Vyoma

Thanks qwijibow, that made my doubt quite clear.

Ok. That is a relief. So, basically:> I can install a Linux program on any distribution after downloading it.> The data CDs written in Linux can be read by a Windows system, because it is written in a cross-platform format (ISO).

Gimp, I took as an example. I wanted to know if I can get any Linux program work in any Linux distribution. One more thing: I am thinking about another problem I might face after migration to Linux environment. Yesterday, I got myself Knoppix, just so I could recover some files from my crashed hard disk. I put my CD-ROM drive as IDE-1 Primary, Combo drive as IDE-1 Secondary, and the crashed hard disk as IDE-2 Secondary. I booted the system with the Knoppix CD in the CD-ROM drive, and the machine came alive. Luckily, I had partitioned it, and all my data was in the partitions that were untouched. So, I took all my data and burned it on a CD-RW using the combo drive. Now, I am doubtful. I do not have a internet connection at home, and I visit net-cafes for the purpose. Now say, I have done some work on my Linux machine, burned it onto a CD. If I come to a net-cafe that is running Windows systems, can I use them to read my CD and upload stuff to the net? Question if put in simpler terms - are (data) CDs written by Linux readable by Windows?

The pictures show a pretty neat picture of MicroSoft Office suite, but I am not sure I will even be using it. I might end up using it at my job, but at home, as I planning to shift to Linux, it will be mostly Open Office. The issue is, I have kind of lost trust with the stability achieved by Microsoft products.

I am not that much sure about the choice of background colours and patterns, the images, and the choice of colour for the text. It seems all a bit too chaotic to me. The focus keeps shifting between the left figure and right, the right being quite definitive and the left being distractively out of focus. The center, where the text is situated, almost missed my attention.I would suggest, you use a milder chaotic patterns and less saturated (more on pastel) types of colours for thye back ground. The right figure is fine, as the eye of that figure leads us to the center. Try to get some other pose of the left-hand side figure, that would shift the focus to center as the right hand figure did with the gaze. These two components would contain the focus on the center text.

Going through all these different distributions (as can be seen in http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/), I got a doubt with respect to compatibility. Let us, for matter of this discussion, talk about a image editor I intend to use: GIMP. Now, would I need to ensure that GIMP would run on Linux distribution I would install? I mean, the GIMP that I can download from their site, would I not be able to run in any distribution?

I recently had upgraded my PC to a P4, but had restrained from going for a newer hard disk. I some how stuck to my old Segate 40 GB hard disk.I am about to get a new hard disk, most probably a 80 GB. (Finally, I was able to pool some funds for the purpose).Now, why am I putting it here on the OS section?Well, the hard disk space is just the premise. Over that, for past couple of weeks, I have been using this OS called Knoppix that runs off the CD. I was quite impressed. Most of my work can be done on the Knoppix or similar Linux flavored OSes. I can work on almost all documents using Open Office, my 2D artwork using GIMP, my 3D work using Blender. I would require the Windows OS only for playing some of my favorite games, that are only available on Windows.Anyway, this is what I came up with. As, I am going to go for a new, larger, 80 GB hard disk, why should I not setup a dual boot system. I can, by default use a Linux OS, and only when I feel like playing games, I reboot, switch to Windows XP, and go ahead with my games.In brief, here is my system configuration:> Intel P4 1.2 GHz> 256 MB RAM> 80 GB Hard disk (coming soon, ;-))I need to install Windows XP on the other boot, so, my question here is, which Linux should I go for, that would serve my puposes?

What I meant when I said multiple people can edit the same document, I do not mean at the same time - not simaltaneously. More than one people can edit the documents at seperate times.

Hmm... I had pondered about this topic and even wrote a blog posting on it. Anyway, for those who do not want to open another window for that, here is a gist of the post: Seraph Inn - The story of this web comic is about a young da'kor (a wolf like race) named Acheron. He encounters an elf and desides to help her in finding another elf by the name Kayndar. The seemingly innocent mission leads to many indepth enocunters, and Acheron makes enemies and friends as he goes on a search. Talismen - Return of Exile - This is a fantasy adventure series. It has actually two story arcs, 'The Return of the Exile' and 'The Knightmare Kife'. The Return Of Exile starts when Marine Lance Corporal Ollie Steele is executed by terrorists and finds himself suddenly in the Plane of Imaginings. The drawing style can be definetly called the 'American Comic book style'. The Dreamland Chronicles - It is a great 3d comic that has all the picture that have been rendered from 3d models and has great detail that you rarely see in 3d works.

