GIMP review last and for some least!

Part III of Open Source Sofware review...

Gimp is a graphics software and I downloaded it to my computer. The downloading, although not glitch-less, was acceptably problem-less. I, however, have a little more technosaviness than your average Joe, so I venture out to say that for a typical user, it might be a little complicated to download this software. Furthermore, this is where the trouble just begins. In the same confusing fashion, once downloaded and installed, the GIMP drawing and graphics software was not at all user friendly or intuitive to regular or even pretty knowledgeable folks.

As soon as you open it, a little user interface box pops up, not functional at all and a bit disconcerting. I do not know why it is set up that way, after fiddling with it a bit, one can get the full screen. Once welcomed by the full screen, there are a very few basic tools one can use right away, but within minutes you run into a solid wall. Nothing is where one would assume it to be, after much searching I still could not do with the image what I wanted to do. I had to read the help menu to look for several features and even then could not make heads or tails of it.

In conclusion, my impression with this software is, that it is definitely not for your average or even a bit above average Joe. I assume then, that if a person is an expert in other graphic processing and creation tools such as Photo Shop or CorelDraw, maybe this software would be functional for them, as they are very familiar with the format and layout of graphic creation software.

I would much rather use the Ms software I am accustomed to, such as Ms Publisher, Adobe Creative Suite, Paint, or even Word for that matter. I could do very little with GIMP and found it extremely convoluted and no one to call for support, I don't see this as an option for the regular consumer just to save some dough.

Paola:o)

Open Source Software Review

The next sofware to review is;

Open Office. It took a very long time to download, but there were no problems with instalation. I really liked the user interface and found it very functional. It
offers many of the features of Office and I was able to open all of the documents I have in my computer. All of the pages rendered very well and I was able to create files with the Writer word processor, the Impress (Power Point look alike), and the draw app. All worked without a glitch, offered many tools, and I found it intuitive and well created. It was very comparable to Ms. Office. I created a file and sent it to my iPad and was happily surprised to be able to open it without any problems. This I find very advantageous and I could not find any reason why someone would not opt for Open Office, rather than spend 100 plus dollars, on Ms Office, if not for a specific reason. I found the entire experience functional and with little to no issues. I recomend this product to anyone on a budget or just anyone who is frugal and wise.

Paola :o)

Open Source Software....

Today's discussion is about open source software. I downloaded three open source products and I will make comments as to how the software performed in comparison to the commonly purchased and licensed competitors.

First, I would like to discuss the open source browser, Firefox. I downloaded and used Firefox for a few days and here is my report.

The dowloading process was very smooth and I experienced no glitches. I really liked the look and feel of the Mozilla Firefox open source browswer. What I liked best were the tools and the layout. In my opinion, it is very intuitive and I did not need to go chasing for where to find the options I needed. I also like that it is fast and responsinve and even when there is a problem, the software is set up to be interactive, which makes the user feel involved. Immediately, there is an error message (with some funny comment) and the browser offers to recover the page and apologises. I really like that and have often been able to recover the pages I was visiting when things crashed.

What I did not like, and perhaps will find a fix for or will find out if it is related to my computer or Firefox, is that YouTube and Firefox are not playing well together. I do not know if there are behind the scenes conflicts with the companies or if there are some plugins missing, or what? But, every time I open youTube and try to watch something the script crashes and my system freezes for a bit. I am having the same problem with HuluPlus as the screen keeps on freezing while watching one of my favorite "Novelas".

So in summary, Firefox is excellent for most things, however, I am not able to completely do away with Internet explorer, as IE as a browser is out performing Firefox, in those few areas. Furthermore, not only does HuluPlus and YouTube run on my same computer without a glitch when processed through IE, but also my work-related websites such as scheduling, PowerSchools, and payroll do not operate on Firefox at all.  So, the result is having to use both browsers to do unique functions. I would love it if Firefox could do it all, as I like the look and feel of Firefox, ten times more than that of Internet Explorer.

