Unique and Productive or Just More Eye-Candy? 111
4ndys writes "A guy who goes by the name MacSlow is currently working on a project he calls LowFat. This is a photomanager with a twist. Rather than just viewing you pictures one at a time, you spread the pictures out over your desktop and can manage them in a much more natural way. He is hoping to release this on multiple platforms inc. Linux, Mac and Windows."
A little fishy to me (Score:3, Insightful)
2. Do demo of cool product
3. Get cool product and blog mentioned on Slashdot
4. Just happen to have tip jars at bottom of blog page.
5. Profit.
I'm not against throwing a few bucks in the direction of something useful,
but I usually wait until said useful thing is in my possession before
deciding.
For all you know, this guy has no intention of finishing this thing and is
just looking for a way to make a quick buck.
A little human nature to me (Score:5, Funny)
just looking for a way to make a quick buck."
Well it could be worse. He could publish something. Lots of people find it useful and not send him any money. Then complain that it doesn't do things exactly the way photoshop does.
Re:A little human nature to me (Score:5, Funny)
Re:A little fishy to me (Score:3, Insightful)
HE has a concept, he wants to make it, he thinks it will work.
My bet, he will make it, we will use it and it will be a success.
It looks like the kind of app that a tablet is dying out for and looks so natural and easy to use.
Re:A little fishy to me (Score:5, Informative)
Don't worry. Any random donations from slashdotters will be FAR outweighed by his bandwidth bill this month. For Chrissakes, he posted *movies!* Sure, he pulled them now, but the damage is done.
Re:A little fishy to me (Score:2)
Then again, he had the sense to use coral cache [coralcdn.org].
Re:A little fishy to me (Score:5, Informative)
Re:A little fishy to me (Score:1)
Re:A little fishy to me (Score:5, Insightful)
I really dislike how negative people are about this kind of thing. Its certainly not a quick buck. All that work, with no garauntee of any donations. If you want to talk about making a quick buck, you're probably better served talking to management of the company he's employed at.
Re:A little fishy to me - OT (Score:1)
Re:A little fishy to me (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:That's all well and good ... (Score:1)
So, basically, its Picasa? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:So, basically, its Picasa? (Score:5, Insightful)
Did you even watch the demo? Because I don't recall Picasa allowing me to organize my pics in the manner shown in the demo. Also, I don't recall this guy saying that in order to use his stuff, I'll have to allow him to index all of my pics for some vaguely defined reason.
Re:So, basically, its Picasa? (Score:2)
This isn't an innovation unless there's something surprising in that demo.
Re:So, basically, its Picasa? (Score:2)
Re:So, basically, its Picasa? (Score:2)
Re:So, basically, its Picasa? (Score:2)
Re:So, basically, its Picasa? (Score:2, Informative)
Re:So, basically, its Picasa? (Score:2)
Re:So, basically, its Picasa? (Score:5, Interesting)
You do realize there's a scrollbar on the right and a scrollbar on the left, didn't you?
The scrollbar on the right can be used in several ways as well. You can pull the slider up and down, you can click anywhere in the scrollbar, you can use the arrow keys at the top and bottom, or you can click the "=" buttons to quickly move p and down a grouping of photos.
If you don't like this, you can use the traditional scrollbar on the left to quickly navigate folders.
I wonder what "photo app" you "purchased". Have you tried actually navigating through a large collection of photos in Photoshop? I actually use Picasa as a front-end to Photoshop; it blows the doors off Adobe Bridge, which is supposed to do some of what Picasa does but does it all very, very poorly (mostly because it takes about five hours for it to do simple things like display a thumbnail collection).
Re:So, basically, its Picasa? (Score:2)
Yes. I had an email conversation with the Picassa support people, who (after I upgraded to the latest version, as they requested) admitted that the scroll bars do not work well. Hopefully they will fix the problem because Picassa is otherwise a fairly good app.
Re:So, basically, its Picasa? (Score:2)
Sorry, forgot to reply to this part.
ACDSee 8 Photo [acdsystems.com].
Re:So, basically, its Picasa? (Score:1, Flamebait)
Yes, I have scrolled through nearly a thousand photos in Picasa. On a 333MHz machine with 192MB of memory. Running Windows 98.
All I can say is that I wish iPhoto could do things as smoothly, even on far faster hardware.
Re:So, basically, its Picasa? (Score:5, Insightful)
The downside is what you don't get to see in the demonstration: how the interface actually works. You can see photos being grouped, changing layout schemes, being zoomed and rotated etc. which is great, but the real question of exactly what the interface to all those things is: how do you use keyboard and mouse to tell the computer to perform all those actions? How do you zoom instead of dragging the photo? How do you manipulate a group instead of an individual item from the group (and vice versa)? If it's an exclusive modal system switched by keyboard commands then it's clunky, but if it's based on modifier keys and buttons then, given the rnge of actions demonstrated, it may become equally clunky.
