At a Vista Grande School Festival, October, 2000.

Kelsey is head and shoulders above her classmates.

Kelsey at Big Bear, Winter 2001. She's a natural.

This is a chance to see some technical stuff. This picture at 360X480 was reduced from 864X1152 in its natural state. The original file size was 2.8MB. At 360X480, it is 626KB. "Saved for the Web" in Photoshop, it is 60KB at about 60 quality, 20 KB at about 20 quality.

As a practical matter, a 60KB file takes about 22 seconds to download at 28.8 kbps, 20KB takes about 8 seconds. A rule of thumb is an 8-second download is at the upper limit of tolerability. Barring evidence to the contrary, you have to assume most surfers are on 28.8 connections, That's why you'll see so many images sized at about 20KB.

Here's where you get to check some of the effects for yourself: the image you see is 20KB. It should have taken those fabled 8 seconds (or the equivalent for your connection speed) to show up. To see how long it takes the 60-quality, 60KB image to load, click HERE. Can you see the difference in quality between the 20- and 60-KB images?

To see how long it would take the un-Webbed, 626KB image to load, click H E R E. You might lose patience and use the "Back" button to return. I won't give you the opportunity to try the 2.8MB version. It would take something like three minutes at 28.8.

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