Wednesday, May 24, 2006
It's a New World, Baby!
Well, my new computer came packed with all sorts of fun freebies...tidbits of software to show you what neat and wonderful things you absolutely can't live without that you never even knew EXISTED before you fired up your new computer and began poking around within it...and things that you would never have been tempted to buy if just READING a description of them...yet, when they are already ON your computer, there at your fingertips to play with...well, before you know it, you are hooked. You find treasures you LOVE and want more of then what is offerred to you in the freebie version. Thus, the convenient offer to download the FULL version now calls to you like a siren of lore. So far, Darcy has convinced me that we NEEDED to download the permanent version of Boggle and Bonnie's Bookstore (games I really enjoy too--ME WHO HATES COMPUTER GAMES, mind you!)... And, then I got to messing around with MUVEE. Oh my! Had I read the description off a box at Wal-Mart, I wouldn't have even been tempted. Didn't sound like anything I particularly needed...afterall there are other ways to burn photos and music onto a DVD without using THAT software. But, since it was already there on my computer, I got to experiementing with it and discovered how WONDERFUL it was and how much MORE even the freebie version could do than I could do without that particular software. The freebie version has limited styles...and, more importantly, it limits you to working with no more than 50 photos at a time. For a prolific photographer, 50 photos is just a sliver of a sample!
Since going digital a year ago, we haven't printed any photos for ourselves (well maybe 12 or so...might as well say NONE!). We have printed photos for the grandparents for their scrapbooks, but I just didn't have the time to print and organize photos for my own immediate family. So, we never have our photos around to enjoy. They are all stashed away on CDs...many of which I didn't even have the time to properly ORIENT the photos before burning the CD...so, even if I did load the CD up into my computer to view them slide-show fashion, I would have to spend a good portion of my time leaning over side-ways to see many of them! Needless to say, we don't do much with our photos. That is until I discovered the freebie version of MUVEE on my new computer! Even before I KNEW how to work the tools in MUVEE, I made three little movie clips of some of the kids' horse-riding photots to give to the grandparents. And, it only took me another 60 seconds or so to burn a copy for ourselves as well. ....The kids absolutely LOVED the little movies (even though their heads were cut off in some of the shots because Mommy hadn't yet figured out how to steer the software. Grant even loved the movies...stating his amazement at how much music and panning adds to the photos. The kids have watched those first three movies over and over again. Yesterday, I let Rayna preview a new movie I had made. She really liked it, but declared at the end, "My favorite is "Cochrans on the Trail"!" I didn't even know she knew the titles of the various clips...and we hadn't watched that particular clip in several weeks...but, it had stuck in her mind and she was wanting to see it again! So, I pulled it out and we watched it next. With MUVEE I found we were actually enjoying our photos LOTS and frequently...all of us. And, yesterday, when I discovered I could easily "tell" the software what parts of the picture needed to be focused on during the panning process, I was COMPLETELY hooked! No more cut-off heads. All photos easily usable...no more setting aside the ones that are cropped in closely as not being ameneable to the process. BUT, I was increasingly frustrated by the shortness necessitated by the 50 photo limit...especially when one of the songs I chose lasted long enough that the same photos were cycled through several times when I had so many photos that I had culled out to get it down to the limited 50. So, of course, I had to have the full version. I rationalized that having the full version would let my immediate family enjoy our photos so much more...not to mention the grandparents getting more (BETTER) DVDs in the future. So, really, downloading the software was a bargain!
The only problem was that we have a dial-up connection. As such, the download that I purchased was going to take 5 and a half HOURS to download! My ornery internet provider cut off my connection about four hours into the process last night (as I discovered at 3:00am), so, I reconnected and restarted the download...only to be awakened by lightning half and hour later. I realized that although I had a surge protector on my electrical cord, I had neglected to route my PHONE line through the surge protector. Meaning, I needed to disconnect my computer immediately and re-route the phone line connector through the surge protector. But, we get enough things knocked out by electrical strikes around here that I didn't even want to risk trying a lengthy download during a lightening storm even if I was using a surge protector. So, I just disconnected my notebook computer from everything and packed it away where it would be safe. This afternoon, I decided that since I had to be out anyway to take Doug his pill at school (which I had forgotten to give him this morning and the teacher quickly GUESSED that I must have and soon was calling to see if I had forgotten and if I had could I PLEASE bring it SOON!)...anyway, since I was going to be out anyway, I decided to avail myself to the wireless signal at the Econolodge Hotel behind McDonalds. Using a wireless connection, what would have taken five and a half hours to download from home, would take just over half an hour "on the road". I figured my battery would hold up that long. What I didn't count on was tiny bladders. The girls had no more than began their picnic of Happy Meals beneath a shade tree, than they both needed to go to the bathroom desperately. Of course, as I drove my car around to the front of McDonalds (we were actually quite a ways behind McDonalds...more like behind the grocery store that was behind McDonalds), anyway, as I drove my car over to McDonalds, I lost the signal and once again my download was thwarted. But, then, I discovered there was an EXCELLENT internet signal labeled "McDonald's"! But, I also made a new discovery...some wireless internet signals come with a price tag. For the convenience of sitting at a table inside air conditioned McDonalds while my children have easy access to a bathroom and get to play in a chigger-free, inside play area I only have to pay $2.95 for a two hour session. Today, that is a bargain! So, here I am...hoping my battery holds out long enough to finish the download (didn't bring my power cord with me--who knew I would be indoors!), happily typing these words in the airconditioned comfort of McD's while my daughters play happily in the tunnels above me, making new friends right and left. It IS a new world, for sure! And I thought McD's was wonderfully progressive when they began accepting debit cards. Who knew they also offered lightening fast wireless internet! (Last month, I didn't even quite know what wireless internet WAS....it is a steep learning curve for those of us who grew up BEFORE the computer age!) ¶ 5/24/2006 11:40:00 AM
