Linux Gaming Review #1: Lux Delux 5.71

{ April 18, 2008 @ 6:11 pm } · { Linux }
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There are plenty of blogs out there with lists of games available for Linux (both free and commercial). One thing I’ve noticed about them, however, is that every single one of them is basically identical. They all include the same games and really don’t bring any objectivity to the list. I want to try my hand at something a little different. I’m pretty picky about the games that I enjoy. For instance, I don’t play a single one of the games on most of those lists (except, perhaps for OpenArena once every couple of months out of sheer boredom).

I have decided that every now and then I will post a complete review of any games I may find that you may not be aware of. This is the first of those reviews…

… continue reading this entry.

Self-Esteem: The American Way

{ January 18, 2008 @ 11:13 pm } · { Uncategorized }
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Who doesn’t love watching American Idol? With the new season beginning earlier this week, millions of Americans tuned in to watch, and indeed laugh at, all the horrible auditions that the show has become known for.

Hopeful after endless hopeful, young Americans pour out their hearts and lungs in front of three people whose sole purpose it is to be honest (sometimes brutally) about their singing abilities or lack thereof. And time and time again, we hear the same response from the auditioner:

“Everyone that has heard me sing has told me that I am good.”

And the judges in turn respond to that with more truth: “They’ve all lied to you.” Why? Why would someone tell another person they are good at something when they are most certainly not? Two words: Self Esteem.

America has become so obsessed over not offending anyone that we will tell them anything to make them feel better about themselves. This feeling will lead parents, grandparents, friends and lovers to lie to you instead of tell you the truth: that maybe you aren’t wonderful at everything you enjoy doing.

This obviously doesn’t pertain only to singing. Sports, writing, speaking, photography, fishing, farming, quilting, taxidermy. It doesn’t matter what you enjoy doing, it seems like your loved ones think you’re wonderful at it whether you are or not.

So my big question is this: Using American Idol as a kind of gauge, is it better for your child to learn the truth on national television, or to be discreetly told at home that while you love them 100%, maybe singing isn’t their particular gift.

Look at the reactions some of these young people on the show have when the judges lay out the truth for them. They’re devastated, crushed. Why? Because the people that love them the most couldn’t think of how to tell them they couldn’t sing. So they lie and encourage them to go on national TV, attempt to “wow” 2-1/2 difficult judges, and then call the judges liars when they tell their child they’re terrible.

I’m sorry, but I don’t get angry with the poor auditions; I get furious at the countless people that lied to them in order to encourage an erroneous ego.

I heard a sermon once and forgive me for not knowing who delivered it (if you know, please inform me so I can give due credit), but he said basically this:

Teachers are finding that students that feel really, really good about themselves have little or no interest in learning anything or improving in any way. Guys, the answer is not in self-esteem which doesn’t work, but more importantly it’s contrary to the Biblical view of man.

I think he has it exactly right. Not only is the “self-esteem movement” more damaging to a person’s emotional well-being, but it is entirely contrary to how the Bible says God sees us.

Now, I won’t get too deep into this subject as I would likely write for a very long time. I just want to point out that the Bible does indeed tell us that God has given each of us a gift. For some it may be singing, for others compassion, and others still may have the gift of writing or dancing or preaching; there are literally thousands of different gifts and we all have at least one, usually several.

The Bible also says that we have all sinned against a righteous and holy God by breaking His laws. God doesn’t see us as great singers or athletes or fantastic preachers, He sees us as criminals, law breakers. That much of the Bible, at least, is NOT up for interpretation: the Bible makes it crystal clear.

Does God still love us? Without a doubt! But is God angry with us for breaking His laws? Of course. No amount of self-esteem is going to help anyone escape God’s wrath on judgement day. Only the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ can do that. And only the repentence of sins and faith in Jesus will allow us to gain access to God’s forgiveness.

Do you want a REAL self-esteem boost? How about this: all the evil, vile and disgusting things you’ve done (and remember God has seen your private and thought lives as well) has earned you the punishment of eternal suffering in hell. However, even with all that, the God of the entire universe still loved you enough to create a plan for you to escape that judgement! Please don’t get caught up in the ups and downs of this world which will fade away. Only eternity truly matters. Please, think about what I’ve written and ask God to open your eyes to the truth.

Amen.

