Easypano Tourweaver 1.00 Press Release

Author: Anonymous

Source: free-articles



November 4, 2003: Panorama Technologies Corporation Ltd., the world's leading developer in panorama stitching and virtual tour creating software, today announced a new software application named Tourweaver to make it much easier to create professional virtual tour in a faster way for website construction and multimedia design.



Developed as a Windows 98/Me/2K/XP application for virtual tour creating, Tourweaver ulteriorly performs the client needed features to produce multimedia virtual tours which are ready for viewing with or without web-based panoramic viewers.



Tourweaver has answered the top needs with a complete virtual tour publishing solution to satisfy the widest range of uses. Following is only a part of the new features:

1.
Full individualization: Tourweaver could enable you to customize a virtual tour of your own style. It provides the user full freedom to make your conceived tour come true.

-
Visually customize the skin;

-
Adjust FOV, Pan, Tilt for each scene.

2.
Easy to use: Tourweaver is an easy-to-use virtual tour creator. Even you are new in virtual tour, it could guide you to build a surprising tour with no special training.

-
Viewer skin templates available;

-
WYSIWYG

3.
Multimedia demonstration: Tourweaver has the unparalleled path feature designed for virtual tour multimedia demonstration.

-
Preset the timing and walkthrough

-
Transition effect

4.
Multiple navigating options: Pick your favorite way to display the virtual tour interactively, either hotspot or floor plan or any other options.

-
Support multiple hotspots

-
Interactive map with compass effect available

5.
Extensibility: Users are free to extend Tourweaver with API (application programming interface).



Tourweaver has a broad multimedia applicability and need no special hardware to work with. To prepare the original images to create virtual tours, Tourweaver is well suited for use with different software: To get the perfect spherical panoramas to create virtual tours, Easypano Panoweaver or Panotools are recommended; To get the cylindrical panoramas, users could choose Cool 360, Pixmaker, etc.; To get the still images, users could take photos directly or use Photoshop to paint or edit.



The language in Tourweaver 1.0 is English now. While for the convenience of non-English speaking users, German, Spanish, Italian, French and other versions will be ready in three month.



"As the fifth product in the Easypano virtual tour software series, Tourweaver has really included many considerate and easy-to-use new features." Seaman Yu, the CEO of Easypano, said: "I hope Tourweaver could be a compositive resolution for those who had kindly suggested their wished features on our old virtual tour software series."



Below are some of the comments on Easypano Tourweaver 1.0 from beta testers:



Gary Davenport

I have looked at the software for a short period of time. It is clearly a vast improvement over Virtual Tour EXE and seems very production friendly

for VR developers. The design of Tourweaverseems quite straightforward and easy to use both as a developer and user. I think it should succeed in helping customers to quickly create tours that provide both a professional 'look' while providing ample customization features. The ability to integrate hotspots is excellent and valuable.



Dylan McLoughlin

Tourweaver looks very good and I think you are doing excellent work to advance your company. Excellent- the path section is absolutely Brilliant, I have wanted this "record path" concept in a pano for years. Thank you so much for this. Ohhh I absolutely love love love this "record Path/zoom feature"more than anything by far in the whole program, by far!!!!!!!!!! You have created the most brilliant thing to come along in panorama image making with this record path/record zoom with this timeline feature. You guys hit the target, brilliant!!!!!!!!



Brian Jackson

First impressions of Tour Weaver are very positive thus far. The ability to control the "skin" and overall look and feel of the tour are very welcome features.



For more information about Tourweaver, please visit www.easypano.com or email to support@easypano.com. Trial versions could be downloaded from Easypano website and other famous download sites.



ยกยญยกยญยกยญ



About Panorama Technologies Corporation Ltd.



Panorama Technologies Corporation Ltd. (Collectively, Easypano) is one of the world's leading developers and marketers of virtual tour software. Easypano has penetrated the global marketplace through advanced Internet distribution and strategic partnerships with manufacturers and developers. In the past 3 years, Easypano has already developed reputable clients and partners in the field of panorama across the world.



Easypano, Tourweaver, Panoweaver, PTViewer Scripter, Virtual Tour EXE, Batch Wizard, Modelweaver are the trademarks of Panorama Technologies Corporation, Ltd. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

JFlashPlayer Provides Java Developers With Ability to Interact With Macromedia Flash Animations

Author: Anonymous

Source: free-articles



Sterling, VA May 27, 2004 -โ€" Software development company Vermalt LLC today announced the availability of JFlashPlayer 1.2, a Java application program interface (API) that allows Java developers to play and control Macromediaโ„ข Flash animations within Java programs.



JFlashPlayer allows programmers to quickly add Flash animations to their Java application development for Microsoft Windows, helping to improve the end user experience with advanced animations, and add to the professional appearance of an application. With the complex capabilities of Macromedia Flash, developers can design anything from data entry forms to interactive multimedia programs.



By utilizing JFlashPlayer, developers programmatically control the Flash player interface, including the following functionality:

โ€ขListen to Flash events (FSCommand Flash action)

โ€ขSet and retrieve Flash variables

โ€ขCall frame actions

โ€ขControl animation (play, stop, back, forward, rewind)

โ€ขSet loop (on or off)

โ€ขSet animation quality

โ€ขSet background color



Additionally, JFlashPlayer allows programmers to automatically install the required version of the Flash player, making a Java program with JFlashPlayer more widely usable. Developers also have the option to display alternate images, including Java-loadable image such as jpg and gif files, if the necessary Flash player is not present.



โ€œVermalt designed JFlashPlayer to function as an easy-to-use Java API that brings together two of the most popular development environments currently available,โ€ said Rick Airhart, director of business development for Vermalt. โ€œWe listened to our customers who wanted to provide more than animated GIF's as a crude multimedia experience. JFlashPlayer delivers Flash animations that can interact with the end-user and the underlying Java code.โ€



JFlashPlayer works in Windows 95, 98, Me, NT4, 2000 and XP. It has been tested with JRE (Java Runtime Environment) 1.3.1 and 1.4. Full documentation and sample code are available in the trial edition. More information can be found at http://www.javaapis.com/jflashplayer.



Vermalt LLC provides several Java APIs through its site JavaAPIs.com, including JTray and JDUN, which extend the functionality of Java products on Windows operating systems. More information on Vermalt's Java API offerings can be found at http://www.javaapis.com.



Copyright 2004 Vermalt LLC. All rights reserved. Java and all Java-based trademarks and logos are trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. JavaAPIs.com is independent of Sun Microsystems, Inc. All other trademarks are the sole property of their respective owners.

Free and Open Source Alternatives to Photoshop

Author: Martin Bloughkinski

Source: articlesbase.com



For any web designer, Adobe Photoshop is a accept to on any ambition list. Photoshop comes with a aggregation of appearance that acquiesce aberrant and able photo editing. But the acumen abounding designers do not use Photoshop is artlessly the price, which can be too expensive. Fortunately for designers, there are abundant accessible antecedent and absolutely chargeless programs out there that do as abundant as Photoshop if not more. Doodlekit is a absolutely hosted online chargeless website architect and CMS (Content Management System) that helps you body a claimed or business website. It’s absolute for anyone from first-timers to avant-garde web developers and web designers. Unlike added website architect tools, Doodlekit is all online. You don’t charge to install any software on your computer, and you can use it from any computer, anywhere in the apple that has internet access, at any time. One Photoshop acting is Gimp. GIMP is abbreviate for “GNU angel abetment program.” GIMP is one of the oldest and a lot of accepted alternatives to Photoshop. GIMP does not accept all of the appearance that Photoshop has but you will acquisition the majority of appearance there. GIMP has a ample association of abutment and it is aswell cantankerous platform. Cinepaint is about advised accurately for video and it is generally activated to accomplish activated affection films by above studios. Like Photoshop it has abounding capabilities and as a photo editor it can ability allegiance of up to 32 bit color. Communities of web designers aswell use Krita as a Photoshop alternative. Krita is accepted for its simple acquirements ambit and in 2006 won the Akademy Award for Best Application. Krita is a little beneath able than GIMP and Photoshop, but it aswell has abounding different features. Paint.NET has become the de-facto backup for the accepted MSPaint and has adapted into a absolutely featured accessible antecedent angel editor with ample association of support. To run Paint.NET you will charge Windows. A architecture appliance that was advised accurately for the Mac is ChocoFlop. ChocoFlop is a appealing absolute architecture application. Thought this affairs will not consistently be free, at the moment it is in its beta adaptation and is getting offered for chargeless download. Pixia was originally advised in Japanese and was about alone acclimated for Japanese anime. Today, though, it has been re-designed for English and can be acclimated as an editor in general. It does not accept easiest acquirements ambit out of all of the programs discussed but if you are austere about web design, it is account a shot. Pixia is advised for appliance on Windows. As a web designer, your abridged book may not consistently acquiesce you to use the a lot of ideal architecture programs, but with a little analysis and analytic around, you will acquisition that there are abundant alternatives to Photoshop that any web artist can use to accomplish an accomplished web site.

