May 28th, 2007 by Greg Steward
If you are thinking about purchasing a digital camera, here are some websites that have information that I have found helpful. Whether you are just wondering what you should buy or whether you are looking for information about a specific model, chances are you can find something helpful at one of the following sites. Let me know if you have any other suggestions
And when you fill up that memory card on your camera, use Picasa to manage your photos on your computer (as well as edit, tweak, and upload to a website so that family and friends can enjoy your pictures).
May 25th, 2007 by Greg Steward
As you may know, I have three blogs. I am using one of those blogs to post updates on Dylan as he goes through Marine boot camp.
Google Reader is an easy way to keep up with new content on blogs (providing that the blog site uses “web feeds,” as mine do). To use Google Reader, you must have a Google account. (If you would like to consider other options for keeping up with blogs, see “how to use it.”) The advantage of Google Reader is that it is web-based, meaning you can log on from any computer with internet access and get caught up on your blogs.
Here is an easy way to get started (I hope).
- If you have a Google Account, go to Google Reader. You will have to log in if not already.
- On the left, you should see a button that says, “Add subscription.” Click on that.
- Copy in the url (or web address) of the blog that you want to add to your reader and press the add button. Try this one – http://steward-family-and-life.elpidzo.com/
- If it comes up “(title unknown)” has no items, then the blog is not configured for readers like Google Reader and you will have to keep visiting the website to read the blog.
- Otherwise, you should see a list of the articles that are currently at that blog site.
- On the top right of the view window for the blog, you can toggle between “list view” and “expanded view.” Try that to see the difference.
- On the top left of the view window for the blog, you can toggle between “all items” or “new items.” A “new item” is one that you have not viewed yet.
Unread blog entries will be bold face. Once you have viewed an article, it will not be bold face.
Click on a entry title and the article should expand so that you can read it.
If you click on the Blog Name at the very top, it will take you to the blog.
Here are the urls of my other blogs:
- Greg Steward’s Piece of Mind - http://gsmind.elpidzo.com/
- Hey! - http://gshey.elpidzo.com/
- Greg Steward’s Miscellanies - http://gsmisc.elpidzo.com/
Here are three other blogs that I find myself going to quite often.
- Between Two Worlds: A Mix of Theology, Philosophy, Politics, and Culture - http://theologica.blogspot.com/
- Desiring God – http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/
- Jesus Creed - http://www.jesuscreed.org/
Now go to bed.
May 10th, 2007 by Greg Steward
Picasa is free software from Google for managing photos both on your computer and on a website. With it you can
- Locate and organize all the photos on your computer.
- Edit and add effects to your photos.
- Share your photos with others through email, prints, and on the web (see mine at http://picasaweb.google.com/gs777bs).
In brief, Picasa functions this way. During the installation process, you tell it where to look for the pictures on your computer. It then compiles a database of the photos. (Don’t tell it to look everywhere; you will end up with a mess because it will find images from programs that you don’t want in your Picasa album. Before installing, I would suggest gathering all your photos under a main directory, with sub-folders underneath this main folder. Then tell Picasa to look in that one folder. As you add more pictures under that main directory, Picasa will add them into its database.) There are some basic tools for cropping and making other modifications to the photos.
When you have a photo you like and want to share it with others, you can upload it to the Picasa web site. You have to have a Google account for this. As you upload a photo, you tell it which on-line album you want it in. Your on-line organization can be different from the way it is on your computer. Or you can email a photo to a friend or relative directly from Picasa, but that may require a gmail email address.
Regarding Comments on photos: I just read at the Picasa site that when you add a comment to a photo with Picasa, the comment is actually stored with the photo. I used for a brief time an early version of Photoshop Album. I added a lot of comments to photos only to discover that they were stored independently of the photos. When I stopped using Photoshop Album, I lost all the comments and notes. Argh!
Read more about Picasa. The software is free to download and use.