A fun Meet, an Island, and time with friends.

[Armadillo4]

techskip, your family is too precious for words! And you do an amazing job with these trip reports. I think there are a decent amount of MiceChatters who like the updated TSI, along with others that don't. So I don't think you have to duck for cover or anything like that. LOL! Thanks for posting your experiences and photos here.

[HighLeveller]

Fun TR just like always. Tip: 350KB+ per pic is doing murder on meesa modem They sure look nice though, before usually having to bail out early before seeing it all. I suggest a quality setting of around 90 (out of 100) for saving JPEG images of the size you're using, assuming you're not simply using them out-of-camera. (Those with giant LCD monitors that show every last artifact may disagree, but... They'll come out 100-150K or so.)

On a side note, it is easy to take pictures when they are either strapped in, or all 3 are in the frame. It's when you take pictures of two, and turn around, that suddenly #3 makes a run for it! My wife made the most interesting comment... we will continually try... but we will likely NEVER get all three to smile, look at the camera, and not blink, point, or pick their nose... at the same time! Even IF we get the 3... just wait until #4 is older!

Makes them more realistic. If need be, there's this wonderful little thing called photoshopI did not just say that!

[techskip]

Fun TR just like always. Tip: 350KB+ per pic is doing murder on meesa modem They sure look nice though, before usually having to bail out early before seeing it all. I suggest a quality setting of around 90 (out of 100) for saving JPEG images of the size you're using, assuming you're not simply using them out-of-camera. (Those with giant LCD monitors that show every last artifact may disagree, but... They'll come out 100-150K or so.)

Sorry for the size difference. I have a desktop at 1024x768 and a laptop at 1920x1200... I usually set the size to 33% of original, keeping the original at the extreme size in case I want to print it out. I was experimenting with PM'ing myself the images... then checking on the 1024... but I was never happy with how they looked on there. I will likely further reduce future ones to 20% which should work out a bit better.

[Bruce Bergman]

Fun TR just like always. Tip: 350KB+ per pic is doing murder on meesa modem They sure look nice though, before usually having to bail out early before seeing it all. I suggest a quality setting of around 90 (out of 100) for saving JPEG images of the size you're using, assuming you're not simply using them out-of-camera. (Those with giant LCD monitors that show every last artifact may disagree, but... They'll come out 100-150K or so.)

Modem? Who the heck still uses that? Them's Museum pieces. And I know that civilization has reached Bakersfield...

Call DSLExtreme, tell them I sent you - my screen name here is my address there, just remove the space. The base rate for a DSL service is under $20, no contract. And they offer the same stuff the big players do - you would be insane to stay with AOL or Earthlink charging $50 a month.

Now then, Picture Size: Techskip, burn the original pictures off to a CD or DVD at full scale for archiving, to avoid Oops! errors like "Save all changes to Original File? Y/N".

Then convert to a .gif and stomp the heck out of them before posting. You'd be surprised how far you can go and they still look decent. When you start seeing pixelization, stop. Back up one notch.

I have Photoshop Elements 2, and the "Optimize for Webpage" setting does just fine, and all automagically with one click.
Look at my avatar - Original shot DSC03028 with my old Mavica CD1000 at 2.2MP highest quality was 768K. Cropped and de-ressed to 150X150 dropped it to 25.2K and optimized for webpage 14K.

There's probably Open Source software out there that does the same thing for free.

--<< Bruce >>--

[biscuits]

Hey skip, I was wondering if that was you in Turtle Talk sitting on the floor... right in front of me. I was too shy to say anything so I kinda just let it go and wondered. Anyway... hi.

[HighLeveller]

Sorry for the size difference. I have a desktop at 1024x768 and a laptop at 1920x1200... I usually set the size to 33% of original, keeping the original at the extreme size in case I want to print it out. I was experimenting with PM'ing myself the images... then checking on the 1024... but I was never happy with how they looked on there. I will likely further reduce future ones to 20% which should work out a bit better.

Ooh...just to clarify: the "quality" setting is independent of the resolution. When you save an image in JPEG format, you're essentially throwing out or simplifying small details which allows the image to compress more (i.e. "lossy compression"). The lower the quality setting -> the more gets thrown out or simplified -> the smaller the file -> but the worse it looks. Usually it's a setting from 0 to 100%, or sometimes just a slider. If it's not in "save as...", look under "options" or "preferences". Try experimenting: save, then load the saved image; if there's too many ripples, squiggles and smudginess than you'd like, use a higher setting. Also, if there's an "optimize" checkbox, use it: this just means it'll put more effort into compressing the data. (I'll save the JPEG technical gobbledigook for a more appropriate topic...)

Modem? Who the heck still uses that? Them's Museum pieces. And I know that civilization has reached Bakersfield...

Call DSLExtreme, tell them I sent you - my screen name here is my address there, just remove the space. The base rate for a DSL service is under $20, no contract. And they offer the same stuff the big players do - you would be insane to stay with AOL or Earthlink charging $50 a month.

Rest assured, it has. But alas, economics. I'd rather have dialup than no internet at all: I've gone with a decent and reliable local dialup ISP since early 1999: $~16/mo. But with that said, thanks for the recommendation. I've considered basic ADSL like 1536/384; can get it from AT&T for something like ~$15 w/phone service or 20 or 25 without, but might toss landline in favor of a cell phone if I can find service I consider acceptable. I'll see.
Anyways, sorry for derailing...

[Bruce Bergman]

Hey skip, I was wondering if that was you in Turtle Talk sitting on the floor... right in front of me. I was too shy to say anything so I kinda just let it go and wondered. Anyway... hi.

Well, it was the 5:30-ish show, and Techskip & Co. headed up to the carpet fast - Dad and I got seats, he's a bit past sitting on the floor...

Don't be shy, say something. Nobody here I know bites.

--<< Bruce >>--

[techskip]

Hey skip, I was wondering if that was you in Turtle Talk sitting on the floor... right in front of me. I was too shy to say anything so I kinda just let it go and wondered. Anyway... hi.

Please say hi... I feel so weird because people recognize me yet I have no clue who anyone is.

High Leveler- I was being lazy! I have Photoshop 7 so I have a myriad of bells and whistles that I will never use. I can adjust compression quality as well as "save for web", I was just being lazy and adjusting the size. I actually became really fond of Black n White before I got my laptop because the Black n Whites are much smaller (no color information in the file) and quicker to upload/download on a modem. I understand the whole Jpeg, Gif, Tif compressions as well as PNG.

Bruce- thank you I am currently encouraging wife to get DSL Extreme. We currently have PeoplePC ($10.95/month for a good connection).

[Dan - Tasmic!]

Please say hi... I feel so weird because people recognize me yet I have no clue who anyone is.

Yes, same here!! LOL, I heard people yell, "DAN - TASMIC!!!" and it surprises me. I figure they are from Mice Chat, It sucks, I never got a chance to know who they are though.