ACM SIGGRAPH Plone site

We just finished moving the ACM SIGGRAPH web site to a Plone based site. Plone is a very nice Open Source Content management System that has many capabilities. I have been using it as the basis for my HVL research site for over a year. It is particularly good for web based collaboration as you can define different private folders for different groups so they can discuss issues and share materials with reasonable security.

However, as with any conversion it is a lot of work to redesign the site and decide what to move to the new format and what to keep in the old. There will be more later on this.

Browser usage on siggraph.org

I like to track the statistics on siggraph.org . Here is a comparison of the use of different browsers for the past year:

 
                       June, 2004        June, 2005
MS IE                     80%                57%
Netscape                   3%                 1.7%
Mozilla/Firefox            8%                22%
Safari (Mac)               5%                15.5%

So the SIGGRAPH crowd is slightly ahead of the rest of the world in moving away from IE. But they have always had a strong Mac/Unix component.

Virtual Desktop on OS X

One of my favorite things about Linux is the virtual desktop. It is software that allows me to have several different desktops and easily switch between them. So, I have one for general email and web browsing, one for my Georgia State work, one for SIGGRAPH, and one for system stuff. This way I can have all my windows open and easily switch from one task to another. I wanted the same capability for my Powerbook. I did a Google search, looked around and found Desktop Manager (it's free). It seems to work just like Linux; to switch windows just click one of the 4 small windows on the task bar. It says it only works with Panther, but I am running Tiger (10.4.1) and it works fine - so far. Very nice!

Linux/OS X vs. Windows

Last fall I switched from a Windows XP laptop to a Mac OS X Powerbook. So, how do I feel after several months using OS X? Happy! My primary workstation is still Linux (just upgraded to Fedora Core 4), but I use my Powerbook a lot as well (just upgraded to Tiger after the patch came out – I needed to be sure I could connect to my Linux Samba server).

I use my XP machine as little as possible. Unfortunately, some software still requires Windows so I need access to it. Last semester I taught a course in advanced Computer Graphics and emphasized GPU programming. I had the students use X3D/VRML so they could focus on the GPU and not the surrounding stuff. The only browser plug in that supported this ran on Windows.

However, I just get more annoyed at XP all the time. I have to physically turn off my XP machine for a cold reboot about once every two days. I do it to my Linux and Mac machines maybe once per month or less. Windows keeps popping up “friendly” tips and reminders, which you have to click on to close. For example, it downloads an update and reboots. Then it has the audacity to pop up a window telling me it just downloaded an update and rebooted so I get to waste even more time getting rid of the stupid window!

There is a great page where you can see how people feel about operating systems: Operating System Sucks-Rules-O-Meter .

Changes

It's been a long time since I last posted. I need to start back and do it regularly. Blogs are useless unless the author, or authors, post often. I’ve had some changes in my situation since I last posted and I’ll talk more about them in future posts. The major change has been in my volunteer position with ACM SIGGRAPH. I was the Chair of the Conference Advisory Group (CAG). The CAG consists of the SIGGRAPH Conference Chairs and a couple of representatives from the ACM SIGGRPH Executive Committee. It is responsible for all long range planning and policies for the annual conference (which has an attendance of 25-30,000). My term as CAG Chair was over at the end of December, 2004.

However, it turned out my career with SIGGRAPH was not over. I was drafted and ran for the position of ACM SIGGRAPH President, and I won. My new office starts July 1, 2005. So, if anyone reading this wants to suggest changes for SIGGRAPH, please let me know.

A New Laptop - moving from Windows to Mac

For years, while I have used Linux for my servers, I have continued using MS Windows for my desktop and my laptops. I have finally converted to Linux for my desktop and I bought a new Apple Powerbook for my laptop.

Why" First moving to the Powerbook for the laptop. I had a Mac laptop several years ago and it was useless. It kept crashing and drove me nuts. However, Mac OS X is great. It is stable and based on UNIX. This means that I can easily talk to my Linux system, e.g. using X Windows. For those of you who have never used X Windows (common in the UNIX World) it allows you to run a graphical application, like a web browser, full screen text editor, or anything, on a remote machine and see it on your own machine. I know there are other ways to do this now, but X is still quite nice. Mac OS X also easily connects to other servers, e.g. WebDav, NFS, etc. Mac OS X also uses standards, e.g. ICal uses the ics calendar standard so I can easily transfer information between it and my Mozilla calendars. Another, very nice feature is the instant on/off for the Powerbook. Frequently when I am at a conference I want to take notes or do a quick email check. With my Windows laptop, even in standby mode, there would be a long delay before it wakes up (I realize it is only about 30 sec - a minute but it seems very long). With my Powerbook, as soon as I open the lid it is awake and ready to go.

Birth of the Beast

To me SIGGRAPH is like the condensed version of the life of a great beast. After a very long gestation period (two years!) it is born, grows to huge size and then dies, all in a week. The past couple of days has seen the birth as crews of contractors and volunteers have been working feverishly to put everything in place. This afternoon Registration and the S2005 Booth opened. The L.A.Convention Center (LACC), which has been empty, has started to fill with people.

Tomorrow morning the Courses and Sketches begin and most of the Posters will be up. The pace quickens!