Hi!
It’s been a while since I’ve posted. I’ve been a busy little little bee, though. While I was away, I’ve been learning about robotics, Wikipedia editing and working more closely with Coder Dojo. We have classes at the Main Library, Downtown, every Saturday at 4:00 pm until 5:30 pm.
We’ve been learning some C# coding. Pretty awesome. I’ll add the tutorials very soon!
Finally, I’ve finished up the entire book of the projects we did this summer. You can download it by clicking on the link: Makers in the Library 2014. It’s a large file, about 9 MB, so be patient!
Enjoy and share alike!
Today I’m going to walk through how to modify a retro ad. This process works on any kind of digital image, but I chose retro or vintage ads because the art can be attention-getting and it’s a little easier to edit because of the layout.
First: Are you asking, what is GIMP? See my earlier post.
Second: Do you have GIMP yet? If not, get GIMP! You can install GIMP on any kind of computer and where you don’t have admin privileges, you can use the Portable Apps version of GIMP.
You can also Open the file from your hard-drive.
I usually double the layers, just in case I make a mistake on the original and want to fix it easily. To do this, look at the layer box on the right hand side. Click the square icon next to the anchor. You’ve duplicated the layer!
What’s a Layer??? Think of layers like transparent pieces of plastic laid down on top of one another. You can have a lot of layers to control your digital manipulation. The eyes next to each layer controls whether the layer is visible or not.
Let’s make a new layer. Click on the white paper icon on the left hand side of the layer box. Another box will pop up. You can name your layer to keep track of it if you wish. In addition, you can also choose the “fill type.” I like to leave it “Transparency.”
Now you can see your new layer:
When the layer is highlighted, then that’s your active layer. We’re going to get rid of the text by “erasing” it. Click on your “Pasted Layer copy” to make it the active layer. Also, turn off the visibility of the first Pasted Layer by clicking on the eye. Now we are going to choose the “Erase” tool. 
Use the Erase tool to erase the text in the add. I’m going to erase all of it and then add my own later.
Next, choose the paintbrush above the eraser or the “Bucket” tool that looks just like a bucket. Fill in the transparent area with the color of your choice. I’m filling it in with white.
Now let’s add text. Choose the Text tool. In GIMP, it looks like a large letter A in the toolbox.
Click where you want to add the text and start typing. You can change the color, size, font and more from the dialog.
There are even more things that we can go over, but these are basic, fun ways to get started. More GIMP in the future!
Makerspaces: Top Trailblazing Projects
Caitlin A. Bagley
Copyright 2014, American Library Association
ISBN: 978-1-55570-990-7
This book is an excellent resource for librarians and Maker enthusiasts. It’s part of what inspired me to visit the Cleveland Public Library (see this post for review) this July. That’s because Cleveland got a great write up in this book (see page 46).
Bagley in Makerspaces does a super job of inspiring the reader to create their own space by describing how others have paved the way. She also helps readers understand why they might want to incorporate a makerspace and what kinds of issues staff or volunteers might have to take into consideration to create such a space where they work.
One thing I really appreciated is that Bagely discusses how each Makerspace was marketed. Since each one is very different and is filling a different niche, the techniques used are a valuable resource.
I love
GIMP. What’s GIMP? Well, it’s a lot like Photoshop, only it’s free and open source software.
GIMP stands for Gnu Image Manipulation Program. The Gnu lets you know that it’s Open Source, freely distributable software. You can learn more about GIMP from their website.
To make the images you see here, I searched for retro ads from the 1950’s and 60’s. Then I used the Photoshop-like tools in GIMP to select, change colors, add text and more. If you can use Photoshop, you already know how to use GIMP.
Another great thing about GIMP is that it also comes in a “Portable” format. This means that you can install it on a USB drive and use it at any computer anywhere.
Coming soon… GIMP how-to!
Hello! I’ve been on vacation in Ohio and I had the chance to visit the excellent “TechCentral” at the Cleveland Public Library (CPL) in Cleveland, Ohio.
