Planet mezZ

GMAIL Goodies

Joe Mezzanini — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 01:09:04 +0000

Gmail is very cool in its default state. But so many people fail to explore some of the cool things. Two of which are theme and labs.

With themes, you can change the layout and design to anything from crazy to minimalist. Just log into Gmail and go to settings, then themes. Poke around – their are some neat designs there.

I like the minimalist theme, but some people like the bubble gummy wild colors.

Themes changes the looks of things, and labs changes the functionality – just look for the laboratory beaker icon on the top right of your Gmail main page.

Click on the beaker and you will see what’s available. This is where Google tests Gmail features before they make them permanent.

These are my favorites, but check them yourself. Everyone has different needs and their are a lot more than what I have listed below.

If you use the undo send, you can set the delay time – I set mine for 30 seconds because I see mistakes after I hit my send key too often.

Title tweaks is useful because I always have multiple tabs open and I can see how many unread mails I have in the gmail tab.

Superstars is my favorite of all. I assign an icon to prioritize emails. Examples, yellow exclamation points for things I have to do as soon as possible, blue info for shipping information (waiting for a package), yellow stars for email I will for active projects, yellow checkmarks are things I need to follow up in a few days, etc.

If you use Chrome as a browser, Rich Levin has a nice extension for you that allows sorting based upon what Superstar is assigned to an email.

If you use Superstars you can choose your icons under settings-> general tabs

Send and archive is useful, but I wish they would have a send and delete button.

Now that we can click and drag images into the gmail composition box, this may not be as useful anymore. I still use it myself very often.

If you use Google Voice, then this feature is a must have for sure.

One thing Gmail does best is filters out spam and phishing emails. Sometimes a phishing email slips into the inbox. If you see an email from ebay or paypal without the authenticating icon – then you know at a glance that it’s a fake. Very nice.

With so many people with droids, this is fun.

Not useful for all, but if you find yourself answering the same question or giving out the same reply again and again, you’ll love these pre-canned responses.

If that’s not enough fun for you, don’t forget Gmail now allows rich text format in your signature file (settings – > general, scroll down to signature).

Being Wise with Your Photos

Joe Mezzanini — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 06:49:51 +0000

Everyone loves to make photos and we all do it for different and various reasons.

One thing we all have in common however, is that we love to show off our photos.

Displaying them on the web is fun, but nothing is better than a real print – matted and framed – on display someplace, or seeing our masterpiece in a calendar or magazine.

So when we have an opportunity to get our photos in the public eye by entering a contest or an exhibit many of us jump at it.

We’ve all make submissions without ever reading the entry rules, and I used to do the same thing. But take a few minutes to actually read them and you may be surprised.

In many photo contests, you are agreeing that others may use your photos on their site and anywhere else they see fit without payment to you – even if your entry does not win.

Look for the section that talks about who holds the copyright – many entry rules specify that you forfeit all rights to your photos. That means you can no longer sell it or use it for other projects – essentially it's not your photo anymore.

Here is just one example from Smithsonian.com:

By entering the contest, entrants grant Smithsonian Institution a royalty-free, world-wide, perpetual, non-exclusive license to display, distribute, reproduce, and create derivative works of the entries, in whole or in part, in any media now existing or subsequently developed, for any Smithsonian Institution purpose, including, but not limited to advertising and promotion of the magazine and its Web site, exhibition, and commercial products, including but not limited to Smithsonian Institution publications. Photographs may appear on the Smithsonian Journeys Web site as well as in Journeyspublications. Any photograph reproduced will include a photographer credit. The Smithsonian Institution will not be required to pay any additional consideration or seek any additional approval in connection with such uses."

Our local newspaper asks for entries of local photos for their yearly calendar, yet they have not displayed any entries rules. At one point (in 2008) I emailed them and asked and they replied:

" The calendars aren't sold, but there is paid advertising on each page. Profit from the advertising goes to the Observer-Dispatch. There are no plans at this point to use the photos in anything other than the calendar, but the Observer-Dispatch reserves the rights to use the photos in future promotional materials.."

