text:
ContributeSubmit an article about your project to KDE.News
About KDELearn about KDE software and the community
Download KDEDownload KDE Desktop and related applications
KDE.org
KDE Forums
KDE Wikis
Planet KDE
amaroK: Next Generation Audio Player Hits 1.1
Submitted by Mark Kretschmann
Before amaroK was born, most KDE users were stuck with XMMS; others would even run console-based audio players. Now those days are over. amaroK, written for the KDE desktop environment with its slick GUI and plugable, engine-independent audio capabilities is coming to a computer near you!
amaroK is the first KDE application to use the GStreamer Multimedia Framework without any dependency on external bindings. amaroK can also integrate with xine so you have the freedom of choosing your own flavor.
With version 1.1 there are many exciting changes that make using amaroK even more fun. Here are some of the features that you will simply love :
Fully Integrated with KDE: Play from your Samba share with smb:/, or use the fish KIO slave to play from a remote host.
Simple and Elegant: Collection-based system where you can choose songs from a variety of criteria, including artist, most played, never played, etc.
Stream Support: Listening to online radio has never been easier. Just load the playlist file and it starts playing.
Engine Independence: Ability to use GStreamer or xine. (There is also aRts engine but it is not ported to the new engine architecture yet).
Improved Crossfade: Crossfading with customizable fade-in/fade-out durations now works for GStreamer engine too
Inline tag editing: Tag your music while you play it.
MusicBrainz support for tag editing: No voodoo needed for tagging your music, just click the MusicBrainz button and it will get the song information from the online database.
Album cover support: If you have album covers in your music directory amaroK will automatically load them - better yet, amaroK can automatically download album covers from the Internet!
Multimedia Keyboard Friendly: If you happen to have extra multimedia buttons on your keyboard, using amaroK is even more fun. Just use KHotkeys to map those special buttons to amaroK's dcop functions (like play/pause/volume up/volume down and many more)!
On-screen Display: amaroK can optionally announce the currently playing song using its smart and stylish on-screen display.
So give amaroK a spin today! You won't be disappointed and that is guaranteed. Fire up amaroK, start playing your favorite songs, and visit the amaroK development squad @ irc.kde.org #amarok. Tell us why you just love amaroK, or your killer new idea for it. We are waiting for you!
Nice features, bad UI
Yesterday I used amarok for the first time. It has some nice features like the crossfade or the album manager. On the other hand the UI is the worst I have ever seen in an KDE application (I'm sorry I have to say this).
For instance the menu items change depending on which of the sidebar menu (context, collection,...) one chooses. The stuff below the main entry looks chaotic to me, with a "menu" button at the lower right corner?! What really is brilliant is the "current track" context menu with the informations about the currently played track and related information - great!
Tag handling is much more complicated than in JuK which is the greatest application for adding meta data to mp3 IMHO. It would be great if amarok and Juk developers would work together on some parts: crossfade, album manager and musicbrainz integration could be part of a library shared by both applications.
I am not sure if I like the amaroK announcement, it sounds too much like marketing bla bla, but perhaps this is just me?!
"Before amaroK was born, most KDE users were stuck with XMMS [..] Now those days are over."
A bit modesty and at least a short link to JuK / noatun would have been more in place. Anyway, thanks for amaroK :-)
By MK at Tue, 2004/09/28 - 5:00am
Re: Nice features, bad UI
I haven't tried amaroK yet, but I agree with some of the things you mentioned in your post.
"most KDE users were stuck with XMMS" is simply not true. Having that in the first paragraphs of the main page is a big turnoff. I have used JuK a lot and really like it. Maybe I'll try amaroK sometime too, maybe I'll like it better than JuK. But until then, amaroK hasn't left the best impression...
All else aside - keep up the good work and MAY THE BEST WIN.
By NF at Tue, 2004/09/28 - 5:00am
sorry but i must tell you i love Xmms this is nice but you don't think you are monopolize a lot the desk live a little to others programmer and this stupid color white you are using, I hate it, the good you can change it. but It's good enough, the good to the KDE is that you can change almost all good and go ahead to who like is I nice stuff
By jorge at Wed, 2004/09/29 - 5:00am
JuK and amaroK aren't competitors
First off, while I think JuK might be a little older then amaroK it, it isn't older by much. I've been using amaroK for a year, it started being usable about September of last year. So saying most KDE users were stuck with XMMS would be true, as that was certainly the case for me. Also it ignores that amaroK and XMMS both follow the 'winamp' non-jukebox style of MP3 players, whereas JuK is more of the iTunes variety.
I think the UI for amaroK is great. Better then any MP3 player out there. I do a good job of organizing my MP3 into directories myself thank you very much, so I don't like JuK which is organizes by ID3 tag (not that that's wrong or anything, just not my style). amaroK is for folks who either want a real simple MP3 player or (like myself) don't want to have to open seperate file dialogs boxs. File tree on the left, playlist on the right. Simple and less cumbersome.
By Ian Monroe at Wed, 2004/09/29 - 5:00am
Re: JuK and amaroK aren't competitors
I do a good job of organizing my MP3 into directories myself thank you very much, so I don't like JuK which is organizes by ID3 tag (not that that's wrong or anything, just not my style).
Actually, JuK won't touch your file organization unless you ask it to. I keep meaning to use the feature myself but I like my files the way they are too. =D
By Michael Pyne at Wed, 2004/10/06 - 5:00am
You are right saying the GUI sucks.
IMHO, something like JuK with the amamkoK features could be the best.
By Peter at Tue, 2004/09/28 - 5:00am
If you use amarok for a longer time, you'll notice that the UI of amarok is very good for what it was designed for - it is one of those few media player which actually ease often-repeated tasks like playlist handling & creation. It is far better than xmms or (almost) all other media player I've used in this regard, which is why I got hooked :-).
And AFAIK amarok is not supposed to be a juk-replacement concerning tag-handling.
By ac at Tue, 2004/09/28 - 5:00am
Tag-handling in amaroK is only meant to be something you do on the spur of the moment. Our philosophy is that you should be using a dedicated application like the excellent Kid3 or JuK, if you want to do mass-tagging or serious tag-management.
It is not true that the "menubar" changes with every side-tab. There is only one menubar! It is in the Collection Tab. And thanks to your reminder I will shortly make it into a toolbar. The menu button in the corner is a compromise that I have not yet thought of a better solution for.
I take some offense that you consider the amaroK UI to be the worst you have ever used. I have spent hours considering the UI, fighting off bloated feature requests and refining the interface to be usable, powerful and "amaroKy". I personally feel that anyone who has used amaroK for a reasonable amount of time would find it to be an excellent interface. Having said this I acknowledge that it cannot be perfect and thus I welcome any suggestions you may have, reading your post above I found none.
Collaboration with JuK actually happens more than people might think. Wheels is well aware that we nick loads of his code ;-) Not to mention we both use TagLib. JuK can use our engine system for sure if wheels/JuK-devel want to, the API is quite pleasant at the moment. They could probably take some stuff like the cover-manager, but then you have to ask where the distinction between the two applications would be?
And finally, despite my serious tone here, generally us amaroK people like to joke about. Hence the tone of the dot article! Sorry you found it somehow offensive, please take it with a pinch of salt!
By Max Howell at Wed, 2004/09/29 - 5:00am
///I take some offense that you consider the amaroK UI to be the worst you have ever used. I have spent hours considering the UI, fighting off bloated feature requests and refining the interface to be usable, powerful and "amaroKy"///
This is the problem. People used to KDE apps don't want a UI to be more "amaroKy", whatever that is. They want it to be more KDE-like. As such, it should at *a minimum* have a standard menubar and toolbar. I am what I would consider to be an "expert" KDE user and even I felt lost when I fired up amaroK. Where do I configure it? Where do I change keyboard shortcuts? Nearly every GUI feature is totally different than all other KDE applications.
This is where Juk and Noatun win and amaroK loses. Now, if *ONLY* I could configure Juk or Noatun to output *DIRECT* to OSS/Alsa and not use any arts/esd/GStreamer/,
*THEN* KDE would have a decent media player. Until then I am still stuck with XMMS / KMPlayer.
By Jason Keirstead at Wed, 2004/09/29 - 5:00am
We use KDE, we rave about KDE, we stick to all KDE style-guidelines, but our goal is to produce the best media-player. Personally I think amaroK does feel and look like a KDE application, but I suppose my point is that if we had to do something really differently because amaroK would be better as a result, then we probably would. Naturally there is a fine line, too little KDE-ness and amaroK would be worse. I wouldn't personally add a feature unless I felt KDE users would know how to use it.
"Nearly every GUI feature is totally different than all other KDE applications"
I concede the rest of your points but this is complete nonsense, we don't have a menubar, what else can you proffer? We use KMultiTabBar, KToolBar, KPopupMenu, KListView, KStatusBar, KGlobalShortcuts, KActions, etc. etc. The Player-Window isn't very KDE, but it is also very optional, and frankly is there for people who, like me, enjoy something a little colourful and fun.
Finally, GStreamer isn't a sound-server, it is a decoding framework, I suggest that if you don't like amaroK and you don't like aRts but you do like KDE stuff, that you use JuK with the GStreamer-bindings.
Actually don't ever listen to anyone on usability and you may keep afloat.
Follow your taste, or whoever's taste it was, and since most users that tried amarok liked it, they will continue to like it.
You just can't satisfy everybody, but usuability experts will convince you that they know what is best for all. As a matter of facts usability experts are the best at convincing people that their usability expertise is needed, then they put a perfect app or desktop to the ground.
They are the new plague of open source.
By hmmm at Wed, 2004/09/29 - 5:00am
///I concede the rest of your points but this is complete nonsense, we don't have a menubar, what else can you proffer? We use KMultiTabBar, KToolBar, KPopupMenu, KListView, KStatusBar, KGlobalShortcuts, KActions, etc. etc.///
Er.... just because you use widgets from KDElibs does not mean that your app behaves like a KDE application. As a user I would expect that at a *mimumum* this would mean that when I first start the app, it would have menu bar on the top, and a toolbar right under it. If I as a user like it at the bottom better, I can just drag it down there. Likewize, if I like a Menu button in te bottom right corner, I can customize my toolbar and put one there.
This is the whole reason you can customize these things. But it should never be the default config, since it makes new users feel totally lost. And when they already have a halfway-decent alternative, they tend to subsequenltly say "no thanks" (like I have) and not even both trying to "learn to appreciate" the UI you so painstakingly designed.
Also, note that I am by no means a UI guide stickler. In the past there have been numerous times where I questioned the guide and some points I whole-heartedly disagree on. However, there are just *some* things an app should have consistant - and a menu bar and tool bar are two of them.
