photo phrustration

Today pretty much confirmed that the cr-48 will not replace my desk top computer any time soon. Regardless where the problems lay, taking two hours to upload 15 photos is unacceptable. Add some quirky hassles thrown in by Picnik and it became annoyingly frustrating dealing with todays photos.

With no way to preview the photos on the SD card I was pretty much forced to upload files just to look at them. The cr-48 file system sees the SD card but refuses to open any sub folder where the photos are stored. At an average of 4 MB each it was an awful waste of bandwidth and time just to select the photos I wanted to save / use. Most of my photos hardly reach that level and I sure don't need to go through that run around to find out.

3 hours later and I have 6 photos I'm not really happy with. On the old desktop I could have done the same thing in a couple of minutes.  Since they're not quite good enough for my other blog I'll post them here from
my Picasa Web Gallery.

From here it's a piece of cake. Inserting images in Blogger post from a Picasa gallery is quick and easy. Add some text and Bingo - another post best forgotten.

The 'front yard'

Headed out back to the corn fields a boulder with a snow collar caught my attention.

Inserted images are easily sized while in Edit HTML. 

I only need to click the image to select the size I want it to display. 

Ice in a small brook that cuts through the corn field.

Turkey's in the corn stubble.

On the way back I spotted a Cedar 'growth'  Unfortunately Picnik is having a hard time dealing with this image even though it seemed to be save correctly and it displays in the gallery. For some reason I can't get it to either download to the computer or insert it in this post. 

...and that's a good enough reason to stop here.

No big letdown

I didn't expect the cr-48 to replace my desktop. After all it's a prototype with a Operating System that's still evolving. But I do believe the finished product is going to turn my old computer into a paperweight.

Take away my homegrown web site that just turned 13 years old and still designed and written in an old HTML text editor and I'd be an average user. While I'm still not satisfied with some of the image editors because I don't want to upload the original photos without resizing and reducing file sizes. The 'limited' amount of free storage space on them reinforces that inclination.  On the plus side, quick photo edits are easy and produce better results than I managed to get using my old image editor. On the negative side I've found I need to go to a couple of apps to do some of the things I did in my old program. (again I believe it will get better as the cloud adapts to users or my willingness to pay for something better)

Right now there is little or no means to manage photo files. Any Chrome based computer has to have some easy way to at least transfer files from the camera to another portable storage devise. I don't want to have to upload every photo I take (big waste of cloud space) and I want the security of having a back up I'll completely in control of. I'm not betting the farm on the cloud knowing how many times I've done something stupid and ended up losing things. Right now I can't transfer files to my portable hard drive so I have to go back to the desk top.

Except for my HTML text addiction and the preference to still edit my images off line I've turned to the web to do everything else I used to do. It was only a matter of changing habits or should I say the programs that acted like a middleman between me and the cloud. For example it's not as convenient as using Outlook to gather all my mail at once. Until I discover the app online that does the same thing I'll have to just go to each mail account one at a time.

OFF NOTEs:

No F Keys
I feel a lot smarter not seeing the F keys. I never knew what they were for except for one, it was used by my image editor to take a screenshot and bring it directly into the editor.  I won't miss them.

NO CAPS LOCK KEY!!!!!!!!
I spend a lot of time on different forums. I believe a chromebook is the perfect computer for those that annoy everyone else buy turning on their caps lock key.

seasons greetings

Just fooling around some more. I took a couple of photos from a Picasa gallery and made some email greeting cards and sent them to myself. I couldn't get hold of the images while working on them but I could save them once I opened them. From there it was a simple matter to upload the card image to Picasa, get the link and then post them here. Like I said, I'm just playing around and getting familiar with the apps.  Anyways,

Happy Holidays to anyone that sees this

value added

I haven't really created anything new lately but I am using what I already have on the web in new ways. Not that the ways or apps are new - just me to them. If nothing else the cr-48 has trying new apps and they in return has me thinking how best to use them.

Picnik as a photo editor has won me over now that I've become familiar with it. Moving images from Picnik to my photo galleries at Picasa is fast and easy. From Picasa it's easy to embed a number of different sized slide shows into a blog or web site by setting the options and pasting the generated code in the right place. Blogger helped make that easy here as you can see in the sidebar.

because my other blog is photo intensive and text light this post looked funny to me when previewed. I can't help myself, it's my hobby so I'm sticking a photo that I played with today in the middle of things.

Now instead of having my photos scattered and time consuming to view on blogs and web sites they are being collected and displayed in one easy to use place. Add in a nice slide show creator and Picasa is a real winner for me. Not only that the photo subjects can be marked and located on a map. The only shortfall there is that the Picasa map and Google maps can't be tied together forcing me to make two sets of maps for some themes'

which brings me to Google maps. I'll be creating a few as a work in progress as I post to my blogs. About the only thing I'm not sure of is exactly how I want to incorporate all this 'value added' to my site and blog .

