Scrapbooks are a thing of the past, relatively speaking. Today, people go online to post their photos to share with their friends and family. Haven’t heard of it? Internet photo sharing is the popular new way to keep your photos organized in one place and have them be available to those who you invite to see them.

Web sites are popping up all over the Internet. Photo sharing is not something reserved for the living room couch. Places like Facebook®, MySpace®, Flickr® and more offer free space for you post and share your pictures.

Personally, I love the idea of Internet photo sharing. Not only is great for me, an amateur photographer taking pictures of my friends and family, it is great for people trying to break into the world of photography. By creating an online album, people can effectively reach a large audience without doing any work. Uploading photos? With our fast Internet connections today, it takes only a couple of minutes, and you can add tags, comments and leave space for others to comment.

Many people fear their safety online. If I am going to partake in Internet photo sharing, who is going to be looking at my pictures? Are they available to anyone who is on the web? Well, that is all up to you! Today, you can add security to your online photo albums, restricting and granting access to whomever you want.

When I upload my photos of friends, I only make them available for them to see, if however I go on a vacation and take landscape shots, I will make those public so everyone can experience the beauty of another place, while not exposing any of my friends to online scrutiny.

Online photo sharing is easy to do. You needn’t be a expert computer or Internet user to understand how to experience and participate in online photo sharing. All you need is a computer, the Internet and about 15 minutes to sit down and create an album.

 Let’s take for example the web site Flickr. This site is part of Yahoo!Òs Internet photo sharing group. To set up a Flickr account, either sign up with Yahoo! or Flickr itself, you will then be prompted through the steps of setting up your own album(s). Seem easy? Well it is!

I keep all of my photos online. It’s great because they are easily accessible. If the mood finds you right, and you are feeling nostalgic, hop on a computer and talk a walk down memory lane, anytime, anywhere. Have a great photo you want to share with your friends? Send them the link and automatically your mom in California, grandmother in New York, and friend in London can all look at it without a moment’s hesitation.

Internet photo sharing is the future. Store, print, copy, send and share all your digital photos in one place. It’s fast, easy and fun to use and look through. And if you find that Internet photo sharing isn’t right for you, just cancel your account, it’s that simple. But before you decide that it’s too much work or too scary, take a look yourself and see how great Internet photo sharing really can be.   

Read more on subjects like this on John W Scherer’s other blogs.

It doesn’t matter if you are new to computers or you have been learning and working with computers for years. There is always more to learn when it comes to computers, computer operating systems and computer programs. Understand this computer-related information does not have to be nearly as challenging as you may think. Imagine, it can even be free with a free online class. There are many companies that offer online classes, but none are as efficient, effective and established as Video Professor’s free online classes.

Video Professor was started more than 20 years ago by CEO and founder John W. Scherer. Since then, more than 10 million people have ordered and taken advantage of the Video Professor trial where anyone can take a free online class. The lessons are ordered online and the tutorial itself is taught while you are working in the program itself. This way you do not have to flip back and forth between the free online class and the screen you are working in, or read through heavy, bulky, hard-to-follow manuals while trying to keep up on the screen.

Also, with a free online class from Video Professor, you can learn at your own pace and on your own schedule. The tutorials come equipped with fast-forward, rewind, stop and pause buttons. This way, you will never be left behind because you can watch the same part over and over. You will never feel bored because you will be able to skip ahead if you are thoroughly familiar with what it being taught at that moment. Also, a free online class from Video Professor will take you from being a beginner to an advanced user in as few as three hours. The lesson is divided into three segments. By the time you are done, you will be a master in the subject at hand. What subject you ask?

Video Professor has over 60 titles to choose from. No matter what your computer learning needs are, Video Professor is dedicated to showing you the way with either a 3-CD set of tutorials or a free online class. You can choose from tiles such as Learn HTML, Learn Word, Learn Outlook, Learn eBay, Learn Online Travel, Learn Digital Devices, Learn Photoshop, Learn Quicken, and so much more. Times are changing and they are changing very fast. Don’t be left in the dust. Take a free online class with Video Professor, and you will be taking a step in the right direction to improve your computer experience, no matter what you might want that to be. With a free trial, you have got nothing to lose but so much knowledge to gain.

