Your comments about Linux and it's ultimate satisfaction could be valid. However, even in these forums, I have read many a story about the advantages of using Linux over Microsoft Windows. If not explicitly stated, the implied assertion is that Windows is inferior and should be replaced by free and open sourced Linux. I used to wonder about the truth of those claims. Now that I have some intimate knowledge of what Linux developers are doing, the supposed benefits of using Linux desktops have been debunked.
I love the magic wand built into credit cards of today. Schnucks was the first store in town where I noticed them, but now Dierbergs has the modern terminals as well. I shop at a couple mom and pop places and they have something that looks like a hand calculator that is not much bigger than the credit card itself. You stick the card in there and they do something at the cash register, which in turn reads the card. Seems that Walgreens has something similar but a little fancier in design. Then yesterday there is the lady who was in line ahead of me at the grocery store. She pulled her smartphone out of her purse, punched in a few things and showed it to the till tart who in turn used her barcode reader to scan the smartphone screen. Nobody came in to physical contact with anybody that way, plus there was no need to handle a credit card. Amazing stuff.
FLoC
Re: FLoC
Well going back to my tri-fold making days. I switched from msWord to Open Office Writer to end all the problems I was having with msWord. A few years later when LibreOffice Writer came out I switched to it for a few new features I could made good use of, which were never available on msWord.
While doing my writing as an author, I still used LibreOffice Writer, and I could export to DOC or PDF, and with a helper program create my own Kindle.Mobi or E-book files, and check them.
And you already know about all the woes I had with my accounting on Windows, as well as my Genealogy work on Windows.
The types of problems I encountered there, were RESCUED when I switched to GNU/Linux and could recover all of my files and convert them to the file type used by the Linux based programs. No way to do that using Proprietary Software for Windows, unless I bought all the intermediate upgrades, which would have come at an astronomical expense.
I may not know much about Under-the-Hood on Linux Distro's, but I know how to use the Free Programs to my fullest advantage.
Back when I got my merchants account, they started out with a little manual machine you put a credit card into, the 3 part carbon paper form, and moved the sliding handle back and forth over the card to make the imprint.
Later on, I changed to the computer based entry system, so I could take credit cards and do checks electronically.
Then I had to have this little box that hooked to my telephone line. I rarely used it because using the computer was faster, hi hi. Then I got tired of paying for my merchants account and closed it down.
While doing my writing as an author, I still used LibreOffice Writer, and I could export to DOC or PDF, and with a helper program create my own Kindle.Mobi or E-book files, and check them.
And you already know about all the woes I had with my accounting on Windows, as well as my Genealogy work on Windows.
The types of problems I encountered there, were RESCUED when I switched to GNU/Linux and could recover all of my files and convert them to the file type used by the Linux based programs. No way to do that using Proprietary Software for Windows, unless I bought all the intermediate upgrades, which would have come at an astronomical expense.
I may not know much about Under-the-Hood on Linux Distro's, but I know how to use the Free Programs to my fullest advantage.
Back when I got my merchants account, they started out with a little manual machine you put a credit card into, the 3 part carbon paper form, and moved the sliding handle back and forth over the card to make the imprint.
Later on, I changed to the computer based entry system, so I could take credit cards and do checks electronically.
Then I had to have this little box that hooked to my telephone line. I rarely used it because using the computer was faster, hi hi. Then I got tired of paying for my merchants account and closed it down.
Re: FLoC
I think the problems you experienced with Windows were not actually with Windows. You seem to have solved the problems by switching the software from MsWord to Libre Office. I use Libre Office and have been using it since last century all on my WINDOWS computers. It's not the OS you are having trouble with. Now when it comes to file systems I could see some validity to your complaints. Even you admit that you could have updated the file formats if you were willing to pay the price. Again, that's not an operating system issue. I think you are blaming the wrong party for your past woes.
Most likely Linux was not developed as well as Windows was when you needed computers to run your business. Plus, the business itself was paying the license fees, no doubt. As time moved on and Linux grew hair on it's chest, the situation changed. It became a matter of cost in addition to the choice of software. In the end you did exactly the right thing. Windows is not for you. My complaints about Linux are in areas that you never go into, thus you don't see many of the issues I uncover. It makes sense because we are in essence doing different things with our electronic toys.
Like just about everything else, credit cards have gone through an evolution. It's possible people in the not too distant future will not have a need for credit cards as we do, and in fact money itself is likely to take a new form with the advent of digital money. Personally I don't care how things are payed for. All I need is the means. The methods are irrelevant.
Most likely Linux was not developed as well as Windows was when you needed computers to run your business. Plus, the business itself was paying the license fees, no doubt. As time moved on and Linux grew hair on it's chest, the situation changed. It became a matter of cost in addition to the choice of software. In the end you did exactly the right thing. Windows is not for you. My complaints about Linux are in areas that you never go into, thus you don't see many of the issues I uncover. It makes sense because we are in essence doing different things with our electronic toys.
Like just about everything else, credit cards have gone through an evolution. It's possible people in the not too distant future will not have a need for credit cards as we do, and in fact money itself is likely to take a new form with the advent of digital money. Personally I don't care how things are payed for. All I need is the means. The methods are irrelevant.
