Added a list of my books. It’s not my full collection though. I bought a book cataloging application last year and I just add my books as I read them or when I remember the ones on my shelves. It’s a nice application called Bookpedia and I finally generated an html list of my collection. The templates are limited but I like the metal one I chose. If you’re curious about my collection, you can check them here. Some of the book covers in the list are different from what I really have though.

Sony Ericsson will be releasing R306 Radio in the 3rd quarter of this year. It’s not just any other C.P. with built-in radio. It has AM!!!!1! I think FM radio in the Philippines is crap so I only listen to AM. I’m so tres cool. LOL. The phone is targeted for old people, at least that’s what the comments say here. It’s also a low budget phone so that’s even better.

I haven’t had any sleep yet so pardonne-moi if this entry lacks coherence.

I’m gonna get me some DSLR loving for mah birthday. I have enough for a brand new Canon 400D with kitlens but what I really want is a 40D or a Nikon D80. I read on some forums here that Nikon’s service center really sucks so that’s a major drawback. Otherwise, I would really get the D80 even if it’s over my budget. The 40D is the most expensive among the three but that’s what I really really want because it does well on low light situations. Too bad for me cos I can’t afford it unless I get more birthday money or people buy all the stuff I’m selling (plug: I’m having a sale! go visit my store and buy!) or rich sultan falls in love with me and showers me with money. I wonder how much my digicam would fetch if I sell it. I just bought it early this year.

I’m going to get myself a DSLR for my birthday but I don’t know what to get. Rain recommended Nikon D40 so I read up on it and fount out it has no exposure adjustments. I’m not planning to be one of those who keep on upgrading their cameras. I think being able to adjust exposures will matter in the far future. Unfortunately, my budget is 30K…hopefully I’ll find a good camera for less than that amount. Throw me your suggestions, my photography freak friends!

Vixy.net is a very convenient FLV converter. It can convert as AVI, MOV, MP4 (for ipods or PSP), 3G, and MP3 (audio). It’s fast and very convenient.

Vixy.net didn’t pay me but I just really like their service even if it’s still in it’s beta stage. And sometimes you have to try several times because vixy can successfully convert the video. Well, it’s a free service so I can’t complain

I visited FlauntR again and it seems like some of its features failed to load the last time I was there.

Previous Visit

Today’s Visit

Notice the panel on the left on today’s visit. It wasn’t there last time. I think a bug in their system caused this. Or those features were just launched a few hours ago. Anyway, I have to retract some of my words in my previous review of FlauntR. The site has more effects to offer. It has frames, overlays, color effects, distortions etc. Usage is fairly easy but it takes a couple of seconds to load per effect. Manipulation is still limited because adjustments couldn’t be made to the effects. Again, this might change in the future. I’m still wondering why the site wouldn’t load properly on my Firefox though.

FlauntR is another online photo editor. For some reason, the site wouldn’t load properly on my firefox but it does on Safari. I tested some of its basic features and I find that it loads slower than Picnik but it performs just as well.

Interface

Playing with Exposure

I think the main difference between the two web services is that Picnik offers advanced manipulations.

As for special effects, FlauntR offers the following: sepia, grayscale, blur, emboss, solarize and boost. I’m hoping that the site would add some fun effects in the future.

So far, FlautR’s features are limited but that might change soon because the site is still in its alpha stage. As of the moment, it can only directly upload to flickr. Perhaps in the future there would be integration with facebook, zooor, etc.

I find that Picnik is easier to use and has more fun features. The thing is, not all of its services are free. I can still use the premium features as of the moment but the site might ask for payments in the future. For now, I would use Picnik instead of FlautR.

I signed up for Mozy online storage. I think I get 5gb but I’m not sure. I want to upload some of my doramas so I can have friends access them. I signed up for mediamax but that site really frustrates me since I always get timed out. Grrrr. Anyway, it would help me a lot if you sign up for mozy through

https://mozy.com/?ref=JDTM56

or suggest a better online storage than mediamax.

My current obsession du jour is facebook.com and while trying to rid myself of boredom one day, I browsed the hundreds of apps offered by third parties, looking for nice ones to add to my profile. One particular app there is called Picnik which I immediately added because it says on its description that it can be used to edit photos without leaving facebook. I was today that I was able to really look at the particular application because I was looking for a way to post my autographed photo on another friend’s profile (It’s just for laughs but if you want one, just tell me and I will even write a dedication). When the application loaded, I was pleased with the design. I went directly to picnik.com to check it out and was really pleased with it.

As I’ve said earlier, Picnik lets users edit photos while online. It uses AJAX (I think) and it loads fast for broadband users. Editing photos using it is intuitive but for the real beginners, a balloon pops up explaining what each button does.

Users may upload images from their computer. Alternatively, they can access photos from their facebook, picassa, or flickr accounts.

The site is still in its beta stage but the basic image manipulations are fully functional as well as a few added bonus which I really love. There are a couple of effects to choose from. There are also frames available. My favorite effect is called the lomo-ish which, as the name implies, simulates the effect of a lomo camera.

Although photo manipulations using this web service are limited, I like the convenience and how time-saving it is. I don’t have to open Photoshop and wait for all its plug-ins to load just to rotate or crop a photo.

One final note. All the images used for this post were edited using Picnik.