ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements © 2007
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Welcome to the 477th 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
Wow, December is here already! We've had some frigid days lately, and apparently "they" are saying that it will be one of the coldest winters in 15-20 years. We might actually have a white Christmas.
I'm starting vacation when I'm done work tomorrow. I don't have anything special planned, but it will be nice to be home with Lisa and the kids. There is lots to do around the house, so I'm sure Lisa will keep me busy.
Graham editor@pcin.net and Chris chris@pcin.net
Is dirty hardware making you sick?
Take a look at your keyboard. Is last week's lunch still decorating the space bar? What about your phone? Does the earpiece look as greasy as a spoon in a truckers' café?
Office equipment harbours millions of germs - with telephones, keyboards and mice particularly fertile breeding grounds for nasties, claims IT equipment cleaning company PROtech IT Hygiene.
The average office desk is capable of supporting some 10 million microbes, said the cleaning company, and there are nearly 21,000 microbes per square inch in the average office.
For Toddlers, Toy of Choice Is Tech Device
Cellphones, laptops, digital cameras and MP3 music players are among the hottest gift items this year. For preschoolers.
Toy makers and retailers are filling shelves with new tech devices for children ages 3 and up, and sometimes even down. They say they are catering to junior consumers who want to emulate their parents and are not satisfied with fake gadgets.
Windows Apps Running Native on Your Mac?
Will Mac OS X one day run Windows apps without the need for dual booting or virtual machines? That's the question/rumor currently making the rounds after Wine developer Steven Edwards discovered Leopard contains an undocumented loader for Portable Executables, a filetype used in Windows applications.
When Apple made the switch to Intel, it opened up a realm of possible Windows compatibility previously unavailable on the Mac platform. As the success of Boot Camp, Parallels, VMWare Fusion and Wine demonstrate, users would clearly love to have Windows and Mac apps running of the same machine.
And what's better than virtualization and dual booting? Native support.
Steve Jobs Anointed Fortune's Most Influential Exec
Apple CEO Steve Jobs, the man behind the popular iPod, is the world's most powerful businessman, according to Fortune Magazine's list of the 25 most influential executives.
PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi, who reshaped the soft drinks giant, is the most powerful businesswoman, said the magazine, which made its selection partly based on executives' "world-class oomph".
Useful Shortcuts in Adobe Photoshop Elements 5
As a computer power user, I like to make my computer experience as fast as I can. One of the ways that I do that is to maximize my use of program shortcuts. Today I provide a list of common shortcuts for Adobe Photoshop Elements 5, many of which can be used in other versions of Photoshop programs.
Tools (Pressing the shortcut key multiple times rotates between tool variations):
V - Move
Z - Zoom
M - Marquee
L - Lasso
T - Type
C - Crop
J - Spot Healing Brush
B - Brush
K - Paint Bucket
O - Sponge Tool
Palette and other shortcuts:
D - Default foreground and background colours
X - Switch foreground with background colour
[ - Smaller brush size
] - Larger brush size
Shift [ - softer brush
Shift } - harder brush
F11 - Show/Hide Layers palette (F7 in Photoshop)
CTRL + - Zoom in
CTRL - - Zoom out
CTRL D - Deselect
CTRL Shift I - Invert selection
These are the shortcuts I use most of the time in my workflow. You may find other shortcuts (there are many) that you find useful.
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.
Check out these new or updated pages on the PCIN.net site:
Paragon Software Group Hard Disk Manager 2008
http://PCIN.net/help/software/paragonhdm2008.phpAdobe Photoshop Elements 5.0 and Adobe Premier Elements 3.0 Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/photoshopEL5_Premiere3.phpExpoDisc White Balance Filter Review
http://PCIN.net/help/hardware/expodisc.phpParagon Software Group Partition Manager 8.0 Professional Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/ppm8.phpUpdate PCIN.net home page with "Top 10 Most Popular..." features
http://PCIN.net/
Paragon Hard Disk Manager 2008 software review
I have reviewed several Paragon Software Group titles over the years, and posted about them in the PCIN.net Update blog. I've always been impressed by their products. The trend continues to this day. I recently obtained a copy of Hard Disk Manager 2008 and it builds on its predecessors and becomes an even better product.
As with previous versions, Hard Disk Manager 2008 comes with a variety of utilities. It comes with utilities in the following categories:
- Protect System Data
- Maintenance
- Rescue and Recovery
- Securely Dispose of Hard Disk
- Advanced Options
Please visit the FreeHelp Software Review section of the PCIN.net site to read the full review, see screenshots of the program, and to rate the review.
Windows Add/Remove programs replacements
Download Squad recently had a great posting about 3rd-party "Add/Remove Programs" replacements. Of course every version of Windows has an applet in the Control Panel where you can remove programs. Whether it is a problem with Windows, or the install/uninstall programs, there is often bits left behind. This Download Squad posting highlights several programs (Revo Uninstaller, Absolute Uninstaller, MyUninstaller, Safarp, and CCleaner) and then asks people to leave comments about their favourites.
Clean Up Unnecessary Files
There was a time when I tried to write helpful articles on the web site. One of my most popular articles was about deleting temp files. As hard drives have gotten bigger, I haven't paid too much attention to this issue, but there is still software out there that is supposed to automate the process. The Toolbox section of the December issue of TechNet Magazine highlights a product called Wise Disk Cleaner 2.
A hard disk is sort of like a home - things accumulate there over time, things that you don't really need to keep. Every now and again, it is a good idea to take a little time to do some serious weeding out of the clutter. There are a few standard methods for cleaning up a hard disk with built-in Windows tools, such as the system tool, Disk Cleanup, and the search functionality. But sometimes, a quick and easy-to-use utility is the way to go-especially when you can get it for free. One such tool is Wise Disk Cleaner 2, which searches your hard disks for the pesky files gathering dust that can be safely removed from your system.
I haven't tried the product, but I thought I'd pass it along.
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:
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.
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