Getting emotional with my favorite brand of machines

[Ofnuts]

   

Actually trying my hand with Darktable. Just discovered that it can export directly to XCF 32-bit FP format.

Most of the work (exposure/tone/perspective) done in DT. Gimp used to lighten up the red dot (which could possibly be done in DT once I know it better) and clean out a few dust specks.

[denzjos]

Nice done, I immediately thought of a Money Mark song : Push The Button 

[Ofnuts]

(03-03-2025, 05:00 PM)denzjos Wrote: Nice done, I immediately thought of a Money Mark song : Push The Button 

Quite satisfied with the button actually. Because the button is a LED (slowly pulsating when the PC is in sleep mode) but it was off when the picture was taken. Fortunately, since DT can export the image in high precision XCF format, I could boost its luminosity in Gimp without side effects.

The initial picture is a bit noisy (ISO3200) but the noise adds some texture to the black, so I left it in.

[Tas_mania]

This post got me wondering what IBM is doing these days. Their hardware was always good and well documented. I bought a couple of  'obsolete servers' and converting them into workstations . They ran Xeon chips and the documentation was excellent. The servers didn't have sound but usb soundcards solved that for a few bucks They are now happy in landfill as recycled obsolete servers.

IBM have either partnered with RedHat or they own it not sure which?

I know the ThinkPads were sold and rebranded 'Lenovo'. Probably still a product. 'Big Blue' is pushing AI like everybody else these days.

Do people remember how fast the 'Google' page was to load compared with how slow it is now? I put that down to AI.
When you click the Google page now it does a scan of your entire life to preempt what question you are going to ask

[Ofnuts]

Last I knew it was mostly (in Eurpoe at least) a service company. From a leaked memo in the late 2010s it was inferred that two thirds of the IBM workforce were in India. Hardware-wise they survive because large corporations are stuck with their mainframes. Other hardware was good, but they never understood that not everybody wants nuclear-blast-proof hardware to run a grocery store.

Officially IBM bought RedHat, but in practice the RedHat CEO became the IBM CEO...And they have the knack to acquire a thriving startup and completely kill it in a couple of years because they don't understand what made it great. So if RedHat is still around it's either a miracle or it actually runs IBM.

Google? I've been using DuckDuckGo as my main search engine for at least the last ten years. I hardly use Google as a search engine these days.

[rich2005]

(03-02-2025, 08:50 PM)Ofnuts Wrote:

Actually trying my hand with Darktable. Just discovered that it can export directly to XCF 32-bit FP format.

A shame it has such an appalling interface.

[Ofnuts]

(03-07-2025, 11:03 AM)rich2005 Wrote:

(03-02-2025, 08:50 PM)Ofnuts Wrote:

Actually trying my hand with Darktable. Just discovered that it can export directly to XCF 32-bit FP format.

A shame it has such an appalling interface.

When you look at YT videos, the whole interface begins to make sense. And it has some mind-blowing modules, I just love how the rotation and perspective straighten the image.