The tide turned in Armdale Cove...

[Mike Spencer]

DavidP> I really like Civilization also.  I'm sure you guys heard of
DavidP> it, FreeCiv.  Why not play that?

I had that, then made the mistake of upgrading. In the newer (beta)
version I couldn't figure out how to get it to display in the
non-isometric map-tile style.  Since I had the DOS version, I just put
it aside.  One of these times -- winter, say -- I'll get back to it,
download a non-beta version and try again.

The possibility of playing with another real player appeals to me but
I've never done that since my game time usually turns out to be
random episodes between midnight and 4:00.

Haven't seen Civ III or IV.  Real Soon Now. :-)

- Mike

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[Joe Dunn-2]

So I caved in and installed freeciv 2.1.3 for OS X. I was a little peeved when it billed itself as a universal binary where it still was calling on X11.

I was hoping for quartz :)

Oh well, playing though as the cdns, so far so good. Its a little clunky but very playable.

Joe

On Thu, Aug 28, 2008 at 8:48 PM, Mike Spencer <mspencer@...> wrote:

DavidP> I really like Civilization also.  I'm sure you guys heard of
DavidP> it, FreeCiv.  Why not play that?

I had that, then made the mistake of upgrading. In the newer (beta)
version I couldn't figure out how to get it to display in the
non-isometric map-tile style.  Since I had the DOS version, I just put
it aside.  One of these times -- winter, say -- I'll get back to it,
download a non-beta version and try again.

The possibility of playing with another real player appeals to me but
I've never done that since my game time usually turns out to be
random episodes between midnight and 4:00.

Haven't seen Civ III or IV.  Real Soon Now. :-)

- Mike

--
Michael Spencer                  Nova Scotia, Canada       .~.
                                                          /V\
mspencer@...                                     /( )\
http://home.tallships.ca/mspencer/                        ^^-^^

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[_budman_]

>  more, attrib. to  Robert Grudin, `Time and the Art of Living'.
>
> Indeed so.  I made a script to fetch current satellite weather images
> from the CanGov site where the filenames are date- &
> time-based. Figuring out how compose the filename for the most recent
> image prior to present time, allowing for possible backup into
> previous day, month and year and for AST/DST roll-over was a pain and
> still fails once in, oh, 50 or so tries.
>
> Thanks for the pointers, help and -- heh -- humiliation. :-)
>
> - Mike
>
>  

Here is a script I wrote a while back that animates the images.
I had it using Image Magick module, but that broke in the recent version
of Slack,
so I use the command line tools which works the same.

I put it in a crontab and add enable these meta tags on my home page
           "<META HTTP-EQUIV=\"expires\" content=\"-1\">\n",
           "<META HTTP-EQUIV=\"Cache-Control\" content=\"no-cache,
must-revalidate\">\n",
           "<META HTTP-EQUIV=\"Pragma\" content=\"no-cache\">\n",
           "<META HTTP-EQUIV=\"refresh\" content=\"+300;URL=$url\">\n",
this way the page will always have a fresh radar image.


#!/usr/bin/perl -w


use strict;
use LWP;
use LWP::Simple;
use Tie::IxHash;

my $weatherURL = "http://weatheroffice.gc.ca";
my $RadarStation = "XGO";
my $location = "$weatherURL/data/radar/temp_image/${RadarStation}";
my $basedir = "$ENV{HOME}/weather";
my $RegionMapName = "${RadarStation}_PRECIP_RAIN";
my $imagePath = "$basedir/tempimages";
my $MaxImages = 6;
my $HtmlPath = "$ENV{HOME}/public_html/weather";
my $AnimatedImage = "$HtmlPath/wmap.gif";
my $Roads = $basedir."/".$RadarStation."_roads.gif";
my $Towns = $basedir."/".lc($RadarStation)."_towns.gif";
   
    # clear image dir
   
    opendir(DIR,$imagePath)||die "Cannot access $imagePath: $!\n";
    while ( defined( my $file = readdir(DIR) ) ) {
         next if $file eq "." || $file eq "..";
         if ( $file =~ /^Map.*GIF$/ ) { unlink "$imagePath/$file"; }
    }

    # retrieve the images

    my @Files;
    chdir $imagePath;
    my $ua = LWP::UserAgent->new(agent=>'Mozilla');
    my $cmd;

    for my $t (0 .. $MaxImages - 1) {
        my $maptime = time - ($t * 600);
        my $id = $MaxImages - $t;
        my $ImageName = "Map$id.GIF";

        my $file = &GetFilename($maptime);
        print "Retrieving $file\n";
        my $imageFile = "$imagePath/$ImageName";
        getstore("$location/$file",$imageFile);
        print " size: ",-s $imageFile,"\n" if -f $imageFile;

        if ( -s $imageFile ) {
            my ($hour,$min) = (localtime($maptime))[2,1];
            $min = int($min / 10) * 10;
            my $m = ($hour <= 12 ? "am" : "pm" );
            $hour -= 12 if $hour > 12;
            my $timestamp = sprintf "%2d:%02d%s",$hour,$min,$m;
            # overlay roads
            qx(composite -compose over -geometry +0+0 $Roads $ImageName
$ImageName);
            # overlay towns
            qx(composite -compose over -geometry +0+0 $Towns $ImageName
$ImageName);
            # add timestamp
            qx(convert $ImageName -pointsize 14 -gravity NorthEast -fill
white -annotate +6+14 '
$timestamp' $ImageName);
            push @Files, $ImageName;
        }

