By Jon Kenton

Q. Over the last year, I became frustrated with the limitations of my point-and-shoot camera and recently bought my first digital SLR camera. I just got back from my vacation where I was trying to capture some of the beautiful landscapes in the Rockies. My results were not quite as I had hoped—either the sky looked great and the mountains dark, or the mountains were perfectly exposed and the sky was white. I thought the exposure systems on DSLRs were supposed to help with this. Am I doing something wrong, or what would you suggest?

A. I can understand your frustration, as the situation you describe is very common and one of the most difficult shots to capture, whether you have a $100 P&S or a $10,000 Hasselblad.

The fundamental issue is dynamic range (i.e., the range in brightness between shadow and highlight). The human eye is an amazing optical instrument; in camera terms, it’s able to resolve approximately an 11-stop range of brightness. Most cameras can only manage around five stops at best—hence the challenge you describe—so a camera can’t always capture what you see. A camera’s exposure system samples values from many points, averaging them to arrive at what it thinks the optimum exposure is. If there is more sky in the frame, it will tend to underexpose the foreground. With smaller amounts of bright sky, the foreground exposure will improve but the sky becomes overexposed, or “blown out.”

There are a few solutions:

1. Your DSLR will have a “bracketing” function. This automatically takes extra shots set above and below the averaged exposure. If the range is not too wide, one of these may hit on a better result.
2. A graduated neutral density filter can be used, which essentially adds sunglasses to half your lens, thus limiting light from the bright sky. You would align the graduated portion with the horizon, and it will help balance the differences. These filters are available in different sizes and amounts of light reduction.
3. Because the photos are digital, you can correct afterwards in software. If you have a tripod, take multiple exposures with different settings and then blend the results to obtain the perfectly exposed image.

Tip: If you want to try to get the best from a single shot, err toward exposing the sky correctly. It’s always possible to recover details from the shadows, but once the sky is blown out, the data has gone forever.

I hope this helps, and that you manage to capture some great landscapes.

Q. My family is dispersed across the country and they have been pestering me to get a computer so we can e-mail. I have been resisting—I’m now 81! My grandson just gave me one, so I have broken down and am learning how to use it. The mouse is my main trouble, as the double-click is hard for me, and that darn arrow is difficult to see. Is there a way to make it easier?

A. What a fantastic thing for your grandson to do. I’m sure you won’t regret it. Your family can also send you photographs, and then there is the Internet to explore.…

Yes, there are things that can help. If you access the control panel (hit the start key on the lower left and click Control Panel), then click Printers and Other Hardware, you will find an option for Mouse, which lets you control how it works. Depending on the version of Windows you have, instructions may vary. Three things should help immediately.

1. The double-click speed can be made slower, usually done with a slider.
2. You can change the style of the pointer using schemes in the Pointers tab. There is normally an option for Extra-Large.
3. Lastly, look for a setting called “pointer trails” under the Pointer Options tab in the Mouse Properties window. This creates a trail behind your pointer as it moves, making it much easier to follow and see.

Trying some of these settings should improve your mouse challenges and make life easier. Good luck, and do stick with it.

Jon Kenton

What’s in a Laptop?

Q. My daughter has just graduated from high school and is off to college in a few weeks. We want to buy her a new computer but are confused by all the options. What would you recommend?

A. Congratulations on your daughter’s graduation; that’s a real milestone. You didn’t mention whether you were looking for a desktop or laptop, so let’s make that simple—get a laptop. It’s smaller, more flexible, and obviously easier to carry.

There are many choices of model and manufacturer, but once you consider the necessary attributes, life becomes simpler. The fundamental attributes are size, weight, performance, processor, memory, storage, and of course price. Everything begins with how it will be used. Certain highly specialized applications require very specific attributes, e.g., high-end gaming demands dedicated high-performance graphics. Keeping things simple, let’s consider two primary usage scenarios: basic entry level and photo/video/multimedia applications.

The attributes that distinguish these scenarios are those affecting performance. A large percentage of computers are used for basic office applications (word processing, spreadsheet, etc.), e-mail, and Web. In this case, almost any laptop would be fine. Processor and memory requirements are low, the standard disk on any entry-level laptop would be capable of storing many thousands of documents, and there would be no need for any specialized graphics. If the laptop were for our second scenario in which photos or videos were to be processed and stored along with many hours of music and (legally) downloaded movies and TV shows, we would need to beef up the performance. A better processor, increased memory and disk space, and a higher quality display would be called for. I am not going to go into details on all the specs, but consider the following guidelines.

