CETX_var_log

Software and Multimedia Piracy is Wrong.Haha, just kidding.  No, actually piracy is not wrong at all; the environment which forces it to exist is wrong.  Think about it:It's human nature to want to share with others.  I mean, real human nature, like when you are feeling good and you're with friends, and you're not thinking about mundane stuff...

Is free software really important?Actually, it is.  Like it or not (and if you are here you probably like it) the world is dominated by teh Computer.  It seems to me that if we support the big companies like Microsoft, Apple, Symantec, Adobe, Apple (yeah I know), Autodesk, Digidesign, and so on, and just keep taking what they are feeding us, the world wil...

I know Apple has had its head under the covers for 20 years now, but I frankly feel like it might be time for them to admit that there are other operating systems out there aside from itself and Microsoft.  And believe me, I know this is a lot to ask.  Imagine whatever kind of unholy matrimony you want to, and picture Apple and Microsoft together, in an i...

In episode 2x14 of The Bad Apples Linux Cast, I talked about all manners of portable operating systems, including web-based, shell accounts, and usb drive OS's.  One of the web-based systems was eyeOS (eyeos.info for demo) and I remember being impressed and intrigued but a little underwhelmed by performance.Enter threethirty, a fellow host of Linux Cr...

I speak of course of Blender.  Blender is one of my favourite apps ever.  I use it, I love it, I am constantly amazed by it.But the one thing I'm really looking for in Linux, lately, is a really solid video editor.  Yes, Blender can edit video...but..just because it can , doesn't mean it should  -- at least in its present state.  Let's get a f...

Apple TV.Worst interface ever.Not only is it deathly slow, but it is just plain stupid.  Why is it stupid?  Let's look, shall we?You get into the main screen of Apple TV and immediately are greeted with different types of media you wish to view.  This makes sense.  Aside from the myriad restrictions Apple places on what kind of media you can actually...

OK OK Apple is often known for its glitzy interface design.  Yay.  I think it's over-the-top and annoying, but some people lick it.Is it intuitive?  Well, it's intuitive now because the whole "your computer as a desktop" paradigm has pretty much permeated computing society, such that, for instance, when we see the icon of a folder, we unde...

What is really intuitive, anyway?  A lot of us seem to have some idea of what an Intuitive interface is...but really, everything we call intuitive usually translates to "this is like something I have used before".  I mean, even simple stuff like trashing a file....  is it intuitive or are we all just really used to the idea of having a Trash Can i...

A multimedia-related blog I sometimes read had a post today about how the writer had sketched out an illustration of a [rather silly looking] superhero, and scanned it in so she could trace and colorize it.  The blog post was not very good, so I'm not linking to it, but she apparently meant the post to be an Adobe vs. Gimp & Inkscape deal, and Ado...

Saw a story  on apple.com today that boasts a pic of some Macs and that big-solid-iron-looking UNIX logo that Apple uses in their marketing, and talks about how a science department at USF uses Macs.  Specifically: To further investigate, I decided to download some of these scientific apps that were running so well on Mac that it inspired, apparently, USF...