To the Cloud!

Lately I’ve been getting questions about “The Cloud” from guests in the Digital Workshop…wondering what it is and how they use it.  To use Microsoft’s own words, “Windows Cloud connects and shares everything with your PC”, but you might still be wondering what it actually IS and how it will really benefit you.  Well, it’s Windows Live Essentials and all the fantastic free programs that includes!  A huge part of this is SkyDrive (www.skydrive.com), which will allow you to upload pictures, videos, Word documents and so much more (up to 25GB!) and access them from anywhere that has internet.  All of this is what’s being called “The Cloud”.  You can find out all about it and how to use it by going to http://www.microsoft.com/windows/cloud/.

Fantastic new features in Windows Live Photo Gallery 2011!

With Windows Live Essentials 2011 comes some great new features in Windows Live Photo Gallery (WLPG).  Among these is the Retouch tool:

  

The Retouch tool is used by selecting around an unwanted object in an image and WLPG uses the surrounding area to cover the area, thereby making the object look as though it were never there. 

Here is an examples of the use of this tool:

The Retouch tool was used to remove the people from the water and the little boat from in front of the ship.

Visit the Holland America Line Digital Workshop on your next Holland America cruise or visit http://haldigitalworkshop.wordpress.com to find out more about the great features in Windows Live Essentials 2011.