Monthly Archive for October, 2006

Upgrade to Print2PDF 6.0

Published
by
Graham
on October 23, 2006
in Software Tips
. 0 Comments

I’ve reviewed several Software602 software packages in the past, but nothing recently. They keep churning out new updates, and they have released a new version of Print2PDF:

Print2PDF 6.0 was introduced on September 14, 2006. This new version features a completely redesigned conversion engine for increased performance, Microsoft Office 2007 file support, AutoCAD DWF file support, integrated SMTP client and more.

Here are a few of the new features available in Print2PDF 6.0:

* Embedded File Attachment Support
* Rotation and Optimization Support
* Improved Microsoft Word Macro
* Enhanced Image to PDF Conversion
* and much more…

Learn more about Print2PDF 6.0, download the trial or view the demo gallery, here:

http://www.software602.com/products/print2pdf/

I haven’t reviewed a version of a product in years, but I thought I’d still pass the information along.

SpeedUpMyPC version 3.0 has been released

Published
by
Graham
on October 23, 2006
in Software Tips
. 0 Comments

I received an email this week from Uniblue about their recent release of SpeedUpMyPC v3.0:

You might want to tell your audience about the release of SpeedUpMyPC v3.0 which dramatically increases system efficiency and boosts launch applications. Version 3.0 is easy to use with single-click navigation and has several new clean-up features.

You can take a look at the full Press Release: http://www.liutilities.com/news/pressrelease/release23/

I haven’t reviewed or even tried the product, but I thought I’d pass it along.

Spamhaus Warns of More Junk E-Mail

Published
by
Graham
on October 23, 2006
in Computer News
. 0 Comments

From NewsFactor:

According to Spamhaus, more than 650 million Internet users — including those at the White House, the U.S. Army and the European Parliament — benefit from Spamhaus’ “blacklist” of spammers that helps identify which messages to block, send to a “junk” folder or accept. Losing the domain name would make it more difficult for service providers and others to obtain the lists.

The anti-spam group Spamhaus Project warned more junk e-mail could be on the way as it prepares to lose its domain name thanks to a company it has accused of sending spam.

Executives at the U.K.-based Spamhaus Project said Monday they expect a federal judge in Chicago will soon sign an order that would suspend the domain spamhaus.org because the group has refused to recognize the U.S. court and comply with a $11.7 million judgment.

Google: Can’t Stop This Train

Published
by
Graham
on October 23, 2006
in Computer News
. 0 Comments

From BusinessWeek:

Comparisons of Google to a freight train that defies the laws of physics are looking apt right about now. By all rights, such forces as a slowing economy and increased competition from new search engines and social networks should be dragging on the company’s growth. That’s what they’re doing to rival Yahoo!. But time and time again Google proves that it is far from running out of steam. In some ways, it may just be getting started.

Video-hungry users could push Net to brink: Nortel

Published
by
Graham
on October 23, 2006
in Computer News
. 0 Comments

From Reuters:

Soaring demand for games, video and music will stretch the Internet to its limits, Canada’s Nortel Networks Corp. says, and it expects service providers will make big investments in its technology to avoid a crunch.

But the telecom equipment giant, still struggling to turn its fortunes round after the tech bubble burst, is treading carefully as it prepares for what it sees as a looming buildout of capacity by telecommunications companies.

Massive overbuild of Internet bandwidth capacity helped lead to the meltdown six years ago, and the company says it doesn’t want things to go wrong again…

But perhaps ironically, Roese also believes the capacity bubble helped service providers cope with the surge in demand for bandwidth that came with the advent of online video Web sites like YouTube.com.

“The only reason YouTube didn’t destroy the Internet is because there was a bit of a bubble in terms of excess capacity out there,” Roese said. “But, boy, don’t take that for granted.”

iPod at 5: The little gadget that could

Published
by
Graham
on October 23, 2006
in Computer News
. 0 Comments

From TechRepublic:

The Macintosh may be the soul of Apple Computer, but the iPod is its wallet.

Five years ago, the Silicon Valley icon reported quarterly revenues of $1.45 billion, down 22 percent. Profits were cut in half, and some wondered if Apple would forever suffer at the hands of low-cost PC competitors like Dell.

Apple fans needn’t have fretted, because six days later on Oct. 23, 2001, Apple unveiled the iPod, and its fortunes along with those of the music industry dramatically changed.