Maybe it's hard for you to believe this, but amaroK has about the best GUI possible - better than almost any other KDE app. Maybe KDE should be more 'amaroKy' (whatever) as a whole! That would be better then adding bullsh*t like menubars or toolbars for every application (just to make _you_ feel at home), even if the program has only five menu items. Empty menus are disturbing, a waste of space and introduce unnecessary clutter.
BTW, there are applications that don't need to (and should not) follow standard interface guidelines, because they fulfill a special goal: music production apps, paint (that's why Gimp or Photoshop are bad), compositing (After Effects' GUI is really bad), 3D apps or - in this case - audio players...
By Willie Sippel at Wed, 2004/09/29 - 5:00am
"Maybe it's hard for you to believe this, but amaroK has about the best GUI possible - better than almost any other KDE app."
Not quite, as you can read that several people dislike amaroks UI. It might be the best UI for _you_ but this doesn't mean that it is the "best UI", especially if a couple of people stated exactly the opposite.
As I already suggested the developers should ask Aaron for his opinion and I'm sure he can give them some hints why amaroK is so confusing to use.
IMHO the general problem is that amaroK wants to be cool and exceptional and thus they try to make the UI non-standard (no menu bar, no toolbars, menu button bottom right and so on). It's o.k. for some audience, e.g. <18 years, but I am not sure this application should be a part of core KDE then. If you want to see a standard GUI, use JuK, which probably is too "boring" for the general amaroK audience.
"there are applications that don't need to (and should not) follow standard interface guidelines, because they fulfill a special goal:"
why should special applications not use a standard interface?
"[...] paint (that's why Gimp or Photoshop are bad)"
??? I really don't understand your line of reasoning here.
By MK at Wed, 2004/09/29 - 5:00am
Well, and there are also quite a few people that love amaroK's UI...
You know, if the amaroK team wants to add a menu- and toolbar, I couldn't care less - as long as it's possible to remove them, as they are simply not needed. Why would anyone in their right mind want to add UI elements just to comply to some unwritten UI standard, even if they are completely useless?!?
And that has nothing to do with the audience's age, as I'm neither <18, nor a gamer, modder or geek...
"why should special applications not use a standard interface?"
Because a standard interface is just the smallest common denominator. It can't be perfect for every app, that's why all workflow-optimized professional applications use their own non-standard, workflow-centric interfaces. Take Softimage|XSI for example: the context menu is available by pressing ALT+RMB, because RMB is deselect (and MMB is toggle select). With Maya, the menubar is star-shaped (the context menu is also star-shaped) and accessible by holding spacebar. Houdini has the menu on TAB, with type-ahead-find to select the menu item. All those apps are professional 3D suites, all have a completely different interface and controls, and they all have a very fast workflow (with a steep learning curve) that you can't achieve following standard HIG's...
"??? I really don't understand your line of reasoning here. "
Photoshop is a consumer/ prosumer/ low-end professional application, with Gimp being a clone. The interface is designed to be usable by casual users without much learning, but the workflow is nothing to write home about. There are also professional paint applications like Mirage, Liberty, Amazon, Paintbox, Cyborg Paint etc - you need a while to get the uncommon design, but once you're used to it, you are much faster than any Photoshop user.
>why should special applications not use a standard interface?
Because they don't need to use it?
Do you think kfind need to be removed because there is no toolbar/menubar?
By Bellegarde Cedric at Wed, 2004/09/29 - 5:00am
KFind is a dialog based application. It shouldn't have a menu (and if you look at the current styleguide you will see a case study exactly about some kind of find dialog). Yet a standard menu/toolbar in a not-dialog based application (like amaroK) should be present. You can remove them, move them, whatever you like. KDE allows it. But right now with amaroK you cannot move the toolbar, you cannot add a menubar. Some would like to have those and you can't say that they are wrong. There is no reason to limit the possibilities. You can be different in other ways as well.
By Andras Mantia at Thu, 2004/09/30 - 5:00am
I find amaroK's UI to be close to perfect; there isn't anything I can immediately think of that I'd change. The menu in a button in the bottom right corner is the only thing that sort of sucks, but I don't think a menubar would be a better solution. Perhaps something like what winamp has, where rightclicking on any of the "empty space" in the UI (ie, where a rightclick has no other useful function) brings up the menu?
By Gábor Lehel at Wed, 2004/09/29 - 5:00am
"It is not true that the "menubar" changes with every side-tab. There is only one menubar! It is in the Collection Tab."
A menubar is either there all the time or not at all (smaller games). I don't know any KDE application where the menu bar behaves that strangely. I spend several minutes(!) to find the cover manager--I knew was there because I used it already but I was not able to find it again. What is the reason to not allow the user to access the cover manager all the time via a menu bar?
"I take some offense that you consider the amaroK UI to be the worst you have ever used. I have spent hours considering the UI, fighting off bloated feature requests and refining the interface to be usable, powerful and "amaroKy"."
I'm sorry, but I hoped you liked constructive feedback. Also I didn't wrote that it is the worst UI ever, but the worst KDE UI I have experienced so far--meaning it is not THAT worse, because KDE UIs in general are good ;-)
Another smaller usability issue: the track slider is in the status bar. This is confusing since I am not aware of any KDE application that has an active UI element in the status bar. Also the stuff below the main window looks like a toolbar, but is none.
Other examples: I would not expect the "recode ID3v1 tags" in the "font" section. A "what's this?" help is not available. Using check boxes for the "tag filter" is confusing since they behave like radio buttons. I could surely find many more examples and I am not a usability expert.
" I personally feel that anyone who has used amaroK for a reasonable amount of time would find it to be an excellent interface. "
This is what the xfig fans (one of the UI nightmares) keep telling me too, but this is not the idea of a good UI. If you can don't fear some serious critics and want to make the UI better, then ask some of the UI experts like Aaron Seigo. He surely can help you explaining far better than I can why the UI is so hard to use for thos who have not already used a "reasonable amount of time". Good luck with the project -- Marco
"Another smaller usability issue: the track slider is in the status bar. This is confusing since I am not aware of any KDE application that has an active UI element in the status bar."
Fire up Konqui and look at the status bar: there's a checkbox at the right side - so I guess there's at least _one_ other KDE app with an active UI element in the status bar... :-)
The track-slider is there because it is status information. We deliberated putting it in the toolbar, but decided not to because the statusbar is where you put status related widgets. The rest of KDE not doing it is an issue with KDE in my opinion.
I used amarok today for the first time. I really loved the features, and I am off of xmms for good. So thank you very much for the nice app.
That said, I wanted to report on my experience with the UI. I literally spent 5 minutes searching for where to set my multimedia keys to work with amarok. The main reason for that was because I did not see the "Menu" button. I did not expect to find it there.
It also took a while to figure out how to add a directory that contains all my music. I did not know where to go.
I felt a little lost with the interface at the beginning. Once you get used to it, it is ok, but it seems to be a little difficult for newbies.
By Paul at Wed, 2004/09/29 - 5:00am
Actually, I like the UI!
The UI is a departure from any other media player I've used, but after several weeks of using it I'd have to say it's the best UI of any of them.
Perhaps it doesn't look cool enough for some people, but obviously the authors felt the same way I did about XMMS, Freeamp, Winamp, Windows Media Player, etc and cam eup with something fresh.
Good work guys, Amarok really did free me from XMMS!
By Arawak at Wed, 2004/09/29 - 5:00am
Yes I don't like the announcement, either. But amaroK. I like the UI a lot - easy to use and much better than e.g. JuK (I prefer the original "Apple" design more than this copy). The xmms style window is really nice if you want a control on top of everything else. While it is still KDE like, the colors put in a higher contrast which makes it perfekt for this.
I also don't see tag handling as complicated (especially if you compare it to Winamp) but I will try JuK on this...
Anyway I like amaroK.
By Norbert at Wed, 2004/09/29 - 5:00am
> I prefer the original "Apple" design more than this copy
Actually Apple didn't design that UI at all. There were jukebox programs for many years before iTunes that had similar interfaces.
The ideas came more from Real Jukebox than anywhere else, but even then there was a several year gap between me using it and designing the JuK interface. I hadn't ever used iTunes when I came up with the interface for JuK and even now I've probably used it for less than an hour total.
By Scott Wheeler at Tue, 2004/10/05 - 5:00am
While I appreciate amarok's functionality and its integration to KDE, I too take exception to the UI. There are no fatal flaw in amarok, though, and most of my nits are easily fixed details. What is disturbing, and is yet one more example why FLOSS hasn't made any serious inroads with the "unwashed masses", is the rumours I've read that the amarok developers don't want to listen to anyone who comments on the application's UI and are essentially saying "use something else, don't bother us, we like it as it is and we won't change it".
Sigh. Some days, I wish someone would just simply port XMMS to Qt/KDE so that we could have a simple, fast and nimble audio player for KDE that doesn't stick out like a sore thumb...
Makes me wish I was still an active coder.
By J.D. Smith III at Wed, 2004/09/29 - 5:00am
Thats cause amarok is great and I think media players UI are kinda like pizza toppings, you can't please everyone, though as indicated on the dot they are open to suggestions regardless. You want to port XMMS to KDE? When did XMMS have great UI. I mean, I used XMMS for years, but amaroK is clearly better IMHO. Having seperate file open dialog boxs is such a pain.
"the rumours I've read that the amarok developers don't want to listen to anyone who comments on the application's UI"
That's not true at all. They may not agree with what you are saying but they're absolutely willing to at least listen to what you have to say. In the end it is up to them to cater to not just a few, loud, non-representative-of-the-majority type users, but to the most people they can.
From hanging out in the IRC channel (#amarok on freenode) I get the feeling that most users _love_ the UI, and yes, I am one of those users.
By illogic-al at Thu, 2004/09/30 - 5:00am
I second that. I tried it but was put off by the UI.
Crap. It's too bad. Kaffeine rocks for playing movies, but I want something more adapted to playing music while still getting the KDE goodness.
By Jonas at Thu, 2004/09/30 - 5:00am
If you don't like it's UI don't use it.
The UI is the best I've ever seen on KDE.
On the one hand people say amaroK does not look like a KDE app.
So does XMMS ?
The main reason why I use amaroK is that it includes new ideas concerning UI.
I like it very much because it does not look like every other stupid boring KDE app.
There seem to be many people who a addicted to there boring KDE UI scheme (Toolbar, Window, ugly buttons) that's it.
Some people are too shortminded or maybe even too stupid to accept new ideas.
Seems to be a problem in the whole linux community.
I hope nothing will change in amaroK's UI because hate to always use the same shit standart KDE UI's.
(Gray and White and everythink looking the same somehow)
Maybe amaroK does not need to change but some people have to change their mind and become more flexible.
