How to Print Holiday Photos Like a Pro

You have survived the holidays. You have opened your presents, eaten too much and have snapped dozens of photos of the family. Sure, you could share the images on the Internet, but Grandma and Grandpa probably would like to have some pictures for their refrigerator or scrapbook, and not everyone has the time or patience to flip through every picture you publish online. Besides, there is something wonderful about having photo prints that the whole family can share. So be your own editor, pick some of the good pictures and learn how to print them like a pro.
Difficulty: Moderately Easy
Instructions

1.

Prepare the images for printing. Use a photo-editing program like iPhoto, GIMP or Photoshop to crop the images. Adjust the color of the image, if required, and use a red-eye removal tool if any of the subjects of the picture have red eye. Look at the overall saturation of the image and adjust the contrast and brightness of the image so it looks perfect on the screen.
2.

Choose the right paper. Just because it looks perfect on the screen doesn't mean it will look perfect when printed. Keep in mind that the computer screen is a device-dependent RGB color device. Every computer screen is different but they are all based on the additive RGB color model. Printers are all based on the subtractive CMYK color model. RGB starts with black, then adds color (red, blue, green) to create the image.

Our eyes are RGB devices. When we see a red apple, we see light reflected from the apple. In print, we see the light reflected from the base through the transparent inks.

CMYK starts with white and then subtracts color (cyan, magenta and yellow) to create the image. This makes the choice of paper critical to the image, since it will determine the brightness of the white and therefore affect the whole tonal range.

Photo printing papers are sold with different brightness numbers; the higher the number, the brighter the white. The finish of the paper also affects the tonal range. Experiment with both glossy and matte stocks on different images to get a feel for how they look.
3.
Learn how to print on an ink jet printer. All ink jet printers use ink and have different methods for distributing the ink. The ink jet printer you have on your computer, in most cases, is sufficient for color photo printing with the right paper.

Another choice would be ink jet photo printers. These printers typically are piezoelectric as opposed to thermal and they produce higher quality. They are also more expensive. Many ink jet printers have a black and a color ink cartridge. The color ink cartridge contains YMC colors together. Higher-quality photo printers may have multiple yellow, magenta and cyan cartridges and use drop-on-demand technology to allow for greater saturation of colors and a larger color gamut.

If you have an ink jet printer, try printing an image on standard paper to give you an idea of the color gamut. Make sure you buy ink jet paper for your ink jet printer.
4.

Learn how to print on a color laser printer. Laser color printers use dry ink, or toner, to create the image. These printers use a different type of paper than ink jet printers and use xerographic technology to bond the toner to the paper. The print comes out dry and cannot smear like an ink jet print.

This basic technology is the foundation of high-quality digital printing today and machines vary in price from $300 to millions of dollars for industrial machines. Color laser printers can achieve a large color gamut and the cost per copy can be inexpensive, depending on how much you use it.
5.

Use a professional service. If you don't have a color printer and don't want to buy one, consider having your photos printed using a professional service. Most photo sites like Flickr, Kodak Gallery and Nikon offer inexpensive print services.

In many cases, the quality of such a service is adequate, but not truly "professional" quality. If you want to make just a few wallet prints for the family, this service would be fine. But if you want to make a 16-by-20-inch enlargement for framing, a better option would be to use a professional photo finisher. There are many to choose from, including top service McKenna Labs.
6.

Do a test print. Regardless of how you decide to print your images, do a test print first on regular paper and analyze it for color balance. Is the print too blue or too green? Try attaching a color profile or adjusting the white balance in your photo-editing program and do another test print.

Adjust the curves, if necessary, and print another test print. Once you feel the color balance is good on regular paper, make a test print on photo paper. If the quality is good, then save your curve settings and color settings as a profile and make this color profile the default for your printer. Apply this profile when you use it with the specific paper stock that you tested.

You may have to create multiple profiles for glossy and matte finishes. Professionals will use color calibration tools for their monitors and color spectrophotometers to read the color information from the print. These are not tools that amateurs can afford.
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How to Print Photos Saved on Your Computer Into an Easyshare Dock Series 3

The Kodak EasyShare Dock Series 3 can produce high quality photos on glossy papers. The dock is mostly used to print photos directly from memory cards like SD or Pro Duo cards, thanks to its in-built memory card slots. You can also use the Dock Series to print photos saved previously on your computer.
Difficulty: Moderate
Instructions

1.
Insert the Kodak EasyShare software installation disc. Follow the prompts to install the software on your computer.
2.
Connect the Easy Dock 3 to your computer via the USB cable provided in the box. Turn the printer ON and wait till your operating system recognizes the hardware. Load some photo paper in the paper tray.
3.
Launch the Kodak EasyShare software. Click on the Start button and select "All Programs." Scroll up to find the shortcut and click on it.
4.
Click on the tab titled "My Collection." It should be located on the top bar.
5.
Select the photos you want to print. If you do not see the photos that were previously stored in your computer, click on "File" and select "Open." Locate the photos in your hard drive and hit "Open."
6.
Click on the tab titled "Print at Home." You will find this tab right beneath the "My Collection" button.
7.
Make sure the icon titled "Kodak EasyShare Dock Series 3" is selected as the current printer. Hit "Print" to complete the task.
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Lava A10 Mobile Phone

