Search by images

Even if visible in plain sight, the feature to search by images in Google is less known and it can be incredibly useful and a good alternative to some other less accessible services. Let's have a look at using it.

Start at the Google image search at http://images.google.com/. Did you know you can drag images from your desktop or URL from other windows into its search box?

Or if you are less accurate with dragging, the search box has a photo icon which you can use to copy/paste URLs or upload images? Good to know on both accounts.

When researching the feature, my first idea was to try a picture of the supermoon I recently shoot in Vienna. The result is accurate, Google identified it as a full moon (technically, a supermoon is a full moon), offered good links, including a Wikipedia article and some similar images (is the moon, it looks alike in all photos).

Then I wanted something different, so tried an image with the old Mozilla Firebird logo I had lying around from another recent article. Yet another success, logo recognized correctly as a logo, as Mozilla's, good links, etc.

Of course is not all roses, when trying with another picture which is 1.) harder to identify and 2.) not available on the Internet, the result can be funny (and totally off - I don't think I am a horse)

But still, for pictures not available online, it can be quite good and still useful, here it identified pretty accurately two person in black dresses (or at least two black things) doing something together.

Fun, fun, but I said it can be useful, let's do something useful, like searching for stolen inappropriately used/licensed images. After the supermoon above, my second try was a photo with cherries which a while ago I used as my desktop wallpaper and also posted in a few places (the cherries season is close!). Yet another success, Google identified it not only as cherry, but as sour cherry, which it actually is, probably based on the content of the pages using it. A good description taken from wiki, a relevant first link and a bunch of related pictures and then a link to my photography blog hosting the image. Not bad at all.

Now let's look further: the image can be found in a few Wiki pages, which is normal, I uploaded it to Commons myself. Then the fun begins (the image originate from my blog with a CC-BY-SA license or from Wikipedia, also with a CC-BY-SA license).

There are pages where the image is hotlinked directly from my server (so I could have detected its use from Apache logs or even could have blocked external referers, but that would have been evil). Of course, no links back, no credits, no nothing. The fun part: I can see with my bare eye another cherry picture on that page which is taken from my blog.

And there are pages hosting their own copy of the image, some with edits (like adding some text on top) and some at large resolution (those are taken from Wikipedia instead of my blog).

I won't police those sites, the picture was up for share (albeit under a different license, not at Public Domain) and this article was not intended to whine about copyright offenders, but to show the use of an image search tool. Have fun with your own searches!

Kindergarden Linux

I get approached with the classic question "will Fedora X (16 in this case) run on my PC?" Sure, why not, the user has a P4 class computer with enough RAM. Then the next question, equally classic "what should I run, 16 or Ubuntu 11.10? or any other alternative?". My honest answer is as a Fedora contributor I obviously prefer Fedora, but the best distro may depend on the user's needs. Time to learn he does Ruby programming and some internet navigation. Then I guess trying a live image can't hurt and the ultimate choice, as as a desktop user, would be drawn from the desktop environment: Unity/Gnome Shell/KDE/Xfce.

But it seems me saying "contributor" triggered a "last question", "what means being a contributor to Fedora?" and then I expand, talking to various types of contributions, from packaging to programming or administration, drop a link to the join page and so on. After we clear the part about money (Fedora is Free project based on volunteering) I get another one, about the age limit... and learn my interlocutor is 13. Well, he can be a contributor, we had and have other underage contributors, but he has to understand the consequences of using a Free license and his parents must allow it. He things translations may be a good starting point. And may do some design, based on previous experience with Illustrator and Photoshop.

After a short "what is better, Linux or Windows?" (it depends on your needs, freedom versus Diablo III) there is one more issue, the actual install, even if is just running a live image (he prefers CD over USB, despite my arguments for the contrary). So I have to give an explanation about what a live image is, how a device will be booted and won't affect the installed system, even what BIOS is and how you change the boot order (he never entered the BIOS setup before). All while insistently asked for my phone number, which I refuse to give away.

Fast forward one day, it seems like trying Fedora 16 Live was a failure: he gets a wallpaper and a mouse cursor, nothing else. I am showing a random screenshot from the web, trying to understand if he has a normal GNOME Shell empty desktop or is a deeper problem and this drives me to a large explanation on what GNOME, Unity, KDE, Xfce, LXDE are (and a statement of my desktop preference). I am asked again about my phone number and ignore the question. Then he wants to give Ubuntu a try, I don't have a problem with that but he has: the same empty desktop with no panel, no right-click menus, no nothing. If is not the display, then it may be video drivers (ATI), so I recommend either a newer Fedora (F17 RC1 is online) or VESA parameters for boot (me blaming AMD).

But this will happen another another day, today he has an important math test at school. Not before being asked again for my phone number (no, I won't be available this evening and in the week-end will be away in a photography trip) and since the download folder for F17 RC1 isos have two files, Desktop and KDE, I am supposed to recommend one. I can't, so I am ambiguous. To be continued.

Speaking about phone numbers, is not wise to give them easily... I gave my number recently to an another possible contributor under promise it will be used only for emergency (he's slightly older, at the age of 16, and a bit more experienced, with actually having run Ubuntu and Fedora before) and now I am called even for spam alerts or Deep Freeze problems, no matter the hour or the day.

PS: I am not even an Ambassador

Freelance / Storyboard

I am doing a lot of photography lately but I also didn't forget about graphics, the latest project I was involved lately was doing freelance work on a proprietary commercial project for creating storyboards). While is not Free software, it allows to leverage my experience from my old Fedora webcomic and even build upon some of the assets I developed as a follow-up. From a technology point of view, the project is cool as it uses SVG for its files, so once installed you can extend it easily with self-made graphics or with images from the Open Clip Art Library, for example.