www.doodlekit.com

Snapfish Breaks the Upload Barrier in Online Photo Processing Now Email in Pictures Directly From Camera Phone or Computer

Author: Anonymous

Source: free-articles



SAN FRANCISCO, CA May 26, 2004 -โ€" Snapfish, the leading online photo service, announced today that it will now enable people to upload their images from camera phones as well as computers thru email. Snapfish's newest leap in online photo services also includes new and improved free photo software, and poster sized printing.



Building on its spectacular growth, the industry's best pricing and customer friendly printing and sharing services, Snapfish is the first major online photo service to allow people to email images directly to their Snapfish accounts, bypassing the need to upload through the website. Whether on a computer, camera phone or PDA, people can simply email their images to save@mysnapfish.com. Once images are received and confirmed with a response email, Snapfish simply posts the images in the person's Snapfish account or creates a new one if they've never before used the service. From there, users can share the photos with family and friends or order film-quality prints for as low as 19ยข.



โ€œWe have always wanted to make it as easy as possible for people to share their memories,โ€ said Raj Kapoor President and Co-Founder of Snapfish. โ€œNow we have made a leap in the industry and enabled people to upload their photos by email. People are used to email, used to sending attached images to one another. Now they just add one more recipient to their email and we take care of the rest, whether photos are sent from their computer, phone or other email enabled device.โ€



As a further service enhancement Snapfish now offers powerful new photo management and display software, Snapfish PhotoShow Express, a $29.99 value, for free download. Snapfish PhotoShow Express makes it easy for people to manage and show images on their desktop as well as augment and edit images for sharing and printing. It also raises the bar for photo software by offering a suite of production tools for easily creating multimedia slide shows that are music and special effect enabled. Snapfish PhotoShow Express delivers an amazing suite of organization, editing and multimedia tools:



Organization

โ€ขAuto Album Maker

โ€ขEasy Album Organization

โ€ขAutomated Picture Watcher

โ€ขAdvanced Picture Search

โ€ขMultiple View Sizes



Display and Editing

โ€ขMultimedia enhanced Slide Shows

โ€ขReal 3D Photo Gift Viewer

โ€ขPremium Screensaver Maker

โ€ขWallpaper Maker

โ€ขAuto fix

โ€ขRed Eye Reduction

โ€ขOne step Rotate, Crop, Copy, Delete and Rename

โ€ขAuto-detect and display new images from camera

โ€ขDirect Upload to Snapfish (no need to go to a Website)



Lastly, Snapfish now offers poster printing. In addition to traditional sizes Snapfish will also print images in 4 special sizes, including: 11"x14" for $6.99, 12"x18" for $9.99, 16"x20" for $14.99, and 20"x30" for just $19.99.



About Snapfish

Snapfish is the leading online photo service, with eight million members and more than 200 million unique photos online. Snapfish enables both film and digital camera owners to share, print and store their most important photo memories at the lowest prices - online or off. Digital camera users upload photos into a password-protected online album they can use to edit, share and store their photos for free, in addition to ordering film-quality prints, on Kodak paper, for as low as 19ยข. Customers sending film to Snapfish get a full set of prints on Kodak paper, plus online sharing and storage, for just $2.99 per roll. Snapfish also received the 2003 Rising Star Webby Award as the site demonstrating the fastest growth on the Internet, as measured by Nielsen//NetRatings. Additional information is available at www.snapfish.com.

Get Light Weight and Exciting Features with Cheap Samsung L770 Sliver

Author: Oliver Batham

Source: articlesbase.com



Mobile phones have been part and parcel of everyone’s life. Everyone wants to contact with his near and dear ones. So, keeping cell phone has been the first priority of every person. In current scenario user keep cell phones not only for communication sake but also for entertainment sake and to meet other needs. In this way mobile users can kill two birds with one stone. Latest features of mobile phones have made mobile phones extremely popular among the customers. Cheap Samsung L770 Sliver is sleek, shiny and attractive mobile phone of new era. It is a 3G mobile phone of new era so you can easily communicate with your family members even being in any part of the world. The phone is available in lustrous black coloured casing including silver editing that features a very trendy design. It is light in weight as it has 93grams weight. So it is very comfortable to go with this widget. It has pocket soothing dimensions of 48mm by 14.2mm and 240 pixels by 320 pixels screen resolution. If you have liking for photography, this is right selection for you as it has a 2 mega pixel digital camera which can be utilized at the time of auspicious occasion like birthday party, marriage anniversary, engagement party etc. Camera also plays vital role when you go to trip on some historical place. The memories of that place can be easily captured in your cell phone forever. You can view these images whenever you want. If you want to share these images with your friends, it is also possible with the help of wireless Bluetooth facility that is available with this handset. Cheap Samsung L770 Sliver is equipped with EDGE technology and GPRS to high speed data transfer rates. Its music player can make your life colourful to provide you your favourite music. It is the best cell phone for you in every way.

Oliver Batham has consumed his life on research and innovative tech. presently; he is working on 3 networks which are associated with latest mobile set such as Nokia, LG, Samsung, Cheap Samsung L770 Sliver. For the sake of getting information, visit, http://www.threestores-three.co.uk

Exporting Raster Images from ZWCAD

Author: Jonathan Tang

Source: articlerich.com



There may be cases where you might need to export DWG drawings as raster images so that others can only view them, but not edit them. Formats like JPEG and TIFF are used in this case.

ZWCAD allows you to convert drawings to raster images easily enough with the Export command. We might not, however, find it sufficient when special settings are required. For instance, when you print drawings, we typically set the plot area, plot style, drawing orientation, and so on; these parameters contribute to professional-look printouts. If you want to make exported raster images take on the same appearance, how do you manage it? The answer is to plot it in the same way.

In the Plot dialog box, click the Printer/Plotter Name droplist, and then notice the entry named "Add-A-Plotter Wizard." This guides you through the steps in setting up specific printer configuration.

There are two types of printers available with the wizard, virtual printers and physical ones. The virtual printers are what you need, because they are capable of exporting drawings as raster files in any of the following formats: JPEG, TIFF, PNG, BMP, GIF, MNG, ICOCUR, TGA, PCX, WBMP, JP2, JPC, PGX, RAS, PNM, and SKA.

Some of the more commonly-used formats include the following:
* JPEG - used by digital cameras and for images in Web sites.
* TIFF - used in desktop publishing.
* PNG - royalty-free replacement for JPEG files.
* BMP - Windows format used for icons and desktop backgrounds.
* GIF - used for creating simple animations in Web sites.

If you just need to create JPEG images, then you only need to configure a JPEG virtual printer. Its configuration will be added into the Printer/Plotter Name droplist and then can be used whenever you need it. In a similar manner, any other available type of raster format can be configured as a virtual printer for exporting drawings.

