Life's Little Adventures

WHY BLOG?

It just seemed like a fun thing at the time. Little did I dream, back in May 2006, the extent to which blogging would enhance my life. It has brought me into contact with long-lost buddies from my years in the U.S. Army in the 1950s, with co-workers from my photographic career in New York City in the 60s and 70s, with people in publishing from the 80s and 90s, and with complete strangers from around the world who share my current interests and passions.

And it was all so easy.

If I can do it, anyone can. TypePad makes it simple and offers a free trial, so I gave it a whirl and discovered just how rewarding this can be. If you'd like to try it without cost, just go to near the bottom of the left-hand column and click on the red TypePad button for more information and their famous free trial.

Keep on bloggin'

Looking for Something?

As you may have noticed, this blog doesn't stick to one subject, but is filled with all kinds of stuff — whatever comes into my garbage mind and won't go away. This might make it difficult for you to find anything, but not if you use the handy Google search field near the bottom of the left-hand column. Just enter what you're looking for, choose the "lifeslittleadventures.typepad.com" button, and click the "Google Search" button. It really works. And, if you choose the "www" button instead, it searches the entire web. Is there anything Google can't do?

Cell Phones and Me

I've been using cell phones since the mid-1990s, but long before that there were car phones that worked on an entirely different system. These were installed in vehicles and had a transmitter in the trunk and an external antenna at the end of a pole mounted on the rear fender. They had a range of about 40 miles from the land stations, which were situated in heavily-populated areas. The rental location vans that we used for photography outside of our New York studio had them, as did rental limos and executive cars. But they were a pain to use. First, you had to find a clear channel by trying all the buttons, then you tried to raise an operator who connected you to your party. This worked pretty well close to our Manhattan base, but less well in other areas. In the Hamptons we drove to the top of a hill near Southampton from which we could connect with the operator in New London, Connecticut. In New Hope, Pennsylvania, we had to go through an operator in Trenton, New Jersey. I never even tried to receive calls, although it could be done.

In the late 1970s we tried a hand-held portable unit. It worked, but was too expensive so we didn't make the purchase.

Then, in the 1980s the cellular system was introduced. This was an incredibly vast improvement, but by then I had left the photo business and no longer needed one all that badly. So I waited until the price came down, which it did.

Since the mid-1990s I have had several cell phones, with several service providers. But I was paying for a lot more capacity than I actually used or needed.

So in mid-2006 I decided to rationalize and find a service that fit my limited needs without waste. I only make or receive a few calls a week, so subscription services with monthly charges no longer made sense. What I needed was a pre-paid service without a contract or monthly charge. After investigating several service providers, I cancelled my Cingular account and got a Tracfone.

I've been quite happy with this as it always works well, and have used it in several different states for both local and long-distance calls without extra charges. In fact, for me it has proven to be quite economical. If you'd like to check this out, just click the TracFone logo near the bottom of the left-hand column. In full disclosure: If you purchase one of these phones through this link, I receive a small commission to help defray the cost of running this blog. Thank you.

The Fun Of Blogging

TYPEPAD HAS MADE MY LIFE MORE INTERESTING

Back in the Spring of 2006 I read one of those "Dummies" books about blogging and decided that even a technically-challenged person like me could do it. Among the various service providers and plans described, Typepad seemed to be the best fit for me — both featurewise and costwise. So I signed up for a free trial.

Am I ever glad that I did!

Getting started was amazingly simple. They do all of the nasty tech stuff like HTML; all I do is type and use the mouse. It couldn't be easier. And when I did have a question that wasn't in their "Knowledge Base," I just typed it in and got an E-mail back the next day patiently explaining all.

On September 1st of this year they made this blog a "Featured Weblog," which resulted in thousands and thousands of more hits. As a result I have been reunited with some of my old army buddies from the 1950s, with business associates from the 60s, and with other old friends. It has also helped sell my books, which makes me happy.

Anyway, if I can do it anyone can. If you'd like to try, just go to near the bottom of the left-hand column and click on the red TypePad button for more information about their free trial.

Keep on bloggin'

LIFE'S LITTLE ADVENTURES is thrilled to have been chosen as Typepad's Featured Blog for Saturday, September 1, 2007! My most heartfelt thanks go to Robin Tilotta at Six Apart for having picked my blog from among the thousands of really great ones hosted by Typepad. And thanks to everyone at Typepad for making blogging so easy that even a technically challenged person like me can do it.

What is this blog about? That's really hard to answer. Travel, Photography, Writing, Book Publishing, Personal Adventures, Music, Art, and Whatever Else Comes Into My Head That Won't Go Away.

A special section is devoted to my time in the U.S. Army, serving in Japan in the late 1950s. Other vets are adding to this blog-within-a-blog, getting a lively discussion going. These are the most visited pages on the entire blog. Just click on either ASA or Military Service on the left-hand column of each page.

Another feature is the selection of free entire chapters from my Daytrips series of travel guides. Click here to see what's available.

Thanks for Visiting, and Come Back Soon!

BLOGGING HAS ITS REWARDS

When I started this blog way back in May of '06, I never realized the extent to which it could enhance my life. Usually it just receives 20 to 30 hits a day, but just last week it got hundreds.