TechCentral is bright and welcoming. As soon as you enter the newer wing of the library, it’s there on the bottom floor. When you walk inside, there are 2 librarians ready to answer questions right away. But that’s not all! There is a test drive station with tablets where you can see how the digital world offered by CPL works on an iPad or Android. And then you see the 3D printer. It’s right there churning out cool things. You can look at and touch some of the examples. The librarians told me that patrons send in their digital 3D items and the library can print them out! Nice.
TechCentral also boasts a large computer lab and laptops and iPads for check out. But the best part is the Makerspace. There is a 3D printer that patrons can use on their own, a light table, laser cutter and a multimedia studio. The space is really bright and welcoming. I wish I’d had time to gets hands-on, but I did see some people working on their own projects and on the whole, the place feels busy and cheerful.
If you’re ever in the Cleveland area, do check it out!
Origami Masters Bugs: How the Bug Wars Changed the Art of Origami
Edited by Sherry Gerstein
Copyright 2013, The Book Shop, Ltd
978-1-937994-10-5
This book is truly amazing. First of all, I’m not going to claim that I can make any of these origami creations… but I was really inspired to try my best. The photography and the artistry of the final creations is just too beautiful not to try out!
One of the best things about this book is the short introduction to the “how to” section. I learned about Akira Yoshizawa who helped make origami accessible to everyone worldwide by creating a simple folding notation that anyone who has ever tried their hand at origami has most likely used themselves. However, this book goes beyond simple folds and shows the reader the amazing, beautiful and complex world of crease patterns.
I’ve been trying to puzzle out crease patterns since I read this book. I’m not great at that sort of thing, but the deceptive simplicity keeps me trying over and over again.
The models in the book are beautiful and most aren’t easy at all. But that’s not where the fun of the book rests. Instead the book acts as an inspiration: showing readers the amazing things that one piece of paper can turn into.
Find this book at the El Paso Public Library, or at a library in your own town.
On Wednesday, we made the Google Cardboard! Only a few kids had their own smartphones, though, so we started to wonder…. What else can we do with Cardboard?
One girl, pictured here, had a tablet. What we did was bring up a stereoscopic video and viewed it through the Cardboard viewfinder. That worked pretty well! Other kids turned their viewers into static stereoscopes. A stereoscope is a device which can turn two images that are similar, but slightly different, into a 3D image. Doing a search online for stereoscope images brings up a lot of pictures, some of which are in the public domain 
now. The stereoscopic picture of an eagle shown here, I found on Wikimedia Commons and it comes from the Robert N. Dennis collection. It’s in the public domain. But there are full color images out there, too. Take a look and try it out yourself!
Have you used Cardboard? Please share your experience!
Google Cardboard was unveiled this past June at Google’s I/O conference. (I looked up what I/O stands for and it can mean Input/Output or Innovation in the Open.) Cardboard is a super-cheap, super easy-to-build virtual reality viewer. You use your smartphone in order to experience an immersive 3D environment.
Google provides a free app called Cardboard (of course) that can be downloaded from the Google Play store. You can also view VR experiences using the Google Cardboard with almost any VR stereoscopic app, or by viewing demos on Chrome.
Cardboard works by tricking your eyes into thinking that they are seeing a 3D world by creating two slightly different images for each of your eyes to view.
Building Cardboard is easy. Cardboard can be sourced for free. I found cheap magnifying glass lenses made of plastic to use inside of Cardboard. Finding magnets to “click” inside of Cardboard or copper tape has been the biggest expense! I held my Cardboard closed with rubber bands.
Cardboard is a really cool thing to play around with. If you’re a coder, all of the code for the VR experience on Cardboard is available to play around with. There is a tutorial for building a game called Treasure Hunt online. So much tech-y fun to be had out of a piece of cardboard and some plastic magnifying lenses!
Make virtual reality awesomeness with us this Wednesday!
Library Learn, Make & Create 