It is becoming more and more necessary to use the Internet each day. It is also entertaining and convenient to be able to use the Internet. The smartest and most advanced companies are making everything possible accessible on the Internet. This revolution is also very beneficial to the Internet savvy consumer. Learn how to use the Internet and you can make your life a lot easier and potentially more enjoyable.

You are just able to accomplish a lot more with the Internet than you could without it. If you are a busy person, the Internet could provide plenty of convenience for you. Say you have to pay some bills, transfer funds from one bank account to another, buy some gifts for friends, find a restaurant for a night out, and rent some movies. You could potentially spend a couple days doing this if things didn’t go smoothly, or it could take a few hours online.

Rather than writing checks and mailing out several bills, you can arrange to pay most of your bills online, saving paper and time with one action. By choosing online banking, which almost every bank now offers, you don’t have to make the trip to your bank, deal with lines and all the other headaches that can potentially go along with the bank. This can also save paper, and you can archive all your transactions on your computer. As for shopping, you can travel all over town, hopping from store to store in hopes of finding what you want. When you learn how to use the Internet, it will be easy for you to learn how to shop online more conveniently. This will give you an endlessly larger variety than you could hope for from your local shopping, even if you lived in one of the better shopping cities in the world.

When choosing a restaurant through the traditional method, you could page through the phonebook and make a decision based on an advertisement or base your choice off word of mouth. When you learn how to use the Internet, you can search for restaurants by cuisine or location, find reviews from multiple web sites from both critics and customers, and even make reservations for certain restaurants. Rather than driving to your local video rental store and wander around the store, you can get on one of the online rental sites and more quickly browse through a larger selection. The videos will then be delivered right to your house.

Imagine how many other things you could get done in the time you save when you learn how to use the Internet. The ease with which you can perform these tasks is only half of the advantage of the Internet. Entertainment and information are just a few clicks away. As I write this, I am listening to a live radio broadcast of one of my favorite sports writer who works in Miami. If I never learned how to use the Internet, there is no way I could listen to this live stream. You are likely to be amazed at how much you can accomplish through the Internet and how easy it is to learn how to use it.

Learning something new can be tricky. People like to say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, and while we all know that’s true, we also know that learning in a large group can be overwhelming, stressful and scary. Using a self paced tutorial is a choice millions of people make when deciding to take a class at an older age.

Take Advantage Of Working Alone!

Working with a self paced tutorial lets you be in charge of well, everything! If you don’t understand something, you can take all the time you need to review it over and over again. Programs like Video Professor offer self paced tutorials on a wide array of computer programs. With the Video Professor self paced tutorials you can rewind, stop, pause, fast-forward and play the CDs at your convenience. If you have some free time, sit down and learn a little. If you are busy one day, don’t worry about squeezing in a class. With a self paced tutorial you are the teacher, the student and the classroom all in one!

 I have always had a problem working with a large group. If I fall behind I get embarrassed about asking more questions than others and it doesn’t feel good to not get something when others do. I tried taking an Adobe PhotoshopÒ class. It was expensive; I had to squeeze in time after work and before dinner and was having trouble. I went online one night and found Video Professor, it was much cheaper, and I could do it at home, whenever I wanted. I realized then and there that self paced tutorials can actually help you learn more than with a teacher in a classroom, if you are willing to work on your own.

Learning How to Motivate Yourself

Being self motivated is key if you hope to succeed with a self paced tutorial. Many people like the idea of being in charge, but without having someone telling them when they need to work, they find that they have trouble actually sitting down and working. Using a self paced tutorial is tricky in that way, but, if you are willing to dedicate yourself and do the work, a self paced tutorial can take you to new heights.

Video Professor makes it easy to stay dedicated and on target. Video Professor uses a method of learning called, “What-You-See-Is-What-You-Do.” Literally, this means that you receive guidance in the program, while working in it. So at the end of the day, you have actually used the lessons in practice. This method helps people learn fast and is fun. I know that when it comes to choosing a self paced tutorial there are a lot of people out there and you have to find the tutorial that works best with your life. Picking out a self paced tutorial can be fun. Do your research, sit back, relax and don’t forget to enjoy yourself while learning!