"Before any images will be published in the calendar, we will require signed permission to use the image without any financial compensation to the owner of the photograph . At that time, the owner can decide whether or not to let us use the photograph."

Let’s think about this. If they choose your photo they make a profit from your work, provide no financial compensation and may use our photos for future promotional materials. I wonder what happens to the photos not chosen for the calendar – they did not specify and I didn’t ask, I just didn’t enter.

In my opinion – something is wrong, as is the with the Smithsonian rules, and many other “contests.”

I was guilty myself by not reading the rules when I submitted a photo to National Geographic. I read entry rules now and cringe ..

By entering the Contest, all entrants grant an irrevocable perpetual non-exclusive license to Authorized Parties, to reproduce, distribute, display and create derivative works of the entries (along with a name credit) in connection with the Contest and promotion of the Contest, in any media now or hereafter known…”

Well, at least the National Geographic winner gets a $5700 camera. But, even if you don’t win, you still are granting others to use your work for profit – of which you get no compensation.

Carolyn E. Wright (an attorney) has a really interesting blog and often dissects and comments on photo contest entry rules. It’s fun and educational to follow.

I am not suggesting a boycott of all contests, but I am suggestion that you read the entry rules and be sure you are okay with them. Obviously many of these “contests” are merely ploys to harvest photos without paying the photographers.

Closing on a positive note, we are lucky enough in Utica, NY to have a many contests and exhibitions that give us a chance to display our work without the concerns cited above.

Munson Williams, Danella’s Photography Weekend in Central New York (my favorite) and the Herkimer County Community College/Utica Camera Club exhibit come to mind. I am sure their may be other projects and exhibitions that exist for the love of photography and not for the exploitation of our hard work.

Sirius XM Streamer

Joe Mezzanini — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 01:50:26 +0000

It’s pretty easy to get hooked on Sirius Satellite Radio. After using it in my car, I just had to have in at home and office.

You can catch the Sirius radio stream one of two ways – either via satellite or the internet.

If you choose to use the satellite stream then you will need a Sirius compatible listening device and an outside antennae.

If you choose the internet, you can use the Sirius web site, an internet radio, or – thanks to Steven Kean – you can use free software that he created.

I tried using the web site to listen via the internet, but I found it was slow, unable to save my password, and I hate having to decode captcha every time I want to listen to music. Plus I cannot save my favorite stations and I had to have my browser open to use it. Therefore I turned to a stand-alone software solution.

I could not find what I wanted until Ira Wilsker who frequents PC Talk Online as I do, suggested I try Sirius XM Streamer.

I did and it works great. I am blogging this because Sirius XM Streamer was hard to find and I’d like to maximize its exposure.

If you do use it, i suggest you click the donate button on Steven Kean’s website and drop him a few bucks. It’s very nice software and well worth it.

Techno Smart – Dollar Foolish

Joe Mezzanini — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 01:05:55 +0000

I hate being lost, having bad or wrong directions – so I thought it was time to update my Garmin GPS maps – they’re almost two years old.

Yes, I know about VZ Navigator on my cell phone, but that failed to work in a location with no cell service – just when I needed it — and when I was lost. Also when VZ Navigator is working, any text messages or phone calls blows the navigation map away. That’s why I bought a real GPS, they work everywhere.

So, onto the Garmin site to update the maps, I paid $119 for updated maps (for the next year) – big mistake.

While shopping at BJ’s today, I saw a whole display of new shiny GPS’s for $119.

Map updates was pretty a dumb move. I could of had a whole new GPS for the same price and gave my “old” GPS away – or sold it on ebay for a few bucks.

I am really pissed off at Garmin for charging as much for a map update as Magellan does for a new GPS. I am also pissed off at myself because I failed to do my normal research before buying something like this.

I also now notice that Magellan updates are half the price of Garmin’s is.

Worse yet, I have a feeling that everyone already knows this, but me!

