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Chillat.net » Recent Topics http://forums.chillat.net/ Welcome to our corner of the Internet en-US Sat, 31 Jul 2010 14:57:50 +0000 http://bbpress.org/?v=1.0.2 <![CDATA[Search]]> q http://forums.chillat.net/search.php noccy on "Phase 1: Getting a team together" http://forums.chillat.net/topic/phase-1-getting-a-team-together#post-491 Sun, 11 Jul 2010 03:52:19 +0000 noccy 491@http://forums.chillat.net/ Talents needed: <ul> <li>Knowledge in building a distribution</li> <li>Knowledge in tweaking plymouth or usplash</li> <li>Front end developer (SDL, OpenGL, OpenAL)</li> <li>Graphic artists (2D and 3D) for front end</li> <li>Sound artists (ambient and interface sounds)</li> <li>Documentation/Help author</li> </ul> I might have missed something, so even if you don't possess any of the above listed talents feel free to drop a line and let me know what you think you can help with. So, let's get this party started <img src="http://forums.chillat.net/my-plugins/bb-smilies/default/icon_smile.gif" title=":)" class="bb_smilies" /> noccy on "Introducing FreeStation!" http://forums.chillat.net/topic/introducing-freestation#post-488 Sat, 10 Jul 2010 04:32:02 +0000 noccy 488@http://forums.chillat.net/ Okay, this is from the top of my head tho it has been in planning for about a year or so. This is actually a two-sided project. The first is a Platform Specification, and the other is Development. This is what I have so far: What it is <ul> <li>A unified API providing both an offline and online gaming specification.</li> <li>Simplified control and configuration of devices.</li> <li>Helps developers write Linux-based games that are accessible in a "console-like fashion".</li> <li>Helps developers distribute their games via a game marketplace.</li> <li>A slim Linux distribution with a preloaded user interface that gives access to controller setup, calibration, sound setup, management of online identities and launching both games compliant with the FreeStation specifications as well as other games.</li> </ul> What we got There is a tool out there, I don't remember the name of it but I used it with my Sidewinder Strategic Commander. It basically allows mapping keyboard functionality to any joystick or joypad, including buttons and all sticks and directional pads. This could definitely be used. Online Functionality The online functionality will consist of a client-server api to communicate with FreeStation identity servers and the actual game servers. Players sign in to the identity server and acquire a cookie. This cookie is passed on to the game server which can then retrieve the profile information and provide a seamless online experience inspired by that of the Nintendo Wii. What we need <ul> <li>Hardware specifications to rank systems into classes. For example, Tetris could be a Class 1 game meaning it could run on your toaster if you could just hook up a display to it, while Class 5 would require real bad ass hardware. As technology advances, more classes are added. This helps the user quickly find games that are playable on his or her machine.</li> <li>Identity and Lobby API</li> <li>Frontend software. Should look awesome, and preferably be in 3D á la any recent game console. Needs to be extendable</li> <li>Software and configurations for the aforementioned utility to make non FS-games playable by setting up joypad mappings etc.</li> <li>Library suite - obviously we need to define what libraries should be present on a compliant system, such as SDL, OpenAL, OpenGL, GLUT, ALUT, ffmpeg, etc.</li> </ul> dav on "gz echoed" http://forums.chillat.net/topic/gz-echoed#post-485 Sun, 23 May 2010 16:37:36 +0000 dav 485@http://forums.chillat.net/ rohan is legal today. <img src="http://forums.chillat.net/my-plugins/bb-smilies/default/icon_surprised.gif" title=":o" class="bb_smilies" /> GradysGhost on "Small HTML/JS/PHP apps needed" http://forums.chillat.net/topic/small-htmljsphp-apps-needed#post-481 Sun, 28 Feb 2010 16:58:49 +0000 GradysGhost 481@http://forums.chillat.net/ I just put together a framework and web application that runs a web-based, in-browser (Mozilla/Webkit only) "desktop" which can then be filled with widgets. It's still very much in an alpha/beta type stage, and I need widgets to test with. I'm going to write some throughout the day today (once I finish the documentation), but would appreciate if anybody feels like writing some very basic widget-type things. You can see a live version <a href="http://gradysghost.doesntexist.com/webdesk">here</a> and get the source code <a href="http://gradysghost.doesntexist.com/webdesk.tbz">here</a>. Assume for the time being that it's GPL licensed. Writing code for a widget in this framework is as simple as writing whatever code you would ordinarily need to make it work. What I mean is that you don't have to write any code to integrate it into the framework. Integration is all done through a database. HTML, JavaScript, CSS, and PHP are all allowed languages. I'll let you know when the documentation is