Retrospective Relationships

{ November 10, 2007 @ 11:01 pm } · { Uncategorized }
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I have become convinced that there is a point after every failed relationship when the mind of a person stop functioning at full capacity.  At this point, the only thing you can remember about the relationship is the good stuff, the happy times, the perfection of your ex. 

The problem is, your mind fails to remind you of why the relationship ended to begin with.  I’ve been through this recently with my thoughts on Ali.  I could not remember anything about our relationship that would have suggested she wasn’t absolutely perfect in every regard.  Oh, I could “remember” them, of course, but I never thought about it.

I allowed my mind to dictate my memories or her.  I even foolishly wrote a very personal e-mail to her detailing how perfect she was and how in love with her I still was.  It was only after that e-mail that I realized I’d blinded myself to the truth.  I neglected to recall her numerous lies, her blatent deception, and her complete lack of regard for my own feelings.  In short, I failed to recognize why our relationship was doomed in the first place.

It is an angering revelation for me since I did send such a personal e-mail.  An e-mail that, looking back on it now, is based almost completely on a history that Ali and I never had.  A perfect one.

The mind is a complicated machine to be sure.  Don’t let it confuse you to the point where remembering the happy times causes you to forget your reasons for moving on.

Ali and I failed for very good reason… a justified lack of trust.  “Once a cheater, always a cheater,” they say.  The way our relationship ended has done nothing but solidify that view…  As difficult as it is to convince my heart at this time, I know without a doubt that I am much better off without her and I deserve much better.  And I will have much better, praise God!

Even the “perfect” memories of Ali cannot compare to the perfect mate that Jesus has in store for me; a woman that will truly be a woman of virtue and not just good at pretending to be!  Man, how great it is to be an adopted child of God!

Why *I* Still Use Windows

{ November 8, 2007 @ 8:46 pm } · { Linux, Ubuntu, Uncategorized }
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As a short follow-up to my own previous post, I decided to write the other side of the my computer usage and describe a couple of the reasons that even I can’t fully get rid of Windows.

Anyone that has read my blog knows that I’m what you would call a “Linux fanboy.” I love just about everything about Linux, it’s freedom, it’s simplicity, it’s security, and it’s versatility. However, Windows IS superior to Linux in a couple of ways.

Gaming

I love computer games and I do admit to spending a great deal playing them. Call of Duty 2, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Medal of Honor, etc. As powerful and versatile as Linux is, game developers still refuse to accept the financial viability of Linux gaming. Therefore, very few developers release their games with Linux support (id Software is just one example of the few that do).

As such, to get any kind of decent and hassle-free performance of games, I need to boot into Windows. The Linux community continues to make great progress in Linux-compatibility for Windows games (think Wine and Cedega), but there are often extreme limitations and a myriad of hoops to jump through just to get mediocre performance from todays hottest 3D games in Linux.

Video Production

With the purchase of a hard disk camcorder earlier this year, I was excited to create my own home movies, edit them, and burn them to DVD. However, once I began my search for video editing software available for Linux, I basically hit a brick wall…hard. There are several choices for video editing in Linux (Kino, Cinelerra, LiVES, etc), but all that I’ve tried (any that I can find) are pathetic, in my opinion. They ALL suffer from horrible user interfaces, lack of standard features, poor video format support, and very complicated requirements to perform the simplest of tasks.

Think of it this way: Windows Movie Maker is by FAR incredibly superior to anything I’ve found available for Linux. Ease of use, intuitive interface, powerful timeline features, transitions, several output options. Now, I use Ulead VideoStudio 11 for my video editing and it is so easy to use that I will never again attempt to use Linux for my video editing; at least until they get smart about interfaces and stop trying to reinvent the wheel.

Reinventing the wheel is common in the Linux community, actually. Take Gimp for example. They refuse to acknowledge that Photoshop’s interface is just about perfect so they insist of creating an interface that completely clutters the Linux taskbar and is difficult to navigate.

Video editing software is very similar in Linux. Apparently the Linux community believes the tried-and-true interfaces of popular (keyword alert) Windows Movie Maker and Ulead VideoStudio (or just about any other video editing suite available for Windows) is crap, so they do their best to avoid replicating it.

Get with it, Linux community! Just because Linux is different from Windows (and should continue to be), doesn’t mean that a lot of Windows software does it right when it comes to certain applications. Video editing is one of them. Stop trying to be so different that you create unusable software. Take the best of what Windows has to offer and build from there!

