Hands-On with Canon imageFORMULA P-215 and DR-C125 Document Scanners

As an ECM professional and Capture expert, I get the opportunity to play with a variety of document scanners.  Canon is a brand that I have not had the pleasure of working with too much.  So I was excited to be able to play around with 2 new scanner from Canon this week, the imageFORMULA P-215 "Scan-tini" mobile scanner and the space-saving DR-C125 desktop scanner.  The one that peeked my interest most is the P-215 mobile scanner.

Hiking Catawba Falls with my Vibram FiveFingers

Over the Memorial weekend I took the family hiking near Old Fort, North Carolina to see the amazing Catawba Falls in the Pisgah National Forest.  This was the first real hike I completed using the Vibram Five Fingers KSO shoes. 

For those that are not familiar with Vibram FiveFingers shoes. As you can see from the picture above, the main feature immediately recognizable is the individual toe sockets.  Vibram points out that "The typical human foot is an anatomical marvel of evolution with 26 bones, 33 joints, 20 muscles, and hundreds of sensory receptors, tendons and ligaments. Like the rest of the body, to keep our feet healthy, they need to be stimulated and exercised. That’s why we recommend wearing FiveFingers for exercise, play, and for fun. Stimulating the muscles in your feet and lower legs will not only make you stronger and healthier, it improves your balance, agility and proprioception." Time Magazine even named Vibram FiveFingers as one of the Best Inventions of 2007. 

The Perfect Apple iPad Case - REI Tech Wrap Sleeve (X Small)

I purchased an 32GB Apple iPad last week and one of the first things I needed to figure out is how I was going to protect it when it was not in use.  I am not a fan of using hard-shell, or silicone wraps/cases on my gadgets because I believe it takes away from the intended design and usability of the device.  The Apple iPad is even more so.  I love the design and form-factor of the iPad so much I really don't want to add anything to it.  But, I still need something to put it in when it is not in use or if I want to transport the iPad from home to the office. 

I started looking online for a case and didn't find anything that looked like what I wanted.  I am very particular about my bags/cases so I decided to go to my local REI (www.REI.com) to see what they have that might work.  Once I started looking around in the computer bag section of the store it didn't take long to find exactly what wanted.  It's called the REI Tech Wrap Computer Sleeve and it is perfect! Product Link: http://www.rei.com/product/795066

Video Review of the 

REI Tech Wrap Computer iPad Sleeve

Here is what REI has to say about the Tech Wrap Sleeve:

TSA checkpoint-friendly X Small REI Tech Wrap computer sleeve fits netbooks and portable media readers with up to a 10 in. screen and features plenty of organizational options.

Partially made from 100% recycled PET polyester fabric, each sleeve keeps ten 16 oz. plastic bottles out of landfills

Checkpoint-friendly design meets TSA screening requirements for not having to remove laptop from sleeve, reducing the hassle of airport security checkpoints

Book-style design zips open and lays flat with computer on one side and pockets on other; X Small size fits a netbook or portable media reader with up a 10 in. screen

Zippered neoprene sleeve provides protection for your computer; vertical and horizontal access accommodates use of a variety of carry bags

Internal letter-size document pocket keeps papers organized; zippered, divided pocket helps keep small items separated and easy to find

External zippered front pocket features an organizer panel and enough space for small peripherals or cords

Haul handles on top let you tote sleeve with ease; attachment points allow use of shoulder strap (sold separately)

Logitech Squeezebox Duet - Video Walkthrough

The iPod revolutionized the personal music experience, but the Squeezebox Duet will revolutionize how you listen to music in your home!!!

I am really blown away by this product. Last spring I took some time to wire my den and back porch with in-ceiling speakers. I had an old Onkyo A/V receiver that I installed in a closet to power the 2 rooms. My grand plan was to get this all setup for the Logitech Squeezebox Duet. I looked at the Sonos Music system but it was way out of my budget. The Logitech Squeezebox Duet was more than worth the money.

The install was a snap. It really only took a few minutes to setup. I did a little homework before I got the device and went ahead and installed the SqueezeCenter software on my computer first. So when I plugged in the hardware everything worked right away. No issues.

The interface is so slick and intuitive. Simple, efficient, and familiar to anyone that has used an iPod or any other portable MP3 player. I was amazed at how responsive the system is to the controls on the WiFi remote. Going from track to track, or album to album was instant, no lag. Really, I have used other music streaming systems before and some of them had a distinct lag in the controls. I am very happy to report that Slim Devices and Logitech got this right with the Squeezebox Duet. This is one of the few products that exceeded my expectations.

Check out the Logitech Squeezebox Duet on Amazon.com

Using Picasa 3 for Basic Video Editing

The newest version of Google's Picasa photo management software has some new tricks up it's sleeve. Picasa 3 (beta) now includes the ability to perform some basic video editing and publishing. This article will walk you through some of the basics of this new feature.

