Flickr Basics

This link will take you to Flickr. The learn more link provides a brief overview of Flickr's features. In order to get the most out of Flickr, it is best to create an account. Yahoo owns Flickr, so if you have a Yahoo ID (email, etc) the process should be simple.

Click on the thumbnail pictures on the left or by following this link to get to our pictures or what Flickr calls, a photostream.

When you get to our photos, you will see sets of pictures on the left. The most recent photos uploaded will be displayed in the middle of the page. At the very bottom of the page, numbered links to older photos are listed. On the right side of the page are links to Sets, Favorites, Profile (not much there), a tag search box, a link that will display all tags we have used, a link to a calendar showing when photos were uploaded and archives. There is also a link to view the latest photos as a slide show.

If you click on a set, you will see all pictures related to that topic. They can be viewed as a slide show or by clicking on each picture individually.

If you click on About-Us' tags, you will see a list of all the tags that have been used to help identify pictures. The bigger the word, the more photos there are tagged with that name. Clicking on Lauren, for example, will show all photos tagged with 'Lauren'.

That's all for now.





 

Flickr

What website is one of Time.com's 50 Coolest Websites of 2005 and is described as 'completely addictive', 'amazingly easy', and a 'visual playground' by Time, Forbes, and Salon Magazine? Flickr, of course. Flickr isn't the only photo blogging site, but it is the one where you will find our pictures. I will be writing about how to get the most out of Flickr. For example, did you know that some of the pictures we put on Flickr are the original full size photos. That means the photos can be downloaded and sent to the photo lab of your choice for processing. If you don't want to bother with downloading a photo, prints can be ordered right from Flickr through one of their partners. You can also have photos printed on stamps, order posters, photo books, DVDs, etc. Just what everyone wants, a giant poster of me! You will need to sign up for an account 'free' in order to get the most out of Flickr.

Check out this link to explore and see some interesting pictures hosted on Flickr.
flickr.com/

Click on Interestingness or search to your hearts content.

Spring Storm

A severe storm blew through the St. Louis region on Sunday April 2nd. We were at LAX in Los Angeles getting ready to fly home when our neighbor called with the bad news. The mature maple tree in our backyard fell on our roof resulting in some minor damage to a gutter and a few shingles. A Bradford Pear in the backyard was also knocked over. Two very large sections of the privacy fence in the backyard were flattened by the wind. There was some minor damage to a window screen, the ceiling fan on the patio, and the facia around the patio. Thankfully, no significant damage was inflicted on the house itself.

The power was out until around 11:00 Tuesday morning. Major inconvenience! Many of our neighbors lost large areas of shingles from their roofs, trees, limbs, etc. Surprisingly, some of our neighbors houses and yards were completely untouched. Just outside of town to the south west, a large 'shed' or barn was destroyed and scattered across two farm fields. The line of debris led straight to a couple of houses that no longer have roofs.

The weather report on the news tonight confirmed that an F1 tornado with 112 mph winds went through the Highland area. The shopping district in Fairview Heights, which is about 30 minutes south west of Highland and is the largest shopping area in the metro east, was hit badly. An F1-2 tornado with 125 mph winds knocked down a clothing store, killing one customer, and caused so much damage that the mall and most of the major stores were still closed today. We feel we were pretty lucky. The tree is now off our roof and waiting by the road for the chipping service to come take it away. The fence is going to take a little more time to repair.

A big thanks goes out to all of our neighbors who took their time to help cut down the tree and haul it to the curb.

Pictures of the damage are on Flickr. Click on the thumbnails to be taken away...