Transcript
Napa Valley Personal Computer Users Group
http://www. nvpcug.org P.O. Box 2866 Napa, California 94558
COMPUTER NEWS
Volume 25, No. 2
February 2008
Inside This Issue 2
NVPCUG SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS
2
NVPCUG CALENDAR
2
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
3
OFFICERS LIST
4
MICROSOFT STREETS AND TRIPS 2007 WITH GPS
5
LET’S CLEAN “START-UP”
6
NEW GADGETS FOR 2008
7
SO YOU HAVE A NEW DIGITAL CAMERA
8
PAINTER X PRODUCT REVIEW
At the February Meeting, Member Susy Ball does a presentation of Smart Computing The Napa Valley Personal Computer Users Group will meet Wednesday, February 20, 7:00-9:00 P.M., at the Napa Senior Activity Center, 1500 Jefferson Street, Napa, California The meeting begins with Random Access, an open-floor question-andanswer period during which attendees can ask questions about computers and computer-related problems and receive helpful information from other meeting attendees. Questions may be submitted before the meeting by emailing them to Random Access moderator Jerry Brown at
[email protected]. At last months general meetin Jeff Solomon introduced attendees to the many free programs available from GOOGLE. This month during the Computer Tutor session which will follow, Jeff will further explore of those programs. Any additional questions or comments should be sent to the Computer Tutor, Jeff Solomon at
[email protected].
11 2007 CHAOS, WHAT/WHO WINS IN 2008? 15 RECORDING AUDIO 16 THE CARTRIDGE FAMILY The Napa Valley Personal Computer Users Group has served novice and experienced computer users since 1983. Through its monthly meetings, newsletters, online forum, special interest groups, mentor program and community involvement, it has helped educate people of all ages. The NVPCUG provides opportunities for people to find friends who share common interests and experiences. From January 2003 to October 2007 the NVPCUG provided 752 computers and 139 printers to local schools. Additional equipment has been given to charitable nonprofit organizations and to disadvantaged individuals.
The main presentation will be given by member Susy Ball. She will be discussing and demonstrating how to get the best use from a Smart Computing subscription. This presentation will help users learn how to use the Smart Computing magazine, their web site information sources and tech support services. Attendees will find out how to use this invaluable FREE service and how friends and relatives can use a limited form of this tech support. Susy says, “The subscription service has been a worthwill investment of my money and the demo helped me to use their invaluable resources, especially those available on their website. Join me on February 20 and find out how you can get this service. One lucky member will go away with a free subscription.” Could you use some practical information that would help you make better use of your computer? Come to this meeting! Guests are always welcome. Admission is always free. Interested in becoming a member? See page 14 for application information.
NVPCUG Computer News, February 2008
NVPCUG Special Interest Groups
President’s Message
By Ron Dack, president, http://www.nvpcug.org/,
[email protected] By now you have probably heard or read about the passing of NVPCUG In SIG meetings you can learn about member Jim Gillespie. Jim was only a member of NVPCUG since 2005 but a subject in greater detail than is was the President of the Napa Mac group for many years. Since joining f e a s i b l e a t N V P C U G g e n e r a l NVPCUG Jim served as the Mac SIG Coordinator in 2006 meetings. SIG meetings are open to and 2007. He also served on the Board of Directors in 2007. everyone. M e e t i n g t i m e s a n d I personally will miss Jim’s highly developed sense of humor locations occasionally change, so and his insight. I offer my condolences and prayers to the for current meeting information, see entire Gillespie family. our Web site, www.nvpcug.org, or Many of you have answered the call to make the switch from a printed contact the SIG leaders. newsletter to the online version. Hopefully everyone will make this change before it becomes necessary to have a dues increase. The NVPCUG must Investors SIG live within its budget and that means that at this time our only source of Meets: Monthly, second Monday income is the dues you pay. Unfortunately that income does not cover our 5:30 to 7:30 p.m Jerry Brown’s home, necessary expenses if we were to continue to print and mail a sixteen-page 23 Skipping Rock Way, Napa newsletter to each member. There are also several expenses that we will Leader: Jerry Brown have to cover that we know are coming including the replacement of our (707) 254-9607 projector. We would also like to purchase a group owned “decent”
[email protected] performing laptop for presentations and records keeping. I am asking each Digital Photography SIG of you to contact Dianne Prior at
[email protected] and opt for the Meets: Monthly, second Wednesday online version of the “Computer News”. 7:00 to 8:30 p.m Just to let you know Dianne is continuing to help with membership and Piner’s Nursing Home, right now she is doing the whole job because our Membership Director Conference Room Bob Simmerman is trying to recover from an illness. I am sure that Bob 1800 Pueblo Ave., Napa would appreciate hearing from you guys. His e-mail is Leader: Susy Ball
[email protected]. Hopefully he is now strong enough to check (707) 337-3998 his e-mail.
[email protected] Susy Ball our Programs Director is in the process of lining up the Macintosh SIG presentations for 2008. If there is any particular subject you would like to see Meets: Monthly, second Thursday covered let Susy know and perhaps she can line up an expert on the subject 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. for a future meeting. You can e-mail her at
[email protected]. Napa Senior Activity Center Even with a few budget problems I see this year as a chance to improve our 1500 Jefferson St., Napa group and even grow some. One of the things I would like to see is a Leader: Ron Rogers beginners SIG so if you are interested in coordinating meetings for this let (707) 226-5352 me know. Perhaps we could do that SIG at the Senior Center before the ronrogersnapamug regular meeting. Think about it and for now. @gmail.com Take care, NVPCUG General Meetings Held the third Wednesday of each month, 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. Napa Senior Activity Center, 1500 Jefferson Street, Napa
Ron
NVPCUG Calendar Feb 20 Mar 5 Mar 10 Mar 12 Mar 13 Mar 19 Apr 2 Apr 9 Apr 10 Apr 14 Apr 19
7:00-9:00 p.m. 7:00-9:00 p.m. 5:30-7:30 p.m. 7:00-8:30 p.m. 6:30-8:30 p.m. 7:00-9:00 p.m. 7:00-9:00 p.m. 7:00-8:30 p.m. 6:30-8:30 p.m. 5:30-7:30 p.m. 7:00-9:00 p.m.