Remember: Printing CAD drawings doesn't just mean "exporting" them to pieces of paper, but also means converting them to raster images for viewing on the screen. In addition to the Export command integrated into ZWCAD, you can also try printing CAD drawings with virtual printers as raster images.

About ZWCAD

As the flagship product of ZWCAD Software Co., Ltd., ZWCAD is a powerful CAD solution, which is highly compatible with DWG format. ZWCAD meets the needs of broad-based target groups of 2D/3D design industry, including architecture, engineering, construction, mechanics, manufacturing and electronics. So far it has become the leading brand in China's CAD industry and now it is competing successfully in over 75 other countries, with more than 150,000 users throughout the world.

For more information, please visit www.zwcad.org or contact ZWCAD team at sales@zwcad.com.

(C) Copyright 2009 ZWCAD Software Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.



Jonathan Tang is author of article written on ZWCAD. He is Technical Engineer of ZWSOFT Overseas Department. For more information, please visit: www.zwcad.org http://www.zwcad.org.

Learning Photoshop: Learn The Difference Between Canvas And Image Size

Author: David Peters -

Source: articledashboard.com



What happens if I change the canvas size? I wish to book my photo as a 5x7 print. Should I change the angel admeasurement or the canvas size?

These are accepted questions a part of beginners who are just acquirements to use Photoshop. Abounding who are just acquirements to use Adobe Photoshop generally are abashed by the differences in the canvas admeasurement and angel admeasurement functions.

The adeptness to acclimatize the canvas admeasurement is just one of the abounding appearance accessible in Adobe Photoshop that puts the user in ascendancy of every aspect of the agenda angel alteration process.

While there is abundant added too it, alteration the canvas admeasurement about creates added plan amplitude by abacus added pixels to the absolute image. There are abounding means you can use the canvas and angel admeasurement functions to accomplish your agenda angel alteration plan easier.

Not alone can you change the admeasurement of the canvas but you can aswell change the canvas color. This action can be acclimated to actualize frames or borders about your images. In addition, there are abounding added added avant-garde techniques for using the canvas admeasurement and angel admeasurement functions.

As with all of the appearance and functions of Photoshop, the a lot of important affair to accumulate in apperception is that you yield the time to apprentice how to appropriately use Photoshop's angel and canvas admeasurement functions afore you jump into a photo-editing project.

Photoshop is not about as difficult to apprentice as abounding ability anticipate but it does crave that you apprentice able techniques. While with abounding bottom superior photo alteration programs you can sometimes get by with balloon and error, Photoshop is not that simple to just jump in and actualize able superior clear plan after some knowledge.

With that getting said, already you apprentice Photoshop there will be no limitations to what you can create.

Websites: Start to Finish

Author: Linda Lullie

Source: articlecity.com



Wanna Website? Better yet, wanna website within your time frame and budget? Choosing the right designer for the job is critical for success. But before you hire, or even interview designers, you need do some “goal-searching”. Defining your scope and educating yourself will help keep delays and disappointments to a minimum.

Every company needs a website which should include their logo, marketing message, location, phone number, and products or services. Your ultimate site may include information collection, product sales, or integration with internal systems. Once you determine what you expect from your website and what functionality you need, you can begin searching for a web designer. Bear in mind the best design professionals act as consultants – understanding your scope, and proposing solutions.

Step 1: Build a “Wish List”

Whether you're creating a website from scratch or updating an existing one, the first thing to do is to identify your goals and objectives. It’s not good enough just to have a website; you should expect tangible results from the investment and setting goals will help you measure your results. Here are some common website objectives. Do you want to:

• Provide information? Many businesses just need services offered, contact information, directions, and hours. This type of website is the least expensive and works for doctors, dentists, restaurants, vets, local stores, pet service providers, and other small businesses.

• Sell your products online? An Ecommerce solution is more expensive, but can yield big profits for companies that offer unique products and can ship them.

• Provide customer support or customer service? Many companies have reduced staff just by including FAQs, Email capability, complaint forum, policies, instructions, troubleshooting tips, use and care info and more on their website. Some solutions include Real-Time chat with a customer service representative.

• Gather data for sales or marketing purposes? Like email messages, newsletters, testing products and services. These features can be added to static and Ecommerce websites.

Once you know the goals, you can address more specific questions:

• Do you need a URL (domain name) purchased?

• Do you need a hosting service for your website?

• What pages do you need to include in your website to meet the goals listed above? (About, Location, Rates, Menu, Services, Products, Customer service, Press Releases, Articles, Sign Up pages, Photo Gallery, Events Calendar, Archives)

• Do you need interactive features? (database connection, order tracking, log-in, calculator, or any feature where visitors would interact with your site)

• Do you have a content writer or do you need to have that service provided?

• Do you need to have photos taken or stock photos purchased?

Your website can be as simple or complex as your imagination and budget. Having your “wish list” will help the designer develop an accurate quote, schedule and resource list.

Step 2: Gain an Understanding

Understanding how a website is created is important. If you’re not educated in the basics, you leave yourself vulnerable, risking a poor vendor choice and unexpected problems.

Website design and development is a two-fold process that involves three parts. It consists of design (front end), what your website looks like (including images and text). Graphic designers concentrate on the front end, choosing appropriate images, fonts, and layout. A good designer has an understanding of what works visually on screen, how a visitor scans a page, and what technical limitations exist for web development. Your designer will rely on you to provide the content – written and visual, or help you find a writer and secure photos as well.

The second part of the process is web development (back end), programming needed to make your site functional. A good web developer will know several programming languages, most importantly HTML (Hypertext Markup Language). This code allows browsers to display images and text. Other code terms you may hear are:

• Javascript – for simple client side interactivity, pop ups, and some animation.

• DHTML – for interactive menu navigation

• ASP and PHP – for customization and interactivity (database connectivity, account information).

• CSS – control the look from a central file.

• Flash – creates interactive menus, tools and animated messages.

The third part to consider is future growth and updates. Most websites should be updated at least three or four times a year. Retail stores may want to change featured items weekly, and Ecommerce sites may need daily updates.

There are three ways to handle ongoing maintenance:

• Your design team makes updates. Typically you’d pay a set monthly fee, or by the hour.

• You make updates. Upgrading to include a content management system would allow edits of text and some images without programming skills. Cost depends on complexity.

• Your staff makes updates. If you have the staff in place or have the budget for an additional person, this option may be cost effective and give you more control.

You may find a combination of these solutions fits your needs. For example, your Ecommerce website allows you to add, change and edit products, but other parts of your site need the attention of a designer.

Step 3: Compare Options

Some firms can provide all the services needed to fulfill your wish list. These types of companies may have a staff of designers, developers, and technical support, or they may outsource portions of the job to another company, or to freelancers. Having your website designed under one roof provides these advantages:

• One point of contact and project management

• Better communication and integration of job elements and phases

• Big picture performance rather than simply completing daily tasks

Many larger companies offer other marketing services, such as email campaigns, search engine marketing, and other programs to help drive visitors to your website. Be sure to ask what additional services are available, whether you think you may need them or not.

Narrow down your choices for design companies – you need to select a group that will complete your project on time and within budget. Start by looking at the designer’s portfolio. Established design companies have a comprehensive portfolio of work on their website. Thoroughly review the portfolio for samples that have the same features you’re interested in (design style is important, but a good designer should be able to create a variety of looks). Features are super important because a company that designs a gorgeous static website may not have the programming capabilities to create a database driven Ecommerce site for you.

Here are 10 Clues that point to a successfully completed design project:

Clue #1: If you’re looking to hire a designer and they don’t have a website… RUN! These days there is NO excuse not to have an online presence for your advertising and marketing company.

Clue #2: If all or most of the samples on a web designers site say “Coming Soon” or “Page not found”… RUN! Obviously they’re probably a company that doesn’t finish projects.

Clue #3: If their portfolio has many samples, but they’re all for the same campaign or company (and one you’ve never heard of)… RUN!! Most likely these are samples done for design school, not real world business.

