7/25    What's up with that moving bit pattern that Win7 displays when it
        boots up?  (It's the one that's like in the Apple II days when you
        use the graphics memory for code or data while it's still in HGR
        mode.)  Is there a way to disable that?  It slows things down a lot
        every time I reboot my Win7 VM on my office machine if I RDP to the
        machine via DSL.  Thanks in advance.

12/26   Hey you stupid web developers, stop making web sites with
        CONSTANT FONT SIZE and CONSTANT WIDTH/HEIGHT. Dumb ass
        graphics artist... please learn something about computers
        and usability!
        http://browsersize.googlelabs.com
        \_ "Stupid web-developers" is redundant. "Stupid" or
           "Web-developer" suffice. UI work is reserved for
           fresh out of college kids or non-computer science
           people. It is not computer science.
        \_ Interesting you feel that way. I prefer it.
           \_ Interesting you feel that all web sites should
              have constant size. I use 4-5 different browsers
              at work (I'm a dev) all with very different
              monitor sizes and web sites are either too big
              or too small to view. Ever tried browsing on
              an iPhone and then on a 30" monitor? Pain in
              the ass.
              \_ I like the content to look the same no matter which browser
                 is used. I find things like variable width fonts and
                 autoscaling annoying, because they sometimes don't render
                 correctly.
                 \_ Ah yes, HTML is stupid, everyone should have
                    embraced eternal constant pixel formats such
                    as PDF. You said it brother, you are brilliant,
                    just brilliant. 1024x768 ought to be enough
                    for everyone forever!!!
                    \_ HTML's not stupid, but there is a lot to be said for PDF.

4/11    Anyone here edit home movies? I've started doing that lately
        and am now wondering what to do with all the raw footage (both
        the video tapes and the mpg version of all them). I have
        edited, shorter versions of them showing the key scenes, but
        the pack rat in me wants to keep all the raw footage. Thanks.

11/30   Beowulf 3D IMAX. Totally amazing.
        \_ seconded.  Don't just go see it --  Experience it. -ERic
           \_ third  -- PROUD TO HAVE SCANDANAVIAN BLOOD BABY!!!
        \_ Even just 3D at the AMC in Emeryville was awesome. --erikred
        \_ Enjoyed Angelina's boobs. Too bad 3D didn't accentuate them more.
           \_ that was a computer generated model of them. Enhanced, of course.
        \_ Was there any plot or acting or is this pure eye candy?  I'd like
           to go in with the right attitude.  Thanks.
           \_ If Angelina's super enhanced 3D boobs isn't enough of a reason,
              then it's not worth it. Go see it for her super boobs.
           \_ Mostly eye-candy. --erikred
              \_ Thanks for both replies.  Eye candy mode... ACTIVATE!
        \_ I saw it in IMAX tonight.  The dragon was great, the IMAX was
           annoying at first until they calmed down and just let it be a
           natural part of the show, the angelina jolie creature looked like
           a plastic doll with her head on top; wasn't doing anything for me.
           \_ Isn't that what Angelina Jolie always looks like?  (Along with
              those plastic lips, yuck.) -hasn't seen the movie.
              \_ More so than usual.  :)

7/13    I have about 80 .pdf graphics files, that are a mix of vector graphics
        and bitmaps, and I want to convert them all to bitmap of a specified
        resolution, while preserving the physical size of the original image.
        Does anyone have any suggestions for how to do this fast and
        efficiently?  I have access to the full Adobe suite if that makes any
        difference.  thanks.
        \_ Are they all one page?
           \_ Each file is much less than a page in size, and they're all
              seperate files.
        \_ Should be able to use ghostscript.
           Post a file if you want an example.
           \_ Ok, thanks.  I've been messing with Ghostscript, but I can't
              figure out how to get it to both be 600 dpi and to preserve
              the physical size.  If I were smarter, I probably would have
              specified all the sizes in the Latex code so that I wouldn't
              care, but that would be a lot of work at this point (180 page
              document).  Here is an example file:
              /csua/tmp/lafe/5point5huge.pdf
              Any pointers very much appreciated.

6/23    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5GfuRRZKaU&search=bicycle%20race%20funny
        Looking for a similar video like this that was shown on America's
        Funniest Video. The fall on AFV was much more catastrophic and
        more dramatic. Thank for any help.
        \_ Just like that dumbass snowboarder in the Olympics.

3/30    http://tinyurl.com/ese8k
        Device tells you if you're boring or not. Helpful for geeks.

           wealth the company has much better chances of success, as everyone's
           interests then align for the good of the corporation.  It's better
           to own 25% of a billion dollar corporation than to own 90% of a

1/7     I have an .eps file generated from Illustrator that is all vector
        graphics, and it's about 300k.  I need to get it to be as small as
        possible to upload it to an archive where they're anal about image
        file size.  What can I do to shrink the file besides zipping?  I already
        tried zipping, and it's still bigger than the 50 k they want for .gz
        files.
        \_ Sometimes you can reduce the line count at the expense of detail
           (a.k.a. "smoothing")
        \_ Convert it to png.   -tom

8/10    In the http://www.yahoo.com page there is this picture in the ad for "The
        Skeleton Key":
        http://us.a1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/a/1-/java/promotions/universal/050810/w1.jpg
        Is that her left nipple exposed near the bottom of the picture?
        \_ I think it's her hand or something moving blurring by.
        \_ No: link:csua.org/u/czn
           \_ I see.  Never mind.

6/15    I downloaded an AVI that requires AC3 audio. I installed AC3 and
        successfully played the video. However, the sound is too
        quiet even though I've turned up the software controlled volume.
        Does anyone know how to adjust the volume when playing other
        codecs? ok thx.
        \_ If you installed ac3filter, its configuration dialog lets
           you increase the gain. --jameslin
           \_ Got it, thanks. I hate how you have so many codecs to download
              and they don't even play on my DVD/AVI box.
              \_ There aren't that many codecs commonly used in practice.
                 Usually all you need is ffdshow and ac3filter. --jameslin
                 \_ I've seen a ton of fairly odd ones (mainly on DVD rips.)
                    http://videohelp.com is a great resource for codec info.  -John

