2003-05 Toronto Computes!

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10

F e a t u r e s

R e g u l a r s

C y b e r p l a y

10 L o o k i n g at video camcorders ...

6 Letters

44 C y b e r b r i e f s

16 U s i n g video for self-promotion

8 N e w Products

46 G e n e r a l s gets into politics

18 G e t t i n g video from drive to disc

21 L i n f i e l d ' s Line by Kevin Linfield

47 P C gaming: What's coming ...

19 S t r u g g l e of the boards

22 T h e World is My Cubicle by Alan Thwaits

48 G a m e On! by Marc Saltzman

23 Te l e c o m m e n t s by Lynn Greiner

49 M a c r o m a n a g i n g the universe

24 M a c Chronicles by Dwayne R. Brown

49 A t Play by Sharlene Myers

30 I n e x p e n s i v e recording with a Walkman

43 K i d s : Net guide to just what you're looking for

50 E A ' s baseball is an MVP

31 F a m i l i a r tool helps video editors go digital

43 K i d s : Withstanding time

32 W h a t ' s new in Adobe Premiere?

54 P r o f i l e : Nick Kopachkov

R e v i e w s 25 M c A f e e gives Internet Security

:51 R o b i n Hood on the PC

T E S T S

38 B a c k i n g up with ABSplus 42 C o n f r o n t the backdoor: Trashing spyware

C r e a t i v e Te c h

42

33 D i g i t a l Shots: Taking a fieldtrip

A

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36 D i g i t a l Word: Get extra work out of layout software 39 A d v e n t u r e s in digital video: DV, by any other name ...

40 M u s i c a l Odyssey: Instruments galore

Enter our Digital Design Contest. See page 41 for details.

See page 45 f o r details on theCool Tunes Contest., Check o u t page 54 f o r i n f o on a new Photo Spree Assignment.

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I was walking along a street one evening when a sight caught my eye. It was a cardboard box containing some refuse, and it had somehow broken open, spilling its contents into the stacet. Not intending to stop, I sauntered by the mess, but some shiny things caught my eye, There were floppy disks, CDs, and a smattering of Zip disks. This really drew my attention. I found myself draWn down and I started to examine these disks.

The Zip disks interested me, as I use these for backup and to transfer large files between my home and office. I grabbed them. The CDs were a motley collection of used CDs that were burned with God knows what. I ignored these. The only other gem from this pile — I really did not go far, for hygiene reasons — was a still shrink-wrapped copy of IBM's PC DOS 4.00. Nostalgia.

I looked around to see what business would have discarded this stuff. There were several diverse businesses in the facing office block — a medical centre, lawyers, accountants among others.

When I got home and looked closely at the Zip disks I realized that they were the backup disks for the company. Each disk contained a single file. Were these medical files, financial. records, legal files or something else equally sensitive? I just format-

Superior option to scanning?

Re: How To: Scan Prints to Archive TC! April — I find it amazing that whenever an article o f this sort is written, that the least expensive and, IMHO, the best solution is never mentioned. Use your digital camera.

To make life simpler, I use an old copy stand that has the arms out to the side to hold four photo blue bulbs. The bulbs have a relatively short life, 25 hours or so, but they only cost about $6, so it's not a big expense when they need replacing. The camera is attached to the stand via the threaded hole in the camera, body. I output a video signal from my CoolPix 995 and view the image on a separate monitor. By moving the camera u p o r down, o r b y zooming in or out, I can easily get the image I want. Once I'm happy, I press the shutter and go to the next image.

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ted all the disks without prying, realizing that I had no business having this information, whatever it was.

With sensitive information being hijacked, whether from databases being hacked or hard disks walking out of the offices of financial institutions, it is a wonder that people are still so cavalier with data they accumulate. I would like to think that the Zip disks I found contained nothing more sensitive than sales orders from 1998, but who knows? And what was on those CDs that I left on the pile? We are all responsible, whether in our personal or professional lives, for the information we accumulate and just like we should recycle and not litter with garbage we should also dispose of information in a proper way — rendering the information on the disks inaccessible before disposing of them in an environmentally friendly way.

Toronto Computes! is going through a metamorphosis. TO started as a computer publication nearly 20 years ago, and we have tracked the way computers literally changed the way we live. Just as the computer has grown beyond its plain beige box, so too TC! will shed some of its identity.

For some time now we have been writing not just z bout the computer itself but how our lives are being intertwined with emerging technology. The changes to our publication will bi huge — for one thing the new name will be Hub: Digital Living. The great content that you have come to rely on wit be maintained and enhanced. I encourage readers to write to me with their comments and suggestions.

Nestor Gula can be reached by e-mailing nestoratco.ca •

I believe this is a far superior option to any sort of scanning.

Alf Bristow S30 million dollar backlog Re: Media levy: Hearings end, saga continues, To April — Frank Lenk says in his article that companies can register with the CPCC for a rebate of the media levy. Is it possible for individuals to register and request a yearly rebate?

I wouldn't mind filing an annual report for the CDs I've purchased for storing my scanned photos in order to justify a rebate. I also wouldn't mind, a month after filing a rebate request and not receiving it, taking the issue to small claims court. If a few hundred (or a few thousand) users d i d this, t h e CPCC might find that their $30 million dollar backlog was evaporating.

David Brown

Well aged response Re: A question of options TC! April — Ye, verily Mara Gulens, thou art an ageist; forsooth and for shame.

"Grandma can't d o much w i t h a photo CD," you say? Y o u obviously haven't met some o f the grandmas I have.

Grandma i n t h i s house regularly edges me away from the computer to go online, to do a variety of other computer-based tasks, or to play games with her grandson. In fact, grandma bought the first PC in this house.

Prior to retirement — the only grandma in her department — she was the most computer literate of the bunch.

Grandmas everywhere deserve a well phrased, deeply felt apology and better treatment in the future.

"Grandpa Bill" Bill Bryson

TheEditorToronto Computes!

To r o n t o

comput CCPEditorial Director David Tanaka Editor Nestor Gula, nestoreetcp.ca Managing Editor Chris Talbot, chris_talbot@tcp.ca Assistant Editor Andrew Moore-Crispin, andrew inoore-crispin@tqlca Contributing Editors LynnGreiner, Kevin Linfield, Marc Saltzman, Alan Thwarts Copy Editor Sharlene Myers Art Director Helga Stitt Online Editor Jessica Malone Publisher/General Manager Dick Peters Associate Publisher RobCrawford, rob@tcp.ca Production/Distribution Director MaxineLewis, maxine lewisgtcp.ra Production Chris Brockley, Steve Stoner, Lara Bazant, RoxanneBennett, Carlos Castro IT Department SteveQuinney, Dan Wojtkiewicz Marketing Manager NataliaNossovskaia, natalia nossovskaia@tep.ca National Sales Manager Ian Harting, ion harling@tcp.ca Corporate Account Manager JohnChiasson, John_Chiasson@tcp.ca Advertising Sales onsoles@tcp.ca Scott Piccolo, Ralph Ventriglia Advertising Coordinators DonnaGoddard, donnatttcp.ca, KarenSamuels, karen_samuels@tcp.co Classified Saks Sabrina Garofalo, addass@tcp.ca Circulation TracyMagee-Graham Distribution Gabriella Dan About the cover Our May cover wasdesigned by Steve Stoner.

TorontoComputes! is published monthly by •Canada Computer Paper Inc. under licence from -Canada Computer Paper Inc. Canada Computer Paper Inc. Corporate Office 625 Church St., Suite 600, Toronto, ON M4Y 2G1 Tel: (416) 923-4200 Fax: (416) 923.5394 Copyright 2003 unless otherwise specified.

Subscriptions subscriptions@tcp.co 1-800465.3517 x 1273 Subscriptions: 319.99 ($21.39 with taxes) a year U.S.subscriptions: US375,Overseas subscriptions: Can$135 Mail cheques or money orders (payable to TorontoComputes to: Yaionlo Computed 625 Church St., Suite 600, Toronto, ON M4Y 2G1 Tel: (416) 923-4200 Fax: (416) 923-5394 Canadian Publication Mail SalesProduct Agreement 40169021 Printed in Canada I S S N 297433 TorontoComputed is distributed free through hundreds of stores, restaurants & boxes around Metro Toronto.

625 Church St., Suite 600, Toronto, ON M4Y 261 tclettersetcp.ca

For his letter this month, Bill Bryson wins a copy o f Age o f Mythology, from Ensemble Letters on issues raised in the paper or general Studios and Microsoft Game Studios. computer topics are welcome. Please be brief. We Age of Mythology has players to taking control regret that we are unable to look up stories from of nine legendary civilizations such as Greek, past issues, suggest products, or solve all your Norse and Egyptian, and allows them to do batcomputer problems. All correspondence must includeyour full-namein addition to your e-mail tle against other civilizations using troops and orsnail-mailaddress.Lettersmaybeedited for ancient creatures--from each c i v i l i T t i o n ' s - space or content. mythology.

G E M Thepublisherreserves the right to refusesexist, racist, or otherwiseoffensive advertising. The publisher alsoreserves the right to be the final judge of what is appropriate. Information in both editorial and advertising is believed to be toe, however, the publisherassumesno responsibility for errors or omissions.

Announcements: pressreleases@tcp.ca Ad deadline June: Tuesday, May, 21 Distribution: Wednesday, May, 29 - The funtext of Iris available online at: www.canadacomputes.com

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M P a n a s o n i c 3.5" - 1 . 4 4 M B H D Floppy Disk Drive

P a n a s o n i c 3.5" - 1 . 4 4 M B H D F l o p p y Disk Olive

/

T h e r m a l t a k e Vo l c a n o 7+ H e a t Sink / F a n

T h e r m a t t a k e Vo l c a n o 7 Heat Sink /Fan f o r A M D C P U s

T h e n n a l t a k e Vo l c a n o B e l l * Heat SinktFan for A M D C P U 0

I

o r Asus A 7 N 8 X - D X M c d i e r b o a r d for A M D C P U s

o r A s u s A 7 V 8 X M o t h e r b o a r d for A M D C P U s

o r A b i t B H 7 M o t h e r b o a r d f o r Intel P e n t i u m 4 C P U s

or E C S K 7 V M M + for Socket A C P U s Panasortic 3.5" - 1 . 4 4 M B H O Floppy Disk Drive

;

A s u s P 4 C 8 0 0 M o t h e r b o a r d for Intel P e n t i u m 4 C P U s

2 1 A s u s P 4 S D X M o t h e r b o a r d for Intel P e n t i u m 4 C P U s

Ablt K 0 7 Motherboard for A I M Socket A

E C S P4VMM2-3.2a for Socket 478 CPUs

0

PREMIERCHOICE GOLD

PREMIERCHOICESILVER

PREMIERCHOICEBROW

0

R e a t t e k A L C 6 5 0 A u d i o W/ 8 C h a n n e l S u p p o r t

Sony 16X D V D - R O M Drive wl 40X C D R O M support S o u n d B l a s t e r U v e 5.1 P C I S t e r e o S o u n d c a r d

0

Creative Inspire 6 . 1 6 6 0 0 w/ 6 Speakers & Subwoofer

C r e a t i v e I n s p i r e 4 . 1 - 4 4 0 0 S p e a k e r S y s t e m iv/ S u b

0

U S R o b o t i c s 5 6 K i n t e r n a l F a x / M o d e m v. 9 0

0 O n - 1 3 o a r d 1 0 / 1 0 0 PCI Full Duplex N e t w o r k Adapter

0

@ S a m s u n g 9 5 0 8 1 9 ' Digital .22hdp C R T Monitor

21 S a m s u n g 9 5 3 D F B l a c k 1 9 " D i g i t a l . 2 0 h d p C R T M o n i t o r

Dual RJ-45 Ports for Gigabit Network Access K e y t r o n i c K 7 8 0 0 1 0 4 B l a c k S o f t - To u c h K e y b o a r d

0

Microsoft Compatible Serial M o u s e w/ M o u s e Pad

E l M S W i n d o w s X P H o m e O E M vr/ C D a n d M a n u a l

M K e y t r o n i c 104 E n h a n c e d Soft- To u c h Win 95 K e y b o a r d

0

M S Windows XP H o m e O E M w/ CD and Manual

0

21Microsoft Wheel M o u s e Optical M o u s e w/ Mouse Pad

M K e y t r o n i c B l a c k M o u s e vr/ S c r o l l W h e e l

0

M S W i n d o w s XP H o m e O E M w/ C D and Manual

0

0

5 Ye a r s L a b o u r 8 1 Ye a r P a r t s W a r r a n t y

@ A r c t i c S i l v e r III T h e r m a l H e a t C o m p o u n d

5 Ye a r s L a b o u r & 1 Ye a r Parts W a r r a n t y

5 Ye a r s L a b o u r & 1 Ye a r Pasts Wa r r a n t y A N D AMD Duron 1.3-GHz-

$ 7 3 9 . 9 9

or $27/mth

Duron 1.3-GHz$

1

1

1

4

.

9

9

or $41/mth

AMD Athlon

X P - 2 0 0 0 + . - . . . . . . . . - 3 11 5 4 . 9 9 o r $ 4 2 / n i t h

A N D A t h l o n X P . 2 0 0 0 + ...... . . . - - . - - $ 7 7 9 . 9 9 o r $ 2 9 !

MAD Athlon

X P - 2 1 0 0 + . . . . 0 . . . . . - 3 11 7 4 . 9 9 o r $ 4 3 / m t h

A N D

A N D Athlon

X P -2100+$

o r $30/

A N D Athlon

X P - 2 2 0 0 +

o r $43/mth

A N D Athlon

A N D Athlon

X P -2200+. . . . $ 8 0 4 . 9 9

o r $30/

AND Athlon

XP-2400+--....--$1214.99

o r $451mth

MAD Athlon

X P -2400+$

o r $31/

A N D Athlon

X P -2500+,...,......._ $1249.99 o r $ 4 6 / m t h

A N D Athlon

X P -2200*$

1

7

0

4

.

9

9

or $57/mth

X P -2400*3

1

7

3

9

.

9

9

o r $58/mth

o r $ 5 1 tenth

Ao MD Athlon r$62/mth AMD Athlon

X P -2500+- 4 1 7 7 4 . 9 9

o r $59/mth o r $64/mth

t/ M A D A t h l o n A N D Athlon A N D

7

9

8

9

3

.

9

X P -2500*

9

.

9

9

9

o

r

$32/

A l b i o n X P -2800+....-5....-31029.99 o r $381rnth

ntel C e l e r o n - 1 . 7 G H z . $ ntdl

.

7

3

.

4

.

9

. ....

9

o

A N D Athlon

X P -2800+$

C a l e r o n - 2 . 0 4 3 H z . - . . - ...... . . . - $ 1 1 7 4 . 4 9 o r $ 4 3 / m t h

AMD Athlon

X P - 3 0 0 0 +

late

C e l e r o n - 2 . 2 G h t z - .....

9

.

9

9

or $30/mth

0

9

.

9

9

or 530/mth

ntel Celeron.2.213H2.$

8

2

9

.

9

9

or $31/mth

ntel P e n t i u m 4.2.513-512k$

3 1 2 0 4 . 9 9

o r $441mth

3 6

9 7

.

9

.

9

9

o r $55/nith

9

9

o r $56/mth

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

C e t e r o n - 1 . 7 G H z . ........ - . . . . . - 3 1 1 2 9 . 9 9 o r $ 4 2 / m t h

9

ntel P e n t i u m 4 - 2 . 4 8 - 5 1 2 k $

$ 1 5 3 9 . 9 9

6 1

Inn)

8

8

X P -3000+

1

into

7

n t e l P e n t i u m 4-1.801414$

A N D Athlon

$ 1 4 0 4 . 9 9

$ X P -2000+$

$29/mth

ntel Celeron-2.10Hz.$

8

A t h l o n . . . . :

Duron

or $28/mth r

ntel C e l e r o n - 2 . 0 G H z . $

ntel P e n t i u m 4-1.7G141-$

A N D

3 1 1 7 9 . 9 9

1

9

2

9

.

9

9

1 2 0 8 4 . 9 9

o r

157/mth

o r $891mth

Q u a d L E D Color 8 0 m m S e c o n d Case fan

0

M S W i n d o w s XP H o m e O E M wl C D end Manual

0

5 Ye a r s L a b o u r & 1 Ye a r Parts Wa r r a n t y

AMD Athlon XP- 2 0 0 0 + - - - -

$ 2 0 5 9 . 9 9

o r $691mth

A M D Athlon XP-2100+$

2

0

8

9

.

9

9

or S70/mth

A N D Athlon X P -2200+$

2

0

9

4

.

9

9

o r $701mth

A M D A t h l o n X P - 2 4 0 0 + ..... . . . . - - - $ 2 1 2 9 . 9 9 o r $ 7 1 / m t h AMD Albion XP- 2 5 0 0 +

$ 2 1 6 4 . 9 9

or $72Mith

A M D A t h l o n X P -2800+$

3

or $77/mth

2

1

9

.

9

9

Intel Celeron-1.7GWL..........---$1649.99 o r $ 5 5 / m t h

AMD Athlon XP- 3 0 0 0 + - - . - $ 2 4 5 4 . 9 9

or $82/mth or $73/mth

$ 1 2 3 4 . 9 9

o r $45/mth

Intel Celeron-2.OGHZ.$

9

or $57/mth

Intel Celeron-2.0GHz_1

3 1 2 4 9 . 9 9

o r $461mth

Intel C e l e r o n - 2 . 2 0 H z . - $ 1 7 2 4 . 9 9

or $58/mth

Intel C e l e r o n - 2 . 2 G H z . . - - - - 1 2 2 2 9 . 9 9

o r $ 7 4 11 n t h

Into

Pentium 4-2.413 512k$ 1 2 8 4 . 9 9

or $47/mth

Intel P e n t i u m 4 2 . 4 2 1 -

$ 1 8 8 4 . 9 9

or $60/mth

Intel P e n t i u m 42.413- 512k.3 2 3 0 9 . 9 9

o r $771mth

Inn)

Pentium

bite

Pentium

4 - 1 . 8 G H s

1

6

9

4

.

9

2

1

9

9

.

9

9

5

9

.

9

9

o r $32/mt

7

4

.

9

9

o r $32Jmth

Ink!

Pentium 4-2.5B- 512k.$ 1 3 2 4 . 9 9

o r $49/mth

Intel P e n t i u m 4.2.513- 5 1 2 k . . 1 1 8 4 4 . 9 9

o r $621mth

Intel P e n t i u m 4 2 . 5 6 - 512k..... 3 2 3 4 9 . 9 9

o r $7131mth

or $34/mth

Into

P e n t i u m 4-2.513- 5 1 2 k . . _ $ 1 3 7 9 . 9 9

o r $ 5 11 m t h

Intel P e n t i u m 4-2.613

or $63/mth

Intel P e n t i u m 4 - 2 . 8 8 - 512k....1 2 4 0 4 . 9 9

or $80/mth

or $69/mth

Intel P e n t i u m 4-2.813 512k.$ 2 5 8 4 . 9 9

or $86/mth

Intel P e n t i u m 4 - 3 . 0 8 - 5 1 2 k . . . . . - - $ 2 1 6 9 . 9 9 o r $72Arrith

Intel P e n t i u m 4-3.08. 5 1 2 k 1 2 6 7 4 . 9 9

or $89/mth

9 9

0 4

9

.