None the less it looks like an interesting idea, and if the demo actually shows fully implemented work (as opposed to being rendered and edited together) then it is indeed a promising project.
Jedidiah.
Re:So, basically, its Picasa? (Score:2)
Re:So, basically, its Picasa? (Score:2)
Re:So, basically, its Picasa? (Score:2)
Jedidiah.
I have already done this (sort of) (Score:5, Insightful)
The code is god awful, but it works. Some screenshots here: http://forum.sweclockers.com/showthread.php?s=&th
Re:I have already done this (sort of) (Score:5, Funny)
not to you maybe (Score:2)
Re:I have already done this (sort of) (Score:5, Funny)
[shudder]
I mean, really. This is a family forum, for chrissakes.
Re:I have already done this (sort of) (Score:5, Funny)
Re:I have already done this (sort of) (Score:2)
ideal way to manage photos (cool video) (Score:5, Interesting)
Crazy Multi-Input Touch Screen [youtube.com]
Althought likely vaporware, it would be cool to have a multi touch screen...
Re:ideal way to manage photos (cool video) (Score:2)
Re:ideal way to manage photos (cool video) (Score:1, Informative)
The attribution can be found here:
http://mrl.nyu.edu/~jhan/ftirtouch/index.html [nyu.edu]
Re:ideal way to manage photos (cool video) (Score:3, Informative)
Link to the real video page (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Link to the real video page (Score:2)
I disagree... It looks neat, like Tom Cruise in Minority Report, but I dont think this is where the UI is going. I mean, thats not a UI thats exercise! I race bicycles for fun and I can hold my own against most people in the exercise department, but I dont want to be doing the "wax on, wax off" (showing my age) when I'm sitting at a computer.
Imagine having to reach out and hit a links with your finger every
Re:Link to the real video page (Score:1)
Re:Link to the real video page (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
Re:ideal way to manage photos (cool video) (Score:3)
Re:ideal way to manage photos (cool video) (Score:2)
Only if you tell me first how long you expect you LCD screen to last.
Re:ideal way to manage photos (cool video) (Score:3, Insightful)
Want to test it yourself? Easy. Wash your hands, then take your exisiting laptop screen and draw, with your fingertip, a smiley face or a letter A or something. OK, easy enough. Now keep drawing things. Spell out your name, play tic-tac-toe; basically imagine you are using a touch screen interface. Every 5 minutes, make a mental note of how your arms feel.
I reckon a man like you might make it as far as 20 minutes before you start to cry with the pain.
Re:ideal way to manage photos (cool video) (Score:2)
I interface with the real world (which requires much more arm movement) and don't really get fatigued from just doing stuff.
Re:ideal way to manage photos (cool video) (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:ideal way to manage photos (cool video) (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
Re:ideal way to manage photos (cool video) (Score:1)
Re:ideal way to manage photos (cool video) (Score:1)
it isnt vapourware!
Re:ideal way to manage photos (cool video) (Score:1)
Or.... (Score:4, Funny)
PhotoMesa (Score:1)
Try PhotoMesa - www.photomesa.com
Re:PhotoMesa (Score:1)
Whenever I do it, its "that one, that one, that one and ermmmmmm that one"
Then I realise that I wanna see one closer and double click on it to view and the selection goes away...
This initial sorting and management will save so much time.
Re:PhotoMesa (Score:1)
Other alternatives are worth checking out (Score:1)
Videos (Score:5, Informative)
Use the coral cache or any money left in the tip jar is going to end up being spent on his bandwidth bill.
http://macslow.thepimp.net.nyud.net:8090/projects
http://macslow.thepimp.net.nyud.net:8090/projects
http://macslow.thepimp.net.nyud.net:8090/projects
http://macslow.thepimp.net.nyud.net:8090/projects
^the mov link doesn't seem to be working^
Pictures (Score:2)
http://macslow.thepimp.net.nyud.net:8090/images/pi ct0136.jpg [nyud.net]
http://macslow.thepimp.net.nyud.net:8090/images/pi ct0125.jpg [nyud.net]
http://macslow.thepimp.net.nyud.net:8090/images/We stpark_30102005-1.jpg [nyud.net]
http://macslow.thepimp.net.nyud.net:8090/images/We stpark_30102005-2.jpg [nyud.net]
http://macslow.thepimp.net.nyud.net:8090/images/sm all_kopfueber-1.png [nyud.net]
Re:Videos (Score:2)
Already Down (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Photomesa (Score:2)
more mirrors (Score:5, Informative)
http://www.cribot.com/preview-1.avi [cribot.com]
http://www.cribot.com/preview-1.wav [cribot.com]
Re:more mirrors (Score:1)
No Thanks... (Score:2)
iPhoto? Picasa? (Score:2)
I'm not getting it.
