Pointers For Perfect Digital Photos

I spent all of last week taking tons of pictures for visitors we had in town for work. I made myself the unofficial photographer for their whole trip, and after the week was over, I ended up with well over 500 photos.I’m often teased because the joke is that Asians always take so many pictures wherever they go. I suppose I do fit that stereotype, and even more so since I took as many photos as possible so they would have a good memory of their visit to the Islands.

Digital cameras have surely raised the bar when it comes to picture-taking these days. You don’t have to worry about wasting film, and as long as you have the space on your memory stick/card,you can take as many as your heart desires.

I’ve been called the anal-retentive photographer multiple times by my husband and friends alike because I’m so picky. As second nature, I pre-crop my photos and use natural light as much as possible. These are the most important pointers I can give you for the perfect shots:


Framing The Shot: Framing your shot with good composure will greatly improve your photographs. You don’t necessarily have to center your subjects in the photo, especially if there’s a picturesque background. Try to avoid distractions in your photo’s background (i.e. wait for people to walk out of your shot). Make sure to have the right composition - while taking a picture of a dog or small child, kneel to his/her level to make it more interesting.

Using Flash: Some people use flash all the time to take photos, but this is one of my pet peeves. Using flash will oftentimes wash out your subject and make everything look white. Granted, in some situations you need it. Believe it or not, you’ll want to use it in the bright sunlight if you have shadows covering your subject. Using a flash here will fill in and remove the shadows while not affecting the rest of the photo. If you do use flash, it’s also important to know the range of it, otherwise it will be too dark (typically if it’s farther than 10 feet away). Still, the best thing to do is to use natural light while adjusting your shutter speeds appropriately. You’ll want the shutter to be open longer if it’s darker, and shorter if it’s brighter.



Action Shots: Capturing action can sometimes be difficult if your shutter speed is too slow - you need a fast shutter speed. For example, if you’re trying to shoot a car driving by, keep following it and push the button down halfway to focus as you go (all of this should happen in less than two seconds). At the right second, push the button all the way down and your car should be clear with a nice blurred background to convey the motion. For sports shots, same concept - focus in on the athlete, snap it at the right second, and it’ll come out perfectly if you did it correctly.

The second aspect to “action shots” with movement are nighttime pictures and capturing light trails with passing cars’ headlights. For this, you must use slow shutter speeds. I also use this same concept for running water (i.e. waterfalls), but you have to be careful with the exposure for water - too long, and your picture will be too dark. If you do these both correctly, your pictures will look phenomenal. A tripod would be helpful in this situation, too.

These rules apply to all picture-taking, but the difference with digital is that you can see your results right away. If the tricks happen to fail you, then no problem - that’s what good ol’ Photoshop is for. In no way do I claim to be a professional photographer, but I’m not shy about saying that my pictures come out pretty good, so I know how a little something about taking good photos.

Tracking Where Your Money Goes

Last week at work I was teased for being so financially tight that you can hear me squeak when I walk down the hall. This was a result of bringing a can of soda with me when we went out to eat because I refused to pay $2 for a cup of soda with my plate lunch. Yeah, ha ha, laugh now, but I saved myself $2 ($10/week, $40/month, $480/year)! After all, I am “Pahkee"/Chinese.

To a certain extent, I guess I do match that old stereotype, but it’s all for the good. I’m always watching what I spend. To boost my penny-pinching skills, I found a new website called Mint. It’s a fresh (hence its name), easy and free way to track where your money goes.

The setup is quick and simple. You create a username/password, add in your bank accounts and credit cards (by web logins) and Mint shows you instant graphs/charts of your spending. When I first login, I see an overview of what I spent on shopping, restaurants, gas, entertainment and groceries (based on my credit card information).

Clicking on the Transactions tab, you can see everything you charged on your credit cards, fully categorized, which feeds the Spending Trends pie chart. Some of my charges were not exactly accurate as far as type goes, but it was close enough.
SpendSpace allows you to compare your spending to others Mint users (anonymously), so you can see how you match up.


At the moment, more than 5,000 U.S. financial institutions participate with Mint, and each night it connects to these to update your user’s account information. Unfortunately one of my banks is not currently in there, but I’ve requested it to sign up. Not sure how long that will take, but anything you don’t see in there can easily be requested.

Mint goes beyond just reporting, by using a search algorithm to search through thousands of offers from hundreds of providers to find the best deals on credit cards, bank accounts, Internet plans and more. It will look at the percentage rate on your current accounts and recommends opening other accounts with higher rates. In my case, it recommended opening an account with Washington Mutual to earn 4 percent APY with my savings account. I didn’t follow that recommendation (yet), but I’m waiting to see what else it presents to me.