Always the same people who molest the comunity with there opinion about how a UI should look and that everything has to look the same !!!!
And other shit.
If you want a boring KDE UI use noatun !!!!!!!
By Stephan at Thu, 2004/09/30 - 5:00am
Ok, you don't like the "Menu" button in the bottom-right corner, but what else? There's not really a need for a "menu bar" since everything is doable wih drag-and-dropping or single clicks. *This* is usability, not designing a UI where you have to put thousands of menu items to do everything.
Said this, there's really the need to find a solution for the menu button :)
By Davide Ferrari at Fri, 2004/10/01 - 5:00am
Very good app, UI so-so
I disagree that this marketing "bla-bla" is bad.
I think we (the Open Source world) has way too less
of it. Just compare Firefox and previous Mozilla Suite
and how marketing is important to really make impact.
Sometimes I'm under the impression that many geeks don't
really want a larger user base. Fortunately this isn't
the goal for KDE. On Windows you have big-scale annoucements
and bad apps. We should have great apps and shy annoucements
with no self-esteem? No way - we can have great apps and
great annoucement. Not a contradiction.
What I'm still missing in Amarok is the ability to somehow dock
the main window and the playlist into one single window with
a common look.
JuK is cool for organizing music. Amarok for playing. They are both
good partners and I think sharing some code (for Album, etc.) is
certainly a good-idea. Besides (slightly off-topic):
What's totally confusing me is that the current JuK that came
with KDE 3.3 (SuSE 9.1) has no sign _whatsoever_ that there
ever was an option to fetch meta data from the internet (TRM/MusicBrainz).
But I could swear there used to be an option some time ago...
Weird!
By Martin at Tue, 2004/09/28 - 5:00am
Re: Very good app, UI so-so
"Sometimes I'm under the impression that many geeks don't really want a larger user base."
Where did you get the impression most geeks DO want a larger user base? I usually see two factions on forums and mailing lists. One would be those who constantly bitch about how Linux will never get Joe Sixpack to use it if they don't CONFORM! The other is a guy with a personal anecdote about how linux was easy for him. Neither of these imply a desire by the community as a whole. I woul dbe interested in the results of an accurate poll of a sufficient sample size on wether or not the majority actually DO want widespread adoption of the same users who carelessly allow their machines to be infected with any worm that wants in. Allow me to cast my vote now. Screw the average user. Linux was made by geeks for geeks and I wanna keep it that way. The only widespread adoption I wanna see is in business and hardware vendors.
By MrGrim at Wed, 2004/09/29 - 5:00am
Why, exactly, do you expect hardware vendors to support an unpopular system that's only for geeks?
Oh, wait, you want it to be popular *in business* as well. This may come as a surprise to you, but some businesses employ non-geeks for some of their computer operations! Guess what, if you want business adoption, you have to acommodate the "average user". And once they use it at work, they'll want it at home.
Popularity is our friend. I think there's a point, maybe around 10% marketshare, where ignoring Linux will be harmful to both software and hadware vendors. Also, more users = more money to distros = better testing, more stuff working out of the box, more developers sponsored to work on apps, plus things like reduced FUD credibility, reduced chance of unhelpful laws, reduced clueless "this website only works in IE on Windows" websites, ...
So, where does this leave j03 51xp@X, average geek? Well, here's where the Free = Freedom comes in. Nobody forces you to use FooDistro EasyConfig, the text files are there for you to edit. Nobody forces you to use BarWM (optimised for the end users!), you can use some WM optimised for "power users".
What you're really advocating is "I think people should only write software that I want to use, I don't care about anyone else". If somebody wants to write software that's easier to use, what right do you have to complain? Making suggestions and giving ideas is one thing, but that is not your tone.
Let's face it - Microsoft has no clue about end users. They come out with "innovations" like the collapsing menus - I have seen users look in the right menu for a function, see it collapsed, and assume the function does not exist. And they've been trained by that £@$% paperclip to avoid Help like the plague.
In some areas, Windows is already being beaten. The typical Windows start menu is a jumble of disorganised programs. Sometimes, they are helpfully grouped by publisher (like most people would expect to find Print Artist next to Halflife). My KDE menu lists games together, utilities together, etc. I know the "Start menu metaphor" is hated. I've read several articles making the point Linux desktops should do "something else". They never say *what* though. I've heard WindowMaker praised for being different, but it looks to me they put "Start" as a right-click instead of a button. Should somebody come up with something, you'll have the option to use it, whether it's for an OS written for 100, 100,000 or a billion.
Usability and users are not the enemy. The enemy is closed formats that lock your data in. The enemy is being told the bugfix is in the new version you have to pay for. The enemy is valuing shinyness over security. Everyone deserves freedom from software companies who muck around their customers, not a select few.
By a mysterious an... at Wed, 2004/09/29 - 5:00am
you can disable the xmms-like playerwindow, and amarok will appear as a single-window application with "a common look".
By Christian Muehlhaeuser at Wed, 2004/09/29 - 5:00am
add a PlayPause
And then you can add a PlayPause button to the play list window and your good to go. I think this is what the parent was wanting.
Re: add a PlayPause
it is already there :)
By rinse at Thu, 2004/09/30 - 5:00am
> What's totally confusing me is that the current JuK that came
> with KDE 3.3 (SuSE 9.1) has no sign _whatsoever_ that there
> ever was an option to fetch meta data from the internet
That probably means that SuSE didn't have the appropriate dependencies when creating the package. Support for internet-based tag-guessing was actually improved for KDE 3.3.
Finally a player that doesn't make it all complicated to play my music. With xmms I really like that I can just play a directory of music without having to build a database of my music and sort on the artist, etc (assuming all the tags were correct). Amarok is great in that I can just browse my collection right on the drive and drag the folder to the current playlist. Nice and simple.
By Eric Weidner at Tue, 2004/09/28 - 5:00am
Re: Just what I was looking for
try juk... If juk had *some* of amarok's features, or if amarok had the great interface juk has, that whould be the perfect audio player. now I use juk because I prefer a good interface and ease of use (also for newbies, everyone nows how to use it immediately, try that with xmms or *cough* amarok) above features like albumpictures and OSD's.
By superstoned at Tue, 2004/09/28 - 5:00am
I have tried juk and rhythmbox (I like rhytmbox a little more than juk, btw) and both didn't give me the dead-simple browse to my music and drag it into the playlist functionality that Amarok has. Both of these want me to catalog all my music in order to get to it and that's not how I work.
I don't care about album pictures and OSD. The Amarok interface works pretty well for me. The only issue I have is I keep forgetting where the properties option is located, but I really don't need it often anyway.
Dead simple browse and play is what I like about Amarok.
I use Juk over Amarok as well for the same reasons, but it would be great if Juk would figure out how to reload Folders when they change.
By Joe Schmoe at Tue, 2004/09/28 - 5:00am
well, it does, over here... maybe it takes some time? or the config isn't right?
my mayor annoyance is it is difficult to remove files from a playlist (without deleting them from disk!) - actually I never succeeded...
By superstoned at Wed, 2004/09/29 - 5:00am
Removing files from Juk playlists
Just "cut" the files from the playlist without pasting them anywhere.
It works for me, although I'd like the ability to be able to put an "Empty Playlist" button on the toolbar.
By driptray at Wed, 2004/09/29 - 5:00am
I would have agreed with using juk until last month when my collection grew from a couple thousand to 23 thousand files. It might have something to do with being on a FAT32 formatted drive, but it takes over an hour for juk to index.
I've been using amarok for a couple weeks now and I think it's pretty good. It looks like it's getting some more of the meta-data editing features that are the only thing that make juk really desirable for me since I have lots of fixing to do on those new files.
By scragz at Wed, 2004/09/29 - 5:00am
Nice engine
The amarok engine with its support for gstreamer and xine is really fantastic. (And it works beautifully, amarok's the first music player which can do correct crossfading between tracks). On the other hand the UI is not - well - liked by everybody (especially not by me) because it feels so non-KDE-ish.
What I'd like to see: put the amarok engine in kdemultimedia and let juk and the other applications also use it. Juk is such a great application but its output support covers only gstreamer-0.6 (not really good working) and arts (obsolete).
However the amarok engine supports (or will support) all major media frameworks.
By Bausi at Tue, 2004/09/28 - 5:00am
Re: Nice engine
It would be nice if all KDE multimedia apps would share the same metadata. This way reading metadata, downloading covers etc. would only be necessary once, users could use rate songs across applications (image starting juk for the first time and be able to play your favorite songs from amarok). Only playlists would be seperate.
A global multimedia meta data store would also allow new and interestings stuff using metadata. Imagine you work on a document and want to know: Which song did I listen to the last time I opened this document. Now, this sounds lame, but I am sure there could be 1000's of useful applications for system wide metadata.
(OT: One thing that comes to my mind as a use for metadata: Give me the document I was working on while talking to X on kopete/skype... I am confident the OSS community would find tons of nice applications for a good set of metadata.)
By Anonymous at Tue, 2004/09/28 - 5:00am
Use Noatun with Hayes if you want standard meta data functionality. It relies solely on KMetaFileInfo. Proper implementation of scoring, playlists, grouping etcetera through metadate is not possible with most file systems though.
I have a strong wish for Hayes to, instead of making different playlists, categorize songs or albums individually and then making a selection based on that meta info. That would be the proper way to get this unified.
By Rob Kaper at Wed, 2004/09/29 - 5:00am
Correction: aRts engine is available
The article states that the aRts-engine is not yet ported to the new engine architecture. This information is not up to date, as I forgot to update the text.
In fact aRts is fully usable in 1.1 (although we don't recommend using it).
By Mark Kretschmann at Tue, 2004/09/28 - 5:00am
Re: Correction: aRts engine is available
Does that mean bug 81436 is no longer an issue?
http://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=81436
This is the only problem I have with amarok. I frequently kill artsd to use mplayer - (mplayer + artsd gives significant audio sync problems on my SuSE 9.1 install). Then, to use amarok, I have to quit a running copy - restart artsd and start amarok again.
But I love amarok so much that I am putting up with all this!!
To all who say amarok's UI is not good and doesn't confirm to KDE's style - try using it for a few days and see for urself why this UI makes so much sense. Why try using the same UI across applications when all applications don't do the same task!
By antrix angler at Wed, 2004/09/29 - 5:00am
DONATE (Why?)
by Weixuan XIAO (Inokinoki)
by Michail Vourlakos (psifidotos)
by Kuntal Majumder (hellozee)
by KDevelop
by Krita News
KDE Plasma Abstract 372 HD [Wallpapers KDE Plasma]
MacOS MOD [Cursors]
Back To Black [Plasma Themes]
KDE Plasma Woman Leaning on Car Wallpaper [Wallpapers KDE Plasma]
Commonality Grey [Plasma Color Schemes]
Iris KDE [Look-and-Feel Themes]
Iris Breeze dark [Icon Themes]
Iris KDE [Aurorae Themes]
This work by KDE is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.