NVPCUG General Meeting, Napa Senior Activity Center, 1500 Jefferson Street, Napa Board of Directors meeting, Piner’s Nursing Home, 1800 Pueblo Ave., Napa Investors SIG meeting, Jerry Brown’s home, 23 Skipping Rock Way, Napa Digital Photography SIG meeting, Piner’s Nursing Home, 1800 Pueblo Ave., Napa Macintosh SIG meeting, Napa Senior Activity Center, 1500 Jefferson St., Napa NVPCUG General Meeting, Napa Senior Activity Center, 1500 Jefferson Street, Napa Board of Directors meeting, Piner’s Nursing Home, 1800 Pueblo Ave., Napa Digital Photography SIG meeting, Piner’s Nursing Home, 1800 Pueblo Ave., Napa Macintosh SIG meeting, Napa Senior Activity Center, 1500 Jefferson St., Napa Investors SIG meeting, Jerry Brown’s home, 23 Skipping Rock Way, Napa NVPCUG General Meeting, Napa Senior Activity Center, 1500 Jefferson Street, Napa NVPCUG Computer News, February 2008, Page 2
Napa Valley Personal Computer Users Group Contact Information Officers for 2008 Board of Directors President Vice President Secretary Treasurer Other Directors: Director
Ron Dack unlisted
[email protected] Dick Peterson 738-1812
[email protected] Marcia Waddell 252-2060
[email protected] Roy Wagner 253-2721
[email protected] Susy Ball, Ron Dack, Jim Gray, Dick Peterson, Bob Simmerman, Kathy Slavens, Dean Unruh, Marcia Waddell, and Roy Wagner. Jim Gray
255-6789
[email protected]
Appointed Officers Computer Tutor Coordinator Jeff Solomon
553-2114
[email protected]
Facility Arrangements Coordinator Dianne Prior 252-1506
[email protected]
Greeter Coordinator Kathy Slavens
251-9193
[email protected]
Greeter Coordinator Bob Simmerman 259-6113
[email protected]
Librarian Dean Unruh
226-9164
[email protected]
Membership Director Bob Simmerman 259-6113
[email protected]
Mentor Program Coordinator Dick Peterson
738-1812
[email protected]
Newsletter Circulator Jim Hearn
224-2540
[email protected]
Newsletter Editor Susy Ball
337-3998
[email protected]
Product Review CoCoordinator Susy Ball
337-3998
[email protected]
Product Review CoCoordinator Marcia Waddell
252-2060
[email protected]
Programs Director Susy Ball
337-3998
[email protected]
Publicity Director Ron Dack
unlisted
[email protected]
Random Access Moderator Jerry Brown
254-9607
[email protected]
Special Projects Director VOLUNTEER NEEDED
[email protected]
Webmaster Ron Dack
unlisted
Sales Coordinator VOLUNTEER NEEDED
[email protected] [email protected]
• All telephone numbers are in Area Code 707. NVPCUG Computer News, February 2008, Page 3
NVPCUG Computer News Computer News (ISS 0897-5744) is published monthly by the Napa Valley Personal Computer Users Group, Inc. (NVPCUG), P.O. Box 2866, Napa, CA 94558-0286. Subscriptions: $30 for one year (12 issues). Editor: Susy Ball,
[email protected]. The material in Computer News is intended for noncommercial purposes and may not be reproduced without prior written permission, except that permission for reproducing articles, with authors properly credited, is granted to other computer user groups for their internal, nonprofit use only. The information in this newsletter is believed to be correct. However, the NVPCUG can assume neither responsibility for errors or omissions nor liability for any damages resulting from the use or misuse of any information. The NVPCUG is an IRC 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit educational organization (EIN 680069663) and is a member of the Association of Personal Computer User Groups (APCUG), an international organization. Donations to the NVPCUG are tax-deductible as charitable contributions to the extent allowed by law. Copyright © 2007 by NVPCUG.
Microsoft Streets and Trips 2007 with GPS Review by Joseph Kluepfel, Director, Broward Personal Computer Association, Inc., www.bpca.com,
[email protected] Obtained from APCUG with the author’s permission for publication by APCUG member groups.
Overview Install this on your laptop and you have the luxury of setting up your trip at home and then use it in the car. A laptop screen is four times bigger than a navigator installed in a car or fifteen to twenty times bigger than a portable GPS. Microsoft Streets and Trips is a powerful mapping program, loaded with maps of cities and towns with nearby lodging, food and points of interest. The text directions for the trip include construction warnings, and these can be updated just before you leave. One great feature is the ability to click on a section of your route and drag the route to another road or location. You can preset your trip with choices, such as start and end times, stops, speed, freeway or non-freeway, shortest distance or shortest time. I’ve learned to be careful of using Shortest Distance; it may take you off a freeway to city streets to save a fraction of a mile.
Installation Installation of the application is simple and quick, the GPS connects to the laptop through a USB port, powered by an included car lighter adaptor. If your trip is extensive, you’ll need a car adaptor to power the laptop, and a gadget to connect two adaptors if the car, like mine, has only one cigarette lighter. The GPS attaches to the windshield with a small suction cup and it can fall off occasionally. I found that the GPS will work fine just laying on the dash. You should have a floor or dash mount for the laptop, and every time you start the application, you will have to accept the warnings from Microsoft about using it in a car. The best way of course is to have a co-pilot and a lap table or cushion will make it comfortable, remember how hot laptops get. There is a choice for male or female voices for the verbal directions. These will warn you as you approach exits or turns. I found that some of the directions were a little late,
especially if you’re driving fast. I did have a few occasions where the directions were wrong, right instead of left, or a left turn when the exit ramp was to the right. It’s best to print out the maps and directions, especially maps for the turns and highway exits. Names of the streets are not given, but I would find it annoying to hear the names as you cross each street. Hearing the name of the route or street where you will turn would be helpful. The screen shows your actual speed, the distance to and direction of your next turn, and distance and time to your destination.
