Personally I wouldn't use MS paint for any kind of image re-encoding work.
Especially involving gif's. There's a free image viewer I use called irfanview
at http://www.irfanview.com/ . It's very
good at saving images in new formats, resizing images and doing simple
transformations (rotations, greyscaling e.t.c.).
A vector is a method of storing images, as opposed to a bitmap. Whereas a bitmap
is stored as a collection of different coloured pixels, vectors are stored as a
bunch of equations about the sizes/lengths/widths/curvature/colour/gradient
e.t.c. of the different elements of the picture, leading to a much smoother
looking image (when dealing with anime at least). Although the image you
download is converted to a bitmap before it is uploaded.
For example, a jpeg image is a bitmapped image, whereas a flash animation is a
vector image.
I find that the little google search box at the top right of Firefox is enough.
I have Trillian sitting in the corner of my screen telling me if I have
emails/IM's/IRC messages and the Y! & google URL's are easy enough to
remember that I don't need the shortcut's offered by the bars.
EDIT: Whoops, seems you're talking about
the tools that let you search your desktop, rather than the internet. In which
case then, the google one work's fine for me, 'cept that it doesn't seem to
update to account for deleted files. Also, it only searches IE's history, not
Firefox's.
Mac's are very impressive in my opinion. Apple try to bundle pretty much
everything the average home user will need into the basic OS installation,
rather than MS' figure-it-out-yourself approach. If, like me, you're easily
impressed by pretty graphics, the Mac wins too.
I plan to buy myself a 15" Powerbook once
a) I turn 18, so I become eligilble for the student discount.
b) Tiger get's released.
Unfortunately, if you're a gamer like me, the Mac's get let down. Although their
are some great games available for them (Darwinia, World of Warcraft), their
numbers are low. Also, unless the games are dual Windows/Mac, they tend to be
very expensive. i.e. £40 for Black and White on the Mac,
£5 on the pc.
But you usually wind up with horrendous artifacts too. Paint really isn't very good at image format conversion. Especially involving gifs.
Personally I wouldn't use MS paint for any kind of image re-encoding work. Especially involving gif's. There's a free image viewer I use called irfanview at http://www.irfanview.com/ . It's very good at saving images in new formats, resizing images and doing simple transformations (rotations, greyscaling e.t.c.).
A vector is a method of storing images, as opposed to a bitmap. Whereas a bitmap is stored as a collection of different coloured pixels, vectors are stored as a bunch of equations about the sizes/lengths/widths/curvature/colour/gradient e.t.c. of the different elements of the picture, leading to a much smoother looking image (when dealing with anime at least). Although the image you download is converted to a bitmap before it is uploaded.
For example, a jpeg image is a bitmapped image, whereas a flash animation is a vector image.
The original manga, along with Stand Alone Complex is ace. I've never been a fan of the original movie though.
Also, Masamune Shirow seems to have missed the point a little with Man Machine Interface.
bOINGbOING
Exactly the sort of news I want to read.
I find that the little google search box at the top right of Firefox is enough. I have Trillian sitting in the corner of my screen telling me if I have emails/IM's/IRC messages and the Y! & google URL's are easy enough to remember that I don't need the shortcut's offered by the bars.
EDIT: Whoops, seems you're talking about the tools that let you search your desktop, rather than the internet. In which case then, the google one work's fine for me, 'cept that it doesn't seem to update to account for deleted files. Also, it only searches IE's history, not Firefox's.
I built my current computer to
a) Save cash
b) Give me something to do
c) Learn useful PC stuff
d) +1 Bragging rights
All in all it came to around £800, with all the bits bought from Overclockers.
The boring tech bits:
Athlon 64 3000+
GeForce 6800GT
1024Mb Ram
Antec Super Lanboy Case
Zantec Swirly Fan thing (can't remember model)
160MB HD (Again, can't remember model)
Abit KV8 Something or Other Mobo
Logitech Mx510 Mouse
zBoard Gaming Keyboard
And the monitor/speakers from my older PC.
I'd recommend building a PC over buying a pre-made one to anyone with basic tech knowledge. It really is just a case of square plugs in square holes.
Mac's are very impressive in my opinion. Apple try to bundle pretty much everything the average home user will need into the basic OS installation, rather than MS' figure-it-out-yourself approach. If, like me, you're easily impressed by pretty graphics, the Mac wins too.
I plan to buy myself a 15" Powerbook once
a) I turn 18, so I become eligilble for the student discount.
b) Tiger get's released.
Unfortunately, if you're a gamer like me, the Mac's get let down. Although their are some great games available for them (Darwinia, World of Warcraft), their numbers are low. Also, unless the games are dual Windows/Mac, they tend to be very expensive. i.e. £40 for Black and White on the Mac, £5 on the pc.
Rukia is certainly interesting.