Archive for the 'Life' Category

Moving 5000 images to Flickr

Published
by
Bret Fisher
on Jan 7, 2008
in Life
. 0 Comments

Moving 5000 Images to Flickr

A few years ago I created a flickr account like everyone else but saw it as more of a social focused photo site, and didn’t stick with it as a serious picture organizing tool.  Now, I moving back to flickr “for good” from Picasa (which I moved to from flickr, which I moved to from gallery hosted at fishbrains.com, which I moved to from …. sigh… ).

Paid for a pro account, 25 bucks for year for unlimited upload and storage… A deal for photo sharing AND backup tool.  My family has gotten to the point of storing email in the cloud only… I’m now trying to be comfortable with pictures in the cloud only.  I will still keep a memory card backup before uploading… but after my total import to flickr I won’t use a fat client to manage photos locally with a huge folder structure, and all that propitiatory metadata.  I got burned last year on Picasa (which is still a great photo mgmt app for a single PC) because it stores data like tags, groups, captions, etc in a local db that isn’t accessible across pc’s.  Now I’ve been using Windows Live Photo Gallery which stores data in the photo (I guess) but it’s not storing in it EXIF from what I can tell.  Multiple PC’s DO see the metadata.  So I’m using Windows Live Photo Gallery to upload to flickr, which yields a better experience then using the standard flickr uploader to bulk edit before import.

So far, I’ve found upload slow (I’ve got 2MB upload and it takes about 20 seconds per 6MP picture), but the flickr features are worth it.  The partner and software intergration list is awesome.

Mastery, it’s vital to understand

Published
by
Bret Fisher
on Nov 15, 2007
in Book and Life
. 0 Comments

Maybe you just get it… but I didn’t.  Maybe I just forgot along the way.  Before you read any other self-help book, read all 176 short pages of Mastery: The Keys to Success and Long-Term Fulfillment by George Leonard, and then read it again.  I find myself going back to my notes again and again to remind myself of what it is to be on the road of mastery in anything I want to do.  It always helps when I think of straying off my plan to get better at something.  Buy Mastery on Amazon.

OTA DTV and HDTV

Published
by
Bret Fisher
on Oct 5, 2007
in Life and Microsoft
. 2 Comments

If you value your free time, just get your HDTV, pay the cable company for all the HD gear, and enjoy. If you are naturally cheap and have weekends to kill, try this. I’m 19-24 miles from all the OTA (over the air) stations in Hampton Roads, and I’ve got a near perfect DTV reception with 10-year-old rabbit ears I put in (not on) the attic. It gets me a signal, but I get signal loss enough to make it unwatchable. I just ordered a ‘best on the market’ antenna to replace it for $60. Sexy over the air HDTV, here I come. All I need now is CNBC over the air (or Vista Media Center Internet TV to carry CNBC) and a HDTV TiVo, and then Cox is out the door….

Books you need to read

Published
by
Bret Fisher
on Oct 2, 2007
in Book and Life
. 0 Comments

Get audible.com, buy the ones below that are on there, and listen. Otherwise read for 15 minutes in morning (when mind is fresh and not drifting off to sleep), or after a Caffeine Nap. If they change you the way they’ve changed me, you’ll be glad you took the time. If you’re in doubt, Google terms like ‘wealthy people read books’, etc.

Rich Dad, Poor Dad. Don’t get hung up on the real estate concept, but focus on the mindset. This is the book that was recommended to me by a friend 4+ years ago and got me started. When I read it I spent most of my spare time working my job and watching TV, etc.. 4 years later I spend most of my free time planning and working toward leaving the job for good.

Mastery. Once you understand the path to it (I had to read it twice), you tend to be calmer and content with the plateau of ‘work’ in getting good at something. Plus, it allows you to draw similarities between your path to mastery of Google hacking and the path of a Ninja, and that’s always fun.

The Secret. I have the DVD and audio, and have listen/watched them a total of 12+ times, and is still on my iPod. I have many big and exact examples of how the law of attraction has worked for me and mine.

Success is not an Accident. Still implementing this one, but is hard core work if you take it seriously. I expect it to give me laser focus on my life goals and projects by the time I’m through it.

Getting Things Done. Don’t just read this. Take a year to implement it. Trust me. Companies may start to prefer it, CNN boasts about it, and heck even Leo Laporte recommends it. After several methods including paper/Moleskine, Outlook, and Remember The Milk, I have stuck with My Life Organized because it’s digital, runs anywhere and keeps in sync, and I can take it with me on my Windows Mobile phone.

CrossFit: Kick in the pants

Published
by
Bret Fisher
on Sep 16, 2007
in Life
. 0 Comments

Right now, while your already spending your time on the “Internets”, click over to CrossFit and read just a few pages (1,2,3) about this amazing fitness program that I think *anyone* can do, reguardless of current fitness level, physical limits, or financial situation. If you’re currently not satisified with ANY part of your exercise program, and are willing to put in more effort and less time, I ask you to consider this simple yet unusual program (compared to the “big box fitness marketing”).

I’ve been a Zone diet fan for almost a decade, but always fell in and out of the discipline of controlling my hormones via controlling my macronutrient levels of food intake.  Recently, I started to consume all sorts of information about CrossFit methodoligy and techniques, which has also lead me back to the Zone, which, like you would expect, leads you back to CrossFit.

Loved the punishing workout I  received by Thomi and Pat of CrossFit Virginia Beach so much we’re already signed up for more instruction/pain in what I’m sure will be a life changing fitness program for us.