ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements © 2006
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Welcome to the 421st 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.
Support PCIN at http://PCIN.net/donate.php
Lisa had her craft sale on Saturday and it went well. She makes beautiful things, and the people who come love what they buy. Andrew even had a little table setup where he was selling candy and caramel apples. He used his money to buy a Robots toy.
So have you tried the new browsers yet? Firefox 2 and IE 7 are out and I've posted my first impressions on the blog. Overall, I think IE is much improved, but Firefox still wins because of the various extensions/add-ons. Let me know what you think...
Graham editor@pcin.net and Chris chris@pcin.net
YouTube - Best Invention of 2006
It's been an interesting year in technology. Nintendo invented a video game you control with a magic wand. A new kind of car traveled 3,145 miles on a single gallon of gas. A robot learned to ride a bike. Somebody came up with a nanofabric umbrella that doesn't stay wet. But only YouTube created a new way for millions of people to entertain, educate, shock, rock and grok one another on a scale we've never seen before. That's why it's Time's Invention of the Year for 2006.
Microsoft backtracks on Vista transfer limits
Reversing a licensing change announced two weeks ago, Microsoft said on Thursday that it will not limit the number of times that retail customers can transfer their Windows Vista license to a different computer.
On Oct. 16, Microsoft issued the new user license for Vista, including terms that would have limited the ability of those who buy a boxed copy of the operating system to transfer that license. Under the proposed terms, users could have made such a switch only one time.
However, the new restriction prompted an outcry among hardware enthusiasts and others. Microsoft is returning the licensing terms to basically what they were in Windows XP--users can transfer their license to a new PC an unlimited number of times, provided they uninstall and stop using it on the prior machine.
The software maker said it paid attention to the response both directly to the company and on blogs and decided to reverse course.
Windows Vista's last mile
The last stop for Vista is a windowless conference room in Building 26, on Microsoft's sprawling campus in the Seattle suburbs.
Each day, members of the Windows team gather inside this "shiproom" to go over the bugs that remain, and to debate which of these can still be fixed in the days left until the product is declared finished, a milestone that is expected any time now.
The intense "end game," as these final weeks are known, is a well-worn tradition inside the shiproom, which is on the third floor of the Windows development building. The small room, with its dated, dark wood conference table has been the war room for every Windows release since Windows 2000.
Google denies rumor of YouTube legal reserve
Google CEO Eric Schmidt denied a widely circulated rumor that his company had set aside $500 million to settle copyright claims by media companies as part of its deal to acquire video-sharing site YouTube.
Speaking to more than 500 Internet industry insiders at the Web 2.0 Summit, Schmidt said Tuesday that an anonymous blog post asserting that YouTube has reserved $500 million for legal claims, out of the $1.65 billion takeover price, was "not true."
How To Resize A Photo - Part 1 - Digital Photography Tip of the Week
Along with my position as President of the Niagara Falls Camera Club, I am also maintain the club website. Recently, I asked our members to send me some images to add to the website, after all, we are a photography club. I was surprised when I was asked by a few different members how to size the images as I had requested images no larger than 1000 pixels on the longest side, which leads me to today's tip, how to resize a photo.
Once again, I will be using the new Adobe Photoshop Elements 5, though the procedure is the same in previous Photoshop versions, and in most other image editing programs.
Resizing your photo should be the last step you take in your image processing workflow. I recommend saving your image in its full size, then after resizing your image, saving as a new file name. This preserves your original data just in case you decide later on that you want a larger size image.
To access the Image Size dialog box, Click on the Image menu item, then Resize and finally Image Size. The dialog box has two sections and a few options. The first section deals with image size for display (Pixel Dimensions) and the second image size for printing (Document Size). We will stick with just the display options today. The width and height will be populated already with your current image size in one of several measurement units. Also notice that there is an icon to the right of the measurement units linking the sizes together. This is turned on or off using the Constrain Proportions check box below. When turned on, your aspect ratio will remain the same as you change your image size, and also, as you change one number, the second will change proportionately.
In this example, my original image is 1200 px by 1161 px. To resize the image, simply enter a new value for width or height and the other will change appropriately. Click OK, save your image and you are done.
Next week, I will discuss the options in the bottom of the dialog box as well as the Document Size options.
Until next time, happy shooting.
Leave a comment on 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 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.
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.phpOmega One Software Battery Pack Pro 2.1 Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/bpp2.phpMakayama Interactive DVD to Pocket PC 3.0 Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/dvd2ppc3.phpAdobe Photoshop Elements 4.0 Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/elements40.php
Automatically generate and assign strong passwords in Windows XP
From TechRepublic:
Computer users consistently use very simplistic logic when creating passwords. For example, many of us choose meaningful words, personal dates, or a word commonly found in the dictionary because it makes the password easy to remember. These common practices cause us to sacrifice the security that passwords are intended to provide.
If you're really at a loss when it comes to thinking of a strong password, you can let Windows XP create and assign a random password to your account. To let Windows XP generate your password, follow these steps.
Zamzar: Free online file conversion
From Download Squad:
Awhile back I linked to Media-Convert, a web service that will convert files while you wait. I was duly impressed by Media-Convert, and I'm even more impressed by Zamzar, a very similar free service with a Web 2.0 touch. It can convert between five image formats, 14 document formats, 11 audio formats, and nine video formats, and unlike Media-Convert you can convert many files at once, up to 100MB (though you can only do one kind of conversion at once).
Two-minute Photoshop tricks
Yet another one I found on Download Squad...
Chris does a great job with the Digital Photography Tip of the Week, but there's always room for more tips. The 2 Minute Photoshop Tricks site has around 40 different tips (some of them even with video) that explain how to accomplish certain effects in Photoshop. The web site has a brief outline of the "trick", and then you download an MP3 of the tip or watch a video (for those tips that have them).
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:
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.
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.
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