Sutocu's Tech News

5 Mistakes Made by New Photographers

2008-04-15T11:08:00.000-07:00

With the new era of digital cameras, photography has become much more common. Almost anyone can afford a camera and most have one. Even many cell phones have a digital camera. While most new cameras are also quite easy to use, there are still many areas in photography where you need to have the knowledge to succeed.

These are some of the most common mistakes made by new digital photographers. If you are an unpracticed photographer, you should try to at least avoid these mistakes.

1. Poor Camera

This is by far the most common mistake these days. Many cheap digital models are only good for either landscape or closeup photographs due to their poor focus. Know your camera: what it can do and what are its limitations. A $200 model should never be used for professional photography.

2. Lighting

Another common mistake is to forget lighting or believe the camera takes care of it all. You will seldom get as good images in dark conditions with a cheap flash than you could in plentiful natural lighting.

3. Cropping

While it is much easier to see what gets in the photo with today's LCD displays than with an old-fashioned seeker, there are still plenty of mistakes you can make. One thing to remember is that you can crop the image on your computer. That means you will most likely want to include too much space around than too little.

4. Zooming

There are so make things that can go wrong with zooming. The number one thing to keep in mind is to always avoid using the digital zoom. It is a feature found in many cheap digital cameras that basically has the same result as cropping the image on your computer. If you need zoom, only use the optical zoom.

5. Camera Settings

If you are not sure about the settings in your camera, it may be best to use the defaults. If there are several modes, the 'auto' mode is usually the easiest to use. You should take care that you use a good format to save the images. Often the high detail mode with the highest resolution should be used, if you are not short on memory.

The bottom line is: if you are serious about photography, you must practice it. Digital photography does not differ much it that sense.

If you do not learn the skills in advance, you are going to have to learn them the hard way, and that will probably mean making these mistakes and more. It can also mean tens or hundreds of lost photos - shots that could have been excellent had you not made a simple mistake.

Proud Photography is the best online photography school, featuring interactive lessons and in depth training. Their online photography courses have the best value for price found in the web. All that is of course covered by a 100% money back guarantee.

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2007-10-08T01:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the October 8, 2007 edition of Carnival of Tech News.

Salman Siddiqui presents How Google Finds ?Excatly What You Want? In Fraction Of A Second? posted at CompuWorld.

Salman Siddiqui presents ?Stupid? Male Geeks Suppressing Capable Female Engineers Says The Inventor Of WWW, Sir Tim Berners-Lee posted at CompuWorld.

Mike White presents Troubles with the iPhone posted at Life According to Mike White, saying, "A variety of details and news over all the iPhone troubles"

Dannie Phiri presents Daniso Mapiri technotalks...sort of - Daniso's Rants, Mumbles and Whatevers posted at Daniso Mapiri technotalks...sort of.

Kevin Fleming presents DirecTV Adds 11 New HD Channels posted at Satellite TV Guru.

edithyeung presents The Secret of Social Media Marketing posted at Edith Yeung.Com: Dream. Think. Act..

Computers

The IT Guy presents Get with the Program IT Guys! posted at The IT Guys Blog, saying, "IT guys guide to backing up CD's and some tips."

Doris Chua presents Getting A Remote Access posted at A Meeting Place for All Home Office Women.

Internet

Lazy Monkey presents Edit your photos online without any software posted at Monkey Insight, saying, "Picnik just launched two weeks ago. It's a website that lets you upload, edit, and save back your pictures to your computer or photo sharing website for free. This article includes a short review and demo video"

desinet1 presents Learn foreign language online with Mango posted at Webtools, saying, "Mango is a new online web tool, which makes learning foreign languages a whole lot easier. It is currently in Beta and is free at present. It uses both audio and visual technique for learning."

Technology

John presents Tracking Black Oystercatcher Migration posted at A DC Birding Blog, saying, "Satellite transmitters and the internet are being used to learn more about bird migration."

The IT Guy presents Security Starts with The Secretary posted at The IT Guys Blog, saying, "Article about securing a workplace."

Ted Reimers presents Must have Tech Gadgets for Students posted at CampusGrotto.

Ian Welsh presents AT&T and Verizon: We Can Cut You Off If You Criticize Us | The Agonist posted at The Agonist.

