Search Results for: computers digital media

Traveling Books or How the Digital can Suppress

I’m so concerned with and interested in new technologies that I often ignore older ones to my peril. This semester I’m working on a number of projects surrounding the use/abuse of copyright law as applied to the arts. Since my study isn’t confined to the twenty first century (or even the twentieth century for that matter) it would be unwise to rely entirely on the internet for securing resources and conducting research. This past week I used one of the tools I’d forgotten libraries had the ability to use: mail (and not the e-mail kind). Earlier this week a real, … Continue reading →

The Options in Digital Video Recording

We were sitting around one weekend evening watching America’s Funniest Home Videos, a program that we consider a family program. The raciest part of that show might be the accidental hit to a father’s groin by a wayward baseball. The show was on at 7 p.m., a time when I imagine most kids are still awake; at least mine are. Maybe you can see where this is going. The host was about to announce the $10,000 winner when the program went to commercial. The screen went blank of a 100th of a second and then was immediately blasted with scary … Continue reading →

Digital Camera Tips: Taking Portraits

The majority of photos taken with a digital camera are probably portraits. This makes a lot of sense, of course. We love having photos of our friends and family to cherish for a lifetime. It is easy to take the camera and just point and click a few times, attempting to get a great photo. By the time that third or fourth photo comes around, your subject is probably tired of the photo taking. He or she may have a bored expression, a forced smile or, in the case of young children, might even walk, toddle or crawl out of … Continue reading →

Digital Camera Tips: Getting A Sharper Image

I love taking photos with my digital camera. It is so much fun. I have thousands of photos of the kids, our family adventures and even our new home. It is easy to take photos with the digital camera, because I can quickly delete any unwanted photos. There is no waste. But one thing that I have been noticing lately, is that my photos have not been coming out as sharp as I would like. Partly, I think this is because of the fact that photos are so easy to delete. I don’t make as much effort as I would … Continue reading →

Digital Camera Auction Sites

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We’ve talked about what to look for when buying a digital camera, but where do you buy them? If you live in a larger city, there is probably a camera store nearby. But, for the rest of us small town folks, that may not be an option. I could travel to Phoenix or Flagstaff, but they are 90 and 50 miles away, respectively. It is much easier for me, not to mention more convenient, to make a purchase online. Everyone knows that you can find a good deal on Ebay, but who knows about other auction sites, like Overstock, Liquidation.com, … Continue reading →

Resizing a Digital Photograph

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Believe it or not, this is something MANY people do NOT know how to do! With today’s digital cameras putting out higher quality pictures, with more megapixels, that also means they are also making larger files! Well, you will appreciate that large file size and high quality when you print, but your friends and relatives will probably NOT appreciate it when they have to wait on those pictures to load on their computers! For online viewing only, there’s no need for a huge file. What you need to learn how to do is resize those pictures. First things first. Open … Continue reading →

Digital photo slideshows – Microsoft Photo Story 3

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What do you do with all of the digital photos you’ve taken? It is easy to let them sit on your computer’s hard drive for months without a single human eye ever seeing them. You could run down to your local convenience store or photo shop and get prints made. You could even print them out at home using a color inkjet printer. If you really want to show your friends that you are tech savvy (of course you are after regularly reading this blog), might I suggest putting your photos into a digital slideshow. You can easily make a … Continue reading →

Digital Music – Safe and Legal

Your teenager has been bugging you for an iPod or MP3 player for what seems like forever and you’ve finally decided to give in. Now what? First thing is to choose between an iPod and any other type of digital music (MP3) player. This is ultimately a personal choice, so I’m just going to have my say and you can take it how you will. Go with the iPod or another Apple music player (Nano, Mini, etc.). The main reason I say this is, not surprisingly considering the topic of this blog, safety. Yes, safety. The main reason I’d recommend … Continue reading →

Scrapbooking Made Easy

My mother is the first to admit that she is a dinosaur when it comes to technology. To say that she doesn’t embrace computers or anything digital would be a severe understatement. Ironically, for as much as my mom abhors high-tech gadgets, she absolutely loves the idea of digital scrapbooks. In fact, she is borderline obsessed with digital photo books, which are essentially affordable scrapbooks that you make online. You’ve likely seen the albums advertised on various photography and scrapbooking websites. They feature a variety of prefabricated templates that make scrapping an entire book a breeze. To design the pages … Continue reading →

High-Tech Scrapbook Resources

Computers are a priceless resource when it comes to scrapbooking, and not just digital scrapbooking. I am a traditionalist when it comes to creating memory albums, which is why I don’t have too many examples of digital scrapbooking masterpieces. However, that doesn’t mean I don’t utilize my computer to create amazing layouts. When people hear about computers being used to enhance scrapbooking, most automatically focus on the different digital software options available on the market. For example, Photoshop is one of the most incredible resources for scrapbookers whose pictures need help, be it in the cropping, lighting, contrast or focus … Continue reading →