You know what???
There's no doubt in my mind anymore. I've found my "Lindows" for lack of a better term (And bugger off, Microsoft, I'm calling it LIndows, and you can kiss my ass's ass for all I care.)
I have just successfully installed Second Life - right from the web site. What's so great about it? Well I always thought it was going to be dependency hell, since it didn't have a .DEB or in the repository. Turns out, it doesn't NEED a repository. a 35 meg download is all it needs. Download it, decompress it to my /home/shado/_programs directory (_programs is my own directory for ones like this) then attach a command from the menu to 'secondlife' command file, and it works. I mean that's easier to install than on Winders!
This is what I have always said about linux programs. Except for ones that affect the entire OS (kernels, drivers etc) why the fuss? Why not just pack everything you need into 1 compressed file. We have the bandwidth to spare now, hard drives are so large, that at times you don't use 90% of the drive by the time it dies.
Anyway - Kubuntu (or Gubuntu for Gnome lovers) is the "Lindows" of the Linux community. Except for minor problems, I consistently have had luck in using it in the last 2 months. Right now I got XMMS running LOTR - FOTR: Amon Hen, Dual monitor capabilities going, typing this up on Logjam. I have two games on here I love; 2nd Life, Trebuchet (for mucks) and soon will have nearly 60 GIGS of X-Plane installed. Not to mention OpenOffice, and dozens of other programs and such. I mean, can someone tell me why I need anything but a very, very, very, basic install of winders? True, there's a few things that will not work outside of winders. My appraisal software, Dreamweaver, maybe a few cameras. But 99% of the time I'm now in linux. After 10 years, and the last two years of crashing that wipes the harddrive clean, and then finally not being able to use 90% of my harddrive space, linux is a blessing!
Anyway...more news
I've starting to finally see what the problems I've had with art, and what's giving me the frustrations with it. I mentioned a few months back, that one thing I saw was the concept of the line. There is no sharp line in RL, and since I'm wired a realist, I couldn't get that realistic look I was wanting using a sharp dark line. Even though artists like , and are fantastic line artists, and ones I'm studying from. Ones like , are ones that I want to be more like. Well now, after reading this book "So you thought you couldn't draw" I saw something new. The pencils, and paper could be to blame as well. The realistic look comes from values I put down, and they're done by the contrast between the shades (Correct me if I'm wrong, . ) I can't achieve the smoothness, or contrast using the pencils I have. I have some harder and softer pencils but I don't achieve that. Also I'm not yet familiar enough with the eraser as a drawing tool either. I may just (for now) get exactly what pencils, and paper she recommends in her book in order to try to match as closely as possible her works. That way I can really compare my works and see any improvements. Form there, it's all up in the air.
On other things. I've been reading the fascinating book "Foundations Fear" (Greg Benford) and - well it's dense. It's like Stephen Baxter's works, but without the sheer scale. This is focused upon just 2 planets, a few characters, and only a few years. So the density consists of the environment, and what's going on.
This book has really sparked some thought on my TerraFUR universe thing. Especially dealing with my zomorph species. One page made me think. How would the zomorph personality be? Would emotions be still in full control - much like their ancestral animals are? Or by the engineered sentence, would they be more in control, and therefor mange their emotions? I can see in ones like the Hinds (white-tail deer) they may not be as in control, as say the Eos (mini-horses). The Plens (Leopard morphs), may have less control while the Tanooks (Raccoon dogs) I'm not sure.
This has also lead to an interesting thought. There is a bit of a story fragment I've had rattling in my head, dealing with Kevin and Kantuck. As I said in another post I thought Kevin (from that story) saw Kantuck as nothing more than a hot human model when he first met her, but now during one incident in their lives, finally sees her for what she really is It's thoughts like this, that's bringing the characters alive, and not 2-d like they was before. I thought - what would Kantuck truly look like? The hinds as I've envisioned was the first successful species to be gene-engineered, so they're sort of the 'prototype' of the others. Hence they have some differences not see in the other species. Breasts - one of the biggest changes. - ok so I'm a male, boobs = fun :)
My envisioning, is that in Hinds, 90% of hind females (does) have no 'chest breasts' but breasts much like their 4 legged ancestors - that is right in front of the back legs. That same thing has been with the Hind does. They're lactating breasts are on their belly, just above the legs - on the pelvis. However, because they wasn't "perfected" before the zomorph wars in which zomorph gene-engineering was forbidden tech. Hind does sometimes, on rare occurrences develop breasts on the top, like a normal humanoid female. Kantuck however is part of the 90%
In the story fragment, Kevin is an artist, portraitist, and she wants a nude done of her. This is the first time when Kevin really sees her for what she really is and he's - for lack of a better term "culture shocked" I haven't really developed it past that, but I can see now that Kevin really wasn't thinking of Kantuck in terms of being a zomorph, but instead thought deep down she was just an exotic human female. This fragment suggests too, that this is a couple or so years into their friendship relationship.
Forgot to mention. I was dreading having to go back to school, for I thought I'd have to take a whole herd of classes. Turns out I may just need 1 or 2, and none are math courses. I so HOPE so. We'll see when it comes down to it. I'll be sending Larry Disney my information and see what he says, but it's starting (sigh) Not looking forward to the next 3 months, but i want to get this off my arse once and for all.
