JR0cket - Slashdot User

Comment Even darth vader uses kinetic these days... (Score 1) 87

by JR0cket on Monday July 04, 2011 @12:48PM (#36653600) Attached to: Kinect-Based AI System Watches What You're Up To

Everyone is getting in on the kinetic game these days. There was a cool demo of using kinetic to control your agile wallboard at the Atlassian Summit last month, with special guest star of Darth Vader... There is a neat open source project around using the kinetic and you dont need an xbox to play... you can control it via Ubuntu and Mac OSX. https://labs.atlassian.com/wiki/display/KINECT/Interactive+Wallboards+-+Quickstart+Guide Thank you.

Submission + - BookReview: Scribus Beginners Guide

Submitted by

JR0cket

on Friday May 06, 2011 @04:28AM

JR0cket writes: "Scribus is an open source desktop publishing tool that helps you create professionally laid out documents, from simple documents to full blown magazines, corporate brochures or even books. Desktop publishing tools are not a replacement for word processors, instead they give you the freedom to create uniquely designed documents and help you manage large sets of text and graphic content. Scribus is similar to Adobe InDesign or Quarq Xpress and gives you a wide range of tools to layout content in either print or digital media form. Scribus is pretty easy to get to grips with and has good documentaton on the project website. The Scribus 1.3.5 beginners guide is a really handy guide through the workflow of desktop publishing and helps you clearly understand how to create professional looking results.

The book includes a simple comparison between Scribus and other desktop publsihing tools such as InDesign, Quark Express and Microsoft publisher, setting expectations clearly as to what you can get from Scribus and the kind of interoperability between desktop publishing tools (its a little limited, but the Scribus project is trying and is the most open).

The book begins by covering some theory behind desktop publishing, using the metaphor — What you see is what you mean — to get you thinking about the overal design that would appeal to your audience, whilst also considering the resource and media constraints you have. As with developing software, knowing the needs of your audience is an important factor in the layout of your documents. Knowing the limitations of what you can print out effectively or deliver as other media is an important set of constraints to consider.

An important concept to understand is the "graphic workflow" for desktop publishing. The first chapter therefore covers the use of Inkscape, Gimp and LibreOffice (open office) to create and manage your content (text and images) and then using Scribus to pull that content together in an appealing and productive layout. Also covered is the idea of using Inkscape as a tool for mock-up designs. I see Scribus as kind of the the big brother to Inkscape (review) in that Inkscape works with a single page document, whereas Scribus can manage content across a multiple page document. You can assemble some very intricate documents using Scribus that would take a lot of time and effort to do using Inkscape and word processors such as Libre office and Microsoft office.

Next is the overview of the Scribus workspace, including details of the menus and tool bars for which there are many. This overview is very easy to understand, especially for someone who has little or no experience. The coverage of the text, graphics and page layout options are very detailed and nicey sprinkled with mini-tutorials to help you get to grips with Scribus quickly. The first tutorial guides you through the creation of a simple business card, so you get a nice gentle start whilst still being practical.

Due to the good layout and extensive use of screenshots its easy for an advanced user to skip through to the parts of the workspace you want to learn about.

Once the Scribus workstation is covered, the book goes on to detail how to create your own layouts for desktop publishing using all the features of Scribus. Again you are guided step-by-step through the various options for choosing a document layout and managing the structure of your documents, using frames for importing and managing text and graphics, changing colours and styles, stacking and layers to manage the presentation, distorting shapes using resizing, rotating / scaling frames, alignment and distribution of objects. There are a lot of layout options in Scribus and the book does a good job of introducing each aspect. Again this is done using a step by step tutorial style and the odd pop-quiz that helps you quickly gain confidence with the tool.

There is good coverage of the how Scribus handles advanced colour features. Using shading, gradient fills, pattern fills and transparency of images and the use of layers, its shown how to create eye-catching effects to enhance your documents. Support for CMYK and colour profiles is covered when talking about profiling with the Argyll plugin for Scribus.

