Nadnerb

I have been editing, deleting, and generally going through all of the photos that I have taken in the past. Ultimately I did this to justify my purchase of a Flickr Pro account. Which, if you are a photographer is totally worth the price. While I personally believe that a good photographer has to be created, the tech that they may or may not use is always interesting. So today I thought I would tell you about what I am currently using.

Camera: Nikon D5000 with Nikkor 18-55 mm AF-S VR Lens
Computer Stuff: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom
-LR2/Mogrify Plugin
-Flickr Uploader
-GIMP
-Photomatix Pro 3

As you can see, I go through a few steps before I actually upload to flickr. Step one is always just go through the pictures and weed out the ones that are blurry, too dark/light, etc.(i.e: ones that cannot be fixed). I then go through the ones that I kept and color correct them. For fast action things that may be random like weddings or sports or children, take as many pictures as you possibly can and always try to get your lighting adjustments set before things happen. Cropping is the next major thing for me and I almost always crop things out of the pictures that I like. For pictures that I think would look cool if altered I through them into the GIMP (a free photoshop alternative) and play with the filters. This is the part where people just go crazy though and end up ruining a picture. I’ve seen people just layer filter on filter until you can hardly tell what the picture once was. A tip to all photographers amateur and pro is to keep it simple. Over saturated HDR pics may be all the rage right now, but instead it should really be used to take photo’s that show all parts of the picture in great light and rich color, not a rainbow exploding in your face. Photomatix is a great program, but there is a special way to use it and not everyone can take a good HDR photo. It’s the same with Tilt-shift and every other type of artsiness in photo. Moving on. The plugin that I mentioned is wonderful and is the best possible way that you could add frames, watermarks, titles, or all of those to one or multiple pictures. At first I thought I would just upload my work as is, but then I looked at people that did frame their stuff like this and it really made the picture pop, but it also added a name to the picture and I could use it multiple places and not have to worry about copyright or getting any recognition. Then we export and use the uploader. Yes, I do know that there is a flickr uploader plugin for lightroom, but I have had horrible trouble with it and it took forever, It has also crapped out on me in the middle of an upload overnight, so it was there for a good 5 hours doing completely nothing. Not very helpful. I think I have said all that I need to. I’ll add links to all the software tomorrow, it’s kinda late. Stay pretty.

Blogging is not necessarily a difficult thing, once you get the main site set up. Here are some good things to think about when you are trying to get it set up.
 

1. Keep it simple.

You don’t need a million little colors and sparkles, it makes it too difficult to navigate. You should try to cut out parts that you don’t need and really focus on making it simple to browse.
 

2. Know your colors.

Any bright colors on black are a bad idea. Imagine that people are going to be on your site for hours.  You want something that is easy to read and doesn’t stain the eyes. The same goes for fonts and font size.  It is always better to use consistant colors rather than contrasting colors.

3. Use a template

There are many, MANY, different templates on the internet that will give you a great place to start. You can always change what you start with and the people that put together the theme probably spent a bit of time trying to create something that looks good.
4. Take people’s suggestions

People will talk to you and if they give you a suggestion. Often this might come in the form of harsh criticism. Try it out and if you don’t like it you don’t have to change it.

That’s pretty much all I have right now. If you have other ideas about how to make a site look good just comment. I always want to hear what people say. Stay pretty people.

Often when writing a blog there are moments of writers block where the best thing you can do is write a post about not being able to write a post. The infamous I have nothing to write about post has been used time and time again and will always be a standby for beginning bloggers. The best thing to write about when you feel like you have nothing is nothing. It’s not always neccessary to have a prize winning post, so even if you find something short and random it is better to post instead of waiting to post some journalistic masterpiece. 