9

9

.

9 9

or $35/mth

ntel P e n t i u m 42.813-512k$ 1 0 0 4 . 9 9

9

o r $36/inth

Into ten)

Pentium 44.813. 512k.$ 1 5 5 9 . 9 9 Pentium 4-3.0B. 512k$ 1 8 4 9 . 9 9

o r $52/mth o r

155/rah

5 1 2 k 5 1 2 k

Intel P e n t i u m 4-2.813- 5 1 2 k

$ 1 8 9 9 . 9 9 $ 2 0 7 9 . 9 9

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M O 0 1 0 0 1.3-131m 90 100/10014)a (Sachet A) . sea wed AND AtilMn X P 1 7 0 0 . 0 2611886 ( S o h n A ) . . . . . .. s e e grab M I D AVILOA X P 1 8 0 0 . 0 26618m. (Socket A l - - - . - .sise web AMD AMIOn X P 2 0 0 0 . 0 2661Ahr i l l o c l e t A)s a e web - . ' P r e m i e r i i i i t l i f i r h o a r d t AND Athlon X P 21004 a 260M8s (Socket A I s e e wee .

40G0 M A / 1 0 0 7 2 0 0 R P M E I D E H a r d Drive. .

A I M * t h e m X P 21000 a 2661,184 (Socket A). .

M o t h e r b o a r d s * A N D CPUs • . 1 9 E 9 0 Sony 5211 CD-ROM D e n t e (7.084195m/ $ 2 9 .

9 ,,,y0. p„,,,,,,, y a 2 4 0 0 . * 2661402 (Socket A l .. •• • 0 . 4 : : : : ‘ , , , , , ,,,,yy.emaa, s w e e t q , y i . • 4(7400 VOIC) Non-Leteme3 2 4 4 . 0 9 11008 A M / 1 0 0 7 1 0 0 3 P M E I D E K M D e r e 11 . . . . 5 1 1 9 . 0 9 Pioneer d Sony I IlseNtie 1 6 X COIO.ROM D o r m 0 3 . 0 . 1 . . . . . . . . . . • . ..4 5 4 M I D Pardon %.P 2 6 0 0 . * 33344re 'Socket A).

3 0 0 0 A 1 0 1 0 0 72001/P41 E I D E Eirstel Dales...

5 1 6 3 ` . 4 . - 5 1 3 1 . 0 0 Planers 4 Sorry 166 DVD.R061 Calm (81.410 .

5 6 4 .

6.1.10 * n e o n X P 27000 O 3331,150 (Socket A ) S . . , , , Atift ltD7-3. Socael A , V I A 0 1 3 3 $ (ATX)$ 1 1 4 0 9 12000 ATA / 1 0 0 1 2 0 0 R P M M O E H a r d Drive..

F u g L i s t o f D r i v e s A v a i l a b l e O n l i n e AMD Athloo XP 2 5 0 0 • Elselon (Socket A l - ..... ... ...... a 0 p a . 5 Atilt 1457, Socket A . V I A 0 1 4 0 0 (4.05) wolw RAID$ 1 2 0 . 0 8 $ 1 4 0 2 8 Maroc 1 6 0 0 9 ATRJ133 7200RPM H e r d Drive W I 8110 _ . , " * . $ 2 8 I l t P l o d . " Plemelter CD-Reeenter ( 4 8 e 2 M / 4 8 . ) . . . .

5 0 1 3 9 . 9 .0.1.11:1 Athlon )(P 28004. Berton (Sookel A).. . 4 , - . a . . 5 Mims AT3331.SSocket 518745* T(AT%) • . .. M' A ' Master 2 0 0 0 5 ATA/133 710014,11 R a r e D a m m 6110 Mutt ATVS% w e e t AA'. X1400 X ) 84441 . . . . , i. .3158.n214,209211 m . „ 4 5 3 4 4 . ; ; sPatitmonto CD•Re.Wrder wl Parte•Prool 140,1120090 AMD Ammo SP 3 0 0 0 . Barton (Socket A ) ' L Maxtor 2 5 0 0 5 A D V 1 3 3 7 2 0 0 3 . 0 1 H a r d Delve e l O r e .

8 7 9 lE 1 8 ,M 2 5 s 0 (4 p n a rit/S .W e -R O 'C o m la d r).W e i Coleion 1.7-0111 M o r t a l 4781 0 4001,61.B . . . 5 M o e A7148/COX.Sookat A . n r o m e 2 ( * T X ) eerlal M A .

2 1., 0,,,...,,,,, 1 , , , G , , , 0 , , , , , . . , 4701 0 400mh, ... s i , . . : .....„, eeccasx.nmitariti:+004. So?AkimASIES27.45, ,,....0118eMs.mterLana4.1..!au....ita$ 1 0 1 4 . 0 09 9 4 9 9 • 9 9 S'On7COldiederitm e l eurn.Proot (48M124.14801 45100019 7 0 .

WD 8 0 0 0 ATM100 72.0031114 s a d Drive 8 1 8 4 V W Celerco 2 0.01117 Moore! 4 / 8 4 0 4000487 .... . . . .

WD 120GS ATN100 7200RPM. Herd D a y * wl 814)..

'L-141•4'84'"88 Samsung DVD/CO-F44 Combo 0 0 1 0 (48%/244/48aft&M (Seigel9 1 1 4 .

MI C o h n . . 2 . 1 -CM% (Gotiret A r a i O 4001,11m.... . - R , son ema M o t h e r b o a r d s Srlobef CPUs 1 5 0 5 3 w D ATN100 1200RPM Here Othro itY M P or M M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . P0I"onIre7'14:VR.44-A074 .(0'Veli".141V.Patl 10517621,417.0.7-3..! ..................................... r z e w i i i i MI Pentium 4-1 7-0H% ( S e a m 478). i m woo Nth s e r w e s i , Socket 418, 45(80 M O P E (ATX) 3159.99 WO 2 0 0 0 6 KM.I100 7200RPM Hard DrIv• I M 1 4 M a l B a a wan Mat 5I17. thm14.1 478. Intel i N S P E (AEA) $139.99 WO 2 5 0 0 0 Alrod100 7200RPM Hard 00100 wl . . . . . . . . - " s u g i 4 g 3 4 , 1 0 S o n / OVELI.10A (131,413.11RW 1 M A W ) let Pemium 4.1.11-011.19001.0)4711) let Pentium 4 . 2 . 4 . 8 11 % * 533 Mhz (5473) 612k. s e e wee M P IC7, Socket 478, Intel 1875P5 (AT%) S AT * RAID... wee S e r i a l ADC & M o s - M o r e to orene._ se w e e M e" I C 7 , 0 1,1942 A d a 4 m s . . e i r r e a l 1 1 1 4' - 1 1879 PE (ATX) 9 tot Penthan 4 . 2 . 5 . 6 X 0 93 5 3 3 M r 55470) 6121t Sedge@ 8 0 0 0 SAT/V110 72003PM HMO Dave 0 IMO1 5 1 0 4 09 1st Pentluts 4.2.643Hs 6 3 3 Mhz (S478) 5120. s o wet) M e e P4 C$00. Sootret 476. M a i 4 7 5 CNpael IA7X) se. wee Se 72003P He r D 8 Mb 6259.00 ,.let Pentium 4 - 2 . 8 0 1 4 4 : $33 Mks (11470) $12k. S o e wel4 Asti* P4PE-Len. Socket 478, Intel 1845PE Charlet (A71 1 6 4 . 4 9 P 9 9 1* 2 9 8° PIATA/150 a t a r i ar 4W p 60%3Int. N 9 0 ) AMR. WD 3 8 6 0 e R N y s e ,I p p 1 4 .

0 let issnthan 4.3.0.0110 0 833 W m (3470) 01214. H o web P. m P4P3•814L/SATAlt394, 0 0 0 0 478. W M 1645Pa CnipeM (AT%) n y 0204 9 9 0 8 1 9 Puff I L i s t e d Hard Drive B r e n d s A m i l s b l e O n l i n e R o c k w e l l : N .

P i a I L l s t o I C P U s Av i d i a b l e O n f i n e M w P4683.X, Socket 4 / 9 . M S 065 Clapeal ( AT M . .

28 Me. SDRAII PC.4031.1*74., y a m pm, M u * P430%. Socket B S 549 055 Cermet (ATX) ' W , 3 6 1 1 P P y p ep00 Poniks030 1 441•02 Floppy Disk 01118 ( B a c k o t 11409e) ...... ... . . . . ... . 5 1 4 09 U S R u b e l l a 66k " ' - PC' W u ' V " . ' ' ' ' N ' ; ' 9 " ; 6 9 4 ; " ' " ' " " L : - . . : " . " - " i i 6 i 6 4 " ' 266 040 S D R A M PC/133Mhz. . . s . a y b Asus 544533.C, Socket 478, 1111,11350e Clupret ( AT X ) . . . . 6 2 1 1 . 4 Semeuntl.44146 Nappy D e k Ode. 10943)..,ry0 4 4 .

9 9 512 MS. SORAM PC/13311hx . , , , . . . . t y EC* P4VMM2-3,28, Socest 478 V I , M o u t wr Len 6 S a m e . , . 0 8 0 . 9 0 100498 o 0 0 8 6 0 2 0 0 " o SIDE 4 750M9 989141, 0 0 0 . 9 8 2 . 09 266 MO, DORAM SDRAM PCd100 (24160.187). .. _ E C S NIS6/913Xe, Socket 478, M S 845 Clapp% sr/ Len 8 Scene i m a g e Peornee 01808133 T X ? CactivIler O E M 0 5 9 99 Economy M I d T i m e r C a s e w 1 . 6 0 / 1 4 . B a y s ( A B B . . . . . . 4 - 4 4 9 2 4 .

612 MB D O R A M SDRAM PC2100242:141121 . . . . .

ECS P637MT. Socket 3701002X7 a l Vireo. Sound & L a n . . .

0 0 90 Pramlu M i d Traver C o e s wit a 0 0 711 ( AT X ) 3 0 0 W 0 7 4 .

1 0 8 . ° D R A M SORAM PC2100 { h a ) 3 1 8 1 4 .

FC 1 0 8 3 1 0 1, Via 033 Chios.% (*121 0 1 4 4 . 0 9 Entl0ht e s k t o p W e e r Or098 141 9 B e r t (ATX).$ 5 9 .

9 208 e a . o p i u m SCRAM PC2700 (3311167) . . . s e e ers0 L F o r t Lest o f M o t h e r b o a r d s a v a i l a b l e o n o u r W e b e l t e . .

611 1111, ODRAM SCRAM PC2700 (33310D) . . r g I L: M u . 06170/003333 l l e a r a t e 4 W M 4 0 M e e DDR TV.044 0 a e,, , 6011951 M i d TOWOr O • 4 0 04/.7 B a y s ( AT X ) Ng . . . . , 8911551 MIcroATX T o w . , C a . . w / 6 S a y * (MATX) 2001V' 6 6 9 . 1 256 MS. D O R M . SORAM PC3200 1401114h2) *sue 00020/00 ! m a c r o . FX FX52110 126M0 DOR TV.Out Ave E n a m o r C S -30511 M b Tower Casa WI 1011sys ( P M ) $ 6 9 .

8 NB Amt. 10520NS. Salome 1 X PX5300 1 2 9 6 9 0 0 9 Video % V W 612 MD. DORAM SORAM PC3200 (400141m1 0 wett e44 OCZ 250 MS, D O R A . SORAM 902700 8 4 .

9 M o s v0480/TVD OeFothe 4 714800 1 2 8 1 0 DDR Video InlOut... N9B 2 7 9 9 8 N e s t Ta v e r C a s e 0 7 Drive B e . . ( AT X ) W111005 , 6 .

51 4.00 r i m e 1 9 8 8 0 N 5 Geeproe FX 4105400 120M0 DOR therm W O W . . N B OCZ 2 m e . DDRAM 301444.103200 ... ...

O m wee D e e d 10/1000104 Ethernet D i n a 4 web * O p e l Full Tower Cris* ad 1 3 Says ( * T X ) 350W..... - . ...... ... . - - - -,,, 5119.9 1]1,25856 D O 2 M 1 .DORM SORAM PC3600 EL, . .

S . f : , . . b 3COh1 10010064N Elhernert c a r d WI vvaxo a n 9 4 4 . 4 A c e yirilaerID OeForce EX 105500 t a a M e DOR 71/43m... .. _ . . . N 9B 54439 C h e m i n ( ) ATX601E Aluminum A m e r C a m ( AT X ) MULTI' COLOR- 4 9 1 2 4 . • web SIAC 10110014OR Ethernet Card OCZ 2% 256 ..111, DORAN PC9500 Duel Channel EL .

M r Astra 40300161910 G a 1 n . , PX 4120590411101 128Mb DOR 714.0 1... NEE S 7 44.99 F u l l Lino of 71termaltake ht/ant/ Available - Peking Online Linke". 10/100 Ethernet W E A d a p t e r. , . . . , . .

1 2 9 09 AT I %pet 2000 Pro le/ 321,10 SDRAM AOPa OCZ 612 148. DORAM SORAM PC2700 . .

394 ' 3 2 9 1 , 9 Li m e y.

W a r r " .602.11h W i n a n s & l e p e r PCI 9 4 1 OCZ 512 MS, DORAM SORAM PC3203 E = .158 0 9 0 ATI 001100. 7000 wr 64110 SCRAM AOP 01 Video 0 , 4 i s m e i v o . . _ 6 6 . k " Therrnertako 2 • 1 0 4 III 9 1 0 0 0 0 Steel ,laid AT X C a s e . . . . . . , - - - - 5 2 4 4 E 5 5 4 : X l i Redman 0100 ser (Mao 013R AGP ea Aden Out (Seppri94)......

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19099 ,,,,,,,Therrnartelw Xeser III V 1 0 0 0 A Steel Slack * T X C a t e 9 2 4 4 3 OCZ 2s 512 MO. DERMA PC3600 W e Channel E L . swabLanka/. WUS811 - 602.418 Wartime A0110.44 1.1115. ......... ..........

0 4 0 5 ATI Radeon.9100 w/ 1281.15 DOR ADP MI Vale* 01.1 (34901MA •I I ,,,,,, Therrnallake Ximer III V 2 0 0 0 A Aluminum ATX Calm ' 5 5 2 4 . 9 Cables. Ends and Adabfere are also available 128 MO R a n a . . 10196, 90800 Slon.ECC . w e l l ATI Radom) 9600 w/ 1180+0 DOR MEP w/ video Out Itreceldm)9 2 2 269 Me, R a m b o . 194PM. PC800 tron•ECC . . . e wee 611C i o n o o s t r i . 6 Port Mu0. - . - .

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Drum kit goes digital One o f the biggest problems home audio studio users face i s recording drums — not only the problem of accurately capturing the sounds a drum kit makes, but avoiding the wrath o f the rest of the family for making so much noise.

With this i n mind, Pacific Digital (www.pacificdigitalcorp.com) r e c e n t l y released what it is calling the first USB digital drum kit.

The DrumXtreme includes 1 4 complete sound banks and better than 130 different samples, the company says.

Such a technology could also ease the aural pain o f a parent whose child wants to learn to play the drums; the DrumXtreme c a n b e played muted, through headphones plugged into the computer or, likely the least desirable option in this particular case, played full blast through the PCs speakers.

The drum set is rack mounted, unlike most similar consumer-level electronic drum kits, where each pad is housed in the same unit. Pacific Digital says the rack mounting makes the electronic digital drum set more like a traditional kit, with drum pads at different levels and a foot pedal f o r the bass drum on the floor.

The DrumXtreme is powered by the USB connection, and assuming the PC it plugs into is equipped with speakers, nothing else but the drivers is required to get up and drumming.

The DrumXtreme kit comes with five pads, a foot pedal, drumsticks, cable and a DX-Box audio host, and costs about $435 (from US$299). The company will also be selling an accessory kit that includes a sixth drum pad and another pedal for US$49.

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Megapixel camera phones We've been hearing about camera

phones for some time now, and while they have yet t o catch o n i n North America, J-Phone Co. (www.j-phone.com), a unit of Vodafone, is set to release the first ever megapixel camera phones.

The megapixel camera phone handsets represent a quadrupling o f the resolution of current camera phones, and analysts say they could compete with lowend digital cameras, though there are still doubts about whether consumers will be buying.

As with most cool technology, Japan will see the megapixel camera phones well before North American consumers.

DoCoMo, the biggest Japanese cellular service provider, will be bundling service packages with the megapixel phones when they are released in May. One megapixel is about the minimum resolution required t o make a decent quality standard sized print.

Nokia sticking with new form factor Nokia (www.nokia.ca), already gearing up to launch the N-Gage mobile game deck (see New Products, TC! February archived o n CanadaComputes.com) has launched a phone in a similar form factor aimed at mobile music enthusiasts.

The Nokia 3300 looks suspiciously like the N-Gage, but rather than have a Dpad to the left o f the relatively large colour LCD screen and numerical keys to the right, the handset features a full QWERTY keyboard split between the two sides.

The 3300 plays MP3 and AAC files and allows users to set their music files as ring tones, which means that now, instead of having a bad MIDI version of Knight Rider play when the phone rings, users can have the real thing.

Nokia says the 3300 will weigh less than 125 g and will last for up to 11 hours o f digital music playback, nine hours of radio listening, three hours talk time or 270 hours of standby.

TORONTO

C O M P U T E S !

Another product w e won't see i n North America for some time.

RIM adds voice, e-mail organization Research in Motion (RIM, www.rim.com) unveiled its new 6210 model BlackBerry in North America a t CTIA (Cellular Telecommunications f t I n t e r n e t Association) 2003, held in New Orleans.

The 6210 is Java-based and promises greater storage space with 16 MB flash memory for data and applications.

The new communicator adheres to the familiar BlackBerry form a n d offers phone capabilities, SMS messaging, e mail and Web access over the 1,900 MHz GSMIGPRS wireless standard.

RIM says the new model also supports cradle-free e-mail synchronization with a desktop PC, with support for filing, deletion and read/unread status as well as integrated attachment viewing f o r some popular files l i k e Office suite programs, ASCII text and PDF files.

The Virtual Keyboard Siemens (www.siemens.com) released photos o f its Virtual Keyboard over a year ago, but the product moved a big step closer t o t h e m a r k e t w h e n Matsushita Electric Industrial C o . announced it has licensed the technology and will release the product this year for use with cell phones and PDAs. The Virtual Keyboard projects a red image o f a QWERTY keyboard onto a flat surface and detects user interaction with the infrared and visible light projection t o i n p u t t e x t i n mobile devices.

The device weighs a scant 160 g, and USB or battery-powered models will be available.

The company s a y s t h e V i r t u a l Keyboard will cost about 10,000 yen, approximately $123, and there are plans for the product to h i t North America within the year. • M A Y

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Looking at video camcorders ...

Ask the right questions before you buy

By LEE RICKWOOD Buying the, right video camcorder is a tough decision. There are hundreds o f choices and a ton o f information t o guide you. But the best questions can be obscured im a blizzard o f facts, figures and technical specifications.

A handful o f camera features and functions really determine, video quality; most others are superfluous gimmicks. What's important and what's an expensive extra?

The first decision is easy Knowledgeable users a n d vendors agree — it's no hype that digital offers significant advantages over analogue.

