Never has looking good in pictures mattered more to people than it does now. With all the different types of cameras available today and all the social networking Web sites, everyone wants to put their best picture forward. Now, I'm not quite experienced when it comes to cosmetics, but I can certainly teach you all how you can beautify your pictures using Photoshop. Let's get started, shall we?!

This is the photo I started with:

Open your picture in Photoshop and switch to the Channel palette. In the Channel palette, click on "Red," which will deselect everything else.

inexpensive cialis border=”1″ width=”300″ height=”266″ />

With the Red Channel selected, hit Ctrl + A, which will select everything for you. Then copy it by using Ctrl + C. Next, go back to the Layers palette and make a new layer. Then paste (Ctrl + V) the image you just copied.

Now, it's time to use your favorite filters! Go to Filter, Blur, Gaussian Blur and a new box will open. The settings you use depend entirely on your image, so feel free to experiment. The idea is to make the layer blurry enough, but not incomprehensible. Here's mine with a setting of 7.8.

Okay, let’s now try a few different effects. You can change the layer mode to Soft Light for a major change. Similarly, you can try other blending modes, such as darken, overlay, vivid light, etc. This is one of the quickest and easiest ways to make your images a bit more pleasing to the eye.

Here's what I ended up with:

Cool, huh? Give it a try with your pictures today!

Q:
I get a little nervous sometimes about how the search engines I use can track a lot of what I do when I'm on my computer. Is there any way I can keep this information private? I'm not saying that I search for anything out of the ordinary, but it's nice to know I can have a little privacy when I want it.

A:
I agree with you on this one. I don't think we realize how much a search engine can pick up just from us using them. As a matter of fact, I'm really glad you asked this question. I've been trying to think of a way to fit this topic into the newsletter for awhile and now, I have the perfect opportunity. Plus, I'm sure the person who asked this question isn't the only one who has been wondering about it. So, let's clear some things up, shall we?!

First of all, let's go over a little background. Every time you use a search engine (Google, Yahoo!, etc.), that site is then able to collect and store the records of all your searches. They can track the terms you search for, the Web sites you visit after you find what you're looking for, the times at which you search and they can even pick up your IP address. From all of that, the search engine site is then able to figure out who you are, what you do while you're online and even what some of your likes and dislikes are. That's pretty crazy (and a little scary), isn't it?

So, since I care about all of you so much, I'm going to fill you in on a couple secrets as to how you can keep some of this information private from those nosy search engines. I have six tips for you today and if you follow them all, you'll be way ahead in keeping your search history private from any intruders, etc. Okay, here we go!

1.) Do not log into the search engine or any of their extra tools. If you go to your favorite search engine and log in right away, it makes it very easy for it to create a profile about you. Once you log in, they know your identity right away and after that, there's no turning back in what they can figure out next.

Now, you may think that you don't log into your search engine, but you actually may without even knowing it. For example, if you use Google as your main search engine (which a lot of us do), you are probably signed up for some of Google's other tools, such as Gmail, Google Talk, Google Groups, etc. If you're logged into any of those extra programs while you're performing a search, Google will be able to track down all of your information. So, just be sure that you log out of any other programs before you start searching. It may be hard to remember at first, but for your own safety, make sure you do it. Write yourself a note if you need to, because it's really easy to forget to log out of some of the programs you probably use on a very regular basis. You'll get the hang of it though! Again, make sure you do this for any search engine that you use that may have extra programs included.

2.) This next one has to do completely with keeping yourself safe from Google. As I said above, many of us use Google as our primary search engine, but in all actuality, Google can be one of the most risky to deal with. Google does things a little differently. It uses cookies to track your history from your search sessions. You may think that if you just delete your cookies, you'll be all set, but that's not really the best way to handle it. Cookies can be very helpful sometimes and if you deleted them, your Web surfing experience wouldn't always be as easy. So, the best thing to do is block only Google's cookies. Here's how.

In Internet Explorer, go to Tools, Internet Options and click on the Privacy tab. Next, click on the Sites button and in the "Address of Web site" box, type in Google's address (www.google.com). When you're finished, click on the Block button. In Firefox, go to Tools, Options and click on the Privacy tab as well. Choose Exceptions and type in Google's Web address. Click Block when you're done. If you do this, Google will no longer be able to place cookies on your hard disk, which will keep them from gathering up all of your information.

3.) Change your IP address on a regular basis. Search engines actually get the most information about you from your IP address, so it's best to change it every once in awhile. This will keep the search engines from learning so much about you so easily. If you use a cable or DSL modem, the easiest way to get a new IP address is to turn your modem off and leave it off for a few minutes. Then, turn it back on. This method will clear out your old IP address and you'll automatically be assigned a new one. If you use another type of how to get cialis Internet connection (dial-up, etc.), you may want to contact your ISP (Internet Service Provider) and ask them about getting a new address. Either way, it's an easy way to keep your information safe.

4.) Don't ever include any personal information in your searches. You may have searched for your own name before, which can be kind of fun, but it's really not all that safe. Every time you put any of your personal data into the search (your name, address, social security number, etc.), you're putting yourself in danger. Doing that makes it very easy for search engines to collect your information and then keep it forever. It could also sometimes lead to identity theft, depending on what you search for. Your information could land in the wrong hands and it could be very bad news.