Since going digital a year ago, we haven't printed any photos for ourselves (well maybe 12 or so...might as well say NONE!). We have printed photos for the grandparents for their scrapbooks, but I just didn't have the time to print and organize photos for my own immediate family. So, we never have our photos around to enjoy. They are all stashed away on CDs...many of which I didn't even have the time to properly ORIENT the photos before burning the CD...so, even if I did load the CD up into my computer to view them slide-show fashion, I would have to spend a good portion of my time leaning over side-ways to see many of them! Needless to say, we don't do much with our photos. That is until I discovered the freebie version of MUVEE on my new computer! Even before I KNEW how to work the tools in MUVEE, I made three little movie clips of some of the kids' horse-riding photots to give to the grandparents. And, it only took me another 60 seconds or so to burn a copy for ourselves as well. ....The kids absolutely LOVED the little movies (even though their heads were cut off in some of the shots because Mommy hadn't yet figured out how to steer the software. Grant even loved the movies...stating his amazement at how much music and panning adds to the photos. The kids have watched those first three movies over and over again. Yesterday, I let Rayna preview a new movie I had made. She really liked it, but declared at the end, "My favorite is "Cochrans on the Trail"!" I didn't even know she knew the titles of the various clips...and we hadn't watched that particular clip in several weeks...but, it had stuck in her mind and she was wanting to see it again! So, I pulled it out and we watched it next. With MUVEE I found we were actually enjoying our photos LOTS and frequently...all of us. And, yesterday, when I discovered I could easily "tell" the software what parts of the picture needed to be focused on during the panning process, I was COMPLETELY hooked! No more cut-off heads. All photos easily usable...no more setting aside the ones that are cropped in closely as not being ameneable to the process. BUT, I was increasingly frustrated by the shortness necessitated by the 50 photo limit...especially when one of the songs I chose lasted long enough that the same photos were cycled through several times when I had so many photos that I had culled out to get it down to the limited 50. So, of course, I had to have the full version. I rationalized that having the full version would let my immediate family enjoy our photos so much more...not to mention the grandparents getting more (BETTER) DVDs in the future. So, really, downloading the software was a bargain!
The only problem was that we have a dial-up connection. As such, the download that I purchased was going to take 5 and a half HOURS to download! My ornery internet provider cut off my connection about four hours into the process last night (as I discovered at 3:00am), so, I reconnected and restarted the download...only to be awakened by lightning half and hour later. I realized that although I had a surge protector on my electrical cord, I had neglected to route my PHONE line through the surge protector. Meaning, I needed to disconnect my computer immediately and re-route the phone line connector through the surge protector. But, we get enough things knocked out by electrical strikes around here that I didn't even want to risk trying a lengthy download during a lightening storm even if I was using a surge protector. So, I just disconnected my notebook computer from everything and packed it away where it would be safe. This afternoon, I decided that since I had to be out anyway to take Doug his pill at school (which I had forgotten to give him this morning and the teacher quickly GUESSED that I must have and soon was calling to see if I had forgotten and if I had could I PLEASE bring it SOON!)...anyway, since I was going to be out anyway, I decided to avail myself to the wireless signal at the Econolodge Hotel behind McDonalds. Using a wireless connection, what would have taken five and a half hours to download from home, would take just over half an hour "on the road". I figured my battery would hold up that long. What I didn't count on was tiny bladders. The girls had no more than began their picnic of Happy Meals beneath a shade tree, than they both needed to go to the bathroom desperately. Of course, as I drove my car around to the front of McDonalds (we were actually quite a ways behind McDonalds...more like behind the grocery store that was behind McDonalds), anyway, as I drove my car over to McDonalds, I lost the signal and once again my download was thwarted. But, then, I discovered there was an EXCELLENT internet signal labeled "McDonald's"! But, I also made a new discovery...some wireless internet signals come with a price tag. For the convenience of sitting at a table inside air conditioned McDonalds while my children have easy access to a bathroom and get to play in a chigger-free, inside play area I only have to pay $2.95 for a two hour session. Today, that is a bargain! So, here I am...hoping my battery holds out long enough to finish the download (didn't bring my power cord with me--who knew I would be indoors!), happily typing these words in the airconditioned comfort of McD's while my daughters play happily in the tunnels above me, making new friends right and left. It IS a new world, for sure! And I thought McD's was wonderfully progressive when they began accepting debit cards. Who knew they also offered lightening fast wireless internet! (Last month, I didn't even quite know what wireless internet WAS....it is a steep learning curve for those of us who grew up BEFORE the computer age!) ¶ 5/24/2006 11:40:00 AM
