Technology in our Community

Finally: Digital video on an SLR

noreply@blogger.com (Robin Abello) — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 16:57:00 +0000

Just saw this news today --- Breakthrough Nikon SLR shoots standard and HD video. I bought my digital SLR, a Nikon D70 exactly 4 years ago and since then Nikon has come out with at least 5 newer models from their D300 to their D40 and not one of them has interested me in upgrading until now. And the main reason I'm finally considering an upgrade is going to be the video capability.

I must confess, I hardly even use my digital SLR anymore. I use it for special portraits of my kids during Christmas time, but I mostly use my excellent Fuji point & shoot not only for shooting everyday photos but for shooting videos as well. I slid into using the digital video piece almost by accident. I've known about digital video on these point & shoot cameras for a long time but I've always found the quality wanting. But one afternoon I took a video of my daughter using the digital camera and when I viewed it on my 24-inch monitor I thought the quality was actually not bad, not bad at all. So I started using it more and after awhile I was ditching my Sony digital camcorder as well in favor of my excellent Fuji point & shoot (model is Finepix F20 --- same sensor as the renowned F30). And we love how we can upload the videos onto YouTube and share with our friends and family.

Here's a sample of our YouTube videos from my Fuji point & shoot (warning, there's singing involved in this video). YouTube compresses the video so the quality is not the greatest, but if you go to the YouTube page for this video , there's a *Watch in High Quality* link at the bottom of the video to see a better version of the clip.

The D90 can be the start of a new phase for digital camera owners because soon we can have access to a good digital SLR that can also shoot videos including High Definition clips. I'm looking forward to seeing some reviews before I jump in and make the purchase. When I make the purchase (whether it's the D90 or some other model) you'll see me posting some of those clips. I'll be comparing those clips to my Fuji point & shoot and see how they fare and see if it's going to be worth it for me to lug around an SLR on our trips or stick with my pocket size Fuji point & shoot.

Photoshop Express First Impressions

noreply@blogger.com (Robin Abello) — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 21:00:00 +0000

Adobe launched Photoshop Express this past week. When they announced this effort about a year ago (March 2007), I was thinking it would be a web-based version of Photoshop. So today I signed up for an account. It's still in beta but there are already more than 17,000 galleries online including my lame attempt for a gallery I just put up a few minutes ago.

So what's the verdict? Disappointing!

This is not so much a web-based version of Photoshop but really more of an online gallery with some editing features. If you're looking for a web-based version of Photoshop, go to Splashup.com. Their web-based software features tools and layers that photoshop users will recognize.

If Adobe's focus for Photoshop Express is the online gallery, they need to do more than just offer a splashy way to show-off your pictures. Two things come to mind when I consider using an online photo gallery. Ease of use and the size and quality of the pictures on the slideshow. I first started using online photo galleries through Ofoto (now called Kodak Gallery) and Shutterfly. Although they were easy to use, their slideshow limited the display size of your photo. This has since changed with Shutterfly now allowing you to view your photos in full-screen mode, but Kodak Gallery still resizes your photo down in their slideshow. The full-screen slideshow was what prompted me to switch to using Picasa Web Albums then and today I'm still using it because it's easy to use and their slideshow looks great.

The slideshow on Photoshop Express has some layout options that Picasa doesn't offer. You can choose a single, strip, grid or ring layout and also choose between 2D or 3D effect. Although these features looked clever when I tried them out, I would probably just stick with the single layout mode. Plus the 3D effect gave me a headache after a few minutes of watching these pictures fly into the edges of my screen.

The one advantage that Photoshop Express gives you is the 2 Gig of free space. Picasa only gives you 1 Gig, but expect Google to bump that up as our pictures get larger and larger.

Web 3.0?

noreply@blogger.com (Robin Abello) — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 07:45:00 +0000

We're just getting comfortable with Web 2.0 and now an article from Newsweek is suggesting the coming of Web 3.0. They're suggesting that web-content written/reviewed by experts (Revenge of the Experts) might be the new era that could be Web 3.0. I wonder what the experts think ... after all it took them awhile to agree on what Web 2.0 was really all about.

The gist of the article suggests that the public is getting tired of inaccurate and unregulated information on the internet and we need the experts to come back and give us trustworthy information again.

