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COMPUTER NEWSTop 10 Back to School PC Buying TipsThe return to the school year is often fraught with various decisions to make. One of the most important is what kind of PC you should get, particularly if you're off to college. We give you the ten top tips for finding that perfect desktop or laptop for your schooling needs. 1. Desktop, notebook, or tablet? If you like to type notes in class or work on papers in the library (or the quad), choose a notebook. Tablets work well in classrooms because the writing is noiseless, and if the professor draws diagrams, you can too. If you'd rather have high performance or a larger screen over portability, and cost is a top priority, choose a desktop. 2. Picking the right processor. For a desktop system, you don't necessarily need the fastest processor. A 1.6 or 1.7GHz processor is fine for writing papers and surfing the Internet. To help with better multitasking or multimedia tasks, go with a dual-core or better yet, a quad/six-core CPU, such as the Intel Core i5, i7, or the AMD Phenom II X4 or X6. To read the rest CLICK HERE |
PHOTOGRAPHYFrequently Asked Photo Questions for AugustMaking Free HDR Photos My Panasonic ZS3 has a setting that allows me to auto-bracket a series of three shots with +1, 0 and -1EV. I'd love to use this capability to take high dynamic range photos, but I do not know if an inexpensive method to combine those into one HDR photo. Is there any inexpensive or preferably free HDR software?
Jim, you're in luck. In addition to the various pricey options like Adobe Photoshop CS5 and Photomatix Pro, there's also at least one free alternative out there: Luminance HDR. I've been using this program for a while now, and it is maturing into a great little HDR processing program--easy to use and gives great results. The program is free, but the developers appreciate donations. For more information about getting started with high dynamic range photos, check out "Stunning Photos With High Dynamic Range, Part 1" and "Stunning Photos With High Dynamic Range, Part 2." To read the rest CLICK HERE |
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SECURITYPersonal Computer Security: Using Uncommon SenseThe internet is an unsafe place. Your data is at risk. Your right to privacy is being violated. Your identity is going to be stolen, your credit ruined, your career destroyed, your house burned down, your fields will be defiled and your women will be pillaged. Dogs and cats, living together! Mass hysteria! The net has become a bleak place for people that do not practice safe computing methods. Cybercrime is big business these days. It's no longer the domain of a surly miscreant in a basement writing viruses that infect floppy disks. Now the bad guys are organized, smart, and running their operations like a big business. Most people are aware of the dangers, but not how to protect themselves. The truth is, if a hacker wants to get into your system, usually the only way to prevent that access is to completely cut the system off from the internet. Even then, there's still a remote possibility that access can be gained. Just recently, the US Department of Defense reported that a successful network intrusion had been accomplished through the use of a rogue USB flash drive. To read the rest CLICK HERE |
TECHWill the digital world be destroyed in 2012?2012. The end of the world. Or, maybe it'll the end of electronics. Or, maybe not. Maybe it'll be 2013. It could be the end of civilization as we know it. Or, maybe not. For the record, I'm not making this up. These are the sort of third-hand, reasonably imprecise dire warnings we're hearing from some sources. Follow along, because either we're doomed or duped. According to an article in Monday's issue of New American, an Australian columnist and "lecturer" named Dave Reneke is claiming that 2012 (or maybe 2013) could be the year that the sun flares to a level that it destroys global electronics. Reneke bases his analysis on interpretations of a $31 research report published by the National Academies Press, based out of Washington, DC. To read the rest CLICK HERE |
Economist Makoto Watanabe worked out a formula designed to calculate the best time to buy an airline ticket if you're looking for the lowest prices. The answer, according to his forumla: eight weeks before your flight.
Photo by Arturo de Albornoz.
Like any such rule, I'm sure you'll find plenty of exceptions, but if you don't enjoy spending a lot of time agonizing about when to buy an airline ticket, it's a good rule of thumb to have on hand. In addition to the eight-week rule, Watanabe's formula also suggests that tickets are cheapest in the afternoon, according to The Observer. We can't explain all the science to you [apparently the eight-week formula looks a little something like ?A = gUG + min(k - g, (1 - g)(1 - r))], and the findings, which will be published in the Economic Journal, aren't yet available.