If you’re worried about security while you’re logging into Mint, to ease your mind: Its security and privacy have been validated by VeriSign, Trust-e and HackerSafe. It protects your information with bank-level security and 128 bit-encryption. You’ll always be notified of upcoming bills, low balances and any unusual activity in any of your accounts through this one interface. If you have a cell phone that can access the Internet, Mint is mobile, too.

In addition, on the mint.edu portion of Mint’s website there’s a selection of useful articles filled with good ideas on saving money. I find this especially important these days with inflation and the cost of gas going up every day. This site definitely makes personal budgeting easy and just adds to my “Pahkee-ness.”

After two years of development, Mint is currently in public beta status and absolutely free. It’s a much better alternative to Quicken Deluxe and other similar software. Start monitoring your finances and access Mint at www.mint.com.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Released last week exclusively for the Nintendo Wii, Super Smash Bros. Brawl is one of the most amusing games I’ve played in awhile. From the moment I first heard about it, I knew it was a must-have game for my Wii.

This is an action-fighting game that has just about every Nintendo character in existence. You can choose your favorite character and square off against a friend or a Wii CPU opponent for fight practice, or you can go through the game in the adventure mode, known as The Subspace Emissary. Here, you can’t choose your guy, but you play it out as different characters and duke it out with members of the Ancient Minister’s army of creatures (The Primid). Every once in awhile, between duels, you see short cinematics pop up starring your characters.


These creatures come alive to do battle and are turned back into trophies when you defeat them. The Ancient Minister turns the characters into trophies to harness their power, and detonates bombs that suck pieces of the world back into his realm of Subspace. Eventually all the characters must work together to defeat the invaders, and you do this by playing through the side-scrolling levels.

I cracked the game open together with my husband; I played my favorite character, Pikachu, against his Donkey Kong. My little yellow dude was able to beat up that gorilla pretty good (with my help, of course). After a few minutes of fighting each other there, we switched over to play co-op in The Space Emissary mode.

The first things I noticed were the colorful graphics and sharpness of the characters. There are a total of 35 characters, 14 of which you have to unlock since they are hidden. Besides Pikachu (from Pokemon) and Donkey Kong, some others you’ll see are Mario, Kirby, Samus, Bowser, Link, Meta Knight, Zelda, Wario and Yoshi (another one of my faves). You’ll also see third-party, non-Nintendo characters such as Sonic the Hedgehog or Solid Snake (from Metal Gear Solid). Each has its own signature fighting styles and moves. My favorite part of the Pikachu guy is his ability to shoot out jolts of electricity. Those electrical shocks to your enemies seem to be an effective way to defeat them.


Booting your enemies out of the arena is always the goal. You’ll see percentage boxes at the bottom of the screen - the higher the number, the farther you’ll fly when you’re hit. You want to keep the number down for yourself and up for your enemy. Throughout combat, various items will spawn for you to pick up and use as weapons: baseball bats, flowers, boxes to throw or a sword. The amount of unique battlefields and the game’s selection of 100+ Brawl-composed songs is another plus to the game. Some of the more well-known song composers include Koji Konda (Super Mario Bros.), Yasunori Mitsuda (Chrono Trigger) and Yoko Shimomura (Kingdom Hearts). In addition, the game is somewhat customizable, from the frequency of item appearances to musical scores to online matches. You can have up to four people play online or two in your living room. To finish the entire thing (for The Subspace Emissary), you’ll need approximately eight to 10 hours. It’s probably better to go through it with a partner - it’s easier to finish off the enemies that way.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl is a must-have for all Wii-owning Nintendo fans. The simple controls and gameplay make it easy enough for beginners and Smash Bros. experts alike to enjoy this game. Most of the game-play (including online) is lag-free, and you can share screenshots, custom levels and game replays with your friends. You won’t hear much talking from the characters, but the graphics are fairly sharp (probably the best I’ve seen yet on the Wii). It is rated T for Teen and you can find it at your nearest GameStop (www.gamestop.com), Best Buy (www.bestbuy.com) or www.amazon.com for $49.99.

Sending Huge Files

One of my biggest pet peeves is when someone tries to send me an e-mail attachment that is several gigabytes big. Not megabytes. Gigabytes. Yes, it actually happens, and I won’t mention any names. For the record, typically when you need to transfer a file that is very large (several megabytes and of course gigabytes big), you usually either burn it to a CD/DVD/external (thumb) drive or place it on an ftp (File Transfer Protocol) server to transfer it to your recipient, not e-mail it.

