If by chance you use a Linux (or Unix) machine and don't have it, get it. I use Paint Shop Pro, a Windows-based commercial graphics program, and just drool when I look at the features of "The Gimp". I've got an old copy installed on my Unix machine at work, but it's a bit clunky and I haven't been able to persuade my system administrator to install a more recent copy. The point of all of this is that I want to plug the site of a prominent member of our local group, who has a connection to "The Gimp". Dave Busch, former LocSec and Braegen editor has recently written a book, entitled "Guerrilla Guide to Great Graphics With The Gimp". This isn't a first for Dave; he's been a professional computer writer for years and, as is often said with respect in the Unix world, MAKES MONEY AT IT. Dave's site is at www.dbusch.com; visit it and find out more about all the other stuff Dave's been involved with (sign his guestbook, too!).
Bob Crawford, another local member, has sent me some suggestions for sites to discuss from time to time. Here's one: betanews.efront.com. This site provides a lot of information to software beta testers. If you don't know what a "beta tester" is, it is one of a cadre of brave souls who test software that a manufacturer feels is just about ready to release. The "just about ready" part is the catch; while you can usually get beta copies of software for free if you promise to exercise it for the software company, it has its risks. Bob says that such badly behaving beta programs are not as common as they once were. I wouldn't advise you to do it lightly and definitely not on a computer that has data that you would not want to lose. If you've got a computer that you can use as a test bench, and want an advanced look at the big things that the next generation of software has in store, then do visit this site. There seems to be a lot of computer-related information there, including up-to-the-minute news on issues not directly related to beta testing. If all of this sounds interesting, pay this site a visit.
Another site Bob recommended is "Earth Viewer: View from Satellite" at www.fourmilab.ch/earthview/satellite.html. I just took a quick look, but it looks really neat. You can look at a simulated view of what the Earth looks like from a number of satellites in Earth orbit. When I say "simulated", the views are realistic (including time of day) and from what I can tell, are based on real satellite data. The simulation is mapping this data to the positions of actual satellites (which don't actually have accessible cameras on board). You can also pan and zoom. You're not limited to satellite views. It's an interesting concept; take a look.
Last month, I talked about web tactics. Here's another that you might find really useful. Do you have a favorite site? Would you like to find sites that link to it? Visit www.altavista.com and use their link function to find them. Just type "link:" in the "Search for" text box, followed by the URL to find links to that URL. I tried it on our site and found a site that links to ours that is in Russian. (The site is rcs.chph.ras.ru/rcsout.htm if you want to follow along, but if your browser isn't configured for Cyrillic, you won't really get anything out of it. The title of the section that links to mine is COOR-see po he-mo-MET-reek-ee, or Courses in Chemometrics.) Although I took Russian in college, I was too rusty to read much of it. Altavista helped there, too, sort of. Each link that Altavista finds can be "translated" to or from several languages. "Russian to English" is one of the options. I gave it a try. If you were to submit the results for grading by a friendly Russian instructor, you wouldn't get a "D", but it is good enough to get a rough idea of what the page is about. I imagine that it might do a bit better with languages that are more well known by the general web population. For most languages, translation can be invoked either way. If you know a foreign language, you can play around with the feature, sneering at its strange, incomplete translations or marveling at the fact it does as well as it does.
For future columns, I'd like some feedback from you. If you have a personal website that you would like plugged, let me know. Short of some hideous breech of North American social mores, I'll share your URL with the group. Another column I'd like to do are the most commonly accessed websites of our local membership. Other than my personal portal (BC 18), the web site I visit most often is Google, with the Internet Movie Database probably second. How about you? Send any info you want me to have to catbar@compuserve.com. Let me know if you want to be anonymous, quoted or even have your e-mail address published. Thanks in advance.
CATBAR - Brain Candy #37 - Whatever, Part 2 / Brian Rock / Sept 4 2000