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Issue 468 - October 03, 2007

ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements © 2007
==== 1430 Subscribers in 46 Countries ====

Welcome to the 468th issue of the PC Improvement News. PCIN consists mainly of news highlights 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

A few weeks ago when lisa was having lots of cramps and contractions, I was sure we'd have the baby by now. But here we are and still no baby. Lisa is going to induced tomorrow, so 24 hours from now we should have our new baby. Finally!

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

News Highlights

How social can we get?

The Internet world is relentlessly enthusiastic in its embrace of the latest and greatest, and this year's new flavor has been social networking. Between MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Bebo and scores of lesser start-ups, social networking seems poised to take over the Internet. Indeed, some digerati have suggested that Facebook, by allowing developers to write mini-applications called widgets, might become the new Internet.

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

U.S. faces competitive disadvantage from lack of women in IT

Discrimination against women and minorities is putting the U.S. at a disadvantage in technology innovation, according to the chancellor of the University of California at Berkeley.
Robert Birgeneau said of the top 50 university computer science department jobs in the U.S., not one is held by a woman of color. "How embarrassing," he said. "It's an astounding waste of talent in an increasingly competitive world."
Birgeneau was the keynote speaker at a workshop on women in technology as part of the Emerging Technologies Conference being held at MIT this week.

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

How NASA helped invent Silicon Valley

For anyone who's ever been stuck in rush-hour traffic on U.S. Highway 101 through Silicon Valley, the region's overgrowth of green-glass office buildings, ugly tech company headquarters and expensive cars is a frustrating flip side to the steady stream of world-changing innovation that has emerged there.
But if you'd visited the region in 1930, all you'd have seen was a two-lane highway cutting through acres and acres of nothing but farmland and tiny hamlets, and not even a hint of what would someday become arguably the most important commercial technology center in the world.
In December of that year, however, word came that the U.S. Navy was going to open an air station in Sunnyvale, Calif., one that would handle gigantic airships and that would need a mammoth hangar.
The result? The Sunnyvale Naval Air Station, later known as NASA Moffett Field. And today, Moffett is home to NASA's Ames Research Center, a facility that is at the heart of Silicon Valley, both geographically and figuratively. In 1930 the region didn't know what was about to arrive, but it soon realized how much change was coming.

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

Building a computer that reads minds

They're already predicting, mathematically, what you'll want to watch, what you'll want to wear, and who you'll want to vote for. Obviously, the next step is for computers to read your mind - and that's just what they're working toward at Tufts University in Boston.
Your computer won't be picking up details about your plans for the evening anytime soon. But researchers with the Human Computer Interaction group at Tufts have, thanks to a $450,000 grant from the National Science Foundation, come up with a straightforward way for your computer to tell if you are overworked, under-worked or not working at all, according to a paper they will present next week at an Association of Computing Machinery symposium.

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

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Digital Photography Tip of the Week

Do You Need A New Camera - Digital Photography Tip Of the Week

Where do you stand when it comes to your own photography? Are you too emotionally invested in the image? Maybe it is time you took a step back and re-evaluated your photos.

We often have an emotional attachment to our images that clouds our view of the quality of an image. A memory of the trip the photo was taken on, a cute grandchild or the knowledge of the difficulty in obtaining the photograph are all scenarios that could cloud our judgment when evaluating our photography. While each one may make the image special to you, they do not increase the quality of the image. And if you cannot separate your emotional attachment to your photos, you will not be able to see the places in your photos that could be improved. Stepping back and trying to take an unbiased look at your photos can help reveal areas where improvement can be made.

Examine your photos for composition, exposure and technique. If any of the three do not hold up, then you have a starting point to improve.

Being able to evaluate your own images without the bias of emotional attachment can help your photography to advance as you begin to recognize the deficiencies in your work.

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.

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PCIN.net Site Update

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

Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0 and Adobe Premier Elements 3.0 Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/photoshopEL5_Premiere3.php

ExpoDisc White Balance Filter Review
http://PCIN.net/help/hardware/expodisc.php

Paragon Software Group Partition Manager 8.0 Professional Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/ppm8.php

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

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Tips and Other Stuff

Get all your keyboard shortcuts at KeyXL

keyxl_logo.gif

From Download Squad:

KeyXL is one of the largest online databases of keyboard shortcuts around. Search by software, operating system, Windows, Macintosh, Linux and browser based application, this database has it all.

Leave a comment...

Nero 7 Ultra Edition ENHANCED review

nero7_boxshot.jpg

I know... I'm way behind on this one! Back in January 2006 I contacted Ahead Software, the makers of Nero (the CD/DVD burning software) asking to do a review. They promptly sent me the packaged product in the mail along with some PR material. I started to use it right away, and have been impressed with it every step of the way. The product has been updated a couple of times since then, and just recently it was announced that version 8 would be coming out soon (it's out now). After having the product for 2 years, I figured it was about time I put something together.

Read the rest of the review and/or leave a comment...

Top 100 Undiscovered Web Sites

From PC Magazine:

If you've browsed our recent list of the Top 100 Classic Web Sites, you may have been a bit disappointed by the familiarity of our choices. Such is the nature of a list of "classics."

So here's the fun stuff: Our list of the new and/or undiscovered Web sites that have grabbed our attention this year. You'll see a large collection of Web applications and tech sites, excellent blogs, offbeat social networks, and, as always, a handful of addictive Flash games for those slow days at work.

Some of these sites are completely under the radar and get very little traffic. Others are hugely popular within a specific demographic. But all of them deserve to be in your bookmarks.

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 1998-2007, Graham Wing. All rights reserved.

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