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Posts Tagged ‘image’

In Windows 7, browsing for files from within a program can be a bit confusing. Why? Because for some reason, there are two separate menus for exactly that function, and they behave differently.

The first sort of menu looks more or less like Explorer.exe (image below). It’s got a folder view in the main part of the window, and a navigation pane on the left side that makes it quick to get where you want to go. If you frequently save to or load from a particular location, you can make sure it’s always at hand by dragging that location … [Read More...]

If you’ve been in a public space in the last year or two, you’ve probably seen a QR code—a small, square two-dimensional barcode that looks a bit like a miniature crossword puzzle. They’ve been around for more than 15 years, but they’ve recently exploded in popularity, thanks to smartphones, which are perfect QR-scanners.

Unlike traditional supermarket-style barcodes—which codify an identification number—QR codes are binary representations of numbers or letters, and can be many different sizes. A tiny QR code can represent just 30 numbers, and a giant one can represent thousands of letters, numbers, and punctuation marks. With that much … [Read More...]

Despite Microsoft’s apparent lack of love for Windows Home Server 2011—the company stripped Drive Extender from the final version, and good luck finding a retail Windows Home Server 2011 box in the U.S.—it’s still a great server OS for a Windows-heavy home environment. Backups are effortless, streaming is hassle-free, it’s easy to administer, and there are tons of add-ins available.

Given a choice between buying an off-the-shelf product and building one myself, I’ll opt for the build any day. And since you can’t get a retail WHS box in the U.S. anyway, I figured what the heck. I pinged Michael … [Read More...]

With Windows 8, Microsoft is reimagining the most basic premises of personal computers. CEO Steve Ballmer recognizes the drastic changes coming in Windows 8, even calling the platform one of the biggest risks taken by the industry giant. The UI changes and fundamental paradigm shifts that Windows 8 brings to the table are making a lot of power users eager to give the platform a trial run, even in its current state as a Developer Preview.

If you want to take the plunge and give Windows 8 a try, there are some things you should know ahead of time. First, … [Read More...]

Get Gaming on an HTPC

I don’t want to watch cable TV. I don’t want to use a controller. I just want to watch 3D Blu-rays and frag people with a mouse and keyboard, all on a box that fits on my entertainment center. Is that too much to ask?

We’ve built our fair share of home theater PCs in the past, with all sorts of different use cases in mind. Our August 2010 HTPC was a stunner built for 3D, with passively cooled GPU, CPU, and PSU, as well as a four-channel CableCard tuner and Blu-ray 3D support. In … [Read More...]

When it comes to protecting the data on your computer, you can’t do better than strong encryption. Properly encrypted, your files are safe even if a ne’er-do-well gains access to your computer, either physically or through a network. In the past, we’ve discussed how to use various encryption tools to encrypt individual files or create virtual, encrypted drives. Now, we’ll look at how to get maximum security by encrypting your boot disk using the BitLocker full-drive encryption system that’s built into Windows 7 Ultimate and Enterprise.

Step 1: Assess Your System

Ideally, you have a motherboard with a Trusted Platform … [Read More...]

Samsung is taking its surveillance game to the next level by introducing a new series of Full HD analog video products. Included in the new lineup is the HD-SDI 1920×1080 box camera, HD-SDI 1920×1080 dome camera, and a four-channel HD-SDI digital video recorder (DVR). Samsung’s HD-SDI technology makes it possible to transmit uncompressed and non-packetized digital video signals with no loss of image data and zero latency, the company said.

The obvious benefit here is improved image quality, which is more than five times better than conventional analog technology, Samsung says. But it also offers a “more cost-effective and easier … [Read More...]

After working professionally at McGraw-Hill as well as prior work in the telecommunications industry, Tanya Gordon relocated to southwest Iowa in conjunction with her husband’s job. She launched Mommy Goggles over 5 years ago, rising to prominence as a national Mom Blogger. In addition, Tanya happily parents two wondrous children who despite best efforts still have been known to engage in ongoing sibling squabbles: Tucker, 5, and Kambry, 3. She can be reached at tanya@mommygoggles.com.

