Exzo WordPress Plugin

Posted on by

Exzo is the Exif and Zoom Image plugin for wordpress. I thought I would try it out. It is supposed to display some exif info around your pictures. Not sure it will work for me. I already post my photos on flickr, and just link to them here, but it seems like an interresting idea. One issue is that there is no way to pop in the image using the library tool. You need to goto the library and find out the image name, then in the HTML tab of the blog editor, you can add a statement like this:

[exzo url="" title=""]dsc_0021[/exzo]

That will get you this image on my site:

Exzo EXIF

Most of the styling and which exif data that shows up is all customizeable. But I have a couple of issues. First, there seems to be an issue in the plugin where is doesn’t reference the zoom.css file. I had to modify exzo.php to point to it correctly. Second, the included lightbox effect isn’t so hot. The biggest issue is that the image pops up full size. Other versions I have seen try to scale the image for the viewport.

It does look like you could opt to just show the exif data though, like this :

[exif="dsc_0021.jpg"]

Exzo plugin example

What would be really neat is if instead of the formatting of the picture, and the need to use this tag, is if via javascript, it could just attach itself to the image and display on a hover, or a click or something. Hmmm… that would be interesting…

Added the Series Plugin

Posted on by

I have now added the series plugin, and we have a page that acts as an index to the different series on the site. I have removed the previous pages that existed for the two java tutorials that I had up. They are now part of a series. That is why you see them posted again today. I had to convert them into a post, not a page to put them into the series.

I also have a new series going, on building a NAS. There are two posts there now, and it will be ongoing as I rebuild my NAS and show how to use Linux with RAID, LVM, and other tools.

Deciding on the NAS Software

Posted on by
This entry is part 2 of 3 in the series Building a NAS

tuxSo, I hope you have a box ready, because we are going to install some software today. I had said this was going to be built using Linux, but we really should take another look at some of the possibilities. I don’t want to run Windows server on this box. If that is something you are interested in, you will have to use some Google skills. I wan to look at how we can use some Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) to do what we want to do. There are some alternatives to rolling it ourselves, and they are worth a look. But first, lets decide what it is that we want to run on this box, or what capabilities it needs to have.
Continue reading →

Intro to Java and Static Stuff

Posted on by
This entry is part 2 of 13 in the series Intro to Java

This lesson will cover some basic concepts in Java related to static variables and methods. It was created as a lesson for a class room setting. I have converted it to a post here.

What does static mean?

Lucky for us, static has nothing to do with statics, a class I had to take in Engineering about the forces on objects that are not moving.

What is does have to do with, seems to go against the concepts we talked about in the Classes vs. Objects lesson. If you followed along there, we talked about how the Class was the blueprint, and the Object was a concrete, instantiated, “built” Class. Its variables were its own, and the methods belonged to this Object.

When something is static, it means that it belongs to the class, and not the object. Every object has access to this item, but it is not unique to the object.

Sun Trails

Index: http://java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial/index.html

Link into OO Trail: http://java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial/java/javaOO/classvars.html
Continue reading →

Intro to Java Objects and Classes

Posted on by
This entry is part 1 of 13 in the series Intro to Java

This lesson will cover some basic concepts in Java related to classes and objects. It was created as a lesson for a class room setting. I have converted it to a post here.

Class vs Object

Definition from page 10, Java A Beginner’s Guide (Herbert Schildt)

A class defines the form of an object. It specifies both the data and the code that will operate on that data. Java uses a class specification to construct objects. Objects are instances of a class. Thus, a class is essentially a set of plans that specify how to build an object.

The code and data that constitute a class are called members of the class. Specifically, the data defined by the class are referred to as member variables or instance variables. The code that operates on that data is referred to as member methods or just methods.

Sun Trails

Index: http://java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial/index.html

OO Trail: http://java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial/java/javaOO/index.html
Continue reading →

SPD missing byte 23 or 25

Posted on by

21 of 365 So I started putting my parts together. I put the motherboard, memory, and CPU together, and then put the whole thing into the case. Plugged in the power supply, and the hard drives. I then hit the power switch and got the message “SPD missing byte 23 or 25” and then press F1 to continue. Well, it looks like there is not much I can do about it. Found some answers here in this forum. It looks like we can blame the motherboard, the bios, the memory, or the AMD chipset. Narrows it down a bit. Anyway, doesn’t really matter, there is something getting reported that there is a memory error, but it is a red herring. Aparently you can just let your motherboard know that you don’t want to stop on this type of error. Only thing is, this Foxconn motherboard and AMI bios doesn’t give me that option. I can stop on all errors, or ignore keyboard/mouse errors. Well, that doesn’t help. I won’t have this box auto rebooting I guess.

The NAS hardware is here

Posted on by

Foxconn MotherboardThe new hardware for the NAS arrived yesterday. There is a new motherboard, CPU, and memory. I usually just replace the whole trifecta when one of them needs to be replaced. I will start to assemble it shortly. I am also going to package the process of creating a NAS, mostly the software side into a tutorial. I am also looking¬†into a new plugin¬†that can collect posts together into a ‘series’. Once I get that plugin and the series started, I will be posting more. Just a heads up.

I missed the boat

Posted on by

Not literly. I don’t really have any boats around here that I could miss. What I did miss was getting in on the DLWS trip to Kauai. I am bummed. I thought about it way too much. I just kept thinking about cost, and when I finally got the nerve to pull the trigger, it is full. Bummer. I am on a waiting list. Who wants to cross fingers with me?

I am not sure what other trip I could do this year. NC is full, and Maine is after when¬†my¬†NWA voucher expires. That leaves Michigan for this year,¬†that I could theoreticly drive to. Not my first pick for locations. I am sure that it would be great, but it doesn’t seem as exotic at Hawaii. Hmmmm…

Scott Kelby Stirs the Pot

Posted on by

I suppose that when you are somewhat famous, everything you say has a chance to get spun out of control. It is like this for Scott Kelby. The last couple of days he has posted about a photo shoot that he did, and the post processing he did with some of the images. Part 1. Part 2. There is just so much to comment on this post…

First, having someone document a shoot is pretty cool, I think. The fact that this one wasn’t going well just makes it even better. Shows that we all have to keep our heads on straight, and can still pull something out of the ashes.

Second, Scott shows us an effect plugin which he decides not to recommend. This is great. I like to see what people are using and how it is used. I don’t buy plugins (yet). They just seem soooooo expensive, and that is part of the reason that Scott does not recommend it.

Third, the comments are crazy entertaining. The plugin, by Lucis Art is what is driving all the comments. It is a mostly one trick pony that creates a rather striking effect. Scott posted about a older version of this a while back, and how to create it without a plugin. The comments concentrate on two things. One, they don’t like the Dave Hill look (I think he has some great photo’s), and those that think that the effect is overused. First, Dave doesn’t use the plugin. He invented this “look”. He certainly has the right to do to his photo’s what he likes. Why wouldn’t anyone else? I am amazed at the self richousness of photographers. Raw vs jpeg, crop vs no crop, in camera light balance vs post, “natural” vs post. The list is endless. I wish people would just take pictures. If you don’t enjoy someones work, just move on. I haven’t seen others using this effect, but then I don’t actively look for them. I did notice a couple of flickr groups, but I hadn’t seen them before today. I have yet to see in in print. Hardly overused. But who cares anyway.

One interresting thing is that a commenter talked about a plugin I had not heard of before from Topaz Labs . They have a plugin that comes close to this for a lot less money. I don’t know how close, because I haven’t tried it yet, but it does have a free trial. They also have other plugins for noise, sharpening, and others. I would love to know how good the noise one is. I could use a good noise filter.