Zoner Photo Studio 13 Home

 Zoner Photo Studio 13 Home

This is a medium level photo organizer and processor. It is more powerful than my basic Microsoft Picture Manager 2010 but still not a heavyweight like Gimp.

While it can organize your picture the best part is the editor. Quick and precise crops and a variety of effects can be done with out hogging up that precious memory.

Here are the full highlights from the Zoner.com site...

• Catalog, advanced picture management and archival NEW!
• 64-bit program version NEW!
• direct upload to Facebook, Flickr and Picassa Web Albums NEW!
• acquire photos from your camera, scanner, card, or screen
• fix pictures fast with Quick Fix
• save time with convenient batch operations
• create panoramas and 3D photos easily
• use a wide array of edits and effects
• add GPS photo locations and see them on a map
• publish to the web easily and directly
• templates for calendars, greeting cards, and more

While I have not used all the options I am glad that they are available. The Pro Edition is said to be twice as awesome.

Here's why this is a 80% program...
Pros

1. Easy to use
2. Each photo has its own tab all set in the program window (unlike Gimp)

Cons

1. Buttons are often confusing
2. Can't open the program directly, need to right click the picture (maybe my fault but I can't find a fix)

Rating: 8 out of 10 (80%)

Got it at: Giveaway of the Day (back in January, it will probably come up again soon if not $44.99)

Google Goggles

Google Goggles

This great little app that allows you to use your phone's camera to analyze anything and match it to something similar on the web. You can take a picture of a brand and find prices online. Take a picture of a magazine page and find the product or entire magazine online. Take a picture of some foreign language and have it translated. Take a picture of anything else and find others online. I can scan business cards and add them to your contact list.

Of course it also sans bar codes and other VR type codes.

Let's see how it does on something that is new to the web...

Taking the picture.

The picture is getting scanned for text or images that Google can search for.

It recognizes some text and ask you to rate the results.

Finally you click on the link and see that it is 50% accurate but this won't help.

I have to admit I gave it a tough task trying to recognize something new but most odd things will leave with the same results. Common things like Pepsi cans or movie posters will get you great results. I can see this being used to learn more. For instance take a picture of a Picasso painting and use the links to see what it is called and all the facts surrounding the piece.

Here's why this is a 60% program...
Pros

1. Scans are somewhat fast
2. The possibilities are only limited by Google's reach

Cons

1. Less than 50% success rate even among common objects
2. Can get stuck
3. Lack of manual focus

Rating: 6 out of 10 (60%)

Got it at: Google Mobile

Office 2010

Microsoft Office 2010 Enterprise

A suite of programs originally meant for businesses but now is used to improve productivity everywhere. Add to this the Office Web Apps and SkyDrive for the ultimate non-stop productivity party.

Professionally I use Access and Excel for data, Word for reports and PowerPoint for presentations.

Personally I use Excel for everything from hobbies and budgeting and fun.

Here is a quick review of the Office suite I have installed...
Microsoft Access 2010: Great for making databases.
Microsoft Excel 2010: Great for turning data into something presentable and pretty. Improvements in table functions are among the best tools. Sparklines are brilliant.
Microsoft Infopath Designer 2010:  Never used, this some type of form maker.
Microsoft Infopath Filler 2010:  Never used, this some type of form filler.

Microsoft Office Visio 2007: Not part of the suite it must be purchased separately it can create charts and diagrams with great detail and data.  

Microsoft OneNote 2010: It is like a white board where you can throw up anything online or in files. The only limit is your imagination...seriously.
Microsoft Outlook 2010: Used once then never again, it has to be the most useless part of Office. At my job we use Lotus Note and at home I use online emails so all this product does is pop-up anytime I accidentally click an email link.
Microsoft PowerPoint 2010: Great for presentation again if you have an imagination you can do some incredible things. The new cropping tool is beyond excellent.
Microsoft Publisher 2010: Great for making things that will get printed.
Microsoft Sharepoint Workspace 2010: Never used, share your work program.
Microsoft Word 2010: Great for reports and writing in general.

Microsoft Picture Manager 2010: Easiest picture editor on Windows.

Here's why this is a 100% program...
Pros

1. Easy to use but can get complicated
2. Virtually anything that can be printed or sorted can get done
3. Can be customized and improved with programs or add-ons

Cons

1. Memory hog
2. Slows down after a while (see above)

Rating: 10 out of 10 (100%)

Got it at: On The Hub

Shopkick

shopkick 2.0

This is a shopping enhancement app. Either use the app to get exclusive deals in certain store or collect rewards points for certain things. Collect rewards by either clicking on the in phone icons, scanning products, or by walking into a participating shop and starting the shopkick app.

