Photography Tips

Computer Care: Tips for the best summer snapshots

By Arthur Glazer glazer.tech@gmail.com POSTED: August 23, 2013 9:04 p.m. This summer I spent more time with my camera than my computer. As a camp photographer up in the mountains of White County, I shot more than 20,000 photos. To make them look good, I had to edit them quickly and judiciously -- good enough for parental scrutiny. Although the dog days of summer are behind us, Labor Day is just around the corner and chances are you still have some pictures to take. I’ve seen more poor quality images posted to Facebook recently; some were dark, some washed out, some simply blurry or in need of cropping. Even with the ubiquitous cellphone camera, quality photos can be created with little effort. The primary thing to consider when taking pictures is where your light is. Ideally, you don’t want to shoot into the sun, but rather have it over your shoulder. Even if you’re outdoors, don’t be afraid to use a flash. It will remove facial shadows and brighten up your pictures. Keep in mind though, the pop-up flash on cameras will reach only about 6 feet before its light dissipates. In order to get the most from the light that is available, your camera will read it with a meter. In DSLRs, most point-and-shoots and many cellphone cams, you control the meter. Usually, if you place the crosshairs in your viewfinder on the face of your subject and press the shutter release button half-way down, you not only place your subject in focus, but take a reading of the light on them as well. The thing is to hold onto that meter reading. Readjust your view to take the photo without releasing pressure on that button. Otherwise your pals will be in shadows, all blurry with the lake behind them sharply illuminated. After you get that reading, continue to frame your image, then finish pressing the shutter release button. When composing a picture, look at it as if it were a print. Be critical. Are there trees or poles coming out of your subjects’ heads? Are they in the light? Are there extraneous objects in the photos, like people or vehicles? It’s always a good idea to take a few extra shots to ensure one will come out. Some may be too dark or light; others may have someone not smiling or their eyes closed. There were close to a thousand shots at camp I didn’t use. Edit out the bad shots on the fly, before you get home. This will cut down the editing process. Just about every shot needs some editing, whether it be cropping out extra sky or people, or adding contrast or light to the image. However you alter it, the paramount rule of editing is not to save over the original photo. If you are working on photo 123.jpg, rename the edited image as 123a.jpg and save it in your docs or photo folder as opposed to the card it came from. This way, should you inadvertently ruin a picture, you will always have the original to try it again. Photoshop is the granddaddy of photo editors, but there are many good free editors online. GIMP is an open-source image editor. It is the closest thing you can get to Photoshop without paying anything. There’s a learning curve, but it’s free. Find it at www.gimp.org. Easier to use and free, are IrfanView, at www.irfanview.com and PhoXo at www.phoxo.com. Both will provide the basics of adjusting light and contrast with crop tools and more. Without loading an app to your computer, you can use online editors, like FotoFlexer found atwww.fotoflexer.com and Pixlr, at www. pixlr.com. They save you the trouble of an installation. Experiment with being creative with your photography. Try the different modes your camera has to offer. They change the exposure settings so you don’t have to. Most have a panoramic mode, one for sports and another for portraits. Looks at the icons on your camera’s mode dial or display and you’ll figure it out. If you want to experiment with manual settings, just remember the F-stop (aperture opening) works in direct relation to the shutter speed. If you raise one, lower the other. You’ll get basically the same picture with a little different results. Although the same amount of light comes through, a faster speed freezes action better and a smaller aperture yields a greater depth of field (more things in focus). Want create the effect of motion? Try panning your subject. If you have a moving subject like a car, a runner or bike rider, move you camera with it as you shoot the picture. Your subject will be in focus with a blurred background, looking as if he/she is really moving. Try it a few times and you’ll easily perfect this technique. So if you still have pictures to take this weekend or haven’t really done anything with images from the Fourth of July yet, now you can get busy with the knowledge of how to shoot better photos and how to fix those that didn’t come out as you’d expected.  Arthur Glazer is a freelance writer and computer technician in Gainesville. His column appears biweekly on the Business page and on gainesvilletimes.com.

