Andy Merrett

British mom seeks one million from odd-job web site

May 18, 2023 by Andy Merrett

Million dollar pixel pages might be old hat now, but a British mom has twisted the idea with the launch of her “A Million Jobs To Do” web site.

Spurred on by her dream to buy a £1m house, Chrissi Sharkey set up the web site to allow anyone to hire her services for a minimum of £1 per job.

Prospective clients simply suggest a task that they need doing and the amount they’re willing to pay. The two sides then negotiate to find a favourable deal, the job gets done, and Chrissi gets paid.

Jobs she’s taken on so far include testing out three floral bras for a bra review web site, organising a ballot, and theming a child’s party.

Only via Internet could you easily, and cheaply, hope to reach such a goal. Let’s hope she gets more than the minimum amount per job, though, because a million jobs is going to take a long, long time to finish.

Dream house aside, she may need to invest a bit more in web hosting, because the recent publicity drive seems to be hammering her web server.

Free Lonely Planet Euro cities iPhone guides, but watch those data charges

May 18, 2023 by Andy Merrett

Iceland’s volcanic eruption has caused a huge headache for those stranded away from home, and while the big problems of finding alternative transport are yet to be resolved, iPhone users could at least find a little joy with Lonely Planet’s free guides to European cities.

Stranded or not, you need to be quick to get hold of them, as the offer ends this coming Thursday, 22nd April.

Grab city guides for Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Budapest, Copenhagen, Istanbul, London, Moscow, Munich, Paris, Rome, Stockholm and Vienna.

Beware, though, because it might be cheaper to get a train, boat or taxi home than incur hideous roaming data charges. If you’re near a Wi-Fi hotspot, though (or are in your home country with free data), head over to the iTunes store and search for Lonely Planet City Guides.

Apple spreads Black Friday internationally

April 13, 2023 by Andy Merrett

apple-black-friday Black Friday is definitely a US phenomenon, where many retailers slash prices for the day after Thanksgiving each year, but Apple has decided to spread a little joy internationally, too.

If you shop online at the Apple Store this coming Friday, 27th November, you’ll be pleased to know that many of Apple’s online stores will be offering 24 hour discounts on a range of its products.

Stores include the UK and Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Denmark, Norway, Australia, and more.

Visit your local Apple store online to see whether there are bargains to be had. It’s worth remembering that Apple’s own prices are rarely the cheapest to be had online, particularly on third party products, so it’s still worth shopping around other online retailers. Nevertheless, some hardware and software is seeing significant discounts, so take a look this Friday.

You might not do Thanksgiving where you live, but you can benefit from some money off even so.

Google continues to push image features with Image Swirl

April 13, 2023 by Andy Merrett

How did we survive without Google Image Search? I frequently use it when someone utters the name of some “celebrity” I’ve never heard of, or I think is actually someone else, to make sure I’m thinking of the right person (like it really matters).

Now, not only can we check out similar images of those Z-list celebs, but thanks to a new feature being tested in Google Labs, we could see a whole swirl of related images.

Google Image Swirl uses advances in computer vision research to group together a dozen images based on a certain keyword.

Google gives the example: “if you search on Image Swirl for [washington], you’ll see 12 image thumbnails including President Washington, the Washington Monument, a map of Washington D.C. and the Capitol Building”

The “swirl” comes when you click on one of those thumbnails, which expands to show similar and related images based on that image. It’s Google’s own mashup of related images and the Wonder Wheel that you might have used for text-based search queries.

It’s interesting to see image search evolve, and presumably if enough people provide positive feedback this will eventually graduate from the labs and become part of the standard Google search.

Via

16 Photo Sharing Web Sites Worth Using

April 11, 2023 by Andy Merrett

Here are sixteen online photo sharing services worth taking a look at.

Got a favourite not on the list? Share it in the comments below.

1. Flickr

We all know Flickr, right? Easy to upload, search, tag and share photos and videos with a premium service available.

2. Photobucket

Another favourite with a nice look and feel.

3. Picasa

You need a Google account to get the most from Picasa, after which you can edit, share, tag, favourite and chat about your pictures. As you’d expect from a Google product, there are plenty of features being added all the time, and extra storage available at fair prices.

4. SmugMug

Not only photos on this great looking ad free site but also HD video on these pay accounts.

5. Shutterfly

The service claims free, unlimited, unrestricted size photo storage and the ability to create a range of products from your own pictures.

6. Webshots

A huge collection of photos including ones from professional photographers, available to purchase electronically and as prints.

7. Piczo

Designed for use by teenagers, with plenty of glitz and glamour, photo editing tools and communities.

8. Tinypic

A registration-free site for storing photos and videos, with unique links offered for each item much like URL shorteners work.

9. Snapfish

A service for uploading and then creating products from photos including standard prints, calendars, canvases and more.

10. Fotki

Upload, browse and rate photos or keep an online photo journal.

11. MyPhotoAlbum

Focusing on greater personalisation of online photo albums, with your own subdomain at myphotoalbum.com, plus real merchandise.

12. Picli

A Digg-style voting system for photos, pushing interesting pics to the front page.

13. Photosnack

Creates photo slideshows from your uploaded pictures and then share them across the web.

14. Glowfoto

A social network with a heavy focus on photos, and a platform for sharing images on other sites.

15. PhotoApe

A photo sharing service with an emphasis on mobile usage.

16. Photowall

As the name suggests, displays a scrolling wall of photos from users around the world.