Conclusion All in all, Microsoft Streets and Trips 2007 with GPS is a very useful aid for traveling and getting directions to unfamiliar locations. This article has been provided to APCUG by the author solely for publication by APCUG member groups. All other uses require the permission of the author (see e-mail address above).
Folder Icons If those boring manila folder icons on your Desktop are too bland for your taste, go ahead and change them. Right-click a folder, select Properties, and click the Change Icon button on the Shortcut tab. Scroll through the available default icons on your system (or browse to other icons you’ve downloaded from the Internet). Just highlight the new icon and click OK. Reprinted with permission from Smart Computing. Visit www.SmartComputing.com/Groups to learn what Smart Computing can do for you and your user group!
NVPCUG Computer News, February 2008, Page 4
Let’s Clean “Start-Up” By Bob Elgines, Editor, Colorado River Computer Club, AZRCC Editor, www.crccaz.com/,
[email protected] Obtained from APCUG with the author’s permission for publication by APCUG member groups
Does your computer boot-up or run slow? Maybe there are too many programs running in the back ground. Let us do the following check first. • Hold your CTRL & ALT buttons and press the DELETE button. • Click on the PERFORMANCE tab, is your CPU Usage running more than 10% or is your Physical Memory being in total use? • Go to START then RUN, type in “msconfig” which stands for Microsoft System Configuration. In Windows VISTA you can find RUN in the ACCESSORY folder under PROGRAMS. • The System Configuration Utility windows will come up. • First go to the upper right tab labeled STARTUP, here you will see the list of items that load during startup. Of course some you want, some you don’t. In the first column labeled STARTUP ITEM gives a very rough idea to what it is referenced too, but the second column labeled COMMAND, is much more useful. Too read it better, widen the column out by holding your mouse symbol over the vertical line located before the next column label. A double arrow will
•
appear, then hold down left mouse button and move it to the right. This information tells you where it is located and in some cases which program is using it. Uncheck those in question, you can put them back in later if you need too. Do not uncheck you Antivirus or Spyware programs. Next go to the tab on top labeled SERVICES, this show all of the programs running now. You do not what to uncheck those labeled Microsoft
under the MANUFACTURER column, so to start off, lets put a check mark in the box below labeled “Hide all Microsoft Services”. • Now while you are reviewing the other programs running in the background note the forth column labeled STATUS. If it says STOPPED, then don’t worry about it. We just want to stop the strange ones that are RUNNING. You can uncheck those that you are not familiar with, here again you may bring them back in later. • After un-checking all those items under tabs STARTUP & SERVICES, then click on APPLY and CLOSE. • The System Configuration Utility will now ask you to RESTART (or Boot) your computer. After restarting a window will come up stating System Configuration Utility has been changed, be sure to put a check mark in the bottom left (labeled “Don’t show this message or launch …..”) before clicking OK. If you improved your operation of your computer, you can put back in the items one at a time until you find the program that was slowing you down. This article has been provided to APCUG by the author solely for publication by APCUG member groups. All other uses require the permission of the author (see e-mail address above).
NVPCUG Computer News, February 2008, Page 5
New Gadgets for 2008 By Sandy Berger, CompuKISS.com, www.compukiss.com,
[email protected] Obtained from APCUG with the author’s permission for billion colored dye crystals. The colors appear when the printer publication by APCUG member groups. applies heat pulses to the paper. This ink-less technology is Every year my husband and I attend the Consumer Electronic called Zink, for zero ink. The 2-inch-by-3-inch prints cost (CES) in Las Vegas to see the latest and greatest high tech about 30 cents each and the printer sells for $150, which is not gadgets. This year didn’t disappoint. We found everything bad for cutting-edge technology. from a Leggett & Platt’s $20,000 Starry Night bed with an Although computers are not the focus of the CES show, there HDTV projector, pop-up speakers, snoring sensors, iPod dock, were many computer manufacturers showing their wares. automatic lighting system, and breathing pattern monitor to a Lenovo, the Chinese company who General Motors Chevy Tahoe prototype car that drove itself. bought IBM’s PC division three years While I don’t expect this GM prototype to make it to market ago has previously focused on their anytime soon, some of the technology that it is built in will ThinkPad business laptops, but this evolve and is sure to find its way into our future automobiles. year they introduced a line of consumer We also found a few more down-to-earth gadgets and gizmos. laptops called IdeaPads. These In fact, there were several devices that you may want to check include facial recognition out for your own gaggle of high tech products. For instance, technology. Lenovo, if you hate cleaning the gutters, the iRobot Looj has Sony, and others will you covered. This robotic gutter cleaner cleans a follow Dell’s lead with the 60-foot section of gutter in just 10 minutes. Yes, introduction of laptops in a variety you must use a ladder to place it in position, but of bright colors. you don’t have to move the ladder multiple times as you do in Bright colors were the norm at the show. There were MP3 regular gutter cleaning. The demos looked marvelous. iRobot players, cell phone, and gadget covers in every color imaginable. also have robotic vacuum cleaners and floor scrubbers. There were red and blue ladybug-shaped iPod speakers and Although we have been hearing about speakers that pulsated to the beat in vibrating, changing colors. wireless technologies for what seems to There was even pink CAT-5 networking cable, whose purchase be ions, this year some of that wireless supports the National Breast Cancer Foundation. technology became mainstream. Oh, and you can expect to be even Wireless speakers, which up to now were feeble and erratic, more confused by television display have finally found their voice. The Griffin Evolve is a great technologies in the future. Sony’s example. It is a compact speaker system for an iPod. It has two $2500, 11-inch Organic light Emitting wireless speaker cubes that can be placed in any room in the Diode (OLED) was small but clearly house. It sounds great and is also easy to use.At about $300, this better than anything else on the market is a great solution to distribute music from your iPod throughout today..... and it was