CJ's Blog, R2-D2, and Picasa.

First let me welcome CJ to the wonderful world of Blogging which you can visit here. Welcome CJ! At first I too felt pressure to supply regular content, now I do as my time/motivation allows and realize that it's all good. I'm happy you've found the same to be universal. Heh.

Speaking of the universe, 30 long years ago in a galaxy far far away, St. Lucas created Star Wars. The US Postal Service is honoring Star Wars with its own stamp series. USPS Jedi Master.com has the details. The promo features postal boxes decorated as R2-D2:

Which brings me to Picasa. The above photo album is hosted there and you can check out my full gallery here. I've just started adding pictures and have only 11 albums online as of this writing (with many more to come, so check back often). I've found that Kellie has a gallery in which she shows off her new house. Go Kellie!

Unlike other photo hosting services that I've tried and/or seen others use - this one allows the viewer to download a full-sized/resolution photo entirely free and anonymously.

Again - You do not have to pay, sign up, or give any information to view or download the photos at the full rez uploaded by the author. To download a picture, go into the album, click on the picture and then click the "download" link on the right. I prefer to upload an "Optimized 1600" format of my pictures. These are at a high enough resolution to use for most wall papers and printouts and yet compact enough to be web friendly.

If you choose you can sign up, have your own free (or pay) account for posting and hosting photos, you can buy prints, etc. But this is all optional. Let me know your gallery link so I can add you to my favorites as I did with Kellie.

Besides the service there is a Picasa program that you can install on your computer to get all sorts of nifty features. For starters, when looking at an album you can download all the pictures, instead of each picture individually.

The program will organize, edit, and generally process the photo collection on your PC. It has caption editing, search screens, red eye removal, printing and blogging features, etc. I'm still learning how best to use it and working the bugs out. Some things I like, others I don't like, but overall I'm glad to have it. The red eye fix for instance can be picky on what it will and won't clean up. Some eyes are done perfectly. Others, not so much. And then there are the "original" poops. The program backs up a copy of the pre-edited photo in a hidden folder. This is nice if you ever want to go back to the original version, but once you're sure you want that red eye gone you have to go in and manually clear this bloat out of the way. There are some other "features" that seem quirky that I'm still working out, perhaps I'll write a full review someday.

This Week in Bob - Episode II

On Friday 05/19/06 I went to Best Buy and purchased a new digital camera. This is *my* first digital camera (any other that I've used was either Sandy's or one from another friend or family member). I bought a Sony DSC-T9. I also bought a 2GB Pro memory card and a spare battery. Awesome camera! I can't believe how small it is (as pictured). It's smaller than a deck of cards! Besides some practice shots, I used it extensively at Disneyland on Sunday and it produced some lovely pictures.

Saturday 05/20/06 was a nice and relaxing day. I enjoyed some time futzing around on my computer while I waited for someone to come and fix our toilet (it had stopped working Friday night - all fixed now). I added The Cars, OMD, Dead Can Dance, and most of my Enya to my iTunes Library. Oh, but wait, I haven't talked about this in TWiB yet. I have over 800 CDs and I am working to rip the songs from those CDs and put in them on my PC and iBob. I am keeping a spreadsheet that includes the number CDs remaining and so forth. Right now I am at 30.5 omplete. Still a long way to go. At some point I'll put a list of my Library online for all to view and envy over. LOL

In the evening I hung out over at Kirt's house. We chatted and shot the bull. Ate Cold Stone ice cream. Played Trivial Pursuit, heads up. And we both sucked. We know nothing.

I also got an e-mail from CJ about this site. Had me laughing my ass off! CJ if you're watching, here's a Shout-Out to you!

As mentioned above, on Sunday 05/21/06 Sandy and I went to Disneyland. The day was cloudy and cool and the park was busy, but only in a medium way - not so crowded really. Sandy joined VMK and I won a couple of rounds of an impromptu VMK Scavenger Hunt. She completed the Tomorrowland and 50th Anniversary Quests (which I did when born back in April with Shane and Kellie) and we both did the Fantasyland, Adventureland, and Frontierland Quests. We got mucho codes!

With the upcoming Pirate movie not too far off, DLR is loaded with all sorts of new merchandise. There were lots of new pirate pins, including several with Goofy which made me happy! Here you can see Sandy and I sporting in our new Pirate Mickey Ears. Very spiffy, these new ears, complete with hoop earring and red scarf. I can't wait for the Pirates of the Caribbean ride to reopen!

And speaking of new rides, there is a new feature in the Haunted Mansion. It's still mostly the same old great ride, but they've completely renovated the attic scene. The new Bride is amazing! You'll have to see it for yourself!

On Monday 05/22/06 I received an e-mail from my brother with another picture of him and Colin:

Tuesday 05/23/06 was a lazy day. I played VMK, of course. I also I updated and added some content to my VMK page including some useful codes. Sandy added a cute story on Ted's Website. Yes, my dog has a website. - sigh - - LOL

Last night (Wednesday 05/24/06) Sandy and I went out with Amy, Michelle and Chris to PF Chang's. It was a good time, food was ok (I'm not really into Chinese, but when it comes to Chinese, Chang's is very good), company was better. This was the first time I'd ever really hung out with Amy's friend Chris. He's a cool guy!

One last little tid-bit, check out this Superman Returns Trailer. The end shot especially is so Money! Thanks for tuning in, see you next week! Until then, Happy Journeys!