Welcome to Something for Nothing

I’ve been looking around for some simple image software to take care of basic tasks. Print, resize and optimize. You would be surprised how hard it is to find a software that does just that. In fact, most of them out there are galleries that give you thumbnail previews and a whole mess of other options that I don’t need. I want it to take my photos and do 1 or 2 things with it. In fact, many times I only want it to do it for one photo.

I found one that does everything I want except print. It does let me order prints, but I just want to print them to my local printer. Espescially since I many of my images are scans that are black and white so I don’t need them ordered. For the time being I’ll have to settle for the resize and optimize capability of EasyImage (http://www.easyimagesoftware.com).

Easy Image is an interesting piece of software since it is almost too simple. In fact, it feels like you are doing nothing when in fact you are resizing your photos and making them much smaller. It’s so simple I think many people will get confused because they expect it to do much more. Yes, people should know when they see EasyImage that it would be easy. Too bad people are stupid and almost expect it to do more than it does. I’m impressed that someone could create such a specific product.

One suggestion I would make is that EasyImage Lite should be made OpenSource and then just sell their EasyImage Batch product as commercial. That’s a common open source model that I think would be very effective for EasyImage to provide a great product while still generating revenue. Now if they can just add my print button I’ll use it everyday and install it on all the computers I support.

There are so many search engines out there that it is hard to know which one to use. In fact, there is currently a barrage of blog search engines which is really blurring the line of which search engines to use. It actually reminds me of the times when google wasn’t on top and there was still a choice between using google, yahoo, msn, overture, and I think there are a few more that I’m forgetting but I remember a bunch of email providers also did search.

Well, there is a new generation of search also emerging as Ask.com and Windows Live are trying to really shake up how search is done. In fact, Windows Live is Windows firt search product created by them. There msn search has always been powered by someone else. AOL search is the same. I digress! While I find some of these new search technologies interesting I can’t find a major reason to switch from Google. Despite the fact that google has done an excellent job tieing me to them by integrating into the firefox toolbar I also see no reason to leave google. It’s sufficient for my needs. In fact, I’m use to the results and so I think I’m able to work quicker because of that familiarity.

Let me compare it to Mac vs. PC. I can do everything on a Mac that I can do on a PC. In fact, I find the new Mac OS to be nice and intrigueing. However, despite my interest in what Mac’s have done I still work faster on a PC. I just know my way around it better. Google’s the same way for me. So, until they offer something worth changing for, I’ll have to keep using google.

As far as blogs, right now my preference is Technorati, but that is still open for debate. Really I like to use a couple blog search engines because when I’m searching blogs I’m not looking for answers. I’m looking for a variety of answers. So, a group of blog searches is better because then I’ll get different results from each.

So, go ahead getyoursearchon!!

Ever since I lived in Hawaii I’ve loved where slippers(flip flops) and I hate wearing shoes. If I didn’t work in a closed toe shoe environement I would wear them every day. I guess that’s one big reason I miss Hawaii. It always made me laugh in Hawaii when they talked about flip flops they called them slippers. Seemed like an odd name, but it grew on me. I found a new brand of “slippers”(flip flops) called Tiddies (http://www.piratesandals.com). What kind of name is that? Of course I saw the name and I had to find out more. Well, here’s the history I found:

Kevin Bruce Brown invented “TIDDIES” in 1973. He made them in a warehouse in Pasadena Texas that became famous in the Houston area. By 1977 he was selling so many he incorporated the business, and by 1980 he sold the business to his ex-wive and sister-in-law and took off on a world wide surfing tour that lasted until 1990. In 1990 he started making sandals again, this time a different brand (UMANS), which put his sister-in-law out of business with Tiddies and she abandoned the trademark and left the sandal business. In 1998, at the advice of a patent attorney, Kevin started making “Tiddies” sandals again because of consumer demand. He made the brand popular again and he re-established the brand, only to have his sister-in-law sue him in court and take the trademark back. That same night, he designed his new logo and moved forward with his new brand of sandal: Pirate Brand Sandals.

So now Tiddies are called Pirate brand sandals after they were called UMANS. Hopefully it ends there. I like the name pirate sandals. I can almost see Johnny Depp wearing some sandals around.

Regardless of the name, pirate brand sandals has a very interesting design. The thick sole seems like it would offer some nice comfort while the straps will hold them on your feet. Have you ever tried to walk backward with sandals? Not a problem with these babies. However, if you are anything like me you’re going to need to get an extra set of straps. I guess I play too hard and break them. Anyone else like that?

I just ran across a new product that takes a DVI(or VGA) input using your USB port. It is called DVI2USB and comes from a company called Epiphan (http://www.epiphan.com). It seems like a pretty simple product to implement and capture. They have a large set of users from the tech industry and also it seems like a lot of government and military users. This is a good sign if you’re looking for ongoing support. I also like that all the cables you should ever need are included in the package:

The DVI2USB product ships with a user guide and the six (6) items shown above:

* One DVI cable (male to male)

* One VGA cable (male to male)
* One DVI-to-VGA converter (male to female)
* One USB mini type B
* One Power Supply
* One VGA Y-splitter

It does require a USB 2.0 interface, but that should be assumed if you are looking for high quality video. In fact, take a look at http://www.epiphan.com and you’ll see they have some examples of video they’ve captured that is excellent quality. My favorite was when they captured the xbox game. That’s pretty sweet considering its all going over usb.

Another interesting feature is that it can support 2 signals simultaneously. Here’s their FAQ on it:

Can I connect two or more DVI2USBs to one computer and capture signals simultaneously? What is the resulting rate of capture for each DVI2USB?

Yes, you can connect two or more DVI2USB devices and capture multiple signals simultaneously. You will need to run the DVI2USB application for each DVI2USB device attached. However, you will notice a significant difference in the frame rate for each additional active DVI2USB. The higher the performance of your computer, the better the possible frame rate. Our internal testing on a Dell Dimension 2400 (Celeron 2.4GHz processor, 512mb RAM) at 1024×768 with two DVI2USB, yielded average frame rates of 7.1 fps and 4 fps. In contrast, a Pentium 4, 3.0Ghz desktop with 512MB of RAM at 1024 x 768 yielded average frame rates of 9.52 fps and 5.85 fps. Please note that you must start the DVI2USB application after connecting each DVI2USB.

It’s nice to see more vendors getting into these specialized products. The only problem in the future will be sifting through all the very specialized products.