I am a big fan of open source software so at home I use Gimp which is an open source alternative to Photoshop.  One of my favorite features of Photoshop is its “save for web” feature which lets you downsize images so they will load more quickly on websites you support.  I found a plug-in today for Gimp which allows that capability so I thought I would share it in hope that those who also use Gimp could benefit if you happen to be reading this blog.  If you don’t have Gimp you can grab a copy over at gimp.org.  Also note that if you aren’t using Linux like I am it is OK because Gimp is also available for Windows systems.  The directions below are for installing the plug-in for Linux but if you have Windows you can download the zip file here.

If you are using Linux, follow the instructions below and let me know if you have any problems.

1. Download the plug-in here.
2. Open terminal (Applications > Accessories > Terminal)
3. Unzip the .tar.gz in ~/.gimp-2.6/plug-ins/ (note you can right click on it and select “extract here via a GUI and copy/paste it into the folder)
4. In terminal type $ “sudo apt-get install libgimp2.0-dev” (needed to compile the files)
5. In terminal type $ “cd ~/.gimp-2.6/plug-ins/gimp-save-for-web-0.28.6/” (navigate to where you extracted the files)
   1. If this doesn’t work for you, go to your Home directory and press Cntrl + H to show your system’s hidden files
   2. Double Click Gimp-2.6 directory
   3. Then double click the Plug-ins directory
   4. Paste the folder into the directory if you are more comforable with a GUI
6. Go back to terminal and navigate to the directory and again if you don’t like using command line you can drag the folder into your terminal window and press the enter key.  Once you do that type $ ./configure make and press enter
7. Next type $ “sudo make install” into the terminal window
8. Restart Gimp
9. A new option is created via File>Save for web!

Here is a list of things you can do with Google search.

Gizmodo has a great article about how to properly make coffee which I loved.  Check it out.

A TED talk demonstrating wireless electricity.  How cool is this?

The guy who made this video and I would get along beautifully.  Haha…brilliant!