                          Entry level           Multimedia
Processor        Any                           Dual core
Memory            1GB min                    2GB min
Disk                 160GB min                 250GB min

The physical characteristics also need to be considered. Small and light is great but tends to be more expensive, and can be difficult to work on a very small screen and keyboard. Large 17-inch laptops have great displays but are bulky and heavy to carry around. Discuss with your daughter whether her laptop will spend all its time on her desk or will go with her from class to class, and then choose accordingly.

There are lots of deals available at this time of year. You could expect to get an entry-level laptop for $600–$750, a higher spec’d multimedia system for $750–$1,200, and the latest and greatest high-performance beast for $1,200 and up.

Talent or Technology?

Q. Can you please help settle a debate with a friend? He has a fancy multilens camera, while I have a good quality point-and-shoot. He says that point-and-shoot cameras are only good for “snaps,” and the only way to get great photos is with his type of setup (he cites pro photographers as his justification). I disagree. Who is right?

A. Oh gosh, now you are putting me on the spot. I am going to walk a fine line along the fence and say you are both right, to degrees. The first thing to know is that great photographs are more about who is behind the camera than which camera is used. Just consider photos taken without the aid of modern electronics—Ansel Adams is but one famous example.

A great photo is first about subject and composition and then about knowing how to use your tool, the camera, to best capture it. It is perfectly possible to capture a stunning photo with a point-and-shoot if you understand its features and limitations. A high-end SLR camera provides greater flexibility and will help you to take pictures, where a point-and-shoot would have difficulty here, e.g., very wide angle or long telephoto, low light, high-speed action, or the need for control over depth of field. Whatever camera you have, learn how to use it, experiment with it, and use its features to help you capture that perfect subject and composition.

By Jon Kenton

Q. My computer is not that old, maybe six to eight months. It is reasonably configured and seemed like a good performer, but over the last month or so, it has become noticeably slower. What can I do?

A. Number one: I hope you have virus protection installed, and that it is a good one that also checks for “Trojans” and “Spyware,” as these can really clog up your PC. Make sure all the virus files are fully up-to-date and scan regularly.

Generally, low performance has two causes: The first is that you are trying to push your processor too hard with complex software. It’s a bit like trying to get your family car to go 150 mph; it’s just too much for it. Second, you are overloading the memory and running out of resources. Using our family car analogy, it’s like loading it up with five people, luggage, and a trailer—it’s going to slow down, right?

There are a few areas you can check to help reduce the load, although it will depend on which applications seem to be slowest.

1. Check your browser’s temporary and history files. Look under options; you should delete and clean these out regularly.
2. Defragment your disks (look under the admin menus). As the disk is used, it becomes fragmented as it creates, copies, and adds and deletes files. Fragmenting will make you computer less organized and inefficient.
3. Look in the bottom-right icon bar. If you have a bunch of software installed, there may be many utilities that are “conveniently” pre-run for you. Individually, they don’t take up much space, but if you have a lot of them, they can add up. Check the ones you need and get rid of the rest.
4. If you know that you need to use an application that is pretty resource-hungry, close down as many other applications as you can.

Bottom line: You may need more memory. If you have recently installed some new software, check the specifications for resource requirements, specifically memory. If you are using a high-end graphics, photo, or video package, you will need at least 1GB, preferably 2GB.

Q. I have lots of photos on my laptop, and it’s tough for everybody to see on the small screen. The viewing angle is really bad, too. Can I use my big-screen TV as a PC screen?

A. Yes, probably. It will depend on your TV and its inputs and your laptop and its outputs. With most current TVs and laptops, there is usually a way. Here is what you should check:

Take a look at your laptop first. At a minimum, it should have a VGA output. It is a D style connector that is used to connect to an external monitor like a desktop PC. Some laptops also come with an S-Video output. If you are not sure which is which, check your manual or look up the specs of your laptop online. If you have one or both of these connectors, you then need to match it to an input on your TV. Again, look in your TV’s user manual and see what it’s got. Some TVs will have a dedicated VGA port (mine does); most should have a spare S-Video input. All you then have to do is connect them with the appropriate cable, set your laptop to use the external monitor, and away you go.

If you can’t find a match between your TV and laptop, there are a couple of other options, although they will require more than a cable. First, there are a variety of converter boxes out there that could help you match your laptop’s VGA output to an input that you do have on your TV. Search the web for “VGA to TV video converters.” Second, if you want to go the high-tech route, you could buy a wireless media player to hook up to your TV. This lets you stream photos, music, and video using the inbuilt wireless card in your PC to the box, which then displays them on your TV.