I’m amazed that there are people out there who still don’t know how to use the Internet. I realize that some people from past generations never had to use it in their lives and see no point in starting to learn something new. But the fact is that it can make your life a lot easier and more entertaining without being that hard to learn. You can find different forms of Internet Explorer tutorials, like the CD tutorial offered from Video Professor, and a lot of the learning is really just exploration. You should probably learn something about security features and how to set those up, but the Internet is something where you can teach yourself after some guidance to get started.

An Internet Explorer tutorial can get the relatively clueless Internet user started and from there you can chose to what degree you want to use the Internet. If you are like me, you will gain more and more uses for the Internet as time goes along. I used to use the Internet for e-mail and general time wasting, which basically consisted of wandering from page to page for whatever looked interesting next. Now I feel odd if I don’t use the Internet once a day. I feel like I might miss something if I don’t check my e-mail regularly, which is not totally unfounded as most of my most important communication is done vie e-mail.

I never gave thought to using an Internet Explorer tutorial, but I wish I had. I might have been a little savvier when it came to doing all that research for school projects and research papers. I could have been more efficient with my keywords and found the reliable sites more quickly. Come to think of it, I probably could have saved a lot of time if I had used an Internet Explorer tutorial.

I can’t imagine looking for a job without the Internet. It is terrible to look for a job as it is, but if I had to gather up a bunch of newspapers, page through all the classifieds, and make a bunch of phone calls, I might just not do it. With the Internet, I can browse much more comprehensive job postings much more quickly and e-mail out résumés to many more employers. I can also post my résumé to employment web sites and let employers come to me. If you learn from an Internet Explorer tutorial, it could give you a leg up in the job market.

There are a plethora of other activities that can be done, or at least aided, by the Internet. Look for houses or cars online through a huge selection of web sites. You can research insurance options, doctors and many other important decisions before you have to make the important decision.

One key advantage of the Video Professor Internet Explorer tutorial is that it allows you to view the tutorial as you run the Internet browser. So if you are brand new to the Internet, this will be the best way to get familiar with it.

The choosing part of choosing a vacation should be fun, not daunting or irritating. Sure, planning a trip takes time, energy and thought, but choosing a vacation destination should be the part that leaves excited butterflies in your stomach. I know it always does for me. When it comes to choosing a vacation destination for my loved ones and myself, I keep a few important points in mind.

• How will I get to my destination?

When choosing a vacation, you should ask more than just “What will I do when I get there?” You should first ask, “How will I get there?” It is pretty easy to get caught up in the idea of lounging on a sandy beach with an umbrella drink in hand or swooshing down the snowy slope of a world-class ski slope, but let’s not forget the necessity of getting there safely and affordably. I know that for most people (those who can not afford a private plane), going to Vail or Aspen, Colo., will involve a very long car or shuttle ride, especially in snowy weather, so it is important to consider this. Maybe when choosing a vacation to ski in Colorado, you may be better off going to Keystone or Breckinridge. Both are beautiful resorts and are a much closer to the Denver airport than other slopes.

When choosing a vacation to somewhere a little more tropical, it is important to know if it’s going to take two planes and three boats to get to your final destination, and if it is, to plan accordingly.

• The time of the year you travel makes all the difference.

Whether you are choosing a vacation to suit your family or for you and your honey, the time of year always matters. Choosing a vacation destination that is in the off-season can save you a ton of money and also give you a little more privacy since there won’t be as many crowds. Just be sure that the weather will still be beautiful and that many of the sites you want to see are still open and accessible.

• What does your destination have to offer?

There are a ton of destinations around the globe regardless of what you are into. Whether you are looking for an adventurous trip, a relaxing trip, an educational trip or a romantic trip, you will have a plethora of options to choose from. So you might as well be a little picky when choosing your vacation destination because it is likely you will find exactly what you want. So make a list of things you definitely want to see or do before you start planning. This way, you will not miss out on the glass-bottom boat trip of your dreams because you forgot to check to see if your destination offers it.

Most important, when choosing a vacation destination, remember to give yourself plenty of time to decide where you want to go, when you want to go, and how you want to get there. The more time you give yourself, the more dreamy your dream vacation will be!

- Maya S.

