TECHNOLOGY

How BitTorrent Works (For those who love using Torrents)

2009-01-26T12:13:00.001+05:30

How BitTorrent Works

BitTorrent is a protocol that enables fast downloading of large files
using minimum Internet bandwidth. It costs nothing to use and includes
no spyware or pop-up advertising.

Unlike other download methods, BitTorrent maximizes transfer speed by
gathering pieces of the file you want and downloading these pieces
simultaneously from people who already have them. This process makes
popular and very large files, such as videos and television programs,
download much faster than is possible with other protocols.

In this article, we'll examine how BitTorrent works and how it is
different from other file-distribution methods. In addition, you'll
learn how to use BitTorrent and what the future might hold for this
innovative approach to serving files over the Internet.

BitTorrent Speak
Like most Internet phenomena, BitTorrent has its own jargon. Some of
the more common terms related to BitTorrent include:

* Leeches - People who download files but do not share files on
their own computer with others
* Seed or seeder - A computer with a complete copy of a BitTorrent
file (At least one seed computer is necessary for a BitTorrent
download to operate.)
* Swarm - A group of computers simultaneously sending (uploading)
or receiving (downloading) the same file
* .torrent - A pointer file that directs your computer to the file
you want to download
* Tracker - A server that manages the BitTorrent file-transfer process

Traditional Client-Server Downloading
To understand how BitTorrent works and why it is different from other
file-serving methods, let's examine what happens when you download a
file from a Web site. It works something like this:

* You open a Web page and click a link to download a file to your computer.
* The Web browser software on your computer (the client) tells the
server (a central computer that holds the Web page and the file you
want to download) to transfer a copy of the file to your computer.
* The transfer is handled by a protocol (a set of rules), such as
FTP (File Transfer Protocol) or HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol).

Client-server download process

The transfer speed is affected by a number of variables, including the
type of protocol, the amount of traffic on the server and the number
of other computers that are downloading the file. If the file is both
large and popular, the demands on the server are great, and the
download will be slow.

Peer-to-peer File Sharing
Peer-to-peer file sharing is different from traditional file
downloading. In peer-to-peer sharing, you use a software program
(rather than your Web browser) to locate computers that have the file
you want. Because these are ordinary computers like yours, as opposed
to servers, they are called peers. The process works like this:

* You run peer-to-peer file-sharing software (for example, a
Gnutella program) on your computer and send out a request for the file
you want to download.
* To locate the file, the software queries other computers that
are connected to the Internet and running the file-sharing software.
* When the software finds a computer that has the file you want on
its hard drive, the download begins.
* Others using the file-sharing software can obtain files they
want from your computer's hard drive.

Gnutella's peer-to-peer download process

The file-transfer load is distributed between the computers exchanging
files, but file searches and transfers from your computer to others
can cause bottlenecks. Some people download files and immediately
disconnect without allowing others to obtain files from their system,
which is called leeching. This limits the number of computers the
software can search for the requested file.

What BitTorrent Does
Unlike some other peer-to-peer downloading methods, BitTorrent is a
protocol that offloads some of the file tracking work to a central
server (called a tracker). Another difference is that it uses a
principal called tit-for-tat. This means that in order to receive
files, you have to give them. This solves the problem of leeching --
one of developer Bram Cohen's primary goals. With BitTorrent, the more
files you share with others, the faster your downloads are. Finally,
to make better use of available Internet bandwidth (the pipeline for
data transmission) , BitTorrent downloads different pieces of the file
you want simultaneously from multiple computers.

Here's how it works:

BitTorrent's peer-to-peer download process

* You open a Web page and click on a link for the file you want.
* BitTorrent client software communicates with a tracker to find
other computers running BitTorrent that have the complete file (seed
computers) and those with a portion of the file (peers that are
usually in the process of downloading the file).
* The tracker identifies the swarm, which is the connected
computers that have all of or a portion of the file and are in the
process of sending or receiving it.
* The tracker helps the client software trade pieces of the file
you want with other computers in the swarm. Your computer receives
multiple pieces of the file simultaneously.
* If you continue to run the BitTorrent client software after your
download is complete, others can receive .torrent files from your
computer; your future download rates improve because you are ranked
higher in the "tit-for-tat" system.

Downloading pieces of the file at the same time helps solve a common
problem with other peer-to-peer download methods: Peers upload at a
much slower rate than they download. By downloading multiple pieces at
the same time, the overall speed is greatly improved. The more
computers involved in the swarm, the faster the file transfer occurs
because there are more sources of each piece of the file. For this
reason, BitTorrent is especially useful for large, popular files.

Boiler Heating Systems

2008-11-23T11:05:00.001+05:30

Boiler Heating Systems

by Chloe Comfort

A boiler heating system is used to create heat via hot water or steam, distributed throughout a home by the use of baseboard, radiant heat, or steam radiator heating systems. The boiler heating the water may be fueled by gas, propane, oil or electricity.

Boiler heating systems are usually small, compact, low maintenance, and energy efficient.

Troubleshooting Boiler Heating Systems

If you have a gas furnace powering your baseboard hot water heating system and you smell gas:

Do not try to fix it yourself. Open windows and get out of the house. Take children and pets with you. Do not turn on lights or switches. Call the gas company from a neighbor's house or a cell phone outside the house. Do not return to the house until a professional has examined your home.

If there's no heat coming from your furnace, check the following possibilities:

If you have a gas furnace, check the pilot light to make sure it's lit. Check to see if the water level and water pressure in the boiler is low. Check your fuse box to see if any circuit breakers are flipped the wrong way or to make sure a fuse hasn't blown. Reset the circuit breaker or change the fuse if need be. If you have an electronic burner ignition system, check to make sure the ignition switch is working. Check the thermostat to make sure it is on and is set for at least three degrees hotter than the registered room temperature. If all these steps don't work, call a professional HVAC technician for a service check.

If the problem is not enough heat is being produced (but some heat is evident) try the following:

Check the water level and water pressure of the boiler to see if it is low. Check the heating registers - make sure they are open and nothing is obstructing them. Have a technician check to see if there are mineral deposits building up in the bottom of the boiler. He or she can flush the system. Check the expansion tank to see if it has too much water in it and not enough air. The pressure relief valve on the boiler will be spurting water if this is the case. You should also see a high pressure reading (over 20 psi) on the pressure gauge. It is advisable to have a professional HVAC technician handle these kinds of checks.

If there is water leaking around the bottom of the boiler:

The pump may be broken. The pressure gauge may be compromised. There may be a leak in the piping. All of these problems warrant a visit from a professional HVAC technician.

If the pipes are suddenly very noisy:

Check for water trapped in the return lines. If the pipes are not angled right, water can get trapped in the lines. Try adjusting the angling of the lines or call a technician to fix it for you. Check the circulator to see if the spring-loaded coupling that connects the motor to the pump isn't broken or jammed.

If you are using a radiant heat system to distribute the heat, consider the following:

Have you changed the flooring recently? If so, you may have to increase the temperature setting to accommodate. However, make sure the water temperature never exceeds 85 degrees (or the limit the manufacturer designates.) The other problem could be the circulator, but you'll need a technician to come check to see if the circulator is moving enough water. If the circulator is undersized or is not moving enough water, the temperature drop through the system will be too much, and you won't get enough heat coming through the flooring. A professional will most likely also check the outdoor reset controls to check the heating curve.

If you are using a baseboard or radiator hot water heating system, see our article specific to this system for troubleshooting suggestions.

About the Author

http://www.centralheatingandcoolingnow.com

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Build A Solar Panel and Save On Costs

2008-11-23T11:01:00.001+05:30

Build A Solar Panel and Save On Costs

by Dave Tee

The advantages of renewable energy are becoming more and more apparent. Many of us would like to make free energy but the initial costs are so high.

If you have searched online to find out how to build a solar panel i am sure that what you did find seemed overly technical. This is why i recommend you buy a do it yourself guide from a reputable source which is designed specifically for those of us who are not technically minded. I am one of them but still found no problems understanding what was involved.

Solar panel costs have risen dramatically over the past few years so it makes more and more sense to spend a fun weekend with whoever wants to help making you own homemade solar power.

Think of the achievement.

Think of the lower electricity costs.

Think of the lower impact on the the planet.

And also think of the savings you are making.

The guide i talk about on my site is written by a man with a lifetime of experience in solar power and wind turbines. Yes his guide also shows you how to have a home built wind generator.

Solar energy benefits are enormous. You can cut your bills dramatically and it was you that made the free energy.

You can reap the benefits of solar energy for a fraction of the cost of buying new.For less than a few hundred dollars you will be saving masses on your electricity bill and home built solar power has other benefits. You are helping to save the planet and think how much you can boast to your friends.

So rather than purchase a solar panel why not have some fun as well as saving on energy costs and have homemade solar panels.

Good luck and make some free energy.

About the Author

http://www.squidoo.com/how-build-solar-panel

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Best Gas Mileage

2008-11-23T11:00:00.001+05:30

Best Gas Mileage

by Michael Malega

I hope that the following article will help you to better understand this topic.

As we may already know, most people are disruptive with the skyrocketing petrol prices. Most of us want to get the best fuel consumption rate from our vehicles and rightly so. Virtually all of us would not mind to own a powerful car and drive hundreds of miles without having to think about petrol cost or stop often at petrol stations to fill gas in the car. Nevertheless, a good gas mileage is surly can be a reality. There is only one the very best way to get the best car mileage is by pushing your car around where you want to go. However, there are a few things that can be done to get the minimum car fuel consumption rate out of your car.

As we talk about increasing the mileage of your car, the basic problem for you will be how you keep your car and how you drive. You need to void drive when the place you want to go to is at a short length of your place. The first and the foremost proposition for increasing your car mileage is that you must walk or ride the bicycle as much as you can and it is good for health, no doubt. If you have to do some work and you must use your car then you must concentrate on doing as much work as possible in one trip itself. There is absolutely no point in juggle your tasks in some other trips. You must walk or ride the bicycle when the tasks are at a manageable distance. You may also use public transport services to get to your nearby destinations.

Another point to bring here is that you must not drive aggressively. This burns a deal of fuel. Instead, try to drive at a normal speed so that you can loosen up and delight the view while driving. Driving sharply resorts to the rapid acceleration, quick braking at over Hundred mph. when these things are avoided you can feel the difference in the mileage of the car.

The 3rd and one of the most significant things that can be done for the improvement of fuel consumption rate of the car is that you must avoid to have the heavy items in your car that are unnecessary. You must keep down the weight unit of the car as much as possible. This helps in avoiding the wastage of the excess fuel that is used in the speed up of the vehicle. The heavy loads put extra and unneeded stress on your vehicle.

The 4th tip for best gas mileage is to keep the tires of your car under proper manufacture recommended pressure levels. You need to check it on regular bases that the air pressure of the tire is also even. You need to keep the pressure as the maker suggests in PSI. This will take out the stress off the engine of your car and facilitate effective speedup and the smooth cognitive operation of the vehicle. This method will surely gain the mileage of your vehicle by over 5%.

The last slant is possibly the most crucial one. It promises to give you the best gas consumption rate from your car. You will need to stay up-to-date with the service of your car. You must service your car regularly, and check each ingredient of your car for damages. You must check and replace the defective oxygen sensor, which will considerably gain the gasoline mileage of your car by over 45%, the checking and replacement of clotted air filters can help you attain the average of your car by over Fifteen %. By following this, few suggested tips it will surly add to over all best gas mileage.

Thank you for taking the time to read my article it is greatly appreciated. Try searching through my other articles to get more data on this subject.

About the Author

Michael Malega presents several Best Gas Mileage articles for more data check here: http://www.better-gas-mileage.net/Best-Gas-Mileage.php

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Bio Diesel – Boon for Nature

2008-11-23T10:59:00.000+05:30

Bio Diesel – Boon for Nature

by Terry Farrar

Bio Diesel refers to non- petroleum based diesel fuel consisting short chain alkyl esters made by refinery process called TRANSESTERIFICATION of vegetable oils such as soyabean oil, which can be used alone, or blended with conventional petrol diesel in unmodified diesel engine vehicles.

It is a name of a clean burning alternative fuel produced from domestic, renewable resources. It contains no petroleum, but it can be blended at any level with petroleum diesel to create a biodiesel blend. It can be used in compression ignition (diesel) engines with little or no modifications .It is easy, simple, and essentially free from sulphur and aromatics.

This is an alternative fuel to the already existing fuel petrol. The entire world surface transport is based on petroleum fuel, but its availability is of great concern. There is a growing concern that the world may run out off petroleum based fuel resources. All this makes it imperative that the search for alternative fuels is taken in right direction.

Below are reasons what the need of alternative fuel like bio diesel is important:-

1. It is made from renewable resources , which makes it less harmful

2. It results in substantial reduction of unburned hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and particulate matters which are harmful to human body.

3. Air quality concern have increased the importance of alternative fuels and advanced transportation technologies like electric vehicles.

4. By increasing alternative fuels use, consumers have choices, broaden the supply and have lower environmental impacts.

5. Lower emission of biodiesel makes it ideal fuel for use in marine area, nature parks & forest and heavily polluted cities.

6. Bio diesel fuel is 11% oxygen by measure and contains no sulphur. It extends the life of diesel engine because it's more lubricating than petroleum diesel fuel.

In addition to the above, there are some economic benefits of bio diesel:

1. Manufacturing of bio diesel has strongly affected the Macro economics that are associated with domestically produced renewable energy resources like Soya bean oil.

2. Bio diesel increased demand for soyabean oil causing processors to pay more for soyabean, which finally results in receiving high value by the farmers for supplying Soya bean.

Last, but not the least here are the environmental benefits of using bio diesel.

1. Substantial reduction in hydrocarbon emission

2. Exhaust emission of sulphur oxide and sulfates (major components of acid rain) from bio diesel were essentially eliminated

3. Breathing particulate has been shown to be human health hazards. Reduced emissions of particulate matters from bio diesel were 30 %lower.

4. Bio diesel fuel is non toxic

5. Its non-irritable to skin

6. It provides four times faster ignition to vehicle than petroleum diesel.

About the Author

Veghead Bio-Diesel provides American made bio diesel processors, a revolutionary step in providing alternative energy fuels. For more information, please visit: http://www.vegheadbiodiesel.com

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Benifits of Anti-virus, anti-spyware and registry cleaning

2008-11-23T10:58:00.001+05:30

Benifits of Anti-virus, anti-spyware and registry cleaning

by Alexis Martin

Spyware is designed to intercept or take control over the interaction you have with your computer without your consent. Spyware collects personal information (in addition to your passwords and surfing patterns, good spyware can also get credit card and bank information), redirects your browser (I inadvertently downloaded spyware one time that would send me to the same advertisement no matter what web link I typed in or clicked on), and spyware can actually change your computer settings affecting how you connect and how fast you connect to the internet. Anti-spyware protects your computer from spyware. A good anti-spyware program will catch spyware before it infests your system and a great program will catch in and get rid of it once it's on your computer. It is important when deciding to use anti-virus software to make sure you are at a legitimate website before downloading.

Viruses (also called malware) are similar to spyware except they are not designed to find personal information. Viruses are designed for the purpose of destroying your computer. They do this by deleting and partially deleting files throughout your computer. Viruses are most easily spread through email and websites. However, viruses are also attached to .exe files. In order for the virus to work, it must be executed. These are just as damaging to your computer as spyware. Strong anti-virus software is a must if you are connected to the internet and even if you're not as viruses can piggy back in through burned software or floppy disks.

Registry cleaners are another thing you should be aware of if you're a computer user. The verdict is out on this one. Some experts suggest that because Registry Cleaner removes data that is no longer in use (these are designed for Windows OS) it frees up space and helps eliminate data that could be slowing your computer down and since manually cleaning out your computer register would take a ridiculous amount of time, these programs are beneficial. On the other side of the argument, experts argue that using a register cleaner makes a user more open to malware infection, and does not affect the speed, especially if there are multiple users with their own log ins. The jury is out on this one.

In short, your computer health is dependent upon your willingness to take care of it. Anti-virus and anti-spyware programs are essential. If you want a registry cleaner, research and find out if you should use one based on your computer usage.

About the Author

PC Repair Experts provides you services as Computer Repair, Virus Removal, Registry Cleaning, Spyware Removal, Data Recovery/Backup, PC Security... Your PC is too slow, crashing or infected by spyware? Our experts are always online to help you and repair your computer.http://www.pcrepairexperts.net

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Candle Making Business – Make It A Successful Business

2008-11-23T10:57:00.001+05:30

Candle Making Business – Make It A Successful Business

by K Amber

Only experienced candle makers will tell you that there is a lot of fun in making candles. After perfecting your basic candle making technique, you can start to produce truly beautiful, high-quality candles. To have other

appreciating your candle making techniques, you can give them away as gifts, or sell them for a profit. Now after perfecting your candle making techniques, remember not to quickly to turn your hobby of candle making into a candle

making business.

Before you decide to give up your day job, you should take the time to learn about marketing, purchasing supplies at the lowest possible cost, customer service tactics (as your customers are your business), and learning how much

you should charge for your candles. If you set your price too high, no one will buy them, if you don't charge enough, you won't be able to recoup your costs, and won't earn a profit.

Candles are very popular everywhere, especially those decorative and scented candles which are widely marketable. Now you need to let people know that you have supplies of candles for sale.

Advertisement is the quickest way to let the market know that your candle making business exists. There are many ways on selling your candles such as treating it as a home business, from a brick and mortar store, mail order, online through a website, eBay, etc.

You have to decide which method work best for you to sell your candles.

After that, it would be time to start advertising your business that suits your platform. If you are starting a home business, then you would want to advertise in the local newspapers, fliers with special offers. Consignments supplies in gift shops and convenient stores can bring a consistent demand for your candles. Make your presence in local trade shows and craft centers would certainly help. You can check out ongoing events in your area via the internet.

You probably need to consider selling your candles online as another avenue.

To have your business online you need to learn online advertising which you can do yourself otherwise engage some experts to do it for you. Online advertisement can be expensive. Some of the upfront cost are website

development service charges, payment options hosting fees etc.

Another avenue for selling your candles is on online auction sites such as eBay. You will need to take good pictures of your candles, and put up some good descriptions of them. Once you establish your reputation in candle making as a business, you will really start seeing the orders coming in.

To be really successful in your candle making business, you need to know how to price your candles. Your sales of candles will have to cover all your outgoings such the cost of your supplies, internet fees, etc., plus turning

some sort of profits for yourself. However, you need to try out, first making some errors then seeing what is right for you. There is no quick rule here.

Once you know about the pricing, advertising, etc., now you have to just provide high-quality products providing value to your customers. This will be the key to your candle making as a business , and once you master this, you stand to have a long-term candle making as a business that will make you a nice yearly income, all from doing something that you love.

About the Author

K AmberCandle Making great resources. You find valuable Candle Making Tips to put your candle making business onto a success road. http://candle.enet8.com/

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Auto Trade Shows

2008-11-23T10:52:00.001+05:30

Auto Trade Shows

by Maddie Morgan

Auto Trade Shows are one of the most excellent means of showcasing a car manufacturer's

best auto models and getting on top of the competition, while advancing well

ahead with prospective buyers in a fairly short amount of time. It is a great

opportunity to make an important first impression as well as a very effective

technique of presenting their products.

For the majority of well-known car companies such as BMW, Ford, Honda, Porsche,

Mercedes Benz, and Volkswagen to name a few, Auto Trade Shows are worth the

effort. These big companies are always present in well organized Auto Trade Shows and never let competition get a step ahead, probably the reason why they

stay on the upper hand.

LA Auto Trade Show

The concept of the trade show is all about dazzling model cars and new model

debuts with all the excellent displays of autos from foremost manufacturers

of vehicles. The show is absolutely the place to explore and purchase nearly

everything that's associated with cars, vans, trucks, and SUV's.

Kentia Hall is usually where the auto show is held, and where all the fun things

one can do to a car happens. Features of the auto show include:

Specialty Vehicles are one of the big draws each year with a collection of

special vehicles, including conversion vans that have remained a favorite of

families and people with active lifestyles.

DUB Celebrity Car Showcase is one of the main attractions where fans of celebrity

lifestyle thrill on seeing DUB Magazine Celebrity Car Showcase. The huge exhibit

features tricked-out cars from some of the most popular music and sports personalities

around.

Other facets of the LA Auto Show include Wheels, Tires, and Suspension; Tuners

and Performance; Trucks, Vans and SUV's; Appearance; and Motorsports.

San Francisco International Auto Show

The trade show is a traditional annual nine-day auto show, and is the foremost

exhibition in northern California. It is the only auto show that is held regionally

attracting astounding high-tech displays of cars from the world's leading

automobile manufacturers.

The 2007 San Francisco International Auto Show will facade more than eight-hundred

cars embodying the work of more than forty car producers that will offer residents

of the Bay Area a chance to see the entire innovative 2006 car models in one

venue, among which include Ford Motor Company, BMW, Bentley, General Motors,

Honda Motor Company, Hyundai, Daimler-Chrysler Corporation, Mercedes Benz, Porsche,

Volkswagen, Suzuki, and many more. Additionally, it will also showcase classic

cars, racecars, and give a glance at future cars with prototypes, alternative

fuel cars, and concept cars.

Generally, Auto Trade Shows are well-attended and rarely disappointing as they

have the best concepts of delivering their products to the public, with added

glimmer and glamour, as the cars dazzle their way to the hearts and pockets

of potential customers.

About the Author

Xtreme Exhibits, Inc is pleased to have served the trade show community for so many years we welcome your questions and insights. We can be contacted at http://www.xtreme-exhibits.com

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ASP.NET Validation Controls. Are They Helpful or Not?

2008-11-23T10:49:00.001+05:30

ASP.NET Validation Controls. Are They Helpful or Not?

by Dave Bush

This is something I see on the message boards quite a bit. It usually starts with something like, "How can I _______ with the _______ validation control?" Or, if they are really looking for an explanation rather than an implementation, they'll ask how to do it with the validation controls instead of one specific control.

Eventually someone will be frustrated enough to say, "that's exactly why I never use validation controls..." Most recently, it was an MVP who seems to be everywhere. {But, an answer like this makes me question every answer he's likely to give on the forum.|But an answer like this makes me wonder about any answer he's likely to give on the forum.

Are some situations more difficult than others? Absolutely. Should this really cause us to discount them altogether? Well, let's do a cost benefit analysis:

Here are the advantages of using validation controls:

The ability to write minimum code using client side AND server side validation.

* Ability to assign a validation to a specific control

* Only particular validations will fire for specific areas of the screen by grouping validations and controls

* Gives us several consistent methods to report the validation error back to the user.

* It is unnecessary to learn JavaScript

* Provides a custom validation control for the rare case which conforms to how the other validation controls work so that all we have to do is write the validation but displaying the error message, firing the validation, etc is left to the framework.

* I might have to have several validations and several controls on the screen that do the very same thing for the reason that any specific control or validation can only belong to one validation group.

With these points, It seems as if using validation controls would be much faster.

What if we don't use validation controls?

I must spend my time writing validations by hand myself or using some other framework (one I probably wrote myself and therefore isn't tested as well)

* I have to write code to display the error on the computer screen.

* I must be consistent in how the error is displayed from one screen to another. Especially when you are working with several different developers, this could be particularly difficult.

* Each of the developers in my organization have to know asp.net AND javascript..

* I can choose however I want to code validations.

* My code re-use might be greater.

I am not really seeing the advantage here. Actually, In my own experience with ASP.NET applications since beta 1 of version 1.0, I've yet to see a situation where the validation controls wouldn't work or where anyone could debate that they wouldn't be the right answer. This is even more true now that we can group the controls and validations.

So, here's the challenge.

Find a situation you think will not work using the existing set of validation controls and post a comment with your specific situation.. Maybe someone can change my mind.

del.icio.us Tags: asp.net , validation controls

About the Author

Dave answers ASP.NET related questions at .NET Answers and runs a Web hosting company at My Win Hosting.

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3D modeling works

2008-11-23T10:24:00.000+05:30

3D modeling works

by Kefri Jaith

Tree dimensional image known as 3D modeling. 3D models are developed by software applications. And also 3D models are broadly used in 3d graphics. Geometric mesh of triangles or polygons is illustrated by 3Dmodels but it's under the control of 3D space. 3D modelers are used to develop the model through 3D mesh. Mesh use to alter their decision according to users. Models can be suggested in diversity of angles simultaneously. 3D modelers are interrelated to ray tracers.

Working in of 3D modeling

3D modeling contains different types:

3D studio max:

3ds Max is generally made on 3ds graphics application. 3ds max is created by Autodesk media and entertainment. 3ds max is the 9th version generation. Its can activate on window 32 and windows 64. 3ds max is frequently based on 3D animation programs. 3ds max contains strong and good capacity its movable plug-in architecture on the Microsoft window platform. It's frequently used on video games developers. 3ds max mostly used on movies.

Cheetah 3D:

Cheetah 3d is one of the types of computer graphics and 3D modeling. And also its takes place in animation and rendering. Cheetah 3ds is user friendly. Cheetah 3ds is mostly aim in part time artists. Cheetah 3ds is many used in professionals. Cheetah 3ds is have a various types of geometric primitives and also contains polygon meshes and Bezier curves. Animalizing, retraced shadows, depth of field, HDRI lighting, soft shadowing and photo-mapped is used in cheetah 3ds.

Cinema 4D:

Cinema 4D is based on commercial platform which is high-end in 3D graphics. It is able to procedural and polygon modeling, animating, lighting, texturing and rendering. Cinema 4D is an admired in 3d application among action graphics. Cinema 4D is a runtime programming and scripting language. It has four different packages released by MAXON; cinema 4D applications are XL bundle, the studio bundle that includes modules and production bundle which indicates a service contract. Linux version is available in cinema 4D.

Modo:

Modo is a type of polygon and it's an advanced polygon. Modo is one of the modeling packages are created by urology. The program features are edge weighting and program run on Mac OSX and Microsoft windows platforms.

Rhinoceros 3D:

Rhinoceros 3D is an individual. It's typically based on modeling tool. Rhinoceros 3D is from Autodesk's AutoCAD software. This software is mainly used for industrial design, architecture, Marine design, jewelry design, automotive design, CAD/CAM fast prototyping, reverse engineering and graphic design. Rhino 3D frequently used in scripting language called Rhino script and also it's commonly based on visual basic program.

Alias:

Animator and poweranimator is also simply called as "Alias" its use to established Maya and studiotools. Alias is an expensive, difficult, highly used industrial 3D modeling, animation and visual effects suite. Alias is commonly used on visual effects and animation industries.

Maya:

Maya is one of the most important and highlighted 3D computer graphics and 3D modeling software packages. Maya is developed by Alias. Autodesk have control of media and entertainment division. Autodesk formed in October 2005. Maya is frequently used in film and Television industry and computer video games also. Maya is most familiar in 3D software and refers from alias power animator.

Maya is derived from two parts, they are Maya complete and Maya unlimited. Maya unlimited is more expensive and related to 3D programs. Maya complete is less powerful package. Maya personal learning edition (PLE) is an available in Maya version. PLE is the water marked for all the Maya PLE images. The recent version of Maya is version 8.5 was outcome on January 2007. Version 6.5 is the latest supported IRIX according to the platform in recent years.

About the Author

For information please Contact us: info@autocaddraftingindia.com For more detail visit our site www.autocaddraftingindia.com

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Origin of Names of Great Companies

2008-11-21T11:00:00.001+05:30

Mercedes:
This was actually financier's daughter's name.

Adobe:
This came from the name of the river Adobe Creek that ran behind the
house of founder John Warnock.

Apple Computers:
It was the favourite fruit of founder Steve Jobbs.He was three month
slate for filing a name for the business, and he threatened to call
his company Apple Computers if the other colleagues didn't suggest a
better name by 5 o'clock.

CISCO:
It is not an acronym as popularly believed. Its short for San Francisco.

Compaq:
This name was formed by using COMp, for computer and PAQ to denote a
small integral object.

Corel:
The name was derived from the founder's name Dr. Michael Cowpland. It
stands for COwpland Research Laboratory.

Google:
The name started as a joke boasting about the amount of information
the search-engine would be able to search. It was originally named
'Googol',a word for the number represented by 1 followed by 100 zeros.
After founders - Stanford graduate students Sergey Brin and Larry Page
presented their project to an angel investor; they received a cheque
made out to 'Google'.

Hotmail:
Founder Jack Smith got the idea of accessing e-mail via the web from a
computer anywhere in the world. When Sabeer Bhatia came up with the
business plan for the mail service, he tried all kinds of names ending
in 'mail' and finally settled for hotmail as it included the
letters"html" - the programming language used to write web pages. It
was initially referred to as HoTMaiL with selective uppercasing.

