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1051

General Software Discussion / Anyone still using WordPerfect?

« Last post by zridling on December 22, 2009, 12:52 PM »

I see they want $300 for their new version. Love that fancy XP screenshot. It really shows me what WordPerfect can do. Are they serious? C'mon!

1052

Living Room / Re: I'm beginning my experiment with Linux and other OS's.

« Last post by zridling on December 22, 2009, 12:29 AM »

What sajman99 said. That's probably the main feature that lures me to Linux -- a distro for everyone. Whether you're into video editing, programming, cloud computing, netbooks, long-term stability, or bleeding edge tech, there's a distro tailored for the way you work. PCLinuxOS has long been a favorite among many. Here's my desktop with Chrome and FileZilla running and it looks a lot like any other OS on the surface.

(click for larger)

1053

Living Room / Re: I'm beginning my experiment with Linux and other OS's.

« Last post by zridling on December 21, 2009, 05:35 AM »

Wow, sorry I just arrived. Been a busy weekend testing a variety of distros among a room full of systems. Glad to see others have jumped in and advised SuperboyAC. Now on to SB's first impressions and other things.

- There are tons of "tip" sites, blogs, pages around. Google is your friend, as am I. Check out the "linux help" blogroll section on my blog at:
http://www.thegsblog.com/

- I compare switching OSes to switching languages. Speaking the new one takes time. Immersion is your best friend. Dual-booting will make you schizophrenic. Imagine an Apple person migrating to Windows. It looks familiar, but file management and software installations are different for each one.

- Don't fall in love with any one distro; instead find the one that works for you. For example, MEPIS, Mint, and Mandriva are three that are highly polished and stylized. The real difference is which desktop environment you will use: KDE or GNOME. Each one is good; both are lacking something the other does well. I settled for KDE4 because I can make it look like Win7, OSX, or heck, what I want, which is a clean desktop, but a loaded taskbar. Explore the UI. For example, if you right-click the KDE START button, you can edit the application menus and structure. I like openSUSE's implementation of KDE. But kubuntu's no slouch, nor is sidux. A site like Planet KDE will inform you as you go.

- Don't get hung up on the fast upgrade cycle. Some distros like Ubuntu upgrade every six months. Others every 9-12 months, and some when they're damned well ready (Debian). Keep your \home folder on a separate partition and you'll retain all your data, and for the most part, your application tweaks.

- Your days of buying software are [mostly] over. The only software I bought for Linux was Nero/Linux. And KDE's K3B app is actually better. All the browsers have full Linux versions. Opera, Firefox, and Chrome come with all the extensions and themes you'll want on Linux. Text editing, programming, and web development is pretty fantastic. I could go on. (I don't play games except chess and solitaire, so I can't advise you there. The GNU Chess app will beat you every time.)

- Discover the Droid fonts. They're nice. Along with that, subpixel rendering. Makes every word on the screen crystal clear with a decent monitor.

- Use the software what you know. You'll be surprised at how much cross-platform software is around. I do FTP with Filezilla. I archive with 7-Zip. Word process and spreadsheet work with OpenOffice, etc. No need to reinvent those wheels.

- Don't think you have to love it, but realize a few of Linux's advantages. You will save money because your software budget can now go for new hardware or something ... anything else. Two of my formerly favorite Windows apps recently tripled in price. Instead of being pissed, I had a laugh over it. You have a choice of filesystems now. Your data just got a lot safer. File transfers are fast again. So is your processor.

I could go on, but you get the drift. I have a Win7 machine in the corner of my basement if I need it. I also have it virtualized using VirtualBox. My wife's work laptop uses Windows. So I'm not completely gone. I've had a blast making the switch. After more than two decades of using Microsoft OSes, I earned the right to try something different. Turns out that right now, Linux is pretty nice, and has come a long way in just three years.

1054

General Software Discussion / The Five Distros That Changed Linux

« Last post by zridling on December 21, 2009, 04:30 AM »

The Five Distros That Changed Linux
Linux Magazine / Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols

Linux’s history can be measured in both releases 2.0, 2.6, and so on, and in its major distributions, which brought these releases to the masses at large. Here’s my list of the top five major Linux distributions that had the most impact in the operating system’s brief history.

- Slackware (1993) The first truly popular Linux distribution
- Debian (1994) Welcome to the community
- Caldera (1993/4) The first Linux for business
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2.1AS (2002) Linux joins the enterprise
- Ubuntu 4.10 (2004) Linux for everyone

.........................
The disagreements among the commenters are delicious.

