AVERAGE COLOR SEEKER

If you are fashion challenged and can't match anything I found a program for you. Us males generally will put anything together without much concern. In design I have spent time just putting stuff together to see which one looks the best.

There is a program called Average Color Seeker that will do it for you in a snap. What color text will be the best? What color mat for the image? It will show you what goes with the photo.

Use this like the auto or the P section on your camera. It will give a starting point and a recommendation but it's up to you to decide on the creation of the piece.

Here are some screen shots and it can be downloaded as a free program here. I am running Vista home prem. and it is not an issue. Actually it will run from a flash drive and is stand alone.

CROSSLOOP - SIMPLE REMOTE HELP

This is the week for playing. The kids are out of school and they are playing and this gives me the chance to play too. I have been browsing and finding new technology that is available that I may be behind on.

One of the best finds was CrossLoop. It is a very simple, easy to install and easy to use program that will let us tech or program minded folks help out our family and friends who are not.

I know you can do the same thing with programs built into windows but if you are not comfortable (like the ones your helping) it can be a huge task to navigate and understand. Crossloop handles all of this in a very easy to understand way with simple buttons, interface and connections. Best of all it is secure.

For those who do not have a tech friend you can hire one from their website. All of this is done with a secure code for each session, be it personal or paid. Tat means you can disconnect at anytime. High speed is recommended on both sides.

The website is CrossLoop. You can download it there as well as find help. I would recommend though to have them download it from the snapfiles site it is easier on the eyes and not too busy.

STILL PLAYING WITH SPROUT

I wanted a project to work on so just for fun I pulled this image of the cyrus's from the net and put a small clip of the song with it. For the text I wanted to use with it I had to use Photoshop and save it as a PNG file. But, it worked really well. I forgot to mention that you should use 300dpi when creating your text to keep it smooth. The bottom bar was built completely with sprout using colors and effects like bevel and glow which gave it an inset look. I put a link for Target stores on the second one directly to Miley's latest album.

I am very impressed with the sprout program so far. I still have not built a complete website from it but I may give that a try too. There is somethings in the works for the Nash Farm Site, educational wise and this may be a very cool way to handle it. I'll keep you posted.



One other piece of advise - your changes are auto saved so if you want 2 different designs you must do 2 sprouts.

testing something else hold on

Something else I wanted to try. I started with Picasa added a template, exported to html. iframed it with sitespinner (my program of chioce) and striped the code. Embeded it here and it worked.

Can't get my name on the black though.



I fixed it with a black background and about a million tries but at least I understand it now and it was frustrating and fun to learn. What a way to spend the weekend. At least it was for educational purposes.

A NEW TOY THATS FREE - SPROUT

I found this little program while browsing the other day. Wanting to put a little flash onto the site I was searching for an easy solution, I found Sprout. The photo is mine, the video is a random video off youtube just to see if it would work. This is a pretty flexible program and the custom creation is a point I like.

Yes this one looks a little stupid and I know it, but this was a test after all. Go on over it's free to play with and you can go "pro" as well. Which I assume you don't have the share button on the bottom. Not sure yet but I will keep playing. Until then what a way to jazz up your site or blog!

You can custom create any size you want so I assume you can build a complete website here. Every object is linkable. The only one I have in this one is to my site, just click on my little head above the music bar.




The only thing I wish is that it handled i-frames as well so I could incorporate things like the tiltviewer above. It just may though, I'll keep playing and see if I can post some questions.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE

Hope you all have a great day!

CUSTOM ART PRINTS AND MATS

Tis the season and those one of a kind gifts abound. I was recently asked about help with a custom mat and how to do the images for it to make it work. Others he asked gave a wide verity of answers and none were wrong but some would be difficult at least to me. On something like this old fashion scissors and tape would be my weapon of the day. Anyway I made this video to show cropping for custom prints and thought I would share it here as well.

Be warned first I went through 4 mics before finding one that worked properly (Newton again) and the audio on this one is not great and I would recommend that you should turn your volume down before viewing and then bring it up to a comfortable level.



Click here to view the video.

I HAVE BEEN WRITING! WANT TO READ IT?

I have a story to tell and for the first time I'm trying my hand at writing.

What is it about?

Well, its about Elise Cantrell. Her hearts desire is to be a sword master and warrior. Her father thinks she should be a girl and serve her family in the usual ways of womanhood. That is until that pesky magic starts. Now shunned by the community as a witch can she continue with her dreams?

It is a fantasy novel. If you are interested in a read and willing to give me some feed back, I would be honored. Just leave me an email address or you can email me at andergraph@bellsouth.net.

I will finish about a chapter a week and it will be somewhere in the neighborhood of 3,000 words per chapter. I am not looking for editing just merely flow and content feedback. So, very little work on your part.

After it is complete I will record it as a podcast novel to get things going.