ProShow Gold 2.6

It's been quite some time since I had fun with a computer program, but ProShow Gold is proving to be one of the best applications I've played with for a while. As I mentioned in a previous post, I decided to try to create a DVD with some of the masses of digital photos we have. Should be a breeze, or so I thought. After all, went my reasoning, I'm very late into this game – DVD writers and digicams have been out for the technology timescale equivalent of eons. Well, yes and no. There are many programs which will allow you to create DVD slideshows that you can then show to all and sundry, but not many really exploit the medium to the maximum, with the distinct exception of ProShow Gold, that is. OK, it costs quite a bit at $70 for the download version, but you are getting a fine app and if you have a play around, the results of all your 'labours' will mean your loved ones will be amazed at your computing prowess.

The thing which grabbed my attention the most is the wild and wacky ways in which you can add titles to your snapshots – and these here titles can add to the mood of your photos. Imagine a picture of a really cold and snowy day which includes a caption which actually shivers into sight. Brilliant. Another fantabulous feature is the way in which you can pan, zoom and rotate images. Hours of happy and creative fun can be had with this gem – beats watching the gogglebox any day.

You can even use it to create your own personal screensavers.

There is the slight danger that one may go OTT and end up with an end result which makes its watchers cringe, but then that could be said about any creative effort. It's not the tools but who uses them that counts.

So, if you've been wondering what to do will all those digital photos and there is nuffink on the TV or the rain is a pouring down, splash out on this program (assuming you have a DVD burner (if not, I know a good one)). It could even be more social than the TV as you and the family while away many a happy hour arguing, no sorry, discussing just what photos should or should not be used – but leave the captions and effects to yourself, otherwise you'll never even get to finish one DVD, let alone burn your entire collection onto DVD.

A quick play and I'm off to the land of nod.

Sharm here we come!

What better way to round off a busy period at work than to go for a week by the sea. Yes, we're off, all three of us, to the red sea for one of those all inclusive hols in a hotel in the middle of the desert. The temperature is a steady 27-28°C and I don't think they can remember the last time it rained there. Now while I'm not a great one for basking by the sea, this is one break I'm looking forward to. Just in case I should get a little bored after the first two days of so, I've armed myself with somesnorkelingg gear so I can have a gander at the reef, which I understand is worth having a look at. I've never really been snorkeling before, but the idea of mosying around on top of the sea fascinates me. I'm not the world's strongest swimmer, but I've got enough natural buoyancy to keep me on the surface for a good while. In fact, having noted that the hotel we're going to be staying at also has a gym, I shall actually be trying to shed a few pounds. Although these type of best intentions often come to nothing, I know, but I'm going to have a go. All I need to worry about is getting myself sunburned, but my other half has got some factor 60 for the little one, and I shall be spreading the stuff all over myself for at least the first few days. In all probability I'll come back looking the same shade as when I left Italy – sort of off-white. I'm no longer the pale white of most English people because I've more or less got used to the sun and it now takes more than five minutes for me to go red. I remember a trip to Turkey many years ago when I managed to burn myself horribly on the first day. The pain was excruciating and all because the man didn't love suncream. Fool. At least I've learnt my lesson now, even though I hate having to put the stuff on. It makes me feel slimy and horrible, at least at first.

In order to deal with the Egyptian tummy bugs we've equipped ourselves with some powerful anti-runs pills and shall be avoiding everything that has not been cooked or that has been washed in the notoriously bug ridden water of the region. Friends of mine in the past went on those Nile cruises which were all the rage a few years back and just about all of them spent at least a day in the bathroom – usually down to the innocent cubes of ice which some kind person had plopped in their evening drinks. No ice for us, that's for sure.

Alas and alack I shall have to leave my pocket pc at home, due to the fact that it may be an easy temptation for the poorly paid locals, who may find the idea of making a quick buck or two too appealing. However, I shall be taking my beloved MP3 gizmo and my heart rate monitor so I can exercise without going over the top. We shall also be taking our great little digital camera, which has now been filled with 640 megs of memory, which just might keep us going. And when I return, I shall be playing with my pc and making a DVD photo slideshow, which, I have discovered, is one heck of a way to show off your photos and, of course, I can send a copy to my parents and brother, so they can see what we got up to in glorious technicolor. While I quite like the idea of video cameras, I'd find all the messing about editing everything too much hassle, or so I reckon.

Were off very soon and I shall blog about the whole holiday when we are back and maybe even post a few photos of sand and camels and all that stuff. Fun, fun, fun, here I come!

VOIP Stunt

A student told me about this VOIP system which allows you to make calls from your PC to real phones. It's dirt cheap at 10 Euros for 120 days of calls and you only pay if your destination is not a country which accepts free calls. At the moment, the US, Italy, the UK and Ireland are countries which cost nothing more to call. The only limit seems to be that you can blabber for a max of one hour before they cut you off – but this is not a huge problem and you can even call straight back if you really feel like giving your vocal cords a thorough workout.

I have no idea for just how long this service will stay at such a great price, but I'm going to be exploiting it to the maximum to call friends and family in the UK and elsewhere. I guess the more people that use the service, the longer it will remain freeish, so get dialing!

Oh, and if you were worrying about giving your dosh (all ten Euros) to some unknown company, maybe I should mention that this service was mentioned on a certain Beppe Grillo's site.

The call quality is great too. Not so much email, as ephone. Good stuff.

Elections: Something of a surprise.

