Beautify Your Photos With Blur - Add artistic accents with your photo editor or specialized software

Add artistic accents with your photo editor or specialized software.
Razor-sharp focus is not always the right prescription for a perfect photo. Adding subtle blur effects can impart a surreal or a romantic tone to your image. Check out any original Star Trek episode to see what soft focus can do for a scene.

One way that photographers used to get a soft-focus effect was by applying gel to their camera's lens. Another method was to use a special soft-focus lens, which has a single optical element that was physically unable to produce a sharply focused image. You get sharper--or softer--images based on the aperture setting that you shoot with.

These days, of course, blur and soft-focus effects are just a few clicks away in any photo editing program. I'll show you a trick in Adobe Photoshop Elements, but you can translate it to your favorite photo editing program.
Blur the Background With Photoshop Elements

Take this photo of my daughter, for example. Suppose I wanted to make it a little more interesting.

I'll use the same sort of technique that I described last week in the lesson on sharpening. Start by choosing Layer, Duplicate Layer, and then click OK. Make sure you have selected the top layer (click the top layer in the Layer Palette on the right side of the screen) and then add some blur.

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Posted in: Multimedia,Software

11 Things We Hate About iTunes - do you want to know?

iPod and iPhone owners know that Apple's iTunes is the dominant software for managing digital media. But some aspects of iTunes drive us nuts.

We all use iTunes. It's our gateway to millions of song downloads, thousands of TV shows and movies, that killer new App Store, and a terrific selection of podcasts. Without it, our iPods and iPhones would be empty, lonely, and sad.


But, oh, does iTunes drive us crazy sometimes. It lacks obvious features, hobbles others, and does things that are just plain dumb. In some cases, Apple's decision-making is to blame, not iTunes itself, but the latter is the conduit through which those bad decisions trickle.

We've rounded up 11 of these annoyances, all of which Apple could fix in about 5 minutes. In the meantime, we've listed workarounds for many of them--because, let's face it, much as we hate iTunes sometimes, we're stuck with it.

(You might also be interested in our story "Annoying Software: Is Apple iTunes the New AOL?")

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Posted in: Multimedia,Software

Looking to turn your computer into the ultimate home-entertainment device?

Here's how to get a top-notch media experience out of the PC you already own.

Your PC already plays music, and your hard drive holds every digital photo you've ever taken. And you probably watch hours of video on Hulu, Veoh, or YouTube.

Wouldn't it be nice if you could corral all that stuff within one attractive, easy-to-use interface? One that's large enough for you to see (and control) from the couch? And, hey, while we're at it, how about adding TV and DVR features to the mix?

You can do all that and more by transforming your PC into a self-contained media center. All you need is the right software, and possibly some extra hardware, to give your machine new life as a jukebox, a high-def digital photo frame, a movie theater, and a TiVo clone.

You don't necessarily need to buy new hardware, and the software part of this upgrade could be easier than you think. In fact, if you're running Windows Vista Home Premium or Vista Ultimate, you're set: Microsoft baked Windows Media Center right into the OS. Mac OS X Leopard users already have basic media-center software in the form of Apple's Front Row, though third-party alternatives are also available. And Linux users have several free options, including Freevo and LinuxMCE.

All of those applications scan your PC for photos, music, videos, and the like, and then present them inside an oversize, TV-friendly interface (commonly known as a 10-foot interface, meaning it's easily viewable from the couch). So when we talk about turning your PC into a media center, we mean installing software that finds, catalogs, and plays your media files--and looks good while doing it.

Note: In this guide, I'll focus exclusively on ways that you can turn your existing computer into a media center. For a complete guide to assembling a media center PC from the ground up, see Zack Stern's excellent "Build Your Own High-Def PC."
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Posted in: Multimedia

Lunch with Roger Wagner

I have to tell you that it was quite a thrill for me to spend my lunchtime one on one with Roger Wagner of Hyperstudio. I can remember the first time I met Roger in New Jersey as he was showing off Hyperstudio running on an Apple IIGS. If you have been around educational technology as I have, then you know that Hyperstudio was one of those rare applications that inspired all of us in the early days to think about how multimedia could be used to enhance, engage and teach students about subject matter. Hyperstudio which was owned by several companies in the past couple of years withered on the vine, until now when MacKiev Software purchased the rights to it. With Roger Wagner back and MacKiev Software they have brought back the excitement of the program with a fresh look to it running on Macintosh OSX. I had the opportunity to sit through a presentation and was excited to see that the metaphor of cards and stacks still has been maintained. Looking at the projects that middle school students had completed with Hyperstudio reminded me why this program was so popular and adored by all educators. Having Roger back and giving the software team direction will result in one of the best iterations of Hyperstudio in some time. I hope to do a full review when it is available for testing. In the interim I for one can't wait to use Hyperstudio on my MacBook when it is released. And Roger, thanks for sharing your lunchtime with me- it was a real honor.

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Posted in: hyperstudio,Mac OSX,Mackiev,Multimedia