I have to confess that I haven’t really done much of anything with my digital photos. Some are saved on memory sticks, some are in digital photo frames, and some are saved on my computer or burned to a cd. I rarely print them off and almost never alter them in any way. My physical photos from pre-digital camera days suffer similar fates. They lie in boxes, waiting to be framed or put in albums. Not a priority, they may wait for a long time.

Not everyone is as lax as I am with their photos. Former scrappers have become dedicated to digital scrapbooking. For those of you who enjoy giving your photos the love they deserve, I’ve found a couple of websites that you may find useful. One is at Digital Scrapbooks and More and the other is a Squidoo lens called Digital Scrapbooking Freebies.

I’m sure I would really enjoy scrapbooking and I’ve promised myself I will get around to all those photos someday soon. Maybe I need a month away to work on them or something. Motivation anyone?

Technorati Tags: digital scrapbooks, scrapbooking, photos

There are a number of programs that are included with your Windows operating system. One of them is Windows Movie Maker and I encourage you to try it if you haven’t already. It’s meant for short movies created from existing photos, Powerpoint slides, videos, or directly from your webcam. The special effects and transitions allow you to create a fairly professional video. One that you can save to your computer, put on a cd, email, or put onto a website. You can also add existing music or audio or record yourself as the video plays.

Imagine being able to narrate your family history or a special story created just for the grandkids. There are all kinds of possibilities using Movie Maker and it isn’t that hard to learn either. I’ve found a detailed tutorial for you to watch that explains most of the steps really well. Towards the end of the video, you’ll find that it freezes and won’t play anymore. Since there is enough explanation to get you started, I decided to use this video anyway. Others that I looked at had annoying background music or the narrator wasn’t nearly as easy to listen to as this one is. I hope it’s helpful to you and you’ll get started using Windows Movie Maker soon. Then please share your successes with us. We’d love to hear from you!

Technorati Tags: Windows Movie Maker, video tutorial, ways to use Movie Maker

I’ve mentioned before that I host a weekly computer club at the local community center once a week. For an hour and a half, we talk about problems, achievements, and all things computer related. I had been feeling a little frustrated last fall because it seemed that people just dropped in to fix a specific problem and then didn’t come back for awhile.

But this year the club is finally starting to take off in the way that I’d intended. We have a group of six or seven regulars that work together, help one another, and delight in learning more about computers and all the great things we can do with them. A few of the group have started blogging as well and are getting interested in Internet marketing too. Since that’s one of my favourite subjects, I’m enjoying the time we have together.

I often take in books and software to share with the group. Now that publishers have realized how many older people are eager to learn about computers and especially the Internet, there are a lot of choices. I prefer the books that are fairly large print, easy to understand, and contain a number of screenshots to follow along. One such publisher is Visual Steps and they’ve published manuals on Windows, Internet and Email.

One of the titles that I purchased and recommended to the computer club is called “Interesting Online Applications For Seniors”. It contains tutorials on Youtube, Google Earth, eBay, Google Maps, Skype, RSS Feeds and Podcasts, Facebook, Hotmail, Messenger, web photo albums, Wikipedia and Online Dictionaries, and even creating a blog on Blogger. The Blogger tutorial is so detailed that I used it when teaching a workshop on creating a free website with Blogger.

Most libraries will probably carry the book, or you can order it from Amazon and have it delivered to your door. Let me know how you like it, and if you start a blog, share the link so we can visit. Oh, and don’t think you have to be a senior to benefit from the information.

Technorati Tags: online applications, Internet, social media

I will be leaving for Atlanta in a couple of days to attend a four day Internet Marketing workshop. I’ll be taking a lot of notes and will try to share some of what I learn when I get back.

As well, my computer club is finally taking off this year. People are getting more involved and are helping one another rather than just asking their questions and then leaving. They bring laptops or use the computers at the community centre, we talk about everything from email, to google earth, to blogging. A few of the guys have started their own websites and are trying their hand at affiliate marketing. One of them is retired and his enthusiasm is great to see.

I’d like to take this opportunity to send get well wishes to one of my loyal readers. Robert is always taking the time to write encouraging comments and I’d wondered why I hadn’t heard from him lately. Turns out he’s had pneumonia, although it is now finally on the mend. So Robert, all of us here at Creative Home Computing are sending prayers for your quick recovery. I hope you feel better very soon.

Many computer users are familiar with Windows, but how many have ever tried the Paint program that’s included? I run a drop-in computer club at the local community center and often people don’t even realize there is a Windows Paint program. My daughter uses it to do simple graphics editing. It can be fun even for children learning to draw on the computer.

If you’ve never done anything with your Paint program, why not try drawing a house?  Practice with as many of the included drawing tools as you can. Our computer club had great fun creating their digital homes. It isn’t as easy as it sounds, but is great mouse practice and your pictures can be printed out afterwards. An extra tip: click the ‘Undo’ button on the toolbar to erase your last action.

Try some of the following ideas in Paint:

• Add text and create a basic picture story for children.
• Under ‘File’, choose ’set as wallpaper’ and you’ll see your drawing every time you turn on your computer.
• Import a photo into paint and then crop it.
• Use the magnifier tool and the pencil to change small details.
• Crop a picture by clicking the ’select’ tool (it looks like a rectangle) and then drag it over the area you want to select.
• Try to resize, stretch, rotate, and copy your graphic.
• Change the colors on your picture.

What else can you do with the Paint program? I’d love to hear about what you create. Why not print it off and post it on your fridge for the kids to see?  Send me a copy and I’ll post it here on the blog for everyone to admire (family friendly graphics only, please).

Technorati Tags: Windows Paint, using the Paint program