If you guys do get a place to host that game, and are considering of how we may get the game art, I would be of some help. I am not sure how much of time and effort I can put into it, but I surely would like to put some contribution into it.

As far as I can tell, I should say that at the minimum, PHP and MySQL should be sufficient. In terms of MySQL, learning few of the DDL (Data definition) and DML (Data modicication) and ofcourse the SELECT statement should be sufficient. It would not be required for indepth knowledge.But, in the end, it is hard to say, because, from your post, it seems like you yet do not have the design finilized. By design, I mean the gameplay. You would need to come up with strong design of how you want the game play to take place, and what should be accompanied by each action performed by the user. Having such a desing, would help you decide on what else you would be needing apart from PHP and MySQL.My advice to you would be, atleast whip out your Notepad, write down all the things you think should go into the design and start refining it. Something more you can do is, put what you have designed here in the forums and there would be many here who would help you refine things up.

I cannot say much about the site. May be it is my connection. I could not see much of it as most of them did not load. But from what I saw, I like the simplistic, but yet professional design.

I am not very sure on that. Pop-up and pop-under, I feel, decreases the credibility of the sites. I would think twice before I place such ads on my site. But, banner ads, on the other hand, are worth thinking about.Has anyone else tried out this program. I would like to know more.

Recently I came across an online document editor. (You may see that I have blabbered about it quite a bit in my blog post). It is called Zoho Writer. I can forsee the decreased dependancy on Microsoft Office and such related softwares. Atleast, there would be decreased dependancy in the Piracy that is rampant with respect to these softwares. You can do most of the basic stuff that can be done in Microsoft Word©, and apart from that, multiple people can edit the same document. The document can be shared to public also. The Zoho guys have other services up their sleeve - I am trying that out at the moment.

Well there has been a lot of discussion going on here about 'digital art' being art or not. I am not sure by what definitions I go to define art, but I should say that I consider my work satisfactory even if I do them on canvas or I design them in 3d. Those two things that I indulge in are just that - my works. I do not wish to go by the categorizing them as art or not - as long as I am satisfied by them. But here, I think I have to appreciate the work done by Citezyne. I mean, from his post, I assume he is working on some book, and also has got a flair for 'art' work that is related to that. I always loved creating numerous stuff that are consistant with each other. I have been involved in creating a world for an forum-rpg, working on a novel based on that world, and also putting effort to create artworks for that world. Citezyne, I understand where you are heading. I would like to see how all your effort turns out.

I use Blender presently. I was using Wings3D for some time, but then moved on to Blender for its obvious Sub-D conformance.Another reason I am using Blender is, I cannot afford 3d Max, or Maya or LightWave. 3D modelling is still a hobby for me, and I cannot think of spending my hard earned money on it.

Yes, Samuel, as I said to m^e, I would be doing that, once I finish the basic model of the body. I have to get the bounds right before going for another layer, that is, the clothes. Anyway, I was able to put everything neatly in a webpage and hosted it at my google pages: https://sites.google.com/site/kmaheshbhat/projectlittle

Clothing? Am I in trouble? Yes m^e. I would be putting on those on the model, but do not worry. I wont be adding any more anatomical details on those regions. Artistically speaking, I do not have a problem designing those, but I see that those are unessasary details for a PG-13 rated forum RPG. Trust me, if I were to put in the details, I will not be posting it here on Xisto. I will go searching for some Art forum. Anyway, why I put here are for two things. One is obvious the feedback. The other is trying to contribute to Xisto as reference/resource site. You know, kind of sequence of snapshots, that give the idea of how a 3d object is modelled. Something like this: I start off with a cylinder. and then after several cuts around it, and lining the muscles, I get the basic form of a torso: Then, I extrude from the lower part the legs, and from the sholder the hands, and then move around the vertices to get the basic form of the hands and legs. I use a cube for the face, that is sub-divided in three parts, and the vertices are arranged to get the basic shape of the head. The head in modelled near the body to get proper sense of scale. More details are put into the face, and then finally it is connected to the neck: The full snapshot of the model to this moment, is what I have given in the previous post.

