Discovering Triond

As those who frequent this blog might be aware, I submit articles to Helium. More recently, however, the discovery of Triond has enabled me to post articles there also.

Triond, in comparison to Helium, lacks any competitions or market place. However, the formatting of articles, as well as the opportunity to post comments gives it some advantages.

Please follow the link below, which directs you to some of my submitted Triond content:

http://www.sportales.com/Soccer/The-Best-Football-Players-in-the-Premiership.137212

This page links in to other article I have. Or, just click on my Triond namesake at the top, and that directs you to the author page.

Come back to this blog, for more photography, Helium and Triond updates!

US Flag Photo

The American flag, undoubtedly one of the most recognisable in the world, often makes for a good photo subject. Below, I have captured the flag in flight:


This photograph has been assisted with image editing. Some effects were added, and the flag straightened slightly. The cropping of the image is also evident. This was necessary to trim down the surrounding skyline enabling the flag to take up the best part of the image.

Helium Articles

I have a number of new and recent additions to my Helium biography. These include:

http://www.helium.com/items/1065598-looking-beckham-phenomenon-important

http://www.helium.com/items/1064629-premier-league-which-began

http://www.helium.com/items/1063529-english-football-truly-world

http://www.helium.com/items/1062354-rating-helium-articles-requires

http://www.helium.com/items/1061169-typing-typewriter-qwerty-keyboard

Please do take a look at them if you are interested. For further Helium updates, return to this blog for more.

Flower Photo

Another photo taken at a garden centre:


To take this, I moved the camera into a vertical position so as to fit a narrow pot of flowers into the picture. This is aided with orange and light blue background flowers, making for a sound composition.

Helium Publication

One of my more recent articles on Helium has been chosen for publication by Travel Planning Guide. This article, on Golf in Anna Maria Island, is my first Helium publication to date. You can view this article at:

Anna Maria Island

Please do use the link on the right to navigate to my other Helium articles. I will continue to provide blog updates in relation to Helium.

Hovercraft Photographs

Greetings again. Having crawled around the Ryde esplanade for the day, I have snapped up ;-) some more photography to post on this blog. Two of my best efforts, I consider, are alternative hovercraft photographs. These are small images, but can be made full size by clicking on them.

I like the clarity in the first photo (on the left). Also, in addition, what is caught in the background skyline also appeals. You can see Portsmouth & Southsea. More specifically, the Gunwharf shopping centre adjacent to the Spinnaker tower.

The second photo below, is taken from the front of the incoming hovercraft:

The composition is just right, with the hovercraft right in the centre of the photo. However, the background is less revealing.

I consider these to be two of the best on my hard disk. All things considered, they provide two interesting perspectives on the hovercraft from the front and reer. But which is the best?

Helium Update

There have been two more recent articles submitted into my Helium biography. They can be found at:

http://www.helium.com/items/1035357-arsenals-english-players-criticism

and also:

http://www.helium.com/items/1034108-world-number-causes-historians

Currently, the first is ranked 5/47 while the second is ranked 10/25. You might wish to take a look.

A lovely cat photograph

Moving away from flowers; this picture was taken outside a garden centre. The cat is perfectly poised for the photograph, so I just couldn't help myself!

It was windy, and I needed to crop the photo to centre the cat. Likewise, the blurring effect round the edges was done with image editing tools.

Still, the cat evidently wanted its picture taken. I duly took it, and here it is!

Flower Collection

Here is a collection of three flower pictures I have taken, moulded into one:


The picture layout was done using my digital camera layout facility, which enables you to layout two or three photos into one. The rose picture has been posted before, but the purple and white flowers are new photos. My feelings are the white flowers lack somewhat in color but make for an interesting contrast to the red roses. With the purple flowers, my regret is not fitting the whole flower base into the photo.

Still, the layout feature can make for useful combinations of photography. For example, different camera angles. Stay tuned for more.

Rose Photo

The latest pic from my harddrive. I know it looks pretty, you can add it to your desktop.


This was taken at a garden centre with the camera. Using the zoom features I was able to focus up on the roses. It makes good wallpaper.

