stargeek
gcx 0.8.6 (Default branch)gcx 0.8.6 (Default branch)gcx 0.8.6 (Default branch) 02/05/2005 09:34 PM
Changes: This release supports moving photometry targets (comets and asteroids). The ccd reduction dialog has been reorganized. This is a GrokNews Entry: (what is grok?)gcx 0.8.6 (Default branch)Grok Headline matches for gcx 0.8.6 (Default branch)Vex 1.2.0 (Default branch)Vex 1.2.0 (Default branch) 03/23/2005 05:18 AM 
Vex is a visual editor for XML. It features a
word processor-like interface.
Changes: This release features easier extension with new doctypes and styles via the new plug-in project mechanism, basic DITA support, the ability to specify which style a document should be shown with, and improved CSS support. PMD 3.2 (Default branch)PMD 3.2 (Default branch) 06/22/2005 02:26 AM 
PMD is a Java source code analyzer. It finds
unused variables, empty catch blocks, unnecessary
object creation, and more. It includes CPD, a tool to detect chunks
of identical code.
License: BSD License (original) Changes: Three new rules were added. Bugfixes were made. Various internal improvements were done to make writing rules easier. vok 1.1 (Default branch)vok 1.1 (Default branch) 04/03/2005 07:42 PM vok is a vocabulary trainer written with OpenOffice macros. SoC GDS 5.5.0 (Default branch)SoC GDS 5.5.0 (Default branch) 03/30/2005 06:14 PM 
SoC GDS is a platform for enabling hierarchical SoC integration and
verification across traditional EDA frameworks based on Virtual
Components per the VSIA guidelines. It is also a fast viewer and
processor for native GDSII files. It encompasses a set of powerful
functions allowing automatic cell renaming, grid verifications, GDS II
files merging (AND), physical comparison (XOR), hierarchy
modifications, and conversion to text format.
Changes: This release provides extended management of technology files through design kits and Cadence techfile compatibility; LEF reading, validation and display; and hierarchical LEF/GDSII comparison as well as DRC annotation display. AAF SDK 1.1.0 (Default branch)AAF SDK 1.1.0 (Default branch) 04/15/2005 03:24 PM 
AAF SDK is a cross-platform SDK that supports the
Advanced Authoring Format (AAF). AAF is a metadata
management system and file format for use in
professional multimedia creation and authoring.
The AAF specification is administered by the AAF
Association, which also coordinates development of
the SDK.
Changes: Major new APIs to support 1.1 of the AAF specification. Several APIs have been extended, and there are many bugfixes to existing APIs and plugin codecs. The codecs DV (within the CDCI codec) and PCM, including the BWF container, have been added. The 2GB filesize limit found on some platforms has been fixed. New utilities: aafextract, aaf2xtl, aafdump. Support for the x86_64 target and UTF-8 filenames has been added. libgsf has been added to available Structured Storage implementations. The plugin loading search path has been fixed to be consistent across all platforms. Maw 1.1 (Default branch)Maw 1.1 (Default branch) 06/22/2005 02:26 AM 
Maw is mostly black, but it's got lots of blues,
purples, and reds in it too. There is also a GTK
theme and a GKrellM theme. There are several
backgrounds bundled with this theme, including
some original ones. It uses the Nexis font.
License: GNU General Public License (GPL) Changes: This release fixes some sloppy graphics editing on the opening pixmap and scales it to not tile on displays as high as 2048x1536. SAM Jr 0.2 (Default branch)SAM Jr 0.2 (Default branch) 04/14/2005 12:56 PM 
SAM Jr is a real-time analysis tool for Snort
data. It can easily be extended using plugins.
