I did a serious look at Gimp and found it inferior to PS for what I do (Dang!). Especially b&w conversions. The one I posted above is just about impossible with anything else but CS3. Not CS2, not CS. When I discovered the B&W tool in CS3, I wanted to wake up Ansel Adams and tell him to get up and out! Here’s the tool for you! And I have been doing this sort of stuff since, well, since Columbus was a midshipman! (1959, anyway!)

In re software: the current state of affairs is that open-source packages which replicate most of the functionality of closed-source packages are now available. Some of them are better (e.g., Firefox, Thunderbird, Miro, Pidgin); others are at the stage where nearly all of the functionality used by nearly all users is there but some high-end features are missing; and others are still a bit rough around the edges. I use the ones mentioned above as well as The Gimp (replaces Photoshop), Scribus (replaces Quark), Dia (replaces Visio), OpenOffice (replaces Office), plus others.

There are multiple sites which enumerate all these and try to provide some idea of which do what, what they run on (Linux, MacOS, Unix, Windows, etc.). Here are a few:

http://whdb.com/2008/the-top-5…..ernatives/
http://www.linuxrsp.ru/win-lin-soft/table-eng.html
http://www.firemountain.net/support/software.html
http://www.ttcsweb.org/osswin-cd/
http://www.opensourcewindows.org/
http://portableapps.com/
http://theopendisc.com/
http://softwarefor.org/

There are three very nice things about most of these programs: first, they’re free, so if you don’t like them — uninstall and try the next one. Second, they’re often portable (e.g., Firefox runs on darn near everything) so whatever time you expend learning to use one applies across multiple operating systems. Third, because they’re open-source, they’re subject to peer review — which in turn means that bugs tend to be actually fixed rather than explained away in press releases.

One of those links above, BTW (PortableApps) has a nifty angle: the software is set up so that you can load it onto a memory stick (like the USB pendrives that are now everywhere) and take it — and your data — with you. Very handy, especially when combined with encryption.

* starts thinking about eating *

just had 2 whole wheat pancakes with bittersweet chocolate pieces- fabulous!

didn’t use the recipe link though, just the idea and my own recipe variation.

that one is definitely going on the list to repeat sometime. yummy! and perfect with coffee.

The most beautiful, calming CD we own is “Atlantis Angelis” by Patrick Bernard, and it’s one of my most treasured possessions. If you’d like to get one as well, please go to http://www.patrickbernard.com/distriben.htm

Here he is on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDAJlu4Ufgo

-S