rookkey2's New Writeups

Metacity (thing)

2002-05-22T03:28:34Z

A window manager for the GNOME desktop. Basically, Metacity acts as a traffic cop that directs how a desktop window can be moved and resized, which program has the control of the keyboard, and how a window itself will look. Its author, Havoc Pennington, describes Metacity as follows:

It's a boring window manager for the adult in you. Many window managers are like Marshmallow Froot Loops; Metacity is like Cheerios.

Metacity is based on the GTK2 toolkit, the same kit that GNOME 2 is layered on top of. The window manager draws obvious comparisons to another popular GNOME window manager--Sawfish--but Metacity is much faster than the LISP-based Sawfish. Also, it appears that development on Sawfish has all but ceased.

On May 21, 2002, Sun Microsystems and Wipro Technologies announced that they were ending development on Sawfish and switching to Metacity. Reports state that the two companies made the swap…

Bill Bixby (person)

2002-05-10T22:17:46Z

Most famous for playing Dr. David Banner, the alter ego of The Incredible Hulk, on the 1978-1982 TV series "The Incredible Hulk." In addition to his role as the doctor always on the verge of a breakdown, Bixby was highly involved in many other Hollywood productions throughout his life.

Born on January 22, 1934, Bixby worked various odd jobs before entering the Estelle Harmon School for Acting. In the 60's, he landed guest appearances on "The Twilight Zone" and "The Andy Griffith Show." In 1962, producer Jack Chertok offered the role Tim O'Hara on "My Favorite Martian" to Bixby. Bixby quickly became a familiar face in American households.

Bixby also starred in other TV productions, such as "The Magician", "The Courtship of Eddie's Father", and "Goodnight Beantown." He has also worked in several mini-series and made-for-TV movies.

Bixby frequently showed up on TV game shows, such as "Password&qu…

device context (thing)

2002-03-17T17:49:16Z

Deep in the bowels of Microsoft Windows, little nuggets of data hold valuable information about all the open windows on a screen. Quite frequently, programmers need access to those nuggets if they ever want to draw to that screen. But who wants to travel through the technological jungle that is Windows, just to get at the necessary info?

This is where device contexts come in. In Windows code, a programmer makes a request for a device context from the operating system. Windows responds with a handle to a device context. Now, anytime a programmer wants to display something, he would just give the handle back to Windows and Windows would take care of the rest. This may seem like a roundabout way of working, but there's a reason why Microsoft makes programmers jump through so many loops just to draw on a screen.

When programming graphical applications for a computer, one wants to strive for code that is as general as possible. This means the same code that puts lines and…

Owl (thing)

2002-03-16T05:41:40Z

Object Windows Language. It is development software maker Borland's object-oriented wrapper around the Microsoft Windows API.

OWL uses C++ to encapsulate much of the Windows API into object-oriented classes. Common user interface (UI) elements in a Windows programs (buttons, menus, toolbars) are represented by classes that can serve as bases for derived objects. This way, programmer's can act on UI elements as if they were objects, as opposed to continuously messing with all nuances that the raw API demands--such as handles, device contexts, and window registering.

OWL does a lot with Windows. It represents a Windows application as an object. It encapsulates windows as objects. It overrides the << and >> operators to simplify serialization. It provides abstraction for OLE operations. It even has full support for document/view applications.

Simply put, it's almost…

Film Gimp (thing)

2002-03-02T04:58:10Z

Film Gimp is a film editing add-on to The Gimp, the powerful open source image editing software freely available to those using Unix or Windows. Film Gimp uses The Gimp as a base and builds on it to provide film authoring capabilities.

Even though the Gimp software suite and its Film Gimp derivative are little known outside of the open source community, millions have seen it's products in action. Many Hollywood films feature special effects created with Film Gimp. Rhythm & Hues, a Los Angeles post-production editing studio, uses Film Gimp to add special effects to movies such as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Dr. Dolittle 2, The Lord of the Rings, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and Planet of the Apes. They are also the artists behind the commercials with the Coca-Cola drinking polar bears.

Film Gimp was made to remedy the fact that the regular Gimp could not easily support sequence work--obviously a key component in any motion-base…

Burning Times (thing)

2001-12-31T10:07:38Z

The Catholic Church's mandated hunting of those practicing witchcraft during the Middle Ages. Practicing the so-called "Dark Arts"--black magic, sorcery, herb collecting--all constituted potential witchery. These acts apparently flew in the face of Christian beliefs at the time, and hence, were deemed criminal. Punishments differed throughout Europe, and many of the facts of what actually happened in this era are still in question.

Still, there is no doubt. Christians throughout Europe during the Middle Ages overwhelmingly believed witches existed and most believed extermination was in order. Thousands of those merely suspected of practicing witchcraft were killed. While the name "Burning Times" may give the appearance of death at the stake, few were actually executed with the method. Most died by hanging. Although the Catholic Church now admits that religious persecutions did occur, the extent to which they happened have been exaggerated. However, the…