I've got some pretty weird glass cluttering up my drawers. This is one I had forgotten about for a number of years. Just playing around with it.

I found this post https://www.reddit.com/r/FocusStacking/comments/1x20l1y/lapstack_free_as_in_freedom_dedicated_focus/ and decided to try it out. After a few little niggles with Chrome not activating webgpu options I integrated it into my KDE/Plasma application launcher menu.

Not done with testing but at first glance it seems to blow ZereneStacker out of the water. Here's a few initial samples. (incluing a few rocker GIFs)

A bit of GMIC applied to this image after raw conversion with Darktable

She sees me, takes a few steps back and then launches herself straight onto my lap. I just went to drop off our Noam for a few days while we spend a few days in beautiful Tuscany. Jill was happy to see her best friend but even happier to see me...

Using the smallest grip and a trio of primes (DA15, DA35 and DA70) turns out to have been a truly good choice indeed!

Has anyone found an alternative to this old Gimp2.x script written in Scheme? I got close with ImageMagick but still no joy. The image is one of my old ones (from 2021) source and outcome

;
; Amazing Circles, V2.2
;
; AUTHOR: Darla McKay (Darla@FarcryDesign.com), (C) 2007,2008
;
; This plugin was tested with GIMP 2.4
;
; This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
; it under the terms of the GNU General Public License Version 3 as
; published by the Free Software Foundation.
;
; This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
; but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
; MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
; GNU General Public License at http://www.gnu.org/licenses for
; more details.
;
; DESCRIPTION:
; Amazing Circles technique, clean border with size colour options, additional
; options to distort with pinch and/or whirl, add a drop shadow & shading.
; The script is located in menu "<Image> / Script-Fu / Darla / Amazing Circles"
;
; USAGE NOTES:
; This script creates a copy of your original image (or active selection) and
; applies the "Amazing Circles" technique. If you choose not to flatten the
; image, you can further adjust the border layer after running this script.
; Hint, the centerpoint is very important, especially if you choose border
; average as your frame colour -- try selecting from a centerpoint.
; See http://www.FarcryDesign.com/GIMP/ for more information.
; =============================================================================
;
;
; SCRIPT SUMMARY:
; from selection, copy, paste as new, std size 960x960 (or keep square current), distort polar (not to polar)
; set border options (black, white, border average, current fg/bg)
; layer transform flip vertically, distort polar to polar, canvas size 1000x1000 (or calculate from max, but not stretch), layer to image size,
; add a border layer, apply mask to both layers, optionally add shading layer and drop shadow (also both with masks applied)
;
; Version 1.0 (2007) - Initial version
; Version 1.1
; - add adjustments for Filter, Distort, Whirl and Pinch e.g. angle 0, pinch .6, radius 1.6
; Version 2.0
; - updated for GIMP 2.4 (changed border average method)
; - added alternate circle method
; - added return to original select state
; Version 2.1 (Jan 2008)
; - replaced user select option with current fg/bg options
; - changed whirlpinch option to interactive, if selected
; Version 2.2 (Jan 2008)
; - adding option for dropshadow & shading, applying masks to each layer individually
; =============================================================================

(define (script-fu-Darla-AmazingCircles InImage InLayer InFinal InBorder InBASize InPercent InGrow InFeather InShade InWhirlPinch InAlt InFlatten)
(gimp-image-undo-group-start InImage)

(let*(
(Old-FG-Color (car (gimp-context-get-foreground)))
(Old-BG-Color (car (gimp-context-get-background)))
(MaskImage (car (gimp-image-duplicate InImage)))
(MaskLayer (cadr (gimp-image-get-layers MaskImage)))
(draw-type (car (gimp-drawable-type-with-alpha InLayer)))
(image-type (car (gimp-image-base-type InImage)))
(selection-bounds (gimp-selection-bounds InImage))
(select-offset-x (cadr selection-bounds))
(select-offset-y (caddr selection-bounds))
(selection-width (- (cadr (cddr selection-bounds)) select-offset-x))
(selection-height (- (caddr (cddr selection-bounds)) select-offset-y))
(TheSize selection-height)
(CircleSize TheSize)
(BAColor Old-BG-Color) ; border average
(TheOffset 0)
(TheDiam 0)
(BorderOffset 0)
(from-selection FALSE)
(active-selection (car (gimp-selection-save InImage)))
(new-image (car (gimp-image-new selection-width selection-height image-type)))
(new-draw (car (gimp-layer-new new-image selection-width selection-height draw-type "Selection" 100 NORMAL-MODE)))
(BorderLayer (car (gimp-layer-new-from-drawable new-draw new-image)))
(VignetteImage (car (gimp-image-duplicate new-image)))
(VignetteLayer (cadr (gimp-image-get-layers VignetteImage)))
)

