Archive for October, 2005

Sylpheed-Claws 1.9.99 unleashed!!

Monday, October 31st, 2005

Unusually, today's release went off without a hitch. The notes for this release can be found here, another large amount of changes. 1.9.99 will probably be the final release before version 2.0.0.

I registered the project, and added the first listing, at OpenUsability.org. Having the project listed there is intended to "serve as a collaboration platform for Sylpheed-Claws developers and OpenUsability experts", whether this will bear fruit remains to be seen. I am not sure who these 'usability experts' are, or whether they have anything of worth, (or even just anything), to add to the project. Theoretically, it could be a worthwhile exercise…

shades of Cthulhu

Sunday, October 30th, 2005
Like something that has risen from the deep in an H. P. Lovecraft story, this colossal squid is quite amazing - reportedly weighing 150kg and 5.4m in length. The huge eye is very bizarre. The colossal squid is also able to glow and project light.

This is image is from Extreme Nature by Mark Carwardine, published by HarperCollins. (Click on the image for a larger version)

colossal squid

(not) a religion in the making

Sunday, October 30th, 2005

Smile no.11 Rediscovered the article by Asger Jorn, 'Pataphysics - A Religion In The Making, here. Originally appearing in Internationale Situationniste No.6 (August 1961), the translation at that link is taken from Smile No.11, (1989), the Plagiarism Special, (although reported as being from Smile No.9).

A notable quote:

The great merit of pataphysics is to have confirmed that there is no metaphysical justification for forcing everybody to believe in the same absurdity, possibilities for the absurd and in art are legion. The only logical deduction that can be made from this principle is the anarchist thesis: to each his own absurdities. The negation of this principle is expressed in the legal power of the state, which forces all citizens to submit to an identical set of political absurdities.

The complete text of Internationale Situationniste No.6, including a different translation of Asger Jorn's article, is available at the situationist international archive.

From Smile no.9:

Ever since 'grown up men' started reading Lautreamont there has existed a confusion between art (a way of looking at the world) and politics (a way of making other people look at the world in the same way as you).

Alastair Dunn - The Peasants' Revolt, England's Failed Revolution of 1381

Wednesday, October 12th, 2005
Alastair Dunn - The Peasants' Revolt Alastair Dunn - The Peasants' Revolt, England's Failed Revolution of 1381
[Tempus Publishing 2004]

The Peasants' Revolt was the greatest mass rebellion in British history. Throughout June and July 1381, 60,000 men and women from as far afield as Yorkshire and Norfolk rampaged across the country in response to the attempted collection of the hated 'Poll Tax'. But this was not just a revolt of peasants and workmen. Many prosperous men and women, especially Londoners, used the 'Great Rising' as a cover for private acts of score-settling and criminality. Alastair Dunn re-examines the aims of the rebels, their bizarre acts of ritualistic violence and the unusual personalities of their charismatic leaders.

Christopher Hill - The World Turned Upside Down, Radical Ideas During the English Revolution

Wednesday, October 12th, 2005
Christopher Hill - The World Turned Upside Down Christopher Hill - The World Turned Upside Down, Radical Ideas During the English Revolution
[Penguin 1991]

Within the English revolution of the mid-seventeenth century which resulted in the triumph of the protestant ethic - the ideology of the propertied class - there threatened another, quite different, revolution. Its success 'might have established communal property, a far wider democracy in political and legal institutions, might have disestablished the state church and rejected the protestant ethic'. In The World Turned Upside Down Christopher Hill studies the beliefs of such radical groups as the Diggers, the Ranters, the Levellers and others, and the social and emotional impulses that gave rise to them. The relations between rich and poor classes, the part played by wandering 'masterless' men, the outbursts of sexual freedom, the great imaginative creations of Milton and Bunyan - these and many other elements build up into a marvellously detailed and coherent portrait of this strange, sudden effusion of revolutionary beliefs. It is a portrait not of the bourgeois revolution that actually took place but of the impulse towards a far more fundamental overturning of society.

The R. Crumb Coffee Table Art Book, Crumb's Whole Career, from Shack to Chateau

Tuesday, October 11th, 2005
The R. Crumb Coffee Table Art Book The R. Crumb Coffee Table Art Book, Crumb's Whole Career, from Shack to Chateau
[Kitchen Sink Press 1997]

The R. Crumb Coffee Table Art Book collects for the first time Crumb's finest drawings, stories, illustrations, covers, and paintings - ranging from his early work as a greeting card artist to such iconic sixties images as "Keep On Truckin'" and "Stoned Agin!" to drawings and comic strips featuring Crumb's signature creations, including Fritz the Cat, Mr. Natural, and Devil Girl. Brief commentaries by Crumb illuminate his obsessions with sex and old music, his disappointment with the hippie era, and other aspects of his life and career. With its never-before-seen drawings and sketchbook work, and featuring many cartoons coloured by the artist for the first time, The R. Crumb Coffee Table Art Book is a rich visual feast of a book - a celebration of one of the great original American artists of our time.

Sylpheed-Claws 1.9.15 unleashed!

Monday, October 3rd, 2005

Today saw the release of version 1.9.15 of Sylpheed-Claws. The Release Notes are here. All in all a relatively painless release - only small SourceForge troubles, (no SF mail was getting through, so the translators who were waiting for sylpheed-claws.pot didn't get to see my message until it was too late), almost all translations arriving on time, ReleaseForge more or less doing its job. (I had to patch ReleaseForge to get it to work, (see here), and re-submit the SF News item afterwards, as ReleaseForge had apparently disposed of all the linebreaks.)

I also created a separate project at freshmeat for new release listings. Mainly so we can clearly emphasise that Claws is still GPL, whereas main is now LGPL, and also to help dispel the myth that Claws is Sylpheed-Testing.

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