Use those photos!

OK everybody, it is time to get those photos out of your camera and into your life. There are so many terrific options for using your pictures.


You can get US postage stamps made with your favorite furson, kid, or wedding couple.



Have your photos bound in a nice photo book. These make terrific gifts too. There is no catch to this, I just ordered a free photo book. I paid $4.50 for shipping and handling. Nice deal! Also, if you are printing large quantities of 4x6 prints, they charge as little as 9 cents each! That is amazingly cheap. It is still high-quality, Kodak paper. Granted, that price is for 1000+ prints, but the most you will pay for the 4x6 is $.19 there. Not too shabby, considering even Costco is $.17 and they are usually a low price leader.



Take scrapbooking to the next level. Digital scrapbooking is fun and you can share your creations via the web, or print them out.

Flash! Shazam! Pow!

OK, I love flash drives, I admit it. I just think it is great to have the option of bringing files with me in a tiny little gadget. And they have saved me many times over when disk drives or networks were not playing nicely. I want floppy disks to just go away. And CDs are not so high on my list of faves since they do get scratched up. (yeah I know, user error)


Some flash drives are a bit extreme but I enjoy that people are taking this medium and having a bit of fun with it. I think everyone who uses their computer daily should carry a flash drive. Just because. It is handy. You can be someone's hero when they can't print a document. You can get your friend's bookmarks. You can borrow someone's workstation and not leave junk on their desktop. It is just nice to have a way to get data.

I wish Leatherman would add a flash drive to their gizmos.

Everyone should carry a pen anyway... why not carry a smart pen?




You can be on time AND have a few tricks up your sleeve!



I love how tiny these things are getting. Pretty soon the plug will be the only thing you see.

Howtoons

Whether you are a teacher, a parent, or a just plain curious person, these Howtoons are a nifty resource. I especially like the electric motor. Some other great resources for the tinkerers out there include Instructables and the Makezine blog.

The future is this spring.

I have to admit I am excited about Sony's upcoming Portable Reader; not so much for the reader itself, since I listen to more audiobooks than I read the paper variety (except for Jan Burke's novels, which I read straight through in nearly a single sitting), but more because of what will follow.

I know most of my friends prefer a paper, in-your-hand, book to reading content on a computer screen. This new technology promises to bridge that gap. It could bring us that much closer to a paperless office and reading assistance for young or illiterate people. I see smaller backpacks and fewer back injuries for students of all ages. When you enroll in a college course you could download all of your textbooks to your reader. Library research could be portable. Combine this electronic paper with text-to-speech, handwriting-recognition, speech-recognition, WiFi, tinier bulk storage mediums, I could go on... this is REALLY cool stuff. Some of the big let downs to using a laptop is the screen readability in bright light, battery-life and the bulk. This new stuff combined could make paper into an art medium only. I think trees can still support art, but they should not be required to support TPS Reports and the like.

I like CUTE as much as the next person, but...

I have to agree with Shiny Shiny's notion that it is creepy to refer to an electronic gadget as "Partner-Type." The name PaPeRo is an acronym for PArtner-type PErsonal RObot. That sweet little face does not say "partner" to me, so much as "pet." Based on the picture at NEC's site (click image to go there) it is packed with some pretty impressive technology, such as a stereoscopic camera for eyes, ultrasonic obstacle sensors, and more. At just under 15 inches tall, with no arms, I am not sure what it can do to "help around the house" or play with the kids, but I probably lack imagination. Shiny Shiny also notes the disturbing reference to a "hole sensor." Any guesses what our little partner needs that for? I am really hoping that is just a poorly-titled feature to prevent our little friend from falling into a well.

Silly but fun

OK, I have to admit it, I love silly stuff. I mean, not fart machines or mooning butts that suction cup to the rear window, but these screwdrivers are pretty funny.

I especially like that they go all the way. They did more than simply mold tools in pink. They made a special mold and they accessorized. Nice job of going way over the top!

