Auspicious Links

FileForum | Blender for Windows

2005-12-24T10:00:00.000-08:00

FileForum | Blender for Windows: "Blender for Windows 2.40
Publisher's Description:

Blender has proven to be an extremely fast and versatile design instrument. The software has a personal touch, offering a unique approach to the world of Three Dimensions. Use it to create TV commercials, to make technical visualizations, business graphics, to do some morphing, or design user interfaces. You can easy build and manage complex environments. The renderer is versatile and extremely fast. All basic animation principles (curves & keys) are well implemented.

Blender has the following other editions available: Blender for Mac OS X, Blender for Linux and Blender for FreeBSD."

digg / software

2005-11-24T06:15:00.000-08:00

digg / software: "HUGE Excel Guide

arzdb submitted by arzdb 17 hours 3 minutes ago (via http://www.mvps.org/dmcritchie...)

An amazing resource for anyone using Excel with tutorials and tips on a ton of items from the beginner to the advanced. Layout could use some work, but absolutely the first stop on the Internet for anything regarding Excel."

digg / design

2005-11-24T06:11:00.000-08:00

Digital Inspiration: Windows Genuine Advantage supports Firefox

2005-11-17T06:33:00.000-08:00

Digital Inspiration: Windows Genuine Advantage supports Firefox: "Microsoft Windows Genuine Advantage program is an online validation process that enables you to verify that your copy of Windows XP is genuine (non-pirated). You will be prompted to validate your copy of Windows if you request a genuine Windows download from the Microsoft Download Center or Windows Update.

The initial WGA 1.0 program downloaded an ActiveX control to check the authenticity of your Windows software. Since it was an ActiveX control, only Internet Explorer (IE) users could use it.

But the recent growth of Firefox has forced Microsoft to rethink their strategy. Microsoft Genuine Windows Validation process now works in Firefox and other Mozilla browsers. Firefox users can download and install the Windows Genuine Advantage validation Firefox plug-in - WGAPluginInstall.exe available on Microsoft's website to complete the Windows validation process.

Microsoft WGA Plug-in for Mozilla Firefox provides the same Windows validation as the original IE ActiveX control. The Windows Genuine Advantage Diagnostic Site will automatically detect settings of your Mozilla Firefox web browser (1.0.5 or higher) to ensure that the appropriate helper applications such as the WGA Plug-in for Mozilla Firefox is installed.

Brad Graziadio of Windows Genuine Advantage team told Dean (IE Blog) that the primary reason for porting the Windows Validation application to Firefox was Customer Feedback. Microsoft customers, running genuine Windows, wanted access to Microsoft Download Center even from Mozilla browsers."

MAINE MEDIA-ARTS PROJECT » Archivio Blog » The 8 Basic Steps of Image Editing

2005-11-16T06:42:00.000-08:00

MAINE MEDIA-ARTS PROJECT » Archivio Blog » The 8 Basic Steps of Image Editing: "The 8 Basic Steps of Image Editing

Contributed by Matt LeClair, author of Oreilly’s, “Photoshop in a Nutshell”

Editing an image is like editing text. When you edit text, you take an existing piece of text and fix what is wrong with it. The same is true for editing an image. But first you must learn to speak the language of the image. This series of steps will help you to focus on the individual problems an image might have. It will also help you to understand how to use Photoshop’s tools together.

Image EditingStep 1: Crop, Rotate & Scale

Step 2: Fix Scratches & Dust using the Clone Tool

Step 3: Expand the Tonal Range using Levels

Step 4: Add Contrast using Curves

Step 5: Adjust Midtones using Curves

Step 6: Adjust Color using Curves

Step 7: Improve Sharpness using Unsharp Mask

Step 8: Compare

Not every picture requires that each step be performed on it, but going through the checklist in order can help you determine the quality of the image, and compensate for a bad scan, bad lighting conditions, damaged photos and other inadequacies."

Macworld: News: MIT to launch $100 laptop prototype in November

2005-11-16T06:41:00.000-08:00

Macworld: News: MIT to launch $100 laptop prototype in November: "MIT to launch $100 laptop prototype in November

By China Martens, IDG News Service

The MIT Media Laboratory expects to launch a prototype of its US$100 laptop in November, according to Nicholas Negroponte, the lab’s chairman and co-founder. The facility has been working with industry partners to develop a notebook computer for use by children in primary and secondary education around the world, particularly in developing countries. The laptops should start appearing in volume in late 2006.

“In emerging nations, the issue isn’t connectivity,” Negroponte said at the Emerging Technologies Conference on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Cambridge campus Wednesday. “That’s not solved, but lots of people are working on it in Wi-Fi, 3G, 4G, etc. For education, the roadblock is laptops.” He and his colleagues believe that equipping all children in the world with their own laptop will greatly improve the level of education and help stimulate children to learn outside of school as well as in the classroom.

The lab expects to unveil a prototype of the $100 laptop at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) on Nov. 17, according to Negroponte. The WSIS is due to be held in Tunis, Tunisia, from Nov. 16 to Nov. 18. He showed slides of the prototype at the MIT event.

The 500MHz laptop will run a “skinny version” of the open-source Linux operating system. It will have a two-mode screen, so it can be viewed in color and then by pushing a button or activating software switch to a black-and-white display, which can be viewed in bright sunlight at four times normal resolution, according to Negroponte. He estimates the display will cost around $35.

