BoBoswell.com - Tech Blog Updates

Shooting in Shutter Priority Mode

Thu, 30 Aug 2007 12:00:00 CST

As I mentioned in Intro to Camera Modes, shutter speed is a good starting place to get your feet wet and begin using the manual features of your camera.

Your camera's shutter is a mechanism that allows light to pass for a certain amount of time. You can think of it in terms of a window shutter that you open to let light into a room. The longer the shutter is left open, the more time that your camera's sensor is exposed to light. The sensor being exposed to light is what creates the photograph, or exposure.

What is Exposure?

Wed, 29 Aug 2007 12:00:00 CST

If you're just starting off in photography, Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson is a great book to get your hands on. In the book, Bryan points out that "exposure" can be taken a couple of different ways. To some, "exposure" can mean the actual image or photograph. Others use it to refer to the process of light contacting your film or digital sensor.

An exposure is controlled by combinations of three elements: aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. Peterson calls these elements the "photographic triangle," but I'll be referring to them as the "Big 3." We'll be covering each of the Big 3 in detail, but for now it's important to know that these elements work together to control the amount of light that contacts your sensor.

Intro to Camera Modes

Wed, 29 Aug 2007 12:00:00 CST

So you've bought your shiny new camera. Now what?

Easy. Just turn the dial to ?AUTO? and start shooting, letting the camera do all the grunt work for you.

Not so fast there, junior. You've got a few more things to learn before you become this generation's Ansel Adams.

I'm not going to give you a rundown of all of the automatic modes on your camera. You can find that in your camera's manual--you know, that little book that you tossed aside in a flurry of excitement as you unwrapped your new toy. What I am going to do is give you a crash course on the more advanced semi-automatic and manual modes that seem to scare most beginning photographers.

Let's first tackle the burning question on your mind: Why do I want to use these modes?

Which Digital Camera to Buy

Wed, 29 Aug 2007 12:00:00 CST

As I mentioned here, I'm working to start up a digital photography blog sometime in the next month or so (which roughly equates to next year). I've got a couple of articles already written up, so I figured I'd go ahead and post them here to help work out the kinks and to correct any mistakes in the articles before I post them to the real blog. Feel free to share any comments regarding these articles. Your help is greatly appreciated. Enjoy!

This is a question I get asked occasionally, ?Which digital camera should I get?? I sincerely wish I had fast and easy answer. Alas, there are too many options available and too many details to consider for me to give fast and easy instruction on this matter. So let's start at the basics and see what we can come up with.

Game of the Week - Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos

Mon, 23 Apr 2007 12:00:00 CST

It seems like every other week, my friends and I gain an obsession for a different game. This week's game is Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos.

That's right. If you think you've got what it takes to compete in the greatest in 2002 gaming technology, then put on your chainmail armor and join us!

Review: Charge Station for Nintendo Wii

Mon, 19 Mar 2007 12:00:00 CST

While I love my Wii, I'm not shy to admit that I was a little troubled when I realized that the console comes with controllers that require the use of AA batteries. With everything in my life--from my laptop's wireless mouse, to my digital camera, to my battery-powered razor--I strive to use only rechargeable batteries instead of forking out dollar after dollar to ordinary disposable batteries.

Needless to say, I was delighted when I heard that Nyko had released a rechargeable kit for the Wii that included batteries and charge station for two controllers. I didn't hesitate to lay my money down for one.

Geek Monologues: How to Be a Geek

Tue, 13 Mar 2007 12:00:00 CST

When I was in Jr. High and High School (in the early- to mid-90s), the term "geek" was derogatory. Yet, believe it or not, as hip as I was back then, I still had a weakness for computers and geek gadgetry.

I remember that the first computer in my family was an Apple IIGS. It came with a free 10-speed bike, which, in retrospect, was an odd incentive for a computer. I spent hours on that thing; playing Hard Hat Mack, Frogger, and even published my own newsletter via Print Shop--the latter being the BWF Newsletter. BWF; that stands for Boswell Wrestling Federation. That's right. Remember me saying I was hip?