; if there is no selection, select the whole image
(if (= (car (gimp-selection-is-empty InImage)) TRUE)
(begin
(gimp-selection-layer-alpha InLayer)
(set! active-selection (car (gimp-selection-save InImage)))
(set! from-selection FALSE)
)
(begin
(set! from-selection TRUE)
(set! active-selection (car (gimp-selection-save InImage)))
)
)

; create new image from selection
(gimp-edit-copy InLayer)
(set! new-image (car (gimp-image-new selection-width selection-height image-type)))
(set! new-draw (car (gimp-layer-new new-image selection-width selection-height draw-type "Selection" 100 NORMAL-MODE)))
(gimp-image-add-layer new-image new-draw 0)
(gimp-drawable-fill new-draw BACKGROUND-FILL)
(let ((floating-sel (car (gimp-edit-paste new-draw FALSE))))
(gimp-floating-sel-anchor floating-sel))
(gimp-image-set-active-layer InImage InLayer)
(gimp-display-new new-image)
; get border average colour
(set! BAColor (car (gimp-image-pick-color new-image new-draw (/ selection-width 2)(/ selection-height 2) TRUE TRUE InBASize)))

; whirl/pinch, if applicable - interactive
(if (not (= InWhirlPinch 0)) (plug-in-whirl-pinch FALSE new-image new-draw 0 0 0))

; calculate desired final and circle size to work with
; if min current width/height < InFinal, then TheSize= current, else InFinal (TheSize will be the final size to use, the lesser of InFinal or 1000)
(if (< selection-width selection-height) (set! TheSize selection-width) (set! TheSize selection-height))
(if (< TheSize InFinal) (set! TheSize TheSize) (set! TheSize InFinal))
; choose CircleSize with by calculating border percent and set image to this size
(set! CircleSize (* TheSize (- 1 (* .01 InPercent))))
(gimp-image-scale new-image CircleSize CircleSize)

; distort routine (with alternate actions, if selected)
; distort polar (not to polar)
(plug-in-polar-coords TRUE new-image new-draw 100 0 1 0 0)
; layer transform flip vertically
(gimp-image-flip new-image 1)
; distort polar to polar (or alt)
(if (not (= InAlt 0))
(begin
(plug-in-polar-coords TRUE new-image new-draw 100 0 1 0 0)
(gimp-image-flip new-image 1)
(plug-in-polar-coords TRUE new-image new-draw 100 0 1 0 1)
(gimp-image-flip new-image 1)
)
(begin
(plug-in-polar-coords TRUE new-image new-draw 100 0 1 0 1)
)
)

; canvas size set to larger final size to accommodate border, layer to image size
(set! TheOffset (* TheSize (/ InPercent 200)))
(gimp-image-resize new-image TheSize TheSize TheOffset TheOffset)
(gimp-layer-resize-to-image-size new-draw)

; fill border layer with colour according to color option chosen
; Border Options: 0 white 1 black 2 border average 3 current foreground 4 current background
(cond
((= InBorder 0) (gimp-context-set-foreground '(255 255 255)))
((= InBorder 1) (gimp-context-set-foreground '(0 0 0)))
((= InBorder 2) (gimp-context-set-foreground BAColor))
((= InBorder 3) (gimp-context-set-foreground Old-FG-Color))
((= InBorder 4) (gimp-context-set-foreground Old-BG-Color))
)
(set! BorderLayer (car (gimp-layer-new-from-drawable new-draw new-image)))
(gimp-image-add-layer new-image BorderLayer -1)
(gimp-drawable-fill BorderLayer FOREGROUND-FILL)

; set fg/bg to black and white for masking
(gimp-context-set-foreground '(255 255 255))
(gimp-context-set-background '(0 0 0))

; add layer, select circle in the centre, feather, fill with black.
(gimp-drawable-fill (aref MaskLayer 0) FOREGROUND-FILL)
(set! TheDiam (- CircleSize (* 2 InGrow)))
(set! BorderOffset (/ (- TheSize TheDiam) 2))
(gimp-ellipse-select MaskImage BorderOffset BorderOffset TheDiam TheDiam 2 TRUE TRUE InFeather)
(gimp-edit-fill (aref MaskLayer 0) BACKGROUND-FILL)