Re: FLoC
Even though I was running Windows computers, my biggest problem was not the OS as you pointed out, but the way msWord worked. Other than the illogical way it is set up, the way it caused images to bounce around was one issue. But the worst issue was how it handled page sizes and margins. msWord automatically changed its page and margin setting to match whatever printer you had installed on your computer. You can manually reset these for each document, but when you send the copy to a commercial printer, it tries to adjust to match their printing machines. Commercial printing even if done on 8-1/2 x 11 paper, still requires the ability to print full-page, so for commercial printing, the margins always had to be set to 9 x 11-1/2 paper to allow for the bleed and trim area on the page. Home based printers cannot print the full-width of a page, unless you have a 9x12 printer, then it can print to 8-1/2 x 11 with full coverage.
The way around this with msWord was to set the margins to zero so when the commercial printer got your work, they could still print it, then trim your paper down to 8-1/4 x 10-3/4 an added expense.
Once I changed to OpenOffice Writer, I could set my page size to 9x12 with 1/4 inch margins to get the bleed area I needed, and the images did not jump around all over the place. Not even on my Windows XP computer.
All I can say is Linux saved the day for me, many many times, where Windows based programs failed.
My wife has hundreds of games written for XP, most of which cannot be played on newer computers, unless the game itself did not use the computer clock speed to control how fast it ran.
I'm sure you played a few games on Windows computers from the Win 95 and 98 days. Some of those old provided games for Win95 when played on Win98, when you finished the game, instead of seeing the cards peel off in a cascade, it was just one big flash of cards. And by the time WinXP came around, they rewrote a few of those games, and if you could still get an older game to load, some of the features ran so fast they were useless. Tetris was one where the blocks dropped slowly on Win95, much faster on Win98, but on WinXP they drop so fast they are just blur, hi hi.
Yeppers, credit cards have gone through many evolutionary changes. From only a serial number that could be embossed, to a magnetic strip, to the SD chip, and now to a scannable chip.
I don't know if it ever panned out, but there was one machine you just laid the palm of your hand on a screen.
And of course the retina scanners which folks worried about their eyes too much for it to catch on.
The WalMart employee doors all open when they walk up to them, if they have their badge on their belt, in view of the badge reader.
When I went to Vote, they guy told me I should get a new Voter ID card as mine cannot be read by a machine like the newer ones. Here, as long as I've lived here, 20 years now, we have to have two forms of ID, and go to the polling place that has your name in their book. We are back to using paper ballots that get scanned, but you cannot check the scanned image to make sure it didn't change anything. The guy told me every scanned page is compared to the original by hand, which is why the machine keeps your page and actually prints a serial number at the top. On the bright side, it would be impossible for someone to vote twice, or vote for someone else, especially dead people, hi hi.
The way around this with msWord was to set the margins to zero so when the commercial printer got your work, they could still print it, then trim your paper down to 8-1/4 x 10-3/4 an added expense.
Once I changed to OpenOffice Writer, I could set my page size to 9x12 with 1/4 inch margins to get the bleed area I needed, and the images did not jump around all over the place. Not even on my Windows XP computer.
All I can say is Linux saved the day for me, many many times, where Windows based programs failed.
My wife has hundreds of games written for XP, most of which cannot be played on newer computers, unless the game itself did not use the computer clock speed to control how fast it ran.
I'm sure you played a few games on Windows computers from the Win 95 and 98 days. Some of those old provided games for Win95 when played on Win98, when you finished the game, instead of seeing the cards peel off in a cascade, it was just one big flash of cards. And by the time WinXP came around, they rewrote a few of those games, and if you could still get an older game to load, some of the features ran so fast they were useless. Tetris was one where the blocks dropped slowly on Win95, much faster on Win98, but on WinXP they drop so fast they are just blur, hi hi.
Yeppers, credit cards have gone through many evolutionary changes. From only a serial number that could be embossed, to a magnetic strip, to the SD chip, and now to a scannable chip.
I don't know if it ever panned out, but there was one machine you just laid the palm of your hand on a screen.
And of course the retina scanners which folks worried about their eyes too much for it to catch on.
The WalMart employee doors all open when they walk up to them, if they have their badge on their belt, in view of the badge reader.
When I went to Vote, they guy told me I should get a new Voter ID card as mine cannot be read by a machine like the newer ones. Here, as long as I've lived here, 20 years now, we have to have two forms of ID, and go to the polling place that has your name in their book. We are back to using paper ballots that get scanned, but you cannot check the scanned image to make sure it didn't change anything. The guy told me every scanned page is compared to the original by hand, which is why the machine keeps your page and actually prints a serial number at the top. On the bright side, it would be impossible for someone to vote twice, or vote for someone else, especially dead people, hi hi.
Re: FLoC
I think that perhaps I could overflow the buffers on this editor with my comments and observations about voting. We both agree politicians end up being corrupt, and that is a very sad outcome in a government such as the one we have. Sad as that is the absolute basis for putting any confidence at all into what the government does boils down to the integrity of the vote count. Once that is lost, we can kiss democracy good-bye.
