How to post to Instagram from your PC in the browser

I do all my photo editing on the PC. But (by default), the Instagram web page doesn't let me post from the browser on the PC. However, there is a very simple work-around for this which I want to share here.

Step 1: Open the Instagram web page on your PC's browser & "Inspect"

I am using Chrome, but it should work for other browsers too. On the page do right-click with the mouse, and select "Inspect".

Step 2: Reload the page

Now, on the right side, you see the source code of the web page. Yes, it looks weird, but you can ignore this. On the left, you see the simulated view of an Android or Apple device - the specific device can be selected from the pull-down menu (but it does not really matter which one you pick). This view is, however, not yet complete (it's still missing the "+" button that you need to post). The trick is to "reload" the page.

Step 3: Post

After reloading the page, you find the menu buttons at the bottom, with the "+" button in the middle.

Click on this to open the file browser from which you select the image - the rest is just like on your cell phone or tablet: resize as desired, add text, and: post!

I hope this was helpful!

How to play Flash swf files in Ubuntu Linux (works also for Windows and Mac)

 A long time ago, I found a wonderful animation that was available as a flash .swf file. In those days, I was able to play this on my Linux computer in Firefox.

These days, however, Flash is no longer supported and my old instructions do not work anymore. It took me a while to find the solution. But it's really simple and I want to share it here.

A player for Adobe Flash content is still available at the Adobe web page. I just seems that they do not really promote it, but you find it here:  https://www.adobe.com/support/flashplayer/debug_downloads.html

What you need is the "Flash Player Projector content debugger". This is available or Windows, Mac, and, ... ,yes: Linux. It comes as a .tar.gz file. Now, you either already know what to do, or, if not, just follow these simple step-by-step instructions:

• Open a terminal, and create a new directory, maybe "flash", and enter it
  mkdir flash
  cd flash
• Copy your .swf file(s) into this directory (using command line or file browser) .
• Also copy the file that you downloaded from Adobe "flash_player_sa_linux_debug.x86_64.tar.gz" into this directory.
• Unpack the file
  tar -xf flash_player_sa_linux_debug.x86_64.tar.gz
  Or, from the file browser: right-click on the file, and "extract here".
  Now you have the unpacked file "flashplayerdebugger"
  
• Play your .swf file 
  ./flashplayerdebugger my-flash-file.swf
  (of course, replace "my-flash-file.swf" with the name if your .swf file).
  The "./" is needed! Otherwise the system will not find the executable.

And maybe you were wondering what file I wanted to play? It's still available on the web, here: https://7chan.org/fl/src/independent_woman.swf  (right-click, and "save as")

(yes, it's singing cats!)

  

How to create a Windows bootable USB drive on Linux

This error gave me some headache:

Cannot find C:\sources\install.wim

That was the error I got after I inserting a freshly created USB stick with a Windows 10 disk image for installation on a new (empty) PC that my son just assembled.

• What went wrong?
  The file "install.wim" has a size of 4.6 GB, which is too large for a USB drive formatted in FAT32.
• The solution:
  Format your USB drive in exFAT.

Whether this was your problem or not, here are the instructions, how to create a USB drive on a Linux computer for installing Windows. I did this for Windows 10, but it should work for any other version. I used a Kubuntu 21.04 system, but it should also work on any other Ubuntu-based Linux distribution.

Step-by-Step Guide

There are two tasks to be done: First, format the USB drive to exFAT, and, second, install the Windows .iso file.

Formatting a USB drive to exFAT 

These simple steps are all done on the command line.

1. Download the Windows .iso file from Microsoft. 
2. The following procedure require the"exfat-utils" which were not installed by default on my Kubuntu 21.04. You can install these from your software center (Discover, Muon, or whatever you prefer) or from the command line:         sudo apt install exfat-utils
3. Insert the USB stick (at least 8GB) in your Linux system and mount it (e.g. from the file manager).
4. Find the device ID of the USB stick. There are many ways how to do this. I use
   df -m
   from the command line. It displays all available filesystems, their status and their IDs  If you compare the output of this command before and after mounting the USB stick, you can identify the USB stick. For me it is: 
   /dev/sdb1   14798   5574  9224  38% /media/username/9B62-A3DF
   So, the device ID is "/dev/sdb1".  Sometimes my USB drives are also mounted as "/dev/sdc1". Remember this device ID!
5. Unmount the USB drive, either from the filemanager (right click, "safely remove") or from the command line (replace "/dev/sdb1" with your device ID, if different):
   umount /dev/sdb1 
   
6. Format the USB drive to ExFat (again, replace "/dev/sdb1" with your device ID, if different):
   sudo mkfs.exfat /dev/sdb1
   
7. Mount the freshly formatted USB drive (you may have to remove and re-insert it).

Install the Windows .iso File

Now, there are different options, how to install the Windows .iso file on the USB drive, either using the File Manager, or the "unetbootin" app. (Of course, you only need to do one of the two).

