Witchy Tech

What’s so Great about a Nintendo Wii?

Well, now that you have an idea as to what a Wii is, you might be thinking… SO? What’s so great about that? Well, aside from being significantly lower priced than its competitors, many people consider it the most fun!

You don’t have to take my word for it, though. Video Jug interviewed Bill Kunkel, Editor-in-Chief of Tips & Tricks magazine for his thoughts on Nintendo Wii. Watch the video below or on VideoJug:

Why Are my Digital Pictures so HUGE?

Well, you have your first digital camera and have taken lots of pictures (or perhaps you have scanned in some snapshots using a scanner). You have looked at your pictures on the computer. Wow! These are great! Isn’t it amazing that you can see your pictures right after you’ve taken them? Now you can share them immediately with your family all over the world! Isn’t technology wonderful? So you send out your 5 best pictures in an email.

Unfortunately, you probably got emails (or phone calls) back saying that the pictures were great, but they were bigger than the whole computer screen! Or that they sure took a long time to download… or worse, that they crashed someone’s email and they had to call their internet provider to clear it out (this can happen on dial up connections).

So what happened? The pictures looked perfectly fine on your computer, didn’t they? You zoomed out to make them a comfortable size before sending, right? Read on to find out about one of the nuances of digital photography:

Read the rest of this entry »

WHAT IS.. a wheee (Wii)?

You have probably heard your child, grandchild or spouse (!) say they wanted a Wii this Christmas. I’m sure you thought, “What the heck is a wee?!”

Short Answer: A Wii is a video game console (video game deck) made by Nintendo. Read the rest of this entry »

Technology–Not Just for the Delicate Cycle Anymore.

My husband, Mr. Wonderful, was helping me to get the house ready for Thanksgiving and decided to tackle Mount Laundry.  On one load, I heard this *thunk thunk thunk* in the dryer and I asked him what was in there.  He said it was his jeans, so the thunking was probably the buttons hitting against the side as it tumbled.  Husband wasn’t worried, so I wasn’t either.  I had other stuff to worry about anyway.

A little while later, Mr. Wonderful decided to go pick up the kids from school for me.  He went to get his keys and came back saying, “Have you seen my cellphone?” Read the rest of this entry »

What is… a Petey-A (PDA)?

I told my friends that I was doing the What is… articles for Witchy Tech. One of them said she had a question about a gadget:

“Witchy, one of my friends has this little thing that you use with a stylus. It had her phone numbers, calendar… it was like a mini-organizer! It wasn’t a phone, I know that. What was it?”

The short answer: It’s a PDA, which means “Personal Digital Assistant.” It is your address book, appointment calendar, note pad, and yes, sometimes phone, all on a little gadget that is about the size of a pocket calculator.

The long answer: Truly, the PDA is a marvelous thing. It’s a little mini-computer that fits in the palm of your hand.
Read the rest of this entry »

WHAT IS…an EmPeeThree (MP3) player?

With the holidays approaching, I thought I’d start a new segment on Witchy Tech entitled “What is…?”

With the best of intentions, you ask your kids and grandkids what they want for Christmas. They reply in gibberish! You have no idea what they are talking about. As they try to explain, your eyes glaze over and you end up getting them a sweater. Well, not this year!!

So.. what IS an MP3 player, anyway? Read on to find out: Read the rest of this entry »

Taking Better Portraits

Since I’ve been thinking about digital cameras, I thought I’d include this video tutorial by a professional photographer. The video is only 6 minutes long and has 10 great tips for shooting portraits with your digital camera.

TAKE TONS AND TONS of pictures. Professional photographers take about a two hundred pictures and only pick 5 to sell. With digital photography, you don’t have those processing fees to worry about and only have to print the ones you want to keep. The more pictures you take, the more likely you’ll capture the perfect moment… a/k/a “The Money Shot”!

Do you have any digital camera/photography tips to share?

(Thanks to this article from Dumb Little Man–Tips for Life for the heads-up on this video.)

Don’t be Strangled by the Cord

Getting pictures from your camera to your computer using the USB cord.

Now that you have a digital camera, you are pretty proud of your new gadget. You’ve been taking pictures with it and enjoy not having to worry about getting your film processed. But how do you get the picture from your camera to the computer? There are 3 ways to do this:

• Using the cord or base that came with your camera
• Inserting the memory stick or memory card directly into a specialized slot in your computer
• Getting the pictures printed at a drugstore and scanning the printed pictures into the computer.

I’m going to tell you how to use the cord that came with your camera. Read the rest of this entry »

B.O.O.K.–”Bio-Optic Organized Knowledge” device

A reader of Witchy Tech saw the video about adjusting to new technology in the Middle Ages
and was reminded of B.O.O.K., the Bio-Optic Organized Knowledge device.  This is hilarious and I knew Witchy Tech readers would appreciate it too.   Read the rest of this entry »

Your First Digital Camera

There is a wide range of digital cameras available. The prices can vary from $20 to $1000. When you go to the store and actually see them on display or in the boxes, they all just kind of blend together… you don’t even know what to ask for!

Here is my suggestion for your first digital camera: Get a lower-but-not-lowest end camera for your first. Do not spend more than $200 or less than $50. Here’s why: Read the rest of this entry »