Further investigation revealed that nearly all of them were checking out the pages related to my time in the U.S. Army Security Agency some 50 years ago. As it happened, one vet, Noel Garland of Texas, who happened to be in the same unit with me in 1957-58, came across the blog and told many of his old buddies about it. Now we're e-mailing each other several times a day, comparing notes and photos. Oh, what fun this is! And maybe we'll even get together. Thank you, Noel.

For More On My ASA Experience, Click Here.

Actually, this happened before in the Fall of '06. On the thread about my experiences working with the noted photographer Richard Avedon I mentioned his use of a particular camera. Someone who posts on a website devoted to that camera saw it, and put a link to mine. The hits came pouring in for a few days.

So now I must get busy and put up more posts that attract people with similar interests, along with old friends, colleagues and acquaintances. And if you see something of interest here, feel free to leave a comment or e-mail me.

{NOTE: as of early 2008 it is getting well over a hundred hits a day. I'm aiming at a thousand}

Desktop Publishing

Up until now, most of my posts have been about the past. This is about now. About the enormous changes that home computers can bring to the once-complicated business of getting books into print.

Print-on-demand (POD) technology may have made it much simpler for unknown authors or for works for which there is a very real but limited market to actually get published, BUT there is still the very sticky problem of preparing the material for the printer. The author's original word-processing file (such as MS Word), along with illustrations submitted in such formats as Adobe Photoshop or CorelDraw, must be modified in a "desktop publishing" program, of which Quark Express, PageMaker or Adobe InDesign are good examples. These are complex, expensive programs — and require a long learning curve to master. Of course, they are extremely versatile and deliver excellent results. NOW, there is a simpler solution that anyone with a home computer can learn to use in a day or so. Not quite as versatile, perhaps, but still good enough for most applications, and a real bargain.

About two years ago I began using Serif's PagePlus 8 software to convert my Word, Photoshop, and CorelDraw files into book page layouts, resulting in a PDF file of the entire book that was completely ready for the printer. PagePlus is amazingly easy to use, if a bit "jumpy" at times. It has since been updated three times and is now in its 11th version, which I currently use. The latest one allows the editing of imported PDF text files; possibly an advantage to some. Anyway, the resulting books look quite professional and the POD printer had no trouble with the files. The latter were delivered on CD, although FTP Internet submission is equally good. Most conventional offset printers can also accept these files.

Serif is a rather odd software company that (as far as I can determine) only sells directly to the user via their website. Located in Nottingham, England, they also have a sales office in New Hampshire, U.S.A. Besides the desktop publishing program, PagePlus 11, they offer other easy-to-use graphic solutions including PhotoPlus 10 (similar to Adobe Photoshop Elements but a bit more sophisticated), and DrawPlus 8 (similar to CorelDraw) — along with a host of web and presentation programs. Serif programs are only for PCs; sorry, Mac users. They are friendly people to deal with, whose unusually informative website allows even critical comments from users around the world.

If you are an author considering POD publishing, going this route could save you a bundle over having the printer prepare your Word files for the press. It really gives you complete control of your work. And it's relatively cheap. Check out their website.

AND CHECK OUT MY PROPOSAL FOR ONLINE TRAVELGUIDES

FLASH! March 12 2007. I have just ordered Serif's new version, PagePlus X2, which is optimized for Windows Vista and has other improvements. When it arrives from England I'll test it and tell you all about it. Stay tuned.

Google

GOOGLE'S NEW PEEK INSIDE BOOKS...a knowledge base is born:

Yet another fantastic service is offered by those fine folks at Google. With their seemingly unlimited storage capacity, they have started a campaign to scan every page of literally millions of books from around the world, add every word of every page into their search engine, and make it all easily accessible to anyone, all for FREE! Yes, it works! Check it out by clicking here, and enter something into the search field. You might try the name of my first book, Daytrips London, which has already been scanned. Another click or two takes you inside the books, scrolling down one page at a time.

HOW DOES THIS BENEFIT AUTHORS AND PUBLISHERS? Hugely. It makes potential buyers aware of books they probably never heard of. And lets them examine the pages before deciding to buy, just as you would in a bookstore. Buying is easy — just click on an adjacent link.

MORE TO THE POINT, HOW DOES THIS BENEFIT GOOGLE? Advertising fees. They put ads next to the retrieved pages. Ads that somehow relate to the book's subject. Or not. They also place a direct link to an online bookseller such as Amazon or Barnes & Noble, from which they derive a small cut when a purchase is made. Google makes its billions one penny at a time.

CAN USERS PRINT OUT THE PAGES? WOULD THIS EVEN PAY? No and no. You cannot print the pages (copyrights and all that). You can just read them. Even if you could, it would not pay, given printer ink prices and the relatively low quality of the images. You are much better off buying the book and putting a few pennies in the author's pocket.

THINK OF THIS AS A PUBLIC LIBRARY RIGHT IN YOUR COMPUTER. The whole world of knowledge comes right to your monitor, just a click away. Saves a trip to the libary. And gas. And time.

FLASH: Google Books has added a search engine in the right-hand column of their site that lets you find anything in the book! Much better than an index. Just type in your request, hit go, and it displays a list of relevant pages in the book. Clicking on these opens the pages, and even highlights the material you're looking for. Will miracles never cease? CLICK HERE TO TRY IT.