5/15    Has anyone read Foucault's Pendulum? If so, is it a good book
        to pick up? I'm split over whether to read it or not, based
        on reviews on amazon (which either love it or hate it).
        \_ This is a notoriously "difficult" book, so take reader reviews
           for what they're worth.  Some people that I know who have read
           it say that it's difficult for the sake of being difficult, and
           others like it for the "depth."  I couldn't finish it because
           all the years of video games and the internets have fried my
           attention span.
        \_ I read it twice: once to myself (I tend to skim) and once to my wife,
           out loud.  (You have to read every word when you do that, though
           curiously you can zone out while doing it, intone every word
           perfectly, do different voices, and not remember the content of the
           last few pages.)  At any rate, when I skimmed it I enjoyed it.  When
           I read the whole thing I realized I was definitely "not tall enough"
           to be reading this book.  If National Treasure is the working man's
           version of the Treasure w/ Clues Hidden Throughout History genre,
           this is the one for lit. majors.  YMMV, but I probably understood
           this is the one for lit. majors.  YMMV, but I probably under stood
           95% of the vocabulary and 35% of the literary and historical
           references.  (I was not a lit. major)  Oh, and if you read this first
           then read DaVinci Code you'll have definite dejM-a vM-y. --dbushong
           then read DaVinci Code you'll have definite dejá vù. --dbushong
           \- I thought Name of the Rose was quite a good story. I didnt
              think FP was a great story. I think there were individual
              paragraphs which were well written. I think they would have
              been worth reading for an aspiring writer who wanted to see
              some samples of nice descriptions, but again from a plot/
              characters/entertainment perspective, didnt do well "in my
              book" ... I finished the book in part because I was on
              expedition and it was one of the only books I had with me.
              I like history but I wasnt into all the stuff about
              I like history but I wasnt that into all the stuff about
              publishing. I dont understand why people consider it "hard".
              I think the Iliad is hard. There might be details one misses
                          \_ No, Ulysses is hard :). -- ilyas
                             \- I have read Ulysses once and the Iliad
                                6 times. I think the Iliad is more
                                rewarding. IMHO, U is much more for
                                people interested in literature while
                                I has more to say about "life". U (and
                                even more FW) in some ways are a little
                                bit of a game or deliberate, conscious
                                challenge while I is a stright up profound
                                work. As they say, YMMV. Parenthetically,
                                I think the Odyssey is very enjoyable but
                                much more "partial credit" friendly than I.
                                BTW, Professor Bishop is giving a talk about
                                FW on 5/26 at UCB.
              in FP, but it's pretty amenable to "partial credit" unlike
              a work with high "barriers to entry". If you have not read
              'Rose, read that. If you want other historical fiction
              recommendations, state your parameters. --psb
              \- BTW, one of the best historical fiction series I have
                 read is Les Rois Maudits [The Accursed Kings] series
                 begining with Le Roi de Fer [The Iron King] by Maurice
                 Druon. It is difficult to find a (english) copy to own,
                 although libraries ought to have them. It is about
                 although libraries ought to have it. It is about
                 Philip IV le Bel of France and his progeny. --psb
           then read DaVinci Code you'll have definite dejá vù. --dbushong
                 Philip IV, Le Bel, of France and his progengy. --psb
                 Philip IV, Le Bel, of France and his progeny. --psb
              \_ Name of the Rose was utter pap.  Long-winded rants, unresolved
                 plot threads and unsatisfactory endings don't make good books.
                 Highly overrated (though far less irritating than the Da Vinci
                 Code).
           \_ Da Vinci Code was Foucault's Pendulum light. FP is better
              written, more engaging, and imparts much more information
              than Dan Brown's rehashing of "Angels and Demons" and "Holy
              Blood, Holy Grail."  The reading level for FP is high, though
              straightforward; the literary and historical references are
              sometimes obscure. If you enjoy this, you may also enjoy the
              works of John Crowley, and you may even enjoy the Illuminatus!
              trilogy by Robert Anton Wilson. As for The Name of the Rose,
              it was brilliant, but it is so well-written in the style of
              the period that the prose quickly becomes unwieldy to the
              modern reader. --erikred
        \_ I liked it. I did not understand all the historical references
           though I did have some knowledge of the history of secret
           societies during the Crusades, from my past experience as
           a DeMolay (Masonic youth organization). I liked the fact
           that parts of the puzzle were "missing" for me, because
           they were missing for the main characters as well and
           it kind of put me in their mind state. If you can stand
           being baffled half the time, it is a great read. -ausman
           \- FYI, Les Rois Maudits more or less opens with the scene of
              Demolay et al roasting over an open fire on the Ile de la Cite.
              \_ Jacques DeMolay, you are avenged!
           \_ It has great references and a fantastic premise but the writing
              style and conclusion left me a bit unimpressed.  -John
        \_ Like Partha and the rest here, I read "difficult" books by choice.
           (With my name, how could I not?) I found FP to be like listening to
           the rant of a well-educated schizophrenic vagrant. It is
           occasionally brilliant but mostly just pleased with its own level
           of detailed erudition. The story beneath all the noise was hardly
           compelling, either. The Name of the Rose, on the other hand, I
           recommend. -- ulysses
        \_ I read it 10 years ago, so it's a little fuzzy, but I remember
           enjoying the book, though I wouldn't say it's a must read. The
           writing style and story are actually pretty straightforward, so,
           in that sense, it isn't particularly difficult, but I did find
           it really boring at points. The highlight of the book is a 200-300
           page section in the middle in which the development of the
           Knight's Templar, Rosicrucians, etc. is historically explained.
           I thought that part was awesome.  -ciyer

3/11    Heh. Is that lila in the SF Weekly's web personals window?
        \_ Go Lila go.  Nice pic.  -John
        \_ LILA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! lila!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
           The hottest CSUA babe of the 90s
        http://personals.sfweekly.com/profile.aspx?bookmark=wlyIzn%2fRCPg%3d
           \_ How sad, if that's the best we can do.  At least in the 80s we
              had Sioux Hannah.
              \_ Who? Pix?
              \_ someone mentioned previously that CSUA pres or vice-pres
                 is pretty presentable.
              \_ Sad?  How so. Lila is a wonderful.
              \_ And Kathy Li.
                 \_ Sioux was in a David Bowie video; Kathy was featured in
                    a comic book series.  Tough choice.  Sioux was hotter and
                    Kathy nerdier.
                    \_ Bowie? Nope. Paul McCartney video.
           \_ Eva Chan in the early 90s was hotter.
        \_ Are you guys serious? Is this the infamous lila I keep hearing
           about? -newbie
           \_ That's lila.  Why do you call her infamous?  She always seemed
              OK to me.
              \_ Yermom seemd OK, too. But then...
           \_ 1) This picture is recent. 2) You had to be there.
        \_ It's your big chance kchang!  Go, go!
           \_ I would but I'm not sure if she renewed her restraining orders

2/25    Hello video experts, I've been using DVD2AVI to convert VOBs to
        AVI and WAV and then combining them using TMPGEnc, which I thought
        was free. Today, it says "MPEG-2 expires after 30 days due to
        licensing issues, please buy this product." What the hell? What
        are other alternatives out there?
        \_ mpeg2 is not free.
        \_ TMPGEnc provides free MPEG1 encoding, but MPEG2 is not free.
           You need to pay for TMPGEnc Plus.  Both TMPGEnc Plus and CCE Basic
           are around $50.  Incidentally, using DVD2AVI to generate AVI files
           isn't a great idea.  Also, if your goal is to go DVD->DVD, then
           why not use DVDShrink?
           \_ Actually my goal is simply DVD(mpeg2) to VCD(mpeg1), I got
              mixed up so it's cool. By the way it's quite tedious to split
              the DVD into AVI/WAV then combining them, is there an easier
              way?
              \_ You're not actually supposed to create an AVI with dvd2avi
                 (despite its name; they've now renamed it to get people to
                 to stop using that misfeature), since that's just going to
                 be a collosal waste of HDD space.  The usual way is to save
                 the project file (.d2v) and then open that (usually using
                 AviSynth, but I think the current version of TMPGEnc
                 can open it directly). --jameslin