only as thick as 3 credit cards. Mitsubishi’s the house. laser television was also a dramatic improvement. Samsung While prices of technology gadgets continue to drop, it and Sharp announced backlit LCD televisions. While these seems that ink for that inexpensive technologies may take awhile to go mainstream, other ink jet printer often costs more manufacturer’s announced Internet-enabled televisions that than the printer itself. Well, thanks are sure to appear quite quickly. For instance, the Sharp Aquos to Kodak, this trend may be coming Net television displays small icons called widgets that showed to an end. The new Kodak printers news, weather, and traffic data from the Internet right on the are said to use 50% less ink and ink television screen. Also next year, when digital television goes cartridges are reasonably priced at mainstream you will see digital TV broadcasting in a variety of $15 for color and $10 for black. devices including cell phones, cars, buses, and anything else they can possible think of. One car at the show already had TV’s Polaroid, another well-known name in photography has in every door and drop-down television screens for every also released a breakthrough passenger. product. Their new inkless While we may not all be interested in watching television all printer is made for the time, we will find some of these new technologies making printing pictures from a our lives just a little more pleasurable in the future. cell phone or digital This article has been provided to APCUG by the author solely camera. Not only does the printer use Bluetooth wireless for publication by APCUG member groups. All other uses technology, but it uses special paper that is embedded with 100 require the permission of the author (see e-mail address above). NVPCUG Computer News, February 2008, Page 6
So You Have a New Digital Camera By Robert M. Mayo, Cajun Clickers Computer Club, LA, www.clickers.org,
[email protected] Obtained from APCUG with the author’s permission for Panatomic-X (ISO publication by APCUG member groups. 32) that could If you were lucky enough to get a new camera for p r o d u c e g r e a t Christmas, congratulations! However, along with this jewel, e n l a r g e m e n t s . There was a film I’m sure you also got for everything! But a complicated user’s what if you had the manual. I hate ‘em! But Panatomic-X in cheer up; all the mystery your camera, and will soon go out of that six frames hadn’t book. been used yet; and you wanted When I bought my to shoot a night baseball game under first digital camera, I floodlights? You could remove the unfinished film from felt lost. I had never the camera, or you could bang away at the kids in order to worked from menus finish the roll. Cheez! What a waste! Plus, you had to before, and they seemed so overly complicated. obtain a roll of the faster film, too. But with your digital However, after a couple of dozen camera, you have all of shots of my refrigerator, those “films” in the washing machine, and the camera at the same time cats, I began to feel — color or B&W— comfortable with my with a choice of ISO new toy. And now, it seems intuitive; I can values to be selected as you need them, make changes in the regardless of the settings without mental effort. In fact, number of shots you’ve already made. If only I don’t know how I they had done this years ever got along without the wonderful features this ago! camera has! So the point is: play with it; check out all of the menu options in the privacy of your home so you This article has been provided to APCUG by the author solely won’t have technical problems later. Following for publication by APCUG member groups. All other uses require the permission of the author (see e-mail address above). directions in the manual, you’re not going to hurt it! Between photo sessions, it’s best not to leave your rechargeable batteries on the charger. Many chargers provide a trickle that’s excessive over a period of time, and this will degrade the cells. In what we laughingly call “the good ol’ days,” we had a choice of films to use in our cameras. That was wonderful! There were so many films for color pictures available, as well as the still popular black-and-white shots. And within those two groups, there were fast (ISO 400) Kodak Tri-X films for B&W news (action and nighttime) pictures, as well as slower (ISO 25) Kodachrome film for beautiful, fine-grained slides. If you were happy with black-and-white prints, there was very fine grained
The Board of Directors has recently learned that the wife of Jim Stirling passed away in October. Jim was on NVPCUG’s Board of Directors and was editor of the NVPCUG newsletter for several years until his move to Santa Rosa at the beginning of last year where his wife could be in a nursing home near their children. If anyone wants to contact Jim, his email address is
[email protected]. We extend our sympathies to Jim and his family.
NVPCUG Computer News, February 2008, Page 7
Painter X Product Review By Tom Ekvall, newsletter editor and “Creative Imaging” Columnist, Northeast Wisconsin PCUG, http://webpages.charter.net/newpcug/,
[email protected] Obtained from APCUG with the author’s permission for publication by APCUG member groups.
Painter X is everything a photo artist, like myself, could ever want in the way of a digital imaging program—or should I say a digital natural media painting program. Corel Corporation has done a fantastic job upgrading its marquee program for both traditional painters, who create art from scratch, and those like myself who enjoy creating photo art. The newest version, released in 2007, is geared towards running on Windows Vista (as well as XP and Macs) and incorporates under the hood performance enhancing improvements designed to make creating photo art a pleasurable experience – without the mess of paints. I installed Painter X on my laptop, an Acer with Pentium Dual Core processors at 1.60 GHz, and 2 gigabytes of RAM. In the several months I have tried out the product, not once did my computer crash or significantly slow down due to running out of resources.
I first became hooked on the full version of Painter after using Painter Essentials 3 (a stripped down version but with plenty of power to create photo art). I got the Painter Essentials 3 free with my Intous3 tablet. A tablet with pen is essential to get the most out of the program, although a mouse will work. However, using a mouse does not give you the pressure controls and other things that a “brush” can do using the pen. After installing the program, which did not involve any problems, I was greeted with a Welcome Screen in the form of a flipbook. The welcome screen (image on left) gives you tabbed options such as retrieving documents, a gallery of what others have created, extra resources such as tutorials available, setting up Painter, and resources on the web. It can be turned off after you get familiar with the program.