5.) Always try to perform extra sensitive searches on a public computer. If you ever absolutely need to search for your personal information or any other extremely private data, don't do it on your home or office computer. That may not make much sense, but if you use your personal computer, it's more likely that you'll be logged into another program that could compromise your information. If you go to a computer that you've never used before, you won't have the tendency to log in and your information will be safer. Also, when you do this, make sure you don't log in on the computer you're using. If you accidentally do that, your information will be at risk all over again.

6.) The last one for today is to try and avoid using the search engine that your ISP provides. Your ISP already knows your IP address (and they'll know any new one that you get), so that means they can obtain your information even easier. Then, once you use their search engine, they will be able to collect even more information about you and it will just be bad. Most ISPs do have their own search engine (for example, search.comcast.net), so just steer clear of those. It's nice to think that we can trust our ISPs (and I mean, most the time, we can), but you really have to worry about protecting yourself first.

There you have it. Six tips you can follow to keep all of your search information as private as possible. Now, I know that some of you may not think it's necessary to do all this, but I wanted to give you options just in case you thought it was worth while. It doesn't hurt to try, right?!

Are you one of the many who use a flash drive these days? I mean, really, how can you resist? They are so simple to use and just as convenient as can be. So, tell me, when you go to remove your flash drive from how to get cialis without prescription the USB port it's in, how do you do it? Do you just yank it out of there and go on with your day? If you do, that's not really the proper way to do it and if you keep doing it that way, you could end up ruining your flash drive. Well, lucky for you, I have come bearing instructions on how to properly remove a flash drive from your computer.

There are actually a couple different ways you can do this. I suggest that you read through them and choose the one that you feel the most comfortable with. The first one has a few less steps than the second, so we'll start there. When you're ready to take your flash drive out, double click on the My Computer icon on your desktop and find the drive that your flash drive is listed under. (It will usually be listed under a "Removable Disk" letter). Right click on that drive and choose Eject. You can then remove the flash drive with no risks of ruining anything.

The second way is to use your Safely Remove Hardware icon, located in your bottom system tray. Double click on that icon (it's a little green arrow with a little gray disk underneath it). Highlight the choice that says "USB Mass Storage Device" and click on the Stop button. Next, find the entry for your flash drive and click on it so it's highlighted. Click OK. You will then see a little pop up window in the bottom of your screen telling you that it's now safe to remove the hardware. Once you see that, you can remove the flash drive and go on your way. As you can see, both ways are very easy to do, but you need to make sure you do at least one of them, in order to keep your flash drive safe!

From time to time, I have found myself needing a program for making graphics and pictures. I used to try and use the Paint program that comes with Windows, but I almost always find it to be lacking in features. Because of that, I have been looking for a paint program that has a lot more options and features. After looking for awhile, I came across a free program called Paint.NET. And let me tell you, this program has everything I could ever want! It's easy to use, it's easy to install and did I mention it's free? Let's check it out!

First, just take a look for yourself. This is what the Microsoft Paint program looks like:

Kind of boring, huh?!

Well, this is what Paint.NET looks like:

That's much better! Also, Paint.NET has support for layers, unlimited undos, special effects and a wide variety of useful and powerful tools. An active and growing online community provides friendly help, tutorials and plug-ins as well. You just can't beat it! From their site:

Paint.NET is free image and photo editing software for computers that run Windows. It features an intuitive and innovative user interface with support for layers, unlimited undo, special effects, and a wide variety of useful and powerful tools. An active and growing online community provides friendly help, tutorials, and plugins.

It started development as an undergraduate college senior design project mentored by Microsoft, and is currently being maintained by some of the alumni that originally worked on it. Originally intended as a free replacement for the Microsoft Paint software that comes with Windows, it has grown into a powerful yet simple image and photo editor tool. It has been compared to other digital photo editing software generic soft tabs cialis packages such as Adobe® Photoshop®, Corel® Paint Shop Pro®, Microsoft Photo Editor, and The GIMP.

You can download Paint.NET for yourself right here. Enjoy!

Q:
What are those mini CDs I keep seeing everywhere? Are they any different from the regular sized ones? I know this may seem like a silly question, but I don't know much about them. Please help!

A:
Nope, no silly questions here! We're here to help you and you can ask us about anything you please. Besides, this question is not silly at all. I'm sure you're not the only one out there wondering about mini CDs. It's the perfect way to help everyone all at the same time. Let's get started!

So, you've probably seen them, but have you ever used a mini CD before? You know, they're the ones that look just like a normal sized CD, but they are much smaller. They are becoming more and more popular these days and more companies are starting to use them for their software programs, etc. They are also used for a lot of the computer games that are available today. You can see the size difference in the screenshot below:

So, they may look really cool, but you might be wondering generic cialis review how you're supposed to use them. How can they work in your computer's CD ROM drive if they're so small? Well, it's simple really. You use them just like you would a bigger CD. Each CD comes with a small hole in the middle, so you just have to place that hole over the correct opening on your CD ROM tray.

Some CD trays even have an indentation where mini CDs can go. You just place it right in that inner circle and push the tray in. It will work just the same as it would if it were the bigger size. Mini CDs come in various formats as well. The normal size is an 80 mm disc, which can hold about 21 minutes of music or 180 MB of data. There are also some enhanced density versions that will hold about 34 minutes of music and 300 MB of data.

How cool is all that? Have you gone mini yet?!