The beginnings of my wildflower locator:


View Roadside Wildflowers of northern New York in a larger map
All work done on this post has been done in the cloud while sitting in my easy chair.  My desktop is going to miss me.

photo upload success

Somehow I managed to upload a photo from my usb port on the cr-48 to the Picnik photo editor. Then from Picnik to Picassa. Next step is getting it here. On your mark get set - Go!

This was the box the cr-48 came in.

From Chrome Notebook

The process still feels clunky but theres hope since I did get it done. That's one more step away from my desktop. Another cool think I forgot about is Google maps. Since I'm now doing all things Google I went back to the maps. I shoulda remembered them. It's a lot easier to add a Google map than writing directions. How many words is this map worth?

 
View Canoe Pyrites to Canton in a larger map

 ..and to think I used to make maps in my image editor using the census maps from 1990. no wonder I did so few. Now it only takes a couple of minutes. The canoe launch map for the Grasse River is incomplete but I can go back and update it anytime. In fact I just added 2 parking areas to the map while working on this post. I see I'm going to be spending a fair amount of time creating a 'master map' to go along with my wiseacre gardens blog. Placed in the sidebar it will give locations to most of my activities, photo locations and other location specific data.

OK time to see what other goodies are floating in the cloud. CYA later gator.

I'm feeling much better now

I gave up trying to do what I normally do and did something I could easily do with the cr-48. I created a Picasa photo gallery. There wasn't any need to upload photos because they were already posted on a blog. 'Borrowing'   images with Picnik photo editor is like stealing candy from a baby. Sending the goods over to Picasa  was even easier.

wiseacre bugs

Blogger Pictures

Both apps were quick and responsive. It took longer to find the photos I wanted than to process the lot. So I started another.

read before use

Aw How Nice
Google sent me a nice notecard along with the notebook.
Maybe it would have been better to start off a little differently. The first thing some people do when you say Don't Panic is precisely that. You just know after hearing it the next thing is going to be
There's a huge bug on your back.

I didn't panic but I did get pretty frustrated attempting to go to the Cloud to edit and post these photos. It's fine that Google wants us to do everything on line BUT the cr-48 doesn't have an easy way to get stuff off the ground. That will probably come but the file system and support for plugging in data storage is seriously lacking. I wasted way to much time just discovering a way to do it and that proved to be a royal pain and maybe, just maybe I was about to throw a money wrench into the inner workings of the computer so I stopped trying.

Two other things, and they're big ones. 

Uploading photos from the camera's SDHC storage card to the online image editors is painfully slow. In the past I only uploaded edited image files to my web site server that were considerably smaller in file size. Having to upload the original without resizing the image size at the very least really slows things down.

Then the online image editing apps lack some of the functionally of the one on my desktop. Overall the online image editors do everything I need and they're easy to use. In some way's I like Pixlr Editor better than mine. But here again I run into the problem of getting the file back to my cr-48. So far I haven't found a way to download the edited images to my portable storage devise. Not that there isn't but I haven't found ot yet. 

I never did say I was computer literate. 

I've got a bit of knowledge and experience but only enough to make me dangerous.

Still, I like the concept of a internet only notebook. For a while the heavy lifting will be done on my desktop. As I gain more experience, Google enhances the Chrome OS and developers create more Apps the cloud will be a happy place.

Time to futz around again.
Maybe I'll stumble across that one thing that makes everything else snap into place.

Coming to you from my cr-48

The Google cr-48 arrived late afternoon yesterday. I had to drive to town to use the wireless network at the local university in order to use it. Setting it up was easy. Selecting the owner photo proved to be the most difficult task. I surfed a while, closed the cover and went to see if I could find a USB-Ethernet adapter because the cr-48 lacks an ethernet port.

It's a good thing I didn't find one in town. It meant I couldn't use the notebook but it did give me time to think straight and realize what I should have been considering all along was a combination  Ethernet - Wireless router. Google's documentation said to use the adapter so that stuck in my mind. They should have mentioned a router. For a few dollars more I learned my comfy chair arm rest makes a great mousepad. The cr-48 has a nice touchpad but I prefer a mouse.

The closest router was 40 miles away. I didn't get the home network set up until late evening tonight. Once finished I spent a couple hours forum reading. surfing, video viewing and game playing. The big test I passed up, Netflix will have to wait. It's still too much fun playing with the notebook to be distracted with a movie.

Last stop - Blogger
This post was written on a cr-48 with a stop at Picasa to pick up a photo.

Here's looking at ya until tomorrow.

Seeding the Cloud

I continue to prepare for the CR-48 by feeding the Chrome Browser with apps and extensions.