Point missed (Score:3, Interesting)
Natural Is Overrated (Score:5, Insightful)
Handwriting is a very natural way of entering text, but the keyboard is a far more efficient one. Real world mail from your friends would not be naturally threaded, or sorted by date. Real world spreadsheets don't recompute when you change a value. Real world typewriters can't correct a typo as if it never happened. Real world metaphors (like folders, for example) can be very useful, but they don't belong everywhere. I can find a picture in iPhoto quite a bit faster than I can from the shoebox that Lowfat seems to simulate.
Re:Natural Is Overrated (Score:1)
I think an interesting experiment would be to measure the amount of time it takes to find a unique photo from various size groups of photos 10/100/500/1000/etc to find out where the sweet spot is for lowFat versus any other file so
Re:Natural Is Overrated (Score:2)
Your experiment will depend largely on how well the picture is organized, how visually unique it is, and so on. An advanced amateur photographer can easily have dozens of very similar shots made while looking for that perfect shot, especially in the age of digi
Re:Natural Is Overrated (Score:1)
It's the grok factor. Demo videos? High grok. Autocorrelation & Cepstrum Analysis? Low grok.
Personally, I like Macslow's approach. Build it (webify/create videos w/links) and they will come (feedback/donations).
You can't deny he's got a great demo.
Re:Natural Is Overrated (Score:3, Interesting)
Not to detract from your point, but in my mind, the image file equivalent of finding a music file by humming would be finding a photo by drawing a rough sketch of it. THAT would be really cool.
Re:Natural Is Overrated (Score:1)
I. Couldn't. Resist.
Re:Natural Is Overrated (Score:2)
This software exists. I really don't remember at all what it was called but I found it a few months ago when looking for something else. It's a very interesting idea, but it didn't seem like it worked particularly well for most things. Still though, very cool. I'm sure if you spent a little time, you could caress a li
Check out retrievr ... Re:Natural Is Overrated (Score:1)
>> THAT would be really cool
It is really cool, albeit this implementation is not perfect, check out retrievr [systemone.at].
Re:Natural Is Overrated (Score:2)
Likewise, the thing seen in the videos, the ability to spread out the pile in an instant, allows you to find a specific picture fairly quickly.
Now if I can also group piles together (i.e. subfolders), things start to be interesting.
Re:Natural Is Overrated (Score:2)
window manager (Score:1)
metacity? compiz?
Aperture... (Score:1)
*scratching his head*
Not that innovative, I'm afraid. Can he handle raw files? If not, well, it's Aperture for "normal" users.
Demo, please (Score:2)
Half now, Half Later (Score:1)
Scaling to 10,000+ objects? (Score:5, Insightful)
I only have about 12000 images, but professionals might easily accumulate 50,000 or more images per year, in some cases using medium format backs with 35 megapixels and 16 bit color depth. While the storage requirements for something like that might still be a bit daunting (each image of that size would be 200 MB if stored in uncompressed TIFF format, so this would be 5 TB/year), any good image management tool has to handle large scale.
I like KPhotoAlbum [kphotoalbum.org] (formerly KimDaBa) myself. While not particularly elegant visually, it's fast and has excellent search capabilities and metadata organization.
Re:Scaling to 10,000+ objects? (Score:1)
Too bad there's no win32 binary
Re:Scaling to 10,000+ objects? (Score:2)
I don't know the specifics of how this guy's app gets the pixels on the screen -- from what I recall looking at this from Digg a few weeks back I think he's using Cairo, which implies glitz, which implies opengl. Now, I don't know about you, but my pow
Re:Scaling to 10,000+ objects? (Score:2)
New? (Score:2)
Yes, I saw the multipoint touch display demo too (Score:2)
Apple even has a patent on multipoint touch displays, I am sure some future version of iPhoto is already patented with this concept in mind.
If your going to hype
Re:Seriously? (Score:2, Interesting)
I manage it with terrabytes of data covering thousands of real mile data - over the internet.
You might not make thumbnails, but with efficient caching you won't need to.
Re:Seriously? (Score:1)
I sold mine for a donut.
Incidentally, the datasets I meant were google earth, panning and zooming and rotating on tiled images downloaded as required from the net.
If your graphics are storeed in raw format, extracting the cached thumbnails is much simpler than for compressed large format images.