Tilt-Shift Photography

Tilt shift photography is the method of taking a photograph and applying digital image manipulation techniques to make the photograph appear like a miniature model. Not all photographs are conducive to titl-shift techniques. However, it is fairly easy using many image manipulation software programs. Software such as GIMP or Photoshop have historically been good choices.

There is a quick way to make a tilt-shift image. First select an image. The best image is one that is typically taken from a higher perspective. The image’s focus will be in the foreground with a scene behind this. There are likely better words to describe this but consider a good scene that you could imagine constructed as a miniature scene.

Open the image in Photoshop (for this demo). Press Q to enter quick mask mode. Pres G to open the Gradient Tool. Make sure you are using the reflected gradient option for htis tool. Draw a vertical line over the x-axis of the image where your focus will be.  Once the mask has been applied press Q to exit the quick mask mode. Select filter -> Blur -Lens Blur and adjust as desired. Select Ok, and Save As… a new file name. Experiment as you wish.

Interesting Activity

On occassion your gut tells you something is not right. This morning a young lady riding the Mason Shuttle from Manassas to Fairfax saw a gray vehicle pull into the mall parking lot in Manassas. The late model gray sedan had severe front end damage almost as though it hit a light pole. As we were pulling out of the parking lot we noticed the car had parked near a line of trees at the far end of the parking lot. Out of the vehicle came a mid twenties darker skined man wearing khaki pants, a dark hooded sweatshirt. This man walked away from the mall  about 0710 on 24 Novemeber 2009 leaving the vehicle with the driver side window open. This man left the vehicle walking away form the mall alogn Sudley Road toward I-66.

This lady and I talked about the peculiarity of the event. We surmised that the man was not the owner of the car and the damage was probably recent as it was so severe. He could have been in an accident and possibly will claim the vehicle is stolen.

Aware of the Dangers

Before serving in the Philippines I had an interview with the Consulate in San Francisco. The interview only took 5 minutes allowing me and a group of friends to walk around the city for the rest of the day. Having been to visit the city a number of times before there were some places I knew about where I could take my friends. They on the other hand had not seen a city larger than Salt Lake City and were amazed by the size of the city.

Contrast this with my first visit to New York City. I have seen movies of the city, read the stories of crime and danger on every street corner. Preparing myself to visit I made sure to reduce the valuables I carried, tried to blend in and keep my family close so no one would get lost or otherwise harmed.

Today I am comfortable in most places, I can take my family to places and am aware of what to expect to keep them safe. One place that many of us fail to recognize as a very dangerous place is the internet. Like a large city, the internet has everything to offer. The internet includes places to see, things to do, some great cultural experiences and places of real learning. It also has the very real  dangers of crime, exploitation harm to both the mind and body.

Tools and Pitfalls
Properly used, many of the tools on the internet can be used for good. However, it is too easy to be overwhelmed or otherwise misunderstand when a good thing becomes bad through abuse. Some very broad categories of tools on the internet may include communication, collaboration, organizing, research and planning tools. You may recognize these by their common names: email, Google, Facebook, Flickr, chat, texting, geotagging and online banking.

By themselves none of these are inherently bad. They allow us to work, socialize, reduce expenses, and automate many of the things we do in life. However we can misuse them. We can be drawn in by get-rich-quick schemes, become victims to sexual predators both real and virtual and release private financial information for criminal intentions.

Remaining Safe
Safety in the internet is possible with some very basic steps. Act on the internet as you would in real life. You wouldn’t yell ‘Fire!’ in a crowded theatre nor would you pick a fight with the town bully. It is unlikely you would walk down a street known for filthy activities or expect to remain safe writing your PIN number on your ATM card. Yet, people do these things on the internet because it feels anonymous. They may say no one will ever know if I go here, peek there, or keep my information secret by doing this. Consider the internet as the public’s way into your living room.

Use The Tools
If you fail to use the tools technology freely provides you do yourself a disservice. If you use them unwisely you are worse off for yourself but for those around you as well. Be wise. Act as though you are being watched, consider that every action you make could be seen by your Grandmother, remember the picture you post today could be seen by a future employer 20 years down the road.

My Girls

I got a picture of my girls tonight looking beautiful as ever.

POLICY – Printed Materials

Printing Procedure

Proposed Guidelines for Preparation and Administration of Printed Material

School of Management

Reference: http://pauldone.com/2/?feds3z

Overview: Printed materials are provided to students under the following criteria:

1)   Printer material describes the class schedule, expectations, and/or performance metrics.

2)   An exam will be given in class and collected within the same class period.

3)   An exam is used to evaluate a student’s understanding or performance.

4)   Does not include class notes, lecture material or copyrighted material.

5)   Is not a duplication of material that may otherwise be included on electronic systems (i.e Blackboard, news articles, or journal publications)

6)   Personal print requests or non-mission related materials are prohibited.