Pixlr Editor
- Now here's a photo - image editor that I took a liking to immediately. It shouldn't take too long for me to adjust to it since my needs are fairly simple. Replacing Paint Shop Pro should prove painless.

Picasa
- Why not? 1 gig of space to store photos is going to come in handy. My web site server already has about that much and is pushing the limits of my hosting account. The 70 gig of photos on my hard drive is already backed up on a portable drive and I don't think I even want to attempt storing all those on line.

I've stuck a few tools on the address bar of the browser I've found much more convenient to use than my old ways.

• A simple calculator is just a click away
• Screen Capture - I'll be trying more out to see which I like best
• Web Developer - this allows me to 'play' with the css (of which I'm slightly beyond clueless with) to preview any changes on my web site. Not only is it much easier to play with than my regular HTML text editor - it allows me to copy the code and paste it in my editor if I do stumble across something I like.
• Resolution Test - Since I play mainly with basic HTML I always need to see what my site looks like in different resolutions. Changing my monitor resolution was always a pain. Now I can go through a whole set of changes without fussing with settings. Now it's easy and instant. Way Cool for me.
• Whois Lookup - I often check whois information.and this little tool sitting next to the Bookmark Star has proved to be quite handy.
• Ad Review Toolbar is a must have for AdSense Publishers. Now you can get the advertisers URL from any type of ad. No more hiding behind a flash anymore.

Outlook Express -  gone the way of the Pony Express. It's history now. I don't use gmail but I do connect directly to my email providers now.

The Chrome Web Store has proved to be the kind of store I really like. So far everything I picked up has been free. But shopping can be a hassle, I don't know how many time I've gone through everything to check if something new has been stocked. The store really needs a 'New Category' listing.

Wish List:

• FTP - I can use the back end of my hosting account to get files from my portable drive but how do I get them there from my online storage services? Still checking and I'm sure a solution will present itself. Either someone will give me the answer or I'll stumble upon it.
• zip file decompression - I no longer compress files. The days of dial up and watching every byte is over. I don't zip desktop wallpaper images any longer. Now, about the only need I have is to decompress zipped Flash game files. So far Open Rar Files Online looks handy enough but I'm going to save up a lot of zip files to do all at once since there's a fee structure. 
• Surprise me
• THE BIG ONE - I'm still designing and laying out web pages in a HTML text editor. There is nothing I can find on the web that even comes close to my old program - HomeSite 4.5 I know it's an old habit but I'm not ready to quit. Hell, I just bought another copy because I lost the original.

My CR-48 should arrive any day now. At least I'm prepared to take it out for a spin around the block now.

Chrome Browser

Blogger isn't the only Google product I haven't used. While I had the Chrome Browser installed on my computer it was only used to preview my web site to make sure everything displayed OK.

It's only two days and I'm pretty hooked. I've never 'tweeked' a browser before. But Chrome made it all too easy for me not to. Instead of my desktop littered with shortcuts my favorite sites are now displayed out of the way on the bookmarks bar. The most frequently used sites are only a click away on the displayed bookmarks bar while the those used less frequently but often are hidden on the bar by the Other bookmarks folder. It takes two clicks to get to those. Maybe I could have set up something similar on other browsers but I never tried.

Some tasks I normally had to open another website or program to do are now tools displayed as 'apps' on the address bar. What ever they may be called,  apps - extensions - or whatchamacallits I found to be quite useful. I even picked up some handy little tools I didn't have before at the Google Chrome Apps Store. I chose the free ones of course.

Meanwhile I'm waiting on my Chrome Notebook. I'm trying not to get too used to the Google experience but playing with my two new Google toys is hard to resist. Hence the second post :)

Note:
I find Blogger so easy to use I guess I won't have much to say about it until I run into a problem. Publishing a simple blog post that looks good is foolproof enough for me to be able to use it with no problems so far. learning what the Chrome browser can do is far more of a challenge for me. And that's not hard, it just takes some time reading, playing with it and the hardest part of all for me - remembering what I've done.

Getting Prepared

I never thought I would ever use Blogger. I use a stand alone Wordpress blog on my website. My head isn't in the cloud. My feet are firmly planted in the past. One foot on my hard drive, the other on my server host account.

But Google would like the usability testers to run Google products through the mill. So here I am.



I use a larger version (1024 X 768) of the frog photo as the background on Google Search. You are welcome to use Frog Eyes either as desktop wallpaper or as the background on Google Search.
Frog Eyes photo 

Note:
Setting up and spitting out the first post was a breeze. But then I've had a fair amount of internet experience and web site design using a text editor. Back in my day we had to walk to school bare foot over basic HTML. I used the Edit HTML window to write this post.

How it would go for a real beginner?


I just switched over to the Compose window.

Looks Easy Enough


The more you play with it the better you'll understand it.

I think I like it.