DeadHeartStudio

For maximum accuracy in calibrating and Once you have captured your images and embedded the appropriate ICC color profile, profiling a display or output device, a you are ready to begin editing them to suit your needs. However, because your display hardware calibration device such as a color is the window into everything you do, first ensure that an accurate color profile is proimeter or a spectrophotometer can be used. Colorimeters are most often used for calibrating for your display. By calibrating your display and using a custom profile, you caning displays. Spectrophotometer are used trust the color you see on your display and be able to view and modify color in your to calibrate and profile displays, and they are images more accurately. It also useful for creating profiles for output While Mac OS X has already assigned a factory profile to your display, conducting your devices such as printers. own calibration of the display based on your environmental conditions is highly recommended. Mac OS X provides the tools to do this using the Display Calibrator Assistant devices, visit the Macintosh Products Guide The Display Calibrator Assistant is accessed from the Displays pane of System at www.apple.com/guide. In the Color pane of the Displays preference pane are options for selecting the current ICC color profile for your display, as well as a Calibrate button, which opens the Display Calibrator Assistant.

Creating graphics for the web

At times you may want to convert your Some color-aware applications will ask you to choose a preferred working space. A images to another color space for optimal good working space for images provides consistency in defining neutral colors. When viewing on the web. For instance, suppose all three colors (red, green, and blue) have the same value, such as R100, G100, B100, you have a number of files in Adobe and the resulting color is neutral, without any color cast or tint, the color space is con-RGB (1998), which is ideal for editing and sidered linear. Common linear color spaces like Adobe RGB (1998) are ideal for editing archiving images, but you want to post them to a web page where sRGB is a more and archiving images, while the smaller sRGB space provides a linear color space when appropriate color space. If you convert your dealing with multiple devices in a non-color managed workflow. This is not always the images to sRBG and attach the sRBG profile, case with the color profiles of RGB devices, especially those used for printing. For edit colors will be interpreted correctly by coloring and archiving, it’s best to select a working space with a gamut that overreaches or savvy applications like Safari, and the images matches the gamut of the capture (input) device. It will maintain a small gamut for adequate display on non-color-managed devices and applications.

Images need an ICC profile to define their color space. The Image Capture application lets you set your preferences for capturing and embedding these profiles in the images. The images captured are automatically color-managed. The Image Capture framework in Mac OS X allows other applications to download color-managed images as well. Image Capture automatically recognizes devices such as scanners and digital cameras and completes a number of color management tasks. You can set Image Capture to assign and embed an ICC profile in each file as images are downloaded to your Mac. This application can save you hours of work by automatically applying the correct ICC profile to each input device. As a framework built into Mac OS X, Image Capture provides a common method for downloading images from a camera and into an application. It is used by applications such as Aperture and iPhoto and by many third-party developers. With such a framework in Mac OS X, users experience a familiar method for downloading images, and developers can spend more time creating compelling applications.

SSH provides the most secure options for sharing files, but is not always convenient for many users, however, it is possible to use SSH to create an encrypted tunnel which can be used by more familiar sharing protocols such as AFP. The file sharing services enabled should largely be dictated by the location of the Mac OS X system on the network and the sensitivity of the data transferred. As a general rule, only encrypted transfer mechanisms such as SSH and VPNs should be used over untrusted networks. Unencrypted file sharing protocols such as FTP, Microsoft’s SMB, NFS and Apple’s AFP should only be used on trusted networks. When unencrypted file sharing protocols are used, the authentication credentials of users’ can be compromised by network sniffing. This is an added problem when the same credentials are used for remote system access. SSH provides a secure method for transferring files across un-trusted networks and also allows the creation of VPN tunnels between an SSH server and client. Apple has used this in Mac OS X Server(>10.2) to allow users to tunnel AFP over SSH by enabling “secure connections” on the server. Even without Mac OS X Server, it is still possible to manually create a tunnel for AFP over SSH.

From the client’s command line enter:
ssh
username@remote.server
–L 10548:127.0.0.1:548

This tells the SSH client, to connect to the SSH server and map the local port 10548 to the remote port 548. This means that all connections to the local system on port 10548 will be encrypted and forwarded to the remote host on port 548 (The port used by AFP).

WITH TweakUI

TweakUI is a free PowerToy that lets you do all kinds of cool things with Windows XP, things you probably didn’t think you could do without having the nerves of steel it takes to edit the Registry. Among other things, TweakUIlets you enable or disable ToolTip animations and fades, as well as (those annoying) balloon tips, and offers easy access to the Group Policy Editor, where you can change the most intricate aspects of the computer’s behavior. You can download TweakUI from http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx. You open the program by clicking Start | All Programs | PowerToys For Windows XP | TweakUI For Windows XP. To configure any setting, click and/or expand any category, browse through the options, and make changes as desired. The program does all the work and automatically applies the changes. Although there are literally hundreds of options available, the following sections introduce my favorites. (You can perform many of these tasks on your own and without TweakUI, but TweakUI does make it easier.)

