Automatically building a cache manifest file

HTML5 has the capability to work offline and it allows you to cache files of your application on the browser by using a cache manifest. The question is, which files to cache?

Simple applications, with an HTML file, a couple of JS and CSS files are not a problem. But as soon as you move to more complex applications, the number of files explodes - think imported CSS files, background images, images within your page, etc. So here's a little help to build your cache file!

1. Start by getting the offlineHelpers.js file and put it on your website. It's easier if you put it on the folder of the page you want to cache, but you can put it anywhere. If you don't have a site yet, download the whole project and play with the provided test.html file.

2. Be sure the page you want to cache includes jQuery. This is only needed to run the offlineHelpers script, you can remove it afterwards. You don't even need to download it, just src the script from here: http://code.jquery.com/jquery-1.10.1.min.js

3. Launch chrome (yes, for now it only works on chrome). Load the offllineHelpers script by opening the console (cmd+alt+j on the Mac) and typing $.getScript('offlineHelpers.js'). Next, call offlineHelpers.getCacheFile() on the console.

4. Calling getCacheFile should result on a bunch of debug lines (in gray) followed by your cache manifest file. Something like:

Getting stylesheets
Found an import: jumbotron-responsive.css
Getting JS files
Getting Image files
CACHE MANIFEST

# CSS Files
css/bootstrap.css
img/glyphicons-halflings.png
img/glyphicons-halflings-white.png
css/jumbotron-narrow.css
css/jumbotron-responsive.css

# Javascript Files
http://code.jquery.com/jquery-1.10.1.min.js

# Image Files
img/creatures.jpg

Next, tweak the result and copy to your cache.manifest file.

Let me know how this worked for you! If the script missed a file, let me know on the comments and I'll try to fix it!

Command line script to batch convert images

Ever had a folder full of images that you needed to convert? Well, today I had a couple hundred 20Mb RAW images that I wanted to convert to JPG, and I really didn't want to open them on an image editor.

So I went hunting for a way to convert the images using the command line on the Mac. Here's what I found:

1. Converting an image via command line: There's a tool called "sips" that does this (and much more) on the mac! To convert a file from RAW to JPG, you just need to call something like:

sips -s format jpeg IMAGE.NEF --out IMAGE.jpg

2. Getting the right name: Iterating a list of files via command line is easy, getting just the filename in order to change the extension requires google! Here's how to do it:

for i in *.NEF; do echo "${i%.*}.jpg"; done

(curious on how it works? Check this doc)

3. All together now: To convert all the files in the current directory, do this:

for i in *.NEF; do sips -s format jpeg $i --out "${i%.*}.jpg"; done

Let me know how the script worked out for you!

Moving from iPhoto to Lightroom

I've been using iPhoto since I bought my mac, but lately it seems to be getting slower and buggier... Takes ages to launch, search doesn't work properly, and my library of about 25,000 photos seems too much for it. So I decided to try Lightroom.

Unfortunately, there's no easy way to get out of iPhoto, be it for Lightroom, Picasa, or whatever... There's no simple way to export all of your events into nice subfolders! So I built my own way out!

I created a python script that reads the data from iPhoto, and uses it to create a tree structure with year/name_of_event and all the photos inside. Here's a screenshot of the script running:

To use the script, download it from here, and execute it via the terminal using:

python iphoto-to-folders.py [AlbumData.xml] [destinationDir]

[AlbumData.xml] is a file inside your iPhoto library, and can usually be located at ~/Pictures/iPhoto\ Library/AlbumData.xml

[destinationDir] is the folder where you want your photos to be copied to.

A couple of notes about the script:

• It only copies the original versions of the photos. Changes you made in iPhoto are not copied.
• It copies all the files from your iPhoto library, so it needs quite a bit of disk space.
• It may take some time to run. To copy my 25.000 photos it took 1.5 hours
• It's not supposed to mess with your iPhoto library, but do make backups!
• It has no warranty whatsoever!
• It's supposed to be tweaked! If you're comfortable with python, adapt the script to your needs.

If you have any questions or spot some problems, please submit them here. And be sure to leave a comment telling me how the script worked for you!

Cleaning up your computer to give away

While cleaning up the house, I came up across two old computers that I really don't want. One of them is old enough to recycle, the other one I'll give away for charity. Eitherway, I want the hard-drives to be clean before they leave the house. Not that I have any sensitive stuff on them, but there's probably enough info for some identity theft.

Fortunately, a while ago I came across this tool: Darik's Boot and Nuke. This is basically an image file you download and burn on a CD. You boot the computer you want to recycle/give away/sell with the CD and it just wipes all your hard drives.

I used it with both computers and it worked perfectly. Now I can give them away without concern.

Oh, using this software had an unexpected bonus! Because I had to open the CD drive, it stopped me from sending the computer away with a backup CD in it!