Due to copyright concerns many photographers add a “watermark” to their digital photos — a faint logo or text notice overlaid on the image (here’s an example). However, the basic photo management software that came with your computer or camera doesn’t necessarily include this capability.

Rather than buying a new program, you can try PicMarkr.com, a web site that watermarks your images for free.  You can upload up to five images at a time from your computer, Facebook, Flickr, or Picasa and watermark them with text or a custom image in the position you choose.  Then you can upload the results back to one of those online services or download onto your computer.

If the free Web version doesn’t do enough for you, you may be interested in the PicMarkr Pro desktop software for Windows at $39.99.

Visit PicMarkr.com

… the Death Star fell?

Humor: Stormtroopers’ 9/11 (video)

Now your dreams of global domination can become a reality… well, kinda. The popular game Monopoly has gone global with an online version called Monopoly City Streets.  It’s a live game which, together with Google Maps, pits you against other players as you start with $3 million and assimilate real streets located all over the earth.  (Though you’re not really assimilating them… you know.)  As with regular Monopoly, you can build on your properties, collect rent, and negotiate with other players.

Looks like this is a test run for Hasbro, as their web site says the online game will only be available through January 31, 2010.

Check out Monopoly City Streets.

Have you noticed all the free applications Google is giving away?

Of course, there’s the popular Gmail. But there’s also Google Calendar for online calendars, and Google Docs for online document storage and sharing. Recently Google came out with a new web browser called Chrome to compete with Internet Explorer and Firefox. And that’s not all; if you want to see everything Google has to offer, check out this page.

But these applications aren’t feature-bereft, get-what-you-pay-for offerings slapped together by a programmer with a little free time.  They are robust.  Google Docs reads PDFs and Microsoft Office documents and allows you to share and collaborate with them.   Google Analytics plugs into your web site for no-cost statistical analysis of your traffic.  Google Earth has literally revolutionized the way we see the world.  And can anyone say YouTube?

Granted, Google acquired most of these technologies rather than inventing them.  Who can blame them?  It’s pretty darned good stuff, and I realize I’ve come to rely on many of these products almost exclusively.

People think it’s Microsoft that dominates the computing landscape, but it’s not.  If Microsoft owns your computer, Google owns the Internet.  Hmm: Which would I rather have?

No, that’s the BBC.

The following article was published by US-CERT (U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team), and provides an excellent explanation of what BCC is used for in e-mail.

———————————

Cyber Security Tip ST04-008
Benefits of BCC

Although in many situations it may be appropriate to list email recipients
in the To: or CC: fields, sometimes using the BCC: field may be the most
desirable option.

What is BCC?

BCC, which stands for blind carbon copy, allows you to hide recipients in
email messages. Addresses in the To: field and the CC: (carbon copy) field
appear in messages, but users cannot see addresses of anyone you included in
the BCC: field.

Why would you want to use BCC?

There are a few main reasons for using BCC:

* Privacy – Sometimes it’s beneficial, even necessary, for you to let
recipients know who else is receiving your email message. However, there
may be instances when you want to send the same message to multiple
recipients without letting them know who else is receiving the message.
If you are sending email on behalf of a business or organization, it may
be especially important to keep lists of clients, members, or associates
confidential. You may also want to avoid listing an internal email
address on a message being sent to external recipients.
Another point to remember is that if any of the recipients use the
“reply to all” feature to reply to your messages, all of the recipients
listed in the To: and CC: fields will receive the reply. If there is
potential for a response that is not appropriate for all recipients,
consider using BCC.
* Tracking – Maybe you want to access or archive the email message you are
sending at another email account. Or maybe you want to make someone,
such as a supervisor or team member, aware of the email without actually
involving them in the exchange. BCC allows you to accomplish these goals
without advertising that you are doing it.
* Respect for your recipients – People often forward email messages
without removing the addresses of previous recipients. As a result,
messages that are repeatedly sent to many recipients may contain long
lists of email addresses. Spammers and email-borne viruses may collect
and target those addresses.
To reduce the risk, encourage people who forward messages to you to use
BCC so that your email address is less likely to appear in other
people’s inboxes and be susceptible to being harvested. To avoid
becoming part of the problem, in addition to using BCC if you forward
messages, take time to remove all existing email addresses within the
message. The additional benefit is that the people you’re sending the
message to will appreciate not having to scroll through large sections
of irrelevant information to get to the actual message.

How do you BCC an email message?

Most email clients have the option to BCC listed a few lines below the To:
field. However, sometimes it is a separate option that is not listed by
default. If you cannot locate it, check the help menu or the software’s
documentation.

If you want to BCC all recipients and your email client will not send a
message without something in the To: field, consider using your own email
address in that field. In addition to hiding the identity of other
recipients, this option will enable you to confirm that the message was sent
successfully.
_________________________________________________________________

Authors: Mindi McDowell, Allen Householder
_________________________________________________________________

Produced 2004 by US-CERT, a government organization.

Last updated August 12, 2009

Note: This tip was previously published and is being
re-distributed to increase awareness.