text:
Whirlwind of emotion
Dentistry Awards | Richard Field
Charlotte Lloyd
17th Apr 2015 08:16
Dentistry magazine speaks to Richard Field, winner of Overall UK Best Dentist award and Best Young Dentist South at the Dentistry Awards
Dentistry Magazine (DM): How do you feel to have won the overall best UK Dentist award?
Richard Field (RF): It's a great feeling to have won. On the night I felt a bit of a mixture of excitement and relief, as I had been worried about it all evening (the award was one of the last to be announced). So when I found out, I could finally relax and enjoy the evening. The night was an absolute whirlwind of emotion. I'm happy now and I can get on with the exciting new things to come this year with this under my belt.
DM: You had your dad with you at the awards, how did he react to your win?
RF: It was really great to have my dad there with me. He is a dentist himself and has supported me from the very beginning. He was thrilled to be there and very proud of me!
DM: Is there anyone in particular you want to thank (mentors, lecturers, colleagues)?
RF: I want to thank everyone who has helped and supported me over the last few years. The clinical mentorship from Chris Orr, Jason Smithson, Tif Qureshi, Zaki Kanaan and the whole Style Italiano family has been invaluable. I am also really grateful for all the support from the BACD, DMG, Enlighten, Optident, Garrison and Heraeus.
DM: Where do you see your career heading in the future?
RF: I have started working at two new clinics this year, Harley Street Dental Studio and Ten Dental and I am also giving quite a few lectures this year, which I am really excited about. I would eventually love to split my time between teaching and clinical work.
DM: What is your favourite aspect of your job?
RF: I like the creative side and I like how every day is different. It is a pretty emotional job, especially when you get to the end of treatment plans and you see the impact you have made on people that have previously been told that there is no option for what they have or people who were too scared to get the treatment done.
DM: Will you be entering next year? If so/if not, why?
RF: No I don't think I will enter this award again. I'm delighted and proud to have won. Now I would like to focus on new ventures and on my clinical work.
DM: What do you do in your spare time?
RF: I like to explore London and find the best coffee shops where I can catch up on some non dental reading! Its good to have a bit of an escape.
DM: Young dentists are starting out in a tough economic climate. How do you think you have and still are coping with such challenges? What advice would you give to other young dentists starting out?
RF: I think what a young dentist has to bear in mind is that it is important to take the time to invest in yourself, build your skillset and get down and do some actual dentistry. Take your time and build a portfolio of photographs of your work. These are invaluable when applying for jobs as it really stands you apart from others and shows evidence of what you can do. My advice would be if you invest in yourself now the rewards will come later!
For more information and to find out more about the awards please contact Leanna on 01923 851735, email [email protected] or visit www.dentistry.co.uk/awards.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The Reserve Bank of India has imposed restrictions on the amount of scrapped 500 and 1,000 rupee notes that can be deposited in bank accounts, news agency Press Trust of India reports.
RBI said on Monday old notes exceeding Rs 5,000 can be deposited only once per account till December 30. It said that the depositor will also have to give an explanation as to why the old notes were not deposited earlier, according to PTI.
RBI added that the explanation should be kept on record to facilitate an audit trail at a later stage.
Further, RBI said that even if deposits are below Rs 5,000, if the cumulative deposit exceeds Rs 5000, "they may be subject to the procedure to be followed in case of tenders above Rs 5000".
RBI also said that deposits above Rs 5,000 can be credited only into KYC-compliant accounts and "if the accounts are not KYC compliant credits may be restricted up to Rs 50,000 subject to the conditions governing the conduct of such accounts", PTI reports.
However, RBI has said that the restrictions shall not apply to deposits under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan scheme, 2016.
"It has been decided to place certain restrictions on deposits of specified bank notes into bank accounts while encouraging the deposits of the same under the Taxation and Investment Regime for the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana, 2016," RBI said in a notification.
Under the scheme, black money holders can deposit unaccounted cash in an account which will be subject to 50 per cent tax, which breaks down into 30% tax, 33% surcharge and 10% penalty, and 4-year interest-free lock-in for the remaining 25 per cent of the amount.