complete and live so whatever confusion might exist can be cleared up. I currently have no bug tracking system in place. Thanks! splatbert on "I was gone, now I'm back, let's get this started." http://forums.chillat.net/topic/i-was-gone-now-im-back-lets-get-this-started#post-469 Fri, 05 Feb 2010 03:22:29 +0000 splatbert 469@http://forums.chillat.net/ I have been gone for a bit for a few reasons, mostly dealing with things like school, but I'm not going to bother with telling you them. A couple days ago I finally hunkered down and fully learned C++ (really easy as soon as you realize that classes are just really powerful structs, and that didn't take me too long), and I think I'm ready to do some real development. Here's the plan: By the end of the week, have a sketch of the UI By the end of next week, have a glade mockup By the end of 5 months, have a fully working program What we need to do now is divide up the work. Who would like to do the UI sketch? Let's do this shit. GradysGhost on "Religion and theism" http://forums.chillat.net/topic/religion-and-theism#post-458 Wed, 20 Jan 2010 07:57:41 +0000 GradysGhost 458@http://forums.chillat.net/ This religion board was looking awfully lonely, so I thought I'd start a thread here. Religion and theology are some of my favorite subjects for debate, especially when someone disagrees with me on the subjects because I know that my opinion is the right one, no matter what anybody else says. So anybody who is interested in having such a conversation can post here. I'll first set some ground rules -- <ol> <li>No disparaging comments. We're a community here, albeit a relatively small one, and we shouldn't forget that. If we're going to work as a team toward whatever end, we can't go on holding grudges. Disparaging comments encourage grudges.</li> </ol> Yeah, that's about it. Keep it healthy and clean and open, and we should be fine. This is not a flamewar. Something to start us off: Where do you place yourself theistically? Are you a theist or atheist? Gnostic or agnostic? If you're a theist, do you have religion (there is a difference)? What religion might you subscribe to? Personally, I am atheist, but am torn between gnosticism and agnosticism. That is, I can fairly solidly disprove most arguments for theism using logic, reason, science, math, statistics, or other well-established rules of the universe. In that respect, I lean toward saying I'm a gnostic atheist. However, proving the non-existence of a deity is a different chore. It's not that a deity is not provable or disprovable, but that it's untestable. Interestingly enough, I see quite eye-to-eye with most agnostic theists, so I lean a little harder toward agnosticism. I can respect an agnostic theist. Generally, they're still thinkers and have placed a lot of consideration into the universe which surrounds them. How about you dudes and dudettes? noccy on "Chillat.net BETA TESTING" http://forums.chillat.net/topic/chillatnet-beta-testing#post-293 Fri, 27 Nov 2009 05:02:33 +0000 noccy 293@http://forums.chillat.net/ If you would like to beta-test the new Chillat.net, stay tuned and keep a close eye on this thread. The ability to send out beta-testing invitations will open shortly; The login system still needs some work. Also planning on giving all beta members a few invitations to send to friends and family. Keep the feedback coming (in this thread) and don't forget to make your voice heard at <a href="http://trac.noccy.com/chillat">http://trac.noccy.com/chillat</a>. Exanimus on "IR-Flashlight & Nightvision-modded Logitech Quickcam pro 4000 webcam" http://forums.chillat.net/topic/ir-flashlight-nightvision-modded-logitech-quickcam-pro-4000-webcam#post-466 Tue, 26 Jan 2010 14:09:37 +0000 Exanimus 466@http://forums.chillat.net/ After alot of building, modding and testing i think now is the time to show and tell about my homebuilt IR-flashlight and my Nightvision webcam <img src="http://forums.chillat.net/my-plugins/bb-smilies/default/icon_smile.gif" title=":)" class="bb_smilies" /> First of all there is some videos on Youtube about how you make your webcam see in the dark. It's quite simple as a matter of fact, since all you need to do is to disassemble it and just remove one piece of glass inside. Here is a video on how you do it (sadly not the best quality): <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8G0V62tuPek&feature=related" rel="nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8G0V62tuPek&feature=related</a> When u finally have made the camera-mod you will be surprised how good it can see in almost no light at all, but i wanted to spice my pics up alittle so i made a torchlight and a IR cannon so i could take pics in total darkness since the human eye can't see infrared light <img src="http://forums.chillat.net/my-plugins/bb-smilies/default/icon_smile.gif" title=":)" class="bb_smilies" /> IR-Torchlight info: I bought a small LED torchlight from a local store and disassembled it and unsoldered the LED's, but not all at once since you have to mount and solder the IR-led