Introduction

I am a long-time user and big fan of Google's Picasa photo management software. Using Picasa totally changed the way I manage, organize and share my personal photos. For a long time now I have struggled with how to manage my growing library of digital video. With the newest version of Picasa I may have found what I have been looking for. Picasa now integrates digital photos and video much more seamlessly and adds some extremely useful features that make it a potential powerhouse for managing your personal video library.For those of you following along at home, you may want to gather a few things before we get started. First of all, you will want to install the newest version of Picasa by going here: http://picasa.google.com . As of right now this version only supports Windows XP and Vista. For my demonstration I will be using the 64-bit version of Windows Vista.

A Few Notes on Digital Video

Until very recently, digital video was still very cumbersome to manage. Most camcorders still use some sort of physical media like a digital tape or optical disk. This made things hard to manage on your computer. You couldn't easily plug in your camera and just "copy" video off your camera. Times are changing and camcorders are starting to catch up to digital cameras. The most notable camera that is helping get digital video on your computer more easily is the Flip Video Camera. The Flip Video Camera is a small point-and-shoot digital camcorder that does not use any tape or disks. It uses it's own internal memory to store your digital video. The camera has a built-in USB connection so you just plug it into your computer when you are ready to view or transfer your video. Best of all the Flip Video Camera can be purchased for around $150. Far more less expensive than older style camcorders. For this article I will be using video clips from my Flip Video Camera. For more information on the Flip Video camera you can go here: Flip Video Ultra Series Camcorder, 60-Minutes (Black).

Picasa 3 Video Editing Walkthough

For this walkthrough I will assume you already have Picasa 3 installed and running with some video files already in the application ready for editing.

1. Select your video files.

Find and select the video files you want to edit. For my example I am going to take 3 individual video files that I took using my Flip Video Camera . The three video files I am going to use are all in the same folder or album so I can just select the album. Once you have selected the files or album you want to use click on the new Movie icon at the bottom right part of your Picasa screen.

2. Edit Your Movie (Movie Tab)

Once you are loaded up in the Movie Maker sub-application in Picasa you will be taken to the Movie tab. On the left-hand side you will be presented with some basic settings to configure your movie. This is where you can load an audio track so you can add music to your video. This also where you will set your transition style for how the video will look in between your clips. I have selected Wipe for my transition style. This is also where you will set the video Dimensions. I have left my dimensions to be same as the original 640x480 resolution. But, if you want to reduce your file size or make your video ready for YouTube upload this is where is where you would do that.

3. Edit Your Slide (Slide Tab)

The slide tab is where you can edit your title or other text only slides. Picasa creates a title slide for you when you go into the Movie Maker mode. By default the title of your movie is the title of your folder or album in Picasa where the video clips came from. If you want to edit your movie title this is where you can do it. Just type in the text on the left-hand side. You can also adjust the color of the text and background. You can also change the font style and size from here.

4. Adding More Clips To Your Movie (Clips Tab)

The third tab on the left-hand side in the Movie Maker mode is called Clips. This is where you will go if you want to add additional video clips to the movie you are working on. The "Get More..." button will take you back to the Picasa Library where you can search for more video or photos to add to your project. Once you find one and select it you can move back to the Movie Maker mode by clicking on the Movie Maker tab at the top. Back on the clips tab you select or highlight the clip you want and click on the "+ Add" button. This will add the clip to the end of the project. You can move your clips around just by clicking on a clip and dragging it to the desired position in the movie. Also, you can remove a clip from your movie by selecting it with a left-mouse-click and performing a right-mouse-click action and selecting "Remove" from the menu.

5. Create Your Movie

Once you are done adding video and editing your setting you can view your movie by click on the green arrow "Play" button that sits below the video preview window. When you are happy with your end result you now need to publish your movie or "Create Movie." The "Create Movie" button is found on the lower left-hand side of the screen. Simply click the button to initiate the process. A progress bar will appear and a new window will show that your draft movie is "In Progress..."

The time it takes to make your movie will depend on several factors. The speed of your system and how long the movie is are two of the most important. Once your movie it complete the screen will refresh and your new movie will begin to play. From this screen you will have a few new options for actions you can do to your completed movie.

• Take Snapshot: Allows you to take screen captures of specific frames in your move. You can then save your screen captures as images in Picasa.
• Upload to YouTube: Does as described. A windows will pop-up where you can enter specific information about your movie so it can be uploaded to YouTube.
• Export Clip: This function allows you to export or save a clip of the current movie. You can move the sliders under the video to export a specific scene.

Conclusion

Well, that was a very short walkthough of the basic video editing and publishing features of the new Picasa 3 (beta) software. Now that you have made your movie you can most of the things you can do with pictures, like email it to a friend or family or blog about it. Looks like you even can Geo-Tag the movie. I am very happy to see these video editing features creeping into Picasa. As digital video cameras like the Flip become more pervasive the need to do basic editing and sharing is a must. Google is smart to being getting into this sooner than later. Finding a good, cheap, and easy video editing software can be hard. Window Movie Maker that comes with Vista is not bad but Windows Movie Maker doesn't work with my Flip Video files. Picasa 3 had no problem reading and editing my video files. That is a huge plus. Funny thing is that the resulting video file made by Picasa is a Windows Media Video file *.WMV. The details on that I plan to look into. Well, thanks for your attention and I hope this was informative. Please feel free to comment about his article and I will try to also field any additional questions that may come up about Picasa 3. Thanks.