Oliver 40274 Products

This interesting widget from mpire allows a blog to show different products in a rotating display. As you mouse over a product, the display jumps to that item to show details. It provides a way to show products without ads (that suck)

Here is an example using televisions.

Let me know what you think. Is it a positive way to monitize a site?

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Snap Shots

Introducing Snap Shots from Snap.com

I just installed a nice little tool on this site called Snap Shots that enhances links with visual previews of the destination site, interactive excerpts of Wikipedia articles, MySpace profiles, IMDb profiles and Amazon products, display inline videos, RSS, MP3s, photos, stock charts and more.

Sometimes Snap Shots bring you the information you need, without your having to leave the site, while other times it lets you "look ahead," before deciding if you want to follow a link or not.

Should you decide this is not for you, just click the Options icon in the upper right corner of the Snap Shot and opt-out.

[update] removed 11/23 for slowing down page loads.

Steps to Better Digital Pictures - Part 2

This is Part 2 in our series on taking better digital pictures. Part 1 dealt with achieving proper focus. This installment will deal with exposure issues.

Exposure determines the amount of incoming light that reaches the image sensor. Your camera controls exposure by varying the lens opening (aperture) and the amount of time given to take the picture (shutter speed). Understanding these two concepts - and how they work together - will give you interesting and unique digital pictures.

Aperture

The term aperture refers to the physical part of the camera that is the circular window that opens and closes when you press the shutter. It also describes the size of the window opening. This opening size is called the f-stop. The smaller the f number, the wider the aperture opening.

Wide apertures (low f numbers) result in limited depth of focus. Therefore the background will tend to blur. This may be the effect you want. If you want the background to be in focus along with the foreground subject, you will want a higher f number.

Shutter Speed

Cameras use a shutter to control the duration of exposure. This time is usually a fraction of a second. Shutter speeds do more that just control the amount of incoming light. A fast shutter speed tends to freeze motion. A slower shutter speed tends to exaggerate motion.

Aperture + Shutter = Creativity

In portrait photos, a combination of open aperture and fast shutter speed will blur the background (short depth of field) and throw more attention on the subject. Notice however the depth of field in this TGIF Kimberly picture. The shutter was set to use a rather narrow aperture which kept the background somewhat more in focus. Check out these pictures on Vazaar for some interesting play with aperature and shutter...

• Long Exposure
• Short Depth of Field
• Long Depth of Field

ISO Sensitivity

Just to mix things up a bit more, digital cameras also offer some manual ISO settings. In older film camera terms, this was a film rating about how fast a film was. In your digital camera, you can manually set ISO sensitivity to achieve increased brightness - at a cost of some added picture noise. Experiment with different settings for aperture, shutter speed and ISO all at once add real creativity to your pictures.

Remember - you can shoot hundreds of pictures with no film cost!!

Your camera's auto exposure setting will adjust all of these for you automatically - and that's convenient for some quick snapshots. Special scene modes will set adjustments according to common shooting scenarios. In the next part in the series, we will discuss various scene modes and how they work to optimize your pictures.

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Steps to Better Digital Pictures - Part 1

Having recently purchased a Sony Cybershot camera, I've been looking for ways to improve the quality of my pictures. There are a ton of features, options and settings on digital cameras today. This is the first in a series intended to show you simple methods and tips to creating more memorable pictures.

In this post we will concentrate on focus.

Focus

Typical auto focus systems detect proper focus using contrast. When contrast is highest, the image is in focus. When contrast is low, the image is out of focus. This allows your camera to work quickly and automatically.

These are situations that can throw off the camera's auto focus:

1. The challenge of darkness

• Auto focusing can get into trouble in low light situations when the camera can't see contrast.
• If you are capturing that low light shot and using flash isn't appropriate, ensure that the AF Illuminator mode is turned on. This sends out a special IR light on the subject prior to the shot so the camera can see the contrast and focus properly.
• Darker pictures require increased exposure times - meaning the shutter must stay open longer. Use a tripod (or lean against something) to avoid camera movement while the shot is exposing.

2. The challenge of composition

• Many auto focus systems look towards the center of the frame as the focal point. If your subject is away from center, the camera may focus on the wrong thing.
• Employ the camera's multi-point auto focus system if available. This allows focal points outside of center.
• First put your main subject in the center, press the exposure button half way down to lock the AF point. Then move the image off center to the original composition (while keeping the exposure button half pressed). The camera will remember the focus and use it even if the main subject is off center.

