Re: Netly News article

I like the comment and the pic with Frogstein's eyes in the dark of the
computer box (at least that is haw I interpret the pic.)

A few notes:

=> the original Microsoft announcement gives the impression that conversion to
proportional font is a mere matter of a few months which will positively NOT
be the case.

A reference point: the Macintosh platform introduced proportional font on a
big scale more than a decade ago, but until today the Macintosh platform gives
you (arguably) MORE non-proportional font options than the Windows platform
which has begun adopting proportional font in a big scale only a couple of
years ago (I made side by side comparisons with Softwindows emulations that I
installed on my Macintosh a couple of months ago.)

More specifically, we will be able to post ascii pics on aaa and display them
on our monitor in the usual way for at least several years, although the
frequency of "my pics look all scrambled" questions will continuously
increase, to the point that it will be more practical to post ascii pics in
html (i.e. at that point, there will be more people seeing the ascii pic
correctly in the html medium than in a text editor medium. This is caused by
html having display instructions in the form of tags, and by text editors
built into email and newsgroup software that are increasingly adopting
proportional fonts as their defaults.)

=> it is ActiveX, not DirectX, BTW. ActiveX competes with Java for web
multimedia and I have examples of both on my website in the "The Javasteins"
and the "The Shocksteins" sections, respectively, which show that ascii
content can reside on these and other media, just like paintings can be done
in water colors, or oil, or other media. Java is pretty much under control of
Sun Microsystems, not Microsoft. 

=> Well, I mentioned Apple's Macintosh and Sun's Java (I use them both) and as
the US federal govenment and 20 US states and as hordes of many others, I too
wish that their and Netscape's (I use that too) and others' commercial
positions were a bit stronger. 

But the point is, that these platforms are far from dead, they are
co-responsible to a high degree for the on-going mainstream trend away from
non-proportional font and towards proportional font. (Of course, Microsoft is
co-responsible to a high degree as well.)

=> and finally, as far as "Resistance is futile!  You will be assimilated!"
goes, this should not be an either or proposition for ascii pics. As I said
before, ascii pics can reside on many other media, the next step up being
html, and that looks like a natural and beneficial evolution kind of thing to
me, not an assimilation kind of thing.

=========================================================
[]   .oo     Visit the Gallery of the 'steins!         []
[]  (  -)   http://www3.sympatico.ca/petecasso/        []
[]   " "   Frogstein, who has a point behind his eyes  []
=========================================================

Nathan Kennedy wrote:
> I am pleased to see that you learn quickly.  Would that all were as
> forward-looking and insightful as Citizen Casso.  This preposterous
> ASCII art faction forgets that all shall browse through the eyes of
> the Internet Exploder, and shall crave none but the succulent media
> provided by such bulletproof multimedia technology as DirectX.  And
> as for these blasphemous heretics who resist the overwhelming flood
> of advancement with their subhuman, primitive "art," they shall not
> last long under the tide of proprietary formats which shall control
> all knowledge and all power.
> 
> Resistance is futile!  You will be assimilated!
> 
>                 ________________
>                /     BB        /|
>               +---------------+ |
>               |   ___   ___   | |   Citizen!  The Computer is
>               |  |   | |   |  | |   your friend!
>               |  |   | |   |  | |
>               |  | @@| |@@ |  | |
>               |  | @@| |@@ |  | |
>               |   ~~~   ~~~   |/
>               +---------------+
> 
>     .@@   .@@    .@@    .@@
>    (  ~) (  ~)  (  ~)  (  ~)
>     " "   " "    " "    " "

Related ASCII art in the Gallery

Explore these categories from our collection of 11,000+ artworks:

(‘-‘)

   _
 _(_)_
(_)@(_)
  (_)\
     |
    \|/
  \\\|//jgs
^^^^^^^^^^^

    \\__  o
|\/    o\  o
>       < o
|/\   __/
    //

 |\__/,|   (`\
 |_ _  |.--.) )
 ( T   )     /
(((^_(((/(((_/

  , _ ,
 ( o o )
/'` ' `'\
|'''''''|
|\\'''//|
   """

 ,~~--~~-.
+      | |\
|| |~ |`,/-\
*\_) \_) `-'

Make your own ASCII art

Turn images, text or 3D into ASCII, or draw your own – right in your browser.