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Technically Easy

Technically Easy
Making the world of technology easier to understand. Technically easy contains many articles about various aspects of technology used by everyone almost everyday.

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The Blu-ray and HD DVD Format War
2007-10-26 15:00:00
Over the past year that has been more and more talk about the new high- definition DVD discs that are available. With each new movie released to DVD, I have noticed that both the regular DVD and high-definition form is available. There is one problem with the new high definition format: there are two competing standards.The two competing standards have set off talk about the Beta versus VHS many years ago. Many people are staying away from purchasing a high-definition DVD player until a winner is determined to avoid buying an obsolete format.In this post I will provide an overview of the high-definition formats to shed some light on the difference between the two.High-DefinitionAll televisions sold today are usually widescreen LCD or Plasma high definition. High-definition refers to any video system with higher resolution than standard-definition video. Most high-definition televisions display video commonly in 1280x720 (720p) or 1920x1080 (1080i or 1080p) resolution.The problem w...
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DVD-R and DVD+R Explained
2007-10-24 15:00:00
I have recently began archiving my digital pictures and videos, and would eventually begin archiving film, slides and other photographs. The collection and space requirements will be quite large as there is much to back up. I have decided to archive it all to multiple DVD discs. This got me to thinking about which discs to use for my archiving. Obviously, I want good quality discs (please read How Long Will a CD-R last? for more details) but I then thought about the two competing DVD standards: DVD-R and DVD+R.I decided to research the two formats and determine which one I should choose for archiving. I explain my findings in this post.DVD-RThe DVD-R format was developed in 1997 by Pioneer and is now supported by most DVD players and ahs the approval from the DVD Forum. The DVD Forum is an international organization composed of hardware, software, media and content companies that use and develop the DVD format. The correct pronunciation of this format is "DVD" dash "R".This form...
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Introduction to Computer Components
2007-10-19 15:00:00
I have talked about computer components before in my post titled How to Buy a New Computer but it provided a quick overview on what to look for in a computer. I decided to go into more detail into some of the components that you will find in a typical computer.The ProcessorThe first component I will look at in a computer is the actual brains of system. You may have heard of Intel and AMD, which are the two companies that produce processors for a computer.A processor is simply a complex computer chip that contains millions of transistors and is responsible for carrying out instructions. The number of instructions that a processor can carry out is dependent on its speed.Processors are usually rated in hertz (Hz). The speed of a processor today is usually rated in gigahertz (GHz) or 1 billion hertz. The larger the number, the faster the processor. Some of the new processors include more than one core that allows more instructions to be processed at one time with a slower speed. A tw...
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Digital Photo Workflow
2007-10-17 15:00:00
I have taken thousands of pictures with the two digital cameras I have owned in the past 5 years. I purchased my first camera in 2002 and quickly began learning how best to take pictures. The camera was a Canon G2 and I learned about and began using the RAW file format when taking pictures. I then acquired the Canon S3 IS but it unfortunately didn?t have a RAW file format, so I quickly learned to make do with taking pictures in the JPEG format.Although my file format has changed I still like to tweak my pictures. I do this because I am not the greatest of photographers so I like to make some quick edits to my pictures. In this post I will provide an overview of the workflow I use to make my pictures ready for printing.Camera SettingsI have my camera setup up differently than most people. You don?t have to setup your camera the same way as mine to use the workflow, but I thought I?d mention this here because it will make your pictures look different.Set the white balance.I always tr...
More About: Photo , Digital Cameras , Workflow , Digital

Digital Photo Workflow
2007-10-17 15:00:00
I have taken thousands of pictures with the two digital cameras I have owned in the past 5 years. I purchased my first camera in 2002 and quickly began learning how best to take pictures. The camera was a Canon G2 and I learned about and began using the RAW file format when taking pictures. I then acquired the Canon S3 IS but it unfortunately didn’t have a RAW file format, so I quickly learned to make do with taking pictures in the JPEG format.Although my file format has changed I still like to tweak my pictures. I do this because I am not the greatest of photographers so I like to make some quick edits to my pictures. In this post I will provide an overview of the workflow I use to make my pictures ready for printing.Camera SettingsI have my camera setup up differently than most people. You don’t have to setup your camera the same way as mine to use the workflow, but I thought I’d mention this here because it will make your pictures look different.Set the white balance.I alw...
More About: Photo , Workflow , Digital

