Birthday
Should be printed, framed and placed aside my bed.
(click to enlarge)
Add comment November 28th, 2009
Posts filed under 'Websites'
Why free software shouldn’t depend on Mono or C#
Some days ago, the Free Software Foundation published a short, very interesting article by Richard Stallman that claims, as summarized in the title, that the FOSS community should not pursue the patent-encumbered way of the compatibility with closed minds.
This is not to say that implementing C# is a bad thing. Free C# implementations permit users to run their C# programs on free platforms, which is good. [...] The problem is not in the C# implementations, but rather in Tomboy and other applications written in C#. If we lose the use of C#, we will lose them too. That doesn’t make them unethical, but it means that writing them and using them is taking a gratuitous risk.
Full article here: http://www.fsf.org/news/dont-depend-on-mono
2 comments June 29th, 2009
Personal Gentoo overlay on github.com
It’s a few weeks now that I’m keeping my personal Gentoo overlay on github. I’m uploading there some ebuilds that I need, usually to fix bugs corrected only on Bugzilla, to bump recent packages or anything that is not yet in the official Portage tree or in any of the popular overlays that I use.
If you wish to use it, just clone it somewhere in your disk with
git clone git://github.com/dark/darkGentooOverlay.gitand add the fetched folder to your PORTDIR_OVERLAY.
If you have any comments, please let me know
Add comment June 20th, 2009
The power of science
When time runs faster than you, even science won’t repay you for a life of commitment.
(click on the image for full view)
I particularly like the silence following the first two panels.
Add comment February 19th, 2009
Talk about choices
4th image on a 5-long strip @ xkcd. Rather old but always a pleasure to read.
(if you manage to call “pleasure” this weird sensation)
(click on the image for full view)
Add comment February 16th, 2009
The Gamers and The Gamers: Dorkness Rising
Today I’ve had the opportunity to give a quick and unofficial look to these movies:
- The Gamers (2002)
- The Gamers: Dorkness Rising (scheduled 2006, actually 2008)
Both of them are produced by the Dead Gentlemen Productions, an independent film company: this detail will explain better what follows.
Both movies deal about the role playing gaming world, seen from the players’ perspective.
- The first one is set into a dormitory. A group or friends plays a paper and pencil RPG (most likely AD&D), eventually making noise and preventing a nearby girl from studying. The story flips between the players around the table and the characters in their fantasy world, with a lot of funny references to fans’ addictions and game stereotypes. Technically speaking, the movie shots are very amateur-style, but this detail does not diminish the fun.
- The second movie is not a sequel (neither a prequel, as the producers say that prequels are lame ), but has a similar background idea. A D&D DM tries to convince some friends of him to play to a new campaign he’s working on. The actions flips back and forth between the players and the characters, with more funny references, quotes and jokes. The visual effects have been improved a lot and the plot is way more detailed than that of the first one. In other words, if you manage to watch the first movie and enjoy it, the second is a must-see.
By the way, the official website of both movies is: http://www.the-gamers.com/ . Check it out if you’re interested.
Add comment September 13th, 2008
BumpTop, a new way to think your desktop
While browsing YouTube website, I accidentally found this video, presenting the prototype of a new 3D desktop manager called BumpTop.
The most interesting feature of BumpTop is the usage of real world physics to rule the movement of the icons; like paper sheets or CD-DVD boxes, you can move or even throw them around, just like you would do on your desk. The usefulness of this approach? None, IMO. It’s just eye-candy, a waste of useful resources and CPU power.
A preview of the video follows:
Add comment February 6th, 2007
Rapidshare got sued
It seems that the very popular 1-click-hosting website Rapidshare raised the interest of the GEMA (Gesellschaft für musikalische Aufführungs- und mechanische Vervielfältigungsrechte or, translated in English, Society for musical performing and mechanical reproduction rights).
The Heise Online website reports that GEMA obtained an injuction against Rapidshare for having illegally allowed its users to upload content protected by copyright. The owners of the website defend themselves saying that the users upload files under their own responsability, so Rapidshare, under a legal point of view, is absolutely not guilty.
Source: Slashdot
Add comment January 23rd, 2007
