If you’ve switched from PC to Mac like I have in the last two years, you might have been missing Picasa, the popular photo management software from Google. I know I have. iPhoto can make cool calendars and do a couple of things…but there’s too much I didn’t like about it, and I wished badly that there would be a way to put Picasa on my mac. I tried a couple different geeky ways to make it work, and I could get it kinda working, but I really just needed Google to release Picasa for Mac and make all my photo management woes go away.

Today Google released Picasa for Mac.

I am very excited. I just downloaded and I’m still checking it out, but I thought I’d pass the link along:

http://picasa.google.com/mac/

Tomorrow they’re supposed to make some announcements, some of which might concern the iPhone. Since my contract with Verizon ends in two weeks, I’m quite excited to see what Apple has to say here…

Happy New Year!

2008 ended with quite a surprise. On New Years Eve, some of my best friends got engaged!

It started around 3 in the afternoon when I got a call from my friend Matt. (Yes, the one who can put quarters up his nose)

He was calling me to let me know that he had just asked his girlfriend Liz to marry him. Liz is from North Carolina so I’ve only gotten to spend a little bit of time with her, but she’s a really sweet girl and I’m very excited for them.

Then I went to hang out with some friends from college to celebrate the new year and while at the party, my friend Chris proposed to his girlfriend Rachel! Right at midnight, surrounded by family and friends. It was terrific.

Here are some pictures of us with the couples. Congrats guys!

Us with Matt and Liz:

Us with Chris and Rachel:

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas. I did!

While I was back in South Carolina, I had a great time getting to hang out with my friend Matt. He works for Intervarsity at UNC-Wilmington (That’s in Wilmington, North Carolina, in case you were wondering), so I don’t see him very often.

But we stay in touch.

One night Matt, Lyndsay and I went out for coffee and had a great time catching up. As usual, conversations ranged from serious to goofy. When things turned goofy, I pulled my camera out.

One of Matt’s best “Stupid Human Tricks” is that he can put a quarter up each of his nostrils. Sure, it isn’t quite the same as swallowing a sword, but it is mildly impressive. …and he enjoys it, so he’s always up for an opportunity.

Before I could get my camera on, he already got the quarters in his nose. But the discussion that ensued with Lyndsay was hilarious. Check out this video. (You might need to turn your volume up so you can hear the dialogue)

And for fun…in widescreen:

Look at this picture. Apparently I can time travel.

Here’s another great opportunity.

As you might remember, I’m going to give this Christmas away. Instead of presents, I’ve asked for contributions to World Vision for relief around the world…things like A Goat, A Brood of Chicks, and A Month of Loving Care for an Orphan. It is some really cool stuff.

There’s another great organization that I also want to support. My friend Emery has introduced me to Integrity International, a missions organization that is doing some really cool things around the world. In addition to the routine mission work they do, they also are employing local people in the communities they are serving in Africa, so that the communities change from within rather than change because some Americans showed up and started giving away handouts.

They too have a program where you can give a gift on someone’s behalf…and if you haven’t gotten me a present yet, I’d love to support these folks also. Here are some choices:

Yesterday my friend Jarrod Jones came up to visit and come to our company Christmas party. He brought his wonderful wife, 2 sons, and even his dog Tidbit! Lyndsay and I were very excited to get to host the whole group and visit with them–they’re terrific folks.

Tidbit got right in the door and reclaimed the house…which must have still had some scent of Alvin or something…it was really more funny than anything else…and I already had everything I needed to clean it up!

Here’s a picture of Tidbit:

Assitance

Originally uploaded by ScottCrews

At the tn dept of safety. This could be a while…

Today I saw a glimpse of me, my marriage, and my life in 30 years. The kids are off at college, I’m bored, and Lyndsay is stringing Christmas lights and listening to Mariah Carey’s “Merry Christmas CD” My overacheiving nerdiness kicks in and I think the picture would look something like this:

So as you probably saw in the last post, I wrote an article and got it published on Chris Pirillo’s website, a respected internet tech blog. I’ve never written anything and seen it on someone else’s blog before, so it was particularly exciting. (well, besides the time I got quoted by the British news publication)

After writing the article and seeing that I got 25 comments, I was pretty proud of myself. Not because I was anywhere close to winning…no, I was probably 75 comments away from even being a contender…but because I was in the top 10% or so of entries, and for my first time I thought that was pretty good.

I read over the comments and they were fantastic! Everyone contributed some great stuff. From other Christmas tunes that would make great additions to my iPod, to a video of Charlie Brown’s “A Heavy Metal Christmas” that was absolutely hilarious. It was a great conversation.

So at first I pat myself on the back…”Way to go, Scott…you wrote something that people would want to read and comment on. Look at the great discussion that was facilitated there. Good Job.”

But then I read over the folks that contributed all these comments…and…it was you guys! I was surprised to realize that I knew probably 90 to 95% of people there, either as friends…or even a couple “friend of friends.”

It kinda felt like I showed up with all my friends, walked into a stranger’s house, had a conversation, and then we all walked out. I’m pretty sure I could have blogged about something as un-interesting as an IRS tax form and it would have been as well received. Why? Not because of me or my writing…no, just because of you all being the fantastic friends and generally awesome people.

So anyway, I just wanted to write a quick blurb here and let you know that though I didn’t win any contests with my entry, I did learn a valuable lesson: That my friends are the best.

(And you all have great taste in music!)

Alright folks. I am in a contest here. And no, this isn’t a scam. It’s really me, Scott Crews. To prove it is me…I cried like a little girl when I watched Alabama lose to Florida yesterday. Okay, not really, but no one trying to steal your personal information would know that about me.

There is a website giving away a whole pack of free computers, and I have officially entered to win. I wrote an article for their website about Christmas music.

If I win, I get some free stuff.

Among that free stuff is a laptop. This HP Pavilion Laptop to be exact. To help my chances of winning, I am going to give it away if I win the contest. Merry Christmas!

I will win if I have more comments on my entry than anyone else. So the person who goes to this link and puts the 100th comment down will be the winner.

Just go to this page, skim my article, and post a comment at the bottom where it says “What do you think?” You only have to put your name, email, and a comment…and you don’t have to register for anything.

Feel free to repost this all over Facebook, link to it if you have a blog, and please, please tell all your friends.

There aren’t really any rules other than the obvious:

You CAN (and should) comment more than once. The comments have to be relevant to the conversation (you can’t just spam), but length doesn’t matter.

If I don’t win the contest, I can’t give anyone a laptop. So I need EVERYBODY’S help!

The contest ends December 10th at 10 PM.