It’s nice to be able to change the default thumbnail size for image uploads in WordPress. I upload tons of big pictures and it’s nice if the thumbnail just fits within the content width. So here is an easy way to make this change in WordPress. They have introduced the wp_thumbnail_max_side_length filter that can be used to change the default size in plugings and so forth, but this is far easier.

Navigate to your wp-admin folder in your WordPress installation. Edit admin-functions.php and head to line 2228. You should find this line:

$max_side = apply_filters( 'wp_thumbnail_max_side_length', 128, $attachment_id, $file );

The default max size is 128px. You can choose what you want for this now. This size determines the maximum size of any side of the image. For my template though, I only care about width. I always want the thumbnail to be as wide as the template. To make that change, go to line 2276 of the admin-functions.php file. Change the following line:

if ( $image_attr[0] > $image_attr[1] ) {

To:

//if ( $image_attr[0] > $image_attr[1] ) {
if (1) {

That’s it! Now WordPress will always scale the thumbnail according to the width. Save your changes and try em out.

I just finished getting the Android SDK installed and running (with emulator) for the open source Google Phone dubbed Android. The SDK comes with a nice plugin for the open source Java IDE, Eclipse. After battling a little with the my installed Java SDKs, I was able to get the emulator and compiler working beautifully. The GUI in the emulator is already outdated and will be replaced by a different one in the actual release.

It is quite nice to have all this running on my Ubuntu laptop, using an open source OS, with an open source language, with an open source IDE, for an open source phone. Google is hosting a competition for new applications developed with this SDK. I will of course be taking a whack at it, hopefully getting somewhere. Keep an eye out for updates on my wins and losses with this adventure.

I’ve always used and loved Electric Sheep. This dynamic, genetic-algorithm driven fractal producing screen saver has left me breathless for the two years I’ve used it so far. Since my recent dive into recursive and multi-dimensional math I finally decided to look into this thing a little further. After reading about the technology used in the fractals, I discovered the Flam3 (1992) technology used to produce the fractals has manifested itself all over my laptop already. I have a version of Apophysis running under Wine on my computer. This can be used to produce all sorts of fractal images and videos! Next I discovered there was a simpler way to generate single frame flames using two stock GIMP plugins that use the same Flam3 technology (there is a third fractal plugin, but I am unsure of its origins).

So I decided I needed to make a fractal symbol for my universal logo (think Prince, but far nerdier and less… Prince). I decided this was an amazing idea. I stumbled around with a few ideas until I found an elegant little swirl that seemed pretty stately to me. Now that I had the dimensions and coordinates I needed to make this shape, I can reproduce it in different shapes, colors, depths, resolutions and almost anything else I need. It exists on my computer as a handful of numbers specifying the shape. These can even be reused in Apophysis to generate an animation based around the shape. One of the neatest features I enjoyed was the ability to dynamically recolor the shape with various gradients and color palettes.

Here is a nice render of the shape and my first sad attempt at trying to make a catchy logo with it. More better ones to come later!