2010 By Dave

Gmail Playing Ragtime Music? It’s Important!

davekeys — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 15:10:37 +0000

Gmail started playing ragtime music today. I noticed a red “new feature” link at the top and suspected it might be the source. Sure enough, it was. If you click the link, you’ll see an embedded YouTube video explaining how the priority inbox works. It’s a self-learning feature based on Gmail’s excellent anti-spam features. It assesses over time and based on your own behaviors, which email is most important to you and places it in the “priority inbox” I launched the feature and it seems pretty good. It should improve as it learns my choices, perhaps revealing the difference between what I claim is important vs. those time wasters I always gravitate toward.

Silence The Poor

davekeys — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 17:56:26 +0000

A good conclusion to this Washington Examiner story might be that the city is simply finding creative ways to tax without representation, but the pragmatic effect is more Machiavellian. The poor are silenced. Those who can’t or won’t pony up $300 to the City of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia, have to shut down their blogs? How many bloggers are there in Philly? Evidently, the city sent letters to income tax filers who reported profits from their blogs.

It’s an ominous trend, IMO, when you can be taxed this way on a blog. I guess the states and maybe the feds can line up behind Philadelphia: after all, this is interstate commerce. Anyone can jump on the speech tax bandwagon.Article: Philly requiring bloggers to pay $300 for a business license

Golf Resort Waterfront Homes
Jupiter Home loans
Scrap and Recycling Machinery
Dissolved Air

Coral Cove – Manta Ray Video

davekeys — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 17:21:35 +0000

Nice video shot by someone who visited Coral Cove in South Florida. These are the kind of adventures available to the folks who live down in the sub-tropics of Florida.

Admirals Cove
PGA National Homes
Jupiter Homes

Testing Raw Format

davekeys — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 06:06:09 +0000

This is raw

This one is JPEG

Favorite Sleeping Place – Orange County Photographers

davekeys — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 22:49:28 +0000

Elizabeth loves to sleep in the crook of my arm, face down please.

Orange County Photographers

Preferred Guest promotion has expired.

davekeys — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 16:34:52 +0000

I just got a post on my Facebook account that promoted Starwood Preferred Guest. Something about free weekends. Since an associate posted it, I decided to check it out. The landing page read,

The Starwood Preferred Guest® promotion has expired.We’re sorry, the SPG® Free Weekends promotion has expired. Please visit SPG.com to view other special offers and promotions.If you’ve already earned Free Weekend Night Awards through the SPG Free Weekends promotion, you can track them by accessing your account at SPG.com and clicking on “My Earned Awards.” Redeem your Free Weekend Night Awards through December 19, 2010, by calling toll-free 866-539-0059 from the U.S. or Canada, or by contacting the Customer Contact Center in your region and mentioning Award ID 3FWFN. Book now atSPG.com.

Well, so much for that idea.

Admirals Cove Homes | PGA National homes

Thunder and Lightning Wow Southland Homes

davekeys — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 15:40:13 +0000

Fires broke out across the southland in San Diego and Riverside counties because of yesterday’s thunderstorms but no structures were threatened, even though a 200 acre blaze broke out right here in Temecula’s Crown Valley. The smoke contributed to spectacular sunset colors as the storm remnants darkened skies along with it.

LA Times reported numerous fires in the swath of the unusual thunderstorm. Homes were unharmed but everyone got a view of plenty of lightning. Several bolts struck within a few home’s distance of mine.

In Riverside County, the lighnting strikes caused about a half-dozen fires near Temecula and Sage, officials said. The fires ranged from less than an acre to 200 acres, the Riverside County Fire Department said.The 200-acre blaze was burning rapidly near Temecula by Crown Valley and De Portola roads, officials said. Shortly before 5 p.m, 100 firefighters were attacking the blaze but no air support had arrived, according to the Fire Department.

Admirals Cove | PGA National homes

Will Microsoft Lay Off Next of Kin?

davekeys — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 21:11:08 +0000

Goodbye Kin. Have you heard of the Microsoft brand of smartphone? It was to be the mothership’s answer to iPhone and Droid. The Kin is DOA, dropped by Microsoft two weeks into market.

Heard on the mini-microsoft blog was the possible best eulogy, the Kin may well replace Microsoft Bob as the all time worst M$ product.

The rumblings have started. With no apparent innovation on the horizon, the giant that brought us the tortures of MS Word and its horrendous implementation of monolithic APA rigidity followed by unblinking corporate dweebs everywhere, will apparently lay off employees as quietly, but quickly as possible.

Expect a lot of new MS experts to hit the streets with new upstart tech ventures and resumes soon.

I can almost hear Warren Buffet saying to “thoroughly evaluate the fundamentals of a company”. I wonder how much stock he owns or will have formerly owned in the future in MS?

I remember thinking, the first time I heard of Kin, “This is a terrible idea.” Now it’s going to have a terrible consequence for some people who may be facing the hard cold streets of Redmond soon.

