Re: JPS Windows only Club or Vendor only Club

[P3D Larry Berlin <lberlin@xxxxxxxxx>]

>Date: Mon, 21 Jul 1997
>From: P3D Jonathan Gross  writes:
>..........
>Larry Berlin wrote:
>> *****  I strongly disagree with this assessment. HTML files are an easy way
>> to access images of any type. ESPECIALLY on the Internet!!! It seems
>> extremely appropriate!!!
>
>You obviously have not read my original statement carefully enough to
>...................... what I said was 
>"Unfortunately, VRex has chosen to post the images imbedded into HTML
>files IN A WAY that makes them hard to get at." (emphasis added).  My
>objection is not that the images are included in an HTML page, but THE
>WAY in which they are included.

*****  I certainly did read your message as you wrote it. You are the one
with an axe to grind here, both in your messages to P3D and in your private
emails with me. For some reason you really seem to be anti anything having
to do with VRex. I don't know the source of your objection and can only
speculate. What is important is to quit throwing stones so you can see the
real information here. Ignore VRex if that's the problem. JPS isn't just a
VRex thing, as I and others have mentioned more than once.

>
>Try retrieving those images without the Depth-Charge helper applette
>(which a viewer may not be using for any number of legitimate reasons). 

****  I fully concur that many will not have DepthCharge installed yet and
may wish to access the images directly.

>Obviously in your zealous rage, you have never tried it. The only way I
>know of to get at these JPS files is to save the HTML page as text, cut
>the image URLs out of the file, and then feed the URLs into a browser. 

*******  A bit of creativity by reading the source code and pasting URL
information into the *GoTo* window lets you determine the HTM file for the
JPS images. Then on the HTM page you can read the URL for the JPS image.
(just like you posted below) Store the image to disk and you have the image.
It's all just basic use of the clipboard with copying and pasting
operations. But why not install DepthCharge and make it easier?

BTW, when I use JPS files on my own site I don't embedd them nearly that
deeply. They don't have to be so hard to get to, I agree. However they are
accessible. 

If you want another more reasonable example visit Canopus Corp. Mars
gallery. They use JPS images that don't require DepthCharge and you may like
that method much better. Load the page and examine the source code.

http://www.totla3d.com/gallery_mars.htm

>Why not just include a clear link to the image?  Instead of posting them
>as simple links or embedded images, these URLs are tied to the helper
>application:
><TD><EMBED src="mars_00688_17646_597x473.jps" type="image/x-jps"
>WIDTH=597 HEIGHT=473 bg="#333333"
>pluginspage="http://www.vrex.com/depthcharge"></TD>

*****  Think for a second here. Of course they are tied to the helper
application. They want the user to know where to find it, so they include
programming to make that location clearly available. It lets a browser
easily access the helper application when the visitor doesn't have it yet.
It has nothing whatsoever to do with JPS files in and of themselves. They
clearly tell the visitor on the opening page, that the helper application is
required for viewing their gallery. In your above quote, the URL of the JPS
image is clearly stated. Simply copy that to your *GoTo* window and download
the file. That's not a difficult operation. You can completely ignore the
pointer to DepthCharge because you just want the images. No big deal.

>
>Thank you Paul Talbot for posting clear links to the JPS images (digest
>2187), but HIGHEST PRAISE AND THANKS GO TO ALEXANDER KLEIN who posts the
>images as full resolution side-by-side pairs
>(http://www.stereoscopy.com/mars).  This is the format that everyone can
>use, and does not confine the images to the defacto, mediocre resolution
>of a particular subset of display vendors.

*****  Hold on here. What is this garbage about *mediocre resolution*?  The
images are still JPG images and what's worst, they are very small versions
of the original images, much less resolution than I want to see!!! The big
benefit of using JPS is that you can have the higher resolution images
available directly for LCS viewers, or any other mode of stereo viewing out
of a single image file. If you want the small parallel viewing images, with
their inherently much lower resolution, then you can do that from the higher
res file easily. Yet for those who prefer a higher resolution image the full
image is still there too. Aren't you listening at all here? You are
completely ignoring the facts with an impassioned dislike of VRex and
anything connected to VRex. That's not what JPS is about. A JPS image
provides you with the same material that you get at Alexander's page only
with higher resolution and far more choices without the web page operator
having to create a dozen different files for each preference. 

That comment about *particular subset of display vendors* is totally
meaningless because of your emotional charge. JPS isn't about a subset of
vendors. DepthCharge is of course vendor oriented. So what? Your programs
are vendor oriented too, and not even accessible to those outside your
client circle who have an interest in stereo images.

If you don't like how VRex did their page, do yours differently. I don't use
their complex methods and it works just fine, even better in my opinion.

>
>Isnt a depth charge something that sinks in the ocean until it
>explodes?  Perhaps the product should be renamed Delayed-Charge?  When
>most software goes from Beta test to released product status, users are
>legally obligated to purchase it, or stop using it.  If the software
>never makes it to released status, then the program usually dies an
>unsupported death.
>

*****  If you want my personal opinion on their program name, I'm completely
in agreement with you. It didn't have that name while it was being written,
but some overpaid executive got ahold of things and typical to such
processes, chose a really stupid name for a very useful program. What has
that got to do with the price of tea in China, though??????? Just don't use
that program or write your own. 

You have a different product and you want to use programs that fit your
situation. The JPS file type WILL help you if you can quit looking at VRex
and look instead at your own needs. That's what I've been talking to you
about. I'm not in any way trying to make a VRex convert out of you or anyone
else. 

Larry Berlin

Email: lberlin@xxxxxxxxx
http://www.sonic.net/~lberlin/
http://3dzine.simplenet.com/


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