Digital video looks better — in terms of line resolution, measurably so. Unlike analogue, i t can be copied and edited with no signal loss or image degradation and it's a shorter step to streaming on the Web, video mail and DVD. You could save a few bucks buying analogue, like Hi-8 o r VHS, but you'll regret it. Perfectly capable digital camcorders are now $800 to $1,000, and the price continues to drop.

So choose digital over analogue. (All the features and functions discussed here relate to digital video camcorders, particularly those using the DV tape format.)

Videographer, know thyself!

The most important question to pose when choosing a camcorder is to yourself — why do I want it and how will I use it?

If you don't ask the question, a good dealer will. A l l we spoke t o agree — knowing the application behind a video purchase is critical.

"We give 'em the third degree," laughs Fred Konkin, video sales manager f o r Vistek, Ltd. "Really — it's important to ask the customer a lot of questions to get the proper match; find out about their needs n o w and their aspirations f o r future use."

Having that feel for how you will use the camera means finding out how the camera itself feels.

Shooting video is a very tactile experience, so the camera should feel good in your hands. I t should be comfortable and convenient to use.

"Generally, the big plus with smaller size is more convenience. Users tend to carry it with them more and get more 10

use out of it," says Royce Merkle, general manager, Merkle Camera and Video.

"Some videographers like the stability of a larger camcorder, but smaller is considered an advantage in the consumer market," he adds. "Arguably, a downside of smaller cameras is access to controls, smaller buttons and so on ... so be sure and try the camera out first."

All those buttons control a wide range of features, functions and special capabilities. Too wide?

"The average buyer might use half the

expensive cameras typically use a single chip t o sample the three basic image components — red, green and blue. More expensive cameras use a separate CCD for each, resulting in a more realistic and detailed picture.

But as Konkin says, "The number o f chips is not as important as it used to be.

Chips come in different sizes. Now there are smaller chips with high pixel counts.

Megapixel chips — a million o r more pixels — are common on the market."

The minimum pixel count f o r good

Digital video looks better i n terms of line resolution, measurably so. Unlike analogue, it can be copied and edited with no signal loss or image degradation and it's a shorter step to streaming on the Web, video mail and DVD. features and functions on a digital camcorder," says Alex Hine, senior sales associate for Henry's Photo Video.

So is all that information giving us an education or causing us confusion?

"There is a lot of highly technical camera information, and a majority of people want a simple 'memory machine; but businesses, pro shooters and independent filmmakers are using digital video, too," Hille explains. "There are cameras for each of them, but again, you've got to know how and why you're going to use the camera and its features."

Image sensors One of the most important camcorder features is the type of imaging device it employs.

Called a CCD ( f o r charge-coupled device) o r chip, the sensor is covered with tiny pixels (for picture elements) that turns light coming through the lens into electronic signals, stored as digital data.

Chips are a significant contributor to image quality; they dramatically affect colour balance and low-light shooting capability.

Generally, the more chips the better.

One of the main dividing lines in camcorder price and quality comes between the one-chip and three-chip variety. Less

resolution DV images is around 680,000; it gets better going up from there, but it also gets more expensive.

Lens and zoom features As well as the CCD, the optical quality of the camera's lens influences a l l aspects of the image, from sharpness to colour saturation to brightness.

Hille says today's lenses, whether glass or plastic, deliver a good image, often better than the chip can handle. What he's concerned about is the zoom lens, and how it's often pitched as "the bigger the better" by some marketers. A true optical zoom changes image magnification before it hits the CCD. 'The digital zoom is an effect, not a feature," he says scornfully.

Merkle agrees; the bigger the digital zoom, the worse the picture. "At 300x, it's an atrocious picture. Typical cameras have a 10x or 12x optical zoom, which is fine — equate it to a strong telephoto on a still camera. There are some good optical zooms that go as high as 20x," he adds.

A word of caution — even the smallest cameras can have a zoom mechanism, but be careful i t can't be heard by the on-board camera microphone.

Image stabilization Like the zoom, there are both optical TORONTO C O M P U T E S !

and digital image stabilizers. And, like the zoom, most experts caution against the latter, even though it may cost less.

With optical, a special element inside the lens actually moves to compensate for the shaking image, giving a nice image without jitter. Digital or electronic stabilizers often use extra pixels to compensate. The "slower" ones m a y actually "fall behind" when you move the camera, leaving ghostly o r jumpy images behind.

Viewfinder/display There are different ways to view the camera i m a g e . B l a c k -and-white viewfinders are generally sharper, which is better for focusing. Popular flip-out LCD displays reflect colour reasonably well, but they do cost a bit more and deliver an image that's n o t quite as sharp.

LCDs may blank out i n bright sunshine, but they make playback of recorded footage much more comfortable.

"Viewfinders draw less battery power, but LCDs help with creative shooting angles a n d P O V [ p o i n t -of-view] changes," says Konkin. In other words, it's important to have both and use them appropriately.

Connections Connectivity to and from other devices is an important camcorder feature. The basics are usually standard, including A/V output to a TV (composite or RCA plugs are good, S-Video is better) and digital output to a computer, particularly IEEE 1394 (also sold under brand names FireWire and iLink) capability.

"A video in connection is also a nice feature i f you want to dub older analogue footage onto DV for editing," Hille adds.

Still image capability A video camera's ability to take still pictures is important to about half of all buyers — and why not? "At the basic level, digital still capability is a $100 option," says Merkle. "It's not that much more, but i f you want to make good prints from your stills, make sure the CCD is 1.5-megapixel or better."

Built-in light/low-light capability Adding light can dramatically improve the overall quality of your video, creating continued on page 14 M A Y

2003 canadacomputes.com

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Looking at video camcorders ... continued from page to more contrast in your shots. A built-in light is a really good feature. Camcorder pictures always benefit from extra lighting, even with digital resolution.

Cameras with a low-light mode allow you t o record i n conditions that are close t o complete darkness, b u t the image will be noisy and grainy.

Audio connections and accessories Although cameras come with a micro-

phone, serious shooters want to connect an external microphone; a camera with mike input as well as a headphone jack for monitoring audio during recording is important. Digital camcorders can record sounds as 16-bit audio, which is equivalent to home audio CDs, or as 12bit, which allows for an extra track to be added later.

Accessories make the videographer Accessories are just the kind of thing that can determine the purchase o f a camera, says Konkin. With the right audio jacks, a world o f creative audio opportunities opens up.

Most cameras have threaded lenses, so diffusion filters and coloured gels may

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be added to stunning visual effect. Some lenses have the ability to add fish-eye or wide-angle adapters a n d telephoto extensions.

Small o n -board lights were mentioned; so too, accessory hot-shoes that make powering the light, or a microphone, easy and convenient.

Tripods for mono-pods) add stability to your shots and are considered musthaves. They screw into the bottom of the camcorder — o r better still, a handy quick-release tripod plate.

Most cameras come loaded with all sorts o f special digital visual effects — ignore them. Shoot the best video you can and muck it up in pos.:-production if you really have to. •

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15

Using video for self-promotion

"... right away they take the CDwith the video and put it into the computer ..."

Al Simmons

By TOM VENETIS

Toronto-based children's performer and musician Mark Kersey loves jazz and swing music from the '30s and '40s. When he got together with his singing partner Zoey, they decided M record a video o f themselves performing along with Blossom Dearie's recording of Give Him the Doh La La at the studio of a friend.

"So we went to his studio and set up a camera and we began goofing around," Kersey says, "and I later took the footage, cut and pasted it together, made some of it black and white and put together a video."

That video becaMe a promotional tool for their act Loungevity, and when they sent the video, now burned onto a. standard CD, around to various clubs and potential festivals, it helped Loungevity land some pretty decent gigs. One was the Celebrate Toronto festival, which was unfortunately cancelled because of Iasi summer's garbage strike.

"But we got booked by Toronto City Hall on the strength of that video," Kersey says. "I now send video CDs to anyplace I think I can get a job."

Kersey sends out digital videos of his various other acts as well. These include his children's group, The Stylamanders and the Duelling Pianos, in which he performs with Randy Vancourt. Vancourt is well known for his work with the Second City touring company and on the YTV show Don't Lick the Pig. The advantages of using digital video as a selfpromotion tool are obvious for someone like Kersey. When he sends a professional looking video on CD along with a press package to a club manager or festival organizer, it lets them get a better look at his act immediately and make hiring decisions more quickly. As well, a solid video can sometimes replace live auditions.

"Usually, I would go to a place and perform live and that was time consuming and a bit frustrating as sometimes you are not 100 per cent on your game," Kersey continues. "Whereas with a video, i f you have shot a live performance, that really sells.

People say that a picture is worth 1,000 words. Well, video is worth much more than that."

Kersey says that digital video technology has become simple to use, and it has become much easier today to use digital video as a self-promotion tool. He shoots almost all of his videos himself on a Canon digital video camera, then edits the footage

on his home PC and mixes the sound on an Applebased system before moving it over to the video.

Using the CD format has proven to have other advantages for self-promotion. Along with the videos, Kersey adds other promotional materials to his CDs, including high-quality publicity photos, images shot at various gigs and media information.

Kersey has also added some of the videos to the Web sites promoting his various acts, such as www.loungevity.com, and he offers MP3 music from his group The Stylamanders at www.thestylamanders.com. He plans to include video clips of The Stylamanders when he redesigns the site.

Hook, punch tine and hotlink Kersey is not the only performer to find digital video ideal for promotion. Winnipeg, Manitobabased comedian and performer Al Simmons (mwv.alsimmons.com) — who models his act and rather outrageous props on the works of such comedian greats as Danny Kaye, Spike Jones and Jimmy Durante — has found digital video to be a great way of getting people interested in booking him and points out that the digital video on CD format was an improvement from using standard video tapes that went out with press packages.

"I was surprised at how convenient it was to go with video and it proved to be a very good move for me," Simmons says. "This is what really surprises me. A press package arrives at someone's office and usually beside them is a computer and almost right away they take the CD with the video and put it into the computer and there I am as they watch the video. It even has a hotlink directly to my Web site. More often than not, a video tape would end up in the trunk of a car and get kicked around for months without getting watched."

Currently, Simmons has some 20,000 CDs circulating with digital videos of his performance and television appearances. He is planning a new version that will include a wide range of press and supplementary promotional materials along with the videos. Video clips of Simmons' act are also available for download at www.livetourartists.comial_simmons/.

While it is too early for Simmons to say whether the videos are having a substantial impact on his bookings, he does know that he got one gig on the strength of the videos and has heard from others who have expressed interest in hiring him based on the videos they have seen. continued on page 26

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22815E114

Getting video from drive to disc I '

By LEE RICKWOOD One of the best ways to deliver video is not on cassette, but on optical disc.

DVDs are the most recent — and most popular — example, but CDs and other media can also be used to store, deliver and even capture digital video.

The basic process o f getting video onto disc involves four main steps — capture, encode, author and burn. There are shareware programs and o f f -theshelf packages available to help at each stage.. Some programs do it all from a single application, or users can opt for dedicated tools that offer greater control over the quality of the final product. In

addition, t h e r e a r e excellent C D recorders, DVD burners and multi-drive desktop replicators available at a fraction of the price they were just a year or two ago.

That being said, there are still some tricks and challenges when ''rolling your own." , Capture Capturing source material and getting it into a computer is the first step. Video may come from pre-existing material, such as a VHS videocassette, may be taken from TV or satellite (without violating copyright, of course), or it can be original material recorded with a cam-

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Capture cards, which are usually platform-specific, get the video into a computer. They go into an available PC slot, and connect to a camera or other external video device.

The capture device will have what's called a codec on-board. Hardware- or software-based, i t COmpresses a n d DECompresses video according to technical requirements and user preferences.

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Author Authoring creates a navigation structure to find and play back the encoded video, and prepares it for recording to a disc.

Authoring is not editing — in most cases, the video must be edited with a dedicated package first. But authoring does involve creating text, graphics, chapter buttons and menus for navigation, as well as building the appropriate file structure for playback.

Some authoring packages use wizards or pre-set templates to speed up basic authoring activities. The more comprehensive and professional'packages allow for a great deal of menu creativity and customization. Some also allow you to add interactive elements, auto-play pro; grams or other special features.

Encode Once the material is captured, it needs to be encoded — converted from its native format into one compatible with VCDs and DVDs. Some tools on the market combine capturing and encoding with little or no operator input Whether the process is manual o r automatic, encoding turns source video into MPEG video. It's the big squeeze, and the better the tools you use, the better your video looks. Of course, the better the tool, the more expensive it is.

Uncompressed video takes up a huge amount of space — each second uses continued on page 25 about 30 MB. CDs hold about 650 MB of data, so you see just how much squeeiing is needed to get video to fit. There are ways t o optimize the encoding 11111 7 1111 7 3 I N F O process, such as using a lower frame Several online information resources for VCDs rate (normal TV is 30 frames per second; or DVDs are available, Including individual fewer frames can be visually acceptable and corporate sites such as: and involve less work t o process).

Andy McFadden's comprehensive CD site Reducing the video window size (such www.cdrfaq.org as from full screen to a quarter-screen lim Taylor's comprehensive DVD site window) also helps — and may be www.dvddemystified.com required in certain formats.

European digital media information company www.labdv.com Source material with minimal action U.S. digital media information company or motion encodes more easily. Noise or www.emedialjvexom grainy source material can cause encod-

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Struggle of the boards

By MIRYANA GOLUBOVICH Jeeves is a fraud. Yeah, Jeeves, your super-human Internet butler and smug poster boy for Askjeeves.com. Sure, he invites Web users to ask him anything like a techno wise man with answers to all - and gives the tip to "enter a question, word o r phrase and then click 'ask:" But hes not real and he won't answer the question.

Whether the question or comment be technical, theoretical, hypothetical o r opinion-based, please turn your- attention to, one of hundreds of thousands of friendly neighbourhood message boards.

They're community gathering spaces for the futuremand have come a long way from the BBSes we all used to know and love. Today the Internet is host to thousands of messages a day, posted by people with questions, concerns, comments. or by anyone looking fora good discussion that they may not have been able

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While the guy at your computer shop down the street is still scratching his head as to why your computer shuts down spontaneously on its own, someone named Compuwhiz o r Cowboy72 or Green88 a t Howstuffworic.s.com's computer discussion folder will be able to add in their two cents about a time it • happened t o t h e i r computer, o r maybe about the time they fixed that problem for a friend, o r maybe just wish you good luck. In any case, there will be people considering your dilemma. Message boards are the ultimate forum for asking and debating anything, and anyone has the opportunity to speak.

Wanted: Online peacekeepers Although most message boards allow considerable freedom o f speech, many boards do have moderators to make sure users don't fall too f a r o u t o f line.

Message boards can be designated public or private, and many have rules to govern their users. .Most require registration to post, and some even to view messages.

Mary Elizabeth Williams, moderator of Salon.com's Table Talk boards, posts every day that she's working, using her real name. "I believe it's important for the community that our members know that they're conversing with'a real person," she explains. "If the conversation is lively, I want to be a part of it." She estimates that she reads hundreds o f posts each day. " I usually l o o k a t threads that have had a surge o f new activity, ones in which I know users ask questions or request assistance o f me,

the ones where I'm a 'regular,' and 'a random sampling? She says she doesn't get to everything every day, but does get a good idea o f what's going on with Table Talk from what she reads.

Many message boards are free to, jOin, but to register for Table Talk, users are required to pay a fee o f US$6.50 per month for the basic user option. Table Talk has been around since Salon.com first began in November 1995, and has a strong community that Williams says is pretty much self-regulating, so she doesn't intervene too often. "Users often mediate their own disputes, which is better for everyone," she says.. "But if I need to step in and remind someone of the rules, I will."

Jill Lassaline, founder, site operator, and moderator o f Parentsworld.com, a Calgary-based Web site for single parents, says "Board moderation is a fine line sometimes and one that I struggle with when issues do come up.". Her rules are simple and outlined i n the agreement a user must click through to register: Don't post ads, links to a business or money making schemes; don't post anything offensive; don't post a URL t o another site and don't post personal ads.

"Just behave, use common sense, and be nice or I'll ban you and Sue-'will beat you up." It's not too clear who Sue is, but the sentence ends with a colon-plusbracket stniley face.

Lassaline began her site's message board five years ago - five years after giving birth to her Web site - as a tool to draw people to her site in an interesting new manner. "I heard that it'll draw people in and make people come back," she explains. "You can get 20,000 peo-

ple a day reading, but it's the people coming back that you want."

Since January 2001, she's had 2,180 people register, and received countless postings a day, of which she tries to read each one. R e -posting advertisementsafter being asked not to is Lassaline's most common reason for banning people from her message board. "I had one woman fight with me that she had a right to post whatever-she wanted." The woman kept repeating her offense, so Lassaline banned her While she says the board is fortunate to have many good users, she has had to ban people for harassment. "People with a lot o f free time on their hands seem to enjoy corning in and posting messages about how single moms are just money grubbing "itches," she says, and sarcastically adds that i t " m u s t b e t h e extravagant lifestyles we live."

Lassaline h a s h a d m a n y heated debates over several hot topics on her, message board that she watches closely.

Child support has been an issue that has come u p time and time again, and although the message board is primarily for parent-based issues, she has had other controversial issues break out, likegun control. "Usually I ' l l l e t people speak. I f they're way out o f line, the whole thread j u s t disappears." She rarely edits a post, and doesn't even have a bad word filter. "I figure we're all grown up, we've seen them;" she says.

There was one incident though where she had a guy posting who she believes was drunk, because his language got worse and worse as he posted. "We did go in at the time and edit out a few o f

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Struggle of the boards continued from page 19 his words," she explains. "But then i t got to be a joke, because you could see what we were editing out."

Rob Harris, editor of CMG (Canadian Motorcycle Guide) Online, and moderator of the site's Soapbox, has only ever banned three people i n the five-year history o f the message board. I t was only during a recent incident regarding a user he had to ban that he realized it's not as easy as picking someone up and throwing them Qut of your house.

Harris banned a former user of CMG's Soapbox after an issue between the user and Harris's other moderator got personal. The user didn't want t o leave without a fight, so even though Harris banned him by blocking his IP address, the user launched an attack on the message board by sending a whole slew of messages from several different public computers.

"Banning someone can be tricky for two reasons," says Harris. "One, they can work around i t really easily b y going somewhere else or by changing their IP address and two, someone else might get their IP address and then they're banned as well." The issue was eventually sorted out after the mess was openly discussed on the Soapbox, with the user agreeing to leave.

Libel liabilities Although Lassaline and Harris have both had to deal with messy situations on their message boards, neither has ever had any legal issues arise. Harris says it's a grey area where the responsibility lies when something libelous is said. Does the onus fall on the host of the message board i f there are a n y defamatory comments posted? "I would think not, because if the host is responsible, then essentially what you're saying i s the whole culture o f bulletin boards is illegal, 'cause there's no way you can avoid it," says Harris. "If you're doing that, then the freedom o f speech issue becomes a bit paramount."

However, Canadian message board hosts may find that defense to be less solid than they would like. According to Michael Geist, a law professor at the University of Ottawa who specializes in Internet law, there is something in US law that exempts intermediaries such as message board providers, b u t n o t i n Canadian law. "We don't have equivalent legislation in Canada, though most people would probably argue that message board providers would similarly not be held responsible for the postings of their users," says Geist. "The operators certainly seek to ensure that is the case through legal language on their sites a n d i n t h e i r contracts w i t h

posters."

