GuruNews, Volume 9 Number 21, 6-4-09

Thu Jun 4 18:18:15 PDT 2009

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Vol. 9, No. 21                           

6-4-09

1 Olympus camera review          

2 You calling me Gramps?

3 MS “The Decider”, Opera 10, Tetris birthday, MS a tech GM?

4 Startup control

6 Browsing security

I don’t ordinarily do product reviews in this newsletter.  As a matter of fact, I think the general article on netbooks a few weeks ago was as close as I’ve ever come.

Recently, though, my old knock-around Canon camera died and I needed a new one.  After much research I decided to get two, one inexpensive one to stick in my backpack along with my 40 pounds of other stuff and one good one.  I’ve not gotten the knock-around yet but I did settle on the higher-end unit and I’m quite happy with it.      

I picked up an Olympus SP-565UZ, which is one of their “bridge” models and sells for under $300.  A bridge camera is like a hybrid between a true digital and a digital SLR.  

A digital SLR is just a camera body that takes exchangeable lenses, offers complete manual control and costs $500 and up… way up.  A true digital is the point and click type you can pick up for $100 or less.  A bridge model combines them with a single lens that works for multiple purposes, has both manual and auto settings and leans toward higher resolutions.

The SP-565UZ has multiple auto settings like the usual portrait, landscape and low light among others plus settings that allow you to set the shutter speed and/or the aperture.  It also has auto settings like macro and super-macro mode for extreme close ups.

So far I’m impressed with the camera, although work and all these recent rainy days have limited my playtime with it.  Below are some examples of straight auto default everything.  These are hand held and quite large (no ‘shopping to shrink them) so don’t click the links if you’re on dial-up:

http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj33/microdome/P1010001.jpg

http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj33/microdome/P1010006.jpg

http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj33/microdome/P1010004.jpg

No macro there, but you can see the clarity of the photos even without a tripod or monopod.  

http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj33/microdome/P5160015.jpg

This one was taken in macro mode.  I’m about 2” from a leaf around 6” wide and weaving slightly in a mild breeze.  This one impressed me because the shutter speed, even on auto, was enough to negate the movement.

http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj33/microdome/P5190022.jpg

This one was taken in super-macro and surprised me.  The text on the tops of the capacitors was easily readable even though it was taken without a stable platform like a tripod.  This was from a distance of around 1”.

http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj33/microdome/P5230036.jpg

I was about 30’ away from this wall in downtown Louisville last weekend and this one turned out well.  No setup or anything, just a snapshot.

http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj33/microdome/P5230009.jpg

This is a quick snapshot from a Guru lunch last weekend.  That’s chatter Melissa, Gurus Carmine and Matt, with his face hidden, and Matt’s lovely wife Kelly who is also ignoring me.  As you can see it’s a bit off but it demonstrates the camera’s auto focus feature that focused on the Budweiser sign.  Not what I wanted but that sucker is clear as a bell ;)

http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj33/microdome/P5230025.jpg

Go ahead, yell at me for smoking.  This was a quick snapshot Melissa took in Louisville last week and shows the detail you can get on the fly.

http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj33/microdome/P5160007.jpg

This is the worst one I’ve taken during my experimentation.  I could correct this with manipulation of the aperture or maybe even use of a tripod but you can see the lack of sharp focus in the foreground.  It should have been sharp or blurred but it was just slightly off, which doesn’t make for a good picture.

Sorry for all the examples but I do reviews from personal experience.  I don’t know from jitter or noise or color saturation but I know what looks good, so that’s what I give you.  You can decide for yourself and the photographers among you can feel free to smack me around, just word your abuse with something constructive that I can use as an email ;)

I’m very happy so far with this camera and I’ll report back after I’ve done some more extensive testing but I have to say, at this point, it’s a good choice for average users to enable them to get nice sharp pictures without twiddling a bunch of settings. 

Kevin Mefford, Editor

pcguru at microdome.net

Terry Wise

www.ratland.com

Tech News of the Week

Microsoft says Bing, formerly known by the code name Kumo, takes a new approach by going beyond search to be a "decision engine":

http://tinyurl.com/qhcogd

Hands on with the Opera 10 Beta Web Browser:

http://tinyurl.com/qvjmes

On Saturday, Tetris, the famous falling-blocks puzzle game, turns 25:

http://tinyurl.com/ph7nzz

GM's bankruptcy marks the end of an era.  Is Microsoft making the same mistakes?

http://tinyurl.com/ornd7e  

Matthew Dattilo
thepcgurus at gmail.com 
www.mattstodayinhistory.com

Download of the Week

Programs that automatically start up with Windows can be annoying, especially when they hog system memory and bog down your system.  While MSCONFIG, the built in Windows utility can manage this, Startup Control Panel is a free program that lets you take control of this process a little more easily. 

It lists all of the programs that are set to start when Windows does and allows you to decide what gets to start up with Windows and what doesn't. It's available as both a Control Panel applet or as a standalone program and it's simple to use. Don't want a program to start up with Windows? Just right click on it in Startup Control Panel and select disable. If you later decide you want the program to run, just re-enable it or select Run Now and it will launch.  Get it here:

http://tinyurl.com/oyzdyj  

NOTE: Not Vista compatible.

Carlita Lupino

Cards57 at gmail.com

Email Question of the Week

Q:  After making transaction on my banking account, the web page will say close your browser for security reasons. Do they mean take my PC off internet or just go off their web site.

A:  They mean to close the browser.  When you open a browser session it will tend to retain things like passwords and sessions when you browse away and click Back to the website.  You don't have to disconnect completely but you need to more than just browse away from the secure page in the browsing session.

This only applies on public computers, like those in libraries or Internet cafes.  On your home PC it's not of much concern unless you want to keep family members or visitors out of your personal info.

Kevin Mefford

pcguru at microdome.net

Contact info and legal stuff

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