I think we need to step back and think about what this really means. Who are the experts? Some would say the professionals are the experts, but to me a professional only means someone who gets paid for what they do. But is the professional landscape designer better than my Aunt who genuinely loves gardening and blogs about her success in organic gardening? Is the professional computer programmer better than the college kid who spends countless evenings writing an operating system that he freely distributes to the world? There are lots of countless examples and I think the internet has allowed us to find these experts that traditional businesses, media and organizations may never define as experts. I certainly hope that whatever Web 3.0 turns out to be, these non-professional experts will continue to shine on the web.

Revenge of the Experts

Unfiltered, Unedited News from CNN - iReport.com

noreply@blogger.com (Robin Abello) — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 10:34:00 +0000

CNN is jumping on the community driven news bandwagon. They recently launched iReport.com which allows anyone in the world to upload news-related articles, videos and photos. The key element of this site is that CNN is NOT going to filter or edit any submission. CNN is relying on the community to be the watchdogs and any reader can flag a news article for review. This is similar to how Craigslist relies on the community to flag a posting and seems to work well considering they receive millions of postings a month that their 19-person staff (??? not sure if they broke the 20 staff mark yet) cannot possibly handle reviewing one-by-one.

CNN is saying they will scan the site for news they find important and relevant and those articles may show up on the main CNN.com site.

I think it's commendable for a traditional news organization to do this. Although considering how CNN started, they may not like to be called traditional. But they're big, and powerful and from most people's viewpoint, they are a traditional news organization. It seems that CNN is embracing community driven news without worrying too much that it may someday eclipse the ~~main~~ traditional CNN site in viewer traffic. The point is some traditional news organizations understand that they no longer have the monopoly of trust and the internet has made it possible for citizen journalists to be trustworthy as well.

Why Verizon FIOS Faster Upload Speed Matters

noreply@blogger.com (Robin Abello) — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 05:38:00 +0000

One of the common questions to ponder these days is which of the two are better - Comcast or Verizon FIOS. I usually answer that technology-wise, Verizon FIOS is superior because technology advances allow fiber optic cables to carry more data at a faster and more efficient rate than copper cable ever will. But a more relevant reason to switch to Verizon FIOS is because they offer a plan that gives you the same upload speed as your download speed. Why does this matter and what is the difference between upload and download speeds?

When you're receiving email or watching a video over YouTube, you're downloading. When you're sending email or sending a video clip over to YouTube, you're uploading. A few years ago, most of us didn't care about upload speeds because the largest files we were sending were pictures and those were not even larger than a megabyte then. But today with larger megapixel cameras and video sharing sites like YouTube, we're starting to care about upload speeds.

Just to give you an idea how upload speeds matter, consider your Comcast service with 20 Mbps download speed but your upload speed is only 1.5 Mbps. So that 1 minute video clip (about 100 MB in size) you just took of your daughter sledding is going to take almost 10 minutes to send/upload to YouTube while on FIOS (if you have their 15 Mbps upload plan) it would only take about 55 seconds.

Note that this only mattes if you are doing some amount of uploads such as sending videos over to YouTube or sending your photos to web sharing sites like Flickr or the Kodak Gallery. If you're not doing any of these, chances are you'll be OK with Comcast and the standard FIOS packages that give you about the same upload speeds as Comcast. Last time I checked, the FIOS 15/15 internet access package costs about $65 compared to about $43 for their 5/2 (5 Mbps download, 2 Mbps upload) plan.

A Trip Down Tech Memory Lane

noreply@blogger.com (Robin Abello) — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 21:02:00 +0000

Found myself enjoying this fun and nostalgic article (1988 vs. 2008: A Tech Retrospective) today on tech.msn.com. They looked back 20 years ago to common gadgets we now live with everyday. Here's a brief summary:

Laptops
- 20 years ago: 9 inch screen, weighed 14 lbs. and cost about $4,000
- Today: 14 inch screen, 4 lbs. and cost about $1,000

Home PCs
- 20 years ago: Tandy 80286 with 640KB RAM, floppy-drive (no hard drive) and 14-inch monitor (16 colors), for about $1,400
Today: HP dual-core desktop with 2 Gigs of RAM, 750 GB Hard drive, CD/DVD drive and 17-inch flat panel LCD (16.7 million colors) for about $1,000

Printers
- 20 years ago: $1,000 color dot-matric printer
- Today: $100 photo-quality inkjet printer