Terms of use

http//www.us-cert.gov/legal.html

This document can also be found at

http//www.us-cert.gov/cas/tips/ST04-008.html

For instructions on subscribing to or unsubscribing from this
mailing list, visit http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/signup.html.

Have you wondered whether your anti-virus is actually working while its little icon is sitting in your system tray? Did you know you can test it?

EICAR, a European organization involved in virus research, provides a downloadable file which is harmless, but which all major anti-virus software recognizes as a virus for testing purposes.  If your anti-virus program is working, you should receive an alert as soon as the file is downloaded.   (Remember, it’s not a real virus!)

Visit the following link and scroll to the bottom of the page to download the test file, which is available in four versions.  The first and the third (a compressed ZIP file) should suffice.  If your anti-virus product doesn’t react to these files, then your real-time protection isn’t working.  As always, you should keep your software up to date to ensure protection against the latest threats.

Download the EICAR test file

It’s the Windows that Vista should have been.

I wasn’t a Vista hater like a lot of people, although I hung onto XP for quite a while before I upgraded. Vista was all right, if a bit of a security nag with its User Account Control. Other than that I really didn’t object to it.

But now I’ve been using the Windows 7 Release Candidate for about a month, and there’s a big difference. As a Mac user, I run Windows in virtualization, and Windows 7 seems to run much faster than Vista ever did. Though very much like Vista in appearance, the 7 interface seems greatly simplified.

I particularly like the changes to the Taskbar. If there is any part of Windows that users have been clueless about, it’s this. In Windows 7 the Taskbar now represents running programs with an icon rather than a text button. If you have multiple windows open in one program, the icon has a “stacked” appearance, and clicking on it brings up a list of windows to choose from. By right-clicking you can “pin” an item permanently to the Taskbar, replacing the separate “Quick Launch” section. Thinking about it now, I believe the Taskbar overhaul is one of my favorite features.

Another subtle, but big improvement is the “Shut down” button. In Vista when you clicked the red power button from the Start Menu, you didn’t actually power down necessarily. Now there’s a button that reads simply and honestly, “Shut down.”

And I haven’t encountered any driver or software incompatibilities compared to Vista.

So far (it’s only the release candidate), Windows 7 has been a good experience.  When it’s officially released, I think it will be worth the upgrade from XP for those who were scared of Vista.  I just have one tiny gripe…

What the heck does seven have to do with anything??

Download the Windows 7 Release Candidate

Does your MacBook run hot enough to fry chicken thighs — or your thighs, for that matter?  If you have an Apple laptop with an Intel processor, you can actually change the speed of the fans, thus better controlling the overall temperature.

One program that allows you to do this is called smcFanControl, and it’s free (my favorite).  It’s a very simple app that runs as a menu bar icon.  The current version as of this writing has the ability to continually display both fan RPMs and temperature.  You can even automatically load saved fan settings based on whether the laptop is running off battery or AC power.  This software is very cool… and now so is my MacBook.

Download smcFanControl

The real magic of digital photography is the almost infinite flexibility you have to make changes to your pictures.  If you have very basic photo management software, you probably have only very basic features for retouching images.  But you may not be ready to shell out money for a more advanced product like Adobe Photoshop Elements.  For improved editing features without the cost, try the Lightbox Free Image Editor. It’s totally free and available for Windows.  The Lightbox editor covers cropping, color and lighting adjustment, resizing, sharpening, and, of course, red-eye.  It even supports the raw files created by digital SLRs.  Before-and-after views are handy for previewing the effects of your changes.

If you’re looking for just a little more — including clone brushing and masking — Lightbox comes in a Plus version for just under $20.

Download Lightbox Editor

If you use Google Maps to look up an address or find directions, you may have seen the “Street View” option. Going beyond the satellite photography we’re accustomed to from Google Earth, Street View (introduced in May 2007) provides ground-level panoramic photographs of an area, much like one would capture while walking down the block. To get these images, Google sent camera-equipped vehicles to roam various metropolitan areas around the country.

I’ve known for some time that Google was doing this. What I didn’t realize was how quickly they got to my area (Albany, NY was added by February 2008) and how much they got (my street). Plugging my own address into Google Maps, I see that the Google-mobile went right past my house.

And I missed it! I would have waved or something.

Judging by the content of the photo, it was summer, since the vegetation is green and full, lawn mowing appears to be in full swing, and my neighbor’s sunflowers are blooming. It was definitely a Friday — garbage day, since the cans are out on the curb. (And I’d guess the trucks have probably already come by since the recycling bins are overturned.) The position of the sun (it’s a clear day) makes me think it was early afternoon.

Even though Google may be within its rights taking photographs from public roads, the pictures do creep me out a little for their “Big Brother” feel. In the street view near my address, you can see a couple (albeit unidentifiable) walking along the side of the road. There are even web sites such as this one dedicated to strange Google Street View sightings. To Google’s credit, it appears they have gone back and obscured portions of photos that may not have been appropriate for public display (e.g., crimes being committed, people whose thongs are showing). But Google’s Street View definitely has people asking the question of how much information is too much.