Geotag your photos with Picasa 3.5

Maps and photos.  I can’t think of two things more near and dear to a traveler’s heart than maps and photos.  Being able to combine the two is the ultimate.  But, being able to do it *easily*??  Well, that’s not possible is it? It is now. Picasa (the free-from-Google digital photo management program) released a new version last month.  And one of the major improvements is in the ‘Geotagging’ feature.  Instead of requiring that you use Google Earth, they have embedded a full Google Maps ‘Places’ pane right into Picasa.  Placing a photo at a place on the map is as simple as clicking on the photo and clicking at the place on the map.  I show you how to do this in the video below. Note: You can make it play in full-screen by clicking the icon in the lower right of the playback window that looks like an X . If you’re new to Picasa, or want to learn more, I’m excited to announce that I’ll be co-hosting a webinar (seminar delivered over the web) with Google on November 13.  Register for the free Picasa Webinar here. Geotagging Video: by Chris Guld of Geeks on Tour  Read More →

Go Leaf Peeping Now, Before It’s Too Late

Ahhh, wonderful fall. The waning warmth from the sun brings a welcome chill from summer heat, migrating birds start heading to their southern range, and deciduous hardwoods begin turning red, orange, and yellow heralding the leaf peeping season. Sugar maples give up the green for eye-popping reds, orange and brown tones come to the stately oaks, and white-barked aspens put on a display of vivid yellows and golds. But if its aspens that trigger your camera finger, take your pictures now, as aspens from Arizona to Colorado to Idaho are falling by the tens of thousands. Read more  Read More →

VIDEO: One Way to Secure Your RV After-Hours

Gear to Get with Brian Brawdy Recently I got up early one morning to catch the sun rise. I jumped out of my RV and walked about twenty yards in the direction of the beach. Before I saw or heard him, I could feel someone else was there. A dark silhouette loomed in the shadows. I instantly said “Good Morning” startled a bit at his presence. Wearing a black skull cap, jacket and pants the figure stood there as I approached. Before I could get any closer, he suddenly turned and briskly walked away. Read more  Read More →

VIDEO: Boondocking & Green RVing w/ the PowerSource 1800

Gear to Get with Brian Brawdy One of the necessities of Green RVing, boondocking & dry camping is the ability to generate power. By tapping into the free and ubiquitous energies of the sun, I’m able to go off road, off the grid while staying out longer. In this video, I look at the cutting edge technology of the PowerSource 1800. A uniquely designed solar powered generator. For more information on Brian Brawdy or Greening your RV, please visit BrianBrawdy.com  Read More →

Extend the Life of your RV Awnings

Awnings are a great feature to have on your RV. There are several different types of RV awnings and they serve different purposes. There are window and door awnings that provide shade and keep rain away from your RV windows or entry door.  There are slide-out awnings that help protect the top of the slide-out from debris and water. And there are patio awnings. Patio awnings extend the living area of our outdoor world. Similar to the front porch of your home, the patio awning provides us with shade and cover from a light rain when we want to sit and enjoy the great outdoors. The awnings on your RV will provide years of reliable trouble free operation, if you take the time to do a little preventive maintenance and cleaning. Read more  Read More →

Sebastian Inlet – Florida State Park

by Chris Guld, www.GeeksOnTour.com Florida has a lot of great State Parks and, in this one you can walk to the beach from your RV site.  We highly recommend it.   We took a little walk to toast the sunset last night.  This is our last night with my Mom traveling with us.  It’s been a great 3 1/2 weeks. There was a distant thunderstorm turning the sky all sorts of ominous colors. Mom got all snug in her ‘room’ where she could watch the action. Then, this morning was beautiful.  I made everyone go for an early morning walk. Florida is so much more than Miami Beach and Disney World!  And, it doesn’t get any better for Winter weather!  Florida was our home before becoming fulltime RVers, and it’s still a favorite destination.  The post above was originally written for our personal travel blog.  I looked through my archives and found a few other posts about Florida that I thought you may enjoy. Fort Lauderdale Water Taxi Paddle the Peace River Paddle to Caladesi Island Wakulla Springs State Park I know I’m supposed to write about computer stuff, so here’s a little behind-the-scenes information.  Blogging Tools: I use Microsoft Live Writer to do all my blogging.  It is a fabulous, free application where you can write your blog posts and add your pictures, links, and maps, all offline.  Then, when you’re ready, just... Read more

Winter Battery Storage & Maintenance

I was recently asked a question and felt like the answer could be useful to lots of RVers, so I am using the question as the topic for this article. Q: Hi Mark, we live in Colorado and we are preparing our RV for storage. I just had the RV winterized, but I am concerned about how or what to do to store my RV batteries. Any advice would be appreciated. A: The two most common causes for RV battery failure are undercharging and overcharging.  Undercharging is a result of batteries being repeatedly discharged and not fully recharged between cycles. If a battery is not recharged the sulfate material that attaches to the discharged portions of the plates begins to harden into crystals. Over time this sulfate cannot be converted back into active plate material and the battery is ruined. This also occurs when a battery remains discharged for an extended period of time, like during storage. Sulfation is the number one cause of battery failure. The second leading cause of battery failure is overcharging. Overcharging batteries results in severe water loss and plate corrosion. With that said let’s look at how to properly store your RV batteries. Before we talk about storing the batteries we need to talk about battery safety. Lead acid batteries contain sulfuric acid which is extremely corrosive and can cause severe burns or even blindness. And the hydrogen gas that batteries produce, when they’re charging, is very explosive. When you work around batteries you need to wear safety... Read more

Tribute to early RVers: my parents

by Chris Guld, Geeks On Tour One of the seminars we taught at the Gypsy Journal Rally was one of our very favorite topics: “Creating Narrated slideshow movies with Photo Story 3”  We have our routine and material down pat with this one, so my mind was free to wander a bit in getting prepared.  It dawned on me that since my Mom is with us it would be cool to show a sample Photo Story movie using pictures from my family’s RV travels in the 60s.  RVing in Alaska, Mexico and Canada are popular topics in RV circles – and we did it in the 60s.  So, I made sure my Mom was in the audience for this seminar and I quickly put together this little movie as part of our presentation:   To learn how to make your own narrated slideshow/movie, see our tutorials at: http://geeksontour.com/photostory.cfm It’s SOOO easy!  And, Photo Story is free, just like everything else we teach.  Read More →

VIDEO: Green RVing with tomorrow’s explorers

It is easy to get caught up in what it takes to be a Green RVer. There are discussions of solar panels, wind turbines, alternative fuels and tire pressure. There are discussions about recycling, vehicle weight, gas mileage and sustainability but the true encouragement, if not solely for the next generation of RVers, the true passion behind Green RVing is the planet we will leave behind for our children and grandchildren. Read more  Read More →

VIDEO: 11AM Campground Checkout Times – ANNOYING?

Today I’m filing a blog entry in the LongLongHoneymoon.com complaint box. Early campground checkout times are one of my chief annoyances with the camping industry. Read more  Read More →

Next Page »