I have many of these moments, and although the urge to write nothing is there, I can’t be a hypocrite. I get angry when I see other people do it and I want people to stop writing post about nothing.  If you really want to start a blog the best thing to do is pick a topic. For instince, this blog has kind of turned into a blog about teaching people how to blog. I am in no way a seasoned blogger and I haven’t really carved a niche for myself.  I wanted this blog to be about lots of things including my love of music, movies, random things on the web, and what I do in my life. Hopefully I can still write about that stuff. So if you have a blog or are thinking about starting one, write about what you want and don’t worry about whether or not your readers like it or what they have to comment on. Make sure your grammar and spelling are correct though or people like my mom will make fun of you. Happy blogging and enjoy writing.

In a day and age, where new blogs are being created and destroyed every second on billions of servers and thousands of hosting sites. If a blog falls on the internet does it make a sound?

I wonder this every day. Many people have asked me what I blog about and why they should even start blogging. If you are a writer of any type or want to be a writer it can’t hurt to blog. Through this new medium you allow yourself to connect to your readers that traditional media doesn’t. New media is all about connecting with other people and seeing what they have to say. It can be hard to find inspiration to post something new. I have trouble thinking about what to write every time. Good and bad bloggers around the world will tell you that if you have an idea, it’s better to blog about it than say nothing. In past posts, I’ve shown you how easy it is to set up a blog. The only good excuse for not blogging right now is that you don’t live anywhere near anything that can connect to the internet. Not even the “I broke all my fingers” excuse flies around these parts. Speech to text? It’s pretty cool.

But Brendan, I don’t have anything to write about…OH YES YOU DO! Every person in the world has opinions and thumbs. Thumbs have already gotten enough press. Don’t like the president? Tell me why. You really liked Watchmen? Tell me about it. I follow lots of different blogs and using RSS is makes reading them very easy and fast. I don’t mind reading something. If you write compelling posts, almost every time, you will gain at least a few readers. I know I have maybe around 20 frequenters. (Thank you, you wonderful people<3.) If you are blogging for fame, try something else, people blog because they enjoy it. I enjoy seeing that I have readers, but I write because I enjoy it. I may not like writing this philosophy essay that I’m working on, but when people write on the internet it is because they want to share their ideas.

So if the idea of starting a blog sounds interesting. DO IT! It’s not hard, it can be free, and it’s fun. Don’t worry about if people will be interested in it or not. Just write because you enjoy it. That’s my lesson of the day. I hope all people will blog soon, I want to see what people other than me have to say.

So that was smart. I gave you hints on how to blog better, but what if you don’t have a website? Here is one easy way to do it.

Today we are going to setup a wordpress blog. I use 1&1 hosting which has a $2.00 for the first 6 months and then goes up to $4.oo. So far this is the cheapest hosting that I have found and it was pretty easy to set up a wordpress blog.If you choose to get a different host, make sure that it is a linux server and has MySQL and FTP access. These are very important things. Make sure a domain comes with at least one domain name also. If you have questions about anyhost, find a definite answer before you go any farther.

Once you have a host, you need to download a few things. Here is what you need

wordpress
filezilla (or similar FTP client)

you really only need to have these for a short amount of time. So don’t worry about them.

Ok, lets get started. First you need to create a mysql database. This may sound tricky, but with 1&1 it’s really easy. On whatever host you have navigate to the mysql administration.

once you are at this part all you have to do is push one button and make a name. Any name will do, I made mine wordpress.

So that part is over, you will probably never have to mess with it again. Now we move into the FTPing part.

After you have downloaded the .zip file of wordpress, unzip it and save it someplace you can remember.(like a folder on your desktop called “blog). Open up that folder and you will see three main folders and a bunch of files. The only one you have to worry about is wp-config-sample. Right click this file and open it with notebook. Now remember that MySQL stuff? This is why you need it.

Simple right? That is the only stuff you have to change. When you are done just save and exit. Now go back to that file and do a slow double click on it so all the text is highlighted, Then chop of that -sample part. That’s it you’re done with that part.

Now to start uploading stuff. Hopefully you have filezilla uploaded by this point. open it up and click on the little computer that has a downwards arrow next to it.(it’s up in the left corner).

