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Happy Birthday Divas

July 22nd, 2008

birthday candle flower
Birthday Candle by Tanakawho

Were did the time go? This celebration snuck up on me. The Baby Boomer Diva’s are celebrating their 1st birthday.

(So we can just start over counting years and we are all one here. Or not quite one for those of us who joined later. Less candles to blow out, less counting. . .)

Much thanks to Beverly Mahone for starting this group, and the talent, heart, and wisdom of its members.

Now how can we have a birthday without presents? I remember questions about “What is affiliate marketing?” What do I do? Well Laura Wheeler has generously given me rights to an eBook on that very subject, and to celebrate the birthday I’ll make it free to download for the next month.


Essential Strategies for Earning with Affiliate Links
http://connectsimply.com/affiliatebook.pdf

So open up your presents. Not one of the Divas? No problem, join the celebration and pick up your book.

Posted in Networking, Other Interesting Stuff | 3 Comments »

Changing the Color of a Background Image - Gimp

July 8th, 2008

As I test Jing Project, I’m using it for a few short tutorials. This first one is how to change the background image using Gimp.

Video is a great way to share, and Jing is quick and easy to do. I am limited to 5 minutes or less, which is great. Short and sweet works. In order to add the Gimp toolbar, I had to record a wider screen capture than what fits here, so you see it bleeds over into my side bar. I can always make a wider blog so these videos fit.

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Posted in Graphics, Video | 3 Comments »

Screen Capture on the Fly - Jing Project

July 7th, 2008

So many tools, so many sites to visit, too many things to learn, information overload.

Yet anything that comes without a 100+ page user manual, that you can download and use right out of the box, is great. Especially if it requires less mouse clicks than other aps.

Click here, Watch the video and enjoy!

I plugged in my headset, spoke through its mic, hit stop when done, clicked the button to save and share as embedded video, and the code was added to my clipboard. Opened new blog post, hit paste, and there it is.


http://jingproject.com

Couldn’t be simpler!

Update: When I posted to blog, video was wider than the space on my blog, easy to fix, in the code (also known a gobblegook), I changed the width to 450. :( Sadly I now only get a portion of the screen, even when I play, possibly even losing the click to play button. I can add the link, not the same as embedded video. I’ll play with this some, and if I come up with an easy solution, I’ll let you know.

Posted in Video | 4 Comments »

Can I Take your Photo? Photographer Rights

June 24th, 2008

I remember a discussion going on in one of the photography groups I belonged to, about what are we allowed to take photos of. It started with news of a guy who was arrested for taking photos on the street. Here are some of my experiences.

My son learned that he could not have his photo taken in from of a federal prison. (He didn’t a picture of himself in front of a federal building). In front the Social Security building was no problem.

At a swim meet I noticed one guy who didn’t seem to be filming the swim meet. When everyone was standing up cheering, he was sitting down. Between events he was standing up filming. My first reaction was he must be filming the girls in their bathing suits. (No, not bikinis!) At the end of the event I was shocked to watch the dude follow my 16 year old son, with his video camera focused on my son’s rear end. I was steaming! Almost started a ruckus but decided to check further into the situation.

First I asked my son and he said yes, the guy goes to every swim meet, in town or away, and filmed the boys in their speedos. The boys weren’t happy about it, what could be done, it was in a public place. They “accidently” knocked him down at one time, thought of doing something to his car.

I called a friend in the police force and asked what could be done. The guy wasn’t following them into the locker room which would be a big NO NO! My friend reminded me that our swim events were on private propery “sort of”. Property owned by a college. That the guy probably had a previous record and as such not allowed near children. His actions were enough to alert campus security, and the coach.

I called the coach, and he talked to security. When meet continued the next day, there he was, filming the boys as they warmed up on the pool deck in their speedos. Security picked him up for questioning and searched his car while the sheriff department searched his home. Such enough, his house was full of child porn! Busted! No longer allowed near any swim meets.

I’d been taught that it was polite to ask permission before taking a photo, esp. if it was of a child. Puts the parents at ease. Offer a copy of your photo. Sometimes you see a shot don’t have time to ask first.

Today I bumped into an article on photographer rights. Good read.

http://photojojo.com/content/tips/legal-rights-of-photographers/

Posted in Graphics | 1 Comment »

Cards to Iraq - Cards from Iraq

June 21st, 2008


from SoldiersMediaCenter

If you read my post on Remembering Loved Ones in Iraq, you will understand how those serving, whether military or civilian miss their homes and loved ones.

July is a celebration of our country and its freedoms and I thought it would be cool to see how many smiles we can put on the faces of those away from home. If you know anyone serving in Iraq, please send them a physical greeting card, I’ll pay for the first one. And/or forward this information to those serving and they can send a card back to their loved ones at home. As it is printed and mailed in the US, it will make it home in record time.

  • Forward this url or/and use it yourself:

    GetYourCardsHere.com
  • Click on the banner and turn up your speakers
  • Follow the audio prompts and send a card
  • Feel free to upload photos inside the card
  • If you want make your own card by adding a photo, after sending your first card, click on main menu, system training, then picture plus.
  • If you get stuck, contact me.

This is not a commentary on the pros/cons of the war. The purpose here is to brighten the days of those families whose lives are in a turmoil because they have a family member serving, whether military or civilian. Feel free to pass on this offer. Go brighten a day!

Heidi

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Posted in Cards to Iraq, Other Interesting Stuff | 4 Comments »

Remembering Loved Ones in Iraq

June 20th, 2008

Iraq
by SoldierMediaCenter

I know several who are serving in Iraq, some military, others civilians. One friend’s husband is one of the volunteers, not military, but working for one of the contractors, his one year commitment, turned into two. Safe zone? Not really. When they get a chance to talk in the morning hours she can hear mortar fire in the background, bravely keeping a cheerful voice for the sake of her husband. Afterwards she is sick to her stomach.

Summer has hit, I just checked the forcast for Baghdad and tomorrow’s high is 111 F. Lots of dust and sand. HOT! DRY! and too many miles away from home.

One thing they really miss is home. My friend told how her husband would call early morning and just talk, needing to hear the voice of a loved one. He also craved photos from home. Yes, he does have a laptop, but the promised internet has not made it other than a few minutes far between.

Several in our church’s congregation are in Iraq, and as many are Dads, Granddads of our little ones, we planned a service activity for the children. Both those with family home and those with family away made picture frames for Father’s Day presents, wrote letters, drew pictures, brought gifts to put in care packages to those in Iraq. The funnest thing we did was provide flags, balloons, hats of various sorts, bandannas, longhorns, armadillos, etc. to dress up and pose in front of the camera. Great pictures were printed and added to the boxes. Other photos were saved to be turned into cards and mailed later.

It was a great experience. One young man (7 years old) was very excited as his Dad was coming home for 2 weeks.

Imagine the smiles that would come on their faces, as our surprise care packages arrive close to the Fourth of July. I’ve spent much time thinking of my friends’ families, and how over and over again the best part of the activity was the photos, both serious and silly.

I thought of how I enjoy sending cards through SendOutCards and what a great service it would be for those families. No need to leave home to make photo cards for those loved ones away from home. And for those in Iraq who are able to get internet, they can upload photos into greeting cards and they will be printed and mailed from the United States, less waiting time.

Connect Simply would like to help as many who wish send cards to loved ones in Iraq and from Iraq back to family members back home. If you know anyone serving in Iraq, send them a card, first one is on me, put a smile on their face. More details in my Cards to Iraq post.

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Posted in Personal Touch, Send Cards Out | 5 Comments »

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