As printing documents is full of pitfalls, in part due to the wide range of printing hardware out there, there is a whole chapter on this topic. Scribus has a pre-flight verifier to check the quality of your document output and can give you a lot of information and highlight any errors in PDF generation. Using the print preview you can see examples of colour separation and ink coverage, all very important for print media. There is also some very useful information for book production, marks and bleeds, security for pdf's and all the various standards for pdf documents.

Overall the book gives a complete coverage of all the typical layout techniques you will need for your desktop publishing efforts the book. By the time you reach the end of the book you will know how to produce an Adobe portable document file (pdf) that is suitable for your print or online distribution.

Please note: Scribus has recently moved to a new file format its documents and the book referes to the Scribus version which uses this new file format. Documents created with older versions of Scribus are supported in all newer versions, but document created in 1.3.5 onwards are not backwards compatible. On Debian based system, both the older version of Scribus and newer version Scribus-NG can be run side by side.

The Scribus beginers guide book has a well presented layout with content nicely spaced through the books 348 pages, making it comfortable to read both in book and ebook form. Althought there is plenty of information online, the book is a great way to get started and give you confidence in your approach and use of Scribus, so you can make use of the reference materials online.

There are several books available for Scribus, however the Scribus 1.3.5 beginners guide is the most up to date, covering all the latest features of this evolving tool. This book makes a nice addition to the online reference documentation and the community resources available for Scribus.

About the reviewer

John coaches Lean Agile practices, organises London technical communities and is an OSS advocate. @JR0cket"

Comment So long as its a group thing (Score 1) 167

by JR0cket on Friday April 08, 2011 @03:31AM (#35754564) Attached to: Google Ties Employee Bonuses To +1 Success

If everyone at Google is incentivised to push successful features out, then perhaps it will help keep them focused on projects that deliver real value to their customers. Lets hope this is not taken too far and starts to stifle innovation at Google though. Thank you

Submission + - Company resells Open Source Software (blender.org)

Submitted by

sylphsama

on Tuesday February 22, 2011 @02:34AM

sylphsama writes: "A company named "IllusionMage" deceptively resells a 3D open source animation package (www.blender.org) and claims it as their own. The software, dubbed IllusionMage, portrays flagrant similarities with Blender, although outdated compared to the original. The website itself is a patchwork of sorts, using renders from different users and numerous other packages as a way to impress its visitors. Not only is that a breach in copyright, but they intentionally hide that the software is distributed under the GNU GPL license, rendering it free to use. Here's their website: http://computeranimations.org./ The Blender Foundation itself has spoken out through its chairman Ton Roosendaal."

Submission + - Microsoft and Nvidia abandon PC Gaming Alliance (pcauthority.com.au)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 21, 2011 @08:50PM

An anonymous reader writes: Ever since Microsoft turned its back on Windows gaming in favour of the closed Xbox Ecosystem, the platform has been crying out for a champion. The company occasionally gives nods towards a revived focus upon PC gaming, most recently with yet another relaunch for Games for Windows Live and a trio of upcoming PC games, but when it comes to throwing cash around the Xbox is the beneficiary. What can definitely be said is that the one group that should be championing the PC, the PC Gaming Alliance, is going backwards. In 2009 the group lost the biggest PC game developer/publisher Activision-Blizzard, and now it seems that both Microsoft and Nvidia have bid the alliance farewell. This sounds pretty unimpressive considering the operating system developer, both major graphics manufacturers and the publisher of the biggest PC game have departed the alliance.