So you don’t clog up anymore e-mail in-boxes and cause frustrations, you should try YouSendIt instead. It had a nice little booth at Macworld this year, and I happened to be standing next to Sinbad while I was getting my YouSendIt demo. Anyway, the program enables you to transfer large files by using YouSendIt’s server. It’s a great alternative to an ftp server for businesses, or if you’re a regular consumer, it keeps your large file transfers (i.e. sending video files or multiple pictures) clean. Since the company’s initial launch in 2004, it claims to have transferred more than 500 million files to date with 30,000GB of data per day.

“Our corporate and individual customers send, receive and track more than 7 million files every month. The assured delivery of these files is critical to complete their business communication workflows,” said YouSendIt CEO Ivan Koon. “YouSendIt enables companies to increase productivity, revenue potential and customer satisfaction by simplifying the tasks to send, receive and store business critical documents across company boundaries.”


Tens of thousands of companies have already incorporated YouSendIt Corporate into their workflow as a mission critical solution. Because of this, YouSendIt recently created the Corporate Suite to help further businesses eliminate the issues with sending large files. It offers password protection and certified delivery with tracking (automatic digital rights management features).

“We created YouSendIt Corporate Suite to help businesses worldwide eliminate the hassles and expenses associated with sending large files,” said YouSendIt founder Ranjith Kumaran. “Cutting costs and increasing productivity are vital for companies to stay competitive in the marketplace and we’re excited to contribute to that success.”

Whether you’re a business user or consumer, you can upload your files via the web, Plug-ins (Outlook, Photoshop, CorelDRAW, Aperture or PaperPort), or by installing YouSendIt Express onto your computer (PC only). Your recipient then receives an e-mail containing a link to where they can download your files.

As a test I sent a 530MB-sized file to my brother. That took about an hour to upload, and about the same for him to download. Probably a little slow, but not bad for my new free large file transfer solution.

YouSendIt has four different plans: Lite (free, 1GB monthly download bandwidth limit); Pro ($9.99/month, 40GB limit); Business Plus ($29.99/month, 200GB limit); Corporate Suite ($99.99/month, no limit). Log onto www.yousendit.com for more information and to setup your free account.

Move Over Blackberry, Here Comes Apple

Last week Apple announced and previewed the release of its iPhone 2.0 software beta, slated for release this June. The beta includes the iPhone Software Development Kit (SDK) and enterprise features, such as support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync. In short, this gives the iPhone the functionality that typically would be sought after with a Blackberry device.

“We’re excited about creating a vibrant third-party developer community with potentially thousands of native applications for iPhone and iPod touch,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “iPhone’s enterprise features combined with its revolutionary Multi-Touch user interface and advanced software architecture provide the best user experience and the most advanced software platform ever for a mobile device.”

Among business users, previous lack of the Exchange support was probably the biggest complaint about the iPhone. This specific update will turn your iPhone into more of a mobile computer by enabling Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync to provide secure, over-the-air push e-mail, contacts, calendars and the addition of Cisco IPsec VPN for encrypted access to private corporate networks, thus opening a whole new door for the iPhone.

Apple licensed Exchange ActiveSync from Microsoft and is building it into the iPhone so that it can connect out-of-the-box to Microsoft Exchange Servers 2003/2007. This built-in Exchange support also enables security features such as remote wipe, password policies and auto-discovery. Additionally, WPA2 Enterprise with 802.1x authentication enables you to use your iPhone and iPod touch with the latest standards for Wi-Fi network protection.

The refreshing thing is that with the iPhone SDK, anybody will be able to build native applications for the iPhone with a rich set of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). This means exciting new applications that can utilize the iPhone’s Multi-Touch user interface. In addition to Microsoft and Cisco, other third-party developer companies on-board with this so far include AOL, Disney, Electronic Arts, Epocrates, Genentech, Nike and Sega.


I’m looking forward to seeing some of the games by these developers. In fact, Electronic Arts’ CEO John Riccitiello said, “The animation technology in the iPhone OS enables us to build awesome games. I think iPhone consumers are going to be blown away by the games we create for this platform.” The SDK gives the developer a reliable, fast and secure way to create something innovative for the iPhone/iPod touch. It provides advanced tools such as Xcode for source code editing, project management and graphical debugging; Interface Builder with drag and drop interface creation and live preview; Instruments to monitor and optimize iPhone application performance in real time; and iPhone Simulator to run and debug applications.

During the beta period, a limited number of developers will be accepted into Apple’s new Developer program and offered the ability to get code onto iPhones for testing. The Standard Program is $99 per year and the Enterprise Program costs $299 per year. You can try it at developer.apple.com/iphone/program.