I was pleased with all the tutorials, including video learning, available to help learn the product, which is a complex program but once mastered produces incredible, realistic painted creations that give the feel and texture of a traditionally painted piece of art. Corel goes the extra mile to make sure you have the resources to get the most out of the product and provides links to these resources. For photographers, a key feature is the Photo Painting System, which includes three modules: Underpainting,Autopainting and Restoration.
Underpainting The feature of Painter that I really enjoy is its cloning capability, whereby the colors come from the original source photo (rather than a separate color palette) with the brushes used to transform the image to a desired style. A Quick Clone feature as part of the Underpainting palette creates a copy upon which the photo art will be created. A tracing paper is also created at the time which can be toggled on and off to show the original photo (when on) as a guideline for the applying the brush strokes in the appropriate direction. Turned off, only the painted image is visible on the workspace. This is true whether using the auto-painting feature or applying the brush strokes by hand (pen). Painter X provides as a new feature a selection of color schemes as part of the Underpainting palette, such as Impressionist, classic, modern, watercolor, sketchbook and chalk. Each style of painting may require changes to the original photo, such as increasing or decreasing saturation, increasing or decreasing contrast or making the colors more or less vivid. Pastels and chalks tend to be softer by nature while oil and acrylics tend to do best with increased saturation. Painter X allows you to use the Photo Enhance sliders as with Painter 9.5 and Painter Essentials 3 to make changes to the color, contrast or saturation; you can even use both to get the desired effect.
Auto-Painting Despite the numerous brushes, effects, and paper textures that enable you to create every possible style of painting, Painter X also provides an enhanced auto-painting tool for those that may be somewhat artistically challenged as to painting, but want to create watercolor, oil, pastel, acrylic, chalk, charcoal or impressionist-style artwork. After making selections of bush stroke, opacity, brush size and other variables, you then rely on the program to automate the process of creating the art work with the touch of the “Play” button on the palette. No continuous drawing of brush strokes is required. The auto-painting feature does a very good job of creating a realistic “painted” photo from my experience using this
NVPCUG Computer News, February 2008, Page 8
tool. Some may wonder why a high-end program would even offer an auto-paint palette. I find it desirable, as it gives me a chance to experiment with different strokes, brush sizes, paint brush styles, and other factors and produce a final product within a relatively short period of time. If I apply by hand (not using auto-paint), I use a low level of opacity to gradually build up the color values and style, and this takes time. What is new, and which I find favor with, is the addition of a speed setting with the auto-paint tool that allows you to slow down the process of creating the picture so that you can stop it, make changes to types of brushes, opacity or size, and continue the process of painting the picture Another new feature as part of the Auto-painting palette is the addition of Smart Stroke Painting and Smart Settings, where Painter will vary the stroke width, length, and pressure to follow the forms within the original photo as it randomly applies the brush strokes. There are 16 Smart Stroke Brushes including those for watercolor, chalk, acrylics, sponge, charcoal, colored pencil and more. This is especially helpful to those who may be new to “painting” as they learn and master the types of brushes and effects that can be created.
Restoration The Restoration feature includes two brushes (a soft edge cloner and a hard edge cloner) that enables you to restore original detail of the photo without a “painted” effect. This is invaluable when working with a portrait and you want to
bring out facial features. Also new is the ability to open another photo/image with the desired color scheme and use those colors on the photo being cloned. This is called the Match Palette effect. I have not tried this effect yet. Below is an image of the Painter workspace with the Photo Painting System and its Underpainting, Auto-painting and Restoration tools on the right hand side.
Brush selection There are so many brushes, more than you can imagine. However, some of them soon become favorites as you experiment and see how each performs. I like to use the cloner brushes which are adept at creating photo art from colors in
the source photo rather than the Colors palette. Other brush categories can be used to draw color from the source photo by applying the Clone Color option from the Colors palette. It looks like a rubber stamp. If you forget to apply the Clone Color option, the color applied will be from the Colors palette, which I have done on occasion wondering why the color was green (the active color on the palette), rather than the underlying color from the source picture Brush selection and control can be accessed on a toolbar on top of the workspace, with more than 30 types of brushes and many more variants for each brush style available. The opacity, brush size, and other relevant factors for a brush are also able to be changed on the top toolbar below the menu items. A major new brush category in Painter X is the RealBristle Painting System, which provides the most realistic rendition of a brush on a canvas, down to individual hairs (bristles) on the brush showing up as if created by a real brush on a real canvas. It seems each new version of Painter comes up with added realism and this one is no different as the RealBristle brushes reproduce the natural movement of the artist’s brush. There are a number of brush variants to choose from such as Real Round Bristle, Real Tapered Wet Flat, and Real Fan Soft. Multiple colors can be achieved with brushes with strokes fading as color is used up in the brush. The image below depicts RealBristle strokes created by another artist and a dialog box of brush tips. As with prior versions of Painter, you can create your own mix of colors on a palette and blend and apply them to the
canvas either to a photo or as a painting from scratch. What has become an invaluable reference guide for me is Martin Addison’s book, Painter X for Photographers, published by Focal Press. Everything in the book is geared for creating photo art and he goes into detail about each brush and brush variant, applications of the brush where best and pictures of the effect of each brush on the canvas. He also talks about Hand Tinting a photo with Painter X using layers, how to choose brushes, and how to customize brushes. The information is presented in a very understandable format and reduces the learning curve associated with mastering the brushes. Painter Review continued on page 10
NVPCUG Computer News, February 2008, Page 9
Painter Review continued from page 9
There are a number of other new features of interest to professional designers, photographers, and artists. Suffice to say, this is a great product whether upgrading from a previous version of Painter or Painter Essentials 3, or buying for the first time. I cannot think of any cons about this program. It does what it is supposed to do, providing the ultimate in realism, flexibility and brush control. I opened up a photo of a landscape scene and proceeded to paint pictures using a watercolor effect, an oil painted
Proper Paper For Printing A picture’s brilliance depends on the degree to which light reflects off the paper back to your eye; smooth paper provides the most direct and focused reflection, while rougher paper reflects the light in various directions. High-gloss paper gives you the strongest brightness levels, but depending on the light in the room, a semigloss paper can be more comfortable to look at. For black-and-white prints, a good semigloss or a high-quality matte paper should work well, giving you solid, steady inks.