This is what you should see next. Click on the “new site” button and enter the stuff that you get from the ftp control screen from your host.

Maybe something like that.  It’s right under the mysql admin part. once you have that all set up hit connect and you should see a bunch of text on the top and then stuff shows up on the right. If it happens, great, if not, you did something wrong. Try again. Once you can tell that you are connected, you shouldn’t see any files in the folder, if you do, delete them by just highlighting and pressing delete. Don’t worry you aren’t getting rid of anything good. Now find the wordpress file that you unzipped on the left side and open it. Hit the first one, scroll to the bottom, hold shift and click on the last file. Let go of shift and click AND HOLD on everything and drag it to the other side.

Yeah, something like that.  You are going to use this same type of method to install themes and maybe some plugins.

open a web browser and go to http://yoursite.***/wp-admin/install.php and follow the instructions. Now you’re all set up. Take some time just playing around and finding new stuff, themes, plugins. It’s pretty easy from now on. You will have to use the FTP method to install new themes but all you have to do is go to contents/themes and drag the file over. There are readmes for that. If you have problems or want me to set something up for you I am willing and able to do so. Or if you would like to contribute to my blog, that would be cool too. I hope you found this useful, if you need any help, feel free to comment, email, IM, twitter, call, txt,  or yell at me.

The test worked. Thanks!

To successfully get readers to your blog it is important to firstly have a large presence on the web. EVERYWHERE!! Facebook and Twitter are obviously the largest social media sites and sharing there will lead to many more readers, especially if you have real friends. The next part is very important. Try to know your readers, consistency with writing will bring in more readers and they will talk about it. Whether you are a good writer or not, it is essential to post, I fail at this part myself, and post much less than I should. I enjoy writing and you should too. If you’re are blogging it probably means that you like writing or at least expressing your feelings to a faceless audience. You should try to know the people that are reading your blog. For instance, friends on facebook, I have personally met and talked to all of them. Twitter is different, some of them I know in person. Others I just wish I knew. The point is write well and don’t alienate the readers that you may have already. Ok, moving on. Get a real domain name, please, please, please. .wordpress.com and .blogspot.com are just too long and people don’t like to have to type all of that to get to one post. When you do pick a domain name, try to keep it short or at least have it flow. An example of what not to do is start a blog at welikeyouportland.blogspot.com, With that, I just took up half of a twitter post. I don’t think I could fit it into a facebook status. By the way, that’s my brother’s blog, I don’t just make fun of random people. If you do make fun of random people, at least try to make it funny, nobody likes reading a hate post, it’s just a downer. That’s all the tips I have for right now, If you have tips for people say them, don’t let one blog go unread! Tell them how to fix it.

