Misadventures at 720nm

Ungimping the Gimp, Part 1
Ungimping the Gimp, Part 2
Ungimping the Gimp, Part 3

Well welcome to part four of this one-part series on The Gimp, one of the jewels of the open-source community and maybe the finest FOSS raster editor. Here is how I save a single-layer .JPG file in Adobe Photoshop after I open it, say to sharpen it:

1. Go to File->Save, or optionally use the handy keyboard shortcut Ctrl+s.

Here is how I save a single-layer .JPG file in Gimp 2.7.1 after I open it, say to sharpen it:

1. Go to File->Save, or optionally use the handy keyboard shortcut Ctrl+s.
2. Why is is asking to save the file in .XCF format?
3. “You can use this dialog to save to the GIMP XCF format. Use File→Export to export to other file formats.” Excuse me?
4. Go to File->Export, or optionally use the handy keyboard shortcut Ctrl+e.

This behavior comes right back to my rant of mid-week: I rate my software by the amount of annoyances it has. Save/Save-as should simply save the file. Gimp subverts this standard completely by making simply saving the file a complicated multi-step process.

Sigh.

Among my little social circle, a circle that mostly consists of myself and those poor others who are so paralysed with the fear of my insane wrath that they dare not flee, my hated of The Gimp is legendary. No other program, to me, exemplifies just how frustratingly right and how wrong the open source community can get things.

The Right: Features, features, features

I’m currently experimenting with Gimp 2.7.1. with Ubuntu 10.4, and feature-wise I believe it can compete fairly with Adobe Photoshop in core tools: Sharpen, blur, clone, crop, resize, heal, selection (by colour, magic wand), layers and it’s own experimental content-aware fill equivalent in Resynthesizer. There are even a limited subset of editing actions (creating borders and fine-tuning selections) that I find to be easier in The Gimp. And blessed of blessed, the 2.7 beta builds and the coming 2.8 version will have a native single-window mode. Huzzah. No more relying upon a(n outdated and unsupported) third-party solution for me to get my single-window fix.

The Wrong: Adobe Photoshop

Oh snap.

I am a Photoshop user. If you’d believe it, I even have a certificate that says, in part, yes Mark, you officially know how to use Photoshop. My personal point of hatred with The Gimp has always been its GUI, it’s interface. The keyboard shortcuts were (to me, completely backwards). Imagine your first time moving from to Firefox to Google Chrome or Apple Safari. You sit down and discover that instead of Ctrl+t to open a new tab, it might be Ctrl+i. Select all might be Ctrl+y, not Ctrl+a. Etcetera. Your very first experience is to discover that the keyboard shortcuts are all completely different to what you know and understand. Some things aren’t even bound to the keyboard at all! Where are my palettes? My brushes? Our first experience with The Gimp has typically overwhelmingly negative.

In the pioneering spirit of a man who has little else to engage him, I have set out to really give The Gimp another try by turning on single-window mode and changing all of the keyboard bindings so as to bring it closer to Photoshop’s. I’m ungimping The Gimp. The results have been pretty good so far.

It’s usable. The team has come a huge way since I last really used The Gimp (2.2-ish?) in GUI, in utility and in tools.

Watch this space for a keymap.

I had this whole big rant written up about father’s day, my place in it, and my wife’s place in my place in it. It was long, bitter and ultimately pointless. Ranting feels good for a few hours, but it is pretty pointless when the person it is aimed at wouldn’t know compromise or reason if it snuck up and bit her on the arse. So instead, below, there are two photographs of my wonderful, awesome children. I <3 you guys.

I have quit Facebook. My entire take on the whole privacy débâcle is this: Facebook lied. Facebook promised us a certain level of discretion in both how we could control the information about us that was available and in how they would use our information; time has shown that they have down an abrupt about face on both of these. I personally could care less (within reason) as to what information is available about me on the Internet; I deal with much more sensitive and personal topics here on my site on a daily basis. If I do not wish a certain topic to become a matter for the attention of the Internet I simply do not discuss it electronically. I believe it is nothing less than prudence to assume that your every electronic conversation can and will be subject to interception, analysis and unwanted sharing. These nefarious agents can be anyone; advertisers who want to know my tastes in order to better sell their project; the (freaking) CIA and other intelligence and law-enforcement agencies, who comb for sensitive keywords; relatives and coworkers about whom (hypothetically) I might have some less than positive comments.

In short: assume there is an attacker, always. Partition, self-censor and continually be alert for the potential consequences of what you may say. This is something that I have learned – the hard way.

• Partition: Decide what you want to say and where you want to say it. Think about who might see it whether at the front (user) end or back (server/Internet side).
• Self-censor: Obfuscate, diffuse, ignore, feign indifference, be opaque, be vague, omit, subtract and outright lie.
• Consider consequences: Bad-mouthing your employer and coworkers is always dumb.

So far as companies like Google, Microsoft (Bing) and Twitter operate, I have little to complain about. I believe that just like Facebook they genuinely wish to provide a better experience and make a money in the process. It is the way of the times. It is the way of the future. I can’t see an end to it until somebody cracks A.I. and creates a Turing-compatible Mark on a computer somewhere. The very first question asked of Mark² will be “What do you think of our product range?”

Anyway. These other companies haven’t gone and made such bare-faced lies about their intentions that I’ve gotten likewise incensed. So: Goodbye Facebook. It has been easier to quit than I imagined because I really do not use my Facebook account for much of anything. I chat to Caira’s grandparents once in a blue moon? I’ve pulled the profile link down from yonder sidebar. I’m looking into my alt-Facebook options that I can push my friends and family onto.

What are your opinions on this? Weigh in below! :)

Sad Mark is sad. The clouds rolled in less than 30 seconds after I arrived at my location.

paulmwatson:

Stephen Fry on Catholicism, from the Intelligence Squared debate. (via kasperhauseredux)

(AKA: This is why I hate Galway)

I canvassed Galway City’s developers and otherwise renowned photographic centers with the following question: Would you be able to develop this roll of film to just a negative and then supply the images on CD? I don’t need prints.

Developer #1

Well, no, sorry. We don’t develop film here. There’s a poster in the window? Oh, well I guess we should take that down. You might try Developer #2 down the street.

Developer #2

Hmm. Black and white? That isn’t good at all. Nobody shoots with black and white film anymore. I mean. You need certain chemicals. They’re too expensive to stock ‘just in case’ and…well I mean nobody uses black and white at all. Haven’t in years.

Developer #3

That’s really black and white? Wow. Well, no we can’t do that. If you wanted colour developed as black and white, we could do that.

Developer #4

We can do it for you, but it’ll be five working days, and you’ll have to purchase a set of prints with the order. No, it isn’t included. You have to buy an extra set of prints. Says so right here.