Taking Pictures Indoors Without a Flash
2007-10-15 15:00:00
I have taken many pictures indoors with a flash and without the use of a flash. I find that pictures taken without a flash always turn out better than when I have used the flash. I find that when I use a flash I get harsh shadows that contribute to a black background. A flash can also wash out much of the detail if the subject is too close.In this post I will explain how to take pictures indoors without the use of a flash. I’m not a professional photographer by any means, but I have learned a few things that I’m sure will help you.Shutter Speed and ApertureBefore explaining how to take indoor pictures, it is important to determine what affects the camera brightness. As I explained in the post title How Digital Cameras Work I noted that a digital camera takes black and white pictures using the brightness of an image. There are two things that affect the brightness of a picture: the shutter and aperture.The shutter within your digital camera rapidly opens and closes. When a pict...
More About: Pictures , Flash , Taking , Doors

Taking Pictures Indoors Without a Flash
2007-10-15 15:00:00
I have taken many pictures indoors with a flash and without the use of a flash. I find that pictures taken without a flash always turn out better than when I have used the flash. I find that when I use a flash I get harsh shadows that contribute to a black background. A flash can also wash out much of the detail if the subject is too close.In this post I will explain how to take pictures indoors without the use of a flash. I?m not a professional photographer by any means, but I have learned a few things that I?m sure will help you.Shutter Speed and ApertureBefore explaining how to take indoor pictures, it is important to determine what affects the camera brightness. As I explained in the post title How Digital Cameras Work I noted that a digital camera takes black and white pictures using the brightness of an image. There are two things that affect the brightness of a picture: the shutter and aperture.The shutter within your digital camera rapidly opens and closes. When a picture ...
More About: Pictures , Flash , Taking , Doors

Introduction to HTML
2007-10-12 15:00:00
I recently wrote two posts regarding designing Web sites: Designing Web Pages: Tables or CSS and Introduction to Cascading Stylesheets (CSS). The information presented in both of those articles may be advanced for those just starting out with creating Web pages.I decided to create this post to provide an introduction to HTML and create a Web page. This post will create a very simple Web page that you can then display in a Web browser.What is HTML?Everyone who is online has heard of HTML, but may not know exactly what it is or how it is used on the Internet. HTML is an acronym for HyperText Markup Language. It is the primary language of Web pages. It is not a programming language, such as C or Visual Basic, as it is not compiled into a program. It is simply a markup language.A markup language is used to display text and other information about the text. The other information about the text can include anything from size, font to weight and position. For examples of the different ...
More About: Html

Introduction to HTML
2007-10-12 15:00:00
I recently wrote two posts regarding designing Web site s: Design ing Web Pages: Tables or CSS and Introduction to Cascading Stylesheets (CSS). The information presented in both of those articles may be advanced for those just starting out with creating Web pages.I decided to create this post to provide an introduction to HTML and create a Web page. This post will create a very simple Web page that you can then display in a Web browser.What is HTML?Everyone who is online has heard of HTML, but may not know exactly what it is or how it is used on the Internet. HTML is an acronym for HyperText Markup Language. It is the primary language of Web pages. It is not a programming language, such as C or Visual Basic, as it is not compiled into a program. It is simply a markup language.A markup language is used to display text and other information about the text. The other information about the text can include anything from size, font to weight and position. For examples of the different ...
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E-mail Frauds and Scams
2007-10-10 15:00:00
For many years now security experts have been warning others about fraudulent e-mails and scams. Even after the warnings, there are still people who are taken in by these frauds and scam artists. The cost to those who are taken in can be hundreds of thousands of dollars or even their entire identity.In this post I will discuss the types of scams and frauds that are mostly used in e-mails and ways to avoid them.PhishingIn the past you may have received e-mails from a trustworthy institution asking to confirm some details about yourself. These details can include everything from a user ID, password to your account or PIN number. These e-mails are sent by scammers looking to steal important information from you. This is known as phishing.Phishing has been around for many years, but has now entered the security spotlight as more users get caught in the scams.Usually someone will receive an e-mail from a reputable company asking the user to confirm some important information about the...
More About: Security , Mail , Scams , E-Mail , Frauds

