• Tech Tips

    Keyboard Maestro “Insert text by pasting” Quick Tip

    “Insert text by pasting” is faster than “Insert text by typing” (which is rarely necessary in my experience).

    Unfortunately, using the paste method results in unwanted junk in your clipboard (unless of course this is also your intention). You can insert by pasting without having it store the text into your clipboard by adding a “Delete Past Clipboard” action just after the insert. Despite the name of the action, this will only remove the last item from your clipboard (not the entire contents of the clipboard).

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  • DIY,  Photography

    DIY Panoramic Tripod Head

    Introduction

    You’re here because you want to take great panoramic shots, and you’re amazed by how expensive the off-the-shelf panoramic tripod heads cost, right? The key to a good panorama is to have your camera mounted such that the no-parallax point of your lens doesn’t move when you rotate the camera about any axis. This device achieves this with simple parts you can purchase at the hardware store. First, let me show you the end result:

    There are a few ways to build something like this. Originally I started with a design that was too complicated. I tried to have slotted brackets so that one head could work for any of my body+lens combinations. This proved to be very difficult and it looked pathetic (see bottom for photos). The cleanest solution I have come up with is to use a dedicated head with fixed-position holes for each body+lens combination. I really only use one lens for panoramas, so that was easy. This eliminates the need to mess with the rig when I want to shoot. I just mount the camera and go. No adjusting!

  • Tech Tips

    Installing ElasticSearch on Webfaction

    You read everywhere that setting up and running elasticsearch is very simple. In fact, it is. There are some hurdles to clear when you’re setting it up on Webfaction, however. These instructions will hopefully provide some guidance.

  • Development

    Adding Metatag Keywords to Search API Index

    For a great explanation of the implementation below, please visit http://enzolutions.com/articles/2015/06/02/how-to-add-customs-fields-to-solr-index-using-entity-api-amp-search-api/

    The following demonstrates how to add metatag keywords (from the Metatag module) to your Search API fields list, so that you can index them and make them searchable.

  • DIY

    DIY Lawn Bagger (for Fall Cleanup)

    Last spring I purchased a lawn sweeper. It was very useful after I dethatched my lawn, but it proved less effective against the barrage of leaves this fall. I decided I’d try my hand at crafting a lawn mower bagger. The first design worked pretty well, though it took some tuning. Unfortunately, it only lasted about 5 minutes as the entire discharge chute ripped off on a high-spot in the lawn.

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