One of my good friends was a graphic artists. He started a company of his own and did fairly well until computers came along. The stories I heard from him about incompatible graphics coming out of computers and printers were identical to the stories you are telling me here. The problems with maintaining a consistent page layout through the entire design process were horrendous. My friend, and to a large degree what you are saying here, was using equipment not designed for the purpose. Think about MsWord for example. It's a word processor design to augment the other software in Microsoft's Office Suite of programs. All the features, or lack of them, are due to that emphasis on the office environment. People working in an business office environment are not commercial printing houses. It is a misuse of a word processor, such as MsWord, when it is being forced to meet commercial printing requirements. Office printers are just what the name says, Office Printers. They are not optimized for trifold printing. As such you can expect the kind of irregularities you mention here.
As I see it, the problem is that you are a very creative and inventive sort of fellow. You can get machines to do things they were not intended to do. You can even write software that way. I must be honest with you and tell you that I admire you for all the innovations you described here. You may have repurposed a few things to accomplish your goals, but you DID accomplish your goals. There were and are computer programs designed specifically for page layout. There were and are printers designed specifically for small business printing of commercial products. My guess is you bypassed all that due to the economic considerations, which is the main justification you give for migrating to Linux. What you did certainly was not improper. It just seems that you found it hard to believe the people who told you it couldn't be done that way. Well it could be done, but not exactly as you wanted.
I have memories of games that started to run at hyper speeds when I switched computer operating systems. That was a good reason not to switch them. LOL Windows 95 games naturally would not work as well on an XP based computer for the same reasons I cited above. They were not designed for high tech. Those 8-bit games have some simulated variants in today's world, but the originals are not compatible at all. So what do you do when you have thousands of games but the technology suddenly makes them obsolete? I dunno. Maybe asking somebody who still uses 78 rpm record players would have an idea.
One of my good friends was a graphic artists. He started a company of his own and did fairly well until computers came along. The stories I heard from him about incompatible graphics coming out of computers and printers were identical to the stories you are telling me here. The problems with maintaining a consistent page layout through the entire design process were horrendous. My friend, and to a large degree what you are saying here, was using equipment not designed for the purpose. Think about MsWord for example. It's a word processor design to augment the other software in Microsoft's Office Suite of programs. All the features, or lack of them, are due to that emphasis on the office environment. People working in an business office environment are not commercial printing houses. It is a misuse of a word processor, such as MsWord, when it is being forced to meet commercial printing requirements. Office printers are just what the name says, Office Printers. They are not optimized for trifold printing. As such you can expect the kind of irregularities you mention here.
As I see it, the problem is that you are a very creative and inventive sort of fellow. You can get machines to do things they were not intended to do. You can even write software that way. I must be honest with you and tell you that I admire you for all the innovations you described here. You may have repurposed a few things to accomplish your goals, but you DID accomplish your goals. There were and are computer programs designed specifically for page layout. There were and are printers designed specifically for small business printing of commercial products. My guess is you bypassed all that due to the economic considerations, which is the main justification you give for migrating to Linux. What you did certainly was not improper. It just seems that you found it hard to believe the people who told you it couldn't be done that way. Well it could be done, but not exactly as you wanted.
I have memories of games that started to run at hyper speeds when I switched computer operating systems. That was a good reason not to switch them. LOL Windows 95 games naturally would not work as well on an XP based computer for the same reasons I cited above. They were not designed for high tech. Those 8-bit games have some simulated variants in today's world, but the originals are not compatible at all. So what do you do when you have thousands of games but the technology suddenly makes them obsolete? I dunno. Maybe asking somebody who still uses 78 rpm record players would have an idea.
Re: FLoC
I've had many proprietary programs over the years, each designed exclusively for the task at hand.
Did they work well, of course they did.
Can I go back now and bring up my old work to show someone? Sadly NO!
Not unless I bought every upgrade for a program I quit using years ago.
This is one reason that now I make sure everything I do can be saved in a generic format that can be read years from now.
Over the years, I used msCARDFILE to keep tons of different things so I knew I would have them.
Unfortunately, msCARDFILE was very limited, would not let you save out as plain text, etc.
It was a great tool for entering business cards, and my late wife's recipes. No longer retrievable.
Well, I did take those old files of hers in msCARDFILE, and with an old msCARDFILE program running in Wine, I could actually see one, open it up, and print each one out. There was no other way to handle those files.
She also had another proprietary program she bought just for recipe cards, and it had the same problem. They went out of business, and their files can only be printed to a serial port. Thankfully, I had a computer with a serial port and printed out almost all of them she had. They are now in Binders in the kitchen cabinets.
I don't know how many drawing I made back with AutoSketch, loved that program a little better than AutoCAD.
No way to open any of those files anymore either.
Since I moved over to Linux, every file I've ever created I can still read.
I can also open some of the old proprietary files and resave them into something that will last.
Unfortunately, not all the files I would have liked to keep.
Do you know how many pictures I have saved as PCX?
Little by little I've converted most of them over to TIFF.
Glad I didn't delete them, because once again Linux came to the rescue and can read PCX files with ease.
No matter what I do, or how I turn, Linux has been a life saver for me, in more ways than one!
Did they work well, of course they did.
Can I go back now and bring up my old work to show someone? Sadly NO!
