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Depth of Field
If you find yourself asking what in the world is "depth of field," don't worry, you're not the only one. Even if it sounds like something professional photographers use while they fire up their big bad expensive cameras, depth of field is something all photographers can use.
Here is an example. You are taking pictures of your daughter at the Eiffel Tower (if you happen to be in France!) while on your vacation, but the constant movement of crowds in the background stops the picture from gaining the impact it should have in that moment. Worry not! When you get home, you can fix all of that right up. If you're interested, read on.
In the picture above, you can see the girl in a red cap who seems to be lost or waiting for someone. However, the impact of the moment in the picture is lessened by the group of people surrounding the girl. What we need to do here is put the entire focus on the girl.
To do this, normally you would have to know what aperture to use on a camera. However, you can also artificially lower the depth of field by using Photoshop. (Good ol' Photoshop!)
First, open the image in Photoshop and create a duplicate layer of it.
So, now we have two layers with the same image on it. On the duplicate layer, apply a Gaussian blur filter. (Filter, Blur, Gaussian Blur).
The amount of filter varies according to the intensity you desire. Play around with it to get your desired effect. Since the other people are close to our "target," I have used a Gaussian blur setting of 3.3. Your image should look blurry now.
Now, let's add a reveal all layer mask on the duplicate layer. To do this, go to Layer, Add Layer Mask, Reveal All. Go ahead and select the brush tool and choose a soft brush, but one that is big enough to paint the girl.
Next is the key part. With the layer mask selected, use the paint brush to paint black color on the part of the picture in which you want the focus (in this case, the girl with the red cap). To make the depth of the field more realistic, you can change the opacity of the paint brush so the effect easily blends in.
It is also a good idea to zoom into the picture so you can get the edges with perfection. As you continue painting the focused image, the object (the girl) will reveal itself. This is the image that I ended up with.
As is obvious, the girl has a more cemented place in the picture and the eyes of the viewer can focus on the girl without any direct interference from the people in the background. As is demonstrated, this technique works effectively in separating an object from the flurry of activity or other objects in the background.
Have fun!
Q:
What does the term "Ping" mean?
A:
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 pong!
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Q:
Have you heard anything about a service called Google 411? If you have any information on it, please share it with us! Thanks!
A:
But of course! The service is called Google 411, but it is also known as Google Voice Local Search (that's a more technical name for it if you couldn't tell!) So, what can Google 411 do for you? Well, let's find out!
Google 411 is basically a service that allows you to search for local businesses through a phone line. With it, you can search for a business by either its name or just simply by a category. For example, if you're trying to find a pizza restaurant, you can search by the actual name (for instance, Pizza Hut) or you can search just by the word "pizza." If you want to find a hair salon, you can either search by the company's name or by the words "hair" or "salon." And you do it all with a phone!
To try Google 411, all you have to do is enter in this phone number on any phone: 1-800-GOOG-411, which is also 1-800-466-4411. You can do this from a home phone, a cell phone, etc. It doesn't matter, as long as you're using a working telephone.
Once you dial the number, you will hear a man's voice. He will ask you for your city and state and you just have to speak them into the phone. For example, I just tried this and I said "Toledo, Ohio." The recording will then go on to ask you for the business' name or a category you want to search under. So, keeping with my example above, I said "pizza" into the phone and Google 411 gave me the top 10 results for Toledo. There was everything from Papa John's to Pizza Hut to Inky's (a great pizza place in Toledo!) It gave me the option of starting over at any time as well. Pretty cool, huh?!
When you search by a category, listen for the result you're looking for and then just type in the appropriate number and Google 411 will automatically connect you to that business. And don't worry, all the connect charges are free too. That goes along perfectly with the toll free number, don't you think?! Now, if you're using a cell phone to do this, you can also receive a text message with the information if you'd like. This works along with the Google SMS service that's been around for awhile now. So, if you prefer text messages, just say "text message" into the phone and you can go on getting your information that way.
Like I said before, Google 411 is a free service, but depending on your phone service provider, standard phone charges may apply. This goes for text messages too, depending on what your cell phone provider's rules are.
Check it out today!
Disable Aero Snap in Windows 7
Anyone familiar with Windows 7 knows that if you drag a window to either the top or sides of your screen it'll "snap" into place and expand accordingly.