; change layer to mask for border
(let*(
(BorderMask (car (gimp-layer-create-mask BorderLayer ADD-WHITE-MASK)))
(VignetteMask (car (gimp-layer-create-mask new-draw ADD-WHITE-MASK)))
(CircleMask (car (gimp-layer-create-mask new-draw ADD-WHITE-MASK)))
)
(gimp-layer-add-mask BorderLayer BorderMask)
(gimp-selection-all MaskImage)
(gimp-edit-copy (aref MaskLayer 0))
(gimp-floating-sel-anchor (car (gimp-edit-paste BorderMask FALSE)))
;(gimp-layer-remove-mask BorderLayer MASK-APPLY)
(gimp-layer-set-apply-mask BorderLayer FALSE)
(gimp-drawable-set-name BorderLayer "Border")

; add vignette, if applicable
(if (not (= InShade 0))
(begin
(set! VignetteLayer (car (gimp-layer-new-from-drawable new-draw new-image)))
(gimp-image-add-layer new-image VignetteLayer -1)
(gimp-selection-all new-image)
(gimp-edit-clear VignetteLayer)
; calculate outer selection and fill with black
(gimp-ellipse-select new-image (/ (- TheSize (* CircleSize .9)) 2) (/ (- TheSize (* CircleSize .9)) 2) (* CircleSize .9) (* CircleSize .9) 2 TRUE TRUE (* CircleSize .2))
(gimp-selection-invert new-image)
(gimp-edit-fill VignetteLayer BACKGROUND-FILL)
(gimp-selection-none new-image)
(gimp-drawable-set-name VignetteLayer "Shading")
(gimp-layer-set-opacity VignetteLayer 70)
(gimp-layer-set-mode VignetteLayer OVERLAY-MODE)
; add inverted mask to vignette
(gimp-layer-add-mask VignetteLayer VignetteMask)
(gimp-floating-sel-anchor (car (gimp-edit-paste VignetteMask FALSE)))
(gimp-invert VignetteMask)
(gimp-layer-remove-mask VignetteLayer MASK-APPLY)
)
)

; add inverted mask to original layer
(gimp-layer-add-mask new-draw CircleMask)
(gimp-floating-sel-anchor (car (gimp-edit-paste CircleMask FALSE)))
(gimp-invert CircleMask)
(gimp-layer-remove-mask new-draw MASK-APPLY)
(gimp-image-delete MaskImage)
)

; position and label circle layer
(gimp-image-raise-layer-to-top new-image new-draw)
(gimp-drawable-set-name new-draw "Circle")

; add drop shadow & order layers
(if (not (= InShade 0))
(begin
(script-fu-drop-shadow new-image new-draw (/ CircleSize 32) (/ CircleSize 32) (/ CircleSize 32) '(0 0 0) 80 FALSE)
(gimp-image-raise-layer-to-top new-image VignetteLayer)
)
)

; return to original select state & color palette, flatten image if needed
(if (= from-selection FALSE) (gimp-selection-none InImage))
(gimp-context-set-foreground Old-FG-Color)
(gimp-context-set-background Old-BG-Color)
(if (= InFlatten TRUE)
(begin
(gimp-image-merge-visible-layers new-image 1)
(set! new-draw (car (gimp-image-get-active-layer new-image)))
(gimp-drawable-set-name new-draw "Amazing Circle")
)
)
)
(gimp-image-undo-group-end InImage)
(gimp-displays-flush)
)

(script-fu-register
"script-fu-Darla-AmazingCircles"
"<Image>/Script-F_u/_Darla/_Amazing Circles"
"Amazing Circle technique with advanced options. \n\
Includes options to choose border colour (or calculate from \
border average), border size and vignetting effect, \
whirl/pinch distortion, alternate circle method, and \
to add a drop shadow & shading. \n\
Will use the whole image if there is no active selection; \
however, a square or circular selection usually gives the \
best results. \n\
See http://www.FarcryDesign.com/GIMP for more information."
"Darla McKay (Darla@FarcryDesign.com)"
"Darla McKay"
"2007,2008"
"RGB* GRAY*"
SF-IMAGE"The Image"0
SF-DRAWABLE"The Layer"0
SF-ADJUSTMENT_"Maximum Final Size (sq)"'(1000 300 2000 1 0 0 0)
SF-OPTION_"Border (Color or Method)" '("White"
"Black"
"Border Average"
"Current Foreground"
"Current Background")
SF-ADJUSTMENT_"Border average size (if selected):"'(5 1 20 1 0 0 0)
SF-ADJUSTMENT_"Border: Percent of Final"'(4 1 20 1 0 0 0)
SF-ADJUSTMENT_"Border: Grow Amount"'(3 1 100 1 0 0 0)
SF-ADJUSTMENT_"Border: Feather Amount"'(3 1 100 1 0 0 0)
SF-TOGGLE_"Add Shadow & Shading"FALSE
SF-TOGGLE_"Modify with Whirl/Pinch"FALSE
SF-TOGGLE_"Alternate Circle Method"FALSE
SF-TOGGLE_"Flatten image"FALSE
)

I placed a small pebble on my son's gravestone today.

