Q:
Can you please explain the difference between CDs and DVDs? And how about their ROM drives? Are they really all that different?

A:
I sure can and yes, they are! There seems to be a lot of confusion when it comes to those two types of media. These days, most computers come with both a CD ROM drive and a DVD ROM drive and because of that, I think a lot of people assume you can use either drive for either type of disk. Well, that's just not the case. Yes, the drives are the same size and shape, but that's where their similarities end. Let's check out some of the differences and get all of this cleared up, shall we? Here we go!

For starters (and this is the biggest difference), DVDs have seven times the capacity that CDs do. If you're not sure, that's quite a bit! Now, I know you're probably thinking, "How can that be possible?" Well, DVDs use more layers than CDs and the way DVDs are written is quite different as well, which is a huge booster for the DVD's capacity size.

Now, it's time for a little background information. CDs and DVDs both store their data in little grooves that run all around the disk. Our CD and DVD ROM drives then scan those grooves with a laser beam, which is how we're able to listen to music or watch a movie on our computers. They both also work with lands (reflective bumps) and pits (non-reflective holes), which help to represent the digital information the CDs and DVDs need in order to work.

With that said, DVDs work with much smaller pits than CDs. Basically, the smaller the pits, the more data you can fit onto the disk and that's how DVDs overcome CDs in terms of available space. As a matter of fact, the normal pit length for a discount cialis DVD layer is 0.4 and for a CD, it's 0.834. Also, the tracks along a DVD are a lot closer together than on a CD, so that allows for more tracks per disk. As you can see, all of that information runs together to give a DVD a lot more room than is allotted on a CD.

That's also where the biggest difference between the CD and DVD ROM drives comes into play. Because DVDs work with such smaller pits, etc., they need a special drive that will be able to read them. Therefore, a DVD ROM drive cannot read a CD and vice versa (a CD ROM drive cannot read a DVD). That's why most computers these days are coming with both drives already installed. So, while it may seem a little wasteful, now you know why it's necessary!

Want to know some more differences? Well, like I said earlier, the layer sizes for CDs and DVDs are quite different as well. Along with DVDs having several more layers than CDs, they're also much thinner. That helps when the laser beam inside the drive is reading the DVD. DVDs also come with double sided layers, which obviously, allow for more information all the way around.

Another big difference is that DVDs can access data a lot faster than CDs can. They also have a better error correction method. And one last difference is the recording format the two types of media use. DVDs record using the Universal Data Format (UDF) method and CDs are not compatible with that type at all. The UDF format allows DVDs to store data, video, audio or a mix of all three onto a single file structure. That file can then be accessed by any drive or computer. CDs just can't say the same.

Now, I know it may sound like DVDs are the best option when it comes to certain things, but don't forget that there are times when a CD is just what you need. Sometimes DVDs are just too much and a simple CD will do. Either way, the two media formats are very convenient and handy for all of our recording needs. You have to give props to both of them for all they do!

Picking and choosing the photography gear you take with you on a trip is entirely dependent on what you want to get out of the trip and where you're going. However, here's a rough guide you can follow to pack exactly what you need for hassle free travel photography. daily dose cialis This list will cover you through rain, dark interiors and sandy beaches!

Bag It

Travel involves a lot more external factors than staying at home and venturing out without the basic infrastructure. Therefore, it's imperative to carry a proper bag that will protect your photographic gear. That basically translates to a backpack that's durable and water-resistant. One example of a bag like that is the Kata Rucksack. The main compartment has enough space for your camera, three to four lenses, speed lights and an external hard drive. Also, in the zippered top, you could keep lens cloths and cleaner, not to mention, a card reader, extra cards, a USB hub and any other small items you may want. The two zipper pockets on the outside could hold your cell phone and an iPod. Plus, the back has a secret zipper compartment that can hold your laptop, charger and a book for the road.

However, if you want to travel light and don’t need a laptop and several speed lights, you could opt for the Crumpler 7 Million Dollar Home. It holds your camera, all your lenses and its zipper top can hold all your little accessories, such as lens cloths, card reader and extra cards. Its front pouch can also hold your wallet, passport, phone and maps.

