Miscellanea

Some interesting things I've come across this weekend: Windows XP's little-known 'Rebuild' command, super Google search page, how to tame your inbox, and more!

When booting into Safe Mode doesn't work - Fred Langa of InformationWeek provides an interesting tip on the Rebuild command, an alternative to pulling out your hair and tossing your malfunctioning PC out the window. Read his article here.

Super Google search page - The good folks at Usability Views are always pushing the boundaries what we see on the web. When the Google Toolbar just won't cut it, the heavy-duty Simply Google site has enough search features to keep you busy for days. Not to be outdone, Microsoft has an experimental search engine that groups results in very useful categories. Test it out and see for yourself!

Microsoft helps budding space travellers - For those times when intergalactic travel just isn't the same in miles, Microsoft put together a support page on how to convert to and from "light years". Unfortunately Star Trek fans are left out in the cold and have to resort to coming up with their own formulas for Warp to miles per hour conversion.

When you are swamped by email - In a recent article in the Financial Times, Marc Smith outlines his advice on how to tame the inbox monster. I used to regularly have over a thousand emails in my inbox (and tens of thousands in folders, all utterly necessary of course!), and following Marc's advice I've managed to keep my inbox down to a more manageable 100 emails. Read about it here.

Tags: Computers, Internet, Google, Tips, Usability, Windows, t4t

Read more!

Upcoming Attractions

Well my Star Tours mug didn't sell on eBay, but I'm not at all disappointed. I received positive remarks about the animated 360-degree picture that I used in my listing for the Picture Cloud review.

I've been testing some interesting file syncing software over the past month, and will have a review of one of them coming up next week. If you aren't sure what file syncing is, think being able to access one set of web browser favourites across more than one computer.

In the meantime, I've been dallying with Microsoft Windows Movie Maker because I need to create a 1 hour DVD out of my 5 hours of digital video I took last year on our trip to the Oregon Coast. Even I can't watch 5 hours of my own vacations! If you need to share your own video clips with family or friends, take a look at DV Guru's Ten Video Sharing Services Compared.

Tags: Auctions, Computers, Oregon, Software, eBay, Video, Windows, t4t

Read more!

Picturecloud.com Review

If you into selling items on eBay, online classifieds, or sell real estate, you will want to check out Picture Cloud. Picture Cloud is an exciting service that allows you to use your digital camera to create 3D photos of objects that spins and pans up to 360 degrees. No special skills, software or equipment is needed. In my review I'll create an actual eBay ad using a Picture Cloud just to see how the service works!

But first, what does a Picture Cloud look like? To see an example, click HERE (opens in a new window). Click on the picture and see it rotate. You can immediately see how much more useful this is than seeing a simple picture of an item!

Is it Free?

There are four account types:

• free - saves free Picture Clouds
• paid credit - create custom Clouds with higher resolution images, can download your own Clouds
• small business - 25 monthly custom Clouds for monthly or annual cost
• small business enterprise - unlimited Clouds for monthly or annual cost

I tested both the free and paid credit types. In the following review, I used a paid Picture Cloud credit, which allows a larger size image than the free version. You can buy credits in any quantity using the Paypal service.

My eBay Ad Test!

I thought the best way to review Picture Cloud would be to actually use it in an eBay auction. It took me almost a week of digging around the house for something I was willing to part with, and (in desperation) I finally came up with a "Star Tours" mug I had purchased at Disneyland many years ago:



Normally most eBay ads will show one simple picture like this one, but instead on my ad I will be able to show the mug with a 360-degree rotating 3D view. I also want to mention that I already had an eBay seller's account to use for this. eBay is not affiliated with Picture Cloud, but it works as a great place to test the service on. Picture Cloud should work for any service on the web, and I imaging it should work very well for selling real estate. In addition to making a Picture Cloud of the outside of a home, you could also stand in one spot and make a Picture Cloud of a highlight room in a house for example.

Step 1: Take Your Pictures

Any digital camera that you can use and download the pictures to your computer will do. Even pictures from a PDA or cell phone should work, although the quality will suffer. You will need to take enough pictures to make the image appear to rotate smoothly, anywhere from 10 to 35 but closer to 20 is recommended. I took 12 pictures at 640x480 resolution with my digital camera.

Step 2: Upload Your Pictures

For this review I logged into the Picturecloud.com site, and clicked on "New Cloud". I chose "Custom Picture Cloud" rather than the "Free Picture Cloud". The link under that choice that reads "Choose from 5 sizes" should show you a comparison of the available choices but in this alpha version, the link was a dead end. No matter though because on the next screen it gives you a choice of the 5 sizes and shows you examples of each. I chose the largest size available, 640x480.

Next, there is a small Java applet that it will ask you to download (it only takes a few seconds). Once it finishes you will see the uploader screen:



I selected and dragged my pictures from a folder on my hard drive to that Picture Cloud and it was very quick, taking only about 20 seconds to upload all 12 of them. You will need to upload at least 10 pictures, and it even warns you if the images are not similar. The more pictures you use, the smoother the animation, as this tip suggested to me:



It immediately shows you a preview of your animation, which gives you a chance to retake the pictures if the animation does not turn out very good:



Then below the preview window it gives you a chance to name your Picture Cloud and choose some image options:



Step 3: Save or Download

After you pick a name and click the Next button, you have one final preview before you save it. There is also a feedback form on this page; I suggest that in thanks for providing a free service that you give back by offering any suggestions to the developers.

Step 4: Copy & Paste HTML

Once you have saved your new Picture Cloud, the HTML code is available for you to cut and paste into your eBay or other classified ad. What I did next was copied the code that it gave me for my Star Tours mug picture Cloud, created a new ad on eBay, then pasted the code in.

Finally, here is the paid full-size 640x480 version in my eBay ad:

Click me! (as seen in a real eBay ad) (opens in a new window) - Don't forget to click on the Picture Cloud in the ad to see it rotate! You can even click on the rotating picture and drag it around yourself!

Conclusion

Even though the service is in the "alpha" stage, I think it is already incredibly useful. I am told that within days it will move to "beta". The service was glitch-free for all the tests I ran, despite a few minor presentation issues with spelling and links on the site that will no doubt be cleaned up before the final public release.

I suspect that they will add more functionality during the beta stage. In the "About" pages, it says "We will even give you the option to trace around your images to remove an unsightly background" but I did not see that option. I'd suggest also the ability to adjust the contrast of each picture (either automatically or individually) which would make for a better-looking animation. The colours were very close to the original, and the detail was excellent at the highest resolution. And one final suggestion that I hope they will implement for convenience is to auto-"select all" when you click inside the code window. This saves errors hilighting the code or at least save a CTRL-A (select all) keystroke.

Without a doubt I will be using Picture Cloud from now on for my own personal eBay and online classified ads. The paid version is definitely the way to go and at USD$0.99 or less, it adds a great value to your advertising efforts. Highly recommended service!

Tags: Auctions, eBay, Freeware, Reviews, Software, Web, t4t

Read more!