Firefox 81 on Fedora with VA-API, WebRTC and X11

Martin Stransky's Blog

Mozilla Firefox continues to implement more and more HW acceleration features on Linux and Fedora comes with extra integration patches to enable it.

Firefox 78 introduced VA-API video decoding on Wayland. Firefox 81 (a latest stable release) comes with VA-API for WebRTC streams decoding and enables VA-API on X11 for supported platforms.

Let’s start with X11. Firefox implements VA-API on top of DMABuf where particular video frames are exported by vaExportSurfaceHandle from libva and imported by EGL_EXT_image_dma_buf_import extension to OpenGL/EGL. That’s the default OpenGL sequence on Wayland where the VA-API was implemented first.

There are two options how to bring VA-API on X11 – vaPutSurface/GLX or vaExportSurfaceHandle/EGL. GLX is the default Firefox OpenGL backend on X11, it’s well supported on all devices including NVIDIA proprietary drivers and it’s generally well tested. On the contrary Firefox does not implement native X11 pixmap textures in any HW accelerated backend, shm based textures…

View original post 296 more words

The Many Phases of Kanye West

Man | Master | Yeezus | Kanye West

Done in Krita
Minor Edits in GIMP
Part of the #1Art Series

The Call

It seems like i never posted the better stuff i made and was so out of touch with the blog 😦

Anyway never to late 🙂

“Why do people have to be this lonely? What’s the point of it all? Millions of people in this world, all of them yearning, looking to others to satisfy them, yet isolating themselves. Why? Was the earth put here just to nourish human loneliness?”

 

Done in Krita Foundation! #madewithwacom

Flame of Life

This was done long back and i forgot to post it 😥

Look a bit like Dr Manhattan | Iceman eh?
Made in MyPaint and touch-ups in GIMP

She

I really don’t have an apt title for this one.
I initially intended to do carry out a car design test but it turned to be an atmospheric test.

I’ve always loved photos of foggy cities lit by the night lights, neon lights under rainy Japan.
Something that builds on the atmosphere of Blade Runner and the like giving it an unknown depth to the image/scene.

As usual Done in Krita

Note to self – Please no-more stick figures (x_x)

Kylo Ren & Captain Phasma – Digital Painting

So I’d been working on an art piece for some time.
As usual I started it and abandoned it…again.
It kept nagging my head for a long while and finally  I took it up spent the whole day on it…again! 😀

I think this is my most detailed(and frustrating) Digital Painting I’ve done.
I’ve spent countless hours on it and I know its not perfect 😦
So I had to push myself to quit and start working on other pending stuff in my life 😛

And without much further ado:

Tada!

Kylo Ren & Captain Phasma – Star Wars – The Force Awakens – Digital Painting

Kylo Ren & Captain Phasma – Star Wars – The Force Awakens – Digital Painting

Its done in this amazing Free & Open Source Software available on Planet Earth – Krita
If you haven’t heard of it check it out – https://krita.org/

Tools:
Wacom One Tablet; Reference images; Krita

Bit of the workflow:
I had a white layer as background, a grey layer to outline, another layer just to paint the whole thing, another layer for snow, a separate layer for black patches of darkness, another for the blue patches of light and finally one for snow.

That sounds like a lot but trust me people work with tons more. 😐

Oh yeah the date and signature on another layer 😛

All the brushes were the default ones in Krita. Nothing external was used.
Try to  get the outline right.
I had major problems drawing horizontal lines, so one way which i used was to rotate the image 90 degrees and work by drawing vertical lines which are much easier.

The steel-ish color’s where achieved by using different shades of grey and smoothly combining them.

Commonly used brushes were (Bristles Textured, Basic Circle, Smudge)

If you’re a beginner like me in Digital Painting and wondering where to start then:
1. Forget Everything
2. Take a Star Wars character
3. Draw!

Draw?!?
Yup you must.
“Do or Do Not. There is No Try” – Yoda

Its the only way you’ll ever progress and the better way to gain more experience and understanding of the Software(krita) and your workflow.

So that’s all from me! 🙂
Have a great day!

Thanks for reading! 😀

May The Force Be With You

-bull500

 

Free Media Content for Net Neutrality India #NetNeutralityIndia

Since the fight for Net Neutrality in India hasn’t received the attention and seriousness it needs/deserves; I’ve gone ahead to create media for use as Profile Pictures, Cover Pictures that can be used for free everywhere.

TAKE A STAND For #NetNeutralityIndia before its too late.
All content created by bull500 in Inkscape; CC licensed.
Incase you want to credit me – @bull500 mention or linking to this blog would be nice! 🙂 Use Linux and OSS  too 🙂 Thanks!

More Info:
http://www.netneutrality.in/
http://thelogicalindian.com/story-feed/exclusive/all-you-need-to-know-about-net-neutrality-how-can-you-save-the-internet/

Please don’t just sit there. Every bit of awareness helps.
The future of Indian Internet Usage/Cost/Access is in your hands.
Please be a responsible citizen!

Free Media Content for Net Neutrality India #NetNeutralityIndia by bull500 is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Profile Pictures:

Cover Photos:

Short Guide on Privacy/Safety tech for your Browser, Smartphones and OS

It is imperative to keep ourselves safe online.
With the way technology has progressed, your privacy/safety can be taken away from you without your knowledge.