2/19    M$ on '1337 Speak:
        http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/children/kidtalk.mspx
        \_ I guess when you have billions of dollars, you can waste
           money on useless primers like this.
        \_ This is old and has already been posted:
           http://csua.com/?entry=36232

1/18    I want to do a personal project involving OpenGL.  I also require
        basic GUI widgets of some sort in a cross-platform way.  What would
        you reccomend?  Java-OpenGL doesn't seem standardized.  Should I try to
        use GLUT?  Should I use some cross-platform scripting language?
        I'm looking for cross-platform, full OpenGL support, and lightweight.
        \_ Take a look at GLUI.  http://www.cs.unc.edu/~rademach/glui

12/23   What's a good program to convert an mov to an MP3?  I've tried
        Alive Video Converter and Audio Commander.  Audio Commander
        says "processing file" and then does nothing.  Alive Video
        Converter says that something is wrong with the mov file.  It
        plays fine in Quicktime, though.  I tried another mov file that
        also works fine in quicktime.  Alive Video Converter is using most
        of my CPU for quite a few minutes, but is still stuck on 0%
        complete.
        \_ ffmpeg --dbushong
        \_ iTunes

12/13   Video codec question. I used to be able to use my VideoWave
        program to convert AVI to MPG-1 (for VCD). However after
        trying a few video sharewares and uninstalling them, I can
        no longer convert AVI to MPG-1 using VideoWave (it keeps on
        crashing). What is going on and how would you fix it? ok thx
        \_ I'd fix it by using TMPGEnc (free) instead. --jameslin
         \_ just tried it, but it doesn't wanna load *.avi files :(
            \_ Can you even load these AVI files in WMP?  Sounds like you've
               hosed your system.
               \_ yes no problem. TMPGEnc asks for TWO files, audio and video.
                  But I only have 1 file, the AVI file. Now what?        -op
                  \_ It asks for a video source and audio source.  If they
                     happen to be from the same file, you just select the
                     same file for both.

11/26   Video codec Algorithms Implementors (or anyone): Does the decoding of
        mp3s, avis, etc lend itself well to parallel processors?  Will a
        Quad PII-450 be able to decode just as well as a PIII 800?  Thx.
        \_ It could be parallelized, but it's probably too much trouble
           in practice.
        \_ nobody cares about decoding speeds. It's encoding that's the bitch.
        \_ Yes. I did research for a grad student who got his PhD in this
           field (he was one of the original MPEG1 authors):
            http://www.cs.unc.edu/~kmp
            http://www.cs.unc.edu/~kmp/publications/dissertation/thesis.pdf
           (he used to be in Rowe's research group, BMRC)
        \_ No, because there's NO SUCH THING as a PII-450.

9/12    For those who use LaTeX, what do you use to create diagrams of vector
        graphics?  I don't want to insert a bitmap if I don't have to.
        \_ I make all my graphics in Adobe Illustrator, then save them
           as .eps and include them in the document with \figure.
           I also include graphs from various other programs, and I just
           make sure they're all exported as .eps files.
        \_ I've always used MS Visio. If you have access to it, you should
           try it. It's very easy to use, surprisingly powerful, and you can
           export to a variety of formats, including .eps.
        \_ Have used Illustrator, Visio, and OS X's OmniGraffle, all of which
           work just fine and are recommended.
        \_ I used xfig... "unique" UI and all.  --dbushong
        \_ tgif is a lot nicer than xfig. -- ilyas
        \_ http://www.linuxartist.org/2d.php
           Look in the "vector programs" section
        \_ http://www.linuxgazette.com/issue41/gm/musings.html

7/28    Dear CS PhDs, can someone please enlighten me on the different
        conferences out there, what they're good for, how prestigious
        they are, etc?      -cs dumb
        \_
        I'll start:
        // prestigious:
        ISCA: Computer Architecture
        \_ HPCA and Micro are also first-rate; ASPLOS is superb as well.
        Hot Chips: Chip stuff, who cares about prestigious?
        \_ hot chips are hot
           \_ this is more of an industry work-in-progress, i-built-this-chip
              conference rather than an academic one. There aren't even
              really papers published at this conference.
        SOSP: OS stuff. Pretty prestigious.
        DAC: CAD stuff, very prestigious.
        UAI: bayes net AI stuff, prestigious.
        AAAI: general AI stuff, prestigious.
        ISSCC: circuit design, way way prestigious
        SIAM: Industrial and applied math, new algorithms
        // somewhat prestigious:
        USENIX: general shit. Not very elite.
        Siggraph: graphics stuff
        \_ Um, as a graphics guy, Siggraph is The Bomb. ~10-15% acceptance
           rate, extremely prestigious. Trumps all other graphics conferences.
           \_ Seriously.  Is there anything more prestigious than SIGGRAPH in
              the graphics field?
              \_ Siggraph is Top Dog. Next tier is stuff like Visualization,
                 Eurographics and Eurographics Rendering, Graphics Hardware,
                 etc.
                 \_ It was a rhetorical question, but thanks for the info.
        ICSE: software engineering
        OOPSLA:
        // not at all prestigious:
        UIST: at least 5-7 years ago.  User Interfaces
        \_ prestigious UI is an oxymoronx
           \_ While good UI is very important, UI design is the ghetto of CS.
        GDC: game designers conference
        ???
        \_ It would help if you narrowed down the field a little more.
        \_ I think that any of the conferances on this list are gonna be
           fairly prestigious.  The not very prestigious ones are the
           millions of rinky-dink shows all over the world most of us have
           hundreds of rinky-dink shows all over the world most of us have
           never heard of.

7/27    Has anyone seen a 3-D graphics program that reproduces irridescance
        like you'd find on the throat of a hummingbird or peacock's tail?  I'm
        wondering how hard it is to do with vertex shader programs and the like
        \_ dunno, maybe ATI or NV has a demo program with source?

7/6     Matrix Ultimate Collection:
        http://forums.matrixfans.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=24272
        \_ The ultimate collection would be to rewrite parts 2 & 3 into
           something watchable.
           \_ True that.
           \_ And more computer graphics to replace Keanu Reeves.
              \_ You mean Keanu isn't CGI?
                 \_ They got an actor to play the boring bits.
                    People are cheaper than computer time.