Not unless I bought every upgrade for a program I quit using years ago.
This is one reason that now I make sure everything I do can be saved in a generic format that can be read years from now.
Over the years, I used msCARDFILE to keep tons of different things so I knew I would have them.
Unfortunately, msCARDFILE was very limited, would not let you save out as plain text, etc.
It was a great tool for entering business cards, and my late wife's recipes. No longer retrievable.
Well, I did take those old files of hers in msCARDFILE, and with an old msCARDFILE program running in Wine, I could actually see one, open it up, and print each one out. There was no other way to handle those files.
She also had another proprietary program she bought just for recipe cards, and it had the same problem. They went out of business, and their files can only be printed to a serial port. Thankfully, I had a computer with a serial port and printed out almost all of them she had. They are now in Binders in the kitchen cabinets.
I don't know how many drawing I made back with AutoSketch, loved that program a little better than AutoCAD.
No way to open any of those files anymore either.
Since I moved over to Linux, every file I've ever created I can still read.
I can also open some of the old proprietary files and resave them into something that will last.
Unfortunately, not all the files I would have liked to keep.
Do you know how many pictures I have saved as PCX?
Little by little I've converted most of them over to TIFF.
Glad I didn't delete them, because once again Linux came to the rescue and can read PCX files with ease.
No matter what I do, or how I turn, Linux has been a life saver for me, in more ways than one!
Re: FLoC
You found a solution to preserving your data indefinitely. You are to be congratulated for your success and for having data that needs preserving perpetually. It's a shame all the standard formats that you use today were not available 30-40 years ago. Back then it was all in it's infancy and no standards were established yet. Technology is well advanced these days but it's not standing still. Even standards change in this fast paced world of ours. I would not know what to suggest as far as longevity is concerned. Today's data is good for a few years to be sure, but who knows what will exist after that. It's hard to plan data preservation because of all the unknowns. Most of what you are doing is on a personal level, and as such costs are a big factor. Big businesses and governments don't have that problem and can upgrade as the needs arise. It's costly for them too, but they can afford it.
And, by the way, I'm pretty sure TIFF isn't used much these days. RAW has replaced it. I'm not sure what the advantages are, but they both are uncompressed formats. Lots of information is available both ways.
And, by the way, I'm pretty sure TIFF isn't used much these days. RAW has replaced it. I'm not sure what the advantages are, but they both are uncompressed formats. Lots of information is available both ways.
Re: FLoC
I had over 250 songs that I copied onto a sheet music program, so the sheets could be printed out.
A feature of this sheet music program was it could be played on a Midi Player.
On the downside, Midi Players changed also, and you cannot get the same type of sounds on the newer versions.
We can still play Midi's but they don't sound like the original Midi output.
Take for example a really popular short song that came with early Windows computers named Canyon.mid.
If you have an old XP computer, it still sounds perfect, but on any newer computer, it just don't have the same sound to it anymore. No where as neat as it used to sound.
I took about 30 of those 250 songs, and while playing them on my old XP computer, recorded them on an MP3 recorder. Most of the rest were not modified to anything more than using a piano, so they didn't need recorded.
The reason I used TIFF was because I know those Ransomware folks don't seem to attack it like they do JPG.
Plus I did want to get as many of my PCX images converted over while it was still possible.
I really miss the old graphics program I had that could convert nearly any image file into another image file type without problems. It doesn't run on anything newer than Windows98, hi hi.
A feature of this sheet music program was it could be played on a Midi Player.
On the downside, Midi Players changed also, and you cannot get the same type of sounds on the newer versions.
We can still play Midi's but they don't sound like the original Midi output.
Take for example a really popular short song that came with early Windows computers named Canyon.mid.
If you have an old XP computer, it still sounds perfect, but on any newer computer, it just don't have the same sound to it anymore. No where as neat as it used to sound.
I took about 30 of those 250 songs, and while playing them on my old XP computer, recorded them on an MP3 recorder. Most of the rest were not modified to anything more than using a piano, so they didn't need recorded.
The reason I used TIFF was because I know those Ransomware folks don't seem to attack it like they do JPG.
Plus I did want to get as many of my PCX images converted over while it was still possible.
I really miss the old graphics program I had that could convert nearly any image file into another image file type without problems. It doesn't run on anything newer than Windows98, hi hi.
Re: FLoC
Editing video and audio could be an extremely complicated adventure. I would be astonished to learn that you could not convert certain old formats, such as midi, to something more modern without losing the quality. It's just a matter of using the right codecs. There are programs that allow you to make your own decoders, but you need to be a media genius to simply understand what they are talking about. No doubt all that sophisticated software is expensive and hard to find, but I'm certain it can be done.
You're right about bad actors typically going for the low hanging fruit when it comes to creating havoc. I don't see why encrypting TIFF would be any more difficult that encrypting JPEG. It may take longer, but that's about it. I don't read a lot about photo editing but what I have seen rarely deals with TIFF files. They always refer to RAW, but even that is a bit extreme for most hobbyists. Apparently RAW and TIFF are a waste of effort to display on most computer equipment. There is a lot in those type files that can't be reproduced on the average computer. You need one of those $20k computers to get the full benefit of what TIFF and RAW can do.