in the exact same position and you can't mix up the polarity on them. Just unsolder one at a time and make sure you locate positive and negative on the LED before you unsolder it and then check before you solder the IR-LED. My first mistake on the torchlight was that i probably didn't heat up the area enough where i was about to solder, so all my IR-LED's wasn't working at first. A quick re-solder fixed that problem anyway <img src="http://forums.chillat.net/my-plugins/bb-smilies/default/icon_smile.gif" title=":)" class="bb_smilies" /> (but you also have to be careful when heating up the soldering area since the IR-LED's are quite sensitive) ------------------------- Pics of the torchlight: Assembled and ready.. <a href="http://files.dreamerartworx.com/project_infrared/IR-Torchlight/DSC_2194.png" rel="nofollow">http://files.dreamerartworx.com/project_infrared/IR-Torchlight/DSC_2194.png</a> Disassembled.. <a href="http://files.dreamerartworx.com/project_infrared/IR-Torchlight/DSC_2196.png" rel="nofollow">http://files.dreamerartworx.com/project_infrared/IR-Torchlight/DSC_2196.png</a> The soldered area.. <a href="http://files.dreamerartworx.com/project_infrared/IR-Torchlight/DSC_2198.png" rel="nofollow">http://files.dreamerartworx.com/project_infrared/IR-Torchlight/DSC_2198.png</a> ------------------------ The IR-Cannon: This was a bit easier since i bought a pack of 28 already mounted and soldered IR-LED's. The description that came with it said that i needed 12-18 volts to power it so i figured for a long time on how to power it up, but the solution was simpler than i thought. I just needed a batterypack with 8 1,5 volt AA-batterys. So all i needed to do was to solder the positive cables from the LED-pack to the same polarity from the batterypack, and then the negative cables to the power-switch. I then glued the batterypack directly on the back of the LED-pack for now (for easy handling) and it works like a charm and uses only about 300 mAh <img src="http://forums.chillat.net/my-plugins/bb-smilies/default/icon_smile.gif" title=":)" class="bb_smilies" /> --------------------------------- Pics of the IR-cannon: <a href="http://files.dreamerartworx.com/project_infrared/IR-cannon/DSC_2190.png" rel="nofollow">http://files.dreamerartworx.com/project_infrared/IR-cannon/DSC_2190.png</a> <a href="http://files.dreamerartworx.com/project_infrared/IR-cannon/DSC_2199.png" rel="nofollow">http://files.dreamerartworx.com/project_infrared/IR-cannon/DSC_2199.png</a> --------------------------------- Later on i am gonna install it in a small box, hide the cables and mount the power-switch properly, but it'll have to do like it is for now <img src="http://forums.chillat.net/my-plugins/bb-smilies/default/icon_smile.gif" title=":)" class="bb_smilies" /> And here is the result from the IR-Cannon shot in complete darkness: <a href="http://files.dreamerartworx.com/project_infrared/testpics/test1.jpg" rel="nofollow">http://files.dreamerartworx.com/project_infrared/testpics/test1.jpg</a> more testpics will come <img src="http://forums.chillat.net/my-plugins/bb-smilies/default/icon_smile.gif" title=":)" class="bb_smilies" /> ----------------------------------- //Peter noccy on "Aiptek AHD 200 Modifications" http://forums.chillat.net/topic/aiptek-ahd-200-modifications#post-457 Thu, 14 Jan 2010 00:36:12 +0000 noccy 457@http://forums.chillat.net/ Does anybody know of any modifications to the Aiptek AHD 200 series digital camcorder? I am aware that there is a hack to connect an external microphone, but are there any hidden secrets on the motherboard of the camera? Considering there is a whole series of devices it should be able to enable some additional goodies. GradysGhost on "Weird problem (basic HTML + JS)" http://forums.chillat.net/topic/weird-problem-basic-html-js#post-462 Sun, 24 Jan 2010 05:53:35 +0000 GradysGhost 462@http://forums.chillat.net/ I'm working on a super basic website, but I'm encountering a weird problem. Here's the idea: The site is mostly static, but uses AJAX to grab content for one of the divs dynamically to prevent the page from having to fully reload. The head section of index.html looks like this: <pre><code><head> <title>Ryan Jung's Home Page</title> <link rel="stylesheet" href="style/style.css" type="text/css" /> <script language="text/javascript" src="js/ajax.js"></script> <script language="text/javascript" src="js/ajax_handlers.js"></script> </head></code></pre> When I browse to the page, the expected behavior (set the window.onload handler to a function that makes an AJAX request, thus getting the default page content) doesn't work. This is the behavior for all browsers I can test on. So I opened up Firebug in Firefox to debug my JavaScript and figure out what the problem is. The scripts won't load. When I expand the scripts' nodes in the HTML DOM browser in Firebug, I get this error: <pre><code>Failed to load source for: <a href="http://gradysghost.doesntexist.com/~ryan/webdev/ip3/js/ajax.js" rel="nofollow">http://gradysghost.doesntexist.com/~ryan/webdev/ip3/js/ajax.js</a> Failed