I Accidentally Deleted My Digital Camera video picture files!

Here's my latest story:

I played my guitar for the first time at the Ocean Grove NJ Crosstown Acoustic Cafe Coffee House the other night. Our good friend, Nancy, took some great videos with my digital camera.

At home, I connected the camera and started copying the files to my computer.

Later on, I stopped by the computer and it looked like it was done, so I deleted the files from the camera. To my surprise, two of the longer videos (the two I wanted the most, of course) were not there! It seems that it must have still been in the middle of copying them when I deleted them. Oh, No!

Well, my daughter brought over my son-in-law's USB reader for my SD High Capacity (HC) card (mine didn't work for these new HC type). It allowed me to read it like a disk drive. It was mapped to K: now on my computer.

A friend at work, Prentice, told me about Pandora Recover, a free program that finds and restores deleted files. (Note: don't take more pictures after accidentally deleting something until after you use this program, otherwise the new photos you take might write over the remnants of what's left of the old pictures or videos).

Pandora Recover worked quickly and easily. I got my files back quickly!
http://download.cnet.com/Pandora-Recovery/3000-2094_4-10694796.html

It says it works for USB drives, hard drives, etc. and finds pictures, videos, and other types of files too!

I first scanned the version that I downloaded with Norton Anti-virus before I installed it and Norton Anti-virus said there were no viruses in it. However, you might want to scan it yourself. Also, you may want to skip the optional install of the cnet tool bar.

The tool worked very well for me!

How to make a Travel box and ideas for Car Games

Ideas for Car Games

We've had fun making a "Travel Box" for family and friends when they are taking a long car trip. We just take a box and put a bunch of things wrapped in comics or paper lunch bags.

Label these things with messages like:
* open on the way home after lunch
* Open after 100 miles
* Open after you go through 2 states
* Open after you see the first sign for Florida
* Open after you see the first sign for your Destination (College, State, Town)
* Open after you see the first Palm Tree
* Open when you stop for gas
* Open if you feel silly (or it could read "tired" or "bored") in Georgia
* When you see a license plate from such and such a state


Some silly examples are:
* Open this when you're feeling nuts (wrap up some nuts)
* Open this when you're feeling silly (Silly Putty or Silly String)
* Open when it gets dark (light sticks)
* Open when you're thirsty or hot and tired of driving (Wonka Fun Dip / Lik-m-aids) (or Nik-L-Nip bottles)
* When you need a morning snack (granola bars)
* When you're bored (Wooly Willy - we bought one at 5 Below)
* When you hear a rock song on the radio (Pop Rocks candy)
* When you're low on cash (100 Grand Candy bar)
* When you see an animal (Cow Tails candy)

You can also pack the box with other things:
* Jokes
* Car Bingo (look for the signs or license plates)
* Comics section from the newspaper

We also put some envelopes with game ideas written on them (sometimes with statements like above)
* Song Fest - Take a well known song (like "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" and change the words to a silly song or a christian Song
* Open when you need encouragement - put Bible verses or nice words of blessings or the little encouragement cards you get at the Christian Bookstore

You can also put a card in there with a list of the things they need to find/do/reach in order to open the items.

Here are a few websites that I also found helpful:

http://www.momsminivan.com
http://www.momsminivan.com/printables.html
http://www.classroomjr.com/category/worksheets/printable-mad-libs/
http://travelwithkids.about.com/cs/printgames/a/gamesprint.htm
http://www.airlinecreditcards.com/travelhacker/27-free-games-to-keep-your-kids-entertained-on-a-road-trip/
http://www.edmunds.com/reviews/list/top10/121613/article.html

String Games: http://alysion.org/figures/main.htm
Mad Libs: http://www.teach-nology.com/worksheets/language_arts/madlibs/

What ideas do you have? Please leave a comment!