5/11    How evil is this website? Find out here:
        http://homokaasu.org/gematriculator
        FWIW: http://www.yahoo.com is 51% evil. http://www.ibm.com is only 8% evil. Go Fig!
        \_ and http://csua.berkeley.edu is 19%.  That's one of 5 politburo members
        \_ http://www.microsoft.com is 71% good. Yeah!
        \_ http://www.microsoft.com is 71% good. Yeah! Beats even http://homokaasu.org
           itself. http://www.stanford.edu is 80% good, but http://www.berkeley.edu is 92%
           while whitehouse.gov is 50%-50% and http://google.com is 99% good.
           \_ No, it says whitehouse.gov is 77% good.
           \_ that's weird that google is 99% good.
           \_ But http://whitehouse.com is 78% good.  Bush is bad, bush is good.
              \_ Ha ha!
        \_ http://www.actionjav.com is 65% good.

5/5     What is non-linear video?  Is there such thing as linear video?  Thx.
        \_ All videos are linear except for multi-angle porn and the like.  The
           phrase "Non-linear video" is generally referring to non-linear video
           editing, which means any video editing with splicing in.
        \_ the terms you've probably seen are "linear video editing" and
           "non-linear video editing".  linear video editing means that you
           take a video, delete things from the middle, or append things to
           the beginning or end. (The frames in the output video are in the
           same order as they were originally.) As the poster above said, NLE
           involves splicing video into the middle or rearrangements.

5/4     Anyone know of a unix program/script to convert openGL model files
        to AutoCAD readable format (.dwg or .dxf)?
        Google turns up mostly methods to convert the other way. Thanks!
        Alternately, are there any simple to use freeware
        CAD programs that you'd recommend that can save as those formats?
        \_ OpenGL is an API, not a file format.  Converters "to OpenGL" will
           typically generate a .c file which when compiled will send the
           geometry through the OpenGL API. What are you really asking for?
           \_Would like to convert something like
                http://glv.sourceforge.net/fileformat.html to .dwg/.dxf
             It doesn't need to be GL oriented, but should be simple to
             hand-code. PostScript would be fine, but I'm not sure how
             to specify 3D coordinates in .ps.
             \_ On that page, the syntax is basically just a raw translation to
                OpenGL commands.  For instance, the "point x y z" translates to
                the OpenGL calls:
                glBegin(GL_POINTS);
                glVertex3f(x,y,z);
                glEnd();
                It is fundamentally state-machine oriented.  A translation
                would be nontrivial.  Frankly it's more common to translate
                structured geometry files to OpenGL because usually you start
                with the structured geometry.  Reversing the translation would
                be difficult--you'd have to reconstruct information that's been
                thrown away.  I don't think you're going to find anything like
                this, but good luck.

2/23    So did anyone else notice that Yahoo bought http://gamesdomain.com and turned
        it into the worst...game...site...ever?
        \_ couldn't have been that good in the first place. i don't think i've
           ever heard of it.
           \_ tr00 g4m3rz would recognize gamesdomain as a non-sponsored,
              objective, fan-supported game-review site
              \_ And also one of the first if not the first net-distributed
                 gamer mags - originally an FTP downloaded text file!  Does
                 anyone remember when it started?  For some reason I'm
                 thinking 92-93ish.

1/16    Don't know if this has made the rounds yet:
        http://www.baekdu.org/myblog/000030.html
        "Sand Animation" It's a video of drawing images using sand over
        a lit surface. Sorry, .wmv only. -bz
        \_ any non-streaming file for us firewalled/slow link folks?
           \_ /csua/tmp/sandAnimation.wmv
        \_ Hadn't seen them before -- Thanks for the link. Though I
           found I prefered the sand animation films on the artists site:
            http://www.cakostudio.hu/images/filmography_sand.html
        \_ that is some lame ass sh*t
           \_ troll?  (I thought it very impressive)
              \_ Simply idiotic.  Don't grant the name of thought to what can
                 be attributed to mere stupidity.
              \_ Different strokes for different folks, I guess. I liked it too.

1/6     Special Announcement in re: WizWar-TNG.
        I have communicated with the wizwar owner and have been advised that
        WW-TNF is back in "limbo" due to the Chessex Corporation blocking
        on the graphics production. So no specific date, but "flakiness"
        on the part of the "graphics layout guy" is the hold up, not sub-
        stantial work on the part of the game design people. ok tnx --psb
        \_ We knew you were old but now you're really dating yourself....
        \_ What the hell are you talking about?
        \_ I emailed em a week ago-ish, and they were saying they hope to have
           it out Real Soon Now, like in the next few months. Good thing I'm
           almost done with my home-made copy! -chialea

12/2    Research on Ecstacy is Clouded by Errors
        http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/02/science/02ECST.html
        \_ Not surprising.  Most people I've seen on X aren't the greatest
           examples of lucidity.
           \_ uh, the scientists who ran the flawed study weren't
              the ones on ecstacy.  in fact nobody in the study was.
              \_ Whoosh!
           \_ Whoa.  Someone commented on an URL link without reading the
              URL?  SHOCKER!
              \_ Okay.  It was a joke.  Sorry for confusing you.
              \_ INCLUDE YOUR CHILDREN WHEN BAKING COOKIES
                 \_ NEW STUDY FOR OBESITY LOOKS FOR LARGER TEST GROUP.
                    \_ PROSTITUTES APPEAL TO POPE
                       \_ ALL DRUG ADDICTS HAVE EATEN A POTATO AT SOME
                          POINT IN THEIR LIVES.
        \_ Y'all gonna keep them brain doctors working when you're 60.

7/19    http://www.discover.com/aug_03/gthere.html?article=feattech.html
        Maybe in another 10 years this sort of thing plus the advancement of
        computer graphics in general will lead to all hollywood movies being
        done on computer and the end of the super rich empty headed hollywood
        actors running around mouthing off on late night talk shows.
        \_ You forget that all the animated features use big celebrities
           for voices.  Computer-generated speech will suck for a long time
           to come.  -tom
        \_ I'm not going to recomend it as a *good* movie exactly, but
           the movie "simone," with Al Paccino explores this idea.
        \_ Oooh!  Genetic algorithms!  Must ... put .. on cover ... of wired..
        \_ Here Here to that. I was hoping to give them all a 9mm hemmorage 1st
         \_ First of all it is hear hear.  Second of all wow aren't you a
            big man.  I bet all the chicks flock to your manlyness
        \_ But then whose lives will we vicariously live?
        \_ yes we need good down to the earth "real" looking
           guys like Eric Raymond on the tonight show
           \_ WTF would anyone put a geek on a talk show?  Maybe they'd start
              putting interesting people on them instead of entertainment
              figures or better yet just cancel the entire late night genre.

7/15    Is there any software that converts video from .rm (real video?)
        to mpeg format?
        \_ Yes.
           \_ not free, though.
              \_ Can you tell me what they are, even if not free.
                 Please please please (google gives me a messed
                 up jumble).

