live.com blog

live.com blog: "Updates to Live.com
Yesterday, we released a small update to Live.com, intended to fix a number of bugs and improve the overall experience. While there aren't too many drastic changes that you can see, a number of items are worth calling out:"

n.b. This blog gives the latest info for Live.Com and can also be subscribed.

A Few Scanning Tips

TCO
The purpose is to offer some scanning tips and to explain the basics for photos and documents. It is about the fundamentals of digital images, about the basics to help you get the most from your scanner. How it works, for those that want to know.

Folding Socks

For the days you have nothing else to do. Also makes for good mouse practice! Click on the title above and start sorting the socks.


2/27/07 Please note that this link is not currently working. The original page might have been removed.

Basics of Digital Camera Pixels

Basics of Digital Camera Pixels: "The continuous advance of digital camera technology can be quite confusing because new terms are constantly being introduced. This tutorial aims to clear up some of this digital pixel confusion-- particularly for those who are either considering or have just purchased their first digital camera. Concepts such as sensor size, megapixels, dithering and print size are discussed."
Every digital image consists of a fundamental small-scale descriptor: THE PIXEL, invented by combining the words "PICture ELement." Just as how pointillist artwork uses a series of paint blotches, millions of pixels can also combine to create a detailed and seemingly continuous image.

n.b. This is a great article -- very informative. ~Wendy

Megapixel overview chart

Megapixel overview chart web.forret.com: "This is an overview of megapixel resolutions. It is a mixture of devices (cameras, screens) and standards (video compression, VGA)."

This chart also offers different camera brands and cell phone examples.

Megapixel Calculator

This is a megapixel calculator, a tool to calculate and convert graphical resolution, image memory consumption and file sizes. How many pixels in a DVD image? How does that compare to a 5 megapixel camera?
Megapixel Calculator - digital camera resolution web.forret.com

Blog definition

Blog - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "Early weblogs were simply manually updated components of common websites. However, the evolution of tools to facilitate the production and maintenance of web articles posted in said chronological fashion made the publishing process feasible to a much larger, less technical, population. Ultimately, this resulted in the distinct class of online publishing that produces blogs we recognize today. For instance, the use of some sort of browser-based software is now a typical aspect of 'blogging'. Blogs can be hosted by dedicated blog hosting services, or they can be run using blog software, such as WordPress, blogger or LiveJournal, or on regular web hosting services, such as DreamHost.
The term 'weblog' was coined by Jorn Barger on 17 December 1997. The short form, 'blog,' was coined by Peter Merholz, who jokingly broke the word weblog into the phrase we blog in the sidebar of his blog Peterme.com in April or May of 1999.[3][4][5] This was quickly adopted as both a noun and verb ('to blog,' meaning 'to edit one's weblog or to post to one's weblog')."

define:Blog - Google Search

define:Blog - Google Search: "Definitions of Blog on the Web:"

Free Downloads from Canon

Canon Inkjet Printer - CREATIVE PARK

Internet Security

The Basics Of Internet Security

Besides not corresponding with convicts imprisoned for violent crimes, what are some other precautions you should take to protect your physical security and safety when you use the Internet?

• Use your primary e-mail account only for your close circle of trusted friends, relatives or colleagues. A simple search for your Internet service provider or business can trace you to a geographical area, and from there it is an easy matter for someone to find you through the telephone listings.

• Use another e-mail account, such as the many free ones available, for online activities such as chats or newsgroups.

• Choose a gender-neutral and non-provocative name for your online socializing. Don’t identify yourself as a woman, because more than 90 per cent of cyberstalking victims are women.

• Don’t fill in the personal information profiles for e-mail, chat and messaging accounts.

• Use filters to block unwanted e-mail and instant messages. Do not open creepy-looking e-mail and do not open unexpected attachments. At the least, your computer data could be damaged by a virus.

• Be careful what websites you visit. Even a quick peek at offensive material can bring nasty e-mails to your desk.

• If you are harassed or threatened online, take the situation seriously. Online arguments have escalated into physical confrontations. Most cyberstalking cases involve strangers who first connected online. Report the problem to the system administrator at your Internet service provider and that of the person who is bothering you. Contact the police if the harassment continues and you have concerns about your physical safety, as in the case of a stalker who seems to know where you live.

• Don’t keep personal information such as PIN numbers, your home address or security codes on your computer where a hacker, burglar or co-worker can find it. If you use a laptop, think what could happen to the information on it if someone picked it up at an airport or from a taxicab.

• Search for yourself on the Internet to see what others can find out about you. Start with a metasearch tool such as Dogpile.com. Also look on people-finding Web pages such as 411.com. Besides finding a bunch of people with the same name as you, you may learn how easy it is to track you down.