Hewlett Packard :
Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard tossed a coin to decide whether the
company they founded would be called Hewlett-Packard or
Packard-Hewlett.

Intel:
Bob Noyce and Gordon Moore wanted to name their new company 'Moore
Noyce' but that was already trademarked by a hotel chain so they had
to settle for an acronym of INTegrated ELectronics.

Lotus (Notes) :
Mitch Kapor got the name for his company from 'The Lotus Position'
or'Padmasana' . Kapor used to be a teacher of transcendental
Meditation of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

Microsoft:
Coined by Bill Gates to represent the company that was devoted to
MICROcomputer SOFTware. Originally christened Micro-Soft, the '-' was
removed later on.

Motorola:
Founder Paul Galvin came up with this name when his company started
manufacturin g radios for cars. The popular radio company at the time
was called Victrola.

ORACLE:
Larry Ellison and Bob Oats were working on a consulting project for
the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency). The code name for the project
was called Oracle (the CIA saw this as the system to give answers to
all questions or something such). The project was designed to help use
the newly written SQL code by IBM. The project eventually was
terminated but Larry and Bob decided to finish what they started and
bring it to the world. They kept the name Oracle and created the RDBMS
engine. Later they kept the same name for the company.

Sony:
It originated from the Latin word 'sonus' meaning sound, and 'sonny'
as lang used by Americans to refer to a bright youngster.

SUN:
Founded by 4 Stanford University buddies, SUN is the acronym
forStanford University Network. Andreas Bechtolsheim built a
microcomputer; Vinod Khosla recruited him and Scott McNealy to
manufacture computers based on it, and Bill Joy to develop a
UNIX-based OS for the computer.

Apache:
It got its name because its founders got started by applying patches
to code written for NCSA's httpd daemon.. The result was 'A PAtCHy'
server --thus, the name Apache Jakarta (project from Apache):A project
constituted by SUN and Apache to create a web server handling servlets
and JSPs. Jakarta was name of the conference room at SUN where most of
the meetings between SUN and Apache took place.

Tomcat:
The servlet part of the Jakarta project. Tomcat was the code name for
the JSDK 2.1 project inside SUN.

C:
Dennis Ritchie improved on the B programming language and called it
'New B'.He later called it C. Earlier B was created by Ken Thompson as
a revision of the Bon programming language (named after his wife
Bonnie).

C++:
Bjarne Stroustrup called his new language 'C with Classes' and then
'newC'. Because of which the original C began to be called 'old C'
which was considered insulting to the C community. At this time Rick
Mascitti suggested the name C++ as a successor to C.

GNU:
A species of African antelope. Founder of the GNU project Richard
Stallman liked the name because of the humor associated with its
pronunciation and was also influenced by the children's song 'The Gnu
Song' which is a song sung by a gnu. Also it fitted into the recursive
acronym culture with 'GNU's Not Unix'.

Java:
Originally called Oak by creator James Gosling, from the tree that
stood outside his window, the programming team had to look for a
substitute as there was no other language with the same name. Java was
selected from a list of suggestions. It came from the name of the
coffee that the programmers drank.

LG:
Combination of two popular Korean brands Lucky and Goldstar.

Linux:
Linus Torvalds originally used the Minix OS on his system which here
placed by his OS. Hence the working name was Linux (Linus' Minix). He
thought the name to be too egotistical and planned to name it
Freax(free+ freak + x).His friend Ari Lemmke encouraged Linus to
upload it to a network so it could be easily downloaded. Ari gave
Linus a directory called linux on his FTP server, as he did not like
the name Freax.(Linus' parents named him after two-time Nobel Prize
winner Linus Pauling) .

Mozilla:
When Marc Andreesen, founder of Netscape, created a browser to replace
Mosaic (also developed by him), it was named Mozilla (Mosaic-Killer,
Godzilla) .The marketing guys didn't like the name however and it
wasre-christened Netscape Navigator.

Red Hat:
Company founder Marc Ewing was given the Cornell lacrosse team cap
(with red and white stripes) while at college by his grandfather. He
lost it and had to search for it desperately. The manual of the beta
version of Red Hat Linux had an appeal to readers to return his Red
Hat if found by anyone!

SAP:
"Systems, Applications, Products in Data Processing", formed by 4
ex-IBM employees who used to work in the 'Systems/Applicatio
ns/Projects' group of IBM.

SCO (UNIX):
From Santa Cruz Operation. The company's office was in Santa Cruz.

UNIX:
When Bell Labs pulled out of MULTICS (MULTiplexed Information and
Computing System), which was originally a joint Bell/GE/MIT project,
KenThompson and Dennis Ritchie of Bell Labs wrote a simpler version of
the OS.They needed the OS to run the game Space War which was compiled
underMULTICS. It was called UNICS - UNIplexed operating and Computing
System by Brian Kernighan. It was later shortened to UNIX.

Xerox:
The inventor, Chestor Carlson, named his product trying to say `dry'
(asit was dry copying, markedly different from the then prevailing wet
copying). The Greek root `xer' means dry.

Yahoo!:
The word was invented by Jonathan Swift and used in his book
'Gulliver's Travels' . It represents a person who is repulsive in
appearance and action and is barely human. Yahoo! founders Jerry Yang
and David Filo selected the name because they considered themselves
yahoos.

3M:
Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company started off by mining the
material corundum used to make sandpaper.

High School Grants Available - Z Corp 3D Printers for CAD

2008-10-02T18:11:00.001+05:30

Volume 7, Issue 10
September 23, 2008

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Latitude E6400: Dell’s longest battery life ever.

2008-09-24T17:40:00.001+05:30

Volume 7, Issue 9
September 18, 2008

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Welcome to the Education World Associate Program, an occasional announcement published as a free service by Education World^®. You are receiving this message because you are subscribed to Education World's Associate Program distribution list, a list designed to make you aware of special offers and products for educators.

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All Nokia Codes

2008-09-11T19:52:00.001+05:30

All Nokia Codes
NOKIA
Nokia Universal Codes
Code Description :
These Nokia codes will work on most Nokia Mobile Phones

(1) *3370# Activate Enhanced Full Rate Codec (EFR) - Your phone uses
the best sound quality but talk time is

reduced my approx. 5%

(2) #3370# Deactivate Enhanced Full Rate Codec (EFR) OR *3370#

(3) *#4720# Activate Half Rate Codec - Your phone uses a lower quality
sound but you should gain approx 30%

more Talk Time.

(4) *#4720# Deactivate Half Rate Codec.

(5) *#0000# Displays your phones software version, 1st Line : Software
Version, 2nd Line : Software Release

Date, 3rd Line : Compression Type.

(6) *#9999# Phones software version if *#0000# does not work.

(7) *#06# For checking the International Mobile Equipment Identity
(IMEI Number).

( #pw+1234567890+ 1# Provider Lock Status. (use the "*" button to
obtain the "p,w"
and "+" symbols).

(9) #pw+1234567890+ 2# Network Lock Status. (use the "*" button to
obtain the "p,w"
and "+" symbols).

(10) #pw+1234567890+ 3# Country Lock Status. (use the "*" button to
obtain the "p,w"
and "+" symbols).

(11) #pw+1234567890+ 4# SIM Card Lock Status. (use the "*" button to
obtain the "p,w" Go to Top
and "+" symbols).

(12) *#147# (vodafone) this lets you know who called you last.

(13) *#1471# Last call (Only vodofone).

(14) *#21# Allows you to check the number that "All Calls" are diverted to

(15) *#2640# Displays security code in use.

(16) *#30# Lets you see the private number.

(17) *#43# Allows you to check the "Call Waiting" status of your phone.

(18) *#61# Allows you to check the number that "On No Reply" calls are
diverted to.

(19) *#62# Allows you to check the number that "Divert If Unreachable
(no service)" calls
are diverted to.

(20) *#67# Allows you to check the number that "On Busy Calls" are diverted to.

(21) *#67705646# Removes operator logo on 3310 & 3330.

(22) *#73# Reset phone timers and game scores.

(23) *#746025625# Displays the SIM Clock status, if your phone
supports this power saving feature "SIM Clock Stop

Allowed", it means you will get the best standby time possible.

(24) *#7760# Manufactures code.

(25) *#7780# Restore factory settings.

(26) *#8110# Software version for the nokia 8110.

Go to Top

(27) *#92702689# Displays - 1.Serial Number, 2.Date Made, 3.Purchase
Date, 4.Date of last repair (0000 for no

repairs), 5.Transfer User Data. To exit this mode you need to switch
your phone off then on again. ( Favourite )

(28) *#94870345123456789 # Deactivate the PWM-Mem.

(29) **21*number# Turn on "All Calls" diverting to the phone number entered.

(30) **61*number# Turn on "No Reply" diverting to the phone number entered.

(31) **67*number# Turn on "On Busy" diverting to the phone number entered.

(32) 12345 This is the default security code.

press and hold # Lets you switch between lines

NOKIA5110/5120/ 5130/5190

IMEI number: * # 0 6 #
Software version: * # 0 0 0 0 #
Simlock info: * # 9 2 7 0 2 6 8 9 #
Enhanced Full Rate: * 3 3 7 0 # [ # 3 3 7 0 # off]
Half Rate: * 4 7 2 0 #
Provider lock status: #pw+1234567890+ 1
Network lock status #pw+1234567890+ 2
Provider lock status: #pw+1234567890+ 3
SimCard lock status: #pw+1234567890+ 4
NOKIA 6110/6120/6130/ 6150/6190
IMEI number: * # 0 6 #
Software version: * # 0 0 0 0 #
Simlock info: * # 9 2 7 0 2 6 8 9 #
Enhanced Full Rate: * 3 3 7 0 # [ # 3 3 7 0 # off]
Half Rate: * 4 7 2 0 #

NOKIA3110

IMEI number: * # 0 6 #
Software version: * # 0 0 0 0 # or * # 9 9 9 9 # or * # 3 1 1 0 #
Simlock info: * # 9 2 7 0 2 6 8 9 #
NOKIA 3330
*#06#
This will show your warranty details *#92702689#
*3370#
Basically increases the quality of calling sound, but decreases battery length.
#3370#
Deactivates the above
*#0000#
Shows your software version
*#746025625# This shows if your phone will allow sim clock stoppage
*4370#
Half Rate Codec activation. It will automatically restart
#4370#
Half Rate Codec deactivation. It will automatically restart
Restore Factory Settings
To do this simply use this code *#7780#
Manufacturer Info
Date of Manufacturing *#3283#
*3001#12345# (TDMA phones only)

This will put your phone into programming mode, and you'll be
presented with the programming menu.
2) Select "NAM1"
3) Select "PSID/RSID"
4) Select "P/RSID 1"
Note: Any of the P/RSIDs will work
5) Select "System Type" and set it to Private
6) Select "PSID/RSID" and set it to 1
7) Select "Connected System ID"
Note: Enter your System ID for Cantel, which is 16401 or 16423. If you
don't know yours,
ask your local dealer for it.
Select "Alpha Tag"
9) Enter a new tag, then press OK
10) Select "Operator Code (SOC)" and set it to 2050
11) Select "Country Code" and set it to 302 for Canada, and 310 for the US.
12) Power down the phone and power it back on again
ISDN Code
To check the ISDN number on your Nokia use this code *#92772689#

All About Proximity Cards by Jack Mathew

2008-08-23T11:09:00.000+05:30

All About Proximity Cards

by Jack Mathew

Proximity cards are extensively used by companies to keep control over the physical access of their employees. Each of the employees is allotted a proximity card, which they are required to show in front of the card reader. The card reader receives the ID from the card and it transmits the same to the central computer. It is only after that it is decided whether the person will get entry into the restricted area or not. Proximity cards are also known as prox cards. They basically refer to contact less integrated circuit devices, which are mainly used for security reasons. Proximity cards can be said to be a form of smart cards.

Uses of Proximity Cards

Proximity cards are basically access control smart cards that offer its users the dual advantage of logical access control as well as physical access control. These cards are of immense use to enterprises, as they provide accessibility to computers, networks and last but not least resources of the organization. Thus, proximity cards can enable you to gain access to restricted area and computer system. These proximity cards have largely reduced the overall security cost of organization. In addition to it, these prox cards can also be used for varied other purposes such as email encryption, web authorization, digital signatures and many more.

Proximity Card Reader

It is quite easy to install as well as use proximity card reader, as it is a highly simple access control system. It is based on a very simple mechanism. It is encoded in such a manner that it reads and responds to the various electronic signals received from access cards. Do not make the mistake of taking proximity card to be almost the same as swipe card used at ATM card reader. Unlike ATM card, you don't need to bring your proximity card in direct contact with the reader. Even if you show the card from a distance of an inch or so, it will work. It is used a lot in parking garages. However, there are a few proximity card readers that require you to touch the card on the magnetic face of the card reader.

Proximity card readers are known for their versatility. You can install them anywhere on the computer, office table or entrance of the building. Most of the proximity card readers use rechargeable batteries, while others have a battery back up system. As in the case of most of the access control systems, you can customize proximity card readers to accommodate passwords and usernames.

Proximity Card Holder

A large number of employees use proximity card holders for protecting their proximity cards. It is usually used by people who need extra care of their proximity card. New varieties of proximity card badge holders are coming up in the market varying in style, color and texture. Cost differs from one type to another. The more the money you invest in buying proximity card holder, the better quality you get. More often, proximity badge holders come in the size of credit card.

About the Author

Check out ID Superstore for low prices on plastic card printers. They also carry many other quality identification supplies, such as proximity badge holders.

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B2Bs Provide More Opportunities for Genuine Business Profiles: by Salil Pillai

2008-08-18T21:46:00.001+05:30

B2Bs Provide More Opportunities for Genuine Business Profiles

by Salil Pillai

Business to Business (B2B) portals are the most innovative trading tool in the world. Nowadays, majority of international traders use B2B portals apart from conventional trading models. Yet the companies which are listed in the portals do not give much importance for presenting their company profile with right details. If necessary care is given to this end, the companies can guarantee desired results. Important points one should take into consideration while signing up are the following:

. Register with an e-mail id one 'often' uses.

. Select the correct type of one's business. For example: Exporter, Importer, etc.

. Contact address should have all the details including phone numbers with international codes, website, etc.

. Contact person's name, preferably of the person who has signed up.

. Company description should be a well thought out one, and should have professional touch, to give added value to one's company and its business activities.

. Choose appropriate sector- i.e. if one is in the agri-business sector and have various related businesses of the respective sector, then one can use the broad-based term agri-business as one's company's sector. But if one is in a specific sub-sector, one should choose that particular sector to get maximum business inquires from interested members.

. Mention time frame for dispatching one's products or services.

. Mention minimum or maximum acceptable amount of one's trade deal, according to one's type of business.

. Acceptable time delay on payments also should be made available as added information.

. Choose incoterms which can give full protection against payment.

. Regions or countries one can be part of the trade.

If one is already a member and one's company profile needs changes, the profile should be updated as and when required including contact information, company description, etc. And after creating or updating one's profile, one should start looking for profiles of one's business interest and should try to contact them through available tools; mostly it would be limited to the portal which one has been registered. But if one wishes to take one's business communication beyond the topical portal, one may be prompted to become the premium member.

Yet within most portals, one could send message to other profiles; through this channel one should try to make contact. If one is a free member, one has to be satisfied with limited access. Most of the members whom one would have contacted, in all likelihood would desist from responding because one is with a free status and there are many crank users these days whom which misuse B2Bs. Therefore, recipients fear that even after prolonged negotiations, chances of striking a deal would be a distant one.

Even if one becomes a paid up member of these portals, instead of waiting for the promised inquiries by the portals, one should take pro-active measures to invite interest in one's products or services by other related businesses in the database. Thus, one can improve one's chances of doing business through B2Bs faster than one would have imagined. If one takes the services of top B2B portals and use it/them in the right manner researches show that businesses have immensely benefited not just by deriving few business opportunities, rather one was able to establish a long-term business relationship with their clients.

About the Author

As internet commerce increases so does internet related fraud. You can go through the internet safety tips on our b2b directory.

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Cars! Can't live with them (Sell!), can't live without them (Buy!)!: by Dan Phillips

2008-08-18T21:42:00.000+05:30

Cars! Can't live with them (Sell!), can't live without them (Buy!)!

by Dan Phillips

Cars! Can't live with them (Sell!), can't live without them (Buy!)! But it can be great fun looking and searching for a new or used car. It can also be frustrating, if you can not get the deal you are after.

Whether you are looking to buy or sell a car, if you live in the U.K., make sure you make a quick detour to BuyYourCar.co.uk, This is one of the most comprehensive automotive sites to be found on the internet: one-stop shopping at it's very best!

If you are looking to sell your car, why not use the power of the internet? In under five minutes and for less than £10, you'll be able to set up your own listing (with photo) and advertise it instantly to thousands of people.

Not sure how to word your ad? Not sure how to price your car for sale? Look at the menu on the left hand side and follow the very helpful Selling Advice listed there.

Need a car? Not exactly sure what type of automobile you'd like? Need to know how it compares to other vehicles in the same class? Click on the Car Reviews tab and get the information you need as to which car is best for your needs.

Don't want to spend a lot of money? Look into the Used Cars section and you will be amazed at what is available. There is an enormous selection of used cars offered at the best prices by both private sellers and used car dealerships.

Need financing? The Car Loans tab provides easy access to obtaining a loan quote designed to fit your needs in three easy steps.

Whether you are looking to purchase a new car or used car, BuyYourCar makes it so simple, even your Great Aunt Gertie could find her dream car here! If it's listed as one of the new car best discounts, she might actually save enough to take an extra holiday!

If you don't want to purchase a car outright, you might want to look into car leasing and contract hire as an option?. Each new vehicle comes with a full U.K. warranty and the low lease rates might surprise you (Great Aunt Gertie won't be surprised: she already knows how great the discounted prices are here!). Perhaps you can afford to drive that new dream car of your own!

How do they do this? By working with Franchised Dealers and Car Brokers all across the U.K., BuyYourCar is able to get the low discounts necessary to offer the very best new car prices you will find on the internet.

Alright, then…you've made your choice and now have the car you wanted. Only one thing left to do: now you need to get insurance so that you can actually drive away in your vehicle. Wait, what is that over to the right of the site? Incredible! There is even a section set up on BuyYourCar so you can get a car insurance quote.

BuyYourCar goes above and beyond in taking that extra step in providing you with what other sites often fail to: outstanding customer service by anticipating everything their customers might need.

About the Author

Dan Phillips is an expert in online automotive sales, Used Cars, leasing and site reviews. For additional car buying information, go to car leasing and contract hire

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BlackBerry Phone Reviews (1 of 3): by Mark Malone

2008-08-12T08:41:00.004+05:30

BlackBerry Phone Reviews (1 of 3)

by Mark Malone

BlackBerry Phone Reviews (1 of 3)

This will be the first of three articles where I review most of BlackBerry's newer phones. Please take note, I have obviously not used or owned all of the phones listed below, and this guide is to be used more as a reference when making a buying decision. I am attempting to consolidate my thoughts along with those of a few friends of mine.

The items reviewed in this article will be the BlackBerry Pearl 8110, Pearl 8120, and the Pearl 8130. The second article will focus on the BlackBerry Curve 8300, Curve 8310, Curve 8320, and Curve 8330. The last article will focus on BlackBerry's new 8800 series phones.

BlackBerry Pearl 8110 - The 8110 has incorporated the new integrated GPS for use while on the road. We found the GPS service to be outstanding during our one time use. The built in camera also took clear pictures and had a mirror for self portraits. The battery time is decent, rated at 4.5 hours of talk time. There were only two complaints. First, the testing of the speakerphone system did not go perfect. We personally noticed no communication issues, but the person on the other side of the phone thought the sound was slightly unclear. Also, this phone lacks the integrated Wi-Fi.

BlackBerry Pearl 8120 - The 8120 incorporates the integrated Wi-Fi that the 8110 lacks. The phone also boasts the ability to do video recording in addition to having a 2.0 megapixel camera. Unfortunately, the video recording is below par and the this phone lacks the integrated GPS. I guess you have to take the bad with the good.

BlackBerry Pearl 8130 - The big brother to the 8110 and 8120, the Pearl 8130 improves on a few of the earlier model's shortfalls. The 8130 sports integrated GPS, video recording, a 2.0 megapixel camera, and an upgraded Web browser. If you do much Web browsing, I would suggest this phone over the 8110 and 8120, as the speed is noticeable faster. Again, no Wi-Fi is available in this model.

Please look for BlackBerry Phone Reviews (2of 3) and (3 of 3) later this week.

If you have any further questions, please visit my website at http://www.cheapblackberrybold.com where we have consolidated a great list of products and a few top notch reviews.

About the Author

Mark Malone is the creater and owner of http://www.cheapblackberrybold.com. On his website there are many more easy to read articles and great products for sale. They specialize in being a one stop shop for all your phone buying needs.

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Are Security Cameras Worth the Investment?: by Bob Waterhouse

2008-08-12T08:41:00.003+05:30

Are Security Cameras Worth the Investment?

by Bob Waterhouse

Some people claim security cameras will significantly reduce crimes against your home. However, there are some people who claim they offer no protection at all. The purpose of this article is to separate fact from fiction so homeowners can make the best decision on how to protect their homes and property.

Most studies indicate that the protection security cameras provide depends on the punishment perpetrators will receive if they are caught. If the crime warrants long prison terms, security cameras offer good protection. If the punishment amounts to a slap on the wrist, criminals may not pay security cameras much attention.

On the other hand, professional security monitoring companies offer crime protection by monitoring your home with motion sensors, and door and window breach monitors which alert them when someone enters your home. They also offer fire and carbon monoxide detection services. However, the monthly subscription charges might not be worth the investment, depending on the crime rate in your area.

If the crime rate in your area is high, these professional services do offer good protection. Since these companies are alerted as the crime is occurring, there's a good chance that police can respond in time to catch criminals in the act. But if the perpetrators are long gone by the time police arrive, identifying the responsible persons can be a challenge.

On the other hand, if the crime rate in your area is not so high, security cameras might be a better option. There are several advantages to surveilling your home with security cameras:

- The presence of security cameras can help deter crime

- The recorded images from security cameras can lead to the identification of perpetrators

- Possible recovery of stolen items when the perpetrators are caught

- The security camera images can help to identify stolen property

- The images recorded from security cameras can serve as court evidence

Obviously, the best protection most homeowners could provide would be to hire a professional monitoring service, and blend that with the added protection security cameras offer. With today's rising prices, even this might not be an option for most homeowners. So the installation of security cameras is a decent option. While they might not completely protect your home, they still offer good protection benefits.

About the Author

To learn more about the various styles and types of security cameras, visit http://www.bestsafetyvideocamera.com

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Baby Swings Review: by Travis Olague

2008-08-12T08:41:00.001+05:30

Baby Swings Review

by Travis Olague

Swings are usually an integral part of our childhood. We still remember the wind of a hot summer day when we, soaring up, rocked ourselves. Swinging gave us a close feeling of flying. Many years ago swings were designed for indoors use, one could have it in his own garden or yard, but nowadays there are a great variety of swings which come both in windup as well as battery operated models. For example check Graco baby swings, or Fisher Price Baby Swings But no matter which one we choose for our baby to entertain him or her we have always to keep in mind that the first criterion we must follow making our choice is our baby safety. We have to be maximum attentive when we buy a swinging set for our infant, because according to the statistic data a lot of children are taken to emergencies every year for injuries which they got while swinging themselves. To avoid all those shudder accidents our task is to choose a baby swing that is safe and durable.

Swings must be safe

Purchasing a baby swing, you have to decide which one you want - a battery operated or crank model. But speaking about swings most of them on the market today are battery-operated. With either a windup or battery-powered mechanism, baby swings must be safe. They must have a solid base to avoid tipping and a safe seat is necessary as well. If the seat is adjustable, for example for a little baby who can't sit by himself yet, you have to make sure that adjustable belts cannot be released, which might cause the fall-out of the baby. A good and safe baby swing should have waist and crotch safety belts as well, which prevent your baby from sliding out. Additional safety features such as rolled towels for stability of an infant's head, will help to avoid accidents when an infant's neck or head can become trapped between the back rest and the bars.

A few words more about a swing

The greatest advantage of the windup models is that they can serve lifetime, if they have sturdy, stable frames with tubular-metal legs. And a big plus can be their well-padded reclining seats. Moreover some parents find the motors of battery operated swings noisy, because such baby swings are driven by a motor. But before buying such a swing you can test products in the store and hear the sound of the motor. You also can take your baby with you to see his or her reaction on the produced noise of the swing. It is very important for a baby swing to have quiet operation. Because a swing can have a soothing effect on your baby and dandle him or her, so it is not nice for the little one to be awaken087 with a startle while he or she dozing. A battery operated swing can rock the baby originally, using its motor and such a swing has speed controls. These variable speeds allow adjusting a certain motion for a certain situation and can be used to the baby's wish. Some baby swings can be decorated with toys to entertain the baby, which have to be easily reached by him or her.

But do remember, no matter what a super safe swing you bought a baby should never be left alone in a swing, and the swing shouldn't be placed next to any hot or any other objects, which can be pulled over the baby swing or the infant.

About the Author

If you want to purchase a secure Fisher Price baby swings with extra safety features for your kid, that can give a lot of fun to him or her, you are on the right way. We can offer lots of battery operated baby swings and crank models as well with quiet operation. Make your little one's infancy happier with our swinging sets.

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Baby Monitors - The Burglars Best Friend: by Brian Bees

2008-08-12T08:40:00.000+05:30

Baby Monitors - The Burglars Best Friend

by Brian Bees

Baby Monitors are one of the most purchased home communication devices. And for good reason, everyone with a baby should have one. Choosing the best one for your particular situation is sometimes difficult with so many features to choose from.

Anyone with baby monitor experience has probably lived through the early noise interference problems, the buzzing noise when you turned on your microwave and even hearing your neighbors baby monitor. Today's models are quiet, more sophisticated, and some providing video not just sound.

Unfortunately all baby monitors use a radio signal. If you can hear it, so can others. Essentially you have bugged your house so the neighbors can listen to conversations going on in your house. Millions have bugged their own homes and then wondered why the neighbors are giving them strange looks.

Burglars have found wireless baby monitors to be as handy as an unlocked door or open window. What kind of sensitive matters could you be talking about? How might a potential thief , kidnapper, or rapist benefit from knowing your daily routine? Is the bike rider passing by with ear buds in their ears listening to music or listening to in-house conversations? This is not high tech James Bond or Mission Impossible type stuff. An inexpensive radio scanner will do just fine. How convenient for the thieves to know when you are going to be away from your house.

By far, the most common threat to our home is burglary. Becoming a burglary victim can leave a family feeling vulnerable and violated. Although home burglaries may seem random in occurrence, they actually involve a selection process. The burglar's selection process is simple. Choose an unoccupied home with the easiest access, the greatest amount of cover, and with the best escape routes. In many cases, this selection process is aided by monitoring a target homes baby monitor or cordless phone.

I purchased a scanner to monitor the radio dispatcher at my company. I was going to set it to monitor one frequency. However when setting it up for the first time, it started scanning and I suddenly was eavesdropping on my neighbors, listening in on their baby monitors, and cordless telephones. While having exchanged greetings and light conversation for over a year, I suddenly knew more about them then I needed to know, who was gay, who was pregnant, who had relatives coming, who would be away for the weekend, and who was making vacation plans.

If you are using an older model baby monitor, or even a newer inexpensive model most probably your conversations can be easily picked up blocks away. Does that mean that you should stop using this handy device. No, just be aware that your conversations may be accidentally overheard by neighbors or purposely monitored by burglars. Consider turning off the unit when not needed.

The latest digital models offer the best performing technology available in baby monitors.

Features now include two-way communication, and even video monitoring. Digital monitors scramble the signal as it travels between the monitor and the receiver, making signals nearly impossible to be heard by others. Now you can ensure the safety of your child at all times, and the best part, without compromising your privacy.

About the Author

To learn more about these and other security solutions, visit me at http://www.home-security-solutions.net Brian Bees has 30 years experience in residential and commercial electronic security systems.

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3 Things I thought I knew about photo marketing and becoming a professional photographer - WRONG!: by Dan Eitreim

2008-07-27T09:39:00.004+05:30

3 Things I thought I knew about photo marketing and becoming a professional photographer - WRONG!

by Dan Eitreim

Back when I first decided to become a professional photographer and get involved with photo marketing on a full time basis, I thought - foolishly - that all I had to do was practice and study all the latest techniques for creating stunning images! Then, once I learned to consistently do brilliant work, my career as a professional photographer would be more or less cast in stone.

Boy was I wrong! If you want to earn great money in photo marketing (I've lost count of how many $1000 days I've had) by becoming a professional photographer and working in the career of your dreams - here are 3 vital things you NEED to know. BTW - you can and should start part time!

