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Bulk Digital Camera Picture Sharing

rebelxti.jpgIf you have ever been the “designated photographer” at a family event or party with friends, then you know the frustration of having everyone ask you to “send me the pics”…

The Old Way

Sure, you can upload them all to flickr, but if you have family like mine, then it isn’t quite that easy. They all seem to want the photos in their original format (ie, at 10mp, thats hundreds of megabytes or even gigabytes of data).

My old solution was to burn everyone a CD or zip everything up and try to upload it somewhere for them to grab. This soon becomes very tedious and I stopped brining my camera out just to avoid this!

A Better Way

My friends over at Remobo have given me a much better solution to this problem… and once it’s set up, all you do is offload the photos to your computer as usual and they are automatically “shared” with all your friends and family. Much easier for sharing bulk, raw image files.

Step 1 - Create a Folder to Share Your Photos

sharing_security.jpgPick any location on your PC, and create a new folder (or use an existing one). Name it something descriptive like “Shared Photos”. Now anytime you want to share photos with your friends or family, just drop them into this folder (they can be in sub-folders too). I choose to keep this separate from the folder where I actually store all my digital photos, since I do not want to share ALL of them ;-)

Step 2 - Share This Folder

sharing.jpgThe next step is to “share” this folder. Just right-click the folder and select “Sharing and Security…”, then choose “Share this folder on the network”. You can give it a different name here if you like, but I just keep it the same. Also remember to only allow “read” access if you don’t want anyone deleting or modifying your files by accident.

The folder is now shared on your local network, but unless all your friends and family live with you, they still cannot access your files. So its on to the mext step…

Step 3 - Download and Install Remobo

remobo_beta_screenshot1.gifRemobo is a small app that creates an Instant Private Network between your computer and any other computers that you add to your buddy list. You can get it here. It effectively extends your LAN over the Internet and will enable your friends and family to view your shared photos folder over the Internet. Incidentally, this program is also very useful for remote controlling your PC, playing LAN games over the Internet, and general VPN functionality…

Anyone who wants access to your folder will also need to get Remobo. Just tell them its a small price to pay to get instant access to your digital camera pictures after an event ;-)

Step 4 - Use Remobo to View Shared Files

browse_shared.jpgOnce you have dumped your newly-taken photos into your shared folder, add some buddies to your Remobo buddy list. As you add buddies, remember to only add people you would feel comfortable with accessing your shared folder.

Now when your buddies see you online, they can simply click on your computer name, select “Browse Shared Files”, and instantly be able to browse and copy over any photos and files that they see, as if it were a local folder. You can also browse any files that they are sharing as well, so next time just tell them your camera is broken and have them be the photographer.. this Remobo method works both ways :-)

For advanced users, you can also mount their shared folder as a drive. For the computer name, just use:

[remobo_username].remobo.com

So, if I shared my photos and my Remobo username is bob, you can access or mount my shared drive in Windows using:

\\bob.remobo.com

How-To Secure VNC or Remote Desktop for Free

vnc_logo.gifMany of us use VNC or the Windows XP Remote Desktop feature to gain easy access to our home PCs. But opening up a port on your firewall or a connection to an administrator account on your system is very dangerous.

After opening a well-known port in your firewall, you are bound to receive lots of forced logon attempts, sometimes within days. Also, lots of free tools exist that help hackers eavesdrop on your VNC connections or break into Windows Remote Desktop sessions. The paid version of RealVNC does have some encryption and enhanced security built-in now, but here is a quick way to protect yourself for free:

Download and Install Remobo

Remobo ClientRemobo is a free network application that creates an instant private network between any computers. You can get it here. It’s extremely easy to use, with no configuration of any kind necessary, and the interface resembles a simple buddy list as you would find in your favorite chat program.

Launch the Remobo App on Both Computers

Now, just login using the same username on both ends, and the two computers will be securely connected via a virtual connection, similar to a VPN. The coolest thing about this is that you can login from any number of computers and even add your co-workers and friends to your buddy list for instant secure connectivity.

Connect VNC or Remote Desktop Using Your Virtual IP or Remobo Username

vnclogin.jpgremotedesktoplogin.jpg

Here is where this solution really shines. Now, instead of trying to remember your home computer’s IP address, you can simply use the virtual IP shown on the Remobo app’s interface to connect to the remote computer or even use your Remobo username, ie remobo_username.remobo.com - It’s like having a built-in dynamic DNS service so you never have to know the remote computer’s IP.

Everything is Now Secure

Any traffic sent over this Remobo connection is now securely encrypted and you didn’t even have to open any firewall ports.