Google’s “New” Search Options

Joe Mezzanini — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 04:49:26 +0000

Google has added some really neat search options that I think many people have missed. It can really help you get specific with your search results – and it’s pretty easy to use.

In the screen shot I searched for Nikon D90 and used the Wonder Wheel.

Nandu, from Google explains it really well, in only 2 minutes – in the video below.

Methylethyketoxime is Fun

Joe Mezzanini — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 23:39:31 +0000

What’s waterproof, flexible, dish-water proof, resistant from 76 below zero to 356 above zero and fun to use? Sugru is!.

It’s a silicone based adhesive clay that is better than epoxy, rubber cement, and in some cases super-glue. Their web site says “Sugru’s magical properties mean it can hack almost anything better.”

It’s cool because it looks just like clay, kind of feels like it, and can be used to fix things. Once dry it stays flexible – so you can use it on things that move, like cables or shoes. Because Sugru isn’t just an adhesive, you can use it to make things instead if just repairs things.

It comes in various colors in an air tight package. Just open it, mix it with your hand and it’s ready to use. I bought a 12 pack of Black, Green, Orange and Blue for about $20 shipped from London.

I repaired a refrigerator drawer that was cracked in the front – making the whole front panel fall off.

Superglue failed to work, because the parts did not make good contact with each other, but Sugru worked great. I could of used epoxy, but that stuff is expensive, it stinks, and it’s hard to work with and clean up. I hate mixing the hardener with the epoxy and none of that is required with Sugru. My application was not very creative — but Sugru fixed my problem and it was a good test run for me.

I had no issues mixing it with bare hands, but I seriously recommend using rubber gloves with Sugru. Some people are sensitive to chemicals and there has been at least one severe reactive to Sugru (link below),

Since this stuff is fun, looks like clay and has the main ingredient listed as “Methyltris(methylethyketoxime)silane;Gamma-Aminopropyl Triethoxysilance”, I’d sure keep it away from kids.

Kudos to the Sugru marketing team for selling this as a creative product instead of just a special glue. Sugru has an interesting blog (don’t miss it), a monthly prize for creative uses and more kudos for making maximum use of social media to promote this stuff. Sugru is deserving of all that attention. I like it a lot and can’t wait to find a use for the other 11 packs I have. It’s everything they claim it is.

The Little Man, Rudeness, and Jazz

Joe Mezzanini — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 22:36:13 +0000

I never thought anyone could have a bad experience at the Salvation Army, but I thought wrong.

This morning I brought a car full of really nice clothes to the Utica, New York, Salvation Army.

I did not expect to be totally ignored by the guy collecting donations in the parking lot. A head nod, a hello — even a “please place your clothes here” would have been okay. The little man inside my head said “not everyone has people skills, and we are all entitled to a bad day,” so that experience in itself was not a big deal.

I assumed that I was supposed to put the clothing in one of the six large bins by the truck. It’s not rocket science. I really expected him to say “thank you” or maybe look at or somehow acknowledge me — but I guess the four of us unloading our carloads of donations were all invisible.

The next step is to go inside and get a receipt for tax purposes. Looks like the procedure is for people to fill out the receipt themselves and get someone to sign it.

As I was doing that at their desk with no employee present, I saw a woman dragging a beautiful cherry cabinet and really struggling with it, stressing its legs — I was hoping one wouldn’t snap right off. I assumed she was a worker and started asking her questions about how to get my receipt signed by a representative of the Salvation Army. She said “I don’t work here” — being a little embarrassed at my mistake, I cracked a joke — “maybe you can sign this anyway – no one would know” and we both laughed.

At that point another woman literally appeared out of the shadows and scolded me. “Yes, they will know. The IRS audits us every year.” She took my receipt, reviewed it, then tore it up like a human paper shredder.

I felt like I was in 5th grade and turned in a term paper that deserved something less than an F.

She seemed pretty insulted that I wrote an amount on the receipt, and then, feeling like I got sent to the principal’s office, I was reprimanded about writing “$500″ on the receipt. “You can write any amount you want on your copy after you leave, but not on ourrrrr copy.”

