Without photography, memories would be charted through stick-figure hieroglyphs and oral histories told by molecules cruelly trapped in the water cycle. Capture time in your own two-dimensional prism with today's Groupon: for $19, you get a beginners' digital photography class from R. McPhee Photography Virtual Learning Center (a $39.99 value).

Helmed by nature photographer Rob McPhee, the beginners' digital photography course acquaints aspiring photographers with the basic principles of digital photography, editing, and software use. Students can complete the four-week course on their home computer, work computer, or underground lava computing system. The online format allows photographers to cover the coursework at their own pace, though they should expect to dedicate 20–30 minutes of work each day, studying 36 chapters of material, formulating a thesis on the Code of Hammurabi, and completing four online assignments and four photography assignments. The assignments are designed to reinforce each day's lessons, and instructor Rob McPhee diligently responds to emails to answer any lingering questions about the curriculum. Though pupils must supply their own digital camera, they receive a free 30-day trial of the editing software that corresponds with the course. Upon course completion, students receive a certificate that verifies their newly acquired snapshot savvy, ideal material to impress blasé refrigerator magnets.