Announcements

New Stuff

Rose has been at it again. She's added 20+ new titles to our online store (many of them over the weekend). Check out all of what's new at:

http://www.worldstart.com/store/index.htm

Oh, check out the Bargain Bin too. Remember, all titles on that page are $3.97-$7.97 with FREE US Shipping:

http://www.worldstart.com/store/bargainbin.htm

On to the newsletter!

Computers 101

Q:
I have a digital camera that plugs into my computer. Do I have to shut the computer off each time I plug / unplug it?

A:
Yup. Never plug (or unplug) any component into (or out of) a running computer unless it connects via a USB cable. In theory, USB devices are designed to be plugged in and out when a computer is powered on. The rest of your ports & devices are not.

That said, you may want to check with your equipment manufacturer before you start yanking on USB cables while your computer is running. Some don't recommend plugging / unplugging your digital camera even if you're using a USB connection.

So, you may be safer to power down, plug in your camera, then turn things back on. I'm guessing the worry here is for the camera, not the computer.

If you do plug or unplug a non-USB component when the computer is running, you may not have a problem. The first time. Or even the second. But you will eventually. It can range from just locking the computer up to blowing out a port.

You can disregard this advice if you like, but when you're in the repair shop, remember "I told ya so!"

Have a question for the newsletter? Submit it at the link below:
http://www.worldstart.com/submitquestion.htm

Tip of the Day

Scanning for Wallpaper

Web Link - http://www.worldstart.com/tips/scanforwall.htm

Wanna to make some wallpaper? Here's how:

OK, First, you'll need to know your screen resolution. If you don't know what it is, follow the 3 steps below.

1. Right-click the desktop, select Properties from the resulting menu.

2. Head to the Settings tab. You'll see your resolution in the lower right hand area. It's probably something like 800x600 or 1024x768. It could be higher / lower.

3. Write your resolution down.

OK, now that you know your resolution, you need to scan in your photograph (horizontal pictures work best). Since I have no idea what size photograph you're scanning (or your screen resolution), I'm going to say use a 150 to 300 DPI scan. The smaller the photograph, the higher you'll need the DPI to be (I would scan in a 4x6 around 250 DPI, to allow for a little cropping on my 1027x768 monitor). You should be able to adjust this with your scanning software.

Next, using your imaging software, resize the image (resize commands are *usually* found under the edit menu) to the same resolution as your screen. The horizontal number being the higher one.

For example, if I was using an 800x600 screen resolution, I would set my horizontal size to 800 and my vertical size to 600.

Keep in mind that if your image isn't proportional to your screen, it may get distorted when you resize it. If that is the case, it's probably going to need to be cropped *before* you re-size it.

So, first try the resize. If it doesn't look good, hit your Edit menu, Undo.

If the image is horizontal, you'll probably need to crop off the sides. If it's vertical, you'll need to crop off the top and the bottom.

That's it. Obviously, if you want to do some image enhancement, now's the time. If you're done, save the file as a BMP image and put it in your C:\Windows directory. If you do it this way, it should show up on the wallpaper list in your Display Settings screen (Right-click the Desktop, Properties to get to it).

OK, before I get a couple hundred e-mails reminding me of this, you can actually save your picture anywhere you please; it doesn't have to be in the Windows folder (it won't show up in your wallpaper menu if it's saved in a custom location though). From the Display Properties screen, just hit the Browse button to navigate to the image. From there you can set it as your wallpaper.

Advanced Tips on Proportions

The above basics will probably do for most people, but here's more on cropping and resizing an image for wallpaper.

Here's the problem. You have snapshot from your camera and you're trying to scan and use it for wallpaper. However, no matter how hard you try, you can't get the image proportional to your screen.

For example, let's say you scan a 4x6 photo. Let's also assume you want it to be 800x600 in size, the same resolution as most computer monitors. However, when you try to resize the photo in your imaging software, you find that when you make the width 800 pixels across, the height comes out to about 533 pixels, not 600.

Of course, you can probably force it to be 800x600, but your picture would look all distorted.

Since regular snapshots are not the same proportions as a computer monitor, you'll need to try one of two things.

# 1 - Crop

Let's assume that the picture is shot horizontally. If that's the case, in order to get it proportional to 800x600 (or any other screen resolution) you'll need to crop off the sides a little. This can usually be done through trial and error; just keep cropping a little off at a time until you can resize it to a resolution that's close to 800x600. It doesn't have to be perfect, just close. Probably if you're within 10 pixels plus or minus you're in good shape.

Also, while you're doing this crop, you should be able to go to the resolution settings and "test" the resolution. Most software lets you put in one part of the resolution and will automatically fill in the other. If it's not close, cancel out. You don't want to actually do the resize until you're close to the 800x600 size. So, crop, check the resolution, and do the "official" resize once the resolution is close.

Note that if you over-crop there's always the Edit, Undo command in most imaging software to take you back to where you were before.

I wish I could be more specific with the steps involved, but imaging software varies quite a bit and there's no way for me to give any more specific instructions. If you get hung up, consult your imaging software's help file.

# 2 - Black Border

Some imaging software will let you create a blank image of whatever size you like. If you can do this, you have another option instead of cropping.

You can create an 800x600 image with a black background (you'll probably use a paint bucket type tool for creating that black background). From there, resize your photo based on whether it's horizontal or vertical in format:

Horizontal - Resize the photo so the width is 800, don't worry about the height as long as it keeps the proportions accurate.

Vertical - Resize the photo so the height is 600, don't worry about the width as long as it keeps the proportions accurate.

From there, you just drag the photo onto the black 800x600 image and center it up. You'll have the complete photo with a black border on either side. Kinda like watching a widescreen movie.

Whew, almost done.

One more piece of advice. You'll need to scan your photo in at a higher resolution than the final size you're shooting for. You don't want to resize by going up in resolution, only down.

Have a tip for the newsletter? Submit it below:
http://www.worldstart.com/submitatip.htm

Cool Site of the Day

Make Stuff

Like to make stuff? MakeStuff.com has all sorts of ideas, advice, hints, resources, and more. They can help you make anything from cookies to crafts. Check 'em out. It may just give you an idea to keep your kids busy!

http://www.makestuff.com

Do you have a cool site that you want to share? Send it to us! Here's the address:

jonathon@worldstart.com

Oh, and we're looking for non-commercial sites. We generally don't run sites that are strictly for shopping.