to load source for: <a href="http://gradysghost.doesntexist.com/~ryan/webdev/ip3/js/ajax_handlers.js" rel="nofollow">http://gradysghost.doesntexist.com/~ryan/webdev/ip3/js/ajax_handlers.js</a></code></pre> But go ahead and follow those URLs. The files exist and have adequate permissions. Yes, the ~ryan part is there because of Apache's userdir mod. It's installed and working (obviously). I have checked permissions on the files themselves and every containing folder recursively upward. All of them are owned and grouped properly. Why the hell are these scripts not loading? Izobalax on "Wallpapers..." http://forums.chillat.net/topic/wallpapers#post-310 Sat, 05 Dec 2009 19:46:56 +0000 Izobalax 310@http://forums.chillat.net/ First wallpaper I made for Bongos... Connect. <img src="http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs50/i/2009/328/e/3/BONGOS___Connect_by_Izobalax.jpg" /> Nothing complicated, just something simple, smooth and clean. <a href="http://izobalax.deviantart.com/art/BONGOS-Connect-144689416">Link for full-size version here!</a> /izo\ eSilence on "Bongos Progress pt2" http://forums.chillat.net/topic/bongos-progress-pt2#post-436 Sun, 03 Jan 2010 17:53:13 +0000 eSilence 436@http://forums.chillat.net/ Where is everyone in terms of finishing Commons? As soon as that's done, we have the one week timeframe for Rocket!, then getting the GNOME team together. dav on "Timetable, TODO's, and Ideas" http://forums.chillat.net/topic/timetable-todos-and-ideas#post-314 Sun, 06 Dec 2009 19:44:32 +0000 dav 314@http://forums.chillat.net/ Well, as of now, there are really just 2 team members actively working on Bongos. Me and Ian (Izobalax), and if I were to take a guess as to why that is, it would be that no one knows exactly what to do yet. ;P So that's what this post is for. Since Bongos is not sponsored by some massive company with thousands of bearded hippies constantly chipping away at code through their 3" thick spectacles, and since we don't have the patience to spend a few weeks writing some insanely complex, structured, rigid plan and hire a QA team to micromanage our developers, we're going to have to ... "freeform" a bit. So, enough cheap talk. A few people have been asking for a timetable, and while I can't guarantee it will be followed, and I'm definitely not going to enforce it, it's still a good idea to have one. Timetable Early January, 2010 - Commons needs to be in at least a usable state, with a well defined API, and at least some documentation. Since Bongos will mostly be using the Python flavor of Commons, and since Noccy refuses to touch anything remotely related to any other language except PHP <img src="http://forums.chillat.net/my-plugins/bb-smilies/default/icon_razz.gif" title=":P" class="bb_smilies" /> - I'll have to hit it with a passion this coming month. If you know any Python developers that may be willing to help, that would be a huge help. Late January, 2010 - Rocket! This should be a piece of cake, as I already have a lot of code from an old project, <code>miniature.webbing</code>, that can be ported immediately to Rocket. For those of you reading who have no clue what Rocket will be, it's basicaly going to be a WSGI toolkit that the Bongos core will be based on. Around this time, the GNOME team should be all assembled and have completed some UI concepts, a GTK theme, possibly some Emerald windecs (or Metacity), and have a timetable for when the GNOME flavor of Bongos will be completed. Now I really want to emphasize that the majority of our focus should be on the KDE flavor, but the GNOME side should be working together with the KDE team - just as Bongos-KDE will be trying to closely use existing standards, protocols, and frameworks instead of reinventing the wheel (Akonadi, Nepomuk, ...), I want Bongos-GNOME to also do the same, and in the end, we should have a very solid interoperability layer, with minimal dependencies. Februrary, 2010 - KDE 4.4 released! Now we have 6 more months to procrastinate. Yay! Err...just kidding. This is when all the fun stuff starts. We should begin development asap on the UI, and by now I should have picked up a few Qt books and should be ready to start hacking away at connecting the backend to a frontend. Oh, and the backend should be in a prototype stage by now. Things should work. You should be able to plug in your Google/Facebook/whatever account and it should do what it says on the tin. Around this time the GNOME developers should be far ahead of us since GTK is a lot easier to work with than Qt. Both Bongos-GNOME and Bongos-KDE should have public code repositories, and this should also help in gaining a few enthusiast hackers to help with the projects and with resolving any early quirks and bugs. March 2010 - MAYBE, MAYBE a release. That is, if and only if we don't manage to blow up the moon, turn ourselves into mutant aardvarks, and begin attaching chicken wings to pork. TODO's ... Ideas ... dav on "Commons spec" http://forums.chillat.net/topic/commons-spec#post-452 Tue, 05 Jan 2010 17:26:48 +0000 dav 452@http://forums.chillat.net/ This kind of should be in the brainstorming section, but it's more related to development, AND since Noccy will probably never give me a solid spec, I decided to post here. If you don't know what Commons is, go read my post from last year explaining it. This spec will obviously be language agnostic, so try not to suggest funky names that won't really fit. <a href="http://trac.noccy.com/commons/wiki/Brainstorming">Here's</a> what we came up with so far. Obviously the spec is far from finished. And notice the naming conventions, try to keep it short, succinct, devoid of multiple words or dashes or weird names, and try not to suggest toplevel modules. Toplevel modules should be categories, like "net", "io", "os", "fs", etc. The idea is to supplement the stdlib of various languages. Read the comments on that page and see if you can come up with some ideas. It would be greatly appreciated. As much as I'd like to just go ahead and port all my code from miniature to what we have so far in terms of a spec, I really want to wait until it's at least 80% complete and covers most of what we'll need in Bongos - i.e., "net" and "os"-related. Now the first incarnation of Commons will be implemented in Python, so for those of you who are Pythonistas, try not to deviate too much from standard library naming, organization, etc. (and for those curious, yes, some libraries can be proxies to stdlib libraries, f.ex, commons.re, commons.os.path, and so on) I couldn't do this myself, since I suck at organization. Look no further than my room. kthx Izobalax on "Stock..." http://forums.chillat.net/topic/stock#post-428 Wed, 30 Dec 2009 03:41:55 +0000 Izobalax 428@http://forums.chillat.net/ This thread will be used to share important Bongos stock artwork so that others who wish to contribute Bongos artwork have access to some consistent branding. However, read this next bit: Until myself and the rest of the team have finalised the licensing details of the Bongos Social Desktop Project, I'm releasing any artwork here under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License, which you can read about <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/">HERE</a>. Please respect this. <img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-sa/3.0/88x31.png" /> With that said, here's a link to download a very large PNG icon and logo: <a href="http://www.divshare.com/download/9964061-235">Bongos Icon and Logo by Ian Cylkowski aka Izobalax</a> /izo\ Izobalax on "Other bits'n'bobs..." http://forums.chillat.net/topic/other-bitsnbobs#post-312 Sat, 05 Dec 2009 20:05:49 +0000 Izobalax 312@http://forums.chillat.net/ Have a banner! <img src="http://www.divshare.com/img/9555294-534.png" /> /izo\ dav on "HAPPY BIRTHDAY LIEGE" http://forums.chillat.net/topic/happy-birthday-liege#post-406 Sun, 27 Dec 2009 17:19:00 +0000 dav 406@http://forums.chillat.net/ noccy turns 50 today. or wait. idk. but happy birthday <img src="http://forums.chillat.net/my-plugins/bb-smilies/default/icon_biggrin.gif" title=":D" class="bb_smilies" /> dav on "Teams and recruitment" http://forums.chillat.net/topic/teams-and-recruitment#post-332 Fri, 11 Dec 2009 18:28:42 +0000 dav 332@http://forums.chillat.net/ GNOME team <ul> <li>Leader, Developer: splatbert</li> <li>Developer: noccy (???)</li> <li>Designer: Izobalax</li> <li>Documentator: GradysGhost</li> </ul> KDE team <ul> <li>Developer: Dav/mini</li> <li>Designer: Izobalax</li> <li>Packager: EchoedSilence</li> </ul> Yeah... we definitely need more developers. eSilence on "Is this decent?" http://forums.chillat.net/topic/is-this-decent#post-414 Sun, 27 Dec 2009 19:22:12 +0000 eSilence 414@http://forums.chillat.net/ My Gaming / 3D Design laptop, the Asus G50VT-X1, had its hard drive fail, possibly because of heat. It's usually about 80F degrees in my house (30C), and the hard drive usually ran at 40C, so I have to assume heat. So, to counter heat, would this be a good choice? <a href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834997410" rel="nofollow">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834997410</a> And since I do 3D design, I would need a high precision mouse. I'm a fan of the many-button mouses, as that adds more functionality too. Weight isn't a limiting factor. Can anyone suggest this one, or am I gonna have to buy a M$ mouse: <a href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826105255&cm_re=sidewinder-_-26-105-255-_-Product" rel="nofollow">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826105255&cm_re=sidewinder-_-26-105-255-_-Product</a> Thoughts? dav on "Bongos progress" http://forums.chillat.net/topic/bongos-progress#post-306 Sat, 05 Dec 2009 18:25:04 +0000 dav 306@http://forums.chillat.net/ What's been baked so far: <ul> <li>Mockups! (Izobalax)</li> <li>GTK webview thingie</li> </ul> What's in the oven: <ul> <li>Commons (noccy, dav)</li> <li>PyQT webview thingie (dav)</li> <li>Rocket (commons-based WSGI toolkit, will be the main backend behind bongos) (dav)</li> </ul> GradysGhost on "Web development == Dreamweaver??? WTFOMGBBQ!!!!1!1one!" http://forums.chillat.net/topic/web-development-dreamweaver-wtfomgbbq11one#post-400 Sat, 26 Dec 2009 04:09:14 +0000 GradysGhost 400@http://forums.chillat.net/ So I'm in college because for some reason, America still thinks degrees are worth more than actual experience. I've been dumped into a web development course. The book they shipped me is all about Adobe Dreamweaver CS4. WTF? I hope I'm not the only one who considers this to be cheating. I could never use Dreamweaver to create a web application. A static website, sure, but not an application. And besides, Dreamweaver doesn't run on Linux, which is like a dream OS for web developers who don't cheat. I feel like I'm not actually getting the education I'm paying for (and I assure you, they'll get a few words from me). Dreamweaver is, for lack of a better word and also for my outrage, bullshit. Am I crazy for thinking that raw, plaintext coding in a plaintext editor is the only real way to make a webpage? Is it wrong of me to think that even if Dreamweaver can help expedite static page development that a course on web development should focus on what actually makes a web page work? I'm really pissed about this! Izobalax on "GUI Design..." http://forums.chillat.net/topic/gui-design#post-313 Sun, 06 Dec 2009 01:08:50 +0000 Izobalax 313@http://forums.chillat.net/ The first taster of the Bongos QtCurve and Colour Scheme that's currently in development... <img src="http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs50/f/2009/339/3/f/3f4d0c18312df88f1f93821a9c63c5ff.png" /> <a href="http://izobalax.deviantart.com/art/BNGS-145823735">Full-size on dA page here!</a> By all means, comment, criticise and opine! Ideas are the currency of knowledge! /izo\ GradysGhost on "An open letter to the Microsoft Windows 7 OS Development Team" http://forums.chillat.net/topic/an-open-letter-to-the-microsoft-windows-7-os-development-team#post-366 Thu, 17 Dec 2009 16:51:54 +0000 GradysGhost 366@http://forums.chillat.net/ Dear Microsoft Operating System Development Team, I think it's high time you started developing an operating system. The Windows 7 product you have managed to get pushed onto my brand new laptop is not an operating system. An operating system consumes less than 24 GB of hard disk space. An operating system has useful features like the ability to mount an ISO. An operating system allows for some form of customization in the UI. By these standards, Windows 7 is not an operating system. In fact, it's more like a sledgehammer in a toolbox. Allow me to explain: A sledgehammer is not a tool kept in a toolbox. It's enormous. It's heavy. It's also not something one commonly uses in jobs where a toolbox is concerned. Furthermore, a sledgehammer can do a hell of a lot of damage to a computer. Likewise, Windows 7 is enormous. Even after I uninstalled all of the bloatware involved with a new factory-installed computer, I was left with 24 GB of my hard drive consumed by the operating system and a couple of programs I had installed (Pidgin and Avast, weighing in at roughly 50 MB or so). This is really quite unacceptable. There is no other operating system that devours hard drives quite like Windows 7. Even the heaviest of Linuxes (Sabayon, for instance) typically consume less than 10 GB. Windows 7 is also very, very heavy. At present moment, Windows 7 is running idle on my computer with no other applications running. It's using 23% of the available RAM in this computer. This computer has 4 GB of RAM available. This means that nearly one full GB of memory is being used up by Windows 7 alone. Mac OSX, though I have my issues with it as well, doesn't consume this much. Even the heaviest of Linuxes will consume less than 512 MB. On the other hand, I guess it's a good thing you guys at Microsoft are giving people a good reason to buy more RAM. It's good for the economy. Windows 7 is also not a tool that people use to solve problems. In fact, I tend to believe that it is the problem. I've spent a lot of time working with computers in the repair industry. I've encountered a few Macs with hardware problems. I've encountered computers running Windows with viruses, spyware, Blue (or Black) Screens of Death™, questions about usability, and general speed problems. The question I've been asked more often than any other is, "Why doesn't it run as fast as it used to?" My answer every time? "It's Windows. Don't worry. That's a feature, not a bug. It's working as designed." I've installed various Linuxes onto a few computers for customers willing to take a leap, and they've never had a single problem again. I took care of the Windows problem by cutting off its balls. You could say that I fixed Windows. And it's a good thing, too. Because Windows can do a hell of a lot of damage to a computer. As I've already mentioned, my good friends at Microsoft, the "operating" "system" you've managed to slop together like a pile of molten Legos is today and inevitably in the future prone to security problems which you have publically admitted are by design. Therefore, I have no choice but to assume it is your intention to bring harm to my computer. Please forgive me if I don't use Windows 7 very often. A few other points that you might want to take into consideration: <ol> <li>If you are going to allow me to put my task bar at the top of the screen, please account for it spatially when I open a window, and do not put the entire title bar of a window behind it so that I cannot move the window without resizing the task bar. This problem has existed since Windows 95, and it's time it got fixed.