Changes: This release adds support for multiple script files, adds all current applicable listeners to the scripts files, and fixes a bug which caused the Threat Index Monitor to not read the correct settings from the configuration file. NVU 0.90 (Default branch)NVU 0.90 (Default branch) 03/14/2005 06:20 PM Nvu (pronounced N-view, for a "new view") is a complete Web authoring system that combines Web file management and easy-to-use WYSIWYG Web page editing. Nvu is designed to be extremely easy to use, making it ideal for non-technical computer users who want to create an attractive, professional-looking Web site without needing to know HTML or Web coding. Changes: The pinger now allows connection settings. A link to "Localizing Nvu" was added to the Help menu. The Theme Manager now shows a "Restart Nvu to use theme" option, and the Link dialog has now a "this is an email address" checkbox for people that don't know the syntax of mailto URLs. The Link dialog can now handle the target attribute in the MoreOrFewer section. PHP and comments are now hidden in Preview mode and are correctly displayed in AllTags mode. Wi.Ser 0.6.9 (Default branch)Wi.Ser 0.6.9 (Default branch) 04/05/2005 05:35 PM 
Wi.Ser is a Java/XML server-side GUI-framework
which enables an application to run as either a
monolithic Swing app, a client/server Swing app,
or as a Web app without any change. It includes a
mixed deployment mode, which supports one server to serve Swing
clients and Web clients at the same time. The framework uses XML to
define an application's GUI. It provides a common
widget-based, object-oriented programming
interface for Web and Swing GUIs, which prevents
the developer from struggling with HTML and HTTP
or with the internals of Swing. For Swing client/server applications
the client/server split as well as the client/server communication is
handled transparently by the framework.
The project includes a GUI builder that is based on the framework's
functionality (screenshot, deployed as a Web/HTML application).
Changes: This release includes a template pool to speed up HTML rendering. A CSS class can be set for all Web Widgets. A bug in the color settings method of forms has been fixed. New tags for additional widget properties are available within the GUI builder. A fix in the listBox HTML template for Mozilla is included, and the GPL version comes with a build.xml to integrate into the full distribution again. Ivy 0.9 (Default branch)Ivy 0.9 (Default branch) 04/06/2005 11:59 AM Ivy is a simple but powerful dependency manager. Its key features are ease of use, extreme flexibility, easy extensibility, Ant integration, and transitive dependencies. It is ready to use with the Maven ibiblio repository. It eases continuous integration, and makes your software component a lot simpler to use. Changes: This release mainly focuses on bugfixes, documentation, and some updates like better control over ivy file validation. Tor 0.0.9.7 (Default branch)Tor 0.0.9.7 (Default branch) 04/01/2005 11:58 AM 
Tor is a network of virtual tunnels that allows people and
groups to improve their privacy and security on the Internet.
It also enables software developers to create new
communication tools with built-in privacy features. It
provides the foundation for a range of applications that allow
organizations and individuals to share information over
public networks without compromising their privacy.
Individuals can use it to keep remote Websites from tracking
them and their family members. They can also use it to
connect to resources such as news sites or instant
messaging services that are blocked by their local Internet
service providers (ISPs).
Changes: This release fixes another server race crash bug and a bug which caused a refusal to extend to an unknown server. SAM Jr 0.3 (Default branch)SAM Jr 0.3 (Default branch) 04/18/2005 11:04 AM
SAM Jr is a real-time analysis tool for Snort
data. It can easily be extended using plugins.
Changes: This release adds a script to email the whois and other info of any IP address with a very high threat index, serving as a complex script example, JavaMail jar files and a SimpleMailSender class, database port number configurability, a whois lookup facility, and keyboard shortcuts for menus. svk 0.29 (Default branch)svk 0.29 (Default branch) 02/01/2005 09:45 PM svk is a decentralized version control system. While Subversion (svn) aims to take over the CVS user base, svk attempts to take over the user base of the other version control systems, including people who have already switched to another version control system, as well as people who have not yet started using a version control system. It is written in Perl and uses Subversion's underlying filesystem. Changes: This release improves performance on larger repositories, notably on preparing smart merge. BRL-CAD 7.2.2 (Default branch)BRL-CAD 7.2.2 (Default branch) 04/03/2005 07:41 PM 
BRL-CAD is a powerful constructive solid geometry solid modeling
system that includes an interactive geometry editor, ray tracing
support for rendering and geometric analysis, network distributed
framebuffer support, and image and signal-processing tools.