Record Casual Outings Turn everyday outings into magnificent photo packages. Sure, you always take your camera to special events, but don’t forget that everyday occurrences can make great photos, too. Take pictures of your family spending time outdoors, your children visiting Grandma’s house, or a girls’ day of shopping at the mall. Then, take those photos and turn them into photo packages, perhaps in an album or scrapbook, and title them accordingly.
Memory Card Readers effect, a chalk painting and other styles. See my creation of one of the images painted. The regular price for upgrading is $219 while purchasing new costs $419. Corel is presently offering discounts through their website (www.corel.com) at $199 for an upgrade and $394 for new users. A 30-day trial version that is fully functional is also available as is Painter Essentials 3 (which runs $99/discounted to $79). The product is worth the upgrade, especially if you are using a computer with Vista installed as the Operating System. Those with Painter 6 or higher qualify for the upgrade price as well as those with Corel’s CorelDraw Graphics Suite X3. And there are so many goodies provided through Corel and others to make the experience fun, such as brush variations, paper texture effects, new gradients, and more. It is a great creative tool as part of my digital photo art studio, which also includes Photoshop CS3. Note: Corel has continued to make enhancements to Painter to complement Photoshop, preserving layer effects and masks. System requirements for PCs with Windows include Vista, XP, or Windows 2000 OS; a Pentium III with 700MHz or greater of processing speed, and 256 MB of RAM (512 MB recommended). The more power the better. My next project is to create “hand tinted” photographs using Painter X. Looking forward to some really cool results. Artwork in article provided by Corel Corporation featuring paintings and drawings by Andrew Jones (welcome book) and Cher Threinen-Pendarvis (RealBristle strokes) and used with permission. This article has been provided to APCUG by the author solely for publication by APCUG member groups. All other uses require the permission of the author (see e-mail address above).
External card readers provide a fast and convenient way to transfer photos from your camera to your PC. Many PCs now have at least one card reader slot, but if yours doesn’t, buy a peripheral card or a USB card reader that you can transfer between PCs. Today’s USB 2.0 readers transfer files extremely quickly, so you don’t have to attach the USB cable to the camera and upload the pictures that way. Be sure you buy a memory reader that matches the memory type your camera uses.
My Pictures Slideshow Today’s monitors are not susceptible to burn-in, but screen savers are just as popular as they’ve ever been. In light of this, one of the best features of WinXP is the My Pictures Slideshow, which lets you use a revolving display of selected images as your screen saver. Here’s how to set it up. Move all of your favorite digital images to one folder on the Windows drive. Open the Display Properties dialog box and choose the Screen Saver tab. In the Screen Saver dropdown menu, select My Pictures Slideshow and click the Settings button. In the My Pictures Screen Saver Options dialog box, click the Browse button to locate the folder where you stored your pictures. Highlight the folder in the resulting Browse For Folder dialog box and click OK to return to the My Pictures Screen Saver Options dialog box. Review the screen saver settings and set them according to your preferences. Click OK. Then, when you return to the Display Properties dialog box, click OK to activate the screen saver. Reprinted with permission from Smart Computing. Visit www.SmartComputing.com/Groups to learn what Smart Computing can do for you and your user group!
NVPCUG Computer News, February 2008, Page 10
2007 Chaos, What/Who Wins in 2008? By Andy Marken, Marken Communicaitons, www.markencom.com,
[email protected] Obtained from APCUG with the author’s permission for publication by APCUG member groups.
The fun of analyzing the past 12 months is…it’s easy! But forecasting 2008 requires separating dreams from reality…early adopters from mass market.
Personal content is gaining momentum. The long tail of entertainment is moving more rapidly than Chris Anderson envisioned when he wrote his first book. The entertainment shift is making micromarket segmentation more important to manufacturers and suppliers. Consumer advocacy/protection groups historically viewed Microsoft as the big evil one located in Redmond, WA but with tentacles around the globe. Ironically, we don’t view the kind, fun-loving kids of Google in the same manner even though they touch almost everyone on the earth in one way or another multiple times…every day. They’ve helped us get over concerns of privacy. In just a few minutes you can find out almost anything/everything you want to know about any company, any individual. Get over it ! To help even more they are going to make a move to build out the communications infrastructure and they’ll begin offering location tracking “services” all just to help…you! But how can you consider any of the Googlites activities/ efforts could ever be used for evil when they have vowed they will do everything in their power to regreen the planet?
Jostling for Their Futures
For the early adopters the home entertainment network is here. The converged mobile content/communications device is here. Content when you want it, where you want it, how you want it is here. For the mass market…it’s an awkward transitional period. 2007’s Time Magazine’s Person of the year was … You. The yous of the world are connected and have the choice of an almost limitless variety of online content – written, photo, music, video.