There have been Canadian cases where message board users ran into some legal trouble regarding their postings. I n 1998, Philip Services Corp. won a court order forcing some ISPs to give up the anonymity o f users posting messages that defamed the Canadian waste management company. Some ISPs revealed the identities of some of the users; others deleted the messages in question.

In the US, there have been a couple of big cases w h e r e companies h a v e involved message board providers i n suits regarding defamatory statements by users. I n 2001, Mediu-, Systems, Inc., tried to sue several m e s s a g e board users after critical defamatory remarks showed u p online. Medinex eventually dropped t h e suit, which attempted to force Yahoo! to provide the identities o f 14 users, some o f whom were claimed t o be shareholders and employees o f Medinex. There was also the 2theMart.com case, i n which US District Judge Thomas Zi1ly dismissed a subpoena on the hunt for the identity of people posting their opinions o n a n InfoSpace message board.

In both cases, the plaintiffs took direct action against the message board users.

The message board providers weren't at risk, due to a rule in US law. "There's a statute that specifically says that when

you are a provider of an online service, and it's someone else's content, you are not treated as the speaker or publisher of that speech," explained Lee Tien, an attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a non-profit US organization that focuses on protecting digital rights. "That's why AOL can have all these chat rooms, and if someone in the chat room says something defamatory, AOL is off the hook. It's not their problem."

With the constant increase of message board use and the increasing number of message board users, i t i s 'safe t o assume that there will continue to be users banned from boards, and that more legal issues will arise. The main question concerns the definition o f the content found on message boards: is it simply coffee table talk between friends that shouldn't be regulated, or is it published material that should go through an editor?

The one thing that's for certain is that moderating message boards is trying to control s o m e t h i n g uncontrollable.

Harris says it's like a living thing. "The Soapbox is a baby to me," he says. "I know when it'll bite you and when i t won't. I see people go on and they'll say something, and know they're gonna be in so much trouble. It's interesting as you watch it unravel." •

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GPS add-on keeps PDA users on-track Adding to my seemingly never-ending list o f PDA accessories, I received a Navman GPS f o r m y birthday a few months ago. Not knowing many details about what a GPS (Global Positioning System) is or does, I used the Internet to quickly get up, to speed. Did you know that the US government operates a fleet of 24 ,orbiting satellites called NAVSTAR, or Navigation Satellite Timing and Ranging?: These satellites broadcast the exact time and their exact position over Earth. A GPS receiver analyzes the signals front the closest satellites and calculates exactly where it is. Best o f all, there are, no,subscription fees or charges besides the cost of the hardware and/or software.

PocketPC and even a unit f o r USBequipped notebook computer& M y package included t h e GPS receiver (which attaches to the back and bottom of m y PDA), a n i n -vehicle suction mounting bracket a n d t w o p o w e r adapters (an AC and a car DC).

It includes Rand McNally StreetFinder Deluxe software (on four CD-ROMs) for tracking, finding waypoints and navigating right down to house numbers, but I was very disappointed to learn that it contains maps o f the US only. This means that the software is of very limited use for the average Canadian unless they take frequent trips across the border. To use the Rand McNally software, you must install i t on a Windows PC, plan your route, then upload your trip to your PDA for use on the road. Taking up hundreds 'of megabytes o f storage, you must have access to your PC in order to install routes on your PDA.

The Navman Package My birthday present was a Navman p Series GPS (www.navman.com), w h i c h works with the older Palm III, V and VII units. Rest assured that Navman also makes GPS hardware that works with all m-series Palms, t h e Compaq iPAQ

Other software What good is a GPS without relevant software? With a bit of searching on the Internet, I found GPSPilot's =TripPilot software. This package includes detailed street maps of over 13 countries (including Canada) and a quick trial was all I

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needed to make my decision with my wallet The software is US$40 but is well worth i t . B e warned, that i t i s a n Internet-based ptogram, requiring a connection to the company's Web site for downloading maps and trip itineraries. It works with a PDA modem or via Windows using t h i r d -party software such as Mocha-W32 PPP (www.mochasoftdk) and -I have used both methods with perfect success.

Using the Navman I've been fooling around w i t h m y Navman for the past few months. The GPS works f o r about sthree hours between charging and since it can connect with up to 12 satellites (ie. 12 channels) I have not had any problems using it in my car.

Of course the hardware pis only as good as the software, since I'm using it on my FDA. There are numerous commercial and freeware, applications available that take advantage o f - using a GPS/PDA conibination. I like having the reasonably large PDA screen, the availability of third-party applications (like software that supports Canada), t h e i virtually unlimited memory: (especially w i t h newer PDAs) and additional capabilities.

Of course, I need to be careful, as my Palm is not as rugged as a standalone GPS and i t is definitely not weatherproof. There is not much chance I'm taking this with me on my kayak. I've read that GPS accuracy is affected by the Earth's ionosphere and I've noticed that the position o f the receiver with respect to obstructions such as buildings or the car roof is very important.

Although I have not experienced this, I've learned that accuracy depends on US Department o f Defense clearance.

There are two signals being sent from the .NAVSTAR satellites: One for military use and one for civilians. I t has been only recently that civilian users have been allowed to get an accurate (within less than 100 m) reading, and the US government could change this at any time.

More information can be found a t www.navrnan.com f o r the Navman GPS units. .I learned quite a bit from Dale De.Priest's GPS Web site at.www.gpsinformation.org/dale. Highly recommended for great info on GPS receivers and navigation in general.

Personal e-mail to Kevin Linfield can he sent to linfield@rocketmail.com. •

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Something to believe in

Alan T h w a i t s

them ill, and why.

We live in the Age of Information, and so have — thanks largely to the good old Internet — access to every wacko idea that's going down about the way the world works. There's a veritable cornucopia o f Web sites w i t h hypotheses about who's really i n control, h o w they've stiffed the rest of us or a selected few o f us (see m y second theory about why people ascribe to such theories) and what we should be doing to correct the situation.

You may know a fellow named Robert Anton Wilson from his hilarious book The Illuminatus! Trilogy. In it, Wilson and h i s co-author Robert Shea r o l l together almost every conspiracy theory you've ever heard o f (the Masons, the Bavarian Illuminati, Kennedy's assassination and the origins of Atlantis being only a few) into One Big Theory, add healthy dollops of sex, drugs and outrageous puns, and make a darn good story of it all. The trilogy was first published in 1975, but Wilson, being a hip kind of guy, now has his own Web site (www.raw' ilson.corn/main.shtml). On it, you'll find all kinds o f subversive good stuff to get you thinking about who's jiving who in

It's said that conspiracy theories are most popular when times are stressful.

Your humble correspondent respectfully disagrees. From my reading o f •history (as, I must note, an enthusiastic amateur, not a professional), i t seems that conspiracy theories abound at all times.

We're lucky to live in an age when communication is everything — so we have access to more such theories than our forefathers and foremothers might have.

Not only that, I have theories about conspiracy theories. I believe that people take up beliefs that they're being lied to by the powers that be (whether those powers be political, military, legislative, clerical o r — best o f all — all o f the above) for one o f two reasons. Either their lives are so dull that they're prepared to stretch their individual and collective belief systems just to brighten up an otherwise dreary existence or they feel so angry about being left out o f life's good stuff that they make up some outlandish theory to explain who's done

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ing (though Wilson has a pretty obvious anarchist agenda). But there's a darker side to the weird world o f conspiracy theories. Have a look a t the William Cooper/Veritas. News Service/Hour o f the Time Web site (www.williamcooper.com).

Cooper (who died i n November 2001) represented a group o f people w h o believe, among other things, that the CIA and Israel trained the folks who attacked the World Trade Centre o n September 11, 2001. (Yes, you read the last sentence correctly.) Like all conspiracy theorists, he has woven a wliole lot of disparate "facts" to prove his point.

This is truly weird stuff — but gospel to those who believe.

My position on conspiracy theories? I think their fundamental flaw i s that they presume levels o f intelligence, resourcefulness and everyday competence on the part of the authorities that simply aren't there. You and I know that the world is screwed up because those in power are just dangerously muddled ordinary folks, blundering along from one crisis to the next.

Here's a better idea. Rather than accept someone else's conspiracy theory, why continued on page 25

these troubling times. (Hint: Wilson, who's an American, refers to the Bush administration a s " T h e Ts a r i s t Occupation Government.")

My favourite conspiracy theory these days belongs t o a guy named David Icke. O n h i s Web site (wwwdavidicke. com/icke), you'll find him touting his lecture appearances and t h e books h e churns out. His best theory, I think, is that the planet is actually ruled by a race of intergalactic reptiles whose chief representative i s Queen Elizabeth o f England.

Not one to leave anyone out, Icke also maintains that George Bush, Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney are also part of the lizard spawn who rule us. I t sounds nutty, I know, but there are a lot of people who believe what this man says. Icke also tells us (without, it seems, contradicting the lizard theory) that the world is ruled by a group called The Round Table, which includes the UN, the Club o f Rome, the Bilderberg Network and t h e Trilateral Commission. This secret society, says Icke, manipulates all the world's banking, politics, business and military affairs.

Wilson and Icke are pretty entertain-

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Fuel cells might add life to batteries Anyone who wanders around with an electronic device in their pocket has the same concern in the back of their mind: Will the blasted thing run out o f juice when I'm in the middle of something critical? Will the battery survive this business trip, this meeting or even this afternoon?

Battery life has been a bugbear for equipment manufacturers since the first toy robot whirred to life. Some industries seem to be able to cope with it — cell phones, for example, have delightfully long battery lives — while with other devices, like some handhelds, you can watch the power indicator graph' move steadily downward to zero in a few short hours.

One o f the things That first attracted me to Palm, and later to RIM, was, the fact that I only needed to charge the units once a week. That means no bulky chargers need accompany me on most business trips. It's a pity we can't do the same for laptop computers.

Sadly, battery technology isn't keeping up with the rest o f the industry.

Although individual computer components use less and less electricity, manufacturers keep piling on features that

gobble up the savings (those 15-inch laptop displays may be sexy, but they're not energy efficient), or shrink the batteries to save space and weight.

The solution, say some, is fuel cells.

Fuel cells convert cheap, common substances — hydrogen and oxygen - into electrical energy, heat and water.

There are several complex processes for accomplishing this, but the one used by manufacturers l i k e Casio, w h o h i s developed a fuel cell to power its mobile products, relies on methanol. Hydrogen is extracted from the methanol and then the reaction proceeds, splitting the electroni from the 'hydrogen atoms and using them to generate a current.

Instead o f recharging a fuel cell b y plugging it in, you just add more hydrogen (the oxygen comes from the surrounding air). For portable devices, this will come in the form of a methanol cartridge about the size of a fountain pen's ink cartridge.

Reportedly, the fuel cell will have to be accompanied by a battery, because

the fuel cells aren't good at accommodating t h e varying pbWer needs o f portable devices (the high draw when a hard drive spins up„ for example, followed b y a lower operating load).

Batteries can cope with this variation, so fuel cells will charge the batteries, wbich will power the devices.

In theory, methanol has 40 to 60 times the energy efficiency of the lithium ion in our best batteries: However, experts suggest that the first fuel cell power sources will offer a five to one advantage over similar sized batteries; this could increase to 10 to 1 as the technology improves.

That's appealing. Imagine a laptop that would last a full day or a handheld that needed refueling once a month.

There are, to be sure, a few obstacles to overcome along the way.

One is a basic question of fuel supply.

Instead of simply plugging into an outlet to recharge a device, we'll need to carry some of those little methanol cartridges. To be practical, they'll have to

be as readily available as batteries are today, and at least as cheap. It would, in fact, be better i f the systems could charge either as they do now or from .a fuel cell. That would cost a bit more in circuitry, but it would let us charge the machine when it's plugged in to save on methanol costs. Another big issue is safety, both real and perceived. I have a feeling it will be an uphill battle persuading airlines that a bunch o f devices run b y -a volatile substance like methanol are good things to have on a plane. We're not allowed to carry lighter fluid, now — what makes vendors think that methanol cartridges will be permitted?

•These are n o t questions t o b e answered. tomorrow - - t h e most optimistic estimates o f availability place introduction o f fuel cells f o r mobile devices sometime next year — but they do need t o be answered. A n d i f the answers are good ones; in a year or two the worry,that a device's battery will die unexpectedly could be history •

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Mac Chronicles Last month, we looked at some general maintenance tools for your Mac. In the free category, we have Apple's Disk Utility and MacJanitor f or general upkeep. Not so free, but affordable and worth the $200, is Symantec's Norton System Works for major drive protection and correction. A bit cheaper, at US$70, is Alsoft's DiskWarrior, but it's still not native to OS X. And finally, a steal at US$50, is Aladdin's Spring ('leaning. It should also be noted that DukWarrior, Spring Cleaning and MacJanitor are all available as downloads, so there's no excuse n o t t o start a maintenance schedule today. .

If you look closer at System Works you'll find that among the titles included is the powerhouse Norton Antillints.

Yes, it's true Mac users tend to suffer far less viral attacks than our PC counterparts, but that doesn't mean i t can't happen. Use antivirus software. I f not Norton then McAfee or Virex..which, by the way, is available as a free download when you have a .Mac account. This could be the single most important way to keep your computer healthy. One virus can undo all the maintenance in the world.

In the Spring Cleaning package from Aladdin, there are a series of cleaning applications. One o f the more useful ones is iClean. This utility looks at your Internet cookies, cache and history folders. Items here not only take up valuable space on your hard drive, but they can be a security risk while you surf and contribute to slower speeds over time.

Speaking o f speed - how is your Internet speed? Want to find out? Surf on over to www.dslreports.com/stest to find out. This site will do a little test and let you know how your connection fares.

Try it a couple of times to get a better idea. Internet traffic at different times of the day will affect your speed. Next, head on over to www.enigmarelle.com and run the Broadband Optimizer. This little utility will do a few tweaks to optimize OS X and the underlying UNIX for a

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high-speed connection. It claims that it could double your speed. Under what circumstances I'm not sure. I found that I gained an extra 200kbps on the download and around an extra 20kbps on the upload. Not staggering, but still a n improvement.

Another contributor to machine slowdown is the way programs and applications are installed and uninstalled. Even the best made operating system can become inundated with leftover bits of code, artifacts and just plain old junk.

For starters, keep track of your own filing system. Don't leave your files scattered across the hard drive. OS- X tries to help by setting up your files in the Home directory.. Use this structure and you'll never lose sight of your important files and folders. When removing old programs, try using MacUninstaller, which comes with Spring Cleaning. Just dragging a program icon to the trash may leave remnants of the application in o t h e r places o n ' your drive.

MacUninstaller will find all links to the application and safely remove them. A clean drive is a happy drive.

Have you reached the limits of your hard drive? Thinking o f upgrading?

Before you toss or sell your old drive be Sure to "zero the data." Not familiar with that term? Think of it this way information is stored on a hard drive as ones and zeros. Binary data. Okay, you knew that already. Your stored information is found by using a table of contents that the drive builds each time new or updated data is written. When you erase a file, you're not actually erasing the data, you are simply erasing the information in the table of contents.

The data is still there until the drive writes over i t with something else. continued on page 25

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Maclanitor can be found all over the Web with a Coogle search. Its author, Brian Hill, also answers many questions about Matlanitor In several online forums.

Norton SystemWorks For Macintosh 2.0 info can be found at www.symantec.ca.

Alsoft DiskWarrior info can be found at wwsv.alsoft.com/diskwarrior/index.html.

Aladdin Spring Cleaning Info can be found at www.aladdinsys.com/springcleaning.

Be sure to fully read the information for each piece of software, because when you start to work with disk utilities, unexpected results can occur If you're not careful, M

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By ALAN ZISMAN There's Hertz and Avis, Pepsi and Coke, Mac OS and Windows. To these classic rivalries, add Symantec and Network Associate& Each wants you to think of their respective Norton a n d McAfee brands for all your computer's antivirus and security needs.

Symantec's Norton. Internet Security 2003 ( N I S ) . suite bundles N o r t o n Antivirus with a firewall, throwing i n parental control features and spam filter& L i k e Syniantec's NIS, Network Associates' McAfee Internet Security 5.0 (MIS) suite bundles a variety of McAfee applications otherwise available separately.

No home PC should be without virus, protection. M I S i n c l u d e s M c A f e e VirusScan Home Edition 7, which does a good job of scanning e-mail both coming and going. This new version supports all standard POP3 e-mail programs, not just Outlook (as in earlier McAfee versions). Also i n t h e package: McAfee Firewall 4 . 0 and a toolbox o f useful tools, including a Web ad blocker, cookie filter, browser history cleaner and parental controls. More features and more advanced controls, i n fact, than Getting video from drive to disc continued from page 18 Burn Burning - the act o f recording the authored program to a blank disc - is the final step. Audio and video must be in the appropriate MPEG format, withfile sizes and bitrates suitable for the target media and playback device. If the, capturing, encoding and authoring have gone smoothly, burning can be as simple as pressing "Record."

The biggest problem to be concerned about here is compatibility. There are a handfut of DVD formats out there, and even a few different CD specifications.

Not a l l discs w o r k o n a l l players,

Security Symantec's suite, b u t also sometimes harder to use.

Setup does a good job of installing the various components and getting a user up and running, with one curious omission: The firewall i s turned o f f b y default Unless a user knoWs to, manually turn it on, much of the potential protection from this suite will be lost.

Once turned on, a wizard does a good job of helping to configure the firewall, identifying installed .programs t h a t might want t o access the Internet o r local area network. As with many other software firewalLs, be prepared for a couple of days o f having the software frequently asking you whether you're prepared to allow various programs permission to use the Net - and be prepared for, some surprises regarding which programs want to go online. Like a firm but loving parent, you should be prepared to say "No" to your software now and then.

Besides letting you be firm with your software, the program's parental control features let you block applications, chat, instant messaging o r even individual whether they're computer drives or settop device& It's best to know your own requirements and playback environment before burning a disc, or you'll find it's only usefUl as a coaster.

Just, before burning (or at: the authoring stage), you can add CD playback and auto-play programs, as well as adding or removing region codes and zone locks on DVDs.

Choosing a disc Now that we've covered the basics, it's time to choose the disc that's best for your needs If you are familiar with an audio CD, you already know what VCDs and DVDs look like.

Video CDs (VCDs) play on computers with VCD playback software and o n The Woad Id My Cebide most DVD machine& The video quality continued from page 22 is limited - at best equivalent to VHS not make up one? Go to the Turn Left site and usually delivered in a small window. (www.0networks.corni-cubsfan/conspiracy.html), It is possible to use menus and chapters fill in the online form, press the "Tell me on a VCD. more" button and you'll have a conspirVCDs hold about a n hour o f video acy theory all your own. And, i f the real material; some programs w i l l encode world isn't doing enough for you, you MPEG-2, a higher quality image, to CD, can base the rest of your life on it. but only about 15 minutes of full-screen material will fit.