Submission + - Former Senator Chris Dodd Set to Head MPAA

Submitted by

Hugh Pickens writes

on Monday February 21, 2011 @08:03PM

Hugh Pickens writes writes: "The Hill reports that former Democratic Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut is set to become the new chairman of the Motion Picture Association of America taking over the $1.2 million position and the job of coordinating the policy goals of the various member studios. Interim CEO and president Bob Pisano says that organization's unwavering focus on its top priority will remain increasing the federal government's efforts to stop online film piracy. The MPAA is optimistic about its legislative prospects this Congress, thanks to the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act, which passed the Senate Judiciary Committee (headed by Dodd's close friend Senator Patrick Leahy) last year before stalling in the full Senate. The bipartisan bill would make it easier for the Justice Department to shut down websites that traffic pirated music, movies and counterfeit goods. While a member of the Senate, Dodd was an adamant opponent of the the FISA bill that granted retroactive immunity to telecoms who engaged in warrantless wiretapping. As to what type of organization will await Dodd when he begins, an MPAA spokesman acknowledged the organization sustained a 20 percent budget cut during the height of the recession but said the MPAA's decision was not unlike those taken by many peer trade groups."

Submission + - First Alpha of Qt for Android Released (sourceforge.net) 1

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 21, 2011 @07:00PM

An anonymous reader writes: In the wake of the Nokia's announcement that it will be cheerfully throwing its existing developer community under a bus by not offering Qt for Windows Phone, a project to implement Qt on Android has announced its initial alpha release. Necessitas project lead Bogdan Vatra writes, 'I had a dream that one day, I'll be able to deploy existing Qt software on any Android platform. I had a dream that one day, all Qt applications will use system wide shared Qt libraries. I had a dream that one day, all Qt applications once compiled and deployed to one android platform, will run on any other newer android platform and will last for years without any recompilation. I had a dream that one day, I'll be able to create, manage, compile debug and deploy Qt apps using a first class citizen IDE. Now, those dreams become reality.' The Necessitas wiki offers some documentation on Qt for Android. A demo video of Qt for Android in action is also available.

Submission + - Android Honeycomb Born Too Early

Submitted by adeelarshad82 on Monday February 21, 2011 @06:08PM

adeelarshad82 writes: This year's Mobile World Confress was the stage for dozens of new tablets, unfortunately though Android Honeycomb tablets lacked presence to the extend that amongst the top Android tablets showcased at the show, only Motorola Xoom was running Honeycomb where as others were running either Android 2.3 or older versions. Moreover most of the top apps announced for the OS were not new; just reworked. Gigaom may believe that Honeycomb tablets will be iPad's true competition but in my opinion progress has been slow. Honeycomb was born too early, primarily out pressure of iPad getting a one year head start in the tablet industry.

Submission + - Physicists Build Bigger 'Bottles' of Antimatter (sciencedaily.com) 1

Submitted by intellitech on Monday February 21, 2011 @03:15PM

intellitech writes: Once regarded as the stuff of science fiction, antimatter — the mirror image of the ordinary matter in our observable universe — is now the focus of laboratory studies around the world. While physicists routinely produce antimatter with radioisotopes and particle colliders, cooling these antiparticles and containing them for any length of time is another story. Clifford Surko, a professor of physics at UC San Diego, who is constructing what he hopes will be the world's largest antimatter container, said physicists have recently developed new methods to make special states of antimatter in which they can create large clouds of antiparticles, compress them and make specially tailored beams for a variety of uses.

Submission + - Shocking Images Show Gulf Bottom Still Dead (dailymail.co.uk)

Submitted by intellitech on Monday February 21, 2011 @03:09PM

intellitech writes: The Daily Mail is reporting that much of the oil from the BP spill remains stuck on the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico. At a science conference in Washington today, Joye, a professor at the University of Georgia aired early results of her December submarine dives around the BP spill site. She went to places she had visited in the summer and expected the oil and residue from oil-munching microbes would be gone by then. It wasn't. New images from her submarine dives reveal a startling absence of life on the bottom of the Gulf.

