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Issue 397 - May 24, 2006

ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements © 2006
==== 1612 Subscribers in 51 Countries ====

Welcome to the 397th 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.

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CONTENTS

Opening Thoughts

I hope you all saw my blog posting last week about the Niagara Falls Camera Club. This is the club that Chris is president, and he was in the paper talking about digital photography. He also won some awards. Way to go Chris!

As you can see by the Tips and Other Stuff section, I need some more tips...

Happy Memorial Day!

Graham editor@pcin.net and Chris chris@pcin.net

The NEWS

Your computer may be a pain in the neck

Sit up straight
If you're reading this article with hunched shoulders and a craned neck, your "computer slump" could one day give way to what some physical therapists call "postural syndrome."
Postural syndrome is essentially repetitive stress to the neck and thoracic spine, or the 12 vertebrae of the mid-back and chest area, from the so-called flex-forward position. Doctors and physical therapists say that the injury commonly targets the fourth, fifth and sixth discs in the thoracic spine, leading to muscle tenderness, stiffness or, in some cases, nerve irritation.
A prolonged slouch over many years causes the disc space to narrow, which in turn can cause nerve irritation that spreads underneath the shoulder blades, down the arms and down the back.

Read the TechRepublic article...
Leave a comment...

Survey: Employees favor personal surfing

It should come as no surprise that most Americans with Internet access at work do some personal Web surfing on the job. A new survey finds that half of them would rather give up their morning coffee than forgo that ability.
Maps, news and weather are the chief non-work-related sites visited.

Read the USA Today article...
Leave a comment...

The Fight Against V1@gra (and Other Spam)

To the antispam researchers at MessageLabs, an e-mail filtering company, each new wave of a recent stock-pumping spam seemed like a personal affront.
The spammers were trying to circumvent the world's junk-mail filters by embedding their messages - whether peddling something called China Digital Media for $1.71 a share, or a "Hot Pick!" company called GroFeed for just 10 cents - into images.
In some ways, it was a desperate move. The images made the messages much bulkier than simple text messages, so the spammers were using more bandwidth to churn out fewer spams. But they also knew that, to filters scanning for telltale spam words in the text of e-mail messages, a picture of the words "Hot Stox!!" is significantly different from the words themselves.
So the bulk e-mailers behind this campaign seemed to calculate that they had a good chance of slipping their stock pitches past spam defenses to land in the in-boxes of prospective customers.
It worked, but only briefly.

Read the New York Times article...
Leave a comment...

Apple and Nike, Running Mates

As corporate logos go, few are as recognizable as the bitten apple that appears on all things Apple Computer. Few, that is, except maybe the swoosh that has appeared on Nike's shoes and apparel from the company's beginning.
Now the two companies behind those logos are teaming up. At an event in New York, Nike and Apple said they are collaborating on a series of products that bridge the gaps between sports, electronics, and entertainment.
Their first jointly produced product: the Nike+iPod Sport kit, which involves an electronic sensor inserted under the inner sole of a new Nike running shoe dubbed the Moire (pronounce (MOR-ay). That sensor talks to a small wireless receiver that attaches to Apple's iPod nano music player.

Read the BusinessWeek article...
Leave a comment...

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Digital Photography Tip of the Week

Last week I began my discussion about digital image sensor size, this week I will finish that discussion by talking about how image sensor size affects the quality of images. As you remember from last week, the size of the image sensor compared to a 35mm or full frame sensor when using the same lens produces a cropped image. But what else is happening on smaller sensors?

Sensor size effects the dynamic range of the camera. Dynamic range is the range of light values from dark to light the camera can record. Smaller sensors have smaller photo diodes, the piece that actually accumulates light and converts it into an electrical signal that the camera will eventually turn into a photo. Because the photo diodes are smaller, they reach their peak recording ability faster, resulting in a camera that has less ability to record all of the different levels of light in a scene. With larger sensors, the photo diodes are larger, which allows them to better capture the light levels resulting in a better quality photograph. If you have ever compared two similar photographs, one from a digital SLR (with a larger sensor) and one from a digital point and shoot (smaller sensor) you will likely have noticed the digital SLR produced a less contrasty photograph. This is because of it's increased ability to record more accurately the light in the photograph.

Noise also has a relationship to sensor size. Again, smaller sensor sizes produce noisier images. Noise is the static like pattern you may see in your images, most often in an area of constant colour, such as the sky. Temperature and ISO also affect the amount of noise present in an image. Camera's with larger sensor's have better ability to capture an image without capturing a lot of noise. Smaller sensors are more prone to noise.

Another issue arising from smaller sensor is their increased depth of field. With the small sensor used in digital point and shoot cameras, depth of field increases dramatically. With the increase in depth of field comes a decrease in the camera's ability to isolate your subject.

There are of course advantages to a smaller sensor digital camera. Smaller sensors are lighter, less expensive to manufacture (and therefore to purchase) and require smaller lenses. The advantages of superior image quality in larger sensor far outweigh the advantages of a lighter camera though. With reduced noise, greater dynamic range and better ability to manipulate depth of field, larger digital image sensor sizes are well worth their money.

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 UPDATE

Check out these new or updated pages on the PCIN.net site:

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

Omega One Software Battery Pack Pro 2.1 Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/bpp2.php

Makayama Interactive DVD to Pocket PC 3.0 Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/dvd2ppc3.php

Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0 Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/elements40.php

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THE TIPS and OTHER STUFF

Microsoft Online Crash Analysis - Solution found

About 9 months ago I wrote a posting about Microsoft Online Crash Analysis. It linked to various resources that explain how the Microsoft Error Reporting works, and whether or not you should send off the error messages to Microsoft. My recommendation at the time was:

So if you usually click "Don't Send", I'd suggest you rethink that and click "Send".

Well, the other day I had an experience that shows that this is good advice. I was using SecureFX (software that allows you to connect securely to servers). I was connecting to an ftp site, and the software crashed. As is usually the case, Windows told me that it could send information. I did, and after transmitting it said to visit their web site for further information. The web page told me that the version of the Van Dyke software I was using had a problem and linked to a special page at the Van Dyke web site. Their site then said that there had been some errors in their software, and suggested I upgrade. I was using 2.x of the software, and I was able to upgrade to version 3.0 for 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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Graham Wing can be reached at editor@pcin.net
Chris Empey can be reached at chris@pcin.net

Copyright 1998-2006, Graham Wing. All rights reserved.

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