Pete Dudchenko

Sessmic is a lesser known twitter app for Blackberry phones (with SocialScope and Ubertwitter usually leading the mix) but this may help them jump ahead in the mix a bit more…especially with support for multiple accounts. As far as I know this is the first Blackberry app to do so.

Seesmic Twitter App Gets Updated: Supports Multi-Accounts, up to 50 Social Networks with Ping.fm and TweetPhoto

Loic Le Meur of Seesmic gave us the heads up that their twitter client for BlackBerry Smartphones will be getting a big update today (should be live soon). You can visit seesmic.com on your BlackBerry’s web browser to download or checkout their BlackBerry product page here. As for the update, it brings multi-account support as well as support for up to 50 social networks thanks to Ping.fm integration and their partnership with TweetPhoto.

Found this article on a great site called thekitchn.com…

Lots of Cheap Wines: At Less Than $10 Per Bottle!
Budget Wines

Welcome to our latest review of bargain wines — wines for less than $10. We have survived 2009, but most of us will still be watching the pennies through 2010. As wine lovers, can we really get quality as well as value for less than $10?

I’ve added my photos from our trip to the Superbowl up to my photo blog. Check out my pics of Superbowl 44 where the New Orleans Saints bean Indianapolis Colts. What a great time we had in Miami.

I remember taking the SAT back in high school and just the other day I was wondering if they ever update the questions to stay current. Are kids today answering the same questions that I answered years ago? I certainly hope not. I mean times have changed and we really need to come up with questions that kids can relate to in today’s world. So in an attempt to help further childhood education, I propose the following questions be added to the SAT’s immediately:

4Squares is to Twitter as MobWars is to…
a) Facebook
b) Flickr
c) XBox
d) None of the above

Define “LOL”:
a) Lots of luck
b) Laugh out loud
c) Lame, overly lame
d) Listed on Letterman

What is the next logical item based upon the following release sequence of gaming consoles:
Atari 2600, Nintendo (original, not Super NES), PS2…
a) Wii
b) Intellivision
c) Apple IIc
d) Pong

If Tom can text at 12 words per minute. How many seconds would it take him to text out the following sentence:
“Dude, I’ll be there at 4:00?
a) 30 seconds
b) 60 seconds
c) 90 seconds
d) None of the above

If you have 200 friends on Facebook and 20% of them commented on your latest status update. How many comments would you have?
a) 4
b) 40
c) 60
d) None of the above

Ok, your turn. Did I miss some? If you think you can do better, let’s hear it in the comments section.

Amy and I hit Torrey Pines Beach this afternoon and I took a few photos with my new camera. Check out the Torrey Pines Beach and Hiking pictures.

I recently ordered a Canon EOS 50D DSLR camera and while waiting for it to arrive, I’ve had some time to research taking photos. Luckily in today’s digital age, there is plenty of free information out there for getting started with a DSLR camera. Since we also live in a world of A.D.D. I thought I might summarize the basics of what I’ve learned so far. Think of this as a “Cliff Notes” version on DSLR camera photography and getting started.

Now I should premise this that my so called “expertise” in DSLR camera photography has been built through about three days of nothing but Internet research and no actual field work (like I said I’m still waiting for my camera to arrive). In other words, I’m about as dangerous as my grandmother behind the wheel of a car but all of this information below is based upon pretty common concepts that I’ve pulled from various sites and can be a good starting point if you’re looking to get started with a DSLR camera.

1) The “Exposure Triangle” – This is probably the first thing I came across when graduating from a point-and-shoot to a DSLR camera. Essentially, the Exposure Triangle refers to three variables to consider when taking a DSLR camera photograph. They are Aperture, ISO and Shutter Speed. I’d say that of the things I learned, this is probably the most important to review if you ever want to get off of the automatic settings for your DSLR camera and more into priority and manual modes. Check out this link on The Exposure Triangle to learn more with using your DSLR camera.

2) Correct Exposure is only part of the equation – Once you get the concepts of the Exposure Triangle figured out, that doesn’t mean the DSLR camera photos will suddenly become professional quality. The next step is to figure out how to get a creative DSLR camera photo that is properly exposed. You can have a properly exposed DSLR camera photo using a number of different combinations with the variables above. Finding the one that is best suited for the story you are trying to tell is what makes the difference between a good photo and a great photo. Watch this video on creating a creatively correct exposure.

3) Learn your DSLR camera settings – Seems simple enough but have you seen some of the manuals? Holy crap that’s boring! Besides, who wants to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars to be sidelined with a thick booklet that contains probably 70% of information that I (as a beginner) am not ready for anyway? Again, this is where the Internet comes in handy. I went to YouTube and just searched for my DSLR camera’s brand and model number and I found instructional videos that told me more than I needed to know about how to get started. Plus in many of the videos I found suggestions on where to set my lesser used settings to get the best general results so I can leave them there until I’m ready to learn more about them.

4) Rules of Thirds – This is less about the technical settings of your DSLR camera and more about the artistic aspect of photography but I bet some would argue this is as foundational as a rule to learn as the Exposure Triangle. The Rules of Thirds basically states that if you divide your viewfinder into three horizontal and three vesicle sections, the intersection of each area is where the interesting points should go. A common mistake when taking a photo is to place the horizon at the center of the photo. This is conflicting and instead the horizon should go 1/3 or 2/3’s of the way down the picture to emphasize either the ground or the sky.

5) Learn the rules, then break them – If we all followed the same rules then we’d stop being creative. One common suggestion I’ve come across is that when it comes to photography, rules are more guidelines than rules. Sometimes breaking a rule makes the photo more interesting. Take a look at photos that others have taken and see what feedback they get on some of the photography discussion forums and you’ll start to understand what rules work and may not work in certain situations.

That’s all for now. Check out some of my older photos (using my point-and-shoot camera) on my new photos section of the website and let me know what you think. More photos from my new DSLR Camera coming soon (once it gets here).

I recently purchased a Canon EOS 50D DSLR camera (still waiting for it to arrive) and in preparation for all of the photos I’m sure to take, I’ve updated my “Pictures” section with a new look. All of the photos to date have actually been taken with a Sony point-and-shoot camera but that will hopefully change once I get some practice with the new camera.

Check it out below:

http://photos.dudchenko.com