Creating MP3 Files from a CD in Media Player
2007-10-05 15:00:00
For many years now MP3 music files have become mainstream. With the enormous number of MP3 players on the market, it seems everyone owns one. It is hard to walk down the street and not see anyone listening to their MP3 player. There are many people out there who may not know how to create their own MP3 files from their CDs.In this post I will provide a step-by-step tutorial on creating MP3 files from your CDs using Windows Media Player . I chose this application because it is readily available on any Windows system.Specify MP3 OptionsBefore we begin creating MP3 files it is important to first ensure we have set some important settings in Media Player. If you haven’t already done so, please start Windows Media Player.To set the MP3 options, use the following steps:Right-click an empty portion of the top toolbar to display a menu.From the menu select Tools->Options. The Options dialog box should now be displayed.Click the Rip Music tab.Under Rip music to this location you can specify...
More About: Creating , Files

Creating MP3 Files from a CD in Media Player
2007-10-05 15:00:00
For many years now MP3 music files have become mainstream. With the enormous number of MP3 players on the market, it seems everyone owns one. It is hard to walk down the street and not see anyone listening to their MP3 player. There are many people out there who may not know how to create their own MP3 files from their CDs.In this post I will provide a step-by-step tutorial on creating MP3 files from your CDs using Windows Media Player . I chose this application because it is readily available on any Windows system.Specify MP3 OptionsBefore we begin creating MP3 files it is important to first ensure we have set some important settings in Media Player. If you haven?t already done so, please start Windows Media Player.To set the MP3 options, use the following steps:Right-click an empty portion of the top toolbar to display a menu.From the menu select Tools->Options. The Options dialog box should now be displayed.Click the Rip Music tab.Under Rip music to this location you can specify t...
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Wireless Security: WEP and WPA
2007-10-03 15:00:00
I have written several posts with regards to securing your wireless network connection. In many of those posts I have talked about choosing WPA over WEP, and briefly explained why I do that. In a post titled Network Glossary of Terms I provided a simple definition for both security protocols.I have decided to expand on those definitions by providing a more information post about WEP and WPA. Hopefully, this post will help you better understand how a wireless network is secure.About Wireless Network Security Networks have been around for many years, and with the advent of broadband Internet connections, they have also appeared in homes. Many of these networks were simple LANs with probably two computers connected by a cable. All that was really needed was applying security within the operating system, a software and hardware firewall and all was good. Unless someone connected directly into your network using a cable, your network was relatively safe and secure.For the past many year...

Web Site Design Tips
2007-10-01 15:00:00
Like many of you, I have been surfing the Web for many years and have visited hundreds of Web site s. I have found Web sites through search engines, e-mails, and other Web sites. Many of these Web sites have a great layout and provide very valuable, useful information. Others are more complex to navigate and don’t really help with anything.In this post I will provide several points that I think makes a Web site great. Many of these points are common sense, and can easily be implemented.Points to Keep in MindEasy Navigation - This is a very important point, and one that will determine whether I stay and visit more pages. It is important to ensure that your visitors can easily find their way around your site. This can be a simple menu list on the left or right side of the Web page, with the content right next to it. You can even have a menubar at the top of the Web page for more important categories.Readable Text - Many sites now try to use a very small font size. The author of...
More About: Design , Tips , Site

Web Site Design Tips
2007-10-01 15:00:00
Like many of you, I have been surfing the Web for many years and have visited hundreds of Web site s. I have found Web sites through search engines, e-mails, and other Web sites. Many of these Web sites have a great layout and provide very valuable, useful information. Others are more complex to navigate and don?t really help with anything.In this post I will provide several points that I think makes a Web site great. Many of these points are common sense, and can easily be implemented.Points to Keep in MindEasy Navigation - This is a very important point, and one that will determine whether I stay and visit more pages. It is important to ensure that your visitors can easily find their way around your site. This can be a simple menu list on the left or right side of the Web page, with the content right next to it. You can even have a menubar at the top of the Web page for more important categories.Readable Text - Many sites now try to use a very small font size. The author of t...
More About: Design , Tips , Site