Modem
- 20 years ago: 2,400 baud for about $400
- Today: 38 Mbps for about $60

Internet Access
- 20 years ago: Compuserve, $47.50/hour for high-speed (9,600 baud) dial-up access. Low speed (up to 2,400 baud) was $12/hour.
- Today: 20 MB/sec for unlimited access for about $50/month (and you can wirelessly share with multiple computers at home)

Hard Drives
- 20 years ago: 150 MB for almost $5,000
- Today: 500 MB for about $200, 1 TB for about $360

Cell phones
- 20 years ago: Analog, weighed 28 ounces and cost $2,500
- Today: Digital, weighs less than 5 ounces and cost about $100 (ofte FREE upon sign-up)

It's amazing how far we've come in 20 years. Just imagine what the next 20 years will bring us. Prices will probably not go down much more on some devices because as Dell learned last year, you can't continue selling computers for less than cost and still expect to make a profit. But at today's prices, most of these devices are simply affordable to the general public unlike 20 years ago when not anyone can just plunk down $2,500 for a cell phone. And note that I didn't even show inflation-adjusted prices here, so that $2,500 cell phone is really $4,300 in today's dollars.

Satellite Internet Making a Comeback?

noreply@blogger.com (Robin Abello) — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 07:50:00 +0000

A few years ago, I worked with some satellite companies in the area and another one in the West Coast. Some of them were trying to break into the internet space and one of them had a product out in the market. But the latency issues made the user-experience wanting. The concept was great in terms of span and coverage and although the cost was going to be high there were some good arguments that satellite would provide coverage where terrestrial (e.g. cable, dsl, fiber) products were missing.

But then the bubble burst and the failure of Iridium wasn't good publicity for all satellite companies no matter how different their business models were, so most of us thought we'll just have to wait until fiber covered all the corners of the globe.

And lo-and-behold, just the other day Japan announces a satellite for high-speed access. And the speed they're hoping to achieve --- are you ready for this? --- 1.2 GB/second. That's about 100x faster than your typical Comcast and Verizon access, so that's very fast. Those HD movies coming down the pipe can be downloaded in less than a minute, instead of hours.

So maybe there's hope for satellite after all. It does make sense especially for some places in Southeast Asia where the terrestrial landscape is composed of islands and laying fiber across those islands is more challenging than being included in the satellite's coverage.

eBay sellers strike next week

noreply@blogger.com (Robin Abello) — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 17:04:00 +0000

After the hollywood strike, we now get an eBay seller strike. Sellers on eBay are going on strike next week to protest a change in fees, feedback and search policies. It wasn't too long ago that eBay was considered a lock-in for longevity and their business competition was floundering. But in the recent year, more and more smaller, niche sites are closing in and making for good competition.

This threat to eBay's business can actually be good for eBay's long term prospects. Competition can push a business to do better. Competition can also serve as a wake-up call to businesses that are no longer as exciting and innovative.

eBay is also big enough to buy out smaller competitors like StubHub which was a smart investment for eBay considering how successful the ticket selling site had become. The recent resignation of eBay's CEO is a signal that eBay is ready to chart a new course after almost 10 years of comfortably being the largest *store* in the world.

Just to round out some of the threats to eBay, Amazon is the surprise sleeper hit. While eBay was enjoying its comfortable leadership status all these years, Amazon was busy building out its technology infrastructure and now they're not only positioned to take on eBay's business, they are also becoming a force in the web services arena --- see Amazon Web Services.

Also hear from long-time eBay sellers who have switched to other services to sell their wares --- eBay backlash: 5 sellers who ditched it.

Zero Heating Cost

noreply@blogger.com (Robin Abello) — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 13:31:00 +0000

I've been reading about the Rocky Mountain Institute recently and how their energy efficient design going back to the 80s cuts their heating cost to almost $0. We're up in the mountains this weekend and it's close to zero degrees outside. The house we're staying in is fully heated and warm inside thanks to propane gas heating. This house doesn't have air-conditioning because the summers here are mild and the fresh mountain air and the breeze is enough to cool the house on a hot summer day. The orientation of the house faces the south, so it's already suited to receive the sun's heat from mid-day till the mid-afternoon to collect the heat.

Take a photo tour of the Rocky Mountain Institute building.

And here's an article from MSN about these green buildings.

Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack

noreply@blogger.com (Robin Abello) — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 21:22:00 +0000

With the user-base of Office 2007 starting to grow, chances are one of these days you may receive a Word 2007 file that you can't open with your Word 2003 or earlier version. The same is true for Excel 2007 and PowerPoint 2007 files. This has already caused some problems for some of my clients so what I've been doing is after we install Office 2007, we immediately change the default settings to tell Office 2007 to save the files in Office 2003 format.

But just in case you happen to get one of those Office 2007 files (the file extensions are .docx for Word, .xlsx for Excel and .pptx for PowerPoint) the good news is Microsoft has an Office Compatibility Pack that enables older versions of Office (only up to Office 2000) to open and save in the Office 2007 format. It's an easy install and works very well. My only other wish is that Microsoft includes this as an automatic update so users don't have to separately install it.

2007 winners: HP and Apple

noreply@blogger.com (Robin Abello) — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 14:14:00 +0000

The numbers for 2007 are out. HP and Apple were the winners in terms of growth. HP's consumer market share grew to almost 30% in 2007 from 27% in 2006. And Apple's consumer market share grew to almost 10% from 7.6% in 2006. The big loser was Dell whose consumer market share shrank to almost 17% in 2007 from almost 26% in 2006.

After dominating the consumer market for years, Dell is shifting its sales strategy by going after consumers who buy computers from physical stores. A few months ago Dell computers started selling in Staples and a few weeks ago they announced that Best Buy will be carrying Dell computers as well. This strategy has clearly worked for HP and I noticed their laptops are the only ones prominenty displayed at the local Costco in Columbia. Although they also sell Dell computers through their website (costco.com), I didn't see Dell computers at their Columbia store the last time I was there ... maybe that will change soon.

Calling Young Howard County Film Makers

noreply@blogger.com (Robin Abello) — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 06:14:00 +0000

A festival for short-films is being sponsored by the Howard County Library. Students, ages 14-22 are welcome to join, so if you know someone who is into video editing, encourage them to submit their entry. Deadline for submission is February 6. Full details below:

Future Filmmakers: Original Film Festival

- Films must be directed, shot, and edited by students, ages 14-22, attending classes in Howard County.
- Each director may submit one film.
- Films may be on any topic, but must be limited to G or PG rated language and subject matter. (Visit www.mpaa.org for more information on these ratings.)

Films must:
- run no longer than 10 minutes
- include title pages and credits
- be in their finished state when submitted
- be submitted on DVD
- DVDs will not be returned.
- Films will be previewed for quality and content. Selected films will be screened at the Future Filmmakers Film Festival at Howard County Library’s Miller Branch on Tuesday, March 4 (high school student films) and Thursday, March 6 (college student films).

For further information call 410-313-1950 or e-mail futurefilmmakers@hclibrary.org

Submit your finished film to any Howard County Library location between January 2 and February 6, 2008 with the following information:

- Your Name
- Your Age
- Your Phone
- Your School
- Title of Your Film
- Length of Your Film
- Date of Completion
- Subject of Your Film
- Names of all filmmakers involved with the film

Bill Gates' last day at Microsoft

noreply@blogger.com (Robin Abello) — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 14:36:00 +0000

Watch Bill in this amusing spoof of his last day at Microsoft ... with an all star cast ... shown at his keynote speech (CES 2008).

Vista Tips: Lose the Blocked Startup Programs Message

noreply@blogger.com (Robin Abello) — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 07:04:00 +0000

If you've switched to Vista and have changed the startup programs via msconfig, you've probably seen this dialog box when you restart the computer.

To disable this message, right-click the blocked programs system tray icon, choose Run blocked program -> System Configuration Utility, and check the "Don't show this message..." checkbox. Next time you restart your computer, you won't see the dialog box anymore!

See the step-by-step instructions at How-to Geek.

Symantec (Norton): Why do you persist on shipping broken software?

noreply@blogger.com (Robin Abello) — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 07:04:00 +0000

For the nth time in the past couple weeks, I encountered a PC with Norton installed (this time as part of the Verizon/Yahoo apps) that slowed down the computer and failed to uninstall. The only remedy was to go to the Symantec website and download their Norton Removal Tool. Their normal uninstall process was running for an hour before I just decided to kill it. In the past couple weeks I've seen this same problem happen on Norton 2006, Norton 2007 and Norton 360. And I remember seeing this a few years ago on Norton 2003 and Norton 2004. So in the last 5 years, they still haven't fixed the problem.

Here's the link to their removal tool for those who may need it --- service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2005033108162039.

