Sharing Your Photos (On The Web)

Reader asks for recommendations on photo sharing websites

Q: Can you tell me where is the best place for me to post my photography? I want the images to be available in high quality, and I want to be able to choose who can see them and who can’t. Thank you. ~ R.M.

A: R.M.,
Online photo sharing is a great way to keep far-off family and friends up-to-date with your latest adventures. (And it avoids the headaches of trying to send images by email!)

I am going to have to say that, in all likelihood, the answer to which of the dozens and dozens (and dozens) of photo-sharing websites (services, really) will be “best” for you will be subjective — my “best” may not be your “best” and visa versa — and you may have to experiment with several before settling on your final choice.

You say you want to post “high-quality” images: generally, that means large file sizes; and so, you may probably want to consider the amount of storage the service offers.. and/or consider (at some point) paying for a “premium membership” (which gives you more space).

As far as I know (photo sharing with friends and family is not something I personally do) all the sites allow you to qualify who has permissions to see the image (or “album” or “gallery” of images).

If you already have a Yahoo! account, you’re already halfway to accessing the Internet’s most popular photo sharing site — Flickr (where folks who have made their images viewable and usable by everyone have been the source of many of my Sunday Beauty images).
Flickr claims to be the best site (but.. they all do). It is free, (for a certain number of uploads per month) as well as offering “premium”.

If you already have a Google account, you might first try Picasa.

Those are the two “big players”. But also worth looking at are:

• Shutterfly
• Photobucket
• SmugMug
• And Kodak’s Gallery

Since I haven’t really narrowed things down for you (sorry), I am going to give you a link to a reputable “comparison & review”, which may help:

“The last couple of years have seen an explosion in the number of these photo-sharing and photo-printing sites, which means that print prices have dropped, and the range of services offered has expanded. Whether you have a handful of vacation shots or you’re a serious photographer with a big image archive, there are plenty of sites that can make printing and sharing a pleasure. We tried out more than 40 of them to give you a snapshot of your options.“

	Online photo sharing for snapshot photographers
	Online photo sharing for enthusiasts and pros

Perhaps readers who use such services will chime in with their experiences/recommendation (please?), and so you may want to check back here in a little while…

Copyright 2007-2011 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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Syncing Your Devices – Calendars, Email, Contacts, oh my!

My job as a support and repair technician is evolving — which is only natural, as tech itself is evolving. At an exponential rate.

Years ago, my job consisted mainly of trying to cure non-booting Windows installations (remember “Error: ntldr.exe is missing or corrupt”?), getting a recalcitrant printer to ‘install’, crawling in attics and under houses “pulling” Ethernet cable, and removing the occasional virus.

Around 2007, the explosion of cybercrime forced me to become a virus removal specialist, and accounted for the majority of my hires. Affordable Wireless G networking gear pretty much ended my need for coveralls and flashlights, and I had to learn about (and master) RF ‘spectrum’, interference, and wireless security. Plug and Play’s finally maturing to functionality greatly reduced my printer install calls; but now there was “home entertainment centers” (with Dolby Surround Sound!) and “nanny cams” to install.

Today, the call coming into my shop – it seems – has a 50/50 shot of either being a nasty virus, or something like “I just synced my iPhone, and now I have three copies of each of my Contacts.” (or, “I just synced my iPhone, and now my Inbox is empty!“) We are transitioning to “cloud computing” – like it or not – and “mobile computing”.

People used to know better than to mix Apples and Windows (for one thing, it didn’t work), but today.. well most people seem to have at least one iGadget, maybe an Android phone (perhaps a BlackBerry), and their PC at home is Windows. And they expect them all to play together in some Utopian sense of “I paid for it, it should work.” Like.. the folks at Apple and the folks up in Redmond like each other, and go on picnics together.. and join hands and sing kumbaya, and the folks at Google just show up and join in. One big happy family. (I just made myself “lol”.)

