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Issue 451 - June 06, 2007

ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements © 2007
==== 1486 Subscribers in 49 Countries ====

Welcome to the 451st 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

We're taking our yearly trip to the Toronto Zoo this Saturday. We go every year with Lisa's parents and the boys love it. The zoo is very large so there is a lot of walking, and lots to see. The weather looks like it will be perfect.

Speaking of the weather, we've had a nice amount of sun and rain recently, so my vegetable garden seems to be doing very well. I just bought the seeds for my carrots and corn (I know, I'm a little behind on this). The carrot seeds come in biodegradable strips that have the seeds spaced appropriately so that you shouldn't have to do any thinning. It sounds good, but we'll have to see how it actually works.

My sister is moving to Alberta in August, so my garage is filled with stuff she had in a storage unit. She's having a garage sale in a couple of weeks, so she's trying to determine what she wants to keep. Andrew was a little annoyed with the garage being blocked, because he can't ride his little bike through on his way to the back yard. I'm sure he'll figure out that he can ride around the garage instead of through.

I'm not sure if it has been mentioned before, but Chris is getting married in 10 days. He's obviously pretty busy these days getting the final things together, and then he'll be off on his honeymoon. There won't be a regular tip until the first week of July. Until then, I'll highlight a few of his more popular tips.

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

News Highlights

Kids getting tech savvy at ever younger ages

A new report from NPD says the average age children start using technology fell to 6.7 years old in 2007, as kids versions of tech gear becomes more common, too.
NPD's new report, "Kids and Consumer Electronics Trends III", is their third report since 2005 to see how consumer electronics and children are interacting with each other.
Anita Frazier, an industry analyst at The NPD Group said that: "Kids are drawn to the latest and greatest digital devices just as their parents are. They appear to have no fear of technology and adopt it easily and without fanfare, making these devices a part of their everyday lives."
Back in 2005, children were on average 8.1 years old before they started using technology, but in 2007 this has dropped to 6.7 years. To me, these ages seem awfully old - I personally started using computers, thanks to the foresight of my father, way back in 1979 when I was only four years old, two years before the IBM PC was released onto the world market.

Read the iTWire article...
Leave a comment...

Who Will Buy Microsoft's 'Milan'?

The world might not be ready for a "Milan" coffee-table PC in every living room just yet, but that won't stop Microsoft from trying.
With the launch of its new surface computing product May 30, it appears that Microsoft is positioning its new technology for widespread use both in the enterprise as well as the home, according to industry analysts.

Read the eWeek article...
Leave a comment...

Infamous spammer arrested, faces new charges

The arrest of notorious spammer Robert Alan Soloway, 27, on criminal charges for continuing to spread junk e-mail raised cheers in the tech security community.
But Soloway's arrest Wednesday in Seattle won't slow down the tidal wave of spam. Unwanted commercial e-mail has become big business, backed by organized crime. Most of it originates from networks of compromised home PCs, called zombies.
The spam deluge includes record levels of unsolicited e-mail ads for subprime loans, herbal remedies and get-rich-quick schemes. It includes phishing mail that lures recipients into typing sensitive data on bogus websites. There's also "pharm" spam pitching fake pharmaceutical drugs. And stock spam dupes recipients into helping drive up prices of moribund stocks.
"This is the modern face of the e-mail threat," says Adam O'Donnell, director of emerging technology at message security firm Cloudmark. "Spam makes money."

Read the USA Today article...
Leave a comment...

'DRM-free' iTunes songs raise concerns

Apple Inc.'s recent rollout of songs without copy protection software at its iTunes Store has given consumers new flexibility, but questions have emerged over the company's inclusion of personal data in purchased music tracks.
Are the songs that are being billed as free of so-called digital rights management technology really "DRM-free" or are there still strings attached?
The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a consumer watchdog group, said the embedded user information in the purchased track raises privacy issues.

Read the CNN article...
Leave a comment...

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Digital Photography Tip of the Week

The Best of the Digital Photography Tip of the Week

I think the most popular tip Chris has every written was back in November of last year. His instructions on the Orton Effect brought 60 comments and lots of traffic!

To summarize, the effect is named after Michael Orton who first used the technique is a sandwich of two images, one in focus the other out of focus. Chris provides step-by-step instructions to go from an original photo to a beautiful finished image.

Steps to complete Orton EffectSteps to complete Orton EffectSteps to complete Orton EffectSteps to complete Orton Effect

Steps to complete Orton Effect

You can certainly see why this technique is so popular! Be sure to check out the original Orton Effect tip for the full details.

You can view all of Chris' previous tips by visiting the Digital Photography Tips category.

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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

POGO online games

pogo_logo.gif

Can you believe it? I actually found out about this one from my 90-year-old grandmother! She goes to POGO.com all the time and plays their Poppit! game. It seems similar to Bejeweled. Poppit! uses java so you need to have the Sun Java software on your computer.

The site has lots of games such as puzzle games, word games, card games, and more. I know there are lots of game sites out there, but if the site is good enough for my Nanny, then it's good enough for you. :-)

Leave a comment...

Top Ten Digital Photography Tips

MacDevCenter.com has a nice collection of their Top Ten Digital Photography Tips. You can visit the site to see all of the details and photo samples, but the tips are:

  1. Warm Up Those Tones
  2. Sunglasses Polarizer
  3. Outdoor Portraits That Shine
  4. Macro Mode Madness
  5. Horizon Line Mayhem
  6. Massive Media Card
  7. High Rez All the Way
  8. Tolerable Tripod
  9. Self Timer Fun
  10. Slow Motion Water

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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