</li> <li>NTFS stands for New Technology File System. It's over 10 years old now. It's not new. Get with the fucking program and catch up to everybody else who's using file systems that don't allow for file fragmentation.</li> <li>If I can grab a window and shake it violently, that implies that I can already see the full contents of that window. Hiding the rest of the windows when I do this is not only a stupid gesture that doesn't make any sense at all, but it's completely fucking pointless. Yes, I'm very glad that you've begun introducing mouse gestures into the OS. That's kinda neat. But if you're going to do it, do it right, not stupid.</li> <li>If it's good features you want to put into your window manager, take a cue from every single other modern operating system known to man. Three words, Microsoft dudes and dudettes: Multiple. Virtual. Desktops. You can even leave out the spinning cube for all I care, but give me some desktops. Give me some organization.</li> <li>Quit obscuring my files more and more. I don't want these "libraries" where I can't tell what directory I'm in. I put my files in a specific place so I can find them when I need them. I'm not a fucking idiot. I don't need you to do this for me. Quit treating me like I'm stupid.</li> <li>Windows 7's level of customization is abhorrable. My windows can have two styles: dirty stained glass or gray mud. I like neither of these options. I already know that Windows has the ability to change its window style completely. Stardock has proven that all it takes is to actually use a DLL that you still ship. If anybody knows how to use or exploit this DLL, it should be you, the developers. So use it and let me make Windows look the way I want it to!</li> <li>If you're going to ship an OS that chows down on my hard drive, you might as well ship some useful software with it. A typical desktop Linux install includes CD burning software, a full office suite, many games, and countless other useful pieces of software. Consider shipping MS Word or something. Yes, yes, I know MS Word, even by itself, eats up another 1.5 GB of drive space, but hell, you've already eaten 24 of my gigs. I might as well keep feeding you.</li> In closing, thank you, Microsoft Windows 7 Operating System Development Team, for spending all this time reading this rant of mine. I know that writing an operating system is not the easiest task a software developer can undertake. I do know, however, that people working across the globe are willing to do it better and to give it away for free. Perhaps you should take a cue from them. After all, they must be doing something right if they're able to produce something which is better than what you've managed to produce in all of the above ways and then some. With all due respect, make a better operating system or get the fuck off my computer. Love, Ryan</ol> GradysGhost on "AJAX object" http://forums.chillat.net/topic/ajax-object#post-380 Sun, 20 Dec 2009 06:16:04 +0000 GradysGhost 380@http://forums.chillat.net/ If anybody needs a decent AJAX object (JavaScript), feel free to use this one. And yes, Noccy, I'm quite positive you have something far better than this in Lepton/JS. Filenames are arbitrary as I'm sure you're aware. comm.ajax.js <pre><code>function ajax () { // Private declarations var _this = this; // Public declarations this.communicator = null; // Private function function _onUninitialize() { _this.onUninitialize(); } function _onInitialize() { _this.onInitialize(); } function _onSend() { _this.onSend(); } function _onWaitForData() { _this.onWaitForData(); } function _onReceiveData() { _this.onReceiveData(); } // Public functions this.onUninitialize = function () { } this.onInitialize = function () { } this.onSend = function () { } this.onWaitForData = function () { } this.onReceiveData = function () { } // Returns an XMLHTTP object this.getHttpObject = function () { if (window.ActiveXObject) { return new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP"); } // IE support else if (window.XMLHttpRequest) { return new XMLHttpRequest(); } // Everything else else { // Probably won't happen alert("Your browser does not support AJAX."); return null; } } // Returns the communicator's responseText this.getResponse = function () { return (this.communicator) ? this.communicator.responseText : null; } /* * * * Makes an AJAX request to the server * url - The URL to make the request to * * */ this.initiateRequest = function (url) { _this = this; this.communicator = this.getHttpObject(); // Create the XMLHTTP object this.communicator.open("GET", url, true); this.communicator.send(); this.communicator.onreadystatechange = this.stateChange; } this.stateChange = function () { switch (this.readyState) { case 0: _onUninitialize(); break; case 1: _onInitialize(); break; case 2: _onSend(); break; case 3: _onWaitForData(); break; case 4: _onReceiveData(); break; } } }</code></pre> comm.ajax.handler.js <pre><code>/* * * * * * If you're going to use this file, you are going to * have to customize it. You'll need to wrap any of * the public functions in comm.ajax.js with functions * that can be accessible to your code. This allows * you to use the responses and AJAX object statuses * to your own purposes without much effort. * * */ ajax_handler = function () { this.onReceiveData = function() { alert(this.getResponse()); } this.send = function (url) { this.initiateRequest(url); } } ajax_handler.prototype = new ajax();</code></pre> Implementation, for instance, index.html <pre><code>...doctype, html, etc... <script type="text/javascript" src="comm.ajax.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="comm.ajax.handler.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> a = new ajax_handler(); a.send("test.php"); </script></code></pre> noccy on "Introduce yourself" http://forums.chillat.net/topic/introduce-yourself#post-33 Sat, 13 Jun 2009 04:34:02 +0000 noccy 33@http://forums.chillat.net/ Here you can introduce yourself to the rest of the people <img src="http://forums.chillat.net/my-plugins/bb-smilies/default/icon_smile.gif" title=":)" class="bb_smilies" /> I'm Chris, also known as Noccy, and I'm the mad man behind the Chillat.net empire. 28 years old, Linux user, software developer, web designer, photographer, musician, and woodcarver. Likes pizza, beer, summer, trance, orange juice Your turn <img src="http://forums.chillat.net/my-plugins/bb-smilies/default/icon_smile.gif" title=":)" class="bb_smilies" /> noccy on "Logo for project needed!" http://forums.chillat.net/topic/logo-for-project-needed#post-342 Sun, 13 Dec 2009 20:37:23 +0000 noccy 342@http://forums.chillat.net/ My PHP framework "Lepton" needs a new logo that can be used on the trac site, as well as scaled down onto websites as a promotional banner etc. The trac site can be found at <a href="http://trac.noccy.com/lepton-php">http://trac.noccy.com/lepton-php</a>. Preferably it should consist of a nice "icon" as well as a text part <img src="http://forums.chillat.net/my-plugins/bb-smilies/default/icon_smile.gif" title=":)" class="bb_smilies" /> GradysGhost on "The Age of Information" http://forums.chillat.net/topic/the-age-of-information#post-343 Mon, 14 Dec 2009 00:12:49 +0000 GradysGhost 343@http://forums.chillat.net/ I'm embarking on a study of copyright law in this modern world where culture no longer cares about it and marking my thoughts down in an essay. By no means is this complete. By no means do I ever intend to complete it. But if anybody wants to follow along and discuss it, I'll be posting the articles <a href="http://gradysghost.doesntexist.com/aoi">here</a> and also at <a href="http://misanthropesanonymous.blogspot.com">my blog</a>. Izobalax on "Mockups..." http://forums.chillat.net/topic/mockups#post-308 Sat, 05 Dec 2009 19:34:24 +0000 Izobalax 308@http://forums.chillat.net/ THE FIRST MOCKUP: This was the first Bongos mockup I designed, based on conversations I had with the team. It gives a very basic shape and overview of our vision. Obviously, this is expected to change over time as new ideas/technologies/opinions arrive, but it's a nice start. <a href="http://izobalax.deviantart.com/art/Bongos-143498322">Link to my dA page showing the mockup</a> /izo\ GradysGhost on "My music now online" http://forums.chillat.net/topic/my-music-now-online#post-305 Fri, 04 Dec 2009 02:33:17 +0000 GradysGhost 305@http://forums.chillat.net/ I've put up a music page on my server -- <a href="http://gradysghost.doesntexist.com/music.html" rel="nofollow">http://gradysghost.doesntexist.com/music.html</a> -- with a couple of songs. That server's not always online (because it's at my house and electricity's not cheap), but if it fails for you, the songs are also at The 61 -- <a href="http://www.thesixtyone.com/#/RyanJung/" rel="nofollow">http://www.thesixtyone.com/#/RyanJung/</a> in slightly worse quality (probably not noticable). Izobalax on "Qt4.6 is out!" http://forums.chillat.net/topic/qt46-is-out#post-297 Tue, 01 Dec 2009 17:59:19 +0000 Izobalax 297@http://forums.chillat.net/ I'm very excited by this: <a href="http://labs.trolltech.com/blogs/2009/12/01/qt-460-released-early-due-to-good-behaviour/" rel="nofollow">http://labs.trolltech.com/blogs/2009/12/01/qt-460-released-early-due-to-good-behaviour/</a> ...especially as this will form the basis of KDE4.4! <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b749KvoX3w4&feature=player_embedded" rel="nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b749KvoX3w4&feature=player_embedded</a> What ya'll reckon? /izo\