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July 9, 2018

Processing: How to Hide Messages in Images

Can you spot the difference?

Alright, take a look at the two versions of Starry Night above. They look the same, right?

WRONG.

There’s a Shel Silverstein poem in one of them. It’s chilling out in the different red values of the pixels in the upper left hand corner on the second Starry Night. I love this method of hiding messages.

If you convert letters into numbers, you can use those to make pixel color changes that are pretty darn subtle. Then when you send your encoded image to anyone with the original, they can use Processing to pull the message out.

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July 1, 2018July 2, 2018

Python: How to Bulk Load Image Textures in Blender

The imageLoad Function

I have an obsession with timelines, which honestly may be bordering on manic and unhealthy. A 3D timeline has been on my back-burner for months because while I have written a function that auto-creates materials in Python, I had not yet mastered the art of applying image textures to those materials.

That’s today’s project.

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June 25, 2018

Python: How to Script a Bar Chart

What a lovely bar chart...

Say you have a message filled with static, and you suspect there’s something off about it. The pixels appear to be random, but not quite. How, how, how might you determine if the image is indeed entirely randomized?

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June 16, 2018

Python: How to Upgrade to pip 10.0.1

How to Upgrade Pip

Have you ever tried to install a Python module and been stopped dead in your tracks by a rude error claiming that you’re version of pip is somehow insufficient?

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June 10, 2018June 10, 2018

Python: How to Script Image Adjustments

I’ll level with you. I rarely need to manipulate specific pixels in an image, but when those occasions come along, it’s a massive pain in the neck. One that’s preventable with Python. So here it is. A quick starter guide to coding pixel by pixel adjustments.

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June 3, 2018

VBA: How to Extract Parts of Speech in Word

Where are the verbs?

Here’s a fun trick for all you VBA grammar enthusiasts out there. All 6 of you.

There exists something called a SynonymInfo Object. It lets you access things like definitions, synonyms, antonyms, and parts of speech in Word. Cool beans, right?

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May 26, 2018

How to Pick a Starter Coding Language

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May 21, 2018

Processing: How to Load All Images in a Sketch Folder

Image Arrays in Processing

Did you know you can create an array of images?! I just learned this. And the really exciting part is that you can rig up Processing to look through your Sketch folder to get the names of images to load into that array.

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May 13, 2018May 13, 2018

Processing: How to Hide Messages in Static

What Do I Say?

Poltergeist was hands down the scariest movie I saw as a child. It hard coded my brain to associate static on television with sinister messages from the beyond. Now that I’m older, I’ve come to the realization that static is a great place to hide all kinds of messages (thanks Poltergeist). And Processing is the obvious place to make that happen.

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May 5, 2018

Processing: How to Code a Scrolling Timeline

Time

mouseMoved() never seemed like a particularly useful tool in Processing until I started experimenting with different timeline set-ups. Turns out, it’s marvelous.

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