1. I prefer using the File Manager, which does not require to install any additional software. For this, open the Folder in which you stored the Windows .iso file that you got from Microsoft. Right-click on the .iso file and select "Mount ISO". A new entry will show up on the left bar in the File Manager (with a weird name). Click on this, and the File Manager will display the content of the .iso file
    
   
   

   In a second instance of the File Manager, open the (empty, freshly formatted) USB drive. Then, using the mouse, select all the files from the .iso and copy them over to the USB drive. This will take a few minutes (after all these are >5 GB).
   The following  is not necessary, but as a cross check you may want to enter the folder "sources", hover the mouse over the file "install.wim" and confirm that its size is 4.6 GB.
   
   

   

   
   
2. Alternatively, you can get "unetbootin" from here: https://unetbootin.github.io/. Download the version for your OS (for me it was "Linux", "64 bit binary"). In my case, the downloaded file has the name "unetbootin-linux64-702.bin" (which may differ for future releases) and it's stored in the directory "~/Download". After mounting your USB drive, you run:
   sudo ~/Downloads/unetbootin-linux64-702.bin
   During startup, I get some error messages mentioning "Arch Linux" and "mtools" which I just ignore (just press "ok"). This opens the following window.
   
   Here, you select (1.) "DiskImage", (2.) select the Windows .iso file, select (3.) "USB Drive" and (4.) your drive ID ("/dev/sdb1" or correspondingly), and (5.) press "OK".

This worked for me, and my son is now happily running Windows on his new PC.
Please let me know in the comments, if it helped you or if you ran into any problems.

Building the Dewey Drone from "Silent Running" (1972) - Part VI: Arm and Electronics

Previous posts in this series: 

 - Building the Dewey Drone from "Silent Running" (1972) - Part I: Getting Started

 - Building the Dewey Drone from "Silent Running" (1972) - Part II: Main Body and Sides

 - Building the Dewey Drone from "Silent Running" (1972) - Part III: Adding Details 

 - Building the Dewey Drone from "Silent Running" (1972) - Part IV: Legs and Feet and Toes

 - Building the Dewey Drone from"Silent Running" (1972) - Part V: Painting and Assembly

Dewey's Arm

Dewey's original arm is a rather complicated construction. Some photos showing many details can be found on this page. And here is an image that I found somewhere else.

Recreating all these details is beyond the scope of this project. I'm still sticking to 3/16" plywood, and try to come up with something that somehow includes the main features of the original.

Here are the pieces, cut with a laser cutter (plus two wooden rods of 3/8" diameter), partially assembled,

... and painted.

The full arm assembled.

To recreate the scene where they are playing cards,

 

I glued these five cards,

so my Dewey can hold them.

Dewey's Watering Can

At a few occasions in the movie, Dewey is seen to hold a watering can, like here.

Luckily, the image on the watering is available on the web, hand dawn by Karl Tate and posted on Flickr. I started with tomato can, covered with a thin sheet of cardboard. I also used the cardboard to create a narrow cone.

That's my version of Dewey's can.

Dewey in my Yard

And here he is, having fun in the yard.

 

A Replica of the HAL 9000 Punch Card

In "2001: A Space Odyssey" (at about 1h10), HAL 9000 just predicted the 100% failure of the AE-35 unit within the next 72 hours. To discuss this with Frank Poole, Dave Bowman asks HAL to provide a hard copy - and we see the punch card emerging on the left side.

Here are two close-ups.

 

That's not good enough for making a replica. And it seems that no further details about this punch card are known, from the movie and/or it's making-of. 

But internet searches give some results:

• Master Replicas has produced replicas of these punch cards which are sold at toynk.com and at amazon.com for $34 (for a set of five cards). They say these are officially licensed from Warner Bros.
• At yourprops.com, there are two users who present identical punch cards, which differ somehow from the Master Replica version (here and here).

I decided to base my version on the Master Replica version.