Speed up your PC

POSTED: May 12, 2012 1:00 a.m.

	Computer Care: Some inside tips to speed up your PC By Arthur Glazerglazer.tech@gmail.com Posted: May 12, 2012 1 a..m
	In the past I’ve written about ways to keep your computer running smoothly, advised you of keyboard shortcuts and shared some little known utilities with you. The truth be known, most technicians won’t kiss and tell and have clandestinely withheld their best tricks from you. After all, this is what we do; we’re not supposed to give away trade secrets. It would be like a magician showing how he saws his lovely companion in half. So without giving away the tech’s secret handshake, I’ll disclose a bit of magic. Before doing any of these adjustments though, it’s always a good idea to create a System Restore Point first. Keep in mind these tweaks are for the more experienced user. Did you ever want to block a nuisance website from showing on your browser? This tweak will work with Firefox, Chrome and Safari. You will want to navigate to the “etc” folder by following this path: C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc from “Computer/My Computer.” Open the “hosts” file in etc and choose Notepad or, depending on which version of Windows you have, the option to use a program already installed. Then choose Notepad. After the line with 127.0.0.1, hit Enter and type 127.0.0.1 followed by the name of the site you want to block. If the site is called blockthissite.com, then type 127.0.0.1, followed by the site’s name, then a space and #. Hit Enter to go down a line. It should read: 127.0.0.1 blockthissite.com #. Save it from the File menu and close the dialog box. Next click Start, and then from Run (XP) or your Search/Command box (Vista and 7) type cmd to get a command prompt box. Then type ipconfig /flushdns and hit Enter. Close that dialog box and your browser and then try to get to your site. If you did everything correctly, you will be denied access. If you use Chrome, it’s already quick. If you use Internet Explorer, well, give the others a shot. If your browser is Firefox, there are ways to make it faster. In the address bar, type about:config in and hit Enter. Scroll to network.http.pipelining and set it to true by right-clicking and choosing modify. Do the same for proxy.pipelining. For pipelining.maxrequests, change its value to 30 and close the browser. The next fix is not for the faint of heart. We will change a registry value. There is no undo in the windows Registry, so tread cautiously there. Go to Start, Run or the Search/Command Box and type regedit. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop. Double-tap on “desktop” and look on the right side for “WaitToKillAppTimeout.” If it has a value of 5,000, right-click on it and choose modify. Change it to 1,000 and hit OK. Do the same there for “HungAppTimeout.” Change its value to 1,000 as well and close the box. That will shave a few seconds off of an unresponsive program when you try to close it. Should your printer queue jam, clear it by opening the command prompt box again (cmd) and type: net stop spooler. Wait for a verification response, then type net start spooler and try to print your document again. If you want to simply unplug your USB flash drive and bypass the “Safely Remove Hardware” process, right-click on the removable USB drive in the Computer/My Computer group and choose “Eject.” Wait for the icon to change and then pull your device from the computer. Some basic, yet necessary tips follow: • Allow your computer to fully load after it boots up prior to clicking on any icons. Doing so will further delay any response. • Don’t clutter the desktop with icons. Everything Windows has to draw uses system resources. Consolidate all Word files for example, to a Word folder. Get rid of icons you don’t use. • Try to keep your wallpaper image under 100k if it is your own photo. A megapixel image will waste resources. • Regularly empty the Recycle Bin, as well as the Temporary Internet folder. • Defragment your hard drive every couple of months to keep it fast. • Create a System Restore Point when everything is running well. You may need to access it one day. • If there is a website you access regularly, drag the URL icon from the browser to the desktop, creating a shortcut. Without a doubt, the single most cost-effective enhancement you could do for your computer is to pull a rabbit from your hat by adding more RAM, system memory, to it. If you do anything more than Web-browse and check your email, you will need it. Even if you don’t work with audio files or photo or video edit, you will still appreciate the bump in speed an extra pair of gigabyte sticks will yield. It is inexpensive and relatively easy to install. The result is not smoke and mirrors. Arthur Glazer is a freelance writer and computer technician in Gainesville. His column appears biweekly on the Business page and on gainesvilletimes.com.

