Google Chrome Just Might Catch On

September 17, 2008

Could I Possibly be Wrong?

google-chrome I’ve been reading all of the news about Google Chrome, the blogosphere’s newest darling. I downloaded Google Chrome and tested it on a few machines to see what all of the fuss was about.  Overall, I think it’s OK, but not as good as Firefox, Flock, or even Opera. I don’t really see it taking out Internet Explorer or Firefox any time soon. It lacks the extensions and customization of Firefox and it won’t be bundled with the Windows or Mac operating systems.

Whenever I look at the possible adoption of new technologies like Linux, Firefox, or Google Docs I always ask, “Will my mom use this?”

A few tech news sites are reporting that Chrome is being used by as much as 8% of their readers and are predicting time lines in which it will pass IE and Firefox. My initial thought was that these sites are read by tech geeks that installed and tested out Google’s new toy. I would be curious to see what Yahoo, AOL, or MySpace are seeing.  For the record, VitaminCM.com is seeing right around 1%, which is just behind Opera.

My “Wakeup Call” to Chrome’s Mainstream Potential

So I see my phone ring at 7:55 AM this morning and it’s my mom. I figure that something really bad must have happened down in Del Boca Vista, so I answer. No deaths, hurricanes, or tragedies, just this:

“I was reading about this new browser, “Google Chrome” in the free local paper. Have you ever heard of it? I decided to try it out.”

Well that cinches it, the “Will my Mom use it?” threshold has been met.

Maybe I was wrong, this thing might take off. I’m still taking a wait-and-see attitude about how much market share Chrome will actually gain.

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Written by Christopher Masiello · Filed Under Product Reviews, Web Surfing 

Great Tech and Gadget Sites for Women

September 14, 2008

Strong Enough for a Man, but Made for a Woman

Female Tech and Gadget sites on VitaminCM.com I read a lot of Tech and Gadget sites (198 feeds and counting) and 95% of them are written by men, for men. That’s great, if you’re a guy (which I am). What about the ladies? Don’t they deserve some Gadget Love? Don’t they want to know what’s going on with Facebook, Google, or Apple? Sure they do!

It just so happens that there are a bunch of excellent Tech and Gadget blogs written by women, with women in mind. Here’s my little secret: They’re usually pretty cool for guys too. At least this guy.

If there’s a special lady in your life (or if you are one) that likes her tech without a side of testosterone, here are a few sites for her.

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Written by Christopher Masiello · Filed Under Gadgets, Media, Web Surfing 

How to Geotag your Pictures Using Picasa and Google Earth

September 4, 2008

Put Your Photography on the Map (Literally)

Goal: Learn how to Geotags your photos and place them on a map quickly and easily using free software.

Geotag-Picasa What is Geotagging?

Geotagging is the process of adding geographical identification metadata (information about a file) to photos (and other media). This allows applications and web pages to identify and display where an image was taken. You can use Flickr and other services to place your photos on a map that shows their locations.

Where does the Geotag Data Reside?

The longitude and latitude information is placed inside the Exif data (data that identifies date, time, and camera settings, among other things) of an image.

That’s great, but how do you find and add the GPS coordinates to the Exif data in an image? It sounds pretty complicated and technical. Well, actually you can do it yourself in just a few simple and fun steps. The best part is, you probably already have and use the software that you’ll need.

What tools do you need?

  1. Your digital photos
  2. Google’s Picasa (Get Picasa here.)
  3. Google Earth (Get Google Earth here.)

Step By Step Instructions for Geotagging Photos with Picasa and Google Earth

Select the photo(s) to be geotagged in Picasa’s Library.

Picasa Image Library

Select Tools> Geotag> Geotag With Google Earth from the Picasa toolbar.

GeoTag With Google Earth

Or, click the  button in tGeoTaghe Tray at the bottom of the Picasa Library.

Geotag Button in Picasa

Google Earth opens displaying the Geotagging menu (showing your selected photos).

Google Earth Geotag menu

Navigate to the location where the “active” image was taken and click the Geotag button.

Find Geotag location in Google Earth

Move to the next image using the Left and Right Arrow buttons.

Geotag menu in Google Earth

Navigate to the location where the “active” next image was taken and click the Geotag button.

Note: If all of your images were take at the same location, you can click the Geotag All button to do the whole bunch in one shot.

Click the Done button when you are done Geotagging all of your images.

If you return to Picasa you will see a small “crosshairs” icon in the bottom right corner of your geotagged images in Picasa’s Library.

Geotagged Image icon in Picasa

Viewing Geotags in the Photos Exif Data

Right click on a Geotagged image and select Properties from the menu.

The Properties menu displays all of the Exif data for your image.

Image Properties Menu in Picasa

Scroll down the Properties menu to see the GPS Latitude, GPS Longitude, and GPS Altitude information.

Click the OK button to close the Properties menu.

The next time you open Google Earth, you will see your geotagged images hovering over the map where they were placed.

Geotagged images in Google Earth

See How it’s Done

This video by GoogleEarthVideoHelp shows you how to do the entire process.

Printable Instructions

Click here to download the Step by Step Instructions.

Additional Information and Resources

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Written by Christopher Masiello · Filed Under Podcast, Software, Tutorials