Display Technology

Here’s a fascinating comparison of display technologies in up-coming releases of OSes.

Linux XGL/Compiz Graphics to Apple Aqua & Vista Aero: EAT ME!

It looks like Microsoft is now catching up to Apple’s previous systems. Apple has taken another step forward and left Microsoft in the dust once again. And Linux has leap-frogged them both to create a truly amazing look.

Xara Xtreme

Xara Xtreme for Linux has really come a long way. While it’s still only at version 0.7, it is fully usable. I am actually using it to design the new look for our MathSciNet product at the American Mathematical Society (I’d probably get in trouble if I published a sneak peek). I have to use Gimp to chop pieces up for use in CSS sliding window schemes and such, but all the layout and design is being done in Xara.

In the past I would have done this all right in the Gimp or with Inkscape. Inkscape is a great tool as well, but I’m going to have to give Xara the hat tip. The primary benefit of Inkscape over Xara is that there is a Mac version and a free Windows version. But for the measly $79 you pay for Xara Xtreme for Windows, you can’t go wrong. I’m looking forward to Xara for Mac.

Bravo to Xara for a great product.

Writely

Since Writely is once again available to the public, I thought I would give it a spin. It’s a pretty slick (but basic) on-line word processor. You can easily publish, share, and collaboratively edit documents.

I tried importing an old Word document I had written and it worked flawlessly. Then from Writely I saved the file back to OpenOffice format. Firefox asked me if I wanted to open the file in OpenOffice and I said yes and there it was. This is very cool.

So here is The Contract at Horeb for demo purposes. It is a paper I wrote back in 2001 when I was studying Old Testament laws and their relation to present day Christians. It was written for a Seventh-day Adventist audience whereas my recent series was intended for mainstream Christians. It is published directly from Writely.

P.S. Roswell Oatman was my great-great-great-grandfather and the first Seventh-day Adventist in my ancestral line (that means I broke a 6 generation tradition). I used the name as a pseudonym since I was still a Seventh-day Adventist at that point and knew I would run into trouble writing documents like that.

My Wife’s Blogging Again

My lovely wife Shari is blogging once again. She is the Children’s Ministry Director for Crossroads.

Packaged Software

Is packaged software the best way to accomplish something? I recently read The True Cost of Off-the-Shelf from Computerworld. This article questions the common practice of buying pre-packaged software.

How does this thinking relate to a Church Management System (ChMS)?

How does open-source play into this? Would a community developed ChMS that allows for local customizations solve the problem?

At one point Crossroads struggled with the decision to go with Fellowship One or continue development of our own system. Sometimes I wonder if we made a mistake. Don’t get me wrong, Fellowship One is a very good system and we benefit from it. But we have (as the article states) had to change some of our practices to fit the software instead of changing the software to fit our practices.

In addition, it has taken us a long time to grow (and we’re still not done) into the software and use all of its features. Perhaps it wouldn’t have been much different if we had grown into our own custom developed software as we developed it.

I still think that the best alternative is a community developed open-source package that provides an existing base to work from but allows customization.

One Handed Pt. 2

OK, here’s the gross part. I got my bandages off and here’s the closeup. Let’s just say that before the doc stitched it up, he had me watch while I flexed my thumb. It’s pretty cool to see tendons actually working up close and personal.

Moral: No matter what anyone tells you, a sharp knife is not a safe knife.

One Handed

I was slicing a frozen english muffin with my newly sharpened Cutco knives. 24 stitches. One handed typing sucks. Moral: be very very careful when using sharp knives. My wife says don’t cut frozen food.