Leaving Picasa's Photo Sharing Website

"Leaving Las Vegas"  was the name of a famous book.  Well, I am now thinking of leaving my long-time friend, "Picasa Web Photos". It was a great website, until Google decided, apparently, it wasn't social-media enough.  They renamed and reordered it as Google + and it leaves me cold.  Doesn't work for me, nearly as well as the old site, and they took away the option to send an album to one of several on-line printing companies such as Shutterfly and Walgreens.  I belong to Walgreens Photo and liked that feature.  In seconds I could send a nice album I had created to my Walgreens site, and there edit out the ones I didn't want to print, and change print sizes and so forth.  Then, a few clicks later, and a few hours later, I could pick up the results at my nearby Walgreens (pay at the store, only if I liked the photos).

Now the Google + wants you to share your personal photos with the world.  Not my style. You can still email them as albums, but your friends can no longer use the print option either.

So, I am back shopping around for an alternative.  Flikr is one, but I think I will choose Phanfare.  I like the idea of paying, that keeps all advertising out, and keeps it professional quality.  Also it assures there is a reason for the vendor to keep all your photos safely in their cloud. They get paid to do so.  I know friends who have been on Phanfare for years, and love it.  I would send 100% of my photos, no mater where located, to Phanfare so that, no matter the status of my computer (s) I can be sure that next generations could find their childhood photos no matter where they live. Or when they want to see them.

Phanfare has this over Picasa

1. professional, allows RAW photos, and high MP size photos , high MB size photos
2. will take up all my videos too (many of which I lost in a computer crash a year or two ago)
3. it backs up my backup -- just an external hard drive is not foolproof , they fail, perhaps more often than we realize (and time takes a toll ?)
4. the persons you send a Phanfare album to don't need to register to see it (I think you email the password, but it is straight forward, not complex as the "free" sites are).
5. you can easily send the photos on to many commercial printing companies to make books, or just prints
6. as long as you (or someone pays) the content is protected
7. unlike Google, they are not trying to be a social media site with advertising dollars that might flow from such a situation

If you are using a site like Phanfare, please leave your comments on good, bad, or indifferent.  Thanks.

PS -- I think I will stick with the more stable photo organizing/editing Picasa 3 that is loaded onto my computer.. My beef is just with the website which is where most photos flow once I edit them.

Miracle Reading App? I think so.

Miracle App?  Well, for one 17 year old Brit, who became a $30 millionaire yesterday, it surely was.  But when I tried to download it to my iPad today, it was dark – as they say in show business. Yahoo purchased it, and apparently will now charge for it, or integrate it into their business plan. They pulled the free download. The name was Summly. 

That set me off to find the “next best” thing to Summly.  And I found it. PC Magazine gave it the editor’s choice award – I can surely see why.  Called FlipBoard (for I phone and I Pad, probably Android as well).  This is a new step up, and for me this might change everything as regards viewing news and photos, et al.  

FlipBoard has a home page on the App, where you select the things you are interested in, topics, so to speak.  News, Technology and so forth. Photography perhaps. Then it creates a custom magazine-like newspaper for you, that dazzles, and is constantly updated (I presume).   The next step is the “front page” that shows all your choices with photos and attractive text.  You then choose your first look-see of the session, and it opens like a magazine.  And your turn the pages with your finger like a magazine. And wow, on the iPad it is so smooth!  First page turning App I have enjoyed, you can flip back and forth, the binder is in the middle, but it disappears as the page displays, very clever.

How this differs from a real magazine

1.      it is custom made to your interests

2.      it has gorgeous color photos, back lit, as only an iPad can do it, much cheaper than all that ink for a magazine.

3.      touching a photo you like generally makes it full screen, 8 x 10

4.      it can drill down, as you touch it will show more of a story than a magazine would have room to print – so you get an enhanced experience

5.      sometimes there are even videos, so you can see a story, not just look at still photos

6.      the entire process is the first I have seen that truly replicates and improves on a magazine experience

And, to top it all, the App is free !

Your comments and opinions are welcome. NOTE --- one day after I wrote this, Walter Mossberg, the Wall Street Journal Technology Editor wrote up this APP with praise !!  Great minds think alike?  I hope you enjoy his article as well.

Stock Tracker APP – New Discovery

Real-time Stock Tracker +Alert push  (is the official name, I think) 

I am probably late to the game, but discovered this APP in the APP store today.  It has a few thousand ratings, and 5 stars, pretty rare accolade for an APP.  I agree with the rating. I have already upgraded it to the full $9.99 (one time) professional version.  This eliminates all the ads – which are the top, not particularly annoying, but eliminating them gives more screen space on the iPad for viewing charts, news and related.

I have 3 or 4 stock market APPs on the iPad, and this one is now, in just an hour, is my absolute favorite.  This is one a real stock broker could appreciate.  It has continuously updating prices on your watch list, allows for portfolio set ups to follow your progress, clearly shows the dividend a stock pays and the % to current price (I think).  It also gives more extensive news on an individual stock, or the overall market than other APP’s. It also shows who is asking what price for a stock you are watching, and how many – quickly I got a sense that one of my mother’s stocks was getting more action as the dynamic quantity of selling offers (at a higher asking price) were developing.

Enough said, their charts are excellent, full screen, and partial, their information is great, the ease of use is excellent.  If you trade stocks, or just like to watch your portfolio from time to time, I think this is THE APP to install. 

If anyone knows a better APP, or problems with this one, please post

PS:  the "alert feature" is a nice idea, but I turned it off for now.  It would send you an email if a stock you are watching hit a certain low, high or volume level -- good idea if you planned to sell it at "X" price, for example.  Or buy it if it hit "Y" price. Normally I do not allow APP's to alert me or push information to me. Eventually this one might be an exception.