By Jon Kenton

Q. I had to move with my job, and now live on the opposite side of the country from my family and friends. I would like to use a webcam so I can still get to see them. I am not sure what to buy or how to make it work.

A. Great idea! I have relatives 6,000 miles away in the UK, and use one for the same reason—I have a new baby niece and so far have only met her online! It’s obviously not as good as face-to-face, but it’s the next best thing when you are so far away. There are lots of options for webcams—major brands include Creative Labs, Logitech, and Microsoft. You can find their products at all the big stores, as well as online. They all have various models that have an increasing number of features and corresponding price tags. Just like still cameras, webcams have varying resolutions and quality: some have built-in microphones (a good idea) and some are smaller and more suitable for laptops.

Before you set off to buy a webcam, remember that they will work over your Internet connection. You and whomever you plan on talking to and seeing will need a good, high-speed broadband Internet service—dial-up won’t cut it!

Once you have your webcam installed, you will need to use a service to make your video calls. You will need the same service on both ends. The easiest way to go is with your favorite IM application. Most if not all the common ones now allow video calls—for example, AOL and Windows Live Messenger. Another option that I have used successfully is Skype. Setup with all the services is pretty straightforward, so you should be up and running in no time. Have fun!

Q. I am in the market for a new camera. I have been comparing various features, and the one I am not sure about is image stabilization. What is it, how does it help me, and do I need it?

A. In my humble opinion, the simple answer is “Get it!” I had my first image-stabilized camera over six years ago, and I now wouldn’t consider one without this capability. What it does is try to reduce or remove the effects of hand shaking. There are various methods used, and some stabilize the lens while others stabilize the sensor. The mechanism moves the lens elements or sensor to oppose your movements. It’s not going to help if you are pretending your camera is a cocktail shaker, but for most normal operations, they work really well.

The primary benefits are in the areas of zooming and low-light shooting. The farther you zoom in to your subject, the more any movement is magnified by the distance. One degree of rotation doesn’t sound like much, but at 100 yards, that will magnify to over four feet of movement—at 200 yards, it’s more than eight feet; and so on. Thus, you can see how any shaking is not good for long-distance photos. When shooting in good, bright light, the shutter speed will be high enough to freeze action and, therefore, any effects of camera shake. As the light diminishes, the shutter speed gets slower and the effects of shaking become more pronounced. As illustrated by the issue of zooming, the distance or focal length also plays a part, but for the average medium-angle photo (approximately 50mm), it is commonly felt that a speed of 1/60s is the minimum for hand-held shots without blur. Image stabilization helps by effectively increasing your shutter speed at two, sometimes three stops—that is, you can shoot at 1/15 or even 1/8 without too much blur.

If you really want a razor-sharp photo with long telephoto or low-light shots, then there is no substitute for a tripod; however, image stabilization will really help.

By Jon Kenton

Q. I am sure I must be the last person on the planet with dial-up Internet, but I have finally decided to get a broadband service. I have looked at my local cable and telephone companies who offer broadband, but just heard about Muni Wi-Fi. What is this?

A. Muni or Municipal Wi-Fi is where a city deploys a wireless network across all or parts of its geography. The equipment is mostly outside, and if you are in the coverage area you can gain access inside your home, in the garden, and anywhere else in the city. An independent company usually constructs and manages the network. Some cities offer the service for free; others do charge, but rates can be lower. Here in the Valley, there is a Muni network in Tempe. Chandler and Gilbert are in the works.

Q. I volunteer at a local charity and am putting together a newsletter. All sorts of people have sent me contributions. The pictures and graphics seem to be in loads of different formats: JPEG, TIFF, GIF, PSD, BMP, etc. This is very confusing. Can you explain what they all are and how I manage them?

A. That could be a very long answer, but let me try to give you a quick primer lesson. The first thing you probably already know about images is that they can be very large. This has lead to the development of compression techniques to make them smaller. There are two basic types of compression. One actually removes data, thereby reducing quality; the other does not. They are known as lossy and lossless compression techniques or algorithms; I bet you can guess which is which. Most of the files you will deal with are known as bitmaps. Essentially, the data represents a map of individual pixels, and the value of each pixel is a color. The more colors, the more bits, and the larger the file. The popular formats are:

GIF and BMP, used primarily for graphics, shapes, clip art, logos, etc. BMP is a Microsoft Windows bitmap and is usually uncompressed, creating larger files. GIF, or Graphics Interchange Format files, are limited to only 256 colors and use a lossless compression.