You're right about bad actors typically going for the low hanging fruit when it comes to creating havoc. I don't see why encrypting TIFF would be any more difficult that encrypting JPEG. It may take longer, but that's about it. I don't read a lot about photo editing but what I have seen rarely deals with TIFF files. They always refer to RAW, but even that is a bit extreme for most hobbyists. Apparently RAW and TIFF are a waste of effort to display on most computer equipment. There is a lot in those type files that can't be reproduced on the average computer. You need one of those $20k computers to get the full benefit of what TIFF and RAW can do.
Re: FLoC
Let me explain it the way I use both TIFF and RAW.
Most DSLR cameras, can store the photos taken in JPEG and RAW. The sensor product consist of a grid of RGB dots, that are converted in the image processor to a first image, which is processed also at the image processor according to the camera settings to a base image that corresponds to the sensor characteristics (bits per color channel per pixel). The format of that first image is the RAW one. A second version of the same image is further processed to save as the JPEG image. Most computers don't show any difference between RAW and JPEG images due to video processing limitations.
When processing astrophotos, it is best to use the RAW image, since it has the full data range of the camera image sensor. Most tutorials advise using more than one image, the more, the better, and also advise to take "bias", "flat" and "blank" photos, where the "blank" is taken with the same settings as the ones of the object being photographed, but with the imaging arrangement (the way the camera was mounted to take the "light" images) covered so only the sensor noise is registered. The "bias" image is taken the same way as the "blank" image, but selecting the shortest time the camera can shoot, so only the camera sensor blemishes are registered. And last the "flat" image is taken using the same configuration as the "light" photos, using a flat light source or a phone or a computer screen.
Personally I convert my RAW images to 32 bit per channel TIFF images to process the photos I've taken, so that averaging several photos and removing noise don't degrade the final result image, and when stretching them I can get a softer result due to the added range a 32 bit per channel image can store. At the end of processing, I save the images at both 32 bit per channel TIFF, and the usual 8 bit per channel JPEG for sharing. Whenever I post an "official result image", in flickr, it comes from a 32 bit per channel TIFF.
Most DSLR cameras, can store the photos taken in JPEG and RAW. The sensor product consist of a grid of RGB dots, that are converted in the image processor to a first image, which is processed also at the image processor according to the camera settings to a base image that corresponds to the sensor characteristics (bits per color channel per pixel). The format of that first image is the RAW one. A second version of the same image is further processed to save as the JPEG image. Most computers don't show any difference between RAW and JPEG images due to video processing limitations.
When processing astrophotos, it is best to use the RAW image, since it has the full data range of the camera image sensor. Most tutorials advise using more than one image, the more, the better, and also advise to take "bias", "flat" and "blank" photos, where the "blank" is taken with the same settings as the ones of the object being photographed, but with the imaging arrangement (the way the camera was mounted to take the "light" images) covered so only the sensor noise is registered. The "bias" image is taken the same way as the "blank" image, but selecting the shortest time the camera can shoot, so only the camera sensor blemishes are registered. And last the "flat" image is taken using the same configuration as the "light" photos, using a flat light source or a phone or a computer screen.
Personally I convert my RAW images to 32 bit per channel TIFF images to process the photos I've taken, so that averaging several photos and removing noise don't degrade the final result image, and when stretching them I can get a softer result due to the added range a 32 bit per channel image can store. At the end of processing, I save the images at both 32 bit per channel TIFF, and the usual 8 bit per channel JPEG for sharing. Whenever I post an "official result image", in flickr, it comes from a 32 bit per channel TIFF.
Re: FLoC
Thank you for the explanation, Juan. Your astro photography is the perfect application of high resolution images. I like the idea of using layers to filter out noise, but some of the wanted light must also be eliminated that way too. Those dots in the sky can be no bigger than a pixel of noise on the photo sensor.
Re: FLoC
Cool Beans Oceloti!
With Midi, you selected the Instruments you wanted for the sheet music I made.
Not all Midi players of the day had the same instruments either.
But in the case of the sheet music program I was using at the time, each instrument had its own score.
Or in my case, another set of scale lines. Now many instruments can be combined if they are all playing in the song from start to finish. But if you only want a particular instrument at certain points in the score, it had to be on its own score line.
This could sometimes be quite tricky if you had a B♭ instrument playing along with an E♭ and the music was written in lets say D♯, hi hi.
The original Happy Organ version I wrote used a blow jug as an instrument.
Turned out that instrument was only on Windows 3.11's midi player, dropped in Windows XP, or in the midi player that came with Windows XP. No problem, I just installed the old midi player and my music sounded back to normal again.
I just found out I didn't install a Midi Player here on the Silver Yogi, I'll have to go do that, hi hi.
With Midi, you selected the Instruments you wanted for the sheet music I made.
Not all Midi players of the day had the same instruments either.
But in the case of the sheet music program I was using at the time, each instrument had its own score.
Or in my case, another set of scale lines. Now many instruments can be combined if they are all playing in the song from start to finish. But if you only want a particular instrument at certain points in the score, it had to be on its own score line.