text:
Pewnego razu w Anatolii (tur. Bir zamanlar Anadolu'da, 2011) – turecko-bośniacki film dramatyczny w reżyserii Nuri Bilge Ceylana.

Światowa premiera filmu miała miejsce 21 maja 2011 roku podczas 64. Międzynarodowego Festiwalu Filmowego w Cannes, gdzie film był wyświetlany w Konkursie Głównym i gdzie otrzymał nagrodę Grand Prix.

Polska premiera odbyła się 21 lipca 2011 w ramach 11. Międzynarodowego Festiwalu Filmowego "Nowe Horyzonty" we Wrocławiu. Film został wyświetlony na otwarcie tego festiwalu.

Treść
Dramat psychologiczny na tle kryminalnym, opowiedziany z punktu widzenia towarzyszącego ekipie lekarza – człowieka przeżywającego własne problemy emocjonalne, który po odnalezieniu ciała uczestniczy też w sądowej sekcji zwłok ofiary mordu. Do końca dokładnie nie wiadomo, kim był zabity, z jakiej zginął przyczyny, który z braci zabił – tj. jakie było konkretnie tło i motyw zbrodni. Traktowane są one jako twórczy pretekst i kanwa przez reżysera skupiającego się na niemal dokumentalnym pokazaniu ciągu zdarzeń i stworzeniu specyficznej atmosfery tego sądowo-kryminalnego przypadku.

Obsada
 Muhammet Uzuner – doktor Cemal
 Yılmaz Erdoğan – komisarz Naci
 Taner Birsel – prokurator Nusret
 Ahmet Mümtaz Taylan – kierowca Arap Ali
 Fırat Tanış – podejrzany Kenan
 Uğur Arslanoğlu – kierowca Tevfik
 Murat Kılıç – funkcjonariusz policji İzzet
 Şafak Karali – pisarz sądowy Abidin
 Emre Şen – sierżant Önder
 Ercan Kesal – sołtys
 Cansu Demirci – córka sołtysa
 Erol Eraslan – Yaşar, ofiara morderstwa
 Burhan Yıldız – podejrzany Ramazan
 Nihan Okutucu – Gülnaz, żona Yaşara
i inni

Nagrody i nominacje
 64. Międzynarodowy Festiwal Filmowy w Cannes
 nagroda: Grand Prix – Nuri Bilge Ceylan
 nominacja: Złota Palma – Nuri Bilge Ceylan

 25. ceremonia wręczenia Europejskich Nagród Filmowych
 nominacja: Najlepszy Europejski Reżyser – Nuri Bilge Ceylan
 nominacja: Najlepszy Europejski Operator – Gökhan Tiryaki

Przypisy

Linki zewnętrzne

Bośniackie dramaty filmowe
Bośniackie filmy z 2011 roku
Filmy nagrodzone Grand Prix Międzynarodowego Festiwalu Filmowego w Cannes
Filmy w reżyserii Nuri Bilge Ceylana
Tureckie dramaty filmowe
Tureckie filmy z 2011 roku

