A new Digital Camera Show #005

Norbtek.info Podcast Show #005 - Knowing when to get a new Digital Camera?

Today's podcast is about knowing when you might need a better digital camera.
- I got a prize in the mail
- News
- Knowing when to get a new Digital Camera
- Listener Email (or not)
- Gadget of the Week
- Windows Tip

My Prize:

I received the flag that I mentioned in the last podcast from Todd Cochrane’s Geek News Central 50th show contest. I am currently searching for a display case for the 3’ x 5’ American Flag. If anyone has any suggestions, let me know. All I have been able to find are the ones for the 5’ x 9’ ones.

The News:

Here are some links to the news items in the podcast:
Apple recruiting Sony VAIO engineers to build the first Intel PowerBook?
RIAA loses battle to tax Canadian MP3 players
OJ Simpson docked 25k for pirating DirecTV
Netflix close to offering online movie downloads
Xbox 360 launching November 4th?
Skipping TV ads violates Japanese copyright law?
Cambridge PlayDock works with Zen (of course), others
Aquabot T2 robot pool cleaner

Main Topic:

More and more people are getting digital cameras today but don’t know what they need. Many find later that they want a better camera, but don’t know exactly how to tell if they should get a new camera. Here are a few tell tale signs that you might need to upgrade to a new camera:

· Are your shots becoming more thought out versus a quick shot?
· Are you finding that your camera does not have the macro or manual settings?
· Is the optical zoom not enough
· Are the prints that you want from them becoming larger or that you are manipulating the shots on the computer prior to printing?

If so you might want to begin thinking about getting a newer more powerful camera. Many of the midrangepriced consumer cameras are very powerful already. Take a look at the manula that you have and see if there are either Scene assis modes or the ability to manipulate the settings for the Aperature or Shutter Speed. Some cameras can even take the picture in black and white or sepia mode. You might not even need to get a new camera. There are a few things you can do with the basic of digital camersa that will improve your shots:

· Try a new angle. Get lower or higher or even tilt the camera a bit.
· Hold your camera steady. Use a tripod or lean aginst something solid like a wall or door jamb.
· Compose your shot. Set things up if you can in advance like lighting and background.
· Get closer, 90%subject and 10% background makes for great shots.
· Just take more shots!

HP has some other great ideas on how to improve your digital camera experience at the following link: Tips Part 1 and Tips Part 2

Listener Email:

None. Come on, give a guy a break. Please write in with your questions on tech and I will help you out the best that I can. I want this show to kind of be like the old TechTV Call for Help with Chris Pirllio and Leo Laporte. You write in and then I answer the questions.

Gadget of the Week:

Firefly Mobile Phone for Kids
- GSM phone
- Pin protected address book
- Hot buttons for Mom, Dad, and 911
- Optional Call Screening only lets phone numbers recognized in your phone list connect
- 30 minutes pre-paid with ability to buy minutes on the web
- Target: $99.99


Windows Tip: (TechRepublic)

Windows Prefetch Feature:Windows XP's Prefetch folder stores information about each program you launch; then, on subsequent restarts, XP uses the information in the folder to preload parts of those programs at boot time to decrease application start-up time. However, the Prefetch folder can accumulate too much information over time. This makes the operating system so busy loading bits and pieces of lots of applications into memory that it ends up slowing down the boot process. Fortunately, you can clean out the Prefetch folder at any time. Follow these four steps:

- Access the Run dialog box by pressing [Windows]+R.
- Type Prefetch in the Open text box and click OK.
- Press [Ctrl]+A to select all the files.
- Press [Delete].

As you use your system, Windows XP will rebuild the contents of the Prefetch folder.