Last night I was able to get XGL running in Ubuntu. I am not an Ubuntu user. I ordered a free CD and installed it just to see what the fuss is about. I am a Mandriva user and quiet happy with Mandriva. I do enjoy Ubuntu's ease of use and can see how people migrating from Windows and/or Apple could use Ubuntu very easy.

Okay, back to XGL. I was able to get Ubuntu running using bits and pieces from various guides. Sadly, not one guide worked for me. I suspect because I have an older Nvidia card. With that said, it took about 20 to 30 minutes to get it working, and I took my time and was hesitant. I do not have it starting automatically. I use a small script to "turn it on".

What does it do? Well, XGL makes things kind of wobbly and liquidy. You can turn your desktops around like it's a cube. Basically, it's kind of eye candy. However, I can see using the cube to explain multiple desktops to Windows and Apple users. The effects were pleasing to the eye and did make everything seem smooth.

Does it slow the system down? No. In fact, some things seemed faster. I have no idea how. XGL runs on top of X instead of replacing it with something else. XGL does use OpenGL to do things and does things well.

Like with all eye candy, XGL has been hyped beyond belief. But eventually it'll die down and real uses will start to pop up. If you want to see XGL in action, just go to YouTube.com and do a search for XGL.

I mentioned before about multiple desktops and Windows and Apple users. In the next version/update to Apple's OS X, Apple users will now have multiple desktops. Apple, of course, is hyping this as if they invented multiple desktops. I wouldn't mind if they hyped it if they would just mention where they got the idea from. I don't want to single out Apple for "borrowing" idea when there is the great company known as Microsoft. They all need to take a lesson from the XMMS people who freely admit to making a Winamp for Linux. That would be Winamp 1 and 2, none of those crappy versions that have followed.

Speaking of crappy, I'm having problems with iTunes. I have tried my best to use this software. I have to use it for various podcasts, both audio and video. When it comes to video, I can't watch video podcasts with iTunes. I have to go to the folder in which they are saved and view them with QuickTime. That way I can view them full screen if I want to. If I try to view the video in iTunes, iTunes gets slow and/or confused.

Audio and iTunes. I can not stand the way iTunes tries to organize things. Actually, I wouldn't mind that if it just let me browse folders and select a folder to play. I do not like having to make a playlist just to listen to a bunch of mp3s. I would love to just have something like... well, the Winamp playlist thing. I can just drag mp3s and folders into that and things play just fine.

Podcasts and the Music Store. These two things should not be together. In fact, I'd love for Apple to make a iPodcast piece of software so I wouldn't have to use iTunes and that Music Store. I do not buy mp3s from Apple. In fact, I do not buy mp3s. I buy CDs. Click CDs to read about them at Wikipedia.org for those who don't know what I'm talking about. So yeah, the iTunes Music Store and the podcast section needs to be separated for ease of use. Podcasts are only going to get bigger. Also, the iPodcast software that I hope Apple makes, needs to have bittorrent support. If you separate the podcasts from iTunes and the Music Store, you can have bittorrent with the podcasts and no bittorrent with the Music Store.

While I'm speaking of separating things, I have used iTunes to view movie trailers. That's a horrible experience.

Next... iTunes is butt ugly. I am sorry Mac people. The whole brushed metal thing was cool in 1999. It hasn't look good since. I know Apple wants you to look at iTunes and/or QuickTime and think immediately about Apple. Well, I do. I think about how bad it looks. It needs to give up it's skin and let the OS provide it's look. Yeah, that means letting it look like a Windows app. But I go to a lot of trouble making my Windows OS look non-Redmond, and I'm not the only one. At least give up that ugly brushed metal grey.

Don't get me wrong. I love Apple. I wish I had an Apple computer so I could do better video editing. And I love what Apple and iTunes has done for podcasts. I just think it's time to look at their software, accept they have issues, and take things to the next level with new software, ideas, and a new look.

Also, I'm finally writing the last few scenes of my screen play, "Meanwhile". I'm not sure when I'll be finished with it, but I'm at least writing the end to it. I still have little idea how the last few things are going to go. I'll find out when I get there (I hope). When it comes time to print it out, I'm sure something will go wrong with my printer, and the ink will come out brushed metal grey.  ¶ 1:20 AM