Paola :o)

Hi, I'm back!

Hello everyone, sorry have not posted in a while, but with the holidays upon us, my already taxed schedule becomes more overwhelming. I want to let you know that I have added a few more usefull features to my blog and I hope you find them useful. Please notice there now is an adorable or three adorable new puppies a day to brighten your day, everytime you visit. Secondly find a useful search box where you can search my site or the entire web. I will be adding more features as time permits.

Anyone have funny or amazing black friday stories? Please share..


Thanks for reading and have a great week!

Is Cyber Moday all it's hyped up to be?

So tonight my friend Colleen asked me if Cyber Monday was worth her time and money. I told her I had seen something about it, but was not really aware of what it all entailed.  Thus, I set out to investigate.... 

I checked out Mashable and sure enough that is where I had been introduced to the concept. Instead of me botching up the story, I'll just give you the link and you can read about it yourselves.. Have a Happy Turkey Day!


http://mashable.com/2012/11/22/cyber-monday/

Paola:o)

Voting rights discontinued by Facebook..

Facebook has announced that it will no longer include its members in the voting process to adopt new policies and procedures. According to, "Mashable"one of the top 10 blogs out there in cyber world, Facebook experienced very low participation in the last voting round and most of the participation was not, in their opinion, quality content. It will continue to accept feedback and commenting in regards to new policies and practices but it will keep the ultimate decision making process an internal one.  One wonders if this new change will make Facebook better, or if it will only mean that Facebook admins can do whatever they want, or is more convenient for them as a business, and not take any consideration to the feedback given by the users. We'll just have to wait and see.. 

Find this article on Mashable at:

http://mashable.com/2012/11/21/facebook-no-democracy/

Paola:o)

Interesting Story about New York

I know this is a bit off topic, but it is for my WEB Design class. However, this was a very interesting story found at one of the top popular blogs out there. 

New York has again ventured ahead of other states in technologies implemented for the use of the public at large. These touch screens are in fact a replacement to the common, but outdated "phone booth". This giant iPad like apparatus, not only serves as a public phone, but as a public safety communications device and an advertisement tool. Currently, it is offered free of charge, but of course it has plenty of advertisements to catch the public eye, and it offers coupons to entice the user to visit and spend their cash at nearby retail establishments and restaurants.

The best feature of this "phone", is that it becomes a communication device during disasters to assist individuals in asking for help when communication lines fail. 

Lastly, one can imagine that in New York this device would not last undamaged, but according to this article it has been built and field tested to be extremely tough and durable. According to the blog article, during a pilot run, the touch screens had not been damaged in any way.  

Information and photo found on:
http://gigaom.com/2012/11/20/new-york-city-launches-250-touch-screen-phone-booths/

Meet Mateo Suki

Ok, I'm back... After a wonderful walk through my cozy and quaint little town. The weather is surprisingly warm for this time of year, so my hubs and I, decided to go for a stroll; just the two of us. Hooray! Alone at last, even if just for 30 minutes. Still, even walking, I miss my dogs! I think I must suffer from Peke over- dependence or something, if that is even a term I can concoct. I now want to introduce you all to our other Pekingese;

Meet MATEO SUKI:

Isn't he handsome? He is royal, strong, brave, intelligent, trustworthy, intense, and protective. He was our very first peke and we've never looked back since. We bought his fiance Bella Jïa, and he couldn't be happier. Of course, little did he know that Bella was going to become the alpha dog and he was going to have to succumb to her powers!

Welcome to my Blog!

Hi everyone, welcome to my blog! My name is Paola and first of all, in this blog I would like to share all of the comical and endearing  moments shared with our wonderful friends, our Pekes! 

First things first.. 

Meet BELLA JÏA..

Bella is our female Pekingese and she is 1 and half yrs old. She is by far the smartest, sweetest, most unique dog we've ever had; and we've had a LOT of dogs throughout the 21 years we have been married. 

Paola:o)