“People are no longer tied to any specific location or device as they roam about getting work done on laptops, tablets, or even smartphones. The challenge is to keep everything synced so you can access the same data from each of those platforms.“

Well, here’s the real truth: it is not in Apple’s or Microsoft’s best interest to play well together, and in fact it profits them to try to “lock you into’ their products. Google? Yeah, it profits them to play nicely (and move you into the cloud) as their purpose is -> they want to learn every-single-thing they can about us, and then show us ads we don’t want to see.
Yippee.

Okay. So it’s 2011, and you want to keep your Outlook, iPad, and Blackberry all in “sync”, and you want it so, when you enter a new phone number for a Contact on one device, the Contact ‘merges’ seamlessly on your other devices with no errors, duplications, and do it in real time.
Good luck with that.

This is fledgling technology (learning to crawl), and everyone under the sun is selling some product which they claim can do this. But know this, (and I quote) “No perfect, seamless solution exists yet”.
Of course it doesn’t: this is all too new. This stuff isn’t even to version 1.0 yet, it sure seems to me. And there’s other agendas and cross-purposes in play as well (think “sales”).

But there are methods. Imperfect methods. But.. better than none, right?

For Outlook user who want syncing with iPads and/or iPhones, my (admittedly limited) experiences tell me you have two routes, really. And probably the best one is a $100/yr MobileMe account. Which, guess what? Is now closed for new sign ups (as of today?)(again, I made myself ‘lol’). But, coming this Fall, if you can wait that long, there will be a new version – called “iCloud“. Which probably will work.. and probably will stick around longer than MobileMe did… The other route is to ‘go Google’.. basically installing things so you can use Google’s (“cloud”) servers and services as your ‘middleman’. (So they can learn all your habits..)

What I suggest – if this topic is relevant to you – is you read this great PC World article: How to Keep Your Data in Sync Across Platforms and Devices

“Keeping your contacts, calendars, and other data synced across all your mobile devices and PC platforms isn’t as difficult as it seems.“

One thing about tech.. you have to constantly keep learning.. it isn’t sitting still! (TCP/IP v6 is here..)

Today’s (other) reading reco: Here is a Very Nice and Useful Firefox Add-On and Chrome Extension That Will Save You Paper

“Here is a nice Firefox add-on and Chrome extension, called iWeb2X,  that is engineered to convert a web page to a printer friendly PDF, image snapshot, or high resolution wallpaper. What sets this iWeb2X apart from the other PDF utilities out there is that no sign-up account is required and you get the following features: […]”

Today’s quote: “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are!” ~ Theodore Roosevelt

Copyright 2007-2011 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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Stream All Your Media – Free!

Turn Your PC Into An Internet Media Server

I came across an program that you can download and install on your PC which allows you to “serve” (aka “stream”) your stored media (recorded shows and movies, music, jpegs, etc.) over the Internet. Thus, when you are out-and-about (“mobile”) you can ‘log in’ to your “server” (your PC) and access your stuff; and/or you can share it with others.

It is called Orb, and it is feature packed and very simple to use.

“Orb MyCasting is a free service from Orb Networks that makes it easy for consumers to remotely view and share their live and recorded home and Internet TV, music, videos, photos, podcasts, and other digital media stored on their PC, from any Internet-connected device, be it a mobile phone, PDA or laptop.  MyCasting is the opposite of broadcasting, allowing you to stream your digital media when (time), where (place), and how (device) you want it.

Orb Networks is the first company to offer a single solution for enjoying virtually all of your digital media remotely, using the devices you already own.  There is no need to choose which technology path to go down to access your media remotely; other options are cumbersome and require an additional investment in yet another “cool” technology.  Orb is free and begins with one easy download: there is no hardware or software required, and no additional time needed to catalog and categorize your digital media.  You get instant access to the digital media that’s already on your PC.  Just download Orb and start MyCasting.”

I can see lots of uses for this technology whether or not you are a “road warrior” and often away from your PC. And it’s free. The folks there at Orb Networks get a big tip of my geek hat, and I encourage you to click here and visit their website. There is a short animation which demonstrates how it works, and screenshots of the many features.
(Also, you can view their Orb FAQ.)