Submission + - Talking to computers? 4

Submitted by

merlock18

on Monday February 21, 2011 @12:46PM

merlock18 writes: "Is it un-natural to talk to a computer? After discussing the outcome of the Jeapordy game with some colleagues, they seem to think it is mildly 'scary' to talk to a computer and have it competently talk back. Is this what everyone thinks? I was thinking to myself how much I would like to be able to even tell my computer to open programs by telling it vocally. A simple idea that I am fairly surprised is not common. Am I a minority in this one? Do people just not like the idea of talking (without cursing) to a computer, let alone have it act or reply? Would anyone else be interested in building their own mini-Watson, or is this just 'scary?' Price is an obstacle. We can't all afford multpiple servers to get an answer in milliseconds but I can afford a pretty robust set of hardware and I dont mind waiting 45 seconds for an answer. Discuss"

Submission + - Smithsonian To Feature Video Game History (ibtimes.com) 1

Submitted by RedEaredSlider on Monday February 21, 2011 @11:12AM

RedEaredSlider writes: The Smithsonian American Art Museum has featured everything pop culture from Dorothy's ruby red slippers to Seinfeld's puffy shirt. Now it will exhibit a history of video games.

The Smithsonian American Art Museum said that an exhibit called the "The Art of Video Games," will open to the public in Washington, D.C. on March 16, 2012. The exhibit will explore the 40-year evolution of video games as an artistic medium, with a focus on striking visual effects and the creative use of new technologies.

Submission + - Developing world: send Kindles not PCs (pcpro.co.uk)

Submitted by

Barence

on Monday February 21, 2011 @06:55AM

Barence writes: "PC Pro's Stuart Turton has a fascinating blog on how the local children reacted to the Amazon Kindle on a recent visit to the Nagpur region of India. "About 20 kids stood in a big group, just watching me: big eyes, curious expressions, ridiculously cute and all intent on the Kindle," he writes.

"Just turning the page caused them to drag their friends over, and there’s no reality where changing the font size of your book should make you cooler than a Jimmy Hendrix guitar solo. That was just the warm-up act though, it was the text-to-speech feature that pretty much made me the best friend of the entire village."

"A charity could do a lot worse than to load a few up with dictionaries, school books and novels and send them to some remote schools in developing nations," he observes."

Submission + - Late Night Gaming Banned in Vietnam (vnanet.vn)

Submitted by R3d M3rcury on Monday February 21, 2011 @02:07AM

R3d M3rcury writes: Vietnam's Ministry of Information and Communication has asked ISPs to block access to on-line games between 10:00PM and 8:00AM. 'The request, made on Wednesday, is another move from the authority to mitigate the side effects of online games. The request follows numerous stiff measures by the ministry to tackle the issue, including cutting internet access to agents at night beginning last September.'

Submission + - LOTR Rewritten from Perspective of Mordor

Submitted by

Hugh Pickens writes

on Sunday February 20, 2011 @08:47PM

Hugh Pickens writes writes: "It's been said that history is written by the winners but Laura Miller writes in Salon about a counterexample as she reviews a new version of "Lord of the Rings" published to acclaim in Russia by Kirill Yeskov, a professional paleontologist whose job is reconstructing long-extinct organisms and their way of life from fossil remnants. Yeskov performs essentially the same feat in "The Last Ring-bearer," reconstructing the real world of Tolkien's Arda from "The Lord of the Rings" set during and after the end of the War of the Ring and told from the perspective of the losers. In Yeskov's retelling, available in translation as a free download, the wizard Gandalf is a war-monger intent on crushing the scientific and technological initiative of Mordor and its southern allies because science "destroys the harmony of the world and dries up the souls of men" and Aragorn is depicted by Yeskov as a ruthless Machiavellian schemer who is ultimately the puppet of his wife, the elf Arwen. Sauron's citadel Barad-dur is, by contrast, described as "that amazing city of alchemists and poets, mechanics and astronomers, philosophers and physicians, the heart of the only civilization in Middle-earth to bet on rational knowledge and bravely pitch its barely adolescent technology against ancient magic." According to Miller "in Yeskov's scenario, "The Lord of the Rings" is a highly romanticized and mythologized version of the fall of Mordor, perhaps even outright propaganda; "The Last Ringbearer" is supposed to be the more complicated and less sentimental true story.""

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