You can do a lot on the Internet, or not so much. Or you can do a lot without accomplishing much. It’s a very strange, almost alter-universe to the real world, where there is more advertising and everything is more accessible. There was a recent series of Internet events that has probably occurred many times in my life. It left me wondering where the last couple hours of my life went, but if you were looking for some online entertainment, these events could have been very helpful to you.

I was checking my e-mail or some social networking site, both of which are easy to set up with basic Internet training, and one of my friends recommended a web site with some funny stories on it, so I got hooked on those for entirely too long. At some point while I was reading through the material on this site, it mentioned another comedy site with bitter rants and someone mocking children’s artwork, right up my alley. As you can imagine, I wasted plenty of time reading through the different work on this page. One of the items I was reading made me remember a funny video clip I had seen a few days before so I went to a different site to watch it and then got sidetracked with all the other clips on that page. After I realized I had spent so much time wandering around the Internet, I realized I needed to do something “productive” so I promptly checked my favorite sports site and then my e-mail once more before finally pulling myself away from the computer.

Now, if you have several hours on your hands and would like to find some time to just waste away, it could be to your benefit to seek some basic Internet training and learn how to quickly find these sources of entertainment. One of the biggest wastes of time online, and I’m not talking about the activities I just described, is searching for something you want through a search engine. Often times, the search engine will not bring you what you are looking for, or you will have to spend too much time wading through other web sites that are useless to you. Basic Internet training will show you how to more effectively use search engines to your advantage.

Just knowing how to utilize keywords better will make a huge difference. Being specific and using punctuation are just some of the tips that you can learn from basic Internet training tools. You should also experiment with a few different search engines to find one that works best for you. 

Just typing in “video clips” will likely get you a slew of pages that do not give you what you want. So if you know the subject that you want to search for, but not the web site’s address, some basic Internet training can go a long way for you. We don’t all have friends that are more than willing to provide us with hilarious distractions.

In celebration of the New Year, my wife and I once again decided that this was the year we’d really get in shape. Not that we need to go on the Biggest Loser - we’re in decent shape already - we just want to take our fitness levels up a few notches. What better way to do that then to give ourselves a goal to work for. And because normal goals just don’t cut it, and we figured it be too easy to flake out if we registered for a local race, we decided we’d rather do a race half way across the country, in Nashville.

My wife wondered if it was that smart to register before we booked our flights. To which I did the normal guy thing and replied, “Don’t worry about it.” Apparently she didn’t know she was married to an online travel expert. I told her that if I couldn’t find us a couple of cheap plane tickets then they didn’t exist. She rolled her eyes.

For inexpensive plane tickets my go-to site is www.farecast.com.  The great thing about this site is that by analyzing the historic prices of airfares to your desired destination, they are able to provide the current prices and forecast whether or not you should buy your ticket now or wait. What’s more, they compare the rates across multiple airlines and travel sites giving you a nice snapshot of what to expect. And when you find the ticket you like, they link you to the carrier’s web site so you can buy direct and save some cash. I love it because I always know if I’m getting a good deal, and it cuts down on the time I spend looking for inexpensive flights.

If you’ve got the flexibility, loosen your travel dates and times then check out www.priceline.com and www.hotwire.com. These guys will find you the cheapest flights by searching up to 30 days around your ideal travel dates. So, if all you know is that you really want to go somewhere and don’t care when, they’ll hook you up with the most inexpensive plane tickets available.

Last but not least, it never hurts to visit the airline’s site. Often they’ll have specials available only through them or for members of their frequent flier programs. If you like to fly Southwest Airlines, the only way to book a flight is by doing so is directly through them. In my experience, if Southwest flies to where you want to go, check them out. Often they are the most inexpensive ticket around.

So, how much did the wife and I pay for our tickets? After visiting the above-mentioned sites, we were able to pick up two round-trip plane tickets for the dates and times we wanted for only $200 bucks a pop. The way I figure it, our plane tickets are cheaper than the gas it’d take to drive there and back. Needless to say, my wife now knows I’m the guru of inexpensive plane tickets - I’ve told her many, many times.

- Patrick C.

When it comes to finding inexpensive resort options, my mantra is “there is such thing as too good of a deal.” I know because I learned the hard way.