Changes: An rtedge/rtwizard background render failure bug has been fixed. An rttherm previous results interference bug has been fixed. An aborted benchmark summary bug has been fixed. The irprep 'display' tool has been renamed to 'showtherm'. An XInputExtension warning on mged startup has been quelled. The object name is output when the root solver fails to converge. Non-square window mged illumination selection has been fixed. PL/1 for GCC 0.0.10 (Default branch)PL/1 for GCC 0.0.10 (Default branch) 03/26/2005 05:19 AM The pl1gcc project is an attempt to create a native PL/I compiler using the GNU Compiler Collection. PL/I is a third-generation procedural language suitable for a wide range of applications including system software, graphics, simulation, text processing, Web, and business applications. Changes: Many syntax additions and updates were made. The -J option was removed from the compiler. Tor 0.0.9.6 (Default branch)Tor 0.0.9.6 (Default branch) 03/25/2005 07:06 AM
Tor is a network of virtual tunnels that allows people and
groups to improve their privacy and security on the Internet.
It also enables software developers to create new
communication tools with built-in privacy features. It
provides the foundation for a range of applications that allow
organizations and individuals to share information over
public networks without compromising their privacy.
Individuals can use it to keep remote Websites from tracking
them and their family members. They can also use it to
connect to resources such as news sites or instant
messaging services that are blocked by their local Internet
service providers (ISPs).
Changes: This version fixes more stability problems with servers. Yam 0.7.3 (Default branch)Yam 0.7.3 (Default branch) 03/25/2005 07:06 AM Yam builds a local APT/Yum RPM repository from local ISO files, downloaded updates, and extra packages from 3rd party repositories. It takes care of setting up the ISO files, downloading the RPMs, configuring HTTP access, and providing PXE/TFTP resources for remote installations. It was primarily intended for doing remote network installations of various distributions from a laptop without the need for CD media or floppies, but is equally suitable for an organization's centralized update server. Changes: This release adds IA64 support. The standard and error output is now separated. There is an lftp include/exclude fix, as well as a fix for ISO selection. There is also preliminary SELinux support. SMK 0.4.2 (Default branch)SMK 0.4.2 (Default branch) 04/09/2005 02:37 PM 
SMK is a software building system, similar in purpose to the popular
make and scons tools, but with its own set of wrinkles.
Changes: The new -p/--prefix option was added. The -a/--all option and the -n/--dry-run option were implemented. XZX-Pro 4.5 (Default branch)XZX-Pro 4.5 (Default branch) 06/17/2005 04:58 PM 
XZX-Pro is a portable emulator of ZX Spectrum 48K/128K/+3 (8-bit home
computers made by Sir Clive Sinclair), and Spectrum clones for
machines running UNIX and the X Window system. It is completely
written in C, and emulates Spectrum 48K, 128K, +2 and +3, Pentagon and
Scorpion, Didaktik, Interface I with up to 8 microdrives, Multiface 1,
Multiface 128, and Multiface 3, Beta 128 by Technology Research Ltd.
with 4 disk drives, +D by Miles Gordon Technology with 2 disk drives,
and D80 with 2 disk drives, ZX Printer, Kempston mouse,
Sinclair/Cursor/AGF/Protek/Kempston joystick, Fuller Audio Box, and
built-in Z80 machine code monitor.
License: Shareware Changes: Support for 16 bit audio has been added to almost all audio drivers. LibAo is now supported as an audio driver. A lot of minor bugs have been fixed. XC-AST 0.6.1 (Default branch)XC-AST 0.6.1 (Default branch) 02/05/2005 09:34 PM 
XC-AST analyzes data about call queues maintained
by an Asterisk PBX. After selecting one or more
queues, it provides information on agent logon and
logoff, taken calls, and lost calls in formatted
reports. It is designed to be used for monitoring
call centers that require real-time activity reports.
