February 3, 2009

Small, Sharp Pictures

Here's what happens: You're working on a really great image you shot with your high resolution digital camera. It looks great. It's so sharp, you could cut yourself on it. Then, someone asks you to e-mail it to them so they can see it too.

Since it's a high resolution shot, you decide that you should probably resize it first. You go into your imaging program, click the Image Size menu option and shrink it down. (For more on making your pictures the right size, check out this link).

Okay, so you've resized your image and now you're looking at it. Somehow, it seems to have lost a bit of its sharpness in the process. Now, you could run your sharpening tool again. That's certainly an option, but we've found another way that really works well. That is, if you have a Sharpen Edges filter.

So, open your imaging software and check under your filters. Look for a Sharpen Edges filter and if you're lucky enough to have one, give it a click. Usually, that's all it takes to make your image nice and crisp again. We found this out while resizing images for our monthly wallpaper and it worked out great. Give it a try next time you need to resize a large image.

Before:

After:

Yeah, that's better (note the ears and face area!)

Happy generic cialis 10mg shooting!

Permalink • Print • Comment

USGenWeb Search US

My mom and I have continued looking into our old family documents and we’ve discovered that teaching runs in the family. My mom is teacher, her uncle was, his mother was and so on. And with this Web site, I can search by state for more information on them!

I started my search in Ohio and later on, I’ll search Pennsylvania where our family originally settled.

So, how does it work? Well, just pick a state and you'll then be presented with a search engine. Type in the name of the person you are looking for. It can either be just a last name or both first and last if you have them. Next, click Search Us and away you go!

On the results page, you will get results from all sorts of places. You’ll find birth certificate/death certificate, marriage license, cemetery listings, will records and census information.

Following generic cheap cialis the links can keep you busy with a wealth of information. I stumbled upon a link of local happenings in 1899 and I found an interesting read. It came up, because there was a Findley wedding that year. It was interesting to see what they had listed as local happenings that were noteworthy.

So, now it's up to you to go out there and search out your ancestors! You never know what you might find. I also think this site is a very good tool if you are looking for someone who immigrated or was born in the United States. Good luck!

http://www.usgenweb-search.us/

Permalink • Print • Comment

What exactly is a hijack?

Q:
What exactly is a hijack and are there different kinds I should look out for when I'm using my computer?

A:
That's a wonderful question! I'm actually quite surprised that we've never gone over this in a tip before. With that in mind, now is the perfect time to do so. Like any virus or piece of spyware that invades your computer, a hijack is similar. generic brand for cialis They work in just a little different way though. So, let's tackle this subject and continue to keep you and your computer safe!

Basically, a computer hijacker is any type of software that messes with your Web browser. They begin by resetting the preferences you have chosen and they then point that information to other Web sites. For example, a hijacker may work to reroute the information you have set in place, along with any Web address requests you make. The hijacker will point that information to some sort of unseen site and with doing that, they are able to capture all of that material. If something like this happens, your Web browser may still work the same, but it will react much slower.

There are a couple of other types of hijacks as well, including search and homepage hijacks. A search hijacker will change all of the search settings you have chosen and a homepage hijacker will change your preferred homepage to a completely different site. I'm sure you've all had experience with a homepage hijack before, am I right? You know, you choose a site to be your homepage and then the next time you open your browser, it has changed. How frustrating!

Hijacking has been known for awhile now, but it's still pretty popular. It may not be as scary as a virus, but it still has its downfalls. If you ever get caught in a hijack, there are some pretty simple ways to fix them. See, what the hijackers are doing is messing with your registry keys. They go in and change certain settings so you're unable to do what you intended to on your computer.

So, to fix the search hijack, open Internet Explorer and go to Tools, Internet Options, Programs tab. You will see a listing of some of your Internet services. Look past those and in the bottom left hand corner, there is a button that says "Reset Web Settings." Click that and the registry keys will be renewed. Click OK when you're finished.

To fix the homepage problem, you have to disable some scripting within your browser. In Internet Explorer, go to Tools, Internet Options, Security tab. Make sure the Internet icon is highlighted and click on the Custom Level button. Scroll down to the Scripting area and choose the Disable option under both the "Active scripting" and "Scripting of Java applets" choices. Then click OK twice.

That wasn't too bad, was it?! Now, you should be safe from any hijackers who may try to hit your computer. You can't beat that!

Permalink • Print • Comment

Ping Pong

Do you have any idea what the term "ping" means in the world of computers? If not, allow me to give you a brief definition. Basically, ping is short for Packet InterNet Groper and it is a utility that is most widely used to check for network errors. It's the main utility that is used to verify whether or not a network data packet can be sent to an address (usually an IP address) without any errors.

Now, let me try to explain how a ping process works. First, a ping command is used to ping an IP address and that request is then sent over the network to the computer with that address. Once it's successfully received, the computer produces what is called a "pong" response. The time between the two is then calculated to come up with an average response time. If the ping, for some reason, does not make it through to its destination, the computer will then receive a timed out error.

So, if you've ever received an error like that, you now know that it's coming from the ping utility. The term ping is also used quite a bit in computer gaming. In this case, it goes by either a high ping or a low ping and it basically has to do with how fast of a connection a user has to the game server. For example, if you play games online, you'll want to have a lower ping rate (around 50 is good). If you have too high of a ping speed, you may not be able to play, because a lot of game servers only accept low pings. Well, hopefully that helps you all in understanding this computer term a little more. As you can see, it's all in the ping and the free cialis pills pong!

Permalink • Print • Comment

Namepedia

Welcome to Namepedia, an encyclopedia for names! Have you ever wondered what your first name means? Would you like to find out how your last name originated? Maybe you’d like to find a baby name. Well, you can do all of that and more right here!

In the center of the main page, you'll find a search engine. It has four tabs above it: First Name, Family Name (last name/surname), Full Name and Real People. There's also a More option, but I didn’t use it.

Type in a first name if you just want to try it out. You can use your own name or you could use my name. I put in Amanda and clicked on Search.

After you search and choose the entry you want, you'll find the origin, meaning, relations, pronunciation and even a rating for the name on the page. It was really neat to listen to the different pronunciations of my name.

Along the top of the page, there free cialis coupon are more tabs. Some correlate with the search engine and some don’t. They are: First Names, Family Names, Real People, Baby, Interactive and More.

I really liked the baby section. You can even create your own list of baby names. To do so, you’ll need to register for the Web site. All you need to do is click on the Create an Account link at the top of the page, put in an e-mail address, a password and then log in. You should then get a confirmation e-mail. Now, choose how you’d like it to appear: public, friends only, private, whether the child is male or female, where they’ll live, what language they’ll speak and the 10 names you like.

People can then vote on the names you picked. That would be a great way to get your friends' and family's opinion on baby names you’ve chosen. Check out the list I created as an example here. They can then rate the names you picked and offer you three more ideas of their own. They can also leave a comment and then click on the Send My Opinion button.

If you’re into celebrities, the Real Name section is for you! Here you can search for famous people by name. For example, Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett and Emmy Rossum. If you search, they’ll give you the full name of the celebrity, their nationality and what their profession is. Also, at the bottom, you'll find articles about them.

This Web site is definitely worth bookmarking for all your naming needs!

Permalink • Print • Comment
« Previous PageNext Page »
Made with WordPress and a healthy dose of Semiologic • Sky Gold skin by Denis de Bernardy