The laptop can be powered either with an AC adapter or via a wind-up crank, which is stored in the housing of the laptop where the hinge is located. The laptops will have a 10 to 1 crank rate, so that a child will crank the handle for one"

digg / links

2005-11-16T06:40:00.000-08:00

digg / links: "Google Base OFFICIALLY Launched [via GoogleBlog]

sahaskatta submitted by sahaskatta 8 hours 43 minutes ago (via http://googleblog.blogspot.com...)

Google just OFFICIALLY launched a new service that crawls services such as Google SiteMaps, Google Print, and Google Video."

digg / software

2005-11-05T21:18:00.000-08:00

digg / software: "Features planned for Firefox 2.0/3.0

Leer submitted by Leer 6 hours 15 minutes ago (via http://wiki.mozilla.org/Firefo...)

A list and some scratchpads of features expected for firefox 2.0 and 3.0."

Mozilla Update :: Extensions -- More Info:IE Tab - All Releases

2005-11-04T07:18:00.000-08:00

Mozilla Update :: Extensions -- More Info:IE Tab - All Releases: "IE Tab - Firefox Extension

IE Tab 1.0.3, by PCMan (Hong Jen Yee), released on October 31, 2005
Quick Description

IE Tab, an extension from Taiwan, features embedding Internet Explorer in tabs of Mozilla/Firefox. This extension is derived from the famous extension IE View, but they are quite different. While IE View always open IE-only pages in newly launched windows of Internet Explorer, IE Tab can open them in tabs of Mozilla/Firefox. * License: GNU General Public License (GPL) * Supported Language: en-US, ja-JP, pl-PL, zh-CN, zh-TW * Authors: PCMan (Hong Jen Yee), softcup, dexter, ffdanielii, yuoo2k

*NOTICE*: If you're using Firefox 1.0.x, you have to install an additional package from the following link to make it work. This is *NOT* needed by Firefox 1.5. http://downloads.mozdev.org/ietab/ietab_plugin-1.0.3.xpi"

digg / programming

2005-10-05T09:26:00.000-07:00

digg / programming: "Create your own social networking site like Digg!

Want to make your own Digg? Or Del.Icio.Us? How about making a Hot or Not for goldfish? Or even a Craigs List? Well this site lets you make all of them using there excellent sandbox!"

BetaNews | Firefox 1.5 Beta 1 Unleashed

2005-09-09T08:48:00.000-07:00

BetaNews | Firefox 1.5 Beta 1 Unleashed: "Firefox 1.5 Beta 1 Unleashed
By Nate Mook, BetaNews
September 9, 2005, 10:35 AM

Mozilla has released the first beta of the long-awaited Firefox 1.5, the first major milestone since Firefox 1.0 debuted last November. The new release, code-named Deer Park, brings to the table a number of performance and usability improvements, along with new Web standards support.

Enhancements in Beta 1 include a better software update system to serve browser upgrades, the ability to reorder tabs through drag and drop functionality, and improved pop-up blocking. A new feature quickly clears private data using a menu item or keyboard shortcut.

Back and Forward navigation has also been reworked to more cache pages for instant loading, rather than forcing the browser to re-render them. In addition, better support has been announced for Mac OS X. Early versions of the Firefox browser have proven to be crash-prone on Apple's operating system.

Accessibility is another area of improvement in Firefox 1.5. Support has been added for DHTML accessibility and screen readers such as Windows-Eyes. The browser also has more descriptive error messages and a broken Web site wizard for reporting sites that do not display properly in Firefox.

Beta 2 of Firefox 1.5 is expected October 5, with a release candidate slated for the end of October. A final release of Firefox 1.5 would likely launch sometime in November.

Firefox 1.5 Beta 1 is available for download for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux operating systems."

ASP.NET Training

2005-07-13T09:31:00.000-07:00

ASP.NET : ASP.NET Training: "ASP.NET Training

Are you looking to learn to create ASP.NET Web applications with Visual Studio.NET? If so now is your chance to get 17 hours of hands-on ASP.NET training for free from Microsoft Learning.

For a limited time only, Microsoft Learning is offering Developing Microsoft ASP.NET Web Applications with Visual Studio.NET, a 17-hour self-paced online training course, for free ($349.00 value).

Click here to get started and enter promotion code 8317-MSDN-6595

Hurry, this offer is only valid for a limited time!"

Official digg podcast coming soon!

2005-06-30T07:46:00.000-07:00

kevinrose: my basic blog:

'We are pleased to announce that former TechTV hosts Kevin Rose and Alex Albrecht have agreed to host a weekly podcast version of digg. Each 30 min podcast will cover the most dugg stories, as well as their personal favorites. Expect to see the first release sometime within the next two weeks!'

I will still be hosting TWiT every Sunday Leo, Pat, and the crew - this is just a great way for me to cover more content and work with my buddy Alex again - more to come soon!"

Lifehacker

2005-06-25T07:56:00.000-07:00

If you would like to add a good link to your browser, this one should make the grade.
Editor Gina Trapani attempts quite successfully to blend a wide variety of topics into an easily read well sorted blog. Her main page has 23 topic branches with xml|atom feeds active. From basic announcements to web publishing its covered here.