While mobile device convergence got off to a rocky start this past year as bandwidth providers, content owners, portal services and manufacturers tried to determine exactly how they were going to get their unfair share of the consumer’s dollar. This could be a long, bloody battle because it will determine the shape and future for each segment well into the 22nd century. The initial devices in an awkward manner let you use them to place/receive calls, watch TV/video, listen to music, track your location and handle your IM/email communications they moving target first generation products. We will see three to four generations of new products in 2008 as producers focus on key issues: • Significant improvements in ease of use • Fexibility in allowing users to customize applications to suit themselves • Managing the bloating storage issues With the explosion of content on the iNet we’re seeing a dramatic increase in the demand for higher bandwidth. Legacy applications like email and simple web browsing required relatively little bandwidth. Storage continued on page 12
NVPCUG Computer News, February 2008, Page 11
Storage continued from page 11
The three-minute call was easily handled by landline and thru-the-air phone services. But add the expectations of flawless HighDef and future Ultra HD content and video on demand and we will be faced with two options that only the bandwidth providers want to consider: • Dramatic investment in bandwidth infrastructure (higher rates to pay for the expansion) • Tiered services and payment schemes to support managed QoS service provisions • Year of Storage Because of the glut and demand for content, Time Magazine’s person of the year for 2008 will undoubtedly be…Storage ! Storage for the home. Storage for the mobile device. Storage for the personal stuff. While everyone still has closets, drawers, storage sites stashed with dusty analog content; the cost and work of bringing it into the digital era is more than anyone wants to contemplate.
But today’s stuff is a different matter! The new product, new technology buzz of solutions for the home is just beginning this year and it will have a ways to go before it reaches mass market. A few manufacturers like HP are delivering first generation home network storage solutions that kinda work with and for the customer
rather than in their own engineered manner. True, you can: • Network them • Move content from one system to another • Back up the stuff locally and remotely But none of it is yet easy, natural which is required for mass market implementation. The industry over the next several years will be focusing on: • Increasingly delivering on the promises of UPnP • Providing self-diagnostic, self-healing storage devices • Delivering more intelligence on deterring when content needs to be moved from one system to the home storage device and when the content needs to be archived/protected offsite
That’s a heavy workload and will still require evolutionary consumer adoption until we reach a point where use is just too easy, too logical, too economic not to use. In the meantime, 2008 - 2010 will be a great period for storage device, media, solution providers – hard drive, flash, optical.
People will still be comfortable in storing and sharing digital files on blank media. CD media sales have been flat
NVPCUG Computer News, February 2008, Page 12
to slightly down this past year. DVD media sales have probably reached their peak. Once we see more BD/HD DVD burners hit homes/offices we’ll see the recordable media format sales increase because it is a logical extension, an evolutionary step in storage for consumers. A DVD burner – which stores content on both CD and DVD – lasts five plus years before it needs to be replaced. That replacement price today is well under $50 today. The media costs virtually nothing. People “know” their content is archived. While the save-and-sneakernet product market will remain stable, the hard drive/flash market will grow significantly this coming year.
Home Storage By the end of 2008, 1TB/2TB home servers will become normal. 250GB storage in notebook and desktop systems will become standard. 80GB mobile devices will be “expected” as we use them to carry our music, photos, video, web shows, TV fare. The biggest winner in this HD space will be the one who does more than just offers higher capacity, cheaper bit buckets. The edge will go to the producer who can deliver diagnostic and health maintenance intelligence, not the one who can simply squeeze more data on a single platter.
Mobile Play Flash technology which is working to find a home in lighter, more power efficient notebooks will be a niche solution in 2008. Advertised and wished for performance probably won’t be achieved for 2-3 technology generations. Even with the early adopters SSD units in notebooks will be a “bragging rights” niche product until at least 2009. But there is still an almost insatiable demand for flash based solutions.
In the coming year, “everyone” will have a couple of 812GB USB drives, 4-5 8-16 SD cards for their cameras, a couple of 16-24GB cards for their camcorder and 3-4 48GB cards for their cellphone.
Of all of the storage applications, we believe the mobile phone usage will be the most exciting and the most aggressive. Now that the cellular services of Americas have come to realize they are service providers, not device sellers we should see a rapid succession of new mobile phones both here and abroad that will make life on-the-go easier and more satisfying. It’s also more logical for the phone producers. If you scan the BOM (bill of materials) of a 4GB cellphone with 5MP camera and 2-3 in screen, one of the most expensive components has got to be …storage. Remove storage from the equation, offering the consumer with “virtual storage” options and other software-ready features like music/video download, GPS, 3D screen and suddenly you have an economic device you can enjoy for years…yeah right! Handset manufacturers will be delivering a more featurerich, more economic and more flexible device to the manufacturer and will place the onus to deliver low-cost, rugged capacity where it belongs…at the flash producers’ front door. At home and away the demand is going to be connected to/using your content in new and different ways. Simplifying the process and making it cheaper, more reliable, more flexible is going to make it easier to kiss fixed providers goodbye …like the cable guy! This article has been provided to APCUG by the author solely for publication by APCUG member groups. All other uses require the permission of the author (see e-mail address above).
Use WMP To Create An Audio CD Click Copy From CD on WMP’s interface, select the particular tracks you want to record, and click the Copy Music button. Repeat the process for every album in your collection; just make sure to use the same recording settings when ripping all of your tracks. Configure the settings by opening WMP’s Tools menu, selecting Options, and choosing the Copy Music tab. We suggest that you select the Windows Media Audio (Variable Bit Rate) format option and position the Audio Quality slide to the Uses About 59MB To 94MB Per CD (135Kbps To 215Kbps) or higher setting. (Kbps stands for kilobits per second.) Once the selected files are on a local hard drive, usually in the WMA (Windows Media Audio) or MP3 format, it’s time to transfer them to disc. You have two options for doing so, each of which produces a different outcome. The first option is to create a data CD by copying the audio files directly to the disc in their existing WMA or MP3 format. This option boasts one significant benefit: You can fit 10 to 12 hours of music on a single disc. The second option is to create an actual audio CD. You can do so by converting the compressed (condensed so as to occupy less space) audio files to audio tracks. Reprinted with permission from Smart Computing. Visit www.SmartComputing.com/Groups to learn what Smart Computing can do for you and your user group!
NVPCUG Computer News, February 2008, Page 13
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[email protected] Revised 4-23-07 NVPCUG Computer News, February 2008, Page 14
Recording Audio By Bart Koslow, Software Review Coordinator, Thousand Oaks Personal Computer Club, Thousand Oaks, CA, http://topcc.org/,
[email protected] Obtained from APCUG with the author’s permission for publication by APCUG member groups.