Quick Computer Tips

Computer Care: Quick, easy steps to make your PC run smoother By Arthur Glazer arthur@glazerthepctech.com In the Information Age, good information is good as gold. What follows, you could take to the bank. Don't deposit it. Cash it. Here are a bunch of quick tips, information you can use as soon as you finish reading it. This information is relevant, whether you have XP, Vista or Win 7. Want to make shortcuts on your desktop of your webmail address or any address? Open your browser (Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer) and go to the page you want. Left-click on the icon to the left of the URL (address) and drag it to your desktop. Have too many miscellaneous icons on your desktop? Create folders to organize them. Right-click on an empty spot on your desktop and choose "new" and then "folder." Name it what you want. I have one for pdf files and one for utilities. Drag the respective icons into their new folders. Have trouble running programs sometimes? Right-click on the program icon from the desktop and choose to "Run as Administrator." To not corrupt data on your USB flash drives, don't just unplug them when you're done. In "My Computer," right-click on the USB drive and choose "Eject." Alternatively, go to the taskbar to use the "Safely Remove" option for USB devices. These turn the device off before you unplug it. Tired of Windows updates being thrown at you? Right-click on "My Computer' (or Computer) and go to "Properties." Find the Updates tab and choose another option. You can choose to have the system tell you when updates are available, but to download and/or install them when you want to. Back up often. It's not a matter of if a hard drive or another component will fail, but when. Save your data to an external source like another drive, a CD or DVD. Having trouble suddenly with things not being responsive? Try a System Restore. Find it in (XP) Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools or on Vista/7, just type it in the search box. Alternatively, press F8 when the system reboots and choose, "Return System to Last Known Good Configuration." Want to alphabetize your programs menu in XP? (It's automatically done in later versions.) Right-click on any entry on the list and choose to "Sort by name." Are your laptop keys not fully pressing down? Grab them with a finger nail and pull them off to dust underneath them. Then just press them back on until you hear a click. With desktop keyboards, turn them upsides down and shake, vacuum or use compressed air. Feel like your system is sluggish? See the processes list to determine which might be the culprit program. Press Control + Alt + Delete at the same time and see the Processes tab. If one has a very high number click on it, then choose "End Process." (Make sure it is not a system item or you'll just reboot.) If your system is better now, you have a found a resource hog program. If you don't have a lot of RAM (memory) in your computer, turn off the enhancements. In XP go to System Properties from My Computer again and choose "Advanced "and then "Settings". Choose the "Best Performance" option. In Vista/7, type, "fade" in the search box and turn off the superfluous enhancements. You really don't need animations, fade in and outs, transparencies, etc., especially if your RAM can't afford it. Remember to reboot your system after any changes are made for them to take effect. Also reboot when you install a new device (printer) or a new program. Pause or temporarily disable your antivirus program before you install new software. There is the potential for conflicts otherwise. If you lost sound, your Internet connection or anything, check the Device Manager for notification of a missing driver. In XP look under Hardware, from Properties in My Computer. In Vista/7, just type in the search area for Device Manager. This is more of an FYI than a tip: If you know you have a gigabyte of RAM but your system is showing only 704 megabytes, nothing is wrong. Your system is sharing memory with your video card. High-end cards come with their own RAM, others do not. When you install a printer, don't plug in your USB cable until the installation program tells you to do so. It probably won't work otherwise. When you get an error message, especially one you don't understand, Google it, in quotes if necessary to find out what's wrong. If you lose your Internet connection, try resetting your modem and router if you have one. You can wait on hold with your service provider for an hour and that is the first thing they will have you do. There are so many things you can fix or enhance on your computer by yourself. But others do require a technician. Not everything is a do-it-yourself job. If you experiment in the Windows Registry for example, you can turn your computer into an expensive doorstop in a matter of seconds. Tread lightly. Arthur Glazer is a freelance writer and computer technician in Gainesville. His column appears biweekly. Arthur welcomes your computer questions and ideas for future columns

Handy Computing Tips

Computer Care: Handy tips on battery switch, toolbars and cleaning out gunk

By Arthur Glazer
arthur@glazerthepctech.com

POSTED March 14, 2009 1 a.m.