1055

General Software Discussion / Re: Google creates a URL shortener, but it's limited

« Last post by zridling on December 17, 2009, 12:36 PM »

Few need it. The only slight advantage would be your own abbreviated business URL. But I've heard more than a few claim that since bit.ly-type links are not transparent, you don't know where it's redirecting you, thus leading you into phishing traps, scams, unwanted porn sites, etc. For SMS-length messager services like twitter, it's almost an absolute must, though.

1056

Living Room / Re: The Great Aussie Firewall to Go Ahead

« Last post by zridling on December 15, 2009, 02:54 AM »

Australia, Britain, and China: three countries that are hard on netizens. Whenever a government wants to take away a liberty, they usually reach for the "child porn" card. Meanwhile, in the US and Britain, we're holding "piracy summits" to help corporations enact ACTA legislation. All this bodes ill for economic leadership to say the least.

1057

General Software Discussion / Re: Google creates a URL shortener, but it's limited

« Last post by zridling on December 15, 2009, 02:41 AM »

And not 24 hours later, bit.ly announces a Pro URL shortening service:

This private label pro solution is initially open for a limited number of medium to large publishers and bloggers including MSN, The Huffington Post and WSJ.com. The private label solution is aimed at boosting user confidence, with the ultimate destination of a short url which in turn should boost the click rate of the url. So if you click on a nyti.ms link you know it will be going to the New York Times.

1058

Living Room / Re: How to un-Google yourself

« Last post by zridling on December 15, 2009, 02:35 AM »

Guess I'm just lucky to have a reasonably common name, I'm probably buried 30+ pages deep within any of Googles search results if I even appear.....which is fine by me

-4wd (December 15, 2009, 02:11 AM)

So you're saying the ATF/FBI are going to have to kick down a lot of doors just to find you?!   

1059

Living Room / Re: How to un-Google yourself

« Last post by zridling on December 15, 2009, 02:33 AM »

I laugh at that solution, too, since even my brother, who's in prison and has no access to computers, is on google! Just because you take your stuff offline doesn't mean others are going to do the same for you.

1060

General Software Discussion / Best KDE distro? openSUSE says TuxRadar

« Last post by zridling on December 15, 2009, 02:30 AM »

Although the others are no slouches, DistroWatch links to TuxRadar for the best KDE Linux distro:



The verdict? The best KDE distribution today is openSUSE 11.2: "Our winner is openSUSE. It's a distribution that's got the professional sheen and gloss that only Novell can bring, and it's a distribution that always manages to bundle a cutting-edge KDE installation that will last you the full nine months of the distribution cycle. The custom artwork looks great, and shows that the packaging team has a great understanding of what KDE is capable of and what users need from their desktop. YaST is always going to be unwieldy, but its fantastic integration into the KDE desktop (it's written in Qt) makes Linux feel much closer to its Windows and OS X competitors than other KDE distributions.

It's also the most Microsoft-friendly of the distros since Microsoft partnered with Novell back in 2006 for greatest document format compatibility and virtualization. (That's good or bad depending on how you look at it.)

1061

General Software Discussion / Google creates a URL shortener, but it's limited

« Last post by zridling on December 14, 2009, 04:16 PM »

Google has launched a URL Shortener (http://goo.gl/), but only through Google Toolbar and Feedburner. It "is not a stand-alone service; you can't use it to shorten links directly."



Looks like I'll keep using bit.ly, which has always worked well for social media if yours does not include the service automatically.

1062

Living Room / Re: Win7 Bug - New windows/notifications do not get focus

« Last post by zridling on December 14, 2009, 03:59 PM »

Try running the UI in windows 7 basic. Apparently a few AV programs might be causing this oddity.

1063

Living Room / Re: A Stellar Advent Calendar

« Last post by zridling on December 12, 2009, 12:26 PM »

The Big Picture site is the best source of photojournalism since Life Magazine back in the day.

1064

Living Room / Re: 150 Widescreen HD Wallpaper images

« Last post by zridling on December 12, 2009, 12:23 PM »

You aren't the first self-appointed moderator here at DC; I'm sure you won't be the last.