Alan Thwaits, a TC! Contributing Editor can be reached at SuperVideo CDs (SVCDs) deliver a praxis@pathcom.com. • canadacomputes.com M A Y

2003

Onlinesecurityfrom gluhal expertsinPC prote,ctor,

TORONTO C O M P U T E S !

newsgroups f o r s o m e users w h i l e a l l o w i n g them f o r others, givirig you control o v e r h o w your.children use the Net As with Norton's suite, you can list data-strings such as portions o f your hank account o r credit card numbers so that the program c a n w a r n you, i f something attempts to send -these numbers across the Net without your-knowledge. However, the interface makes i t difficult to remove or edit these numbers if needed. Data files can be encrypted for added protection.

An Internet Security Check scans your system for potential security problems: Out-of-date Internet software, installed spywire or secretly-installed monitoring software As with other Web, ad blockers, users can sometimes find that linked pages fail to open; in that case, click the link'Again, this time holding down the Ctrl key. A window informs you of the number of cookies, ads, Web bugs and pop-ups that have been blocked.

A l i m i t e d e d i t i o n ' • o f McAfee's QuickCiean application cleans out your browser cache and history, along with

removing d e l e t e d Outlook Express e-mail messages, temporary files and other unwanted but persistent data and files. Its Uninstaller feature can clean remnants left behind with Windows' o w n Add/Remove Programs , control paneL As well, OuickClean can search and remove spyware and adware programs.

By downloading a bunch o f applications (Zone Alarm firewall, AdAware, an antivirus program and more), you could duplicate most o f its features, but the convenience of a single install and a single interface make this worthwhile. Just don't forget to turn on the firewall. •

larger video window at a quality similar to SVHS. Two stereo audio tracks and four subtitles can`be added. Menus and Chapters stops are supported. SVCD handles-about 40 minutes o f video.

An SVCD can be played on many standalone DVD players and on all computers with >a DVD-ROM o r CD-ROM drive, with the help of a software-based decoder/player.

Digital Versatile Discs (DVDs) can be single- o r double-sided, and have a much greater storage capacity. Upwards of two hours o f high-quality video, at full screen size, and several tracks o f either Dolby Digital o r 5.1 Surround Sound• fit on a DVD - depending on the encoding used.

DVDs support hot button navigation and motion menus, chapters, multiple languages, subtitles and video tracks as well as slide shows, Web links and more.

There are several competing DVD formats, and more on the way. They have similar capacities and features, but are best suited for different storage purposes and delivery environments. Check out DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD-RAM and now DVD-VR to determine the best format for you. ♦

Mac Chronicles continued from page 24 Anybody with a bit of knowledge about hard drive recovery can read that information still on your hard drive. Scary eh? Apple has built a neat utility that will turn all the binary data on your hard drive into zeros. Your hard drive will basically be digitally blank. This is not some cool parlour trick to hide data from your friends. This will really, really erase your hard drive completely and irretrievably. If you want more information o n h o w t o d o this, check o u t AppleCare D o c u m e n t 1 0 7 4 3 7 a t www.apple.com/support.

Finally, one of the best ways to maintain your computer is through your own knowledge. Read up on hard drive and operating system maintenance. T h e AppleCare documents can be an invaluble source. Just type "OS X mainteance" into the search bar and start rowsing. Also, there are several good ooks available from O'Reilly Books smacoreilly.com) i n easy t o under-t stand English. Most of them are pocket ooks and do not require reading from ont to back.

Happy computing! •

I N F O McAfee Internet Security 5.0 $97.99 Network Associates www.mcafee-at-home.com Requirements: Windows 98 or later; 32 MB RAM, 71 MB drive space.

Downloadable trial version available.

25

ALL I T E M S I N S T O C K @ B N C (WHILE QTY'S L

Using video for self-promotion continued from page 16 "I think I'll be reaping the benefits for some years as they get passed around," Simmons says.

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Standing out from the resume pile Because digital video has the advantage of giving people an instant glimpse of a person, companies that help people find work are looking at video as a way of making potential employers take notice of their client's skills and abilities. Since 2001, Ottawa-based HireTopTalent Inc. has been creating VideoHandshakes, oneand-a-half minute self promotion QuickTime videos that can be sent to potential employers on CD or downloaded from www.hiretoptalentcom.

Impressions matter, and a strong first impression could very well help someone get that first interview.

"Right now the biggest problem for people who are seeking employment 1 6 x 1 0 x 4 0 is that this is very much a buyer's market," says Toby Shannan, presiRIM $ 7 - $ 2 2 - r z Illka $ 2 6 - s y $ 1 8 ®CardSound u m 10 pack dent and CEO of HireTopTalent.

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Mississauga one get that first interview.

7 2 0 5 -1-rsanrrlesrA3 D r . U n i t # 6 Slgao4p• A v a • As well, because the video can be downloaded, Shannan says it is not r a w Ft." ,uncommon for people who receive a /9/VC 0 : M o r t - F A -1 S a t u r d a y • , 1r:rem-ware aamorra-413:30rArn : 0 0 0 . e r s - S : Brarnaleta Rd. 1,4 1 4 " 0 resume by e-mail to click on the a s T e l _ ( 9 0 5 ) 6 7 8 - 1 2 4 2 F a x ( 9 0 5 ) 6 7 8 - 1 2 5 2 C . 4 r r y Pte.. hotlink to the video right away. • -rorcunecrimt, A i r p o r t a

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$ 19"

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6month power exchange warranty and 7 years labour. All trademarks and rade names are used to identify entities claiming the marks and names of their products. All trademarks will not be responsible for typing, or printing errors. System prices may change due to market fluctuations of components.

. 0 11 I f - . . - OfFICIAL m a t t ,

THEHAMILTON g SPELTITOR

Inexpensive recording with a 'Walkman By 'DAVE CHAPPELLE The latest Walkman incarnation is the MiniDisc recorder. Capable o f digital recording and playback, it's for recording and transferring audio files to and from your computer. We looked at the top-of-the-line MZ-N707.

Recording MP3s for personal use on your computer and your Walkman is easy. Using the OpenMG Jukebox software, you can assemble groups of tunes from your audio CDs and hard drive, and record them for listening on the portable Walkman.

Even i f you've never used one before, it won't take you long to master this recorder. Controls are similar to those on any cassette tape, MP3 o r video player. The f i v e -way switch handles most of the functions, and the inputs are well marked. The headphones have a remote control unit built into the cord.

We wanted to see if a three-piece (guitar, bass, drums) basement band could use this device to successfully record a CD with listenable sound quality.

We started w i t h t w o professionalquality low-impedance mikes, each with XLR three-conductor connectors. We

used XLR to 1/4 inch- cables. We inserted the 1/4 inch mike cable plugs into an adapter that converts t w o 1 / 4 inch inputs to one 1/8-inch stereo output. We plugged the adapter into the MZ-N707's 1/8-inch input, and voila! - two-input live-off-the-ftoor recording: At 8.1x7.1x3 cm and 133 g, portability has to be the number one advantage of- the MZ-N707. The number t w o advantage is -that the sound quality is extremely good. N o noticeable hiss, hum o r background noise emanates from this unit, but low quality cables will introduce noise.

Recorded tunes are transferred via a stereo 1/8-inch to 1/8-inch cable, similar t o those used w i t h sound cards everywhere. B u t one wasn't included with our sample, although optical and USB cables were. Also included in our sample were t w o carrying cases, a n adapter for using the 707 with a cassette tape player, a rechargeable AA battery, a 12-volt DC car charger and a 110-volt AC charging dock.

Disadvantages of the 707 arose when we finished recording and were ready to transfer the recorded music to a computer, in this case a newer.iMac. While

MICROPOINT

the 707 records digitally, i t transfers only in analogue. The transfer cannot be "dumped" like a digital file. You must "play" each track while connected to the computer.

We hadn't expected to encounter difficulty l o c a t i n g b l a n k recordable MiniDiscs. The local electronics stores were sold out and surprisingly, despite selling a l l kinds o f other media, the business supply stores don't stock them.

We eventually borrowed one.

So how did the results sound? Pretty good. After listening through the headphones, w e tried t h e cassette tape adapter to play the unequalized tracks through a typical stereo system. Once transferred to the iMac and manipulated by someone who knows how, the tracks sounded great.

I f your ear is trained and you are a slave t o tone, hearing the results o f recording live into two mikes will make you want to spend money on a mixer, more microphones, recording software and a Mac or expensive PC with highend sound card. N o question, y o u r sound will be superior. But you'll be lugging around lots of gear, your bank account will be decimated and only a

THORNHILL 4 .

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STEELES AVE.W,

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FINCH AVE.W.

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minority o f listeners (a few musicians and audiophiles) will be able to tell the difference.

The experience of the test crew aside, we proved that i f you are on a budget, and are willing to spend time instead of money, you too could record a live band in y o u r basement o n a portable MiniDisc recorder. •

I N

OpenMG Jukebox Requirements: Windows 98/ME/2000/XP

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ICA

180 STEELES AVE. W. #30 (Shmles Square) 5 5 0 HYW. 7, EAST, 0 88 ( TIMES SQUARE) TEL 905-762-9811, FAX 905-762-9812 T E L 905-764-5562, FAX 905.764 5650 T All Prices are Already 4% Cash Discounted and Subject to Change Without Notice M o n -Fri 11:30-7:30, Sat-Sun 11:00-6:00 • M o n -Fri 11:30-6:30, Sat-Sun 11:00-6:00 T

M A R K H A M

CELERON 1.7 GHZ MS1 ECS M-BOARD ( USB 2.0 ) 128MB SDRAM / DDR PO2100 30 GB HOD ATA133 SIS VIDEO BLARED SOUND ONBOARD 52X CNIOM 1.44 FDD IMOD ETHERNET ONBOARD 160W SPEAKER PS/II KEYBOARD/MOUSE ATX 350W TOWER CASE

V I A I D G1GA P R O PC ones M787 MAINBOARD 128 MB SDRAM PC-133 30 GB HOD ATAI33 VIA VIDEO ONBOARD 4 CHANNEL SOUND 12X CD-ROM /.1.44 POD 10/100 ETHERNET ONBOARD 180W SPEAKER PS/II KEYBOARD/ MOUSE A n MID TOWER CASE

AMID DURON Pro 1400+ ECS K7SOM M /13 (USB 2.0) 128 MB DDR RAM PC-2100 30 GB IIDD ATAI33 318 730 VIDEO ON BOARD SOUND ONBOARD 52X-CD-ROM 11.44 FDD 10/100 ETHERNET ONBOARD 180W SPEAKER PS/11 KEYBOARD / MOUSE ATE mitt TOWER CASE

$329

414311MIND

SAMSUNG 17" 75308 T 700IFT 1 7 955119 15" LCD 1513 IT' LCD 1713 VIEWSONIC (7" 07016 19" P95F+ F r LCD VE7000 NEC 15" LCD 1560V / BK I T LCD 1760V / BK m o r m n x srPRCIA I T MONITOR 15" LCD 17" LCD 3 0

$199 $249 $325 ,S399 $629 $209 $399 $699 $439 $699 5149 $379 $549

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$379 A M D ATHLON XP 1700+ ECS1(7SEM NUB 128 MB DDR RAM PC-2100 3008111)0 ATA133 SIS 730 VIDEO ONBOARD SOUND ONBOARD 52X CD-ROM 11-94 FDD 10/100 ETHERNET ONBOARD IBOW SPEAKER PSAIKEYBOARD / MOUSE ATX MID TOWER CASE

INTEL PENTIUM-4 1.7 GHZ 17" MONITOR 256MB SDRAM/ DORRAM 30GB HDD ATA133 S1S VIDEO SHARED SOUND ONBOARD 52X CD-ROM/ 1.44 FDD 10/100 ETHERNET ONBOARD 160W SPEAKER PS/11 KEYBOARD MOUSE ATX 350W TOWER CASE

$1399 A S U S D1 PORTABLE PC I5- TFT /INTEL 94 2.4 GHZ 2565413 DM./ 20GB / DVINCDRW PCMC1A / USB 2.01 MODEM PIREWIRE / LAN ( NO INTERNAL BATTERY)

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M M T E M I P P SONY 1637 DVD $ 5 5 MITSIJMI 52X24X52 CD-RW $ 6 9 L0 52X243752 CD-RW $ 7 5 4 1 1 M E M M I I I ° LO 482124X48X16 CDRW+DVD510910111 BASE LAN CARD $ 1 0 LG DVD-RW $ 2 9 9 13-Llak 07-604 4 Pan Router $ 6 9 TOSHIBA DVD-RW $28915329 D-Link DI-704P 4 Port Router $ 8 9 PLEXTOR DVD+RW $ 3 9 9 SMC 7004VB11 4 Pon Router $ 6 9 Hower A05 DVD-RW $ 3 8 9 NETWORK CABLE 50.30 / FOOT

VIA 1 G I G A PRO & MAINBOARD VIDEO/SOUND/LAN ONBOARD 128M SDRAM / AIX 3509/ CASE $ 1 5 9 P-4 1.7 GHZ CPU EC'S 154 MB (5335412/US13.2.0) SOUND & LAN ONBOARD 256 MB DDR RAM PO2I00 ATX 350W TOWER CASE $ 3 4 9 AMD ATHLON XP /800+ CPU ECS KISSA PRO MAINBOARD SOUND & LAN ONBOARD 256 MB DDR RAM PC-2100 AIX 350W TOWER CASE $ 2 6 9

I 4 T H AVE.

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I in

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9 2 0 DENISON ST. UNIT I. M A R K H A M E L 905.470-6111, FAX 905470.6112 h e -Sat 11:30-6:00, Sun-Mon: Closed

--111331111111-----11111310111 11111=111111- -Illonthly - - - -S-p e-c i a111 F 111111 = 111111 l CELERON 1.2 GHZ ECS P6STMT. MAINBOARD 128 MB SDRAM PC-133 30 GB HDD ATAI00 SIS 630 VIDEO ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL SOUND 52X CD-ROM / 1.44 POD 101100 ETHERNET ONBOARD ISOW SPEAKER PSAI KEYBOARD / MOUSE ATX MID TOWER CASE

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Familiar tool helps video editors go digit*

By A N D R E W M O O R E - C R I S P I N

Anyone who has been editing video for a while is likely familiar with analogue tape editing,using a source and destination VTR, connected through an editing console.

In fact, the process of searching source material and cueing up in and out marks using a jog/shuttle wheel becomes something of an ingrained process, making the switch from ana• logue to digital a difficult one. Going from the two VTR editing suite setup to an all-in-one interface, using mouse and keyboard commands, forces video aficionados to re-learn much of what they already:know.

Contour A/V Solutions has a product that successfully bridges the digital_ divide in video editing, making the switch a less daunting process, blending the traditional analogue video editing feel with the superior power and relative inexpensiveness of.PC video editing.

The Contour A/V ShuttlePRO is a USB controller that blurs the lines between analogue and digital editing

by bringing the tactile feeling of a jog/shuttle wheel and-one-touch mark in/out buttons to PC video editing.

The. ShuttlePRO is fully customizable and •will •work w i t h a n y application (whether a video application o r not) where users m i g h t deem i t useful.

Customizing the peripheral is a tedious process, as there are nine buttons on the

unit and...14 point.s of sensitivity (seven application i s startedo which makes using the peripheral more seamless. reverse and seven forward} on the shuttle wheel. To t r u l y customize, the Anyone that has edited video • on an ShuttlePRO, users w i l l have t o o p m analogue setup will find it easy to jump their favourite video editing'application i n and start making simple-edits using the controller. to determine the keyboard functions While all the controls for simple video they want the unit to perform, then,program and label all the buttons accordediting are included on the ShuttkPRO, i t can't be counted as a replacement for ingly. T h e buttons come w i t h clear the keyboard and mouse. Only the most removabk caps, and a sheet:of cutouts basic functions are,covered on the face -for. the most common video editing functions is included in the box, or can of the unit; no, transition effects or other be downloaded from the Contour A / V tools could realistically be worked onto Solutions Web site (wwwcontourays.com). the face of the unit without creating a jumbled mess. Also, even the convenTen common, video and audio editing applications are pre-configured, which i e n c e of having a jog/shuttle wheel can't means that users need only place the r i v a l the speed of tising the mouse to appropriate b u t t o n labels o n t h e c o n t r o l a slider for fast video searching.

ShuttlePRO to get started. Most of the A s a n added bonus, the peripheral pre-configured settings are f o r Sonic c o u l d a l s o theoretically be set, up as a Foundry (Acid, Vegas), Adobe (Premiere, p a d d l e wheel controller f o r, playing After" Effects) a n d MediaStudio A r k a n o i d , Pang o r any their freeware (MediaStudio Pro) programs. c l o n e s . • Once a custom profile has been creat-4r ed or one of the pre-configured ones is I N F chosen, the ShutdePRO software associates itself with the editing application should's° 190 (from USS125) executable, then loads up and selects the tour A/V Solutions appropriate profile whenever the video contourays.com

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31

What's new in Adobe Premiere?

By LEE RICKWOOD The latest version o f Adobe's nonlinear video editing software, Premiere 6.5, is powerful and comprehensive.

That's both good news and bad.

It's good Adobe has added a powerful titling tool. Good an MPEG encoder has been added. New audio capabilities and real-time previews are now supported in an already loaded package.

So what's bad about that? Well, some of Premiere's best features are dependant on computer power and may not function w e l l w i t h o u t changes o r upgrades t o y o u r current system.

Premiere is still somewhat particular about installs; pre-existing hardware or software drivers can cause problems.

If you're f a m i l i a r w i t h previous Premiere versions (back t o 5.0) this package is worth your consideration. I f you are brand new to nonlinear editing it may offer too much for your needs.

Get started cleanly Premiere 6.5 wants to go into a clean system, ahead o f any other associated hardware (real-time cards such a s Canopus DVStorm2 o r Matrox RTX boards) and without graphics accelera-

tion. Graphics cards should be limited to 16-bit colour display, lest they steal resources from the CPU, resulting i n dropped frames or other hiccups.

It's also important that presets from the capture card you're using be loaded as the editing mode presets. Without a proper match (compression settings, bit rate, frame rate and size, etc.) the card may not output t o tape. Fortunately, Premiere 6.5 has a View Settings option to match presets correctly.

Premiere, li ke other programs, has specific requirements f o r capturing video. Compatibility among operating system, a p p l i c a t i o n s o f t w a r e , FireWire/1394 hardware, and camcorder is important. DV interfaces should comply w i t h t h e Open Host Controller Interface (OHCI) standard.

Premiere 6.5 handles this with its DV Device Control Options menu, to specify camcorder manufacturers and models. A click on the Check Status button verifies the connection.

Timely features added Real-time previews are a great timesaver for busy editors. It's a handy way to check transitions and special effects before committing to them.

Premiere help online Including Adobe's own training and support network, there are hundreds of Web sites with information about Premiere, among them: www.dvshopta/dvrafe/adobeprem.html www.ledetcomgoolstuff/software/premiere/ www.wrigleyvideacom/videotutoriaVindekhtm The new real-time preview requires onwunforgettable-events.com/premiere.html specific hardware to work fully — for PCs, Pentium 4 processors and at least www.stevengoti.com/prerniere.htm 256 MB RAM do best. According t o

Adobe, Premiere supports all its effects and transitions for real-time previews, but it's dependent on system resources.

As the manual says, images "degrade gracefully" without the needed horsepower (slower frame rates, skipping audio, etc).

Latest word in titling One o f Premiere's best enhancements is the titling capability. Gone is the old titter (from back in version 4). New is Title Designer, and lots of customizable templates and designer fonts.