The walk-in feature works using sound. At the participating shop there is a either a specific tone or frequency playing from speakers at the entrance and the app hears this and automatically gives you the reward points.
The app can use either Wi-Fi or 3G to pinpoint your location and with that it shows the available shops to get points. Switching back and forth may actually bring up extra locations to get a few more points.

There is a limit on how many reward points you can get everyday. There are also levels depending on the amount of points you have. These levels allow you to raise the limit of allowable points and also unlock other things.

There is also games where you hunt for hidden objects during holidays. If you find these objects you can win badges that are just for fun. Unfortunately many times you must "Like" it on Facebook in order to get the badge.

The rewards themselves are not bad. Best are the gift certificates to Macy's and Best Buy. On average each 500 points gets you $2.00 in certificates or 1250 points gets you $5.00 in certificates. For 6,250,000 points you can get cruise tickets.

With constant point promotions and living in a city like New York it is very easy to get many points quickly. Cheating is possible luckily those caught can be found and banned.

Here's why this is a 90% program...
Pros

1. Easy to use
2. Great deals

Cons

1. Limits and levels are not clear
2. Certain features require to link to Facebook
3. Games/hunts often can not be completed because of limited shops in my area

Rating:  9 out of 10 (90%)

I have yet to use one of the deals or any reward points only because I am trying to get that cruise.

Got it at:  shopkick

FireFox

FireFox 4.01

This is an internet browser that is customizable in a variety of ways. Sure you change look, layout, and functions but can you stop it from hogging up all your memory? Nope.

Mozilla Firefox is one of the most prominent companies to use the model of "first to market then fix the bugs". Their constant updates making the product seem fresh and new. Young people especially prefer a product that is updated periodically instead of one that is finished and perfected.

I keep Internet Explorer 9 as my default since it is much more stable although slower, plus a few sites are still not Firefox friendly. I also tried Opera for a few years and while a superior browser it lacks some add-on features.

Crashing is a common in Firefox and despite clean installs thanks to Java heavy sites I like to visit I still have problems. Most recently with the new Yahoo Mail.

Here is my current extension list...
Exif Viewer 1.60: It shows all of a pictures properties if available, for us amateur photographers it is good.
IE View 1.4.5.1: To quickly use Internet Explorer when you need a second browser.
Image Zoom 0.46: To zoom or flip images online.
Java Console 6.0.25: Needed for Java stuff.
McAfee SiteAdvisor 3.3.1: Great for blocking bad sites.
TinEye Reverse Image Search 1.1: Again for my photography it is great to see who has your picture or find the original of someone else's pictures.

I will add extensions as needed but for now I am trying to keep FireFox lean.

Here's why this is a 70% program...
Pros

1. Easy to use
2. Very customizable

Cons

1. Often crashes
2. Constant updates
3. Although lots of extensions exist it still not 100% customizable

Rating:  7 out of 10 (70%)
Got it at :  Mozilla.com

Facebook for Android

One of first things I downloaded for my Droid X. It is also the app I use the most. Facebook for Android simply allows you to access your Facebook account with reduced functionality.

My actual Droid X homepage.

My Facebook app.

Let me quickly note that these are photos of my phone because as far as I know there are no apps for screenshots on the Droid X. I will not root my phone and using the Android SDK option is too cumbersome. 

This app is the one I use the most although I only using the News Feed link. I just like to see updates and quickly post a picture or joke. I have never used Groups, Places, Chat, or Events.

Here's why this is a 90% app...
Pros

1. Easy to use
2. Fast uploads and refresh

Cons

1. Can't see full "Like" list on posts
2. People link with "@Your_Name" does not work
3. Pictures often get stuck

Rating:  9 out of 10 (90%)

Got it at: Android Market: Facebook for Android

The Goals and Objectives

After the loss of many of my favorite Download sites I hope to use this place to review and keep track of all the stuff I download. I enjoy software and over the years I have downloaded many things to make using computers/phones more fun and easy.

I will put up anything new I download and also go through old downloads that I have. I will do mt best to let you know how the software served me and hopefully get feedback from the public.

This place is for fun and like my other blogs I reserve all rights.