Monthly Archive for May, 2007

More Sorting in Adobe Photoshop Lightrooom – Digital Photography Tip of the Week

Published on May 30, 2007 in Digital Photography Tips & Info. 0 Comments

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.

More Bandwidth Than You Can Use?

Published on May 29, 2007 in Computer News. 0 Comments

From BusinessWeek:

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.”

How to Survive the Worst PC Disasters

Published on May 26, 2007 in Hardware Tips and Recommended Web Sites. 0 Comments

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…

Kids Don’t Tell Parents The Truth About Online Activities

Published on May 26, 2007 in Computer News. 0 Comments

From InformationWeek:

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.

Dell, Direct-Sales Leader, Will Offer PCs at Wal-Mart

Published on May 25, 2007 in Computer News. 0 Comments

From Bloomberg News:

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.

59 Ways to Supercharge Windows

Published on May 24, 2007 in Software Tips. 0 Comments

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.

Rating Your Images in Adobe Lightroom – Digital Photography Tip of the Week

Published on May 23, 2007 in Digital Photography Tips & Info. 0 Comments

I’ve mentioned in a previous tip using keyword tagging within Adobe Photoshop Lightroom to help keep your photos organized.

Another organization method in Lightroom is through the use of it’s rating feature.  You can assign a rating from 1-5 stars for each image that you create. Later, you can filter your images using those ratings, showing all images with that rating, all images with that rating and higher or all images with that rating and lower. You can combine that with the keywords you have used for more filtered results.

On word of caution though, if you don’t tag images, they will appear when you choose the ‘and lower’ option.

Until next time, happy shooting.

Photoshop CS3 Video-book

Published on May 23, 2007 in Digital Photography Tips & Info and Software Tips. 0 Comments

as_simple_as_photoshop_logo.gif

I’ve received a couple of emails from Andrei Doubrovski regarding his Photoshop Video Books:

Andrei Doubrovski, a professional photo restoration artist and technician, has released version 6.0 of video-book “As Simple As Photoshop”.

This course offers you an original method of a quick but total immersion into the Photoshop environment. Are you looking for Photoshop CS3 video course? Every tutorial here is packed with a short movie showing some practical usage of the wordy lesson. 104 embedded clips may be played as a single full-length and full-size movie (total running time about 3 hours). The elaborated controls allow users instant finding a required page or episode.

I haven’t looked at them yet, but I thought I would pass it along. Check out As Simple as Photoshop…

Virtual war, real therapy

Published on May 23, 2007 in Computer News. 0 Comments

From CNN:

The mental scars of war are often far more debilitating than the many physical injuries that servicemen and women pick up during combat. But a new virtual war simulation may help veterans recover from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Researchers at the University of California have estimated that a quarter of the 100,000 servicemen returning from duty in Afghanistan and Iraq between 2001 and 2005 have received at least one mental health diagnosis. Of those 25,000 veterans, over half were suffering from PTSD…

A new virtual simulation currently being trialed aims to treat returning war veterans in a unique way. The “Virtual Iraq” simulation has been developed at the University of Southern California’s (USC) Institute for Creative Technologies by Scientist’s Albert “Skip” Rizzo and Jarrell Pair.

The exposure therapy program, which took the graphic assets from the Xbox game “Full Spectrum Warrior,” recreates the sights and sounds, even the smells and physical jolts of the battlefield allowing soldiers to relive and ultimately confront their psychological traumas.

On the USC program patients talk through their trauma with a therapist whilst wearing goggles, which immerse them in a virtual reality battlefield. The therapist controls and adapts the environment, adding sights, smells and sounds, if agreed by the patient. These can include roadside bombs, specific odors such as gunpowder, cordite, burning rubber, Iraqi spices and body odor, and targeted sounds such as gunfire and helicopters buzzing overhead. So far four of those treated have responded positively and seen an improvement in their symptoms.

Will grannies become gamers?

Published on May 23, 2007 in Computer News. 0 Comments

From TechRepublic:

The kids will be itching to visit grandmother as often as possible if the video game industry has its way.

Software maker Microsoft and game maker Electronic Arts held a gaming day at a pensioners’ settlement in Finland last week, taking another step toward gauging interest in gaming among seniors.

Pensioner Kaija Ekstam, who is 72 years old, grappled with a console to keep the car in the video racing game on course and mused that taking up the pastime would provide an exciting new platform for her relationship with her grandchildren.

“I have just started playing. This is great. My grandkids play these games so it will be nice to join them,” Ekstam told Reuters. “I do not want to hear comments about female drivers.”

The gaming day, at the Kalliola pensioners’ settlement house, demonstrated that interest in the activity could grow among pensioners, provided they are introduced to it with enough information.