JPEG, now the most commonly known file type and used by all digital cameras, is a lossy format, but can support up to 24 bits of color information per pixel (that’s over 16 million colors). Its benefit comes in a variable compression scheme that can dramatically reduce file size, but at a cost in quality. If you don’t compress too much, JPEG quality is more than acceptable and is overall a very efficient and flexible format.

TIFF is a very high-quality lossless format; however, unless you have a need to keep every last pixel intact and create giant poster-size prints, I wouldn’t recommend using it, as the files are huge!

The PSD file you mentioned is the format used in Adobe Photoshop’s image-editing software. It keeps lots of extra manipulation information along with the bitmap. It’s a must if you are a Photoshop user.

The easy answer to how to manage all these submissions is to ask all your contributors to stick to one format. JPEG would be the best. If you have to convert files, invest in some simple image editing software. Do check that all the basic formats are supported.

By Jon Kenton

Dear Tech Master:
I have had my iPod for about six months now. I have finished loading all my old CDs into my library and have bought lots of music online. I am totally hooked on digital media. I would now like to stop using CDs in my car, and wonder what my options are to be able to use my iPod instead.

Dear Cybermusic Lover:
There are three primary ways to listen to your iPod through your car stereo.

1. FM Transmitters These units contain a radio transmitter that you can program to an unused local frequency. You then play your iPod as usual, tune in your radio, and listen—it’s as simple as that. This solution works fine, but the quality is sometimes not that great. Furthermore, in most major metropolitan cities, it can be hard to find a free frequency slot so there can be interference from overlapping stations.
2. Phono Jacks Many new cars now come ready fitted with stereos that can accept an MP3 player connection via a phono jack/socket (similar to the headphone jack). You may see the socket on the head unit, in the dash, in the glove box, or on the center armrest. If you have an older car, most good after-market units have this feature. Simply connect a cable from the iPod’s headphone socket to the one in the car, set the radio to “aux,” and that’s it! The quality will be much better with this connection.
3. Direct Connect The base connector of an iPod has multiple functions: synchronizing, power, audio out, and control. If your car stereo has an aux function, you can buy an after-market kit that will directly connect into the rear of the stereo. A cable that will plug into your iPod’s base connector will be routed to a convenient location, e.g. dash cubby or center console. The operation is similar to Option 2, but has the advantage of also charging your iPod. Depending on the type of head unit you have, you may also be able to view tracks on the display and be able to control the iPod from the main and steering column controls.

Dear Techno Wizard:
I have recently started using Microsoft Office much more heavily and find myself working on multiple Word, PowerPoint, and Excel documents. I do a lot of combining elements from all three document types and am forever copying and pasting. Is there a way to keep the copied items so that I can reuse them over and over without having to go back to the original?

Dear Copy-Cat:
There most certainly is! It’s called the Office Clipboard. Every time you copy something from within an MS Office application, it is stored in the clipboard. From within any of the applications, click Edit and you will find it. Click this menu item, and the clipboard will open in its own task pane. Once items are on the clipboard, you may paste them either singly or all together into your new document.

Q. We have recently had a new baby girl. Our parents live on the other side of the country and we want to e-mail regular photos. We have had lots of problems with e-mails not sending or not getting through. If they are received, our parents complain that they take forever to download. They only have dial-up. Why are we having so much trouble, and how can we improve things?

A. First, let me congratulate you on your beautiful daughter. I am sure you are taking lots of pictures and capturing priceless memories. Your problem is very common and is a by-product of the modern digital camera. Most new cameras are now capable of outstanding quality as a result of their large image sensors (8–10 megapixels are not unusual). The downside, from an e-mail perspective, is that each photo becomes a very large file—in this example, approximately 2MB. If you attach multiple photos to an e-mail, the size of each e-mail will be 2MB times the number of photos. Here is where you run into your first problem: most e-mail systems have a built-in e-mail size limit (aimed to prevent congestion), usually a maximum of 10MB, sometimes less. If you try to send an e-mail this big, it may be rejected by the network. If they do get through, receiving such a large e-mail on a dial-up line could take nearly thirty minutes. If you are sending multiples, I can see why your parents are frustrated.

