3000+ with 1.5GB RAM and an FX5500, and GNOME is annoyingly slow, so I use Kubuntu. It's much faster, very close to pre-installed-Windows responsiveness levels. But I like KDE so it's no biggie.
If you want a fast desktop experience, I'd recommend something like XFCE. Should speed things up quite a bit, maybe even faster than Windows. But I know what you mean when you say that the GNOME responsiveness is not on par with Windows on the same machine. It's really too bad.
Strange that you can't get movies to play either...that usually works without a hitch.
OT: how are you liking Lulu.com?
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/tankman/i
Do a text search for "doors" on that page - should be the first hit.
I read the exact same thing about the government of Iran through another media outlet, but I can't remember where it was.
32 bits total s usually 24 bits + 8 bit alpha (or transparency). But you're probably talking about 32 bits per channel, which is a newer item for off-the-shelf photo editors. In the open source world, Cinepaint and Krita can definitely handle this that I know of, and I think some of the more popular photo-editing-only apps can too. I don't think CS2 can do this, so yeah, you'd probably need Photoshop CS3.
Last I heard, OpenEXR uses 16 bits per channel, and HDR can use either 16 or 32. But it's a little fuzzy here - all I care about for work or play purposes is the increased tolerance for really messing with a photo without messy blends caused by rounding artifacts, etc.
GIMP can do 24 bit color - that's 8 bits per channel, RGB. 48-bit color is 16-bits per channel. Cinepaint can do 48 bits, Krita can do it, digiKam can do it, etc.
8-bit color would be 256 colors.
If you want to work with 16 bit images and still work in the GIMP, you're correct. You need to open one of the aforesaid image editors and do color corrections like tone mapping before saving for the GIMP. Most people do color correction work first anyway, so that's why I say it's not a big deal. Also, through the miracle of adjustment layers in Krita, and layers in GIMP, it's even less of a big deal to make corrections later and update the final.
Idealism and reality *can* be different, but it depends on your circumstances. I teach Photoshop because the college doesn't have room in the schedule for a GIMP course, let alone 3D graphics courses, and more students will recognize the Photoshop name. At work, however, I can use whatever I feel gets the job done.
BTW Povray and other 3D software packages support 48-bit images in HDR or OpenEXR because lighting can be derived from the high dynamic range. Many 3D packages can also save renders to HDR formats for editing in capable software. I use this feature all the time.
The only thing that Adobe's done for me (as someone who makes a living in computer graphics) is make me aware that they are attempting to force me to be their customer by monopolizing the industry. THAT feels really great to my sensitive, artistic side.
I disagree - all it takes is a short discussion about Adobe to convince many pro artists that O/S software like GIMP is based on superior principles. After realizing that, most people will MAKE it work for them somehow.
http://www.flickr.com/groups/83823859@N00/
Linux users have been profiled by market research firms for a long time now. If you want proof, check out this transcript from Frontline's "The Persuaders":
s uaders/etc/script.html/
:-)
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/per
Do a text search for "linux" on that page, then back up a bit and read it in context. If you watch the show online, it's even better - and more creepy. They don't call 'em "persuaders" for nothing.
Ubuntu has never been as good in the auto-screen-recognition portion of the install as some other distros. If you don't mind doing some Googling, just query "[your laptop make and model] xorg.conf" and copy the screen/monitor/device sections over.
A lot of new users think this is solely a graphics chipset driver problem, but actually Ubuntu usually does a great job with auto-installing drivers and a not-so-great job with screen frequency/resolution detection.
From http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/tankman/i
The citizens of both countries (China after Tienanmen Square) took the "let us prosper economically and we will forget about opposing you" route.
I can't remember where I read this about Iran, but you can watch how it unfolded in China here: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/tankman/
The interesting thing is, high technology like the internet is meant to bring the world together, so the government finds itself in a difficult position: If you allow use of the internet as an incentive to behave, you have a hard time avoiding its detrimental effect on your leadership. If you disallow the internet, though, it starts to look like you are breaking your side of the agreement.
Don't forget Georges Remi, creator of Tintin :)
With Dapper, "flight" made a lot of sense...is this the equivalent of "flight" for eft? If so, why "knot"?
http://www.ubuntulinux.com/
http://www.mandriva.com/
http://www.novell.com/products/suselinux/
I look at the usability and overall experience comparison between Ubuntu Dapper Drake and Warty Warthog, and I'm amazed.
Interestingly, even smaller, specialized distros have taken up the charge to be more friendly and accessible. For example, look up the DreamLinux distro sometime.
And if you don't think the masses will ever "smarten" up and use Linux, take a closer look at your Tivo.
http://www.tivo.com/linux/linux.asp (fair enough, it's not a desktop, but then Linux is only the kernel anyway...)
I disagree with your point, "religion is toxic to free thought." Indeed a lot of bad stuff goes on in the name of religion. However, the term "religion" is so diluted now that it has no meaning. And what is free thought? Are we not all free to *think* whatever we want?
Also, your argument ends up sounding much like the type of dogma that you preach against - you make broad generalizations and leave no room for exceptions. It would be easier for me to agree with you if you held off on that sort of talk.
BTW it's "turn a blind eye" that you want, not "turn the other cheek." Turning the other cheek is a way to be more...err...Christ-like, which I assume by your description does *not* fit the eBay profile. ;D
Clip your fingernails, man!
/ CMU_BallbotOffice.jpg
http://www.msl.ri.cmu.edu/projects/ballbot/images
The era of *really* ugly PCs has arrived. Really good, classy ID is one of those things you either nail on the head or miss completely. Expect to see a lot of clueless OEMs that follow this advice from MS and pump out machines that look like something ripped right off of Voltron's armor...