Additional Features

In addition to securing your VNC or Remote Desktop connection for free, you also get a simple built-in secure chat client, secure file transfer client and also secure file-sharing via the Windows folder sharing interface. This gives you easy access to the files on your home computer. I personally use this file sharing feature to share bulk photos and media with my friends and family, so they will stop nagging me to upload my digital camera pictures to flickr ;-)

Make Your Movie: Corel Ulead VideoStudio 11 Plus

Corel Ulead VideoStudio 11 PlusList Price: $129.99
Deal Price: $49.99
You Save: $80.00 (61%)
I recently ordered a new Canon HV-20 HD Camcorder and can’t wait to get my hands on it. The plan is to make some home movies and maybe a fun video or two with my friends for youtube, lol… but I’ll definitely need some decent video editing software for that. With Corel’s highly-rated Ulead VideoStudio 11 Plus, you’ll be creating professional-looking videos, slide shows and DVDs without having to learn technical editing. After adding menus, titles, transitions, and music, you can save your final video in most popular formats for showing and sharing. Take advantage of today’s great price and unleash your inner director. A $30 mail-in rebate makes your final price just $19.99.
Expires Oct 9, 2007
Buy it at Amazon. It’s the Deal of the Day!




Creative Photoshop

Creatove PhotoshopA while back we had Photoshop CS2 on Stuffiti, and since then, the new version, CS3 has arrived. Today I want to introduce a great book, for those of you who have some skill in art and Photoshop. To tell you the truth, I really enjoy dabbling in Photoshop, and trying the techniques in these books, but I have no artistic talent whatsoever, so perhaps amateurs can have some fun with this book too. The author, Derek Lee, a world renowned artist, will show you how to paint, sculpt, use comic book coloring techniques and so on. If this is your cup of tea, be sure to look into it, despite the fact that the freaky cover art is a bit scary (she looks like a weird Klingon warrior).
Save over 40% at Buy.com (originally $39.95)

Intellimover Transfer Your PC Deluxe

Intellimover Transfer Your PC DeluxeIf you’re lucky enough to receive a new computer over the holidays… then check out this nifty piece of software. Supposedly, Intellimover makes it very easy to transfer data and programs from your old PC to your new one, without all the hassle of manually copying stuff over one-by-one. Besides the software, it also comes with a cable to connect your two computers, so you don’t have to deal with messy networking or file sharing settings. Seems pretty useful if you ask me…

Get a $50 rebate + Free Shipping at Buy.com! - $11.47 (originally $61.47)

Netgear SPH101 Skype Wi-Fi Phone

Netgear SPH101 Skype Wi-Fi PhoneIf you are addicted to using Skype for free calling, then you may really like this cool gadget. The Netgear SPH101 lets you make calls using the Skype network directly from the handset, as long as you are in range of an accessible WiFi access point! Now that more and more places provide free WiFi, that means you can call your favorite aunt in Europe, your cousin in Japan, or your best friend in Africa for free… all while sitting at your favorite coffee shop :-)

Get a $30 rebate at Amazon.com - $199.99 (originally $229.99)




Essential PIM

Essential PIMWhoa, irregular (and slightly biased) post coming up! Do you love the way Outlook works but don’t really want to fork out the cash for it? Do you want a better solution for way less? Try Essential PIM. The software allows you to customize your schedule, todo’s, contacts and notes and does it with surprising efficiency. On the basic version you save unlimited money, because it’s free and gives you almost all of the functions. If you want Outlook and SmartPhone synchronization and a few additional extras it costs $49.95, if you don’t need the SmartPhone part it’s only $29.95. Portable versions are available for $39.95 and $59.95 respectively. If you are still a student they will give you a 30% discount on any price, just send them you student card photocopy, they even give Europeans the same discount (like me). Oh and they did give me a discount and their customer-service was great.

Save 30% if you are a student on Essentialpim.com

Save 10% if you buy portable and full versions together

Apollo DVD Copy

Apollo DVD CopyDo you have a lot of data on DVD disks and want to back it up? Did you just buy Aeon Flux or Pirates of the Caribbean and want to make a copy so you don’t take the precious original on your road trip? Apollo DVD Copy to the rescue, make DVD copies quickly and very easily with this user friendly program. Customize what features you need from your DVD movie plus much, much more. It also has high compatibility, supporting a number of formats and hardware.

Save 10% if you order the program within 3 days after downloading it - $39.95 (Originally $49.95)

Adobe Photoshop CS2

Adobe Photoshop CS2I really love Photoshop for it’s ease of use (even by talentless people like me) as well as its advanced functionality (that I can’t even begin to understand properly). It takes some getting used to the interface, but I always find out how to do what I want eventually. You will be overwhelmed by the options, for example web designers will find it handy to enter colors via RGB or pick out any color and see what it is exactly through RGB, HEX, CYK, etc. Photoshop CS2 gives you amazing layer options, masks, vector graphics, cool effects (paintbrush, charcoal, etc.). The effects aren’t just “push a button” either! You can tweak and form until you like it. Combine it with a tablet and just have some fun creating, painting, drawing. Truly a powerful tool for developers and artists and a source of fun and learning for beginners.

Save 9% on Amazon.com - $589.99 (Originally $649)