Admirals Cove Real Estate | PGA National

General Betray Us to General Save Us General Petraeus 99 Senate Votes to nothing!

davekeys — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 16:41:02 +0000

From the capricious detractors who viewed him as General Betray Us to the ardent supporters, all senators on board voted in favor of confirming General David Petraeus to head up the war, excuse me, contingency action, in Afghanistan. How did the same guy move from betrayer of the country to a man who everyone hopes will save us?

The firing of a guy Obama never liked. Conveniently, General Stanley McChrystal may have simply fallen on his sword in frustration over the arduous ROE in the theater making way for Obama to take the Stan out of Afthanistan and to implement a somewhat masked reform of the rules of engagement and get something done in Afghanistan.

This Video Is Taking Forever To Render

davekeys — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 02:33:40 +0000

You think your computer is pretty fast and that’s great until you start working with video. Then the crawl begins. Not only do you crawl while rendering video, but your computer tends to acquire a leisurely pace at best when it’s doing anything else while rendering video.

Just sayin’

I made a series of videos for homes in south Florida and PGA National homes back in March. The market, while taking a hit with the rest of the home sales in the country, has been successfully leveraged by a few expert players in the upscale real estate of Palm Beach County and PGA National homes for sale. The videos have received consistent traffic as people still search for information on the PGA National Resort and Spa homes.

PGA National Homes for sale

How Do You Give Away Responsibility?

davekeys — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 18:16:24 +0000

How do you give away responsibility?

A builder of custom Palm Beach Gardens homes, Brett Handler of Dreamstar Custom homes, along with a team of bankers, real estate agents and businesses in the local Palm Beach Gardens community did just that by giving away a copy of an audio book entitled, Dear Graduate, to every graduation senior of Palm Beach County high school.

The book is also available in paperback.

Isn’t teaching financial responsibility the job of parents? Brett says that many parents are ill equipped to handle finances as well. The audio book gives the opportunity to anyone in the family willing to take the time to listen, to learn the tenets of financial soundness and health.

The giveaway had the backing of the Palm Beach County School District. It was no small feat to cover every senior in three high schools. The participating banks got into the spirit by offering free checking to the graduates.

The concern of the sponsors which included Jeff Lichtenstein, a local agent in the Palm Beach Gardens community, and North Palm Beach Stonegate Bank, was one of financial literacy for young adults entering into a complex and demanding financial environment today. The book covers fundamentals about which a surprising number of young adults know little or nothing.

Jeff Lichtenstein said that the sponsor and author, Brett Handler gave the students a life reminder before they go off. Jeff is teaching his own two children about financial responsibility early on and daily.

There are thousands of new seniors in Palm Beach Gardens who now have a better chance at starting out on the right foot because of the effort of a few to “give away responsibility.”

New Used Bookstore in Temecula – Murrieta Area

davekeys — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 15:48:42 +0000

I posted a new video for a Temecula independent bookstore. My wife, Diane spotted this store months ago but we get home late from her school in Anaheim most days. One day last month, we had the rare opportunity to come home before closing and we stopped in. Diane loves book stores, especially where there is a selection of used books. Eclectic fits the bill, selling used and new books.

The bookstore is actually located in the adjacent city Murrieta, on Murrieta Hot Springs Road, around a quarter mile from the 15 freeway.

They may be about the only true independent used bookstore in town.

Eclectic Books has a lot packed in for what looks from the outside, to be a small bookstore but don’t let that fool you. You’ll find a great choice of books from independent to out of print, and of course, new books here. There is plenty to explore.

Here’s the video: Temecula Used Book Store | Murrieta Used Book Store

Jacaranda Trees in Fullerton

davekeys — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 22:02:06 +0000

They’re at the peak of blooming now. The Jacaranda trees leave a lavender carpet on the ground covering lawns, streets and even roofs as the petals begin to drop down.

Here’s my Orange County Wedding Photographers site. Taken on Chapman Ave. in Fullerton CA

Jacarandas grow around the world any place where risk of hard frost is low or infrequent, from the US to Hawaii to South Africa.

Something Afoot – Orange County Wedding Photography

davekeys — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 05:26:02 +0000

Orange County Wedding in Laguna Beach, 2006. The original of this photo had too much harsh lighting and the colors of the beach sand, skin tones and toenail polish just seemed to compete too much for attention. You judge for yourself (see below)

I used enough layers in photoshop to start over wherever I needed to:

1. Desaturate and colorize toward red for sepia.
2. Circular marquee, invert and blur edge with refinement of around 90px.
3. Apply levels to create slight vignette.
4. Use DreamSuite free by Auto FX to apply medium ghosting and blur.
5. A few final tweaks in iPhoto and done.

Maui 06

davekeys — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 05:57:18 +0000

Like a distant wildfire, the sun sets over Lanai. A couple walks along the beach barely noticing their surroundings. After a few days, the surroundings almost feel normal- like there was never anywhere else. Maui pulls you into its spell that way. Each wave in its gentle crash carries you another small distance- away from “home” and into a timeless procession. Sunrise, sunset. Moonrise, moonset. Day, night and the ceaseless sounds of waves, wind, showers and never-ending warmth of the tropics.

This is Maui