There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy. – Shakespear's Hamlet
Decided to give kBlooger 1 a trial run. I have to admit that even for alpha software it does look like it will turn out well. First problem though is no tags so I have to add that later. Second problem is no image uploading, so I have to do that in the site itself. I’ll see how everything works over time. Maybe some things will be fixed as it progresses into beta and then stable 1.0. Who knows.
Here’s a screen shot.
Started playing around with KOffice 2 today. Honestly I don’t really mind it. A lot of the features that I had issues with from before have been fixed. The program is bringing up OpenOffice.org generated odt files up properly now without an extra blank page at the beginning. The program did crash when I hit undo, which is a bug I hope will be fixed.
As a program I do like how it looks. It still needs to be able to export to HTML properly for me to be really happy, considering I need HTML for Darkscribes.
I saw this on slashdot and was floored by the coolness factor. This is definitely a DIY I would attempt if I had the time, energy, materials, and funds to pull i off.
This Maximum PC Article has all the information you need to create your own basic multi-touch surface computer. Obviously You could take that and modify it as you saw fit, perhaps a different setup for video, change the cabinets design, add ports or drive bays to the outside to make things interesting. Maybe even go as far as o add everything else you want.
Definitely worth reading, if you have the time and money certainly worth trying.
With the newer updates to KDE and Amarok the dev teams have set the entire thing up to make some things easier. Plasma scripts and apps are developed in any scripting language one can ask for. You can even write your apps in C++ and make due rather well. I’m trying to decide if I want to try to learn C++ and go from there. I’m not entirely certain.
One thing I want is a script in Amarok that would transcode and prep videos for transfer to iPod and other media devices. However I’m still trying to get my mind around it all. Little help would be nice.
The biggest issue I see is the fact that it’s all javascript. I’m not certain how easy Java script is supposed to be as I’ve not been one to code often. I’m trying to figure it out, but it’s not easy.
Any suggestions or options please drop me a line and let me know.
Started using Amarok 2 recently. go to say, that while there are some major improvments it does need some major work before the final release comes out. A lot of the things I was disliking in beta 1 have been fixed. Amarok 2 does pull in your old playlists now and the Album Art manager doesn’t seem to be constantly downloading the best guess from the web. These are important to me as I have image files in every album folder with said art.
The thing that I noticed right now is the lack of ability to transfer playlists to media devices. I couldn’t take advantage of this either way until the transcoding plugin is fixed or added due to all my music being in flac. iPod doesn’t use flac so it has to be transcoded down into mp3.
Aside from crashes wich are expected from Beta software it seems like it’s on the right path to improve and already wonderful media program. Grated, it’s not as clean or crisp as the 1.4.x series but that’s been developed for a long time and 2 is a complete rebuild into the KDE4 realm.
Long time to see,
Decided to reinstall the seti@home project on my home system. Fact is that this was the first project in what became to be known as Distributed computing. THe idea is that by sharing the load with many computers at regular peoples homes they can do more and get more done then just with their super computers alone. And they are right. Since SETI@Home started, Berkley took their original idea and created a frame work any other project could take advantage of. Boinc is a frame work that allows many projects to utilize the dead cycles of your proc when you aren’t doing anything except say… posting to your blog. Writing a fanfiction or novel.
Wasting power while you are at work.
SETI@Home can be found here. BOINC can be found here.
There are many projects using this software, so if you aren’t as interested in Aliens you can find one for your interests rather easily.
Hello,
Today KDE 4 was released, version 4.0.2 to be exact. it’s a lovely piece of programing from what I’ve been able to see so far and hope i will continue to be so. Many of the various apps that make KDE the major DE it is are still being developed to include a stand alone web browser based not on khTml but on WebKit, and other major revamps of programs. However the major shifting of all the newer stuff is still worth the updating even to the developmental branch of KDE 4. If you want to wait, then 4.1 will be the KDE you want.
Due to the two months of being unemployed I’ve been less then interested in my writing. I’m hoping that now that I’m employed again I’ll be able to get more into things like that again. I want to continue on with Imperium and try to get more stuff working on that. eventually I’ll have a nice full on novel with a PDF download and maybe self publish the damned thing. Anyone interested in assisting me fiscally on that to take some worries off my brow and allow me to focus on my wiritng is more then welcome.
I have found a new job finnaly, I’m working in a security company. It’s not Dell computer stuff, but it’s something I’m used to, working with appropriate authorities to make things safer for people even if it’s through people who are subs and not everyone. Wish I had some more money and made a bit more, but for now this is good enough.
Shift work for the win folks.
Well,
Seems Theo De Raadt doesn’t have an issue with people taking and using BSD licensed code anyway they want, from completely locking up and not even saying it’s used like Microsoft does, or saying it’s used but giving absolutely nothing back to anyone like Apple does.
But if someone, say a Linux Kernel dev, does to BSD licensed code what he doesn’t apparently have an issue with closed source proprietary people doing he gets pissed.
Here’s the post on kerneltrap.org
No I’m not a lawyer, and while I want to start learning to code I’m no programmer. But this seems to me that he’s basically pissed that any project that uses the GPL’d license might try to do the exact same.