...but what if you don't want it to snap? What if you think it's annoying?
Let's learn how to disable Aero Snap in Windows 7, then!
Just type "Ease of Access" into your search box. (Located directly above when you click your Start button)
In the resulting window, scroll all the way to the bottom and click "Make it easier to focus on tasks".
Now scroll down in this window and under the "Make it easier to manage windows" heading put a check mark next to "Prevent windows from being automatically arranged when moved to the edge of the screen" and click OK.
Now Aero Snap is disabled! If you ever want to turn it back on, then just repeat the above steps and un-check the box!
Less snapping; it's a good thing!
Stop the Screen-Saver
File this one under the “duh†category, because I should
have thought of it sooner. The other day I was reading something on my
computer monitor and taking some regular ol' pen and paper notes when my
screen saver popped on. I moved my mouse and continued.
A few minutes later it happened again...
Frustrated, I went in and turned my screen saver off, but by the
time I got back around to taking notes again I had lost my place. I
wondered if there was a way that I could keep the screen saver from
taking over without having to go in an turn it off every time.
Well, there is!
Just click the Start button and leave the start menu open.
That'll prevent your screen-saver from taking over!
How To Set Up a Windows Firewall Exception
Setting up a Windows firewall exception is a fairly simple process. First, lets begin with a definition: A firewall is a program inside Windows that helps in protecting against hackers, viruses, worms and other malicious software that may harm your computer. Firewalls also aid in preventing the aforementioned pieces of malware from gaining access to your computer and allowing others to view sensitive information. Just as a firewall helps protect your computer, it also helps in stopping your computer from sending out anything that could potentially harm other computers as well. When you connect to the internet the signal goes from the internet through your firewall to your computer, and the opposite occurs when transmitting a signal from your computer to the internet.
Many programs will run more efficiently, or faster if they are not blocked by your windows firewall. You must be careful of which programs you allow access, however, as you could contract a virus. Make sure any program you decide to allow access through your firewall is a program you trust and does not have malicious content, like torrent programs.
By allowing programs to pass through your firewall they will no longer be scanned for known virus definitions or file extensions that could potentially pose a threat to your computer. An example of a commonly allowed low-risk program to set an exception for would be a game. Most games are safe to allow through and this will generally increase performance because the game will no longer be filtered by the windows firewall.
There are two different methods of allowing programs to bypass your windows firewall. The first, and most commonly used, is setting up an exception that will allow the program to bypass the firewall only when necessary. This is the more secure method of the two options available to you. The second method is to open a port directly to what you want to bypass the firewall. This is very risky, unlike an exception, which only bypasses the firewall when necessary. Leaving a port open will stay open until you close it manually.
The method used in set up of a windows firewall exception will be based on Windows Vista, however the process is similar in other Windows operating systems, too.
How To set up A Windows Firewall Exception:
A.
1.) Click the Start Menu
2.) Click the Control Panel
3.) Click on Windows Firewall
4.) Click on Allow A Program Through Windows Firewall in the upper left hand corner.
5.) You will get a prompt asking for administrator access. Click Continue. If you are not logged into an administrator profile, you will need to log out, and log back in under and administrator profile to continue.
6.) Check the boxes of any programs you would like to set up a windows firewall exception for, and click OK. If the program you want is not located in this list then continue to step 7.
7.) Click Add Program
8.) Scroll down, select the program and click OK. If it is not listed yet again then continue to Step 9.
9.) Click Browse
10.) File the executable (the file that allows you to open the program) on your computer. Select it, and Click OK. This adds the program to your list of programs.
11.) Click OK again, now your exception is set up. You can now close everything out as everything you need to set up your windows firewall exception is finished.
B.
If you wish to open a port, additional steps are required. This is more advanced, so if you are not totally sure of what you are doing it is not recommended to leave a port open.
1.) Follow steps one through five as listed above.
2.) Instead of clicking the check box of the program you want an exception to, or clicking Add Program to add manually a program you will need to click Add Port.
3.) Insert the name of the program.
4.) Insert the port number you wish to leave open.