 

Print Requests

Material to be distributed in class may be printed at area/department’s expense when submitted through the Print Office. Where practical all material should be printed on both sides of the paper.

 

Print requests may be submitted through designated area support or department managers only. Accounting (org/cost) codes must be included on all requests. Charges must be assigned to the area/department supporting the class or activity. Cost sharing on individual jobs is impractical and should be discouraged when at all possible. If two organizations are sharing the cost of printed material it is recommend the order be split into as many orders as are funding the deliverable.

 

Print requests should allow for the time required by the Print Office to reasonably produce the desired product. Area support and department designates will inform their constituents of the normal lead time required. Emergency, time-critical or rush jobs are discouraged and may require justification when submitted.

 

Printed Material Security

Printed materials should be made available to the requester when requested. If conditions make the desired delivery time impossible or potentially delayed the requester should be notified by gmu.edu email and in person (when possible).

 

1)   All requests for printed material must be made through area/department designates.

2)   All requests should be logged to include:

3 of 3

 

1. Requester name
2. # of copies
3. Finishing features (stapled, hole-punched, duplex, etc)
4. Request category (General, Syllabus, Exam, Handouts/Misc)
5. Unique tracking number
6. Org code (or organizational account)
7. Contact’s gmu.edu email address

 

 

3)   All requests submitted electronically should be in .pdf format.

4)   Electronic submissions for exams should be password protected. (Example: an adjunct’s unique door code)

 

Printed Material Security (con’t)

 

Security is based on the category of the request. The following guidelines generally describe the measures to be implemented in the processing and handling of printed materials.

 

General

Any print job that does that require special handling, processing or transfer controls. Print jobs such as these may include any non-classroom deliverable.

 

Finishing Recommendations

All general print jobs should have the following finish options

Dual-sided

 

Syllabus

All syllabus to be distributed to class participants on the first day of class. All requests should be submitted electronically to area support the week prior to the start of classes. Electronic submissions must be in .pdf format and posted on the School of Management’s website.

 

Finishing Recommendations

All syllabus should by default have the following finish options:

Dual sided

Stapled (where applicable)

Three hole punched

Delivery Recommendations

Depending on the size of the print job syllabus may be delivered in reusable campus mail envelopes or as loose leaf rubber banded options.

 

 

Exam

An exam is any paper instrument provided to a student used to evaluate a student’s understanding or assessment of learning. All in-class exams must maintain distribution integrity by means of the following:

 

Finishing Recommendations

All syllabus should by default have the following finish options:

Dual sided (where applicable)

Stapled (where applicable)

Delivery Requirements

All exams must be secured until they are in the custody of the instructor or proctor delivering the exam.

Exams may only be picked up by the area/department designate.

Exams are sealed in tamper evident envelopes until they are delivered to the instructor/proctor.

Where possible plastic shrink wrapped covering should enclose the print job (including originals)

The print job is maintained by the Print Steward in a key locked device.

Keys are specifically issued to area/department designate(s).

Exams may not reside or secured in public areas or areas open to the public.

Once in custody of the Print Steward a paper log must be maintained describing the movement of the exam.

Print Steward will notify the instructor/proctor by email the exam is ready for pickup and provide hours pickup is available. (Regular business/support hours)

Delivery of the exam must be received on the paper form by the instructor/proctor either personally known by the Print Steward or presented with credentials previously authorized.

Email confirmation of delivery concludes the custody of the exam by the Print Steward.

 

Handouts/Misc

All miscellaneous print requests should include the following characteristics by default. This category may more generally cover administrative uses of print requests. Where practical paper copies should be replaced by electronic versions generally available. Forms may include electronic versions that can be completed and submitted online.

 

Finishing Recommendations

All handouts and miscellaneous print requests should by default have the following finish options:

URL(internet address) in the footer

Dual sided

Stapled (where applicable)

Three hole punched

Delivery Recommendations

Depending on the size of the print job syllabus may be delivered in reusable campus mail envelopes or as loose leaf rubber banded options.

 

Concluding Recommendations

1.    Area and department printers may not be used to print jobs intended for wide distribution.

2.    Exams may never be printed on locally or network connect printers (exception: one copy of the original exam)

3.    Class distributed materials must be printed in the Print Office including all syllabus.

 

 

Reset the root Password on mySQL Server

Just for future notation if you are ever working on a mySQL database server in Fedora (linux) and your want to reset the root password these are the steps to follow:

How to Reset a MySQL Password in 5+1 Easy Steps

1. Stop the mysqld daemon process.( /etc/init.d/mysqld stop)
2. Start the mysqld daemon process with the –skip-grant-tables option. (/etc/init.d/mysqld start –skip-grant-tables)
3. Start the mysql client with the -u root option.( mysql -u root)
4. Execute the UPDATE mysql.user SET Password=PASSWORD(‘newp@ssw0rd’) WHERE User=’root’;
5. Execute the FLUSH PRIVILEGES; command.
6. Exit mySQL server by typing quit

Reference: Tech-FAQ

New & Improved – Nope, Just Moved

For all of you who missed the daily blogs I wrote – they have returned. Ok, both of you will have something new to read.