That's all for this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of
Carnival of Tech News using our carnival submission form. Please see our Guidelines first. If you wish to host an edition, leave a comment at the guidelines post.

Technorati tags:

carnival of tech news, blog carnival.

Carnival of Tech News - Guidelines

2007-09-27T11:58:00.000-07:00

Introducing the new Blog Carnival - Carnival of Tech News. The carnival will feature new blog posts on current technology, computer and Internet related news issues. The carnival will be issued each week on this blog.

Submission Guidelines

The posts/articles should be related to current events in the category selected. The news issue should be analyzed, not just copy-pasted from BBC news, or other source. Sub par posts will not be featured, and the number of entries from one blog to a single issue is one only - though exception may be made.

Categories

Internet

Computers

Science

Technology

The submission page can be accessed here.

Wi-Fi with Solar Power

2007-08-31T05:16:00.000-07:00

Solis Energy has produced solar power solutions that can uninterruptedly power products such as Wi-Fi routers. The system is designed for emergency use as a backup communications route, or for municipal Wi-Fi networks.

Many solar power products get little use, because of their high cost, but Solis Energy promises cost effective solutions. In areas where power grid is not close, their solar systems can generate the power necessary for small applications for a lower cost than connecting to the power grid.

TorrentSpy Shuts Down for US Residents

2007-08-28T12:44:00.000-07:00

According to cnet news, TorrentSpy, one of the largest BitTorrent trackers has been shut down in the USA. This is what they say about it themselves:

TorrentSpy's decision to stop accepting U.S. visitors was not compelled by any court. Rather, it arises out of an uncertain legal climate in the United States regarding user privacy and the apparent tension between U.S. and European Union Internet privacy laws.

I'm not so concerned about TorrentSpy shutting down, but at the same time they are under a judge's order to hand over user data from their servers. That should not happen. Hopefully their appeal is approved.

3D Image of a Cell

2007-08-13T09:27:00.000-07:00

Endeavour Crew Enters Space Station

2007-08-11T01:35:00.000-07:00

The space shuttle Endeavour will conduct 3 planned space walks, and installation of the International Space Station S5 Truss, of the Integrated Truss Structure. It will also have a SPACEHAB module carrying 5,000 pounds of supplies and equipment to the International Space Station, and carry the second "Teacher in Space" onboard.

When Endeavour was launched on August 8th 2007, 9 pieces of foam insulator fell from the Shuttle's fuel tank. Three hit Endeavour, but are believed to be too small to cause serious damage. However, during inspection on approach to the ISS, a "gouge" was discovered on the underbelly of the Shuttle. The Mission has been altered to include taking pictures of the damage whilst docked at the ISS and sending to Houston for help in possible repairing.

4 TB Storage for Home and Business Users

2007-08-10T01:03:00.000-07:00

Lets see what Wikipedia has to say about the TeraStation:
"The TeraStation is a Network-attached storage device using a PowerPC or ARM architecture processor similar to the LinkStation. It uses 4 internal Hard drives mounted in a RAID array[16]. It comes in a grey or black Cube shaped box depending on the model."

And,
"Additionally, because the Apache HTTP Server software is already installed for the purpose of providing the Buffalo configuration screens, the device is easily converted to be a lightweight web server (with the Buffalo content deleted) and then can serve any content of the operator's choice."

'Fake Steve's' Identity Revealed

2007-08-08T04:27:00.000-07:00

The blogger, who purported to be Apple's Steve Jobs is unmasked.

Microsoft Counters OpenOffice and Google Docs with Free Works

2007-08-03T04:23:00.000-07:00

Microsoft is going to release the new version of it's Works office software free in a few months time. The software will be ad supported. This is probably due to the increasing number of free competitors, among them OpenOffice and Google Docs and Spreadsheets.

It will be interesting to see whether this will have any effect on the number of people who are turning to web-based office systems. I believe it will only be seen as an OpenOffice alternative by companies, which might believe more in it being supported, what with a Microsoft product and all.

Somehow I find the idea of installing an ad driven program on my computer much more repulsive than using a web-based system, even if the latter had ads also. Interestingly Google Docs does not seem to have any ads...

