Thursday, January 21, 2010 by admin.

More than 600,000 laptops are stolen every year, and I don’t want mine to become part of that statistic (http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview/id/605878.html). What do the thieves do with these laptops? Most probably end up for sale on eBay or brought in to a pawn shop for some quick cash. Besides being wise in not ever leaving it unsecured, making it obviously marked up can provide one of the best deterrents to a potential theft. 

I have seen equipment and tools sprayed with red or yellow spray paint. And we engrave equipment at work with a diamond-tip engraver. But I don’t care to do this to my laptop. My son told me about a wonderful alternative, which is a great option called a Skin. Now the skins he has used are clear, which is a nice option to protect his iPod from scratches and oily fingers. But Unique Skins provides a wonderful alternative, allowing users to create their own design, or choose from a variety of artistic designs and customize, to create a full-top-cover design. This “unique skin” is then easily applied to the cover of the laptop, making it one-of-a-kind, and helping to deter the potential thief. Of course it also allows making your own artistic or fashion statement, rather than carrying around just an ordinary off-the-shelf computer!

See the wide variety of options available at Unique Skins, including skins for all types of portable devices. Music players, cell phones, gaming consoles… if you spend $$$ on a Blackberry or iPhone, spend just a few more $$ to protect it from scratches and make it your own with a “unique skin.”

I’m working on my own custom design for my laptop, and one for my wife, too. I plan to include our name and contact information, not too big in the design, but big enough to be obvious to a potential thief or the person to whom they might try to sell it.

These skins are removable, by the way. They peel off without leaving any residue. But how many thieves would know that? Make your laptop or portable device unique with a Unique Skin, and let the thief skip over yours!

Posted in New Technology, Photography | Print | No Comments »

Thursday, January 21, 2010 by admin.

I ordered a new SD Memory Card that has a special capability that I’m very excited about… It has built-in Wi-Fi capability in the card that will upload my pictures directly to a wireless access point, uploading them directly from my SLR camera to my Apple MobileMe gallery or other online photo album!

I am excited to try this at our school concerts and athletic events. This means that even before the event is over, my photos can be uploaded and people can view them! See this item on Amazon at: Eye-Fi SD Card.

Posted in New Technology, Photography | Print | No Comments »

Thursday, June 25, 2009 by admin.

Ever lost your cell phone charger, or forget to take it along on vacation, when you need it most? Usually, a quick trip to the nearby discount store will remedy the situation, assuming the store keeps sufficient variety of over a dozen different connectors to plug into whatever brand and model of phone you have. It used to be that each company standardized to one connector design: my first Motorola StarTac phone had a flat connector that worked really well. But the connector wouldn’t fit on most of today’s phones, it was just too big! So I understand a need for smaller connectors. But the electronics manufacturers are not just making smaller connectors to accommodate smaller designs, it seems that they are inventing new connectors to accommodate company profits with new proprietary designs for data connections and for AC/battery charger connections.

In the AudioVisual department where I work, we have four Kodak digital cameras, four JVC mini-DV video cameras, and four Canon mini-DV video cameras. These are used by students and staff for various purposes throughout campus, being checked in and out many times weekly. In this process, cables and power adapters get misplaced, broken and lost. What becomes extremely frustrating is the move away from standardized parts towards very specialized connectors, not just for each brand but with many different connector types within a brand (referred to as proprietary connectors or proprietary parts). Why do they do this?

Contrary to cost trends in some other consumer products, many electronic products have not increased in cost at the rate of inflation. In fact, many items have significantly dropped in price, partly due to fierce competition between manufacturers. Consumers want lower prices, and the big name brands in consumer electronics have delivered! The technology in a cell phone, GPS, mp3 player, still or video camera is quite an exceptional value for the price paid. Then in order to recover some of the profits lost to the competitive environment, I suggest that manufacturers have expanded on an idea that which I often accredit to Sony of selling proprietary accessories for products, forcing patrons to purchase genuine replacement parts and cables simply because no one else makes the cable or power adapter!

Ironically, many of these cables could be identical, saving consumers from needing to purchase a new car charger every time they purchase a new cell phone. The voltages are the same, and power capacity is nearly identical. But dealers like being able to sell a new charger for a new phone (which might be free from the cellular provider). So the “free” new phone brings a sales opportunity to the dealer…even though the customer’s accessories are fully functional, most of them will not transfer to a new phone (or to a new cellular carrier, for that matter). Logic has been thrown out the window, creating needless waste and expense for the consumer. And not just the old chargers and batteries get thrown away, so does a lot of (usually plastic clamshell) packaging adds to the load on our landfills.

I can remember the “old days” when manufacturers used common sense with round DC power connectors. Hmm, maybe this idea came from the Industrial Revolution, which I learned about in elementary school, with the wonderful idea of standardized parts. Laptop computers often used one size of these, and in those times the 12-volt power supply from one laptop would work with most others. Many now have adapted to proprietary power connectors, forcing the consumer to be careful in selecting the correct Power Supply or it won’t fit the connector on their model. But standardized parts do not have the profit potential for the manufacturers that proprietary parts do! And manufacturers have convinced stores and dealers that selling new accessories with new electronic gadgets helps them make money, too, despite having to dedicate walls full of countless charges, cables, and other accessories.

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Thursday, June 5, 2008 by admin.

I’ll admit it — I love Photoshop, and like to pride myself in being one of the most well-versed in town on the software and its features. One of the best ways I’ve found to master Photoshop (though “mastering” it isn’t really possible for a human being) is to visit some of the countless websites with wonderful tutorials!