Unfortunately the app is Windows-only, made with .NET, so I can't easily provide screenshots (I use Inkscape and Fedora for my part of the work), but here's an example image from the Storyboard That website (probably people will recognize the graphics style):

Vienna wallpapers

When dumping a set of photos from Vienna I promised I optimize a few of them as wallpapers, today is the time do deliver. You can use them freely. (click for full-size view)

Bonus: Supermoon

Also while in Vienna I encountered the supermoon (the big full moon, 14% bigger, which happens very rarely), I caught a picture with the best my gear can deliver (70-200 lens with an X1.4 zoom adapter on an APS-C sensor) at 100% zoom level, free for re-use.

Bonus: Graffiti

While wandering around Vienna I saw this anarchist graffiti which I think is meaningful and more applicable in those days: when a system is broken so badly, there is no chance to repair it, then nuke it from the orbit.

PS: unrelated, when preparing the pics above, my Fedora desktop gave a "Windows moment" - the mouse cursor changed the shape to "wait", trying to make that go away and get a normal "arrow" pointer, I closed a very busy web app. As nothing good happened, closed GIMP where I worked on the pics. Then the entire X.org sesion crashed to a black screen (together will all my open apps) and the desktop restarted itself.

LGM 2012 + Linuxwochen Vienna: photo dump

As after any conference I take part of, also for Libre Graphics Meeting and Linuxwochen in Vienna I put my pictures in a quick and simple gallery, so anyone who want to use them is able to do it freely. This time there is not a lot of pictures (I get picky and picky in time before pressing the shutter), but at least I didn't forget to say about the CC-BY-SA in the page footer, so people don't have to ask for permission.

I also spent some time in the city and took some photos of the architecture, streets, people, gardens, life and so on:

I am a kid inside, so when going to Vienna I can't miss the Prater amusement park, which is a lot of fun and a place to take nice pictures.

Next, I think I will made a few wallpapers based on Vienna photos.

Assault

The Linuxwochen floor is under heavy attack from the above. No wonder is going to be finished really soon.

LGM 2012: final day

We are on the final (fourth) day of the Libre Graphics Meeting 2012, the conference continues. Yesterday evening was the "social event" for Linuxwochen, which was joined (and overrun) by LGM participants.

Speaking of Linuxwochen, I see here in the university building today is the "BSD day".

So the place was pretty much invaded by red devils.

And today I noticed the FSF presence with a booth (I am pretty sure I didn't see them in the first day... well, I did't see Open Street Map either in the first morning when I did a photo tour, but I saw them a couple hours later).

Back to LGM, this morning program started and is full of shiny looking presentations from Krita and Synfig Studio.

At noon there is a workshop which I think it may be interesting, Sirko will demo about preparing for print a book/magazine, is an area where I lack experience.

LGM 2012: GIMP awsomeness

Blown away during the Libre Graphics Meeting GIMP/GEGL presentation: GIMP 2.10 is going to kick ass (GEGL integration will provide a lot of nifty features).

Certainly, GIMP developers are doing the $DEITY's work!

On spherical Cows

Despite the significant amount of votes I see a lot of attacks on Spherical Cow (the release name for the future Fedora 18) and I can't stop the paranoid in my from asking if this was a vote from those not wanting a code name at all (select a ridiculously looking one so it's easier to root against the idea) or if it was a slap in the face for de Indian community after complaining so much about cows in Beefy Miracle (I also thought that much complaining was misplaced, but in the end voted for Tandoori Chicken).

The anti-paranoid in me reminds the release names are supposed to be fun and that Spherical Cow has scientific roots, even if until recently I wasn't aware of that.

In the meantime can I just say "Moooo" and return to LGM?

LGM 2012: day 3 + Linuxwochen day 2

Is a rainy and gloom day in Vienna, so the third day of Libre Graphics Meeting and second day of Linuxwochen started slooooooooooooooooowly, both with the booth and the students at the university

Speaking of the Fedora both, an anecdote I witnessed: a guy walks in and complains about Fedora not working with his laptop (not detecting the hardware). He's invited to bring the laptop, which will probably happen later in the day.
Another anecdote is about the fliers on the booth, there were four kinds of them, targeting photographers, graphic designers, video makers and musicians. All of them are gone, except those for photographers (I'm told the video editing were the first to go). I am debating with Jaroslav why: the quantities were uneven or the interest is uneven... I expected the photography ones to be most interesting as everyone is doing that and the tools are good (but a photography flyer with no GIMP??? that's the tool I use for my photography needs in over 90% of cases).

Libre Graphics Meeting started and the morning has interesting talks on Inkscape, GIMP and GEGL. Good stuff. Around the noon I think I am going to skip a bullshit panel and get back clear and sane for my own presentation, near the end of the day. Later in the evening LGM people will join Linuxwochen people for the social event, as there is no formal social event of the LGM itself.

Speaking of GIMP, yesterday evening I enjoyed a schnitzel in the company of a few GIMP developers, excellent opportunity to learn interesting things about their project.

In unrelated news, did you know GIMP 2.8 was released?

LGM 2012: Day 2 + Linuxwochen

Yesterday evening was a long evening, with a picnic by the side of the Danube canal, so a short night followed but in the morning we are up and ready for more FOSS

Today here also started Linuxwochen (technically, Libre Graphics Meeting is one of the Linuxwochen tracks)

Next to the building entrance there are a few booths (I expected more of them, but I am told this is normal)

Beside LGM, Linuxwochen has its own tracks and there is also a Drupal thing somewhere around.

But back to Libre Graphics Meeting, today is a full day again

And it already started