Clue #4: If their website or work samples have typos, broken links and outdated information… RUN! If they’ve done it before, they’ll do it again.

Clue #5: If you’re interviewing a designer and they don’t ask the three key questions… RUN! Your designer has to have these questions answered: what does the client do, what does the client want done, and what is the project deadline.

Clue #6: If you have trouble getting the design company on the phone, or they’re not answering your emails in a timely and efficient manner… RUN! This is just a foreshadowing of what’s to come when the real work begins.

Clue #7: If you don’t get a price quote (and or printing estimate) in writing… RUN! Verbal estimates are amateur, indicating that that designer is as well.

Clue #8: If the price sounds too good to be true… RUN! It probably is too good to be true. You’ll either never get the final project completed, or you’ll get what you pay for. Get several quotes to see what the ballpark figures should be if you’re new at this. And don’t rely on internet companies as many are in foreign countries making communication impossible, and again… you’ll get what you pay for.

Clue #9: If you aren’t asked to sign a contract… RUN! Do you know what the payment terms are, who owns the copyright, are there royalties or usage limits, and so on. Don’t hire any contractor without some agreement in writing.

Clue #10: If you aren’t asked for money up front… RUN! Think of it as a retainer, and typically, an assurance that your job is taken as a serious priority. If you’ve gotten to this point with your research, a deposit of 30 or 50% shouldn’t scare you.

After looking at samples, check references. Get a minimum of three and ask these questions:

• Were deadlines met?
• Was the company flexible?
• Did they make suggestions?
• What were their strengths?
• What were their weaknesses?
• Would you hire them again?

There are tons of reputable, talented, and yes, affordable creative service companies around. The care you take at the beginning should pay big when you receive a finished project that’s what you expected (or better), that’s within budget, that’s on time, and most importantly, that’s effective at meeting your marketing goals.

Step 4: Getting Started

Your selected website design team will interview you to understand your business, your goals for the site and your budget. They should prepare a project plan with pricing which lays out each step of the project, who is responsible for what, deadlines, included features, pricing, and extras with their costs. A contract is a must! Make sure your contract lists who owns what, the terms, the deadlines, and the method of approving additional charges.

Armed with good information, a well-thought out plan and scope, and answers to some questions up front, your website development should be smooth and painless from start-to-finish.

Mike Butcher appointed as e-consultancy.com ramps up investment in premium content

Author: Anonymous

Source: free-articles



02 December 2002



Mike Butcher appointed as e-consultancy.com ramps up investment in premium content



----Begins----



Mike Butcher, journalist and broadcaster, has been appointed by e-consultancy.com to edit their new weekly newsletter. He is a former Editor of New Media Age and Executive Editor of the Industry Standard Europe.



Following user feedback and research, e-consultancy discovered there was a strong desire from UK e-business professionals for high quality, succinct, informed opinion and analysis of the week's top news stories impacting the UK's digital economy.



e-consultancy.com's current text-only e-mail newsletter goes out monthly to just under 8,000 subscribers and is free. The new weekly version will remain free.



Mike Butcher's appointment confirms e-consultancy.com's ambition to become the UK's number one source of the best e-business information and advice. E-consultancy.com's is stepping up its investment in premium content to attract registrations on the site and to maintain the loyalty of existing senior-level site users and clients.



e-consultancy.com has over 25,000 pages of its own content and over 8,000 registered users, 30% of whom are CEOs, Directors or Senior Management. Mike's appointment is the first of a number of premium content supply deals that e-consultancy.com has signed and is set to announce in the coming weeks.



Ashley Friedlein, Internet author, consultant and CEO of e-consultancy.com's comments:

โ€œWe have no doubt that our investment will repay itself. Our newsletter has always been very effective at attracting and retaining site users and clients. Mike Butcher's appointment takes us up a level in terms of both the quality and frequency of communication we have with our fast-growing user base.โ€



-----Ends-----



----Notes to Editors----



This press release in available in PDF, plain text and Word formats.

Images of the publication, screenshots of e-consultancy.com, and photographs are available of Ashley Friedlein / Mike Butcher upon request.



- Mike Butcher is a freelance journalist (The Irish Times, The Guardian, New Media Age, Broadcast,

Marketing Week, Wired) and media consultant. He is a former editor of New Media (1998-2000) and a former executive editor of the Industry Standard Europe in (2000-2001) and now he also chairs and speaks at industry conferences, and works as a consultant on media and editorial strategy.



- Mike is also the editor of mbites http://www.mbites.com



- e-consultancy (http://www.e-consultancy.com) is an off and online service for UK e-business professionals providing access to the best e-business information and advice. E-consultancy.com derives its revenues both online, through advertising and directory services, and offline, through consulting engagements.



- e-consultancy.com was founded in 2000 by Internet author and consultant Ashley Friedlein and Matthew O'Riordan.



- e-consultancy.com has 25,000+ pages of content and over 8,000 registered users, 30% of whom are CEOs, Directors or Senior Management.



- Ashley Friedlein is the author of Maintaining and Evolving Successful Commercial Web Sites: Managing Change, Content, Customer Relationships and Site Measurement - Ashley Friedlein, December 2002

http://www.e-consultancy.com/book2



To receive advanced review copies, the preface and TOC [available online please email Elemental PR.. More information about the book is at:



More information about the book is at:

Amazon pre-sale of the book:



Shorter Link to Amazon

Shorter Link to the book on Amazon:



The second book on e-consultancy.com:

http://www.e-consultancy.com/book2



----Contact----



e-consultancy.com:

Ashley Friedlein, CEO, e-consultancy.com



e-consultancy.com website:, Email: Email: e-consultancy@elementalpr.co.uk

Address: 129 West End Lane, London, NW6 2PE



Elemental PR:



Tim Gibbon, Account Director, Elemental PR, Email: e-consultancy@elementalpr.co.uk

Direct Telephone: +44 (0)20 8586 5767, Mobile: +44 (0)7930 375663,

Fax: +44 (0)870 1308135, Elemental PR Website



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Which is the Best Mosaic Photo Software?

Author: Jose M. Coffey

Source: ezinearticles.com



All programs have their good points and their bad points and the same stands true for mosaic photo software. If you have taken the time to search the net for any program that can help you to design a mosaic photograph, you might have been boggled by the sheer number of programs available. Which is the best way to determine which one of them is the best? There are some professional image processing programs available that can do just any type of task and they can also be used to create a photo mosaic.

The disadvantage is that these programs are very costly and require a steel learning curve. After all, this program is capable of doing many other things, apart from creating mosaic photographs too and therefore they tend to cost a lot. If you are into photo editing and require specialized software that can undertake editing of your images and also create the occasional mosaic, this one is the best option for you. However, if you just want to dabble with images and make the occasional mosaic photograph, it makes sense to go in for some shareware or some freeware that is capable of undertaking just mosaic image creation if you are not going to use it for any other work.

This way you shall not have to pay too much money. It is strongly recommended that you do not go in for freeware... at least for mosaic photo creation, since it requires complex tasks which are not available in most freeware programs. Once you have located and downloaded the mosaic photo software of your choice, try it out for a few days. If you have downloaded a shareware version like suggested, you might find that certain functions do not work.

You need not be worried and need not think that the software is corrupted. The complete functionality of the program will be made available after you have paid the author its price and have received the activation code. Most programs restrict image color changing and printing functions in their shareware, also referred to as crippleware. Once the software is fully functional, you can use them to create marvelous mosaic images. You just cannot imagine the fun these programs are and how easy it is to work with them.

What takes one week for an artist to do manually can be accomplished in just 2-3 hours with the help of these programs! Their main advantage lies in the fact that they can resize images on the fly and also provide you with various other options like cropping the image, flipping it, creating inverse images of it, creating mirror images of the original and lots, lots more. If a particular image is perfect for a particular segment, but the color is not matching, you can use the eye dropper tool to select the color of the original picture and recolor the small piece accordingly. It is high time you started dabbling with mosaic photo software.

