• How to build a binary clock

    It may sound geeky, but I thought that the coolest thing to have would be a clock that displayed the time in binary. Nobody was selling binary clocks at the time, so I designed and built one myself.

  • How to build a MythTV box

    My daughter has a small collection of movies that she likes to watch. I figured that there had to be an easier way to play her movies on demand. There is an open source project called MythTV that fit the bill, so I set out to build a MythTV box.

  • Correcting white balance in the GIMP

    So you shot a great photo, but the colors are all wrong? Here is a simple technique to correct color casts with the GIMP.

  • Removing red eye in the GIMP

    GIMPguru.org has a great tutorial on removing "red eye" that gives excellent results. However, I wanted a simpler technique that did not require any fine tuning to get results. My technique is essentially the same as the alternate method presented at GIMPguru.org, but with a step added at the end.

  • Replacing blown out skies in the GIMP

    After reading an article about replacing blown out skies with fake ones in Photoshop, I decided to try the technique in the GIMP. After a couple of failed attempts, I arrived at a technique for creating pretty realistic skies.

  • Setting a custom white balance using a Pringles lid

    The best way to get an accurate white balance in your digital pictures is to set a custom white balance from a fixed white reference. ExpoDisc sells a filter you put over your lens when taking a custom white balance reading, but with prices starting at $80, only serious photographers will consider buying one. It turns out that the lid from a can of Pringles can be an acceptable substitute.