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Issue 410 - August 23, 2006

ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements © 2006
==== 1579 Subscribers in 51 Countries ====

Welcome to the 410th 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

CONTENTS

Opening Thoughts

Chris has part 3 of his series on black and white photography in this issue of PCIN. These are great tips, and I hope that everyone reads them. Even if you don't fully understand them, you're bound to get something out of it.

Last week I mentioned that I didn't understand the appeal of all-in-one media devices. Long-time subscriber Dan emailed me:

I recently installed a TV card in my PC, along with a 250Gb external HD...the purpose was to turn the PC into a PVR as well as a PC...I am more than happy with the results. I now have all my media in one place, and although it might seem somewhat extravagant, it simplifies life for me. I don't have to run from PC to VCR to DVD...it's all in one spot!

Thanks for the comments Dan!

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

The NEWS

The hard drive turns 50

On Sept. 13, 1956, an IBM lab at 99 Notre Dame Road in San Jose began shipping a product that changed history.
It is Silicon Valley's unsung hero, though it taught us bits and the mega, giga, tera, peta and exa bytes. Dubbed RAMAC, or Random Access Method of Accounting and Control, it was the original hard drive, a funny-looking giant machine with 50 spinning, 24-inch-wide disks covered with red paint.
It cost about $50,000 a year to lease in 1956 dollars -- equivalent to nearly $350,000 today -- and had 5 megabytes of information, about enough space to store one song on an iPod.

Read the Mercury News article...
Leave a comment...

Dell, Sony discussed battery problem 10 months ago

Dell and Sony knew about and discussed manufacturing problems with Sony-made Lithium-Ion batteries as long as ten months ago, but held off on issuing a recall until those flaws were clearly linked to catastrophic failures causing those batteries to catch fire, a Sony Electronics spokesman said Friday.
Spokesman Rick Clancy said the companies had conversations in October 2005 and again in February 2006. Discussions were about the problem of small metal particles that had contaminated Lithium-Ion battery cells manufactured by Sony, causing batteries to fail and, in some cases, overheat.
As a result of those conversations, Sony made changes to its manufacturing process to minimize the presence and size of the particles in its batteries. However, the company did not recall batteries that it thought might contain the particles because it wasn't clear that they were dangerous, Clancy said.

Read the InfoWorld article...
Leave a comment...

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Digital Photography Tip of the Week

Black and White from Colour Images - Part 3 - Digital Photography Tip of the Week

Last week I continued my discussion of black and white digital photography and the topics of using grayscale and saturation to convert you colour photographs to black and white. This week I discuss using the channel mixer in order to create pleasing and dynamic monochrome photographs.

Channel mixer is available in the full version of Adobe Photoshop CS2, and a simi liar tool is available in Microsoft Digital Image Suite. Adobe Photoshop Elements 4 does not offer such a tool, though I am sure there are third party plugins that will perform the same functions.

A digital photograph consists of three colour channels, red, green and blue. Each of those channels is a separate, monochrome image. Displaying each channel individually will show this (and also presents another method of converting to black and white, using only one colour channel). Using the channel mixer though, we can control just how much of each colour channel we use when creating our black and white images.

To open channel mixer in Adobe Photoshop CS2, click on Image => Adjust => Channel Mixer. Whenever possible, using adjustment layers is the best way to make corrections to your photograph as they can be re-edited later on. To make an adjustment layer for channel mixer, click on Layer => New Adjustment Layer => Channel Mixer. The dialog box you will see next has 4 sliders, one for each colour channel and one for constant. The next step after opening channel mixer is to click on the monochrome check box at the bottom of the dialog box.

You can now slide each of the sliders back and forth to increase the intensity of each channel. Results are best when the total of all three channels equal 100, though sometimes a little over or a little under will work as well. The constant slider is used to lighten or darken the whole image by a constant amount across each colour channel.

Black and White example
Original Image

Black and White example
Converted to Grayscale

Black and White example
Desaturated

Black and White example
Channel Mixer

Mixer example
Settings used for above Channel Mixer Image

As you can see by the examples, simple black and white conversions often lack punch and drama that black and white photography has been known for. Controlling each individual colour channel during the colour to black and white conversion allows you to make more dramatic black and white photographs from your colour images.

Next week, I will conclude my series on black and white photography by touching on a few other, less seldom used methods of converting to black and white.

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 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.

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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

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THE TIPS and OTHER STUFF

Goggles - The Google Maps Flight Simulator

Goggles is a Google Maps flight simulator you play in your browser. There are a bunch of predefined locations or you can use your own location (through a bit of work).

Here is a link to fly over Niagara Falls. Hint: Head east until you reach the river then turn south.

http://www.isoma.net/games/goggles.html?loc=tqsqttsrsssttqssq

Leave a comment...

Google Writely open to everyone

google_writely_logo.jpg

A little over a month ago I posted about how to get an invitation to Google Writely. It turns out now you don't need to do that. The official Google Writely Blog posted about this yesterday:

This week, we have finished inviting everyone who's been patiently on the waiting list, and have reopened registration to the public. If you haven't already, now is the time to sign up for the Writely beta!

So if you're interested, head on over to Writely and sign up!

Leave a comment...

512MB CompactFlash card for $1.99

I don't usually pass along "good deals". There are lots of other sites that do that. But this one is really quite exceptional. Crucial Technology has a promotion (it ends September 1) where you can get a 512MB Compact Flash card for only $1.99 after rebate. The card is $26.99 with a $25 mail-in rebate. There is free shipping when you spend $40. So you could buy 2 cards for $53.98, get free shipping, then get $50 in rebates, and end up paying only $3.98 for 1 GB of cards. Not Bad.

20060821_crucial_screenshot.jpg

You can learn more about the deal on the Crucial web site. If your camera, pda, or other digital media device uses these cards, it's a great deal. If only they had this deal on SD cards!

UPDATE: Apparently it is only 1 rebate per customer. So in order to get free shipping, you'll have to order something else as well to get your order total to $40. Domestic shipping is very reasonable. It is only $3, so if you still went ahead with it, you'd end up with a 512 MB CompactFlash card for $4.98. Still quite a good deal...

Leave a comment...

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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:

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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.

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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.

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