Kdenlive : First Impressions

They say first impressions count and that's certainly true for any tool I utilize.  In what little free time I've had over the weekend, I've been starting to edit up all the clips I took of the workstation upgrade & rebuild.  This is my passage from the pedestrian Core i7 950 to a Xeon X5670.

I've elected to update my video editing software and Kdenlive seemed to be the answer to visual challenges I had at hand, and oh boy was I right.

Following a seamless download of the Appimage version, a simple startup and about ten minutes orientating myself, then about a further ten to just get used to the S X and M control core points I was applying effects to clips, setting up spacing in between others and saving to perform a test render.

I am utterly and totally so impressed with Kdenlive, this is the first time in a long while I've been equally surprised and delighted by a piece of software.

My Reviews, CPU's and Books

Well folks you'll have no-doubt noticed I'm getting a fair few reviews out there, mainly through my YouTube channel, but also via Amazon where you'll find me fiddling and filming many items.

However, I wanted to just take a moment, to say; even though I get these items, if they are rubbish, I'll tell you.  I reserve all my own editorial rights, and though you can see something as cheap or free as a viable worthy thing, I'm still going to tell you if they fail miserable; simply because that's what people need to know.

You need to know if the items you're getting are utterly rubbish or not, whether it's worth spending money on, or even if it's cheap and decent, or just "good enough"; you know as a stop gap measure.

So expect many more things to float this way soon... I have an Android Tablet to review, a pretty nice looking Carry-All for gaming/software purposes; as someone on the move with many software facets, it'll be nice to have a bag with actual pockets for CD's or DVDs... and yes, I still use optical media!

I am also looking at filming a new-updated series about writing your own CPU, my previous posts here about it are perhaps my most viewed pieces, and the YouTube videos about them (which are silent) are pretty popular too.... But they're not perfect, they are as I say, Silent, they are perhaps incomplete, and to be honest they need updating to C++14.

There is also another reason for me to push out a new software series anyway, and that is that I'm constructing a book, yes me... An author!... I've been toying and trialling different styles for a technical book for sometime, a book for office use, to teach others to think and code as I do.

The reason being, we're hiring graduates, and they don't have the experience firstly, but now they're all very much younger than myself, and they don't have the grounding in computing.  When they're sat in front of an eight core, 3Ghz PC with 16GB of RAM, and they describe it as "slow", I just want to slap them around the back of the head with a rolled up news paper.

So, I started a document about how they should perhaps approach programming, gave some algorithms as to how they can see how something can be slow, but actually their machines are quite fast!... This was a success, and at least two of the people hired around me have stuck around, despite being very young graduates with very narrow fields of experience, they've become pretty good jobbing programmers.

I feel therefore I might make a more experience orientated programming book, many of them out there are tutorials, or "beginners", or even expert friendly, and many of them impart good knowledge, but I don't believe many expand or impart skills to the reader, and it's that skills bit which is difficult.

Difficult because in text, you're reduced to being very verbose, a picture speaks a thousand words, but a picture is not going to explain how to code all the time, so I'm struggling with word count and audience attention span at the moment, at least with my initial drafts.

Drafts?... Multiple?... Yes, because, like with my blog posts, I'm breaking this whole thing down in to different texts, a basic, a couple of middling and one expert tome, it what I'm aiming for at the moment.  Backed up with an initial FREE! Introduction set.  I also plan to perhaps have a free book about cross-platform work too, or the cross-platform development environment, and then a paid for book about actually doing cross-platform work.

The idea being, the reader can boot-strap into my text for free, then cherry pick what sections they may want.

I'd not want the whole series to cost more than a few pounds, we're not even talking tens of pounds, literally the whole lot for less then £9.99.  But each individual part I do want to charge for, a few pounds at a time, so to speak.

And why read my stuff?.. Well, if not to get a job with me, to at least feel more than just a programming, to take that step towards being a developer, to being better, and thinking better of the work you do.

Also to let me feel a little self-important... Right?... that's the best bit!... Be Xel trained today!

Elite Dangerous - Trade Tool Sneak Peak - Update - Progress Pt12

I have been starting to set up to record my programming and testing... Here is a test stream - I didn't have my joystick plugged in, hence the erratic flight, but you can see me pop up the trade data and it quickly find me a worth while trade in system.

http://www.twitch.tv/xelous/b/631915041

And one of my coding environment....

http://www.twitch.tv/xelous/b/631920214

Update: You can now support this project at Patreon!

Altair 8800 - Full Demo

Do you want an Altair like machine you've written yourself in C++?  Then try my newest post...

I've a guilty secret, and this is that I've been totally and utterly obsessed with watching these videos, I recommend you do too!

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLB3mwSROoJ4KLWM8KwK0cD1dhX35wILBj

You can watch the whole series as a play list form the given link, or just the first video from the one I've embedded here.  But the series takes you through Altair assembler, CP/M, and other goodies.

MMORPG Multiboxer (Multiple WoW Clients) #4

Welcome to my dev diary number 4, for the Multiboxer project, I've had a lot of people viewing the posts, far more than the videos (there's like 190 of you viewing the posts, but only like 6 views on the videos; which tells me my tagging either sucks or the videos are so crap you're not watching them).

Well, today's video is interesting in that you will see the code base (its files) and you'll see me using it from Visual Studio, and showing you some of the ease-of use features I'm adding in.  The fact I'm adding ease of use items, and showcasing them is really just a demonstration that I'm thinking about how I, and hopefully you would want to use this software, it really is going to be driven by your guys... So donate now to spur me on!