My donation was at very least worth $1000, but that was beside the point. I simply wrote another receipt and asked her to sign that one.

She reviewed it like a crime scene investigator looking for DNA evidence, but finally signed it, only after talking to another guy for a couple minutes. He came in after me, but it didn’t seem to matter.

The little man inside me repeated “not everyone has people skills, and we are all entitled to a bad day.” Once again, no thank you, no nod of appreciation, nothing — not even eye contact.

In the parking lot I ran into the woman who bought the cherry cabinet who was really struggling with it now — I couldn’t resist but to help her. After we loaded her car, I said “jeez .. people are pretty rude in there” – she agreed and said they would not help her carry the cabinet. We talked a while about bargains and she said she paid only $50 for that cabinet.

What a steal that was — so I made a beeline into the Salvation Army store which is separate from the donation center, and I looked around a bit. Pretty neat stuff all over. Then jazz men Artie Shaw and Glenn Miller jumped out at me, and I ended up buying two book sets of their 78 RPM vinyl records from the 1930s or 40s. As one who appreciates jazz and history, these are a nice addition to my archives.

I brought them to the checkout counter, and yes — you guessed it — the casher also lacked people skills and she, too, was having a bad day. When it was my turn to pay at the register, I pushed out a cheery “hello” and was again ignored. I handed her a new twenty dollar bill fresh from an ATM, and she handed me a receipt, my change, and dead silence. Not a “thank you” or a “have a nice day.”

I won’t tell you what the little man inside said that time, but I am really disappointed at the coldness from these people.

It’s hard to get mad at an organization like the Salvation Army who helps so many, but instead of being annoyed at people making donations, maybe they should learn how to at the very least say thank you.

Without us they would not have a job, and after all — we do enable them to realize their mission which doesn’t seem to include manners and salesmanship.

Lovin’ the TTR1 from Sirius

Joe Mezzanini — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 17:29:09 +0000

I picked up a Sirius TTR1 radio and overall it’s a really excellent device. It’s signal is fed from Wi-Fi instead of satellite, which is very convenient because there is no wires leading to an outside antenna – a requirement of other models. I finally have a Sirius radio I can move from room to room with ease. The stock photo used here, does not do it justice – it’s actually stylish.

It also has no ESN – you simply use a Sirius internet account. Their web site states it’s $2.99 a month, but as a existing Sirius customer I was offered a deal for one year for $19.01.

That account consist of nothing more than a name and password, that will not only will work for the TTR1, but also on the internet via any web browser, so you can listen from any internet enabled computer. A great value for what comes out to be $1.59 a month.

The build quality of the TTR1 exceeded my expectations – it’s rock solid and weighs in at 6 pounds. The 10 station preset buttons and control dials are of high quality and are nothing like the cheapness of a table radio.

I think the sound is great. It has output jacks for a sound system, earphones and an input jack allowing me to use the TTR1 amp and internal speakers to listen to my Zune or other device.The display automatically adjusts brightness to different environments to easily view artist name, song title and clock functions. A parental control function allow you to restrict access to certain stations.

Their are no options for battery power (personally I don’t care about batteries), comes with a credit card size remote control and the WiFi signal strength meter is kind of cool.

Setup consisted of picking out your SSID, entering your password – then entering your Sirius name/password. I can see where it would be confusing for a novice, but even with a little technical experience it shouldn’t take more than a few minutes.

Since I am using the TTR1 to replace another Sirius radio, I had to call Sirius to deactivate the older receiver. While I had them on the phone, I wanted to create an internet account for the TTR1. Their customer support was under the belief that the TTR1 has a ESN that had to be activated. I have to explain to her how this type of radio works in comparison to those that needed satellite authentication. I don’t know if Sirius customer support as whole is poorly trained of just the one person I ended up with.

My advice is to avoid calling Sirius and try to create/upgrade your account on their web site if at all possible. But, good luck with that – their web site is buggy when it comes to account changes and they have removed the ability for the customer to deactivate a device on the web site.