Fact is, the issue is a non-issue as fact is the code in question was duel licensed and the confusion is basically does the nature of dual licencing allow someone to basically just go with over the other. I’ll leave that question to the lawyers as I have no idea.
My question, and my feeling is, that if this BSD licence, supposedly freer then the GPL. which allows people to lock out anyone from seeing their changes unlike the GPL which requires the receiver to give the same rights to code they got to whomever they distribute to, then why the dust up?
BAsically these guys gave all their code out under a licence that except for having attribution to the original just screams as Captain Jack said, “Take all you can, give nothing back.”
Please, if I’m wrong someone clear it up for me.
Hello folks. I know I’ve been negligent keeping the blog up to date but I’ve been busy. Finally got the writing bug back for some of my fanfics and got some new stuff posted on DS. Always a good spot to go for Fanfiction if I do say so myself. I’m trying to get back in the mood for Imperium as well, so expect SOME movement on that site here in the mid-range. I really probably should take some time to outline Imperium and hope that helps me move it a bit faster.
A lot of stuff has happened since I last posted. The big thing though is pretty good news for us linux nuts. SCO’s claims of Copywrite on the Unix and Unixware trademarks were summarily found to be property of Novell and the SCO was obligated to obey the Novell folk when it comes to ending their copywrite suit against IBM. SCO’s case has pretty much been eviscerated from this ruling. When the Nazgul are finished with them well… the executive board may beg the SEC to throw them in jail.
Vista has been a nightmare to deal with at work. Too many things are incompatable, too many people wanting to use five year old hardware with the new OS, and too many programs just out last year that are wholly incompatable. Just way too much going wrong here. Hell, DX10 and DX10.1 are really hurting me, since neither Nvidia or ATI have a stable DX10 driver for their DX10 compatable hardware.
MS added another headache when they said that the DX10 compatible hardware out now will be completely unusable and incompatible with DX10.1. And People wonder why I push Open Source, OpenGL, and OpenAL as the way to go.
MS also seems to be trying to buy standardization for OOXML. Way too many people being bribed into supporting this abomination of a standard. We already have a truly open and extensible ISO supported standard. There is no reason to fast track OOXML especially with all the many flaws built into it. Too many requirements that the OOXML format support bugs from older binary versions of Office. Just drop that first off and actually change the standard to fix those problems.
That’s my opinion though. I’m no expert.
Fanfic wise I posted two new fics. Exile which can be found here, and the first chapter of a short comedy fic called Neko-Waffers, which can be found here.
Most if not all of my older fics are slated for MAJOR revisions before their next chapters come out. I’ll be working on those chapters over time, but they will all be revised before I post their next chapters. FFN also has my current work.
Is Linux Right for You?
Is Linux Right for you?
Why that answer is usually going to be yes.
By: LD
Why should I switch to Linux?
This is a question I hear a lot of the time from people who run Windows are are quite happy with it. And for a lot of people, Windows in all it’s incarnations is usually good enough. But do you really want good enough? Do you really want to keep paying $300 every time you upgrade your computer, or the classic Microsoft toll for any system you buy with Windows installed?
If you have an older computer that works okay but can’t handle anything more then Windows 95, Linux can improve the speed and use of that system. If all you are doing is email and web browsing, you really don’t need the major features of Windows. Even music is doable easily in Linux.
What are the benefits?
The benefits of running a Linux system are numerous. For instance, you don’t have to worry about your resources being eaten alive by all sorts of under the hood Windows applications. Not to mention the more efficient and customizable usage of your hard drive.
Also, you have the whole of the free open source software available on the Internet. If there is a Windows program you like, there is a Linux program that will do the job.
You want to play games that are Windows only? Simply install WineX on your linux system. It is specifically tailored to run games from Windows. So you can enjoy fragging your friends and enemies no sweat.
Not all open source software is free though. Some of it you do have to pay for. It’s not all free beer, but it is free speech in that you will be able to look at the source code if you are o inclined to do so. Every version of the Linux kernel is available for download if you want to look at it. This is especially helpful for developers who need that info so they can create applications to run on Linux.
What about my stuff?
Well, if you’ve been a good computer user you have backups. If not, don’t worry. Linux is able to read data from any Fat16, Fat32, and in some cases NTFS partition so you can grab all your stuff without a problem.
Still, there are things you have to give up if you run Linux. Many of your external toys may not work anymore. But not to worry, most of them may have a Linux work around done by someone else who had the same problem. You can always google search and find a site that will help you with this problem.
There are tons of reasons why Linux may be your best choice. But here’s the big one itself. If you don’t want to pay for a distribution, you don’t really have to. Most every Linux Distro is available on the Internet. Just be sure you have a high speed net connection or know someone who does. 600MB is a lot to download.
If you want to try Linux, but don’t want to go all the way just yet, download a distro called Knoppix. This distro boots and loads everything you need for a working Linux system from the CD, without you ever having to touch the hard drive or fiddle with partitions.
In my next article, I’ll go over the various Linux distros and point out the ones that are best for newbies or those wanting to try Linux as their primary OS.
Later.
Tags: Commentary, FOSS, Linux
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