There are always more lying there, including a few beautifully painted stones from good acquaintances. And stones often blow off in the autumn and winter as well. I have often been asked why this custom exists and why we do it for Elon, even though he, just like me for that matter, was a convinced atheist. I have always done it thoughtlessly at the graves of other loved ones, but for Elon, I searched for a more practical explanation for a long time. It was only years later that I found the explanation (or at least one that appealed to me).

Antiquity

In antiquity, people marked graves in the desert with a mound of stones (partly because the ground was often rocky and deep digging was not possible). The mound of stones that resulted in this, a "cairn" in English, simply "stone heap" in Dutch, is called "matseiva" in Hebrew.

Such a stone heap was replenished by visitors over the years when it weathered or fell over due to the elements. It was seen as a good deed to spend the little energy people had in those times on restoring the resting place of their loved ones.

And today?

And so it is that even today, for example, Jews for example still place a small stone or pebble on the grave of a loved one every time they visit. It has now, of course, become merely a custom and is no longer really necessary because we use large memorial stones that are well anchored in the ground.

The custom is also expanding; in recent years, for example, I have seen a basket with colorfully painted stones—small works of art—at the entrance to the public cemetery in Alkmaar (a small Dutch town near us where my parents as well as my brother are buried), which visitors are allowed to take and place on "their" grave.

There are many symbolic explanations and stories about the origin of the custom, and they are all equally beautiful to read, but the historical reason from which the custom originated is the social custom in ancient times of maintaining the stone pile on a grave. Think, for example, of the stone piles/cairns we know from the dolmen culture. Think also of the stone stacks in North America and on condolence cards. Very different in form, but with the same background.

And me?

Today I contributed a little to the cairn, the pile of stones, the matzeiva that marks where my son is buried, so that all who knew him can continue to remember and commemorate him. I also found a practical and non-religious reason for it – he would have found it curious, yet acceptable except for the part about the desert, because we don't have one here, after all – I almost hear him say it and I can't help but smile. He was stubborn too, that son of mine.

Scripted conversion of some wall art I came across using GMIC and ImageMagick. Before someone suggest this is AI: it is most definitely NOT! It is a mathematical transformation of a photograph. The transformation is called a "Poincaré disk. I uploaded the original as well for comparison.

Scripted conversion of some wall-art I came across. Used GMIC and ImageMagick for this

This is Elon’s little desk. The desk where he did his homework, the desk where his books stood on the shelves above. His pens, markers, batteries, rubber bands, and later his game consoles and battery chargers. His whiteboard markers and magnets. His school supplies, his leisure trinkets, and later his textbooks and programming projects. In the drawers, there are still all kinds of small items that belonged to him – simply because we never quite got around to clearing everything out, not even in all the years that lie behind us.

Elon took his own life in December 2018 at the age of 22.

Now, this little desk is the place where we keep all the material surrounding his own death, but also everything to do with the subject of suicide in general.

Last year, during Suicide Prevention Week, his mother (my wife) published her book about his life, his death, and her life before and after. It is important that more people dare to break the taboo and make suicide a topic of discussion. This year again, and particularly, but certainly not just during Suicide Prevention Week.

World Suicide Prevention Week takes place this year from September 7 to 13, with many activities organized by various national institutions across the Netherlands and around the world such as "Walk into the Light," where morning walks take place throughout the country with bereaved relatives of suicide victims.

https://walkintothelight.nl/doe-mee/locaties/

We have our guest again and Noam is enjoying the visit. Having said that, Jill is still the same overactive ADHD pup she was two years ago and Noam is slowly turning into a grumpy old man ;-)

Now and then he looks at me for support as if to say: "could you please take her away so I can sleep quietly for 30 minutes"? Also, Boogie the cat - Noam's best friend in life - is scared sh!tless by Jill and Jill cannot leave well enough alone and keeps bothering her. End result is a scratch on the nose. Oh well, she'll learn...eventually.

Heel veel dank aan het geweldige panel van testlezers!

