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Follow-up on Inkscape!

OK, so I got the book for my birthday. That is to say, I got a voucher and headed straight to Exclusives! All I can say is WOW! This is not a book to be read, rather a manual you have to sit down with in front of the computer and try out all there is to try -- and that could take a while. Love it with all my geekness.
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My Review of The Book of Inkscape

Originally submitted at O'Reilly Inkscape is a powerful, free, cross-platform, vector-based drawing tool similar to Adobe Illustrator and CorelDRAW. The Book of Inkscape , written by Inkscape developer and graphic designer Dmitry Kirsanov, is an in-depth guide to Inkscape, offering comprehensive coverage and creative advice ... The Book of Inkscape Must have, sight unseen By j0nn0 from Johannesburg, South Africa on 12/1/2009   5 out of 5 Pros: Helpful examples, Creative, Well-written, Easy to understand, Accurate, Concise Best Uses: Student, Intermediate, Novice, Expert Describe Yourself: Video Editor, Designer, Educator I have to admit I haven't read this book yet, but having read Dimitry's Tutorials in Linux Format (www.linuxformat.co.uk), I am going to buy this sight unseen. He always comes up with brilliant examples and solutions, which prove that he is a great designer who is not afraid to share his techniques with the world... and he is r

It's official: firewire can burn you.

Most users of Firewire products like DVCam decks and cameras are unaware of the fact that this is NOT a hot-pluggable system! If you don't power down your PC/Mac and you device (camera/deck) before attaching or detaching via firewire, you stand the chance of frying the firewire controller on the deck/camera, or the firewire port on your computer, which in the case of a Mac is on the logic board (the "motherboard"). This is expensive and time-consuming either way you look at it. It's not covered under warranty, and as a facility owner I can personally attest to the fact that sooner or later, it will happen... I have burned chips on 2 Sony decks and one Mac. Sony recommend the following procedure: 1. Switch off all equipment, including external drives which may be attached via firewire to the computer. 2. Attach firewire cable to camera/deck/drive 3. Attach firewire cable to computer 4. Power up computer 5. Power up devices (can be during boot-up) BTW, the solution

FCP Tip: Importing stills of a set duration

Question I'm editing together a sort of slideshow in final cut express and there are LOTS of pictures that need to go in. Is there a way to set it so I can just drag them in to be 2.20 secs instead of the regular 10 secs? I'm SURE there must be a way to do it (it would save a ridiculous amount of time). THANK YOU Charlotte Answer Hi Charlotte This is so simple you're going to kick yourself! ;) I use Final Cut Pro, but I'm pretty sure it works the same in FCE. Go to >Final Cut Pro > User Preferences (or press Alt-Q /Option-Q). Click on the 'Editing' Tab. Set your desired duration in the Still/Freeze duration window (top-left). Click OK. Now, select all the stills, or the bin they're in and hit backspace. This will "delete" them from the project, but not from the hard drive.* Now re-import them (if they're all in one folder, choose > File > Import Folder and this will create a bin with the name of the Apple Folder). They will now a

Hoax emails - why? And how to stop them.

It takes education, my friends. Teach your silly Luddite associates how to discern a hoax virus email, by replying (to "All") with the following:- WATCH OUT, EVERYONE!!! Please read and be on the lookout for such an email. Thanks Please be warned, there is a dangerous viral hoax email about to be sent out to thousands of computer users around the world, designed by bored nerds who couldn't write a virus if they wanted to. The aim is to wipe out Sector zero of your brain, kill your parrot and make your microwave explode. It may possibly turn your "significant other" gay. The brilliant thing about this viral hoax is that it is spread by gullible people, and NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE in the world can stop it. The extensive use of CAPITAL LETTERS and exclamation marks!!!!, bad punctuation, speling mistaeks and strange colours is a dead giveaway. This has been verified by external hoax companies who shall remain nameless. I could tell you, but then I'd have to...

Why Windows is just as much a pain to install as Linux

Okay, so my niece wanted a laptop. She is a student, so all she wanted was the cheapest I could find. Just as well I'm a Sahara dealer. They have a great entry level machine for R3699 plus VAT. Without Windows. "No," says my technophobic neice, "I only know how to work in Windows." So I plumped in the extra few hundred for Windows, and set up a dual-boot machine (hoping to convert her in the long run.) I plugged the machine into my DSL network and began the process of installation. Because my network uses assigned addresses, not DHCP, the MS installer couldn't get me online to register, so I had to dial in to MS, listen to a recorded voice, and then punch in the approximately 20-digit serial number via the phone's keypad. It took no less than 5 attempts - the MS software couldn't recognise the touch-tone digits! Finally, registration complete, came the download of updates. It took 5 hours! Then I had to scour the net for an mpeg decoder so that he