I went to the Apple Store with Daniel M. Clark so that we could pick up iPad Camera Connection Kits (Aff Link). They are only $29.00 and come with an iPad to SD card connectors and also an iPad to USB connector.

I immediately returned to the Blogger Lounge and created a video. I was able to connect my SD card and also my Flip video camera. I tried to record a video and upload it from my Flip, KODAK PlaySport, and also my Canon SD800is. Photos came back from the Canon quickly, video also worked great from it. However importing video from the Flip showed nothing on the iPad. The KODAK PlaySport video did not show up either.

The limitations I am already seeing from this is that the photos load fine and that is what I figure the product is for so that is good however if you import video you don’t get it on the video side, it appears in the photo area. Not good. Also I have not found any way to upload the videos that I imported. Not thrilled with that.

I took a photo with my Canon imported it to the iPad with the iPad camera connector kit (Aff Link) and added it to this post. It appears on the bottom of the post. I would like to have much more control over everything in this endeavor. Not thrilled. Must find ways to make this work as I would like it to work.

I buy a ton of stuff from Amazon.com. If you do please buy through our links and help support BenSpark.com. Thank you.

Copyright (c) 2010 Blog Consultant, Photo-A-Day Photographer & Daddy Blogger - BenSpark.com - Everyday Pictures... Every... Day

iPad Camera Connection Kit

Today at work I was introduced to Cooliris. Yeah, at work I learned about something cool online. I know… I’m shocked too.

I was assigned a little project to take photos of concepts for a presentation and then present them using Cooliris.

What Cooliris does is it presents your media in a very dynamic way. It can show a ton of different things including photos and videos. There is an embedding option too and I was able to get the embedding to put my own Flickr images. I could do the same things with Picasa as well.

This is one that I made using the Photo-A-Day images from my Flickr set, so you can buzz through all of 2009.A

I buy a ton of stuff from Amazon.com. If you do please buy through our links and help support BenSpark.com. Thank you.

Copyright (c) 2010 Blog Consultant, Photo-A-Day Photographer & Daddy Blogger - BenSpark.com - Everyday Pictures... Every... Day

View your Flickr or Picasa Images in a “Cool” Way

I’m not looking for an apartment, the last time I looked for anyplace new to live was years ago. I used the Internet to do my search and also the newspaper but nothing at all was integrated. Flash forward to today and there is an iPhone app from MyNewPlace that you can download at http://www.mynewplace.com/iphone. The app does just about everything except pay for your rent.

If you have an iPhone and you are looking for a new place to rent then you need to get MyNewPlace in the iPhone app store. I don’t have an iPhone but I do have an iPod Touch, so I quickly downloaded the free app and took it for a spin. The integration of listings, maps, and even sending messages to the leasing office, or if you have an iPhone making a call to the leasing manager with one touch of a button, was very slick.

But the app goes beyond that. You can set your search criteria. Do you have a pet? You can search for pet friendly places easily. Set the price points you are looking for as well as other amenities. Customize your search to exactly what you are looking for. Then when you find a place you can look at a map and see where it is located.

Here is an example of the map page on the app.

You can view images of each of the properties. If you go and visit a property you can use your iPhone camera to take photos of the property and save them with the listing. I hope that the app will support the video function eventually as well so you can make a quick video note about the property.

Speaking of notes, you can put personal notes on each of the properties. Maybe set up a pro and con list or something like that. This makes it so easy to keep track of the different properties and what you personally like or dislike about them. Finding the properties that you liked the best is also easy because you can set them as favorites.

There is also GPS for location-based search. Suppose you are in a part of town that you like and you wonder what is available near where you are standing at the moment. Fire up your iPhone and use your current location to see that there is an apartment on the same street where you are standing.

Take a look at this video for a demonstration of how the software works.

I checked out the main website for MyNewPlace and set up an account. What I noticed on the online account was that I could sign in easily with Facebook connect. You can use that to post your favorite listings to Facebook. That is if you are on the online site and not the app. I could not find Facebook integration in the app itself. What would be really a great next step would be for the iPhone app and the online account to be synchronized. If you use the service online you can quickly post the listing that you find to Facebook and you can even tweet it to Twitter. So if you are looking for a place with friends the sharing of information is instantaneous.

The app has many great features, however I would like to see it progress even further with the full integration and synchronization between the online account and the app. I’d love to see more of the features of the online service built into the nice package of the app. It is pretty slick stuff and there is no doubt why MyNewPlace is one of the the biggest apartment sites on the Internet. They are a 3-time BusinessWeek Best of the Web Winner as well. Plus the best part about the MyNewPlace iPhone app is that it is free, so give it a quick download and look around. It doesn’t hurt to look. You just might find your next new apartment.

