Using Tripods To Reduce Handshake

January 28, 2008 The Artist Leave a comment

Some of you know that I run a webstore. Last month a new consignment came in and I had such a hard time taking good shots of my products because I was using my friend’s digital camera. Well, I was not used to its weight and all photos were all ruined.

I discussed with another friend on how to take better pictures because these were taking too much of my time. She suggested the use to tripods. Ah, why didn’t I think of that? I should have done a little search on the web.

Anyway, luckily I have a couple of mini tripods at home that were packaged with the digital camera that I bought last time. Even though they were only mini tripods, I still managed to get the photos shot pretty well for web publishing in time for Christmas sales.

If you are taking lots of product shots, it is definitely a good idea to set up a tripod. it worked for me.

Blogging

I Know They Are Out There!

January 28, 2008 The Artist Leave a comment

I spent the weekend past surfing the web like crazy looking for WordPress themes and website templates. Well, I’ve got three very suitable WordPress themes for my new blogs but I have yet to personalize them. If I fail to personalize them to my needs then I may have to ditch them for something simpler. I hate to beg for help again.

The challenge right now is to look for one WordPress theme and a website template for my iPhone site and blog. There aren’t that many themes and templates that are based on the iPhone and I suspect that some people got them custom made because I could not find the source.

You know, sometimes I feel so overwhelmed with all these. To think that 1.5 years ago, I was learning HTML so that I could customize my Blogger themes and a year ago, I was lost in a web of CSS codes when I first hosted my WordPress blogs. I was so confused that I had to get help for every little thing that I wanted done.

Last week, I got a personal site done at last and now I am going to build a website. A WEBSITE! That is really ambitious of me! Right now, I still have not found the best layouts for my sites and I still need a little time to customize my three new themes. But then, I just started these blogs last week. To think that I spent a few months searching for and then customizing the template of my personal blog that I started last year LOL

Travel

Honeymoon Of A Lifetime

January 27, 2008 The Artist Leave a comment

If you remember, I wrote a post about my friend, Warren, who quietly got married without informing any of his friends. I still think that it was awful of him but he has a secret fantasy of eloping with his bride so the bridal couple went on an adventure to New Zealand. I guess I should not be surprised because Warren has always wanted to tour New Zealand extensively and he even said that he will retire there one day.

Now that he is a new father to a baby boy and we have forgiven him for his secrecy only did he let us in on his adventurous honeymoon. He said that at first, he booked hotels in New Zealand on the web before flying in.

Auckland, New Zealand
Â© Copyright 2007 Roy Tennant
FreeLargePhotos.com

Firstly, Warren made accommodation at one of the hotels in Auckland. He decided to make Auckland their starting point and then travel from there. From the Auckland, which is on the North Island of New Zealand, Warren and his bride traveled south to Wellington where they put up the night at one of the scenic hotels in Wellington.

They also went to Mt. Cook National Park and Queenstown and even Otago. Upon their return, they stayed a couple of nights at one of the hotels in Christchurch, then Nelson and back to Auckland.

Warren said that it was a honeymoon of a lifetime and would like to make a return trip, this time visiting different places of interest. Wow… that sure sounds like an awesome trip and I wish I could just take off for a vacation like that!

WordPress Issues

More WordPress Theme & Website Template Search

January 27, 2008 The Artist 2 Comments

I swear I am going to go cross-eyed anytime soon. This morning, I woke up at 7am with the good intention of searching for themes for my four new WordPress blogs and a website template. Well, guess what? I only slept at 4am this morning and with three hours of rest only, I soon went dizzy. So I spent the morning surfing around and reading blogs! Yeah… Queen of Procrastination in action here!

I chanced upon many websites and blogs that offer good WordPress themes, including Upstart Blogger. I just found out that the blog has changed ownership. Oh, I wonder if anyone wants to buy any of my blogs Muahaha!

Anyway, after blogging a little bit more, I think I will go back to theme searching. I know tomorrow, Monday, will be a busy day for me so I better get most of my stuff done today. An afternoon nap is soooo tempting, though!

General

Gaining Knowledge Surfing The Web

January 26, 2008 The Artist Leave a comment

A couple of months ago, my aunt bought a full featured washing machine. This appliance was picked by her son because my aunt says he “knows everything”. That’s why he picked one with complete features, which is a combination of a washer and dryer. It wasn’t cheap but they loved it.

Now that Chinese New Year is just round the corner and many a party has been planned, my cousin suggested that they buy a dishwasher to deal with all the plates, dishes, bowls and cups that they will have to wash. Haven’t they heard of paper plates that are specially made for parties? Apparently, these do not have “class”.

Anyway, my cousin did a little research on the web and said that they should get a Kitchen Aid dishwasher. I don’t know why he chose this but I have not heard of Kitchen Aid dishwashers before. OK, I admit, I have not heard of ANY brand name dishwasher before because I don’t own a dishwasher and have not purposely checked out the dishwasher market so I don’t even know what’s popular, let alone available.

Since my aunt says that my cousin knows best, a Kitchen Aid dishwasher is what they will be getting. You see, my cousin spends so much time surfing the internet, I wonder if there is anything that he does not know.

Computing & Internet

Upgrade Device To Support Celcom Broadband Advance [3.6G] OR Downgrade To Celcom Broadband [3G]?

January 26, 2008 The Artist 3 Comments

If you are also on a Celcom Broadband plan, you will know that Advance is RM98 per month while the normal 3G plan is RM66 per month of unlimited use. When I first subscribed to Celcom 3G for my mobile device, they did not have an Advance plan but I had to pay RM99 per month.

Subsequently, they created this plan called Celcom Broadband Advance which supports up to 3.6G. They then upgraded my package to Advance and I was billed RM98 per month instead of RM99 per month. Well, a Ringgit cheaper for a faster line.

Anyway, these few days, as you know, I have been facing serious downtime with Streamyx and Celcom has been my saving grace. However, using my mobile device, Nokia E61i, as a modem to connect my computer to Celcom’s broadband, I am not getting the maximum potential of what I am subscribed to because Nokia E61i only supports up to 3G, as far as I know.

So, I have been wondering, do I upgrade my device or do I downgrade my broadband subscription? Right now, I am suffering from dropped signals even though I did not move my phone at all and I feel as if I am wasting RM32 per month.

What do you think? If I were to upgrade my mobile device, which would you recommend, that could support 3.6G, besides LG Viewty?

Computing & Internet

Free 250 Business Cards

January 26, 2008 The Artist Leave a comment

As a blogger with more than ten blogs and websites to my name and running an online business, no less, you can say that I was desperately in need of a business card which I got printed at a local printer.

I would say that was one of the worst decisions I ever made! It is not that the print quality was bad or that their customer service was not up to speed BUT I subsequently found out, a little too late that there are printers offering free business cards suitable for business or personal use.

If you check out the website of Bizcard.com, you will see that they are one of the companies that are offering a total of 250 (!) business cards for free! That is a lot of free cards! Some of my blogger friends managed to get free business cards from other sources too but they were only being offered 50 or 100 cards. What a vast difference, isn’t it?

I am someone who can’t draw or design to save my life so having the option to select from the many ready made templates is a godsend. Designing my card using their card editor is a breeze. Yes, you heard right. Even though I have already printed my own cards from a local printer, I am getting mine done here too. It’s free, how can I let this chance pass?

Blank Canvas