Issue 484 - January 23, 2008
ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements © 2008
==== 1387 Subscribers in 44 Countries ====
Welcome to the 484th 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
Lisa and I are most likely getting a newer minivan soon. We currently have
a 14-year-old van that is beginning to look and run like a 14-year-old minivan.
We've been out and done some test drives, and are pretty sure we know what
we're going to get. Stay tuned...
When I'm done work tomorrow I'm off on vacation. We have nothing exciting
planned, but it'll be nice to home with Lisa and the kids. I'm sure we'll find
some fun things to do while I'm off.
Graham editor@pcin.net and
Chris chris@pcin.net
News Highlights
What Recession? PC Sales Stay Strong
The economy may be teetering, but the personal computer business is still
nimbly running at full speed, according to the tally of sales in the fourth
quarter of 2007 from the International Data Corporation. Worldwide, 77.3
million PCs were sold in the quarter, up 15.5 percent from the fourth quarter
of 2006. That represents almost double the growth rate of 2005 to 2006.
For the year, IDC said, 297 million PCs were shipped, an increase of 14.3
percent over 2006.
Read the New York Times
article...
Leave a comment...
IP addresses are private: EU
IP addresses, string of numbers that identify computers on the Internet,
should generally be regarded as personal information, the head of the European
Union's group of data privacy regulators said Monday.
Germany's data protection commissioner, Peter Scharr, leads the EU group
preparing a report on how well the privacy policies of Internet search engines
operated by Google Inc., Yahoo Inc., Microsoft Corp. and others comply with
EU privacy law.
He told a European Parliament hearing on online data protection that when
someone is identified by an IP, or Internet protocol, address "then
it has to be regarded as personal data."
Read the Globe and Mail
article...
Leave a comment...
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Digital Photography
Tip of the Week
Rear Curtain Sync
Leanne, my wife, recently wanted to go rollerskating. There is a rollerskating
rink about a 30 minute drive away, but we had never been. While looking up
information, I noticed the following photo on one of the pages and new what
my next tip would be about. Rear or 2nd curtain sync.
The original and larger versions may be viewed at http://www.flickr.com/photos/7199627@N03/2108070562/ and
is from flickr.com user l3xh2k.
I think it is an interesting photo that does a great job of depicting motion,
though changing one setting on the camera could have made it a much stronger
photograph. This photo is being illuminated with two light sources, the ambient
light from the roller rink and the flash from the photographer's camera. The
racers are moving fast enough that the 1/60 second exposure shows some motion
within the frame. The flash has provided most of the exposure within the image
which has provided a sharp image of the racers, effectively stopping their
motion. In this image, the flash fired at the beginning of the exposure, front
curtain sync. The results of first (or front) curtain sync are a static image
with motion trails flowing in front of the subject. This of course is a little
distracting.
Now let's consider a similar photo.
This photo and larger versions may be viewed at http://www.flickr.com/photos/photos-martha/422029906/ and
is from flicker user photos-martha.
In this photograph, the image is again lit by two sources, the ambient light
of the roller rink and the light of the flash. The difference is that in this
photo, the flash was fired at the end of the exposure. Using 2nd (or rear)
curtain sync this way causes the motion blur of your subject to appear behind
the sharp area of the subject in the photograph and enhances the effect of
the motion.
In both of these images, the effects could have been exaggerated by using
an even longer shutter speed.
When I spoke to a few of my photographer friends about front and rear curtain
sync, we could not come up with a good example of when you might wish to use
front curtain sync. The best answer I could come up with was to use front curtain
sync when you are trying to capture a specific point in time and rear curtain
sync every other time. In other words, if you are capturing a subject that
requires a highly critical point in time capture, then front curtain sync would
be your best best as the flash will fire as soon as the exposure begins. Any
other time you are going to get a more pleasing image with rear curtain sync.
Read your manual to find out how to enable this feature with your camera.
Another note to consider, if your shutter speed during exposure is sufficiently
fast enough to stop motion on it's own, then neither front or rear curtain
sync will make a difference either way.
I would like to thank flickr users l3xh2k and photos-martha for
the use of their images with this tip. If you have a question about photography
or a subject you would like to see me cover, please leave a comment after the
tip.
A few previous tips on using flash are:
Flash
to Subject Distance - Controlling Light
Turn
Off Your Flash
External
Flash
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:
Paragon Software Group Hard Disk Manager 2008
http://PCIN.net/help/software/paragonhdm2008.php
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/
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Tips and Other Stuff
PDFHammer: Merge and Edit PDFs Online
MakeUseOf.com had a posting recently about
PDFHammer, yet another PDF utility. The benefit of this one is that
it is all online.
PDFHammer is a web-based application that allows you to merge and rearrange
PDF documents online. It's free, extremely easy-to-use and runs directly
from your browser. You don't have to register either, just upload PDF files
and start arranging the pages in any order you want. Once finished, use
the "Export Final PDF" button to download ready PDF file to your
PC.
You can see a nice screenshot of PDFHammer
on the MakeUseOf.com site, or you can visit the PDFHammer
web site directly.
Leave a comment...
10 Things Your IT Department Won't Tell You
MSN Tech & Gadgets has published a
Wall Street Journal article about getting around some restrictions
that an IT department might be trying to enforce.
Here, then, are the 10 secrets your IT department doesn't want you to
know, the risks you'll face if you use them -- and tips about how to keep
yourself (and your job) safe while you're at it.
It mentions sending large files via email, getting to blocked web sites,
and more.
Leave a comment...
Save Windows XP
InfoWorld has started a campaign to Save
Windows XP:
Microsoft plans to end most sales of Windows XP on June 30, despite a
deep reluctance by many business and individuals about moving to Vista.
InfoWorld believes such an expensive, time-consuming shift with problematic
benefits should not be forced on Windows users, so we have decided to rally
XP users to demand that XP be kept available.
The web site has a countdown clock as well as a petition which as of the
time of this posting, has over 30,000 people who have "signed" it.
If you love Windows XP and would like to stay around a while longer, then
support the campaign.
Leave a comment...
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PCIN.net Affiliated
Sites
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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 1998-2008, Graham Wing. All rights reserved.
This publication may be reproduced in whole, or in part, as long as the author
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