ClockInfo.com

A Picassa slideshow can be embedded in a WordPress blog with no problems. The visual editor seems to work fine. All I did was to take the slideshow code provided by Picasa and insert it into the post using the code view.

This is a test:

Use the following code:

<pre><object type=”text/html” data=”http://www.flickr.com/slideShow/index.gne?user_id=uid@N03&set_id=sid” height=”500″ width=”500″> </object></pre>

where uid is your Flickr user id number and sid is the id number of the set of photos you wish to display. Using the <pre> and </pre> tags prevents WordPress from re-writing your code, as suggested in this post.

Thanks to the following resources:

Flickr vs. Picasa web albums

Embedding a Flickr slideshow

Finding your Flickr user id

Flickr image uploader for iPhoto

Note: there may still be problems with this method. I tried to add a second slide show to this post, and now WordPress’s visual editor is messing up. The visual editor dies if you switch from visual to code view and then back to visual. But you can then “Save” or “Save and Continue Editing” and then edit the post again.

This embedded YouTube player has a playlist of some of my favorite recordings of this song.

Here is how to embed a YouTube video in your WordPress blog or website. Copy the embed code for the video from the YouTube page. Switch to the “Code” mode of the WordPress editor and paste in the You Tube code. Then (and this is the trick that was so elusive) put an HTML <pre> tag before the YouTube code and put a </pre> after the YouTube code. The <pre> and </pre> tags keep WordPress from messing up the code. (Note: this may also work for embedding Flickr slideshows, but I have not tried it yet.)

Here is a sample video, I love this song and it is appropriate to the season (Mary Did You Know, performed by Mark Lowry):

Thanks to this post for the idea of using the <pre> and </pre> tags.

Previously suggested solutions to posting YouTube videos include:

• Turning off the visual editor when editing a post containing a video. This works, but is cumbersome. It is described several places, including this post.
• Using a code of the following type: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0WIJw8JVeU]. This did not work for me. It is described in this post.

My son’s chime alarm needed some adjustments, and while the clock was opened up, I thought I’d try some quick close up photos with my digital camera. The camera was mounted on a tripod, manual focusing mode was used, no flash, illuminated by the ceiling and bench fluorescent lights. The self timer was used, to avoid any camera shake caused by pushing the button.

The movement is dated 11 50 (November 1950). It is beautifully nickel plated, as were many Westclox movements. This is the full image, resized from 3072 by 2304 pixels to 500 by 375 pixels for web display. It was sharpened with the Photoshop unsharp mask filter and displayed here at 40% JPEG quality:

500 by 500 pixel portion of the image, converted to 40% JPEG quality in Photoshop:

Same as above with unsharp mask filter:

500 by 400 pixel portion of the image showing balance and spring, pallet fork and escape wheel:
Note: for better pictures a setup with floodlights and reflectors can be used. These photos show how good the photos can be using a very quick setup.

Many 30 hour spring driven American antique shelf clock are operating with mainsprings that are WAY too strong! The original springs are often stronger than necessary, but clock repairers have replaced then with springs that are even stronger!

A nice little (17-3/8 inches tall) Seth Thomas I have now (in for adjustment and to have the minute hand properly fitted) has a replacement time mainspring that is feels very strong when it is being wound, at least twice the force that is needed! The clock ticks very loudly! I am going to recommend to the customer that the movement be overhauled and the spring replaced. Or, if he doesn’t want to have that done, I will explain and write on the bill that the mainspring is way too strong, is causing excessive wear, and the clock should not be operated very often.

Job no. 4525

Thanks to Bryan Smith on the Clocksmiths group for sharing the following links to classic out of print clock and watch books that Google has digitized. They may be viewed for free!

On the Construction and Theory of Dead Escapement Clocks, B. L. Vuliamy,

New and Complete Clock and Watchmakers’ Manaul, Mary L. Booth, 1863

Treatise on Clock and Watch Making, Thomas Reid, 1826

Treatise on Clock and Watch Making, Thomas Reid, 1832

Lessons in Horology, Jules and Hermann Grossman, translation, 1905

Horlogical Journal, 1860

A Portion of the Papers Relating to the Great Clock for the New Palace at Westminster, 1848

The Tower Clock Designed and Made for the University of Chicago, 1903

The Clock Jobbers Handybook, A Practical Manual on Cleaning, Repairing and Adjusting, Paul Hasluck, 1889

A Treatise on the Teeth of Wheels, M. Camus, Trans by Hawkins, 1868

A Rudimentary Treatise on Clock and Watch Making with a Chapter on Church Clocks and an Account of the Proceedings Respecting the Great Westminster Clock, Edmund Beckett Dennison, 1850

Watch and Clock Making, David Glascow, 1885

Former Clock and Watchmakers and Their Work, F. J. Britten, 1894

The Watch & Clockmakers Handbook, Dictionary and Guide, F. J. Britten, 1896

Clock and Watch Work (by E. Beckett), from the 8th Edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica,

Time Telling Through the Ages, Brearly, 1919

A Treatise on Watch-Work, Past and Present, Rev. H. L. Nelthropp, 1873

Five Hundred and Seven Mechanical Movements, Henry T. Brown, 1881