First, let me establish a few assumptions on my part. I assume you are interested in photography and that you have dreamed about working in a career that you love.

I also assume that you are either considering/dreaming about becoming a professional photographer or possibly have already tried your hand at photo marketing - at least part time.

Note: I didn't assume you are a brilliant photographer. That was the first huge hurdle I faced when I wanted to start my photo marketing career. I just wasn't that good. I was and still am competent, but I don't see myself ever winning any major creative awards.

I'd shoot and shoot. Remember - this was in the olden days of film, when every shot cost about a dollar after considering time, film, developing and printing costs. No matter how much money I pumped into my "hobby", no matter how many credit cards I maxed out buying the latest and greatest, I just couldn't measure up to the photos I was seeing in all the photo books and magazines.

My dreams of a career as a professional photographer seemed totally out of reach.

Wrong. That's myth #1. You don't need to be Ansel Adams! Just competent!

I don't remember where, but somewhere I stumbled across someone who said, "There's room in professional photography for every skill level."

That sentence changed my life. I'd buy the originator of that little snippet of gold a beer, if I could remember who it was.

For some reason, it really hit home and I decided to give photo marketing a try. Bottom line…I found out that 90% of all your photo shoots are going to be the same types of subjects, lit and posed the same basic ways.

Don't get me wrong, every session you do should be your absolute best work, but save the creative stuff for contests - not day to day photo marketing. (Actually, if you are too creative, your sales will drop. The clients expect traditional portraits and don't like it if you deviate very far from their expectations.)

My second major hurdle to getting started as a professional photographer was getting the money to open a studio. After all, rent is fairly expensive and when you add in decorating the space, signage, hiring a receptionist, utilities and all the other doodads involved in opening a physical studio - it can all be rather daunting. Particularly when you've never done any photo marketing and this dream of becoming a professional photographer is getting more and more expensive by the minute.

Before I launched my photo marketing career, I did a little research and discovered that the best professional photographers do a lot - if not most - of their work "on location"! In other words, they aren't even using the studio! Plus, their customers were so happy the photographer was coming to them, they were willing to pay extra!

So I said to myself, "I can pay a ton of money for a studio I won't be using, or simply do everything 'on location' and get even higher fees! Hmmm…what should I do?"

I've been a professional photographer for over 16 years, have over 6000 past clients and have NEVER opened a studio.

Myth #2 - You need a fancy studio to be a professional photographer. WRONG.

Myth #3 - As a professional photographer, once people see your stunning images they will flock to you with checkbook in hand! WRONG, WRONG, WRONG.

Sorry to say it but your images have little to do with your success as a photographer. It's all about your marketing. Once you get your marketing right, people actually will be clamoring for your services, but not before - no matter how good you are.

In fact, many of my best promotions get new customers lining up to be photographed without ever having seen any of my work at all! So, if photo marketing and living your life as a professional photographer sounds even a little intriguing, respond by enrolling in my http://www.PartTimePhotography.com newsletter. You'll get a free ebook and daily tips on how you can turn your dreams into cash.

About the Author

Dan Eitreim has worked as a professional photographer for 17+ years. With over 6000 past customers he has the experience and knowledge to teach YOU how to succeed in photography. Getting started making money in photography is fun, quick and easy. You can start full or part time and be making money THIS WEEK! So, to get your free copy of the e-book "How To Make $300 per Week With Your Digital Camera" go to: http://www.PartTimePhotography.com

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A common photography problem: blurry digital photos: by Ziv Haparnas

2008-07-27T09:39:00.003+05:30

A common photography problem: blurry digital photos

by Ziv Haparnas

Digital cameras are becoming more and more sophisticated. On one hand they allow high quality automatic point and shoot. On the other hand they allow full manual control of their settings. Regardless of the mode you use there are some scenes that require special care. Without such care your digital photos will be of poor quality regardless of how sophisticated and automatic your camera is.

New digital cameras include sophisticated hardware and software that allow a simple point a shoot usage and result in high quality digital photos. Such high quality digital photos are achieved in most scenarios but in some scenarios solely relying on the cameras automatic feature is not enough. In such scenes the camera hardware and software will make the wrong decision as to the optimal camera setting for the best digital photo. The result will be a poor quality photo.

Being aware of such scenarios can help in avoiding such poor quality digital photos. When you identify such a scenario you can use some simple techniques, by manually setting the camera, by changing the photo shooting angle or by manipulating the scene.

One of the common problems with automatic digital camera photo shooting is digital photos that are blurry. Blurry digital photos look out of focus or have objects that are not clear and appear to be smudged. Most of the blurry digital photos are the result of camera shakings. When the shutter is open and the scene is captured on the digital camera sensor (also known as CCD) any shakings or movements of the digital camera will result in the objects moving around the CCD while the photo capturing process is executed. The result of such movements is a blurry photo since the object seems to be "captured" by a few areas on the CCD in different intensities.

Learn how to hold your digital camera to minimize shakings: it should be held firmly with two hands and it should "touch" your face. Camera shakings and movements are more problematic when shooting in extreme conditions such as slow shutter speeds or very high zoom values. With slow shutter speed the camera has more time to "move" and blur the photo. With high zoom value even very small camera movements that would otherwise not be noticeable are enlarged and blur the digital photo. If you are shooting photos using slow shutter speeds or high zoom values you should use a sturdy tripod to prevent shaking. If you can not guarantee that the camera will be stable – for example if you are shooting while you're moving – set the camera to shutter priority and choose a fast shutter speed (assuming of course that the light conditions allow such setting) – for example setting the shutter speed to anything faster than 1/250 of a second will most likely guarantee a non blurry photo even if the camera shakes a bit. If you have to take high zoom value digital photos without a tripod or a sturdy surface you can also consider using high end lenses that include built-in image stabilizers.

The best way to learn how to avoid blurry digital photos is by experimenting and practicing. Try to find scenes that will confuse the digital camera into taking blurry digital photos. Take a few digital photos using the camera automatic mode and review the results confirming the expected poor quality. Now correct the problem and take a few more photos. Review the new digital photos and make sure that indeed the blurry digital photos problem is gone. Practicing in a controlled environment will help you be prepared to quickly and efficiently handle such scenes in real time photo shooting.

About the Author

More information on digital photo printing and photography is available on printrates.com - a site about Canon and photo printing This article can be reprinted as long as the resource box including the backlink is included. Ziv Haparnas is a technology veteran.

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A common photography problem: dark silhouettes in digital photos: by Ziv Haparnas

2008-07-27T09:39:00.001+05:30

A common photography problem: dark silhouettes in digital photos

by Ziv Haparnas

Digital cameras are becoming more and more sophisticated. On one hand they allow high quality automatic point and shoot. On the other hand they allow full manual control of their settings. Regardless of the mode you use there are some scenes that require special care. Without such care your digital photos will be of poor quality regardless of how sophisticated and automatic your camera is.

New digital cameras include sophisticated hardware and software that allow a simple point a shoot usage and result in high quality digital photos. Such high quality digital photos are achieved in most scenarios but in some scenarios solely relying on the cameras automatic feature is not enough. In such scenes the camera hardware and software will make the wrong decision as to the optimal camera setting for the best digital photo. The result will be a poor quality photo.

Being aware of such scenarios can help in avoiding such poor quality digital photos. When you identify such a scenario you can use some simple techniques, by manually setting the camera, by changing the photo shooting angle or by manipulating the scene.

One of the common problems with automatic digital camera photo shooting is digital photos that include dark silhouettes in them. Dark Silhouettes appear when you are taking digital photos in a scene with a bright light source behind the object. An example of such a scene is when the sun is behind the object. The result will be a digital photo that includes a dark silhouette of the object. One scene that is very likely to result in such a problem is when taking a photo of someone on the beach against a sunset. The result will be a dark silhouette of the person with a good photo of the sunset in the background. Dark silhouettes are a result of the camera setting the wrong exposure. Because of the bright background the camera sets a low exposure and the object that are not lit from their front are severely underexposed.

The dark silhouettes in the digital photo can be eliminated by simply using the camera's fill-in flash. When taking a photo with the fill-in flash turned on the flash lights the object making sure that it is captured with all its details. Use a fill-in flash when taking pictures of objects with a bright light source behind them. One limitation of this solution is that the objects must be within the flash effective range – otherwise the flash is useless and they will still appear as silhouettes in the photo.

The best way to learn how to avoid dark silhouettes in digital photos is by experimenting and practicing. Try to find scenes that will confuse the digital camera into taking dark silhouettes digital photos. Take a few digital photos using the camera automatic mode and review the results confirming the expected poor quality. Now correct the problem and take a few more photos. Review the new digital photos and make sure that indeed the dark silhouettes problem is gone. Practicing in a controlled environment will help you be prepared to quickly and efficiently handle such scenes in real time photo shooting.

About the Author

Mr. Haparnas writes about science and technology. Ziv Haparnas is an expert technology writer. Information about photography and photo prints is on printrates.com - your home for Canon and digital cameras This article can be reprinted and used as long as the resource box including the backlink is included.

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A common photography problem: dark silhouettes in digital photos: by Ziv Haparnas

2008-07-27T09:38:00.004+05:30

A common photography problem: out of focus digital photos: by Ziv Haparnas

2008-07-27T09:38:00.003+05:30

A common photography problem: out of focus digital photos

by Ziv Haparnas

Digital cameras are becoming more and more sophisticated. On one hand they allow high quality automatic point and shoot. On the other hand they allow full manual control of their settings. Regardless of the mode you use there are some scenes that require special care. Without such care your digital photos will be of poor quality regardless of how sophisticated and automatic your camera is.

New digital cameras include sophisticated hardware and software that allow a simple point a shoot usage and result in high quality digital photos. Such high quality digital photos are achieved in most scenarios but in some scenarios solely relying on the cameras automatic feature is not enough. In such scenes the camera hardware and software will make the wrong decision as to the optimal camera setting for the best digital photo. The result will be a poor quality photo.

Being aware of such scenarios can help in avoiding such poor quality digital photos. When you identify such a scenario you can use some simple techniques, by manually setting the camera, by changing the photo shooting angle or by manipulating the scene.

One of the common problems with automatic digital camera photo shooting is digital photos that are out of focus. An out of focus photo looks blurry and has low contrast. Usually such a photo is useless and there is no way to correct it using software on your home computer. Most digital cameras can automatically set the focus for you and in most cases they choose the right focus for the scene. Some scenes however are harder to focus on and can fool even the most sophisticated high-end digital camera's auto focus mechanism. Moreover with most digital cameras excluding digital SLRs you can not really confirm the focus quality. The reason is that the viewfinder is not connected to the actual lenses and the preview LCD screen is too small to really allow correct focus appreciation.

If you are using an SLR camera you can make sure that the objects are in focus by looking through the viewfinder. Most cameras sound a short beep when the focus is locked and also display a green rectangle around the area that they focused on. The first step to ensure correct focus is to make sure that this area is where the objects that you care about are. For example if there are two objects in the scene in different distances from the camera make sure that the camera focused on the object you want.

Extreme scenes are be harder to focus on. For example scenes that include a few objects that are very close to the camera and a few that are far or scenes that simply include very close objects. Such scenarios take special care to focus on. If your camera allows manual focus – try to manually focus to make sure that you got the desired focus. In any case when you identify a potential focus problem take more digital photos than you would usually take while changing the focus settings, taking a few in manual mode and a few in automatic mode, changing the shooting angle and the distance from the objects if possible.

The best way to learn how to avoid out of focus digital photos is by experimenting and practicing. Try to find scenes that will confuse the digital camera into taking out of focus digital photos. Take a few digital photos using the camera automatic mode and review the results confirming the expected poor quality. Now correct the problem and take a few more photos. Review the new digital photos and make sure that indeed the out of focus problem is gone. Practicing in a controlled environment will help you be prepared to quickly and efficiently handle such scenes in real time photo shooting.

About the Author

Ziv Haparnas is a technology expoert. Ziv Haparnas writes about practical technology issues. Information about photography and photo prints is on printrates.com - your home for Sony and digital printing This article can be reprinted and used as long as the resource box including the backlink is included.

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A common photography problem: overexposed digital photos: by Ziv Haparna

2008-07-27T09:38:00.001+05:30

A common photography problem: overexposed digital photos

by Ziv Haparnas

Digital cameras are becoming more and more sophisticated. On one hand they allow high quality automatic point and shoot. On the other hand they allow full manual control of their settings. Regardless of the mode you use there are some scenes that require special care. Without such care your digital photos will be of poor quality regardless of how sophisticated and automatic your camera is.

New digital cameras include sophisticated hardware and software that allow a simple point a shoot usage and result in high quality digital photos. Such high quality digital photos are achieved in most scenarios but in some scenarios solely relying on the cameras automatic feature is not enough. In such scenes the camera hardware and software will make the wrong decision as to the optimal camera setting for the best digital photo. The result will be a poor quality photo.

Being aware of such scenarios can help in avoiding such poor quality digital photos. When you identify such a scenario you can use some simple techniques, by manually setting the camera, by changing the photo shooting angle or by manipulating the scene.

One of the common problems with automatic digital camera photo shooting is digital photos that are overexposed. Overexposed digital photos have blown out areas and sometimes are completely saturated and white. Their color is not rich and the objects tend to look white and not "alive". The reason for overexposed photos is setting the exposure too low. Although the camera can measure ambient light and make the exposure decisions for you it can be confused by scenes that are more complex. Many times such scenes do not really have one perfect exposure setting and the best exposure depends on the results and the objects in the scene that you care about the most.

For example if there is a very bright light source in the photo it can confuse the camera to believe that there is enough light in the scene for a low exposure setting. The result will be a photo that captures the bright area but darkens all the others. Usually you can assume that scenes that have extreme lighting gaps between different areas confuse the camera – for example if a quarter of the photo is very bright and the rest is very dark the camera is likely to set the wrong exposure. When you identify such cases you can manually set the exposure to the right value for the results you are looking for. Another options is to pan the camera a bit and point to a scene that does not have such light gaps (for example that does not have a very bright object in it) but that its objects are in the same focus distance as the scene you are planning to shoot. At that point you can press the shutter half way down (or use any other specific camera mechanism) in order to lock the camera focus and exposure settings. Once you have done that you can pan the camera back to the original scene and shoot the photo.

The best way to learn how to avoid overexposed digital photos is by experimenting and practicing. Try to find scenes that will confuse the digital camera into taking overexposed digital photos. Take a few digital photos using the camera automatic mode and review the results confirming the expected poor quality. Now correct the problem and take a few more photos. Review the new digital photos and make sure that indeed the overexposed digital photos problem is gone. Practicing in a controlled environment will help you be prepared to quickly and efficiently handle such scenes in real time photo shooting.A common photography problem: shaded objects in digital photos

About the Author

Information about photography and photo prints is on printrates.com - your home for digital photo printing Ziv Haparnas is an expert in technology. This article can be published and used as long as the resource box including the backlink is included. Mr. Haparnas writes about practical technology and science issues.

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A common photography problem: red eyed objects in digital photos: by Ziv Haparnas

2008-07-27T09:37:00.003+05:30

A common photography problem: red eyed objects in digital photos

by Ziv Haparnas

Digital cameras are becoming more and more sophisticated. On one hand they allow high quality automatic point and shoot. On the other hand they allow full manual control of their settings. Regardless of the mode you use there are some scenes that require special care. Without such care your digital photos will be of poor quality regardless of how sophisticated and automatic your camera is.

New digital cameras include sophisticated hardware and software that allow a simple point a shoot usage and result in high quality digital photos. Such high quality digital photos are achieved in most scenarios but in some scenarios solely relying on the cameras automatic feature is not enough. In such scenes the camera hardware and software will make the wrong decision as to the optimal camera setting for the best digital photo. The result will be a poor quality photo.

Being aware of such scenarios can help in avoiding such poor quality digital photos. When you identify such a scenario you can use some simple techniques, by manually setting the camera, by changing the photo shooting angle or by manipulating the scene.

One of the common problems with automatic digital camera photo shooting is digital photos that have objects with red eyes in them. Red eyed objects in digital photos is a very common phenomenon. It is usually common when taking digital photos of people or animals and using a flash in a dark environment. The eyes of objects in such digital photos have some red glow in them. The reason for the redness in their eyes is light that is reflected from the blood rich back of the eye. There are a few things that you can do to prevent red-eyes: some cameras support a "red eye reduction" mode. In that mode the camera fires the flash a few times before taking the photo. Although this can help reducing red-eye it can also result in photos of people with their eyes closed (as they are blinded by the pre-flash their reflex is to close their eyes). Other ways to prevent red-eye is to use bounce flash (you can do that with special equipment or for example by pointing the flash to a white wall) and using more ambient light if possible (for example by turning on all the lights in the room). Some cameras include built-in image processing software that automatically removes red-eye from the photos or alternatively you can use many software packages on your home computer to accomplish the same.

The best way to learn how to avoid red eyed objects in digital photos is by experimenting and practicing. Try to find scenes that will confuse the digital camera into taking digital photos with red eyed objects. Take a few digital photos using the camera automatic mode and review the results confirming the expected poor quality. Now correct the problem and take a few more photos. Review the new digital photos and make sure that indeed the red eyed objects are in the digital photos. Practicing in a controlled environment will help you be prepared to quickly and efficiently handle such scenes in real time photo shooting.

About the Author

More information on digital photo printing and photography is available on printrates.com - a site about digital photo print service Ziv Haparnas writes about practical technology and science issues. Ziv Haparnas is an expert technology writer. This article can be published only if the resource box including the backlink is included.

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A common photography problem: Shaded objects in digital photos: by Ziv Haparnas

2008-07-27T09:37:00.001+05:30

A common photography problem: Shaded objects in digital photos

by Ziv Haparnas

Digital cameras are becoming more and more sophisticated. On one hand they allow high quality automatic point and shoot. On the other hand they allow full manual control of their settings. Regardless of the mode you use there are some scenes that require special care. Without such care your digital photos will be of poor quality regardless of how sophisticated and automatic your camera is.

New digital cameras include sophisticated hardware and software that allow a simple point a shoot usage and result in high quality digital photos. Such high quality digital photos are achieved in most scenarios but in some scenarios solely relying on the cameras automatic feature is not enough. In such scenes the camera hardware and software will make the wrong decision as to the optimal camera setting for the best digital photo. The result will be a poor quality photo.

Being aware of such scenarios can help in avoiding such poor quality digital photos. When you identify such a scenario you can use some simple techniques, by manually setting the camera, by changing the photo shooting angle or by manipulating the scene.

One of the common problems with automatic digital camera photo shooting is shaded objects in digital photos. A good example of shaded objects in digital photos is when taking a portrait photo in daylight. The digital camera ambient light sensor measures enough light to set a relatively low exposure value. But even scenes with that have enough ambient light can result in shades that appear on the object depending on the angle of the light source relative to the object. For example if the object is a person with his face lit from the side the object's nose can create shades. Another example is if the object is a person that is wearing a hat and is lit from a light source above – in such a scene the hat can create shades on the object's face.

The camera can not automatically identify such problems and correct them. One way to easily eliminate the shades on the objects is by using the camera fill-in flash. Turn the fill-in flash on. When taking a photo the fill-in flash will fire and will light the shaded areas on the object. One limitation of this solution is that the objects must be within the fill-in flash effective range. Otherwise the flash light will fail to light the object and the shades will not be lit.

The best way to learn how to avoid Shaded objects in digital photos is by experimenting and practicing. Try to find scenes that will confuse the digital camera into taking digital photos with Shaded objects. Take a few digital photos using the camera automatic mode and review the results confirming the expected poor quality. Now correct the problem and take a few more photos. Review the new digital photos and make sure that indeed the Shaded objects problem is gone. Practicing in a controlled environment will help you be prepared to quickly and efficiently handle such scenes in real time photo shooting.

About the Author

Ziv Haparnas is an expert technology writer. More information on digital photo printing and photography is available on printrates.com - a site about digital prints This article can be published as long as the resource box including the backlink is included. Mr. Haparnas writes about science and technology.

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A digital photo shooting session of airplanes in an air show: by Ziv Haparnas

2008-07-27T09:36:00.002+05:30

A digital photo shooting session of airplanes in an air show

by Ziv Haparnas

A few weeks ago I went with my friends to see an air show. The schedule was packed with acrobatics and many types of planes. The highlight of the show was the blue angles with their jets doing dangerous routines. I took my camera hoping to capture some good digital memories of that show.

I took my digital SLR camera to the air show. I put it in my special camera bag alongside an extra battery and lenses. I used an eight mega pixels DSLR with a 100-300mm zoon lenses.

I decided to shoot as many photos as I could knowing from my experience that in such cases the rule of big numbers works very well – shoot as many photos as you can and you might be able to find a few photos which are really unique. So when the airplanes started to fly around I pointed my camera at them and from that point on I watched most of the air show through my camera's viewfinder.

I set my camera to automatic continuous focus. I had my finger holding the shutter button half way down most of the time while I am moving the camera to track those fast flying airplanes. I could hear the camera's motors working hard moving the optical components in the lens back and forth to keep the focus right. I also set the camera to burst mode so whenever I decided the composition was worth shooting a photo it actually shot a fast sequence of four photos. The idea behind that was first to get more photos to choose from – with fast flying planes these four photos were really different from each other – and second to maybe be able to capture some motion in a sequence of photos.

As time passed my hands got tired from holding the camera and my stable grip was not as stable anymore. Unfortunately I did not bring a tripod – and probably I would have not used it even if I had it since it is hard to track airplanes flying above using one especially when you are with thousands of people walking around you. When I looked at the photos that evening I saw the results of my tired grip – the later digital photos were not as sharp and steady as the earlier ones.

When I saw the results of my work my reaction was to go and get those fancy lenses with an image stabilizer built-in them. There are two types of image stabilizer one that moves the sensor and one that actually uses gyroscopes in the lens to move a floating optical element that compensates for shakings. The latter is more expensive and provides better results. I saw some people walking around with the Canon image stabilizing zoom lens I am not sure how effective it was for them but it sure did look impressive.

There are also drawbacks to using image stabilizers and actually some of these drawbacks are very relevant to my air show photo shooting. Moving the camera erratically to track an acrobatic airplane can confuse the image stabilizer that can detect that movement as being unwanted shakings and try to compensate for it. If I had an image stabilizer I would have had to use different practices when shooting my photos like trying to pan the camera on one axis and at a more or less constant speed.

Overall I was able to choose some great photos of airplanes flying around doing acrobatics very close to each other, airplanes with some birds flying in what seems to be in the photo as very close proximity and other digital photos of airplanes in different situations. These will serve as good memories of that air show and as a lesson for getting better equipped in my next air show digital photo shooting.

About the Author

This article can be published only if the resource box including the backlink is included. Ziv Haparnas is an expert in technology. Information about photography and photo prints is on printrates.com - your home for digital photo printing Mr. Haparnas writes about practical technology issues.

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A digital photo shooting session of airplanes in an air show: by Ziv Haparnas

2008-07-27T09:36:00.001+05:30

Aircraft Loan And Aircraft Insurance – Ten Factors You Should Consider: by Dave Savoie

2008-07-26T22:55:00.000+05:30

Aircraft Loan And Aircraft Insurance – Ten Factors You Should Consider

by Dave Savoie

The joy of flying your own bird and providing yourself with a better transportation option are often the primary objectives of private aircraft ownership. To reach this objective most of us must deal with aircraft financing...and all of us need aircraft insurance.

Here are ten factors you should take into consideration in order to help avoid unpleasant surprises and be more certain you're getting what you want for an aircraft loan and insurance.

First, select a knowledgeable professional representative (aviation insurance broker and aircraft finance broker) who understands your aircraft finance and insurance needs and desires.

Aircraft Financing

Interest rate is always important – know whether it is fixed or adjustable and what the loan period (length) is. Lenders offer many combinations. Understand the terms of the loan before signing.

Typically adjustable rate loans are tied to a published index – check the history of the index to get a sense as to what the future may hold.

For those who anticipate only a short term need for financing, then the adjustable rate program often provides interest savings over the fixed rate option.

For those who plan to retain their financing for a long period of time, the fixed rate option provides stability and piece of mind.

Loan term and amortization schedule – the longer the amortization schedule the easier it will be to make the required monthly payments.

Pay attention to the aircraft loan term, which can be much shorter than the amortization schedule.

Fees and Loan Costs – understand the total cost to close a loan.

Points – lenders often offer the ability to "buy down" the interest rate on an aircraft loan – exchanging up front points to reduce the interest rate.

One point is equivalent to 1% of the loan amount. Depending upon how long the aircraft loan is outstanding determines the true interest paid when points are involved. The shorter the actual loan life the more of an impact the point has on the effective rate of the loan.

Prepayment – before signing understand the restriction regarding prepayment of a loan, either in full or in part.

Servicing – your aircraft loan payments may be to another company rather than the one who is taking your loan application. It is important to understand who will be servicing your loan after it closes.

Aircraft Insurance

Aircraft insurance coverage addresses three main areas of concern – liability, hull (physical damage), and medical.

Liability coverage is provided either in a comprehensive manner ("smooth coverage") or with sub-limits (per passenger, per person, or family member limitations).

Hull coverage covers physical damage to the aircraft and is an "agreed/stated value" between the insurance company and the insured.

The medical portion is "no-fault" coverage offered as a supplement to standard medical insurance for medical expenses not typically covered otherwise.

Obtaining the best aircraft insurance coverage for the least cost can be achieved by maintaining currency, frequent flying in the insured aircraft or similar, participating in recurring training, advanced ratings (particularly instrument), an accident free history, complying with all regulations, etc.

Honesty is the best policy. It is important to provide accurate and complete information on the application requested by the insurance company – verification of all pertinent information will most likely occur before settling a claim.

About the Author

Dave Savoie is the Manager of US Aircraft Finance and Insurance – http://www.usaircraftfinance.com . His company is a culmination of his two careers – 35+ years as a career banker managing both personal and commercial lending nationwide and US Air Force pilot – now retired.

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Antique Chests: by Vandana Sharma

2008-07-26T22:51:00.001+05:30

Antique Chests

by Vandana Sharma

English Antique Chests are exquisitely made by artisan craftsmen that favor the open environment of a richly stocked library and comfortable study setting to place their works of art where they will be seen. As people socialize in their day-to-day business dealings, these sturdy crafted stands creatively offer female guests a conversation piece on which to pass the day. Sought by collectors who value true beauty, these chests are Era timepieces that have stood up to the test of time.

With the limited size available within many of the homes, these crafted storage areas were often used as home furnishing due to their large size and permanent location within the home. Antique chests were adapted to provide bedding areas for children in poorer homes, as well as articles for the family to dine on.

Rich land owners used these antique chests to hold ballroom gowns and assorted undergarments such as corsets and stockings, as well as storage devices for every change of clothes need for the various seasons.

These trusted antique chests were a crafted container, meant to hold precious household belongings, and were easily loaded onto ships for long journeys across the seas, or sit dockside for weeks awaiting passage.

These antique chests were crafted in fine, hard wood planking that craftsmen found to be very durable, and provided artisans an open canvas on which to apply ornate carvings with raised ridges and exquisite designs. This wood was later stained and then finely glazed with shiny surfaces that were easily polished to a bright glow.

These aged furniture pieces have faired well over time and represent a crafted rendering of antique chests that many collectors seek to adorn their homes with their beautiful style and usefulness, while cherishing the history that is imbedded in each exquisite piece.

About the Author

The Elisabeth James Antiques collection changes rapidly, As our furniture items are sold, new items are continually added to replenish our wonderfully exquisite furniture offerings. Visit often to find exquisite pieces, at marvelous pricing. This stately collection of antique chests can be explored in detail by visiting us online at http://www.elisabethjamesantiques.co.uk

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Are film cameras better than digital cameras?: by Ziv Haparnas

2008-07-26T22:50:00.001+05:30

Are film cameras better than digital cameras?

by Ziv Haparnas

Film cameras are becoming rare. Although digital cameras have come a long way since they were first introduced there are still photographers that prefer to use old film cameras. Some of them use film exclusively while others prefer film for specific scenarios.

There is no simple answer to the question which camera is better, film or digital. In some scenarios film is better than digital and in other scenarios digital is better than film. They both have advantages and disadvantages and the true answer to which is better is simply a list of differences. Here are a few:

The sensor: In film cameras a light sensitive film is situated behind the lens. To take a photo the shutter opens for a predetermined period of time and light hits the film "printing" a photo on the film. After a photo is taken the film is rolled and a fresh film is placed behind the lens. In digital cameras an electronic sensor (known as CCD) is situated behind the lens. The CCD is comprised of many tiny light sensitive sensors one per pixel. To take a photo the shutter opens for a predetermined period of time and light hits the sensor. Each pixel gets its value and together all the pixels comprise one photo. The photo is saved on a digital media and the CCD is electronically emptied.