Changes: This release mixes new features and many small bugfixes. In the real time monitoring, it's now possible to see in real time calls being transfered and the extensions. The agent logon status is now shown on the agent's page. It is now possible to configure how much data is read for each realtime agent page reload. A bug which computing real time analysis with people transferring calls has been fixed. The queue definition field has been enlarged. You can optionally add a key to a queue definition. All data being written is now white-trimmed. You now have to define at least an agent for each queue. x48 0.4.2 (Default branch)x48 0.4.2 (Default branch) 04/11/2005 05:14 PM 
x48 is an emulator of the HP48 sx or gx
calculator. This is a very nice RPN calculator.
Changes: Two bugs were addressed: the cursor not flashing on input, and the arrow key repeat problem. Wi.Ser 0.6.8 (Default branch)Wi.Ser 0.6.8 (Default branch) 03/28/2005 01:34 PM
Wi.Ser is a Java/XML server-side GUI-framework
which enables an application to run as either a
monolithic Swing app, a client/server Swing app,
or as a Web app without any change. It includes a
mixed deployment mode, which supports one server to serve Swing
clients and Web clients at the same time. The framework uses XML to
define an application's GUI. It provides a common
widget-based, object-oriented programming
interface for Web and Swing GUIs, which prevents
the developer from struggling with HTML and HTTP
or with the internals of Swing. For Swing client/server applications
the client/server split as well as the client/server communication is
handled transparently by the framework.
The project includes a GUI builder that is based on the framework's
functionality (screenshot, deployed as a Web/HTML application).
Changes: This release implements lazy loading for swing widgets, which means that forms are submitted on demand from the server to the client. This feature brings a significant speed up for swing GUIs and a lower memory footprint. A bug in forEach has been fixed, and forEach is able to match names and tags with regular expressions. The tutorial has been enhanced with two new chapters, and errors in the WebWindow management were corrected. A new widget called templateSection has been added to support embedded HTML. VCD-db 0.971 (Default branch)VCD-db 0.971 (Default branch) 02/06/2005 03:08 AM 
VCD-db is Web-based movie catalog software. It supports
multiple users to collect, manage, and work with their media
catalog. New movies can easily be added through several
methods, for example by fetching data straight from
websites such as imdb.com and dvdempire.com.
Changes: In this release, two new language files are included (Dutch and French), direct play from the Web is now possible, and the user can now personalize their front page with selected RSS feeds. There were also some minor fixes. P4A 0.15 (Default branch)P4A 0.15 (Default branch) 04/18/2005 11:02 AM P4A (PHP For Applications) is a PHP object oriented framework for building Web-based event-driven applications. It features tableless HTML, accesskey support, point and click app generator, auto data type recognition, UTF-8 support, advanced i18n/l10n support, and PEAR integration. Changes: This release fixes some i18n/l10n bugs in the "products_catalogue" application and allows p4a_message to handle messages without icons. ara 1.0.9 (Default branch)ara 1.0.9 (Default branch) 04/01/2005 03:26 AM 
Ara is a command-line utility for querying the Debian
package database. It has a query syntax allowing you to
search for boolean combinations of regular expressions. It
includes a simple syntax and line-editing. A graphical
interface, xara, is also provided.
Changes: Some Debian packaging issues have been fixed. Files have been recompiled for Ocaml 3.08.3. gld 1.5 (Default branch)gld 1.5 (Default branch) 04/13/2005 06:34 AM Gld is a standalone greylisting server for Postfix. It listen on a TCP port and uses MySQL for storing data. The server supports whitelists based on sender, sender_domain, and client_ip. It also supports light greylisting and DNS white lists. Changes: This release fixes possible buffer overflows, and adds psql support and some new features. XC-AST 0.8.1 (Default branch)XC-AST 0.8.1 (Default branch) 03/22/2005 03:52 PM
XC-AST analyzes data about call queues maintained
by an Asterisk PBX. After selecting one or more
queues, it provides information on agent logon and
logoff, taken calls, and lost calls in formatted
reports. It is designed to be used for monitoring
call centers that require real-time activity reports.
