PCIN, The PC Improvement News logo

Issue 453 - June 20, 2007

ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements © 2007
==== 1459 Subscribers in 49 Countries ====

Welcome to the 453rd 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

So... my sister's garage sale went well. She got rid of almost everything. There's still a couple of big things that's she going to try to sell. She also still has a lot of boxes of stuff that she says she's going to keep (hopefully not in my garage).

Yesterday Lisa and I took the boys to the 3D BabyVision office in our city and Lisa had a 3D ultrasound done. It's amazing what you can see. We had already been told it is a girl, and they confirmed that. The woman saved a bunch of pictures/screenshots for us, and we also got a DVD done. Very cool!

3D Ultrasound picture

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

News Highlights

Is It OK that Google Owns Us?

Google's continuously raked over the coals regarding the massive amounts of PII (personally identifiable information) it collects, what it does with it, how long it retains that data and what the company might do with it if its merger with DoubleClick goes ahead.
That's all been ratcheted up to fever pitch over the past few weeks, with two new privacy headlines: complaints being voiced about Google's new Street View service's photographs getting too close for comfort and Privacy International's having flunked Google on its privacy policies and procedures in a report published June 9.
The fury boils down to one question: whether or not it's OK for Google to own us.

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

Kodak says camera sensor may eliminate flash

Eastman Kodak Co. said on Thursday it has developed digital camera technology that nearly eliminates the need for flash photography, part of the company's effort to make money from its deep patent portfolio.
The world's biggest maker of photographic film says its proprietary sensor technology significantly increases sensitivity to light. Image sensors act as a digital camera's eyes by converting light into an electric charge to begin the capture process.
Kodak, which is in the last year of a lengthy and expensive transformation into a digital photography company as its film business shrinks, intends to lean on its wealth of intellectual property to boost its bottom line, expecting up to $250 million this year alone in royalties and related revenues.

Read the Yahoo! News article...
Leave a comment...

Fathers and kids bond over video games

When Will Nickelson and his daughter want to spend some quality time together, they fire up Nintendo Co.'s Wii and play a few rounds of "Wii Sports" or "Mario Party 8."
"It's kind of difficult picking a game for a 7-year-old girl, but she really likes to beat her dad at bowling," says Nickelson, 30, a stay-at-home dad from Huntsville, Ala.
He's certainly not alone.
The generation that grew up with "Pac-Man" and "Pong" are now having children of their own. And across the nation, fathers and their kids are finding the virtual worlds of video games a popular place to bond.
Many fathers say the games bring them closer to their kids by providing a safe, convenient way to stay in touch and talk to their children on their own terms.
A national survey released last year by the Entertainment Software Association, a video game industry group, found that 35 percent of parents play video games, of which 80 percent play with their children. Mothers, too, were part of the study.

Read the Yahoo! News article...
Leave a comment...

Botnet Battle a 'Game of Whack-a-Mole'

No one ever said policing the Internet was easy. Bot herders control networks of compromised computers sometimes numbering into the thousands. Already, an FBI-led initiative dubbed "Operation Bot Roast" has identified 1 million compromised computers.
On Wednesday, FBI officials laid out charges against three men-Robert Alan Soloway of Seattle, James C. Brewer of Arlington, Texas, and Jason Michael Downey of Covington, Ky.-as part of Operation Bot Roast. But security professionals say bot herders are growing increasingly sophisticated as they search for ways to thwart their opponents.
Officials at Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Mi5 Networks reported seeing bots that connect to multiple command and control servers as well as bots that scan internal networks for different vulnerabilities and then only deliver the exploit payload for which the specific machine is vulnerable. Battling botnets, said Mi5 CEO Doug Camplejohn, has officially turned into a "game of Whack-a-mole."
"Our findings show that we've entered the second phase of botnet evolution in that there's no longer just a single C&C [command and control] head to cut off," he said. "Even if you do cut off all the C&C heads, bots keep collecting data and distributing it via peer-to-peer networks."

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

Return to the top

Digital Photography Tip of the Week

The Best of the Digital Photography Tip of the Week

One of Chris' first tips was on the Rule of Thirds. This is a composition tip, where you divide your field of view into a 3x3 grid, and then try to position your subject to position it in a "third" of the picture.

 

His tip obviously has a lot more detail, and a few more example photos.

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

Return to the top

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

Return to the top

Tips and Other Stuff

Total Defrag 2007

Paragon Software (the makers of Partition Manager) have released a new hard drive defragmentation utility called Total Defrag 2007. I received a press release with some of the details:

Paragon Software Group, the technological leader in innovative data security and data management technology, announced the release of Paragon Total Defrag 2007, the most advanced hard drive defragmentation utility available. Total Defrag 2007 promises to provide the most efficient disk layout possible, providing the user with faster boot times and fast access to files across the entire system.

The product is designed based on Paragon's original technologies. Total Defrag 2007 will provide a complete and exhaustive defragmentation and disk optimization. In addition, users will be able to select options that will place the most frequently used OS files and data towards the beginning or outside tracks of the platters. This will result in even faster boot times and overall system performance.

"We believe that Paragon Total Defrag 2007 will outperform existing defrag utilities. Most of the defrag algorithms were developed during research into how fragmentation levels affect the size of a disk image," said Konstantin Komarov, CEO of Paragon. "This technology is utilized in our other hard disk management products and now, as a stand-alone application."

You can learn more on the Paragon Software web site.

Leave a comment...

Tech support by average joes with Fixya

fixya_logo.png

I heard about this on Download Squad...

How many times have you been befuddled with a product, only to result to the dreaded 1-800 number in the manual to resolve your issue? Hours later only to find no resolution in sight.

Enter Fixya, a startup that has taken on the challenge of supplying online technical support, user guides and repairs by letting users help each other. In a few simple steps users get the help they need with their items by submitting product related questions from a catalog of over 700,000 current consumer products

You can learn more about Fixya on the Fixya site.

Leave a comment...

Return to the top

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:

Return to the top

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.

  1. If any of the links are too long to fit on one line, you may have to cut and paste.
  2. To subscribe another address or unsubscribe, please visit http://PCIN.net/ and follow the appropriate links.
  3. The only way to become a subscriber is by asking. You have either filled out the subscription form or asked me directly.
  4. If you have a web site or run your own newsletter, please email me at editor@pcin.net and I will add it to the subscriber web pages that I have on my site.
  5. Support PCIN by visiting http://PCIN.net/donate.php or by clicking on the PayPal link below:

Return to the top

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.

Support PCIN by visiting http://PCIN.net/donate.php

PC Improvement News Home Page

PC Improvement News Archive