Spin forward five years. The company said Wednesday that it shipped 8.7 million iPods during its fourth fiscal quarter, which ended Sept. 30. In fact, Apple’s $1.6 billion from iPod sales in the quarter was more than it generated as an entire company back in October 2001. Those iPod sales were also 35 percent more than the same period last year and a lot more than cautious financial analysts were expecting.

It’s hard to overstate the impact of the iPod on the computer, consumer electronics and music industries since it was introduced in 2001.

Study: Employees have lax password habits

Published
by
Graham
on October 22, 2006
in Computer News
. 0 Comments

From MSNBC:

One in three people write down computer passwords, undermining their security, and companies should look to more advanced methods, including biometrics, to ensure their systems are safe, a new study shows.

A study released Tuesday by global research firms Nucleus Research and KnowledgeStorm found companies’ attempts to tighten IT security by regularly changing passwords and making them more complex by adding numbers as well as letters had no impact on security.

Staff still had a tendency to jot down passwords either on a piece of paper or in a text file on a PC or mobile device.

US shows signs of net addiction

Published
by
Graham
on October 21, 2006
in Computer News
. 0 Comments

From the BBC:

More than one in eight adults in the US show signs of being addicted to the internet, a study has shown.

“Addicts” showed signs of compulsive internet use, habitually checking e-mail, websites and chat rooms.

More than 8% of the 2,513 respondents to the Stanford University phone survey said they hid their use from partners.

The Web According to Ballmer

Published
by
Graham
on October 12, 2006
in Computer News
. 0 Comments

BusinessWeek has an interesting article with Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer. Here’s the intro:

Even the people running the richest tech companies are awestruck by Web 2.0 valuations. Microsoft boss Steven Ballmer, who sat down with BusinessWeek editors and writers hours before Google finalized its $1.65 billion purchase of YouTube, questioned how the online video service could fetch so much. He also talked about Microsoft’s video-game and digital music business, as well as the new breed of competition the company faces. Here’s an edited transcript of the conversation.

Some Common Photography Problems - Digital Photography Tip of the Week

Published
by
Chris
on October 11, 2006
in Digital Photography Tips & Info
. 5 Comments

I have discussed in the past some common problems people often experience with photography and how they can be corrected. Crooked photos, too much background in your images, red eye. When polling some co-workers about a topic they would like to know more about, these were all issues that came up.

I have already covered how to straighten a crooked photo in a previous tip. Of course, it is always better to get things correct when you take the picture, but if not, you can still correct the image in Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Photoshop Elements or any other image editing program you may use.

The issue of too much background in a photo is a common one, partially caused by the photographer, but not always entirely. In my tip about moving in close to your subject, I explained how filling your frame can improve your images. Unfortunately, many optical viewfinders in cameras do not offer 100% coverage, that is, they do not show everything that will be recorded on your image. Some may only show as little at 80% of what will be recorded on your photo. So filling your frame on a camera may not be enough to completely fill your photo with your subject. A little cropping on the computer is all that is necessary to correct that though.

I talked only briefly about red-eye when discussing the use of external flash units. You can still minimize red eye when using an on board flash by using the camera’s red eye reduction mode. This will either create a few bursts of the flash prior to taking the photo or turn on an secondary lamp, again, prior to taking the photo. Both methods accomplish the same thing, forced the subject’s pupils to shrink, lessening the change (not eliminating it) of red eye. Another option to ask your subject to look at a bright light for a short second before take the photo, again to accomplish the same shrinking of the pupil.

I was also asked about white spots that appear in some digital photos. These are most likely caused by dust in the air near the lens when the photo is taken. The size of the sensor in many digital camera’s is quite small and one of the side effects of this small sensor size is an increase in depth of field. The small white specs you may see in your photographs are really the light of the flash illuminating dust in the air. The relative distance to the lens and sensor, brightness of the light due to the proximity to the flash, and increased depth of field of the smaller sensor size all contribute to these particles being reproduced on film. Unfortunately, there is not much you can do to delaminate this issue other than clean your photos up using an image editing program.

I hope the topics I covered today remind you of a few of the basic things you can do to improve your photography. If you have a problem you are not sure about, please leave a comment

Until next time, happy shooting.

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.