Web Log

Welcome - Web Log

Welcome to my Web Log.

I occasionally add new item to the log when I found or learn something new. And logging is useful for others and for me accessing them later.

Below are 5 recent items from the log...

Debian Run Application as Superuser with su-to-root

[Jan 11, 2012]

In debian, we can create a shortcut to application by right clicking the panel and select add to panel, then select custom application launcer. With this we can enter command like

su-to-root -X -c "APP_LAUNCH_COMMAND"

This will run APP_LAUNCH_COMMAND as superuser. For example, to run File Browser as superuser, we can use the following command

su-to-root -X -c "nautilus --no-desktop --browser %U"

VirtualBox Debian Mac Folder Sharing

[Nov 7, 2011]

I have VirtualBox installed on Mac OS X host. And debian is being installed as a guest OS. I use folder sharing feature of VirtualBox by selecting a folder on Mac that I want to share. Then select Auto Mount and Make Permanent.

The auto mount will mount the shared folder in to media directory on debian. However this folder belong to vboxsf group. I then open root terminal in debian and run "adduser MyUserName vboxsf". After restarting debian, I can open the shared folder inside the media folder.

http://www.virtualbox.org/

Convert Pixel Art to SVG Vector Graphic with GIMP and Inkscape

[Oct 16, 2011]

I found one way to convert small pixel art to large vector graphic by using GIMP and Inkscape.

- First, I open the pixel art in GIMP
- Then I use the Scale3x plugin on it
- Save the file to disk
- Import it into Inkscape
- Select the imported image
- Choose Path > Trace Bitmap
- Set brightness cutoff threshold to 0.30
- Set smooth corners threshold to 1.20
- Set optimize paths to 2.00
- Click OK, you will get a path of stroke
- Select the path
- (Optionally) Choose Path > Inset to reduce outline width
- Choose Path > Break Apart
- Select View > Display Mode > Outline
- Fill in the color for each path

Below is an example of what can be accomplished...

Scale2x and Scale3x GIMP Plugins with Fast Pixel Operation

[Sep 27, 2011]

With existing scale2x plugin for GIMP. And with a post on fast pixel operation. I have combine them and make a faster scale2x GIMP plugin, and I also create a scale3x plugin by using scale2x website as a reference.

Here are the plugins...
- Scale2x GIMP Plugin
- Scale3x GIMP Plugin

To install the plugins, you need to drop the files into GIMP plugin folder, and make the dropped file executable (chmod +x filename). Once installed, the command can be found at the menu "Image > Scale using Scale2x" and "Image > Scale using Scale3x" respectively.

http://scale2x.sourceforge.net/

Reduce File Size of QuickTime Movie (MOV) using iMovie

[Sep 12, 2011]

When I do a screen recording on my Mac, I got a 1.5 minutes MOV file of about 8 MB in size. I was able to reduce the size of the MOV file by import it into iMovie, then add the imported file to project and then export it using "Share > Export using QuickTime...".

By using this command, I can set the frames per second of the MOV file to 8 frames per second. I also select single pass to export the movie faster. You can also set the quality of the movie to low or medium to further reduce the file size, but I use the default high quality setting.

One more option that can help make the file smaller is to set the size of the movie to your custom smaller size, for example, my movie is 1600x900, and I set the size to 640x360 when exporting. The result MOV file that I can get is about 2 MB in size, which is about 4 times smaller.

Index of Web Log

B

Basic HTML Template

C

Convert Pixel Art to SVG Vector Graphic with GIMP and Inkscape
Create Video Game Pixel Art Tutorials
Create Video Game Sound Effects

D

Debian Linux via VirtualBox on Mac
Debian Run Application as Superuser with su-to-root
DTAC GPRS APN Settings

F

Find in Files Windows XP

G

GIF JPEG or PNG
Google Chrome Extension Get Selected Text

I

Inkscape Create Icon
Inkscape Default Palette and GIMP
Inkscape SVG File Size Become Very Big
iPad 2x Pixel Double Vector based Content
iPhone App Icon Corner Radius
iPhone Application Delegate
iPod Touch 2G iOS 4.2 Battery Drains Fast

J

JavaScript Object as a Dictionary
jQuery Animate Scrolling
jQuery Attribute Exists
jQuery IE6 PNG Fix Blank Image
jQuery Select Option
jQuery UI Anim Basic
jQuery UI Autocomplete Click Timeout
jQuery UI Datepicker Multiple

L

Lenovo Idea Pad S10 FAT32 Blue Screen

M

Mac mini Remove Mouse Acceleration
Mac RealVNC Viewer
Mac Snow Leopard Phone USB Internet
Mac VNC Client
MacPorts Install Gimp Checksum Error
MySQL Date
MySQL Left Join
MySQL Rearrange Columns

N

NetBeans Custom Code Fold

P

Photocopy Document with Digital Camera
PHP iPhone iPod Detection
PHP Web Form List Box Select Multiple Options
PHP Word Export

R

Reduce File Size of QuickTime Movie (MOV) using iMovie
Remove Chrome Outline
Rename Xcode Project

S

Scale2x and Scale3x GIMP Plugins with Fast Pixel Operation
SciTE Mac MacPorts
Start Net Framework Application in System Tray

V

VirtualBox Debian Mac Folder Sharing

W

Windows Form Designer Error CSharp Express 2010