There seems to have been an influx of computer problems lately. I've been keeping busy and that of course, gives me something to write about.

In the past six months I don't think I've changed a single desktop computer's battery; then suddenly I replaced two of them this week. The battery keeps your system clock set properly. So if your time is off, you might look at it first.

Generally, your computer will let you know if it's time for a new battery. It's about the size of a quarter, inexpensive and easy to replace. Most of them should last five years. Considering that's about how long we keep a computer on the average, you may never have to replace a motherboard battery.

But should you have to change one, be careful not to touch anything else while inside the case, and place the plus side facing up on the replacement. Then go to Control Panel or double-click the clock itself to enable a time change.

Let's mention Safe Mode next. I've found many computer users are either vague on its purpose or don't know how to access it. Safe Mode is a back door into Windows. It will let you in with a minimum of processes running, just enough for you to fix something. Many things like printers or Internet won't work while in that mode, so only do what you need to and then reboot before continuing with your work.

To access Safe Mode, reboot the computer. After the splash screen that says HP, Dell, Gateway or whatever, tap the F8 key repeatedly until you see a menu. The first item should be the one you want: Safe Mode. Hit Enter, allow it to load and get to work.

Often it is easier, when you have a problem, to delete a program or initiate a system restoration from there.

I've been asked how to change the way a certain file type opens, how to associate a different program with it. Take photos, for example. If you have been editing jpegs with Photoshop and want to change the default program to Easy Share, do this: right-click on any jpeg and choose Open With and you'll see a list.

If Easy Share isn't on that list, then click on Choose Program and navigate your way through the Programs folder to the Easy Share folder, which in this case would be Kodak. Click on it and hit OK.

If you always want Easy Share to be associated with your photos, check the box at the bottom that says, "Always use the selected program to open this kind of file." If you don't, it will just be a one-time use.

Has Quick Launch disappeared from your taskbar? Here's how to get it back. Quick Launch is a group of always-there shortcut icons. Right-click on a blank area of the taskbar and choose Toolbars. Go down to Quick Launch and click on it. A checkmark in front of it will verify activation.

Now look over by your Start button. You should see a small group of icons and a double arrow pointing to the right. You can add whatever you want from the desktop simply by left clicking and dragging them to the bar. You can adjust the icon placement the same way. The overflow goes to the double-arrows. Give it a click and you'll see.

Only keep what you use often there. Right-click and delete what you don't. I keep Firefox, Word and Show Desktop. It's a real time saver once you start using it.

Many users of Office 2007 ask why co-workers and friends can't open their Word documents. Well, Microsoft, in its unending desire to make things complicated, changed the old Word extension from .doc to .docx, just to confuse us I guess.

If you have Office or Word '03, you use .doc; the '07 versions use .docx and they are not backward compatible, not without some work, anyway.

Microsoft was kind enough to include a Compatibility Mode in the new version. To access it, click the circle, the Office button, on the upper left part of the page. Scroll down to Save As and choose Word 97-03 Document. This will save it in a compatibility mode so all can read it.

Some clients who purchased new computers have asked if there's a way to efficiently get rid of all the junk that manufacturers load on new machines. I discovered a program aptly called Decrapifier that will, in one fell swoop, do just that.

Find it at pcdecrapifier.com and allow it to scour your system of that unnecessary trialware. If you don't want Rhapsody, already have Office and will never use Real Player or AOL, get rid of them.

Now if I could only get a program like that for my television.

Arthur Glazer is a freelance writer and computer technician in Gainesville. His column appears biweekly. Arthur welcomes your computer questions and ideas for future columns.

