Custom gdk_pixbuf_loader to handle embedded RAW preview images

The Gtk/Gnome subsystem provides the basis for many of the popular (along with KDE) window managers on Linux. One of the areas of the current gtk subsystem that handles image formats can be extended if needed via gdk_pixbuf_loaders. By implementing and installing a newer loader for your image format, the current image viewers such as eog (Eye of Gnome) will seamlessly display these images.

The standard installation of loaders on Fedora 23 does not provide a suitable image loader for RAW files...

Fedora 23 / Aircrack on HP Mini 210 3025sa

Working with airmon-ng on Fedora 23 running on HP Mini 210 3025sa with an Atheros AR9285 wifi card using stock kernel ath9k module.

Photo/Media backup on the move - a Linux Netbook Solution

I was looking for a small solution that can be used to back up photos/media whilst traveling, but most solutions require a computer - whilst there are solutions that are essentially a harddisk wrapped in h/w with an SD or CF slot that perform basic backup. These solutions however are relatively expensive (200GBP + range) and they are providing limited functionality. Other options would be simply to buy more CF/SD cards but I've always found these to be a waste since they become redundant with the next camera upgrade.

Therefore, the realistic option was to look at a laptop... but new lightweight laptops are expensive. However there was a market segment in ~2009-2012 that may fit the requirements: netbooks. Netbooks were a range of small/lightweight and inexpensive laptop that filled a market that has since been dominated by the popularity of iPad and other tablets. The netbooks were relatively small but under powered laptops with a generation of mobile processors (typically, the Intel Atom) that was designed, seemingly, for internet access and minor word processing/office tasks - as such netbooks were usually installed with Windows XP or a slimmed down version of Windows7 (called 'Starter') although some Linux variants were shipped by manufacturers.


So the hunt was on - and after some initial considerations (keyboard layout - where's the pipe key?!?) the HP Mini 210-3025sa was the one I targeted on eBay at the time.

Fedora 23 (Mate-Compiz) on HP Mini 210 3025sa Netbook

The HP 210-3025 was sold as a 2011/2012 netbook with a 64bit Intel Atom n570 dual core 1.67Ghz chip with hyper threading, pre installed with Windows 7 Starter and a 250Gb internal 2.5" disk (with a standard 9.5mm height rather than the slimmer 7mm) and 1GB RAM - the machine was equipped with a Wireless adaptor, a 10/100Mbit ethernet, 3x USB 2.0 ports and an internal SDxC reader. The screen is 10.1" with a 1024x600 resolution and weighing in at 1.04kg (machine only) with a 0.305kg charger - the battery was 0.310kg so a minimum weight of 1.44kg.

The HP boots from the 64bit live images with no issues and we find:

Improving render performance Sony MovieStudio 13 with Nvidia GPU Acceleration

Currently using Sony MovieStudio 13 Platinum (SMS13P) to cut video files together but have been looking for increased performance on final (mp4/h264) rendering and found this isn’t so simple for the initiated. To put some context: video rendering is processor intensive but over recent years some rendering (to file) tasks can be taken up by the graphics card GPU as well being done by the CPU. Whilst this may seem counterinteritive at first, the CPU has a limited set of (typically of consumer systems, 4 to 8) cores but a GPU may have cores numbering in 1000s (a high end consumer Nvidia GTX Titan has over 3000 cores) and the GPU can be more efficient on simple repetitive tasks.

The Superstar

For even a casual sneakertrainer addict, the image above will be enough to identify the shoe. How does the Nigo touch imprint on it's history?

Electro Pop - Earth Leakage RCD Trips

After a full domestic rewire, 7months in with no changes/no new appliances and we started to have the 'fuse box' tripping. How and what could this be?

Keeping your Head(shot) in (Lens) Perspective

Perspective distortion is an optical phenomenon that can be described as an illusion that occurs when using different focal lengths (wide vs telephoto) that warps the apparent distance relationship between objects close to the camera and objects in the background. Lens perspective, and therefore focal length, has subtle (and sometimes less so) impact on headshots.

The End is CNX-Digh

Nikon CNX2's death was announced along with it's underwhelming successor, CNX-D, that offered very little backward compatabilities for NEF files that had been editted and saved by CNX2.

Marantz CD52mkII CD tray repair

Rediscovered 1990s hifi separates - needed to replace the CD tray gear/cog to avoid the grind...

Z banana plugs

This is a Z banana plug. Various companies like Nakamichi, Atlas and Chord make these, but this is bare Milty CC124 "BFA / Camcom" style speaker plug - in this form (with it's plastic outer Camcom-ness removed) the Milty is just a generic Z plug aka BFA-Z plug aka Z banana plug.

Sound of Music

I recently rediscovered the various bits of (entry level) hifi kit that I've accumulated over the years and then were relegated due to the rise of digital music. However, there was more than nostalgia for the loading of the CD and waiting on the TOC read than for the various snake oil I left behind.

Focus Shift: 50mm f/1.8G

The 50mm f/1.8G was Nikon's update to their cost effective 'D' and initial reviews where favourable. However, after using this lens for a number of years now I was still having issues with misfocus at wider apertures on my Nikon bodies. This behaviour was consistent across 2 other 50mm f/1.8Gs too but recently someone pointed out an optical phenomenon called focus shift that may be a potential cause...

iOS upgrades and further hate for iTunes

There aren't too many things I hate about the iPhone but there are many around iTunes: the lock-ins, the inability to get data back out of the phone, the single point of failure (sync PC crashes, then what).



But I still kept my iPhone. However, the iOS 7 and iTunes 11.1.0 mess really does make me consider the alternatives.

IDE power to Dell E520

Adding harddisks to an old Dell E520 should be easy - it's built with easy slide compartments. And it would be easy if you are adding newer SATA disks - if you're adding old school PATA (aka IDE) disks from your other (even older) PCs then it's a little more painful.

Speedlight Beauty Dish for the Masses?

The beauty dish is probably up there as an amateur's holy grail of lighting modifiers after they've exhausted the various umbrellas, softboxes, grids and bedsheets.

However the hotshoe speedlight beauty dishes tend to be a very limited for the speedlight/hotshoe market except for David Tejada's infamous plant pot dish or Todd Owyoung's 'chinatown special'. The professional/non DIY beauty dish market for speedlight options is ruled mostly by Kacey and Mola, discounting the no name ebay pans/S mount mods.

But now LumoPro provide their 22" beauty dish offering - how does it fare?

Rear End Cleaning: 85mm f/1.4D

Oh dear.. Whilst I don't care too much about dust on internal lens elements, I do care about the dreaded 'f' word.

Firefox Java hanging workaround

Recent updates of Firefox and Java don't tend to play nice. I've had existing JRE 6 installations that were fine but then Mozilla adds these JRE versions to their vunerablity blocklists.

The net result is that the previously working Firefox/JRE plugin combination now hangs and crashes Firefox (Windows 7 x64). The same plugin works in Chrome. I hate poorly implemented upgrades.

D* Eyecups

One thing that is apparent when looking through a recent FX viewfinder for the first time is the larger size when compared to the DX viewfinder. But with a larger viewfinder I found that it had a tendancy to have more light leaking past my eye that would give me difficulty in seeing TTL.

Live Once!

It used to be pain to create bootable media (CD and USB) that would contain a standalone OS. Whilst this is somewhat (very) old news here's a quick primer for creating a Fedora bootable USB stick.