To learn more about Gallery Photo Software visit my website about Computer Photo Software.

Samsung Tocco Lite Takes on the LG Cookie Phone

Author: susan hargreaves

Source: articlesbase.com



Samsung has now entered the budget touch screen mobile phones market with the Samsung Tocco Lite, manufactured under its model number as the S5230 this new handset looks to give stiff competition to LG's KP501 / KP500 Cookie phone. The Samsung Tocco Lite is a downscaled version of the original Tocco F480 and sheds some of its weight as well as adding in some interesting new features, even smile detection has been built into this new Samsung phones camera software which is pretty impressive considering the low price of this new handset. The LG Cookie has been stealing the budget touch screen phone limelight ever since its launch and has already been released in 3 different colour variants including the original black edition plus a pink and more recent silver colour scheme. The Samsung Tocco Lite looks to be following suit with an already planned pink edition on its way, this new Samsung phone has now been launched on O2 pay monthly deals in the UK and is already available from free at just £15 per month. Those not wanting to commit to a minimum term contract will be pleased to hear that the Samsung Tocco Lite will also be available as a Pay As You go phone in the very near future. Proving the popularity of this new touch screen phone, Virgin launched their version just days ago and are already out of stock of both pay monthly and pay as you go Tocco Lite phones. Review: The Samsung S5230 is also known as the Tocco lite Edition. So what makes this mobile phone unique and worth a buy? Stylish design The sleek and slim Samsung S5230 has a very chic design. Available in sophisticated black hue the phone has pocket friendly dimensions of 104 x 53 x 11.9 mm. It is incredibly light weight at 93.5 grams. The face of the phone is dominated by a TFT resistive touch screen that supports 256K colors and has a resolution of 240X400 pixels which is high enough to display vibrantly clear images. The touch screen is massive and is 3 inches wide thus providing great viewing pleasure. It has an accelerometer for auto rotation. Great multimedia prowess The Samsung Tocco Lite has incredible multimedia features. It enables video recording at QVGA resolutions at a speed of 15fps. There is a music player in the phone which supports MP3/WMA/AAC audio file formats. The phone supports Shazam find music service. The phone has an FM radio for getting weather reports, news and entertainment. The FM radio is equipped with RDS facility. The Blue tooth connectivity and USB ports open up unending possibilities for music transfer. The Samsung S5230 is equipped with Dnse-digital natural sound engine- and upholds different formats to enrich sound quality. The speaker phones not only improve the phone’s communication abilities but they also enhance the phone’s audio and video multimedia abilities by providing high quality sound. The phone also allows you to download polyphonic, MP3 and WAV ring tones to pep up life. The Samsung S5230 has a video player which plays popular video file formats like H.263/H.264/MPEG4. The phone supports games including those that can be downloaded from the internet. The phone is not really a camera phone. So it sports a modest 3.15 Mega pixel camera. The camera has a reasonably high resolution of 2048x1536 pixels for enhancing photograph quality. It is endowed with smile detection feature so that snaps are taken only when the subject is smiling. The camera has a built in flash too. Internet attributes The Samsung S5230 Tocco LiteÂhas good mobile internet abilities. Although it does not have 3G HSDPA and Wi Fi it does possess EDGE technology for high speed internet. The browser is equipped with technologies like wap, html and xhtml for smooth internet browsing. High Memory and long battery life The Samsung S5230 has a high memory capacity of 50MB which can be augmented up to 16 GB through a micro SD memory card. The phone is powered by a Standard Li-Ion 1000 mAh battery. The battery offers an amazing stand by time of up to 800 hours and a high talk time of up to 10 hours. Other features The Tocco Lite has GPRS facility for aiding you in navigation and finding way to new locations. It has a USB port for connecting to devices like the PC. It works on a quad band network covering GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900. With its great looks and unique attributes the Samsung S5230 Tocco LiteÂprovides value for money.

The new Tocco Lite and LG Cookie are two of many new touch screen phones to be released this year, for more details please visit our mobile phones website - Phones Limited.

PDF, OCR, and Speech Recognition Solutions from Nuance

Author: Steve Williamson

Source: download



Nuance Software offers all sorts of solutions that can make your business run more smoothly and efficiently. From speech recognition software to imaging, PDF and OCR programs, Nuance has software that can help you get your work done better than ever before.
Nuance, formerly known as SoftScan, is the maker of the famous Dragon dictation systems including Dragon Naturally Speaking and Dragon AudioMining. Dragon Naturally Speaking is the most accurate voice recognition software out there. It's a much as 99 percent accurate in converting human speech into text.
Nuance's Dragon Naturally Speaking can be used with just about any program you might need plain text in, such as Microsoft Word, WordPerfect, Outlook Express, even Internet Explorer and America Online. It allows you to get words down more quickly than you could if you were typing and is easy to use and actually gets more accurate the more you use it.
Nuance also offers one of the world's most popular optical character recognition software packages, OmniPage. OmniPage is simple to use and allows you to convert paper or PDF documents into changeable digital files in three quick and easy steps.
Nuance allows you to convert paper forms into digital forms or turn any paper document into a digital format simply by scanning the document, performing a quick conversion and saving the new file in one of 30 different program formats, including Word, PowerPoint, XML and PDF.
Speaking of PDFs, Nuance also has software that will allow you to instantly create, edit and share PDFs. What's more, you'll also be able to take a PDF and convert it back into the original format document, which will allow you to edit and reformat documents that otherwise you would only be able to read.
Nuance can also help you or your office organize paper and digital documents into an organized document storage system. PaperPort software will help you scan paper documents and store, view, sort and organize their digital counterparts without having to open the associated applications.
PaperPort allows you to search for matching documents and automatically creates an index for any PDF files you create. The professional version of this Nuance software will help offices eliminate paperwork without losing valuable documents. It's like creating an archive of every piece of paper in your home or office so you will always be able to find exactly what you are looking for when you need it, even if its been years since you "filed" that document.
Nuance also offers telecom solutions that can help startup telecommunications companies and other businesses to automate their call centers and provide more value to their customers.
Whether you're part of a telcom company, a small business person or simply someone looking to get more out of your personal computing experience, Nuance has something for you.
Steve Williamson is the owner of Best Software Review, your source for reviews of the top software for your home and office. Shop smarter and run your home or business more efficiently with a little help from http://www.best-software-review.com.

Giclee Printing

The French word “Giclee” was invented to name the process of fine arts on Iris printers, done through an ink jet printing method from a digital source. This word was mainly taken from the French word “le gicleur” which means “nozzle”. To be more specific the word “glicer” means “to spurt” or “spray” through a nozzle. The word giclee was started by a print maker Jack Duganne in 1991. He was a print maker and used to work in a field for representing any kind of ink jet print which is used as fine arts. Giclee prints are often used in print shops and in galleries.

Origin of giclee prints:

Before the use of giclee printing, the methods of ink jet technology were used as an alternative option to serigraphy and lithography. Afterward, the word giclee was invented to describe the methods of digital prints used as fine arts. It was first created on the Iris graphics in the early 1990s with the help of continuous ink jet printers. Iris printers were initially used for producing the prepress proofs from the digital files for the job of colour matching. Gradually, giclee printing developed and became very popular among the publishers, artists, galleries and photographers for the fine art reproductions. Finally, in 2001 the GPA (Giclee Printers association) was formed where a clear distinction was made between a high quality giclee print and lower quality ink jet print. As the demand of art buyers purchasing high quality prints have increased, the concept of giclee print became more popular.

Today’s giclee technology:

Giclee printing has become a big hit among every photographer and artists. This type of printing is mainly used to make reproductions of the original artworks and photographs. This is more expensive than the old process of lithography which was traditionally used to get such reproductions. To get better results than lithography prints, high end archival inks are used. In this type of printing, there is a dot pattern which is not visible to the naked eyes. And its colors are very bright and fade resistant.