It's All Out There

Every day I am impressed by the wide variety of stuff on the Web. I mean, you can find ANYthing! I love just wandering from site to site and marvelling. There are so many projects I would love to make and the instructions are out there for all of it. This article on about.com explains how to bead a pair of tennis shoes. I would love a pair of these! (perhaps with a different design more suited to my wardrobe) I imagine they must feel wonderful to just run your fingertips along the smooth, cool beaded surface. Nummy.

NAMIWALKS for the MIND of AMERICA

I have been very blessed by kind donations for my 5K walk supporting NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness)

This organization provides support, education and advocacy for people affected by mental illness. Please spread the word about NAMI. You probably know someone who has a serious mental illness. There are affliliate locations all over the United States. They have helped families everywhere to cope with mental illnesses such as Bipolar Disorder, Major Depression, Schizophrenia, and many more. NAMI offers Family to Family classes, sibling support groups, and many other forms of assistance to people with mental illness and their friends and families. Companies can find information too, as there are many, many people in the work force who have these illnesses.

Mental illness should not be swept under the rug. There is no more shame in being mentally ill than there would be in having diabetes. It is not an attitude problem. It is an illness.

Please consider supporting me in my walk to raise money by going to http://www.cafepress.com/gethelp and purchasing items in my store (all profits will go directly to NAMI), or donate money directly at http://www.nami.org/namiwalks06/SDC/timbrely

Traditionally the participants in NAMIWALKS for the MINDS of AMERICA design t-shirts to wear while they walk. I will be wearing one of the shirts from my store. If you live near San Diego, wear one of the shirts and come walk with me. It will be a fun day and you will be supporting an important cause.

Innerspace: The Water Wonderland

Ah the ocean. I do love that I live near the ocean. I certainly do not go to enjoy the wonders of the sea often enough, but it still brings me joy to know it is only 20 minutes away should I decide to go visit my fishie friends. I am not actually a big fan of swimming with Mother Nature's gilled critters, but when I was preparing to visit Thailand in 2003 I decided to force myself. I purchased an underwater case for my Canon S400 camera and a snorkel set with a little bobbling valve to keep more water out of my lungs. (note, this feature only works sometimes -cough cough spit) So I was financially committed to getting in the water with whatever might be swimming around the island of Koh Wai. I braved wearing a swimsuit (yikes) and risked being eaten by myriad fishies. Was it worth it? Heck yeah! Despite the anxiety over being attacked by something fishy, or stepping on precious coral, or drowning in 4 feet of water, it was heaven. I wish I had the courage to learn SCUBA. I love being under the water (I include having my face in the water in this category, since while I was snorkeling, I was completely unaware of the world beyond the surface of the big blue.)

I lack the vision and skill with the equipment to take pictures of note, but these pictures serve a very dear purpose for me. They take me back under the water, where all I could hear was my breathing and the occasional splash as my kick broke the surface. The feeling was better than any flying dream. I think I would rather be a fish than a bird (albeit a big fish, high up on the food chain) Snorkelling in the gulf of Thailand was not like what I have heard about Hawaii. The fish are not socialized here. There were not tons of them hounding people for food. It was raw and natural. If I saw a fish, it was pure serendipity. And I was happy to simply "be" so it was just as well.



Now, if I were actually a REAL photographer, with skill, vision, an artistic eye and could SCUBA, I would be in league with JP Trenque. This photographer has "got it." and received the BBC's 2005 News Photographer of the Year Award to prove it. The underwater photography is captivating and awe-inspiring and everything else wonderful you can think of. Take the time to check out these incredible pictures. For the full effect, put in earplugs so you can only hear your own breathing while viewing the underwater pics. ;) Give yourself over to the beauty of inner space. JP Trenque has really brought the essence of what I love about the sea up to the surface for those of us who are too timid to go there ourselves. These photos are fantastic. Don't miss the above-water pics either. This is your chance to find your happy place.

Marketing without the starch

I prefer my ads to not come from stuffed shirts. I like a bit of humor and especially when it is unexpected. I came across this company on Shiny Shiny during my daily blog perusal. Any ad that can say "boogies" is alright in my book.