Thursday, April 3, 2008

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Beta 2.0

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Beta 2.0

Test drive the latest version of Lightroom for free (and risk-free - it runs alongside your current Lightroom installation and does not touch your existing Lightroom catalog):
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Beta 2.0

I absolutely love Lightroom, and am looking forward to checking out the new features:

• Localized corrections — Enhance specific areas of an image for unsurpassed nondestructive flexibility and control reminiscent of the traditional darkroom dodge and burn experience.
• Improved organizational tools — Find the images you need quickly and easily.
• Multiple monitor support — Add an additional monitor to efficiently manage photographic workflow and presentation.
• Flexible print package functionality — Create custom layouts containing multiple sizes of a photograph on a single page.
• 64-bit support — Lightroom 2.0 now takes advantage of the latest hardware architectures with improved memory handling and performance.


by Shelly http://photon00b.blogspot.com

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

HP iPAQ 114 Classic Handheld


HP iPAQ 114 Classic Handheld
By Justin Hartman

Having owned one of the original HP iPAQ PDA’s in the past I was particularly interested to see what the HP iPAQ 114 Classic Handheld could offer. One of the noticeable differences between early first-generation HP PDA’s and this stylish-looking 114 Classic is the weight. My original HP iPAQ was very heavy and was a real burden to carry around with me but the iPAQ 114 Classic weighs a little over 114g which is highly impressive.

The iPAQ 114 Classic is a very attractive PDA and features a plastic, chrome plated front panel with a smooth, slip resistant backing making it a stylish companion to your cellphone. The device features a 3.5-inch transflective TFT RGB color 240×320 pixel touch screen outputting 65,000 colours in 16-bit mode and it’s small enough to carry in your pocket yet big enough to work with great ease.

Connect with ease
The 114 Classic has integrated 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi with WPA2 security as well as Bluetooth v2.0 with EDR allowing you to connect when you want to keep in touch with the people who matter. I must say I found the Wi-Fi particularly useful when lazing about on the couch as I could pop off emails in a snap and go online whenever I needed.

Productivity at your fingertips
The PDA features Windows Mobile 6.0 Classic and features all the necessary productivity applications that you’d expect on a Windows device such as Office Mobile (with Word, Excel and PowerPoint), Office Outlook Mobile, Internet Explorer Mobile and Windows Media Player 10. The only bug-bearer here is that email only synchronises if you have Microsoft Outlook 2000 or later on your PC and it is not compatible with Outlook Express at all.
The iPAQ 114 Classic comes with a mini-USB connector for synchronization and charging so you can always keep those important meetings, documents and email in sync for when you’re not at your desk.

It does Multimedia too
Any good businessman needs to balance work and life with digital entertainment. With the HP iPAQ 114 Classic you can listen to music and watch videos with Windows Media Player Mobile. Added to this you can also view, share, and manage your photos with HP Photosmart Mobile and play pre-installed games or download your favourites from the Internet.

Power and Storage
The Marvell 624Mhz processor gives satisfactory response time and coupled with the 64MB SDRAM for running applications I found very little lag when opening up the various applications. There is a standard 256MB Flash ROM drive which gives you around 190MB to store additional applications and documents on the device but it has an added SD card slot so you can upgrade your storage at any time.

There is a removable/rechargeable 1200 mAh Lithium-Ion battery and between the battery life improvements in Windows Mobile 6.0 and the power saving properties of the new Marvell processor, battery life on the iPAQ is outstanding. By playing high-end video on it to test the longevity, the iPAQ 114 Classic finally died just past the four hour mark. Standby time on the device is just as good and I’ve had our review unit on standby for more than a week now.

What’s in the box
HP iPAQ 114 Classic Handheld
1200 mAh Lithium-ion battery
AC Charger
Mini-USB Cable
Stylus
Attractive Leather Case
Setup Assistant, Software and Documentation

Conclusion
The HP iPAQ 114 Classic Handheld is a great device and the new processor and Windows Mobile 6.0 improves overall performance on an often sluggish operating system. I can really see the value in businessmen owning and using this device as it not only syncs important data between the PDA and PC but it also provides all the right productivity tools so you can work while being mobile. That said I think it does lack phone functionalities and it’s not my personal choice when it comes to a multimedia device. Cellphones have advanced greatly over the last couple years and I really feel the iPAQ 114 Classic would be a winner if it had cellphone functionality. If multimedia is your thing then I’d rather buy an 8GB iPod Touch. Comparatively the PDA and iPod Touch are about the same price but the Touch has a better output and is made for multimedia.

Get a second chance to pass your Microsoft Certification exam

Get a second chance to pass your Microsoft Certification exam—free offer!Due to popular demand, the Second Shot offer has been extended through June 30, 2008! For a limited time, you can take advantage of this free offer—a second shot at any IT professional, developer, project manager, or Microsoft Dynamics certification exam. Just register for this offer before your first exam, and you will get two chances to pass. But this offer won't last forever

For more information:
http://www.microsoft.com/learning/mcp/offers/secondshot/default.mspx

Free E-book: Windows Server 2008 and Windows Power Shell scripting



Free E-book: Windows Server 2008 and Windows Power Shell scripting. Microsoft Press books help you improve your expertise on Microsoft products and technologies.

This e-book includes excerpts from two recent publications from Microsoft Press: Introducing Windows Server 2008 by Mitch Tulloch with the Microsoft Windows Server Team (ISBN: 9780735624214):

This e-book covers Windows Server virtualization, managing Windows Server 2008, Active Directory, Terminal Services, and failover clustering. Microsoft Windows PowerShell Step by Step by Ed Wilson (ISBN: 9780735623958): This e-book includes an overview of Windows PowerShell, how to use Windows PowerShell cmdlets, and how to take advantage of PowerShell providers.


Additional chapters from Introducing Windows Server 2008 will be added periodically, so be sure to come back.


For more information: https://www.microsoft.com/learning/windowsserver2008/default.mspx

How to Disable Menubar in Windows Vista Explorer?

In Windows Vista, “Menubar” in Windows Explorer is disabled by default but you can enable it from “Organize -> Layout -> Menu Bar” option in Explorer.
Sometimes users face a very strange problem, no matter what option they choose the menubar is always displayed. Even they uncheck the option to show menubar, it doesnt work and they find no way to disable the menubar in Explorer.



If you are also one of those ppl who are facing this problem, then you have come to the right place. Actually its a known bug in Windows Vista. It happens when you disable “Show preview and filters” option.
Don’t worry, just follow these simple steps and you’ll be able to enable / disable menubar in Explorer:

Method A

1.
Open My Computer and goto “Organize -> Folder and Search Options“.
2. Now enable “Show preview and filters” option as shown in following screenshot:



3. Apply it and your problem will be solved.

Method B

1. Type sysdm.cpl in RUN or startmenu search box and press Enter.
2. Now goto “Advanced” tab and click on “Settings” button in “Performance” section.
3. Now enable “Show preview and filters in folder” option as shown in following screenshot:



4. Apply it and it’ll fix the problem.

Free Support for Windows Vista SP1 Installation


For those who encounter problems when upgrade to Windows Vista SP1, here is a good news for you. Microsoft is giving away free support for Windows Vista SP1 issues. The unlimited installation and compatibility support is available at no charge until March 18. 2009.
There are 3 support options:
Email, Online Chat and Phone. Currently, email support response time is 1 business day. Online chat waiting time is over 60 minutes(!). The phone support is only available for users who have software assurance agreement, TechNet/MSDN subscrition, or Microsoft Partner Program.

Oh, the free support is for U.S. users only. (duh!)