Changes: This release features Caller*ID area analysis. It is now possible to see the distribution of taken and lost calls by area code (selectable in the number of digits). It is now possible to set the default start hour, end hour, and time period in the configuration file. The default analysis takes data from 8 to 18 during the last 7 days. ANA-MP 0.9.7.4 (Default branch)ANA-MP 0.9.7.4 (Default branch) 04/05/2005 06:49 PM ANA-MP is a player for music files (modules) in the .MOD, .XM, and .S3M formats. It runs on any platform with a Java 1.3 implementation, and can be used as a library for playing music in games or demos. Changes: This release makes the player API much easier to use and understand. Several simple code examples of how to create command line or applet based module players have been added. STL AVL Map 1.0 (Default branch)STL AVL Map 1.0 (Default branch) 03/22/2005 06:29 PM This is a fully STL-compliant C++ map/set/multimap/multiset implementation for g++. It uses an AVL tree instead of a Red-Black tree. It currently works only with g++ 3.4. AGR 0.5.0 (Default branch)AGR 0.5.0 (Default branch) 04/12/2005 11:54 PM 
AGR (Amiga Guide Reader) is an Amiga Guide file
viewer.
nut 10.17 (Default branch)nut 10.17 (Default branch) 04/03/2005 07:54 AM 
nut is nutrition software to record what you eat and analyze your
meals for nutrient composition. The database included is the USDA
Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 17, which contains
6,839 foods and 128 nutrients. This database contains values for
vitamins, minerals, fats, calories, protein, carbohydrates, fiber,
etc., and includes the essential polyunsaturated fats, Omega-3 and
Omega-6. Nutrient levels are expressed as a percentage of the Daily
Value, the familiar standard of food labeling in the United States,
but also can be fully customized. Foods can be added from recipes or
food labels, and nutrient intake can be graphed. The program is
completely menu-driven and there are no commands to learn.
Changes: This release corrects the formatting of the man page and restores the correct alpha-linolenic acid reference value, which was too low in the last release. qGo 1.0.1 (Default branch)qGo 1.0.1 (Default branch) 03/31/2005 07:22 AM 
qGo is a Go board, SGF editor, and client for the Internet Go Server.
You can review and edit games, connect to IGS, and play against a
computer program supporting GTP (like GnuGo). Go is an ancient board
game which is very common in Japan, China, and Korea.
Changes: IGS rooms and better handling of GNUgo. Ivy 1.0-rc2 (Default branch)Ivy 1.0-rc2 (Default branch) 04/18/2005 06:37 PM Ivy is a simple but powerful dependency manager. Its key features are ease of use, extreme flexibility, easy extensibility, Ant integration, and transitive dependencies. It is ready to use with the Maven ibiblio repository. It eases continuous integration, and makes your software component a lot simpler to use. Changes: Several bugfixes, especially one in handling relative paths and backslashes in paths. Xen 2.0.5 (Default branch)Xen 2.0.5 (Default branch) 03/23/2005 07:00 PM Xen is a virtual machine monitor for x86 that supports execution of multiple guest operating systems in isolated environments. Changes: Various minor bugfixes and code cleanups were done. im-ja 1.4 (Default branch)im-ja 1.4 (Default branch) 04/12/2005 05:18 PM 
im-ja aims to be a generic Japanese input module
for GTK+ 2. The currently supported input modes
are Hiragana, Katakana, Half-Width Katakana,
Zenkaku, Canna, Wnn, Anthy, and Kanji character
recognition (based on Kanjipad).
Changes: Changes include compose sequence and system tray support in addition to some minor fixes. Wi-viz 1.0 (Default branch)Wi-viz 1.0 (Default branch) 04/18/2005 11:11 PM 
Running on a Linksys WRT54G or compatible router
powered by the Linux firmware OpenWRT, Wi-viz
places the wireless apparatus into a special
monitor mode that doesn't interfere with the
operation of the router. Here it sits, examining
all wireless packets coming into the interface and
extracting valuable information about the
surrounding wireless infrastructure. With an
intuitive Web interface, it exposes this
information in a simple, easy-to-use,
self-arranging graphical format.
