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Issue 458 - July 25, 2007
ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements © 2007
==== 1440 Subscribers in 47 Countries ====
Welcome to the 458th 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
Andrew is turning 5 on Friday. I can't believe our
first baby is going to be 5! We're going mini-putting on Friday, and
then on Saturday he is having his first friend birthday party (with a mini-putt
theme of course... he loves miniputt!). He's obviously very excited.
Last Saturday there was a special 30-minute long fireworks display in Niagara
Falls. I took some pictures
and posted a video if you are interested in seeing some of it.
Graham editor@pcin.net and
Chris chris@pcin.net
News Highlights
FBI ducks questions about its remotely installed spyware
There are plenty of unanswered questions about the FBI spyware that, as
we reported earlier this week, can be delivered over the Internet and implanted
in a suspect's computer remotely.
Many of the questions hearken back to the old debate over the FBI's Carnivore
wiretapping system, which technical luminaries Steve Bellovin, Matt Blaze,
David Farber, Peter Neumann, and Eugene Spafford raised in a December 2000
paper...
And of course there are issues more specific to the FBI's use of the Computer
and Internet Protocol Address Verifier, or CIPAV, including whether the bureau
believes it can install it on Americans' computers willy-nilly in the wake
of a wacky 9th U.S. Circuit Court decision this month.
Read the CNet News
article...
Leave a comment...
Wasting Time Online Could Be A Thing Of The Past
Does your company monitor how much time you spend on YouTube and eBay? Perhaps
it should.
Employees waste more than 81 minutes of work time in personal computer activity
on average and 13% squander more than two hours a day on recreational computer
activities, according to an old AOL/Salary.com survey.
And, those considered top employees can be the worst offenders.
Read the InformationWeek
article...
Leave a comment...
Computer plays "perfect" game of checkers
The perfect game of checkers ends as a draw, Canadian computer scientists
reported on Thursday.
The team at the University of Alberta said they had "solved" checkers,
the 5,000-year-old popular board game also known as draughts. Their computer
program, Chinook, spent more than 18 years playing out the 500 billion possible
positions, they report in the journal Science.
Read the Reuters
article...
Leave a comment...
Africa, Offline: Waiting for the Web
On a muggy day in Kigali in 2003, some of the highest-ranking officials
in the Rwandan government, including President Paul Kagame, flanked an American
businessman, Greg Wyler, as he boldly described how he could help turn their
small country into a hub of Internet activity.
Mr. Wyler, an executive based in Boston who made his fortune during the tech
boom, said he would lace Rwanda with fiber optic cables, connecting schools,
government institutions and homes with low-cost, high-speed Internet service.
Until that point, Mr. Wyler, 37, had never set foot in Africa - he was invited
by a Rwandan government official he had met at a wedding. Mr. Wyler never
expected to start a business there; he simply wanted to try to help the war-torn
country.
Even so, Mr. Wyler's company, Terracom, was granted a contract to connect
300 schools to the Internet. Later, the company would buy 99 percent of the
shares in Rwandatel, the country's national telecommunications company, for
$20 million.
But after nearly four years, most of the benefits hailed by him and his company
have failed to materialize, Rwandan officials say. "The bottom line
is that he promised many things and didn't deliver," said Albert Butare,
the country's telecommunications minister.
Read the New York
Times article...
Leave a comment...
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Digital Photography
Tip of the Week
Colour Relationships - Digital Photography Tip of the Week
Today's tip is a quick one regarding the relationship of colour models. You
are most likely most familiar with the RGB colour model as this is used in
most computer applications, your digital cameras, monitors, etc. Another very
common colour model comes from the print industry, CMYK. If you are using Adobe
Photoshop Elements, you only have access to the RGB colour model. If you
are using the full version of Adobe
Photoshop (any recent version) you will have access to many different colour
models including RGB and CMYK.
They both get their names by using the first letter of each of the colours
needed to represent all of the other supported colours in the model. RGB uses
Red, Green and Blue to make up the other 16.7 million colours this model can
represent, while CMYK uses Cyan, Magenta and Yellow to make it's colour gamut.
CMYK also need to add in a fourth colour - black - to fully achieve the depth
needed for some of it's colours though that is not important today.
If you are unfamiliar working with CMYK, it can be a bit confusing. However,
there is a little bit of correlation between the two that becomes especially
useful to know when you are performing colour corrections.
R - G - B
C - M - Y
When you are colour correcting an image, if you know what colour the colour
cast of the image is, you can correct it by adding the corresponding colour
from the other colour model. For example, if you image has a cyan cast to it,
adding red will help eliminate it. On the other hand, if your image is on the
green side, slowly adding magenta will compensate for that green.
People are very sensitive to variations in colour when they see it. Keeping
colours correct can help ensure you photos look as they should.
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
Icon War
I saw this in Windows Secrets...
Ever wonder what happens when you leave your computer on overnight? Does
it just sit idle until the screen saver kicks in?
That's what you want to believe. But now MASO Digital Studio has captured
proof of the secret life of your desktop icons in a hilarious Flash clip. View
the animation
Leave a comment...
Dissecting electronic gadgetry
The short description on the site says it all:
This site shows how to take apart electronic devices and gadgets.
If you like to take things apart and would like to see what others have
done, then you should check out TakeItApart.net.
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.
- If any of the links are too long to fit on one line, you may have to cut
and paste.
- To subscribe another address or unsubscribe, please visit http://PCIN.net/ and
follow the appropriate links.
- The only way to become a subscriber is by asking. You have either filled
out the subscription form or asked me directly.
- 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.
- Support PCIN by visiting http://PCIN.net/donate.php or
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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