GIMP?Well, I just installed it a couple of weeks back, and skimmed through the software. Long back I was using Corel Photopaint for all my image manipulation and creation needs, but then the need itself seemed to cease to exist. I stopped digital painting after that, and I do not even know where that piece of software went from my PC. I do though remember using the trial version of Paint Shop Pro from JASC, but even that went down the memory lane.Later, any small requirement I used to get, I managed with MS Paint. (I know, that is stupid, but :shrug:).Anyway, GIMP has all the essentials that are required for some decent image manipulation and creation. It has got layers, brushes, and manipulators (burn, dodge, smudge). Its line tool is something that I feel requires more work, but may be that I still need to get used to it.

Note: I am not sure if this is the right section for putting up 3d designs. If it has to be some other section, moderators, please move the thread. I have been involved in a forum based fantasy RPG, and I wanted to appreciate a continued support of one of our member. Hence, I decided to make a 3d model of her character, and I am about half way through. I thought I could share it with you all, so I get some feedback as I progress. Here is the incomplete polygon model of "Little": To this, on the application of Catmul-Clark Subdivision algorithm, I get the following image: I know, there is no point in applying the Subdiv at this point, when the model is incomplete, but it gives a fair idea of how the model would result, in the end after completion (and applicaiton of Subdiv, ofcourse). I used Blender as the tool. It is a Open Source tool. (See '3d design' blog post, in my blog, Splat!). The model is still incomplete, and it still has more work to be done (The ears, and fingers of hands and feet are not done yet). Still, you can give in your feedback. Also, I have about eight or nine images of the model I took from the scratch as I progressed. If you all are interested, I would post them here, or something like that.

Advertising is on the internet from quite a long time, as it has been in the outside world. There are products and services that advertisers want to sell, and there are potential buyers who surf a huge amount of time on website put up by publishers. This brings the advertising plans into the scope of putting the ads on the websites. Scope: I cannot say that I am an authoritative person on giving a statement on advertising. There are many exaustive write-ups around the internet, and you can find many here at Xisto in the 'Advertising' section. In this article, I would be juxtaposing between Flat-fee advertising, CPM, CPC and CPA advertising plans. (There may be an undertow or bias towards the publisher). Note that this write-up is not a review on any particular advertising network. Definitions: Before going about with what the differences between the various plans, for sake of clarity I would like to define with moderate accuracy what the different terms are. Ad/Advertisement - A text/graphic display that ideally conveys the information about the product/service. Advertiser - Person/agency/company that wants to place an advertisement. Publisher - Person/group of people/company that has a website that has space where advertisements may be placed. Flat-fee - An advertising plan where the advertiser pays the publisher a fixed amount to display the ad on the website for a fixed amount of time. CPM (Cost Per Thousand(M)) - An advertising plan where the advertiser pays the publisher a particular amount for a particular amount of page/ad impressions. CPC (Cost Per Click) - An advertising plan where the advertiser pays the publisher a particular amount for each clicks on the ads. CPA (Cost Per Acquisition) - An advertising plan where the advertiser pays the publisher a particular amount for each acquisition resulted due to the display of the ad. Now that we are clear with the terminologies, we can go about looking at each of these plans, noting the advantages and disadvantages for both the advertiser and publisher. Flat-fee - This advertising plan was the one that was at the dawn of advertising on internet. The advertiser had to be careful at which publisher to choose for a particular campaign, and it had a lot of risk involved. The risk was that the chosen website space may not be seen at all by any viewers and the funds put for that space would go waste. The publisher was totally risk free as there was no commitment involved and would get the payment no matter how the ads performed. CPM - This advertising plan went on to reduce the risk involved for the advertiser as payment had to be made only for those ads that were displayed. The publisher shared the risk on ad performance, and had to put on the commitment of driving traffic to those pages where the ads were placed. CPC - This advertising plan shifed the risk more towards the publisher where the ads had to be clicked to take into consideration for ad performance. The publisher had to choose wisely on where the ads would be placed within his/her pages so that the ad was shown to a targetted viewer, and the chance of the ad being clicked would increase. CPA - This offers almost no risk to the advertiser, as the publisher had to be paid for only those click throughs that resulted in some kind of business for the advertiser. Both the Flat-fee and CPA happen to be biased tottally towards publisher and advertiser respectively. A lot of buying and selling of ad-space takes place with the CPM and CPC plans as they are moderate on both the publisher and advertiser. In case of CPM, the advertiser may seem a bit at loss, but different genres of CPM provide to balance out the risks. For example, a unique view constraint on the ads could ease the burden on the advertiser and shift the risk to the publisher - the publisher has to drive diverse traffic towards the ad. On the other hand, in CPC plans, it has to be noted that, the design of the advertisement is under the control of the advertiser, and this is a major cause of concern for pulisher. Final note: For major publisher who own networks of websites, the CPC should be ideal, as they should be getting a huge traffic, and have the resouces to study their visitors and drive them to the targetted ads. For small publishers though, CPC is at loss. They would find CPM a much better choice when compared to CPC.