OSS 3.99.2c (Default branch)OSS 3.99.2c (Default branch) 03/23/2005 07:00 PM OSS provides sound card drivers for most popular sound cards under Linux, *BSD, Solaris, UnixWare, OpenServer, AIX, HPUX, LynxOS, VxWorks, and Tru64. These drivers support digital audio, MIDI, synthesizers, and mixers found on sound cards. These sound drivers comply with the Open Sound System API specification. OSS provides a user-friendly GUI which makes the installation of sound drivers and configuration of sound cards very simple. It supports over 200 brand name sound cards, and provides automatic sound card detection, Plug-n-Play support, support for PCI audio soundcards, and support for full duplex audio. Changes: Fixes were made for Envy24 memory allocation under BSD. Fixes were made for LynxTWO drivers for Linux. Fixes were made to the audio core for nonblocking support for BSD. DBG 2.11.32 (Default branch)DBG 2.11.32 (Default branch) 02/01/2005 09:44 PM 
DBG is a PHP debugger and profiler. It makes it much easier to
discover the origins of problems and bugs in PHP scripts. It's
equipped with the ability to backtrace errors. It shows local and
global variables as well as parameters which have been passed to all
nested function calls at any point of execution. Among other things,
it allows you to execute scripts in a step-by-step manner, set
breakpoints (including conditional ones), evaluate expressions, and
watch variables. The profiler allows you to find bottlenecks in PHP
code at the functions level as well as the modules level and even the
source lines level.
Changes: This release adds support for hardened PHP, and support for PHP 5.0.3, 5.0.2, 4.3.9, and 4.3.10. It adds three new commands to dbg-cli: -list, -listen, and -output. It also fixes problems with the PCRE library. Zsh 4.2.5 (Default branch)Zsh 4.2.5 (Default branch) 04/06/2005 09:59 AM Zsh is a UNIX command interpreter (shell) which of the standard shells most resembles the Korn shell (ksh). It includes enhancements of many types, notably in the command-line editor, options for customising its behaviour, filename globbing, features to make C-shell (csh) users feel more at home and extra features drawn from tcsh. Changes: This is a bug fix release for the stable 4.2 series. It fixes a few configuration problems, notably on Mac OS X, as well as a number of other minor issues. There are also some upgrades to completion functions. Upgrading from 4.2.4 should not cause any incompatibilities. Ivy 1.0-rc1 (Default branch)Ivy 1.0-rc1 (Default branch) 04/12/2005 05:18 PM Ivy is a simple but powerful dependency manager. Its key features are ease of use, extreme flexibility, easy extensibility, Ant integration, and transitive dependencies. It is ready to use with the Maven ibiblio repository. It eases continuous integration, and makes your software component a lot simpler to use. Changes: A new report that indicates all the dependencies resolved, direct and transitives, with the status and place in the dependency graph for each. A new graph report showing all dependencies as a graph. A better include/exclude feature, helping to get only what you need from a dependency you do not control. Grok Description matches for gcx 0.8.6 (Default branch) GrokA matches for gcx 0.8.6 (Default branch) Seeing the Big Picture (Building a
|
 The Idea:
It's going to take a new, more expansive kind of thinking, by many
people with different points of view working in collaboration, to
solve
the world's most intractable problems. Here are some thoughts how we
could achieve that kind of 'synthetic' thinking.This morning, as I slowly awoke, I had an 'aha!' moment. I will tell you about it soon. I think I finally know what I was meant to do. Even more than writing, though writing is a small part of it. It came to me when I was combining things -- goals, ideas, and perceptions. And then I suddenly saw the big picture, how all the pieces fit. It's an amazing experience, and one that we should all have more often, and learn how to make happen. Let's take an example. On Monday I posted a conversation with myself about how to save the world, showing two very different approaches. It was genuine, not written for effect -- I have these arguments with myself all the time, which is why this blog sometimes comes across a bit schizophrenic. What was interesting was that quite a few readers, in the comments thread, via e-mail and even over at Grist, seemed anxious to take sides -- which argument, the green or the beige, made more sense, and what was wrong with the other side? Which side was the real Dave's view? The debate was not a rhetorical device. It was an example of our constant struggle to decide between, or reconcile, different goals, choices, conceptions or perceptions. But it seems to be a proclivity of Western thinking that we always try first to decide, to dismiss, to discount one of two dissonant ideas as inferior, and accept the other as the right one, the better one, the lesser of two evils. The result is polarized thinking, and in the West it has become something of a cultural disease. Most of Lakoff's work on frames is about trying to reframe debate, change the perspective of the opposing side, so that the right (or more accurately left) point of view comes