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djotaku's twitter feed
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- just started playing WarCraft III: Reign of Chaos. http://raptr.com/djotaku
- video did NOT kill the radio star. Radio is still around. MTV, on the other hand, no longer plays music videos. RIP TRL.
- Yay MD for the $170 electric bill credit!
- @harajukuroxy that stinks. My mom used to get a lot of migraines.
- My latest computer animation: http://server.ericsbinaryworld.com/dtbp/node/48
- My latest computer animation:
- Nearly done with my latest animation
- @minimoniotaku: the old momma joke was hilarious
- Using akmod-nvidia, built the latest drivers for nvidia and 3D works again! w00t w00t! Blender here I come!
- Dagnabbit. Nvidia doesn't support Xorg7.4pre so no Blender for me for a while
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Feb
28
thanks God
Category: Religion | 
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Sure, this is mostly a technology (read linux) blog with some politics thrown in. But long-time readers know I am a religious person. Not a religous fanatic, but religious nontheless. I just wanted to take a post to express my gratitude for things that have been going so well for me. For instance, my mother’s flights to and from, and her time in, Mexico were safe. There are many other things, some of which I may be able to discuss in the future. Thank you God.
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Feb
25
Ten Best Flickr Mashups
Category: Internet, Photography | 1 Comment
Webmonkey has run a special on the ten best flickr mashups. What is a mashup with respect to flickr? I only know of mashups as songs where different groups put their songs together to create something new such as Jay-Z and Linkin Park. Basically, since flickr has opened up their API (as has Google with most of their web stuff), users can create all kinds of neat applications based on flickr without needed permission. You may have seen on some of my Linux screenshots where I have one such application that runs through my photostream. Well, these people have all kinds really neat website they have strung up. My favorite one is the sudoku one where instead of numbers, one has to play sudoku with pictures. Putting in djotaku for the username will allow you to play as me. I will be linking to my favorites on my links on the right over the next few days. Enjoy!
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Feb
25
Flickr photos 6-10
Category: Photography | Leave a Comment
#6 this photo has been wonderful for me because not only is it one of my most favorite of my recent photos, but others have agreed! In just one week it went from #99 to #6. In fact, it was originally #8 when I was writing the list of #1-5.
#7 - taking this picture gave me the creeps. What if the glass broke?
#8 - my parent’s favorite picture
#9 - one of the first photos I took creatively. I thought it was interesting to see Charles Schwab with chinese characters
#10 - a quick edit that I really loved!
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Feb
25
My Top 5 flickr photos
Category: Photography | Leave a Comment
It’s amazing how much of a difference there is between the number of views of my #1 viewed photo and my #2. They then follow in groups close to each other in number. (#5-10 to follow tomorrow)
#1 with 352 Views is
#2 with 246 (more than 100 less!)
#3 with 242
#4 with 234
#5 with 164
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Feb
25
My GIMP Wishlist
Category: Computers, Linux | Leave a Comment
What GIMP needs to implement for me to stop using Adobe. (Thus saving myself and others $600+)
- RAW Support (preferably the new standard of DNG)
- 16bit File Editing
- XMP Tag support
- Panorama Tool
- Adjustment layers
Number 1 is important for those of us who wish to capture the camera’s RAW data and then losslessly manipulate it before getting it into the image editing program. There are some plugins which do bits here and there of RAW support, but I need it to be much closer to at least Adobe CS 1. For those who, like me, do editing on nearly every photo, 16 bit files are important because each pixel holds more data and, therefore, less is lost overall with each edit. XMP tag support is important as it is the standard for applying tags, titles, and copyright notices to photos. Many agencies expect this and it also allows for pretagging of photos so that they upload to flickr with tags already in place. I was so happy when flickr finally adapted that ability. The panorama tool is alone amongst these five as just me being spoiled. There are many ways to create your own panoramas by meticulously lining up the photos and messing with the layer masks. But I don’t want that! Why? Because Photoshop almost always gets things perfectly, allowing me to do what a photographer is supposed to be able to do - be creative! I don’t want to fiddle endlessly to get a panorama to work or it’s not fun for me. Endless tweaking is ok when I’m programming, but it frustrates me to no end with photography. Finally, #5 is almost the most important feature. In Photoshop adjustment layers are layers for some of the adjustments one normally makes TO a layer. In other words, instead of tweaking the luminosity on a layer, you create a luminosity layer tweak. This does many important things. First of all, it is non-destructive to the photo. If, twenty steps down the line, you don’t like the effect anymore, just remove the layer. You don’t have to undo through 20 steps and lose all that you’ve done along the way. Ever since I discovered adjustment layers they completely changed the way I worked. Second, you can make adjustments to your adjustment later without having to go back through the undo stack. If you know what I’m talking about, you know how useful this is.
