Microsoft’s world dominating force has finally left their Paint program, taking a sudden evolution in to Code Name: Acrylic. I don’t know if Microsoft thinks that it sounds cool or if they can’t find a “real” name for the program, but Code Name: Acrylic isn’t nearly as cool as it sounds.

General chatter has been that Acrylic would be a Photoshop killer, combining the good parts of Adobe’s flagship with Illustrator and be more web compatible. Essentially mixing Photoshop, Illustrator and Freehand/ImageReady/Fireworks, but it fails to be intuitive enough to get me to migrate. Looking similar to the beta, and being just as non-intuitive, Acrylic’s clunky interface hides what’s it’s features are more than shows them off. I know that MS is trying to differenitate itself from Adobe in this area, but how do you re-invent the wheel?

The vector and raster based functions work pretty well independantly. The vector brushes have some edge over my current Illustrator CS1, seeming to be more dynamic. Although creating brushes looks like it could be a chore. The “styling” that can be applied to vector images are nice, but creating new styling appears to be a chore (althought creating a brush in Photoshop can be just as time consuming).

The raster effects are okay, reminding me more of Painter, with the smudge actually doing a good job. While Photoshop can lag a litte when I am exerting maximum load on my PC, Acrylic’s brushes with effects added can lag really badly, which is a little fustrating.

Overall, it appears that MS spent more time working on the little things than the program as a whole. When switching between tabs, there’s a nice transition, a fairly smooth fade effect, which if that level of attention to detail had been paid throughout the rest of the product, I would be very impressed. It is rumored that Adobe bought Macromedia out of fear that Microsoft would, and have a bigger foothold in the Graphics/DTP world. Adobe did the right thing, yes, it eliminates competition, but it keeps Microsoft from putting out a better product. I would not switch to Acrylic, and neither should you.

Okay… I won’t post about work, but I have general statment to say.

I AM NOT A MORON

There! If one more person underestimates me… I think I’ll beat the freakin’ crap out of them.

Arrrrgh!

That’s all for now!

Opera has always bugged me. They claim to be the fastest browser (which they weren’t when Firefox came out) and you had to pay for them. God! what a stupid business model. Hmm, let’s see. I get IE for free (never mind now bad it is), I get Netscape for free, I get Firefox for free, I get Safari for free (on the mac), I get Avantbrowser for free, I get Maxthon for free, I getOff by One for free, as well as a whole hose of others.

So why would I pay for Opera? The answer is I didn’t. Their free version, with banner ads, um yeah… made me want to puke a little.

Finally Opera got smart. Freedom.

The OpenCourseWare concept from MIT is facinating. They are giving away valuable knowledge… the insanity of it. No, you can’t get a degree through it, but this is an awesome resource for those who want to do crazy things… like anthropology (sorry Esther, no Latin).

I find this blog really interesting. This guy is documenting every cup of coffee he has through an entire year. It’s really interesting to have to think about tracking each up. I don’t know if I could do it…

Esther and I are continually trying (and usually failing) to get healthy… maybe this will be a little help to us both…

… 04. Mango
The Power: A medium mango packs 57mg of vitamin C, almost your whole-recommended daily dose. This antioxidant helps prevent arthritis and boosts wound healing and your immune system. Mangoes also boast more than 8,000 IU of vitamin A (as beta-carotene). One mango has 135 calories, 1 gram of fat and 4 grams of fiber. Cut on up and serve it over leafy greens. Bonus: Your salad will taste like dessert! …

… 23. Peanuts
The Power: Studies show that peanuts or other nuts (which contain mostly unsaturated “good” fat) can lower your heart-disease risk by over 20 percent. One ounce has 166 calories, 14 grams of fat and 2 grams of fiber. Keep a packet in your briefcase, gym bag or purse for a protein-packed post-workout nosh or an afternoon pick me up that will satisfy you until supper, or chop a few into a stir-fry for a Thai accent…

… 28. Salmon
The Power: Cold-water fish like salmon, mackerel and tuna are the best sources of omega-3 fatty acids, which help reduce the risk of cardiac disease. A 3-ounce portion (cooked) has 127 calories, 4 grams of fat, 0 fiber. Brush fillets with ginger-soy marinade and grill or broil until fish flakes easily with a fork…

So Nintendo has released what their new controller will look like and how it will function. It seems pretty cool, using sensors to check position and orientation… But, I remember when Esther an I first started dating and we were playing video games, there were usually wild gesticulations that accompanied button mashing. “Jump, jump” was usually said in conjunction with rapid mashing of the button, and the upward swinging of the controller, as though that made Mario jump that much higher. What do you think we are going to look like playing games on the Revolution. Yep, that’s right a bunch of monkeys, yelling at the TV, waving our hands (and the controller) at the tv. It’s actually kind of scary. In the linked article they talk about swinging the controller just like you would swing a sword (a la Zelda), but when you are playing two player… what if I want to hit my opponent in real life as well as in the game? All completed in one swift movement… um, yeah. Lawsuits abound.

I’m back. insert AC/DC’s “Back in Black” as theme music. My first new post is going to be about being prepared. With Ophelia blowing just off the coast and the recent devestation in New Orleans, why are we not talking about preparedness?

So everything is cooler on the West Coast read San Francisco including their website for preparedness: 72hours.org. With the hurricane bearing down in this general direction, I have put together a list for Esther and I. But this site covers alot of things and after hearing the mayor of SF on NPR link coming later I think that it is a great idea.

He related that most of the “first-responders” live outside the city and in the event of “the big one”, an earthquake similar to the 1906 earthquake, both of the bridges would be inoperable. He said that everyday people had to become first-responders, which I think is an excellent idea. We are not required to serve any military time so I think that it is our civic duty to be prepared for the worst.

Are you doing your civic duty?