This topic was apples; your response was oranges. You chose to make this simple topic post a platform for your "feelings" about something it was not: copyright, licensing, and fair use. It would have been defensible had you taken up a new topic for that, because it's deeply interesting and important to all of us living in this century. But posting a link to wallpapers is not equal to theft -- nor do I favor stealing -- of anyone's work. So don't put words in my mouth, and then argue against your own straw men. As you stated, you draw the line with me here, but not with every other blogger on the planet, with Microsoft, Google, Bing, Yahoo, and lots of others who thumbnail link to unlicensed images.

I urge you not to be angry, but to choose your battles more wisely. This wasn't worth it unless you are willing to argue consistently that every uncredited image on this domain be taken down. And if you're creating art you don't want anyone to see just to get paid, maybe you shouldn't be an artist but a businesswoman (who sells art). As far as I know, Google is the only company that's figured out how to make money off the internet! I certainly haven't.

1065

Living Room / Re: Open Source Proves Elusive as a Business Model

« Last post by zridling on December 12, 2009, 04:12 AM »

Some related reading on these topics:

What Does a User Cost?
http://ostatic.com/b...hat-does-a-user-cost

What should we do with Free Software users who don't contribute to it in any way?
http://stop.zona-m.net/node/58

Whither open source in the land of leeches?
http://news.cnet.com...5_3-10120006-16.html

Free as in Freedom, Not Free as in Freeloader
http://www.linuxplan...net/opinions/6596/1/

1066

Living Room / If cats had TV shows

« Last post by zridling on December 12, 2009, 04:02 AM »

Perhaps an action show:
http://www.youtube.c.../watch?v=U8vvhGixWQQ

Or maybe this is more your style if you like the Baby Network:
http://www.youtube.c.../watch?v=idRc_KkInds

1067

Living Room / Re: 150 Widescreen HD Wallpaper images

« Last post by zridling on December 12, 2009, 03:42 AM »

Well, gee... Lots of sympathy for art thieves from you.
....
How would you feel if someone decided to offer a new free linux distro stripped of the GPL and any credits to the developers? But everything must be free, you say? And as long as you don't charge money for it, it's all ok? As long as everyone else is doing it, it's ok? To hell with anyone's rights to profit from their work? To hell with complying with Creative Commons licenses that require credit?    

-app103 (December 12, 2009, 02:07 AM)

Wow, if you're offended by this post and the link to the photo download file, then your self-righteousness puts a lot of work in front of you. It's funny how your anger is so selective on this day. I searched the term "wallpaper" on DC and found quite a few topics on wallpapers, wallpaper software, and lots of cody stuff. But you didn't object to this post at the time by me. Only now. Among other things, it appears you also confuse copyright duration with works in the public domain. Read more closely: the industry wrote that law and got it passed and repassed over and over; duration is always extended, never reduced. In some cases it lasts 120 years!

The vast number of assumptions you're making are astounding, as if the poster stole the images among them.  And it's also funny that you chose this topic to reveal your anger. Again, you and I have been on DC for years and I've posted images with most of my topics, as have some others. Why now? And you're making my argument for me when you write: "If I authorize you to display it on your desktop, then that is all you can do with it...your desktop...not your website, not someone else's site, not a collection, not a web page background."
________________
>How would you feel if someone decided to offer a new free linux distro stripped of the GPL and any credits to the developers?
It's done all the time. Microsoft just got popped over open code it last month. Yet you're still using Microsoft's OS right now. That doesn't seem to bother you, so I guess you don't mind paying corporations to rip others off. Oh, but wait, the code is free! The only limitation being that you give back the code you added so others can benefit as Microsoft did in that case.

Cisco and others continue to do the same. And Microsoft-funded SCO has been resurrected again to run the whole "who owns Unix" thing through the courts for another ten years.

>But everything must be free, you say?
Where did I say that? Another assumption. Open source does not equal free. You very well know that.

>As long as everyone else is doing it, it's ok?
So I take it that only these 150 wallpapers offend your sensitivities, or does any image used without permission? If it's the latter, then why have you waited until now on this very forum to speak up, when there are thousands of "unlicensed" images used throughout DC? Lest you appear hypocritical, I would love to know when and where you asked mouser to take down images that didn't meet your approval.

>To hell with anyone's rights to profit from their work? To hell with complying with Creative Commons licenses that require credit?
Another set of assumptions. How do you know they're all licensed? Which other licenses might be involved?

If this bothers you so much, I want to see how far you're willing to put your money where your mouth is. I want to see where you draw the line in all the software you use, every site you regularly visit, whether when you watch TV and see images that are not credited on the newscast that you don't call the station and ask for their rights to broadcast the image, and so on. It's a slippery slope, indeed. But ask yourself: have you paid for every single thing or at least obtained a license or explicit permission to download all you've downloaded over the years?