Somewhat as I had expected, the Italian people had some problems actually deciding who they wanted to run their country for the next 5(!) years, if the results of the elections are to be believed. Certainly the exit polls were miles out. Or were they? Mr Media is asking for a recount – as one would expect in such a close-run race. Personally, I was a little surprised to see how close it all was – with a few exceptions, most of the people I know are not great fans of the tanned one and I was under the impression that the people I knew were not in a minority. However, I did not bank on the left/right divide – which meant that whereas people would not actually vote for Mr B, they would vote for someone in one of his coalition partners. Fini seems to be quite popular here and commands some respect abroad too as I understand.

Last night I happened to catch some of Ballaro, which is a political talkshow over here and I heard a certain Mr Rutelli doing his political stuff. To say that I was unimpressed would be an understatement. He seemed to be a case of all show and no go, in that what he was saying seemed to be head-in-the-clouds idealistic. The men from the Italian employers confederation just seemed to be looking at him as if her were on another planet. I'm sure he's a nice chap and all that, but I would not vote for him.

Call me confused if you like, but I'm neither left nor right wing. I appreciate that certain left wing ideas are good and I think that some right wing concepts are not all that bad either. I guess you could say I'm centre – not centre left or center right. Centre. Of course this means that I am 'sitting on the fence', which is instantly considered as being evidence of weakness or indecision. If you, dear reader, think this, then you have already labelled yourself left or right, which means that you feel duty bound to find a nice label for me and if that makes you feel more comfortable, fine.

I'd like to find that middle ground that ensures that everyone benefits in some way. OK this may mean that the richer will not get much more so, but I doubt it. However spreading some of the world's wealth around would not do any harm. Yeah, I'm from another planet too – really – I have three eyes, blue skin and the capacity to turn myself into an MP3 track and have myself played anywhere. Honest. Utopia, here I come!

Elections and the official pencil

As most of the known world knows, Italians are deciding who, or rather, which group of people, is/are going to hold the reins in Italy for the next five years. Mr B has been tying himself in knots in his attempts to get everyone to give him a second five year term in office, whereas his opponent, the staid ex-prime minister Prodi has been playing his cards quite coolly. The trouble is the voting system is a bit fiddly, so no-one will really know anything until all the votes are in on Monday.

I went with my other half to her polling station this morning and was a little surprised to note that there were separate voting booths for men and women. I did enquire as to why, but was told that it had always been so. Next there were the rather curious voting slips which don't have names on them, but have a series of symbols – bet that confused more than a few people. And you vote by means of the official pencil. No ordinary pencil this, it has a special lead which allows those monitoring the elections to see if someone, not using an official pencil, has added a few extra votes just for good measure. There is even a large fine of up to 300 Euros for walking off with the official X-making implement. Just as well I don't have the right to vote here, I would surely have wandered off with the official pencil and been fined. I'm always acquiring biros and other non-official writing implements without realising it.

No sign of the UN election monitors though, which Mr B won't be too happy about. Italians can continue to vote tomorrow too, which may encourage those who were sunning themselves at the seaside to actually cast a vote. Last time plenty of potential voters didn't bother with the X thing, preferring instead to relax down on the beach or chill out in the mountains. The result of this apathy was Mr B, for better or for worse. It will be interesting this time to see just how many will toddle on down to their nearest polling stations. I get the impression that many many educated young people will be putting crosses which won't be very helpful to Mr B in his attempt to keep himself where he currently is. We shall see.

Bomb scare

What happens when a bearded man runs into a classroom, dumps a bag and runs off? Well, the result of this very incident was mild panic when most of my students thought that the aforementioned bag contained a bomb, seeing as, they assumed, the bearded man who ran off was possibly Islamic. The incident caused a few tense moments and was not the best way to kick off the course I was holding last Friday. In fact, I picked up the said bag and took it to what I hoped would be a safe distance should it actually have been a bomb – although it did feel rather lighter than I would have expected a bomb to have felt. Was I worried? Well, yes I was, a wee bit. I mean I could have ended up being spread all over the building, which would not have been too nice, I suppose. Had said bag really contained a bomb, I would have been hailed as a hero, possibly. As it happens, the whole event blew over quietly, which was what I was hoping for. Although my other half made me feel a lot better by telling me that she considers the place I work in to be a prime target for bombing types. If I'd realised this, then maybe I wouldn't have so readily picked up the bag.

As it transpired and after I had taken a look in the bag, there was nothing amiss. We later found out that the escaping man, who was totally oblivious to the panic he almost caused, was no more than someone who was new to the building and had dumped his bag in the wrong classroom. Still, it shows the level of paranoia which Bin Laden and his mob have managed to create.

I've been super busy recently, but the product of all my long hours of hard work seem to have been appreciated, which makes me feel that all that hard slog was worthwhile. When given a task and a strict deadline, I'll push myself as hard as I can in order to finish what I'm doing. I'm no stranger to deadlines. In my last job missing a deadline meant quite literally my ending up in court. It never happened. Thank heavens: seeing as I had been given zero training on this issue by my ever-wise bosses. Knowing this is most probably what kept me out of court, I suppose.

In general I'm reasonably good at dealing with spur of the moment difficult type situations (I've had a little experience….), but I'm not so good at dealing with long term bad situations which just make me feel stressed.

Boy, am I glad that things are starting to quieten down a wee bit. It may even leave me with a little time to post more often on this here blog.