Here is the longhand way:

git checkout old-branch
git branch new-branch
git checkout new-branch

But there is a quicker way:

git checkout -b new-branch old-branch

… which does the same thing, albiet in one command.

I must say, it’s looking pretty nice!  It is rather amazing to look back at the year, and see in detail what was going on with Eli.

One of my favorites is on page 159 (read the letter on the telephone pole):

Here is a screen shot of the book view:

The software has many improvements from the last couple days alone.  A background page renderer runs at all times, and will re-render a book’s page if anything on it changed.  The user interface for positioning images on a page is nearly complete.  I’ve enhanced the database with storage of full size JPEG images as well as info about the image (width, height, type, size).

Here is a screen shot of the page editor:

Here is an example page render without the photographs included.  Still need a UI for selecting photographs and positioning them on the white area of the page.

At the bottom, see an ImageMagick Text Example about the python code used to render multiple text areas and color blocks on one image…

It took me a long time to figure out how to use ImageMagick to place multiple text areas on one image.  Here are some keywords for google:

ImageMagick, ImageMagick multiple text areas, ImageMagick pdf rendering, ImageMagick text.

      PrimerFont = join(App.Path, 'Static', 'Primerb.ttf')
      PrimerFontBold = join(App.Path, 'Static', 'Primer.ttf')
      RenderFile = join(TempDir, 'Render.jpg')

      # Build the full image
      subprocess.check_call((
        '/usr/bin/convert',

        # Setup the background
        '-size', '2550x3300',
        'xc:white',

        # Title Bar
        '-fill', 'grey14', '-draw', 'rectangle 0,0 2550,300',

        # Summary bar
        '-fill', 'RoyalBlue4', '-draw', 'rectangle 0,300 2550,600',

        # Description Bar
        '-fill', 'LightGrey', '-draw', 'rectangle 0,600 2550,1050',

        # Now draw the Name
        '(',
          '-density'    , '300',
          '-fill'       , 'white',
          '-background' , 'grey14',
          '-font'       , PrimerFont,
          '-size'       , '1650x150',
          '-gravity'    , 'West',
          '-pointsize'  , '20',
          'caption:'    + self.Book.Name,
        ')',
        '-gravity', 'NorthWest', '-geometry', '+150+150', '-composite',

        # Now draw the Date
        '(',
          '-density'    , '300',
          '-fill'       , 'white',
          '-background' , 'grey14',
          '-font'       , PrimerFont,
          '-size'       , '600x150',
          '-gravity'    , 'East',
          '-pointsize'  , '20',
          'caption:' + Activity.Date.strftime('%B %d, %Y'),
        ')',
        '-gravity', 'NorthEast', '-geometry', '+150+150', '-composite',

        # Now draw the Summary
        '(',
          '-density'    , '300',
          '-fill'       , 'white',
          '-background' , 'RoyalBlue4',
          '-font'       , PrimerFontBold,
          '-size'       , '2250x300',
          '-gravity'    , 'Center',
          '-pointsize'  , '20',
          'caption:'    + Activity.Summary.replace("\n", " "),
        ')',
        '-gravity', 'North', '-geometry', '+0+300', '-composite',

        # Now draw the Description
        '(',
          '-density'    , '300',
          '-fill'       , 'black',
          '-background' , 'LightGrey',
          '-font'       , PrimerFont,
          '-size'       , '2250x450',
          '-gravity'    , 'Center',
          '-pointsize'  , '14',
          'caption:'    + Activity.Description.replace("\n", "\\n"),
        ')',
        '-gravity', 'North', '-geometry', '+0+600', '-composite',

        # Now draw the Page
        '(',
          '-density'    , '300',
          '-fill'       , 'black',
          '-background' , 'white',
          '-font'       , PrimerFont,
          '-size'       , '2250x150',  #entire right half minus 150pt margin
          '-gravity'    , 'Center',
          '-pointsize'  , '14',
          'caption:'    + 'Page {0}'.format(self.PageNumber),
        ')',
        '-gravity', 'South', '-geometry', '+0+150', '-composite',

#        NameFile, '-geometry', '+0+0', '-composite',
#        DateFile, '-geometry', '+1275+0', '-composite',
#        SummaryFile, '-geometry', '+0+150', '-composite',
#        DescriptionFile, '-geometry', '+0+450', '-composite',

        RenderFile,
        ))

However, I’ve been making daily progress on getting the “output” working.  Here is how it is structured in this initial version:

• You can create a book, “Eli Daniel Garber 2010-2011 Portfolio” for example.
• Activities are added to the book, one activity per page.
• The activity summary and description, date and pictures come along.
• You can move the pictures around, crop, and choose the exact ones you want.
• Pages in the book can be sorted any way you want.
• Once the book is “ready”, you can output a print-quality PDF.  This PDF could be printed or sent to a printer to turn into a hardback book.

Nearly all of the photographs we take are with the Motorola Droid X.  Provided you have sufficient light, the quality is very acceptable.

Here is one of the latest activities recorded:

Arduino is an open-source electronics prototyping platform based on flexible, easy-to-use hardware and software. It’s intended for artists, designers, hobbyists, and anyone interested in creating interactive objects or environments.

I recently got this starter kit from Amazon.com:

And have since been playing with making different circuits, etc… It has been a good experience in working with lower level electronics (ohm’s law, etc…)

Hope to post more soon!