Should Old Photos Be Forgotten?

Because that’s what will happen in 2015 to all those great photos you’ve taken during the holidays if you leave them on your hard drive or sock them away in the cloud. Sure, you’ll share them on your InstaTwitFace account, where they will accumulate Likes and warm & fuzzy comments, but within a few days your followers’ collective short-lived attention span will flitter elsewhere and your wonderful holiday photos will fade away into obscurity.

Don’t relegate your holiday photos to the cloud. Print them out using one of our many options and display them throughout the year.

Don’t relegate your holiday photos to the cloud. Print them out using one of our many options and display them throughout the year.

OR…

You could actually, you know, do something with them. Like turn them into actual physical keepsakes. The kind that people are able to see in perpetuity. And every time they cast their eyes on it they will remember that specific moment or event. After all, isn’t that why we photograph these moments in the first place? Not so that they can remain a bunch of digital information packets that we archive indefinitely in cyberspace.

The specific kind of physical product you should create is entirely up to you. You can go for something traditional and classic, or choose a piece with a funkier, more modern edge, or maybe warm & fuzzy is more your thing. And yes, you can even opt for something purposefully tacky if the photo calls for it.

If you’re not familiar with the Photolab’s photo printing products, I’ve reviewed a few of the more popular ones below.

Enlargements and Awesome Prints

The holidays are the time of the year when typically the whole family gets together. The whole gang of friends, too. At the workplace, the annual holiday party is the one of the few times where everyone is gathered in one place—and the marketing department actually gets dressed up! All of which are reasons why this tends to be the best time of year for taking photos, and why holiday photos often make the best ones to put on display. The Photolab offers a great selection of enlargements and art prints to suit any photo, occasion, or décor.

Enlargements— To begin with, there’s always the simple, tried and true photo enlargements. The Photolab can print sizes from 7 x 7” all the way up to 44 x 66” — the latter being the ideal size if a co-worker is photographed in a Christmas sweater so hideous it simply begs to be on display in the lunchroom all year.

A simple enlargement is a great option for a desk photo, or if you’ve already got a frame you really like. Hey, some people are frame fans. I get it.

Gallery wrap— If you managed to capture some amazing shots of the kids, or your winter vacation to the ski resort yielded some breathtaking scenic panoramas, a gallery wrap can provide a stunning reproduction of either.

Using specially pigmented inks, the image is stretched on a fine art canvas, which requires no frame (although you can still add one for aesthetic purposes if you wish.) The canvas wrap adds tremendous depth and dimension to the image, giving it the presence of a gallery piece. This post provides more detail about gallery wraps.

Metal Prints— If you really want to make a bold statement, a metal print is a state-of-the-art way to display a photo. This method infuses dyes onto specially coated aluminum sheets, providing vibrant colour reproduction and incredibly crisp detail. These shimmering, glass-like prints are an eye-catching way to bring life to an accent wall. I’ve written more extensively about metal prints in a previous post.

The Photolab offers quite a variety of art prints, which I encourage you to explore. You’re bound to find the ideal option to suit both your photo and your home or office.

 

Why not put a photo on it?

Photo mugs have come a long way. This mug shows how beautifully images can now be reproduced.

Photo mugs have come a long way. This mug shows how beautifully images can now be reproduced.

Suppose you want to do something a bit out of the box with your photos. After all, certain photos are just crying out to be made into crystals, mouse pads or a smartphone/tablet case.

The Photolab has a wide array of products that you can grace with your favourite photos. Have a look—some of the options may surprise you. Of course, one of the most popular options would have to be the photo mug. I wrote about them here in a recent post, but suffice to say if you’re a pet person, or you have grandkids, nephews or nieces, it’s almost mandatory that you own at least one mug bearing their photo—and nothing spreads good cheer throughout the year like an adorable holiday photo.  There are also magic colour changing mugs that are heat activated, as illustrated in this short video here:

Certain products—magnets, for example—can be put together using the Photolab Home Edition software. Others can be created and ordered online just like photo prints. In either case, the process is simple and affordable. And the end result is a keepsake that will bring a smile to your face all year long.

 

Poodle – A New Web Vulnerability

Web Vulnerability

There is a web vulnerability that was recently discovered called Poodle. The vulnerability makes it possible to exploit secure web browsing that uses SSL (secure sockets layer) communications. SSL is one of the communication methods that may be established between the browser and the web server. SSL is an old communication method that has been replaced by a more modern and secure method known as TLS (Transport Layer Security). However, many if not most web servers still support SSL (as well as TLS) in order to support older web browsers.

What does this mean for you?

Due to the potential seriousness of the vulnerability, London Drugs will be immediately taking steps to remove support for SSL from all our web sites. For the vast majority of our customers, there will be no issue at all. A very small percentage (less than 0.2%) will be able to browse our websites but will not be able to make purchases, login, or perform any operations that require secure communications (https://).

Our research suggests that those affected will be customers using Internet Explorer versions 6 and earlier. For many reasons, these customers should consider upgrading their browser to a newer version.

As a general note, all customers should take a moment to disable SSL in their browsers to protect against this vulnerability when using other web sites that may not have taken the same action we have.

How do I disable this?

Follow the link below for instructions on how to do this.

https://zmap.io/sslv3/browsers.html

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August 12th is Vinyl Record Day!

Vinyl-Record-Day Do you have plans for August 12th, 2014? If you don’t stop by your local London Drugs and join in the activities as we celebrate Vinyl Record Day!
Wondering what Vinyl Record Day is?  The folks at www.vinylrecordday.com said it best:

“No less important to the purpose of preservation is the goal to establish a national day to enjoy our favorite music. Perhaps most important of all, Vinyl Record Day is to not lose touch with what is individual to us, yet is shared by millions worldwide; the ability for music to remind us that regardless of national news, or personal daily challenges, we attach fond memories to our music, nothing else connects us to friends, family, and special times as the songs of our personal soundtrack. Vinyl Record Day is August 12; the day Edison invented the phonograph in 1877. “

They are considered precious treasure to many collectors when they are awarded gold or platinum status, but they aren’t your typical treasure. However, vinyl records are as close to gold for many audiophiles who love to hunt down their favourite titles. READ MORE

The Resurgence of Vinyl

Vinyl4_2014_PromoSlot_RightVinyl is no longer a niche market.

When the Compact Disc, or CD, made its commercial debut on August 17th, 1982, the prevailing thought was this was the format to replace Vinyl. It was smaller, cheaper to produce, and most importantly, was not nearly as fragile as vinyl was. Test after test was completed by various Hi-Fi magazines that showed CD’s had (against the prevailing narrative from Vinyl purists) superior sound quality too.

READ MORE

The Beatles – Revolver

beatles-revolver-cover-artIf you were to create a list of the top 10 albums of all time the usual suspects would be there. Fleetwood Mac with Rumours, The Beach Boys with Pet Sounds and even Nirvana with Nevermind. As music is subjective and open to different interpretation from listeners each list is different. With that said, there is one album that is consistently on top. That album is Revolver by The Beatles.

Revolver was released in the UK on August 5th, 1966 and in the US three days later. With the release of this album, it was very evident that rock and roll was changing. It showed that the slow change’s society was undertaking in the 60’s was taking hold and ready to break through. Songs such as “Tomorrow Never Knows” and “Eleanor Rigby” showed that the formula producers and artists used to create rock up to that point could be altered.

READ MORE

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