My advice to anyone running Norton, remove it (if you can) and switch to AVG (free.grisoft.com). AVG doesn't slow down your computer and it uninstalls in about 2 minutes.

If you need anti-spyware, use Microsoft's Windows Defender (www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx) and just stick with the Windows firewall (on XP and Vista) instead of installing 3rd party firewall that Norton and McAfee will try to sell you. If you have a wireless router, you're already protected by a hardware firewall in the first place, so between that and the Windows firewall, you're pretty well protected.

$40 to help your old TV on rabbit ears

noreply@blogger.com (Robin Abello) — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 20:37:00 +0000

We're about 13 months from the switch digital TV and if you're still using your old TV on rabbit ears, the government is giving away $40 coupons (up to 2 per household) to help offset the cost of the digital box converters. Beginning February 18, 2009 (note this is next year yet), anyone who does not own a digital set and still gets their TV programming via over-the-air antennas will no longer see a TV picture.

If you're on cable, fiber optic (e.g. FIOS) or satellite, you won't need the digital box converters.

Government offers TV Coupons

To request a coupon, you can apply online at www.dtv2009.gov. There's also a 24-hour hotline to take requests, 1-888-DTV-2009 (1-888-388-2009).

2008 Wish List

noreply@blogger.com (Robin Abello) — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 13:57:00 +0000

- Apple's iPhone will work on Verizon's network
- a $100 iPhone
- a $100 Blackberry
- Internet TV
- 50 Meg download speeds at home
- Emu releases non-beta drivers for Vista
- Facebook grows up
- A more open and less cluttered system challenges Facebook
- Norton, McAfee, Trendmicro (and all the other bloated PC security software) release a security software that doesn't slow down your computer otherwise we'll continue using AVG.
- Microsoft announces that their next version of Windows will be Unix-based and doesn't need 2 Gigs of RAM to work well.
- Apple announces that they're developing the iRadio for cars (and I can use my Rhapsody subscription on the road).
- a store similar to CompUSA opens in Columbia
- 100 Howard County bloggers on ezColumbia (we're almost 50 bloggers today)

Merry, Merry! Give a laptop promo extended to Dec. 31st!

noreply@blogger.com (Robin Abello) — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 20:07:00 +0000

This late gift recommendation is for the younger techies out there since my last blog post was about giving a Wii for your grandma.

You can donate the revolutionary XO laptop to a child in a developing nation, and also receive one for the child in your life in recognition of your contribution. But you need to hurry fast because the promo is only until December 31st.

Give One Get One

My brother in law got to play with one a week ago and he said these laptops are pretty cool (Explore the XO Laptop). They connect to the internet via wifi and it includes games, drawing and music apps, a mini word processor and more! It runs on Linux.

A Wii in Grandpa's and Grandma's stocking

noreply@blogger.com (Robin Abello) — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 14:21:00 +0000

Just in case you're still wondering what to get Grandma and Grandpa this Christmas.

It turns out Nintendo's Wii is growing in popularity among seniors.

A article on the Washington Post reports "On the retirement community scene, bingo is looking a little like last year's thing, as video games have recently grabbed a spot as the hot new activity."

Granny Got Game

There's even Wii parties over at Riderwood Village in Silver Spring ... "It loosens the joints, stirs the brain waves and breaks the ice."

To all the young-at-heart Dads, now you have a great excuse for buying that Wii you've been craving.

For Stars Wars Fans

noreply@blogger.com (Robin Abello) — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 19:55:00 +0000

A great (and amusing) tribute to the maker of Star Wars. Enjoy!

CompUSA Closing

noreply@blogger.com (Robin Abello) — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 03:31:00 +0000

Our big local computer store in Columbia (CompUSA) is closing shop. A few months ago all the CompUSA stores in Maryland were closed except for the one in Columbia. In fact things seemed to have been picking up for the store in Columbia with their assortment of electronic goods including digital cameras, computers, TVs and they're the only non-Apple store in the area that also carries Apple computers. But the company has been sold and their announcement indicates they will close their store operations after the holidays (plan to check out their store-closing sales).

CompUSA is sold and stores will close after the holidays

So who are we left with now? Among the big stores there's Best Buy over at Gateway Overlook Drive. But they don't carry as much computers and parts as CompUSA. And there's also Staples which now also sells Dell computers but they have even less of a selection than Best Buy (although it's a great place to buy printers). And over at Arundel Mills there's Circuit City.

