While you're waiting...

I'm driving back to college tomorrow (or this morning to be accurate).

I noticed this video on the Planet and since it's pretty awesome I figured I'd post it here as well (Planet readers, no need to worry, you've seen this already).

Kevin Lange has a pretty awesome video showing an updated version of the desktop head tracking, and it demonstrates its effectiveness much better than Sam's video that I featured a while back.

I may review this in one of my videos depending on the situation, though a video of it in action may prove difficult as the only camera I own in my dorms is my laptop's webcam.

Another Thought

Sorry that the website theme is a bit messed up at the moment, this is due to me losing the hosting I had gotten before. I might be able to use my campus online storage to host the images in the near future. I'm going to clean up the design soon.

Also I changed my Twitter username to gavintlgold, and it's not just FusionCast-centered anymore.

Feel free to follow me :) > http://twitter.com/gavintlgold

On the subject of capturing my desktop

So, after hearing the response of the readers I think I may start up again, maybe not just for Compiz Fusion but other things as well. Even though there haven't been that many comments I know that my 400+ subscribers on Youtube might also appreciate more videos.

However, I can't keep using the system I have been so far. Xvidcap, as good as it might seem, is not the best option. All my screencasts were actually sped up because of frame dropping, and the performance wasn't phenomenal even so.

I'm considering buying a capture card to plug in to my graphics card (which has s-video out) to record the video. On Newegg it seems like I can get one for around $25 to $30.

This way video would be nice and smooth and I can show you guys the real truth behind my desktop, which, though it's not the most top-of-the-line in terms of hardware, performs amazingly with Compiz Fusion. Screencasts taken with software just don't do the cube justice.

Also I'd rather not use a camcorder like I did for my big million views video. Having such a capture card would also likely open the doors for linux gaming and other features.

Now, I know capture cards are not designed to capture video from the computer to record onto the computer, but I'm thinking this should be all right. Then again, I could be totally wrong about this increasing performance. Would recording with the capture card on linux be a CPU hog or would it be all right? If it's a CPU hog I suppose the situation isn't any better.

If anyone could give me advice about this or another method of using hardware to record the desktop it would be greatly appreciated.

Finally, I'm removing the Adsense ads and replacing them with a Paypal donation button. I don't think any of the ads are really relevant, they must be annoying, and I've only gotten about $35 total through Adsense after all these years. If you would like to speed up the process of me getting started up again I would always appreciate a small donation. Perhaps if I get enough I could use it for the capture card!

Once again, thanks for your patience and helping me out with this capture card business, I'm not an expert with hardware like this.

Not much happening...

I figured I might as well update you by now. I assume most of you have given up hope of seeing a new video.

I'm in college now, studying Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. I still use linux on my laptop (on my desktop I play computer games so I'm forced to use XP).

My current Linux setup uses Compiz Fusion (of course), Docky, and the Global Menu Applet to emulate a sorta pseudo-mac look.

Since Compiz hasn't undergone any major visual changes I haven't really found it necessary to update this blog with anything. However, the underlying code is being restructured completely and ported to C++, which I consider a big step forward. As for me I still like coding in Python but I have a better understanding of how C++ style coding works so I could probably begin to read and tweak the Compiz code myself.

Anyway, the main reason I wanted to post this was to see how many people still visit this site or have it in their feeds. My Youtube account still seems pretty active and I've got a lot of subscribers, so I suppose a new video wouldn't go missed.

However, I'm not sure what to make a video about. I suppose I could make a presentation of my current setup, which I think is excellent for getting work done, or I could make a video showcasing my 30-second boot into Ubuntu Karmic.

If anyone's alive out there let me know in a comment, and give me your opinion about where I should go with FusionCast. Thanks :)

Long time no post

Hello, I'm still alive, but busy in High School, finishing my senior year. I hope that I will have time in my college years to continue this, as compiz moves in new directions.

Indeed, as Compiz Fusion seems to be coming to an end, I may have to rename the cast. At the moment I do not have time enough to make more episodes, and compiz fusion hasn't developed much anyway.

I am pretty sure that this summer I will be able to start 'er up again, maybe with a new name, and start fresh with all new bleeding edge compiz++! :)

Another reason for me posting this is an important message: DO NOT INSTALL VIA GIT ANYMORE. As Kristian mentioned, the new work on Compiz has moved to git, and confused up scripts and how-tos. Just use what Ubuntu ships with; it's up-to-date enough to have all the plugins I've reviewed.

I don't know how many people still check this blog, but I hope to start something again sometime in the near future. :) Thanks for staying subscribed all this time!

--gavin

My new Xwinwrap gui Gwinwrap

I'm pleased to announce the first public version of my pygtk app Gwinwrap. It's still very new, and most likely buggy, but if you feel like trying it the code is at Google Code.

Basically, it finds all your xscreensavers and lists them, with a preview. You can choose to start the xwinwrap screen with opacity, and choose whether or not to use a nice command before for better cpu management. Xscreensaver Arguments are also accepted in the input box.

Hope you like it!

FusionCast VI -- New Plugin: Stackswitch

Well, here we are already with another episode. Keep in mind that I plan on making shorter, more specific episodes now for easier searching on Youtube, etc. Because of this, the episode numbers are less important and more emphasis is on the plugin/features outlined.

Watch the original video here for annotations, and/or if you're coming from the planet.

Can you Digg it? >> Thanks everyone for putting this on the front page! And welcome, diggers!



This episode, we show you an all-new plugin: Stackswitch! Added by Onestone to gitweb, this plugin is a neat hybrid of the scale and shift window switchers. Take a look at the video for details!

Thanks a whole lot to Kate Linford for personally offering her track, "Hip Hop Bond" to use on this cast. I think you'll find it quite outstanding! A link to the track may be made available later.

Links:
Stackswitch on Gitweb
Original Announcement (onestone's blog)

Please email me at fusioncast at gmail dot com!
I am on IRC occasionally under the nick of gavintlgold on irc.freenode.net #compiz-fusion.
Also, comment by clicking on the link below.

Tip: did you know that you can sort my posts by the label "episodes" to only see my episodes and cut out the announcements and stuff?