The main difference between a CCD sensor and a film is the Depth of Field. Since digital sensors are smaller than 35mm film the depth of field is much bigger in fact in most compact digital cameras it is almost infinite.

Instant feedback: One of great features digital cameras is instant feedback. Digital cameras include a small LCD screen. After a photo is shot it can be viewed on that screen. If the photo is not good you can take another one. The ability to view the photos helps in making an educated decision on how to fix it or how to compose it better. It takes much of the guessing out of photography.

Photo capacity: Digital cameras today can hold hundreds and even thousands of digital photos on a single media. With extra storage media in your pocket digital cameras have virtually infinite capacity. On the other hand film cameras' capacity is very limited. The standard is a roll of 36 photos which can hold only 36 photos. After such a roll is used changing to a new roll takes time and is not easy to do in scenarios such as darkness or a harsh environment. Rolls of film are not small and carrying rolls equivalent of thousands of photos is not practical.

Shooting angles: Digital cameras allow you to take photos without having your eye glued to the viewfinder. Combined with the virtually zero cost of taking photos and high capacity this means new opportunities for new shooting angles.

A photo cost: Photos taken with a digital camera really cost nothing. They are saved on erasable memory and thus can always be freely discarded. The photos that you decide to keep can be copied to digital media such as a computer's hard disk. With low digital storage prices the cost of storing one photo is practically zero. Film does cost money. A roll of film costs money and can not be reused. Every time that the shutter button is pressed money is spent regardless if you later on decide to discard them.

Photo processing: Digital cameras photos are basically computer files and can be manipulated by computer software. Such software is known as photo processing software and allows you to correct photos and create special effects. Some photo processing abilities are built-in cameras. With film on the other hand it is very hard to make corrections. If corrections are absolutely needed the easiest way to do them is to scan the negative or the printed photo (i.e. converted to digital) and process it on a computer as if it was a digital camera photo.

Adapting to different conditions: Rolls of film are designed for specific scenarios There are indoor and outdoor films or films with different light sensitivity. When conditions change a film camera photographer will have to shoot with the wrong film, change the roll (and lose the remainder photos) or use another camera with a different roll in it. Shooting photos with the wrong roll of film can result in distorted colors (reddish photos for example), a grainy photo and more.

With digital cameras on the other hand the characteristics of the sensor can be electronically set. With a click of a button the camera can change to indoor or outdoor mode, low light, night photography and so on.

About the Author

This article can be reprinted as long as the resource box including the backlink is included. You can find more information on digital photo printing and photography in general on printrates.com - a site dedicated to digital photo prints Ziv Haparnas writes about practical technology issues. Ziv Haparnas is a veteran technologist.

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Auto and manual focus modes in digital cameras: by Ziv Haparnas

2008-07-26T22:49:00.001+05:30

Auto and manual focus modes in digital cameras

by Ziv Haparnas

One of the important phases of shooting a good photo is focusing on the photo's objects. Photos that are out of focus look bad and blurry. Sometimes shooting out of focus objects is done on purpose as an artistic effect but in most cases a sharp focused object is the photographer goal.

Most low-end pocket digital cameras do all the focus work for you. These are literally "point and shoot" cameras. Furthermore even if you wanted to manually focus using such cameras it would have been practically impossible since they do not include a real optical viewfinder. Using the LCD to check for focus is useless as the LCD is not good enough to truly let you know if an object is perfectly focused or not.

Digital SLR cameras on the other hand have an optical viewfinder that allows you to truly see the photo through the camera's lens. With digital SLR cameras you can see how well the objects in the photo are focused and correct the focus as needed.

Digital cameras support at least three focus modes:

Manual focus: In this mode the camera does not automatically focus on the objects in the photo. You will have to manually set the focus as desired. This is accomplished by either pushing some buttons that in turn change the focus or more commonly by rotating a focus ring on the lens clockwise or counterclockwise as needed. You can see the results of changing the focus by looking through the viewfinder. When you are happy with the focus you can press the shutter button to take the photo.

Single auto focus: In this mode the camera automatically focuses on the objects in the photo. The camera automatically focuses when you press the shutter button either all the way down to shoot a photo or half way down to lock the focus. In this mode the automatic focus process is carried out only once as soon as the shutter button is pressed. Once the focus is achieved it is locked and it is not changed until the next time the shutter button is pressed. If you keep the shutter button pressed half way down and then the camera moves or the object moves the focus might be lost. This mode is useful when shooting static objects. In most cases you will press the shutter button and hold it half way down. The camera will run the auto focus process. It will let you know when focus is achieved by displaying a green icon and by playing a short beep.

Continuous auto focus: In this mode the camera continuously focuses on the objects in the photo. Once the shutter button is pressed and as long as it is held half way down the camera continuously focuses on the objects in the photo. In this mode the camera continuously corrects the focus as the objects distance from the camera changes. This mode is useful when you shoot photos of moving objects such as a race car during a race or airplanes during an air show. You can hold the shutter button half way down and continuously move the camera to follow the object. The camera will continuously keep the object in focus. When you are ready to shoot the photo simply press the shutter button all the way down. One drawback of this mode is high power consumption as the camera continuously corrects the focus it uses the power hungry motors in the lens in order to move the optical components.

Like any other feature automatic and manual focus modes have their pros and cons. The first step to using them to your advantage is to understand how they work and what they were designed for. The next step is to experiment shoot photos using different focus modes and different types of objects and see how the camera behaves. Once you have done that you will be ready to instinctively use the best focus mode for each photo situation.

About the Author

Find more on photo printing and photography is on printrates.com - a place about digital photo printing Ziv Haparnas writes about practical technology and science issues. Ziv Haparnas is an expert technology writer. This article can be published only if the resource box including the backlink is included.

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Avoiding pitfalls when taking high quality digital photos: by Ziv Haparnas

2008-07-26T22:39:00.002+05:30

Avoiding pitfalls when taking high quality digital photos

by Ziv Haparnas

With today's sophisticated digital cameras it is relatively easy to take good digital photos. This is especially true if you are using s point and shoot digital pocket camera. However even with such a camera you can follow some tips that will result in better higher quality digital photos. These tips become much more important when using high end SLR cameras in manual mode.

There are many things that can go wrong when taking digital photos. Many of those things could be easily avoided if only the photographer was aware of them. Here is a list of things that can go wrong and some simple ways to avoid them.

Blurry digital photos:

Also known as out of focus digital photos the objects in such digital photos look blurry or smudged. Many people think that by using the automatic focus feature of the camera all digital photos will come out sharp and clear. This is not true. There are some scenes that are harder to focus on. Such scenarios can fail even the most advanced digital camera. Moreover with most digital cameras (excluding SLR) you do not really see how focused the camera is when taking the photo. Looking at the LCD shows you how the photo would be composed but not how focused and sharp it will come out. Even by reviewing the photos on the small LCD it is hard to see on those small screens if the digital photo is focused correctly or not. With digital SLR cameras this becomes easier as looking through the viewfinder provides an accurate focus feedback through the digital camera's lenses. Digital cameras provide some sort of feedback – either audible or visual – when they are focused. They also display a green rectangle (or another shape or color) around the area of the photo that they focused on. It is important to make sure that this area is where the objects you want to focus on are especially when there are multiple objects in different distances from the camera.

Blurry photos can also result from shakings of the camera. Such shakings are mostly a problem in conditions where a long shutter time is used. When the shutter opens for a very short period small shakings would not be noticeable. If the shutter is opened for longer period usually longer than 1/250 of a second shakings become an issue. To avoid such shakings learn how to hold the camera steady using two hands and leaning on your face. If the shutter speed is very slow try to stabilize the camera preferably using a tripod but if you do not have one you can improvise using any stable surface such as a table or a wall.

Dark digital photos:

Digital photos that look dark are usually a result of underexposure. They are dull and lack details. In most cases the camera can automatically set the exposure to produce good quality digital photos. In some scenarios however the camera sets the wrong exposure. Learning to identify these scenarios can help you compensate for such camera errors. If there is a very bright light source in the photo it can confuse the camera to believe that there is enough light in the scene for a low exposure setting. It is a good assumption that scenes that have extreme lighting differences between different areas will confuse the digital camera. In such cases you can manually correct the exposure. If your camera supports bracketing a good option would be to take a few photos of the same scene in different exposure settings and later on to choose the best one.

Very bright photos:

Digital photos that look very bright are a result of overexposure. They usually have areas that are blown out or even completely saturated. The scenarios that cause overexposed digital photos are similar to the one mentioned above that cause underexposed photos. You can identify them in the same way and compensate the exposure setting or better use exposure bracketing if your camera supports it.

Unwanted shadows:

Sometimes unwanted shadows will appear in a digital photo. For example when taking a portrait digital photo there are unwanted shadings on the object's face. The reason for such shadings is that the camera measures the ambient light and sets the exposure accordingly. However even with the right exposure setting shades can appear on the object depending on the angle of the light source relative to the object. In the mentioned portrait photo if the light source is from the side of the object's face the object's nose can create shades. In another scenario the object is wearing a hat and it is lit from above. The hat creates shades on the object's face. The camera can not automatically correct such shades as it simply measures ambient light and can not figure out the light source position relative to the object. It is easy to fix this problem – when you identify a scenario that can be problematic – set the flash to a "fill in" mode (make sure that the object is within flash range) – the flash will fire regardless of the exposure and compensate for the shades.

The object in the digital photo is completely dark:

This is also known as a silhouette effect. It happens when taking a digital photo of a scene that has a very bright light source right behind the object. One good example of that is taking a photo of a person during sunset or sunrise. The result is a dark silhouette of the person with a good photo of the sunset or sunrise background. Similar to the shading problem this problem can be solved by setting the flash to "fill in" mode. The fill-in flash lights up the object (you need to make sure that the object is within effective flash range) and results in a quality digital photo.

About the Author

Ziv Haparnas is a technology veteran. Ziv Haparnas writes about practical technology issues. Find more on photo printing and photography is on printrates.com - a place about digital prints This article can be published as long as the resource box including the backlink is included.

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Basic understanding of your digital camera flash: by Ziv Haparnas

2008-07-26T22:39:00.001+05:30

Basic understanding of your digital camera flash

by Ziv Haparnas

Many of us do not think twice about the usage of our digital camera's flash assuming that the camera will use the flash automatically as needed. Flash however can and should be manually set in many scenarios resulting in high quality digital photos.

The most common usage of flash photography is when there is not enough ambient light for example when taking an indoor digital photo in a dark room. There are many other ways in which you can use your digital camera's flash to get high quality digital photos. One such usage is fill-in flash.

Before setting your flash to manual mode and making more efficient usage of it you should know a bit more of the technology and history behind flash photography. Flash photography has been around for more than a century. During the early days of photography flash was implemented as a powder that was literally lit by either fire or electrical current. At that time flash photography was a risky business. Digital cameras today use a safe implementation by utilizing electronic flash tubes that are automatically synchronized with the camera's shutter.

You have two options for using flash with your digital camera. The first option is using the digital camera internal flash. Practically all digital cameras have build-in flash units. Most cameras also allow the usage of an external flash unit. Such flash units can be either mechanically attached to the digital camera or they can be connected to the camera via a cable and mechanically positioned on a tripod or any other mechanism. They are synchronized and controlled by the digital camera. External flash units vary in price and features. They can have different maximum light energy that they can emit and different mechanical capabilities (tilting, skewing).

In automatic flash mode the camera sensors evaluate the amount of ambient light in the scene. The digital camera fires the flash if the amount of ambient light is not high enough. There are limitations to the cameras automatic sensors resulting in either firing the flash when it was not needed or vice versa.

In some scenarios the usage of flash can result in poor digital photos. For example when the object is too close to the digital camera the flash light will be too strong and will wash out the object. Another example is in scenarios where the flash creates unwanted shadows in the digital photo. Yet another example is exaggeration of details such as when shooting a digital photo of an older person the skin wrinkles and imperfections details can be overly detailed.

Digital camera's flash units have a certain effective range. This is a limitation of how much light energy the flash unit can emit. Internal flash units usually have shorter range than external flash units. If the object in the photo is outside of the flash range – the flash will not be effective and the object will be dark. On the other hand if the object is too close to the flash unit or the flash unit emits too much energy the object will be washed out. If your object is outside of your flash unit effective range you should turn off the flash and use slow shutter photography preferably with a tripod or another stabilizing mechanism. If your flash units allows the setting of the light energy that will be fired (usually by setting the distance to the object) – make sure that it is set right to prevent washed out objects.

In some scenarios there will be enough ambient light to take a digital photo but without the usage of the flash the digital photo quality will be very poor. In such scenario if the camera is left on automatic flash mode it will not fire the flash. For example daytime photography with an object that is shadowed. If the object is wearing a hat it can create shades on the object's face or when the object is lit from the side the object's nose can create shades too. Putting the flash in manual fill-in mode will force the flash to fire. The flash will lit those shadowed areas and prevent the shades in the final digital photo. The object of course must be in effective flash range. Another example is an object that is lit from behind such as when taking a digital photo of an object against a sunset. Without a fill-in flash the photo will likely be just a dark silhouette of the object.

These were some basic concepts behind flash usage. There are many other advanced options for your digital camera flash. For example bounce flash can result in great digital photos – in that mode instead of pointing the flash directly at the object it is pointed to some reflecting surface like a wall or a special reflector. The result is more natural light and color rich digital photos.

About the Author

Mr. Haparnas writes about technology and digital photography. Ziv Haparnas is a technology expoert. Information about photography and photo prints is on printrates.com - your home for digital photo printing This article can be published and used as long as the resource box including the backlink is included.

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Digital camera flash units: by Ziv Haparnas

2008-07-26T22:22:00.001+05:30

Digital camera flash units

by Ziv Haparnas

Digital cameras flash units come in many shapes and sizes. Low end digital cameras include low energy built in flash units. High end digital SLR cameras can support sophisticated external flash units which can provide superior lighting in difficult scenarios. Here are some basic facts about flash units both built in and external.

Flash units came a long way since their early days. Back then flash units were using powder that was lit by electrical current and literally "blew up" to produce the light energy. Using these flash units was a risky business. It was also difficult as the flash units were not automatically synchronized to the camera's shutter. The photographer had to make sure that the flash goes off at the exact right time synchronized with the shooting of the photo.

Nowadays flash units are sophisticated technology devices. They use an electronic flash tube that is automatically synchronized to the camera. The photographer merely needs to do nothing. New digital cameras can decide on their own if the flash is needed, they can set its intensity and other parameters and they can fire the flash at the exact right time when the shutter is opened. All this is done automatically in the background. Digital camera also provide the user with the ability to manually control the flash, force it to either fire or not to fire, set its intensity and more.

Flash units are divided into two categories: Internal built-in flash units or external flash units. Internal flash units are built into the camera. Almost all digital cameras include such a unit and allow the user some control over it through the camera's menus and buttons. External flash units are attached to the camera's body through a dedicated slide-in slot or by using an electrical cable. Not all digital cameras support external flash units. Usually the lower end pocket cameras do not allow external flash units while all high end digital SLR cameras do allow such external flash units. External flash units can vary a lot. They can have different light energy levels that they can emit and different mechanical characteristics. Some external flash units also include smart sensors to measure ambient light, distance and other optical parameters in order to optimize the flash effect.

Digital cameras can use their flash units in automatic or in manual mode. In automatic mode the camera measures ambient light and fires the flash when not enough ambient light is available. Sometimes the camera will make the wrong decision as to using the flash and will either fire or not fire the flash when the opposite was needed. Setting the flash intensity is important too. If the flash unit fires too much light energy on objects that are too close to the camera the digital photo will be washed out. On the other hand if the flash unit fires a small amount of light energy on an object that is farther away from the digital camera the digital photo will be a too dark.

Flash units have limitations too. They can not light any scene and any object at any distance from the camera. It is important to know your flash unit limitations. For example check what the maximum light energy that it can emit is and what the farthest that an object can be effectively lit from. This is also known as the effective flash range. If the object is out of the effective flash range it is actually better to turn off the flash altogether and use a tripod with a longer exposure. Sometimes it is useful to use the flash even if there is enough ambient light. In such cases you can manually force the camera to fire the flash. This is also known as fill-in flash as it is usually used to fill-in shadowed areas on objects in the digital photo.

About the Author

This article can be reprinted and used as long as the resource box including the backlink is included. Ziv Haparnas is a veteran technologist. You can find more information on digital photo printing and photography in general on printrates.com - a site dedicated to photo printing

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Digital camera modes – shutter aperture priority and more: by Ziv Haparnas

2008-07-26T15:23:00.003+05:30

Digital camera modes – shutter aperture priority and more

by Ziv Haparnas

Digital cameras can be put in different photo shooting modes. The most used mode is automatic – the only thing you need to do is point and shoot. However understanding and using the other options will allow you to get better photos in certain scenarios. Here is how.

We will go over the various camera modes. Some modes might not be available on your camera. You can set the mode either by using the camera menus on its LCD in which case you can read and choose the mode by its name or you can set it by rotating a dial in which case you choose the mode by its visual icon. Spend some time learning the icons your camera dial uses - some are simple to remember (like 'A' for Aperture priority and 'S' for Shutter priority) others can be confusing.

Automatic mode – This is the simplest mode and is also sometimes known as Program Shooting. In this mode the camera does everything for you – it sets the shutter speed, aperture, focus and fires the flash if needed. This mode is the easiest to use and is good if you have to capture an event and have no time to play with the settings. It is also a good starting point for amateurs and a good choice if you just want to capture a moment or an experience and do not care so much about the fine photographic qualities of the photo.

Aperture priority – in this mode you manually set the aperture value. The camera automatically takes care of everything else for you – for example setting the optimal shutter speed for the aperture you chose. There are physical limitations and not every aperture value that you choose can be accompanied by other settings that will result in a good photo. The camera will let you know by flashing a green LED or in another way if it found the optimal settings that work with your chosen aperture value. One of the most common usages of this mode is when you need a narrow depth of field. By decreasing the aperture f-number the depth of field gets narrower. A narrow depth of field results in a photo that is focused on a specific object at a specific distance while the background is blurred. This is commonly used for example when taking portrait photos.

Shutter priority – in this mode you manually set the shutter speed. The camera automatically takes care of everything else for you – for example setting the optimal aperture value for the shutter speed you chose. There are physical limitations and not every shutter speed that you choose can be accompanied by other settings that will result in a good photo. The camera will let you know by flashing a green LED or in another way if it found the optimal settings that work with your chosen shutter speed. Using this mode is useful if you need to capture fast moving object or want to freeze the scene by setting the shutter to high speed. In other scenarios if you want to capture the feeling of motion in the photo a slow shutter speed would do the trick. For example when taking photos of water setting the shutter to relatively slow speed blurs the water and captures its movement making the photo more alive.

Manual mode – In this mode you can set both the aperture and the shutter speed to whatever value you want. It gives you the most flexibility in shooting the photo but it is also harder to use. Although the camera does not set the values for you most cameras will still let you know if the values you chose are good or not for the photo you are shooting.

Portrait mode – This mode optimizes the camera settings for portrait photos. The camera sets the aperture to a low f-number and the shutter to high speed in order to shoot with a narrow depth of field resulting in a focused object and blurred background. Portrait mode should be used in a well lit environment such as outdoor daylight or a well lit studio. It is better not to use this mode with a flash.

Landscape mode – This mode optimizes the camera settings for landscape photos. White balance is set for natural sun light and the depth of field is deep allowing to capture objects at great distances.

Macro mode – This mode is used when taking extreme close-up photos. How close you can get to the object depends on the lenses you use.

Sport mode – In this mode you can take photos of high speed object such as runners or cars in a car race. The shutter is set to high speed to capture the object without blurring it and the auto focus is usually set to continuous to allow focusing on the moving object.

Night mode – The camera optimizes the settings for night photos. Usually when taking night photos in other modes the result is a black photo and some scattered dots of light. In night mode the photo will include more details of less lit objects. Since night mode uses very slow shutter speeds the camera needs to be stabilized either on a stable surface or using a tripod.

In conclusion take advantage of the fact that taking extra digital photos is free. There is no added cost in taking more photos. Experiment with different photo shooting modes and learn which one works best in which scenario. You will quickly find yourself naturally changing the camera modes to accommodate different conditions.

About the Author

Ziv Haparnas is a veteran technologist. Find more on photo printing and photography is on printrates.com - a place about digital prints This article can be reprinted and used as long as the resource box including the backlink is included. Mr. Haparnas writes about technology and digital photography.

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Digital cameras responsiveness and photo shooting delays: by Ziv Haparnas

2008-07-26T15:23:00.001+05:30

Digital cameras responsiveness and photo shooting delays

by Ziv Haparnas

Digital cameras have many advantages but they also have some disadvantages and response time is one of them. There are three response times that you should care about: the delay between pressing down the shutter button and shooting a photo, the delay between turning on the camera and shooting a photo and the delay between shooting a photo and shooting a subsequent one. This article explains the causes for these delays and suggests ways to overcome them.

There are three response times or delays that are important to understand and to be aware of when shooting photos. Here is the list with the causes and ideas for how to effectively handle them:

Shutter delay:
There is a noticeable delay between pressing the shutter button and capturing a photo. When you press the shutter button the camera goes through a series of setup processes in order to get all its electronics ready. Only when this processing is done can the camera capture a photo. Some cameras will also initiate a focus process when the shutter button is held down and will only take the photo when this focusing process is completed. The delay time varies from camera to camera but is usually less than one second. If you used film cameras before you are probably not used to that delay which did not exist with most film cameras.

Although less than a one second delay sounds very short it can be significant when shooting photos of moving objects such as in sports events. There are a few photo shooting practices that can help in avoiding the delays' results. One way to handle shutter delay is to hold down the shutter half way when taking photos of moving objects. This method can work if the object is in more or less a fixed distance from the camera or is in infinite focus. Holding down the shutter half way locks the focus and forces the camera to do some setup processing work. When you are ready to take your photo press the shutter button all the way down - the result will be a significantly shorter delay as most of the processing work and focus were already done. Another way to minimize the shutter delay is to avoid the automatic focus process which usually starts when the shutter button is held down. One way to do that is to hold the shutter button half way down. In most cameras the result will be a one time focus process and then a focus lock. The camera will stay in focus and when the shutter is fully pressed down it will take a photo without re-focusing. Another option is to put the camera in manual focus.

Subsequent photo delay:
This is the delay between taking one photo and when the camera is ready to take a subsequent one. With film cameras this delay was very short as it only involved the camera rolling the film to the next fresh negative. With digital cameras there is processing and housekeeping that needs to be done after each photo is taken. For example the camera has to execute a computational process that compresses the photo (turns the raw pixels into a compressed JPG file) and then it has to store the photo on its memory card (storing files on flash based memory cards is a slow process due to memory technologies used). Another way is using the camera's burst mode (if the camera supports one). In burst mode the camera shoots a fast series of photos for as long as the shutter button is held down or until the camera's memory is full. In this mode the camera writes the photos to a temporary volatile memory which is very fast but small. When the shutter button is released or the memory is full the camera starts the slow process of writing the photos to the memory card. Using burst mode you can shoot fast photos of an action event and then choose the one that best captured the event. The speed and the amount of photos that the burst mode supports vary between cameras. For example some high end cameras can take as much as ten photos over the course of one second.

Initial delay:
When you turn the camera on the camera has to run some processing in order to get ready to take photos. The processing includes resetting its electronics, initializing the built-in software, checking the memory card and more. This processing can take a few seconds. The result is that if you want to take a photo when your camera is turned off - you will have to turn it on, wait a few seconds and only then take the photo. In some cases the photo opportunity is gone by that time. Most cameras also enter a standby mode if they are not used for a certain time - usually a few minutes or more. When the camera goes into standby mode it turns off most of its electronics in order to save power. Pressing the shutter button will restart the camera but such a restart process is similar to the process executed when turning the camera on and can take a few seconds. The result is a noticeable delay when taking a photo after the camera was idle for some time. In order to avoid this you would have to make sure that your camera is turned on and does not go into standby mode when taking action photos. Some cameras allow you to disable the automatic standby feature through a menu option. If your camera does not allow that you can keep it on by pressing the shutter button half way down every now and then. The downside of leaving the camera on all the time is wasting battery power. In order to maximize battery life in such scenarios you can disable the camera's LCD screen which consumes a lot of energy and use the view finder instead.

New digital cameras have enhanced software and hardware and reduced response times. If you are shooting action photos or are a semi-professional photographer make sure that you check what the delays are (shutter delay, Initial delay and subsequent photo delay) before you buy your next camera. It is a good idea to practice shooting action photos in order to get a better feeling of your cameras delays and responsiveness.

About the Author

This article can be reprinted and used as long as the resource box including the backlink is included. Mr. Haparnas writes about technology and digital photography. You can find more information on digital photo printing and photography in general on printrates.com - a site dedicated to digital prints Ziv Haparnas is a technology expoert.

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Digital Noise - What Is It? What Causes It? And How Can I Get Rid Of It?: by Ziv Haparnas

2008-07-26T15:22:00.003+05:30

Digital Noise - What Is It? What Causes It? And How Can I Get Rid Of It?

by Ziv Haparnas

Digital noise in photos taken with digital cameras is random pixels scattered all over the photo. It is a similar effect as "grain" in film photography and it degrades the photo quality.

Digital noise usually occurs when you take low light photos (such as night photos or indoor dark scenes) or you use very slow shutter speeds or very high sensitivity modes.

When taking pictures with a digital camera an electronic sensor (also known as a CCD) built from many tiny pixels is used to measure the light for each pixel. The result is a matrix of pixels that represent the photo.

As with any other electronic sensor the CCD is not perfect and includes some noise (also know as white noise to hint on its randomness attribute). In most lighting the light is significantly stronger than the noise. However in extreme scenes where the light is very low or when a high amplification is needed noise levels can become significant and result in pixels in the photos that include more noise data than real photo light data. Those pixels usually appear as random dots or stains on the photo (for example white dots scattered randomly on the photo).

Understanding digital noise in various scenes:

low light (night photos or dark scenes): when the scene is dark the amount of light measured by each pixel of the CCD is low. When the light intensity is very low it can become too close to the level of noise naturally found in the CCD. In such cases some pixels can appear as noise because the noise level measured for them is significantly close or higher than the actual light intensity.

slow shutter speeds: when the shutter is kept open for a long time more noise will be introduced to the photo. A slow shutter speed translates to the CCD integrating more light per pixel. The effect can be easily understood as the CCD "accumulating" light in each pixel and measuring the total light over the shutter period of time. However at the same time the CCD is also "accumulating" noise. For that reason in slow shutter speed photos some pixels will appear as noise because for these pixels the amount of noise integrated is significantly close to or higher than the actual light measured.

high sensitivity modes: high sensitivity in digital photography is implemented by mechanisms that result in amplification. The CCD amplifies the measurements it takes. However there is no way to just amplify the actual photo light that falls on the CCD pixels instead the noise and the actual light are both amplified. The result is that the CCD becomes sensitive not only to light but also to its own noise. When too much amplification is applied some pixels will appear as noise.

While it is impossible to completely prevent digital noise there are a few options that allow you to significantly decrease it. When taking photos in low light scenarios such as night photos there are two main parameters to play with: sensitivity and shutter speed. Raising sensitivity creates more internal noise in the CCD while slowing down the shutter allows for more noise to integrate on the CCD. The amount of noise generated by both parameters is different. It is recommended that you set your camera to manual mode and play with a few different sensitivity/shutter speed pairs to find out the one that generates the least noise.

Some cameras include a built-in feature called "noise reduction". Noise reduction is implemented by sophisticated software that can identify the noise pixels and remove them. For example the software can identify the noise pixels based on their randomness and usually extreme intensity gap between them and their neighboring pixels. Removing the noise can be implemented by interpolating a replacement pixel value based on its neighboring pixels.

If you do not have a built-in noise reduction feature or it does not work properly you can use a PC based software that removes digital noise. Many photo processing software include a combination of automatic and manual digital noise removal. Some software packages can also use a few photos of the same object to "average" them and thus remove the noise (relying on the fact that digital noise is random and the noise pixels will be different in each photo taken).

To conclude digital noise should be understood by any amateur or professional photographer. However for most photographers digital noise is not a practical problem even in low light scenarios usually digital noise is minimal and can be significantly reduced by simply turning on your camera's noise reduction feature. For professional photographers who shoot in more extreme conditions digital noise can present a real problem and can be dealt with using a combination of optimizing the camera settings and removing noise with professional software.

About the Author

More information on digital photo printing and photography is available on printrates.com - a site about photo printing Mr. Haparnas writes about practical technology and science issues. This article can be published only if the resource box including the backlink is included. Ziv Haparnas is a technology expoert.