Personalize the Start Menu

You don’t have to settle for the generic Start menu and its choices; personalize it to make it your own. You can right click the Start button, choose Properties, and configure settings for Windows XP’s Start menu. For instance, you can choose to use XP’s Start menu interface, or opt for the Classic Start menu used in earlier versions of the operating system. From either menu, you can set how to display Start menu items, including displaying (or not displaying) the following (among others):

■ Control Panel

■ Help and Support

■ My Computer

■ My Documents

■ My Music

Once you choose which elements you’re going to display, you then specify whether additional options should be shown as a link or as a menu. One thing you can’t set, though, is what can and can’t be shown in the Frequently Used Programs list. To decide what items make the cut and appear on this list, Windows XP keeps track of how often you open and use any program. As you use programs, the program name gets moved up the list. With a new XP installation, the first program you open gets placed there. As you use others more and more, they move up the ladder so to speak, and are placed on this list above the others, and eventually unpopular programs are moved off. To tell Windows XP what programs you never want to see on the list (perhaps you play FreeCell or use Windows Media Player at work every day, but don’t want either to appear):

1. Open TweakUI.

2. Expand Taskbar.

3. Select XP Start Menu.

4. Deselect any items you never want to appear.

Use your own pictures as a screen saver.

You can use your own pictures as screen savers too, by creating a slideshow of images in your picture library. Using the My Pictures Slideshow in the Control Panel’s Display options, you can display images on the screen from anywhere between six seconds and three minutes before transitioning to the next image. Transitions vary, and range from fading in, to sliding in from a corner, to coming together in a checkerboard pattern. Back in the day, oh, the early ’80s and into the ’90s, screen savers were necessary to avoid an image “burning” into the screen. That’s not believed to be true anymore, and screen savers are really just cosmetic.

To create a screen saver using your own images:

1. Open the My Pictures folder (or the folder where your images are

stored) and verify that multiple pictures are saved in that folder.

2. Click Start | Control Panel. In Control Panel, open Display. You

can also right-click an empty area of the Desktop and select

Properties. (If you’re in Category view, you’ll have to pick

Appearance and Themes first.)

Control Panel has two views, Category and Classic. Classic view shows the icons without

having to first choose a specific category. Category view requires that a category be selected

first, as in Step 2.

3. Select the Screen Saver tab.

4. From the choices in the Screen Saver drop-down list, select My

Pictures Slideshow.

5. Click Settings, and configure how often to change the picture, how much of the screen to use when displaying a picture, and what folder to use. Configure other settings as applicable. Click OK. You’ll see a preview in the window

6. Click OK to close the Display Properties dialog box.

The Video Screen Saver PowerToy, a free PowerToy available from http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/create_ powertoys/default.mspx, is a program that allows

you to use your Windows Media Video files as your Windows XP screen saver. It’s part of the

PowerToys Fun Pack, a free, dependable, and fun set of applications.

Use Your Own Picture as the Desktop Background

Put pictures on your Desktop so you can view them everyday.

While there are literally thousands of ways to personalize your computer, there’s no better way to do so than with pictures. Pictures can be used as Desktop backgrounds (sometimes referred to as wallpaper) or as screensavers.

If you have a picture you’d like to use for the Desktop background:

1. Open the folder that contains the picture you want to use. If you’ve stayed organized and saved your pictures to the default folders, it should be in the My Pictures folder, which is usually in the My Documents folder.

2. Select the picture, but do not open it.

3. From the Picture Tasks pane, select Set As Desktop Background. If you prefer not to use the Picture Tasks pane, you can also right-click a picture and choose Set As Desktop Background from the menu that appears; this may be faster.

The Wallpaper Changer, a free PowerToy available from microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/create_powertoys/default.mspx, is a program that allows you to change the Desktop background automatically, at intervals you specify in minutes, hours, or even days. It’s part of the PowerToys Fun Pack, a free, dependable, and fun set of applications.

Once your startup process is streamlined and you are logged on, you’ll want to personalize the Desktop so that it fits you and your needs. As an author,  I keep the Taskbar hidden and I stay away from screen savers but when I’m between projects I turn right back to using my own pictures as a background, locking the Taskbar, and customizing how my computer looks. Although most of these tasks are easy enough (and well known), other tweaks aren’t. For instance, did you know you can put a toolbar on your Taskbar for the Desktop? Even with 15 open programs, files, and windows, you can reach anything on your Desktop in a single click. Let’s look at that first.

Tweak the Taskbar

The Taskbar is the doorway to all of the open programs on your computer; personalize it for the best performance possible. Right-click an empty area of the Taskbar and point to Toolbars. Notice the options, including Desktop and Quick Launch. To add these or any others to the Taskbar, simply select them. While this is a simple enough task, what it offers up is quite useful.     From the Taskbar, you now can access everything on the Desktop. This is quite useful when multiple programs and files are open, and you need a specific item on the Desktop.

You can also tweak the Taskbar by right-clicking it and choosing Properties. From the Taskbar tab you can do the following:

■ Lock the Taskbar

■ Auto-hide the Taskbar

■ Keep the Taskbar on top of other windows

■ Group similar items on the Taskbar (or not)

■ Show or hide Quick Launch

■ Show or hide the clock

■ Show or hide inactive icons

Set these to suit your needs. Personally, I couldn’t do without the clock, and grouping similar items drives me crazy. However, I use the Quick Launch area every day, and find it most useful. (Quick Launch is the area to the left of the Taskbar just next to the Start menu. It holds icons for items you use regularly, and those items can be defined.) Want to add an item to the Quick Launch area? Locate it on the All Programs menu (or  elsewhere), right-click the executable program icon, and drag it to the Quick Launch area of the Taskbar. Let go of the mouse and choose Copy Here. A new icon for the program will be added.