All-New Website

I'm thrilled! SmugMug, my website provider, recently overhauled their design tools and site functionality. Besides a better user experience and fresher look, this also allows us "tweakers" to customize our sites much more easily, and not have to learn nearly as much code to do it. It's fantastic.

After a week of editing, I just unveiled the new site, at www.alwpics.com. Now that the site is so much nicer, I plan to add many more photos and will provide updates here on the blog.

Check it out and feel free to leave comments on this post with feedback on the look and feel.

Who says a cloudy summer day can't produce beautiful images? I took this one at Sharon Woods Metro Park in Columbus a couple weeks ago, and jazzed it up using Perfect Effects 4. Even seemingly droll days offer so many opportunities - all we have to do is look. :-)

Only 2 years for an iMac to quit?

Unreal. At just two years old, my favorite piece of equipment has failed. I'm lucky I backed up the 12,000+ images I have, but if they can't recover them, I may have lost a few recent ones along with recent documents. I'm also really glad I bought the Apple Care protection plan - I'd hate to try to fix this myself.

Lesson of the decade: back up your files, no matter how good or new your computer is! You can bet I plan to enhance my backup routine, that's for sure.

The Canon G15

Just a couple months ago I traded up from a Canon SX10is to the newer G15 for my portable carry-every-day camera. At 18MP and with 1080p video, it's a great little shooter. It also pockets well, has a flash shoe, and shoot RAW images; all requirements for me.

So far the images are great, and I'll soon post some samples. Great camera!

I've been experimenting with OnOne's Perfect Photo Suite 7, and it's just fantastic. Tools like this can unlock so much creativity!

How Does It Look?

It's been a while since I tweaked the web site and blog. I've added slide show to the main web site, showing nature pictures, and changed the blog over to a white background for easier reading. Feel free to leave comments and suggestions!

Amazon's Really Heating Up

I recently got my first tablet, a 7" Kindle Fire HD. What a screen! Not only did it quickly replace my iPod Touch as my primary "PDA" and all-things digital tool of choice, it's also a lot of fun for games and videos, too. 

I have to give Amazon one special compliment: the email client on this device is wonderful. It works in real time with Hotmail, meaning that I don't have to recreate all my folders; I can access them exactly the same way I do at a computer on the web. Of course, I can work with emails offline, too. 

Another handy surprise was the syncing of contacts and calendars with Hotmail (I use two accounts, and the Kindle lets me sync them as I choose). Very nice! 

It won't do everything a full-featured tablet like the iPad can do, that's true. And the selection of apps in in Amazon's limited store is tiny compared to the greater Android market and Apple's App Store. But for $199, the Fire HD is definitely worthy of your first entry into the tablet world. It's a hit with the kids, too!