Keeping track of Favorites or Bookmarks

IF you use more than one browser and/or more than one computer you need a way to keep track of your bookmarks or favorites. You know you just have to add each new site to your bookmark list but how do you organize them. Each browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Safari and Opera) have methods of organizing them within their product. But how do you keep track of the sites you visit if you use different browsers, say IE and Firefox OR use the same browser on you desktop, laptop and smartphone. Or , suppose you are at someone else's home and you just have to show them a new music site but you can't remember the name.

There is a solution and its FREE. Try Xmarks . You need to register at their website and download a small application for each browser. Then you are set to go.

I'll provide more detailed instructions tomorrow, but this is something everyone who surfs the web and accumulates lots or favorite sites, will need.

Be sure to put this page at the top of your list.

GoogleTalk provides FREE local calls

Easy alternative to Skype

If you have been using Skype or another VOIP product you might look at GoogleTalk, a free product for gmail users and a simple plug for your browser. It seems to work with very degrees of ease with Firefox 3 and 4 (Beta), Chrome and IE7. You do need a gmail account (which is free). Go to www.gmail.com and select "Create an account." Follow the prompts.

Once you have created an account simply sign in. The basic gmail screen appears above. If you activate "Chat", you will see a green "Call phone" icon under the Chat heading.

You can use your contacts as listed or select the phone icon to bring up a touchpad to enter a phone number. Calls to other landlines within the United States and Canada are free, while international rates are quite low. To make international calls you will need to establish an account and purchase credits.

Sample rates for various are listed below.

Clicking the Clock item on the keypad brings up a hostory of your calls.

Sample Rates

For more information go to Rates.

I've been remiss in keeping up.

Greetings from Colorado. As you may have noticed things have been quiet here for a couple of months. We just got back from 24 days in South Africa. I'll be posting the itinerary and some pictures soon. The single biggest thing we came away with is that South Africa is not at all what we expected. The geography is very different from its northern neighbors - Botswana and Namibia. There are lots of forest and some serious mountains. Parts of South Africa exceed 6,000 feet.

The game viewing was great, here we are up close to a lioness who is wondering if we would taste good. The first four days were spent at Entabeni Safari Conservancy, living in tents (below)

and suffering great deprivation. The dining/bar area is pictured below.

Google earth pictures

Hi everyone.

As you can tell I have been off line for a while with a number of projects and some travels. However, these pictures caught my eye so I thought I'd share them with.

Just click the two urls below.


http://www.pcworld.com/article/134186/in_pictures_the_strangest_sights_in_google_earth.html

http://www.pcworld.com/article/170870/strangest_sights_in_google_earth_part_ii.html

If the links don't work properly, just copy and paste them in your browser.

\
Here's a sample included above.

Enjoy.

More on using SkyDrive to create documents

I've been away for a while so I haven't kept up with posting but here's some info on using Microsoft's Live SkyDrive to create Microsoft Office documents on line without having access to Microsoft Office. This is a poor person's example of Cloud Computing.

Sign into your Microsoft Live SkyDrive account. Do not check the "Remember my password" box if you are using a public computer. If you don't have a Microsoft Live SkyDrive account, go to www.skydrive.com and sign up. It's FREE.

You will see a screen similar to this: Select "NEW", and a drop down menu will appear with options to create a


Word document, Excel spreadsheet, or a PowerPoint presentation. Select Word and a screen will appear asking for a name for your new document. Enter a name, in this case "Sample Doc" and select save.

Once the document name is saved you will get the Word Web App page and you can create a document, pretty much using the Microsoft Word commands.

You have have limited editing and formatting options such as font style, size, color , bold, italics, underline and highlight

.

You have paragraph options including bullets, numbering, alignment and indents.

Other options include Styles, spellcheck, inserting tables, pictures and links

.

Basic options such as cut, copy and paste are also available through the menu or using the CTRL-X, CTRL-C and CTRL-V key sequences

.

Undo and redo, as well as different views are available.

However, the strength of the word Web App lies in the File Options

.

Clicking the small "floppy disk" icon saves the file to your SkyDrive.

