Make a Live Slideshow

Have you ever wanted to display a slideshow of photographs– but add new images on-the-fly?

There are at least a dozen ways to display a slideshow of photographs on a TV. Smart TVs or media players like a Roku can display images from a media card, connect to a cloud account or social media.

The latest version of the Chromecast includes a remote. But any version will work!

But what if you wanted that slideshow to include new photos added to the album after the slideshow has started? This would be useful during a wedding reception, product launch or retirement party. Partygoers are greeted by photos of your guest of honor as they arrive, then as the evening progresses they see new images of the actual event.

That gets a bit trickier.

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The Forgotten Eye-Fi Card

Remember the wireless storage cards made by Eye-Fi?
If not, you aren’t alone.

The basic idea behind Eye-Fi wireless storage cards was to bundle an SD media card with an onboard WiFi chip. This card, once inserted into your DSLR camera, allowed you to magically transfer images as you snapped them. It’s sad Eye-Fi didn’t succeed, because it was such a cool photography tool.

An 8 gig SD card and USB reader made by Eye-Fi.
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Pennytech: Simple Lightbox

Snapping product photos for eBay or Facebook Marketplace just got a whole lot easier! Using this simple lightbox you can shoot on a blank “infinite” background to emphasize the item, instead of your surroundings.

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IP Camera Fun

In the first installment I shared my initial experience with wireless security cameras and a network video recorder (NVR).

In a matter of weeks it became obvious the wireless camera idea wasn’t going to float. While installation was a breeze (so far I had not ventured into the attic!) the reliability of the signal was far from ideal. I’m sure if our house was less rambling or made of different materials this would not have been an issue… so your mileage may vary.

Eventually I resigned myself to stringing cable across creation. Continue reading IP Camera Fun

My IP Camera Lessons

Earlier this year I decided to string up some security cameras on the house. Like many projects, this one took on a life of its own.

I decided to share my experiences after playing around with several different cameras, network setups and software packages. Maybe you can glean some nuggets of wisdom? Or maybe you’ll just find comic relief in my haphazard abuse of the English language? Let’s find out…

Chapter 1: Wired or Wireless?


Axis Communications design cameras with industrial-strength features and provide free software that makes for a simple setup using a secure interface to view online.

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