Are you sure it is a CPM? What I am trying to clear up on idea is, does Clicksor give revenue based on a page impression basis?And that 15 day payout with minimum payout as $20 would be a good one, as an addendum.On a side note, it really is a annoyance that the 'risk of displaying ads' is totally shifted onto the publishers in CPC plans.

BASIC! I remember that. I learnt it when I was a 6th or 7th grader. Yes, that gave me the basics of programming. I could code a program from a flow chart back then. It gave me a lot to think about, as I went about experimenting and creating graphical demos(4 coloured CGA graphics). Then I moved on to C and soon I learned C++. That was where I grew my programming skills stronger, and I could do programs at intermediate to advanced levels. Then, as a professional, I am honing my skills and I must say that there is nothing like real experience. As a job requirement, I learned Perl, ProC and PL/SQL. Starting to learn Java these days. On a side note, I learned HTML, a bit of VBScript and JScript, and then now starting of with PHP. Now that was me. I would say you learn C first and then you can move on to Java. On the web-development front, go for PHP after learning basics of HTML.

This is something similar to the project I did for my bachelours (Engineering). We had developed a system, that tracked the motion of the head. It is already being used in (I think) the Comanche helicopters, where the cockpit detects the motion of the helmet of the pilot and replicates the motion to the nose mounted camera. It did so, using an elaborate means of laser detectors placed with in the cocpit.Our project differed in the implementation part. Instead of having a surround system that detected motion, we placed the motion detecting device on the the head itself (a cap). It contained a MEMs(Micro Electro Mechanical) chip that translated the roll, pitch and yaw motions into digital data, that we transmitted to the computer. Before someone thinks I am straying away from the topic, let me state that we were also able to mounth the prototype on a glove, so that it could detect the same motion of the the hand. The degree of accuracy was 0.5 degrees, with the amount of signal processing we could do (with our capability and simple electronic lab equipments). We did a lot many things with the data (motion tracking, predication, mechanical translation), but all that woudl be out of scope of this thread.On some research, we came to conclusion that we would be able to increase the accuracy of the device, but we stopped working on the project as we all got graduated and moved on with our lives. The two of us are contemplating on restarting the work on it, but as a open-source software/hardware project and may host the project at Source Forge. [Hey, I belive, there was something associated with Xisto that dealt with hosting projects, but I am not sure about Hardware part of it].An interesting thing to be noted here is that, after a little study, we found that it could be used in other fields than gaming. We had a talk with an orthopediatric, and the good doctor could identify some diagnostic problems that could be solved with a bit advanced version of our device.

If you do find something out, please do post it. I, for least, would be very much interested in how you would tackle this problem. Heck! I have already lost a couple of days of sleep trying to figure it out 'logically', but ended up getting my brain fried up or something like that.