Alex's Journal

As I have mentioned before in previous entries (Thinking of Linux: Part 1 – Part 2), I am definitely ready to move to Linux. I want to get away from the proprietary monsters that are Windows and Mac OS X and support the open source community. I already use Firefox, Camino, OpenOffice.org, Adium and a number of other different open source applications and I love them.

The only problem is that Linux is not ready for me and what I need to do with my computer. The lack of support for any of the software I use to produce my music is the only deterrent at this point. I have done extensive research on the internet — including asking around on forums — as well as talking to some people that I know who run Linux and have not been able to find anything viable to the commercial applications I use now (Reason and ProTools).

Naturally I have found several open source music applications that run on Linux such as Audacity that could replace ProTools, however their feature sets are nowhere near as robust as ProTools’. And then of course there is Reason which, as far as I can tell, is entirely unique. It is a program that virtualizes a DJ rack. With Reason it’s even possible to hit the tab button and turn the rack around to reveal virtual cables which can be moved around between the different virtual machines for any sort of complex wiring schemes you might need. There are lots of smaller applications that combined almost do what Reason does, but without the lack of coordination between the programs, they are entirely useless to me.

Then there’s Wine. Several people have recommended Wine to me, but I can’t say that I would entirely trust it. When I have both ProTools and Reason open and working together through the magic of ReWire, there is often times barely enough processing power available on the native platform for both of the applications — regardless of whether I am running them on Mac OS X or Windows. Not to mention there seems to be atrocious audio errors and other compatibility errors that come with Wine. Another issue that I’m not sure Wine could solve would be the hardware compatibility problem. I use ProTools-specific hardware alongside my computer to record my music and there are no Linux drivers available for it.

Several people have also recommended that I just partition my harddrive and run a dual-boot machine. Then I could boot into Windows whenever I need to to use ProTools and Reason. The problem I see with this is a simple question. What would be the point of running Linux at all then when Windows does everything else that I need such as internet, e-mail, instant messaging, word processing, etc as well as working natively with the applications I use? If I were to take that route, it seems to me that I shouldn’t bother wasting the harddrive space by creating a dual-boot machine.

Basically what I’m saying in a very long-winded way is that I would absolutely love to move to Linux, but I just don’t think it would be a good idea to until the applications I need and use quite often are supported.

ScratchPad version 1.1 has been released! It’s recommended that everyone updates to take advantage of some of the new features such as:

• Users can now navigate to a specific page by typing in a page number in a toolbar item or by selecting an option in the Page menu.
• ScratchPad now remembers the last page the user used. This can be disabled in the Preferences.
• Pages can now be exported.

For more details about the update and what has changed, see the Release Notes.

You can download ScratchPad 1.1 either by clicking “Check for Updates” in the application menu or by clicking here.

I’ve posted a new wallpaper for you to download. It’s of a photo I took in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado west of Colorado Springs. That part of the country is extremely gorgeous and I hope to get a chance to go back soon.

You can find the wallpaper on the wallpaper page.

I’ve posted another post in my Manifestly Absurd blog. It’s about religion in general.

You can find it on either of the following blogs depending on your preference:

WordPress – http://manifestlyabsurd.wordpress.com
Blogger – http://manifestlyabsurd.blogspot.com

“Netscape’s long and storied history as a web browser will come to an end on March 1, as AOL has officially set a date for the browser’s demise. AOL originally put Netscape on death row at the end of 2007, when it announced that it would be ending support for the venerable application.” (Source: Ars Technica)

Rest in peace, Netscape.

The first update to ScratchPad, version 1.1, is almost finished and contains a few new features and some updates as well. Here is a list of some of the things to expect from the new version:

• The ability to type in a page number and go directly to it without having to scroll through the pages to find the page you want.
• When the program closes, it will remember which page number you were last on.
• A new section in the preferences will allow the user to set a custom default font and color for new pages.
• Various bug fixes.

I don’t have a specific release date yet, but it should be relatively soon.

This should be an interesting film:

[dailymotion id=x44l1c]

I’ve posted another post in my Manifestly Absurd blog. It’s about the absurdities of drinking too much.

You can find it on either of the following blogs depending on your preference:

WordPress – http://manifestlyabsurd.wordpress.com
Blogger – http://manifestlyabsurd.blogspot.com

“Florida education officials voted on Tuesday to add evolution to required course work in public schools but only after a last-minute change depicting Charles Darwin’s seminal work as merely a theory.

Bending to pressure from religious conservatives, the State Board of Education on a 4-3 vote included the “theory” language as part of a retooling of the state’s science standards for public school education.

The compromise would require teaching that Darwin’s proposal — that natural selection has driven the evolution of many species from a few common ancestors over billions of years — has yet to be conclusively proven.” (Source: Reuters)

Florida appears to be quite backwards in its thinking. The fact that evolution was controversial in Florida in modern times shows that Florida needs to do a bit of catching up to the rest of the world. Fifty years ago it was a large controversy for the entire nation, but as science has progressed and religious extremism and beliefs have waned, evolution has rightfully taken a strong grip on the nation. Even if only taught as a theory, however, at least it did pass and will be taught in public schools at all.

“The most direct legal challenge to the controversial program of warrantless National Security Agency wiretaps authorized by President George Bush after the terror attacks of September 11, 2001, hit a wall on Tuesday when the Supreme Court declined to review whether a group of plaintiffs represented by the American Civil Liberties Union have a right to sue the government.” (Source: Ars Technica)

I can’t say that I am a big fan of the wiretapping program. I agree with the American Civil Liberties Union in that it seems to me to be a violation of our privacy.

The good news however, is:

“Unaffected, however, are the suits that have been brought against telecom firms alleged to have cooperated in the NSA program—suits the White House is seeking to block by a legislative grant of retroactive immunity, which stalled in the House of Representatives last week.” (Source: Ars Technica)

I believe that the telecom companies that participated in the illegal wiretapping program should not be protected. They should be brought to trial and forced to make compensations. If for no other reason than to set an example that companies should not participate in illegal programs on behalf of anyone — including the government.