All you need is a XP or Vista computer (to be the “server”) and a broadband Internet connection.

Copyright 2007-9 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved. post to jaanix

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Easy Way To Sync Outlook, Google Calendar

Two-way Synchronize Your Contacts and Appointments

Many of my clients are sticking with Microsoft Outlook as their e-mail client, but have migrated to the online Google Calendar for their day planning needs. When I am asked for help with this transition, I recommend that they download and install Google’s syncing tool, called (appropriately enough) Google Calendar Sync, as it allows you to automatically sync events between Google Calendar and Microsoft Outlook Calendar.

Currently, Google Calendar Sync is only compatible with Microsoft Outlook versions 2003 and 2007, and operating systems Windows XP and Windows Vista.  Windows XP 64-bit Edition is not compatible with Google Calendar Sync at this time.

To expand this capability onto your mobile devices, smart phones, and PDA’s, download and install Google’s sync-ing app for that, called (appropriately enough) Google Mobile Sync.

Using these free tools makes managing your busy life much smoother by keeping your information updated regardless of when, how, or where you need it.

Copyright 2007-9 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved. post to jaanix

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How to send big files (updated)

I think a lot of e-mail frustration would be avoided if every e-mailer understood a couple of basic technical facts.. which, when translated from Geek-to-English, and boiled-down to simple sentences, reads: “E-mail is NOT the proper way to send large files.” But, e-mail is what everyone uses, and so, a range of problems and errors occur. This article will tell you how to avoid some of those troubles.

I would like to add, here, that the onus of these errors usually lies at the feet of the Sender, and not you– the recipient.. nor your computer. It is not your fault you cannot Open the attachments, or that the Sender’s transmission got garbled (aka “corrupted”).

Let’s look at the problem:
1) email is NOT meant for transferring large files. Not only do large files tie up bandwidth and clog the storage of e-mail servers, they can present a security risk as well. Because of this, Network Administrators deliberately limit the size of emails and email attachments (the typical cutoff is 1 Megabyte) and simply deny this traffic. Routers and relay servers across the landscape (devices over which your e-mail will travel to get to its destination) have similar barriers in place, so… even if your email service allowed files bigger than 1 MB, the file still probably would not reach you or, wouldn’t reach you ‘correctly’.

2) The proper way to send and receive large files is via FTP (File Transfer Protocol). This is a different network ‘language’ than SMTP/POP3, the email protocols. Using FTP, however, requires the Sender of the large file to set up his machine as an FTP ‘file server’, and ‘host’ the file for access. The recipient’s computer must request, and download, the file from their ‘server’.
 
Since we average folk need to send big files so rarely, and configuring FTP is above our pay-grade, very few people actually say to themselves, “Someday I’m going to write a large document.. and then I’m going to want to send that document over the Internet to my friends and co-workers.. so I better learn how to turn my computer into a FTP server and expose it to World Wide Web by giving it a domain name.”  
That just doesn’t happen; so, let’s forget about FTP for now. What does happen is– we attach our (large) file to an email, just like we’ve attached a hundred others, and then we get annoyed with the recipient for not being able to OPEN a simple attachment. “Just click on it”, we tell them.

So now we’ve identified the problem (or.. at least, the most likely problem); we Senders need to keep our files under 1 Megabyte in size if we want to email them.

Solution #1: Use a ‘zip’ compression tool, like StuffIt or WinZip to shrink the file (for REALLY big files, you can break the document in half.. or thirds.. which most 3rd-party apps can do automatically.)
Windows’ built-in tool is the ‘Compressed Folder’. Right-click your document >Send to >Compressed (zipped) Folder. In the image below, I have just done that to a text file on my Desktop named ‘scam.txt’.

Now a new folder will appear next to your document, and it will have a zippered folder icon.