In those days, being on the computer meant that you were being lazy. My family and friends always tried to discourage me from spending too much time on it. After all, there's nothing wrong with sitting idly in front of the television watching show after show of mindless drivel. But don't you dare get on that computer and try to interact with it or, heaven forbid, be productive!

Visit bo.tumblr.com!

Thu, 01 Mar 2007 12:00:00 CST

Today, I heard Leo Laporte talking about his new Tumblr page. This is the first time I've heard of this site, so I figured I'd check it out. I was pretty impressed with it. The layout is nice and sleek, and it's really easy (and fun!) to get an account started and start posting stuff.

More Firefox 2.0 Tips

Tue, 13 Feb 2007 12:00:00 CST

In addition to the Tab Options available to you in the latest release of Mozilla Firefox, here are a few other quick tips that you may not be aware of...

Wii's First News Channel

Fri, 26 Jan 2007 12:00:00 CST

When I got my Wii this past Sunday, one of the first things I tried to do was visit the Wii's News Channel. I was greeted by a message that I must update my Wii's firmware first. However, I then received a message saying that my Wii's firmware was already up-to-date.

ASP.NET 2.0 Contact Form

Thu, 18 Jan 2007 12:00:00 CST

Whether you call it a contact form, feedback form, email form, or spam magnet, this is a great tool to have on your site. Here, I'll talk about how I went about setting up the contact form that can be found on my site. All code is in C#.

ASP.NET 2.0 CheckBoxList Control - Data Binding to an SQL Database

Sun, 14 Jan 2007 12:00:00 CST

I'm pretty new to programming, but I've been fortunate enough to have some friends who are very proficient in this area. So, I'm going to attempt to pass along the information I've been given and hopefully it'll help others who are new to programming as well.

In this tutorial, I'll be discussing how I went about setting up a CheckBoxList control to pull data from an SQL database, then editing and storing new data into the database. All code is in C#.

Disable PDFMaker Toolbar in Outlook

Fri, 03 Nov 2006 12:00:00 CST

If you're using Outlook 2003, this it's quite possible you've been plagued by this little guy. This harmless little menu lurks at the top of your Outlook window, daunting your every move. Sure, you can just go to View and de-select the toolbar. Certainly it wouldn't reappear when you close out of Outlook and open it again.

Nay, friend. Nay, I say. This thing reattaches itself--for me, at least--every time I restart Outlook. So, I set out to end its existence once and for all.

Firefox 2 Tab Options

Wed, 25 Oct 2006 12:00:00 CST

Don't get me wrong, I really like Firefox, and the introduction of Firefox 2 was much anticipated. However, I quickly found that the default settings for how the tabs are handled were undesirable to me. Here, I've listed instructions on how to change the default settings for some of the tab features.

Photoshop Actions for Web-Ready Pictures

Tue, 24 Oct 2006 12:00:00 CST

This is a follow-up to my previous tutorial where I talked about resizing pictures and saving them for the web. What if you had a large number of pics to modify, but didn't want to go through them one at a time and make those changes? In that case, you can setup an Action in Photoshop to do all the work for you!

Actions are a great way to automate events or modifications to a bulk amount of files. There's a lot you can do with Actions, but we're just going to setup a simple Action to change the image size and save the file as a web-ready picture.

Make Web-Ready Pictures

Fri, 20 Oct 2006 12:00:00 CST

The recent rise of sites like MySpace are making it easier for everyone to have a web presence of their own. Unfortunately, this comes with a bit of a backlash as well; a lot of common users don't know how to create good-quality pictures for use on the web.

There are many scenarios that you can be faced with; I have a friend who has a personal website that he knows will be accessed by his family who are still using dial-up. I also have a wife who loves taking pictures with her digital camera, but has no idea how to get them from her digital camera and upload them to her MySpace page.