    }

    # animate the images
    my $imageList = join(" ",reverse @Files);
    unlink $AnimatedImage;
    qx(convert -set delay 100 -loop 0 $imageList $AnimatedImage);


sub GetFilename {
    my $curtime = shift;

    my ($min,$hour,$day,$month,$year) = (gmtime($curtime))[1 .. 5];
    $year += 1900;
    $min = int($min / 10) * 10;
    $month++;
    return sprintf "%s_%4d_%02d_%02d_%02d_%02d.GIF", $RegionMapName,
                        $year, $month, $day, $hour, $min;
}
   
   

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[Daniel Morrison-2]

2008/8/28 Joe Dunn <me@...>:
> So I caved in and installed freeciv 2.1.3 for OS X. I was a little
> peeved when it billed itself as a universal binary where it still was
> calling on X11.

I'm by no means a Mac expert, but I think "universal binary" means that it
will run on both Intel and PowerPC.

If Apple would free the sources of quartz, it would gain more traction
with open source projects, I'm sure.  Alas.

-D.
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[Joe Dunn-2]

Yup i know re: universal binary, i just got excited and assumed since it was .app it would use os x native graphics solution :)

On Thu, Aug 28, 2008 at 11:43 PM, Daniel Morrison <draker@...> wrote:

2008/8/28 Joe Dunn <me@...>:

> So I caved in and installed freeciv 2.1.3 for OS X. I was a little
> peeved when it billed itself as a universal binary where it still was
> calling on X11.

I'm by no means a Mac expert, but I think "universal binary" means that it
will run on both Intel and PowerPC.

If Apple would free the sources of quartz, it would gain more traction
with open source projects, I'm sure.  Alas.

-D.

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[D G Teed-2]

I think it is great to use Linux and open source software
whenever possible.  However I have things to plug in
and a couple of games I play on Windows.

Here are the things I use on Windows with no
decent Linux equivalent:

* Palm sync
* Creative audio software + jacks and intuitive control over them
* Playlister for wimpy (a flash audio player)
* Nero wave editor
* Nikon transfer (the camera connects as a USB drive,
but software handles organization and backup of the
camera's files without me doing the work)
* Vendor software for photo printing (HP, Canon, Nikon, Fuji)
* Garmin Mapsource
* A Canon scanner
* digital video transfer and DVD creation from Nero
* DVD shrink
* Cubase and Music Maker
* Dreamweaver
* Quicktax
* iTunes

I know there are equivalents for many of the above,
but I have probably looked at them or tried them and either
didn't have the time to wrangle with it (Jack+Ardour)
or the Windows solution was so easy why bother
doing it with a series of Linux applications (DVD shrink).

The list of things I do in Linux is probably longer, but in my opinion
there is versatility in a blend of a couple of OS and an
assortment of tools.  There is also time to be gained
in not tinkering to get something working, something
that happens as well with Windows apps, but I just try
to avoid the obstacles more these days in favour
of having family time.

That being said, I still can't swallow the idea of buying
Vista.  The security issues of Win XP are going to cause
it to dissolve once MS stops maintaining it.

I realize I'm not being a very good Linux advocate, but that's
the truth of where I find I land.  I also eat junk food and
get frustrated with the new garbage rules.  The fruit
flies and ants don't mind though.

I expect people will pick away at my list to suggest alternatives,
and that is great.  Maybe time to try something I have not heard
of, or someone else will benefit from bringing this up.

--Donald
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[_budman_]

D G Teed wrote:
> I think it is great to use Linux and open source software
> whenever possible.  However I have things to plug in
> and a couple of games I play on Windows.
>
> Here are the things I use on Windows with no
> decent Linux equivalent:
>
> * Palm sync
>  
Kpilot, gnome-pilot, j-pilot  - I remember a few guys at work had no
issues syncing with Linux, I don't have one so I can't really say from
my experience.
> * Creative audio software + jacks and intuitive control over them

> * Playlister for wimpy (a flash audio player)
I really like Amarok, the random playlist saves on memory when you have
a bunch of songs, it plays radio and others, no video though.
Do you need sound editing?
> * Nero wave editor
>  
Audacity  for wave editing
> * Nikon transfer (the camera connects as a USB drive,
> but software handles organization and backup of the
> camera's files without me doing the work)
>  
Nikon xfer, I just mostly mount either as camera or usb storage, usb2 is
much fast, motherboard USB's have issue with lockups, might be older 1.0 USB
      I tried a few photo managers, not really into yet. :)  
     Trying Picasa now, F-Spot, Photo Organizer (haven't tried yet)
  NoiseNinja has a linux version that runs great via wine
> * Vendor software for photo printing (HP, Canon, Nikon, Fuji)
>  
I have HP and the latest HP Printer Lib and the 5.11 version of
gutenprint (a.k.a gnome-print) really works nice.
I havent setup the Epson photo printer yet, just got the Epson linux
drivers so I'll be trying that soon.