In my example, the folder’s name is ‘scam.zip’, and as you can see, the zip file’s size is about half that of the original (*your mileage may vary). Please note: there is no need to do this for that particular file; it is quite small enough to email without compression and this example is only to show the steps.. one Megabyte equals one thousand twenty-four Kilobytes.
Attach, and send, the zipped folder. (The folder is “self-extracting”: no special tool is needed to open it.)

*About images: the letters that make up your text (the “t”, the “h”, and the “e” in “the”) makes for very small file sizes; it is (typically) graphics/images that make for large files. The factors that determine how large of a file a picture will be are: image size (Ht x Wdth, and dpi), color ‘depth’, image “quality” (really “compression level”), and file format.
Most of these are adjustable by even the most basic of graphics programs (Paint will let you resize, and choose between formats, for example). When sending a picture via e-mail, “tweak” these options and shrink the file size of the image — do you really need to send a 5″x7″ RAW image, or will a 3 x 5 JPEG (set to “Medium”) work just as well? And remember, your viewer’s screen resolution is only 92 dpi.
* Two more image tips: A JPEG is already compressed; putting it into a zipped folder will not shrink it much more..if at all; and, the GIFF format is the best at compression.

Another e-mail limitation to consider is that each element of the email is treated separately. So, if you Attach three pictures, and each picture is, say, right about 0.9 MBs (for a total of 2.7 MBs) it will sail right through the system.
If two are 0.9, and the third is 1.3, the first two will sail through and the third will fail (usually resulting in an error notification to the Sender). The email will look like it sailed thru, it will have three “paperclips”, the recipient will be able to Open the first two pics, and when they go to Open the third, they will probably just see a little box with a red “X” in it.
And while what I said above is generally true, there is another limit to contend with: the total (adding up the attachments) size of the e-mail can’t exceed a certain limit without causing mischief. In Hotmail this “total limit” is 10 Megabytes, though this will vary from provider to provider.
So if the document you want to send is really LARGE, you may want to consider solution #2…

Solution #2: Use a service to ‘upload’ your large document to, and then send the (generated) hyperlink to your recipient(s). The hyperlink takes the recipient to the service, and ‘downloads’ your document: let the service do all the FTP nonsense.
There are both for-pay and free versions of these file-transfer services, and those of us who rarely run into the file-too-big dilemma will find the free versions adequate; and they generally can handle files up to a Gigabyte (bigger, for a fee).
I recommend either SendThisFile or TransferBigFiles for their simplicity of use, but there others out there.

If someone has sent you a large file and trying to open it causes your email application to freeze and ‘lock up’, use Task Manager to end the program’s (mail client/browser) execution (for instructions, click here) with “End Task”. Then re-launch it and delete the file. This should restore normal operation, but you will have to ask the sender to resend the file.. and explain to them email limitations. (Or, maybe, email them a link to this article?)
To read my e-mail troubleshooting article on broken links (clicking on a link produces no result), click here.

Today’s free link(s): What? Two isn’t enough? Okay. For those of you who do not have a photo manipulation program with which to make your images more e-mail friendly, the best free tool is IrfanView. This is one of my ‘must have’ downloads, and I have recommended it here before.

Copyright 2007-8 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved.

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E-mail and large files

I think a lot of e-mail frustration would be avoided if every e-mailer understood a couple of basic technical facts.. which, when translated from Geek-to-English, and boiled-down to simple sentences, reads: “E-mail is NOT the proper way to send large files.” But, e-mail is what everyone uses, and so, a range of problems and errors occur. This article will tell you how to avoid some of those troubles.

I would like to add, here, that the onus of these errors usually lies at the feet of the Sender, and not you– the recipient.. nor your computer. It is not your fault you cannot Open the attachments, or that the Sender’s transmission got garbled (aka “corrupted”).