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Digital photo frames and what to look for when buying one: by Ziv Haparnas

2008-07-26T15:22:00.001+05:30

Digital photo frames and what to look for when buying one

by Ziv Haparnas

Digital photo frames are new products that replace old paper photo frames in displaying your photos on a desk, on a shelf or on a wall. This article explains what digital frames are, how you can use them and what you should look for when buying one.

Digital photo frames are a good solution if you do not want to display your photos solely on your computer or on paper prints. Digital photo frames are an LCD screen with some electronics behind it that allows you to load photos and display them. Their design mimics old paper prints photo frames. Digital photo frames are thin devices and are designed to be placed on a desk, hung on a wall or put on a shelf.

The price of digital photo frames varies and is mostly driven by their LCD screen size and quality. The cheapest ones start at around $50 and the expensive ones run in the hundreds of dollars or more. There are other features that influence both price and performance. Here are some features to consider when buying a digital photo frame:

LCD size, resolution and brightness: The most important component of any digital photo frame is its LCD screen. The main purpose of a digital photo frame is to display photos and the LCD screen is the component that does that. Decide what LCD size you need based on the distance from which you will be viewing the photos. Check what the LCD resolution is and what the maximum brightness it supports. Brightness is extremely important if you plan to use the frame in an environment that is well lit ï¿½ for example on your desk in an office that has big windows and a lot of sun light.

Placement options: Make sure that the digital photo frame can be placed where planned. For example if you plan to put it on your desk make sure that it has the appropriate support for that and that it will be stable and in the angle you want. If you plan to hang it on a wall ï¿½ make sure that the frame was designed for that and that it has the right accessories.

Memory: Most digital photo frames do not have any built-in memory. Instead they rely on external memory cards that are plugged into a special slot. Check what memory card types are supported by the digital photo frame. Usually you would prefer that the card supported will be the same type as the card you are already using with your digital camera.

Remote control: Some digital photo frames come with a remote control that enables you to remotely change the displayed photo, start a slide show and more. A remote control is important if you plan to control the frame often (for example plan to switch photos manually as opposed to a constant photo slide show) and if you plan to place the photo frame far from where you are (for example if the frame is on your desk right next to you a remote control is not needed but if it is hung on a wall a remote control can be useful).

PC connection: Most digital photo frames can be connected to a computer. This can be useful if you want to load photos from a photo album on your computer hard disk. It is much easier to use a computer in order to choose the photos to display. The PC connection is usually done using a USB cable ï¿½ although some newer photo frame models support wireless LAN (also known as Wi-Fi or 802.11). A PC connection is a good feature if you plan to load photos often. Wireless support is more expensive and you should choose a frame that supports wireless only of its location is going to be far from the computer and a cable connection will not be convenient ï¿½ for example if your digital photo frame is permanently hung on a wall a wireless connection is much easier to use than a USB cable.

Non photo features: Digital photo frames include a micro computer that implements photo display logic. Manufacturers found out that with some software changes and minimal added cost they could support more features that really had nothing to do with displaying photos. Examples of such features are: MP3 player, video playback and TV tuner. It is nice to have those added features but it is not a good idea to make your buying decision based on them. Digital frames are usually not the optimal device to play music or videos (for many reasons such as that they are usually located in the wrong place for that, they have low quality speakers and, acoustic and their screen is too small). It is better focus on the basic photo display features such as LCD size, brightness and resolution and only if these are satisfactory to check what other features are available.

Before you buy your digital photo frame take a moment to figure out how you will use it and what your expectations are. Digital photo frames are great products but they do have limitations. Choosing the right digital photo frame and having it on your desk rotating slowly through your photo album is a great experience ï¿½ one that you could not have before the digital photography days.

About the Author

Mr. Haparnas writes about practical technology issues. This article can be reprinted only if the resource box including the backlink is included. Information about photography and photo prints is on printrates.com - your home for digital prints

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Digital photo pixel color formats RGB CMYK and HSV: by Ziv Haparnas

2008-07-26T15:21:00.000+05:30

Digital photo pixel color formats RGB CMYK and HSV

by Ziv Haparnas

Digital photos are built of pixels. When you look at a digital photo on a computer screen or on a printed version of the photo you are really looking at millions of pixels each with a unique color and intensity. When put together all these pixels form the photo that you see. There are a few formats used to represent a pixel color – here are the common ones.

You have probably heard at least one of the following acronyms: RGB, CMYK and HSV. RGB is the most popular one with CMYK not lagging far behind. Each format is a different way to describe a pixel color. The same pixel can be represented in each of the three formats. Each format is commonly used in some applications.

Here is a description of each of these formats and their usage:

RGB – Red Green Blue:

In RGB format each pixel color is represented as an addition of three primary colors: red, green and blue. Any color can be reproduced by mixing these three components in different ratios. RGB is most commonly used to represent colors that are displayed on compute screens. The reason is that RGB is an active format or in other words it describes colors as an addition of red green and blue light emitted from a light source such as a compute screen. A compute screen emits red blue and green light for each pixel in order to create the pixel color.

CMYK – Cyan Magenta Yellow Key:

The CMYK format is used for representing pixels color on printed paper. The fourth component, key, is also know as the black component. Different colors are created when mixing the first three components CMY. Pure black however is hard to achieve with such mixing and for that reason black has a value of its own. The CMYK format is also aligned with how most color printers are implemented – they have one black cartridge and three color cartridges for cyan, magenta and yellow. The reason printers are implemented this way is that pure real black color is hard to reproduce by mixing three other colors. Opposite to RGB which works by mixing light emitted by a light source CMYK works by mixing the light not absorbed by ink on paper. CMYK is thus also known as passive while RGB is known as active.

HSV – Hue Saturation Value:

The HSV format is used by many photo editing software and by most semi-professional and professional graphic designers and artists. The HSV format is more aligned with the way we see and describe colors. Hue defines the color – for example green, yellow, purple etc. Saturation defines how pure the color is– it varies from dark or faded color to the pure color for example a green hue can be 100% saturated – or a pure green or it can be 0% saturated or practically black. Value is the intensity or brightness of the color. A value can be 0% which means the color is not bright at all or is practically black or 100% which means the color is as illuminated and bright as it can possibly be. This format follows how we see and describe colors and for that reason it is used by photo editing software. When we see color we first describe what color we see (e.g. green) then we add how saturated it is (e.g. faded green) and then we add how bright or illuminated it is (e.g. bright faded green).

About the Author

Information about photography and photo prints is on printrates.com - your home for digital photo printing Ziv Haparnas writes about practical technology issues. This article can be published as long as the resource box including the backlink is included.

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Digital photo printing paper sizes ï¿½ 4XD 5XD and others: by Ziv Haparnas

2008-07-26T15:20:00.004+05:30

Digital photo printing paper sizes ï¿½ 4XD 5XD and others

by Ziv Haparnas

When you print digital photos on traditional paper sizes photos are either cropped or areas of the paper are left blank. The reason is that tradition paper sizes were designed for film and have different aspect ratio than digital photos. Digital paper sizes solve this problem and are offered by many - here is how.

Understanding aspect ratio

Before you can understand why digital paper sizes are different than traditional ones you need to understand what aspect ratio is. Aspect ratio is the relation between the horizontal and vertical sizes of the photo. It can also be applied to video, paintings or any two dimensional rectangle. Aspect ratio is calculated by dividing the width of a photo by its height. For example TV in normal mode has an aspect ratio of 4:3 or in other words if we were to divide the width of the screen by its height the result would be 4:3. Widescreen TV on the other hand is stretched like a movie theater screen and has an aspect ratio of 16:9.

The camera's sensor which replaces the traditional film is a rectangle and has physical attributes such as width, height and resolution (number of pixels). As such the CCD also has an inherent aspect ratio - its width divided by its height.

What does aspect ratio has to do with paper sizes?

The paper photos are printed on has a width and a height and also an aspect ratio. When a photo is printed the aspect ratio of the paper must equal to the aspect ratio of the photo (or actually of the sensor that the photo was taken with). If the aspect ratios are different the results might be: a blank area left on the paper, a cropped photo or a stretched photo that fits the paper but distorts the objects in it.

Here is why: to simplify the explanation lets assume a camera's sensor that is 6 inches wide and 4 inches high (real sensors are much smaller). Lets also assume that we are trying to print a photo taken with that sensor on a paper that is 4 inches high. If the paper width would be less than 6 inches we will have to crop part of the photo since there won't be enough space available on the paper. If the paper width is more than 6 inches we will have to leave a blank area on the paper since we do not have "enough photo" to print on more than 6 inches. If we want our photo to fit the page we can stretch or shrink it horizontally to whatever the paper size is - but doing so would distort the objects making them look more fat or thin as they are in real life.

Printing with tradition paper sizes

Common traditional paper sizes are 4X6, 5X7, 8X11 and more. Lets take 4X6 for example which is the most common photo paper size. Traditional film has an aspect ratio of 3:2 and thus 4X6 paper was a perfect for those prints. Digital cameras however use sensor with different aspect ratios than traditional film. The following table summarizes popular sensor sizes in pixels - width, height and aspect ratio:

2MP 1600 X 1200 4:3

3MP 2048 X 1536 4:3

4MP 2272 X 1704 4:3

5MP 2592 X 1944 4:3

6MP 2816 X 2112 4:3

8MP 3200 X 2400 4:3

As you can see regardless of the digital camera resolution the aspect ratio is always 4:3.

So what will happen if we try to print digital photos using traditional paper sizes? The photo will not fit. It will be either too wide or too high. For example if we are printing on a 4X6 paper we will only fill 4X5.33 and 0.66 inches will be left blank. Many printing services allow the user to crop a part of the photo before printing. This lets the user cut a part of the photo and have the rest printed on the full size instead of leaving a part of the paper blank.

As digital cameras and digital photo printing became more popular printing services introduced new paper sizes that were the right fit for digital photos. The aspect ratio of the new paper sizes is 4:3 and thus photos taken with digital cameras perfectly fit such paper.

The new digital paper sizes have the same height as the traditional sizes they replace but a width that fits a digital 4:3 aspect ratio. For example the size of a "digital 4X6 paper" also known as 4XD is not 4X6 but 4X5.33. Digital paper sizes are usually written as height X D - where D symbolizes the fact that this is a digital compatible paper size. So if you see a paper size of 4XD, it means 4X6 that is digital compatible (or in other words 4X5.33) and when you see 5XD it means 5X7 that was corrected to the digital 4:3 aspect ratio (or in other words 5X6.66).

About the Author

Ziv Haparnas is a technology expoert. This article can be published and used as long as the resource box including the backlink is included. Mr. Haparnas writes about practical technology issues. Information about photography and photo prints is on printrates.com - your home for photo printing

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Digital Photography -- Fast Food Memories: by Caitlin Moore

2008-07-26T15:20:00.003+05:30

Digital Photography -- Fast Food Memories

by Caitlin Moore

A quick search in Google or one of the other search engines can easily yield dozens of images from everyday life, snapped on camera phones, small pocket-sized digital cameras, or high-end digital SLR's. In many cases, camera phone images are so blurry as to be of little value, but they abound in the wide world of the Internet, and as small portable imagery devices get into more and more hands, the sheer volume of electronic images just continues to increase.

Some people ask the question of whether the digital photography revolution is necessarily a good thing. It is easier, faster and cheaper than ever before to capture memorable moments for later viewing. Because of this, digital photos often feel more "real" than traditional film-based images, as dozens or hundreds of images can be snapped continuously at no cost without interrupting the flow of a moment in order to have participants re-create it "for a picture".

Because of this essential freedom to review, arrange, and remove unwanted images, we are far more generous with our shutters than was generally the case with more expensive film-based methods of image capture. Because of inexpensive storage however, many people never bother to remove most unnecessary images, resulting in bloated virtual albums with duplicates, accidental pictures of thumbs, uninspiring shots of brick walls, pavement, and more.

However, because of this essentially greater freedom to snap, some make the argument that many of our images have less value. This is tricky territory, however – who's to say that a plastic bag lying on the sidewalk isn't lovely, or that an overexposed picture of Fluffy the dog isn't artistic or as valuable as a more traditional family photo? In the end, there's not much point arguing about taste.

One thing is certain, though – as more and more cameras find their way into more hands, the numbers of images available on line are sure to continue to multiply – and whether good, bad, or ugly, each of these images has meaning for someone. And when you get down to it, individual freedom is one thing we can all likely agree on.

About the Author

Caitlin Moore is an avid photographer, and one the editors of dpdigest.com – an informative website dedicated to digital photography, with extensive information about digital storage devices, camera accessories, lighting kits and more.

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Digital Photography and the Printed World: by Caitlin Moore

2008-07-26T15:20:00.001+05:30

Digital Photography and the Printed World

by Caitlin Moore

Photo collections – for traditional photographers the phrase conjures thoughts of bound albums and mounds of shoeboxes, stuffed to capacity with 5 x 7 inch pictures. For today's ever growing ranks of digital photographers however, it brings to mind thoughts of a stamp-sized memory card, a pocket hard drive, or CDs and DVDs. Welcome to the world of digital photography, which is fundamentally changing the way we capture and preserve images.

Digital photography today is a rapidly growing consumer pastime with many advantages versus traditional film-based cameras, including the ability to immediately review, erase, annotate or categorize images, speed and ease of operation, and quality at the high end of the digital photography scale. Although some film cameras can operate without batteries, minus the flash, most consumers are unconcerned with use in wet or poor weather environments and are drawn to digital cameras by all of the advantages that they offer.

Because of this, the entire photography industry is changing to embrace different consumer preferences, including a reduced desire for printed photos. The market for printed photos from film in the United States peaked in 2000 at over 30 billion, and then fell to under 26 billion by 2004. Initially, there were problems with quick-service photography shops "cropping" digital images in order to force them to print properly on the same paper used by film cameras – as more and more people move to digital however, services and products emerge to make it easier to transfer your memories from electronic to tangible.

Some people feel that a picture just isn't a picture if you can't put it into a frame (although wireless, internet-enabled miniature LCD 'picture frames' ARE available) or store it in a photo album. But many of today's young people are much more comfortable with technology than their parents and grandparents. It is not uncommon for a college student to feel more secure with electronic images than paper ones.

No one is certain whether digital photography will eventually reduce our demand for photo prints, but it is guaranteed that the way of the future in photography is digital. Additionally, there are far more snapshots being taken than ever before, due to the ease with which they can be reviewed and removed from digital cameras. So whether you're partial to electronic or shoebox image storage, be ready for photos to get easier, better and cheaper in coming years – and of course, keep smiling.

About the Author

Caitlin Moore is an avid photographer, and one the editors of dpdigest.com – an informative website dedicated to digital photography, with extensive information about digital SLR cameras, memory cards, special effects filters and more.

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Do I need an 8MP digital camera?: by Ziv Haparnas

2008-07-26T15:01:00.001+05:30

Do I need an 8MP digital camera?

by Ziv Haparnas

If you are on the market for a new digital camera then there is a good chance that you are asking yourself that exact question. Maybe the number of megapixels that you are considering is different. Do you really need a 16MP digital camera? 8MP? 6MP? This article tries to help you answering this question.

New digital camera models that are put on the market support more and more megapixels. This race for more megapixels is in part driven by manufacturers who want you to buy their newest and greatest digital camera and the easiest way for them to make you compare cameras is by using one simple number - megapixels - the higher the better or at least this is what they want you to think.

But reality is different. When it comes to megapixels more is not necessarily better. Since most of us have a limited budget that we are willing to spend on a digital camera spending more money to get more megapixels means spending less on other features or accessories such as storage and lenses. The overall quality of your photography experience is dependent on such extra features.

When deciding on the number of megapixels that you need you should first consider what your expected usage is. You need more megapixels if you plan to print photos (especially big enlargements) or if you need to zoom in and grab fine details out of big digital photos. On the other hand you do not need much if you plan to watch your digital photos on your computer screen and occasionally print a few 4X6 prints. In fact 2 megapixels are more than enough for such usage. Consider your computer screen resolution which is in most cases 1024X768 - even when viewing your digital photos in full screen mode you are only really watching 1024X768 < 1 megapixels. A 2 megapixels 4X6 photo print has a DPI higher than 300 which is more than enough for a good quality print. If you plan to print enlargements consider the following table for the recommended number of megapixels for different print sizes (based on print quality of about 300 DPI):

page 4X6 2MP

page 5X7 3MP

page 8X10 7MP

page 11X14 14MP

page 16X20 28MP

page 20X30 54MP

When considering spending more of your digital camera budget on getting more megapixels you should ask yourself questions like: should I instead get better lenses? Should I instead get an external flash unit? Should I instead get extra storage media?

Don't be a victim of the megapixels race. In many ways the race for more megapixels is similar to the race for more megahertz on personal computers. In early days when computers speeds were slow - more megahertz was important. Today though having a 4Ghz or 5Ghz computer does not make a difference and you are better off spending more money on more memory than more megahertz. The same is true with megapixels in early digital cameras days the number of megapixels was low and it was important to get more. Today with most cameras having a high number of megapixels it is probably wiser to get better lenses or more storage than upgrading from 8MP to 10MP.

About the Author

Mr. Haparnas writes about practical technology issues. This article can be reprinted as long as the resource box including the backlink is included. Ziv Haparnas is a technology veteran. You can find more information on digital photo printing and photography in general on printrates.com - a site dedicated to Sony and photo prints

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Do more with digital photos than just digital photo printing: by Ziv Haparnas

2008-07-26T12:52:00.003+05:30

Do more with digital photos than just digital photo printing

by Ziv Haparnas

When digital cameras were first introduced they were used mostly as digital replacement to film cameras. Users would shoot photos, print them and archive them in photo albums. As users became more sophisticated new ways to use digital photos were found. Here are a few.

The most basic thing you can do with a digital photo is print it and view it on paper or save it on a computer's hard disk and view it on the computer screen. There are however some other ways to use and enjoy digital photos – here are a few ideas:

Desktop photo wallpaper: Your computer desktop is a great place to display special photos. Setting a photo that you like as your desktop wallpaper allows you to view it every time you log on to your computer or have your application windows minimized or consume only part of the screen. You can also use software that allows you to choose a list of photos to rotate through as your desktop wallpaper: it can be done on a time basis (the photo is changed every X minutes, hours or days), or on a random basis (the photo is changed to a randomly chosen one every X minutes, hours or days).

Photos in your screen saver: When your computer is idle it can be programmed to do one of many things: turn off the monitor, go into standby mode or show a photo (either a full screen photo or a smaller photo that floats around the screen). You can program your screen saver to show a photo that you especially like or you can choose a list of photos the screen saver will rotate through (either on a time basis or on a random basis). Setting your photos as your screen saver or desktop wallpaper allows you to view and remember experiences on a continuous basis. Viewing is something that happens in the background, does not consume dedicated time.

Digital photo frames: Digital photo frames are devices that elevate photo frames up to the digital era. Traditional photo frames have a single paper print inside a frame that you hang on the wall, put on your desk or on a shelf. On the other hand digital frames embed an LCD screen that allows you to display different digital photos at different times. There are many types of digital photo frames some can receive the photos wirelessly from your computer while others has internal storage for up to a maximum number of photos. Other features include the ability to read memory cards content directly from your camera. Most digital photo frames can work in few modes: show a single photo until you manually switch to another one, roll through a list of photos or show photos randomly.

Photos in cell phones: New cell phones can do much more than voice calls. They include cameras and allow you to take photos and short video clips. They can also store photos and display them on their small LCD screens. If you have a photo that you like you can download it to your cell phone (usually using special software that is bundled with the cell phone) and set it as your cell phone wallpaper. In this way you carry the photo and its experience with you all the time and can share it with people you meet.

Photos as personal icons: Some software allow you to load any photo you like that will represent you when communicating with other users. MSN messenger is a good example – when you chat with a friend you can set a photo that your friend will see that "represents" who you are and what you feel. You can load photos that tell something about you and about what you're going through – maybe a photo from your birthday party if you had one in the last week or two – or from your last trip abroad.

Digital photos in blogs and social networks: Social networks and personal blogs are extremely popular. Almost everybody has a page on one or more such networks. You can upload photos to your personal page that represent who you are and what you are going through. It is a good idea to keep those photos fresh – if something happens to you, if you saw something interesting or if you took a photo that you would like to share with others for any reason – upload it to your page and let everybody see and enjoy it.

This list is just a short example of what can be done today with digital photos. This list is far from being inclusive and what it really intends to do is to seed your imagination so that you can come up with more out of the box ideas for using and enjoying digital photos.

About the Author

Ziv Haparnas is a technology expoert. Mr. Haparnas writes about practical technology issues. This article can be reprinted and used as long as the resource box including the backlink is included. Information about photography and photo prints is on printrates.com - your home for digital photo print service

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Do people ever outgrow the joy of toys?: by Martin McAllister

2008-07-26T12:52:00.001+05:30

Do people ever outgrow the joy of toys?

by Martin McAllister

Contrary to popular representations, toys are not, and have never been just the domain of children. In fact, toys have consistently captured the imagination of the general public and are the companions of adults just as much as they are a mainstay in the lives of children the world over. Of course, the main reason for the enduring nature of toys is difficult to pin down; however, their variety and constantly evolving appearance and selection means that the value of simple toys and games as a means by which children and adults can amuse themselves is unlikely to fall out of date.

Toys date back thousands of years in our history. For example, many toys, including small carts, bird-shaped whistles and toy monkeys were excavated from the ruins of the Indus Valley civilisation which dated from 3000 to 1500 BC. Children in Ancient Egypt often played with dolls made out of stone or pottery, with wigs and moveable limbs; while infants in Ancient Greek and Roman civilisations occupied themselves with bows and arrows, terracotta or wax dolls and early yo-yos.

As technology has developed, today's toys are more likely to be made out of plastic or other synthetic materials. But even as the way toys are produced and what toys can do has advanced, the fact that children play with and can learn from toys has not altered. For example, many toys can aid a child's cognitive development and help them identify shapes, textures and sizes. Puzzles can also help in the mental development of growing children or young adults, teaching them the basics of problem solving and sometimes even the principles of certain scientific concepts: for example, Newton's Cradle is a desk toy that demonstrates the conversion of momentum and energy.

Toys occupy such a large place in the public's imagination that films often represent toys - otherwise inanimate objects - as living beings. Movies like Disney's Toy Story 1 and 2, and 1998's Small Soldiers (in which missile technology is used to enhance toy action figures) portrays toys as being ï¿½alive' and taking on a power and force all of their own. The success of these films demonstrates quite clearly that toys are an obsession not just of the young, but the old alike.

Today's flourishing online trading forums means that toy enthusiasts will be able to find a range of toys and games online with which to buy and sell to a huge variety of users. In fact, many online marketplaces will provide an opportunity to find rare toys and games, as well as particular models that may no longer be manufactured. So toy fans should be sure to check out the vast world of opportunities that exists for them online: after all, toys will always be important - whether they're for you or your child.

About the Author

Martin McAllister is a freelance online journalist. He lives in Scotland.

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Effective use of Flash Photography: by Ziv Haparnas

2008-07-26T12:51:00.000+05:30

Effective use of Flash Photography

by Ziv Haparnas

Did you ever put your flash unit in manual mode? Did you ever manually turn on the flash when taking a day time outdoor photo? For many the answer to both questions is "no". For most amateur photographers flash is just a solution for taking photos when there is not enough natural light. Although a legitimate use of flash photography there is much more ways to efficiently use flash. In this article we will cover the various types of flash units available, the different scenarios under which they can be used, the advantages of using flash to achieve better photos and the common mistakes people do when using flash photography.

As with any other technology knowing how it works behind the scenes and what your options are can help in better utilizing it for your advantage. Flash photography has been around for more than a hundred years. It started with a dangerous and manually controlled technology that used a powder that was lit by either fire or electrical current. These flash solutions were both dangerous and hard to use since the flash was not automatically synchronized to the camera's shutter. Modern flash units use an electronic flash tube that is synchronized with the camera's shutter. When turning the flash on the photographer does not need to worry about flash timing - the camera takes care of it automatically.

There are two types of flash units: Internal and External. The internal flash unit is built-in to your camera. It can be controlled through the camera's menus. Some low end cameras only allow the use of their built-in units. Some low end cameras and all high end cameras also allow the attachment of an external flash unit. External flash units are either attached to the camera's body through a dedicated slide-in slot or are connected to the camera using a cable. They vary in strength – how much light can they generate for how long - and in mechanical characteristics – can they be tilted or skewed or are they fixed in relation to the camera's body. Regardless of the connection type external flash units are electronically connected to the camera and are synchronized with the shutter.

When setting your flash unit to automatic mode the camera fires the flash in scenarios where not enough light is available. Many times the camera will make a wrong judgment and will either fire or not fire the flash when the opposite was needed. Also in some scenarios the camera will not be able to tell that firing the flash will actually result in a better photo. One problem when using a flash is washed out photos. When the flash is too strong or the object is too close to the camera the result is a washed out photo there are not enough details and the object appears to be too white or too bright. Another problem is a photo with too many details: in some scenarios the flash can create artificial shadows and lights which result in a photo that includes details that are exaggerated relative to their appearance in real life. For example when taking a photo of an older person skin wrinkles and imperfections can look much worse than they really are in real life.

It is important to know the limitations of the flash unit. Any flash unit has a certain amount of light that it can generate. Usually this amount can be translated to an effective range for using the flash. When trying to take a photo with the object too far – more than the flash unit range – the object will appear dark. When trying to take a photo with the object too close to the camera the object will be washed out or too white. It is important to know your flash range and make sure that your object is within that range.

If you need to take a photo with your objects not within your flash unit range it is better to turn off the flash completely and use a tripod with long exposure. Using the flash in such scenarios can fool the camera into setting a high shutter speed which results in a photo darker than a photo taken without using the flash at all.

In some scenarios the camera will not automatically fire the flash although using the flash would have resulted in a much better photo. One such scenario is taking a photo during day time when the object is shadowed. For example if the object is wearing a hat the hat can block the light from the object's face or when the object is lit from the side the object's nose can block the light creating a shadow. In such scenarios the flash unit can be set to "fill in" mode. The flash will be fired to fill-in those shadowed areas but it will not be fired strong enough to wash out the photo.

Another scenario is when the sun is behind the object. One example is taking a photo on the beach against a sunset. If taken without a fill-in flash the result will most likely be a silhouette of the object. If taken with a fill-in flash and the object in range the result will be a clear photo of the object against a sunset.

In conclusion your flash unit can be a great tool. Although for many using the flash in automatic mode is enough for the more sophisticated photographer who wants to achieve higher quality photos understanding and experimenting with the flash unit can yield great results. Following some simple rules such as making sure objects are within the flash unit range and using fill-in flash when shadows can appear on the objects is easy and significantly improves your photos.

About the Author

Mr. Haparnas writes about science and technology. You can find more information on digital photo printing printing and photography in general on printrates.com - a site dedicated to photo printing This article can be reprinted as long as the resource box including the backlink is included. Ziv Haparnas is an expert technology writer.

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Exposure value (EV) and exposure compensation: by Ziv Haparnas

2008-07-26T12:50:00.002+05:30

Exposure value (EV) and exposure compensation

by Ziv Haparnas

Exposure is defined as how much light hits the camera's sensor. It depends on the camera settings mainly aperture and shutter speed. Exposure value (known as EV) is a number that represents the exposure setting of the camera. We will explain what the number means and how it is used for exposure compensation.

The exposure depends on two things: how much light gets through the lenses to the camera's sensor and for how long the sensor is exposed. The former is a function of the aperture value while the latter is a function of the shutter speed. Exposure value is a number that represents this potential amount of light that could hit the sensor. It is important to understand that exposure value is a measure of how exposed the sensor is to light and not a measure of how much light actually hits the sensor. The exposure value is independent of how lit the scene is. For example a pair of aperture value and shutter speed represents the same exposure value both if the camera is used during a very bright day or during a dark night.

Each exposure value number represents all the possible shutter and aperture settings that result in the same exposure. Although the exposure value is the same for different combinations of aperture values and shutter speeds the resulting photo can be very different (the aperture controls the depth of field while shutter speed controls how much motion is captured)

EV 0.0 is defined as the exposure when setting the aperture to f-number 1.0 and the shutter speed to 1 second. All other exposure values are relative to that number. Exposure values are on a base two logarithmic scale. This means that every single step of EV – plus or minus 1 – represents the exposure (actual light that hits the sensor) being halved or doubled.

It is not likely that you will find yourself setting absolute exposure values. Most cameras do not support entering exposure values at all. You will however use exposure values when setting exposure compensation. Exposure compensation is a way to set the camera to an exposure that is lower or higher than what was automatically detected. The camera auto exposure setting is not perfect and in some scenes results in over or under exposed photos. In such cases exposure compensation can solve the problem Exposure compensation is also useful when you like to get photos that are a bit over or under exposed.

