ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements © 2005
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Welcome to the 372nd issue of the PC Improvement News. PCIN consists mainly of news 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.
Recommend PCIN at http://PCIN.net/recommend.php
Support PCIN at http://PCIN.net/donate.php
Chris has finished the review of Adobe Photoshop Elements 4. Read the Digital Photography Tip of the Week section below for more info. We're working to get caught up on a couple more reviews. I'm hoping to have the DVD to Pocket PC 3 review done for next week.
I recently posted about my problems with Google Adsense. It was mentioned in the Google Blogoscoped blog and I got quite a few visitors out of it. Unfortunately, I still don't have an answer to my questions. Read the posting to find out what the problems are. I've also posted about how Google has been crawling my family web site and sucking up all the bandwidth.
Oh, be sure to check out the Dr. Seuss-like explanation of Why Computers Sometimes Crash!
Graham editor@pcin.net and Chris chris@pcin.net
Malicious Keyloggers Run Rampant on Net
Keylogging programs are the epitome of online stealth, and they're also a mushrooming problem on the Internet, where identity and intellectual property thefts are fueling an explosion of key-capture tools.
Reports of new keylogging programs soared higher this year, as part of a wave of multifunction malware with integrated keylogging features, according to VeriSign Inc.'s security information company iDefense Inc. The programs often evade detection by anti-virus tools and can be difficult to detect once installed, experts warn. However, at least one anti-spyware company believes that reports about the danger posed by keyloggers are overstated.
A Tiny Windows Laptop With a Sense of Fashion
Everywhere you look, the electronics industry seems to be playing its own mutant variations of limbo. But the question isn't "How low can you go?" At Dell, it's "How cheap can you go?" At Apple, it's "How cool can you go?" And at Microsoft's Windows division, it's "How slow can you go?"
Among the Asian makers of Windows laptops, though, the game for some time has been, "How small can you go?"
Turns out the answer is, "smaller than you'd like it."
Don't put another dime in the jukebox
The jukebox at the bar Brian Toro manages isn't gathering dust just yet -- but it may only be a matter of time.
The popular nightspot is among a growing number of places across the country where people can bring their iPods and other portable music players and, for as long as the bartender allows, share their personal favorites with the crowd.
France leads Europe in Net usage, study finds
France leads the rest of Europe in the numbers of hours spent online by Internet users, followed by Britain and Spain, a study revealed on Tuesday.
The study by European Interactive Advertising Association (EIAA) showed that the French user now spends 13 hours a week online, compared with 11 each for Britain and Spain and a European average of 10-1/4 hours.
Italians spend the least time online with an average of only eight hours per week, according to the study which involved 7,000 random telephone interviews with 1,000 respondents across Europe.
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Check out these new or updated pages on the PCIN.net site:
Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0 Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/elements40.phpNorris Family Industry ActiveEarth 2.0 Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/activeearth2.phpParagon Partition Manager 7 Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/ppm7.phpDiFolders Software BlogJet 1.5 Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/blogjet15.phpVMware Inc. VMware Workstation 4.5 Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/vmware45.php
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Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0 Software Review
Today's tip is a summary of my review of Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0.
The software is really a combination of two products, Adobe Photoshop Elements Editor and Adobe PhotoShop Elements Organizer. Together they form an indispensable set of tools for the digital photographer. Tagging your images with keywords for easy identification and sorting, variable thumbnail sizes, automatic download of images and red eye reduction when you connect your camera are a few of the features of the Organizer.
The editor offers many of the features available in Photoshop CS2. RAW support, smart blur, Photoshop compatible filters are some of the features of both programs. However, Photoshop Elements 4.0 also offers a magic selection brush to quickly select objects in your image, and a magic extractor tool to remove an object completely (useful for pasting into another image when creating a montage.)
There are many more features to both products that make the low cost (as low at $69.99 US, plus a $20 mail in rebate for those upgrading) of Adobe Photoshop Elements a great buy. I feel that this product will meet all of the needs of almost all amateur serious hobbyist photographers and only those that have a comfortable working knowledge of Photoshop CS2 will miss any feature not in Elements 4.0.
Read the full review at http://pcin.net/help/software/elements40.php
Comment on this week's Digital Photography Tip of the Week at http://www.pcin.net/update/index.php/2005/11/30/adobe_photoshop_elements_4_0_review_digi
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 vice-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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Free Retro Clipart
I read about this in the Unofficial Microsoft Office Stuff blog:
What is original fifties clipart? Most communities in the fifties had small town print shops that doubled as printers of local news and advertising papers. These printers could not afford graphic artists so they used stock clipart supplied by large companies who distributed common graphics for use in advertising sections of the papers. They were provided for the printer in lots of categories to meet any advertiser's needs.
Check it out at http://www.retrographix.com/
The Definitive BIOS Optimization Guide
From Ed Bott's Blog:I can't vouch for the accuracy of this resource, but it sure does look comprehensive. Definitely a good starting point if you're stumped by what one of those obscure BIOS options really means.
Consider this and similar sites as reference tools, not as a bible. For what it's worth, I don't recommend spending a lot of time and energy tweaking BIOS settings for better performance. The odds that you'll screw something up and hose your system are much greater than any minuscule performance gain you're likely to see. But sometimes you can fix a conflict or provide a better configuration for a specific piece of hardware than the default settings.As always, Ed's blog is great! Check out both Ed's blog, as well as the link he refers to.
I had mentioned this before in my BIOS Help article.
Google Video: Yo Yo Champion
Amazing stuff from the The Unofficial Google Weblog:
I find myself browsing through the Google Video blog tonight as a last-ditch avoidance of sleep. (I hit Starbucks at 7pm; a lethal REM-killing tactic.) I can do without the Hilary Duff video of which Google seems to be proud. And all those cooking clips? Please - enough. But the 2005 World Yo Yo Contest champion ... Oh. My. Gawd. If you have ever touched a yo yo in your life, you must watch this astounding display of stringy artistry. I never got the hang of "Walk the dog." This kid will explode your mind.
Microsoft Search Engine
Today there is a search engine that focuses on Microsoft technology! We cover Microsoft Server applications, .NET and programming, Operating Systems, Microsoft desktop and Office applications, and gaming. Now you have an easy to navigate site designed for the senior Microsoft administrators, developers, decision makers and end-users.Check it out at http://www.microsoftsearchengine.com/
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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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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 1998-2005, 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