Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Photos I'm proud to say I've taken


I can't say that I'm any sort of photographer or even someone that has taken classes for it, but because I have an artistic eye and understand a little bit about symmetry, once in a while without trying all that hard, I take some pretty awesome photos, if I do say so myself. So here's a few for your enjoyment.


This is the lighthouse located in St. Augustine, Florida. This photo was taken in September, 2007, before I found the energy and the strength to climb to the top.


And this is what the view was like after climbing to the top of the lighthouse. This is a photo of an inter-coastal waterway which sometimes runs on the east side of the state. In the background is Anastasia State Park.


This is the home of FDR in Hyde Park, New York, and this photo was taken in October, 2011. I was staying in Fishkill and driving up to Red Hook almost daily for genealogy research before my mother's funeral and I wanted to do something touristy to lighten my mood. This national park was on the way.

On a rainy day, once on a guided tour and inside the home, after about 20 minutes, it became so uncomfortable for me to be there because there was no air circulating due to preservation efforts that I began hyperventilating (but especially after hearing the script from the docent which emphasized the fact that this was his mother's home before it became his and then the realization hit me for an ever so brief moment that my mother has nothing of significance for me to inherit, among other things about my mother that hit my consciousness all at once...) and that this was an extremely rare time when I realized my anxiety was kicking in, so I had to excuse myself from the tour in order to catch my breathe. I stepped outside, found my way to a stone bench outside the front door and then to a second bench across the driveway. It started to sprinkle and I quickly took this photo before making my way back to the visitor's center.


Fwd: Create Google Maps of Your Own To Share & Collaborate With Friends

Sometimes I really love getting email from makeuseof.com . This is so cool!

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: MakeUseOf <news@makeuseof.com>
Date: Wed, Feb 13, 2013 at 8:25 AM
Subject: Create Google Maps of Your Own To Share & Collaborate With Friends





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Create Google Maps of Your Own To Share & Collaborate With Friends

by Tina Sieber
create google map
Google Maps is the best free tool for all your mapping and navigation needs. It's comprehensive, intuitive to use, and available across platforms. Since there is no serious competition in sight, you might as well settle with it for now and use some of the awesome features, like custom maps.
Google Maps allows you to edit its maps, save them as your own map, make it public or private, and share the link. This is ingenious and I think this feature where you can create google maps of your own is not used enough! Let me give you 3 reasons why you should use it more or better yet, let me show you 3 things you can do with custom maps.

Introduction

For those of you not familiar with custom Google Maps, let me briefly show how to use them. Go to Google Maps and be sure you are logged into Google. You should see a vertical menu on the left. If not, click the little arrowhead in the top left of the map to expand the menu. In the left-hand menu, click the My places button.
create google map
Google has recently added an interactive tutorial for making custom maps. The tutorial is extremely well made, so I instead of me taking you through the process with text and screenshots, I recommend you follow this quick tutorial to create a Google map for the first time. Note that if you accidentally close all tutorial windows while editing a map, you can restart the tutorial anytime via the respective text link in the left-hand menu.
share google map

Give Directions: Showing Is Easier Than Explaining

I started using custom Google Maps to give people directions to my place. This is better than just giving them the address because you can customize the map, switch between map and satellite view, mark bus stops, highlight shortcuts, add comments, and much more.
share google map
You can create custom maps with directions and comments for many occasions, for example events, hikes, trips etc.

Collect Information: Creating Literal MindMaps Helps You Keep an Overview

There are many places we regularly visit; shops, restaurants, bars, cafés, galleries, schools, or doctors, just to name a few. And if you live in a big city and have friends all over, chances are you get around quite a bit. Keeping a map of where your friends live, your favorite places, and other frequently visited sites helps you visualize locations and maybe connect the necessary with the good.
share google map
Above is a map of MakeUseOf team members. It sure brings home the point that we are a global company.
Here are some examples of how you personally can use a custom information map:
  • Want to meet with a couple of friends and wonder what's the easiest place for everyone to get to? Check the map. Maybe your favorite restaurant is smack in the middle of everyone.
  • Need to run an errand and want to get as much done as possible? Check who or what is on your way. Maybe there is a chance to save time or enrich your life!
  • Found a cool place and want to keep it in mind for future reference? Put it on your map and add a note to it. You can even add a picture, provided it's hosted online.

