Making a comparison between iPhoto and anything non-Mac will sound like heresy to Apple fanatics, yet as a Picasa user of many years I was intrigued by how iPhoto would compare to Picasa as I moved from Windows to Mac.
I tried out both iPhoto and Picasa on my MacBook Pro. As a Picasa user, I was more familiar with the Picasa interface, but found after a week of using iPhoto regularly I found it easy and fun to use.
Some of the features where I noticed a significant difference between the two products were:
Facial recognition
Not only is Picasa’s facial recognition far more accurate than iPhoto facial recognition, it is faster, has a better user interface (which totally surprised me) and has fun extras.
The downside of Picasa’s facial recognition is that there seems to be a bug using both Picasa and contacts—some of my contacts occasionally disappear from my iPhone contacts list. A few postings on-line indicate that’s the problem, but I haven’t found how to remedy.
Face Movie
I love the face movie feature in Picasa. You can make a movie from the face tags of one person and Picasa (most of the time) adjusts the size, position and angle of the photo so the faces melt from one to the next. Yes there are plenty of bugs still in it, but for no work on the user’s part it’s pretty cool.
Organization
This is personal preference, but I like to see the file hierarchy of my photos.
Touchups
iPhoto wins on touchups— it is far easier (requires just one click, not two) and the end product is far more appealing when removing blemishes, stray hairs, wrinkles and such from faces in iPhoto.
Product Creation
iPhoto provides a direct, simple connection to make cards, calendars and other product. Picasa connects with multiple on-line providers where you can make an array of products at many different price points. It’s not as integrated, but it allows more choice.
Speed
Here Picasa wins hand down. Managing over 50,000 photos on my Mac is far faster in Picasa than in iPhoto.
Fit and Finish
iPhoto looks better and integrates gestures and other features well.
In sum, both are excellent and fun to use. If you are already familiar with one of the products it is likely not worth the time to learn a new product. But if you’re considering whether you’ll be able to move to a Mac and still use Picasa, the answer is definitely yes. And if facial recognition is critical to your photo organization then you will likely be happier with Picasa.
College Tours: The Less Serious Side
College tours are a rite of passage for juniors and seniors in high school and their families as post high school plans are contemplated. While some look forward to these visits, others may be a bit more wary, or like me, teary that 17 years could have passed so quickly. If you’re headed to campus visits this spring and summer, here are a few hints to keep in mind.
- If it’s a chilly day, follow the Hawaiian tour guide—she is certain to go inside each building on the tour rather than stand outside in the cold.
- Visitor parking lots are for those without parking karma and a pocket full of quarters. On street parking near city campuses is often closer, easier to find and less expensive than the so-called visitor lots as long as you feed the meter between the information session and your tour.
- Before being impressed that your child sat right up front in the information session, ask if she remembered her glasses.
- The school web site, however poorly organized has the college facts—but apparently not all parents are internet savy and will often ask questions like, "how many students go to school here?" Teen eye rolls are appropriate in these situations.
- Every tour guide is asked, “Why did you choose this college?”
- If the only two colleges your tour guide applied to were the University of Michigan and Wesleyan, you may realize that your child isn’t the only one who isn’t focusing on a college type.
- Don’t worry, not everyone steps onto a campus and “just knows” that it is the right or wrong college.
- Try not to laugh out loud or nudge your child when the tour guide explains that the circulating library isn’t so named because it revolves.
- Violating all of the campus superstitions—stepping on the plaque in the middle of the quad, walking through the wrought iron gates—is unlikely to amuse your child.
- As fun as campus tours are, make time for some non-college related fun while traveling with your son or daughter—the days go by too quickly!
Improv Mailboxes
Now that the snow banks have solidified and entombed countless mailboxes in a frozen mass, it is too late to modify posts to safely see the mail receptacles through until spring. However, it’s not too early to start making the springtime to do list, especially if yours is one of the mailboxes that succumbed to the weight of snow crushing the box.
Those mailbox posts that extend their housing out toward the street while keeping the support safely back from the incessant onslaught of the 10 ton plows, generally fare well:
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| Metal Extender |
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| Wooden Extender |
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| Hanging Mailbox |
While the standard post, especially along a high traffic road, will often fail to provide a protected perch for its mail container:
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| A Low Reach |
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| Gone |
Undaunted, the owners of these mailboxes that have been knocked aside often find duct tape or some other ad hoc means for providing a vessel for their daily mail:
People of the Book Book Discussion Guide
By Geraldine Brooks
I enjoy leading book groups. When I lead, I write up a discussion guide to use. Feel free to ask your own questions or discuss your own observations or reactions in the comments section.
I have moved this discussion guide to my new blog, Group Reads which is a collection of discussion guides. You can find a guide for this book at Group Reads: People of the Book .
Stop by and see what other guides might interest you!
