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Riding Shotgun with Adam

Wacom Bamboo – an excellent artist’s tool



A Wacom tablet is a tool used by artists to design work on the computer using a natural pen and paper motion.

The tablet is hard and flat and the stylus that you draw with looks like a pen. The Wacom tablet is pressure sensitive providing the ability to draw thicker or heavier lines depending on the amount of pressure that you apply while drawing.

The stylus has a pen tip end and an “eraser” end. As you draw and design you can erase your mistakes by turning the stylus over and erasing with the other end as you would with a pencil.

Wacom has recently released the Bamboo. Although cheaper than previous models, the Bamboo is everything that most artists want in a tablet.

Canon leaps ahead again in DSLR wars

I have made no secret of the fact that when it comes to digital SLRs I prefer Canon over all other brands. I have also backed up my argument with a long list of reasons.

Everytime any other company gets close to Canon, Canon announces a new camera that out paces the competition both in features and price.

Canon did it again this week. They have announced two new digital SLRs, both will make any serious photographer drool unless they are blinded by their loyalty to another brand of camera.

Need for technology proportionate to family proximity

Two of the past four weekends I have left every piece of technology behind (except for my camera) and taken my family into the mountains. My cell phone, my laptop, my XBox, my projector, and even the portable DVD players stayed behind.

The drive to where we were camping was less than three hours and we kept the kids busy the old fashioned way. We stopped at overlooks, rest stops, gas stations and told stories. The kids got car sick between yelling “_________’s touching me!”

Once we were at camping the kids kept busy fishing, swimming, playing games, chasing miniature wild life, and eating junk.

Watch for check boxes when installing all software

When it comes to installing new software programs I have two rules that should get you through the process and keep you out of trouble.

1. When in doubt, click on the affirmative (Next, OK, Finish, I Agree, etc).

2. ALWAYS WATCH FOR CHECK BOXES!

The second rule is becoming more important as search engines and other sites that provide ad-sponsored services promote themselves by partnering up with other software companies. While installing a program like JAVA or Adobe Reader, you may be asked whether you want to install other programs such as Google Desktop or Adobe Photoshop Album Starter Edition. Simply unchecking these boxes will cut your install time significantly and save from other undesired hassles.

Here is an example:

Stop buying floppy disks

 
flash drive

I have seen a number of people lately who have insisted on backing up on USB flash drives and floppy disks.

Having two backups is always a good idea, but the era of  the floppy has come and gone.

What’s wrong with floppies?

1. They scratch

2. They bend

3. Even a small particle of dust can hurt them

4. Almost any magnet can corrupt them – such as setting them too close to a computer speaker

5. Any accidental spill of any liquid will ruin them

None of these things are generally true about USB flash drives or  CD-ROMS.

I have one flash drive that I intentionally let go through the wash on a regular basis. I have had it for three years and I still use it often.

So, if you want to make multiple backups of something, use

Fun with Cameroon Pet Scams

I really love English Bulldogs. Recently I became aware of a common pet scam that is based on every other over seas Internet scam. Someone from Cameroon posts a desired breed up for a ridiculously low price. He/she asks for money plus shipping. You never get the dog. Here is my recent correspondence with one such scammer. I have resorted… Read More »Fun with Cameroon Pet Scams

Updated gimmick feature list 2007

My list of gimmick features continues to grow. Gimmick features are features that companies add to technology to sell a product but don’t do what they claim to do in the way you expect them to do it.

One of of the first gimmick features I began discussing years ago were gimmick buttons on a scanner. These are buttons that say “email” or “scan and save”, etc. All these buttons do is activate the software the same as if you clicked on the icon. It is usually more work to reach over and hit the buttons than it is to double-click on the appropriate scanner icon.

Don’t miss iCaught on ABC

Last night I saw a program on Network TV that may go down as a landmark program in the evolution in the convergence of all things media. The program was called iCaught and based on what I have just heard today from clients and acquaintances, it opened the eyes of many casual web users to the wonders that can be found on the Internet.

Did you miss us last night?

Many thanks for everyone who attempted to tune in last night. It was a great trial run and we have most of the kinks worked out. We didn’t actually get the live video and chat up until around 10:45pm. Once everything was up and running it was pretty lively. By the time we got off at almost midnight we were getting computer questions right and left.

We are very excited to get this going. One thing we can promise is that the new show isn’t just going to be an Internet version of our radio show. Last night we had questions from all areas of technology. We discussed HDTV, wireless networks and Internet security with people who had never heard the show.

DPReview.com posts Canon S5 IS Review

The Canon S* IS series is my favorite line of high zoom digital cameras. Canon just came out with the S5 IS – an 8 megapixel version of the 12x, image stabilized camera that has become a best seller.

DPReview.com is the best site for in depth reviews of the most popular cameras to hit the market, they just posted their review of the S5 IS. If you are an S1, S2, or S3 IS user, you will want to check it out and see if it’s worth the upgrade.