How to make a 2012 personalised calendar from your own photographs. Free templates provided

Looking for a personalized gift this Christmas that will be enjoyed all year?
A couple of years ago I created a set of calendar templates and a video tutorial on how to use them. This has proved very popular with over nine thousand people following my guide so far.

Here is an example of what you will be able to create using my free 2012 Calendar templates....


It will soon be Christmas and you may find this of use, I created an easy to follow tutorial on how to make a printed calendar using photographs YOU have taken.
The monthly calendar templates are provided free so you can make a unique gift for someone right now.
All you need is Corel PaintShop Photo Pro (or any photo editing software that supports layers such as Gimp, Photoshop etc), A colour printer, some Matt finish paper and 12 images of your choice.

If you are interested in giving it a go then have a look at my 2012 Calendar Guide page here :
Complete guide on how to make a 2012 personalised calendar from your own photographs. < - Click me now to start making a great gift for Christmas.

I hope this has inspired you to have a go at producing a truly unique personalised Xmas present that you will be remembered for, for the whole year ahead. Use Matt Paper as I suggest and it will not cost a lot of money to make several of these calendars.

Matt Paper allows printing of high resolution images but has a finish that you can write on which you need for a calendar! Matt paper can be bought for as little as 4 Pence per sheet.



In my written guide I have supplied detailed instructions on how to use my templates with Photoshop and I will shortly be doing the same for the free image editing software Gimp.
If you think its too early yet to think about Christmas then don't worry I will re-post this on my blog again each month up to Christmas. If you do find my tutorial of use then please leave a comment on either the video or my blog post saying what you created.

Thanks
Andy

Darley Park Concert, the UK's biggest free outdoor classical concert Sunday 4th September 2011.

Looking for info on the 2012 Darley Park concert see my new post, click here.

My complete guide to this years free Darley Park Concert

UPDATE : Monday 5th September.
Here is a great video someone took at this years show. Really captured all aspects of the Darley Park Concert 2011 :

Video by ditcher41a2

This weekend on Sunday 4th September 2011 is the Annual FREE outdoor classical concert and fireworks display at Darley Park, Derby.
This event normally attracts crowds of around 30,000 This years show will be hosted by Classic FM presenter Mark Forrest.
Among those scheduled to perform are Derby-based orchestra sinfonia ViVA, regular Darley Park Concert conductor James Holmes and international soloist Mary Carewe.
The programme of music will include pieces from Copland, Waldteufel, Joplin, Gershwin, Bernstein, Strauss, Sibelius, Dietrich and Offenbach.

Actor Luke Roberts, from Channel Five show Hi-5 and who will star as Dick Whittington in this year's pantomime at the Assembly Rooms, will also appear. It ends with a spectacular firework finale.

The photograph here is one I took during the amazing firework finale at the 2004 concert.
Some more of my photographs in 2002.

If you are travelling in to Derby from afar then its best to get here early as this event is always very popular.



Map
Here is a detailed map showing the exact location of the Darley Park Concert and where you can park.
Click the link below the map to get a larger version you can print out.

View Darley Park Concert, Derby. in a larger map

Smartphone mapping pins.
If you have a smartphone (iPhone, HTC etc) then you can use my push pins below to get accurate GPS locations to this venue. Just view this blog on your phone and tap the link below to launch your mapping app, a push pin will appear on it and you can use this to get walking/driving directions from your current position.

The audience sitting area. <---- Tap this link to locate the area where you will sit and watch the concert.

Entrance to concert car parking. <--- Tap this linik to located the entrace to the concert car parking.

There are several entrances into Darley Park. Choose the best one for you. Here are the entrances to the park with Google Streetviews. These are all "by foot" !
1) Bottom of Mile Ash Lane.
2) End of Darley Street.
3) Down Darley Park Drive.
4) Off Duffield Road (A6).
5) Bottom of South Drive.
6) End of North Parade.
7) Over Handyside bridge from City Road.

The Darley Park Concert is sponsored by Rolls Royce and in partnership with Classic FM.
Remember to take a torch as some of the paths into Darley Park are unlit and covered with trees so its helps if you have a torch to see where you are walking.

Hope the weather is ok for this event.
Andy

In 2012 the Darley Park Concert will take place on Saturday 30th June 2012  to coincide with the visit of the Olympic torch to Derby.

How to test any suspicious file for viruses using every virus checker for free.

Website review : Virustotal
Do you have a virus checker running on your system and is it up to date?
Do you trust it 100%, well here is a useful website I found that allows you to upload any suspicious file you may have on your system and it will then test that file using pretty much every virus checker that you have ever heard of and show you the results for each virus engine.

The website is : http://www.virustotal.com/

In my example here I have uploaded a small Visual Basic program that I compiled using Microsoft Visual Basic a few years ago. Because I compiled this while at College I did not trust that the file was clean even though my Norton Antivirus 2010 said it was ok. So I used this website to check it using the many virus checkers it has. As you can see they all show that the file is safe.