Better Cell Phone Cameras in Sight

2007-08-02T11:47:00.000-07:00

One reason I've avoided buying a cell phone that can take photos is the low quality of the camera. There's no optical zoom, and even the models that have a few megapixels don't really have good image quality. Focusing on the right target is difficult, and often impossible in close-ups.

Fortunately that all may change soon. According to CNN, a new technology that uses mirrors to increase th focal length without increasing the size on the lens. This can decrease the size of the lens to one seventh. The technology borrows from similar design in telescopes, and might be in cell phone cameras in two years time if all goes well.

Teachers Demand YouTube Closure; PPC Demands PS3 Destruction

2007-08-01T09:10:00.000-07:00

Calls for YouTube Closure by Teachers

Teachers have called for websites like YouTube to close because of teacher and pupil bullying according to BBC News. A motion claims videos of pupils and teachers being attacked have been posted on YouTube. "Nobody should be subjected to such humiliation anywhere, let alone in their place of work."

This shows how little privacy can there be in the world, when most have a cell phone capable of taking photos and video. I don't see a change in this development any time soon, unless there are some serious legal changes. And they would have to apply in most of the world for them to affect anything. Maybe this is just something we have to get used to.

Parallel Processing Corporation Files Suit Against Sony

PPC claims Sony has breached their parallel processing patent 5,056,000 "Synchronized parallel processing with shared memory". They seek damages and attorney fees with interests, and call for "the impounding and destruction" of Play Station 3 products.

I doubt the suit will hold, but at least they get some publicity...

Vulnerabilities in Vista, Leopard, and iPhone

2007-07-31T12:13:00.000-07:00

Here's the news:

Intel Accused of Anti-Competitive Action

2007-07-27T06:34:00.000-07:00

European Commission regulators accuse Intel of 'market abuse' in EU based on initial findings. Intel has allegedly tried to exclude AMD from the market by offering incentives to drop product with AMD technology, and by selling its products under production costs. Fines of up to 10% of annual turnover are possible in Intel is found guilty.

Interesting to see how this will develop.

Update: Intels response to these clams is that all their practices have been "lawful, pro-competitive, and beneficial to consumers".

iPlayer Launched

2007-07-27T02:39:00.000-07:00

It seems BBC have launched their iPlayer. iPlayer has been the source of much controversy in the blogging world, since it only runs on Windows. The BCCs claims that they will release versions for Mac OS X and Linux later.

I really hope they will do that, but it would have been interesting to see the reactions if they had done this the other way around: released a version for Mac OS X or Linux first. Just think about the publicity that would have earned them... It would have been very effective marketing. They could have released a Windows version very soon afterwards.

Malaysia Cracks Down on Bloggers

2007-07-25T02:05:00.000-07:00

According to BBC news, they threaten to use their anti-terror laws against bloggers who insult either the king, or Islam. This is after 11 years of avoiding online censorship altogether.

Developments like this are why I support privacy software and anonymous browsing. One of Internet's most important uses is in my opinion free speech in places it is otherwise difficult. I'll continue to support Tor and Freenet.

Removing Blogger Navbar - Allowed?

2007-07-23T10:23:00.000-07:00

After seeing numerous hacks for it, and claims that it is "not violating TOS", I searched Blogger Help, and this came up:

"Unless you publish your blog via FTP, the Navbar cannot be disabled."

So, I guess it doesn't violate the TOS, but they certainly tell you not to do it...

Search Sites Care About Privacy?

2007-07-23T07:04:00.000-07:00

After Google began to improve its ranking as the worst web site with respect to privacy, other search engines quickly followed.

Yahoo! only cut a few months from Google's expiration times to get ahead. Microsoft, on the other hand, joined hands with Ask in calling for a standard in privacy policies. Ask went even further with their own policy, announcing a tool that will let users have almost complete control over what data is gathered about them (AskEraser press release).

Wow, I wouldn't have believed this would happen, had someone predicted it a few months ago. I wish other web industries would follow, but this is a start, certainly.

The Contradiction of Internet

2007-07-17T11:27:00.000-07:00

I find it interesting how Bill Thompson describes the contradiction at the heart of internet in his most recent comment at BBC Tech: "It is a mutual enterprise that relies absolutely on co-operation, but the resulting network supports the harshest and most brutal free market ever created."