That’s not to say that The GIMP isn’t a great tool. Every issue of Linux Format Magazine contains GIMP tutorials which produce very professional looking results. It’s just those five items (and really only 3 or 4 of them) that keep people from jumping ship. Everything else in Photoshop like the plugins, for example, have been replicated in The GIMP by a great user community. Not only would a lot of people go to the GIMP if they could get these features, but it would certainly put a LOT of pressure on Adobe. It might lower the price for its flagship product, add more features, or port it to Linux. Either scenario benefits the greatest good.
The GIMP team is doing a lot of good work and I have no doubts that they will be able to encompass most, if not all of these features, within a few years. When they do, I’ll be waiting to join them. And, this is not meant to just be a diatribe against them, they really are a great group! Keep up the good work guys!
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Feb
24
HD DVD To to leave Early HD Adopters High and Dry
Category: Computers, DRM, Movies, Technology | Leave a Comment
Leave it to content providers to mess everyone up. Slashdot reports that, in an effort to stop piracy, the HD signal in the component jacks of HD DVD players will be down-sampled because it’s analog and letting it come out at normal quality would allow pirates to get around their copyright protections. This is BS! I say we make this into a HUGE issue. Every company is trying to mess with us on the grounds of copyright protections. Sony thinks it can install rootkits onto your computer without permission. HD DVD people think they can render your HD TV obsolete before the first HD DVDs even come out. They should cut the crap! If someone really wants to, they’ll find a way to circumvent it - look at DVDs. Given enough angry geeks, things will be “solved”. Not only that, but they are assuming that consumers of pirated DVDs wouldn’t want to see the down-sampled video. If that were true, no one would be downloading and buying (in Chinatown) video taped footage of Hollywood movies. The fact of the matter is that, except for Star Wars, LOTR, and Harry Potter, no one cares how good the movie really looks if they want a pirated copy.
Let’s make this a huge deal. Look at what bloggers did to Sony, let’s do it to the HD DVD makers before we’re all forced to buy new Tvs to replace Tvs barely 3 years old!
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Feb
24
ReactOS - The Soap Opera-like Twin
Category: M$, ReactOS | Leave a Comment
So, as readers of my blog know, one alternative to Windows is Linux. (Formally GNU/Linux) Another alternative I haven’t talked much about is BSD, another Unix derivative. Both of these are great operating systems, but they aren’t Windows. For the most part, this doesn’t matter. If I can do the same stuff on Linux, why not use an operating system unencumbered by patents and other nasty things. However, some people need to use Windows. They need the programs or they just don’t want to learn a new OS. On Linux (and possibly BSD), an imperfect solution is to use Wine. Wine is not an emulator (that’s what Wine stands for, incidentally) but rather implements DLLs in order to run Windows programs. They get closer and closer every day, but it’s imperfect and will probably continue to be for quite some time. For gamers, there’s Cedega, but that costs money - a monthly fee to be exact.
Now there is a new alternative called ReactOS. ReactOS is a project whose goal is to create a clone of Windows which is binary-compatible with Windows NT and Windows XP. The projet is not yet in a completely workable state - ie. you couldn’t drop it in and forget all about Windows. Part of the delay has to do with the fact that they have been accused of pirating MS code and putting it into ReactOS via a copy of the Windows NY sourcecode that found itself on the internet a couple of years ago. I guess MS feels that it would be impossible for someone to create as awesome an OS as theirs without cheating. (Nevermind this is how MS rose to prominence vis-a-vie DOS) However, after having gone through 15% of their code, they can say that what they have gone through so far is MS-Code free.
Since I don’t have a test system laying around that I can just plop operating systems onto, I did the sensible thing, I downloaded the VMWare Image. VMWare seems to be the new liveCD, as every project seems to be releasing one nowadays since VMWare made their Player software free. At first I was dissapointed in the lack of software available. I know they are trying to copy windows, but they didn’t have to copy Microsoft’s lack of programs. But then my fears were placated when I saw solitaire in the menu.
The interface seems to be a mix of Windows ME and Windows XP. Of course, the programmers also seemed to throw in some of what they’ve learned from the Linux world, which is not in any current Windows computer - the use of virtual desktops, for example.
Although ReactOS utilizes some of the Wine Project within their OS, they insist that by completely implementing a Windows environment that programs will run better in their OS than in Linux via Wine. That remains to be seen, but this project is certainly worth keeping an eye on and I have added it to the FOSS links here on my blog. I think that any alternatives which help people research, learn, have access to non-restricted OSes if they are poor, and other things I can’t think of now, is a good thing. If they can truly get ReactOS off the ground, they will have the advantage that any product already made for Windows will run on ReactOS, unlike with Linux. However, unlike Linux this means that ReactOS will be a free operating system dependent upon non-free programs. So it has one mark in its favor and one against it, leaving a zero sum. I will reserve judgement until the project matures a bit. Certainly anyone who worked with Linux in the early days would have assumed that it would never reach the levels it currently has.
