#Alternative Software

[atariforce]

Retro Game Spotlight 095: Dalek Attack (1992)

Publisher: Alternative Software Platform: Atari ST Designers: Roger Hulley, Richard Turner

Trivia: Based on the British TV series Doctor Who, most versions of Dalek Attack let the player choose between playing as the Second, Fourth or Seventh Doctor.

[chahleybros]

I post this any time news about Adobe being Shit turns up.

Alternatives to Adobe Software:

Credit to XdanielArt for making this image. Their Original Post

The free version of Davinci Resolve + Fusion and Fairlight (Video Effects and Audio), Blender (3D + 2D animation), and Gimp (graphical software) collectively replace most of Adobe's software and arguably out performs them. Blender has also substantially improved Greasepaint to the point you can use it as a dedicated 2D art application. The paid version of Resolve is also a single time purchase.

Sunken Cost Fallacy will not help you with Adobe. There are better options available and most of them don't cost anything. The cost of using Adobe software is egregious and their DRM is blatantly designed in bad faith. It's gotten so bad that the Film Industry has started abandoning its use in favour of the listed alternatives above.

[angel-and-demons]

Análise - Lunch a Palooza

Lunch a Palooza é um jogo da Seashell Studio com foco no multiplayer e temática de culinária. O famoso “Que vença o melhor!”.  Vence a última comida no prato!  Sem um modo arcade ou sequer um enredo, o jogo tem foco total no multiplayer, seja o local ou o online (apenas para PC), onde é possível reunir até 4 jogadores simultaneamente disputando quem será o último a sobreviver.  Existem 4 modos…

[bobbietables]

10 Best FREE Adobe Software Alternatives (2023)

[the960writers]

Alternatives to google docs

For various reasons, this is now a hot topic. I'm putting my favorites here, please add more in your reblogs. I'm not pointing to Microsoft Word because I hate it.

Local on your computer:

1.

LibreOffice (https://www.libreoffice.org/), Win, Linux, Mac.

Looks like early 2000 Word, works great, imports and exports all formats. Saves in OpenDocumentFormat. Combine with something like Dropbox for Cloud Backup.

2.

FocusWriter (https://gottcode.org/focuswriter/) Win, Linux.

Super customizable to make it look pretty, all toolbars hide to be as non-distracting as possible. Can make typewriter sounds as you type, and you can set daily wordcount goals. Saves in OpenDocumentFormat. Combine with something like Dropbox for Cloud Backup.

3.

Scrivener (https://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener/overview) Win, Mac, iOS

The lovechild of so many writers. Too many things to fiddle with for me, but I'm sure someone else can sing its praises. You can put the database folder into a Dropbox folder for cloud saving (but make sure to always close the program before shutting down).

Web-based:

4.

Reedsy bookeditor (https://reedsy.com/write-a-book) Browser based, works on Firefox on Android. Be aware that they also have a TOS that forbids pornography on publicly shared documents.

My current writing program. Just enough features to be helpful, not so many that I start fiddling. Writing is chapter based, exports to docx, epub, pdf. You can share chapters (for beta reading) with other people registered at Reedsy.

5.

Novelpad (https://novelpad.co/) Browser based.

Looks very promising, there's a youtuber with really informative videos about it (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHN8TnwjG1g). I wanted to love it, but the editor didn't work on Firefox on my phone. It might now, but I'm reluctant to switch again.

------

So, this is my list. Please add more suggestions in reblogs.

[hellooldshame]

Read My Dead Girlfriend if you like insane people. I locked in so hard.

Again, in love with the fic. @13tinysocks and @itsabee (sorry for double @ing hsbsvsgshsh) are master chefs in writing crazy freaks. I can only hope everyone becomes worse in the next chapters.

[kithvyy]

[copia]

top tip for new gif people because i've seen a few recently (which is really cool) - tumblr will compress your gif to a width of 540px when you upload it. this compression won't retain as much quality as if you just resize it to 540px across in photoshop/whatever program you use. tumblr will suck the life out of your beautiful crisp 1080px gif whereas photoshop will do its best not to (resizing in vapoursynth or similar is ideal but that's not necessary and often too much effort for adults with real lives)

[disobedyent]

>happy 404 day interweb crawlers and cyber friends!

[ferronickel]

A quick lil Rals doodle

[atariforce]

[arconinternet]

R.E.M. Monster Interactive Kit (Windows 3.1, Tom Recchion, Cecil Juanarena & Greg Fiering, 1994)

A promotional floppy disk with the feel of a 90's multimedia CD-ROM. You can run in it your browser here. May run slowly in Firefox.

For more Migraine Boy adventures, see this borrowable comics collection, these underground comics, and these animated shorts from MTV.

[sincerely-sofie]

Hey, y'all remember me saying I made a tiny TPiaG visual novel?

You can download it now from Itch.io here!

Have fun and enjoy my first official adventure into posting my games!

[the960writers]

Do you think it's a good idea to try and get away from Google Docs when it comes to writing? I really can't afford any other fancy program to write my drafts in, and it honestly seems like the easiest - not to mention, most convenient - program to use to share my manuscript with beta readers. I could use advice on this matter because I keep seeing things across the net about it being a bad place to work on writing, but I have no idea what to turn to to make things easy for me and my future beta readers.

This is such a good question. Thank you.

So, a little backstory. Ever since Google removed their motto "do no evil" they have gone down the rather predictable path of all big players of the rot economy: putting profits over user experience.

A little while back, there was rumor that Google trains AI with the content of google docs, then they said they don't really, they only scan the content and do nothing with it, and then they started blocking access to documents with sexy images. Do we believe that Google has our own best interest at heart? That's something everyone has to decide for themselves.