Conclusion

So there you have it. The only two reasons I still use Windows on a regular basis. The video editing software is likely to get much better in Linux (once enough users complain, I guess). The gaming issue is more difficult. Open-source gaming will never, EVER catch on, however. Open-source software, by design, is a slow process. If it were to be applied to gaming, technology would be so far ahead of the playable games out there that no one would have any interest.

If game developers, however, jumped onboard and began developing for Linux, I guarantee that they could continue to charge the same price for their software and would not have a problem. I know I would not have a problem paying full price for a quality Linux game as long as I knew I was getting a good product.

Here is where a strange paradox comes in. I use Windows to play games because game developers don’t make these games for Linux. Game developers will not make games for Linux as long as the majority of players use Windows to play them. And so I see this as being a catch 22. I think the first step for gaming companies should be to ditch DirectX and adopt OpenGL (which offers very comparable quality…just look at Doom 3). This would free them up to make the games fully compatible with Linux. Once that is done, they would truly see a drop in the use of their Windows binaries and more and more people stay in Linux to play their games.

Here’s hoping… 🙂

Why Do You Need Windows?

{ October 12, 2007 @ 8:50 pm } · { Linux, Ubuntu }
{ Comments (11) }

A long time ago, I posted a short little article pointing out the differences between Linux and Windows (and highlighted how I feel Linux is superior). I’ve decided to once again write a similar article. But this time, I’d like to focus on my very own computer, how I use it, what applications I use, and why I feel most Windows users would feel right at home if they were to use my computer for a while.

I’ve recently switched to Kubuntu Gutsy (the KDE version of the upcoming Ubuntu release) and have to say I absolutely love it so far!

So enjoy the read and feel free to leave any comments or questions…

Overall look and feel

When I first login to Kubuntu, I’m greeted with my lovely desktop wallpaper (admittedly stolen from Windows Vista because I like it). Similar to Windows, Kubuntu has an all-inclusive menu button (quite like Windows’ “Start” button). This is the easiest way to access all of your installed programs. Unlike Windows, however, almost all of your installed programs are organized within handy categories to make it easier to find what you’re looking for:

desktop.png

As far as organizing and viewing your personal documents and files, Dolphin, the new file browser in Kubuntu Gutsy makes it incredibly simple:

dolphin.png

Adding and removing programs

One of the biggest interface-related advantages that Kubuntu has over Windows (any version) is the way that programs are installed or uninstalled. With Windows you need to go to a store and purchase a program to install, or manually go to a website and download the program. With Kubuntu, there is a handy dandy “Add/Remove Programs” system. Yes, I know Windows has one too, but it can only add new programs if they are a part of Windows.

With the Kubuntu Add/Remove system, you have access to hundreds of very common and useful applications (and some useless, in my opinion). To install them, simply click the checkbox next to it, click Apply and voila! Kubuntu will automatically download and install the software. Only takes a couple of minutes max. Don’t like a program you have installed and never use it, simply uncheck the box next to it and click Apply. Goodbye, useless application!

addremove.png

Listening to your music collection

iTunes, Windows Media Player, Winamp. There are several options available to Windows users that want to listen to MP3 files and other such formats. There are a myriad of options to do so in Kubuntu as well. However, installed by default is a fabulous program called Amarok. This is the default audio player in Kubuntu. With Amarok, you can organize and view your collection sorted by artist, album, genre, and any other tags you choose to assign to your music (such as moods, etc.). With the “Context” tab, Amarok will automatically display the currently-playing artists Wikipedia page with biography and discography info. Or, if you’d like to sing along, Amarok will automatically search the internet for and display the current song’s lyrics. Lots of other features including the ability to manage your iPod or other portable music player!

amarok.png

Managing your photos

Kubuntu includes a program called digiKam which makes it very easy to view and organize your entire collection of digital photos. With the “tags” feature, you can assign certain tags to each photo. For example, I always assign a name tag to each photo; a separate tag for each person in the photo. Then later, if I’m looking for all the pictures I have of a certain person or group of people, I simply click the appropriate tag and digiKam will display only those photos. Makes having a huge collection of pictures fun and not so daunting!

digiKam also includes basic functions for editing photos: color enhancements, resizing, rotation, brightness & contrast, etc.

digikam.png

Also included with Kubuntu is a program called Gimp (GNU Image Manipulation Program). This powerful program provides nearly the same set of features as Adobe Photoshop . If you use Photoshop regularly, there isn’t much you’re use to doing that Gimp can’t handle.