I have been changing the domains I host on personal servers lately. I use to run a blog from my pdone.dyndns.org domain. I am preparing to retire that and migrate everything to http://pauldone.com

Things have been so busy lately I hardly have time for personal projects like I use to. I am about 4 weeks from finishing graduate school. I having been serving in a bishopric since May  2009 and just helping raise a great family. Sorry.

Going forward I have chosen to host this blog at http://pauldone.wordpress.com

If you are interested in seeing the applications I am developing these remain on the http://www.pauldone.com site. Some projects include:

Drupal – web content management system
CM – A personally designed contact manager to manage contact reports and emergency preparedness for a 200+ family LDS ward
Ward GIS – a personal GIS application for use in my calling in the LDS Manassas 2nd Ward
SocMed – a social media conglomerate integrating Facebook, Twitter and vaious other Google Wave – like applications
Stopping the Web of Conspiring Men – a series of lectures and firesides I am preparing for teaching safe, efficient and effective use of the Internet among LDS youth and adults

Turkey Derrick

It has been years since I last had fried turkey. The flavor of a turkey fried in peanut oil may just be a American thing, but it is well worth the risk (almost) of burning your home down.

Alton Brown has created an easy-to-build turkey derrick to gently lower your turkey into it boiling bath of peanut oil. You may consider such a contraption to avoid burning down your neighborhood this holiday season. (Click for a more detailed picture)

Restore a Computer’s Speed

(Originally posted 12 Sept 2007)
I am often asked how to fix a computer that seems to run slower than normal. Typically barring physical problems with the computer’s hard drive or viral infection routine maintenance will keep a good computer running for many years.

1) Clean the Temp File – Windows is notorious for storing a large number of files in a Temp directory. Cleaning these out tends to speed up system responses. Find these by doing the following:
Restart the computer, make sure all programs are closed before proceeding.
Open Start -> Run
Type in c:\docume~1\%username%\LocalS~1\Temp
From the window that opens select all the files in the Temp directory and delete them. You will get some files that do not delete, you should deselect these and continue until all (as many) files are removed.

2) Clean the Recycle Bin out.
* Note: Before proceeding you may wish to open the Recycle Bin and examine the files in here. It might be time to permanently take out the trash.
From your desktop right mouse click on the Recycle Bin, select Empty Recycle Bin from the menu.

3) Defragment drive
This is a good step to do monthly or whenever system performance seems to fall. Ensure all windows and programs are closed on the computer.
1)Open Start -> Run
Type in defrag c: -f -v
Allow the black window to appear. Note: This step can take minutes to hours to run. Plan accordingly. It can be canceled at anytime. You will know it completes when the window disappears.
Note the line Average fragments per file. A general rule of thumb (my thumb) is when this number exceeds 1.3 you will benefit by allowing this entire process to finish.
Another interesting note will be to examine the Percent free space at the top of the report. Numbers below 10% suggest a larger hard drive is need for your existing files.

4) Rogue Programs
This is difficult to assess without a thorough interview of the user(s). Sometimes programs like WeatherBug, file sharing software or others downloaded from the internet can be running in the background. Enough of these and the computer can seem to slow.

Missionary Farewell & Amazing Developments

It was in the early hours of Friday 11 September 2009 we got a call from my sister-in-law from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Her call was to let us know that my nephew Ezekiel was giving his missionary farewell in their sacrament meeting to be held in about 5 minutes. The really interesting thing was the meeting could be viewed via video stream on the internet.

My wife and I watched the stream and were amazed by the video quality. The great thing was that we were able to watch the entire meeting. The really great thing was that Ezekiel’s talk was wonderful, he discussed how priesthood service helped him grow and serve. Through his teenage years he was surrounded by quorums that shaped his life. He served by going out and finding the less active, home teaching, and learning along the way by doing the work.

After the meeting, we turned off the computer and could not help but think first, how pleased we are of Ezekiel and his preparation and willingness to serve. Second, the technology that connects us allowing us to see a local meeting from the Middle East.

It may seem odd to an LDS reader that a sacrament meeting is held on Friday. In the Middle East, to respect local traditions the Sabbath and related meetings  for LDS congregations are held on Friday. Another thing is the video stream appeared to have an LDS internet address.   The meeting house was not large, in fact the room where the meeting was held appeared large enough for fifty or so people, and the podium and stand small enough for only about 10 people.

In all I amazed and grateful for being able to participate in a meeting being held live across the world in a small meetinghouse. I am very pleased with Ezekiel’s preparation and desire to serve in the Auckland New Zealand mission. When he enters the MTC on October 1 he will begin a mortal journey he has been prepared for before he was born.