Blog entries on Helium

This blog has had a number of its previous entries copied and pasted into Helium articles for ranking against others on the same theme. And how have they fared? Well, pretty well overall. Some have done very well while a few maybe haven't fitted the article subject perfectly.

Favorite websites: 11/30

Causes for World War 1: 10/40

A look at the video game console battle: 1/3

History of World Cup: 3/4

Perspectives on game consoles: 2/69

The best software downloading websites: 3/4

Rights of free Software movement: 2/3

My favorite video games and an explanation of why they are my favorites: 5/27

Best video games ever: 11/113

Essays: Sustainable communities: 2/7

Is Windows Vista worth the upgrade: 6/52

Benefits of playing video games: 5/126

These articles, as you can see, generally are very well ranked in the larger topic categories. The titles aren't the same, and some have had minor editing. At any rate they are still on this blog, with images. I've taken off the archive facility however.

Still, pop over to Helium and you can read them there. Just click the link below and you will be on my user page:

Flowing water Picture

Another scoop from my hard drive. This picture was taken from a small pond display outside a garden center:


My camera has a useful best shot facility, with an ideal flowing water option available to select. This I did, and took the shot you see above. As such, the water was captured well.

Equally, the zoom compact allows for lens manipulation. Allowing me to zoom into the object more and remove unwanted surroundings.

While I do consider this to be as good as the HMS Warrior, it still provided for an interesting shot.

Digital Pictures

Recently, I have quite taken to digital photography. Using a zoom compact, 12.1 megapixel Exilim I have acquired some snaps on the hard drive. Rather than leave them there, I will post some of my favourites on this blog for you to view. Somewhat like a photo gallery.
The first picture is of the HMS Warrior:


I took this on a fairly dreary day, so lighting wasn't brilliant. But the composition of this famous old ship fits the photo nicely. Click on the image, and you will get a full-screen view. If you really want, it can be your new desktop!

By all means, I have more to add which I will do so on a post-by-post basis. Visit again for more.

Helium

Well, you may note my recent posts on this blog and wonder why it was left. I can tell you, that largely this has a lot to do with a site called Helium. To view click the link:



Helium enables the posting of articles on a much wider scale than blogs and guarantees an audience. As such, quite a few of my blogging entries have been moved from here and been posted for ranking there.

So, I guess this blog has become somewhat redundant. But then, it still offers things that Helium does not. Like imaging and formatting capabilities. Likewise, the potential for adverts has been realised, as you may note on the right side of this blog.

As a personal blog though, it still holds value also. So alas, it lives on. Keep visiting, I have plans for it.

Amateur Golfer

I have an alternative blog on Golf by the name of 'Amateur Golfer' which has not attracted any comments to date. If you are keen on Golf, by all means drop by on it and make a post.

You can find the latest entry at:

http://amateurgolfer.blogspot.com/

The Joy of Downloads

So, this blog might have foundered on inactivity. But that does not mean it is dead. I needed a valid e-mail address to switch to Google. Up and running once more, I will give you more treats in addition to the groovy wallpaper site. The Joy of Downloads.

If you pay for software, you shouldn't. Naturally, you will need an OS but aside from that you can obtain a whole host of quality Freeware from the WWW. I'll let you in on some of my best finds:

Free Download Manager - A full application which enables you to stop, start downloads as well as scedule and optimise.

Advanced Windows Care Personal V2 - System optimization tool that scans your whole sytem, fixes things as well as optimization. Comes with a variey of tools in addition to system scan such as memory clean which releases a lot of memory & speeds things up. Has a few features missing, but not many.

Google Earth - Got an interest in Geography? Well Google Earth could be the ticket for you. It is like one of those World Atlas applications except that it uses real top-down images in some places which you can zoom right down on. In addition, some cities have 3D buildings to help you get a real sense of perspective.

Picasa 2 - Great free image editing & viewing tool as good as many commercial packages. Has lots of features to edit and improve your favourite images.

Mario forever - There are loads of free full video games availble for download. Quite a few are of good quality, a lot like to reproduce old (but gold) classics. Like this Mario forever download. It's a full game, and is like the original Mario Bros title but with graphics closer to 16bit Mario Allstars. Level design is all completely new along with groovy level music.

