If you don't like what you hear, you can always shoot the messenger. I hope you have a much better day.

You are entitled to your opinion. I have a technician on my payroll, and have better things to do with my time, than what he is already being paid for. It was was not a complaint but an answer to a question regarding what the problem was with win 8 and it was a personal perspective. I can appreciate someone else's opinion without thinking them ignorant, or incompetent. If you like win 8 so much, why do you by pass the square icons? If you can stop complaining long enough, I am sure many of us would love to know what you see as the strengths of Win 8.

For me the big annoyance of Win 8 is that I have no use for the icons popping up at the start. If I want to do something, I go to the desktop. For me the normal Win 8 start up is something in my way. I have the win 8 computers set to start at the desk top, and have had a technician modify the "Cell Phone" look to only programs that I use there. I often end up going onto that cellphone looking page inadvertently in the middle of doing something else. Though I can easily get back to where I was by hitting the escape key, it is still annoying. As with many "improvements" changes were made that make the use of the machine inconvenient. When I questioned Microsoft about some of these , I was told that they wanted to have an operating system, that resembled the interface common to tablets and smart phones, and that would operate more efficient with touch screens such as those on their cell phones. Obviously they are aiming at a younger demographic.

Just an opinion, but the goal seems to be moving us to touch screens, doing away with hard drives, moving to cloud storage, rental of operating system and what ever programs we will use on a monthly basis.

The photos are on the memory stick. They can not be read by the camera after alteration. I often alter photos for friends and store the result back on the camera SD card, or memory stick. While they are not read by the camera, they can be downloaded into their computer when they get back home. They can also be viewed on a tablet. I don't use a "cloud" but the pictures can be stored there for later retrieval. If you store the photos on a removable media from the camera, you may want to avoid using the camera, until the photos have been removed.

Doesn't sound like a problem with Picassa. You can try openng the photo with another program and see if that looks better. If it was working in the past, you can try deleting Picssa, and downloading it again.

There shouldn't be any duty of the photo equipment. I have purchased items in the U.S. Virgin Islands with no problem. IT is considered a purchase in the US. The duty comes into play if you buy something like liquor. There is a large, reputable camera store, in walking distance of where my ship (Holland America Line) docked. If I had not walked, I would have missed it. I normally purchase from BH or Adorama. The camera I had planned to bring was left behind, so I purchased one when we made the stop in St. Thomas.

I use picasa a free program from Google as my management software, then edit in elements or photoshop. I have the full adobe suite but find picasa, best for my use, as a photo management /categorizing tool. It is fairly intuitive, and easy to use. When you first load the program it will look for any pictures on your computer. You can set up folders, move photos around , open elements from inside picasa , use your email from in the program if you want to send photos or order photos from there. Since it is a free progam, you might want to give it a look. It doesn't move your photos to picasa, it indexes and references them where they are. If you decide to download it, be sure to get it from the Google site. The other places package it with things you don't want.

Imagine how pissed off they might have been if he were to mention the birthday of the Egyptian go Horus. Whatever we make of the original myth…Isis seems to have been originally a virgin (or, perhaps, sexless) goddess, and in the later period of Egyptian religion she was again considered a virgin goddess, demanding very strict abstinence from her devotees. It is at this period, apparently, that the birthday of Horus was annually celebrated, about December 25th, in the temples. As both Macrobius and the Christian writer [of the "Paschal Chronicle"] say, a figure of Horus as a baby was laid in a manger, in a scenic reconstruction of a stable, and a statue of Isis was placed beside it. Horus was, in a sense, the Savior of mankind. He was their avenger against the powers of darkness; he was the light of the world. His birth-festival was a real Christmas before Christ.

It may depend on what it is you are trying to do. I have Lightroom , Bridge, Photoshop, Photoshop Elements and Picsa on most of my computers. They each have advantages.For the most part I use Picsa as my photo management software. It is easy to order prints , or email from inside the program. I often to the actual editing (if any) in one of the other programs. I use Picasa and Elements in combination most of the time. Talking about software is very much like talking about cameras. A lot of people will tell you there is only one way or one brand that is any good. If money is an issue take a look at Picasa ( get it from Google's site, the others all try to put other things on your machine).

d friend trying to reproduce photos of themselves or faimil members from their childhood. Walmart refused on the basis of them being professional photos. I scanned in my friends childhood photos and sent them to Walmart from my computer. Doing this seems to avoid problems. There is a statement on many websites that indicate by acceptance or proceeding that the photos are yours and that the Vendor providing the copies is not responsible for any copy rite violation.

If I understand your question, you want to duplicate the effect. You might be able to duplicate the effect in post processing. Picasa has several ways to give the photo a number of effects that may be similar to this. 1960's processing option seems to come close to that look. If you decide to download the program (free from Google) be sure to do it from the Google site. The other places will all try to put other things on your computer.

I don't shoot portraits of pets often. When I do. I have an assistant hold the dog in position till I am ready to shoot. the assistant lets go just as I use a squeeze toy duck whistle or other whistle to get the dog to look up. Sometimes I toss something back over my head. I also try to have the animal level with the camera. I will often shoot from the side or 3/4 to avoid the distinctive anatomy of a male dog. Some times I will include props in the photo or shoot using a green screen to drop a background in later. In general, if I am shooting someone else's animal, I want them out of site. I like the picture

you might try to adjust the skin tone, in photo shop or elements and see, if you like it.

Opinions about computers, and cameras, are a lot like opinions about religion and politics. Go with what you can afford . I run Photoshop, light room, and several other programs with 4 gb, and don't have a problem, unless my image is huge. But when I get to that point, I usually have a file too large to send to the printer. No one that recommends a rig, without knowing exactly what you are doing with it, has an opinion, that is valid for anyone, but them.

let me confuse this even more. I often end up manipulating image size in post processing, changing the pixel density. of photos, and the photo size. In these cases, I might have captured with a camera on my key chain. I have managed to print some really large pictures this way.