Collaborate On Maps: Allowing You To Tap Into Collective Knowledge

Collaborative maps are my favorite use of Google Maps and they are a spin-off of informational maps. Instead of populating a map with information all by yourself, invite other people to do it with you and thus help you collect better information. Collaborating on an informational map lets you tap into collective knowledge.
Google makes collaborating on maps very easy. While you are viewing one of your custom maps, click the Collaborate link in the top left of the vertical menu to the left of your map. Now add the email addresses of the people you would like to invite, set Advanced Permissions, add a personal message to make the invitation meaningful to people, and finally send your invitation.
create google map
Need examples of how to use collaborative maps? Here you go:
  • Traveling to a place some of your friends have visited before? Share your destination map with them and let them mark the places for you that they enjoyed most. Better than any guide book!
  • Want to discover new places like restaurants or bars where you live? Share your custom local map with people you know and have them add their favorite places. Sure, you could just check out sites like Yelp or Qype for public recommendations, but your friends know you and will likely personalize their recommendation.

Summary

Google Maps is simply awesome On top of that, custom maps allow you to personalize maps, thereby making Google Maps even better. The collaborative aspect of custom maps is huge and can truly enrich your life away from the computer.
How do you create use Google Maps? Have you created any cool custom maps that you want people to know about? Please share!
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Monday, February 4, 2013

My Superbowl Weekend

Friday night and feeling like a looser in love because even though one guy in Torrance wants to talk, a gut feeling tells me he's not the one, only a crush, an Aryan fascination of mine for blonde haired blue eyed men, I stay late at work to see if I can finish my P&P, which was requested of me a month ago but couldn't, so a little before 7PM, I bail and head for home. I'm thinking Friday night - movie night so I stopped by Best Buy on the way. I was looking for two movies specifically - Seven Psychopaths and Looper. Best Buy had a deal to where if you let the cell phone guys check to see if yours is upgradable, then they will give you a $5 coupon for a dvd purchase. I'm game. I had to wait around for a rep because the one other guy was helping someone else and the transaction was taking fucking 4ever. I could only find Looper, so I got that and headed to the checkout where I encountered another line and my this time it's 8:45? They close at 9PM on Friday and I was just about to throw down my dvd to the floor and walk out when another checkout lane opened and I was up next. One out of two dvd's acquired and I headed for home.

So Saturday rolls around and, hey it's Groundhog Day and with the freaky hot and icy cold winter we had, I'm am done with it. Thank goodness that damn rodent in PA did not see his shadow. And then there was a news that another earthquake hit Japan this morning. You know what I think? I think as long as Japan keeps having earthquakes, it lessens the chance for California to have a big one. And I say this on 02/02 when it was a seventy-some odd degree days today so no need for long sleeves or a jacket. Now this is my kind of Winter weather...

After sleeping most of the morning away because sometimes, I've just gotta sleep in, I decide I'm hungry and head for the kitchen. And I notice my son has left dirty dishes in the left sink and standing water in the right one where the garbage disposal is. So I must go out and get at least some Drain-o this weekend. I still want that other dvd... what to so, what to do... I know. I'll go to the new Walmart in Irvine. And so I did. And I got the dvd and saw that Looper was a lower price there than at Best Buy so I think they just lost my business for new releases. And I also pick up some chips, salsa and ginger ale for the game tomorrow and they also has loose Italian sausage and the package's serving suggestion was pizza - I can make that. Another great choice for game food. And so I don't have to leave the house again to shop, I got my cats provisions, too. The food, the litter, a new laser pointer. OMG, AC wore herself out chasing the damn thing.

I watched the superbowl munching on the sausage and peppers pizza I made from scratch - take that! Woo! And yes, I was appalled that the lights went out in the superdome...And then the Ravens won. And again, appalled.