One would think that with all the hotels and resorts in Orlando, it’d be possible to find some decent lodging at a pretty good price. At least that’s what I thought after I booked a few nights at, what appeared to be, a nice, inexpensive resort. My friends and I were pretty excited by the deal we got and couldn’t wait to get down there and commence with the fun. So you could imagine our surprise when we saw what our “deal” got us.

Inexpensive and nice don’t have to be mutually exclusive. It is possible to not only stay at a nice resort, but also not pay an arm and leg to do so. You just need to know where to look.

 Membership has its privileges

Perhaps one of the easiest ways to get a good deal is to take advantage of the special deals your credit card company may offer. With the advent of “Rewards” cards, it’s possible to turn your everyday spending into deep discounts at many popular resorts. American Express, for example, allows card members to earn point on nearly every dollar they spend. When you accumulate enough points, you can go to their travel web site and pay for your trip with the points you’ve accumulated. If you’ve got the financial discipline to pay off your credit card every month, it could be a pretty attractive option.

For those of you who don’t want to go the credit card route, another way to find inexpensive deals at some of your favorite resorts is to take advantage of being a member of AAA (the American Automobile Association). Beyond roadside assistance, many hotels and resorts offer special pricing exclusively for AAA members. Membership costs vary, but the savings you could potentially enjoy will quickly pay off.

Harness the Power of the Internet

Google™ “resort deals” and you’ll come up with nearly three-quarters of a million results. Inexpensive resort deals, it turns out, is a pretty popular search term! But who wants to sift through that many results? Check out your favorite travel site, and you’ll probably find some inexpensive deals.

If you have the time, check out www.tripadvisor.com to research the resorts you’re interested in. You might be surprised by what you find. You may even come across an “off-the-beaten-path” resort you never would have found online. Smaller resorts and Bed and Breakfasts often will offer some great deals to fill their rooms. And because they’re smaller, they usually have something to prove. As a result, you could get more bang for your buck.

Last but not least, go to the resort’s web site and deal with them directly. You might be surprised with the results you can get when dealing with a live human being! Either way, with a little time and the right research you’ll be able to relax with the confidence that you got a great deal!

- Patrick C.

This question may seem stupid. We’ve all heard the saying that nothing is ever free, but can you actually ever take advantage of those ‘freebies’ on the TV or in stores? What I mean is, are they all scams or are some really just free? I know from experience that a lot of those “buy this product and you’ll get a second one for free” really are just overpaying for the first, and it breaks quickly so you have to get a second one to help damage control. But sometimes you see products that say try me free for blank blank amount of time. Is there a catch?

Reading Between the Lines For Freebies

Here is my advice, as an experienced person looking for a good deal: read the small print! There are lots of freebies out there, you just need to make sure you read the little words at the bottom of the page or TV screen so you know how long it is free for. Because it is true what they say, nothing in life is free. Even if you break into a banquet that you aren’t a guest at and eat some of the buffet food, you still had to get downtown, buy the clothes you were wearing that made it so you didn’t stick out like a sore thumb, etc. But there are some things that you can get without shelling out cash that very second. I recommend looking for these freebies, they exist, and there are lots of them. Because, let’s be honest here, this is a consumer’s market. We need to be wooed! We need to be charmed and enticed, and nothing brings in more people than a great freebie.

Freebies Abound When You Look Around!

Nice little rhyme, but it’s true! Walking down the street I am harassed constantly by credit cards asking me to sign up and receive a free pizza. Free pizza? Really? Well, that sounds pretty good….But then you have to deal with all the mail coming in and canceling the card. So there is a give and take. You can’t take too much without expecting to give a little back. How about those free address labels you get in the mail. Those are great, I love them, I use them, they were free, they have my name and address on them, and usually some cute little logo. But, what usually accompanies them are brochures about the Arbor Day Foundation or a Hospital, and really, how can I say no? They sent me these great labels, and they are just looking for any kind of donation. I usually bring out my checkbook for those and end up paying like $20 for envelope labels, oh well, it goes to a good cause right? So I pick my battles, and choose which freebies are worth it. Karma comes around to those who take and take. You have to give back at some point. Freebie or not, I will always be on the look out for a great deal, and being a consumer in today’s market, it means that they are everywhere!