It's a little intimidating i f you're not familiar with other Adobe programs, but if you know Photoshop or Illustrator, Title Designer itself is worth the upgrade in the eye of many editors.

Font colour, shadows, outlines and spacing are easily adjusted and saved for future use. Users can add texture and sheen, or create text on a path. Rolls and crawls can be used as well. Other title motion effects are made using Premiere's other editing functions and effects.

Sounds like disc-o dancing For many, the most important upgrade in Premiere 6.5 is the MPEG encoder, supplied by Main Concept. Together with bundled DVD creation software (Sonic's DVDit! LE), Premiere is a solid disc making, as well as video editing, tool.

The encoding functions are straightforward, b u t more importantly, give good results. The encoded image can be quite good, and the time needed t o encode not that lengthy (depending on the complexity. of your program, anticipate about 1.5:1 encoding times). For truly professional authoring, the tools in Premiere may not be enough — chapter points, embedded Web links and other elaborate DVD features are not always accessible. But f o r simple DVDs and

menus, Premiere now does i t all — as long as you have a disc burner (it outputs video for VCD and SVCD, as well).

Premiere also has enhanced music mixing and soundttack creation capabilities. Also handy for sound manipulation are new audio filters, such as the three-band parametric-equalizer.

Choose the best tool Adobe Premiere is an established and robust package, with lots of useful editorial features and new enhancements for experienced video editors. There are other, less demanding ways to get started. But i f you're comfortable with 6.0, you should have this upgrade, i f only for the titling and encoding tools. •

I N

F

Premiere 6.5 $979 (full version), $259 (upgrade) Adobe www.adobe.com Requirements: Pentium III 500 MHz processor (Pentium 4 or multiprocessor recommended), Windows 985E/ME/2000 (Service Pack 2)1311, 128 MB of RAM (256 MB recommended), 600 MB of available hard-disk space, 256-colour video display adapter, CD-ROM drive, Quicklime 5.0 recommended For DV: Microsoft DirectX certified IEEE 1394 interface, dedicated large-capacity 7200 RPM UDMA 66 IDE or SCSI hard disk or disk array, and DirectX compatible video display adapter For third-party capture cards: Adobe Premiere certified capture card For Real-lime Preview: Pentium III 800 MHz processor (Pentium 4 dual processors recommended)

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TORON10 C O M P U T E S ! M A Y 2 0 0 3 c a n a d a c o m p u t e s . c o m

Digital Shots: Taking a fieldtrip ByANDREW MOORE-CRISPIN Spring is, in the air and summer will soon be upon us. Unless you're the type that particularly enjoys going out in the freezing cold of winter to capture some wintertime scenes, you probably haven't taken too many outdoor pictures since - g o i n g into hibernation mode.

Photography is a great hobby, as it can work itself into other interests; anything you find enjoyable is, worthy of being captured as a digital photo.

In the spring, we start coming out of houses, bleary eyed and blinking at the sun, t o start pursuing warm weather hobbies. Whatever your hobbies — hiking, camping, rock climbing, weekend sports or just walking around the city — take a digital camera with you and shoot away. Once you've purchased a digital camera and storage media, taking pictures is cheap, unlike film where every exposure has a cost associated with it.

Photography in its most basic sense is very simple indeed. The shutter opens for a set amount of time, depending on the brightness o f a scene and on how open the aperture is. Where it gets a bit more complicated is in trying to figure out the best way to capture the available light Should we go with a smaller aperture and resulting slower shutter speed and get`into stability issues — requiring, at best, steady hands and at worst, a tripod? Or, do we go with a larger aperture and corresponding, faster shutter speed at a sacrifice to depth of field?

Depth o f field is the amount- of the scene behind and in front of the central subject that is in focus. The wider the aperture, the smaller the depth of field, hence, less of the scene will be in focus.

This information can be used to get the results you're looking for in your pictures. If you want to frame and capture an entire scene, making your picture as accurate a representation of the actual scene as possible, keeping everythihg in focus is important. A smaller aperture and slower shutter speed will accomplish this.

On the other hand, i f you want to draw attention to one particular object of interest in the whole scene, using a larger aperture and adjusting the shut'ter speed accordingly, then focusing on the central object will throw everything else out of focus to varying degrees. It's a good way to steer the eye through the csnedacomputes.com

M A Y

scene the way you want it to go, drawing attention to the elements you want noticed, and i t can make for powerful and appealing photographs.

There is a rule in manual film photogiaphy called the Sunny 16 rule, which essentially states that on a sunny day, whether shooting with or without a flash, photographers can set their aperture size to f16 and shutter speed to the approximate speed of the film. (ie. 1/125 sec for film o f 100 ISO) to turn their manual camera into a point-and-shoot, more or less. Rather than fiddling with settings to get the perfect shot, the Sunny 16 rule gets rid of all of the f-stop and shutter speed worries and allows photographers to pay attention to the actual scene.

Digital cameras without access t o shutter speed and aperture settings usually give users few options in the,form of different shooting modes. Rather than confuse matters with shutter speed and f-stop numbers, some manufacturers go with four or five shooting modes, represented by familiar icons like the running man for action, a sun partially covered with a cloud for shooting on an overcast day, a sun for bright scenes, a person f o r portrait mode and others.

These settings, as inflexible as they are, do lend some flexibility to your digital camera, and the iconic representation of • the type of.shot each mode is meant for gives hints as to the shutter speed and aperture the setting uses. This means that even using a point-and-shoot camera with little flexibility, users can alter the way the picture is taken.

The running man icon represents fast action; to catch and freeze fast action, the camera needs to use a fast shutter speed, which means a wider aperture to allow as much light in as possible. This results in a smaller depth, of field.

Portrait mode would be for a still subject and would, as a result, use a slower shutter speed and a wider aperature in favour of more depth of field.

Even using these two options and the degrees in between represented by the other icons, budding shutterbugs can experiment with depth of field to give their pictures more, well, depth.

More important, perhaps, i s t h e thought that since those knowjedgeable in film photography invented a rule to turn an advanced SLR into a point-andshoot camera; we shouldn't think" about these things so much as just go out there and shoot pictures. •

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UPGRADE KIT Intel 1.7Ghz Celeron Processor P4 Motherboard with USB 2.0 Onboard Video, Audio, & LAN 128mb D D R m e m o r y

$239 SOUND C A R D S

SEAGATE 4 1 1 1 1 1 2 = 1 1 1 1 0 ° 60GB (ST360015A) 1 2 9 80GB (67380011A) 1 4 9 120GB (ST3120023A) 1 8 9 120GB (ST3120024A, 8MB) 2 0 9 SERIAL ATA (SATA) 80GB (ST380023AS) 1 8 9 120GB (ST3120023AS12 4 9 . 11111 M O I M E N ccer,ATE 10,000RPM CHEETAH 38.6GB (ST-338607LW) 289 73.3GB (ST-373307LW) 699 146GB (ST-3146807LW 1399 15.000RPM 369 18GB (ST-318453LW) 36GB (ST-336753LW) 529 73.3GB (ST-373453LW) 1079

CREATIVE LABS BLASTER12S(PCUOEM) 39 E X T E R N A L DRIVES BLASTER LIVE DiGrrAL 5.1 (OEM) . . 59 FULLTOWER LACIE BLASTER AUDIGY (OEM) PLUSVIEW100(CLEAR)1 2 9 BLASTER AUDIGY X -GAMER 1 39 POCKET DRIVES (FYV&USB) 39 30GBrOORPM)93001363 2 9 BLASTER AUDIGY MP3*1 PERFORMANCESERIES 99 40GB 420ORPM)1/3003533 6 9 BLASTERAUDIGY2 (PCI) 1 SX80011 8 9 249 60GB 540ORPM)00.3001905 5 9 BLASTERAUDIGY2 PLATNUM (INT) SX100011 1 0 9 99 FIREWIRE(IEEE1394) BLASTER EXTIGY y. / USB 1 SX10401311 (400W/10BAY)1 6 9 60GB(720000RPM)#300509 D22 8 9 AMERICAN POWER UPS SX1400B 80GB (7200RPM)#300510 D23 0 9 589 #300511 D2 3 7 9 SX630I1 (300W/8BAY) 129 ec e r g w e r #P.) 160GB 00RPM #300659132 . 4 2 9 SX835Il (350W/8BAY1 1 4 9 PS 69 200GB 00RPM #300656132 6 3 9 BE350UKr/16HR/a0ca) BE500U 11/24H 8 9 250GB OORPM0300582D2 7 3 9 P O W E R S U P P LY BK500 ( D/THR/300W) 149 400(38 OORPM #30056302 9 8 9 BK650MC(14/11HR/400W) 179 500GB NO300584 D2 .1449 BACK-UPS PRO ANTEC 179 GREY-TECH BP280S123/4HR/180W SOLUTIONSERIES 279 EXTERNAL USB 2.0 (720ORPM) BP420$ 13/4HR/260W SL350 (350W)8 9 169 80GB / / U S W 2 3 9 BP500U (13/7HRJ315 SL400 (400W)9 9 389 120GB#USB1202 8 9 BP650S 13/4HF1/410W SL450 (450W)1 2 9 BP1000 16/3HR/67 509 200GB#USB2004 3 9 TRUEP4ONERSERIES BP1400 23/6HR/950 659 EXTERNALFIREWIRE (7200RPM TRUE 330 r 0 1 8 9 SMART P S 80GB #FIRE80 TRUE 430 430W 1 2 9 SUA750XL (50/3HR/600W)5 4 9 120G8/IFIRE1202 9 9 TRUE 480 480W 1 4 9 SUA1000 (20/3HR/670W)5 7 9 200G6#FIRE2004 5 9 TRUE BLU 4 8 0 480W)1 5 9 SUA1000XL (33/5HR/800W) -137 9 IDOERNALUSB2.0IFIREWIRE TRUE 550 (550W 1 6 9 SUA1500 (24/3HR/980W)6 9 9 80GB #FIREUSB802 8 9 120G13#FIREUSB1203 1 9 ENERMAX SU420NET/15/5HFU39012 6 9 EG365P-VEFC (350W)7 9 S U620NET13/5HR/260 W 3 4 9 POCKET DRIVES (USB 2A 8.

13941EG465P-VE (450W)1 0 9 SU700NET 18/3HR/450W 4 1 9 8 9 SU2200NET(32J5HR/1600W) .. 11 0 9 40GB#POCKET402 EG651P-VE (550W)1 8 9 2 9 SU3000NET(18/5H 1 6 1 9 60GB#POCKET604

Computer Packages

CELERON 1.7GHz

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DIRECTORS 4 LIGHTS NORTH OF STEELES 1 BLOCK VVESTOF WARDEN HOURS: MON. - FRI. 9 : 0 0 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.

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ACCESSORIES MONITO

VIEWSONIC 17" E7OB / E70 1 9 E7OF /E7OFB2 1 E75F/ G7OF2 5 G7OFMB/G7OFM2 6 G75F/P75F+B2 6 P7OF /P75F+3 1 19" E90 / E9OF2 9 E9OFB E9O+SB3 3 GS7904 4 Pg5F+/P95F+BK3 8 21" E220 / 38106 4 G220FB7 0 22" P220P22F0FB8 4 P225FB9 4 SAMSUNG9 5 17" 750S / 750SB1 6 700NF / 753DF3 2 757MB / 7631AB 2 7 763MB-B2 2 1" 90ONF4 9 2 95013 / 957MB2 7 9550F / 955MB-B 9550FB / 955MB 21" 1100P+ / 1000P+B 11000F

LASER PRINTERS 9 9 9

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HEVVLETT PACKARD 1 9 / 199 HP 1000 (20ppm/1200 dpi)3 4 9 / 219 HP 1300 (20ppm/1200 dpi)5 829 / 239 HP 1300N (20ppm/1200 dpi) 919 / 279 HP 2300 (20ppm/1200 dpi) / 289 HP 2300D (20ppm/1200 dpi 1149 / 279 HP 2300L (20ppm/1200 dpi) 869 HP 2300N (20ppm/1200 dpi) 1549 / 339 HP 2300DN (20ppm/1200 dpi) 1629 HP 2300DTN (20p m/1200 dpi) 1989 HP 4200 / 4200N (35ppm/1200dm) 1 4 9 9 / 2 2 2 9 / 399 HP 4200TN /420001N (35ppm/1200dp02569/2899 HP4200DTNS(35ppm11200dp1)3 1 1 9 / 679 HP4200DINSL(35ppm/1200dp1)3 4 2 9 HP 4300 / 4300N (45ppm/1200dpi) 2 2 2 9 / 2 9 4 9 HP 4300TN /4300DTN (45ppm/1200dp03299/3879 869 HP 4300DTNS (45ppm/1200dp1)3 8 2 9 HP 4300DTNSL (45ppm/1200dpn4 0 8 9 / 179 / 189 / 229

COLOUR HP 2500 / 2500L (16/4 ppm/600dp1).. 1849 / 1399 HP 2500N / 2500TN (16/4 ppm/600dpi)2049 / 2539 HP 4600 / DN (17/17 ppm/600dpi) 3 1 7 9 / 3799 HP 480013TN / HON (17/17 ppm/600dp1)5129 / 5889

VIDEO C A R D S

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/ 369 ASUS /,,,•"kg• V8170DSET-64GEFORCE4MX440SE64MB 309 V918010-84GEFORCE4MX440-8X64MB V9180VS-64GEFORCE4MX440-8X84MB 589 / 589 v928070-64GEFORCE471-4200-8X64MB 689 V928010-128GEFORCE4714200-8X128MB V92805/TD-1283EF0RCE4714200-8X128MB 111111 f f i l ATI TECHNOLOGIES SAMSUNG RADEON ALL-IN-WONDER 7500 64MB 9 5 RADEON ALL-IN-WONDER 8500DV 64MB 6 2 9 RADEON ALL-IN-WONDER 8500 128MB 1 15501MSBP/ 151P4 3 9 / 819 RADEON ALL-IN-WONDER 9700PRO 128MB 839 RADEON 7500 64MB 151MP 439 RADEON 7500LE 64MB 151SS / 4 9 9 RADEON9000PRO 128MB 152BB / 152BS4 9 9 52T / 152TS5 6 9 / 569 RADEON 9500PR0 128MB RADEON9700PRO 128MB 17 70MP/170N9 2 9 / 879 170N8/1728S6 7 9 / 759 171N/171N-BK8 7 9 / 689 171MP8 5 9 171P/ 171S .8 7 9 / 629 71SB / 171S'S6 2 9 / 639 72T / 172T-S1 1 2 9 / 859 8" 181T 1 3 3 9 81TB/191N1 3 3 9 / 919 91T/ 191T-13 1 0 2 9 / 979

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PENTIUM 4 SPECIAL

VIEWSONIC 15" VE156 / VE155_1134 3 9 / 449 VE150MB /VE500' 479 / 449 VG500 / VGSOOB5 0 9 / 489 VE510+5 5 9 VG150M / VG1501/1 4 8 9 / 509 VX500+5 0 9 17^ VE700 / VE1756 8 9 / 689 VE017170M /VE17567 0 9 / 689 V 11 3 8 5 9 VG1759 Pentium 4 i a h z processor VG700 / VG700B8 6 9 / 66969V 9889 3 5 /G 0 7 X Gigabyte ( f u l l y expandable) 18" Seagate 60GB 7,200 r p m hard d r i v e VE8008 2 9 128mb DDR high-speed memory VG800 / VG800B / 809 VG181 / VG181B / 1 8 8 9 9 256-bit graphics engine (>64mb Slab VX800 SAMSUNG 7 5 0 s 1 7 " m o n i t o r 19" VX900/ VG191 1 0 8 9 / 1189 USB 2 . 0 support, ATA 1 33 support V0191B / VG900B1 1 8 9 / 1129 LG 52x CD B u r n e r with 2MB buffer 20" 3D s o u n d s y s t e m b u i l t i n VP201M / VP201MB 1 9 8 9 / 1969 VX20001 7 9 9 10/100 L A N built-in for highspeed internet 23' Mid t w e r case w i t h 3 5 0 w a t t supply VP230MD PLASMA 4 0 3 9 42" L C Logitech d e l u x e k e y b o a r d VPW425 Logitech w h e e l m o u s e 50" LCD P L A S M A VPW5051 1 5 4 9 9 1 9 9 •-

PENTIUM P E N T I U M PEN IUM

•Custom quotes available.

• Corporate 9 . 0 ' s welcome.

ASUSP4.5531X AS1.151'45533 X A S U S P4 DX ASUSA7V8X • Leasing available.

• All Grey-Tech systems come with limited ..256M0- m ( 2 5 6 M o o R210C with Firew.re IACA1PCDR )-, 1,350 2 year parts and labour warranty.

• Prices already cash discounted.

Any other form of payment will be cash 1359 1419 1279 discounted plus surcharge.

• Prices Subject to change without notice.

• All products come with their respective Manufacturers Warranty.

1479 1549 1389 • We ship across Canada

P4 2.4Ghz P 4 2.53Ghz P 4 2.

hz

AMD

XP 2100+

Includes: 1254ME • P a n a s o n i c 1.44 F l o p p y D r i v e LI H i g h s p e e d 333Mhz DDR m e m o r y O Z .

VIEWSONIC U Seagate 80GB (2MB) 7200rpm h a r d d r i v e 17" (P7OF ) U Mid Tower Case with p o w e r s u p p l y 11 0 9 ❑ L G 16X DVD-ROM D r i v e ATI RADEON 7500LE 64M: CI A Itec Lansing AV S - 2 0 0 Speakers VIEWSONIC ❑ Logitech mouse with wheel 15" LCD (VE1 55) 1229 ❑ Logitech deluxe keyboard TI RADEON 7500LE 64M CI 10/100 LAN (built-in) CI 3 D audio controller (built-in) ENVISION ORDER ON-LINE AT L3 Microsoft Windows XP HOME (CD/OEM) 17" LCD (7100S) 1369 1619 1459 1529 CI 2 Years P & I_ Limited Warranty www.greytech.com ATI RADEON 7500LE 64M 2 All trademarks and trade names am used to identify entities claiming the marks and names of eir products Grey-Tech Computer Inc. disclaims any interest in trademe s or ra-a name 34

TORONTO C O M P U T E S ! M A Y

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15 Ye a r s i n B u s i n e s s 5 5 0 A l d e n R d . , U n i t # 11 0 Markham, Ontario L 3 R 6A8 Te l : ( 9 0 5 ) 4 7 0 - 1 4 2 5 Fax: ( 9 0 5 ) 4 7 0 - 9 5 5 6

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H A R D W A R E 4110 S O F T W A R E CD-ROM I CDR/W DRIVES C D - R O M DRIVES S O N Y 52x1EIDE)3 L I T E x (EIDE)3 O N 52x (EIDE) 3

DESK JET / INKJET H E W L E T T PA C K A R D HP D E S K J E T 3420V9 9 H P D E S K J E T 3820V 1 4 9 HP D E S K J E T 5 5 5 0 1 8 9 HP D E S K J E T C P 1 7 0 0 6 9 9 HPDESKJETCP170008 3 9 HP DESKJETCP1700F'S8 4 9 HP DESKJET 1220CA 5 5 9 HP DESKJET1220C/PS 7 4 9 H P DESKJET 6122 2 7 9

D I G I TA L C A M E R A S CANON D I G I TA L C A M E R A S P O W E R S H O TA 3 0 C A L P O W E R S H O TA 4 0 C A L POWERSHOTG3C A L P O W E R S H O T $30C A L POWERSHOTS230C A L POWERSHOTS330C A L POWERSHOTS40C A L

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A C C E S S O R I E S TA P E B A C K U P U N I T S

DIRECTIONS 4 LIGHTS NORTH OF STEELES 1 B L O C K W E S T OF W A R D E N HOURS: M O N . - FRI. 9 : 0 0 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.