Let’s look at the problem:
1) email is NOT meant for transferring large files. Not only do large files tie up bandwidth and clog the storage of e-mail servers, they can present a security risk as well. Because of this, Network Administrators deliberately limit the size of emails and email attachments (the typical cutoff is 1 Megabyte) and simply deny this traffic. Routers and relay servers across the landscape (devices over which your e-mail will travel to get to its destination) have similar barriers in place, so… even if your email service allowed files bigger than 1 MB, the file still probably would not reach you or, wouldn’t reach you ‘correctly’.

2) The proper way to send and receive large files is via FTP (File Transfer Protocol). This is a different network ‘language’ than TCP/IP (the ‘language of the Web’, and home networks)… nor is it SMTP/POP3, the email protocols.
Using FTP, however, requires the Sender of the large file to set up his machine as an FTP ‘file server’, and ‘host’ the file for access. The recipient’s computer must request, and download, the file from their ‘server’.
 
Since we average folk need to send big files so rarely, and configuring FTP is above our pay-grade, very few people actually say to themselves, “Someday I’m going to write a large document.. and then I’m going to want to send that document over the Internet to my friends and co-workers.. so I better learn how to turn my computer into a FTP server and expose it to World Wide Web by giving it a domain name.”  That just doesn’t happen; so, let’s forget about FTP for now.
What does happen is we attach our (large) file to an email, just like we’ve attached a hundred others, and then we get mad at the recipient for not being able to OPEN a simple attachment. “Just click on it”, we tell them.

So now we’ve identified the problem (or.. at least, the most likely problem); we Senders need to keep our files under 1 Megabyte in size if we want to email them.
Solution #1: Use a ‘zip’ compression’ tool, like StuffIt or WinZip to shrink the file (for REALLY big files, you can break the document in half.. or thirds.. which most 3rd-party apps do automatically.)
Windows’ built-in tool is the ‘Compressed Folder’. Right-click your document >Send to >Compressed (zipped) Folder. In the image below, I have just done that to a text file on my Desktop named ‘scam.txt’.

Now a new folder will appear next to your document, and it will have a zippered folder icon.

In my example, the folder’s name is ‘scam.zip’, and as you can see, the zip file’s size is about half that of the original (*your mileage may vary). Please note: there is no need to do this for that particular file; it is quite small enough to email without compression and this example is only to show the steps.. one Megabyte equals a thousand Kilobytes.
Attach, and send, the zipped folder. (The folder is “self-extracting”: no special tool is needed to open it.)

*About images: the letters that make up your text (the ‘t’, the ‘h’, and the ‘e’ in ‘the’) makes for very small file sizes; it is (typically) graphics/images that make for large files. The factors that determine how large of a file a picture will be are: image size (Ht x Wdth, and dpi), color ‘depth’, image “quality” (really “compression level”), and file format.
Most of these are adjustable by even the most basic of graphics programs (Paint will let you resize, and choose between formats, for example). When sending a picture via e-mail, “tweak” these options and shrink the file size of the image — do you really need to send a 5″x7″ RAW image, or will a 3 x 5 JPEG (set to “Medium”) work just as well? And remember, your viewer’s screen resolution is only 92 dpi.
** Two more image tips: A JPEG is already compressed; putting it into a zipped folder will not shrink it much more..if at all; and, the GIFF format is the best at compression.

Another e-mail limitation to consider is that each element of the email is treated separately. So, if you Attach three pictures, and each picture is, say, right about 0.9 MBs (for a total of 2.7 MBs) it will sail right through the system.
If two are 0.9, and the third is 1.3, the first two will sail through and the third will fail (usually resulting in an error notification to the Sender). The email will look like it sailed thru, it will have three “paperclips”, the recipient will be able to Open the first two pics, and when they go to Open the third, they will probably just see a little box with a red “X” in it.
And while what I said above is generally true, there is another limit to contend with: the total (adding up the attachments) size of the e-mail can’t exceed a certain limit without causing mischief. In Hotmail this “total limit” is 10 Megabytes, though this will vary from provider to provider.
So if the document you want to send is really LARGE, you may want to consider solution #2…

Solution #2: Use a service to ‘upload’ your large document to, and then send the hyperlink to your recipient(s). The hyperlink takes the recipient to the service, and ‘downloads’ your document. (Let the service do all the FTP nonsense.)
There are both for-pay and free versions if these file-transfer services, and those of us who rarely run into the file-too-big dilemma will find the free versions adequate, and they generally can handle files up to a Gigabyte (bigger, for a fee).
I recommend either SendThisFile or TransferBigFiles for their simplicity of use, but there others out there.