It currently checks your file using the following virus checkers..
a-squared, AhnLab, AntiVir, Antiy, Authentium, Avast, AVG, BitDefender, CAT-QuickHeal, ClamAV, Comodo, DrWeb, eSafe, eTrust-Vet, F-Prot,
F-Secure, Fortinet, GData, Ikarus, Jiangmin, K7AntiVirus, Kaspersky, McAfee, McAfee+Artemis, McAfee-GW-Edition, Microsoft, NOD32, Norman, nProtect, Panda, PCTools, Prevx, Rising, Sophos, Sunbelt, TheHacker, TrendMicro, VBA32, ViRobot and VirusBuster.

The size of the file you can upload is limited to less 20Mb.
Of course this is not an alternative to having an up to date branded antivirus program running on your system at all times, but it is very handy if you have a file that you are not 100% happy with.
A very handy tool.

How to save lots of money on Antivirus Software.
If you want to buy Antivirus software then my advice is that you buy an OEM version, this means you get the software in a paper sleeve rather than a shiny box and it will save you a lot of money.
For example if you go into PC World you will pay £34.99 for Norton Antivirus 2010, but if you get an OEM version of Norton from Amazon then it will only cost £10.90 even though its exactly the same item.
I don't think many people realise that you can get OEM (sometimes refered to as System Builder software).
You will save a lot of money with OEM.



Hope you find this website useful.
Andy

Darley Park Concert, Britains biggest FREE classical concert.

This Sunday, 6th September 2009 sees the annual Darley Park Concert, Britains biggest FREE classical concert.
The concert takes place in the natural amphitheatre of Darley Park which is located in Darley Abbey, Derby, Derbyshire, U.K.

My interactive map for this event.

Starting at 5.30pm, With an amazing firework finale, attracting crowds of around 30,000.
2009 is the international year of Astronomy, marking several momentous events – the 40th anniversary of the first manned landing on the Moon and the 400th anniversary of the use of the telescope by Galileo Galilei to observe the moon and planet Jupiter.
Sinfonia VIVA and regular Darley Park concert conductor, James Holmes will be performing a spectacular programme of music with links to all things astronomical.

Admission is FREE, car parking is £5.
Personally I’ve found its best to walk in or get someone to give a you a lift as this event attracts so many people that you may have trouble parking nearby.

Its also worth taking a torch with you as its not very well lit on the entrances into Darley Park and due to the large amount of people you may tread on someones toes !

Programme of music:
Strauss/Townend – 2001 : A space Odyssey
Mozart – Overture: Magic Flute, Der Holle Rach
Hayman – When you wish upon a star
Sousa – Sousa stars and stripes forever
Williams – ET Adventure on Earth
Wagner – Ride of the Valkyries
Strauss – Music of the spheres, Tritsch Tratsch Polka
Dvorak – Song to the Moon
Mancini/Mercer – Moon river
Mercury/Townend – Bohemian Rhapsody
Williams – Star Wars: Imperial March, Throne Room, Closing sequence

The photograph here is one I took during the amazing firework finale at the 2004 concert.
Some more of my photographs in 2002.

More info:
Sinfonia ViVA website

This is a Derby Live Event.

Looking at the weather it may rain about 6:30 onwards so take a good coat!

Isn’t modern technology amazing – iPod wifi blogging

I grew up in the age of the ZX Spectrum computer, At school we had Commodore Pets and then at college it was BBC Micros, so in this day an age where technology is everywhere it amazes me at how far we have come over the last few years.

For example here I am in a car park near Friar Gate Studios, Derby using a iPod Touch and I am able to surf the internet.

I posted this message using an App called BlogPress which you can buy through the App Store on your Ipod.

The screen here shows an app on the iPod Touch called WifiTrak, Which costs 59p ! This is much better than the wifi settings panel that you find in Settings – Wi-Fi on the iPod Touch. The WifiTrak app can be set to Scan for wifi connections every n seconds and displays all connections using nice coloured icons that show you extra details such as open connections or ones that are open but auto-redirecting connections such as ones to The cloud.

I found while in London that the Maps app on the iPod works ok if you connect to a Cloud connection even if you don’t have an account with them. I guess this is because the app is not a web browser making http requests. So this is quite useful if you need a map but only have a Cloud connection available.

There are lots of unsecured wi-fi connections out there, its only when you have WifiTrak running on an iTouch that you appreciate just how many people have wi-fi connections. On some streets in Derby the iPod screen fills up with a list so long that you have to do a lot of scrolling to see them all !

The connection I used to post this blog was a 5Mb connection, I know that because I ran an app called Speed Test, again available from the App Store for FREE.

Note I don’t have the iPod Touch phone, it’s just a iPod touch so unfortunately I don’t have the option to surf the internet via a 3G connection so I always have to look for a wi-fi connection.


-- Posted From My iTouch