6/25    Has anyone attended Academy of Arts in SF? I would like to
        know if this is a good school to go to in order to study
        computer animation and modelling.
        \_ my gf worked and took classes there for years.  She decided
           that it was NOT a good way to learn 3D and ended up taking
           classes independently for a certificate with companies such
           as "Mesmer".  Note that AoA classes are NOT transferable to
           other schools, nor do they teach you what you need to land
           a real job or do your own sizeable project.  Email me if you'd
           like more details.                -brain
           \_ Magic cursed words: unaccredited school. As noted, you'd be
              better off with one of the local comp. animation schools.
           \_ Mesmer's offering a bunch of 1-5 day classes in the fall.
              If I were to go with one, which package should I look into?
              (alias, 3dsmax, softimage, maya)
              \_ Maya is the program of choice in film. Max is still
                 leading in games, but Maya is a major contender. So
                 it depends on what you want to do with the knowledge.
                 The artists I know that have used both prefer Max.
                 Then again, most of the artists I know are in the game biz.
                 Ultimately, once you learn one, picking up another
                 isn't too big of a deal. -bz
        \_ i think you should email wolberg@csua
           \_ I love you Carrie!

3/18    Powers of 10:
        http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/primer/java/scienceopticsu/powersof10
        \_ I like the Charles & Ray Eames original much better:
           http://www.powersof10.com
           \_ Great; now kids are going to think protons and quarks
              "look" like little blobs of colored dots.  -pld

3/13    This is a bit obscure and I've obGoogled to no avail: I'm trying to
        get opengl SGI apps to display on my cygwin box but the sgi side
        complains that it can't find libgl.so in any paths.  Any ideas? Thanks!
        \_ Does it work on the local SGI machine?  Sometimes openGL stuff
           is installed in its own subdirectory which isn't searched by
           default.  Try man ldconfig (might not work for SGI though).
           \_ works perfectly on the sgi.  I can redirect the DISPLAY and get
              non-opengl stuff working easily.  I can't get anything that uses
              opengl on the sgi to work on a remote display.  Won't show up
              on my Solaris box either for the same reason.
              \_ Don't you need OpenGL installed on your cygwin box? The
                 X server isn't going to know what to do with those OpenGL
                 function calls. I know that an app that we developed
                 requires OpenGL installed even when it is run remotely.
                 \_ yes this is correct.  in fact it is often nice to run
                    opengl programs from a fast computer on a display with
                    fast opengl.  sgi offers a program called vizserver,
                    however, that will let you send the actual frames over
                    a remote connection.  you need it installed on both ends.
                 \_ Ok I figured it was something like this and my cygwin is a
                    complete install of everything and seems to already have
                    a bunch of opengl files but not the one the sgi wants.  I
                    tried copying&renaming opengl.* to libgl.* into the path
                    the sgi wanted and no-go.  Maybe I really don't have opengl
                    installed or I need some option to XWin.exe to get it to
                    load.  Any more hints in this direction?  Thanks!

11/7    So on Apple's web site it says:
        "The NVIDIA GForce2 MX and GForce4 MX graphics processors deliver
        unparalleled 3D graphics."
        Aren't there any truth in advertising laws about this?
        Unparalleled my flaming ass.
        \_ Well, obviously they don't mean unparalleled in speed. They
           can always claim "unparalleled" in terms of features and image
           quality. ie, truth is in the eye of the beholder
           \_ but it's not unparalleled in features or image quality either.
              also they misspelled the product name.
        \_ marketing droids know more about this stuff than you do.  Words
           like "unparalleled", "leading", "preimer" do not have strict
           definitions, so you can always use them.   -tom
           \_ Certainly, the other 3D cards' must be off by at least a
              couple of degrees, and there for are not parallel.

11/7    On ultra5's there's m64config to tweak the graphics settings.  Anybody
        know the equivalent command on sunblade 100s?  Users are complaining
        about some cad tools' color mapping being different on sunblade 100s
        vs ultra 10s.  The tools and the monitor are identical.  What can
        I tweak graphics wise?  Thanks.
        \_ fbconfig? also, possibly afbconfig or ffbconfig or even m64config.
           my sunblade also has an m64.  check the output of prtconf to figure
           out which frame buffer it uses. --scotsman
        \_ This depends on the framebuffer. If you're using the on-board
           video connector, then you should use m64config. If you're using
           the Expert3D-lite, then it probably needs some other tool for
           configuring its settings.

10/14   I want to buy a digital camcorder.  I see that there are camcroders of
        several formats like Digital8, DV, Mini DV and MICROMV.  Which of
        these formats allow me to easily transfer the video to my computer?
        Some of the camcorders' specs say I can transfer still images via the
        USB ports, but they don't say about the video.  Thanks.
        \_ Does are just the tape formats. They all pretty much store DV data
        \_ Those are just the tape formats. They all pretty much store DV data
           and can be imported easily through a 1394/Firewire/i.LINK port as
           DV. It all basically comes down to size. I would go with a MiniDV
           since that's the most common these days. Digital8 allows
           backwards compatibility with older tapes but very few people really
           have a need for that.
           \_ So it's not a matter of the tape format, I see.  What about the
              is the format not a factor either?
              video quality?  Which of the format gives the best quality?  Or
              is the format not a factor either?  Also, does it matter if the
              camcorder has "MPEG movie mode" or not?  Is it independent of the
              tape format?  Thanks.
              \_ it's digital video.  The media type shouldn't affect the
                 quality.
        \_ What's the difference between DV and MiniDV?

4/30    Anybody have experience generating MPEG video streams with splice
        points?  How EXACTLY does the splice countdown work?  What values go
        in what packets?  I'm using an MPEG analyzer and I'm seeing some
        errors:  When I send an MPEG packet with only a splice point and no
        payload, I get an error "this flag shall not be set to 1: there is no
        payload."  The MPEG spec (ISO 13818-1) is a little vague on this
        point.  MUST there be a payload in a packet that includes a splice
        point?  When I tried putting the splice point in the last payload
        packet (last packet of the PES frame), with a splice countdown of 0, I
        got this error:  "bad countdown sequence."  Any help would be
        appreciated.

[Did you catch the subliminal message hidden in the empty space?]
\_ No.

2/12    Make sure you return your videos to blockbuster on time:
        http://www.LP.org/press/archive.php?function=view&record=565
        \_ Blockbuster is a horrible place to spend your money on rentals.
           Every so often their system will decide that you had a late return
           6 months before & charge you for it, without explaining what the
           charge is for-- sometimes directly to your credit card or
           sometimes at the checkout register.  If they type in the wrong
           information, you may end up paying for someone else's late return.
           At Berkeley's Shattuck store, they took my mom's CC number and
           PUT IT ON THE WRONG ACCOUNT.  Go with link:netflix.com instead.
           \_ this article has nothing to do with BlockBuster.  I could be
           Hollywood videos or any mom's & pop's store. Netflix is not idea
           unless you rent every month. Do you really spend $20 worth of
           rental in a month?  If so, netflix definitely is good for you.
                \_ my video rental bill is at least $50 per mo but Netflix is
                        just too slow...still going to try it -- not OP
        \_ This article would be more palatable if the writer didn't go
           so overboard every few paragraphs.
           \_ it's a libertarian web site, what do you expect?
                \_ The same as from any web site hosted by a politically
                   active group from any part of the spectrum.  Go read the
                   common sites from the other end of the spectrum.  They
                   mostly rant and self-confirm on message boards.  That's
                   the beauty of the net; anyone can be a publisher.  This is
                   what true free speech is all about.  You have the right to
                   speak but no one is required to listen.