> * Garmin Mapsource
>  
QLandkarte seems to support a lot of devices

> * A Canon scanner
>  
XSane, but not sure about Canon -  I have a UMAX SCSI that works great.
> * digital video transfer and DVD creation from Nero
> * DVD shrink
>  
There are a few, I think K3B now has Label making.
DVD storage creation - K3B is the best.
Movies you need some command line tools, but there is a wrapper app,
slips my mind at the moment,
that ties all the command line tools together.  Creating from cmd line
is actually very easy,
mostly edit a small text file, and a simple script creates movie dvd's
and you can make your own menus,
which is pretty fun.  Great for small movies and you can do different
designs and such.

> * Cubase and Music Maker
>  
Not sure, a quick search Rosegarden and Ardour2

> * Dreamweaver
>  
Probably Bluefish or Eclipse, maybe under wine
> * Quicktax
>  
There are online sites that cost $20/file - takes about 15 minutes to file.
Next year, I'm not even bothering with the paperwork - go online and
answer questions,
then you get pdf's of all your forms.  Well worth it.   Some sites offer
specials.
> * iTunes
>  
Banshee possibly

> I know there are equivalents for many of the above,
> but I have probably looked at them or tried them and either
> didn't have the time to wrangle with it (Jack+Ardour)
> or the Windows solution was so easy why bother
> doing it with a series of Linux applications (DVD shrink).
>
>  
:)


Have fun
Rich

>  
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[Ian Campbell-9]

On Sat, Aug 30, 2008 at 03:36:45AM -0300, Rich wrote:

>
> D G Teed wrote:
> >
> > Here are the things I use on Windows with no
> > decent Linux equivalent:
> >
> > * Palm sync
> >  
> Kpilot, gnome-pilot, j-pilot  - I remember a few guys at work had no
> issues syncing with Linux, I don't have one so I can't really say from
> my experience.

It was a pain getting a Tungsten E2 working 2 years ago. Granted,
syncing has never been painless for me on any platform (palm desktop
broke under windows, the sync options under linux were... unpleasant
to say the least, and I had problems under OSX syncing the palm and an
iphone)

> > * Creative audio software + jacks and intuitive control over them

Jacks and intuitive control over them? What's... wrong with the mixer?

... or am I missing something?

> > * Nikon transfer (the camera connects as a USB drive,
> > but software handles organization and backup of the
> > camera's files without me doing the work)
> >  
> Nikon xfer, I just mostly mount either as camera or usb storage, usb2 is
> much fast, motherboard USB's have issue with lockups, might be older 1.0 USB
>       I tried a few photo managers, not really into yet. :)  
>      Trying Picasa now, F-Spot, Photo Organizer (haven't tried yet)
>   NoiseNinja has a linux version that runs great via wine

Digikam or gphoto2, depending on whether you prefer QT or GTK...

> > * Dreamweaver
> >  
> Probably Bluefish or Eclipse, maybe under wine

http://quanta.kdewebdev.org/

> > * iTunes
> >  
> Banshee possibly

... or Amarok.


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[Mike Spencer]

Rich wrote:

> Here is a script I wrote a while back that animates the images.
> [snip]
> use LWP;

Huh.  I have a love/hate relationship to Perl. I get a lot of mileage
out of the regular expressions but many of the cute features of the
syntax drive me nuts.  I've never used the libwww-perl lib.  I've used
IO::Socket in several scripts to fetch specific pages that I want to
edit on the fly before viewing or to implement a spam filter via
POP3.  The only snag I've hit was when the remote HTTP host used
"chunking" -- I think that was the term -- for the reply data and my
script expected to just simplemindedly parse a single stream of data.
Maybe LWP::Something-or-other would take care of that.

> I had it using Image Magick module, but that broke in the recent
> version of Slack...

The version of Image Magick that came with Slack 10.1 surely has a bug
or three.  Several things (IIRC) that I occasionally try to do cause
either a crash (of the app, not the system) or severely wrong
rendering of images.  Looking forward to getting a newer version with
Slack 12 RSN.

Maybe I can learn something about LWP from your script.  

Thanks,
- Mike

--
Michael Spencer                  Nova Scotia, Canada       .~.
                                                           /V\
mspencer@...                                     /( )\
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