S A T. C L O S E D

NOTEBOOKS

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S E A G AT E EIDE T R AVA N 4 0 G B (STT2401A-M, BARE)4 6 9 T R AVA N 4 0 G B (STT3401A-RD, D K R ) 5 2 9 T R AVA N 4 0 G B (STT3401A-RY, SKIT)5 9 9 TAPESTORE20GB(STT220000A-RDT)3 9 9 SCSI TAPESTORE20GB(STT220000N-RDT)4 4 9 D AT 2 4 G B INT. (STD224000N-SB)8 7 9 D AT 2 4 G B EXT. (STD624000N-RYT)1 2 1 9 D AT 2 4 G B INT (STD224000N-RYT) 1 1 3 9 D AT 40GB EXT. (STD6401LW-RY)1 5 4 9 D AT 40GB INT. (STD2401LW-RY)1 3 0 9

T O S H I B A (www.toshlbeLca) 9 S AT E L L I T E P R O S E R I E S L 9 L 9 1110 6DSW (C-2.0G/256/30G/14T/ L CDRNV-DVD/XPH)1 6 2 9 L C D RE- W R I T E R S 1110 00J8Q (C-1.80/258/20G/14T/ L EIDE CDR/W-DVD/XPP) L LG G C E - 8 5 2 0 B ( 5 2 x 2 4 x 5 2 ) 7 9 L LG GCC-448013 C O M B O 2450023DYP(P4-2.6G/512DIDR/40G/157 1 8 7 9 (48x24x48,16DVD) 1 0 9 CDRW-DVD/XPH)2 6 9 9 LOGITECH LITEON 52246S (52x24x52) 7 9 2450023DYP (P4-2.8G/512DDR/60G/15T QUICKCAMPRO40001 3 9 PLEXTORPX-320 COMBO D I G I TA L C A M E R A 1 5 9 C D RW- D V D / X P H ) 3 2 9 9 24X10 D D 9 2410W9X(P4-1.9G/256DDR/40G/15T P L E X T O R W4824V (48x24x48) 148 M U LT I - F U N C T I O N FUJI P L E X T O R W 4 8 2 4 TA B K CDRW-DVD/XPH)2 1 9 9 FINEPIX 26503 1 9 HP 2110PSC2 8 9 (413,x24x48) 1 4 9 FINEPIX38005 8 9 6100NGYSPP(P4.1.7G/256DDR/30G/15T 6 9 S A M S U N G S W -252 ( 5 2 x 2 4 x 5 2 ) 7 9 H P 2 2 1 0 P S C 4 FINEPIXA2002 2 9 EXTERNAL(USB) DVD0(PPRO)2 3 7 9 HP 3300MFP7 2 9 S A M S U N G COMBO C D RW / D V D FINEPIX A2033 3 9 TAPESTORE20GB(STT6201U2-R)4 9 9 6100 NGYSQP (P4-1.8C42580CR/30G/14T ( 4 8 x 2 4 x 4 8 , 1 6 x D V D ) 1 2 9 HP 3320MFP9 1 9 FINEPIX A3034 4 9 TAPESTORE4OGEI(STT6401U2-R)7 2 9 CDRW.I3V13/XPPRO)2 6 6 9 FINEPIXF6016 5 9 EXTERNAL HP 3320N-MFP1 3 3 9 TA P E S / C A R T R I D G E S FINEPIX F4025 2 9 PLEXTOR (48x24x48, USB 2.0) . . . 2 4 9 HP 3330MFP1 6100 NGYSHP (P4-2.0G125131213R/30G/15T 0 0 9 FINEPIXS6029 4 9 DGD125P (DDS-34MM/125)2 2 . 9 9 GREY- T E C H #USB52 (52x24x52) CDRW.DVD)XPPRO)2 9 5 9 HP D155X18 0 9 FINEPIXS802S9 9 9 DGD150P(DDS-34MM/150)4 9 . 9 9 USB 2.0 6100 NGYSNP (P4-1.8G/2.93DDR/20G/14T FINEPIXM6038 6 9 9 9 G R E Y-TECH #F1RE52 (52x24x52)199 HP D1354 DGID15CL(DDS4MM/CLEANING) 1 9 . 9 9 DVD/XPPRO)2 0 8 9 FIREVV1RE (1394) 1 8 9 HP4100MFP3 0 9 9 DGD120P(DDS-24MM/120) 1 2 . 9 9 SONY 610OHLFEJP(MP4-1.90/2RIDDR/400/15T IDG90(DDS4MM/90)3 4 .

9 9 CYBERSHOT DVD / R E C O R D E R I BROTHER CDRAN-DVDOLPH)3 2 5 9 DSC-P31 2 . 1 M P 3 4 9 QTR-1/QTR-32 9 .

9 9 1 34.99 EIDE DSC-P51 2 . 1 M P Q T R -4 / N S -203 9 .

9 9 / 59.99 6100 9ZD (P4-1.7G/256DDROOG/15T B R O T H E R MFC4800" 4 5 9 DSC-S85 4.1MP8 0 3 7 9 9 DVD/XPPRO)2 2 9 9 L G D V D 16X 5 9 B R O T H E R MFC68006 T R AVA N 2 0 / 4 0 G B (STTM40)7 9 4 9 DSC-P9 1 1 5 9 6100 KKE (P4-1.8G1256DDR/300/14T P I O N E E R DVD416X(TRAwsiion . 6 9 B R O T H E R MFC85006 DSC-P97 1 9 4 9 CDRIW.DVD/XPPRO)2 5 8 9 PIONEER DVR-A053 9 9 B R O T H E R MFC97008 6 9 DSC-UU220OB 2 429 N E T W O R K P R O D U C T S D S22.0MP.0MP4C - 9 S O N Y 1 6 X D D U 1 6 2 ( T R AY ) 6 9 BROTHER3100C2 3 9 DSC-U2OL 4 2 9 P R O T E G E S E R I E S HUBS & SWITCHES L G GMA4020612 9 9 DSC.P8 3 2 M P 2.0MP6 3 9 B R O T H E R 5100C3 6 9 3 9 3 5 0 0 2 6 1 (P3-1.33G/256/40G/12"/DVD/XPP) ... 3499 PA N S O N I C L FO-521 3 8 9 D U N K 4 Port USB Hub (DSB-H4) DSC-P72 3 . 2 M P 4 9 9 BROTHERMFC7150C2 8 9 40104FM(P3.93303/258(3013/121DVDPARP).... 3129 DLINK 4 Port 10/100/1000 Switch (DGS-1004T) 319 OSC-P52 3 . 2 M P 4 2 9 JEWEL CASES nncl-P32 3 2MP3 6 9 D U N K 8 Port 10/100/1000 Switch (DOS-1008T) 589 59 T E C R A S E R I E S EPSON D U N K Switch 5-poit (DSS-5+) SINGLE0 .

2 5 9100 (P4-1.7012581DOR/30G/14T S T Y L U S 15206 7 9 MAVICA D L I N K 7 P o r t USB Hub (DSB-H7) DOUBLE0 .

4 5 6 9 C D F t N V- D V D / X P P R O ) MVC.-FID100 1.3MP 4 6 9 STYLUS 3000 1 3 5 9 D L I N K 8 P o r t Switch 10/100 (DSS-8+) QUAD0 .

7 5 MVC-CI3200 2 3 9 S T Y L U S P H O TO 8201 4 9 139 DLINK 18 Port Swttch 10/100 (DSS-18+) MVC-CD400 4.1 M P 1 0 6 9 DVD-SINGLE0 .

5 9 2 9 MVC-F12200 2 . 1 M P 6 2 9 D U N K 24 PortSwitch 10/100(DES-10240) 169 0.69 S T Y L U S P H O TO 8252 DVD-DOUBLE MVC-FD754 2 9 S T Y L U S P H O TO 9605 1 9 ROUTERS 700mb, 80min, 32x S T Y L U S P H O TO 9253 8 9 CD L A B E L L I N G D L I N K Router / Switch 4-port (DI-604) 7 9 CAMCORDER(DIGRAL) S T Y L U S P H O TO 12806 8 9 DLINK Router 4 Pod w/ PRN PORT (DI-704P) 9 9 L i m i t e d Quantities BRIGHT WHITE (100) 8 . 9 9 DLINK Router / Switch 8 Port (DI-707P) 1 1 9 S T Y L U S P H O TO 22009 8 9 DCR-TRV140 D C R -T R V 2 0 7 7 9 6 9 9 D 5 9 1699 0 1 -P R C GLOSSY (501 1 8 .

9 9 100 Pack Spindle LINKSYS Voice Router (BEFN2PS4) 1 9 9 M O D E M S / PA L M T O P LINKSYS Router 3 Port (BEFSRU31) 1 6 9 SPEAKERS Router 4 Port (BEFSR41)9 9 MODEMS COMPACT FLASH CARD LINKSYS LINKSYS Router 8 Port (BEFSR81) . . . . . 1 2 9 68 AOPEN INSPIRE 2500 A D A P T E R S AOPEN 56K INT VOICE (PCI-PX).....49 INSPIRE 2600 3 C O M 3C905-TX (PCI) 5 9 79 INSPIRE 4.1 4 4 0 0 DLINK 10/100 DFE-538-TX (PCI) 2 9 109 LINKSYS INSPIRE 5.1 5 2 0 0 179 CABLE MODEM WITH USB ETH 1 3 9 DLINK 10/100 DGE-550-T (PCI) 1 0 9 L E X A R INSPIRE 6.1 6 8 0 0 Princo B r a n d s i 8 9 741.424L I N K S Y S PCI 10/100 (LNE10oTx)3 9 MEGAWORKS 550 4394393COM H I - P e r f o r m a n c e Compact Flash PCMCIA MEGAWORKS 510D 29 U S R 56K INT V.90 (PCI-HM) 1 1 9 79 memory for Digital Camera's DLINK 10/100 DEE-650-TX ALTEC LANSING AVS200 (3 SPKS) 49 U S R 56K EXT V.92 1 3 9 59 DLINK CARDBUS DFE-690TXD ALTEC LANSING AVS300 (3 SPKS) 1 8 X S E R I E S P R E M I U M 69 U S R 58K USB VOICE 2 0 9 KEYBOARD / MOUSE ALTEC LANSING AVS500 (5 SPKS) 128MB $ 8 9 ' 2 5 8 M B $ 1 1 9 * WIRELESS NETWORKING ALTEC LANSING 2100 2.1(2+SUB)1 5 9 MICE 69 PA L M T O P S 512MB $ 2 2 9 1 0 8 $ 4 4 9 ALTEC LANSING 221CN (2+SUB) DUNK LOGITECH 6 9 2 4 X - PROWESSIGVAL ALTEC LANSING 4100CN (4+SUB) 1 79 PA L M M 1 3 0 2 D L I N K Wireless PCI Card (OWL-500) 1 0 9 CORDLESSMOUSEMANOPTICAL9 9 69 PA L M M 5 1 5 4 0 9 ALTEC 'LANSING 4100 (4+SUB) D U N K Wireless PCI Card (OWL-520*)8 9 2 5 6 M B ... $ 1 3 9 5 1 2 M B $ 2 5 9 CORDLESSMOUSEMANWHEEL7 9 PALM TUNGSTEN T 4 9 9 ALTEC LANSING.621 (2+SUB) D L I N K Wireless PcCard (DWL-650) 1 0 9 HIGH PERFORMANCEOPT1CALNDC3005 9 4 0 X - PROFESSIONAL 2 , , PA L M ZIRE1 5 9 ALTEC LANSING 841CN (4+SUB) HIGHPERFORMANCEMX5007 9 D L I N K VVireless PriCara (DWL-850.)

• 8 9 2 5 6 M B ... $ 1 5 9 5 1 2 M B $ 2 8 9 ' ALTEC LANSING 251CN (4+SUB)1 2 9 HIGH PERFORMANCECORDLESSMX700 ..

109 D L I N K Wireless Access Point (DIM:900AP+) 1 3 9 (*Get $ 3 0 beck by mad. Call for detals) ALTEC LANSING 220CN (4+SUB) 4 9 9 D U N K Wireless Access Point (CAM.-5000AP) 3 0 9 MOUSEMANVVHELLOPTICAL6 ALTECLANSINGXA3001 4 8 CORDLESSWFIEEFLMOUSE5 9 D L I N K Wireless USB Port (DWL-120) 8 9 ALTEC LANSINGXA3021 1 0 9 9 D L I N K Wireless Notebook Kit (DINL-905-1-) 3 0 9 TRACKBALL MARBLE MOUSE4 ALTEC LANSING XA3051 2 2 9 SCANNERS 32MB4 9 VVHEELMOUSEOFRICAL3 9 D L I N K Wireless LAN Kit (OWL-920)4 5 9 FIRSTMOUSEVVHEEL2 9 64MB (detrobackbyrnsii• f o r d e h t i l s ) 6 9 DLINK Wireless Router (D1-814+,24CHz) 1 3 9 SCSI C O N T R O L L E R S H E W L E T T PA C K A R D MICROSOFT 128MB (Gel $30 book byrnall Gehtedetats): 99 DLINK Wireless Router 3 Port (DI-713P) 2 4 9 HP SCANJET 23000 (8'x11') 9 9 9 256MB (Gel $30beek bymaa Callfordatails) 1 5 9 D L I N K Onni-DiredionalAnt. (ANT24-0500) ... 1 4 9 INTELUMOUSE3.02 ADAPTEC HP SCANJET 35000 (8"x11") 1 2 9 INTELLIMOUSETRACKBALL1.03 9 S E RV E R S & W O R K S TAT I O N S Memory Stir& U S B Reader 4 9 DLINK 8.6dBI PICO Cell Patch Ant. HP SCANJET 3570C (8"x11") 1 8 9 INTEWMOUSEOPTICAL1.1 5 9 AVA - 2 9 0 6 ( R E TA I L ) 8 9 (ANT24-0801) 1 8 9 1NTEUJMOUSEIXPLORER7 9 A H A - 2 9 3 0 U ( P C l / R E TA I L ) 1 3 9 HP SCANJET 4570C(85(11") ' 2 7 9 . 1 1 1 1 1 1 k i M E I A E I Algid M E M VVRELF_SSINTELUMOUSEB(PLORER9 9 FIRECONNECT43009 9 HPSCANJET5500C4 2 9 32MB 39 LINKSYS USB 2.0/1394 CARD1 8 9 HP SCANJET 7400C (8"x14")6 4 9 64MB 2400A- R A I D (EIDE/RETAIL)5 2 9 59 L I N K S Y S WIRELESS PCI CARD (WOT1I) .....69 KEYBOARDS HP SCANJET 7450C (85d4")8 9 9 19160 KIT(RETAIL) 3 3 9 128MB 89 L I N K S Y S WIRELESS CARDBUS (wpc11)9 9 LOGITECH 2 9 1 6 0 r E TA I L 4 4 9 HP SCANJET 74900 (8"x14'') 1 1 8 9 Smart Media U S B Reader4 9 L I N K S Y S WIRELESS ACCESS PT (wApit) 1 2 9 C O R D L E S S F R E E D O M P R O 1 2 9 29160 O E M / L E ) 3 7 9 • L I N K S Y S WIRELESS PCI CARD (weiPi 1) 1 0 9 C O R D L E S S F R E E D O M N AV I G ATO R 1 0 9 29160 _(RET L 4 1 9 MULTIMEDIA CARD EPSON C O R D L E S S M&K N AV I G ATO R DUO1 0 9 L I N K S Y S WIRELESS USB ADP. (W0981 t) 8 9 2 9 3 2 0 R E TA I L ) 4 3 9 39160 R E TA I L ) 4 9 9 2 9 P E R F E C T I O N 1 2 6 0 U P H O TO .... 1 1 9 ' Z i g 4 9 LINKSYS WIRELESS 4 Port (BEFW1194) 1 3 9 C O R D L E S S M & K C O M F O R T DUO1 NOTEBOOK C O R D L E S S M&KELITEDUO 1 2 9 PERFECTION 1660U PHOTO.... 2 1 9 • 64mig 69 AHA-1350 KIT9 9 C O R D L E S S M & K A C C E S S DUO8 9 P R I N T S E RV E R S A H A - 1 4 6 0 P C M C I A SCSI C RT L 1 6 9 P E R F E C T I O N 3200 PHOTO5 4 9 1 9 9 C O R D L E S S F R E E D O M (WITH MOUSE)3 9 9 w e y r I g a l L I N K S Y S 2-PORT SWITCHED (EFSP42) A H A - 1 4 8 0 P C M C I A SCSI C T R L 2 3 9 P E R F E C T I O N 3200 PRO 7 3 9 C L A S S I C with W H E E L M O U S E 3 9 869 3w ' 2 M B L I N K S Y S 3-PORT10/100(EPSX3) FIRE C O N N E C T C A R D B U S 1 3 9 PHOTO 1 3 9 I N T E R N E T N AV I G AT O R •3 9 4 9 L I N K S Y S 1-PORT10/100(PPSX1) 129 M I C R O S O F T 64MB8 9 L I N K S Y S Wireless USB ready (PPS1UW) PROMISE 89 6 9 M I C R O T E K M S N AT U R A L P R O ( P S 2 / U S B ) U LT R A 133 3 9 MSINTERNET 5 9 3 8 0 0 ( 8 . 5 " x 11 256MB ULTRATX2-100 49 MS NATURAL 1 2 9 S'IltAIR 4 9 9 5 9 MSINTERNETPRO - 1 6 9 4 9 0 0 ( 8 . 5 " x 11 " ) 2 1 9 FA S T R A C TX2000 VIEVVSONIC_ ) FA S T R A C TX2000 PRO3 5 9 5 9 0 0 (8.5"x11" / 4" x 6 " ) 2 2 9 59 VIEWIvIATEOFFICE P - 2 0 1 ) SUPERTRAO(sxoem 5 5 9 i - i i • 11 ( - - - t i r r e i t e c h c o r n WitINV . a r . e v t e c h , c o r l i VIEWMATEOFFICE - 2 0 2 , B L K ) 59 i SUPERTRAC_ ssieopoino)7 1 9 499 - 6 8 0 0' ( 8 5"x11") , SUPERSVVAP 10001 2 9 8700 (8.6"x14 / 8"x10") 1 2 5 9 V I E V Y M AT E B L I M (KU-201) 5 9 I ' Grey-Tech reserves the tight to withdraw pricing, products, o r services without notice. G r e y -Tech assumes no responsibility for errors in content or p"icing. -Limited time otters

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T O R O N T O COMPUTES!

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Digital Words: Get extra work out of layout software

By JEFF CHAPMAN Sometimes people force software to do things it really has no interest in doing.