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


This stew is the perfect farewell to late Summer's bounty and a warm welcome to Autumn's harvest. Sweet picadilly tomatoes and green beans are simmered with root vegetables and shredded cabbage for a hearty, delicious and nutritious meal in a bowl.
Spinach, Pear, Ginger and Cashews are blended up with Coconut Water to make this deliciously creamy and spicy green smoothie. Enjoy it for breakfast or in between meals.
This green smoothie gets is rich colour from dinosaur kale and it's sweetness from coconut water and golden delicious apple.
Aromatic and peppery Arugula and sweet raw cashews come together in this raw vegan pesto, perfect for hot or cold pasta, grain salads or as a tasty sandwich spread. Thanks to the wonderful healing properties of arugula, this pesto is a good source of iron, vitamin K and folate.


text:
Q: hamilton-connected graph characteristics I'm trying to understand the answer to the following question:
Prove a lower limit of $|E(G)|$ where for any $u,v\in G$, there exists a Hamilton path
Define a "Hamilton-connected graph G" as
For any vertices u,v∈G, a Hamilton path exists, where the two ends of the path are vertices u and v. Try to prove that if G is a Hamilton-connected graph and |V(G)|⩾4, the following inequation holds:
|E(G)|⩾[(3|V(G)|+1)/2]
I don't the get the part he says "Since v has only two neighbors, then the first vertex in this Hamiltonian path must be v, or else v will be unreachable before reaching y. However, if the vertex v is second on the Hamiltonian path, then the only possible vertex to be third is y. But there must be at least 4 vertices so this is not a Hamiltonian path"
Why is not a Hamilton- connected?
P.D. I don't know if he means Hamiltonian or Hamilton as the definition of the problem (both are different).

A: I tried to give as much details as possible :
Suppose that $G$ is hamilton-connected, i.e. for any pair of vertices $u$, $v$, there exists an Hamiltonian path from $u$ to $v$.
Suppose that in $G$, there exists a vertex $v$ of degree only 2, and call its neighbours $x$ and $y$.
If $G$ is hamiltonian, then it must exist an hamiltonian path from $x$ to $y$. In order to be hamiltonian, this path must include $v$ (as well as all other vertices of G, once only).
In the path $(x\ldots y$), suppose that $v$ is not in second position, i.e. the path is $(x\ldots av\ldots y)$. But then this means that $a$ is connected to $v$. $a$ can be only equal to $x$ or $y$ (the only neighbours of $v$). $a$ cannot by $y$ as an Hamiltonian path includes each vertex only once (and this one also ends by $y$). But $a$ cannot be $x$ too. This is a contradiction. Hence $v$ is in second position in the Hamiltonian path from $x$ to $y$. Therefore the path must be $(xv\ldots y)$.
But from $v$, the only vertex we can reach is $y$, therefore the path is exactly $(xvy)$
However we have $|V(G)|\geq 4$, therefore this path is not hamiltonian, (it would need to go throught every vertex in order to be hamiltonian). this is a contradiction.
Therefore there exist no hamiltonian path from $x$ to $y$, and then $G$ is not Hamilton-connected

