Just a Google loving gadget girl at heart

How to upload images to Picasa Web albums.

2012-01-11T10:24:00.001+11:00

I have been asked for some help by a fellow G+ user who was struggling with adding new images to his Picasa Web albums.

So I thought I would take the time to put together a small 'how to..' document for everyone to refer to whenever needed.

1. Click to open this link - don't worry - this link will take you to your own Picasa Web album homepage and it will open in a new window so you won't lose this guide.

2. This takes you to your own homepage for Picasa web albums. What you see on this first page is your public albums that is viewable by everyone. I recommend that at this point is that you 'bookmark' this page - it's a good one to remember for all G+'ers out there.

3. Up near the top there are 3 tabs labelled 'Home', 'My photos' and 'Explore' (in the image above I've place a bright red arrow pointing to them). If you click the 'My Photos' tab, that shows you all of your albums on Picasa Web Albums - both public and private ones.

4. A bit further right from the 3 tabs is a button called 'Upload' - give that a click and an 'upload' screen is displayed.

5. From there you can either click the big blue button to upload from your computer - or if you have the image thumbnails handy you can just 'drag & drop' them into that big screen anywhere within the dotted lines.

6. While the images are uploading you can amend which album you are sending them to. The default choice is a new album of today's date, but you can chose to send them to a new album of your own choice (just over type the date with your own naming preference) or you can select an existing album by clicking the link 'add to an existing album' - this option brings up a drop down selection menu of all of your albums that currently exist on Picasa Web albums.

7. Wait for the images to completely upload (there will be a progress bar under each image as it uploads) then just click 'OK' to finish the process of adding new images to your Picasa Web album.

Please note that Picasa 3.9 is just an image viewer and organiser whereas Picasa Web album is an on line photo storage and sharing website similar to Flickr.

I hope this small guide has been and will continue to be useful to users around the world.

Transformer Prime pre-order fail

2011-12-24T15:18:00.001+11:00

I spent about 4 hours last night hunting on line in both the US and the UK for someone who would allow me to pre-order the Transformer Prime and agree to deliver it to an international address.

At the end of the 4 hours I had to finally admit defeat. While I found a few places still willing to accept pre-orders, non of them would ship to Australia. The closest I came was on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.
When I came to doing the check out though they both stated that they couldn't ship this product to Australia.

To me this then begs the question of 'why can't they ship to Australia?'
From previous experience I know it's not a general Amazon thing as we regularly buy books and other items from Amazon.com and get them shipped to Australia.

I have also previously purchased an electronics item direct from the manufacturer and had them ship it to me (my Zephyr500 speaker) in Australia.

So is this a limitation initiated by the Australian government in an attempt to limit Australians from doing major purchases overseas (something they keep threatening to do) or is it a directive from Asus themselves?

One G+ member in my circles believes it to be from Asus themselves as Asus have just (around about October 2011) released the 3g version of the old Transformer to Australia while the US market doesn't appear to be getting a 3g version on the old Transformer at all.

Does this mean that Australia is considered a dumping ground for dated stock by some companies?

I'm going to leave you to form your own opinions about that.

Before you do though, I will add one more piece of information that I dug up last night in my quest for the Prime.

According to Amazon the Transformer Prime that is being released to the US market is NOT the same Transformer Prime that is going to be released to the UK and Australian markets.
There is one significant difference that seems to have gone largely unnoticed - The US version will have 2Gb of RAM while the UK and Aus version will only have 1Gb of RAM.

I cannot determine if this is just a typo on Amazon's part - and I have hunted hard to dig this information out - or if it is a fact.
Are Asus deliberately hiding this fact? Are the UK and Australia again getting a lower spec product compared to the US market?

If anyone has any verified facts regarding specs on the US product vs the UK/Aus product I would love to see them please.

Also, Asus have made the decision to not release the Prime to the UK market as a unit on it's own without the keyboard. It will only be available to buy as the complete kit (tablet + keyboard).
I wonder why they took the decision out of UK buyers hands.

When will manufacturers start treating us all the same? Why do they feel the need to give one country X product while they release X1 product to another country?

So much for an equal global market!

In the meantime - I'm still trying to figure out how to get hold of the beautiful Champagne coloured US version of the Asus Transformer Prime - any suggestions? Please post below.

Merry Christmas everyone.

End of an era

2011-12-23T15:28:00.000+11:00

December 2011 and January 2012 are the end of an era in my household for 2 reasons.

Firstly, at the end of November I left a job that I used to love. I had so much fun and I met some great people, and made some life-friends through that job.
But, as is true with all things in life - things change. The job changed, the company that I worked for changed - it stopped being fun. I made the very hard choice to leave, and am now 'between jobs'.

Second reason is that my son has just finished pre-school where he went for 3 days a week. The other 2 week days + weekends he spent at home with me. Jacob has just had his 5th birthday and will be starting 'big school' (aka Kindergarten) in the new year, he will be going there 5 days a week. A full week of no child at home.
Before you start the 'ahhh, she's sad that her son is growing up'.. wait!
No, I'm cheering. I'm happy, excited. I get some 'Me' time back and honestly - I can't wait.

Does that shock you? surprise you? I'm not sorry. I love my son so much, I adore cuddles with him, and listening to him trying to vocalise the thoughts in his head. But for 5 years now I've put being a Mummy before anything else. It's been an amazing journey, but I'm ready for us, as a family, to move on to the next stage in life.
Jacob is excited about 'big school' too. So there is excitement all round. Sorted.

Although I am a self-styled 'gadget girl', I only bought my first smartphone in late April 2011 (remember that 5 year old boy that I have at home?). so I'm a bit of a late comer onto the scene in that respect. However, I'm making up for the last 5 years with a vengeance.

I got the HTC Desire HD and immediately fell in love with it. However did I survive without one?
Some amazing apps such as 'Soundhound' to find out what song I'm listening to on the radio, because the DJ's sure as hell don't bother to tell us any more.
Or from a purely practical POV - the Woolworths app for my grocery shopping list.
I haven't even started looking into all the photography options out there yet. That one I'm saving for when I get a whole week to myself... which should be around about the first week in February 2012 I reckon.

I remember when I saw the first iPad advert on TV. Even though I am a confirmed, dyed-in-the-wool Apple hater, my immediate reaction was I WANT ONE NOW!!!

I was able to resist moving over to the dark side, as a result I will be treating myself to the Asus Transformer Prime just as soon as possible in the new year of 2012. This will be my first foray into 'tablet-land' and I'm very excited.

Just to keep me ticking over until I can get my hands on my new toy, Santa will be delivering this to me (although he'll be a bit late).

What is it? It's a bluetooth enabled speakerphone and phone charger complete with USB port & micro USB. It's called the Zephyr 500.

Merry Christmas and a very prosperous New Year to everyone.