So please, lighten up. It's freakin' wallpapers April, not the end of the world.   (not angry)

1068

Living Room / Re: 150 Widescreen HD Wallpaper images

« Last post by zridling on December 11, 2009, 11:39 PM »

Except no one is selling these photos. I've seen links to this same 150-Photo pack combined with the National Geographic wallpaper set all over the place this week. Perhaps we should then scour every post on the donationcoder.com domain and check for photo credits? If we don't find them on each photo, will you also ask mouser to remove them? You could also go further, as Rupert Murdoch did, and ask Google to take down its image search feature? Most of those links to images are uncredited, so you've got a lot of work in front of you. (See the Perfect10 case, for example.) Or at the least, you could ask: How is it that words like "mine," "ownership," and "control" have become so pervasive in an environment that allows unprecedented access to creative work?

It's a question of where you draw the line. If it's at redistribution for resale, fine. But let's be clear: that's not what this link is doing. Quite a few wallpaper images are public domain at this point. The blogger does not attach a "May not be reproduced" copyright warning on the images under his name, nor is he claiming they are his. If you're in the US, you owe it to yourself to read the US Copyright Law (Section 512, DMCA takedowns) and walk the walk.

1069

General Software Discussion / Re: Search with Bing

« Last post by zridling on December 11, 2009, 03:08 PM »

It's nice looking, but that's not what I need in a search engine. And since I'm Microsoft-free, I won't use it.

1070

Living Room / Re: 150 Widescreen HD Wallpaper images

« Last post by zridling on December 11, 2009, 03:05 PM »

Never heard this objection to wallpapers. How would you do it other than watermarking them and ruining them? Flikr is the goldmine of all wallpapers and avatars. Doesn't matter to me. I'm just enjoying them, not repackaging and redistributing for profit.

1071

Living Room / 150 Widescreen HD Wallpaper images

« Last post by zridling on December 11, 2009, 01:05 AM »

Most are 1920x1200. Nice!


(rar file)

1072

Living Room / Google's Eric Schmidt has a stupid moment on privacy

« Last post by zridling on December 11, 2009, 12:09 AM »

First it was Mozilla exec Asa Dotzler taking a golf club to Google's head by recommending Firefox users switch to Bing as their search engine in response to privacy concerns with Google. Now the big dog, Bruce Schneier steps up to the tee.

Google's Eric Schmidt said:
I think judgment matters. If you have something that you don't want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place. If you really need that kind of privacy, the reality is that search engines -- including Google -- do retain this information for some time and it's important, for example, that we are all subject in the United States to the Patriot Act and it is possible that all that information could be made available to the authorities.

Schneier's response, from 2006:
Privacy protects us from abuses by those in power, even if we're doing nothing wrong at the time of surveillance. We do nothing wrong when we make love or go to the bathroom. We are not deliberately hiding anything when we seek out private places for reflection or conversation. We keep private journals, sing in the privacy of the shower, and write letters to secret lovers and then burn them. Privacy is a basic human need.

.......................................................
Total Recall all over again. Why do I feel like whatever can be used against me will be used against me online? (Usually by a corporation.)

1073

Living Room / Re: Virtual London coming January 2010 via Skape

« Last post by zridling on December 10, 2009, 11:20 PM »

They don't seem to be active any longer, Merle. But if anyone knows where to find them, I'd love to see them. Thanks for the tip.

1074

Living Room / Virtual London coming January 2010 via Skape

« Last post by zridling on December 10, 2009, 03:25 PM »

Skape shows what's coming in this remarkably high resolution digital tour. Holy crap I think that guy just spit on the grass, the bloody grass!

1075

General Software Discussion / Re: Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala (including Netbook Remix)

« Last post by zridling on December 08, 2009, 12:56 AM »

All the niggling problems you cite with Ubuntu is why many think it gives Linux a bad name. Windows users want to try Linux, they see that Ubuntu is the most popular, so it must be good, and then they're not impressed with the Gnome desktop environment and consistently disappointed with Ubuntu's connectivity problems. Since 6.04, I've yet to be impressed with it, thinking it should be more like Mint.

I'm a confirmed distro-hopper, so I spend my time among openSUSE, sidux, and playing with nightly builds of Chrome OS.