Upgrade from iPhoto '06 to iPhoto '08

It is amazing that there is no easy way to find a solution for the following problem:

"I have a MacBook and there I use the iLive '06. Now I got a new iMac and I would like to free some space on the notebook and move all iPhoto library. The trick is that the MacBook uses a newer version of iLife. How to do it?"

1. First of all forget about looking for some "import" or "export" function. Those are for exporting pictures or photos, not for exporting the library. That would not get details and custom properties from the pictures like: keywords, name of the roll, dates.
2. Burning to a DVD is an option. But if your Library is too big then the task is complex.
3. Make a backup of your current library (Source computer - MacBook in my case). You can find it on "Home"; "Pictures".
4. Go to the new computer (target computer) and find the same folder in the same location. You will delete the Library folder and replace it with the one you backed up.
   Attention! When you will delete the "target" "iPhoto Library" you will delete all the contents of that iPhoto. In my case I had none... I'm talking about a clean and just installed iPhoto '08.
5. Once the copy process finishes, and not before, open the iPhoto, it will request you to update the library. Accept and go forward.
6. That's it! All will be working like in your other computer!
   

Tip!: The same applies for moving the music library from iTunes!! and it will keep your podcasts and videocasts subscriptions. All working like nothing happened!

Problems with iMovie'08 and Mac OS 10.5 (Leopard)

I have an iMac with a clean installation of the operating system (Leopard) and the iLife 2008. All fine but I found that my iVideo was just not starting. I removed the software and installed it again; no effect.
Something interesting was that the other applications found that there is an update but anyway I couldn't download it using the "software update". So I ignored this step...
The error message on iVideo was:


So, how I found the solution... Looking on Google? no. I did it but I couldn't find a solution...
So I went to Apple web site... :)

When I installed that update all went fine! and then the "software update" functionality worked perfect and installed all the rest of the updates.

You will find the link to the download on the page of each one of the products of iLife. It looks something like this:If you find more interesting ways to solve issues regarding your iLife 08 and your new Leopard (Mac OSX 10.5) please write a comment. And enjoy!

Kindle and interesting revolution

A few days ago Amazon released the Kindle. It is a wireless e-book reader. The importance of the word "wireless" is the key: You can download books, newspapers, Blogs without the need of a computer or a wireless network. It works with a system similar to the one mobilephones uses with a huge difference... you don't have to pay for it. You just pay for the Kindle and your books or subscriptions; in the case of the Blogs... you download it for free.
The problem after the release is that the people didn't like the way the Kindle looks. You can include myself in that group. But no matter what people is buying a lot of them. Look at this artice on News.com
You can find more information and also super interesting videos in Amazon's web site.

Web designers Sharing Point

If you are a web designer or you know some person that runs a business related to Web design then my Blog "Web Designers Sharing Point" can be interesting.

Actually the main idea of that Blog is to start creating a community of professional designers interested in advertising their work and complement it with our experience with SharePoint and our own CMS.

We are looking for the sinergy between B4Contact's team and professionals of Web design. We have customers that need their work and we could add CMS functionality to their designs also improving their business. I think it is a win to win offer.

We are interested in supporting the open source community and we are willing to finance the creation of free CSS templates.

Like a sign of our interest in that community we are offering free hosting for the web site of the designers. Like that we presume that we can be saving some money to freelancers and professionals.

Windows Live Hotmail - problems?

I use Hotmail even before it was bought by Microsoft. And I'm very satisfied with it.
Now I can use it in Firefox and Safari with almost the same characteristics as from Internet Explorer and we have more storage space to enjoy.
But today I had a unique problem that I hope will be solved fast:

"Windows Live Hotmail couldn't send your message because the server was busy. Please try again later".
I'm posting this message with the hope that some guy from Microsoft would check it... and take it to the right hands. I think it is a critical problem to solve.

Skype revolution

I would like to know if this is the start of a new revolution "sponsored" by the Internet. Now you could make free calls around the planet using Skype.
I live in Slovenia and I would like to know if here would be also free. Or if will be more expensive to pay for the service contract with the mobile carrier...

Flickr pictures in a Polaroid gallery

I just found an interesting web site where you could use your Flickr ID to display your pictures in a very nice gallery. It is interactive and you can reorder the pictures you see as you wish.
The owner of the Polariod Gallery is Christopher Einarsrud and he gives you the chance to use the script and Flash file for free!
Give a check, it is really nice.
Do you need to know your Flickr ID? click here

Testing Adobe Share Beta

I'm testing the Adobe Share service and I'm positively surprised. It has the potential to become the YouTube of files and flash contents.

The first page is going to give you the chance to sign in with your existing Adobe ID or to create a new one.


The next screen will start loading the flash application in your browser. For my opinion it is still taking too long to load, but I'm sure that "speed" problems will be solved after the beta period will be finished.
The interface of the "Share" is very simple to understand. You have available 2 tabs, one is "Home" and the other is "My library"; the first one gives you the chance to upload, share the file with someone and specify the access level you want to give to the uploaded file:

That page shows also your recent activity, that means you will see the last uploaded files.
In the case of the "My library" page the interface is different and it is meant to show you the files you have uploaded. It also gives a tool bar where you could filter your library and check files shared to you by other persons.

Some things I like a lot:

1. You don't need to load your Internet line anymore when sending emails with attachments. You could send links to them using the service's band width.
2. All the site and sharing works using "https", that means is secure.
3. 1GB of free storage.
4. Developers could be using the APIs in order to extend the capabilities of the system and of course to create additional solutions.
5. The files and flash movies could be automatically embedded in any web site, Blog or Wiki.

Some doubts I have:

1. It is possible to upload Adobe Captivate files, does it means that I could use Share for hosting finished Captivate files with preloaders and controls?
2. Can I use Share for commercial purposes? For example to host the files I produce for my e-learning portal?

I don't like:

1. When the user receives the shared file and then goes to the "download" page, there is too much "advertising like" information for creating or getting a new account. Users are used to get the files right away when they click on the link. Adding an additional step is understandable, but it should work fast and give straight options to download the file, get the embed code, etc.

I think Share can be a real revolution. Developers could start producing plugins for Outlook and other important mail clients in order to make easy the process of attaching "links" to emails.
Good for Adobe!
Find more about Share

A simple missing feature for Springdoo

Springdoo is still my favorite service for sending e-mail with video. It is also great to add videos to a Blog or web site.
But it looks like the "video" fashion made them to forget that Audio is also important. They are one of the best services I know for recording and streaming audio... but there is no special player for it. If you record audio you still need to use a very big player.
So my suggestion is to let users to select a different player in the case they use video or audio.

iWork Numbers: Apple's spreadsheet - Part 2

I'm constantly working with calculations from Information I get on the Web. That means that I get and copy a table with data from the Web and then I paste it in Excel and all works pretty well. Excel takes care of placing the information in the right cell. Often I need to make changes on the formatting but that is just a minor issue.
In the case of Numbers it is not possible to copy and paste from the web and get something right. Here is the source table from a web site:


And here what Numbers makes when pasting the table:

That is not a big issue, but it is important if Apple really wishes that advanced users will find on Numbers a real alternative. Importing data from the web and other kind of databases is very important.