Next Meeting

WHAT HAPPENED?

On the first of February, we got together and looked at HP's PhotoSmart Scanner, a rather specialized machine designed to scan 35 MM negatives, slides and photos up to 5 X 7. If you have been looking at a scanner to do work in these areas, then you probably know that it costs $299 after a $100 mail-in rebate and is the only one in its class. There are dedicated film scanners available in this price range but are limited to just slides and negatives, or just to APS negatives. It really is a bargain. It can scan negs and slides at an optical resolution up to 2400 dpi (dot per inch) and reflective work at 600 dpi.

The included software gives you the capability of cropping, brightness and contrast (in highlights, shadow areas, and mid tones), adjusting color balance and intensity, and resolution prior to the scan, lets you send it directly to a printer, to your favorite photo editing program, or to a file or the clipboard. Until just recently, the software limited you to Windows 95/98 but there is a free update available to allow you to use it in Windows NT 3.51 or 4.0.

At the mid month meeting, we had a no topic open forum agenda and covered several interesting situations. We also mapped out a couple of future presentations.

WHAT'S GONNA' HAPPEN?

March 15th's show will be about the ins and outs of the three most popular Email programs. That is, Netscape's Messenger, Internet Explorer's Outlook Express and Eudora. March 1st will look at some Internet basics like just what is a dial up connection, how to streamline it, some of the tools available to let you check up on how things are going during your on-line sessions.

WHERE'S IT GONNA' HAPPEN?

Our doors are always open to new members and visitors, too. Meetings are held each month (the first Saturday at 10:00 AM and the third Monday at 7:00 PM) in Gosnold Hall, Room 111, at Christopher Newport University, 50 Shoe Lane, Newport News. Gosnold Hall is just east of the Gym on the northern edge of the campus. Discussions are lively and provide useful information on how to get the most out of your computer hardware and software. Please join us for our next meeting. Guests are always welcomed. Bring a friend along the next time so you can both share the unique experiences at our meetings.

Our "start-up" group meeting for those new to DOS and Windows meets an hour prior to the Saturday morning meeting each month. If you need additional information or encouragement, please call me at 898-1679 or 898-3855.

---

Next Page

Umbrella Online Front Page

Copyright © 1999 The Umbrella — All rights reserved.