If you want to keep a lot of your photographic gear in your hotel room and only carry what you want, it's best to go with a shooter bag. Since your camera is on your shoulder, a shooter bag is good enough to hold essentials, such as an extra lens, memory cards, wallet, passport and a map.

Protective Gear

Since you're on the move all the time, it's possible you could lose small items like your memory cards. Therefore, it's important to keep all of your 1GB, 2GB and 4GB cards in one bunch in a little protective case that can be thrown into a larger bag.

Cleaning Cloth

Cleaning cloths are critical, but largely ignored by amateurs. Lens cloths are important to keep dust, sand and dirt away from your lenses. Similarly, a "puffer" will keep your mirrors and sensor spotless.

External Hard Drive

If you want to go to the next level of photography and really have enough time to take thousands of pictures, it's advisable to get an external hard drive to securely store your images.

Rain-proof Gear

You never know when it will rain and dampen your photo walks. Therefore, it's best to keep a couple of spare gallon-sized zip lock plastic bags to hold your camera and lenses. They work beautifully when you intend to keep shooting despite the inclement weather.

LED

Carrying too many flashes might not be such a good idea when you're traveling. Therefore, one weight-reducing measure would be to go for an LED (light emitting diode) to be used in low-light conditions.

Gorilla Pod

If a tripod is too cumbersome for you, try a Gorilla pod. They're easy to use when you're on the move and they don’t take up very much space.

Backups

If you're on a photo assignment, this is one extra rule you should abide by: have extra battery chargers, storage cards and two cameras. Also, it's important to buy two 4 GB memory cards instead of buying one 8 GB memory card, because the cards might crash, get stolen or go missing. Also, bring as many batteries as you can, especially if you're going to be in cold weather, because batteries tend to drain faster in the cold. Backup your photos as often as you can as well.

Card Reader/Data Cable

If you hate bringing backups, one work around is to simply shoot in RAW + JPEG and upload the JPEGs to Flickr or burn a DVD at an Internet cafe. To do that, you're going to need card readers or data cables. If you’re on a long enough trip, a card reader/data cable will help you backup all your pictures onto a DVD or upload them straight to Flickr or Gmail. So, if anything bad happens, you'll at least have a backup.

Shower Caps

If you're staying in a hotel, take the free shower cap when you travel. They're best used to cover your camera if it starts raining.

Knee Pads

This could be a rarity, but it's important nonetheless. If you happen to be doing a lot of photography from the ground upwards, you'll need some trusty knee pads. I suggest getting two of them: one for your elbows and one for your knees.

Camera to TV Cable

Of course, a camera to TV cable is important. It's useful to see the pictures you've taken without a laptop. Most hotels have a TV with an A/V input.

Battery Charger

Don’t forget to carry a battery charger so that you can charge your batteries every night.

iPod

Not only can you listen to music while you're on the move, but you can also dump the photos you’ve taken onto it, making it a spare memory card.

Conclusion

While all of the suggestions above are fairly comprehensive, it's best if you hand pick from them to go with your time, money and convenience. Happy traveling!

Here's a super quick copy trick for MS Excel!

Have you ever needed an exact copy of a cell's contents?

And I do mean exact. Even cell references won't be changed in your formulas.

Well, here's the trick: simply select the cell directly below the item to be copied daily cialis and use the Ctrl + ' (Ctrl + apostrophe) key combination.

Yep, that's all there is to it! The cell contents are duplicated and can now be moved to whatever location you choose.

And those cell references in your formula? Well, unlike the results from the usual copy/paste, this method leaves them exactly as they were.

Now, that's what I call a true copy!

Q:
What is an e-mail header and should I pay attention to it at all?

A:
That's an excellent question! When you hear the word header, you may start to think about a subject line. Well, that's not the case when it comes to working with e-mail. A subject line is what you see when your e-mails first arrive in your Inbox. The actual header can be found when you open up the e-mail to read it.