Clicking the File tab brings up more options:

You can share the document with others by posting it without restriction or by inviting individuals to access it with either "can edit" or "can view" capability. You can enter individual email addresses in the box or use your contact list or friends.

The next post will describe how to use this collaborative feature in greater detail.

Free online storage options

Have you ever thought how helpful it would be to access files from anywhere that there is an internet connection? How about online backup for important files? And the ability to restore them anywhere? There are a number of FREE services that allow all of that, plus the ability to transfer very large files, say 50MB, easily. These services all start with a basic amount of free storage, usually two GB and the ability to increase that for a monthly fee.

However, if you use MSN or Hotmail, you can set up a Windows Live SkyDrive account with 25 GB of FREE online storage. This can be a mix of public and private folders. For example, lets say you have a large number of documents that you might need while traveling, you can upload them to Microsoft Live SkyDrive in a private folder, not to be shared, then log on from anywhere and access them. Or, you are traveling and have taken a number of pictures and filled a media card. If you can access the media card from a public computer, you can upload the files and delete the pictures from the media card. There are two issues here of which you need to be aware. Many public computers don't allow you th upload data through a USB port or card reader (possible viruses) and you have to have faith that all went well if you are going to delete images ftom your media card. You will probably want to sign off and sign on again to check that the files are in fact safely stored on line. ONLY then delete the files.

As Microsoft competes with Google (and Google Docs) they have added a feature to Live SkyDrive - the ability to create documents in Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint or OneNote formats. When you have logged on, go to your My Documents Folder, select New and a Drop Down Menu appears with the following choices: Word document, Excel workbook, PowerPoint presentation, OneNote notebook, Folder. Select an application,and you'll be presented with a place to enter the file name. (Note that the file will have the standard Microsoft extensions (.docx; .xlsx; .pptx) followed by an "x". Enter a file name and select Save and you will be presented with a limited application to creAte and/or edit the document.

Conversely, you can upload Microsoft document created by Word, Excel or PowerPoint and select the "Edit in Browser" option and edit it before saving it or downloading. This would allow collaboration, even if the PC you are using to access the internet doesn't have Microsoft applications.

More details on using Live SkyDrive in future posts, but go to www.skydrive.com to sign up and explore the options.

Other options include idrive, box net, dropsend, and Google Docs. In addition, there are a number of photo specific options.

Furure posts will discuss other options and the difference between using these sites and photo sharing sites.

Corvettes, concerts and things

I haven't been updating this blog for a couple of days because I've been off looking at 300 shiny Corvettes and driving down to Chautauqua to see a concert.

First, the Corvettes. This weekend marked the end of the Vettes on the Rockies car show. We had over 300 Corvettes in Frisco from original 1953s to a 2010, 950 h.p. dual turbo modified show car. The cars come from all over the USA, the furthest being from Boston. I have been a judge for the past six years and its a great way to get to see the cars up close. The show is not as serious as many and we simply judge the cars on appearance, compared to the other cars in the class. We are not competent to determine if the cars have been restored to original and if the components are year and model correct. We has three classes to judge from 1965 through 1980. There were 11 cars registered, but with late shows, we had 18 cars. It was a great way to spend a beautiful Sunday morning.

On Monday we drove down to Chautauqua by way of Rocky Mountain National Park to see a concert. That's the Chautauqua in Boulder, not the one in New York :). This Chautauqua was formed in 1900 and is much, much smaller than the original. However, it follows the same format with concerts, plays and some lectures, a small residential community and a great view of the Flatirons. There is little of the religious overtone of the original.

The concert was by Mary Chapin Carpenter. She is a high energy performer, giving an hour and 45 minute performance with no breaks. She also changed guitars after every song or two. She must have had seven or eight instruments of different styles and sizes (and probably each tuned a little differently, depending on the song.)

I will be back to some less personal comments in the next few post, dealing with digital camera selection, editing and recovery software and a solution to having online access to your important data from anywhere on earth (almost.)

Til then.

Digital Photography Tips - # 2

This post and the following several come from classes in Digital Photography and Photo Editing which I taught at Colorado Mountain College (CMC). I am not a professional photographer so the tips are aimed at beginners and are geared to the technical, not artistic side of digital photography. I will not address composition, lighting and creative use of lenses, filters, etc. and photo editing software.

