2 Resizing an image in C# Posted on 26. Jan, 2010 by Wim Haanstra.

For a project I am working on, I was looking for a good way to resize images in a few different ways. I have done image resizing before, but it really feels that I am re-inventing the wheel every time I do this. So now I decided to write a nice static method which can resize an Image to certain dimensions and outputs an Image object again.

The method requires 3 parameters:

1. An image object. I hope you know how to load a file in an Image object (hint: FromFile).
2. A Resolution object, being nothing more than a small class I created, which also contains the width and the height.
3. The mode you want to use for resizing the image. I explained the modes in the enum listed below.

It probably isnt the neatest code you’ve ever seen, so if you have any comments, please let me know. Code and more explanation after the break… (more…)

0 Updating my blog a bit Posted on 26. Jan, 2010 by Wim Haanstra.

Currently my blog is under development (again). I will update it more often the upcoming weeks, but also the style will change the longer I will be using it.

I am still not completely satisfied yet, but its getting better..

0 Management of your pictures/videos etc. Posted on 25. Jan, 2010 by Wim Haanstra.

I have (just as so many people probably) been struggling to keep my digital photo’s and home-made videos manageable. I tried so many photo/media management tools that I actually lost count and they never satisfied my needs. They always kept my library as messy as it now, which is a HUGE directory, with files which have names like ‘2009_1225_183025.jpg’. Since a couple of weeks I also shoot HD movies with my camcorder and those files are already stacking up also.

I have been thinking about what could actually help me solve this problem and I think I came up with a solution to my (own) problem. I am currently making a tool with the project-name “Media-Manager”. The tool extracts all meta data from my media files and stores it nicely in a data source (e.g. SQL Server, XML files). In my tool I can specify events which happened on certain date’s (or a longer time-span) and it automatically filters the photo’s by those event. (more…)

0 Using jQuery Dialog with ASP.NET Posted on 08. Sep, 2009 by Wim Haanstra.

I have been playing around with jQuery a bit lately and I wanted to use the nice dialog boxes on my new project. The problem with the dialog boxes is, that they do not create a postback when one of the buttons is clicked. Also the values of any controls inside the dialog are always empty, when using the dialog box.

I just will be posting my code here, to let you see how I solved the problem. (more…)

0 Mount network drive before starting an app Posted on 25. Jun, 2009 by Wim Haanstra.

On my Mac Mini, I have SABNZBd+ installed. I wanted to make it download my usenet downloads straight to my NAS.

So I made my Mac automaticly mount a drive on the NAS on boot, and I also put SABNZBd+ in my login items. But that gave me a problem, sometimes SABNZBd started before my network drive was mounted. SABNZBd then created a directory called /Volumes/Media. After that, when my NAS was mounted, it mounted to /Volumes/Media-1. So that sucked. I could not find a way to change the order at which startup programs ran, so I decided to create an AppleScript application which first mounted a network drive and then runned SABNZBd.

Here it is:

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set Media to "smb://myUsername:myPassword@192.168.1.1/Media"
tell application "Finder"
	activate
	mount volume Media
end tell
tell application "SABnzbd"
	activate
end tell

0 MusIQ is available in the AppStore now! Posted on 18. Jun, 2009 by Wim Haanstra.

Since the release of iPhone OS 3.0, MusIQ was available in the AppStore.

The description from the AppStore:

Play MusIQ and test your music knowledge! MusIQ plays songs from your own music library and you have to guess the song playing. Four possible answers are given and speed is of the essence, since precious points and time are ticking away.

There is also an ‘Unlimited Mode’, which lets you guess songs, until you fail a round. That way you can just keep playing, as long as you know the right answers.

MusIQ takes advantage of the new features of firmware 3.0, so make sure your iPhone/iPod is up to date with the latest firmware from Apple.

Make sure you have at least 40 songs on your iPhone/iPod.

0 New corporate website went live! Posted on 05. Jun, 2009 by Wim Haanstra.

My new corporate website just went live!

Check out : http://www.wimhaanstra.com.

0 Newsleecher problem solved! Posted on 04. May, 2009 by Wim Haanstra.

In a previous post (http://www.depl0y.com/?p=411) I mentioned switching from my Windows based file server, to a Mac Mini with a NAS. I would lose the ability to run Newsleecher then, so today I went hunting for a solution (as I was sick in bed).

After some research I found SABNZBd, which is a web enabled deamon you install on your PC/Mac/Whatever based system. After I installed it, I noticed Newzbin.com integration and I fixed myself an account.

Now I can just bookmark the stuff I want to download on Newzbin.com and it will be downloaded on my Mac. There are also ‘plugins’ that will update the XBMC library when a download is complete and I will be using that when my Mac arrives.

0 XBMC: Some screenies of my config Posted on 04. May, 2009 by Wim Haanstra.

I have been fooling around with XBMC a bit this weekend, whenever I was not visiting the loo for my stumach flu food poisoning .

3 Replacing my HDX 1000 with a Mac Mini Posted on 03. May, 2009 by Wim Haanstra.

For my HD movie playback I have been using an HDX 1000 the last couple of months. The HDX is connected via an ethernet connection with my file server, which is an Intel quadcore with over 4TB of storage and 12GB of memory. Since this isn’t the most energy efficient way to stream movies to my TV, I planned a complete reorganisation of PC equipment at home.

I am replacing my HDX 1000 with a Mac Mini (2.26GHz with 4GB of RAM), which will be connected to my TV with a mini-DVI to DVI to HDMI cable. The Mac Mini has an optical audio out, which will be connected to my Sony receiver, for optimal DTS/DD5.1 audio.

The Mac Mini will stream it’s movies from a multi TB NAS, which will be connected to a gigabit router. For software, I am currently expirimenting with XBMC, with the Aeon skin. The Mac Mini will also be connected to my 26″ IIyama monitor, so that it can be used as a desktop PC too, which gives my MacBook Pro a bit more breathing room. Also the switch to a Mac Mini will give me the ability to playback those anoying DVD’s the kids bring home sometimes.

I already ordered my Mac Mini and it will be delivered between the 8th and 11th of May.

So, what problems am I going to encounter?

• I needed to find a mini-TOS to TOS cable, which wasn’t available in the Apple store somehow. Found one on eBay for under $5.
• The remote control didn’t work at once with XBMC somehow. I installed a piece of software called “Sofa Control” which fixed this, but this software isn’t free.
• I use usenet a lot, with my file server gone, I will no longer be able to use Newsleecher. What alternatives are there for Newsleecher for OSX?

As soon as my Mac Mini arrives, I will post a report about my progress, maybe with some pics.