Basically, you need to make smaller files for e-mail purposes—640×480 or smaller would be ideal. You want the file size less than 100K, which is one-twentieth of your large photo. There are a few simple solutions:

1. Many cameras have an option to create a smaller (e-mail size) photo along with the large one. Set this option and just e-mail the small version.
2. All image-editing software can create smaller files. Some have automated functions to do this. If not, look for features called resize and compress. Resize to 640×480 or smaller and set compression to medium or below. Check the file size this creates until you hit the value you want. Don’t forget to make a copy of the original, as you don’t want to lose the high-resolution file.
3. Another option would be to subscribe to a photo-sharing site such as flickr.com or something similar. This way, you can download all the photos you want to share and then everybody can view them online. If they want copies, you can e-mail individual files or they can order prints directly from the sharing site.

Q. I have three different e-mails. I access them all over the Web, and it becomes a pain logging on and checking each of them multiple times a day. Is there an easy way to consolidate and automate my e-mail access?

A. Most certainly. I have four accounts and access them all through the same interface. I use Microsoft Outlook. This is a purchasable product but also comes with some of the Microsoft Office bundles. It is also possible to configure with Microsoft Outlook Express. There are fewer options and not as much functionality, but OE is installed free with all Microsoft operating systems.

You will need to know some technical details about your various e-mail accounts and need to come to grips with some jargon such as POP3, IMAP, and SMTP. Your ISP (Internet Service Provider) or e-mail provider will usually have some help files online that will provide you with the necessary information. The Microsoft support site has detailed instructions for configuring both products. Check out these links:

• How to configure Internet e-mail accounts in Outlook: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/287532/en-us

• How to configure Outlook Express 6.0 for Internet mail: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb%3Ben-us%3B171163

If you have a different version of Outlook Express, search the support site for specific instructions. You will also find specific details for configuring popular online e-mail accounts such as AOL and Hotmail. With some reading and a little effort, you will be able to access all your e-mails from the same place.

By Jon Kenton

Q. I have a PC that has served me well for the past three years. but recently it has started to run slower and slower. I use it primarily for general office-type applications, letters, e-mails, etc. I also store music and connect to my MP3 player. I recently bought a new digital camera and download my photos on to the PC. Why is it now going so slowly? Is it broken?

A. Your PC is probably not physically broken, as a hardware problem is usually pretty black and white—it either works 100 percent, or it doesn’t. Performance problems are more likely to be software-related. There are two main reasons for a slow PC. First, you may now be overtaxing it and running out of resources. Second, you may have become infected with a virus, Trojan, or other malware.

First, you need to assess whether it runs slowly all the time or only when you are using certain applications. If you have installed and begun using new applications such as photo-editing software (you mentioned a new camera) and it’s when you run these that everything slows down, you are probably low on system resources—most likely memory. A three-year-old system might be a low configuration, with only 256MB of memory. This would be OK for word processing and e-mail, but even a simple photo-editing program would begin to exhibit speed issues with this limited amount of memory. These days, 512MB should be the bare minimum, and I would recommend 1GB or more if you want to do advanced photo work. Check your system properties, and if it shows less than 512MB, consider a memory upgrade.

If your system runs slowly all the time, even directly after it’s turned on, then you may have picked up a virus. No PC should run without virus protection, so if you don’t have any, run out to your local big-box PC store and buy any of the popular products like Norton or MacAfee. Install the software, run a full-system scan, and let it deal with anything it finds.

If things don’t improve, you may need to use tools to check for Trojans or malware. There are a few freeware products available that do a good job. Check out Spybot Search and Destroy (www.safer-networking.org) and Ad-Aware SE Personal from Lavasoft (www.lavasoftusa.com). Download, install, and run one or both of these, and fix whatever they find. I’d say that 98 percent of the problems I see can be fixed by this stage. If you still have problems, then it’s time to call in a professional.

Q. I use Windows XP and have been hearing about Windows Vista. Should I upgrade to this new version?

A. Vista is much more than just a new version of XP. It has a radically different look and feel, and changes many things XP users will be familiar with. In my humble opinion, I would not upgrade a perfectly good working system just for the sake of having Microsoft’s newest offering. The track record of initial releases of Windows products has not been stellar; XP needed to get to SP2 to fix many issues. Unless you have a burning desire to be an early adopter, I would wait until Vista SP1 appears, and only then if there are features that Vista has that you cannot live without.

Vista does have many new features; unfortunately, there is not enough room in this issue to cover them all (look out for a future article). The most obvious one, however, is the desktop, which has had a total revamp with new gadget tools and transparent windows. Security is vastly improved, and if this is a big concern to you, is probably one of the only reasons for considering an upgrade now. If you buy nearly any new PC, it will have Vista installed, but the bottom line for existing systems is hold off for awhile—at least until SP1.