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Issue 450 - May 30, 2007
ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements © 2007
==== 1489 Subscribers in 49 Countries ====
Welcome to the 450th 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
News Highlights
More Bandwidth Than You Can Use?
From the moment the first phone-line modems squawked to life, connecting
consumers to early Internet service providers two decades ago, there has
been a nearly universal quest for more plentiful and speedier data pipes
into the home.
Yet even now that those pipes are arriving, the race to provide even bigger
ones is intensifying among telecom and cable TV companies, as well as wireless
network operators.
In Millis, Mass., freelance writer Michael Fitzgerald recently boosted the
speed with which he can reach the Internet by subscribing to Verizon's (VZ)
new FiOS broadband service. FiOS delivers a super-fast connection by replacing
the old copper phone line to each home with a fiber-optic cable, offering
Internet downloads as fast as 30 megabits per second, vs. the 1Mbps to 6Mbps
of the typical cable or DSL broadband line. "I was intrigued by the
service when I first heard about it," says Fitzgerald. While he may
not fully exploit his new firepower with any regularity, Fitzgerald is one
of about 864,000 FiOS broadband subscribers. "Over the long term, I
think there will be benefits that I can't even begin to imagine yet."
Read the BusinessWeek
article...
Leave a comment...
Kids Don't Tell Parents The Truth About Online Activities
Do you know what your kids are doing online? A new study shows you probably
don't.
According to research by Webroot Software, what parents think their kids
are doing online and what kids say they're doing online are often two different
things.
"Without proper parental guidance, children can put themselves at risk,
compromise valuable family information, or be the sources of bad behavior like
illegally downloading videos or music or bullying," said Mike Irwin, COO
of Webroot Software, in a statement.
Read the InformationWeek
article...
Leave a comment...
Dell, Direct-Sales Leader, Will Offer PCs at Wal-Mart
Dell Inc. said it will sell personal computers at Wal-Mart Stores Inc.,
in the biggest step away from its direct-sales strategy since the company
was dethroned by Hewlett-Packard Co. as the industry leader.
The decision is the first move in a plan to sell through retailers worldwide,
Dell spokesman Bob Pearson said today. The second-largest PC maker will have
two Dimension desktop models in more than 3,000 Wal-Mart stores in the U.S.,
Canada and Puerto Rico on June 10.
Read the Bloomberg
News article...
Leave a comment...
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Digital Photography
Tip of the Week
More Sorting in Adobe Photoshop Lightrooom - Digital Photography
Tip of the Week
Last week I talked about rating images in Adobe
Photoshop Lightroom, and in the past also talked about using keywords.
Both features can be used together to help find images within your collection.
Lightroom still has more though. Two other methods for sorting your images
are use of color labels and of flags. With color labels, you have five colors
you can assign to an image, red, yellow, blue green and purple. Just as with
ratings, you can color images and find images that have been labeled with a
color. Why use color labels when you can use labels? You can pick any combination
of color labels while ratings are used in consecutive order, either up or down.
And of course, everyone has their own way of doing things. If you make a lot
of photographs, sorting them 1-5 just may not be sufficient for your workflow.
Finally, Adobe
Photoshop Lightroom also has a feature called flags. Flags have three
states: picked, rejected and unflagged. Again, different people have different
ways of using software. For me, this is a great tools when I need to reduce
the number if images I have shot in a given project such as a wedding. In
Library, I view all of my images and select only the best one. I apply a
flag of picked to these images. Now, when I sort by flag, I only see the
images I will be working on, none of the rejects or unflagged images.
That is four different methods of categorizing and finding images with Adobe
Photoshop Lightroom and there are still others. You can create collections
of images, find based on your equipment such as all images shot with a certain
lens or a certain camera. There is also a free form text find for searching
metadata and keywords. It is up to you to decide with how much granularity
you want to organize your images.
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
How to Survive the Worst PC Disasters
From PC World:
When it comes to computers, sometimes things go south...and sometimes
they go to Antarctica. If your computer won't boot or your data's gone
astray, panic is soon to follow, and you might find yourself making things
worse in your haste to solve the problem.
To prepare for that inevitable day, save this article: The next time some
piece of hardware or software decides to take an unexpected vacation, pull
out and consult our handy guide to see how to deal with some of computing's
most devastating debacles.
I originally read about this on Download
Squad...
Leave a comment...
59 Ways to Supercharge Windows
From PC Magazine:
Yes, Windows Vista is finally here. And, yes, it's packed with all sorts
of brand-new applets that would seem to spell doom for countless third-party
software utilities, including ZIP tools, photo managers, desktop search
engines-and the list goes on. But that doesn't mean Vista will end up squashing
the entire utility market. As time has shown, no matter how many utilities
Microsoft bundles with Windows-Oops! Did we say bundles?-there's always
room for more. With this in mind, we give you our 15th Annual Utility Guide,
a look at 59 Windows tools nimble enough to boost even the newest Vista
machines. This sprawling collection of software gadgets includes everything
from browser toolbars and standalone media gadgets to the newest and coolest
breed of desktop utility: widgets! Whatever version of Windows you're running-from
Vista all the way down to Windows 2000-you'll find countless ways to improve
your life. And most are completely free.
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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and paste.
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follow the appropriate links.
- The only way to become a subscriber is by asking. You have either filled
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I will add it to the subscriber web pages that I have on my site.
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by clicking on the PayPal link below:
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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.
Support PCIN by visiting http://PCIN.net/donate.php
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