There is no way to keep your self completely hidden but there are certain things that you can do to keep your privacy protected online from prying eyes

I’ll dwell into Browser security first and later on move onto computer OS’s

Browser:
1. Use a modern browser & always keep your browser updated.
2. Enable Do-Not-Track feature:
On Firefox – Menu > Preferences > Privacy
On Chrome – Menu > Settings > Show advanced settings > Privacy
3. Install the HTTPS Everywhere add-on by the EFF
4. Install the Privacy Badger add-on by the EFF.
5. Remove unwanted toolbars and add-ons
Install only what you need and what you will use. Install from the official add-on sources for your browser.
Lots of toolbars/add-ons will have a negative impact on browser performance.
6. Ensure your are connected via a HTTPS connection during browsing and at all times of online transactions/payment.
In modern browsers a lock icon in the address bar can be used to verify this.
7. Use your head.
Have a ‘good’ browsing habit.
Use strong and unique passwords. Do not rely too much on Password Managers. Have it written down and stored in a safe place if you are prone to forgetting your passwords.
Don’t click on spam emailed links, click-bait articles. If you really must, open it a private tab/window.
PRO-Tip: Use search engines like DuckDuckGo or Startpage that respect your privacy!

Softwares:
1. Keep Adobe Flash, Adobe Reader and Java always updated to the latest version.
They are the most attacked software and are regularly updated too. Ensure you’ve enabled auto-updates in each of these softwares. It is critical to keep them updated because they provide browser plug-ins.
Same goes for other non critical softwares too.
2. Anti-virus softwares:
I personally don’t use one because I feel it does more harm than good but, if you are not technically sound, it’s better to get one –  if you want to(or get a better OS).
3. Download/Install software from official sites or at least the reputed ones.
PRO-Tip: Try to substitute proprietary applications with Open Source ones. For eg. MS Office with LibreOffice

Operating System (OS):
1. Keep your OS regularly updated
Do not neglect this. Most security fixes come through this update mechanism.
Enable the default auto-update option.
2. Keep your hardware drivers updated.
3. Enable the built in firewall
4. Get rid of softwares that ‘clean‘ your PC or ‘fix‘ your Windows registry.
If you really need to clean your PC then use the Add/Remove Programs or the Disk Cleanup option in Windows.
5. If on Linux – DO NOT disable SELinux!

Smartphones(Android/iOS):
1. Install apps through official stores or reliable sources(F-Droid, Amazon)
2. Avoid pirated apps as they may contain malware.
3. Jailbreak and root only if you need to.
Be sure of what apps have root access on your phone once you do this.
4. Avoid backing up personal files to the cloud.
5. Custom ROM’s are good but know what your are doing.
6. Use reputed browsers from the official stores than the default browser preloaded on the phone
They are more likely to be updated to address security issues when they occur.
7. Use official apps when it involves online transactions and payments.
8. Use apps like Orbot, Orweb, ChatSecure: Private Messaging for added privacy
Check out other privacy focused apps by The Guardian Project.

These are few things that you could do to improve your privacy/security. If you want to move on, you’ll have to make good researched choices on OS, Browsers, Softwares and how to use proper encryption safeguards that are available.

Also a good way to ensure your privacy is to leave commercial software and start using community developed softwares.
On Desktop:
You can use Linux OS for your desktop needs. Fret Not! Its not scary and daunting.
Its way better and user friendly with Distro’s like Ubuntu, Fedora, Linux Mint, Korora etc.
I had written a guide(old but still relevant) for Linux Newbies. Check it out – http://wp.me/p1eITv-2R

On Smartphone(Android):
Install Custom ROM’s like AOSP based ROM from xda or use CyanogenMod or Replicant OS
or you could buy phones from a privacy minded company like Mozilla which makes phones with the Firefox OS.

A couple of hard drive encryption links online:
Lifehacker Encryption Guide
TrueCrypt has halted development – Alternatives by How-To Geek

Smiling in Pain – The Joker

I was doodling around for a long while on MyPaint and suddenly i felt like a big need to draw the joker.

Funny as it is I’ve hardly seen the Joker smile, its always a BIG WIDE GRIN.
All my Google image searches confirmed this, and slowly i tried to create a sketch of this epic character that would reflect his root – pain

Most succumb to pain, few master it. – bull500

Emoji On Fedora Linux | UPDATED

Emoji’s

 

Since the advent of smartphones Emoji’s have had a rapid increase in its use all over the internet.
When viewed from our mobiles devices they look cute & perfect, but most of us have noticed characters that have been replaced by boxes with numbers in it while using our desktop PC’s or laptop’s.

Its due to the lack of a font support, which causes this issue to occur.
But Fear NOT!
Fedora Linux has you covered. And in 2 great ways! 😀
The first great way would be to install the Gdouros Symbola package:
Via Terminal:
su -c "yum install gdouros-symbola-fonts"

Or

You could install the Google Android Emoji Fonts package:
Via Terminal:
su -c "yum install google-android-emoji-fonts"

You can check out the extensive list of Emojis supported by the above fonts here – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emoji

UPDATE:
COLOR EMOJI SUPPORT is in the house for Linux!
Yes Linux can have color emoji’s rendered
Check this project out:
https://github.com/eosrei/emojione-color-font

The above project makes use of EmojiOne fonts but for those who love Twitter Emoji’s you’ve been covered as well!
https://github.com/eosrei/twemoji-color-font

Also people looking for color Emoji support on the Chrome browser can use the EmojiOne Chrome Extension

Note about the above project:
1. The font works in all operating systems, but will currently only show color emoji in Firefox, Thunderbird and other Mozilla Gecko-based applications. This is not a limitation of the font, but of the operating systems and applications. Regular B&W outline emoji are included for backwards/fallback compatibility.

2. ‘yum’ has been deprecated; use ‘dnf’ instead