Most digital cameras nowadays have some kind of PC or Web setting that will take smaller pictures for use on the web, but I personally detest this setting. I believe it's best to take a picture at the highest quality setting possible, and then just edit it down for use on the web or whatever you're needing it for.

In this tutorial, I'll go over a quick way to save your pictures at larger dimensions with smaller file sizes. For example, my previous mentioned buddy has been posting pictures on his site at 600x450, which isn't bad. But, using the method I explain here, I was able to save a 800x600 picture with the same file size as one of his pictures, and still have great quality.

How to Start a Fire: The Paper Ball Approach

Mon, 02 Oct 2006 12:00:00 CST

A few months ago, my wife came home with one of these fancy little patio firepits in an effort to spruce up our patio, which is already overcrowded with various other fashionable enhancements that she's purchased over the years.

This firepit is actually kinda cool because it can be used as a firepit, an ice-chest and a bistro table. Yes, this is a triple-threat patio accessory we're dealing with, folks.

I polished up my Cub Scouts skills enough to try and light a fire in the friggin' thing. When that failed, I tried coaxing a fire to start by using pages of a magazine doused in lighter fluid. Still no go.

Since I'd never been outsmarted by a firepit/cooler/bistro table before, I wasn't about to start now. I resorted to an old trick I saw my dad do. It's not as organic as you might think, and it probably won't save you if you're stuck in the middle of a forest somewhere, but it will be useful if you're trying to start a fire in or near your house...

How to Take a Screenshot on a Mac OS X

Mon, 02 Oct 2006 12:00:00 CST

As if I need to say this, taking a screenshot on a Mac is much easier than on a Windows PC, and Mac offers a few different options as well.

The benefit of taking screenshots on a Mac is that no additional application is required, like on a Windows PC. Once you tell the Mac to take the screenshot, it's saved on your desktop. There are several key combinations you can use that will each provide a different screenshot option...

Quick and Easy Way to Take a Screenshot

Thu, 28 Sep 2006 12:00:00 CST

A common question I get from a lot of non-geeks is how to take a screenshot. If you're not sure what a screenshot is, it's basically just a picture of what's on your screen. Maybe a weird error message has popped up and you want to copy it so you can show it to a tech professional, or maybe you've achieved a new high score at your favorite Flash game and you want to save a copy of it for bragging rights.

Whatever your need be, there's a quick and easy way to take a screenshot using the tools that come regularly installed with Windows.

iChitter-Chatter

Mon, 25 Sep 2006 12:00:00 CST

At my day job, we recently recorded the first podcast for our company. Overall, I think it turned out good. It took us two full takes before we had decent material to work with. I was surprised at how nervous a group of guys can get when you put a mic in front of them for the purpose of doing something serious.

How to Make an External Hard Drive

Thu, 21 Sep 2006 12:00:00 CST

Most everyone knows what an external hard drive is. But, what if you wanted to make your own external hard drive? What if you had a large internal hard drive that might better server as an outtie?

Fortunately, this is possible. And all you need is, of course, an internal hard drive and an external hard drive enclosure. The type of enclosure you're looking for depends on your needs. You can get an enclosure with either a USB connection or a USB and firewire connection. The latter tends to have a higher pricetag attached, but if firewire is what you're needing then it's well worth the extra cost.

Uninstalling Windows Genuine Advantage

Wed, 20 Sep 2006 12:00:00 CST

Microsoft's handy-dandy Genuine Advantage Notification software is a plague to some of us. For those that don't know what it is, it's a program that is installed via Windows Update that checks to see whether or not you're running a legitimate (or pirated) version of Windows. If the version it finds on your computer is not "legal" then you will be thoroughly prompted to obtain a valid copy.

I wish I could say that if you've legally purchased your copy of Windows, then you won't run into any problems. Unfortunately, I've heard of a few cases where people who have a legitimate copy of Windows are receiving these notifications that it's not.

Regardless of which class you fit into--the nobles or the thieves--I'm here to help you out. I've had to uninstall this Genuine annoyance a few times now, and here's the steps I've taken to get rid of it...[more]