Giclee is a technique used on various types of media. For example - canvas, archival adhesive paper, water color paper, etc. The depth of giclee’s prints and its range of colors are far better than those of lithography prints. It has got a higher resolution than any other print. The secret behind this success is the combination of Archival Paper and Archival Pigment Inks, which makes light fastness for 100 years and can be extended up to 200 years in perfect lighting conditions.

Nowadays, whether you’re interested in photography or scrapbooking or creating your own reproductions, you can easily get the art materials in cut sheets available on Internet. This type of print is more popular in today’s world because it provides depth and luminosity which represents the original work better than any other modern printing technique. Because of all these reasons, the concept of giclee printing is very popular among all the professional artists.

About the author:
James Davenport was born in Sheffield, UK in 1974. He has studied photography, art his tory and philosophy. He has a keen interest in digital photography and most of his acquired knowledge has been self taught. He currently lives and works in Sheffield.

Article Source: http://www.Free-Articles-Zone.com

Discover the Difference between Modern Digital Cameras

Digital cameras fall into several categories based on functionality and quality, here are few common terms:

DIGITAL COMPACT

Also referred to as ‘point and shoot’, these cameras are the least expensive and are under £100. They can come with more functionality with a rise in price to circa £400. Compacts are quite small and portable (the smaller ones are the shape and size of a deck of playing cards), and are designed for ‘snapshots’. They should have zoom lenses and built in flashes. Because these cameras are not very dynamic they mostly function on automatic settings to allow picture taking without understanding the depth and complexity of photography.

DIGITAL SLR CAMERA

The term Digital SLR is an acronym for digital single lens reflex. These are larger in build and offer additional manual functionality, e.g. isolating the shutter speed or aperture settings for greater control. True SLR cameras have interchangeable lenses which are required for different photography subjects.

Amateur SLRs

Usually supplied as a kit, it would include the camera body and a selection of commonly used zoom lenses, and sometimes other useful gadgets depending on the manufacturer. Prices range from £450-£900. These are great for learning the basics by giving the amateur photographer a dynamic range of auto and manual functions to progress and build confidence.

Professional SLRs

Professional cameras are expensive because they are on the cutting edge of technology. The term ‘professional digital SLR’ refers to the camera body only and not lenses or kits. Prices for camera bodies can range for £2000-£10000 (and beyond) depending on the professional field of the photographer and camera manufacturer.

LENSES

Zoom lenses are measured in millimetres and have an aperture setting alongside such as f2.8 or f4.0-f5.6. Lenses with small aperture numbers are known as fast lenses. Commonly used zooms are 24-70, 70-200, and 100-300. These lenses are very useful because the zoom allows your image to be framed and composed standing on the spot without having to move closer or further from the subject. Compare these to Prime lenses which have a fixed focal length. However the zoom functionality is known to have a degrading effect on image quality which is why prime lenses are the preferred choice for photographers who do not require zoom functionality. General zoom lenses range from £400 for basic ‘glass’ and up to £1400 for quality ‘glass’. The difference in quality is clear. Lenses used for professional sports photography or wildlife can be as much as £8000 and beyond!

About the author:
Sam Qam (Wedding Photographer Edinburgh) has a passion for providing Wedding Photography Edinburgh.


Article Source: http://www.Free-Articles-Zone.com

SKALI.COM's ONE-STOP DOWNLOAD SITE CREATES HUB FOR ASIA'S SOFTWARE DEVELOPERS, ENHANCES INTERNET'S USERS EXPERIENCE

Author: Anonymous

Source: free-articles



Kuala Lumpur, April 25: In yet another move to enhance Internet users' experience while surfing the Net, Skali.com(www.skali.com), Asia's leading e-info portal recently introduced a software download channel, making it one of the few Internet players in Malaysia and Asia to offer the widest range of downloadable applications on the Web.



For software developers and applications and service providers (ASPs) in Asia particularly, the channel creates a ready, centralised and high traffic platform to market their products.



On average, more than 2 million cyber visitors log on to Skali.com each month, namely from Malaysia and the Asia region. The site has a popular following in some parts of the United States and Europe.



Called Skali Downloads (http://downloads.skali.com), the channel to date comprises more than 2000 softwares downloadable from 100 categories of various applications. These softwares are grouped under : Business and Productivity Tools, Developers Tools, Drivers, Education, Games, Home and Personal, Internet and Networking, Utilities, Multimedia and Design and Operating Systems.



By clicking on the Business and Productivity Tools category, for instance, one is able to download such programmes relating to Database Management, Inventory Systems, Spreadsheet and Project Management.



Under its Utilities categories, downloading options range from antivirus, backup, file and disk management and file compression programmes, whilst its multimedia and design category offers downloads on animation, image editing, MP3 and videos.



The channel's user-friendly features alert individuals, professional and businesses users of new softwares while its Top 10 downloads in each category keeps users abreast of popular programmes and applications.



Says Aimi Aizal Nasharuddin, head of Skali.com, "The decision to create this unique channel on our site is obvious as software downloads is one of the most sought after features amongst Internet users."



"Skali online community and its visitors now have access to a one-stop centre to find the software of their choice, on a free-of -charge basis, on a trial basis and on an upgrade basis."



" We take pride in being able to offer Internet users this value-added resource, which we believe will work towards encouraging more traffic to Malaysia and growing the online community of Skali," says Aimi.



The Skali Download channel adds on to the site's existing nine channels and its Asia-centric wide-ranging contents of more than 1,200 pieces of real-time updated news, feature articles, business reviews, trade leads and press releases daily.



"We aim for Skali Downloads to become the hub for software developers in Asia and to provide the most comprehensive downloadable softwares in the region by continually upgrading the quality and quantity of programmes and applications," says Aimi.



"To achieve this objective, we have embarked on a series of partnerships with various Internet software developers, applications and service providers (ASPs) to offer Internet users the variety and choice of the latest softwares available in the market today."



Skali.com's capability to aggregate thousands of softwares and applications is not an easy feat as this mammoth task requires superior capabilities in infrastructure, high bandwith to ensure high speed access, and content management expertise.



This need is currently being provided by Skali.net (http://www.skali.net ), the services arm of the Skali Group and a leading provider of ready-to-use Internet infrastructure and one-stop-to-dot com business solutions in Malaysia and Asia.



Storage of softwares in Skali Downloads channel, is being located at Skali.net's state-of-the-art data centre with round-the-clock technical support.



Skali, which is a firm believer in strategic Internet partnerships, is encouraging more software developers and ASPs from within the Asia region to submit their softwares to Skali.com.



" Currently, about 70 per cent of the softwares on the channel are provided by US and Europe based companies. We want to encourage more of Asia-based software developers to fully utilise this service," says Aimi.



"-It's a win-win situation for all parties - partners can leverage on Skali's high traffic and wide global reach while users benefit from having a wide selection of downloadable softwares," he adds.



About Skali.com



Skali.com acts as an Internet content aggregator that pulls together current, informative and entertaining news that are Asia-centric. The channel aims to enhance online experience of Internet users by providing real time updated news, editorials, internet and intranet search guides and user-friendly online tools.



Its trade and business links provide opportunities for companies to forge one-on-one relationship with their existing and potential customers. These features are in line with Skali.com's mission to develop an interactive platform for on line communities with more content and participation from Internet users





ISSUED BY:
SKALI.COM

THROUGH:
ALPHA PLATFORM PUBLIC RELATIONS

CONTACT:
MAZIDA KAMARUDDIN mazida@pd.jaring.my



Tel: 03 456 2617
Fax: -3 456 1861

Want to convert dvd to mpeg? How to convert dvd to mpeg?

Author: Anonymous

Source: free-articles



July 11, 2004 -- Want to convert dvd to mpeg? How to convert dvd to mpeg?



convert dvd to mpeg, converting dvd to mpeg - DVD-to-MPEG



DVD-TO-MPEG is a easy to use software to convert a DVD movie to a MPEG file! Just put a DVD disc into the DVD drive, select a target file, click "start" button, you can get the MPEG file.