out on top, looks better. Why is there no effort instead to understand the 'opposing' view, not as a means of capitulating to it or becoming vulnerable to it or defeating it, but rather as a basis for finding a third point of view that encompasses both. The words we use for this process betray our distaste for it: accommodation, compromise, reconciliation. There is a latent aggressiveness and intolerance in our disinterest in finding more holistic answers: "Those guys aren't looking for a win-win answer so why should we?" To the Eastern mind this must appear bizarre, militaristic, even self-defeating. As citizens and as consumers we are inundated with alternatives and choices, and forced to 'choose one': Coke or Pepsi, Toyota or Ford, Windows or Mac or Linux, Democrat or Republican, public or private, Red or Blue or Green, Black or White. Your choice determines which community you belong to, whether you're with us or against us, good or evil, winner or loser, patriot or traitor, friend or foe. Even those who talk about peace want it on their terms: No peace without justice, no peace without security, no peace without freedom. No surprise that there is no peace. Synthesis is the outcome of the merging of two or more things: in Hegelian philosophy it is the emergence of the combination of thesis and antithesis. Synthesis is not compromise, it is transcendence, a higher conception than either the thought or its contradiction. "The combining of separate elements to form a coherent whole". The great discoveries of human history and science have often come from synthesis of previous ideas, conceptions and points of view thought by lesser thinkers to be irreconcilable. What made Einstein such a brilliant thinker was his ability to synthesize, transcend, come up with unified theories. Yet in common parlance, the terms synthesis and synthetic are most often used to mean artificial, not real. Synergy is "the interaction of two or more agents or forces so that their combined effect is greater than the sum of their individual effects, cooperative interaction among groups that creates an enhanced combined effect." It is used to describe the supposed positive effects of the merger of two corporations, two corporate cultures -- yet 85% of all such mergers actually destroy value rather than creating it, leaving morale and productivity worse off than before, and usually resulting in the 'acquirer' involuntarily imposing their culture on the 'losing' one. So the prevailing response to calls for, or assertions of, synergy has become one of cynicism and raised eyebrows. Integration is "combining into a complete and harmonious whole". But for those that aren't in mathematics or semiconductor construction, we most often think of the term as the forced desegregation of US school-children, or the absorption (and disappearance) of one thing into another. Holistic means considering the inseparable nature and interrelationship of all of the elements of a system. In the West, our normal approach to dealing with systems is the opposite: Piecemeal -- the doctor specialist treating just one symptom or part of the body, the traffic and planning departments deciding what roads to build in isolation from impact on other communities, and corporations completely disregarding 'external' costs (degradation and reduction of the commons, social and environmental damage, non-renewability of their assets) and long-term impacts to focus narrowly on only the costs that appear on the income statement and the impacts in the next fiscal quarter. Holistic approaches are openly ridiculed by specialists and self-styled pragmatists as impractical, idealistic, and unscientific. Not surprisingly, we tend to use these four terms incorrectly or disparagingly when we use them at all. And our adulation for specialists and the way we teach our children reinforce this narrowness, this denigration of and antipathy towards the big picture and the long view. Why do we do this? And more importantly, what can we do to rectify it? How can we teach ourselves, and our children, how and why to think synergistically and holistically, and to synthesize and integrate ideas and information? My guess as to why we do this is that Western 'scientific' man has come to loathe uncertainty, mystery and imprecision. The whole notion of complexity and chaos theory triggers revulsion in many people: "What do you mean we can only use systems thinking in complicated systems, not in complex ones?" "Who says most of our systems are complex and therefore largely unknowable, and the best we can do is look for meaningful patterns that, at best, modestly improve the probability that our predictions for the future will be accurate?" The whole Gaia theory, which perceives the world to be a single, complex, self-managing organism was scorned for a generation until more and more evidence emerged that it was a better model of reality than the parochial theories it synthesized. We hate not knowing, and we love simple answers and simple choices -- from political leaders, from the hawkers of commercial brands, from preachers in the pulpits, and from the education system (when we are young) and the media (as we get older) that lay out those answers and choices for us.
