halfgeek.codes

I'd been wondering how people make memes out of animated GIF images — specifically, how to overlay apparently stationary text to an animated image.

This morning, I figured it out. Behold, my first attempt:

Here's how:

1. Open your image editor. I use GIMP.


2. Open the animated GIF image using the editor. You should see all of the frames appear in the layers window. If your ANI-GIF has five layers, the layers window should look like this:
   • Image Layer #5
   • Image Layer #4
   • Image layer #3
   • Image Layer #2
   • Image Layer #1


3. Make your changes. Be sure you're doing them in a new layer sitting on top (above Image Layer #5).


4. If you've made your edits in multiple layers, consolidate them all into a single layer sitting above the image layers. Check to make sure you got them all, and haven't made any edits to the top layer of the image.



5. Duplicate your edit layer so there's a copy of it sitting right above each layer of the image. If your ANI-GIF has 5 layers, your layers window should look like this when you're done:
   • Edit Layer
   • Image Layer #5
   • Edit Layer copy
   • Image Layer #4
   • Edit Layer copy
   • Image layer #3
   • Edit Layer copy
   • Image Layer #2
   • Edit Layer copy
   • Image Layer #1


6. Select each edit layer and merge it down with the edit layer beneath. Your layers window should look like this when you're done:
   • Image Layer #5
   • Image Layer #4
   • Image layer #3
   • Image Layer #2
   • Image Layer #1


7. Export the file and view it. You should be all set!

Got a little love note from AT&T today. It read:

AT&T Free Msg: 75% of your n,000MB shared data has been used. If all n,000MB has been used before this billing period ends... we'll add 1GB of shared data to your plan for $x. Options? Dial *DATA# to track data use, consider using Wi-Fi or visit att.com/changeyourdata to manage your account

WHAT?!

A quick examination of kiddo's phone when she got home showed very clearly how our data plan got eaten up: She'd used 125GB of data over the billing cycle — including 110GB of YouTube streaming. (How could I tell? Open the Settings app and go to Cellular. There's a section called "USE CELLULAR DATA FOR:" that has beneath it a list of all of the apps on the phone. The cellular usage for each app is listed under each app's name.)

Here's the fix: In the settings app, scroll all the way down until you reach the individual applications listing. Keep scrolling to the bottom of that list until you find YouTube. One of the two settings is "Cellular Data." Toggle that OFF.

At this point, when the YouTube app is opened and the phone is not connected to a Wi-Fi network, the phone will display a prompt saying that the app isn't allowed to access cellular data. It will also give the option to open the settings app to change that.

Need to get tougher? Settings > General > Restrictions. There are tons of restrictions that can be set, including restrictions on cellular data use (that is, preventing changes to cellular data settings).