1/15    This is too funny.  Go to http://www.bsa.org/usa and find the
        Flash movie halfway down and see the story of Meg A. Byte the
        software pirate.
        \_ That's hilarious.  I especially like how they ripped of a few games
           in the video.  Nothing makes the point better than hypocrisy.

12/17   Does the google cache seem a *lot* slower than it used to be?
        I recall it used to instantly pull up the cached page.  Most of
        the time it now takes 5-10 seconds and sometimes just dies entirely.
        I don't have any other browser problems.  Just the google cache.
        \_ Ya, I've noticed this on sites that have graphics. Google doesn't
           seem to cache all the graphics. If the site is pure text, google
           returns immediately.
           \_ yeah... hm... that's only been the case FOREVER. Google
              cache never saved graphics and if a cache'd page is slow
              this is almost certainly why. try it in lynx or something.

11/8    http://www.fuckedcompany.com/images/headsup.mpeg
        You've got to see this.  Has audio.  Don't play with your manager near
        by.
        \*mommy, what was that man doing?*
        \_ Definitely not work safe, has video.
                \_ It's an mpeg.  Yes, it has video.
        \_ That can't be real!
        \_ can someone please gouge my eyes out for me?
        \_ I so didn't need to see that.
           \_ What exactly is happening?
              \_ Take the title of the file and use your imagination.
                 \_ Is it some variation of "Go stick your head in a pig"?
        \_ That... was... actually, I don't know what to think.
        \_ Pleeeease tell me there were some special effects involved.
        \_ I never imagined it was possible.
        \_ This crashed my browser. What is this about?
           \_ Ignorance is bliss.

8/12    Are there any precedent on lawsuits regarding copying a web site?
        The obvious stuff like logo are copyrighted.  But what about all
        other generic graphics and the javascript?  All those are freely
        downloadable.  I'm wondering if anybody ever got sued because they
        basically downloaded somebody's site and changed the logos and graphics
        and obviously the content a little.
        \_ ebay recently sued bidbay over this type of thing
        \_ legally dubious. But obviously wrong ethically. Why do it and
           cause trouble and bad karma for yourself or your business?
           Unless you are talking graphics like the blue dot or code that
           is readily supplied as example code, it would be inappropriate.
        \_ You're better than this.  Right?

8/10    I have a ps file with a small bug (when I jump to page 1 from a later
        page, gs barfs). I used ps2ps and it fixed the problem. But ps2ps
        made all the text into ugly graphics. How do I make it keep text as
        text? (running ghostscript 5.50 under linux).
        \_ hand-edit the old file? diff the old and new file to try to find
           what was the fix?
        \_ how about converting it to pdf?  speaking of which, is ps2pdf any
           good yet?  last I checked, a lot of documents kept getting vector
           glyphs replaced with bitmaps.  Acrobat Distiller, on the other hand,
           did a fine job with the same files...

08/28 Like 3D graphics? On September 6th at 7pm in 306 Soda, NVIDIA engineers
      will talk about 3D graphics technology, games, and more. And if that
      doesn't interest you, there will be free food! Be there.

11/14   Favorite Website:
        http://fatchicksinpartyhats.com : 1
        http://amihotornot.com : 2
        http://theonion.com :
        http://google.com :
        /.: 1
        http://www.csua.berkeley.edu/~psb : 1
        <DEAD>amigothornot.com<DEAD>: 1
        \_ <DEAD>www.amigothornot.com/r/?eid=HOE&key=WLFJH<DEAD>
                \_ Coming soon:  http://www.amigayornot.com
                                 http://www.amigeekornot.com
                                     \_ umm. it's, um, there already.
                                        \_ geek
                                 <DEAD>www.doihavealife.com<DEAD>
                                 <DEAD>www.amithepresidentornot.com<DEAD>

08/28 Like 3D graphics? On September 6th at 7pm in 306 Soda, NVIDIA engineers
      will talk about 3D graphics technology, games, and more. And if that
      doesn't interest you, there will be free food! Be there.

08/28 Like 3D graphics? On September 6th in 306 Soda, NVIDIA engineers will
      talk about 3D graphics technology, games, and more. And if that doesn't
      interest you, there will be free food! Be there.

The uncensored messages below this line may not reflect opinions of the CSUA.

4/23    I have an xfig drawing that I want to incorporate into a Word
        document.  Has anyone had any success in doing this.  If so,
        what vector graphics file format did you use to do this.  I've
        tried CGM and EPS and Word just chokes at this.  There doesn't
        seem to be any other file formats that both xfig and Word share.
        \_ save word document as text or HTML.  Use editor/text markup
           language which doesn't suck.
           (word will probably handle a simple paste of the graphic from
           a graphics program).  -tom
           \_ That doesn't solve the problem.  I have a drawing in xfig.
              I want to incorporate it into Word.  The file format that
              xfig exports aren't the ones the Word imports (with the
              exception of CGM which doesn't work).  Is there some
              kind of conversion utitlity (has nothing to do with HTML).

10/9    Prof. David Huffman, inventor of the codes that bear his name, died
        Thursday. He was 74. See URL for more info:
http://www.ucsc.edu/news_events/press_releases/archive/99-00/10-99/huffman.htm
        -brg
        \_ Oh good.  Thus begins the end of all this compression nonsense
           which is killing the drive to higher bandwidth and storage.
           \_ It may have actually encourage mass storage systems.
              Huffman encoding is behind MPEG encoding schemes.  If
              it weren't for MPEG we wouldn't even bother trying to
              store music and video at all creating less demand for
              mass storage.
           \+ throughput is everything!