DVD-to-MPEG Features:



Super video quality.

The video output quality in MPEG format can be as good as the original DVD VIDEO DISC.



Multi-format supported.

DVD-TO-MPEG can convert DVD MOVIES in different regions to files in MPEG-I or MPEG-II.



Perfect compatibility.

The files in MPEG-I or MPEG-II format made by DVD-TO-MPEG can be recognized by almost all the video application software and you can edit DVD movies just at your pleasure.



Easy to use.

Just with one click, everyone can become a master of DVD-TO-MPEG.



DVD To MPEG FAQs:



What is Dvd-to-mpeg?

With extremely high quality ,"Dvd to mpeg" is an easy to use tool to convert a DVD movie to a mpeg file! Use the least time and cpu but get the perfect sound and image! Same with the Source DVD, which integrates DVD copy, DVD decoder, DVD ripper with mpeg encoder and crack dvd. A powerful and high-efficient software to copy and compress DVD to mpeg format.



What is the installation requirements?

The "DVD to mpeg" requires the following minimum configuration to run:

-- Windows 98 SE,Windows ME,Windows NT 4.0,Windows 2000,or Windows XP

-- Pentium-II 450 MHz or faster processor

-- At least 64 MB of RAM

-- 3 GB free hard drive space



How to install Dvd-to-mpeg?

To install the "Dvd to mpeg" ,you should follow the following simple steps:

1. Download the install files (setupdtd.exe) to a location on your hard drive (e.g.,C:\temp).

2. Run the installer program by double clicking on the setupdtd.exe icon.

3. Follow the instructions of the installer program to install the "dvd to mpeg" software.

4. Done! The software should be installed in your Systems directory.



Does the trial of version Dvd-to-mpeg has any limitation?

Yes,Trial version only convert part of the movie,not the whole movie.



How to copy and compress a DVD with Dvd-to-mpeg?

1. Click the "source" button to choose the DVD you want to copy and compress.



2. Click the "target" button to choose the location where to save the file you have copied and compressed and name it. The default extension of file is .mpg .



3. Click the "option" button to bring up the conditions setting dialog. There are several items to set, such as Speed (usually choose"normal"); Caption (same as subtitle); Screen (usually choose "full") ; you can choose mpeg-1 or mpeg-2); Audio(choose the dub you like); and Pieces (usually choose N/A) .



4. Click "begin" button to copy and compress DVD. Then the "begin" button change into "stop" button, which means you can click the "stop" button any time before the copy and compression finished to stop it. When Dvd-To-mpeg is running the "source" and "target" button grey out.



Does Dvd-To-mpeg work on Macintosh?

DVD-TO-mpeg doesn't work on Mac. But it might work on some Windows emualtors on Mac OS.



Why I get some "Only ?? MB left on HD,needs ?? MB!" error message?

DVD-to-mpeg needs your hard disk to save some temporary files.



You can change the system TMP,TEMP variable to a directory on a larger disk. like D:\TMP



In Windows 9X/ME,append 2 lines to c:\autoexec.bat:

SET TMP=D:\TMP

SET TEMP=D:\TMP



In Windows NT/2000/XP, use control panel->system->Advance tab, click Environment Variables, edit TMP and TEMP system variable, change them to D:\TMP.



http://www.xkee.com/dvd-to-mpeg-download/

Learn 5 Ways Of Saving And Protecting Your Hard Drive

Author: Gary Hendricks

Source: articleage.com



Soon your computer doesn't reboot properly, and you hear that ugly grinding sound that means all of your precious data has been wiped out. What did you to protect hard drive data? It's too late to think about it after the fact.
Here are 5 ways to save and protect your hard drive and ensure it can keep working when you switch to a new drive.
1. Backup Your Data
You've heard it many times before - the best way to protect hard drive data is to backup your data. There are many ways to backup your data. Copying personal files to another disk is one method, but it's time-consuming and manual. It's better to use an automated backup solution that can perform backups at scheduled intervals.
One such product is bundled with Windows XP Home and Professional editions. The file is called ntbackup.exe. It's automatically installed with Windows XP Pro. If you have Windows XP Home edition, you can locate the file in your Windows CD ROM in the valueaddmsftntbackup folder.
Then run ntbackup.msi to run the backup program. The backup program will backup your files to a backup file. Once you've made your backup, you need to know how to restore your files from your backup. You may need to reinstall Windows so keep your original installation discs handy.
If you want to avoid reinstalling Windows then consider making an image of your hard drive. Backup programs can make an image of your whole disk without the need to reinstall Windows.
2. Password Protection
Password protection and data encryption are one of the most basic ways that users can protect hard drive contents. To change your password in Windows just access your account from Control Panel -> User Accounts and then click change my password.
Now you want to encrypt your data, which will scramble it for everyone but you. Please note that encryption is available in Windows XP, but only for NTFS file systems. To encrypt a file or folder, right-click on it, go to Properties -> Advanced tab and check the box labeled Encrypt contents to secure.
No one else will be able to read this data but you. You can make encryption easier by creating a popup menu. Go into the Registry Editor and locate
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindows CurrentVersionExplorerAdvanced.
Select Edit -> New -> DWORD Value and name it EncryptionContextMenu.
Double-click this and enter 1 for the value. From this point on, you will be able to right-click any file or folder to bring up a popup menu with the options Encrypt or Decrypt.
3. Unleash the Windows Recovery Console
Imagine having your hard drive crash and not being able to boot up. Are you out of out luck? Not at all! Bundled with Windows XP is a powerful tool called the Windows Recovery Console. It allows you to repair file systems or folders so you can protect hard drive contents. Unfortunately by default the WRC is on a "leash"-it operates in a restricted or crippled mode on your computer. .
Lift the restrictions by opening the Local Security Settings editor in Windows (click Start -> Run -> secpol.msc). Go to Security Settings -> Local Policies -> Security Options and double-click on Recovery Console: Allow floppy copy and access to all drives and all folders. Check Enabled and Ok. That will set up you for full access. Should Windows ever crash, start the WRC and type set AllowAllPaths=True.
Start the WRC by putting your Windows XP CD into your computer and pressing 'R' upon reboot. Type your Administrator password. The command interpreter will appear. You can then run whatever commands you need or type help for a list of commands.
4. Make Room for Defrag
One way to save hard drive contents is to fine tune your defrag program. With defrag there are two files that will never defrag: your Master File Table and your swap file.
As the table of contents for your hard drive your Master File Table expands as you add more files. To protect hard drive MFTs you must allocate more space to them. Go into your Registry and locate the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlFilesystem. Find the value NtfsMftZoneReservation and type 2, 3 or 4. These numbers indicate how much of the hard drive to allocate to the MFT: 25, 37.5 and 50 percent respectively.
To expand your swap file make sure you have 256MB of RAM and click on the System icon. Go to Advanced -> Performance Settings -> Advanced and click Change. Select the No Paging File in Virtual Memory box and click OK three times. Reboot and run disk defrag. Then go back to Virtual Memory box, select Custom and set the Initial Size and Maximum Size to the same value (2 to 4 times your RAM) and your swap file will not fragment.
5. Get Rid of Old Junk
The final way to save hard drive units is to get rid of that old junk in your computer. These are unused programs on your computer that tend to slow down your computer's operations. Uninstall them by going to Control Panel -> Add or Remove Programs.
Also you should invest in a good anti-spyware program as well. Spyware ads are those annoying popups that try to direct you to a merchant's site. These programs reside on your computer and consume precious resources-until you remove them with a spyware or adware busting program.
Another area on your computer that you should definitely check out is your Temp folder. This is the folder where Windows dumps files that it is only using on an interim basis. If these files are left over after they have been used they can slow your computer down as well. You'll find the Temp folder in C:Documents and Settings under your username. You can sort the files by their modified dates to determine which files you think are way too old and are safe to delete.
Conclusion
Computers, like any other piece of hardware, require routine maintenance and fine tuning to keep them running in optimal condition.
One of the most important components in a computer is a hard drive. In this article we looked at 5 ways to save and protect your hard drive. Most of the solutions presented here are commonsense solutions that require no technical expertise.
We've also included a tweaks that require some experience with the Registry editor but are not hard to implement. Using all of the solutions here on a regular basis will ensure that your hard drive will not go out before its time.
Gary Hendricks runs a hobby site on building computers. Visit his website at Build-Your-Own-Computers.com for tips and tricks on assembling a PC, as well as buying good computer components.

