PCIN, The PC Improvement News logo

Issue 393 - April 26, 2006

ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements © 2006
==== 1644 Subscribers in 51 Countries ====

Welcome to the 393rd issue of the PC Improvement News. PCIN consists mainly of news and tips. There is something for everyone, and if this is your first issue, I'm sure there will be something for you. If you give me two or three issues, I know that you will come back for more!

You can reach me at editor@pcin.net with any suggestions or comments.

Recommend PCIN at http://PCIN.net/recommend.php

Support PCIN at http://PCIN.net/donate.php

CONTENTS

Opening Thoughts

So what do you do when you are in love? Buy gifts of course! Last week I mentioned that my sister got a new Creative Zen MicroPhoto and that she was in love. Well, she's showering her new toy with gifts. It's quite amazing the market there is for MP3 player accessories.

One of Chris' most popular Digital Photography Tip of the Week is about photographing snow. Well, the snow is gone, but April showers bring May flowers, and his tip today gives some hints for taking pictures in bad weather.

On a more somber note, today is the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. I'll leave the politics to others, but I do have one observation. Apparently it was several days before the Soviet government acknowledged that there had been an accident. This illustrates one of the beautiful things about the Internet. In today's world, it would be almost impossible for people not to know about something major in a matter of minutes. We truly do have an amazing amount of information available at our fingertips, and it gets updated constantly.

Graham editor@pcin.net and Chris chris@pcin.net

The NEWS

Trash that PC in an eco-friendly way

Computer-related waste remains a local and global problem, despite the progress made over the last few years.
More and more PCs are recycled, but some estimates say that 80 percent of the electronic waste slated for recycling in the U.S. is shipped overseas to be taken apart by low-wage workers, according to the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition.
Some vendors and recycling organizations do a very good job of recovering PCs and monitors for proper disposal, but there's no nationally accepted method for dealing with electronic waste, and the U.S. government chose not to sign the Basel Convention prohibiting the dumping of hazardous waste on developing nations.

Read the TechRepublic article...
Leave a comment...

Texas community college bans MySpace.com

Del Mar College students now have to use computers outside the school's system if they want to visit the popular Web site MySpace.com.
The community college has blocked the site in response to complaints about sluggish Internet speed on campus computers.
An investigation found that heavy traffic at MySpace.com was eating up too much bandwidth, said August Alfonso, the school's chief of information and technology. Forty percent of daily Internet traffic at the college involved the site, he said.

Read the MSNBC article...
Leave a comment...

Password overload hitting firms' IT security: study

Security breaches from computer viruses, spyware, hacker attacks and theft of equipment are costing British business an estimated 10 billion pounds ($18 billion) a year, according to a survey on Tuesday.
The loss is 50 percent higher than the level calculated two years ago, said the study by consultancy PricewaterhouseCoopers for the Department of Trade and Industry.
The rise comes despite companies increasing their spending on information security controls to an average 4-5 percent of their IT budget from 3 percent in 2004.

Read the Reuters article...
Leave a comment...

Other News postings from the PCIN.net Update blog

Return to the top Recommend PCIN

PCIN.net UPDATE

Check out these new or updated pages on the PCIN.net site:

Update PCIN.net home page with "Top 10 Most Popular..." features
http://PCIN.net/

Microsoft Digital Image Suite Plus Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/msdimagesuiteplus.php

Omega One Software Battery Pack Pro 2.1 Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/bpp2.php

Makayama Interactive DVD to Pocket PC 3.0 Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/dvd2ppc3.php

Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0 Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/elements40.php

Return to the top Recommend PCIN

Digital Photography Tip of the Week

Scan the edges of your viewfinder

Many photographers that I know are fair weather photographers, that is, they only shoot if the weather is nice. Unfortunately, they also miss a lot of great photographic opportunities.