With the open-source desktop publishing software Scribus, I proceed as follows:

• The card itself is supposed to be 3" x 5", so I make a file of 4" x 6" (which can be printed e.g. at Walgreens on 4" x 6" photo paper). 
• The HAL 9000 logo is made using the font "GrotesqueNo9T" which is manually outlined in Scribus with 2.5% linewidth, at 31pt.
• For the computer/typewriter font, I am using Artisan12 at 7pt. 
• I do not have a paper punch for the rectangular holes, so I print those as grey fields.

And here is my result: 

It will be displayed next to my HAL 9000 computer, the Instructions for the Zero-Gravity Toilet, and the 2001 Food Trays.

HAL 9000 Replicas - beyond the face plate - part II

In part I of this post, I gave an overview on all the instances where the HAL 9000 face plate is featured in "2001: A Space Odyssey" - and I showed how I built a replica of unit #2 (the HAL unit in the rotating hallway).

In this entry, I am building unit #3, which is ...

The HAL console in the Pod Bay Room

The main feature of this is its monitor which I will use to display the beautiful graphics that can be seen throughout the "2001" movie on all computer screens.

Let's first have a look at some reference images from the movie that show the unit from different angles.

Then, I use another image to determine the dimensions (using the well-known size of the face plate as a reference).

These numbers are probably within 1/4" of the original values.

However, I will modify those slightly for my build. This is, because I got this $5 computer monitor from a thrift store which I intend to use, together with a Raspberry Pi (model 3B+).

It's an Acer V173p with an aspect ratio of 5:4, 1280x1024 pixels, and a screen size of 13 1/4" x 10 5/8". This is about 3 1/2" wider than the screen size of the pod bay unit - the height is about one inch larger.

For a perfect replica, I could make a 9 1/2" x 9 1/2" opening in the front plate and hide the excessive screen area.

However, since a few years, I wanted to set up the Retro Pie gaming system on a Raspberry Pi but did not want to build a dedicated device (after all, to be realistic, I will not spend too much time with that). So, this is the perfect opportunity: I will add the Retro Pie gaming as an additional feature in the HAL console. And with time, I may come up with other ideas of software to run on this console. Therefore, I decide to make the full screen area visible. The HAL screens will be displayed in their original size, in a limited, 9 1/2"-squared area - but other software may use the full screen.

Based on this, I come up with the following, modified dimensions for my unit:

This unit is just 1/2" higher than the original prop, and 2" wider. I will build this from 3/16" plywood (that's what I can cut with a laser cutter). To handle the weight of the Acer monitor, I add an inner frame of 3/4" pine wood (the green area). The monitor is placed in the top right corner of this frame (the monitor bezel is indicated by the blue area). The light gray area corresponds to the monitor screen, and the dark and yellow areas to where the HAL screen images will be displayed.

For future options, I add three momentary push button switches in the slit, a USB hub (with four connectors) below the face plate, and a small camera module for the Raspberry Pi above the face plate (all indicated in red). I always wanted to play with Open CV (e.g. for face recognition), and the camera in this console will be a nice testing ground for this (maybe some day my HAL will be able to recognize me). The USB hub allows to connect a keyboard and/or game pad (for Retro Pie, to play space invaders on a HAL computer - or chess, just like Dave). And the three push buttons can be used e.g. for a tea timer (all of my computer replicas must feature one!) or to steer through some simple on-screen menus.

Here are the CAD drawings. The yellow and blue lines are guides, indicating the placement of the face plate, the inner frame, and the monitor - these will not be cut. I added some holes in the bottom left corner for a second speaker - with the same spacing as in the speaker grille in HAL's face plate.

As a starting point, I glue/nail/screw the stabilizing frame to the front plate.

A little opening is carved into the top frame piece, so the Raspberry Pi camera module can be inserted later.

Then, the pieces for the surrounding "shell" are added.

I remove some wood from the back of the front plate, so the monitor buttons will not be pushed when the monitor is inserted.

Wooden strips are added to hold the monitor and the USB hub in place.

The little detail (I don't know what I should call it) is glued to the front and the base plate is added.

Then, the two triangular pieces are glued into the corners.

Now it's time for spackling & sanding - then the first layers of paint are applied.

When all the painting is done, I add the USB hub,

the face plate (not shown here), the red 8mm, 0.5W LED for the eye, and the Raspberry Pi,

and the monitor (connected using a HDMI to VGA adapter).

The back plates are cut, but I still need to add some openings as vents.

The original has a huge sticker, with a white boundary and a blue vertical column. From the BluRay capture, it is impossible to see what it says, so I make something up.

The finished back side:

Now, I started to write python code for the Raspberry Pi, to display the iconic screens. Using the pygame module, I started with the static three-letter screens.

(to be continued)