When setting exposure compensation you select an exposure value that is added to the current exposure setting. Usually exposure compensation values are no more than +/-5 EV. For example a compensation of -2EV will make a photo darker (or less exposed) while a compensation of +2EV will make it brighter (or more exposed). A good example of using exposure compensation is on a bright day. Compensate to lower exposure using a value of -0.5EV or -1EV to get richer colors and more details.

Exposure values can also be used in conjunction with auto bracketing. When using exposure auto bracketing each time you take a photo the camera takes a series of extra photos for you each with a slightly different exposure. You can set the EV step between each photo.

About the Author

More information on digital photo printing and photography is available on printrates.com - a site about digital photo printing Ziv Haparnas is an expert in technology. This article can be published as long as the resource box including the backlink is included. Mr. Haparnas writes about science and technology.

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Facts about flash units and taking photos using a flash: by Ziv Haparnas

2008-07-26T12:50:00.001+05:30

Facts about flash units and taking photos using a flash

by Ziv Haparnas

For most of us firing the flash is something that happens in the background and that does not require our attention.. Flash photography was not always so easy to use. Flash is useful in many situations for example when taking photos in dark scenes or when getting rid of shades in fill in mode. It is beneficial to know some facts about flash usage and how it works.

Flash photography has been around for more than a hundred years. At first it was a dangerous and a manually controlled technology. It used powder that was literally ignited by either fire or electrical current. These flash solutions were both dangerous and hard to use since the flash was not automatically synchronized to the camera's shutter. This meant that the photographer had to manually synchronize the shutter and the flash making sure that the flash was fired at exactly the time when the shutter was being opened. Modern flash units use an electronic flash tube that is synchronized to the camera's shutter – relieving the photographer from the burden of timing the shutter and the flash.

Here are some facts that are important to know about flash units and shooting photos using them:

Internal flash units:
Internal flash units are built into the camera. They are controlled through the camera's menus and buttons. Internal flash units are usually small (limited by the camera size). As a result they are relatively weak units and only allow photography in dark conditions to a distance of a few feet. Internal flash units are easiest to use as they do not require any special settings or buying and installing accessories. In most cameras the internal flash can set to an automatic "point and shoot" mode in which the camera fires the flash whenever it senses that it is needed. Some low-end cameras can only use built-in flash units. Most cameras however support external flash units attached to the camera body.

External flash units:
External flash units are either mechanically attached to the camera's body through a dedicated slide-in slot or are mechanically detached from the camera and only connected via an electrical synchronization cable. External flash units come in many sizes and have different features. They vary in intensity– how much light they generate and for how long - and in mechanical features – can they be tilted or skewed or are they fixed in relation to the camera's body. The external units are electrically connected to the camera allowing the camera to control the flash timing. Some connection standards also transmit advanced information to the flash unit such as the reading of the camera's light sensors, its optical settings and more. This allows smart external flash units to optimize their settings for shooting the best photo.

Firing the flash:
The decision to fire the flash is either automatic or manual. The camera can fire the flash when there is not enough light available. In some scenarios the camera will not automatically fire the flash although doing so would have resulted in a much better photo. One such scenario is taking a photo during day time when the object is shadowed. For example if the object is wearing a hat the hat can block the light from the object's face or when the object is lit from the side the object's nose can block the light creating a shadow. In such scenarios the flash unit can be set to "fill in" mode. The flash will be fired to fill-in those shadowed areas but it will not be fired strong enough to wash out the photo. Another scenario is when the sun is behind the object. One example is taking a photo on the beach during a sunset. If taken without a fill-in flash the result will most likely be a silhouette of the object. If taken with a fill-in flash and the object in range the result will be a clear photo of the object against a sunset.

Flash can also cause problems:
Shooting a photo using the flash can also cause problems. One such problem is washed out photos as a result of the flash being too strong or the object too close to the camera. Washed out photos do not have enough details and the object appears to be too white or too bright. Another problem is a photo with more details than in the original scene: in some scenarios the flash can create artificial shadows and lights which result in a photo that includes details that are exaggerated relative to their appearance in real life. For example when taking a photo of an older man using a flash the skin wrinkles and imperfections can look much worse than they really are in real life.

Flash is limited:
It is important to know the limitations of the flash unit. Any flash unit has a certain amount of light that it can generate. Usually this amount can be translated to an effective flash range. When trying to take a photo with the object too far – more than the flash unit range – the object will appear dark. If you need to take a photo with your objects not within your flash unit range it is better to turn off the flash completely and use a tripod and long exposure. Using the flash in such scenarios can fool the camera into setting lower exposure which results in a photo darker than a photo taken without using the flash at all.

It is important to know the flash unit that you are using and to get a feeling of when and how it should be used. The best way to accomplish that is by experimenting. With digital photography experimenting is practically free as there is no film development cost – take advantage of that and experiment shooting photos in different scenarios with and without a flash.

About the Author

This article can be reprinted as long as the resource box including the backlink is included. Find more on photo printing and photography is on printrates.com - a place about digital photo print service Ziv Haparnas writes about technology and digital photography. Ziv Haparnas is an expert in technology.

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Getting more battery time from your digital camera battery: by Ziv Haparnas

2008-07-26T12:49:00.002+05:30

Getting more battery time from your digital camera battery

by Ziv Haparnas

Like other portable consumer electronic devices digital cameras use batteries as their power source. All batteries have one major drawback: they only last for a limited time. In this article we will explain what camera features consume the most energy and how you can squeeze more life time out of your digital camera battery.

There are many types of battery. Your digital camera might be using disposable batteries or maybe it uses rechargeable ones. Rechargeable batteries use a variety of technologies such as nickel cadmium, lithium ion or lithium polymer. Battery technology has advanced in the last years but batteries life time is still considerably short. It is very frustrating to come across a great photo opportunity just to find out that you have run out of batteries.

When it comes to power consumption not all digital camera features are equal. Some of the digital camera greatest features are high energy consumers. By knowing which features consume the most energy you will be able to avoid or minimize using those features save energy and get more life time from your batteries.

The biggest energy consumers in a digital camera are the LCD screen and the motors that move the mechanical components of the camera such as the lenses when focusing or zooming. Digital cameras allow viewing of photos that were just taken on a small LCD screen. Some of them also allow shooting photos using the LCD instead of the traditional viewfinder. An LCD screen consumes relatively a lot of energy. This is the reason why all digital cameras turn off the LCD after a certain amount of time of no usage.

The other big energy consumers are the motors. Digital cameras have motors the move the lenses either to change the zoom or to focus. Motors consume relatively a lot of energy when moving the digital camera optical components. And finally the flash is a big energy consumer too. Shooting photos using the flash consumes more energy that shooting photos without flash.

So what can you do in order to minimize power consumption and get more life time from your batteries?

^Turn off the LCD and use the viewfinder: Use the optical viewfinder instead of the LCD for composing your photos. Using the camera menus disable the LCD by turning it off. Since the LCD consumes a lot of energy every time you are using it to take a photo or to look at your objects and compose a photo you are wasting energy. Only use the LCD when you must for example when taking an overhead photo when the optical viewfinder is not usable.

^Minimize photo previewing: The LCD consumes a lot of energy. When you preview photos on the LCD you are wasting battery. Only use the LCD to view photos when you need to do so for the benefit of the next photos shooting – for example to check if a composition was right or if the lighting was good. Do not use the LCD to view photos for fun or to show photos to others. Wait until you are on your computer or in your office or home to do that.

^Do not use continuous focus when not necessary: Every time your camera focuses it consumers energy. The motors that move the optical components in order to focus consume a lot of energy. You can not avoid focusing of course but you can avoid focusing that is not necessary. For example your digital camera can be set to continuous or single focus. For moving objects such as in sport events continuous focus is used so your can stay focused on the object until you are ready to take the photo. In those cases as long as you press the shutter button half way down the camera will continue to focusing on the object. To save energy minimize that time to the minimum necessary. For example if you plan to shoot a photo of a runner at point A only press the shutter when he gets close to that point. Holding the shutter button down and following the runner for a longer time than needed to capture him at point A wastes a lot of energy.

^Do not press the shutter button half way down for no reason: Every time you press the shutter button half way down and do not take a photo you waste energy. When pressing the shutter button half way down the camera goes through a series of processes getting ready to shoot a photo. It focuses the lenses it wakes up electronic components and gets the flash ready if needed. Avoid pressing the shutter half way down when you do not plan to shoot a photo.

^Carry another battery: Two batteries have twice the energy as one. Carry an extra battery if you are planning for a long shooting session or if you are not sure how many photos you will shoot and how long you will be away from your charger. Some photographers always carry an extra battery with them – batteries are very small and light and carrying an extra one is really not a burden. One thing to remember when carrying an extra battery is to always make sure that you are carrying an extra battery that is fully charged there is no use in carrying an empty battery. Batteries tend to lose their charge even if they are not used so if you are carrying an extra battery for a few days or more remember to recharge it even if you did not use it.

^Recharge whenever you can: Charge your battery (or batteries if you carry an extra one) at least once a day or whenever you are back to your office, home or hotel. Even if you did not take many photos and you think the batteries have enough power in them it is better to make sure by fully charging them rather than to take the risk. You never know how long your next photo shooting session will be and when will your next recharge opportunity will be. Batteries slowly lose their charge even when not used so always recharge your extra battery too even if it was not used.

^Plan for battery consumption: The most important thing is to plan for battery consumption. For example if you are leaving your office for a short photo shooting session of an hour you are not going to have any battery issues. In such cases you can ignore all the guidelines and just shoot photos freely in the way that is most convenient to you. If you are going out for a long day of photo shooting in scenarios that require flash and maybe continuous focusing (just as shooting a sports event) – plan ahead for power consumption take an extra battery or maybe two refrain from using features that are not necessary for your session such as previewing photos on the LCD or using the LCD as a viewfinder.

In conclusion until battery technologies improve to the extent that battery life is so long that it practically lasts forever you will have to be conscious about how you use your digital camera in respect to power consumption. Following a few simple guidelines can significantly improve power consumption and make your batteries last longer.

About the Author

Information about photography and photo prints is on printrates.com - your home for photo prints Ziv Haparnas is an expert in technology. This article can be published only if the resource box including the backlink is included. Ziv Haparnas writes about practical technology issues.

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Getting Started with Buying Fabrics Online: by Duke Adams

2008-07-26T12:49:00.001+05:30

Getting Started with Buying Fabrics Online

by Duke Adams

Are you into sewing? If so then I am sure you have spent countless of hours visiting local fabric shops. Until now, maybe you have never even considered buying fabrics online. Buying fabrics online can be a good experience. Let us review seven reasons to buy fabrics online.

While saving money may not be the most important factor, it is helpful to know buying fabrics online can save money. While all online fabric stores are not discounters, you will find several stores that offer online exclusive specials and deeply discounted promotions.

Aside from saving money, fabric quality should be the most important factor. You will find the leading fabric brands offered by online fabric stores. From Waverly to Sunbrella, they will have the brands you are looking for. Also, as new brands and fabrics arrive you are likely to find these contenders online too.

Concerning selection, the online fabric choices are often times overwhelming. Online stores will have a number of categories to choose from: fabric, vinyl, leather, drapery, accessories, notices, and trims categories. Some web sites are organized by brand or the fabric type. For example other categories may include listings for embossed fabrics, hair-on-hides, metallic, pillow, printed, woven and so many more choices. One notable vendor even categorized fabrics by use which covered aircraft, auto/vehicle, contract, hotel/ restaurant, marine and residential.

Educated consumers are great customers, so take time to read the frequently asked questions (FAQs) pages of the prospective online fabric store. If you can obtain a comfort level by reading the store's frequently asked questions, then you are likely to find their shopping experience to be favorable.

Customer Service Pages and return policy: progressive online fabric store owners will take time to share their customer service and return policies with prospective customers. What is the return policy and are the shipping cost included? If you don't see the store policy pages, then keep surfing and look for an alternative online fabric store.

With so many local fabric stores closing you may feel apprehensive abut buying fabrics online but remember convenience is another important reason to shop online. Online fabric stores will accept all major credit cards and offer excellent customer service.

If you are accustomed to picking up fabric swatches at your local retailer, then you will be pleased to know that many online fabric stores offer fabric swatches too.

Making the move to buy fabrics online may simply a change in behavior for some and a giant leap for others. Overall, be smart about making your first online fabric purchase. Do you homework, read the customer service and FAQ pages, then take the time to search their inventory for your favorite brands of fabric.

With just a little bit of preparation, you will be on your way to having a story to share with another online shopper.

About the Author

This article is brought to you by Designer Home Fabrics, a discount designer drapery online fabric store , where you can easily and securely buy discount fabrics online .Visit us at http://www.designerhomefabrics.com for more information.

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Having fun with Troll Beads & Beading: by Paul Dunphy

2008-07-26T12:33:00.000+05:30

Having fun with Troll Beads & Beading

by Paul Dunphy

Beading is an art from throughout the ages which has been passed on from one generation to the next. Beading is also the new do-it-yourself excitement for creative grown-ups and children. It can be a very rewarding hobby craft and even a beautiful art form. The craft is considered an economical craft work as you can get started for very little money. Your new beader can

create a handmade beaded bracelet on his or her first day beading using simple beadwork concepts.

One of the reasons that beading gets the creative juices flowing is Simply due to the vast array of beads, colors of beads and even the uniquely different shapes that they come in. Even if you're tastes are wide and hard to categorize, this is no problem, as long as you have plenty of variety in the beads that you plan to use. For example, a pale rose silk shade, coupled with beads in an opalescent golden ivory will make anyone look absolutely gorgeous, and adds a touch of glamour and elegance to any room.

Uneven beads can give your beautiful beadwork a slightly off-center or cross-eyed look that might make your admirers or even potential customers think they are seeing things or that they have been out in the sun too long, especially when viewed outdoors. You can bead a knotted necklace with silk fiber and pearls with spaces between them or knot beads in the traditional pearl style. The only thing that should not be knotted are metal beads, as they abrade the silk cord. Cross weaving is used in many beading projects and is a fast and easy way to make a beaded bracelet or earrings if you're in a hurry. Always remember to learn new beading tips,and get inspired with fun projects.

When starting out, the high-quality plastic-coated, twisted steel stringing media, such as Soft Touch and Soft Flex stringing wire generally are the best choice since they are designed to withstand the abrasion from beads and from metal findings. Water, surprisingly, is vitally important for successful bead reaming, and cuts down drastically on broken beads and injured hands.

To conclude, beading is a fun and potentially exciting hobby that has been around for ages. Almost anyone can start since the costs involved are fairly minimal and allow you to bring to life your most creative designs and themes.

About the Author

Troll beads are a one of a kind type of jewelry making accessory. Each one has its own individual personality that will breathe new life into your beautiful jewelry. You can find excellent examples at Trollbeads and more information at this Troll Beads Directory!

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How does a digital camera active auto focus work: by Ziv Haparnas

2008-07-26T11:52:00.003+05:30

How does a digital camera active auto focus work

by Ziv Haparnas

In focus objects in a digital photo is a very basic requirement for high quality photography. There are two different ways to focus on such objects: manual or automatic. There are a few automatic focus methods one of them is known as active auto focus.

High quality sharp and crisp digital photos are a result of many optical parameters that need to be set right. One of the most important optical parameters is focus. When objects in a digital photo are out of focus they look blurry and are missing details and clarity. When objects are in focus they look sharp and crisp.

While focus can be set manually by the photographer in most cases using the digital camera's automatic focus feature is much easier and faster. There are many different algorithms and methods that digital cameras use in order to automatically determine the right focus for a specific scenario. One of those methods is knows as active auto focus.

Active auto focus

Setting the digital camera focus to its right position can be easy if only you knew the exact distance between the camera and the object or objects that you are trying to focus on. If you know the lenses that you are using, the aperture and all the other optical settings then by simply by knowing the distance to the object or objects in the digital photo the exact focus can be calculated and set.

This is exactly how active focus works. Digital cameras that are equipped with an active auto focus system use distance sensors that measure the distance from the camera to the objects in the scene. Usually the camera measures the distance to the object or objects around the center of the photo.

There are a few techniques to measure the distance. One of them is by using an ultrasonic sensor. Such a sensor transmits an ultrasonic signal toward the object. When the signal hits the object it bounces back and some of its bounced energy is received back by the digital camera sensors. The digital camera measures the time it took the signal to reach back the camera and since the speed of such an ultrasonic signal is known the distance can be calculated. Other methods use infrared signals. Once the camera determined the distance to the objects the focus can be set by calculating the exact position of the lenses and by moving the lenses to that position.

Active auto focus has the advantage of working in complete darkness. Since the camera does not rely on measurements done on the captured photo the camera sensors can calculate the distance to the object in complete darkness and in focus high quality digital photos can be taken in scenarios where otherwise focus would have been impossible.

Since the active auto focus method requires extra sensors it is more expensive to implement and is usually found in higher end digital SLR cameras. Active auto focus can sometimes fail. The reasons can vary: some objects tend to absorb the transmitted signal energy instead of bouncing it back while other objects actually radiate similar signals (for example candles radiate infrared energy) and can confuse the digital camera sensors. When the auto focus fails you can either try to focus on other objects in the same distance from the digital camera, lock the focus and pan back to the original objects you wanted to capture or you can revert to old fashion manual focus.

About the Author

Ziv Haparnas is a technology expoert. This article can be published as long as the resource box including the backlink is included. Mr. Haparnas writes about practical technology and science issues. You can find more information on digital photo printing and photography in general on printrates.com - a site dedicated to photo printing

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How does a digital camera combined auto focus work: by Ziv Haparnas

2008-07-26T11:52:00.001+05:30

How does a digital camera combined auto focus work

by Ziv Haparnas

Objects in good focus in a digital photo is a very basic requirement for high quality photography. There are two different ways to focus on such objects: manual or automatic. There are a few automatic focus methods – combined auto focus systems use more than one such method.

High quality sharp and crisp digital photos are a result of many optical parameters that need to be set right. One of the most important optical parameters is focus. When objects in a digital photo are out of focus they look blurry and are missing details and clarity. When objects are in focus they look sharp and crisp.

While the focus can be manually set by the photographer in most cases using the digital camera's automatic focus feature is much easier and faster. There are many different algorithms and methods that digital cameras use in order to automatically determine the right focus for a specific scenario. Such algorithms include passive and active auto focus. One type of combined automatic focus system uses these two algorithms to delivery superior automatic focus.

Combined passive and active auto focus

Active auto focus systems use distance sensors that measure the distance from the camera to the objects in the scene. Usually the camera measures the distance to the object or objects around the center of the photo. By knowing that distance the camera can then set the camera lenses to achieve good focus. One of active auto focus biggest advantages is that it can work in complete darkness. On the other hand active focus can fail in problematic scenarios such as when objects emit certain energies (like infrared) are photographed or when surfaces in the scene absorb the energy used to measure the distance.

Passive auto focus systems use software that runs on the digital camera built-in computer. The camera executes such image processing algorithms to determine a Focus Level number. The exact way in which such a number is calculated is out of the scope of this article. Suffice is to say that the camera uses some image processing algorithms with which it can calculate how good the focus is. Using these algorithms the camera can find the best focus for the scene. In some scenes the passive auto focus is limited or not functional at all. It does not work well in poor lighting conditions and does not work at all in dark scenes. It is also hard to focus on low contrast objects such as walls or solid surfaces.

Cameras that are equipped with combined auto focus systems pick the right system for the specific scene or cross check by using both systems at the same time. The photographer can also manually decide to use one of the two options. For example when shooting blue skies the camera can try to use the active system and measure the distance. Since the distance is infinite the camera can set the focus and skip the passive focus. In other cases when the distance is not infinite the camera can use the active system to put the lens in approximately the right position and then use the passive system for fine tuning. In dark scenarios the camera can opt to use the active system since the passive system will not work.

About the Author

Information about photography and photo prints is on printrates.com - your home for digital prints This article can be reprinted and used as long as the resource box including the backlink is included. Ziv Haparnas writes about science and technology.

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How does a digital camera combined auto focus work: by Ziv Haparnas

2008-07-26T11:51:00.002+05:30

How Does the Camera Auto Focus Work and Why Sometimes It Fails?: by Ziv Haparnas

2008-07-26T11:51:00.001+05:30

How Does the Camera Auto Focus Work and Why Sometimes It Fails?

by Ziv Haparnas

Mr. Haparnas writes about science and technology. Ziv Haparnas is an expert technology writer. This article can be reprinted only if the resource box including the backlink is included. You can find more information on digital photo printing printing and photography in general on printrates.com - a site dedicated to digital photo printing How does auto-focus work?

All of us use it every time we click on the shutter button. Practically all modern cameras include some sort of an auto focus system. Thanks to the auto focus system we can enjoy an easier photography experience and can concentrate on composing the right photo and capturing the moment rather than on manually setting the focus.

Automatic focus though has its limitations. For example sometimes one might want to produce photos which are a bit fuzzy as an artistic expression. Also the auto focus implementation has its limitations and in some scenarios it might fail. One example is using a high end SLR camera with a passive auto focus system to take a picture of blue skies. In most cases the camera will move its motor back and forth and will eventually give up and fail to focus.

To better use the auto focus system it would help to understand high it actually works. Although implementations can vary we can divide them all into two categories: passive and active. Most pocket cameras use the cheaper passive method while high end professional cameras use either the active or a combination of both.

Passive auto focus:

Passive auto focus can be perceived as imitating how we set the focus manually. The camera defines one or more regions in the picture (usually they are marked as rectangles on the viewfinder or the LCD). The camera then analyzes the picture seen through those regions and calculates a Focus Level number. The camera then tries to move its lenses back and forth as it recalculates the Focus Level. The camera looks for a position where the Focus Level is the highest. For that point if the Focus Level is above a predefined threshold the camera would define this region of the photo as being in focus.

The Focus Level can be calculated in many ways. The common attribute of all calculations is figuring out how much Contrast is there in the photo. Although not in the scope of this article one way to calculate such a number is by running the photo through a high frequency filter – this is based on the fact that high contrast is associated with high frequencies.

Active auto focus:

Active auto focus works by measuring the distance between the camera and the object in the picture. Technically if you knew the exact distance to the object you are taking a picture of you could set the lens to the exact focus position. The active focus system shoots a beam of invisible light, usually infrared, at the object at the center of the picture and measures the distance to that object. Based on that distance the focus is set.

Combined auto focus:

Some high end cameras combine both systems. The camera will pick the right system for the specific scenario or will cross check and use both at the same time. The photographer can also decide manually to use one of the two options. For example when shooting blue skies the camera can try to use the active system and measure the distance. Since the distance is infinite the camera can set the focus and skip the passive focus. In other cases when the distance is not infinite the camera can use the active system to put the lens in approximately the right position and then use the passive system for fine tuning. In dark scenarios the camera can opt to use the active system since the passive one will not work.

So why doesn't the auto focus work all the time?

Even with all the electronics and computing power in the camera there will always be scenarios where the camera auto focus fails. Failure can be when the camera can not focus and the picture is fuzzy or sometimes when the picture is actually in focus but the camera "thinks" that it is not.

What causes such cases? The list is long but here are just a few examples:

- Taking low light pictures: The passive auto focus system needs to "see" the picture in order to work and in low light scenarios this is not possible. Some systems use a series of flashes to overcome this limitation but this solution fails many times. An active system can measure the distance to the object in such scenarios but will fail if the object is not in the center of the picture or if there are a few objects at different distances.

- Active systems can fail with objects that tend to absorb the infrared beam they are using. Some materials absorb infrared beams and will cause the active system to measure the wrong distance. In some scenarios other infrared sources such as candles and open flame fires can render the active system useless.

- Low contrast objects such as white walls or blue skies. The passive auto focus relies on the fact that the Focus Level changes significantly when moving the lens back and forth. This allows the camera to settle on the right focus position. The Focus Level of low contrast objects does not change much and fails the passive system.

Knowing how the auto focus system works helps a photographer understand why sometimes the camera can not focus. In such scenarios the photographer can look for other solutions. Sometimes the photographer will have to use the manual focus. In other cases focusing on another object in the picture that is in the same distance but easier to focus on and locking the focus on that object will solve the problem.

About the Author

Ziv Haparnas is a technology expoert. This article can be reprinted only if the resource box including the backlink is included. Find more on photo printing and photography is on printrates.com - a place about digital photo printing Mr. Haparnas writes about practical technology issues.

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How Many Pixels Make A Good Print?: by Ziv Haparnas

2008-07-26T11:50:00.000+05:30

How Many Pixels Make A Good Print?

by Ziv Haparnas

Ziv Haparnas is a technology expoert. This article can be reprinted only if the resource box including the backlink is included. Find more on photo printing and photography is on printrates.com - a place about digital photo printing Mr. Haparnas writes about practical technology issues. One of the more common dilemmas for people is choosing the paper size for printing their photos. Everybody knows that if your digital camera does not produce enough pixels (or actually megapixels) printing its photos on a large paper size will yield poor quality and you will be able to see the actual pixels (also known as pixelation)

So how many megepixels do I really need in order to print on a specific paper size? there is no one right answer for that. The actual quality of the print depends on many factors other than the number of pixels. For example the paper quality itself the printing process that is used the lighting conditions when the photo was taken the photo itself (i.e. portraits are different than scenery) and much more.

However a rough estimation of how good a picture will be based on the number of pixels can be calculated and is actually pretty easy to do. When evaluating how good a print will be there is a measurement that is simple to use and provides a good estimation for the quality - it is called PPI (pixels per inch). PPI is actually the number of pixels along one inch. To get a good print you would need a certain PPI (on both X and Y axis).

Experiments show that the following qualities are usually associated with a specific PPI number:

PPI 100 - fair to bad

PPI 200 - good

PPI 300 - very good

So all we need to do now is to figure out for each paper size how many megapixels translate to those PPI numbers. To calculate this we need to simply multiply the page length by its width in inches. The result is the number of square inches on the page. Now multiply this number by the square of the PPI number and the result is the number of pixels on the page which is the number of pixels we want our source photo to have. Here are the numbers calculated for some common sizes (for 100,200 and 300 PPI respectively):

page 4X6 0.24MP 1MP 2MP

page 5X7 0.35MP 1.5MP 3MP

page 8X10 0.8MP 3MP 7MP

page 11X14 1.5MP 6MP 14MP

page 16X20 3MP 12MP 28MP

page 20X30 6MP 24MP 54MP
Again we would like to emphasize that these are just ballpark numbers. Factors like the ones mentioned above and also like the compression ratio used (low or high compression) and the aspect ratio difference between the paper and the camera can result in a need for more or less pixels. Our best advice is if you are not sure just try one or two photos before printing a large batch.

About the Author

Mr. Haparnas writes about science and technology. Ziv Haparnas is an expert in technology. You can find more information on digital photo printing printing and photography in general on printrates.com - a site dedicated to digital prints This article can be reprinted as long as the resource box including the backlink is included.

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How to take better portrait photos: by Ziv Haparnas

2008-07-26T11:48:00.000+05:30

How to take better portrait photos

by Ziv Haparnas

Portrait photos are very impressive. A good portrait can project so much emotions and feelings and captivate the viewer. Taking high quality portrait photos is an art that takes time to master. This article will give you a few guidelines that can help you achieve high quality portrait photos in a short time and without being a professional photographer.

When taking portraits photos try to follow the following guidelines:

Choose the right background:
A portrait photo is all about the object's face. The most important part of the photo is the face. Choosing the right background can make sure the viewer is focused on the face. Pick a neutral background that does not attract attention. For example a soft solid color background is better than a busy street background. Avoid having people or moving objects in the background. Blur the background:
In addition to choosing a neutral background you should further blur it. This will put even more emphasis on the object instead of its surroundings. Blurring the background is best achieved by taking a photo using a shallow depth of field. This can be accomplished by using a zoom lens and shooting from a short distance or with a wide aperture manual setting. If your camera does not allow you to blur the photo by setting a shallow depth of field (for example it is hard to achieve such a depth of field with simple pocket cameras) you can always blur the background later using photo processing software on your computer.Focus on the eyes:
The center of a good portrait should be the object's eyes. Before taking the photo look at the object eyes and try to figure out what story they tell. Depending on what you would like to capture in the portrait guide the object to look straight to the camera or maybe sideways focusing on some object. Adding a smile is also recommended unless you specifically want a face that does not smile in order to send some message to the viewer.Use natural lighting:
Natural lighting is necessary in order to capture the full color range and warmth of the skin. It is best to take portrait photos outdoors during the day. When shooting outdoors position the object in a way that the sun light hits it from the side. Never take a photo with the sun behind the object – results in shading – or right in front of the object – results in over exposing the face and distorting its natural colors. If some shades appear on the face use a soft fill-in flash to get rid of them. If you have to shoot indoors and use artificial lighting always use indirect light sources such as bounce flash or lights that illuminate the room instead of directly shining on the object.Take many photos and experiment:
I can not over emphasize this. In the digital era the cost of taking another photo is zero. One of the best ways to shoot a great photo is simply by shooting many photos. In fact all professional photographers do that they keep on shooting more and more photos so don't be shy about it. Experiment with different settings – lighting, object position, white balancing settings to get different color temperatures, exposures, depth of field and more. When you are done sit down and sort the photos until you choose the one that you like the best. It is common sense that the chances of finding that one great photo are much higher if you tried 500 photos than if you just shot a few.