How to convert DVD to FLV, SWF?

Author: Rushrush

Source: articlesbase.com



From: http://labs.divx.com/node/8159 This article is talking about how to convert DVD to YouTube, google video, myspace, vimeoMaybe some guys will tell me this job is so simple, just convert DVD to FLV,SWF and then upload them to correlative video sharing websites, thats all. But I suggest you read up this article with patience, cause I will add some unbeknown yet useful skills of editing & converting DVD to YouTube and knowledge about video sharing websites. If you consider this article benefits you, welcome sharing this article with your friends (In addition, I had finished another article 4 ways to convert video to flash few days ago). First, ill give you a list of Top 10 video sharing websites for publishing your DVD files: Video sharing site Page rank google video 9 Brightcove 8 Photobucket 8 YouTube 8 Dailymotion 7 Myspace 7 Vimeo 7 Buzznet 6 Flixya 6 Gofish 6 Next topic, lets come to the key-point: How to convert DVD to FLV, SWF? Step1.Download and install the Wondershare DVD to Flash converter.Usually, some guys may have 2 doubts:1. Why need to convert DVD to FLV , YouTubealso accepts other video format wmv, mov ?2. Why need to use Wondershare video to flash encoder, there are many free software can convert DVD to flv, swf ?Okey, the first question is simple, cause the FLV is the main format applied on the video-website which has a small size but high quality. As for the second question, you will realize the power of wondershare video to flash converter bit by bit if you read up the article. Step2.Run Wondershare video to flash converter and import the DVD files from your DVD ROM or your hard drive.This step is simple but I will explain the powerful edit functions of it below: 1.DVD presettingAllow you to choose the target DVD segment by setting the start and end conversion time precisely or just dragging a slider visually, then select the output subtitle, language, and audio track if given. 2.Adjust video effects with previewYou can customize the output video effects with a wide range of choice: brightness, saturation, contrast, frame rate, bit rate, and aspect ratio. In addition,1).you can crop your DVD video if there are some black sides and frame which disturb you;2).you can capture your favorite pictures when the DVD video being played and make it as a cover of your flash video. 3.Flash Video templatesProvide you with built-in 20+ output flash templates in different styles and let you customize your own movie intro and movie end. In addition1).if you don't satisfy the flash player templates we provide, you can download more for free;2). You can custom the background color as you like;3).You can embed video to your DVD files if you set the output format is SWF, this is useful if you wanna make your flash video more funny;4). Allow you to add links on the generated FLV which can be triggered by mouse click or auto-opened after playback. Besides, you can also customize the watermark in form of image, text, or URL as you like. In a word, Wondershare video to flash converter is a people-oriented software and there are still many funny functions waiting you to dig, I wont say any more, just have a try today ! Step3.Set output format and start converter. In addition,Allow you to upload the converted Flash files to your FTP right after conversion, so considerate. Final words, now you can upload your flash video converted from DVD files to video sharing websites like YouTube, google video, my space.Just register a new account on these websites and find the entry to upload video and everything will be ok. By limited length I wont say more than is needed. related articles an edge tool to convert dvd to flv

Flash videos enrich my digital life!!

Word Document - An Application Attuned to the Modern World

Author: Gracy Brett

Source: ezinearticles.com



Today's business environment in the modern world is replete with constant changes. In such a scenario, an entrepreneur prepares himself for opportunities and threats that the business environment offers him. One of the factors that every businessperson focuses on is efficient productivity or output of his company. A businessperson uses many resources to get better output and one of them is machines. Among machines, computers are extensively used. With the introduction of computer applications, a manager can manage the organization and its output effectively. Word document is one of such applications used to facilitate the work process. It equips a user to meet the demands of the modern world and deliver the best results spontaneously.A Word application contains features that boost the proficiency and productivity of a user. With the use of template and layout, one can change the text, as he desires. There are different types of margins to select. These margins render a professional appearance to your text. A user can personalize different types of font sizes and font colors as per his requirement. Equipped with the editing ability you can insert your comments, highlight changes and even strike through unwanted sentences. The spell and grammar check feature enables you to correct your own mistakes that results in flawless documents. A person can insert clip-art, images, graphics and charts in the text. One can also change the background or adjust the clip-art or an image the way one desires.You can use graphs and charts for making lucrative presentations. The use of pie chart or graphs helps a user to support his point with facts. The facts convince an audience or a reader of the point made by an author. It also gives information that is more authentic for a reader. The use of footnotes also renders additional information to a reader. There is also a feature of inserting caption, citation, comment and headers in the text. With the conversion ability, you can convert Word to PDF, Power Point, and Excel and vice versa. The conversion feature enables a user to convert many documents them into any desired application with effortlessness.The Word application enables a user to attune to the challenges of fierce competition. Efficient output enables a businessperson to utilize the opportunities of a business environment.

Gracy Brett is the developer & publisher of powerful PDF to Word and Word to PDF conversion products. She is the frequent writer of supportive trade articles.

Toshiba MP3 Players-Gigabeat Portable Media Center and Mobile Audio Player

Author: Mike Singh

Source: download



What exactly does something with a 60GB hard drive expect to do, with 10 days of video, thousands of photos, and over 40 days of CD music? With the exceptionally large hard drive with the 2-3/8" screen, Toshiba is doing well to pick up its name in regard to the MP3 players. Preloaded with Window's Mobile software, and the intuitive interface on the Media Center edition of Windows XP, any television show can be translated immediately onto the gigabeat. Many features are available, such as the WMV 7, WMV 8, and WMV 9 video files - and the JPEG display images. It plays MP3, WMA, protected WMA and WAV audio fields. Its 60GB holds up to 2,000 hours of home services, up to 240 hours of movies, built-in FM tuner with 30 preset stations, high-speed USB interface with cable. It offers up to 20 hours audio or 4.15 hours video, with a built-in rechargeable lithium ion battery.With Toshiba's type of reputation, a person expects them to put out the same type of product. Nothing mind-blowing or earth shattering, but something that does exactly what you want it to. This is why the Toshiba Gigabeat Portable Media Center is so wonderful. But on the other hand, its Gigabeat Mobile Audio Player is less than wonderful. If you are wondering what customers are talking about, lets start with the screen. Toshiba produced a great 2.2" screen that views as well as any digital media player on the market today. Why is this bad? Because the Toshiba Gigabeat Mobile Audio Player is just that, an audio player. You can view photos, but no video. What a waste of a big time screen.Next, a place where an MP3 player can be labeled great or horrible, is the navigation system. Toshiba has designed a PlusTouch system that forms a cross in the middle of the player. Like Apple, Creative, and everybody else, Toshiba believes in their system, but this one is weak to say the least. For starters, sometimes it reads your actions for something completely opposite of what you intended (pausing when you attempt to turn up the volume, etc.).But worst of all, the quality of the software is less than desirable. It does offer the use of Windows Media, but this is almost impossible to do at times. Toshiba offers the Gigabeat Room Management Software that inexplicably attempts to reformat all MP3 files into a .SAT format. This format is almost unreadable by a computer which causes a major problem if you are looking to send your files back to your computer. But as its been said before, when it comes to electronics it is truly "to each their own". And each person may find that they enjoy what Toshiba has to offer in their player. However, Toshiba's Gigabeat Mobile Audio Player seems to be lagging behind quite significantly in the digital audio race.Check out http://www.mp3playertop.com/ for more articles on free downloads itunes and sony mp3 players.