:: xcomputerman.com ::

Well the news of E17 arriving in CVS unexpectedly made it to Slashdot last night. And someone made it a point to post a link to my screenshots page at the top of the comments. Poor web server suffered a thorough beating from the hordes of excited Slashdot nerds clicking through in excitement. Would have been at least half OK if there was actually an E17 screenshot available to view on there! In any case now that the dust has settled a little bit, I can now upload a real E17 Screenshot to the gallery…and perhaps even link to the video now – knock yourselves out.

But please, please, please, don’t go checking out E17 from CVS unless you intend to contribute code. The E team is stretched out and stressed enough as it is, and we cannot handle bug reports from users now. This is pre-alpha code. Don’t expect it to work. It will launch and it will do basic window management, and that’s about it at this point. A lot of trolls didn’t waste any time flooding the Slashdot story with all kinds of meaningless stuff, and we cannot afford to waste time answering questions from people like that instead of listening to suggestions and accepting patches. You can look at the pretty pictures for now, but unless you’re a coder or wish to contribute in some other way, please wait until we announce a beta. Danke. If you’re looking for software to check out, try Engage (the OSX-style docker), Entice (image viewer), Evidence (file manager) or the famous Entrance, the Enlightenment XDM/KDM/GDM replacement.

Those who are still confused about what is going on with E17 development might want to just take a trip to E.org and do some reading up, especially on the EFL and all the work that we’ve put together in the past two years. And of course, if you want to get involved, don’t waste any time – get on the mailing list or join #edevelop on Freenode and let’s talk. I personally have a few things I could give someone to do at this point!

This is a travesty, and a sham, and a mockery. Viacom and CBS have continually demonstrated themselves to be a menace to American society. Can you believe this nonsense? He’s going to wait until March before stepping down, and he’s not even going to leave 60 minutes? What, do they actually think this moron still has some shred of credibility left with the public?

In case someone has forgotten about all this in the midst of all the election hoopla: this man attempted to defraud the electorate and change the result of a presidential election using forged documents, during a time of war. This stuff should warrant discussion of a criminal investigation, not this sugar-coated “stepping down” nonsense.

This is why it’s still gonna be a while before we start to see any real benefits from Xrender/Xdamage/Composite and other such new features in Xorg:

(21:44:12) -!- raster [~raster@vagw.valinux.co.jp] has joined #edevelop
(21:44:15) -!- mode/#edevelop [+o raster] by ChanServ
(21:44:36) < @ raster> ok
(21:44:38) < @ raster> lets give xorg a run for its money
(21:45:06) < @ raster> werd
(21:45:10) < @ raster> *** ROUND 1 ***
(21:45:11) < @ raster> ---------------------------------------------------------------
(21:45:11) < @ raster> Test: Test Xrender doing non-scaled Over blends
(21:45:11) < @ raster> Time: 7.473 sec.
(21:45:11) < @ raster> ---------------------------------------------------------------
(21:45:15) < @ raster> Test: Test Xrender (offscreen) doing non-scaled Over blends
(21:45:17) < @ raster> Time: 7.460 sec.
(21:45:20) < @ raster> ---------------------------------------------------------------
(21:45:22) < @ raster> Test: Test Imlib2 doing non-scaled Over blends
(21:45:24) < @ raster> Time: 0.315 sec.
(21:45:26) < @ raster> it still sucks!
(21:45:33) <@ RbdPngn> that's ridiculous
(21:45:37) < Xenith> But not as much!
(21:45:48) <@ raster> thats the test in whihc xrender does BEST
<-- snip -->
(21:50:13) <@ raster> *** ROUND 3 ***
(21:50:13) <@ raster> ---------------------------------------------------------------
(21:50:13) <@ raster> Test: Test Xrender doing 2* smooth scaled Over blends
(21:50:13) <@ raster> Time: 105.336 sec.
(21:50:13) <@ raster> ---------------------------------------------------------------
(21:50:14) <@ raster> Test: Test Xrender (offscreen) doing 2* smooth scaled
Over blends
(21:50:16) <@ raster> Time: 105.866 sec.
(21:50:20) <@ raster> ---------------------------------------------------------------
(21:50:22) <@ raster> Test: Test Imlib2 doing 2* smooth scaled Over blends
(21:50:24) <@ raster> Time: 2.560 sec.
(21:50:26) <@ raster>
(21:50:28) <@ raster> thats a bit more like it


Robert Vamosi writes a heartbreaking breakup letter to Internet Explorer, and subsequently makes my day.

My favorite part:

I can take my Firefox to my Mac and Linux friends, and everyone gets along just fine. You barely even talk to Macs anymore, and you always seem to walk out of the room whenever Linux stops by. Why? What are you afraid of? Honestly, a grown browser like you afraid of a little operating system? I think this snobby behavior speaks volumes about what’s wrong with this relationship.

Oh, btw if you’re reading this and you haven’t broken up with IE yet, what are you waiting for?

Iowahawk has done it again. This guy is pure genius.

The retail industry received another shake-up today as Sears Holding Corp. (NYSE: S), the parent company behind the recent merger of Sears and Kmart, announced the acquisition of embattled European cheesemaker France (NASDAQ: FROG). The buyout deal, estimated at $2.7 billion, will position Sears/Kmart/France as the world’s third largest retailer and 15th ranked military power.

Reaction of Wall Street was mixed, with shares of Paris-based France rising 11% in late trading after the announcement, while Hoffman Estates, IL-based Sears Holdings dropped 19%.

“The acquisition of France indicates there will be further consolidation within the low-end, weird-smelling retail segment,” said Ivan Kaplan, a retail analyst with Bear Stearns. “I wouldn’t be surprised if Sears picks up another floundering discounter like Winn-Dixie. Or possibly Spain.”

Gary Reed, an analyst with UBS, said the deal would position Sears/Kmart/France to remain competitive against mega-retailer Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT).

“It only makes sense for them to united to face a common foe,” said Reed. “Both Sears and Kmart have lost significant retail share to Wal-Mart, and France recently surrendered Provence after the invasion of paratroopers from the 131st Wal-Mart Greeter Airborne.”

“Attention Kmart shoppers! The glory of France, she is born anew,” crowed France CEO Jacques Chirac, who will continue as head of the corporation’s Northeast regional merchandising division.

Broke up with my girlfriend last night, car broke down this morning, had to get my sister to drive me all the way down to the airport to get a rental car because all the locations around were out of cars, ended up having to work very late…

Yet I still have peace. I know greater things are in store for me. God is good.