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Issue 472 - October 31, 2007

ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements © 2007
==== 1420 Subscribers in 46 Countries ====

Welcome to the 472nd 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

Happy Halloween

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

News Highlights

Da Vinci's 'Last Supper' goes online in high def

Can't get to Milan to see Leonardo Da Vinci's masterpiece "The Last Supper?"
As of Saturday, all you need is an Internet connection. Officials put online an image of the "Last Supper" at 16 billion pixels - 1,600 times stronger than the images taken with the typical 10 million pixel digital camera.
The high resolution will allow experts to examine details of the 15th century wall painting that they otherwise could not - including traces of drawings Leonardo put down before painting.

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

Microsoft Buys Stake in Facebook

Microsoft has won a high-profile technology industry battle with Google and Yahoo to invest in the social networking upstart Facebook.
The two companies said on Wednesday that Microsoft would pay $240 million for a 1.6 percent stake in Facebook. The investment values Facebook, which is three and a half years old and will bring in about $150 million in revenue this year, at $15 billion.

Read the New York Times articles...
Leave a comment...

Gossip, e-mailing "all" among top office peeves

Work colleagues who spend their day gossiping, organizing their home lives, or who press "reply all" on e-mails are among the biggest nuisances in the office, according to a survey released on Monday.

Read the Reuters articles...
Leave a comment...

Is U.S. Stuck in Internet's Slow Lane?

The United States is starting to look like a slowpoke on the Internet. Examples abound of countries that have faster and cheaper broadband connections, and more of their population connected to them.
What's less clear is how badly the country that gave birth to the Internet is doing, and whether the government needs to step in and do something about it. The Bush administration has tried to foster broadband adoption with a hands-off approach. If that's seen as a failure by the next administration, the policy may change.

Read the Orlando Sentinel articles...
Leave a comment...

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Digital Photography Tip of the Week

Diopter Adjustment

If you wear glasses, you may find that using the viewfinder on you digital camera is difficult. They lenses in the view finder are made to focus at a certain point, and often glasses may interfere with this.

One thing you can try is to adjust the diopter on the eyepiece to match the prescription for your eyewear. Adjusting the diopter will adjust the focus of the view finder so that when you look through the view finder, the image is in focus without the aid of your eyeglasses. If the diopter adjustment is not enough, some camera manufacturers also sell an diopter accessory for further adjustment.

If you do not use glasses but find that the focus is off on your camera when using the autofocus mode, but the images are in focus when you review them later, or when using manual focus the image in your viewfinder is in focus, but out of focus when you review them later, check your diopter to be sure that it has not been modified. To do this, I press my focus spot selector to light up the focus indicators in the view finder, then adjust the diopter until they are sharp.

Maintaining all facets of your equipment will help ensure your images are everything you want them to be.

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.

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

The Ultimate RSS Toolbox - 120+ RSS Resources

rsstoolbox.PNG

Regular reader Pat sent me a newsletter that linked to a Mashable posting on RSS (news feeds) resources:

Never again will mankind have to look for RSS info in more than one place... ok, we're kidding, but we've aimed to create a near comprehensive list of all the RSS readers, tools, browser plugins, tips, hacks and directories available on the web. We hope you find it useful (we built it because we needed it), and feel free to add your own suggestions in the comments.

It is quite a complete list. If you are interested in any area of RSS (creating, reading, organizing, etc), then you should definitely check this out.

Leave a comment...

innotek VirtualBox

vbox_logo2_gradient.png

One of the big things in the IT industry these days is virtualization. In general terms, this is using an existing computer to run multiple operating systems at the same time. On my computer I can install special software, and then run Windows, Linux, and sometimes even MacOS in a "window". This "window" let's you see the boot screen, the loading process, and then when the operating system has started, you use it as if it were on your main computer. This is a great way to test new operating systems, run applications that you use rarely but require a different operating system, or just to play around.

VMware and Microsoft both have virtualization products. I've tried them both, and they both have their strengths and weaknesses. They used to cost money, but now both of them offer free server products, and Microsoft has a free personal product. If you wanted to try an alternative, then you could try VirtualBox from innotek.

innotek VirtualBox is a general-purpose full virtualizer for x86 hardware. Targeted at server, desktop and embedded use, it is now the only professional-quality virtualization solution that is also Open Source Software.

I've installed this on my home computer, and it runs great. So far I have setup a Windows 2000 virtual machine and it runs great. The Windows 98 machine is a little sluggish, but that is probably because Windows 98 didn't run very well. The software seems to have all of the features of the bigger commercial products. You can modify which drives you use, how you want the networking setup, and more.

20071030_virtualbox_screenshot.gif

This isn't a great screenshot (I had to keep it small in order to have it fit in the blog and in the newsletter), but the top left corner shows the main Virtual Box windows. The black "DOS" screen, is a virtual machine booting from my Windows 98 setup CD. The window on the right that is showing the WindowsUpdate screen is a Windows 2000 virtual machine.

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.

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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