I think I'm done now.
- Shado
I have just successfully installed Second Life - right from the web site. What's so great about it? Well I always thought it was going to be dependency hell, since it didn't have a .DEB or in the repository. Turns out, it doesn't NEED a repository. a 35 meg download is all it needs. Download it, decompress it to my /home/shado/_programs directory (_programs is my own directory for ones like this) then attach a command from the menu to 'secondlife' command file, and it works. I mean that's easier to install than on Winders!
This is what I have always said about linux programs. Except for ones that affect the entire OS (kernels, drivers etc) why the fuss? Why not just pack everything you need into 1 compressed file. We have the bandwidth to spare now, hard drives are so large, that at times you don't use 90% of the drive by the time it dies.
Anyway - Kubuntu (or Gubuntu for Gnome lovers) is the "Lindows" of the Linux community. Except for minor problems, I consistently have had luck in using it in the last 2 months. Right now I got XMMS running LOTR - FOTR: Amon Hen, Dual monitor capabilities going, typing this up on Logjam. I have two games on here I love; 2nd Life, Trebuchet (for mucks) and soon will have nearly 60 GIGS of X-Plane installed. Not to mention OpenOffice, and dozens of other programs and such. I mean, can someone tell me why I need anything but a very, very, very, basic install of winders? True, there's a few things that will not work outside of winders. My appraisal software, Dreamweaver, maybe a few cameras. But 99% of the time I'm now in linux. After 10 years, and the last two years of crashing that wipes the harddrive clean, and then finally not being able to use 90% of my harddrive space, linux is a blessing!
Anyway...more news
I've starting to finally see what the problems I've had with art, and what's giving me the frustrations with it. I mentioned a few months back, that one thing I saw was the concept of the line. There is no sharp line in RL, and since I'm wired a realist, I couldn't get that realistic look I was wanting using a sharp dark line. Even though artists like , and are fantastic line artists, and ones I'm studying from. Ones like , are ones that I want to be more like. Well now, after reading this book "So you thought you couldn't draw" I saw something new. The pencils, and paper could be to blame as well. The realistic look comes from values I put down, and they're done by the contrast between the shades (Correct me if I'm wrong, . ) I can't achieve the smoothness, or contrast using the pencils I have. I have some harder and softer pencils but I don't achieve that. Also I'm not yet familiar enough with the eraser as a drawing tool either. I may just (for now) get exactly what pencils, and paper she recommends in her book in order to try to match as closely as possible her works. That way I can really compare my works and see any improvements. Form there, it's all up in the air.
On other things. I've been reading the fascinating book "Foundations Fear" (Greg Benford) and - well it's dense. It's like Stephen Baxter's works, but without the sheer scale. This is focused upon just 2 planets, a few characters, and only a few years. So the density consists of the environment, and what's going on.
This book has really sparked some thought on my TerraFUR universe thing. Especially dealing with my zomorph species. One page made me think. How would the zomorph personality be? Would emotions be still in full control - much like their ancestral animals are? Or by the engineered sentence, would they be more in control, and therefor mange their emotions? I can see in ones like the Hinds (white-tail deer) they may not be as in control, as say the Eos (mini-horses). The Plens (Leopard morphs), may have less control while the Tanooks (Raccoon dogs) I'm not sure.
This has also lead to an interesting thought. There is a bit of a story fragment I've had rattling in my head, dealing with Kevin and Kantuck. As I said in another post I thought Kevin (from that story) saw Kantuck as nothing more than a hot human model when he first met her, but now during one incident in their lives, finally sees her for what she really is It's thoughts like this, that's bringing the characters alive, and not 2-d like they was before. I thought - what would Kantuck truly look like? The hinds as I've envisioned was the first successful species to be gene-engineered, so they're sort of the 'prototype' of the others. Hence they have some differences not see in the other species. Breasts - one of the biggest changes. - ok so I'm a male, boobs = fun :)
My envisioning, is that in Hinds, 90% of hind females (does) have no 'chest breasts' but breasts much like their 4 legged ancestors - that is right in front of the back legs. That same thing has been with the Hind does. They're lactating breasts are on their belly, just above the legs - on the pelvis. However, because they wasn't "perfected" before the zomorph wars in which zomorph gene-engineering was forbidden tech. Hind does sometimes, on rare occurrences develop breasts on the top, like a normal humanoid female. Kantuck however is part of the 90%
In the story fragment, Kevin is an artist, portraitist, and she wants a nude done of her. This is the first time when Kevin really sees her for what she really is and he's - for lack of a better term "culture shocked" I haven't really developed it past that, but I can see now that Kevin really wasn't thinking of Kantuck in terms of being a zomorph, but instead thought deep down she was just an exotic human female. This fragment suggests too, that this is a couple or so years into their friendship relationship.
Forgot to mention. I was dreading having to go back to school, for I thought I'd have to take a whole herd of classes. Turns out I may just need 1 or 2, and none are math courses. I so HOPE so. We'll see when it comes down to it. I'll be sending Larry Disney my information and see what he says, but it's starting (sigh) Not looking forward to the next 3 months, but i want to get this off my arse once and for all.
I think I'm done now.
- Shado