Two Days in Paris with Teenagers
You need more than two days to enjoy the relaxed pace and beauty of this multi-faceted city, so here are two very full days to incorporate into an otherwise hopefully more relaxed schedule. Day 1 takes you wandering outdoors in Advance Planning:
Book your segway tour in advance. Depending on the time of year you may need to book days to weeks in advance with Fat Tire Bike Tours.Day 1: Centre Georges Pompidou, Notre Dame including Towers, Walk along the
- Morning: Start at the Centre Georges Pompidou.No need to go inside—outside there are many great opportunities for your teenage photographers, shoppers, art lovers, and people watchers.Small trinket shops line one side of the square; there is an outdoor fountain with fabulous water art that is both fun to look at and fun to photograph; the Centre itself is cool to view for its architecture and during nicer weather there are street performers all around the squareFrom Georges Pompidou walk to Notre Dame —a 15 minute stroll. The
to the top of the south tower though, no elevator. Like most of the main attractions in Be sure to walk around Notre Dame to view the architecture all the way around. In addition, behind Notre Dame is a small park with wonderful flower gardens in the spring and summer. There is also a tiny play area, with a spinning disk that seems to have conquered perpetual motion. If there aren’t many small children waiting for a try, it’s worth getting everyone in your family on for a spin—adults included. As an added bonus if you need internet access there is a free wifi spot here.From Notre Dame, walk along the right bank of the
(not much harder to find) and an epicerie for bread, cheese and fruit. Then enjoy your picnic in the Jardin du Lxembourg. One warning: pay toilets only here.Afternoon: If you have ample time you can walk to the
Tire Bike Tours have great guides who really make history interesting and memorable for teens and adults alike. Between riding a segway and hearing the history of Evening: Enjoy the lights ofI am not recommending a specific location for dinner as there are so many and some of the fun is in finding a place that meets the gastronomic requirements of your family. Of course, some places are better than others to look for dinner. The left bank, especially in the Latin Quarter, has many casual options.Day 2: Batobus, Musee D’Orsay, Louvre,Morning: Start your day with a leisurely ride along theDisembark at the Musee d’Orsay. Depending on the art inclinations of your family you can spend an hour or three in this impressionist museum viewing paintings by Cezanne, Gauguin, Manet, Monet, Renoir and on and on. In addition, there are numerous artists who sit and sketch within the light-filled atrium. We enjoyed watching these current artists as much as viewing paintings and sculpture over 100 years old.Afternoon: Although the Louvre is a short walk from the Musee d’Orsay, take a break from standing and sit on the Batobus again while cruising along the river. When you’re rested get off at the stop for the Louvre.
Before going in view the Axe Historique which runs from the horse statue right in front of the Louvre, through the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, through the Jardin des Tuileries, directly across the Place de la Concorde, along the Champs-Elysees, through the Arc de Triomphe and on through Paris.If you were to view every painting in the Louvre for only a minute each, you would need 10 weeks to see all of the paintings. So don’t try to see every painting. Don’t even try to see most of the art here. Pick out 7 or 8 art works to view and then go directly to them. Our children most enjoyed The Coronation of Napoleon. It’s a wonderful painting,
but in addition to the quality of the painting there is a bench to sit upon while you look at it and it’s quite large so there is a lot to ponder. The audio guide gives good background on many of the works of art and there are oversized cards available in each room which describe some of the artwork on view. Wandering around the Louvre and possibly getting lost is also a fun pastime in this royal fortress.If the afternoon is nice, wander through the Jardin des Tuileries where children float toy boats on the pools and many people sit and enjoy the sun. Cap off your afternoon by relaxing in a café—a great place to share stories on what each of you has seen or just sit quietly together and watch the world pass by. The shops in the
The Art Of Racing In the Rain Discussion Guide
By Garth Stein
I enjoy leading book groups. When I lead, I write up a discussion guide to use. Feel free to ask your own questions or discuss your own observations or reactions in the comments section.
I have moved this discussion guide to my new blog, Group Reads which is a collection of discussion guides. You can find a guide for this book at Group Reads: The Art of Racing in the Rain .
Stop by and see what other guides might interest you!
The Winter Solstice: Flinging Past the Sun
One of my favorite days of the year is the winter solstice—not for its long hours of dark, but for the turning point it marks as the days grow longer.
My mind turns to June and July and sitting on rocks above a lake watching the sunset, or gathering around a campfire while the sun still lingers above the distant mountains or even rising with the bugle and jumping into the lake, the sun well above the horizon. Today marks the turning point towards those long camp days.
I am so enamored of the winter solstice that I eagerly check the sunrise and sunset times to confirm that the days will indeed be lengthening come tomorrow. This isn’t as straightforward as it sounds. Math is actually required, albeit simple arithmetic. Unless I visit one of the websites that list the length of day down to the second, removing the need for any calculation at all.
The sun actually began setting later on December 15 in Boston, but sunrise also continues to occur later right on until January 6. Curiously I wonder if that has anything to do with the 12 days of Christmas, but I digress. So how is it that we experience a longer day (here in the northern hemisphere) even as sunrise continues to occur later?
Because the earth’s orbit around the sun is an ellipse and the earth is closest to the sun near the winter solstice, the earth is actually traveling faster in its orbit now than in June. So if you feel like you’re flying faster this time of year, well you are, astronomically speaking. During a single day’s revolution, the earth travels a greater distance along its orbit this time of year.
Consider that you are standing on the earth, facing directly toward the sun at point A. The earth rotates through one day and simultaneously moves along its elliptical orbit. Consequently point A after one day isn’t quite facing directly toward the sun. The earth needs to rotate a tiny bit more for A to be facing the sun again. This corresponds to the sun rising just a bit later. And at the other end of the day, the sun is still in view and the earth needs to rotate a tiny bit more before sunset is experienced. This corresponds to the sun setting just a bit later.
Tomorrow sunrise will be a bit later than today, but sunset will be later by a smidgeon more and voila, tomorrow we will have daylight for nearly a second more than today.
Tomorrow I will relish that second. As I feel myself being flung faster past the sun at greater speeds this time of year, I can look forward to slowing down during the long days of summer camp.
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