Scorched 3D - I actually mentioned this on my blog previously (http://20thcenturyhistorian.blogspot.com/2006_03_01_archive.html). If it's mulitiplayer you want, then you might go for this. It's a reproduction of another golden classic with more advanced graphics. Great for on-line play also allows you to play CPU.

3DNA Desktop - A 3D Desktop. Yes I shall repeat, the desktop is a fully fledged three dimensional room. It runs on top of Windows but essentially you start your applications from various places within a 3D room. Also comes with balcony to wonder out on to. Need a decent PC to run it well with graphics card. If you have that, then download this and also can gain many more features from website.

Well, I have more but I think those are the best I have found to date. Many more besides with 2 great sites available to help. http://www.cnet.com/ and http://www.softpedia.com/ - the two best download sites on the Web. Go to these sites and you will find the download links for the above mentioned. Plus a load more besides.

I hope you have fun with the software, feel free to post on this blog and also if you are interested in Golf, then perhaps consider posting over on Amateur Golfer. Come back again for more...

Groovy Themes

It has been a trifle difficult of late to get on to this blog for me. For some reason, I couldn't log on but now that seems to have passed.

Still, for those of you who come to this blog often I have a gift. You can find some excellent desktop wallpaper at: http://www.groovythemes.com/

I guarantee you will be using some of it on your desktop after viewing.

Template Change

Having returned to this blog, I have adopted a template change. I consider it an improvement on the previous, with the archives and profile being moved over to the right and the title centered at the top. For right handed users this will remove the need to scroll the mouse over to the left of the page.

The improved interface is matched with a design that makes the text easier to read. Black on a clear background as opposed to the previous dark background precluding the text.

All this makes for a fresh new look and better functionality (interface), hurrah!

Windows Vista

I know I have not updated for some time. And, perhaps this blog might appear to be inactive. Well, that's because it is. But with time available now, I can continue. And the subject of the moment? Windows Vista.

The key question for me is, do you really need to upgrade at all let alone immediately? Having read a magazine article on this, it revealed that it is more than possible to enhance Windows XP to offer some of the features in the upgrade - for free.

For example, the visual appearance of the desktop. Try downloading Windows Blinds. Then you can use it to customize the theme of the windows and desktop to match Windows Vista. In addition, Yahoo Widgets will enable you to create Vista's desktop gadgets - also for free.

(above) Windows Vista gadgets

(above) Yahoo Widgets gives XP gadgets

Another tip worth noting is that you can adjust your text to cleartype in XP to match the style of Vista. This is done by right-clicking desktop and then appearance tab, effects box and tick clear type box. The smooth Windows Vista text will now be on XP.

Furthermore, Windows Vista proudly boasts the latest version of Internet Explorer. But remember, this isn't just available to Vista. IE 7 is also available for XP. Download it from the MS website and it can be yours for nothing.

Vista comes with a new image editing (Photo Gallery) tool as a replacement for XP's slideshows. However, you can obtain a very similar image editing tool for nothing. Download the excellent Picasa freeware from Google (http://picasa.google.com/) and you will have virtually the same thing on Windows XP.

These are some of the things I have tried. There are also things you can do with XP to adopt the security features offered by Vista amongst other enhancements. However, this is already dragging on and I believe I have made my point.

If you plan on upgrading, you might want to reconsider if using XP. At least for the time being while the price is high.

11th November 1918

As you likely know, it's that weekend again whereby we recall a certain date in history. Namely, 11th November 1918 - the armistice date which ended World War 1.

What can one say about this devastating conflict and the armistice that followed? From a strictly historical perspective, the armistice of 1918 did not bring about the lasting peace and stable world order that the 'peacemakers' and statesmen of that time envisaged. It would only be two decades before the outbreak of World War 2.

That is the sad truth that underlines World War 1. The other is that the tactics used on the western front clearly proved to be ineffective by both sides. From Germany's failure to secure a quick victory in the west to the series of failed 'offensives' and counter offensives that followed - defenses remained on top. It was only the tank and American pressure which finally ended it.

The result of this was an unfortunate loss of lives on the western front. To that, we dedicate this day of remembrance.