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


In this Instructable I'll explain how to make nested helices (spirals) from wooden dowels or sticks. A few years ago I came across this article in Make Magazine that describes a spiral cutting technique first published by Steve Garrison. I was very intrigued, but other projects kept me busy. Finally, I decided to design and build my own jig to cut these spirals.
The basic idea is to use a scroll saw to cut a dowel lengthwise. If you turn the dowel while cutting it, you will end up with a spiral cut. Some people might be good enough to do this by hand, but I am too klutzy to do that. You have to be very steady and accurate, otherwise the two parts will not separate (unscrew) after the cut, or they'll break apart while cutting. Also, if you want to do several consecutive cuts on the same dowel you need to be very precise.
I decided to build an Arduino controlled jig that uses two stepper motors: one to advance the dowel into the blade, and a second one to turn the dowel around it's long axis. By adjusting the speeds of the two motors independently, you can make a spiral screw of any pitch. I define pitch as inches advanced per revolution. A 1/4-20 standard machine screw takes 20 turns to advance one inch; so per my definition it has a pitch of 1/20 inch per revolution. You will need a spiral blade for the scroll saw; i.e. a blade that cuts in every direction. This is very important! I use Olson #0 spiral blades. Since this is a very fine (46 TPI, 0.032 kerf) blade; and since I am cutting very, very slowly (20 to 30 minutes for one 10" long spiral cut), the resulting cut is very smooth and requires no sanding.
This technique WILL NOT WORK ON A BANDSAW as there are no spiral blades available for the bandsaw. Repeat: it will not work on a bandsaw! You might be able to set up a jig with a Dremel motor or router and a small cutting bit; but your kerf will be much larger.
I will not go into great detail about the jig; that may be a future Instructable if there is sufficient interest. The pictures and movies should be helpful. A brief description of the jig is as follows.
The central part is a 26" long sled that is driven towards the scroll saw blade by a stepper motor and a 1/4-20 threaded rod. As the stepper motor turns the threaded rod, the sled is pulled forward. Inside the sled, the dowel is mounted similar to a lathe. A second stepper motor turns the dowel around its center axis at a speed controlled by the Arduino program. The sled is mounted into a 30" long outer frame that clamps securely to the scroll saw table. When the system runs, the inner sled advances the dowel into the scroll saw blade while the dowel is being turned. Choosing the advance speed and the turning speed gives you a great deal of flexibility over the shape of the spiral.
The stepper motors are controlled by an Arduino micro-controller. Programming is done in the Arduino IDE environment.
To use the jig, you mount the dowel into the sled, install the spiral blade, and clamp the jig to the scroll saw table. Tilt the table if desired. Position the jig so that the blade enters the dowel at your chosen offset from the centerline. Then you start the scroll saw and initiate your program on the computer that is connected to the Arduino. The program contains your desired parameters of pitch, cutting speed, and length of the cut.
If you cut the dowel along its center line, you get two pieces which thread around each other beautifully. To get a center cut started drill a pilot hole through the dowel about 1/2" from the starting edge, then position the jig and insert the scroll saw blade through this hole.
Use hardwood like walnut, cherry, maple, etc. to create a strong spiral set. Poplar dowels are cheap and will work, but they can be more fragile. I have used dowels from 1/2" to 1.5" in diameter.
The dowel may be round, square, rectangular, hexagonal, or octagonal. A square-dowel center-cut spiral will be very confusing to people, because it looks like 'it should not unscrew'. But it will! It's a pretty cool toy to play with.
By making cuts that are offset from the dowel center axis you can 'slice off' several spirals that wrap around a center spiral 'screw'. My jig can handle dowels up to 1.5 inches in diameter and 10 inches long. I have been able to cut four outside spirals, one inside spiral, and a center spiral screw. That is six separate pieces wrapped around each other! The resulting wood spirals are a little fragile and should be handled carefully.
You can tilt the scroll saw table to get even more variations on the shape and look of the spirals.
A special case occurs if you tilt the table so that the blade enters and exits the same cut line. That tilt angle depends on the offset from the dowel centerline, the dowel diameter, and the pitch. The math gets complicated but I worked it out. For example, a 5/16" offset on a 1-1/4" dowel with a 0.8 inch per revolution pitch needs a 25.3 degree table tilt to meet this requirement. The offset parameter is difficult to set accurately, and the results are very sensitive to the offset; so some trial and error is advised. The result is a beautiful set of nested spirals like these.
You can make your own dowels from hardwood boards.
My dowels are 12 inch long, resulting in 10 inch long spirals. Some wood species cut smoother than others. Poplar, maple, cherry, and walnut cut really well. Pine and oak do not work well with the #0 blades; they leave a jagged/uneven edge and you may not be able to separate the spiral pieces. In that case use #2 or #4 blades for a more aggressive cut and larger kerf. Avoid wood pieces with knots.
You can add interesting designs by laminating different colored woods. Cut your dowel blanks on the table saw to make a square, rectangular, hexagonal, or octagonal cross section; or turn round on a lathe. Then cut your spirals; the results will look amazing!
I showed it to my dad, and now he wants to try to build a similar jig. We have a cnc that we built a few years ago, so we should be able to drive the steppers from LinuxCNC. It should be as simple as 1 gcode (G01, I think).
I also put together a Mathematica program to model the cut based on the radius, offset, pitch and angle (I am a math grad student by day).
If you do get around to making an instructable on the jig itself, that would be awesome. Otherwise, any tips that you might have on building would be appreciated. My dad's first instinct was to try to build it bigger, but after reading some of your comments about the vibration issues, I think we build ours to a similar scale.
I am working on an Instructable for the Spiral Cutting Jig but it will take me a while. I want to rebuild my jig and document the build.
For the programming I am using the Arduino IDE, and the examples that come with the Big Easy Stepper Motor Driver get you 95% to your final program. It does not involve gcode, you basically tell the stepper motors: turn some steps on the spindle motor, wait, turn the dowel motor one step, wait, repeat! LinuxCNC and gcode should work fine as well.
I build the 'gear box' - i.e. the motor/pulley mounts from 3mm clear acrylic cut on a laser cutter. The jig uses several brass bushings, stainless steel couplings, timing belt(10") and pulleys, and 1/4" nuts and bolts. The jig header is 3/4" baltic birch plywood, the body is particle board and MDF(because I had some - baltic birch would be better throughout), and maple cross pieces.
It would be great if you could share your Mathematica program as a stand-alone app; don't know if that's possible.
Here is a link to a movie clip showing the vibration/flexing, both in real time and slo-mo.
It's hard to avoid vibration, and it becomes worse for longer cuts and smaller (tighter) pitch. The dowel in the movie is 22mm by 30mm with a pitch of 1.5 inches (Yes, I know, I'm mixing units!), being cut along its center axis. It turned out ok despite the flexing. If you try to dampen the vibration with you fingers you probably make things worse by deviating the cut, and the pieces will not unscrew. So I ignore the vibration. Some cuts have very little vibration, it depends on the wood and wood grain, the lamination, the pitch, and the diameter and offset from center. And sometimes things fail.
would you happen to have the new jig made and the instructable for it posted ?
I really like the complexity of this project. And, the results are extraordinary. But, is there an actual use for this type of jigging? Maybe a wooden screw type actuator? Don't get me wrong I dig this and all. I'm just curious to know if this is useful for something or another?
Thanks for your interest. For me, the project is purely artistic/aesthetic; for the intellectually curious. The resulting spirals are fun to play with, and almost everyone tries to figure out how they were made. They won't work well as a screw actuator; too much play and probably too fragile. You could use them for ornamental accents on furniture, or on wood carvings, plaques, displays.
How about having two types of word dowels of the same size and cut that are spiraled together? Would make for some really cool table legs if you could make them long enough.
Would love to have details on making the necessary jig and controls.
The first and second picture in Step 3 show what you are suggesting. Note that the oak and walnut dowels were cut the same, and fit into each other as in the second picture, top. You won't be able to glue them back together, the kerf (gap) is too much to make a good glue joint. Maybe you could use epoxy??
1-1/2 inch diameter is the max I can do, even at that the scroll saw is challenged. Making the spirals longer is also tricky. When you cut about 4 to 5 inches into the dowel it starts to flex and vibrate quite a bit from lack of support and resonant frequencies. This would be worse with a longer dowel.
Thanks loads for the update. Sorry I did not see those images initially. Was too intent on the instruction I guess.
What if you use a larger dowel of 2" and bore it out first? You could then use a metal rod down the center for the actual support structure when finished.
Black epoxy would look cool in the gaps for glueing the two pieces together.
Also on your jig could you add rollers top, bottom and sides near the saw blade that would minimize the amount of flex? These would need to be on the uncut side.
Sorry. Don't mean to belabor the discussion of longer pieces. It just adds really cool furniture possibilities.
Anyhoo thanks again for the Ible'! If you do get around to making the Ible' for the fixture setup that would be great.
You could apply all the suggestions you made in the design of the cutting jig. Cutting a 2 inch diameter dowel may be beyond the scroll saw capability; on the other hand if you had a hollow core like you are suggesting that might work. You would have to think about how to mount the two ends securely. You will still run into problems with vibration/flexing. Essentially you are cutting a 'spring' that likes to flex.
The best support for a round dowel is a long board with a v-groove. Mount that board between the scroll saw table and the dowel. Obviously, that will not work for square dowels.
If you construct a table leg with a metal rod in the center you can stack a bunch of 5" to 10" spiral sections around it to achieve the length you want; the joints would be pretty much invisible. Let me know if you make any and how they turn out.
Just a thought on the support for the helix as it is cutting, could you have the "springs" feeding into a tube & feeding from a tube, to give extra support to prevent as much ability for them to flex once cut? E.g. 1 & 1/16 inch internal diameter pipe & 1 inch dowel?
I'm not much for these technical kind of things, but the thought popped in my head while reading through the comments section.
Great instructable & nice finished pieces.
That might work somewhat, but the tube would be cut by the blade along with the dowel. You would still have support on the uncut portion of the dowel.
Yes, it would be complicated.
Beautifull. I will make one. Please publish the arduino sketch.
These are amazing! Very interested in the automation side of this. What motors (specs) did you choose?
That's great help, thank you!


Mount Temple is a traditional 18 hole Irish Championship golf course, situated in the heart of Ireland and is renowned for its large links type greens and undulating fairways. Sitting on an esker based site gives the course the advantage of being playable all year round. It presents a real challenge to all golfers with amazing views stretching over 75 miles. The course is located over an hour from Dublin and about 12 mins from Athlone, taking junction 6 or 7 off the M6 motorway.


text: Waiting...

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Innovation Talk: Bitcoin. Sweat. Tide. Future of Branded Currency. Currency — the bills and coins you carry in your wallet and in your bank account — is founded on marketing, on the belief that banks and governments are trustworthy. Now, Paul Kemp-Robertson walks us through a new generation of currency, supported by that same marketing … but on behalf of a private brand. From Nike Sweat Points to bottles of Tide (which are finding an unexpected use in illegal markets), meet the non-bank future of currencies.


Kyrie Irving's night against the Clippers was cut short by a right knee sprain that kept him out of the second half.
The Celtics point guard scored 14 points in 14 minutes before coming up hobbling with just over four minutes remaining in the second quarter. The five-time All-Star appeared to suffer the injury while navigating several off-ball screens on defense.