In addition, the iPhone 2.0 software release will contain the App Store, a new application that will let you browse, search, purchase and wirelessly download third-party applications directly onto your iPhone or iPod touch. Several new Mail features were added, such as the ability to view PowerPoint, Word or Excel documents, along with being able to mass delete and move e-mail messages.

The bottom line: This software update could easily propel the iPhone past the Blackberry and become the overall most popular phone in America. We’ll see what happens. The final release of the iPhone 2.0 software, with the SDK and new enterprise features, will be available to all iPhone customers by the end of June. The third-party applications created for the iPhone also will be available for the iPod touch as a paid software update. Visit Apple’s website (www.apple.com) for more information.

Microsoft Office 2008 For Mac

For those of you who work in an office/business environment, chances are you use Microsoft Office in some way, shape or form. I just went through the release and transition to Office 2007 for the PC platform at work, and after a few bumps in the road causing delays, Microsoft Office for Mac 2008 is now here.

Released in January, this is the first universal version of Office for Mac that runs natively on both the old-school PowerPC and Intel-based Macs. It is also the latest update since about four years ago with Office 2004. Writing this column and a flier I need to do are my very first projects on Office 2008.

“We built Office 2008 with the unifying goal of making it easier for Mac users to access the tools they need to get the job done - whether it’s creating a brochure for their business, managing their family schedule and finances, or finalizing a presentation to share between Macs and PCs,” said Craig Eisler, general manager of the Mac Business Unit at Microsoft. “And, of course, Office 2008 for Mac will provide the document fidelity with the 2007 Microsoft Office system that our users need to stay connected with their friends and co-workers on PCs.”


Installing it was painless. It automatically overwrote my old Office 2004 files and took about 15 minutes. But before you even think about putting this on your Mac, make sure you’re running a minimum of OS X version 10.4.9, and have at least 1.5GB of space on your hard drive, and 521 MB of RAM. There are various versions you can buy, but for this, I tried out the regular full Office 2008 for Mac. Here’s a quick breakdown of what I thought of each program:

* Word: The first thing I noticed was the refreshing look. The menus sort of pop out at you with Document Elements, and the Formatting Palette seems to be a bit bigger (and easier to look at) than the 2004 version. I’ve been so tired of the old templates, so these new ones included are nice to look at. As far as general functionality goes, I don’t see any dramatic differences, but students will love the new reference tools, and people who snail mail often will appreciate the improved Mail Merge. The Publishing Layout View is especially useful when you’re working on a newsletter or, in my case, a flier.

* Excel: The things that stick out for me in Excel are the Formula Builder, Elements Gallery/Ledger Sheets and the nice charts. The Formula Builder walks you through the steps to make a perfect formula, and will autofill where it sees fit. The Ledger allows you to enter and track data easily, and those charts created with OfficeArt graphics look better than previous charts.

* PowerPoint: I enjoy the integration with iPhoto, and you can put the presentation on your iPod/iPhone by saving it as a PNG or JPEG file and additionally have full functionality control of the presentation with your Apple Remote.

* Entourage: I don’t usually use Entourage, but for my test, I set-up my Gmail account with no issues. From what I hear, the calendar and tracking daily activities are much improved.

* Messenger For Mac: This is a useful tool if you instant message frequently. You need to have a Microsoft Live account setup before you start, then you can log into multiple IM accounts simultaneously (i.e. Yahoo!, AIM or MSN).

Overall, I’m satisfied with the Office 2008 release, especially pertinent in a business or home office environment. But the biggest drawback for most people is the price. The cheapest option is $149.95 for the Home and Student Edition (formerly Student and Teacher) with three licenses, but you won’t have any Exchange or Automator support. Full Office is $399.95 (or $299.95 for the upgrade if you already have an older Office), and the Mac Special Media Edition is $499.95 ($299.95 upgrade).

You can find Office 2008 just about anywhere, but I think the most convenient place to buy it is Amazon.com because of the free shipping.

Joby's Growing Gorillapod Family

“What is that?”

That’s the question I’ve become accustomed to hearing whenever I bust out my trusty Gorillapod to take a picture. The Gorillapod (made by Joby), a flexible camera tripod, has been around for awhile, and I also wrote about it when it first launched about two years ago.

I ran into the Joby folks at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) and Macworld, and can tell you that since I last checked, Joby sure has expanded the product line from one Gorillapod to a few different items. The two biggest announcements were the Gorillapod Go-Go! and Zivio.