My graduate class in Creative Approaches to Digital Media from Regent University is currently sharing tips of the best FREE Photoshop tutorial sites they have found. I will list these, beginning with my own favorites, and then sharing my classmates’ suggestions.

BEST PHOTOSHOP TIPS AND TUTORIALS:

• TutVid Video Training Excellent Flash Website, with free tutorials on most of the Adobe CS3 family. Very practical tutorials, including 27 on Photoshop.
• Russell Brown’s Adobe Photoshop Tips & Techniques Dr. Brown has a dry sense of humor and fame that helps make boring tasks fun, and fun tasks hysterical. Scroll down not only for enlightening and practical Quick Time movie tutorials, but also accompanying files. CS3 Scripts and Extended Scripts are powerful time savers, implementing Java programming to add powerful items to the Photoshop Menu. These are definitely POWER tips and tricks. These range from simple to very advanced professional techniques. Highly recommended for intermediate to advanced users! Plus there is a link to Dr. Brown’s Podcast — this guy is one of the Photoshop Masters, making me realize I know nothing!
• Julieanne Kost, Adobe “Digital Imaging Evangelist” We sometimes miss the great information available directly from the source. Adobe provides excellent resources, and Julieanne Kost is one of their best. A few video tutorials are provided (and links to Adobe TV, which has Terrabytes of free tutorials, news, and related product reviews)
• Adobe Exchange The Adobe user community shares many resources with one another, many free of cost (like Photoshop Actions) and others shareware or professional full-price add-ons. Explore the Photoshop Section for great resources.

Suggested by Michael Zimmerman:

• http://www.celoxdesign.net/free-photoshop-tutorials - Celoxdesign covers a wide range of tutorials categories such as Photoshop, Cinema4D, xHTML and CSS.
• http://www.pslover.com/ - Huge directory of free Adobe Photoshop tutorials, tips and Tricks - from photoshop experts.
• http://www.tutorialman.com - Find The Best Free Adobe Photoshop Tutorials.

Suggested by Kimberly Carr:

• www.photoshop101.com - clear, concise, good info.
• www.photoshopsupport.com - there’s lots of text on the page but chock full of good info.
• www.photoshopstar.com - not my favorite of the three but easy to navigate with good info.

Suggested by Tara Hasbrouck:

• http://www.tutorialized.com/ Search for Photoshop
• http://www.photoshopguides.com/
• http://www.photoshopcafe.com/tutorials.htm

Suggested by Leah Martin:

• http://www.photoshopstar.com/
• http://www.photoshop101.com/
• http://www.adobephotoshoptutorials.com/

Suggested by Eduardo Gil:

• www.photoshopsupport.com/photoshop-cs3/pen-tool-tutorial/index.html
• www.photoshopstar.com/tutorials-page
• www.graphicssoft.about.com/od/photoshop/ig/The-Photoshop-CS2-Workspace

Suggested by Roxanne Griner:

• http://www.photoshopsupport.com/index.html
• http://pstutorialsblog.com/free-video-tutorials-from-watch-and-learn-photoshop/
• http://www.videotutorialzone.com/ (More than just Photoshop)

Suggested by Daniel Desrosiers:

• http://www.3dtotal.com/ps100/pstut100.html This site has 100 cool tutorials for creating interesting art pieces - not just retouching, but crazy, fantasy-style designs
• http://www.photoshopusertv.com One of my favorite resources to use as a teacher is a show/video podcast called Photoshop User TV. Hosted by the president of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals, Photoshop User TV offers great tutorials and advice with a humorous twist. They also share Photoshop news and host conferences nationwide
• http://psdtuts.com/ Another resource for good tutorials

Suggested by Cynthia Hallam:

• http://www.photoshopstar.com
• http://www.tutorialized.com/tutorials/Photoshop/1
• http://www.photoshopsupport.com/tutorials.html

Other readers, please add a reply below with your favorite Photoshop tutorials and resource links!

Posted in Photoshop, Web Design, Photography | Print | No Comments »

Wednesday, March 19, 2008 by admin.

My mom helped develop my interest in photography, and she averaged two 36-exposure rolls of film per week from age 65 to 75. I hope I am still active enough to take that many photos in my later years! I wasn’t able to convert Mom to digital before she died, but she enjoyed seeing instant photos on my first couple of digital cameras.

In high school, I saved my earnings from the grocery store where I worked to purchase a Canon FTb SLR, with a 50mm lens. This served me well, even through a dunking in the lake on a canoe trip. I added a Canon AE-1, which accompanied my wife and I to Guam, but its electronics got damp when our car was flooded during a typhoon. The car recovered, and the FTb, but not the electronic-based AE-1. I still own a Canon F-1 film camera that I found used while visiting Japan. I tried its shutter last summer, and it snapped crisply after sitting unused for over fifteen years!

My first digital camera was a Sony Mavica that used two-inch floppy disks, with only about 240×360 pixels of resolution (0.8 megapixels). Next came a workhorse, the Kodak DC260, and then DC290. Then an Olympus C-5050, and eventually my first digital SLR, the Fujifilm Finepix S2. I still use the S2, as well as the newer Fuji S3 and S5. The S5 is built from Nikon’s D200 camera, but with a Fujifilm sensor that produces finer portrait color (like the old Fujifilm Velvia films - my opinion here!).

My favorite digital camera research site is DP Review, where I enjoy the camera reviews, and the User Forums (particularly the Fuji SLR forum). I recommend this site as a starting point for buying a new digital cameras, including statistics on the cameras currently most-popular.

Posted in Photography | Print | 18 Comments »