I buy a ton of stuff from Amazon.com. If you do please buy through our links and help support BenSpark.com. Thank you.

Copyright (c) 2010 Blog Consultant, Photo-A-Day Photographer & Daddy Blogger - BenSpark.com - Everyday Pictures... Every... Day

Find Your New Apartment With Your iPhone

The Bluelight Special is returning this Saturday at your local Kmart store. It is back at a time when we really need it too. Having deals like Kmart Bluelight Specials can really help families who are struggling to make ends meet by offering products at fantastic prices.

I remember when there was a Kmart over at Triboro Plaza. This was back when my parents had to take me to buy Generation 1 Transformers. So, we are talking a while ago. That Kmart eventually closed but another one opened over on the South Attleboro / Pawtucket line. That one was much bigger and we could still go there for good deals. Kmart Bluelight Specials were great when we were buying Christmas gifts, we could get more for our money that way.

This Saturday only, Kmart is bringing back the Bluelight Specials. There will be over 40 great products on as specials both in store and online. Great deals will happen on everything from patio furniture, to grills, to jewelry. I’m hoping that there will be some great deals on electronics because I could buy a special something for a little contest that I am having here on this blog. A digital camera is something I’m looking to add to the Ultimate IZEAFest prize pack.

If you want to know what the specials are right away throughout the day Saturday you should be following @kmartdealsnnews on Twitter for updates and more specials!

I buy a ton of stuff from Amazon.com. If you do please buy through our links and help support BenSpark.com. Thank you.

Copyright (c) 2010 Blog Consultant, Photo-A-Day Photographer & Daddy Blogger - BenSpark.com - Everyday Pictures... Every... Day

The Bluelight Special Is Back!

I take a ton of pictures and many I post to this blog. Many more I post to Flickr and some, I don’t post at all. Because I take so many pictures and consider myself a bit of a photographer we suffer from the “Cobbler’s Kids Syndrome”. This means that there are hardly any photos hanging up in our home. The perfect product for us is a Digital Picture Frame from Digital Spectrum Solutions.

A simple digital frame won’t work for us though. We would really benefit from a wireless digital picture frame. I’ll tell you why. A digital picture frame that is wireless would allow us to easily connect the frame to our in home network. We can also sign up for a FrameChannel account and then determine which photos would automatically stream to our frame. We could incorporate images from Facebook, Flickr, Picasa and many more online sites. In our own house we could even use our home computer to send images directly to the frame. This option would probably be the best choice for us since I edit my images and then place them right onto the computer. Unfortunately that is usually where they stay, too.

Digital Spectrum Solutions takes wireless digital photo frames a leap further though. They have a new digital photo frame that is coming out this summer that will allow users to video chat frame to frame. Yes, just using the photo frame you can chat with friends and family. I can see this as an amazing opportunity for Allison and Eva to interact with Allison’s parents. We can set them up with a direct feed to photos of Eva with the wireless feature and a FrameChannel.com account. Then they can video chat with each other through the frame whenever they would like.

Here is a video of the video chat through a digital picture frame in action. The image quality on the frame is pretty decent and I think that with every sort of video chat program you do need to use a microphone to get the best sound and no echo. I’d really like to try one of these frames out.

If you can’t wait for the video option but would like a great wireless frame then here are some specifications on one of the Digital Spectrum Solutions wireless frames. This is the MemoryFrame MF-8104:

• Patented changeable standard 8×10” frame to suit your decor

• Generous internal memory
• Built-in multi format card reader
• Embedded 802.11b/g wireless connectivity
• Share pictures with Windows Vista or XP
• Web enabled for photo sharing
• Bluetooth enabled
• Plays WMA audio files
• Plays WMV video files
• Automatic slideshow
• Audio slideshow
• Built-in stereo speakers
• USB to PC
• USB to thumb drive, camera, etc.
• Automatic firmware update for latest additions
• Remote control for convenient use
• Desk top or wall mount
• Removable desktop stand

That is one heck of a set of features. Add video chat to that and you have one amazing digital picture frame for your home. If you want to find a great digital picture frame for your family take a look at Digital Spectrum solutions, their site is complete with great information, resources and products at reasonable prices.

I buy a ton of stuff from Amazon.com. If you do please buy through our links and help support BenSpark.com. Thank you.

Copyright (c) 2010 Blog Consultant, Photo-A-Day Photographer & Daddy Blogger - BenSpark.com - Everyday Pictures... Every... Day

Wireless Video Chat via Digital Photo Frame