5.) Select TCP or UDP
6.) Select OK
You may also select scope to change the access to either any computer on the network, or internet. You can select only those computers on your network (subnet), or select a customized list.
Remember, by allowing programs directly to bypass the windows firewall you are subject to harming your computer, so be very careful which programs you set up exceptions for. If an exception or open port is no longer needed ,you should close the port or delete the exception right away. This will then require that it communicates through the windows firewall just as it did before you set up the exception. With each additional exception made you leave your computer a little more unsecured, so it is important to know which programs have exceptions already set up. You can view this under the programs list as described in step 6 of part A listed above.
Lines by the Number
Sometimes it's just a good plan to have the lines of your Word documents numbered.
They could come in handy if you're trying to communicate with someone about specific portions of the document or maybe they would be useful for your own editing notes.
Whatever the reason, sometimes it's just a good idea to have them and that makes it an even better idea to know how to display them.
With that in mind let's take a look at what's available.
First, if you're using an older version of MS Word then click here to view my tip containing the information you need.
For everyone else let's take a look at where the line numbering options are now located in Word 2007.
You'll need to head over to the Page Layout tab of the Ribbon.
In the Page Setup section you'll see the Line Numbers button.
As you can see, when clicked it offers a variety of line numbering choices allowing you to maximize their usefulness to you.
If you'd like to make changes to the way the numbers are displayed… maybe control which line is the first to display its number or have it number every fifth line instead of every single one… then choose Line Numbering Options.
It will take you to the Page Setup dialog box where you'll need to click the Line Numbers button. In turn, this will take you to the Line Numbers dialog box where you can make your preferred changes.
And that's all there is to it.
A quick click of a button, an even faster choice of how to have Word treat the numbering system and you're all set to go.
Q:
Have you heard anything about a service called Google 411? If you have any information on it, please share it with us! Thanks!
A:
But of course! The service is called Google 411, but it is also known as Google Voice Local Search (that's a more technical name for it if you couldn't tell!) So, what can Google 411 do for you? Well, let's find out!
Google 411 is basically a service that allows you to search for local businesses through a phone line. With it, you can search for a business by either its name or just simply by a category. For example, if you're trying to find a pizza restaurant, you can search by the actual name (for instance, Pizza Hut) or you can search just by the word "pizza." If you want to find a hair salon, you can either search by the company's name or by the words "hair" or "salon." And you do it all with a phone!
To try Google 411, all you have to do is enter in this phone number on any phone: 1-800-GOOG-411, which is also 1-800-466-4411. You can do this from a home phone, a cell phone, etc. It doesn't matter, as long as you're using a working telephone.
Once you dial the number, you will hear a man's voice. He will ask you for your city and state and you just have to speak them into the phone. For example, I just tried this and I said "Toledo, Ohio." The recording will then go on to ask you for the business' name or a category you want to search under. So, keeping with my example above, I said "pizza" into the phone and Google 411 gave me the top 10 results for Toledo. There was everything from Papa John's to Pizza Hut to Inky's (a great pizza place in Toledo!) It gave me the option of starting over at any time as well. Pretty cool, huh?!
When you search by a category, listen for the result you're looking for and then just type in the appropriate number and Google 411 will automatically connect you to that business. And don't worry, all the connect charges are free too. That goes along perfectly with the toll free number, don't you think?! Now, if you're using a cell phone to do this, you can also receive a text message with the information if you'd like. This works along with the Google SMS service that's been around for awhile now. So, if you prefer text messages, just say "text message" into the phone and you can go on getting your information that way.
Like I said before, Google 411 is a free service, but depending on your phone service provider, standard phone charges may apply. This goes for text messages too, depending on what your cell phone provider's rules are. Check it out today!
Stop the Screen-Saver
File this one under the "duh" category, because I should have thought of it sooner. The other day I was reading something on my computer monitor and taking some regular ol' pen and paper notes when my screen saver popped on. I moved my mouse and continued.
A few minutes later it happened again...
Frustrated, I went in and turned my screen saver off, but by the time I got back around to taking notes again I had lost my place. I wondered if there was a way that I could keep the screen saver from taking over without having to go in an turn it off every time.
Well, there is!
Just click the Start button and leave the start menu open. That'll prevent your screen-saver from taking over!