Lava A10 is a Bar phone weighing g. The phone operates at frequencies of GSM 900 / 1800 Mhz | GSM 900 / 1800 Mhz. The Phone has a Display of 3.0 inches High Quality IPS Screen, TFT Touchscreen, 262K Colors . This model comes with Camera of , 3.2 Mega Pixels Camera with Flash with , Digital Zoom

General Information
Brand Lava
Model A10
Form Factor Bar
Operating Frequency GSM 900 / 1800 Mhz | GSM 900 / 1800 Mhz
Dual Sim Yes, Dual SIM
Touch Screen Yes

Display Details
Display Color 3.0 inches High Quality IPS Screen, TFT Touchscreen, 262K Colors
Display Size Lava A10 has a display size of 240 x 320 px
Sensors Gravity Sensor

Camera
Camera Yes, 3.2 Mega Pixels Camera with Flash
Camera Res. 2048 x 1536 Pixels
Zoom Yes, Digital Zoom
Video Yes
Video Resolution Yes
Video Player Yes, MP4 Player

Software
Games Yes
Java Yes
Browser Yes, WAP 2.0/Opera Mini Browser

Call Records
Phone Book Yes, 2000 Entries with Blacklist and Contacts Backup
Missed Calls Yes
Received Calls Yes
Dialed Calls Yes

Battery
Stand By Time N/A
Talk Time N/A
Li-ion 1400 mAH

Memory
Internal Memory Yes, Internal Memory : 58 MB
External Memory Yes, Up to 16 GB
Memory Slot Yes, Micro SD Card

Message
SMS Yes, SMS Storage 1000, Scheduled SMS, SMS Reply For Incoming Call, Chat Style SMS
MMS Yes
Email Yes
Social Networking Services Maps on mobile, Snaptu

Music
Ring Tone Vibration, Polyphonic, MP3
FM Yes, FM Radio with Recording
Music Yes, MP3 Player with Music Equalizer and 3.5mm Universal Audio Jack
Speaker Yes
Headset Yes

Data
GPRS Yes
Bluetooth Yes
Wirless Protocol N/A
Port Yes, USB Cable
Edge Yes
Infra Red No
CPU Chipset: MTK 6235
Salespack Handset, Battery, Charger, Earphone, USB Cable, User Manual, Warranty Card

Others
Connectivities :
Web Camera, PC Suite

Special Features :
Torch Light, Image Gallery, Image Editor, Privacy protection, Indian Calendar, Unique GUI experience with 2 themes, Yamaha PA System

Colours :
Black

Easy Printing from Mobile Devices

What good is a hand-held computer if you can’t print? Even if it’s just the occasional boarding pass, you’re bound to need to print from your mobile device. Doc has found this to be more of a problem than it should be. As an international man of mystery, I print boarding passes from all sorts of exotic places and from a variety of pad, pods, and droids.

I now know to look for the local Aim Mail Center and I can print to my heart’s content, whether it’s boarding passes or top-secret plans. Soon many Aim stores will be upgraded to include a variety of mobile and over-the-internet printing services.

The new equipment, Ricoh Hot Spot Multifunction Printers (MFPs), can print from a variety of hand-held devices without the need for special drivers. (I once had a special driver but that’s a whole ‘nother story).

“Ricoh HotSpot MFPs fit into the future vision of our AIM Mail Center stores, which are becoming business solution centers rather than shipping centers,” said Michael Sawitz, CEO, AIM Mail Centers. “Ricoh has been a key technology provider to us for over 15 years, and we are excited to work with them to upgrade our equipment to Ricoh HotSpot MFPs, which hit right at the heart of what we’re trying to accomplish as we shift our business model.”

“Today’s smartphone is essentially a hand held computer, but it lacks the ability to print. Ricoh’s HotSpot MFPs allow mobile technology to truly function as a computer, opening a whole new world of options for those on the go,” said Matt Sakauchi, Vice President, Office Printer Business Group, Ricoh Americas Corporation. “AIM Mail Centers is one of the first businesses of its kind to fully embrace mobile technology with Ricoh HotSpot MFPs. We are excited to roll out the installations, which will be completed at all stores over the next four years.”

Doc gets excited about rolling out installations, too, so I appreciate Matt’s enthusiasm. But I’m even more excited to think the day may be coming when I can just print without any hassle.

55W PC power supply powering the dual-core computer

Most computer builders in the world think I’m nuts for endorsing the use of 330 watt power supplies for a high-end performance computer. Conventional “wisdom” says that anything under 500 watts is inadequate for an enthusiast PC. “My power supply is bigger than your power supply” seems to be a typical mindset for many people but I’ve always had just the opposite desire to say that “my supply is smaller than yours and it works great”. So when I started building mainstream dual-core computers with 220 watt 80 Plus power supplies, people were shocked that I would even consider such a small power supply. But since I was able to build a 50W peak power dual-core computer, why not use an even smaller power supply in the sub-100 watt range?