text:
Workshops + Events
TIME>SPACE>PLACE
an invitational group exhibition and community arts happening curated by Jason Triefenbach for 1122 gallery and Standard Practice Co:Creative in partnership with Portland Art and Learning Studios
Friday, May 17th 6-10pm
Ricky Bearghost
Tess Bidelspach
Jackie Boden
Demain Dine Yahzi
Job Erickson
EM Fuller
Sam Hancock
David Hunt
Jeannette Mill
Tabitha Nikola
P.A.L.S. Video Collective
Brianna Rosen
Ivan Soliton
Gena Sophia
Mathew Spencer
Jason Triefenbach
Curator Statement
TIME > SPACE > PLACE is the first manifestation of Standard Practice Co:Creative, a soon- to- be- incorporated community arts nonprofit dedicated to catalyzing creative potentials through engaged discourse and collaborative action.
Equal parts social sculpture*, group exhibition, and subjective research platform, TIME > SPACE > PLACE emerges from Triefenbach's ongoing series of interviews with Portland area artists and arts organizations. Through these conversations, the theme of Place- geographical and historical; social and emotional- became a unifying thread.
As the inaugural Artist- in- Residence at Portland Art & Learning Studios; a 10,000 sqft studio for artists experiencing intellectual and developmental disabilities, Triefenbach created two outdoor sculptures inspired by his conversations with Portland locals on race, economic disenfranchisement, and historical erasure: "RUINS 1, 2, and 3" stands as an embittered monument to the legacy of white supremacist land grabs and continuing destabilization of so- called minority communities (in both of which Triefenbach acknowledges his complicity as a beneficiary of white male privilege). "Flowerbeds of the Future" casts a wary eye toward Utopian idealism, referencing science fiction and vernacular landscape design to imagine either an abundant future- or the low hum of human twilight.
In the interior of the 1122 gallery space and extending into the driveway, Triefenbach curated a colorful, energetic group exhibition of artists he has met through Standard Practice interviews as well as several artists working at the P.A.L.S. studio. Expressions of place, identity, fear, and desire come together in a variety of styles and media, from line drawings and watercolors to sculpture, self- published editions, video art, and a virtual reality interface.
And a third component to TIME > SPACE > PLACE will exist beyond public view: an upcoming discussion and brainstorming session among the artists will dissect the strengths and limitations of Portland's creative landscape, with an eye toward Community, Collaboration, and Coalition- building.
At this intersection of voices, we hope to weave a new story.
Dough by Stacy Elaine Dacheux +
Writers from the Association of Writers & Writing Programs Conference
Friday, March 29th 6-10pm
Stacy Elaine Dacheux's drawings of dough investigate small gestures which awaken the power of aesthetics. Her super 8 film is a continuation of this study. It sweeps these illustrations into a live-action performance matched with quotes from other artists to develop a personal multi-genre narrative about making and mothering.
Stacy Elaine Dacheux's projects have been featured in the Los Angeles Times, exhibited with soft.core.la and published in The Rumpus. Her interviews can be found in PAPER, BUST, Ms. Magazine, and Los Angeles Review of Books. In addition to appearing on IFC's Comedy Bang! Bang!, she licenses her artwork for television and film through Jennifer Dehghan's Circudo. Most recently, the Echo Park Film Center commissioned her to make a Super 8 short film with support from the Andy Warhol Foundation.
In conjunction with the AWP Conference, 1122 will also host readings and other surprises all weekend. More info on our events page!
Pivot-> A Badass HERstory Portland Show
Cass Rose Embroidery + the Badass HERstory Project
Opening: Saturday, March 2nd 3-6pm
"If I get stuck, I will pivot and carry on. My story matters. I am a valuable contributor to Badass HERstory."
Badass HERstory is a craftivism (craft+activism) project launched by Shannon Downy AKA @badasscrossstitch meant to empower individuals, build community, and reshape narrative. This project provides an opportunity for folks to learn a new skill set with deep female roots (embroidery), to participate as global activists building off of and expanding the momentum of the equality movement, as well as, the incentive to put down their devices and create something meaningful with their hands and hearts.
This PIVOT show will be a revealing of the stories manifested onto fabric by local Portland artists created for the Badass HERstory project. After this show, these pieces will be sent to the Badass HERstory headquarters to be attached to the larger 3-dimensional structures in what will become a massive public art installation.
Additionally, there at this Portland show there will be fabric, thread, and pens provided for you to create and develop your own story during the show.
Reverie Room
A Youth Show with Ella Jones + Ruby Zapf-Gellar
Opening: Friday, February 8th 6-10pm
Through Sunday, February 24th
Reverie Room is simply a platform for Ruby and Ella to publicly display their art for the first time. Most of their paintings follow a surreal theme, which is why they have decided to create a dreamy atmosphere in the gallery. They hope the artwork along with the setup of this show will inspire you, promote a relaxed and happy atmosphere, and allow you to catch a glimpse into their lives.
The Sponges
Opening Reception: Friday, October 12th 6-10pm
Closing Reception: Friday, November 2nd 6-10pm
The Sponges are a set of charcoal drawings, dark and intensely sensitive beings created to take on some of the burden, hardship and sadness we all endure. This exhibit will invite participants to interact with each sponge in an experiential way.
Rachel Jones is a Portland, Oregon based artist. She holds a BFA in Painting from Pacific Northwest College of Art. Since graduating in 2007, Rachel has been working in a variety of media. Her work is largely made up of portrait style pieces, with a special focus on the materials being used.
Inner Weather
Claiborne Colombo
September 14th-October 5th, 2018
Opening: Friday, September 14th 6-10pm
Inspired by maps and the natural world that surrounds her in the Pacific Northwest, Claiborne Colombo translates her experiences around place into deconstructed landscapes using a range of techniques and expressions -- intricate lines, guttural marks, bold colors and organic forms.
Working on both canvas and paper, she uses transparent layers of acrylic, graphite, charcoal, and pastels which she applies with both spontaneity and precision. The layers intersect and combine to reveal the stratification of her process without compromising the raw nature of each material.
Claiborne uses colors that flow, vibrate and bounce off one another. They act as a compass, helping the eye navigate through the layered terrain. In play with the swaths of color are more detailed marks. Her marks capture movement, subtle shifts, and drastic divides. Throughout her work, lines and shapes are repeated and transformed, flowing across the expanse. Some of her marks are planned, but at times, her hands work faster than her mind with each mark informing the next, creating an organic and meditative flow.
Altogether, these elements form a dynamic language that guides the narrative of each abstracted map, building a journey full of fluctuations, pauses, crossroads and moments of discovery.
The Feeling Remains Even After the Glitter Fades
Jess Curran
June 1st- 29th, 2018
Opening: Friday, June 1st 6-10pm
Everything is connected by energy. Jess Curran explores this through the process of painting. After placing a layer of paint down, it is left for many hours. The way the new layers interact with the previous ones indicates a sense of vulnerability. Nothing is permanent. The overlapping layers express how we all leave marks on each other's lives.
The Inside is the Outside
May 4th- 31st, 2018
Carin Rodenborn + Abbie Miller
Opening: Friday, May 4th 6-10pm with a performance by The Whirlies
Artist Talk: Saturday, May 5th 12-1pm
Abbie Miller and Carin Rodenborn have been engaged in a rolling conversation about the relevance of abstraction and the seduction of materiality for over a decade. Their shared interest in spatial relationships and process, and how empirical experience is informed by the ongoing correspondence between the two, has opened up a reimagining of abstraction for each artist in the studio. This is the first time they will be sharing their work in exhibition, side by side -- a visual and material layer of the their conversation.
Abbie Miller (b. 1981, Billings, Montana) received her BFA from the University of Wyoming in 2004 with a minor in apparel construction and holds a Post-Baccalaureate Certificate from Maryland Institute College of Art, 2005 and a MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art, 2007. She has had solo exhibitions at the Missoula Art Museum, Nicolaysen Art Museum, Casper, Wyoming; Art Lab, Jackson, Wyoming. Miller has been included in group shows throughout North America, including the Craft and Folk Art Museum, L.A.; Reading Public Museum, Pennsylvania; Cranbrook Academy of Art Museum, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan; Portland Art Museum, Oregon; and the American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York, New York. Her sculptures are included in the permanent collections at the Portland Art Museum and the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art. She is a recipient of a Wyoming Arts Council Fellowship (2013), a Contemporary Northwest Artist Award (2013), and a Metcalf Award (2014).
Carin Rodenborn is a visual artist and writer living and working in Denver, Colorado. She received her MFA from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University in 2007, a Post-Baccalaureate certificate from Maryland Institute College of Art in 2005, and her BFA from Iowa State University in 1995. She is an Assistant Professor at Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design. Before teaching at RMCAD, she taught at Texas State University in San Marcos, TX and St. Edward's University in Austin, TX. She is Co-Founder and Co-Editor of Dime and Honey, an online art publication that looks at and celebrates the intersection of art and life. Her work has been exhibited throughout the United States, including in the Texas Biennial and the publication, New American Paintings. She works with both traditional and non-traditional materials in a contemplative painting and drawing practice that explores surface, objecthood, color, language, spatial relationships, and the spirit of materiality. Both her visual work and writing play with hybrid forms.
Site powered by Weebly. Managed by Porkbun