tips · MaisonBisson

Followup: Triggertrap latency and Fuji Instax tips

Short answer: Triggertrap app audio triggering latency is too long to capture a fast moving event. The app, the dongle, my trusty EOS Rebel XTi, Lensbaby (manual focus, soft edge details), and Neewer flash worked, but too slowly. The phone was just inches from where I was throwing the dice, but the flash and camera […] » about 300 words

Fuji Instax 210 Tips and Tricks

On focusing and using the closeup attachment lens: If you want to take portraits, use [the included closeup adapter]. With the camera focus set to infinity, the point of sharp focus becomes 1 meter. With the same [closeup] attachment the .9-3m focus setting gives pin sharp results at 45cm. (Selfie range) The depth of field […] » about 300 words

Using Keynote As a Motion Graphics Tool

Bill Keaggy just posted on the XPLANE blog about using Apple’s Keynote presentation software to make motion graphics and movies. We’ve found that in some cases, a Keynote-authored video is what you might call the “good enough” solution. […] Keynote lets you create and edit presentations, make things move, is ridiculously easy to learn and exports […] » about 100 words

WordPress Performance Tips

Elliott C. Back points to his use of object caching, WP-Cache, and MySQL query caching among the reasons why his site “is so much faster that yours.”

Easy MySQL Performance Tips

Yes, I’m still trying to squeeze more performance out of MySQL. And since small changes to a query can make a big difference in performance…

Here are two really easy things to be aware of:

Never do a COUNT(*) (or anything *, says Zach). Instead, replace the * with the name of the column you’re searching against (and is hopefully indexed). That way some queries can execute entirely in the keycache (while * forces MySQL to read every matching row from the table).
When joining two large tables, but only searching against one, put the join statement at the end. Why join the two entire tables when you only have to join the matching rows?

I mention these because, well, I’ve known them forever, but upon seeing them again I realized I hadn’t really obeyed those simple rules in some of my queries.

Separately, there’s some pretty good info on what server variables affect what at mysqlperformanceblog too.

Reboot Your ‘Pod

Colin has a nifty guide to your iPod’s hidden commands, like those for rebooting or getting into the diagnostics. He’s got more iPod tips if you look.

Recycling Tips From Our Physical Plant

Along with the energy saving and water saving tips previously, our physical plant folks have sent out these recycling tips: Recycling of Aluminum Cans — saves 95% of the Energy required to make the same amount of Aluminum from its virgin source. One ton of recycled Aluminum saves 14,000 KWH of Energy, 40 barrels of […] » about 300 words

Energy Saving Tips

Our physical plant folks sent out a message with tips on how to conserve energy. Perhaps they oughtta blog this stuff? Here it is: Computer power management — A typical computer monitor uses 60 to 120 watts of electrical power, depending upon screen size. Do not use screensavers as energy savers as they continue to […] » about 700 words

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