And of course there's always the small stores like ComputerShop over at Owen Brown which carries various computer parts and supplies. There's also Computer Installations over at Clarksville Square which is a good place to order your custom made computer

I've enjoyed going to CompUSA and I hate to see them go but with people buying their computers online (although Dell announced last week they will also start selling their computers at Best Buy) and with falling computer prices, it's a tough business environment. Will we see another big computer store in our area in the future?

Buy Dell computers below cost

noreply@blogger.com (Robin Abello) — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 00:46:00 +0000

You can now buy Dell computers below cost.

Sounds like this is not really a new special because it turns out in the past few months, Dell has been selling their computers below cost. I am constantly amazed how cheap computers are these days and practically every week there's always a Dell special. A few weeks ago a client of mine bought a brand-new Dell Vostro PC with a 19-inch monitor for about $470. When I saw that price, I just found it hard to imagine how Dell could squeeze out a profit. Turns out there were no profits. What kind of a business is Dell trying to run?

Dell's U.S. sales fall, profits disappoint

Is this similar to how some car companies sell cars below cost to earn their money back from repair parts and hope that they win a customer for life? But if computers are this cheap, when it's time for a computer repair, it might be cheaper to just get a new one. In fact there are a few computers and monitors sitting in the floor of my office from clients who just recently upgraded their computers. These are 2 to 3 year old computers that are in fairly good condition, but the Dell ads for a new computer with a flat-screen monitor for about $500 was too enticing to pass-up.

Google shares the Wealth

noreply@blogger.com (Robin Abello) — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 02:57:00 +0000

It's a great business model. Make wealth, then create a platform for your users to create their own wealth. eBay is a great example of a site that has allowed its users to build viable businesses.

Now we turn the spotlight on Google whose AdSense program has allowed websites to earn money by displaying Google ads and get paid every time sometime clicks on those ads. How much can you really make from those clicks?

Meet Mr. Natural Handyman whose website earns him $120,000/year just from Google ads and meet Ms. Cooks Recipes whose site earns her $90,000/year mostly from Google ads. See their story below:

Gray Googlers strike gold

Photo Exhibits

noreply@blogger.com (Robin Abello) — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 19:20:00 +0000

There's a photography exhibit at the Columbia Art Center "Trick or Treat: A photography exhibition by the Baltmore chapter members of the American Society of Media Photographers". The reception is on Saturday, Oct. 27 from 6-8 pm. Refreshments will be served.

One of our local photographers (Denee Barr) recently sent me a note about her exhibit at the American City Building:
--- Stop by the Columbia Foundation in the American City Building 10am-5pm and see my photo-based mini-retrospective of Columbia/Howard County put together along with Howard County Artist Alice Webb in celebration of Columbia's 40th Birthday! I will be changing my photo based images every few months! Look through my scrapbook and sign my guestbook on display. Also on display is a book entitled "Dialogue With Photography" that I think you will interested in looking through as well.

And head down to DC where the Corcoran Gallery of Art is exhibiting the work of two great photographers: Annie Leibovitz (exhibit runs through January 13, 2008) and Ansel Adams (exhibit runs through January 27, 2008).

A Local Artist shares her craft in her own Blog

noreply@blogger.com (Robin Abello) — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 20:12:00 +0000

Barbara Nuss is an award-winning local artist who is not only talented in the arts, but also quite talented in technology. When I met her a few months ago, little did I know that this unassuming lady is also very tech savvy. She told me that she took a class to learn html, and using notepad she proceeded to build her website (barbaranuss.com). I helped her move away from notepad and use a web authoring tool, and her website has been transformed into another work of art.

Not only can you see pictures of her painting, you can also purchase some of her pieces like the high-resolution and high-fidelity computer generated fine-art print Giclees of her paintings. Barbara personally mounts the canvas prints onto archival board and apply a water-resistant and U-V protective varnish alleviating the need for glass. These Giclees are the same size as the original paintings and each print comes with a certifcate of authenticity.

Now Barbara has a blog (Artist's Point of View)! Many years ago she wrote a book titled 14 Formulas for Painting Fabulous Landscapes and now Barbara is sharing her technique in her blog. In the next many weeks, Barbara will be working on a new painting and every week she will share the progress of her painting on her blog. She is now on week 4.

Check it out ... it's quite fun to see the progress of her painting every week. Here are the links from the past 4 weeks --- Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4.