3 posts tagged “software”

Been clearing out my hard drive again.  I don't know what to do with all my early work.  I never look at it and when I looked closer, a lot of it was made for Flickr (a couple of years ago) and at a size that is not conducive to print.  First, I reorganized all my images in folders labeled by category.  IE: people; portraits; landscapes; skies; animals, etc. and WIP (work in process).  They were originally categorized by date (the way the camera uploaded to the computer).  Then I went through some 7000+ pictures and art and deleted EVERYTHING that looked like crap and anything that I felt I would have no need for.   I've already noticed how much easier it is to find an image by categories than by date!  Holy shit.  Just wish I had something to tag my images with, without installing another piece of software.

After everything was nice and neat, I said, "Now what?"  So I've been archiving my older work as contact sheets that I can create with FastStone's Image Viewer.  I can also archive them to .pdf format but not sure of the quality once the images are extracted from the .pdf.  So I decided since most of the images that I'm archiving this way are older works, a contact sheet might be best and I can always create a photo book with them that would look like a proof book.  In this situation, since most of these images are no larger than 1024 x 768, I probably won't be printing them and IF I were to use them as part of a portfolio, these contact sheet styles should be good enough to get my style and imaginative creations across to the viewer.

It's a lot of work cleaning off a hard drive.  I have a 250 gig hard drive and 1/2 of it is full.  The ironic part of it, is that a good part of that 1/2 is Microsoft patches and updates.  You need a hard drive just for that bullshit.  Really ticks me off.  I'm beginning to lean towards a Linux OS.  Been asking questions of some folks that are using Linux and husband and Alex use it.  For me, I would need another background program that is free, that will read some of my graphics software.  Other than that, I could run a dual boot system (upon boot up, computer asks if you want to boot up to Microsoft OS or Linux) or not.  I think I would like to see how the Linux will work before deciding.

So I guess you could say that I'm scaling back on the garbage and getting myself ready for the professional.  But had to start with the hard drive before it gets hairier.  LOL  Would really like a new computer but unless I win the lottery, or win a contest, it's hard to justify as an option on our current budget.

Tomorrow is PhaseOne day.  Need to sign up for the seminar even though a $20+k camera is DEFINITELY outside the budget.

ALZip file compression utility?  No time limits and 100% full functional - free for home users.  Does quite a bit so check it out. They have a few other programs that are beta and free.

Did you know that you might qualify for a free Vista upgrade?  If you purchased a new computer between Oct 2006 and March 15, 2007 (that's tomorrow by the way), you can get it free.  So check it out.

Ever heard of Moon Software?  They have some helpful utilities for bookmarking, organizing fonts and a few other goodies.

Artweaver is a cool free graphics program.  Has a tutorial that you can watch and after, you can make up your mind whether you think you'd be interested in downloading it.

Sometimes it's difficult to admit that the internet is a big part of my life.  I rely on it for news, finance, work, and entertainment in various forms.  I have a bookmark list that is more organized than my home office and I would feel quite lost without the list, but a different 'lost' than how I feel about my office!

I'm compiling here, a grouping of links that I have found worthy of mention and where I have spent a good deal of my internet time.

For starters, Web 2.0 has hit the web in wild and wondrous ways.  There are many online apps these days that simulate Word, Excel, Photoshop and more.  If you have a desire to own these products and find them too pricey for your budget, check out some of the links I list below.  You can now utilize comparable products for free and right on your desktop - through your browser without download or installation.  This, all thanks to the Web 2.0 generation.  *Please note, I'm not advocating, selling or shoving anything.  Just sharing*

The following compilation of web links are my most favorite and undoubtedly most visited, by me.

Blogs:

1. Vox (obviously)
2. WordPress
3. Zaadz (with a spiritual twist - very cool blog site) Their motto: Connect, Grow, Inspire, Empower
   

In connection to the above, I generally add blogs of interest to my RSS news reader.  Recommendation:  Sage for Firefox.

Recipe and misc blogs worthy of listing:

1. 101 Cookbooks
2. Jimmy Ruska's Blog - Online Education for Free
3. Cupcake Bakeshop
4. Related to #3 = Cupcake Blog

Don't let the name 'cupcake' fool you.  Aside from the most extensive cupcake recipes I have ever seen, are recipes for other good stuff.

