You Oughta Be In Picures #91: Fun With Photos

I used BeFunky and PhotoFlexer to experiment with the cartoon, paint, and oil painting features. I prefered BeFunky because the images seemed richer. The changes are more apparent.

I also experimented with a profile picture of a bunny rabbit. I used stickers this time. Check him out. The Plain picture is the original one. I used http://www.befunky.com/ to create the photo with the text. The one with the scarf was altered using http://www.photoflexer.com/. Chicharon Corazon a.k.a. Carrot Sticks is so cute!

You Oughta Be In Pictures #90: Sharing Photos

I'm not into sharing photos online. However, if I ever do it will be with family and close friends. I prefer sites that allow one to limit who may view one's content, especially when it comes to images and photos. I support privacy and copyright regulations for users.

I am impressed with Picasa. Picasa is wonderful because I have the option to use their site for my personal use or for photo sharing. It's nice to have a place to store photos online. I also like the fact that you are able to have an unpublished site, as I am big on privacy. The collage, touch up, lighting adjustment, and I'm feeling lucky features are also superb!

You Oughta Be In Pictures #89: Basic Photo Editing

I have recently starting experimenting with photo editing. Right now I prefer using the Piknik website. Piknik is great because it allows you to use some editing features for free! Of course some of the nicer ones you'll have to pay a premium for.

The primary features I must have are red eye removal, color, exposure, contrast, colors and sharpening. However, my new favorites are the teeth whitening and weight reducer features! Check out the before and after pictures.

Pot Luck #57: TXT U L8R - Texting

I send text messages all the time. Usually it's not for an emergency. Normally it's to communicate a message without having to have a long conversation over the phone. I do not use the lingo discussed in the module, but I do abbreviate words quite often. After reading the article, it seems to me that it is the best solution to avoid texting while driving. I don't know if we need a law though, it should be obvious.

Books, Readers and Beyong: #53 Finding Books Online

Exercise One



The three closest bookstores to my location are Book-A-Million, Katy Budget Books, and the Bookworm. Books-A-Million has the best looking website. It's orderly, colorful, and professional looking. The Bookworm's website is also orderly. It also has that mom and pop shop feel. However, it's page colors are dull. Katy Budget Books website is b r i g h t! Bright yellow, that is. It has great content on its page, especially the notifications of visiting authors, but it' website is disorderly.





Exercise Two


I found the book Undead and unworthy available online at Books-A-Million. The online price for the book is 15.63. There was not an eBook or Audio version available. I was unable to find it on the other two websites in any format.






Exercise Three

This is not the first time I've downloaded an eBook. I like how the each section or chapter is organized. The problem for me is that if I'm reading a lot of text my eyes get tired. And, my body is not comfortable or relaxed. However, I do enjoy perusing nonfiction eBooks online, especially cookbooks. I have text and images to look at. This keeps me interested. My preference for reading is to read a print copy of work. I'm able to get into a comfortable position or take my book anywhere without worrying about theft, which would be the case with packing a computer around.

Books, Readers, and Beyond: #54 Social Networking Through Books

Exercise 1


I have never formerly been a member of a book club. However, I did try to start one with a couple of my coworkers. The first time it was with one coworker and we read three books. It was fun! The second time, it was with two other coworkers. But, we had other books we were reading or the timing just wasn't right and we just forgot about it. If I were to join a real book club it would be in person.





Exercise 2

I would be interested in creating a romance book club at my library. There are several subdivisions of romance that could be explored. I've read historical and contemporary, but right now I'm into paranormal. Using Reading Group Choices at http://www.readinggroupchoices.com/search/search1.cfm I found a book named Undead and unworthy by Mary Janice Davidson.

Exercise 3

Goodreads rated Undead and unworthy as 3.89 and Shelfari rated it as 4.0. That's pretty close. Judging by its ratings, it appears to be a good read. I was surprised that on each website both titles were rated by several hundreds of people. It's good to see others out their talking about books you enjoy reading.

http://www.goodreads.com/

http://www.shelfari.com/

Pot Luck #55 Getting the Most Out of Facebook

My initial and current impression of Facebook is that it is not for a privacy lover like myself. I do not want my image or personal information to be accessible on any website, including Facebook. I created an account previously to fulfill a requirement for a class I was taking. I never deleted the account. It's been awhile ago so I can't really remember what the experience was like creating the account. However, I remember having a negative impression of it, maybe due to the fact that most people post their photos. I wasn't having any of that. And, I pretty much forgot all about Facebook until it was mentioned in conversation by a few people I knew. To my surprise, I few people I knew found me on Facebook and invited me to be their friend. I reciprocated and searched for other people that I knew. It was a simple process. However, another thing that I did not like was that Facebook shows you some of your friend's friends' because you may know them and want to invite them to be your friend. The overall concept is smart. But, we live in a dangerous world. I'm protective of my own and my friend's privacy. I believe I won't delete the Facebook account any time soon, especially since some of my friends use it. However, I believe I will need to remove a couple of people as friends. I'm not likely to log on to Facebook regularly either.