This could sometimes be quite tricky if you had a B♭ instrument playing along with an E♭ and the music was written in lets say D♯, hi hi.
The original Happy Organ version I wrote used a blow jug as an instrument.
Turned out that instrument was only on Windows 3.11's midi player, dropped in Windows XP, or in the midi player that came with Windows XP. No problem, I just installed the old midi player and my music sounded back to normal again.
I just found out I didn't install a Midi Player here on the Silver Yogi, I'll have to go do that, hi hi.
Re: FLoC
OK, Playmidi didn't work, but Timidity worked just fine, not the same quality as the Windows 3.11 midi player had, hi hi.
This should bring back some memories of the Windows 3.11 days.
And also a copy of Happy Organ, hi hi.
Shucks, I get INVALID FILE EXTENSION.
I guess your system here don't like anything other than txt and odt files, hi hi.
This should bring back some memories of the Windows 3.11 days.
And also a copy of Happy Organ, hi hi.
Shucks, I get INVALID FILE EXTENSION.
I guess your system here don't like anything other than txt and odt files, hi hi.
Re: FLoC
The file I wanted you to hear is Canyon.mid
Aha, I found one online made from the original with the original midi, Sounds Perfect too!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPkwIn5W0IE
ENJOY
Aha, I found one online made from the original with the original midi, Sounds Perfect too!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPkwIn5W0IE
ENJOY
Re: FLoC
Oh my. That old GUI does indeed bring back memories. Mostly nightmares. LOL
Yes, those were the days when computers were simple and easy to deal with, although I'm sure I didn't think so at the time.
I've not heard any version of Happy Organ in decades. That kind of music brings back memories of my roller skating days where all the music was live on a pipe organ that shook the roller rink floor.
The Invalid File Extension error is probably due to a missing codec. I had problems with that in just about every version of Windows. Now and days if it doesn't play on YouTube I don't bother with it. Those codecs are hard to find, and even if you do they are hard to adjust. Windows had a program called Audacity. It could do anything if you knew how to set it up. It might be worth installing it on your wife's Windows box. But if it goes like it did for me you will need to other extensions and codecs to go with it.
A good friend of mine at Motorola was a big fan of midi music. He had a midi keyboard that could mimic any instrument you could think of, plus a few you never heard about. He would compose his own music which is why he got the keyboard. I often wonder what became of him.
Yes, those were the days when computers were simple and easy to deal with, although I'm sure I didn't think so at the time.
I've not heard any version of Happy Organ in decades. That kind of music brings back memories of my roller skating days where all the music was live on a pipe organ that shook the roller rink floor.
The Invalid File Extension error is probably due to a missing codec. I had problems with that in just about every version of Windows. Now and days if it doesn't play on YouTube I don't bother with it. Those codecs are hard to find, and even if you do they are hard to adjust. Windows had a program called Audacity. It could do anything if you knew how to set it up. It might be worth installing it on your wife's Windows box. But if it goes like it did for me you will need to other extensions and codecs to go with it.
A good friend of mine at Motorola was a big fan of midi music. He had a midi keyboard that could mimic any instrument you could think of, plus a few you never heard about. He would compose his own music which is why he got the keyboard. I often wonder what became of him.
Re: FLoC
All I remember is the sheet music writing program I had, and still have if I had a computer to run it on, hi hi.
It linked with the midi player I had installed, which had over 100 different instrument sounds, and many things not considered instruments per se, such as the jug blow sound.
I've mentioned my crazy uncle Andy a few times, the guy who would try anything.
He once built a musical instrument, if you want to call it that, hi hi.
It consisted of like 45 glass bottles, all glued down to planks, filled to different levels with mineral oil, because water evaporated too fast, and he had access to barrels of mineral oil.
He used something like windshield washer tubing with a wedge in the end of each one, and a support to hold them at just the right angle over each of the bottles.
At first, the other end of the hoses were lined up sorta like a harmonica mouthpiece, only a little weirder.
He had to blow into the tubes to play the bottles, and got pretty good at some tunes he came up with too.
Later on, he acquired a keyboard for a pipe organ, and the blower box that was in it.
After a couple of months of tinkering with it, he finally got it working perfectly.
Except for having to retune it so often, as apparently oil evaporates also.
Skipping ahead about a year or so, he decided to use epoxy in place of the mineral oil.
This worked out real well, except for one thing, some of the bottles would not rattle when played.
I have no idea how he corrected that problem, but he did.
After he got tired of it, he sold it to a musician who added it to their percussion section as a novelty item.
Probably a good thing he was able to sell it, because he and his family moved to Florida for a couple of years.
I used to play an organ myself for many years. Professionally from around 1972 to 1990 when taking care of my late wife became a full time job. I sold the organ in 2001 right before we had the auction.
It was a Lowrey HR98K Theater Organ, to which I added like three more banks of separate sounds to. They were in boxes or shelf-like boxes mounted on the wall of my living room. In 1981 I got a portable Lowrey, but never used it much, until I mounted it to the side of my Theater Organ, to the wall, not the organ itself. Used it for some sounds it could generate that was not available on my main organ or in the wall mounted sound boxes, which most of the sounds were mechanically made.