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COMPUTER TIPS: Using System Restore

Remember to create a system restore point prior to making any changes to your computer. You never know when you may need to resort back to it. It's like Mr. Peabody's Wayback Machine.

In XP, navigate to Start-> All Programs, then to -> Accessories -> System Tools -> & finally System Restore. Choose the bullet that creates a new restore point. Give it a name - XP will date stamp it.

Vista is almost the same, but in the last step - click the link in the bottom of the box to get to System Protection. From there you can create a restore point.

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Computing Tips

Glazer: Some quick tips to make computer life a little easier

POSTED March 18, 2008 5 a.m.

Have you ever noticed that tiny little hole on your CD/DVD drive tray?

No, it’s not a light. It’s not a breather hole for your optical disks either. What you have is a little known way to release the drawer if you ever get a disk stuck in there or lose power.

Take a paper clip and unfold it once or twice. Place the end in the hole and push gently until you feel resistance. Now push a little harder. Hey, your drawer just opened. That was tip number one.

The second one is a helpful Start Menu organizer. Open your Programs list and right-click on any entry. Then go down to Sort by Name and left click on it. Your Programs list was just alphabetized.

Third on our list is a Task Bar shortcut. If you don’t have Quick Launch operational, right-click on a blank area of your task bar and go to Toolbars and left click on Quick Launch. Over by the Start Menu you now have some new icons. If you see a double arrow to the above right of it, that is your overflow.

I generally keep three or four showing and hide the rest. Grab that divider line and slide it either way with your mouse. You may need to unlock your Task Bar (another right-click on it) to make changes. You can drag and drop any icon from the desktop or Start Menu to the Quick Launch area. It is an accessible shortcut to anything, especially to the desktop. Click the blotter icon when you have eight windows open and you instantly get back to your desktop. All else is minimized to the Task Bar.

If you are tired of the same old icons, here’s a way to change them. Again, right click on an icon you want to change and go down to Properties. Then click the Customize tab at the top and look at the bottom for Change Icons. Choose one of your liking from the list, click OK and you’re done.

Tip No. 5 yields custom sounds. I don’t know about you but I’ve heard about enough of that little riff when XP loads. You can change it, as well as sounds associated with other events, by going to the Control Panel, click the speaker icon Sounds and Audio and then click the Sounds tab. Windows has many to choose from or you can add your own, as long as you know which folder they are in. Scroll through the list from the pull-down menu to see what’s there and click the Browse button to see choices in the media folder.

Depending upon which version of Windows you have, you’ll find themes from the ocean to science fiction. Click Search from the Start button and using the wildcard *.wav and see what you find on your entire system. Mine has hundreds of sounds from installed programs and my kids’ games. You may find a pleasant alternative to the same old drab Microsoft sounds.

How would you like to have your own picture associated with your account in Windows? It would show on the Start Menu instead of an astronaut or a rubber ducky.

Tip No. 6 shows you how. Go to Control Panel and click User Accounts. Click Change an Account, then choose one and click Change Picture. Click Browse for More Pictures instead of using what’s there. Navigate your way to the My Documents folder or to the My Pictures folder if necessary. Between the two, you should find all of your personal photos there.

Tips No. 7 and 8 are combined and will put a personal Shutdown or Restart button on your desktop. You guessed it : right-click on your desktop and click on New, then Shortcut. Type shutdown –s –t 00 (Or restart –r –t 0). Click Next, then Finish. Right click on that new icon and choose Properties, then Change Icon and pick a new one.

Tip No. 9 places a program on your Start Menu permanently. Right click on an icon and choose Pin to Start Menu. It’s that easy.

No. 10 is an extremely useful tip. If you’ve ever had your print queue freeze up on you, try this. Open a command prompt box by clicking Start, then Run and type cmd and hit enter. In the DOS box type net stop spooler, hit enter and wait for it to verify that it has stopped. Then type net start spooler and hit enter again and wait a few more seconds for it to reinitialize. That’s it. Now go print.

Arthur Glazer is a freelance writer and computer technician from Gainesville.