My sense is that there is no easy answer to this, as much as we might want one, and as much as some advocates of various theologies and ideologies will push them forward as answers, as holy grails to ascend to a "higher level of consciousness". Programmer Dale Asberry has pointed me to the intriguing but opaque Reciproca lity site which suggests most of us have been indoctrinated to unlearn how to see the big picture, because living in an artificial and limited world is easier and keeps us in line. It says some people are just naturally able to see the bigger picture. I'm neither that optimistic (I don't know anyone that sees synergistic solutions easily) nor pessimistic (I believe anyone should be able to learn or re-learn how to do it). I believe we will probably have to teach, and learn from, each other to become better at this. True collaboration is a synergistic process, so it makes sense to me that holistic, synergistic thinking is probably best learned by collaboration with others. I am sure that there is a synthesis of the two opposing views in my conversation with myself Monday on how to save the world, for example, but I am skeptical that any one person (other than perhaps an Einstein) is likely to be able to come up with that synthesis. If we're going to learn how to do this, we're going to have to learn together. That means lots of practice. I also believe state of mind is important in this process. My 'aha' synthesis this morning was a semi-conscious application of the 7-step mantra that Cyndy at MouseMusings and I developed, though I wouldn't presume to believe it would work for others:
What do you think? If we're going to save the world and stuff we're going to have to follow Einstein's advice: "We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." I sense that thinking that bridges, unifies, synthesizes conflicting points of view might be the kind of thinking that Einstein used to solve problems. If it's good enough for him, it's good enough for me. |
ART specialized in buying up books and art-cards, cutting them up and glueing them to tiles, then selling the tiles. This seems pretty straightforward: if you buy the book, you own it -- you should be able to glue the pages to anything you care to and sell them on, provided that everyone concerned knows that you're not selling the original deal, and provided that you are actually buying and cutting up actual books, and not just buying one copy and scanning it and running off fresh copies from your laser-printer.
ART got sued by various people, and the courts handed down rulings that said that while framing a picture isn't an infringement of the author's copyright over derivative works, that really, really outre frames that change the context do infringe -- the next time you think about getting a New Yorker cover framed for the toilet wall, think again:
The court cannot agree that permanently affixing a notecard to a ceramic tile is not recasting, transforming or adapting the original art work. Placing a print or painting in a frame and covering it with glass does not recast or transform the work of art. It is commonly understood that this amounts to only a method of display. Moreover, it is a relatively simple matter to remove the print or painting and display it differently if the owner chooses to do so. Neither of these things is true of the art work affixed to a ceramic tile. Moreover, tiles lend themselves to other uses such as trivets (individually) or wall coverings (collectively).Link
The following phrases have been identified by the grok system as matching this entry: "how to build" multi-monitor "picture frame"
GCX provides a complete set of data-reduction
functions for CCD photometry, with frame WCS
fitting, automatic target identification, aperture
photometry of target and standard stars,
single-frame ensemble photometry data reduction,
multi-frame color coefficient fitting, extinction
coefficient fitting, and all-sky photometry. It
also controls CCD cameras and telescopes, and
implements automatic observation scripting.
Cameras are controlled through a hardware-specific
server, to which gcx connects through a TCP
socket. The program can control telescopes which
use the LX200 protocol, and refine pointing by
matching images to the GSC catalog position of
stars. It generates FITS files with comprehensive
header information.