Like a bicycle horn with a solenoid that squeezed the rubber bulb on it. Or a wooden clacker that sounded more like a New Years Eve spin noise maker than a duck, hi hi. I also had some taped sounds using old phone response machines, using those little loop cassette tapes. Needless to say, those were the first things the died and were disposed of. But by then, we now had electronic noises that worked sorta like a synthesizer. Also all electronic, I added a brass and reed unit to my organ. It came ready to install, made by Lowrey, and all you had to do was remove the top of the organ, add these on top, then screw the top back down on top of these. They had a more expensive organ now that contained these units built in, and I supposed they were not selling as fast as they hoped, so they made them fit the HR98K as add-on items.
It's now been over 20 years since I've played an organ of any type.
It linked with the midi player I had installed, which had over 100 different instrument sounds, and many things not considered instruments per se, such as the jug blow sound.
I've mentioned my crazy uncle Andy a few times, the guy who would try anything.
He once built a musical instrument, if you want to call it that, hi hi.
It consisted of like 45 glass bottles, all glued down to planks, filled to different levels with mineral oil, because water evaporated too fast, and he had access to barrels of mineral oil.
He used something like windshield washer tubing with a wedge in the end of each one, and a support to hold them at just the right angle over each of the bottles.
At first, the other end of the hoses were lined up sorta like a harmonica mouthpiece, only a little weirder.
He had to blow into the tubes to play the bottles, and got pretty good at some tunes he came up with too.
Later on, he acquired a keyboard for a pipe organ, and the blower box that was in it.
After a couple of months of tinkering with it, he finally got it working perfectly.
Except for having to retune it so often, as apparently oil evaporates also.
Skipping ahead about a year or so, he decided to use epoxy in place of the mineral oil.
This worked out real well, except for one thing, some of the bottles would not rattle when played.
I have no idea how he corrected that problem, but he did.
After he got tired of it, he sold it to a musician who added it to their percussion section as a novelty item.
Probably a good thing he was able to sell it, because he and his family moved to Florida for a couple of years.
I used to play an organ myself for many years. Professionally from around 1972 to 1990 when taking care of my late wife became a full time job. I sold the organ in 2001 right before we had the auction.
It was a Lowrey HR98K Theater Organ, to which I added like three more banks of separate sounds to. They were in boxes or shelf-like boxes mounted on the wall of my living room. In 1981 I got a portable Lowrey, but never used it much, until I mounted it to the side of my Theater Organ, to the wall, not the organ itself. Used it for some sounds it could generate that was not available on my main organ or in the wall mounted sound boxes, which most of the sounds were mechanically made.
Like a bicycle horn with a solenoid that squeezed the rubber bulb on it. Or a wooden clacker that sounded more like a New Years Eve spin noise maker than a duck, hi hi. I also had some taped sounds using old phone response machines, using those little loop cassette tapes. Needless to say, those were the first things the died and were disposed of. But by then, we now had electronic noises that worked sorta like a synthesizer. Also all electronic, I added a brass and reed unit to my organ. It came ready to install, made by Lowrey, and all you had to do was remove the top of the organ, add these on top, then screw the top back down on top of these. They had a more expensive organ now that contained these units built in, and I supposed they were not selling as fast as they hoped, so they made them fit the HR98K as add-on items.
It's now been over 20 years since I've played an organ of any type.
Re: FLoC
Your crazy uncle Andy did some pretty amazing things. Actually you did too and I'm wondering if he thought you were a little bonkers. LOL I'm thinking of all those organ parts mounted on the walls of your house. I'm certain it had a wonderful sound effect, but it must have also shaken the studs loose.
Re: FLoC
That's the crazy uncle who got me climbing radio and tv towers, hi hi.
Actually, my organ and all the gizmo's I had were not that loud.
Well, I mean I could play the organ super loud, but not all the add-on items, they only made what sound they could make manually, they were not amplified. I say that tongue in cheek, hi hi, because the electronic gizmo's were of course.
But something like a bicycle rubber bulb horn is only one loudness, loud, hi hi.
When I lived in the 18 room house, I usually played during my lunch hour, and some of the workers would come over to listen.
We had a huge living room, but many just sat on the front porch and ate their lunch.
I had an old AhhOooGa horn I would hit when lunch hour was over, hi hi.
Actually, my organ and all the gizmo's I had were not that loud.
Well, I mean I could play the organ super loud, but not all the add-on items, they only made what sound they could make manually, they were not amplified. I say that tongue in cheek, hi hi, because the electronic gizmo's were of course.
But something like a bicycle rubber bulb horn is only one loudness, loud, hi hi.
When I lived in the 18 room house, I usually played during my lunch hour, and some of the workers would come over to listen.
We had a huge living room, but many just sat on the front porch and ate their lunch.
I had an old AhhOooGa horn I would hit when lunch hour was over, hi hi.
Re: FLoC
I'm impressed that you would play organ music for the people who worked with you. The working conditions must have been very liberal. When I first entered the work force I had to punch a time clock coming and going. If I was one minute late punching the card that would earn me .1 hours deduction in pay. Sometimes I was late because I had to wait for all the people in line ahead of me to punch in. That didn't matter. It was my responsibility to be there on time. We also had to punch in and out for lunch, but not for breaks. Many years later they went to an honor system and eliminated the clocks. Some people took advantage of that, but most of us were honest.