10/5    Is GIF pronounced as "jif" or "ghif"?
        \_ my officemate says "jif" is east coast while "ghif" is s west coast
        \_ Depends.  Are you a retard or a normal person?
          \_ You are retard
                \_ You are retard, me am not retard, you am big dummyheaded!!
          \_ You are a retard.
        \_ Yes.
          \_ don't know how to answer a question?
                \_ The answer is valid.  To go back to second grade and
                   answer in a complete sentence, "Yes, GIF is pronounced
                   as either 'jif' or 'ghif'.  Some people say it the first
                   way, others the second, neither is 'more correct' than the
                   other."
        \_ say jif.  ghif sounds gay.
               to steal other people's work.
                \_ no, it's just the opposite.
        \_ I usually pronounce it as "that obsolete, poorly-compressed,
            limited colormap, patent encumbered, joke of a format that
            should be avoided whenever possible"
            \_ That's pretty long-winded for a three-letter word.
            \_ It is not patent encumbered.  Unisys is not going to sue your
               soda home page into bankruptcy for violating their patent or
               send you a bill for $5000.  And in general, there's nothing
               to steal other people's wor
               wrong with patents.  99% of the anti-patent crowd never did a
               god damned thing worthy of one, so no shit they want the right
               to steal other people's work.
                \_ Second that
                \_ I am staunchly anti-software-patent, and I have done
                   several things that were patentable.  In fact my newest
                   invention is called "Device Enabling Pro-Software-Patent
                   Motd Posters to Bite Me".  -blojo
                   \_ If you didn't get a patent, how do you know it was
                      patentable?  You wouldn't be the first to think he was
                      a Eureka! super genius but turn out to be just another
                      MOTD editing fool.
                      \_ "If you have to ask, you don't know."  I am a
                         research programmer in the field of 3D graphics
                         and computational geometry.  I spend 100% of my
                         time thinking up systems that are new, and then
                         trying them out.  When you're In The Zone of
                         knowing all the current research, and adding to it,
                         it is generally easy to know what is patentable
                         and what is lame.      -blojo
                         \_ I know you're Mr. Graphics.  That doesn't make you
                            super foo.  You're still not a lawyer.
                            a patent lawyer.  I easily grant your graphics
                            super fu.  You're still not a lawyer.
                            \_ The point was, that if you're aware of the
                               state of the art, and you know what was patented
                               in the past given the state of the art at that
                               time, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to
                               figure out roughly what has a good chance of
                           far superior math skills to you".
                               being a defendable patent.  Sure, you
                               might be a little off here and there, but you
                               pretty much know.    -blojo
                                \_ You're not a lawyer, but you play one on
                                   the motd.  If it was that easy, why are
                                   all those engineers bothering to go to law
                                   school to retrain as patent lawyers?  They
                                   should just go take the bar exam right off
                                   since it doesn't take a rocket scientist.
                                   It does take a lawyer, though.
                                   \_ well if they had a bar exam to become a
                                      patent lawyer in that narrow field, maybe.
                                      but they dont,  you have to be a full
                                      lawyer to be a patent lawyer, and so you
                                      have to take the full bar exam. Hence
                                      the need to waste time with law school.
                                   \_ I think you're a little confused about
                                      the patent process.  Patent lawyers
                                      do not come up with ideas of what to
                                      patent.  The engineers come to them, and
                                      they say "Help me patent this."  It
                                      costs significant dollars to see a
                                      patent through, so you don't do it unless
                                      you're pretty sure it's viable.  Also,
                                      who are these armies of engineers
                                      retraining as patent lawyers of whom
                                      you speak?  I don't know any of them.
                                      Sounds anecdotal to me.    -blojo
            \_ I thought Compuserve came up with the format?
               \_ You people have gif and jpeg confused.
                \_ Compuserve developed the GIF format using the LZW
                   compression method Unisys developed & patented.
                   (Note to pro-patent-mongers above:  Unisys only did
                    the W in LZW - the original LZ work was done elsewhere
                    and merely extended by Unisys, but their patent allows
                    them to profit off the work of others.)
                   \_ "allows them to profit off the work of others": Hello?
                      Know ye nothing, young jedi knight?  They're only allowed
                      to profit from their useful and original extensions to
                      another's work, aka "their own work".  I see nothing
                      wrong with that.  Anyone not using their extension owes
                      them nothing and no one is required to do so.  In any
                      event, a patent doesn't last forever.  Old patents are
                      17 years from the time of issue.  New patents are 20
                      years from the time of first application filing.
                   \_ What is the W in LZW?  I know how Lempel-Ziv
                      compression works, but I never learned about W. -emin
                        \_ The "W" is (W)oman.  As in "Woman of Power with
                           far superior math skills than you".
                           \_ The "W" is (W)1MM1N!!1!  As in "D00D, 1 G0TTA
                              1NV3NT TH1Z GRAPH1KZ F0RMAT S0 1 KAN SHAR3
                              P1KS UV N3KK1D W1MM1N W1TH MY K0MPUT3R
                              FR13NDZ!!!!1!!!!"
                                \_ Oh yeah, you're right.  Tpyo, sorry.
              \_ Getting back to the original post, "gif" is pronounced
               "jif."  The "g"  before "i" grammar rule says that the
               "g"  picks up a "j" sound.  Yup..."ghif" sounds kinda
               gay,  please don't use that in public.  -- swings
               \_ I wonder who's getting me gifts (pronounced "jifts"
               according to the above post) for my birthday this month?  I
               use (ghift) in public all the time and I sound way too cool.
               \_ Also "giant" vs "giddy".  Both common English words that
                  somehow violate this mysterious "g before i rule".  There
                  are numerous counter examples to this so called rule.  But
                  really what can one expect from the motd anyway?
               \_"g" before "i" generally applies when in doubt.  my goodness
                   EECS people always have to have the last word, eh?
                \_ i think words with "g" pronounced as a soft "j" sound
                   before "i" are few and far between.  there is no such rule.
                   it makes sense intuitively to me to pronounce it as a hard
                   "g".  i can't understand why you'd want to pronounce gif
                   like jif.   it's not a peanut butter for god's sake.   -lila
                \_ It really doesn't matter!  People who pronounce it
                   "ghif" are probably used to the "gift" idea; people who
                   pronounce it "jif" either think there's that rule to
                   pronunciation, or just like the alliteration that you'd
                   get with "jif" and "jaypeg".
                   \_   well of course it doesn't matter.  since when
                        did we debate anything of import on the motd?   -lila

8/24    Boss in my 4 person company wants to pay someone to do our
        web page. He doesn't want to deal with fancy Photoshop graphics,
        icons, layout, etc. How much do web pages cost? We want a 5 page
        static web page, and maybe some electronic scheduler dynamic
        web page.
        \_ if you sign your name i can forward a few freelancer names
           to you.  --caliban
        \_$700-$1000
        \_It depends.  Did you already pay the $70 for two years InterNIC
        fee for the domain name registration?  Do you guys already have a web
        hosting service?  If you pay them extra, they'll do the pages for you,
        and each host charges differently.