In conclusion if you have a good camera and the willingness to experiment portrait photo shooting you will quickly achieve the skills needed in order to shoot great portraits and impress your friends with portraits photos that look impressive and professional.

About the Author

This article can be reprinted as long as the resource box including the backlink is included. Information about photography and photo prints is on printrates.com - your home for photo printing Ziv Haparnas is a technology veteran. Ziv Haparnas writes about science and technology.

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Keep Your Photos Safe: by Ziv Haparnas

2008-07-26T11:46:00.001+05:30

Keep Your Photos Safe

by Ziv Haparnas

Are your precious photos safe?

Are you backing up your precious photos? our computers and removable storage media are full with experiences and precious moments. However electronic media is not safe. Hard disks crash and removable media fails.

Disasters can happen. Digital photo albums are vulnerable and if not backed up you lose thousands of photos and a lifetime of moments in just one hard disk crash.

What are backups? backups are just copies of our files that are put in a safe place. Example of such copies can be photos put on a DVD and placed at a friend's house. The DVD could of course be placed in your own house but that would be less safe since in case of a disaster in your house you might lose both your computer and the backups.

A few years ago backups were hard to make. You practically had to be a computer guru to figure our those backup software. Today however backup was made easy using a number of software solution and online service. Below you can find two main options for backing up your photo albums: burning them to a DVD/CD or using an online backup service.

Backing up to a DVD/CD

Backing up to a DVD/CD is done by using a DVD/CD writer drive and software that can burn files on such media. Usually using such solutions requires more technical know-how. Backing up to a DVD/CD is a cheap solution. You can buy such writer drives and software for probably under a $100 and each DVD/CD media should cost in the cents. One such software that has been around for a while and used by many is from Roxio.

When backing up your photo albums to a DVD/CD please make sure that you put the DVD/CD in a safe place a good option would be somewhere out of your home maybe a family member, a neighbor you can trust or a friend. Another thing to remember with DVD/CD backup is that when you take new photos you should remember to refresh your backups. Ususally unless your photo album is very big the easiest way to do that is just to burn again you complete collection.

Backing up to an online backup service

As any other service backup found its way to the Internet too. A number of sites provide backup services today for everything from digital photo albums to your word documents. Those services usually charge a monthly fee in the $10 to $20 but some provide a more limited service for free. The idea behind the service is simple: instead of backing up to a DVD/CD you just upload your photos to a site and create copy there. The site stores the backups for you in a safe place far away from your computer. If a disaster happens and you need your files you can simple download them back from the site or ask them to send you a DVD/CD with the files (not all provide the latter option). A broadband connection is needed in order to use this option.

There are many advantages to using an online backup service. First they are usually very easy to use. Some provide software that you download and install on your computer. You then point to the folder where your photos reside and the software takes it from there. It will make sure new files are uploaded to the backup service and that your backup is always fresh.

Examples of sites that provide such service are: Streamload that starts with a basic FREE 10GB space (approx 10,000 photos at 2 megapixels) and Xdrive that starts from 5GB for $10 a month.

About the Author

Mr. Haparnas writes about science and technology. Ziv Haparnas is an expert technology writer. This article can be published and used as long as the resource box including the backlink is included. Find more on photo printing and photography is on printrates.com - a place about photo printing

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Make Your Own Beeswax Candles: by Cassie Morgan

2008-07-26T11:44:00.001+05:30

Make Your Own Beeswax Candles

by Cassie Morgan

Beeswax candles are absolutely wonderful! A soft, warm glow, complimented by an incredibly sweet scent make Beeswax candles a must for around the house. Beeswax candles are quite simple to make, and something you can do together with the kids. Good wholesome fun for the whole family! You will need the following supplies to get started:

Some Beeswax sheets

Some primed wick

A sharp knife

A cutting board

Roll out the Beeswax sheet on your work surface.
Cut a length of wick, approximately two inches longer than the width of your Beeswax sheet.
Place the wick along the edge of the Beeswax sheet, and fold the sheet approximately 1/8 of an inch over the wick. Be sure to press down on the sheet to make sure the wax completely surrounds the wick.
Once the wick has been secured in the Beeswax sheet, it is time to start rolling. Be very careful not to damage or disrupt the honeycomb pattern on the wax. Roll the candle slowly, and be sure to keep it straight.
Once you have reached the end of the sheet, gently press down on the exposed edge to ensure that your candle does not come apart.
Pick which end you feel will make the best "top" and trim the wick down to approximately ½ inch. Also remove the exposed wick completely from the other end.

You now have some wonderful Beeswax candles that will provide you with hours of warmth and light! They make wonderful gifts, and your children will take great pride in having made them. These candles will add comfort, elegance, and tradition to your home or work space.

Beeswax candles have been used since the early 14th century, and they are still preferred by many due to their sweet, natural aroma. Beeswax candles are long lasting and clean burning. The American Lung Association has stated that burning paraffin candles can emit small amounts of toxins such as lead, benzene, and mercury into your home.

As an alternative, they recommend using Beeswax candles to light the way. I wholeheartedly agree!

About the Author

Cassie Morgan is an avid candle fan who loves candles in her spare time. Due to her expertise, she also does freelance writing for sites like Candles and Candle Making – a site that offers information about candle holders and awesome pillar candles.

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Methods for focusing your digital camera on moving objects: by Ziv Haparnas

2008-07-26T10:49:00.001+05:30

Methods for focusing your digital camera on moving objects

by Ziv Haparnas

Focusing is an important part of shooting a good photo alongside with composition and lighting. Focusing on static objects is relatively easy either by manually focusing or by using the camera auto focus feature. Focusing is much harder when the objects are constantly moving.

There are many techniques used by photographers in order to take in focus sharp photos of moving objects. Here are a few of them:

^Infinite focus: When the objects are far enough from the camera focus can be set either manually or automatically to infinite. As long as the moving objects stay within the infinite focus range the photo will be sharp and clear. Although this is applicable in some scenarios it is not useful in many others such as shooting sport events or air shows.

^Manually correcting the focus: Using this method the digital camera is put into manual focus mode. Focus corrections are done manually by moving a focus ring n the lens or pressing focus in and out buttons. When the objects move and change their distance from the camera the photographer manually corrects the focus as needed. This is good in some scenarios where the objects are moving relatively slow and their movement is predictable. Manually correcting the focus for objects that move very fast or move unpredictably is not practical.

^Single focus mode: When using this method the digital camera is put into single focus mode. The camera will automatically focus on the object when the shutter button is pressed. This method can be combined with the manual focus method. The photographer manually focuses on the object and the camera is executing the final focus fixes when the shutter is pressed and the photo is taken. This method is limited to either slow moving objects or high end fast focusing cameras. Focusing is a mechanical process and takes time. If the camera takes too long to focus by the time it is focused on a fast moving object the object will move and the photo will not be in focus anymore.

^Continuous auto focus: In this method the camera is put into continuous focus mode. Once the shutter button is pressed and as long as it is held half way down the camera continuously focuses on the objects in the photo. In this method the camera continuously corrects the focus as the objects distance from the camera changes. This method is very useful. Even if the object is moving fast the camera can track its movement and continuously correct the focus. By holding the shutter button half way down and continuously moving the camera to follow the moving object the camera will continuously keep the object in focus. When you are ready to shoot the photo simply press the shutter button all the way down. One drawback of this method is high power consumption as the camera continuously corrects the focus it uses the power hungry motors in the lens in order to move the optical components.

Taking good photos of moving objects is not easy. It requires practice and experience. In addition to making sure that the objects are in focus you have to continuously consider the composition, the changing lighting conditions, shutter speed to freeze or capture movement, the changing zoon and more. Go and practice shooting a lot of moving objects photos. By shooting a lot of photos in different situations you will grow the instincts that will make all these processes and considerations an unconscious automatic process.

About the Author

Ziv Haparnas writes about practical technology issues. This article can be published only if the resource box including the backlink is included. Ziv Haparnas is an expert technology writer. More information on digital photo printing and photography is available on printrates.com - a site about digital photo printing

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More things to do with your digital photos: by Ziv Haparnas

2008-07-26T10:20:00.001+05:30

More things to do with your digital photos

by Ziv Haparnas

Digital cameras have changed the way we take and use photos. With tradition film cameras you usually ended up printing photos and sorting them into photo albums. With digital cameras however the number of possible usages for digital photos is enormous. Digital photos are files stored on electronic media such as flash memory, hard disks and CDs/DVDs. When digital cameras just appeared in the market most users followed their old film camera habits. They printed the digital photos and sorted them into old fashion photo albums. Later on they viewed the photos as they used to view old film camera photos. As people continued to use digital cameras they found more interesting ways to use the newly created digital photos. Here are some such ways:

Computer screens:

The simplest way to use digital photos is by viewing them on a computer screen. Instead of going through the hassle and the cost of printing the digital photos you can simple use one of many viewing software packages that display your digital photos on your color-rich screen. Such software can also provide other features such as random slide shows, programmed slide shows, fading effects and more.

Digital photo frames:

These are devices that elevate photo frames up to the digital era. Digital frames embed an LCD screen that can display different digital photos at different times. Digital photo frames have different features: some can receive the photos wirelessly from a computer while others use internal storage. Other features include the ability to read memory cards content directly from a digital camera. They can also show a single photo until it is manually switched to another one, roll through a list of photos or show photos randomly.

Sending digital photos by email:

Digital photos are computer files and like any other file they can be sent as an email attachment. Sending digital photos by email is a great way to share an experience with someone else. There are a limitations and considerations that you should be aware of before sending your digital photos by email. Most ISPs and free email services limit the size of the attachments that can be sent to just a few megabytes. It is not considered 'ok' to email large attachments unless you personally know the recipient and he or she expects to receive such an email. It is a good practice to resize the photos before sending them by email. In most cases the recipient will only use the files to view the photo on the computer screen. For that purpose a photo resolution of 640X480 or 800X600 is more than enough and the reduced resolution files will be much smaller. Make sure though that you are making low resolution copies and keep the original full resolution files intact. Some email clients such as Microsoft Outlook will automatically ask you if you want to resize digital photos before they are sent.

Using online photo albums:

There are many free online services that offer digital photo albums. You can use such photo album to organize, save and view photos by yourself or you can share the album with other people – either a private group of friends of the general public. These sites also offer other services such as photo printing the are easy to use and affordable. Most photo album sites will resize the digital photos for fast viewing and loading over the Internet. Make sure that you keep a safe version of the original digital photos. It is not a good idea to rely on such photo album services as the only copy of your digital photos.

Use as your desktop wallpaper:

You can set a digital photo that you like as your desktop wallpaper. You can also use software that allows you to choose a list of photos to rotate through as your desktop wallpaper: Such digital photo wallpaper rotation can be done on a time basis or on a random basis.

Use as your screensaver:

When your computer is idle it can be programmed to do one of many things: turn off the monitor, go into standby mode or show a photo. You can program your screen saver to show a digital photo from your photo album. You can also use software that will allow you to set the screen saver to rotate between a list of digital photos.

Load digital photos to your cell phone:

New cell phones include cameras and allow you to take digital photos and short video clips. They also store digital photos and display them on their small LCD screens. If you have a digital photo that you like you can download it to your cell phone and set it as your cell phone wallpaper.

Use as a personal online display image:

Some software and web sites allow you to load one or more digital photos that can be used as your display image. This digital photo represents you when communicating with other users. MSN messenger is a good example – when you chat with a friend you can set a photo that your friend will see that "represents" who you are and what you feel. You can load digital photos that tell something about you and about what you're going through – maybe a photo from your birthday party if you had one in the last week or two – or from your last trip abroad.

This list is just an example of what can be done with those digital photos. The possibilities are endless and new usages are found every day by the millions of digital camera users. Be open to new idea and try to get rid of your old film camera habits. Digital photos are must more than a 4X6 color printed paper.

About the Author

This article can be reprinted and used as long as the resource box including the backlink is included. Ziv Haparnas writes about practical technology issues. More information on digital photo printing and photography is available on printrates.com - a site about Sony and digital prints

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Old Fashioned High Resolution Photo Camera: by Roberto Sedycias

2008-07-26T10:19:00.000+05:30

Old Fashioned High Resolution Photo Camera

by Roberto Sedycias

Tired of trying to keep updated with the highest mega pixel resolution digital camera? Well even if one has tried to do that, most certainly he will soon find out that his few months old digital camera is outdated in terms of mega pixel resolution. It's an ever changing kind of product that has become very hard to keep updated, unless one is willing to spend more money by making purchases every six to twelve months.

If the main intention of purchasing a photo camera is enlarging the image, then mega pixel resolution indeed will become the main factor. In this case one might consider a different option, which will keep his product updated for years to come. I'm talking about a used 4x5" film photo camera, together with a high resolution flat bed film scanner. All of this for less than one thousand US dollars. With all of this, one will get over 100 mega pixels in fine detailed film resolution and fine scanned digital images that can be enlarged up to 30x40" in size with professional quality. These 4x5" film cameras have done a remarkable job in general personal and commercial photography such as wedding, portraiture, product, documentary, advertising and landscape for nearly a hundred years.

Where to find 4x5" used film cameras? Since some of these cameras were mostly used in the past, until the 1960's, it should be no problem in finding them in American auction web sites. Anyway, a good used 4x5" camera with lens can be found for less than four hundred US dollars.

As for the flat bed film scanner, one can find brand new ones for less than five hundred US dollars. Just make sure the scanner is able to scan films.

Whenever purchasing a 4x5" film camera, one should look for the following features: folds into a compact box, flexible bellows, lenses that can be easily interchanged, accepts sheet film, ground glass focusing screen, easily handheld and optical viewfinder accessory.

As for the lenses, there are four main categories: 1 - general purposes; 2 - wide field (mostly used for close up work and landscape); 3 – extreme wide angles lenses; 4 – special effects lenses (telephoto). However, one might use a general purpose 127 or 152mm lens for most of his photograph sessions. In cases where it requires special lenses, such as architecture or macro photography, one will still find lots of them available in auction sites. Used lenses for 4x5" cameras made after world word II have excellent performances comparable to today's modern lenses.

Whenever making a purchase of a 4x5" camera make sure that: 1 - the bellows have no light leaks, 2 – the lens shutter works accurate at all speeds; 4 – the lens elements have no fungus and scratches of any kind; 4 – the focus is working properly between the ground glass and the film.

The option of using a 4x5" film camera, together with a flat bed film scanner, for enlarging images with professional quality is viable and accessible. Cheaper than top digital cameras, the 4x5" film camera offers better image quality and will always be updated in the future, maintaining its original value.

For those who wishes the very most detailed image enlargement, one can always use the 8x10" film camera. Four times the physical film size of the 4x5", this option offers so much film resolution that it is considered by many as the ultimate step for photo image enlargement.

Sometimes analog products deliver better results that its digital counterparts. If you are doing the job of enlarging photo images, you should give it a try with a 4x5" camera. You might just surprise yourself.

About the Author

This article can also be accessed in portuguese language from the News Articles section of page PolomerCantil. Roberto Sedycias has a bachelor degree in Business Administration and over 20 years experience in systems analysis and computer programming. Currently working as IT consultant for www.PoloMercantil.com.br.

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Orientation sensors in digital cameras: by Ziv Haparnas

2008-07-26T10:17:00.002+05:30

Orientation sensors in digital cameras

by Ziv Haparnas

Cameras can be held in two positions: horizontal or vertical (also knows as landscape and portrait). Photos taken in the vertical position are later on rotated 90 degrees (either clockwise or counter clockwise). Rotating the photos can be automated if your camera sports an orientation sensor.

If you just take a few photos every now and then rotating them manually is not a big deal. Usually after downloading the photos to your computer you will browse through them and when viewing a photo that needs to be rotated you will fix it using your software rotate feature. However when taking hundreds or thousands of photos this process can become tedious and long. The good news is that this process can be automated if the camera you are using includes an orientation sensor.

An orientation sensor is an electronic device built into the camera that can sense if the camera is held horizontally or vertically and if the camera is flipped or not (there are two vertical positions also known as 90 degrees or 270 degrees relative to the horizontal position). We will not get into the details of how this sensor works (there are a few options utilizing some physical feature such as gravitation or magnetic fields).

When taking a photo the camera saves the orientation sensor reading as EXIT data included in the photo file. EXIF stands for Exchangeable Image File Format and it defines a set of tags and semantics that can be added to existing formats such as JPG and TIFF to provide more information about the photo. One such piece of information is the camera orientation.

Software can later on use the EXIF orientation data to automatically rotate photos as needed. There are some options for how you can utilize this orientation data for your benefits, here are a few:

Camera built-in rotation software: Some cameras include an automatic mode in which the camera rotates the photo based on the orientation reading immediately after the photo was taken using build-in rotation software. Using this mode the photos saved on the camera memory are already rotated in the right direction and no further processing is needed.

Photo download software rotation: Some software can automatically rotate photos as they are downloaded from the digital camera to the computer hard disk. Before saving a photo to the hard disk the software checks its orientation and rotates it as needed.

Batch photo processing: Software that perform batch operations on photos. Usually such software can do many common photo processing operations such as contrast enhancements, re-sampling, red eye removal and more. They can also rotate photos based on the EXIF orientation data.

Photo viewers: Some photo viewers can utilize the EXIF orientation data when displaying photos. As opposed to the other solutions in this case the photo file is never changed instead every time a photo is displayed on the computer screen the displayed image is rotated as needed based the photo EXIF orientation data. Some professionals prefer this method as it solves the need to rotate photos in order to view them while it does not change the original file. Rotating a photo can degrade its quality if not done properly and thus leaving the original file as-is and only rotating the viewed image is a good way to guarantee no quality loss.

Orientation sensors are a nice addition to the ease of digital photography. If you plan to take many photos and you want to save time by automatically fixing their orientation when downloading them to your computer check if your camera includes an orientation sensor and if it does not make sure that your next camera does include one. Today such sensors are usually included in more expensive cameras as orientation sensors have not become a standard feature in all digital cameras – at least not yet

About the Author

This article can be published only if the resource box including the backlink is included. You can find more information on digital photo printing printing and photography in general on printrates.com - a site dedicated to digital photo printing Mr. Haparnas writes about practical technology and science issues. Ziv Haparnas is an expert in technology.

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OzFree's Beginner's Guide to Quilting: by Mei Galang

2008-07-26T10:17:00.001+05:30

OzFree's Beginner's Guide to Quilting

by Mei Galang

Most people uses scrap booking as a way to preserve memories but several people are also starting to realize that making quilts can be a family treasure that can be passed on the next generations. Quilting is the process of stitching several layers of fabrics to create a design. Aside from being a decorative and functional piece, it can also be a unique way to share a story through the use of fabrics.

You can pass on your quilts to your family's next generation and aside from giving an excellent craft, you also pass the positive qualities like perseverance and exude creative potentials.

Many people can be interested in quilting and wants to learn more about this craft but doesn't know how and where to start.

For those with prior or basic knowledge about quilting, you can gather additional information through different books available in the library or through online resources that can give you a step by step guide on how to improve your skills in making a quilt. Look for quilting or craft related sites that offer tutorials or free Ebook downloads. If you're keen about researching for related sites, you can even stumble upon sites with accompanying videos. Some quilting enthusiasts post instructional videos to help you check if you are doing it properly.

For those who don't have a single clue about quilting but serious about learning this craft, you can look for available Quilting classes on your local craft stores. Inquire if they offer tutorial service or if there is an immediate tutorial seminar or event. You can also choose a schedule suitable to your free time. The amount of money that you have to pay for that service is not that much but it can surely pay off in the long run since you can learn the basic and essential skills as well as hands on experience in quilting.

Once you get started you will see that it is really easy and you will start to wonder why you did not begin something like this before.

About the Author

The author recommends Oz Classified Online Ads, a site that offers best buy sell trade online for Arts and crafts Product ads and articles at smart online shopping blog.

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Photo printing made easier with DPOF: by Ziv Haparnas

2008-07-26T10:07:00.002+05:30

Photo printing made easier with DPOF

by Ziv Haparnas

There are many ways to print photos. For example you could download the photos to your computer choose the ones you like burn them on a CD and take them to a printing service. DPOF makes such photo printing easier – here is how.

DPOF is a standard that was introduced by a consortium of camera and printer manufacturers. The goal of DPOF was the make photo printing easier and faster.

DPOF stands for Digital Print Order Format. The goal behind DPOF was to make the process of choosing which photos to print and printing them much easier and faster. If your camera supports DPOF then you can choose the photos you would like to print and the number of copies directly on your digital camera. This data is also known as the print order and is saved in the cameras memory card (the same memory card where photos are saved) in special files. Later on you can take the memory card with the photos and the DPOF data to any printing service that supports DPOF and it would automatically print the photos based on the DPOF print order data. Alternatively you could plug the memory card to a photo printer that supports DPOF and print all the photos that you chose with a single push of a button.

DPOF can do much more than just specify which photos to print and in how many copies. You can also specify additional information such as a photo title text, photo orientation, print paper size and more. Other useful information can be added: your contact information and your camera settings when taking the photo. All that information can make printing easier – for example you can drop off a memory card with any printing service and they can know exactly which photos to print, in how many copies on what paper sizes and in what orientation. They also have your contact information where they can reach you when the prints are ready or if there is any problem.

Not all cameras support DPOF and the ones that do support DPOF vary in their level of support. For example the simplest support would be for choosing which photos to print and in how many copies while more advanced support would be for enabling other data such as title photo title text, paper size, contact information and more.

DPOF was extended to support more than photo printing. Examples of new features enabled by DPOF: you can choose photos to be emailed as file attachment. The usage is very similar to choosing which photos to print but instead of printing the photos when you plug your memory card to your computer special software reads the DPOF data and emails the photos you have selected to the designated email addresses. Another feature is slide show or photo projection: the photos you choose can be replayed as a slide show on a computer or be projected using a photo projector. For example you could plug the memory card to a projector that supports DPOF and with one click play the slide show of your choice.

Some PC software allows you to define any custom action to be executed on the DPOF data. For example the software can be told to "copy all chosen photos to the hard disk and discard the others" or to "print all chosen photos, copy them to the hard disk and then create a backup of them on a CD" – this is a great way to automate some photo processes and can save time.

DPOF is not a must have feature but a good option if you want to save some time and make photo printing easier. Many cameras support DPOF but most users are not aware of it and are not using it. Check if your camera supports DPOF and learn how to use it to your benefit.

About the Author

Mr. Haparnas writes about technology and digital photography. This article can be reprinted and used as long as the resource box including the backlink is included. Ziv Haparnas is an expert in technology. Find more on photo printing and photography is on printrates.com - a place about photo printing

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Photography – An Art of Wisdom: by Andrew Chan

2008-07-26T10:07:00.001+05:30

Photography – An Art of Wisdom

by Andrew Chan

Photography is a complex art which needs a lot of attention, and skills of thinking beyond the limits of normal human being. You need to put the best efforts into photography to come up with the best results. One can be a master of this art only after lots of practice and learning, but these two things are not enough to be a perfect photographer, you need to have passion for photography and to view the world behind the lens.

Photography is one of the most fascinated professions for youngsters these days. Wildlife photography, nature photography, food photography, fashion photography and wedding and bridal photography are the most popular mode of photography.

All the modes of photography have its own set of importance, but Wedding photography and bridal photography are more attached to the whole life of two human beings and their families. So, it's a kind of more important and special. As wedding is one time affair for people, they want to store all the memories of their wedding to remember and cherish for the whole life. Bride and groom both want to store every single moment spend during the wedding celebration in form of photographs or videos. So, they look for an expert photographer with enough experience to handle all the task of wedding photography efficiently.

An expert wedding photographer is not a general photographer. He generally has experience of capturing thousands of snaps in hundreds of weddings in diverse set of customs and photography scenario. The work of an expert wedding photographer is to extract the best look out of bride and groom along with the best moments in best possible capturing angles. There is no place for anything less than the best in wedding and bridal photography. In bridal photography it's more important because a photographer has to display all the hesitation, excitement, glaze and anxiety of a girl who is going to marry. It's very tough to reflect all those true feelings, but an expert photographer knows how to do that.

Thus wedding and bridal photography is really different than other modes of photography, because here you don't have independence of experimenting much, you have to experiment to a certain level, and the priority goes to the demand of bride and groom. This is a completely professional affair, and the photographer has to be professionally experienced to deliver the best service.

About the Author

1stJournal is a group of professional wedding photographers in Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia. For more information about their services, please visit: http://www.1stjournal.com

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Photos that capture moving objects motion: by Ziv Haparnas

2008-07-26T10:06:00.002+05:30

Photos that capture moving objects motion

by Ziv Haparnas

Still photography freezes a scene. A photo is still in nature but sometimes you would like to convey a feeling of motion to the viewer. For example when taking a photo of a moving car or a runner. There are techniques that can help you achieve that - here is how.

You have probably experienced shooting blurry photos usually as a result of wrong camera settings or the object moving while you were taking the photo. Such blurriness is not something you would like to see in a photo but if controlled some blurriness can actually be used to capture and convey the feeling of motion in a still photo.

Shutter speed is what determines if a photo is frozen or blurry. The faster the shutter the more frozen the photo is. The slower the shutter the more motion is captured in the photo in the form of blurriness. Open the shutter for too long and the photo will be completely blurred.

There are two ways to capture motion: to blur the moving object while keeping the background in focus or to blur the background while keeping the object in focus:

Blurring the object:
Blurring a moving object captures its motion. For example consider a car driving down the road. If you freeze such a scene with high shutter speed the viewer can not tell if the car is moving or if it is parked. However if you use a slower shutter speed the moving car is blurred and the feeling of motion conveyed.

Blurring the background (panning):
Consider the same car from the above example. Another way to convey its motion is by blurring the background while keeping the car in focus. This is much harder to accomplish. The concept is simple: set the camera to a slower shutter speed. Pan the camera in a way that it follows the car. The car stays still at the same spot in the photo. Then shoot the photo as you continue panning the camera to keep it aligned with the moving car. The result is a car that is in focus while the background is blurred.

What is the right shutter speed needed to capture motion? Unfortunately there is no magic number. The shutter speed depends on many factors such as the speed of the object, its distance and the amount of motion (or blurriness) that you would like to capture. As a rule of thumb shutter speeds faster than 1/250 of a second tend to freeze the scene while shutter speeds slower than 1/50 of a second tend to result in some blurriness. If the object is very slow you might need to keep the shutter open for even a second or more. If the object is very fast 1/50 of a second can be all that you need.

It is very important to keep the camera steady when taking photos using slower shutter speeds. Usually when capturing motion in such a way you would need to stabilize the camera using a tripod or by putting the camera on a steady surface. The exception is when trying to blur the background of a moving object - since you need to pan the camera to keep it aligned with the object the camera inherently needs to move. The movement needs to be in the same speed and direction as the object and only in that direction. Sometimes such panning can be done using a tripod that allows control movement of the camera.

Photos that capture motion are impressive. The only way to learn how to shoot such photos is by experimenting. Start with experimenting blurring the moving object. This technique is relatively easy and within a short time you will master it. Once you do try to experiment with blurring the background. This is much harder to achieve and can be frustrating at the beginning.

About the Author

Information about photography and photo prints is on printrates.com - your home for photo prints Ziv Haparnas is a technology veteran. This article can be reprinted and used as long as the resource box including the backlink is included. Ziv Haparnas writes about practical technology issues.

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Printing on Matte or Glossy digital photo printing paper: by Ziv Haparnas

2008-07-26T10:06:00.001+05:30

Printing on Matte or Glossy digital photo printing paper

by Ziv Haparnas

When printing digital photos you have a choice between matte and glossy photo prints. Glossy photo prints have a shiny finish while matte ones have a more subtle neutral one. So which one should you choose? There is no right answer – there are pros and cons to both.

Matte and glossy are two different finishes to the photo paper digital photos are printed on. Using different chemicals and processes photo paper can have a glossy or a matte finish. Glossy finish looks shiny, reflects light very well and looks vibrant and color rich. Matte finish on the other hand does not reflect much light and looks "darker" and duller.

