45: Letting the Katmouse Out of the Bag
2009-02-17
Download MP3 For Geekons Episode 45
Pop-Up: Katmouse
- Katmouse is a lightweight Windows utility to enhance functionality of mice with scroll wheels.
- The core feature of Katmouse is the ability to use the mouse wheel to scroll just about any window the mouse cursor is over that has a scroll bar.
- The app doesn't even have to have focus, which makes it great for scrolling documents in the backround.
- Katmouse also has a weird feature to use your mousewheel button to push a window behind all of the other windows, but that is easily disabled in the Katmouse preferences in the Wheel Button menu. Just change it from Wheel Button to None of the Buttons.
- The other annoying thing is certain programs, like Audacity, have built-in handlers for the mouse wheel that get disrupted by Katmouse.
- The simple fix for that is to simply go to the Applications tab of Katmouse, add Audacity.exe to the list, and change the settings so Katmouse ignores it.
- It was originally written in 2002, and has been most recently updated in 2007 to work with Vista and Office 2007.
- Katmouse, while not open source, is completely free of charge.
- 5 out of 5 stars, Another app that will be installed on every Windows machine I use.
Geek-Tweak: How to make swirly tentacles in Inkscape
- Start Inkscape 0.46 or greater
- Make a triangle
- Select the Stars and Polygons tools and choose 3 corners with a spoke ratio of 0.5 and no roundedness or randomization.
- Draw a triangle with the flat side on the left and a single point on the right by holding control while you click and drag to the right.
- Copy the triangle to your clipboard by selecting the triangle and clicking Edit>Copy, or Control+C
- Make a curvy line.
- Select the Bezier curve tool and click somewhere on the drawing.
- Click somewhere else on the drawing, then press Enter to finish your straight line.
- Now, press F2 to switch to the Node editing tool
- Place the cursor over the line, and when the cursor changes to a hand, click and drag to bend the line you just drew.
- Do that a few other times in other areas to make the line curvy.
- Apply a "Pattern along Path" effect to the line and tweak settings
- Switch to the selection tool by pressing F1 (or clicking the selection tool in the tool box)
- Select the curvy line by clicking on it once.
- Click "Path Effects" from the "Path" menu. This opens the Path Effects toolbar.
- Choose "Pattern Along Path" from the Path Effects toolbar and click Apply.
- Under "Pattern Copies" select "Single, Stretched"
- Click the "Paste path" button as the Pattern Source.
- You may need to set the fill of your new shape by clicking one of the colors across the bottom of the screen.
- Adjust the thickness of your swirly tentacle by clicking in the Width field and scrolling down. (Or just type in a smaller number like .25 or .3)
- Play with the curve of the line
- Press F2 to return to node edit mode, and manipulate the path that the triangle is stretched across.
View-Source: How does God license His love?
- This past weekend was not only Valentine's day, but also my 6th Anniversary, which got me to thinking a lot about what love is, and what God has to say on the topic.
- I'm avoiding the typical 1 Corinthians 13, but if you haven't read it go, read it, and realize how far below God's standard we fall. (If you nail God's standard on love, please don't judge me, since I know I fall short of His definition.)
- As a fan of Open Source licenses, I wondered how God would license His implementation (the true definition) of love.
- Fortunately, all of this can be found in 1 John chapter 2!
- Creative Commons
- Verses 10-11 tells us how important it is to love others, so obviously we're starting with a Creative Commons License.
- The difficult part, however, is we are almost not allowed to use a closed license. We are actually required to share and repeat it. *Kind of a mandatory Re-Tweet of His love.
- Attribution
- Like most software, we need to decide on a standard to follow. Are we using ANSI C, Objective C, or something entirely different? UTF-8? Do we export CSV or XML?
- With God's Love, what standard do we follow?
- Verse 23 says in order to even have access to the Father, we must acknowledge the Son.
- If we want the biblical standard of Love, we need to be in communication with our heavenly Father.
- Obviously, the Creative Commons license requires Attribution... we must attribute the love we have as being possible through Jesus Christ, and not our own strength.
- No Derivative Works
- There is one final aspect of the license, which we find in verses 5-6, and verse 15.
- Verses 5-6 tell us that if we claim to live in the Father, we will live the way Jesus lived.
- Verse 15 tells us not to love the things of the world.
- Obviously we can't alter God's definition of love, no matter how tempting it is.
- The final aspect of the license is No Derivative Works.
- It is pretty clear to me that the base of God's love is released on a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works license, but a modified one that doesn't merely encourage sharing, but requires it.
- How do you treat the license God put on love?
- Have you fully experienced God's love by applying the license he set?
- Geekons is all about being a Geek and a follower of Christ (a "Geek Deacon"), and part of that is showing God's love.
- How can you Re-Tweet God's love this week?
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