Back then, I made a post with alternatives for Google Docs, you can find it here, also check the reblogs for more options:

Now, is it a good idea to switch from google docs? I think it is, but I'm also not consistent with it. As you mentioned, it seems to be the easiest to share writing with beta readers, and I also still often use it for fanfiction.

But there are alternatives, and they require very little adjustment in the process. Let me give you two free options.

Ellipsus is webbased, meaning you can write in it in the browser on any device. They have sharing, specifically for beta reading, and an export function for AO3.

Reedsy (marketplace around everything self-publishing) has an editor. It is webbased, and they also have an option for sharing with beta readers. This software is aimed at book type-setting and exporting but it works just fine for copying to web.

Personally, I'm currently switching everything to LibreOffice (also free!) files in some cloud connected folder. I used to do a lot of mobile writing on my phone with a bluetooth keyboard but currently, I'm taking my laptop everywhere so LibreOffice works great for me. If I have to use my phone or tablet for some lightweight mobile writing, on vacation for instance, I can still use something webbased.

So, I hope I gave you some interesting options. Do I think it's a good idea to make us less dependent on Google? Yes, I do. I don't trust them.

We have alternatives, and they cost us nothing more than a little adjustment.

~ barbex

[fullstackonion]

Evening Rambles

Evening Ramble | Lover’s Spat Edition (Bellesco Married Era – Installment No. 3)

Today has been both scalding hot and raining. At the same time.

It’s Saturday. Supposed to be chill.

Supposed to be the kind of day you spend playing PC games and sipping something cold while the AC hums comfort into the room.

But no.

The heat is disrespectful, the air conditioner is basically whispering lukewarm encouragement, and the sky can’t decide if it wants to roast us alive or soak us in apology. Welcome to the rainy season, except not really—climate change said, “Plot twist.”

Anyway!! I’m rambling again (what’s new), sorry sorry. I try not to, I swear I do.

I was actually supposed to post this around midday today but I got caught up in corporate slave things (ew). Weekly reports, tracker updates, some very non-romantic spreadsheets—yeah, that kind of vibe. The usual chaos dressed in semi-formal business font.

Also prepped a bit for mass tomorrow—gotta make sure the notes are tight and tidy. We do not want to annoy… people. My officiating priest. I don’t know them. 😅 But you know, just being a responsible church kid or whatever.

Anyway anyway—thank you again if you’re here and following along. You already know what I always say:

The picture tells the story more than I ever could.

So here’s the 3rd installment of the Bellesco Married Era.

We’re calling this one the Lover’s Spat Edition™ — because even cardinals in love get into quiet cold wars and emotionally-charged silences.

They’re dramatic. They’re complicated. They’re so painfully soft and stupid about each other it hurts.

And I love that for them. And for me. And for all of us watching.

Catch you soon for the next one. Probably when the AC decides to cooperate.

👀✨

The Way The Rain Stayed

Rome hadn’t changed. But the feeling of it had.

The days after the party blurred into a steady hum of routine. Aldo tried—he truly did. Goffredo saw the effort in small ways: a hand on the small of his back while passing, a look that lingered a second longer than necessary. But it wasn’t consistent. Not the way it had been, just briefly, when things were new.

And Thomas was always there.

Not inappropriately. Not even with intent. But he was there—and Aldo, for all his supposed discretion, seemed to always forget how careful Goffredo had to be.

How invisible he sometimes had to be.

At dinners, at meetings, in passing conversations—Thomas made Aldo laugh, really laugh. Goffredo would be seated two places away, unnoticed, smiling politely. He didn’t say anything. Didn’t ask. But he watched.

The doubt didn’t arrive like a storm. It came in like the tide. Quiet, slow, steady.

Until it was everywhere.

He told Aldo he was cutting his leave short.

“Venice needs me,” he said, as he folded his shirts into his suitcase, avoiding Aldo’s eyes.

“Everything alright?” Aldo asked, brow furrowed.

“Just a few things I need to tend to. An old matter.”

Aldo didn’t press. Goffredo wished he had.

He left the next morning with a kiss to the cheek and a small smile, as if nothing was broken, nothing shaken. He made it to the train before he let his shoulders fall.

Now, back in Venice, he sat curled on his sofa, wrapped in too many layers, the windows fogged, the air still damp from last night’s rain.

There were unread papers on the table. A half-full mug of tea beside them. The silence wasn’t peaceful today. It echoed.

He didn’t cry. Goffredo wasn’t the kind to cry. But the weight pressed on him in other ways.

He sat like that for hours, unmoving. Like stillness could soothe what presence could not.

Outside, the bells of Santa Maria echoed faintly through the mist.

He remembered how Aldo once said Venice always smelled like stories waiting to be told. And maybe it did. But today, it just smelled like rain. Like the kind of goodbye you don’t say out loud, because saying it would make it real.

He thought of writing. Of calling. Of giving Aldo some small sign that he was just tired, not gone. But his phone stayed untouched on the table, and the words never came.

Because the truth was… he didn’t know what to say.

He didn’t want an apology. He didn’t even want proof.

He just wanted to be remembered before the forgetting began.

And somewhere between the steam of the tea and the silence of the flat, Goffredo realized something that sat heavy in the gut:

Maybe this—

this quiet return, this too-soon departure, this ache tucked beneath duty—was the beginning of the end.

He hadn't meant to leave for good.

But he hadn’t meant to stay for this, either.

So he stayed seated in the hush of the room, not mourning something lost, but bracing for the moment he’d have to admit it was.

[an-ruraiocht]

i am all for alternative operating systems but can the Just Install Linux people please realise that many people need to use specific software for their actual jobs/careers which is not compatible with linux and it is not lack of awareness of the existence of linux that is at the root of their windows usage