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Post publication edit:
When I did a search on Technorati, an overwhelming amount of blogs talking about ReactOS were in russian. This goes to show that it may help those with less money get on the technology train.
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Feb
22
The Constitution!
Category: history | Leave a Comment
The other day I decided to read the Constitution of the USA. I don’t know what compelled me to do this, other than the fact that I stumbled upon it online. I don’t have anything specific to say about it except that I’m amazed at how they thought of nearly every contingency. For example, the House can Impeach the President, but the Senate conducts the hearings. Thus neither house has complete power. Also, they can’t change the President’s salary while he’s in office in an attempt to coerce him. Below I will just mention little things I noticed as I read it.
Article 1
Section 1
Here I was reminded of what I learned in AP History class in High school - with respect to figuring out how many representatives a state would get, slaves were counted as 3/5ths of a person. There’s nothing quite as impactful in realizing the dehumanizing effects of slavery as reading that they were only considered 3/5 of a person. It also shows a compromise whereby the southerners wanted more representatives on account of their slaves, even though they couldn’t vote and didn’t have other basic rights.
Section 9
With hopes that slavery would fizzle out, but not wanting to outrage the South, they put a clause into the constitution that the issue would not be revisited until 1808. The value of blacks to the new country? A tax of $10 per person.
The last paragraph says there can be no titles of nobility in the US - no Knighting or anything like that.
Article 2
I didn’t see anything giving Bush the powers he claims now, but I may have missed something.
Article 3
Section 3
If you fight against US you are guilty of treason. Thus the “American Taliban” has no special rights. What ever happened to him anyway?
Article 5
No amendments can be made to Article 1 section 9 with respect to slavery until 1808.
Amendment 14
You can’t stop blacks from voting. Interestingly enough, the voting age is 21 and, as we know, limited to males. Section 3 also keeps previous confederates from joining Congress.
Amendment 16
Income tax can be levied!
Amentment 23
People of DC now have congressmen!
Amendment 26
A reaction to the Vietnam war, the voting age was lowered to 18.
As a bonus, the last page clarified the roles of some names of peole I am always hearing in the news.
Senate
Ted Stevens - President Pro Tempore (president of senate when Cheney isn’t there)
Bil Frist - Majority Leader
Harry Reid - Minority Leader
House of Representatives
J. Dennis Hastert - The Speaker
Interestingly, both houses of congress have chaplains! Barry Black for the Senate and Rev Daniel P Coughlin for the House.
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Feb
21
Fedora Core 5 has moved one step closer to being finalized with the release of Test Release 3. I’m currently downloading the torrent of the DVD because I think I want to go ahead and put it on my main machine. Yeah, it’s a test release, but I’m so impatient to get working with Beagle and Fspot! I’ll see what others are doing before I do anything rash. See the official announcement here.
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Feb
20
thoughtcrime
Category: News, Politics | Leave a Comment
I don’t agree with a lot of what the current administration is doing. While I don’t necessarily believe that G. W. Bush is evil like Mr. Burns and wishes to bring the US and England together under IncSoc, I do agree with some congressmen that he has set some perilous precedents if congress just leaves things alone. For example, as many jounalists and bloggers have pointed out, one of the key themes in 1984 is perpetual war. Because Oceana is always at war, people are willing to tolerate a loss of freedoms and a worse quality of life than they had prior to World War II. I agree that we have certain rights afforded to the Executive Branch during war-time. However, If Bush can do whatever he pleases because we are at war and we are always at war, then he can always shirk the constitution.
Again, I’m not blaming the administration of purposely doing this, rather our government likes to operate on the concept of precedent. Congress says he doesn’t have such sweeping rights because of the precedent of Truman vs the Steel companies when he couldn’t take away steel plants for war. The President claims he can do as he pleases due to the precedent set by Lincoln, Truman, and others. So if congress sits idly by while Bush asserts power, we set a bad precedent.
However, unlike a lot of the doomsday prophets of the newspapers, I believe that our system is not broken. Every day I am happy with our wonderful governemt system. The fact that I can write this on my blog without fear of censorship, like they have in China. That Congress can challenge the President without fearing for their lives, this is a testament to the great system we have.
I think it is right for newspapers to question the concept of perpetual war and the consequences upon presidential powers. It is also right for the Executive Branch to push back. Otherwise, congress could make them out to be a useless branch of government. In the end, be glad that thoughcrime does not yet exist. There is not yet a Big Brother.
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Feb
20
Gnome 2.14 Preview
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