The demonstration today will focus on the window positions settings, how they're automatically saved for you and how they're used when you start up.  We're handling 4 clients at the same time, but if we opened more the known positions for these 4 would be used and then the rest would default, all being handled seamlessly for you, as you'll see in the video.

You will also see some of the included features of the software, how we switch into "monitor mode" easily to map key codes for the "Key Mappings" configuration, which you'll also see for the first time!

You can donate directly to this project and help fund development today, any donators will receive goodies!

Google Goofs with Plus

I'm an avid YouTube watcher, I enjoy many topics, but the number of the subscriptions I have whom are mentioning the Google+ comments bullshit on YouTube... We have...

Jingles... "It sucks doesn't it"

Boogie (aka Francis)... "I tried to put up with this new Google+ bullshit"

Dave (aka EEVBlog)... "Hello McFly... Hello... I'm approving... It's retarded... It just doesn't work"

This debacle is just on going... I personally hate the system, they've removed functionality I enjoy, such as the addition of a time into the comment so you can link what you're saying to a specific moment, then it used to allow me to reply to a comment, right now I don't know how to address a comment to a specific recipient.

And then the "Real name" thing.. I've seen Hitler posting... And the big JC... Santa and fucking Gandalf... Like he's not busy enough... it's like What the fuck!?!!?

This is Google's biggest visible change ever, and its abigger flop than anything that they've had flop before.  I hate google+, I only use my google account for gmail and this blog, it happens they own YouTube so that's linked in there too, but I don't specifically use Google+... I like blogspot, and I like YouTube, and I used those services on their own merit.  The fact they're piggy backing Google+ on those more used, more popular interfaces says a lot, if Google+ was as all invasive and defined the social space then fine, but it doesn't, so to make it impact on YouTube is a pain in the back side, stupid.

And as that mad Aussie bloke says better... "this is just Evil".


Addendum, after writing this yesterday, Boogie has been back on camera, lets see him in action:

Another Addendum, I've made one reply to one message in the new system... Look what appears in my inbox linked to my YouTube account... This is new, it never did this shit before...

That's just an hour in my small inbox, on a small comment on one video, I usually post all over... And I went into my Video Manager area to look for my YouTube inbox... No, my YouTube inbox is gone, its sending messages out to my own personal e-mail... just swamping me in mails, I can't imagine how terrible this would be for a content maker.

And then I've spotted more issues with the new system itself... Like if someone has relied to a comment, you used to be able to click "Show Comment", so the new message could be linked back in a tree to the comment it was about, this is called a discussion, and its how we as humans converse...  Now however, you only get the name of the person you're replying to, and you click it and the site takes you to their profile page... Not to the comment... So the context which 90% of comments sit in has been lost, totally lost.

I'm beginning to really hate the new system, and I'm happy to see big contributors, like boogie standing up to this shit.

Bike Road Rage

I agree with this cyclist, as much as I hate to agree with any cyclist.  The car driver here he does not regret what he did, he just regrets getting caught...

And to be honest, he was in the wrong, so why cover his face, he pulled over in the middle of the street, a public place, and publicly berated the guy in the right, so why cover his face he can expect no privacy, its common decency not to shout at people, and to go to the lengths of turning around and following the young chap.

If he's have got out the car to me, I'd have thrown the bike down and assumed a stance to protect myself with reasonable force, up to and not including whacking his head on his own bonnet.

Not that I condone violence, but pricks like that driver need a smack, thinking he's hard.  And mainly I bet he only dare challenge the guy on the bike cus he's young and lightly built.

Unmask the coward and let his employer (if the waster has one) see who he is!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-24731206

Pokemon Cock Fighting

I just heard the strangest analogy...

youTube Video at 4m25

"Pokemon is like cock fighting"

Weirdly yes, yes it is.... Gotta catch'em all.

Digital Arachnophobia

Now I'm not Arachnophobic with the usual spiders in the UK, I was once a little surprised by the size of a Wolf Spider I found down Cheltenham way, but that was all...

However, having just watched this I have the distinct feeling of a creeping wish to not ever ever meet one, it looks so... ergh.

Spider Robot

YouTube Irritations

I've come to the conclusion that managing and working out what your comments and commentary gets replied as on YouTube is a nightmare.

Google have recently changed the whole YouTube experience to be more Google+, rather than its own stand alone service, and I for one, don't like it... There are a fair few obvious things missing from the mix...

1. When you comment, and someone replies, it comes into your "inbox" that you have a reply, and it shows their comment regarding your input, or trolling... But you can't see your original comment, sometimes the replies you get are months after you made the comment, and when you comment a lot its hard, if not impossible to track back what you actually posted originally to garner the attention of this reply.

2. You can't get to your inbox easily, you used to be able to just click on account and go into Inbox, but right now you can't.  I refuse to sign into Google+ and it bitches at me for not doing as they want me to.. But you have a right faffing job to get into your Inbox.

3. You can then track a comment as "Linked Comment" if you follow it back from your channel listing, so you hit your account, top right, go into "My Channel" and there you can click on the comments you've made and hence get back to the comments you wanted to read as the API actually puts them up as "Linked Comments" specially bringing them into view...

So here, from "my channel" you can see the posts and go back to see what the comment refers to, but not from your Inbox.. Gah.

All in All, for such a popular service I think YouTube needs a little loving its awkward with this attempt at them linking it into Google+.

I also have an irritation with blogger, when you paste in from NotePad a wall of text, it adds a <BR/> on the first line, leaving a gap at the top of posts, a gap which was not there in the compose window, you have to go into the HTML window to remove that... annoying... Everything is annoying today.