3. The challenge of Subject motion

• If you're shooting kids, pets, sports, etc, your subject can move toward you or away from the camera and the AF will be challenged.
• Turn on the camera's Continuous AF feature - often shown as Sports Mode. It uses considerably more battery life (so turn it off when no longer needed) but the subject will be tracked right up to the moment of exposure.
• Use of burst mode - multiple continuous shots - tells your camera to do a continuous auto focus as well.

Make focus your initial hurdle to better pictures. As we tackle more advanced issues and features in later posts, we are going to ensure right here that a blurry picture will not show up in our set - unless we specifically want it.

In Part 2 we will take on Exposure issues. In the mean time, check out the web site Vazaar for a variety of fascinating photos from professionals and amateurs alike.

[update]

Steps to Better Digital Pictures - Part 2 about digital exposure discusses aperture, shutter speed and ISO settings.

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GPS vs. Cell Phone GPS

GPS vs. Cell Phone GPS - LAPTOP Magazine

We use the GPS Navigator feature in our Verizon wireless phone often. I had originally wanted to purchase a dedicated GPS unit - but the price was prohibitive. I didn't really need it for work, its just that I like gadgets and this was essentially an expensive toy. I couldn't quite justify $700 + for a new toy right now.

At that time I was due a new phone from Verizon under my contract. Low and behold - the new phone does GPS. And it does it quite well. We find ourselves using it more than we thought. Kids travel soccer games - check. Funeral home - check. Vacation navigation - check. Meeting friends for a bike ride somewhere - check.

My wife is the kind of person that doesn't know she needs these electronics until she gets them, uses them, and realizes their usefulness. She didn't get why we needed a TIVO at first - now just try to pry it away from her. If that TIVO goes bad she would be sending out immediately to get it replaced.

GPS on your phone positives

1. No upfront money needed. The first month is free, $10 a month afterwards. There is also the option of using it occasionally for $4 for a 24 hour period.
2. Its handy - always there.
3. It constantly has the latest software AND location maps - no upgrade required
4. Advanced features (ie. voice directions, local search) for the low pricing structure.

GPS on your phone negatives

1. Small screen is not as visually appealing as a full sized unit.
2. If you keep it on for an extended period you could have purchased a full unit for the cost.

At any rate, its a good option to try it out and see if GPS navigation works for you and fits into your life. You can always upgrade to a full featured model if your situation warrants.

[update]

It was pointed out to me that another benefit of the cell phone GPS model is that when you do a local search for some establishment, you can press the send button and call them. Can't do that with a dedicated GPS!

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Sony Cybershot

Digital Cameras. There are a bunch of them out there - all competing for your hard earned money. What sets one above the other? Why did you pick the one you have?

I just purchased a Sony Cybershot DSC-T20. I did my due diligence and researched many products. Here are the reasons I chose this model...

• Sony reputation. I have owned Sony products before and have always been satisfied with performance and style of the products.


• Face Detection. If you take alot of portrait pics, this will interest you. The camera will identify up to 8 faces in the photo (highlighting them in the live view!) and automatically adjust focus, exposure, white balance & flash to favor the faces. This means that if the faces are not in the center of the exposure, the camera will set focal point to the face distance. Think about that for a second. Most digital cameras have square in the center of the viewer that serves as the focus area. Often you frame your pics so that the subject face(s) are not in the center of the frame. This feature handles those times perfectly.


• Large LCD screen (2.5 inch)


• Its compact - less than 1/2 inch thick.


• Better pics under low light conditions. Sony’s Super Steady Shot optical image stabilization counters camera shake and stabilize images so you can easily shoot with longer exposure times. Armed with high light sensitivity (up to ISO 3200), you can also shoot at higher shutter speeds without using the cameras’ flash and spoiling the mood of the pictures. Sony’s Clear RAW noise reduction technology will help reduce the picture noise common to low-light exposures.


• Response time. Sony’s new T-series cameras are powered by the Bionz processing engine, first used in Sony’s Alpha digital SLR camera system. Not only does this robust processing engine deliver the fast image processing speeds needed to produce color-rich, detailed pictures for true high-definition photo viewing, it also speeds up the cameras’ response times and extends battery life.


• 8.1 Mega pixels

I'll be posting pics from this camera in the coming weeks. Watch for this week's upcoming TGIF photo shoot.