Op tijd voor de week van 7 september (WSPW2026 ook wel de week van de suïcidepreventie genoemd) en dus precies een jaar na publicatie van de paperback is de e-book versie van het boek van Marjolein Voorberg over de zelfgekozen dood van haar zoon nu publicatieklaar, geupload naar alle plekken waar het vanaf 7 september live zal gaan. Testlezers hebben hun e-book inmiddels ontvangen en zullen nu hopelijk ook een mening kunnen vormen over de inhoud.

Vooral die gepersonaliseerde opdracht pagina die voor elke lezer uniek wordt aangemaakt bleek een hersenkraker te zijn. Om die elke keer apart te genereren maar ook op alle populaire e-readers op de zelfde manier te tonen was best een klus. Het blijkt dat Kobo, Kindle, Adobe en veel andere e-reader en e-reader software fabrikanten een totaal ander idee hebben over hoe een e-book op het scherm wordt getoond.

Als er hier nog mensen zijn die hun exemplaar niet hebben ontvangen ondanks dat ze hebben meegeholpen om op allerlei combinaties van e-readers en PC software het hele proces te evalueren, laat het me hier weten!

Een kleine oproep

Helaas hebben velen te maken met de rauwe rouw die ontstaat wanneer je een dierbare verliest door zelfdoding. Voor ons was die dierbare onze zoon, Elon. Hij was 22 jaar toen hij in 2018 uit het leven stapte.

Zijn moeder, Marjolein Voorberg, schreef vorig jaar het boek Pittig – Een moeder over de zelfgekozen dood van haar zoon. Een verhaal over Elon en de zoektocht naar betekenis na zijn dood, waarin Marjolein haar eigen ervaringen laat resoneren met de gedachten van filosofen, dichters en wetenschappers.

Voor wie meer wil weten over het boek: er staan inmiddels gedegen recensies op Hebban.nl, Leesdame.nl en Librar.be om er maar een paar te noemen. Daar kan je je een beetje een beeld mee vormen van het soort boek hoop ik.

Inmiddels zijn we bezig met een nieuwe, zorgvuldig vormgegeven e-bookeditie van Pittig. Die verschijnt op 7 september, aan het begin van de World Suicide Prevention Week.

Voordat we die versie officieel uitbrengen, willen we graag met een heel klein aantal lezers de laatste versie en het hele digitale proces testen.

Daarom zoek ik hier 2 à 3 mensen die Pittig graag helemaal gratis willen ontvangen.

Wat we daarvoor vragen, is wel iets meer dan alleen het lezen van het boek.

Je doorloopt het bestelproces in onze webshop, vult via een webformulier een persoonlijke opdracht in en ontvangt daarna jouw eigen en unieke versie van het e-book. We zijn benieuwd hoe je dat hele proces ervaart: van het bestellen en het invullen van je opdracht tot en met het uiteindelijke e-book.

En natuurlijk horen we, als je het boek hebt gelezen, ook graag wat Pittig met je doet en wat je ervan vindt.

Dat hoeft nadrukkelijk geen positieve reactie te zijn. We zijn juist op zoek naar eerlijke ervaringen en feedback.

Omdat we graag mensen vinden die hier bewust tijd en aandacht voor willen maken, hebben we vooraf even persoonlijk contact via e-mail. Zo kunnen we allebei bepalen of dit voor ons een goede manier is om samen te werken.

Als we dat allebei zien zitten, krijg je een persoonlijke code van me waarmee je het e-book in onze webshop voor €0,00 kunt bestellen. De code is eenmalig geldig en gekoppeld aan je e-mailadres. Daarna verloopt de bestelling gewoon zoals iedere andere bestelling.

Misschien is dit iets voor jou. Misschien ook helemaal niet — en dat begrijpen we.

Maar als je het mooi vindt om Pittig als een van de eerste lezers in deze nieuwe vorm te ontvangen én ons te helpen de laatste puntjes op de i te zetten, stuur me dan gerust een persoonlijk bericht.

Ik zoek bewust maar 2 à 3 mensen.

Voor alle duidelijkheid: er zijn in deze subreddit ook mensen die vorig jaar bij de boekpresentatie in Alkmaar waren en/of het boek in de paperback versie al hadden aangeschaft - ik zou ook graag één van jullie in dit experiment betrekken aangezien jullie een prima vergelijking kunnen maken tussen de gedrukte paperback en het e-book.

The first one is without a filter at all, the other two are with a 550nm filter.

The first one is without a filter at all, the other two are with a 550nm filter.

Architectural abstract based on a photo