The TTR1 sells anywhere from $113 to $150 – many stores are showing the stock status as “sold out” or “back ordered” on their web sites.

Overall I really like the TTR1 – a lot. I am a big fan of Sirius, and love their variety of stations. This is a good looking, great functioning well-build device that I recommend to all Sirius fans.

Related Sites

Happy Birthday Weegee

Joe Mezzanini — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Much has been written about Arthur Fellig, better known as Weegee, but once you hear him speak in his own voice, study his photos, and watch his story, there is no turning back.

I sometimes wonder if he would ever have imagined that so many people would remember him today.

Weegee was a freelance nocturnal photographer covering Manhattan police headquarters from 1920 to the 1960s. Weegee has an amazing history. Most of the time he would shoot murders, fires, and accidents — but somehow they are artistic — and he liked to capture the dark side of human nature.

Weegee was often able to arrive at crime scenes before the police and had a dark room built into the trunk of his 1938 police radio equipped Chevrolet. He was not only able to capture the emotion of the moment, but he was able to get the photos to the newspapers in record time.

Basically self taught, Weegee only used a 4×5 Speed Graphic camera preset at f/16, 1/1500 of a second with flashbulbs and a set focus distance of ten feet but was able to capture many amazing moments on film.

Weegee fans should see the film The Naked City. The visual style of which was inspired by Weegee.

In the forward of Weegee's book, also titled The Naked City, William McCleery describes Weegee perfectly..

"He will take his camera and ride off in search of new evidence that his city, even in her most drunken and disorderly and pathetic moments, is beautiful."

-William McCleery

Even better is the film The Public Eye. You won't hear Weegee's name in it because the producers were unable to secure the rights to Weegee's story. Subsequently the director/writer Howard Franklin invented a character named Bernzini played by Joe Pesci.

Make no mistake, however. The Public Eye is really a character study loosely based on Weegee, and Joe Pesci plays the part beautifully. It's a must see for anyone even remotely interested in photojournalism, as are the many books that publish Weegee's work.

When you find yourself beginning to feel a bond between yourself and the people you photograph, when you laugh and cry with their laughter and tears, you will know you are on the right track.”

– Weegee"

In the videos below, you can hear Weegee talk about photojournalism in his own voice (you will hear how mesmerizing that is), watch a clip from the film The Public Eye, and watch a tribute to Weegee with a gallery of his most loved photos.

Today the International Center for Photography in New York City has 20,000 of Weegee's photos. They were last exhibited there in 2006. You can often buy Weegee's photos on web auctions for only a few thousand dollars each — if he only knew.

Weegee was born June 12, 1899. Today, June 12, 2010, I am once again watching the film The Public Eye as my own tribute to Weegee.

I hope you all enjoy Weegee's work as much as I do.

Happy Birthday, Weegee. Thanks for taking me back in time.

(Arthur Fellig June 12, 1899 – December 26, 1968)

Loving Google Docs

Joe Mezzanini — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 15:15:13 +0000

Google’s shared doc’s is soooo useful. If you have more than one person working on the same document Google Docs will save so much aggravation and time.

Gone are the days of emailing a spreadsheet, word document or other document around to people and letting then edit it and waiting for it to come be emailed back to you.

With Google docs, many people can work on a document at the same time and you will all see the newest version.

When we did use it with multiple users – it was actually fun to get the work done.

Google docs provides some incredible functionality – just read the official blog for some great tips (link below)

Even if you are the only one working with your documents, its so nice to have them all in one place, and accessible from anywhere.

The only bad point is if your internet connection is down you cannot get to them, but thankfully I, for one, am surrounded by redundant access points most of the time.

What really blows my mind is that so many people will not use it! I have worked on several projects the past few months where collaboration was the key. A few people involved just refused to try it and insisted that we just keep emailing documents to each other. How crude! Those who jumped in and tried it – love it.

You can lead a horse to water, but can’t make him drink.

If you have not tried it – you can also take Google Docs for a test run without an account (link below). Very cool to experiment, demo and learn on the test site.