Now, you may not see it right away, because most of us don't have the option selected to see the header all the time. The headers can be quite lengthy, because they contain a lot of information about the sender, the receiver, etc. Here's an example of what an e-mail header looks like:

Return-Path: <g@worldstart.com>
Received: from gary (worldstart-gw.customer.amplex.net [64.246.98.197])
(authenticated)
by worldstart.com (8.11.6/8.11.6) with ESMTP id l0TKe6Z26933
for <e@worldstart.com>; Mon, 29 Jan 2007 15:40:06 -0500
Message-ID: <008201c743e5$a66754b0$6401a8c0@gary>
From: "C" <g@worldstart.com>
To: "E" <e@worldstart.com>
Subject: Flash drive info
Date: Mon, 29 Jan 2007 15:40:01 -0500
X-Priority: daily cialis results 3
X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2900.3028
X-Antivirus-Status: Clean
X-UIDL: [Hb"!d"S"!T_<!!ZZ[!!
X-Antivirus: AVG for E-mail 7.5.432 [268.17.14/657]
Mime-Version: 1.0

See what I mean? It can all be a bit confusing, so allow me to explain everything to you just a bit more! Your headers may look a little different than the one above, but all of the information is similar, so you'll be able to at least get the gist of what I'm talking about today.

Let's begin with the Return-Path line. If an e-mail ever has trouble going through (in the sending process), the Return-Path e-mail address is the one that should be used to try sending the e-mail again. Next is Received. That one shows all of the e-mail servers the e-mail had to go through to get to its destination (your Inbox). They usually include the server location and the IP address information. It also lists the date it was sent. That information is helpful in troubleshooting why an e-mail didn't go through in the first place.

The next line is the Message-ID and it's the assignment that was given to the e-mail from the first e-mail server. Up next, you'll see the From: option. That's simply the e-mail address of who sent the e-mail and the To: line is who the e-mail is being sent to. The Subject: line just states what the original subject line was. Again, that's what you see in your e-mail Inbox before you ever open a message. After that, you'll once again see the date the e-mail was sent.

Now, the sections after that can be a little more complicated. For any lines that start with the letter X, different things can be of importance. Here are some examples:

• X-Priority – This is the priority of the e-mail that's been sent. Whether it was a high priority, low priority and so on, it will be indicated here by a number.
• X-Mailer – This is simply the program that was used to send the e-mail. For example, Outlook Express.
• X-Antivirus-Status – This lets you know if the e-mail was free (clean) or not of any viruses.
• X-UIDL – This is what is used when e-mails are distributed through a POP3 e-mail program.
• X-Antivirus – This just states what the sender's antivirus program is. For example, Norton, AVG, etc.

So, there are a few examples of the X factors you may see in your e-mail headers. The last thing you will see in the header is Mime-Version:. That's just a context used by MIME to help understand and display the e-mail for the recipient. It's generally just recorded by a number. For example, 1.0, as you can see above.

Now, there may be some situations where you'll want to look at an e-mail header, but honestly, most people don't pay too much attention to them. If you do however, want to check something out in a certain e-mail you get, you can do so by activating the header. To do that in Outlook Express, just right click on the message you want to see and choose Properties. Then choose the Details tab and all of the information will come up for you to see.

You can do that in other e-mail programs as well, but they're all a little different. Under the Options menu in your e-mail, just look for something about the headers. For example, Yahoo!'s mail has a whole option for the headers. You can either show a brief or full header in all of your e-mails. That will be a similar option in most other e-mail clients as well.

Like I said, it's not very often the header information will come in handy, but when you do need it, it's nice to know where it can be found!

How much do you depend on certain icons on your desktop? I'm talking about the icons from the likes of My Computer, My Documents, My Network Places and so on. Those are a few of the icons you probably use on a regular basis, so if they're not there, what are you supposed to do? Well, the best answer is, "Get them back!"

Now, there are a couple different ways you may have lost the icons. They could have disappeared when you installed a certain program or even when you upgraded to a new operating system. Either way, you need them, so let's find them again! To enable those icons and more, right click on your desktop and choose Properties. Click on the Desktop tab and hit the Customize Desktop button. Next, under the General tab, check any of the icons you want to appear on your desktop.

Once you do that, they daily cialis dose will all be returned to your desktop in full view. You can choose from the icons of My Documents, My Computer, My Network Places and Internet Explorer. Now, on the other hand, you may want to take some of those icons off your desktop. If that's the case, just uncheck them and they will then be out of your way. Easy enough, don't you think?!