Macro Photography in the Rain

Macro Photography in the Rain

This shot of Dutchman's Breaches was taken this past weekend, in the rain. It was one of only six I was able to get that day because of the rain. I was unprepared. I did not have my umbrella with me, nor my rain suit, and I had no way to protect my equipment from the water, but the rain should not have stopped me. A good quality rain suit will keep you dry, but what about your camera. If you own a small camera, it might fit in an inside pocket of the rain suit, or simply on the lanyard in the rain suit. Many people use heavy freezer bags to protect their equipment, or you can purchase purpose built waterproof bags for your camera. A small case for your camera will help keep it dry as well. I also keep a large plastic garbage bag in the pocket of my equipment bag. This gives me something to lie on to keep me out of the dirt in nice weather, but it also lets me keep my equipment bag dry in the rain.

More macro photography in the rain

When you are shooting in the rain, protect your lens. Once you have the rest of the camera wrapped up, you will need the end of the lens exposed to the elements in order to get your shots. Using a 1A Skylight filter on your lens will help protect the expensive front element of your lens from water spots. The 1A requires no additional exposure compensation and absorbs some UV rays to help cut haze a little.

An outside store display on a rainy day

An outside store display on a rainy day

If you are shooting in cold weather, keep spare batteries in an inside pocket of your coat to keep them warm. Cold batteries do not work as well as warm ones. When you are done shooting, place your camera in a plastic bag, removing as much of the air as possible before going in to a warm location. This will keep the warm, moist air from forming condensation on your camera; it will form on the bag instead. Leave the camera in the bag until it has come back to room temperature.

Nature photography in the cold

Nature photography in the cold

When the weather turns foul, there are a lot of opportunities for great photos that can easily be missed. Just remember to protect yourself and your equipment from the elements.

Leave a comment about this week's Digital Photography Tip of the Week..

The digital photography tip of the week is written by the PCIN Assistant Editor, Chris Empey. Chris is a long time photographer and is currently the vice-president of the Niagara Falls Camera Club. You can see more of his photography at his Photo of the Day website.
If you have a tip to send Chris, or a question about digital photography he can address in the newsletter, send it to chris@pcin.net.

Return to the top Recommend PCIN

THE TIPS and OTHER STUFF

The Dialectizer

The Dialectizer
By Samuel Stoddard
Convert English text to any of several comic dialects.
The Dialectizer takes text or other web pages and instantly creates parodies of them! Try it out by selecting a dialect, then entering a URL or English text below. If you have questions about what The Dialectizer does or how it does it, please see the "Information" section toward the bottom of this page.

Check it out...

Leave a comment...

PageRank Overlay

As you may be aware, one of the ways that Google determines where to rank a page for a particular search term is by its PageRank. This essentially rates the quality of a page in the Google index. It does this in a number of ways, one of which is the number of links to a page.

Google Blogoscoped links to a site that displays a web page with a PageRank beside every link on the page. It's quite interesting to look at if you run your own site and are wondering how your links stack up.

Leave a comment...

Return to the top Recommend PCIN

PCIN.net AFFILIATED SITES

Both of us have other sites other than PCIN.net. These are all sites that we are actively involved in (they aren't client sites). Don't forget to check them out from time to time for updates:

Return to the top Recommend PCIN

DISCLAIMER and OTHER STUFF

PCIN is brought to you by Graham Wing. The opinions expressed are those of the Editor, Graham Wing and the Assistant Editor, Chris Empey. Graham Wing and Chris Empey accept no responsibility for the results obtained from trying the tips in this newsletter.

  1. If any of the links are too long to fit on one line, you may have to cut and paste.
  2. To subscribe another address or unsubscribe, please visit http://PCIN.net/ and follow the appropriate links.
  3. Recommend PCIN to others at http://PCIN.net/recommend.php and be entered in a monthly draw.
  4. The only way to become a subscriber is by asking. You have either filled out the subscription form or asked me directly.
  5. If you have a web site or run your own newsletter, please email me at editor@pcin.net and I will add it to the subscriber web pages that I have on my site.
  6. Support PCIN by visiting http://PCIN.net/donate.php or by clicking on the PayPal link below:

Return to the top

Graham Wing can be reached at editor@pcin.net
Chris Empey can be reached at chris@pcin.net

Copyright 1998-2006, Graham Wing. All rights reserved.

This publication may be reproduced in whole, or in part, as long as the author is notified and the newsletter is presented as is.

Support PCIN by visiting http://PCIN.net/donate.php

PC Improvement News Home Page

PC Improvement News Archive