There are pros and cons to choosing either matter or glossy digital photo prints. Here are some of them:

Glossy photo prints:

Glossy photo prints are shiny and are more appealing to the eye. They look fancy and convey a high quality feeling. Glossy photo prints have vibrant colors. Colors also look rich and deep on glossy photo prints. On the downside glossy photo prints "shiny" attribute can be a problem when photos are viewed using intense light sources such as daylight sun or strong light bulbs. Light reflected from the photo print can blind the viewer making it hard to see the photo. Glossy paper is also more likely to attract dust and fingerprints and is thus more likely to get dirty over time. Black and white glossy photo prints do not look as good as matte ones.

Matte finish:

Matte photo prints do not reflect light and are thus easier to view at almost any light condition. Matte photo prints are also less likely to attract dust and fingerprints and are less likely to get dirty over time. Black and white matte photo prints look better than black and white glossy photo prints. On the downside matte photo prints do not have the fancy high quality look that glossy photo prints have. Colors in matte photo prints are less vibrant and less rich than on glossy photo prints.

So which one to choose – matte or glossy? It really depends on your needs and what you are going to do with the photo prints. As a general rule use glossy photo prints for color prints and matte photo prints for black and white ones. If the photo prints are going to be touched by many people and used a lot matte is a better choice unless you do not mind spending time cleaning your glossy photo prints every now and then. Also if you plan to print large photos (for example to hang on the wall or frame and put on your desk) matte is a better choice since a large glossy print would act as a large glossy and shiny light reflector.

As with many other choices a matter or glossy choice is a matter of personal preference. To make an educated decision you should have experienced both. If you do not have that experience you can choose a few photos some color and some black and white and print them both on matte and on glossy paper and in different sizes. Look at the prints and see what you like and what you do not like about them. In the future you would be able make better choices by applying that experience.

About the Author

Ziv Haparnas writes about technology and digital photography. This article can be published and used as long as the resource box including the backlink is included. More information on digital photo printing and photography is available on printrates.com - a site about photo printing Ziv Haparnas is an expert in technology.

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Professionals take many digital photos to get that perfect one: by Ziv Haparnas

2008-07-26T10:03:00.000+05:30

Professionals take many digital photos to get that perfect one

by Ziv Haparnas

Professional photographers take a large number of photos. They know that by doing so they will most likely find that perfect one they were aiming for. Digital cameras make such a technique available to all of us.

It should be pretty intuitive that the more photos you take the more likely you are to take that perfect one – the perfect angle, lighting and composition. During the film camera era it was an expensive proposition that was used by professionals only. Digital cameras however make it affordable and reachable to all of us.

Forget the slogan "save on film". Photos taken with film cameras are expensive. Each photo consumes a frame in a roll of film. Film rolls capacity is relatively low usually 24 or 36 photos. Every photo also needs to be developed and printed. For these reasons when using film cameras we got used to saving film. You only take a photo when the moment is right and you are pretty sure that the results will be good. There is not much room for mistakes and experiments. On the other hand photos taken with digital cameras cost literally nothing. They are stored on erasable memory and thus can always be discarded at no cost. Moreover the photos can be viewed on digital screens and archived on digital media. When taking photos the digital camera uses digital memory to store the photos. Memory prices get lower and lower and capacity higher – it is very common today for digital cameras to have enough storage space for hundreds or even thousands of photos.

You should forget the habit of saving film when using digital cameras. It is still a good idea to follow good photography rules for composition and lighting but you should be free to take as many photos as you like, experiment with different settings and scenes and don't think twice before taking a photo. It is better to take one extra photo and delete it later on rather than regret not taking it. You will be surprised of the great quality of some of the photos that you thought would not be that good and that if using a film camera you would have never taken. And you will be surprised finding new angles and compositions that otherwise you would have never tried.

Digital cameras allow you to experiment with new angles and to take photos that were very hard to take with film cameras. For example taking overhead photos in an event or taking a photo from a floor angle were hard or even impossible for amateur photographers with limited resources. It is almost impossible to look through the viewfinder in such scenarios and check the composition. Moreover many times you do not have much time to take the photo before the opportunity is gone. With digital cameras you can easily take such photos. Just aim the camera and press the shutter. Move the camera a bit to the left or to the right, up and down and take more photos in different angles and zooms. Later on you can go over and choose a few photos that are good. Most of the photos will be bad – wrong angle, bad composition, objects not in the frame. These photos can be simply deleted at no additional cost. There was no harm in taking them and there was great value in finding the one good photo among all those bad ones.

In conclusion digital cameras are not just a digital replacement of old film cameras. They provide new features and new capabilities that can change the way you take photos. One of those is the ability to take a large number of photos. Take advantage of the high photo capacity and the practically free price tag of taking photos. You should always follow good composition and photography rules but also remember to experiment with new settings and angles. Take many photos and then choose the ones that you like the best.

About the Author

This article can be reprinted and used as long as the resource box including the backlink is included. Mr. Haparnas writes about practical technology and science issues. You can find more information on digital photo printing and photography in general on printrates.com - a site dedicated to Canon and photo printing Ziv Haparnas is a technology expoert.

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Scenes that will fail your digital camera auto focus: by Ziv Haparnas

2008-07-26T09:05:00.001+05:30

Scenes that will fail your digital camera auto focus

by Ziv Haparnas

Digital cameras include sophisticated mechanisms that can automatically figure out the perfect focus for the scene that you are photographing. However even the most sophisticated digital camera can be fooled by scenes that are hard to focus on. Here are a few such scenes and explanations.

There are three main ways to implement automatic focus:

Passive auto focus: This is practically an electronic version of the way in which photographers manually focus on objects. In this mode the digital camera defines areas in the photo on which it will try to focus. These are usually around the center of the photo. The camera captures the picture in real time and analyzes the quality of the focus in these areas. The camera moves its optical components (lenses) back and forth in a search for the optimal focus quality position. This in many ways is similar to the way photographers focus on objects – they try to move the lens in one direction, if the focus gets better they move the lens a bit more, if the focus gets worse they move the lens to the other direction. The process continues until the best focus is achieved.

Active auto focus: Active auto focus is a more direct implementation of auto focusing. In theory if you knew the exact optical characteristics of the camera and its lens and the exact distance to the objects that you are trying to focus on – you could calculate the exact position of the lens that will result in a prefect focus. Active focus systems measure the distance to the objects in the picture by transmitting an invisible light beam and measuring the time it takes for the beam to bounce back from the objecst. The measured distance is used to calculate the position to which the lens should be moved in order to achieve the best focus.

Combined auto focus: These systems are a combination of passive and active focusing. High end digital cameras support both passive and active methods. In combined mode the camera either chooses which system will work best for any given scene (for example in dark scenes passive auto focusing is not practical) or it uses both systems together (for example using the active system to bring the lens close to the perfect focus and then the passive system to fine tune that focus position.

In some scenes auto focus systems can fail. It is important to understand what these scenes are and it is even more important to understand why the auto focus system fails in these scenes. Photographers that understand how auto focus system works and why it fails can easily identify scenes in which the digital camera would not be able to automatically focus. In such scenes the photographer can use techniques such as manual focusing or focusing on another object in the same distance and panning the camera (while the focus is locked).

Following are a few scenes that will fail the auto focus system and the reasons why:

Low light or dark scenes: Passive auto focus systems need to electronically see the objects in the scene in order to calculate the quality of the focus and find he best focus position. In low light or dark scenes such systems can not work since they are not able to see the objects and to calculate the focus. Some digital cameras solve this problem by shooting a series of flashes toward the objects and having the passive auto focus capture the image and try to find the perfect focus. This solution is very limited. It can only work with objects that are within focus range. In addition such aggressive flash usage is not practical in many scenes for example if you are trying to quietly take a photo of an animal. In low light or dark scenes the usage of active systems is very effective since they do not need ambient light in order to work.

Active systems can fail too. For example they can fail when taking photos of objects that absorb the infrared energy that is used by the camera in order to measure the distance to the objects. They can also fail in scenes with objects that emit infrared energy such as candles or other heat sources. This emitted energy can cause the digital camera active system to measure the wrong distance.

Low contrast objects: Objects such as white walls or blue skies are low contrast objects. Passive auto focus systems rely on the fact that the focus quality significantly changes in relation to the optical components position. This is only true for high contrast objects. Low contrast objects are harder for the camera to focus on since the focus quality does not change much and it is almost impossible for the camera to find a definite best focus position. This can be solved by using an active system that can simply measure the distance to the object or by focusing on another high contrast object in the same distance and then panning to the low contrast object while keeping the focus locked.

About the Author

Find more on photo printing and photography is on printrates.com - a place about Sony and digital printing This article can be reprinted as long as the resource box including the backlink is included. Mr. Haparnas writes about practical technology issues. Ziv Haparnas is a technology expet.

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Selecting the Perfect Employee Recognition Gift: by Dave Davies

2008-07-26T09:04:00.003+05:30

Selecting the Perfect Employee Recognition Gift

by Dave Davies

Your employees work hard for you, and employee recognition gifts are the perfect way to show them that you appreciate their efforts. Giving a gift to an employee encourages loyalty and lets them know that their work is respected. It helps boost morality, and can help employees work harder, and with more confidence.

It's not always easy, though, to pick an employee recognition gift. In fact, many employers neglect the employee recognition gift as an extra-added expense. You already pay a wage and possibly benefits, what more do they need?

It's true; you'll be spending a little money on something they probably don't need. The thing is, employees go through tough times too, and sometimes need a boost. They might be working on one of the more difficult projects for your company. They might be traveling on long business trips. They make your business run smoothly. Making them feel appreciated gives them reason to keep going, to keep working. Some small, simple gift can give them the reason to stick with you, when there are lean times. Loyalty is important in business.

Budgeting for Recognition Gifts For Employees

For a small or medium business, it might be hard to imagine spending more money on a gift for employees now and again. Gifts don't have to be expensive at all. You can create or buy a memorable, inexpensive gift that means something and it would be worth more to the receiver than if you buy something at random.

For example, if you know that June in accounting loves to read, maybe you can find a really nice gift certificate to a bookshop, or give a bookmark as a gift. This simple, inexpensive item could mean a lot to your employee. It simply shows that you care enough about them to pay attention.

So the recognition gifts for employees don't have to be expensive to be perfect. Something as simple as a card saying, "Thank You" can mean a lot. That card just shows you mean well and that you certainly hope for more good work from them in the future, and the employee will most likely continue and try harder.

So set aside an amount for each employee throughout the year. It doesn't have to be much. Again, it's not how much you spend; it's the thought behind the gift. So you can keep to your budget, as long as you set it, and set something aside.

You can probably keep a few extra gifts lying around on hand; general ones that someone might enjoy, like gift baskets, and you can give when they need it. Maybe there's a big project coming up, and a strict deadline. You can have something on hand to give an employee that boost to keep working hard.

Remember Who You Are Giving It To

With the above example, you'll probably know that not every employee loves books. In fact, you might not know what everyone will like. There are generic gifts that can be personalized as well. However, get to know your employees, when you have time.

You can find out the simple details in every day conversations with your employees. Notice the music they listen to while they are working, where they suggest they might go on vacation, or what the might do after work. Pay attention, write notes if you need to. These tips of information can help when you are picking out gifts.

Understanding your employees helps you to encourage them with just the right gift. When someone needs a little extra recognition for their efforts, let them have it. Some might need more pep than others, but don't neglect everyone else in your group too. Everyone on your team that works hard deserves to be part of the spotlight on occasion.

If you use more generic gifts, you can still personalize it. A keychain with the employee's name inscribed, or a monogrammed pen set can be just as treasured as anything. That touch of customization shows you went out of your way to make them something they will like.

Awards Are Remembered And Treasured

There are certain programs that many companies participate in, like employee of the month, year, or other types of awards. These can benefit your company, because some people will work harder knowing they might be selected for an award and recognition. It can create some friendly competition, when it is run well.

This is a great opportunity to provide a nice gift for employees, and to have them work for it. Awards can be given out for highest sales numbers by an employee, for good work and dedication throughout the year, even something as simple as not having had to call in sick all year. That's commitment and it should be recognized.

Trophies can be made inexpensively and employees treasure them. It is nice to give them something they can take home and keep and to show to family. They can be customized and made unique for an individual.

You can also hang plaques or keep awards at the workplace. Create an awards case or wall. This help encourages other workers, boosts those who were given awards as well. It's a little thing that can make a big difference in confidence in employees.

Award ceremonies are a great way to hand out awards to employees, and can be a great bonding experience for the group. One evening's dinner and a few awards to the right people makes everyone feel like it isn't just about the work, and that as the boss, you care more about them.

With all the available ideas on how to give some appreciation and respect to an employee in the symbol of an award, it is easier these days to shop for a gift. Giving an employee recognition award for a job well done not only encourages the receiver, but those around the receiver as well.

Just don't forget to recognize all of your employees, eventually, for something. You don't want to neglect anyone and make them feel unwanted from the bunch. Sometimes even an employee not doing as well needs a boost of confidence, too. Make it personal, make it unforgettable, but most of all, make it meaningful.

About the Author

Able Trophies is a leader in online awards including crystal awards and employee recognition gifts. Visit us online for a large line of difference choices to fit any occasion.

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Sensor size and Depth of field in film and digital cameras: by Ziv Haparnas

2008-07-26T09:04:00.001+05:30

Sensor size and Depth of field in film and digital cameras

by Ziv Haparnas

Depth of field is defined as the range in which the photo is in focus. Achieving a specific depth of field is a useful photography technique used for example to achieve a blurry background effect. Film and digital cameras have different optical attributes as a result of using different sensor sizes. For that reason depth of field is also different in film and digital cameras.

Before you can understand the difference between film and digital cameras when it comes to depth of field, it is important to understand what depth of field is and how it can be set by the photographer. Depth of field (also known as DOF for short) is defined as the range in which the photo is in focus. For example: an infinite depth of field means that the photo will be in focus from a certain distance from the camera and up to infinity. Another example: when taking a blurry photo the goal is to set the depth of field just around the object, which results in the object being in focus while the background behind it is not.

The depth of field is influenced by the optical parameters of the camera and the specific scene. The main parameters that influence the depth of field are:

The distance of the object from the camera influences the possible depth of field settings. For example shooting an object that is very close to the camera will result in a smaller depth of field. On the other an extreme case when the object is in practical infinite distance from the camera will result in the camera focused on infinity and the depth of field being infinite too.

The aperture: The depth of field increases as the f number increases. The wider the aperture (f number decreases) the smaller the depth of field and vice versa: the narrower the aperture (f number increases) the greater the depth of field.

The focal length of the lens: The depth of field grows as the focal length gets shorter. For example if you use normal lenses at somewhere around 50mm your depth of field will be much greater than if you use zoom lenses at 200mm. With a very long focal length the depth of field can be extremely small.

One of the main differences between film and digital cameras is the sensor used to capture the photo. Film cameras use a film sensitive to light that is placed behind the lens. When a photo is taken the shutter opens for a predetermined period of time and light hits the film. The result is a photo "printed" on the film. Digital cameras on the other hand use a fixed electronic sensor (also known as CCD) that is situated behind the lens. The sensor is built from tiny light sensitive sensors each representing a pixel. When the shutter opens light hits the sensor and each pixel gets its "value". Put together all the pixels comprise one digital photo.

A normal single frame of film size was standardized at 35mm. Digital cameras on the other hand use smaller sensors. One of the reasons why digital sensors are smaller is cost – manufacturing a large electronic sensor is costly (for reasons such as yield and other specific process limitations). The depth of field changes with the sensor size, the smaller the sensor the higher the depth of field. In fact low end pocket cameras use small sensors that together with their other optical limitations result in depth of field that is practically infinite. Because photographers used to measure everything based on 35mm film – many digital cameras still quote "35mm equivalent" measurement. There are a few high end SLR digital cameras that use 35mm sensors thus providing the same optical characteristics as the old film cameras. These are still expensive and considered high end professional cameras.

About the Author

Ziv Haparnas writes about practical technology and science issues. Information about photography and photo prints is on printrates.com - your home for Philips and digital photo printing This article can be published only if the resource box including the backlink is included.

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Seven common mistakes when taking digital photos: by Ziv Haparnas

2008-07-26T09:03:00.000+05:30

Seven common mistakes when taking digital photos

by Ziv Haparnas

You have probably taken photos before just to find out later that they did not come out as expected. Although digital cameras are getting smarter there are still a lot of decisions that the photographer has to make. There are also many mistakes that the photographer can make. Here are seven common ones.

Many mistakes can ruin a photo. Here is a list of seven common ones. The first step to avoid these is to understand what they are and why they ruin a photo. The second step is to be aware of them when shooting your photos.

Out of focus:

An out of focus photo looks blurry and has low contrast. Usually such a photo is useless and can not be corrected. Most digital cameras can automatically set the focus for you and in most cases they choose the right focus for the scene. Some scenes however are harder to focus on and can fool the camera's auto focus mechanism. If you are using an SLR camera you can make sure that the objects are in focus by looking through the viewfinder. Most cameras sound a short beep when the focus is locked and also display a green rectangle around the area that they focused on. Always make sure that this area is where the objects that you care about are. For example if there are two objects in the scene in different distances from the camera make sure that the camera focused on the object you want.

Blurry photos:

Blurry photos are most likely the result of camera shakes. Learn how to hold your camera to minimize shaking: it should be held firmly with two hands and it should "touch" your face. If you are shooting photos using slow shutter speeds you should use a sturdy tripod to prevent shaking. If you can not guarantee that the camera will be stable – for example if you are shooting while you're moving – set the camera to shutter priority and choose a fast shutter speed (assuming of course that the light conditions allow such setting) – for example setting the shutter speed to anything faster than 1/250 of a second will most likely guarantee a non blurry photo even if the camera shakes a bit.

Underexposed:

Photos that are underexposed look dark and lack details. The reason for underexposed photos is setting the exposure too low. Although the camera can measure ambient light and make the exposure decisions for you it can be confused by more complicated scenes. For example if there is a very bright light source in the photo it can confuse the camera to believe that there is enough light in the scene for a low exposure setting. The result will be a photo that captures the bright area but darkens all the others. Usually you can assume that scenes that have extreme lighting gaps between different areas confuse the camera – for example if a quarter of the photo is very bright and the rest is very dark the camera is likely to set the wrong exposure. In such cases you can manually correct the exposure.

Overexposed:

Photos that are overexposed have blown out areas and sometimes are completely saturated and white. The reasons for overexposed photos are similar to underexposed ones. The camera makes an exposure decision that is incorrect due to complicated scene conditions. In such scenes you can manually correct the exposure.

Shaded objects:

A good example of shaded objects is when taking a portrait photo in daylight. The camera measures enough ambient light to set a low exposure value. Although there is enough ambient light shades can appear on the object depending on the angle of the light source relative to the object. For example if the object's face is lit from the side the object's nose can create shades. Or maybe if the object is wearing a hat and is lit from above the hat can create shades on the object's face. The camera can not automatically correct such shades. By understanding what causes shades you can easily eliminate them by turning on the fill-in flash. Firing the fill-in flash (make sure that the object is within flash range) will remove the shades from the object.

Red eye:

This is a very common phenomenon. When taking photos of people or animals using a flash in a dark environment the eyes have some red glow in them. There are a few things that you can do to prevent red-eyes: some cameras support a "red eye reduction" mode. In that mode the camera fires the flash a few times before taking the photo. Although this can help reducing red-eye it can also result in photos of people with their eyes closed (as they are blinded by the pre-flash their reflex is to close their eyes). Other ways to prevent red-eye is to use bounce flash (you can do that with special equipment or for example by pointing the flash to a white wall) and using more ambient light if possible (for example by turning on all the lights in the room). Some cameras include built-in image processing software that automatically removes red-eye from the photos or alternatively you can use many software packages on your home computer to accomplish the same.

Dark Silhouettes:

When taking photos with a bright light source behind the object (for example when the sun is behind the object) the result will be a silhouette of the object. One example is taking a photo of someone on the beach against a sunset. The result will be a dark silhouette of the person with a good photo of the sunset background. This problem can be solved using a fill-in flash. The fill-in flash lights the object making sure that it is captured with all its details. Simply remember to use a fill-in flash when taking pictures of objects with a bright light source behind them. One limitation is that the objects must be within the flash range – otherwise the flash is useless and they will appear as silhouettes in the photo.

About the Author

Find more on photo printing and photography is on printrates.com - a place about photo prints Ziv Haparnas writes about technology and digital photography. Ziv Haparnas is a technology expoert. This article can be published only if the resource box including the backlink is included.

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Shooting photos in Aperture priority mode: by Ziv Haparnas

2008-07-26T09:01:00.001+05:30

Shooting photos in Aperture priority mode

by Ziv Haparnas

Digital cameras support many photo shooting modes - from automatic point and shoot to manual where the camera does nothing for you. One of those modes is Aperture Priority. Aperture priority is useful in many situations and deserves a short explanation of what it is and how to use it.

You set the Aperture priority mode by using the camera menus on its LCD in which case you need to browse and choose Aperture priority from the menus or by rotating a modes dial in which case you choose Aperture priority by its symbolic icon (in most cases Aperture priority is symbolized by a capital ï¿½A').

In Aperture priority mode you manually set the aperture value. The camera takes care of everything else ï¿½ for example it sets the optimal shutter speed for the aperture you chose. There are physical limitations and not every aperture value that you choose can be matched by other settings that will result in a good photo. The camera will let you know by flashing a green LED or in some other way (check its manual for more details) if it found the optimal settings that work with your chosen aperture value.

So why bother setting the aperture value manually when you can have the camera set it for you? One good reason is to control the depth of field. Depth of field is defined as the range in which the photo is in focus. For example an infinite depth of field means that the photo is in focus from a certain distance from the camera and up to infinity. A narrow (also known as shallow) depth of field on the other hand means that the photo is in focus only from a certain distance from the camera to another distance which is not further away (or in other words the photo is in focus just around a certain object that is being photographed). The rest of the objects in the photo are out of focus appearing as blurred objects.

The wider the aperture value (the f number decreases) the narrower (shallower) the depth of field and vice versa: the narrower the aperture value (the f number increases) the deeper the depth of field. Just remember that the depth of field changes along with the f number: when the f number increases the depth of field increases and vice versa. A common use for manually controlling the aperture value and achieving a narrow depth of field is when taking portrait photos and trying to blur the background behind of the portrait object.

As always the best way to understand what you can do with different aperture settings is to experiment. In this way you will get a feeling of what aperture values translate to what depth of field. It is important to understand though that the depth of field depends not only on the aperture value but also on the object distance from the camera and the lenses that are used. With digital camera experimenting is free and immediate as there is no film development cost and you can review your photos instantaneously.

About the Author

Ziv Haparnas is an expert technology writer. Mr. Haparnas writes about science and technology. This article can be reprinted and used as long as the resource box including the backlink is included. Find more on photo printing and photography is on printrates.com - a place about photo printing

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2008-07-26T09:00:00.003+05:30

Did Notorious Prison Gangs Sway Puerto Rican Elections?

by Kris Nickerson

In a hotly contested 2004 general election that was reminiscent of the 2000 Presidential race, the Puerto Rico Elections Commission (CEE) declared Popular Democratic Party (PDP) gubernatorial candidate Anibal Acevedo Vila the winner. Yet, information has come to light that points to the possibility that the governor may have been elected due to the power of a prison gang.

Unlike the U.S. Penal Code, which prohibits convicted felons from voting in U.S. elections, Puerto Rico's laws allow prisoners to vote. According to confidential sources, in the 2004 gubernatorial election, Puerto Rican prison gangs pressured the commonwealth's 14,000 inmates to vote for Acevedo Vila, afraid that his rival Pedro Rossello would upset the balance of drug trafficking and corruption among correctional officers and police that had become the status quo.

With incumbent Vila defeating New Progressive Party candidate Pedro Rossello by slightly over 3,000 votes, the Puerto Rico Herald noted that State Elections Commission President Aurelio Gracia "ordered that the 3,036 disputed prisoner votes be counted. PDP Elections Commissioner Gerardo Cruz estimates that 60% of those votes are for Acevedo Vila. The PDP attributes the votes to the prisoners' reaction to Rossello's campaign comments implying that he might deny the vote to them if elected."

In fact, the notorious Neta prison gang not only allegedly swayed the election, but the gang's leader was also subject to a federal grand jury investigation into an alleged contract between he and Puerto Rico's Department of Corrections. According to government sources, the contract was one that guaranteed that prison officials would overlook heroin trafficking in exchange for the prisoner vote.

Despite a 2003 Federal Bureau of Investigation indictment against 18 people - including Neta gang members - alleged to have "conspired to purchase multi-kilogram quantities of heroin, cocaine and detectable amounts of marijuana to be smuggled and then distributed into prison institutions within Puerto Rico," prison gangs continued to peddle drugs and to have unprecedented influence within the Puerto Rican prison system.

Despite sting operations that uncovered active drug trafficking participation by scores of police and correctional officers, prison gang members continued to use prisoner drug addiction and rioting as their primary tools in controlling the prison population and negotiating with authorities. And, according to government sources, that's precisely why the gangs and many prison officials had a significant stake in shutting down and keeping out prison rehabilitation programs.

The Second Chance Program (www.secondchanceprogram.net) was one such rehabilitation effort that was shut out of the Puerto Rican prison system, despite its resounding success. Designed to rehabilitate criminals and prevent them from re-entering the penal system, the program worked within the Puerto Rican prison system for a year and a half, with approximately 250 inmates enrolled in the program. When the inmates were drug tested after participating in the program, 87 percent were found to be drug-free. According to an inmate, an August 2004 bust of $1 million worth of heroin was attributable to the Second Chance Program's pressure to reduce the use of the drug in the prison. That same source reported that the Bayamon Prison hospital is the central distribution center for heroin in that region's prisons. "The heroin was smuggled in and then distributed by the inmates who came to the hospital from all over the region," he said.

Another inmate source confirmed the report, and added that the Neta gang put pressure on the Secretary of Corrections not to renew the contract with Second Chance as a final payment for the inmate vote. "It went down just like that," he said. "Second Chance was out of there, and the PDP won the election."

About the Author

Kris Nickerson is the Editor-in-Chief of Press Direct International (www.pressdirectinternational.org), a global information website that provides reliable information tailored to professionals in financial, media, and corporate markets. His thorough knowledge of industries ranging from health care and travel to real estate and financial investing enables him to quickly grasp the nuances of emerging markets and technologies.

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Households urged to contact Government provider in light of predicted energy bill rises of 40%: by Peter Leatherland

2008-07-26T09:00:00.001+05:30

Households urged to contact Government provider in light of predicted energy bill rises of 40%

by Peter Leatherland

With household energy bills reported to be set to increase by as much as 40% this winter, the Government's provider of a scheme designed to tackle fuel poverty is urging vulnerable residents to contact them for a benefit check that could help save them money on their fuel bills.

Newcastle based eaga, the national provider of the Government's Warm Front Scheme warns that, if latest projections are accurate, households could end up paying an extra £400 a year for their gas and electricity from this winter, far more than analysts have predicted in recent months.

Speaking about the increase, Hayley Peters, Director of Warm Front at eaga said: "This increase could put huge pressure on vulnerable households who are already struggling to pay their bills.

"We're expecting the announcements around increases are most likely to come in August, when people really aren't thinking about winter energy bills. So we're urging people who are not sure what benefits they're entitled to and who may well qualify for help under the Warm Front Scheme to contact us for a full assessment that may well help them and see measures put in place to support them through colder weather."

One resident to do this was Mavis Christlo from Hartlepool who after contacting eaga for a benefit entitlement check found she was entitled to additional benefits as well as being eligible for the Warm Front scheme.

She said: "I contacted Warm Front and wasn't sure what benefits I was entitled to. Thanks to them I now receive extra money, which is very helpful given rising food and energy bills. I also found out I was eligible for the Government's Warm Front Scheme and have since had heating measures installed which are costing me far less to run than before.

"I can't praise Warm Front enough, their help securing me additional benefits has increased my weekly household income quite significantly and this has undoubtedly helped me at a time of rising costs. I'd urge anyone not sure about their benefits to give them a call. It could be the best thing they do."

"The benefit entitlement check is good news for many low income families and older people who will certainly feel the pinch in terms of increased energy prices this year," added Hayley Peters.

"We're urging people to contact us and see if they can maximise their household income, as well as finding out whether we can help with energy efficiency measures that will lower their fuel bills in a sustainable way."

Warm Front is funded by the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and forms the cornerstone of the Government's pledge to tackle cold homes and reduce fuel poverty by 2010.

To date it is estimated that more than four million people in the UK are living in fuel poverty and are spending at least ten per cent of their household income on trying to keep warm.

About the Author

For more information on heating and insulation grants please visit www.warmfront.co.uk

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