Site Pick of the…

I can't say "week" really.  Not even "month".  So I may have to settle for something more logically applicable like "Site Pick of the Moment".

(www.FindIcons.com)

If you do any web site development or design, or even client/server applications development, or just need some cool stuff for a document, presentation or project, hit this baby up.  Click the "Browse" link at the top of the site, and run through some of the collections.  This is one of better sites I've found.  Not just because it has a ton of images and image style groups, but because it does NOT punch you in the face with pop-ups and watermarks and javascript alerts and multiple-steps of agreements and download confirmations, blah blah blah.  It's simple and straightforward.  Enjoy!

Geek Tip: Make Yer Own Cool Windows 7 Themepacks from National Geographic Photos!

Hey Kids!  Here's a super-awesometacular geek tip for making your own jaw-dropping increditastical themes for Windows 7 using fantabulous photographic backgrounds from the folks at National Geographic.  All of this from Mr. Mediocre!  But wait!  There's more!!...

1. Surf to National Geographic and start collecting great photos like this one: http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-of-the-day/hengill-mountain-iceland/  (tip: be sure to go for the biggest and bestest resolution you can)  and download these to a folder under your Pictures folder.  Make a new sub-folder called "Wallpaper\NatGeo" or something amazingly stupid like that.  Keep surfing and save all the ones you like in that folder.
2. Open that folder from your Start menu
3. Select all the image files and then right-click and choose "Set as background background"
4. Then right-click on your desktop and select "Personalize"
5. Notice that your new (unnamed) theme is active.  Click the "Save theme" link and give it a name.
6. Done!

Google Earth 5.0 and 10 Year Old Map Updates

Google finally posted Google Earth 5.0 for public download. The changes are really cool, and so far, the performance is noticeably better (faster). It also does the initial home zoom-in more smoothly and with better rendering detail. Very nice indeed. But the first thing I checked was the street in my neighborhood, which was renamed in 1992, but had yet to be shown correctly on any maps. To be fair, Google relies on other sources for their digital imagery map references. I contacted the Google Maps team back in 2007 about this, and they kindly referred me to the two sources as well as providing URLs for their submission forms. I dutifully submitted the correction requests to each service and received confirmations within a week saying that it may take some time to be processed. I checked last in December 2008, and it wasn't updated then. So now it is February 2009 and it's finally been completed! Wow. That DID take a little while.

I'm wondering what is prompting Google to suddenly start to execute projects a bit more promptly than they had been. The economy? Competition? Probably both. I'm sure the specter of layoffs has kicked a lot of their employees into high gear to outdo each other and prove their value internally. That's not a bad thing, for us anyway.

Photowalking

Sometimes when I get bored with technology and news (like today), I will go on a photowalk or go youtubing (as my son calls it).  Today I felt like photowalking and ran across some really cool collections.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bcnbits/sets/72157606966435236/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dsphoto-/

http://picasaweb.google.com/yi610116

http://picasaweb.google.com/edwinlie/CherryBlossom2008#

http://picasaweb.google.com/joekuo/LYMTLifted?feat=featured#

http://picasaweb.google.com/gutoaustralia/Mentawais08KanduiResort?feat=featured#

http://picasaweb.google.com/fdmamen/Vimyplatoon02#

http://picasaweb.google.com/Boydston143/AfghanistanPics#

http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidgutierrez/sets/72157603448282758/

http://picasaweb.google.com/jeptransport/I70Revisited#

http://www.flickr.com/photos/atrium09/

http://picasaweb.google.com/suttojohn/PaintedDesert#

http://picasaweb.google.com/ds0934/AroundOurYard#

Picasa 3 Beta

I've been a faithful user of Picasa for a long time and use the Picasa client, as well as we the web interface, quite often.  I've used it on XP, Vista and the beta for Linux as well.  It's just a very solid and robust application and fits well for what it does: manage image libraries and image files.

Paul Thurrott has a pretty good run-down on what's new in P3 here.  I have to say that I'm extremely impressed by it so far.  It's got a nice interface, only a tweak from P2 actually, but subtle improvements exist throughout.  The performance is better and there are new features for both managing libraries and photo images themselves.

I previously used Flickr and a few other online file storage sites, but Flickr started laying heavy fees and upload limits and I just don't like the Flickr interface at all.  To me it's confusing and awkward.  Picasa follows the standard Google UI approach to being simple and clean, and easy to understand.  But without sacrificing features or function.  Just my humble opinion.