Hopefully you will pick up some tips on equipment, accessories and saving, cataloging and basic editing of your photos. Once you are comfortable with the basics, let your creative juices flow and create those eye-catching, awe-inspiring or just plain fun shots.

To the future Ansel Adams among you, enjoy.

The first few tips will deal with selecting hardware. I don't intend to review any products, just some ideas on what to look for as you shop to replace or upgrade your digital camera. If any of you don't have a digital camera here are some things to keep in mind for that first one.

Before we start, a few tips about the sales people whom you will be meeting. While some are quite knowledgeable and actually use the equipment they are trying to sell you, many are not.

My first tip is, before you even mention what you are looking for, ask the sales person what he or she personally uses. Are the a point and shoot photographer or have they advanced to a full digital SLR with a variety of lenses and accessories? If their level of experience is not greater than your own move on.

On the other hand, be careful of the self professed expert, they may either try to dazzle you with their brilliance of baffle you with their bull****. Don't be afraid to ask questions. If you are interested in snaps of family members or simple vacation pictures, run, don't walk to the exit when they start talking about aperture settings, shutter speeds, focal lengths, frame rates and recycle times.

Determine what you need and start there. My next post will address how to lay out you needs and wants and to prioritize them.

The question of where to shop depends on what's available. Here in the mountains, it Wal-Mart or online. In even a small city there are dedicated camera shops, whose staff are usually more knowledgeable and helpful than Wal-Mart. Shopping on line requires that you do all the work and research in advance, but the prices are usually better.

Free fully functional software

Like to try different software but the prices get to you; or the trial version is crippled; or they want a credit card, but won't charge you if you remember to cancel. About six month ago I found a site that provides free, fully functional software with no (or at least few) downsides. I have downloaded a number of programs and most have proved to be keepers. The ones I didn't like or didn't do the job were deleted. The site is Giveaway of the Day (GAOTD), http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/.


The following limitations apply:

1. You must download, install and activate the software before midnight PST on the day of offering.

2. The following Terms and conditions apply.

Please note that the software you download and install during the Giveaway period comes with the following important limitations: 1) No free technical support; 2) No free upgrades to future versions; 3) Strictly personal usage.
THIS SOFTWARE PRODUCT IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. WITHOUT LIMITATION, TO THE FULLEST EXTENT ALLOWABLE BY LAW, END USER ASSUMES THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE DOWNLOADED SOFTWARE PRODUCT.

The website contains reviews by a number of dedicated users. Much of the software is media related: Video converters, editors, DVD/CD rippers, utilities or photo editing.

Give it a try but always read the reviews first and remember the time frame.

Digital Photography Tips - # 1

After taking all those fantastic pictures, wouldn't it be a shame to lose them if a media card went missing. Certainly, you could could write your name and other info on the small plastic case. You can even put some info on the sticker on the card itself, but the space is limited and it can wear off.

Here's a more permanent solution, code the info right on the card. Create an image with your name, address, phone number, email, etc., as well as an offer of a reward. Include that image in the root directory of the card and protect it using your camera's protection feature. It won't get deleted when you delete other pictures.

If someone finds your media card and puts it in their camera or computer, all the info will appear.

By the way, the reward is really for the pics, not the physical card since they have become so inexpensive. Determine the reward amount by the value of the pictures to you.

Sad Experience with JumboTickets.com BE AWARE

Well, after many years of observing the Blogging community, I decided the start my second Blog. The first died rather quickly back in 2008.

A sad experience that befell a friend of mine prompted me to revisit Blogs as a way to share their problem and possibly prevent others from falling victim to it. As a young adult, they were into the music scene and tried to get tickets to a local event, approximately 60 miles away. When searching for the venue site, they were redirected to JumboTickets.com. This vendor offered overpriced tickets, though because of the redirect, my young friend was not aware that they were charging more than double per ticket PLUS a hefty service charge for each. Be AWARE. Make sure that you deal with a reputable ticket seller, either the venue or Ticketmaster.