Recently, Facebook has gotten into some hot water over changing their terms of service (TOS) and removing the clause that said when you removed your page all licenses we be reverted to you. But why should you care?
“You may remove your User Content from the Site at any time. If you choose to remove your User Content, the license granted above will automatically expire, however you acknowledge that the Company may retain archived copies of your User Content. ”
This is not a big deal, because you never really planned on deleting your account anytime soon did you? Almost every social networking site has a similar clause. This is really nothing new that they have done. It’s logical to say that they won’t do anything, but why was it necessary to change? If you have an argument with these changes the only thing that you can really question is why they changed the TOS.
While this may be uncool, it’s perfectly legal. There is also a part in the terms of service that says they have the right to change the terms without any notice.
“We reserve the right, at our sole discretion, to change or delete portions of these Terms at any time without further notice. Your continued use of the Facebook Service after any such changes constitutes your acceptance of the new Terms.”
Ok, lets get this straight. Facebook changed their terms of service on February fourth. THE FOURTH, not the 14th or 15th. It’s been almost two weeks since this happened. I find it appalling that mainstream media haven’t noticed it since today. Aaron Hockley blogged about this February 9th and nobody seemed to pay attention. He mustn’t have been the only people looking at it then. Why did it take people so long to catch on to it? This proves the fact that a fervor can be created just by a few words (or withdrawal of words). There are now at least 3 different anti-changes groups within facebook and Mark Zuckerberg has published a statement pretty much saying that they did this to make it more secure and clarify why they have these terms of service².
If you ever uploading something on Facebook that you actually thought could make you some money, I have no sympathy for you. Why would anybody willingly give away rights to something that they think could make money? I have many pictures uploaded to facebook. I don’t think any of them are particularly newsworthy or interesting enough to make money from. Facebook will not use your pictures to defame you, that’s common logic. It is never in a companies best interest to make their customers look bad. If that’s why you are complaining then forget it. They won’t release pictures you delete to the public and they have never been shown to sell deleted pictures to tabloids. Ok, maybe they have, but I couldn’t find a source. They make millions of dollars.  In 2008 Facebook was projected to make 300-350 million dollars¹. They don’t need tabloid money. It’s too bad that  they legally own the pictures you have already uploaded, but if you didn’t read the TOS before you signed up, that’s your problem, not theirs.
Facebook is a social media site that thrives on user created content. If you didn’t want to share it with the rest of the world, you never had to post it. It’s each users responsibility to post responsibly. (oohh, I get to be redundant).
People need to pay attention to the sites that they use and make sure that they are comfortable letting a corporation like facebook have the ability to publish, produce, perform and do other crap with what you have created. I have no problem with what Facebook has of mine and I have never posted anything that I really felt was special, except for maybe some concert pictures. If you have a problem with what they have done, tell me, I want to hear a good argument against what has changed. Or back me up if you don’t really have a problem with it.

Please note that I am not an expert on this and I may be missing some key facts. I would really like to know more and if you can give me any more information I would gladly appreciate it.  If I made a mistake, please correct me.

I’ve been using windows 7 beta (build 7000) for about the past week and have had no major issues with it. There are tiny things that stand out to me like when you have a program open in the task bar, the background color with match the most heavily used color of the icon. The programs that I need work fine and it has run faster and easier than when I last used Vista. This is what vista should have been. I really hope they don’t price this for hundreds of dollars since they haven’t really done that much. Surprisingly I noticed that I gained maybe 10 to 15 more minutes of battery life. When you have a battery that used to hold around 45 minutes of power, this is a big deal. If there are bugs in this, I haven’t found them yet.There are small changes to basic programs like word pad. Calculator has a neat programmer mode that shows the work in binary. Kind of nerdy, but steal neat to throw in. Instead of having a sidebar, the widgets are placed just on the desktop and can be snapped to the side. Still no widget layer like OS X though, That’s one thing I really like about OS X. In all this is a stable OS, that people really should be looking forward to.

note to bloggers:
If you are using vista you should get windows live writer. Or at least try it out. It’s really easy and has the same tools that you would use in your dashboard. Oh, and it’s free.

So I recently found the website Ping.fm and made it my quest to sign up to every service they provided. So far Xanga is actually my favorite followed closely by twitter/pownce/tumblr/zoomr near the end is plurk which, while I like the time line style and layout of the site, forcing the user to use the “is, says, likes, etc.” button kinda turned me away from it. I really enjoy the simplicity and straightforwardness of sites like twitter and xanga, and the new update to myspace makes it much better although it is still riddled with teenagers that don’t really have anything important to say…EVER. They need to separate myspace music from the rest of the site and slowly get rid of the random apps and “widgets”. Myspace is a great, viable, free way for many bands to make a name for them selves and be heard more. More commercial movies, musicians and corporations need to go away. Unfortunately being run by Mr. Murdoch, I don’t think that will ever change. Facebook started very well and then they decided that they needed to add applications and more “features” that really just clog up the tubes and don’t help anything. The internet is supposed to be a fast way to say or show what you need to and then leave. These bigger companies should learn from the smaller ones and see that keeping the site simple will lead to more users and less kids that just say OMG, bacon is rad. Because while bacon is rad indeed, we all don’t need to hear it again. That’s all I have to say for now.