Regular Computer Maintenance
2007-09-28 15:00:00
A little while ago I wrote a post titled How To Keep Your Computer Running Smoothly where I explain several tools you should install and use to help keep your computer running. In this post I will provide step-by-step instructions on what I do to keep my computers running without any problems.Cleaning HouseChances are you probably know a pat rack, you know the person who can’t seem throw anything away. When it comes to computers, most of us are probably pack rats as well. We have a large number of files on our computer that we probably will never need in the future. Use the following steps to reduce the clutter on your hard drive:Click Start->Run to launch the Run dialog box.At the command prompt, type set temp. You should now see the location of your temporary directory appear on the screen.Open Windows Explorer (Windows Key+E) and navigate to the directory show from the previous step.Press CTRL+A to highlight all of the files and folders and press Delete.Your temporary dire...
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Regular Computer Maintenance
2007-09-28 15:00:00
A little while ago I wrote a post titled How To Keep Your Computer Running Smoothly where I explain several tools you should install and use to help keep your computer running. In this post I will provide step-by-step instructions on what I do to keep my computers running without any problems.Cleaning HouseChances are you probably know a pat rack, you know the person who can?t seem throw anything away. When it comes to computers, most of us are probably pack rats as well. We have a large number of files on our computer that we probably will never need in the future. Use the following steps to reduce the clutter on your hard drive:Click Start->Run to launch the Run dialog box.At the command prompt, type set temp. You should now see the location of your temporary directory appear on the screen.Open Windows Explorer (Windows Key+E) and navigate to the directory show from the previous step.Press CTRL+A to highlight all of the files and folders and press Delete.Your temporary direct...
More About: Maintenance , Regular , Tena

Introduction to Cascading Stylesheets (CSS)
2007-09-26 15:00:00
In a previous post title Design ing Web Pages: Tables or CSS, I briefly talked about using CSS to layout the content of a Web page. I didn?t go into detail about how CSS files are used in conjunction with Web pages or even how they are created.In this post I will provide a simple introduction to cascading stylesheets and how you can link them to an HTML file.Overview of a CSS fileBefore discussing how to create a CSS file, it is important to provide a quick overview on stylesheets. Cascading stylesheets (CSS) are nothing more than simple text files that define the look of a Web page. Before CSS files, you would define fonts and colours within your HTML file. When you use CSS files, those definitions would be stored in a CSS file and removed from the HTML file. You can then link a CSS file, or even multiple CSS files to a single HTML file.Using CSS files to define the look of your Web site has a few benefits. The first is that you can now change the look of your entire Web site by ...
More About: Introduction , Shee

Introduction to Cascading Stylesheets (CSS)
2007-09-26 15:00:00
In a previous post title Designing Web Pages: Tables or CSS, I briefly talked about using CSS to layout the content of a Web page. I didn’t go into detail about how CSS files are used in conjunction with Web pages or even how they are created.In this post I will provide a simple introduction to cascading stylesheets and how you can link them to an HTML file.Overview of a CSS fileBefore discussing how to create a CSS file, it is important to provide a quick overview on stylesheets. Cascading stylesheets (CSS) are nothing more than simple text files that define the look of a Web page. Before CSS files, you would define fonts and colours within your HTML file. When you use CSS files, those definitions would be stored in a CSS file and removed from the HTML file. You can then link a CSS file, or even multiple CSS files to a single HTML file.Using CSS files to define the look of your Web site has a few benefits. The first is that you can now change the look of your entire Web site b...
More About: Introduction , Shee

Securing D-link DI-524 Wireless Router
2007-09-24 15:00:00
I recently created a post titled Securing Link sys WRT54G Wireless router in which I provided step-by-step instructions on securing the WRT54G router. The Linksys WRT54G router is a popular router, but it isn’t the only one on the market. In this post I will discuss how to secure another wireless router, the D-Link DI-524.Securing Your Wireless Router To secure your D-Link DI-524 wireless router, follow these steps:Open your Internet browser and enter the following in the address bar: http://192.168.0.1.Note: If you have changed the IP address of your wireless router, enter that into the address bar. By default, the address is 192.168.0.1.Enter the user ID and password for your router. If you haven’t changed it, the default user ID is admin and the password is blank. We will change it later if you haven’t already changed it.We will first change the administrative password. First click the Tools tab at the top of the page. The Admin page should be displayed.Within the Admini...

Securing D-link DI-524 Wireless Router
2007-09-24 15:00:00
I recently created a post titled Securing Link sys WRT54G Wireless router in which I provided step-by-step instructions on securing the WRT54G router. The Linksys WRT54G router is a popular router, but it isn?t the only one on the market. In this post I will discuss how to secure another wireless router, the D-Link DI-524.Securing Your Wireless RouterTo secure your D-Link DI-524 wireless router, follow these steps:Open your Internet browser and enter the following in the address bar: http://192.168.0.1.Note: If you have changed the IP address of your wireless router, enter that into the address bar. By default, the address is 192.168.0.1.Enter the user ID and password for your router. If you haven?t changed it, the default user ID is admin and the password is blank. We will change it later if you haven?t already changed it.We will first change the administrative password. First click the Tools tab at the top of the page. The Admin page should be displayed.Within the Administrato...
More About: Security , Windows , Networking