Browsing the internet

Well, this isn’t really amazing news, but did you know that the Mozilla Firefox web browser runs in Linux? That’s right, you can have all the same features you’re used to in Windows: tabbed browsing, ad blocking, and all those fantastic extensions that make browsing an absolute joy! Still using Internet Explorer? Unless you want viruses, spyware, and other nasties, I suggest you stop right now and give Firefox a try!

firefox.png

Creating audio CDs and DVDs

Most Windows users are fairly familiar with using Nero to burn CDs or video DVDs. Kubuntu includes an even more powerful application called K3b. It can burn audio and data CDs & DVDs, video CDs, ISO images . It also makes it very easy to copy CDs and DVDs from your personal collection to your computer or to a blank disc.

k3b.png

Watching video

The default video player for Kubuntu is Kaffeine. However, I’ve always preferred VLC (easily installable through Add/Remove). It will play virtually ANY movie format: mpg, mov, wmv, asf, avi, etc. Not only that, but it is a fantastic DVD player as well!

vlc.png

Word processing, etc

Have you ever used Microsoft Works or Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Powerpoint)? Kubuntu includes a free suite of applications called OpenOffice.org (OOo) that is a great replacement for the expensive Microsoft products. You can type simple or complex documents. Create detailed spreadsheets, presentations, or just have fun with OOo Draw. Not only that, but if you have a bunch of Microsoft Word (or other MS formats) around, OOo will open, edit, and save them without a problem.

writer.pngcalc.pngimpress.pngdraw.png

Playing games

Now, the gaming topic is iffy with Linux. While Kubuntu does come with a ton of simple amusements, you can not play most Windows-based games in Linux. But there is some fun to be had with the games included. Also, there are a few Windows games out there that are made to run in Linux without a problem (Doom3, Unreal series, America’s Army).

patience.pngksudoku.pngkmines.png

Administration

Kubuntu comes with a very nice “Control Panel” type of system for making changes to your system or preferences. Just take a look at the screenshot to get an idea how it works. Very simple…

settings.png

What about X program?

Is there a program that you must use that you can’t find a capable replacement for in Linux? You have a couple of options. First, Kubuntu comes with Wine with is a collection of small programs that basically, without getting too technical, will attempt to trick a Windows program into thinking it is running on Windows. So when you run the program, it is possible it will run in Linux just fine with Wine.

If Wine doesn’t work, you can actually install Windows WITHIN Linux. There is a program out there called VirtualBox that can basically pretend to be any kind of system you’d like it to be. Run VirtualBox and install Windows into it. This isn’t exactly a beginner-friendly process, but it isn’t too difficult. I won’t get into it too much with this article. But with an actual, working installation of Windows running inside Windows, you can have all the benefits of Linux and still run whatever program it is that you can’t replace.

virtualbox.png

Eye-candy with Compiz Fusion

If you have a fairly decent video card (truth be told, some onboard video will perform these tricks just fine too), you can install Compiz Fusion (also included with Kubuntu).  Compiz Fusion provides a lot of fantastic 3D effects for your computer desktop.  Not only do they look absolutely awesome, but some of it’s plugins are extremely useful.  For more information on Compiz and for a video of what it can do, just head over to YouTube and search for “compiz.”  Or check out my screeshots…

Wobbly windows: compiz-wobbly.png

Tab Switcher: compiz-switcher.png

Scale Plugin: compiz-scale.png

Desktop Cube: compiz-rotate.png

Expo Plugin: compiz-expo.png

Animations: compiz-animation.png

If you’d like to know what’s going on in any of these screenshots, check out the videos, or ask me 🙂

Conclusion

Keep in mind that most of what I’ve written here is based on my own experience and experimentation with Linux.  I have made a lot of changes to the default installation of Kubuntu (adding/removing programs, changing themes and colors, etc).

Feel free to post any comments or questions you may have.  I love Linux.  I love learning more about it.  And I love getting others interested in it as well.  I know I’ve left a lot unwritten here and that’s fine, this was meant as more of an overview of what is possible with Linux.  When you can do all these things with Linux, what do you need a slow, virus- and spyware-infected, expensive operating system like Windows for?

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