Timberline Employee Blog

Microsoft recently released Pro Photo Tools for XP and Vista as a free download.

MS Pro Photo Tools is an easy way to edit your photos meta-data information. You photos already have several items stamped on them from your camera but they probably do not have longitude and latitude in the photo.

“Why would I want that?”, you ask?

Latitude and Longitude is how we mark a spot on the map. Say you are looking at your photos and you can’t remember where they were taken then this, or a similar program, is for you.

You will need a GPS so you can download a track log to your computer. Many hand-held GPS units will allow you to do this. I have had great luck with Garmin hand-held units. You will need to take your GPS with you and have it on while you are taking your photos.

For best luck synchronize the time on your camera and gps before shooting.

After you do a test photo shoot you will need to get your data to your computer. Copy your photos to a working directory on your pc. Then you can use a program like EasyGPS to download your track log as a gpx file. The makers of EasyGPS are the same people who have pushed the gpx format and made it popular.

Open up Pro Photo Tools and open your images. Load up your track log and now you can attach latitude and longitude info to your photos.

If you don’t want automated location information you can even skip the GPS and add this information using the built-in Microsoft Virtual Earth to select your location.

When you are done save your work.

Now how do I view the locations?

Version 1 of MS Pro Photo Tool’s will let you view photos on a map but it doesn’t auto center on a selected photo which makes it difficult to use to view already tagged photos. I had to resort to a third party program to view geotagged photos. Google’s Picasa/Google Earth combination work nicely. You can also click through to a Google map using Apple’s Leopard operating system on geotagged photos.

So now that we are third and fourth generation TV viewers it seems that the television is what people do during dinner as a whole.

Does anybody have a problem with CSI programming happening during dinner? 

I don’t know who to ask, so I’ll put this to you.  Do you think it makes more of a difference to hard core (meat is murder) vegitarians when CSI is on during dinner, or would it be pretty much the same results as the meat eating portion of the TV Dinner group?

 Or are you just appalled that people eat in front of the TV?

Sometimes I think that manuals should at least be read once before printing. But then again I wouldn’t have been able to find, “Note: No replacement parts are available for this tool. For replacement parts, please call xxx-xxx-xxxx”. I’m sure somebody will have to call the number.

Edit: I got an email back from this local discount tool store when I requested permission to place a scan of this portion of the test meter manual online. They said no. I’m assuming out of embarrassment. If they said yes, this local discount tool store would have had a link back to their website which is great for the search engines.

Finally a bit of humor for the whole process. It is a very bad thing for businesses to have a street renamed because of the expense involved. However the last proposal I’ve seen makes me think, “Go for it.”

If you are not familiar with the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy series by the late Douglass Adams, I’ll just state that 42 is an important number and leave it at that.

There will be no references to very bad poetry, sad robots, or double headed goof-offs. I will not mention how important peanuts and towels are. I will not even mention anything about the importance of renaming a cross street to Improbability Drive the following year.

So if you haven’t already jumped over to http://rename42nd.org, I’ll tell you now that the Portland they are referencing is Portland, Oregon.

So here we go again. Another whole day o’ natterin’ like a pirate wit’ only a single glance instead th’ th’ double glance that happens th’ rest o’ th’ year.

See yer:

Online Pirate Translator.
Pirate Translator fer yer website.