I am a mother, blogger, active photographer and travel for media events. I use all four when it comes to bringing in a personal … [Read More...]

For anyone who deals with images on a regular basis—whether they’re photographers, bloggers, or digital artists—Adobe Photoshop is an indispensable tool. And while the program can be used to make extensive alterations to a single photo, there are times when what you want is to make more simple alterations to lots of photos. Fortunately, Photoshop makes that easy. Here’s how you can use the batch-processing capabilities in Photoshop to kick-ass-ify all your photos at once.

1. Create an Action

The basis of Photoshop’s batch processor is always an action—a predefined set of commands that can be set to run on … [Read More...]

In the world of photography, Photoshop is the industry standard in post production work–capapble of doing nearly anything to any given photo. Though the rabbit hole is extremely deep, there are a few simple steps you can take to spruce up your images quickly and efficiently. 

Make Images Pop

One of the simplest ways to add a little razzle-dazzle to darkened images is to lighten an image and then sharpen in. Click on Images >Adjustments > Levels and adjust the sliders until you like the result. When you’re finished, bring your image to life by selecting Filter > Sharpen > … [Read More...]

We finally got to spend some time in our brand new video studio, where I was given my first opportunity to ever to use a green screen during a shoot, and my 1,156th (don’t quote me there) opportunity to make an ass out of  myself on camera. 

All joking aside, dropping an image seamlessly over a green screen was actually a bit harder than we had anticipated, as you’ll see in some slight hiccups in the video. But it was a learning experience, and we’re excited to find new and fun ways to utilize the studio moving forward. But, for … [Read More...]

We find it a bit mind-boggling that home-theater PCs don’t generate much interest among mainstream consumers. These machines offer so many features, and most people are already familiar with the Windows interface. Luckily for we enthusiasts, companies like AsRock keep working diligently to improve HTPC design. The Vision 3D delivers nearly every digital entertainment feature you could you could want, including Blu-ray 3D, Internet TV, video on demand, online music services, and access to all the digital media stored on your own network.

The machine’s $850 street price renders it very expensive compared to, say, a media-streamer like the Boxee … [Read More...]

The Situation: You’re doing some work that requires a bunch of images and you’ve found a site that has some great free images that would work very nicely. To get each of the images, however, you need to go through a bunch of steps. First you gotta locate a screen that tells you what’s available — a “thumbnail” screen usually:

Then you have to select the image you want:

… and start the download:

and eventually you get the one image you are after. But then you have to right click to save the image to your disk:

Once that’s … [Read More...]

Overview

Virtual CD 10 is a unique app that will virtualize all off your optical media. You can virtualize CDs, DVDs, HD DVDs, and Blu-ray Discs. This is different than a just a virtual CD drive, as it creates images of your optical media, and allows you to manage it. You’ll no longer need to worry about your physical media being wrecked by scratches and constant use. Version 10 introduces a revised user interface and a lot more enhancements compared to previous versions.

Installation & Setup

There are a few things to take note of while installing Virtual CD 10. … [Read More...]

Whether you’re an Italian renaissance cosplayer or a Starcraft II addict, you’ll love our $1,400 gaming rig. Parts, prices, and procedures inside!

How do you know when it’s time to replace your gaming rig? When you’ve turned down all of the game settings to minimum and you still have to play at 1024×768. Or you’ve just completed the Steam hardware survey and Valve rejects your score because it’ll drag down the curve. Of course, if you’re asking the question in the first place….

In spec’ing this year’s gaming build, we decided to restrict ourselves to a budget of approximately $1,400. … [Read More...]

Bored of the staid, old login background that greets you every time you log into your Mac? Here’s how to customize the wallpaper image to anything you want with just a couple of quick steps.

We’ll start off by showing you how to manually change the background image, and then how to use a simple application to change the image.

Changing the Background Manually

Open a Finder window and hit Command-Shift-G. Enter “/System/Library/CoreServices” in the text box that shows up and click “Go”:

That will take you to the CoreServices folder. Like its name implies, this folder contains important system … [Read More...]