Pictured above is the open frame fanless AC input open frame 55 watt FSP055-50LM power supply from Sparkle Power Inc with an MSRP of $39. Typically when power supplies are this small, people often use DC input power supplies with an external AC brick. Not so with this model as it’s an all in one with the standard AC power connector you get on a normal ATX PC power supply. It’s so small that it doesn’t even bother with a fan or metal casing; you have to a system-level fan yourself and provide the bracing and shielding in your computer chassis. The really nice thing about this solution is that the entire power supply including the AC conversion part is not much bigger than a DC power supply but you don’t need an external brick.




Using this 55W power supply, I took a dual-core Intel E2140 along with the bundled ECS945-GM motherboard I bought for $90 and built a computer with it using default clock speed and voltages. Unfortunately since it was missing a 4-pin power connector for the motherboard, I had to hot-wire a 4-pin CPU power connector from an older power supply to this unit to make it work. That means 2 12-volt yellow cables and 2 black ground cables had to be soldered in to place and taped up. Since these cables are safe for 10 amps each which translates to 120 watts per cable, I’m not even close to overloading the cables.




Once the computer came up, the power consumption at the plug peak out at 70W which means the output power is around 52W at 75% efficiency which is 3W under the peak output of the power supply. That is cutting it a bit close but it shows the extreme worst-case of what this PSU can handle.

In reality, the 55W PSU isn’t practical for a mainstream dual-core computer although it would be more than powerful enough for an Intel D201GLY with Celeron 115, D201GLY2 motherboard with Celeron 120, or the Via low-power ITX platforms. The upcoming Intel Centrino Atom platform with the Atom-Diamondville CPU peaks at around 4W TDP so they’re even easier to power.

The bottom line is that this is a nice little power supply for small embedded solutions but you’ll want to stick with the bigger 80 Plus closed-frame models like the Sparkle SPI220LE 220W or the SPI270LE 270W if you’re building a mainstream PC. Note that the SPI models are 1U power supplies so you’ll either need a very custom case or one that uses 1.75″ thin power supplies

VDSL, Improvement of Internet Speed

VDSL/VHDSL (Very High Bitrate Digital Subscriber Line) is an improved version of the technology, ADSL or Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line, which we use to connect to the internet. They are different in how they are implemented so you probably cannot use the equipment of one for the other. The most significant difference between the two technologies that is most relevant to the use is speed. ADSL can reach maximum speeds of 8mbps download and 1mbps for upload. In comparison, VDSL can have up to 52mbps for download and 16mbps for upload.

Because of the extremely high speeds that VDSL can accommodate, it is being looked at as a good prospective technology for accommodating high bandwidth applications like VoIP telephony and even HDTV transmission, which ADSL is not capable of. Another very useful feature of VDSL stems from the fact that it uses 7 different frequency bands for the transmission of data. The user then has the power to customize whether each frequency band would be used for download or upload. This kind of flexibility is very nice in case you need to host certain files that are to be downloaded by a lot of people.

The most major drawback for VDSL is the distance it needs to be from the telephone exchange. Within 300m, you may still get close to maximum speed but beyond that, the line quality and the speed deteriorates rather quickly. Because of this, ADSL is still preferable unless you live extremely close to the telephone exchange of the company that you are subscribed to. Most VDSL subscribers are companies who need a very fast server and would often place their own servers in very close proximity.

Due to the limitations of VDSL and its high price, its expansion is not as prolific as that of ADSL. VDSL is only widespread in countries like South Korea and Japan. While other countries also have VDSL offerings, it is only handled from a few companies; mostly one or two in most countries. In comparison, ADSL is very widely used and all countries that offer high speed internet offer ADSL.
DSL technology known as very high bit-rate DSL (VDSL) is seen by many as the next step in providing a complete home-communications/entertainment package. There are already some companies, such as U.S. West (part of Qwest now), that offer VDSL service in selected areas. VDSL provides an incredible amount of bandwidth, with speeds up to about 52 megabits per second (Mbps). Compare that with a maximum speed of 8 to 10 Mbps for ADSL or cable modem and it's clear that the move from current broadband technology to VDSL could be as significant as the migration from a 56K modem to broadband. As VDSL becomes more common, you can expect that integrated packages will be cheaper than the total amount for current separate services.

In this article, you'll learn about VDSL technology, why it's important and how it compares to other DSL technologies. But first, let's take a look at the basics of DSL.

A standard telephone installation in the United States consists of a pair of copper wires that the phone company installs in your home. A pair of copper wires has plenty of bandwidth for carrying data in addition to voice conversations. Voice signals use only a fraction of the available capacity on the wires. DSL exploits this remaining capacity to carry information on the wire without disturbing the line's ability to carry conversations.

Standard phone service limits the frequencies that the switches, telephones and other equipment can carry. Human voices, speaking in normal conversational tones, can be carried in a frequency range of 400 to 3,400 Hertz (cycles per second). In most cases, the wires themselves have the potential to handle frequencies of up to several-million Hertz. Modern equipment that sends digital (rather than analog) data can safely use much more of the telephone line's capacity, and DSL does just that.
VDSL could change the face of E-commerce by allowing all types of media to run smoothly and beautifully through your computer.