Software:

1. Safe Eyes or Safe Browse are the same and it is how I monitor my children's internet activity.  The company offers a fully functional trial period for their software with a very reasonable annual fee along with the ability to apply the software on up to 3 computers and they don't have to all be within the same household.  You can enter, monitor and change info online or through an installation on any of your computers of choice.  All changes are in real- time and take effect immediately.
2. ThoughtAudio.com is a free MP3 audio books website.  I check this out now and then for new releases of their free books.
3. Free Movies and Documentaries has a constant turn over so it's wise to check them out frequently.  The 'free domain' movies are the older ones on the site.  They have them categorized to make them easier to find.
4. Art Plus EasyNoter and other utilities
5. xatshow for making slideshows and screensavers for your PC, TV and the web.  One of my friends used this to create a little class reunion slideshow which turned out awesome.
6. ArtRage2.  Paint program.
7. Artweaver.  A Windows freeware program for photo editing, drawing, painting.
8. GIMP for Windows.  A freely distributed program for photo editing and image composition. Click on link to view screenshots and locate the information and download pages.

Web 2.0 sites:

1. Instructables.com is a website that I just learned about.  I had been wondering if there might be such a site on the web and lo' and behold, someone offered a link.  If you want to learn how to do something; if you'd like to share a how to or do it yourself project or craft, this place has the forum for it.  If you try it out, let me know your thoughts.
2. Clipmarks.com User generated news, recipes, you name it clips (pieces of news and interests) from the web.  The main reason that I originally signed up with Clipmarks was out of a need to have an easier way to save and access research articles.  As I continued to clip and store my interests, I found that others had similar interests and would comment further on the clips.  This encouraged intelligent and mature conversation; sometimes debate (but always constructive debate); learning new ideas and other things I didn't know or understand previously on certain topics; fun conversation with group interaction; and positive camaraderie that keeps it all together.  Content is fresh and always moving.  I check in on a daily basis even if I'm not saving clips, to read the news or see what's cookin'.
3. ajaxWrite.  A web based word processor that requires Mozilla Firefox browser v1.5 or higher.
4. BlinkLife
5. CraftMemo  Online Inventory Management of your crafts and supplies
6. PXN8 (Pix-En-Ate)  Online image editor
7. Snipshot  Edit pictures online.  You can import from Flickr, Webshots or your computer.
8. Zoho Online Word Processor with a few cool gadgets and templates.
9. MonkeyGTD is a "TiddlyWiki" (Reminders, To Do's, etc) that operates in your browser; can be saved to your computer as an html file and updated at any time by loading it in your browser. It's also very customizable. You can upload your updated TiddlyWiki to MonkeyGTD anytime so that you can access it from anywhere.  It's really worth the few minutes it will take to check this one out.
10. Fauxto is relatively new to the online photo editing and image creation environment.  It's still in beta but has a lot of potential as a Photoshop look and feel-alike.  So make sure to keep it bookmarked.
    

Shopping:

1. Although this company, Stakich, Inc. is local for me, it's well worth a look see at their awesome honey products.
2. USAcodes.com are promo and coupon codes for many shopping site specials.
   

A few sites of extreme interest are:

1. AMC Collection.  Here is where I browse every now and then to see how much my 1960's Barbie, Francie and their clothes and shoes are worth.  ;)  One day, a couple of years ago, I did an e-Bay search on Barbie and found 2 pairs of her shoes going for over $300.  The specifics said they had "Hong Kong" stamped on the bottom, which I'm assuming is what made them more valuable (?).  When I looked through my Barbie shoes, I found 2 pair.  The shoes at the e-Bay site had been sold rather quickly.  Unbelievable.  And to think when I was tired of Barbie, I was ready to ditch her.  My mother screamed, "Oh no you don't!"  And she stored Barbie, Francie and all their clothes away.  About 3 yrs ago, Mom gave them back to me.
   
2. Flickr - where I / you can view my photos and digital art.
3. Process Library.com where I go when I am questioning something that is running in my computer's process library.

Well that's about it for now.  A few of these are where I've been spending my free time on the web and some of these links are still waiting for me to do something with them.  Hope you find something useful and enjoyable through these links.

Ciao!