Designing Web Pages: Tables or CSS
2007-09-21 15:00:00
There is some debate recently about the best method to design and layout a Web page. Traditionally, HMTL tables have been used to handle the layout of a Web page. Today, however, a new layout method is gaining more popularity which uses CSS (Cascading Stylesheets).Which method is the best way of designing a Web page? I will explain both methods in this post and provide my own opinion. This post, however, won?t explain how to create the HTML files as I?ll save that for a future post.Using HTML Tables If you view the source of many Web pages on the Internet, you will probably see the entire layout of the page constructed using tables. Tables have been the main method of providing the layout of a Web page since they were first introduced. They make it easy to provide a header, footer, and content sections to a page.Recently, however, many Web designers have been declaring that tables should only be used to display tabular data. This makes sense as many applications, such as Excel a...
More About: Design , Designing , Blogging , Pages

Designing Web Pages: Tables or CSS
2007-09-21 15:00:00
There is some debate recently about the best method to design and layout a Web page. Traditionally, HMTL tables have been used to handle the layout of a Web page. Today, however, a new layout method is gaining more popularity which uses CSS (Cascading Stylesheets).Which method is the best way of designing a Web page? I will explain both methods in this post and provide my own opinion. This post, however, won’t explain how to create the HTML files as I’ll save that for a future post.Using HTML Tables If you view the source of many Web pages on the Internet, you will probably see the entire layout of the page constructed using tables. Tables have been the main method of providing the layout of a Web page since they were first introduced. They make it easy to provide a header, footer, and content sections to a page.Recently, however, many Web designers have been declaring that tables should only be used to display tabular data. This makes sense as many applications, such as Exc...
More About: Designing , Pages , Signing , Ages

AOL Users – Multiple IP Addresses
2007-09-19 15:00:00
A few days ago I was in a forum and someone mentioned that they noticed a discrepancy in their Web server logs. A visitor to their Web site was an AOL user, but they appeared to be making several requests from different IP addresses.If you are on dialup, you will probably get a different IP address each time you connect to your ISP, however, it won’t change as long as up don’t log off. How did the AOL user have multiple IP addresses even if they didn’t log off? I will explain that phenomenon in this post.AOL Proxy ServersUnlike regular dialup users, AOL users don’t get assigned an IP address that will show up in a Web server’s log file. This is because when an AOL user makes a request over the Internet; the request goes through what is known as a proxy server.A proxy server is a server that acts as an intermediary between a user and the Internet. This allows an enterprise to control security, caching and provide administrative support. The proxy server is the access poi...
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AOL Users ? Multiple IP Addresses
2007-09-19 15:00:00
A few days ago I was in a forum and someone mentioned that they noticed a discrepancy in their Web server logs. A visitor to their Web site was an AOL user, but they appeared to be making several requests from different IP addresses.If you are on dialup, you will probably get a different IP address each time you connect to your ISP, however, it won?t change as long as up don?t log off. How did the AOL user have multiple IP addresses even if they didn?t log off? I will explain that phenomenon in this post.AOL Proxy ServersUnlike regular dialup users, AOL users don?t get assigned an IP address that will show up in a Web server?s log file. This is because when an AOL user makes a request over the Internet; the request goes through what is known as a proxy server.A proxy server is a server that acts as an intermediary between a user and the Internet. This allows an enterprise to control security, caching and provide administrative support. The proxy server is the access point to the ...
More About: Technology , Users

Overview of Various Image File Formats
2007-09-17 15:00:00
There are many different image file formats in use on Web pages today. Each file format has its advantages and disadvantages, and can be used for specific images. For those that use digital cameras you may be familiar with one format, while you may have heard of others.In this post I will provide an overview of the different formats including their advantages and disadvantages.GIF FormatI will begin with one of the oldest formats in use on the Internet today. The GIF name is a acronym for Graphics Interchange Format, and was first introduced by Compuserve in 1987. This is a popular format next to the JPEG format and is still used on Web pages today. Digital cameras, however, don?t use this format because it only supports 256 colours.There are currently two versions of GIF in use: GIF87a (the original version) and GIF89a. The GIF89a version supports multiple images in stream which allows you to create animated GIF images.Advantages - One advantage to a GIF is that it uses lossles...
More About: Digital Cameras , File , Image , Vario , Overview

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