Nothing is sure in life, especially when it comes to computers. As much as we have come to rely on technology, we don’t really know how much we can trust them. We can put our lives on them and if not backed up properly everything can get lost in an instant. There are some ways of recovering lost data, but that isn’t guaranteed, and it isn’t always everything. Anyone who knows anything about computers knows that you must have back up. Whether it is online storage, CDs, or flash drives, you have to have your files stored somewhere other than your computer’s hard drive. One way of achieving this is by getting an external hard drive.

There are many different kinds of external hard drives made by different manufacturers. They come with different memory sizes such as a 1tb external hard drive. In addition to providing you with more backup, these external drives can provide additional storage. Most computers today offer plenty of storage space, but some do not. Although you can attain more memory and storage, it may not be enough. External hard drives can provide you with enough space to store everything you have ever had on file, with plenty of room left to spare. These devices are getting more and more compact, and reasonably priced, as time goes by so it is definitely something worth spending money on. It sure beats having to lose pictures, videos, word files, and lots more if you r computer crashes.

As much as we love our computers, they aren’t perfect and it is always good to have your information backed up somewhere else. External hard drives look like small books, and are starting to even look like small notebooks due to their new thinner appearance. They are convenient to store and do not take up much space.

I think it’s finally time to switch to analog. Funny, no? Usually you hear people going the other way around with things – from digital to analog. Well, all my life I’ve been going with digital watches. I’m addicted to Casio ever since they introduced their first calculator watch. But I figure now that I don’t really need these capabilities (cellphone, pda etc.) I may as well get a watch that looks more to my age . But I figure just because the face of the watch is nice and elegant that doesn’t mean I can’t go with a cool high tech back end. I’ve been checking out the Casio watches selection at bluedial.com and I’m pretty sure I’ll go with the Casio WVQ120DA-2AV Men’s Atomic Executive Wave ceptor Solar Watch Blue Dial watch. What’s cool about the Wave captor watches is that they get their time automatically through radio signals sent from an atomic clock center. How can you beat that? It’s a nice classic looking watch with a nice young touch to it and even though the display is analog, it keeps time to the millisecond thanks to the atomic clock sync it performs numerous times throughout the day. It’s even powered by solar energy so you never have to change the battery or set the time.

Prices of HDTV’s have gone down drastically over the past year and a half and you can get high quality systems for pretty reasonable prices. But the cost of a high end HTDV system doesn’t just end with the price of the unit. In many cases people add hundreds of dollars on cables and peripherals to complete the system. But don’t think that you really have to spend a fortune in order to get high quality cables. Check out tca-inc.net – they offer extremely high quality HDMI Cables for as little as $30.

A digital camera makes it easier to edit, catalogue, print and share photos. This has become possible since it is able to electronically capture and store pictures as compared to traditional cameras that record images on to film. Through this capability, instant preview, download and image editing can be done on the computer. Unwanted shots can easily be deleted, thus eliminating the high cost and risk of film exposure.

Processing and printing are likewise as simple. There is a choice between saving the files to an SD Memory Card or CD-ROM and have them processed at the nearest photo center or buying an affordable and compact digital photo printer and have the photos printed in one’s home. Digital cameras are compatible with a number of devices like TVs and DVD recorders. Viewing the photos on a widescreen TV makes for an exceptional experience.

With the sudden popularity of digital photography, more and more people are turning towards editing software to create effects that look out of the ordinary. The tools of choice are Photoshop and the numerous third party plug-ins that everyone seems to use nowadays. Plug-ins provide effects that may supplement the filters and effects found in Photoshop.

Although there exists lots and lots of plugin designers, most are simply offering bells and whistles which you might not even get to really need at all. Here are some basic plug-ins for you to consider:

Andromeda offers several series of plug-ins foremost of which is called Scatterlight. It is a series of light diffusers and enhancers rolled into a convenient package.

Fred Miranda has a set of downloadable plug-ins and actions which may offer even better opportunities than the standard available on our options menu.

NIK is another tremendously popular plug-in, specially in the U.S.

Take a look at the picture to the right. Besides being a strange political situation with the president (or ex president) replacing places with his first lady, this picture also shows the power of a program called Morpheus Photo-Morpher. I actually created this picture (or Morph) where Bill is morphed into Hillary. You will notice that it’s not just a changing picture since various details of the image and even facial parts are slowly morphed into the next frame instead of just changing the image.

The outcome is really cool but is actually quite simple to do. Just visit Zoombli.com and download the Morpheus Photo-Morpher. It costs just $29.99 and you can make unlimited morphs. The way it works is you select two images you have on your computer. It is advised that they both have similar proportions but they don’t have to be the same size since the program knows how to compensate for this. You then go about selecting various points on the first image and mark the matching part of the second image (the part that is supposed to the the morphed version of that point). For instance, you can place a dot on each eye of the first image and then position the corresponding dots on the second image to the person’s eyes as well. The more dots you add, the better the morph will come out. I used about 20 different dots for the Clinton morph, I think it came out pretty good…. Don’t you?