I think that was a fair description of internet as a whole. It could not exist without all the joint standards and recommendations (eg. those of W3C), but is used as the playground of many commercial ventures, many of which pay no tribute to this spirit of 'mutualism', as Thompson calls it.

I believe it is this contradiction that causes the collision of open source and free software movements, and commercial software developers like Microsoft. They represent the different aspects of what contemporary internet is all about. The open standards people may have been here first, but today internet belongs to all of us.

All in all, I have to agree with Thompson in his conclusion: both aspects are important. While making certain that important standards continue to be open and free, we must allow internet to function as a free market.

From Lua to PHP

2007-07-11T16:07:00.000-07:00

Got enough of studying Lua for now. My next programming language project is to familiarize myself with another scripting language: PHP. And the tool: W3Schools' PHP Tutorial.

I've made extensive use in the past of W3Schools' HTML and CSS references - in fact I think I studied my first bit of CSS with their tutorial coupled with W3C Learning CSS.

How to remove the InstantBuzz toolbar

2007-07-11T05:56:00.000-07:00

In desperately trying to get visitors I installed the InstantBuzz Toolbar (stupid me?). I read about how many have had trouble uninstalling/removing the toolbar. Here's a simple instruction on how to do it.

1. Don't follow the instructions by InstantBuzz. They don't usually work.

2. If you have installed the toolbar in Firefox, remove it now: Click Tools - Add-ons and Uninstall it. This requires you to restart Firefox.

3. Disable the toolbar in Internet Explorer. The method will depend on your IE version. I have an old version, so I can't really help with the new ones. Post a comment if you know how to do it in the newest version, or if you want to know how to do it.

4. Remove it from Control Panel - Add/Remove programs. This will require a computer restart, after which the program is completely removed.

5. Check your computer with AdAware, or other spyware remover. I didn't have anything on my computer after following these instructions, but some have had.

After AdSense

2007-07-10T05:44:00.000-07:00

After following up on what I wrote earlier about AdSense, I realized that the area of internet marketing is just huge. I ended up navigating through hundreds of sites in a couple of days in search of relevant information. Most of it was unsuccesful, but some of what I found was interesting.

I also visited sites of over ten different e-currencies, many of which I had never heard of. I'm still far from owning any e-gold of my own, but I did sign up for a paypal account, which I had until now tried to avoid.

The little experiment I had with AdSense didn't work out: the minimal number of clicks I got on my ads gave me no revenue (I still wonder why that is). My AdSense balance is still 0,00. Maybe I'll try it again, once I have a website with higher traffic to test it with.

Semantic Web

2007-07-07T04:04:00.000-07:00

An article on CNNMoney, Web 3.0: No humans required, got me interested in the concept of the semantic web again. I had last delved into it in 2004, when W3C published a new revision of the Resource Description Framework.

According to the article, Radar Networks have had some success in creating a RDF data engine and an user application. This got me real interested, and I immediately Googled up their site, only to find that: "Radar Networks is presently in stealth-mode and anticipates releasing its first commercial products in 2007. "

So I'll just have to wait then, I guess. Meanwhile, I'm going to re-read the RDF specification and find out if I can figure out something useful to do with it.

Can you trust AdSense?

2007-07-06T15:42:00.000-07:00

After reading many articles (eg. Google AdSense Account Disabled) about how people lost their AdSense accounts I decided to see for myself. I created an account and placed the ads on a couple of low traffic sites I'm administering (including this one for now at least). I don't think they'll generate a lot of revenue (any in fact), but I'd like to see if it works.

I read a few articles, which gave various suggestions on how to keep your account, for instance How to ensure your AdSense account will not be cancelled, and Review on AdSense. And, in case something bad happens: Banned by Google AdSense?

Too bad I don't have a proper site with traffic to test this more properly. I'll have to try adding content to my site and getting other sites to link to it more. While at it I'll also test the Google Webmaster Tools.

ManHunt 2 banned?

2007-06-25T13:01:00.000-07:00

Just read a story that says the new ManHunt 2 video game will be banned from the UK. I really wonder what they think that'll accomplish. That kind of advertisement will not only make the kids want the game, but make the players take it more seriously.

I'd have agreed with a 18-certificate, but I have to disagree with a ban. That's censorship - I don't want to know what it leads to...