Re: FLoC
From around age 4 through to 1966, we had a baby grand piano. I never could master playing the piano though.
My elementary schools did not have a music department. However, for 4th and 5th grade I went to Chaminade College Prep School. Probably the hardest school I ever went to, but they did have a music class where I learned to play the Saxophone fairly well. They also had a huge theater organ both at the school and in the church next door. I knew piano enough that I had the opportunity to play the big organ in the school a few times. 6th through 8th grade I was back in my old school and no music department. When I started high skewl, although they did have a band, but because it was a brand new school, first year they opened, only experienced seniors were in the band. During the summer before I started my Freshman year, my uncle Robert gave me his old trumpet from his high school days, he had switched to clarinet which is what he played the rest of his life along with playing piano. I switched to public skewl and having learned the trumpet fairly well on my own, I got the position of 2nd trumpet in the school band, but as usual, too many wanted to play trumpet, so they put me on french horn most of the first semester, and I filled in on tuba a few times as well. The from second semester on, I was 2nd trumpet all the way through the end of my senior year. Earned a position in the Symphonic Band, and as a requirement, had to play in the Varsity Marching Band.
After I got home from the service, my new wife bought me a small, but top of their line, Magnus Chord Organ, which I considered a toy. Even so, I got pretty good at it. I got a second one used, which I set next to the first one, so I could play the chords on a keyboard instead of using the push buttons. Two years later I ordered the Lowrey HR98K Theater Organ.
Still living in an apartment complex, most of the time I had to play it with my headphones on. But when I moved into grandma's old monster sized house, then I could really put it through its paces.
Now this house was right next door to the cut flower shop. In fact, before the cut flower shop was built, the basement was the florist, hi hi. And for the entire 5 years I lived there, I played for an hour each day during my lunch hour. And that is what attracted a few of the greenhouse workers to come sit on my front porch, and later inside, to hear me play.
It was through word of mouth that I was asked to play at the Loop Lounge in Kirkwood on the days their normal organist did not play, and playing there is how I got invited to play on the USS Admiral several times to fill in for their normal musician.
Well, the florist and greenhouses were a family owned business, and even though we had over 250 employees, many of them were either family, relatives, or friends of the family. In the cut flower shop alone, most of the workers who came to work for us in their teens, were still there in their 70s. Many of them worked there before we were a florist too, back when we were still truck farmers and operated a huge produce market.
For me, those really were the good old days!
I've worked a few places where I had to punch a clock. Even some places where we went by a number instead of a name, which irked me to no end, hi hi. You don't know strict, until you work for a company in aerospace with government contracts.
My elementary schools did not have a music department. However, for 4th and 5th grade I went to Chaminade College Prep School. Probably the hardest school I ever went to, but they did have a music class where I learned to play the Saxophone fairly well. They also had a huge theater organ both at the school and in the church next door. I knew piano enough that I had the opportunity to play the big organ in the school a few times. 6th through 8th grade I was back in my old school and no music department. When I started high skewl, although they did have a band, but because it was a brand new school, first year they opened, only experienced seniors were in the band. During the summer before I started my Freshman year, my uncle Robert gave me his old trumpet from his high school days, he had switched to clarinet which is what he played the rest of his life along with playing piano. I switched to public skewl and having learned the trumpet fairly well on my own, I got the position of 2nd trumpet in the school band, but as usual, too many wanted to play trumpet, so they put me on french horn most of the first semester, and I filled in on tuba a few times as well. The from second semester on, I was 2nd trumpet all the way through the end of my senior year. Earned a position in the Symphonic Band, and as a requirement, had to play in the Varsity Marching Band.
After I got home from the service, my new wife bought me a small, but top of their line, Magnus Chord Organ, which I considered a toy. Even so, I got pretty good at it. I got a second one used, which I set next to the first one, so I could play the chords on a keyboard instead of using the push buttons. Two years later I ordered the Lowrey HR98K Theater Organ.
Still living in an apartment complex, most of the time I had to play it with my headphones on. But when I moved into grandma's old monster sized house, then I could really put it through its paces.
Now this house was right next door to the cut flower shop. In fact, before the cut flower shop was built, the basement was the florist, hi hi. And for the entire 5 years I lived there, I played for an hour each day during my lunch hour. And that is what attracted a few of the greenhouse workers to come sit on my front porch, and later inside, to hear me play.
It was through word of mouth that I was asked to play at the Loop Lounge in Kirkwood on the days their normal organist did not play, and playing there is how I got invited to play on the USS Admiral several times to fill in for their normal musician.
Well, the florist and greenhouses were a family owned business, and even though we had over 250 employees, many of them were either family, relatives, or friends of the family. In the cut flower shop alone, most of the workers who came to work for us in their teens, were still there in their 70s. Many of them worked there before we were a florist too, back when we were still truck farmers and operated a huge produce market.
For me, those really were the good old days!
I've worked a few places where I had to punch a clock. Even some places where we went by a number instead of a name, which irked me to no end, hi hi. You don't know strict, until you work for a company in aerospace with government contracts.