Nowadays it is no problem to record video from a TV broadcast, VCR or other source using a Digital Video Recorder. When I began to look into recording music broadcasts off the air, I found that there were external Audio recorders, but they were expensive, beginning in the $250 range and up. This is twice as much as a similar Video Recorder. Since I wanted to create CDs from the broadcast music and I had DVD/CD burners on my computer I decided that using my computer was a better and cheaper alternative. One possibility was a TV/FM card for my computer which may be purchased for $30 to $40 and up. However, I found a cheaper method. My stereo system was only a few feet from my computer, so I connected an audio output from my audio receiver to the line in on my computer sound card. I happened to have a cable with two RCA connectors on one end going to a single stereo connector on the other end. Just what I needed, I connected the RCA connectors to audio out on my receiver and the stereo connector to the line in on my sound card on the computer. Now all I needed was a program that could access the sound card and record the input. I hit the jackpot. Roxio Easy Media Creator has just the program. Not only that, but, once you complete your recording, Roxio has a basic sound editor that enables editing the sound files, and programs to burn the files to a CD or DVD. The Roxio program will access a number of inputs besides the line in. You may access your phone line, CD player, microphone input, and other inputs including Internet Radio broadcasts received on your computer. You may also decide which type of file format to record, WAV, MP3, or WMA, what fidelity to record, and where to save the recorded file. In addition, there is a recording level meter and control. Once I turned on my stereo receiver and accessed the Roxio recording program, everything went well. I recorded a long broadcast for a few hours and then my computer told me I had a problem and had to close the Roxio program. I lost my whole recording, but now I knew it worked and tried again. This time I closed all the programs I did not need and disconnected from the Internet to get less interference when I recorded. After editing the recorded audio file, I
successfully burned it to two CDs. If you have music cassettes or even VCRs with music, you may use this technique to transfer music to CDs. If you have cable or satellite TV service with accompanying radio, you may use the above procedure to record from your set top box to your computer. I have satellite service with SIRIUS radio, and am now recording live and historical music broadcasts that interest me. I next discovered that in many cases I could bypass an external stereo receiver, set top box, or recorder by using Internet Radio which may be played using Windows Media Player, iTunes Player, Real Player or other free media players. All you have to do is find the radio station that is broadcasting the music you wish and then enter the URL for its streaming audio broadcasts in the Player software. I did a search using Google and found there are numerous Internet radio station locators, found the station I wanted and entered the URL. Now I had the music coming in directly to my computer from the Internet with no intermediary device. In order to save the music I again resorted to Roxio’s “Capture Audio from Sound Card” program and changed the input from “Line In” to “Stereo Mix,” and recorded the broadcast to a file. Edit the audio file and burn it to a CD and I was finished. It all worked like a charm. Now, I do not need a Stereo Receiver, external recorder or even have to add a TV/ FM card to my computer. The simple solutions are always the best ones. This article has been provided to APCUG by the author solely for publication by APCUG member groups. All other uses require the permission of the author (see e-mail address above).
NVPCUG Computer News, February 2008, Page 15
The Cartridge Family By Grant Fuller, a member of Big Blue & Cousins, Canada, www.bbc.org,
[email protected] Obtained from APCUG with the author’s permission for publication by APCUG member groups.
We’re beat. I hate to admit it. I come from more innocent times when fairness was something to strive for. Family values were not measured by the Sopranos but by families with more law-abiding objectives. “I hate to give up without a fight but I do not hold much hope for us. If you have a printer that functions well by refilling cartridges, keep it. Repair it when it becomes necessary and show it your unconditional love.” I hate to give up without a fight but I do not hold much hope for us. If you have a printer that functions well by refilling cartridges, keep it. Repair it when it becomes necessary and show it your unconditional love. The new printers come with chips on the cartridges that the “dealers” say are for telling us when our ink levels get low. Those chips also tell the printer to stop printing after a certain number of nozzle firings or page counts and I strongly suspect that one of my printers is set to refuse a cartridge that was removed and replaced. I bought some replacement cartridges that were substitutes at a much better price than the gouging name branders, but the trick to beating the dealers required me to remove the chip from the old cartridge and put it on the new one. This is much easier than it sounds, an exacto knife can pop the chip out of its little plastic holder, and it can then be slipped into the ready and waiting slot on the new cartridge. I replaced the colour cartridges and the printer began flashing lights in the tank bed as each cartridge was replaced. It took me a while to figure out what it was trying Napa Valley Personal Computer Users Group P.O. Box 2866 Napa, California 94558-0286 Address Services Requested
to tell me but I should have known right away. I assumed that my chip replacement skills were not up to par or maybe I had been swindled while attempting to swindle the other swindlers. Out of curiosity, I took one of my black cartridges out (this printer has two blacks) and checked it for ink, still lots. I replaced it and the blinking light began on this slot as well. The same thing happened with the other black. Apparently, there is more going on with this little chip than meets the eye. Well, actually, nothing meets the eye, it’s all too small, but this new aggravation raises the stakes. Now the ink re-filling industry has a chip resetter that we can buy which presumably sets the chip to its original state where it says to the printer, “I am brand new and full.” I have not tried this but I would like to hear from anyone who has, preferably, if you have had success. If I can find a way to beat these printers I own, I will keep them in good repair. The price of ink for inkjets is beyond outrageous and some people are getting very rich. I can only try to imagine what wonderful gifts we would find under the tree of the Cartridge Family this year. This article has been provided to APCUG by the author solely for publication by APCUG member groups. All other uses require the permission of the author (see e-mail address above).
Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats FileFormatConverters.exe, available from Microsoft Downloads, allows users of Microsoft Office 2000, Office XP and Office Suite 2003 to open, edit and save Office Suite 2007 documents. Before installing though make sure you have installed all updates for your version of the Office Suite.