“Over the past 12 months our development team has been working hard to create products that improve the everyday consumer’s life, allowing flexibility and freedom from the constraints of technology,” said JoeBen Bevirt, founder of Joby. “With the unveiling of the Zivio and the Gorillapod Go-Go!, our goal is to deliver two new products that simplify the connection between consumers and high-tech devices, ultimately creating a more enjoyable user experience. We are thrilled to introduce these products at this year’s CES.”

What makes a Gorillapod so special is it’s a flexible tripod that can wrap around just about anything. No matter which Gorillapod you buy, it’s compact enough to carry around in your back pocket, purse or man-bag and features flexible joints that bend and flex 360 degrees to set your camera into the perfect position on just about any surface.


The Gorillapod Go-Go! is a mobile entertainment kit designed so you can hold, position or attach a variety of your gadgets anywhere while you’re on the go. The kit will include a Gorillapod Original, suction cup, two quick-release clips along with double-stick adhesive. The Go-Go! is perfect to display your iPod, GPS or cell phone in the car (or wherever you might be). With its $34.95 price tag, the Go-Go! is due to hit the retail market sometime this month.

Next is Joby’s Zivio, a Bluetooth headset with an extendable, flexible microphone boom to ensure clear communications in noisy environments. It eliminates background noise and has interchangeable earpieces to best fit your ear. Powered with a CSR BlueCore 4 Bluetooth chip, the Zivio gives you 10 hours of talk time or 200 hours of standby. It’s set to release in the spring and will come in different colors (also TBA). No price has been announced yet.

Joby’s additional add-ons include colored Gorillapod Originals - yellow, red, pink, green, blue and the original gray ($24.95). The Original supports cameras that weigh up to 9.7 ounces. The Gorillapod SLR ($44.95) can hold up to 1.75 pounds, and the SLR-ZOOM ($49.95) can support up to 6.6 pounds and is probably more for the professional photographers or those who typically use a large lens.

For the past couple of years I’ve been using my handy Gorillapod wherever I bring my camera, especially for self-portraits with friends. I’ve had no problems with it, and now I’m enjoying the one for my SLR too. I’m still entertained by how many people ask me what the thing is. Whether you’re an amateur or professional photographer, I would recommend you purchase a Gorillapod, especially now that there’s a larger selection.

You can purchase Joby’s products on its website at www.joby.com or on Amazon (www.amazon.com). Keep checking Joby’s website for updates or more information on the Go-Go! and Zivio.

Feed Your Pets Wherever You Are

As I type this, I’m on the way to feed my friend’s cats while she’s on a trip. I totally don’t mind since I have a cat (and a parrot) of my own, and I understand her furry friends’ needs. One thing I’ve learned is that it’s best to ask people who enjoy or own animals themselves to feed your furry/feathered treasures. We learned our lesson thoroughly when our friend (who shall remain nameless, but forgiven) forgot to feed (or give water to) our two starving cats for five whole days!

If you’ll be traveling soon and don’t know anyone to feed your critters, or just want to keep an obsessive eye on them while you’re not at home, a viable option is Smarthome’s Remote Pet Feeding & Viewing Kit. It runs with Ergo Pet Feeders, INSTEON home control technology and a Panasonic web cam. To run it properly, you’ll need a PC connected to a high-speed Internet connection, and the viewing kit comes with the feeder and Panasonic network camera.


The first step is setting up the feeder indoors or in a covered area next to a power outlet. You then need to install the timer software onto your home PC and connect the USB PowerLinc Controller to your computer, and the ApplianceLinc to the feeder. You can the schedule feedings with the software or directly from the feeder itself.

The Panasonic camera plugs straight into your local network, and since it has an external web server, you don’t need to have your computer around to view its feed. A free web address you assign to it through www.viewnetcam.com makes this possible. You’ll see the images in color and they’re viewable anywhere you have a web browser, including cell phones. There’s also a color night view mode, and for total darkness you can purchase an IR Illuminator separately ($140).

The large feeder is for cats or dogs weighing more than 15 pounds and can dispense food up to eight times a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. Why you would want to feed them eight times I day, I do not know, but it’s possible. The food is dispensed over a minute with a slow-moving auger, and if an anxious pup puts his tongue up the chute, it’s still safe. For pets weighing less than 15 pounds, there’s a small feeder option.

Of course, these feeders don’t replace the face time you need to spend with your pets, but it’s nice to know it’s out there if you can’t find anyone to feed/water them. Too bad this won’t work for my bird, but he’s just too high maintenance. He usually goes to grandma’s house anyway while we’re gone (and gains weight while he’s spoiled).

All of Smarthome’s products are available on its website at www.smarthome.com. The Remote Pet Feeding & Viewing Camera Kit sells for $149.99 (small feeder) or $169.99 (large feeder).