Automating Image Improvement with Cloudinary / / No Comments Earlier this year, no, wait, last year (time is kinda crazy), I wrote up the process of automating background removal using Adobe’s Firefly Services. This post described a Pipedream workflow that monitored a Dropbox folder and… On a new file detected, generated a readable link Passed it the Lightroom API to improve it Downloaded it to another Dropbox folder Today, I’m going to look at a similar workflow using Cloudinary. Unfortunately, Adobe’s Firefly Services still have no kind of free trial so it’s difficult for developers to test it out. Everything I’m showing today however can be done with a free Cloudinary account (and Pipedream as well). Let’s... more → Posted in: JavaScript Tagged with: Automating, Cloudinary, Image, Improvement
Millions Flee War, Floods, and Persecution / / No Comments In 2023 nearly 5.5 million Ukrainians were forced to leave their homes because of the Russian invasion. In the same year, over 6 million refugees fled Pakistan following the devastating 2022 floods. Additionally, the ongoing war in Syria displaced over 3 million people, forcing them to seek refuge abroad.In total, 27,320,316 people were displaced in 2023 and forced to seek a new life in a new Maps Mania… more → Posted in: Interactive Maps Tagged with: Flee, Floods, millions, Persecution
Automating Media Asset Creation with Cloudinary’s GenAI Transformations / / No Comments I’ve been happily using Cloudinary on my blog for a few years now, but it’s been quite some time since I’ve blogged about them. For folks who don’t know, CLoudinary provides media APIs (image, video) that work via URLs. So for example, I can craft a Cloudinary URL that transforms a picture to resize it to a particular size. Or add text. Or compress it. Pretty much anything you can imagine doing with an image or a video, and probably a lot of things you can’t think of, are all possible, and literally enabled by crafting a particular URL. It’s shockingly powerful and easy at the same time. More recently, they announced a set of AI capabilities, including – Generative... more → Posted in: JavaScript Tagged with: Asset, Automating, Cloudinary's, creation, GenAI, Media, Transformations
Generative AI Images with Gemini and Imagen – an Introduction / / No Comments I’ve been waiting for this to launch for a few days now, and while technically this isn’t quite yet available in Gemini, only Vertex, it should be testable in Gemini in the very short term. You can now use Google’s APIs to generate really high quality images via their Imagen 3 technology. I’ve got a few blog posts planned that will demonstrate these features (and from what I’ve been told, even more powerful stuff is coming), but I thought I’d start off today with a simple short example. To begin, and remember this may not available just yet, take a look at the docs, Imagen 3 in the Gemini API. First, let’s consider the sample code, that I’m going... more → Posted in: JavaScript Tagged with: Gemini, Generative, Imagen, images, Introduction
The USA is Closing for Business / / No Comments This animated map from the Lowy Institute shows whether the USA or China was the larger trading partner for countries around the world each year this century (up to 2023). The map provides a stark visualization of the economic shift away from the United States and toward China in the 21st century.According to the Lowy Institute, around “70 per cent of economies trade more with China than Maps Mania… more → Posted in: Interactive Maps Tagged with: Business, Closing
Using Generative AI to Help in Customer Service / / No Comments Ok, before I begin, let me be absolutely clear. I do not think AI can replace customer support. I do think it can supplement and help customer support however, and I’d like to share an example of what this could look like. Imagine your service has a customer service form or email address. Typically, you type in your question, send it off, and wait. But what if you could provide an AI generated answer immediately while the person waits? At worse it doesn’t help. At best, it could be exactly what they need and the request could be terminated saving everyone time. Let’s consider an example of this. Setting up the AI/RAG System Let’s start with the most complex part, the AI/RAG... more → Posted in: JavaScript Tagged with: Customer, Generative, help, service, using
The MAGA Plugin for Maplibre / / No Comments The MAGA plug-in for the Maplibre mapping library must now be used to ensure that all maps comply with the geographical dictats of the Orange Overlord.To conform to the new geographical proclamations of the Trump Ministry of Geographical Truth, please ensure that you follow the steps below before publishing any new maps:Step 1: Include maga.js in Your ProjectDownload the maga.js file Maps Mania… more → Posted in: Interactive Maps Tagged with: MAGA, MapLibre, plugin
Testing Cloudinary Image Enhancements / / No Comments Last week I took a look at Cloudinary GenAI transformations to demonstrate quickly creating different versions of media, including multiple sizes and text copy. While taking a look at other parts of the Cloudinary docs I discovered that they had not one, but four different ways to enhance images. These include: Generative restore Upscaling (reminds me of CSI) Enhance Improve Looking at this list, it may be difficult to differentiate one from the other, luckily they provide a nice tabular list with specifics and use cases. Today I want to shine a light on two of them – enhance and improve. From the docs, enhance is described as: "Enhances the overall appeal of images without altering... more → Posted in: JavaScript Tagged with: Cloudinary, enhancements, Image, Testing