Computers, cell phones and other electronic communications devices are not necessarily private. Embarrassing e-mail messages have wrecked careers. So have careless cell phone conversations. To be on the safe side, assume you are not anonymous when communicating electronically. Think about the consequences if someone else — your employer, a member of the news media or a criminal — were to listen in. And take care with security devices such as identification badges, lock cards and old-fashioned keys so they will not be borrowed, stolen or copied.

Many beautiful friendships have started online and blossomed in person. But think twice before arranging to see someone you have met online, even through your work.

Movie maker movie

This movie was created using Windows Movie Maker and then uploaded to YouTube.
From a Canadian Cadet to an American Soldier: My son wears combat boots#links

Google bombing

Google bomb - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "A Google bomb or Googlewash is Internet slang for a certain kind of attempt to influence the ranking (called PageRank) of a given page in results returned by the Google search engine, often with humorous or political intentions.[1] Because of the way that Google's algorithm works, a page will be ranked higher if the sites that link to that page use consistent anchor text. A Google bomb is created if a large number of sites link to the page in this manner. Google bomb is used both as a verb and a noun. The phrase 'Google bombing' was introduced to the New Oxford American Dictionary in May 2005.[2]"

To understand how a 'google bomb' works try a google search on 'miserable failure'. Today the search returned the official government page for George W Bush as the top search item. Bombs generally have a 'burn out' time.

Add-Ons for Microsoft Internet Explorer

Add-Ons for Microsoft Internet Explorer: "Browser add-ons can help personalize the way you use the Internet. The add-ons available here have been carefully screened by Microsoft and rated by users to help you select the ones that suit your needs and preferences. Start exploring them today. "

Microsoft Photo Story 3 for Windows

Microsoft Photo Story 3 for Windows: make show-n-tell cool again:
Capture memories
Create slideshows using your digital photos. With a single click, you can touch-up, crop, or rotate pictures. It's that easy!Bring photos to life
Add stunning special effects, soundtracks, and your own voice narration to your photo stories. Then, personalize them with titles and captions.Share your stories
Small file sizes make it easy to send your photo stories in an e-mail. Watch them on your TV, a computer, or a Windows Mobile–based portable device.
Burn DVDs with extra Sonic plug-in.
See it in action Need inspiration? Check out these stories created with Photo Story 3.

Yahoo! 360

Myth #1: Blogging is time-consuming.
False. Take as much or as little time as you like.

Myth #2: Anyone can peek.
Nuh-uh. Only you decide who sees what's on your Yahoo! 360º page.

Myth #3: Deep thoughts are mandatory.
Again, incorrect.

Downloading and installing software

IT Services Guides: Downloading and installing software: "Downloading and installing software for Windows
Introduction
Zip files
Exe files
Warning!
Downloading a file from the web
Installing software
Dealing with *.exe files
Self-installing *.exe files
Dealing with *.exe files that do not self-install
Dealing with all *.zip files
Installing the program "

Basic E-mail Etiquette

Basic E-mail Etiquette - Associated Content: "Has this happened to you? You type an email, check for grammar and spelling and hit 'send'. Suddenly the screen pops up that says your mail has been sent but you notice it's been sent to the wrong person. You frantically search for the 'unsend' button. You know there isn't one but miracles can happen right? Perhaps you were telling your coworker what an idiot your boss is and you accidentally sent it to the company president. In a moment of anger you send an email complaining about your neighbor to your neighbor instead of your best friend. Oops!"

Photography Printing Guide - DPI vs PPI

Design215 Photography Printing Guide - DPI vs PPI: "dpi is NOT THE SAME as ppi !!
Even though 'dots per inch' (dpi) and 'pixels per inch' (ppi) are used interchangeably by many, they are not the same thing. Traditional printing methods use patterns of dots to render photographic images on a printed page. While pixels on a monitor are square and in contact with the adjacent pixels, printed dots have space between them to make white, or no space between them to make black. Color photographs are printed using four inks, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black (CMYK), and four separate dot patterns, one for each ink. Dots per inch (dpi) refers to printed dots and the space between them, while pixels per inch (ppi) refers to the square pixels in a digital image. Keep in mind that many companies will ask for images at 300dpi when they really mean 300ppi."

Photo print size charts

Design215 megapixels comparison and maximum print size charts
This chart gives a good idea how big you would be able to make photo quality prints in ratio to the megapixels of your camera. It also has information on scanned 35 mm photos and resolution.

Adobe Photoshop brush tools

Sept 06 Tip of the Week

Shrt reading on the various brush tools -- from the burn tool to the eraser.

Photoshop Tutorial

Very technical but also thorough and might answer some questions you've had.
Photoshop Tutorial

4 Ways to Speed Up Your Computer's Performance

4 Ways to Speed Up Your Computer's Performance

Create an online photo album

Create an online photo album

Erase objects with MS Digital Image

Erase objects from photos

Cell phone photos -- Photoshop

Photo restoration software and digital photo recovery software for photo enhancement