If someone has sent you a large file and trying to open it causes your email application to freeze and ‘lock up’, use Task Manager to end the program’s execution (for instructions, click here) with “End Task”. Then re-launch it and delete the file. This should restore normal operation, but you will have to ask the sender to resend the file.. and explain to them email limitations. (Or, maybe, email them a link to this article?)
To read my e-mail troubleshooting article on broken links (clicking on a link produces no result), click here.

[Addenda: I would like to point out that my description of FTP and TCP/IP was a vast over-simplification. For those of you interested in learning about networking, the place to start is with the protocol ‘stack’ TCP/IP, and the 7-layered “OSI model“.]

Today’s free link(s): What? Two isn’t enough? Okay. For those of you who do not have a photo manipulation program with which to make your images more e-mail friendly, the best free tool is IrfanView. This is one of my ‘must have’ downloads, and I have recommended it here before.

Copyright 2007 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved.

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Top ten things you should do to your PC

There are several things a PC owner should do to have a healthy computer and be safe(r) from online cyber criminals when they browse the Internet. Not surprisingly, I have covered these topics/items over the course of writing this six-days-a-week series of articles.
I have noticed (from my stats) that not too many folks are looking through past (archived) articles, nor are they using the Search tool to find this previously posted advice and help. So I thought I would put the more important ones into a single list — a “Top 10 List” — and provide direct links (blue text) to the articles which cover the How To steps of making these things happen… and provide you with a simple way to find out what you need to do, compared to what you’ve done already. In case you missed one, or two.

Tip of the day: Run down this list, and ask yourself, “have I done that?” to each one.

1) Install an antivirus, and keep it up-to-date (with the latest “definitions”).
To read my articles on malware, click here. To see a list of links to free antivirus programs, click here.

2) Install two anti-spyware apps, with one having “active” shielding.
To read all my articles which discuss spyware, click here. To see a list of links to free anti-spyware programs, click here.

3) Installed a 3rd Party firewall OR turn on the Widows Firewall.

4) Enable Automatic Updates from Microsoft (and either set it to automatically install [for the non-geeky] or to prompt for install [for the hands-on type]) and set your programs to “automatically check for updates”.
And then actually click on the “Install” button when told there are updates available.. and not tell them to go away, you’re busy.

5) Password protect your User Accounts.

6) Make a (monthly) system backup.. or at least a “files and settings” backup.. and store a copy — on two different types of media — someplace other than your hard drive.
To read all my articles on backups, click here.

7) Upgrade to IE 7 and/or an “alternative” Web browser (like Firefox, Opera, or Avant). Click here to read my articles on browsers and browsing.

8: Use strong (and complex) passwords. Everywhere. And change them every so often.

9) Rename the Administrator account.

10) Tell Windows to show file extensions.

* (Windows XP/older) Use the NTFS file system, and disable Simple File Sharing.

* (Laptops) Encrypt your hard drive.

There is more you can do to optimize your PC (of course) and the odds are good that I have told you the steps in a prior article, as I’ve written well over a 100 of them– so far, and I invite you type the word “optimize” into my Search box and see what comes up. Also, my Tag Cloud can help you find topics that can help– click on a word in the “cloud” and see the articles I have “tagged” as being relevant.
I hope this find-it-in-one-spot review has been helpful to you.

Today’s free link: By clicking the links above, you will see all the previously posted downloads, of which there are many. And also, there are links to more free links in no’s 1 and 2 above.

Copyright 2007 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved.

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