New Title

I have changed the title of my blog. My family tells me that I am no longer insane. Now I just don't remember anything anymore. So... What was I talking about?

The Smugmug/Flickr/Picasa Saga

I am back playing with Flickr again. I really like their ability to assign a picture to multiple interest groups. I'm not really fond of Picasa for bulk picture storage and use. I find there are too many hoops to jump through for my tastes.

I'm thinking that I'll go back to Flickr when my Smugmug subscription expires.

What to do? SmugMug vs Picasa

I started out photo sharing on Flickr. It was fine, but I had to pay to upload more than 200 pictures. I liked that I could take one photo upload and designate it to several albums/topics/galleries/etc.

And then my year was up. Do I pay again or find something better/different? Some photographer friends in the area use SmugMug, so I looked them over. Using a 50% discount, I signed up for a year and imported all my pictures from Flickr. That was a minor disaster. The import software (Smugglr) banjaxed a bunch of the descriptions and tags in the photos. After 8 months, I still have some pictures that I need to re-edit, or delete.

I agree that SmugMug is not really good for general upload and display of daily, routine, pictures. But, I’m turned off from Flickr, too.

So, I’m looking at PicasaWeb. I’ve had Picasa for a while and love it for tagging and noting pictures. I like the plug-ins for uploading to FaceBook and SmugMug, too. However, the PicasaWeb user interface feels a bit clunky to me. As a uploader, there are way too many option buttons to contend with.

However, when you use Picasa and PicasaWeb together, it is powerful for ongoing events. You can sync a folder in Picasa and it will automagically update the contents online in a like-named folder. And vice-versa.

I had never played with this Sync option until yesterday. We are having our carpet ripped out of the common areas of the house, and replacing it with 18″ tile. I am at home babysitting the installation, and my wife is at work. She keeps badgering me for photos of the work.

I am snapping several pictures, transferring them from the SD card to Picasa, and tagging/notating them. They are automatically uploaded to the web, where she can show all her friends at work. I used to have a Eye-Fi card, which would have made it seamless, but it went missing a couple of months ago.

I guess this ramble is not really a “this or that” post. Maybe it’s more of a “this AND that” type of thing. SmugMug works great for photos of events and such, and Picasa for right-now, constant update stuff. Although, I’m not sure which I would use on a crime scene, or fire scene, accident, etc, shoot.

All I know is that I miss my eye-fi card. Maybe during the tile install, it’ll turn up. I hope so.

What's up with church?

I attended a Catholic Mass this morning, and I was a bit disturbed by the apparent dress code.

In the service I observed girls (10-12 years old) going for Communion in mini skirts and other clothing that is more appropriate on a street hooker.

Adults wearing sports jerseys. Adults wearing moderately offensive attire. Shirts with totally inappropriate phrases, slogans and logos on them. The tamest example is, "I'm grumpy because you're dopey." Cute, but inappropriate in a religious setting.

I don't advocate 3 piece suits in church, but the other end of the clothing spectrum (short shorts and mid-riff tops) is just as bad, if not worse. We come together to worship, not to "style and profile."

Lest We Forget

"Mr. Vice President, Mr. Speaker, members of the Senate and the House of Representatives: yesterday, December 7th, 1941—a date which will live in infamy—the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.

"The United States was at peace with that nation, and, at the solicitation of Japan, was still in conversation with its Government and its Emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific. Indeed, one hour after Japanese air squadrons had commenced bombing in the American island of Oahu, the Japanese Ambassador to the United States and his colleague delivered to our Secretary of State a formal reply to a recent American message. And while this reply stated that it seemed useless to continue the existing diplomatic negotiations, it contained no threat or hint of war or of armed attack.

"It will be recorded that the distance of Hawaii from Japan makes it obvious that the attack was deliberately planned many days or even weeks ago. During the intervening time the Japanese Government has deliberately sought to deceive the United States by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace.

"The attack yesterday on the Hawaiian Islands has caused severe damage to American naval and military forces. I regret to tell you that very many American lives have been lost. In addition American ships have been reported torpedoed on the high seas between San Francisco and Honolulu.

"Yesterday the Japanese Government also launched an attack against Malaya.

"Last night Japanese forces attacked Hong Kong.

"Last night Japanese forces attacked Guam.

"Last night Japanese forces attacked the Philippine Islands.

"Last night the Japanese attacked Wake Island.

"And this morning the Japanese attacked Midway Island.

"Japan has, therefore, undertaken a surprise offensive extending throughout the Pacific area. The facts of yesterday and today speak for themselves. The people of the United States have already formed their opinions and well understand the implications to the very life and safety of our nation.

"As Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy, I have directed that all measures be taken for our defense.

"But always will our whole nation remember the character of the onslaught against us. No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory.

"I believe that I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost but will make it very certain that this form of treachery shall never again endanger us.

"Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory and our interests are in grave danger.

"With confidence in our armed forces—with the unbounding determination of our people—we will gain the inevitable triumph—so help us God.

"I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, December 7th, 1941, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese Empire."




This six and a half minute speech, given by President Roosevelt in the House of Representatives, galvanized a nation to fight and defend life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

35 minutes after the speech concluded, the Congress of the United States voted on a Declaration of War against Japan.

Now, 68 years later, we honor the 2,402 people killed in that attack, and reflect upon the events that were to unfold in the months to come. They truely were "the Greatest Generation." Thank you for your service.

Why am I Tweeting, Facebooking, Myspacing and still texting?

They tell me that Facebook now has over 300 million users. They also tell me that if it were a country, it would be the 5th largest in the world, population-wise.

What they can’t tell me is how I got sucked into this Social Media world of ours. I have a blog because… well, I dunno. There are like a zillion bloggers out there. I guess it’s better than talking to myself while I drive. Although I still do that, too.

If you're quiet enough, you can hear your life ticking by

I am ashamed to say that it's been months since I even looked at my blog. Life goes by so fast that I can't keep up.

Halloween has come and gone and I was out of town for it. Weekend trip to Santa Fe, NM. Cold, but no snow.

The boys are now one year older. Matt is in 5th grade now and Isaiah is in 3rd. They are both still liking school, although Isaiah's teacher keeps loading him down with a LOT of homework every night...over an hour's worth.

Work is good, family is fine, we're all healthy and trying to stay off the radar.

I have avoided FaceBook, since I was sure I didn't know anybody online. And then I tried it out and found that most of my family is on there. So now I am catching up. It's going to take a lot of catching up though.