3/17    I've read about research on GUIs that uses 3D and circular menus
        instead of the horizontal pulldown at the top of every app.  Anybody
        know where I can get trial software like that?  Experimental 3D
        window managers etc?
        \_ If you're interested in circular (pie) menus, take a look at:
           http://www.catalog.com/hopkins/piemenus/index.html
           . . . links to references on pie menus, window managers using
           pie menus, an ActiveX pie menu control, and much more.  I don't
           know anything about 3-D window managers, though.  -- kahogan

2/3     Is it legal to make a copy of a rented videotape (like one from
        blockbuster) for personal viewing at a later time? I rented a
        video and it came with some anti-copying system that made the copy
        all scrambled. I want a refund. Is that justified?
        \_ are both your bain cells firing today?
        \_ I'm wondering... are non-Cal students allowed access to CSUA,
           because I'm really really praying this is not a Cal student.
           \_ Whats wrong with the question?
              \_ it's incredibly asinine
                 \_ your assismine
                 \_ Actually it's just stupid.  There is no way to
                    scramble a copy.
                    \_ Are you sure? I remember reading about technology
                       that did just that. --dim
                    \_ Sure there is - many VCR's, especially dual-tape decks
                        detect a code on commercial videos and refuse to copy.
                        It is illegal after all.
                        \_ Um, there is a video signal out.  Plug that
                           into another VCR instead of your TV.  There,
                           you're done.
                           \_ twink
                           \_ if onlyt it were that simple. On commercial
                              videos they embed an anti-copy signal in the
                              vertical blanking interrupt. Newer vcr's see
                              that signal and refuse to write a useable copy
                              of the whole signal. -ERic
                              \_ Take CS150 with Fearing and you'll build
           \_ Does the word piracy mean anything to you?
                                 an NTSC signal reciever and you can write
                                 your own serial video capture software
                                 recording low quality video at .5 frame/sec
                \_ They'll enforce it on your ass if they catch you trying
                   to sell pirate videos.
                                 rate with no sound.
                              \_ How new is "newer"?
                    \_ Mainly this copy protection method works by modulating
                        the tracking so that the copy is all messed up.
                        The name escapes me at the moment...*vision* something.
                        But it sometimes will also interfere with playback,
                        which I assume you could get refunds for.
                        \_ Macrovision.
                        \_ Oh, and DVD's have this built in as well.
        \_ No, it's not legal.  However, that law is not enforced in
           any way, shape or form.  The video maker has every right to prevent
           you from copying the tape.  You can't get a refund.
        \_ Crime is a crime is a crime.  I suggest you report your loss of
           5 sheets of acid on your claim form the next time you get robbed.
                \-you know a friend's parent was involved [as an attorney]
        in a case where a man didnt pay a ho because there was no contract
        between him and the ho, becuase of the "against public policy" defense
        to contract formation. there is a lot of pretend-lawyering about the
        legality of collecting gambling debts too. --psb
        \_ "a friend's parent".  Sure.
                \_ pimps and bookies don't worry about legalities, they
                \_ Gee, thanks for the insight.
                just break your thumbs or legs. -jor
                \_ Gee, thanks for the innsight.

1/12    I lack mpeg technology fu. Is there an easy way to convert old
        VHS videos to mpeg so they can be then put on cd? url, docs, info?
        thanks
        \_ video capture cards will do that probably.  Package should
           include the compression software to turn the captured stream
           into common formats such as mpeg.

12/29   What is the "proper" pronunciation of "gif"? Is it with a hard "g"
        or a soft "g" (like the letter j)? I always pronounced it like
        "jif" but all my co-workers say it with a hard "g", which I find a
        bit annoying.
        \_ soft g.  (It's a peanut butter AND a graphics format...)
        \_ I pronounce it with a hard g, probably by association with
           the hard g in the beginning of 'graphics', but this is by
           no means a phonetic rule for acronyms. (I tend not to like
           the idea of 'proper' pronunciations, anyway; who's to say
           what's proper, after all? Perhaps you should ask the people
           at CompuServe who popularized it?) -brg
        \_ i have been told the people who came up with it like the
           soft g, but i don't believe that pics should be associated
           with a processed peanut butter, so i use the hard g anyway,
           and ignore the dorks who complain.  -lila

10/7    Brand New Acer Aspire 3060 Minitower w/ AMD K6-2 350MHz, 10.2GB HD,
        32X CD, 56K modem, 16-bit audio card with 3D stereo sound, on board
        ATI 3D Rage Pro AGP with 4MB SGRAM Video memory, MPEG video playback.
        Plus 64MB SDRAM at 60ns , and one year warranty for $950.
        \_ 4sale I presume. Does that come with a monitor? Who R U?
          \_ no monitor -- tora67@hotmail.com
        \_ No RAM?  Forget it!
          \_ hahaha my bad, I thought I wrote in 64MB, obviously someone
             removed it.

   Bo hid behind some bushes as thirty women stampeded by him.

   "Shit!" he said as they were all past. "What the hell am I gonna do? I
   can't get laid, I can't stay safe, and damn it, my mom wants me! Gag!"

   He stood up slowly and looked around.

   "There he is!" somebody cried.

   "Oh fuck, man!" Bo yelled,and sprinted away.

   He had to get help. This wasn't what he wanted at all. This sucked.
   He'd just wanted good sex and to be adored by women. He didn't want to
   be rampaged by sex crazed sluts. What was he going to do? Mick. That
   was it. Mick could help him. He would be able to get him out of this
   predicament.
        \_ no penis
   \_ Where's this from?

8/17    On the topic of books, can anyone recommend any OpenGL programing
        books (possible 184 students might know) and where I could obtain
        linux libraries so I can write C programs?
        \_ opengl is dead.  go learn directx instead.-gates
        \_"OpenGL Programming Guide, Second Edition", The official Guide
           to Learning OpenGL, Version 1.1, Woo, Neider, Davis
           Addison-Wesley, 1997).
        \_ As for "Linux libraries," you will be able to build them
           from the source code for Mesa, a software-only implementation
           of the OpenGL stuff.  Check out ftp://iris.ssec.wisc.edu/pub/Mesa/
           and see if it's What You Want.  -- tmonroe
           \_ Do you need special 3d video cards to exploit these
              libraries?

7/7     Wind River, Zinc to duel Win CE
        \_ Don't they already have something called windX?
         \_ they have a port of X11 from a 3rd party
            and Navio's graphics software as well.
                \_ There is no Navio, only NCI!
            All graphics components have different characteristics
            and resource requirements, Zinc's ZAF being the least
            demanding of resources. --daveh
            \_ do I sense an impending resurgence of Zinc Haiku? -ERic
               \_ Wind River Systems
                  Vee Eks Works Real Time Ohh Ess
                  Now Has Zinc for you

6/6     GIMP 1.0 is out, see http://www.gimp.org -- one of many nice
        projects to originate at Cal, and damn fine software for graphics
        on Unix.
                \_ what do you think this is? http://www.freshmeat.net ?
        \_ XCF RULES!!
                \_ One decent project a decade and you get excited?
                        (well, maybe two if you count PRCS, but that's
                         more a hilfingr hack than a XCF project)
                \_ Netrek? Yarn?
        \_ Can I read my mail from it? RMS told me software can't possibly
           be useful unless it has a mail reader.
           \_ So write the plug-in.
                \_ Just use exmh with the tcl plugin

5/27    Is there a program that can generate jpeg images from text files?
        \_ make text into a jpg, or a jpeg into text? - danh
           \_ text into jpeg (or some graphics format)
              \_ Try to get it into postscript first. --dim
        \_ if you're desperate, read a flat file into excel, SelectAll, then
           <shift> Edit->Copy Picture (Bitmap Format), and you'll have a bmp.
           Then find some way to convert bmp to jpg.

5/1     Programming, Graphics, and Web Design jobs available at
        OnlineFocus.  See /usr/local/csua/jobs/OnlineFocus  -cdaveb