Origami Photo Cube - Kasahara
I toyed with a
water bomb photo cube last time, but didn't like the fractured folded sides. It's too finicky and time-consuming to set it up.
Kunihiko Kasahara's Solid Figure II, on page 87 of the Origami Omnibus has 5 smooth sides and 1 side of 4 triangles. The finished cube is bigger, it has only one fractured side, and it's easier to set this one on any of it's sides.
The photo placement template (
view full size template) is more intuitive, as is the photo cutting template (
view full size) for the fragmented side.
The folding pattern is copyrighted, and I haven't found one like it on the net so borrow the book from your local library. My library has a surprisingly large collection of origami books.
Labels: origami
Origami - Photo Cube (Waterbomb)
I was curious what it would take to create an origami photo cube. Thought of a water bomb first, so that's what I figured out first. It worked, more of less.
I worked out the pattern to cut a photo into properly shaped pieces for what ends up being the two folded sides. Even with properly cut pieces the two folded sides are finicky and don't work well for all pictures.
If you want to try it, I've attached the templates and some notes below.
Water bomb photo cube template (
view full size) and photo cutting template (
view full size):
The first folds are shown to give you an idea of the orientation for the segmented photos.
Photo 1 is split in two with the centre cut being the outside edge of the template.
Details of the folded sides are labeled in for only one side of photo 5. Photo 6 works the same way as photo 5.
5e needs to be upside down, relative to 5a. as does it's opposite small triangle.
The cutting template is scaled for the above water bomb template, though the size displayed in this blog doesn't look like it.
My final pattern, photo cube, and folded side looks like this:
If you look closely, the middle two triangles of the folded side are wrong-side up, because I didn't turn them upside down in the template.
Ultimately, the template should make the two middle triangles bigger and they should be offset to minimize the exposed white space. The two narrow triangles over them should also be wider and be offset.
Not liking the messy folded sides, I'm going to make a photo cube out of Kunihiko Kasahara's Solid Figure II, on page 87 of the Origami Omnibus. It has 5 smooth sides and 1 side of 4 triangles. It's easier to set this one on any of it's sides. Next time.
Labels: more-time-than-sense, origami
Googling - files on a website
Haven't used these before, though I can't imagine that they're new.
In the google search bar, type:
site:
For example: presentation site:apyxis.com
- produces a list of all the articles from the site containing “presentation”.
To see only items with the word(s) in the title use INTITLE or ALLINTITLE,
for example, intitle: site:
To see only items with the word(s) in the URL use INURL or ALLINURL,
for example, inurl: site:
Information about advanced google operators is available here: http://www.google.com/help/operators.html
Virtual Machines - Preserving your working system
This is probably a little braver than most tech writers want to be, but it might solve a few problems for a consultant or two.
Virtual machines allow you to test software without polluting your registry and file system with garbage that doesn't get removed, even with an uninstaller. Your system has to be up to running an operating system within an operating system, and setting one up can be time consuming. The time required can be annoying especially since you're creating something specifically so that you can throw it away. Still, if you're having to install software temporarily, this is a good way to keep your working computer clean.
IT professionals have been using virtual machines for years, but your average tech writer, not so much. This is probably a function of all the things we don't know about our systems. I started to think about it when installing client alpha software caused problems on my working machine. I know installing client software on my working machine is bad. I just didn't have any working alternatives. Virtual machines give me a option for next time.
I chose Virtual PC, because all the information I needed was where I could find it. Do some reading before you start. There are a few additional things to keep in mind about Virtual PC.
- You need at least 1GB of RAM, more is usable. I have 2GB.
- You need your operating system installation disks.
- You need enough hard disk storage for the Virtual PC install and the operating system files, and for the files for what you're trying to accomplish. I started with XP just under 4GB and rapidly exceeded 12GB.
- It uses space, apparently without reusing it. While testing DVD slideshow software, it balloon to 25GB quickly even though it was only using 12GB effectively. The compacting function saved 1GB. Woo-flipping-hoo. Look up the terms "virtual machine bloat". I've included a link to an article about compacting a vitual machine by copying a disk image of the virtual hard drive.
- Virtual PC includes an add-on that allows you to access the base system's CD drive and allows you to drag files between the base system desktop and the virtual PC desktop. As far as I can figure, you can't write to the base system's CD/DVD drive.
- You can close down a virtual machine without saving the changes, that means that it resets to it's previous state and you lose any changes made during the session, including data.
To learn about virtual machines, see this Wiki article on
virtual machines.
Wiki provides a
comparison summary of virtual machines.
Microsoft's Virtal PC 2007 has it's own
introduction and download section.
Microsoft's
Virtual PC installation and setup instructions didn't get me into too much trouble.
Enhancing Rollback by Using Virtual Machines by John Paul Cook is very useful. It's written for Virtual PC 2004. Note the section title, Compacting a Virtual Hard Disk Using Image Copying Software.
If you get far enough to need compacting, you'll need a bootable disk with disk imaging software installed. I use a BartPE disk with an ancient version of ghost. If you don't already have a BartPE disk for troubleshooting, see
BartPE for information and instructions.
Nano - Playing Music While Charging
Sometimes you want to listen to the music while charging your Nano at a computer that doesn't have your iTunes installed.
To listen while charging:
- Plug in using your USB cable.
- Open My Computer.
- Locate and right-click your Nano and click Eject.
- Leave the Nano plugged in.
What you should see on the Nano:
- The "Do No Disconnect" should be replaced by your ipod interface.
- The battery indicator should still flash and display the charing lightning symbol.
- You should be able to operate it normally.
Note: 1. Ejecting in the system tray did not work. From comments elsewhere on the internet, ejecting from the system tray cuts power to the associated USB port. 2. While digging I found a question about how this might affect your battery longterm. I didn't find any answers for it.Labels: ipod nano
DVD Creation Info
I recently created several photo DVDs. In the process of researching tools and methods for transferring photos and DV video to DVDs, I found
http://www.videohelp.com.
The site has FAQs and an active forum with information about all facets of video.
The site also includes a tool and tutorial search. Each tutorial identifies, and links to, the tools used. The tool pages include lic. info and download links. Many are free. Complexity and flexibility varies. Both tutorial and tool pages include comments from users that give you a hint of how easy or hard the process is.
Good luck with your video projects.
Who are you?
We found a link to a sci-fi character test via James Nicholl's blog "
More Words, Deeper Hole". If you haven't read James, you really should.
The character test is a list of value judgement questions. You are matched to a sci-fi character based on your answers/values. I seem to be channeling Jean-Luc Picard. Go figure.
Sci-Fi Character TestLabels: frivolous
Kunihiko Kasahara's Solid Figure II, on page 87 of the Origami Omnibus has 5 smooth sides and 1 side of 4 triangles. The finished cube is bigger, it has only one fractured side, and it's easier to set this one on any of it's sides.
The photo placement template (view full size template) is more intuitive, as is the photo cutting template (view full size) for the fragmented side.
The folding pattern is copyrighted, and I haven't found one like it on the net so borrow the book from your local library. My library has a surprisingly large collection of origami books.