Having plastered one program's interface, people are reluctant to teach themselves another, so they do their best to persuade Microsoft Works to format a newsletter, CorelDraw to word process a document or Adobe Photoshop to create line art.

While it's usually humanly possible to force programs to obey even one's most diabolical commands, software works best when you let it be itself and do what it was designed to do. Word processors should primarily be used for processing words.

Page layout software should be used for laying out pages. Illustration programs should be used for making illustrations.

That said, however, there will always be those odd times when you just want to make a few simple tweaks to a document after you've already pulled in text and graphics created with other software, . and page layout packages have become increasingly accommodating in this department.

Have your words and illustrations too In the early days o f desktop publish-

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ing, back when QuarkXPress's rivals were C o r e l Ve n t u r a a n d A l d u s PageMaker (and the cruel joke that is Microsoft Publisher had not yet been unleashed upon the world), page layout was primitive a t best. Ventura lacked even a rudimentary text editor: I f you spotted a typo o n a page layout i n Ventura, you loaded the original text file into your word processing program, made the correction and then reimported the text, into Ventura. Similarly, programs c o u l d d i s p l a y illustrations designed in other programs, but couldn't draw anything more complex than a basic. oval, rectangle or straight line. A triangle ... well, a triangle was just an impossible dream.

Fortunately, a f e w brave graphic designers clung to that dream, and today the situation is much improved. The latest versions o f Adobe InDesign and QuarkXPress both feature respectable word processing functions, and their capabilities t o create vector graphics have improved b y leaps and bounds.

While neither program offers anywhere near the type of control one can get in CorelDraw or Adobe Illustrator, they do get the job done. Either program lets

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users draw and edit complex polygons and freeform shapes, including both straight lines and Bezier curves, in addition to the much-beloved ovals and rectangles of old. While these shapes can be filled with images or text as always, they can also be painted with a wide variety of fills and complex gradients. Text can also b e commanded t o r u n around shapes or follow twisty paths.

Users familiar with traditional illustration programs such as CorelDraw and Adobe Illustrator will find the technique for drawing i n Adobe InDesign t o be familiar and straightforward. A pen tool - one of the main tools on the toolbar - lets users lay down a series of anchor points to fashion a path of straight lines and smooth curves. The user clicks and releases the mouse button t o connect two points with a straight line segment, or clicks and drags to create a curved line segment. I f a shape's endpoints are connected, InDesign will treat i t as a solid shape; i f not, the program w i l l assume it to be a line.

Quark's approach to creating illustrations is less intuitive, o r at least less familiar. While XPress relies on many of the same anchor-point-and-directionn

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line drawing principles as the Adobe software, i t doesn't have a pen tool.

Whereas InDesign lets the user create a shape with a single tool and then decide what to do with it, )(Press features four separate Bezier drawing tools, one for each possible use: Text box, picture box, line and text path. It's possible (though awkward) to convert a text box into a picture box or a line into a text path, but trying to connect two endpoints in a line o r text path only bewilders poor XPress. XPress can rotate and resize lines and shapes, but it isn't built for the job, and handles it nowhere nearly as comfortably as the Adobe software.

While users can probably get away with using XPress f o r most o f their drawing needs, it's not what the program was built to do, and you'll often have to know about an obscure submenu or an arcane shortcut key in order to bend it to your will. InDesign is friendlier in this regard, but it's still not designed to be an illustration program. Using Illustrator and InDesign together is probably the best match o f all for illustration-heavy desktop publishing: users can simply cut and paste drawings made in Illustrator directly into InDesign and vice versa. • y

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Backing up with ABSplus

REVIEWS

Backing up data regularly is a good habit that is easy to let lapse. It is left off for the next day or for when we have some extra time - which never seems to happen. So the easier and quicker the process can be made, the more likely it is to be checked off the "to do" list. With this in mind, CMS Peripherals, Inc. has introduced a line o f external hard disks that are designed for the backup o f computers.

Called the Automatic Backup System, or ABSplus, the units are a sleek silver colour and come in sizes of 20, 30, 40 and 60 GB. Once you have installed the software and connected the ABSplus to your computer (I

tested the USB 2.0 version; a FireWire, or IEEE or newly created, This obviously takes less 1394, version is also available), the unit auto- time than backing up the whole hard drive.

I use the ABSplus for other things as well matically makes a complete backup o f all I transfer large files from one computer to your files, applications, operating system and settings. You can use this backup for disaster another. The USB 2.0 connection makes this procedure rather quick. recovery because the ABSplus becomes a The ABSplus is a nice unit for those that bootable external hard disk. need to back up their data.

After y o u r first Thankfully, I have not had to session w i t h t h i s test the disaster recovery unit, all you need features of this device. It just to do to back up is ABSplus 2 0 GB - $ 4 7 5 . 0 0 , 3 0 G B - 3 5 5 5 . 0 0 goes t o show that i f you to plug the unit in.

4 0 GB - 3 6 3 4 . 0 0 , 6 0 GB . $ 7 9 3 . 0 0 have t h i n g s backed u p , The A B S p l u s GMS P e r l p h e i a l s , I n c . nothing horrible happens searches your hard w w w, c m s p r o d u c t s . c o m it is only when you don't drive and backs up Requirementi,: have a backup that your sysonly those files that Windows 98/ ME/2000/XP M a c i n t o s h 8 . 0 x / 9 . 11 / 0 3 X tem fails. • have been modified

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c a n a d a c o m p u t e s . c o m

Adventures in Digital Video: DV, by any other name ... movement suffered under i t s o w n dogma, and is now for all intents and purposes disenfranchised. Even von Triers admitted "breaking the rules."

But digital video has another set of rules - not creative, but technical. They help differentiate between "digital video" as a generic term of reference in the consumer marketplace and "Digital Video" as a specific and approved media format. Otherwise, people assume digital video is responsible for things it may not be possible to do.

As o n e example, t h e marvelous Canadian film, Atanarjuat (The Fast Runner). This groundbreaking Inuit film was praised for its remarkable imagery, shot on digital video.

Actually, cinematographer Norman Cohn shot using Digital Betacam, a high-end digital camcorder made b y Sony. His video was then transferred' to film for theatrical presentation.

Digital Betacam, while both "digital" and "video" is not Digital Video, or DV. DV is a highly compressed video for-

By LEE R I C K W O O D

"The problem with video is that i t gives you a thousand possibilities not covered by the rules."

-Lars von Triers, November 1999 It is both the problem, and the opportunity, as von Triers would find out.

Video-makers know von Triers as the Cannes award-winning founder of the Dogme movement. Conceived in the mid 1990's as a 'new wave" in filmmaking, Dogme embraced the freedom and possibility created b y emerging digital video production equipment.

Yet it had its own set of rules - Rules of Chastity - that forbade tried-andtrue filmmalting techniques and technologies. No sound added after the fact.

No extra lighting beyond available ambient. N o filters o r other • camera accessories. No credit for the director.

Yes, digital video has created some fascinating possibilities. But the Dogine

mat - functional, economical, easily watchable but highly compressed. DV takes raw imagery and squeezes it down by a factor, of five t o one; Digital Betacam compresses at three to one. DV drops about h a l f i t s chrominance (colour) information when compared to himinance (brightness) and is known as 4:1:1. Other formats are 4:2:2.

There are some 18 different video picture formats, each suited to a specific purpose. Twelve formats use 480 lines of resolution, with different picture widths and different scanning, techniques; these are standard TV (SDTV) formats. The remaining use 720 or 1,080 lines of resolution, either progressive or interlaced.

This is true high definition TV (HDTV) digital video at its finest.

Only four of the 18 formats are commonly used, by broadcasters: 480i, 480p, 720p and 1080i (and.ottly one in Canada with a 1080i signal - Citytv).

But more and more digital video camcorders - readily available to consumer and prosumer users - can deliver more

than one o f these different formats. In the market today are progressive scanning cameras, interlaced cameras, selectable frame rate cameras, 480, 720 and 1,080 line cameras.

Without a doubt, these are great tools for the creative, adventurous videographer. •But understanding what the rules are, what the formats are and more'to the point, how they can be best produced, distributed and viewed, is critical to successful production of any kind.

And that's no dogma. •

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Agood FAQ on High Definition Television standards www.110220volts.com/FAC/FAQonHDTVI.htm A Canadian Industry site on digital television developments www.cdh.ca A Dogme site, with rules, resources and film samples w‘swdoome95.dk AU.S. commercial site on DV technologies and techniques www.dvformat.com/htm/HomeSet1.him

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In the past few instalments o f the Musical Odyssey, I. have outlined basic techniques f or recording bass, guitar, drums, keyboard and vocals. Although these instruments form the basis o f a rock/pop sound, they are by no means the only instruments you s h o u l d b e recording. Y o u r music w i l l usually take on a more complete quality i f you add i n t e r e s t i n g sounds t o i t . I t , is very easy to overdo it b y adding t o o many sounds a n d effects t o a song, but done just right, the effect w i l l b e magical. I g u e s s that's w h y g r e a t music producers are in such high demand.

This musical colour can be added in one o f two ways. The electronic solution would be to use your synthesizer or computer's General MIDI sounds, which will emulate most instruments that are out there. This is a passable solution; although the sound you get will be relatively generic. I f your synthesizer has great sounds, or you have a really good soft synth on your computer this will be better, but the best solution is to always record the instrument itself. If you want a violin sound, record a violin.

There are no hard and fast rules for recording various instruments. Part o f the joy o f fooling around i n a home

Studio is trying to get a specific type of sound out of an instrument. Quite often you will discover new sounds by accident, stemming from different microphone placement, using multiple microphones and a myriad of other factors.

The one drawback you will encounter is the noise from your computer's fan.

The i n s t r u m e n t s will all be acoustic, so a quiet recording environment i s essential. Investing in a couple of long cables t o p u t t h e microphones i n a room a w a y f r o m the computer w i l l usually do the trick.

Because y o u a r e recording this on a computer, you have a bit more flexibility when recording —y o u c a n h i t record on your computer, amble over to the next room at a leisurely pace, pick up the instrument of choice, record as many takes of the passage as you want and then select the best take and place it wherefit needs to go.

The key to recording is always experimentation — with microphones, rooms, etc. You might find that the best sound for a particular instrument, for a specific song, is playing i t at one end o f a long hallway while the microphone is at the other end. Jim Morrison o f The Doors recorded a bunch of.vocal tracks for the final Doors album in a bathroom because the acoustics and the vibe were just right. continued on page 50

It is very easy to

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Confront the backdoor: Trashing spyware

By HAROLD LASS Do a n y o f these programs sound familiar — Bulla, Gratisware, High Traffic, Enliven, Hitbox? I operate behind a firewall and a virus shield and believed that ought to do it for security on the Net. But after installing and running anti-spyware software, .up came these and 23 other positives. I wasn't so positive about my security any longer.

Spyware is everywhere. Your hard drive is most likely harbouring some of it, but you can trash these unwanted intruders safely and for five.

Spyware (also called adware) is programming clandestinely placed on your computer, usually, when you download and install software — often for free. It gathers information about you based on Web sites you visit, for instance, and then relays that information to advertisers, or other interested parties. The result? Spam. cookies are different. They aren't spyware. For one thing, you can disallow them, and for another, they can be useful, remembering login information and the appearance o f your customized browser pages, for example. You can

also trash cookies easily and quickly from within your browser at any time.

So, how do you get rid of spyware?

First you have to determine if you've been spied on. PepiMIC Software's SpyBot Search f t Destroy (spyboteon.netau) will tell you that This free utility is simple to use and, what's even more important, remains up to date. Like a virus shield, the efficacy of this program is only as good as the accuracy of its database, and SpyBot's database is easily updated from within the program. This ensures that your hard drive will be scanned for the latest intruders.

Once a scan is complete and all the spyware has been detected on your hard drive, a click on "Fix selected problems" brings relief. Before you trash the unwanted intruders though, you can

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But even if you do trash an item you may need, one comforting SpyBot feature is its "fail safe restore function.

After SpyBot removed all the spyware on my hard drive, all sorts of error messages greeted me during the next boot.

One of my utilities apparently required a program that had been removed b y SpyBot. Not all spyware, despite its stealth, is necessarily evil. This one was not. Clicking on Restore corrected the problem. Then I configured SpyBot's Exclude feature to ignore this particular spyware during its search, removing the possibility of accidental deletion on subsequent scans.

Finding and trashing unwanted spyware on your hard drive is one thing, but it would be easier to shield your system from downloading these freeloaders i n the f i r s t p l a c e . T h a t ' s w h a t SpywareBlaster (wwwwilderssecurity.coin/ spywareblaster.html) is all about. Simply tell it what you don't want, and you won't get it: It's simple to use and effective. The software is free but a donation is requested. And its database, like SpyBot, is current. That's the problem with Lavasoft's Ad-Aware (lavasoft3.element5.rom), a popular anti-spyware program that's been around for some time now. It's good, but the freeware version database hasn't been updated for months. Dangerous.

One last word. Spyware is not the only way spammers can hunt you down. By using robots and spiders — software that probes Web sites for information — spammers can harvest your e-mail address from any Web site on which it appears. If you have access to the site's HTML code, travel t o NetMechanic (www.netmechanic.cominews/vol4/desig htm) to learn how to code e-mail HTML so as to render it indecipherable to spiders.

By the way, SpyBot, SpywareBlaster and Ad-Aware do arrive spyware-free. •

I

By HAROLD LASS Imagine a word processor that's compatible with and looks, feels and performs a lot like Microsoft Word. Imagine that this word processor is also available crossplatform (Windows, Linux, Unix, even Mac — eventually), comes with-a panorama of plug-ins and supports many languages. Then imagine this processor is free. Now, you can stop imagining. It's called AbiWord (www.abisource.com).

So why is it free when you have to pay for Word or WordPerfect? For one thing, AbiWord is a child of open source software. Users are invited to suggest changes they feel will improve the s i f t . d J J program. And because the source code is freely available, as many as 200 proa Save .5s grammers have contributed e j PoPoO to t h e code since 1998.

3 €-.9 oft Currently, about 20 people Eevart a Page Setlp modify and update the proP11,11 Preview.. gram. And there are plans afoot t o expand AbiWord ib00e0avicoatowoof/ab1eon0.do1s/C9angolog/0.99 4-1_cologeloo ass into a full office suite.

D 2 illomeilDavicabovortraOrworzi-Oocs/Choogoologr0.99 a_chango7107.Obo, For another, AbiWord isn't dole EL'd as robust as Word. Although it's capable o f performing all o f the essential word processing functions, including creating tables, it has difficulty assembling tables from files created by other word processors. Columns fair much better. And i f you're a WordPerfect user, AbiWord can handle those documents as well.

But t h i n k of AbiWord as just another stripped down text editor. Just about D

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1 2 , , 13., 14 , 27.1 and p i c t u r e s , b u l l e t s , ptoph will oonlimo to phi-by nits, and Microsoft trig tontoos Look at the too Ouse 00k, sultes on 0. columns, bold, underline, drive %ammo moons frost .13 t a s l i t t n o i r e giber-p..0y Ole sane, market In the tarty gaga, wort WI:p.o.ivibead owo6.,u,,,a saowt.molostry, italics, superscript, subscript, vow conscious chokes to tept, cositiow to demo ow /mows Ikon r o c k e t at the males of Frople mooched spell check, w o r d count, not eloodo oatiorood milk lb. he Om:roister, tothoolopois loO0P1h. ttel ditThentoloil The b i g y W O — topeetatysoluliare from Mire highlighting, save page as lets. l etlml seem tike mm obwypop f o r t . wrong a i m V e n 6 W 4 Yeti* to fie. To bonovetene--' ono sap dot Theyase chavag XHTML plus a . whole l o t ignore AI man Ooofhay Moon, dOpert Rod mete 'con the them% en 11 more. If you're like me, these Striag fon a troteabgy o target ow pooches at de 'pa s o r r y. . ago) k o f web:Niue axe I are just about the only functhey've twee both% for ram Dale: Next Inkallearibe Itrwht Rem le Income eaterodities foltrotreen tions you'd ever need. Why PC Mahn)* shoed? Wait thlf you Wok that g a m m a ead .,w Oostontekes cameo 00 tare armed "five oeftrate.- ifox•izj pay hundreds for word processing features you rarely, if ever, use?

AbiWord i s n ' t t h e o n l y freebie word processor out there. You might also want to check out OpenOffice (omwopenoffice.org). OpenOffice, though, lacks the look and feel of Word.

Just a word of caution here; If you download and install AbiWord or OpenOffice, watch the install screens carefully. A t one point, you'll be asked i f you want to associate .doc or .rtf tiles with AbiWord or OpenOffice. If you opt for these associations, these programs will always open those documents when you click on them.

To "unassociate" these file types, you'd have to edit the file associations manually, which can be a bit of a pain because there may be many file types involved.

At around t MB, AbiWord takes very little space, loads in a flash, and considering the price, it's worth a download. •

TORONTO

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KIDS

C O M P U T E

Net guide to just what you're looking for

)0, through t h e b a c k 11/4 door.

I like Web site reviews — and not just One issue I've always ..tAterme 02' because I'm a reviewer myself. Have a look had w i t h Internet sites at the Google search engine. Current numbooks is that they grow old so quickly. But ber of searchable pages: 3,083,324,652, and with kids' sites this may not be as big an climbing steadily. Think you can find what issue, and besides, while hundreds o f new you need just by inputting the right search Web pages are launched each day, new string? You might, but maybe not quickly quality sites don't pop up like bubbles anyenough for a child tugging at your shirt more. sleeve demanding a fun, educational and Nonetheless, we have to assume that if the safe dot-com — now! book sells, the authors will be back with So it was with glee that I came upon a new version two, which should address this book on the market, Awesome Internet Sites point. They've also left 21 drop-down spots for Kids...The 155-page booklet is affiliated for each category, so there's still loads o f with t h e same people responsible f o r space. (That said, don't be surprised i f you Smork.com — and is a catalogue of children's click o n a number and there's nothing sites with a complementary Web version. there.)

The contents page lists 38 categories — As I looked through the book, I found from Animals, to E-zines, to Languages, to many sites I've reviewed over the past three Zoos. Each category is colour-coded and years, and many others I'm keen to visit. discusses three or more sites, for a total of Best of all, Awesome Internet Sites for Kids nearly 3 0 0 . Homework, f o r example, puts kids' Web sites at my fingertips, which reviews rudimentsofwisdom.com,wordcentralcom, is much easier than looking through even a eduplace.com/kids, as well as a site with a well-organized list of favourites. rather long URL. Half the pages of the book sample content Which is where the unique, aspect o f the from the sites reviewed so that you get a book comes in. Rather than have readers read taste for the Web without going online. The about a neat site and then clumsily attempt print version also includes ideas f o r safe to type the name o n the computer, the surfing, suggestions on how to bookmark authors have given each site their own URL, and too many reminders that the book is which you can link to from the Smork.com printed on recycled paper.

Web site. That long homework URL, f o r I do have one question though: What's the example, becomes vvww.HM8.smoriccom. Ta-da: story with Smork? He's on the cover, he Wonder Korner. appears throughThere's also another way to out the book and N F 0 do i t . G o t o Smork.com, he heads u p the Awesome Internet Sites for Kids choose the category you want site, b u t n e v e r

By Sandra Antonlani and friends (like Homework), a n d then once h a v e w e $19.99 number eight. Presto: Yo u www.smork.com been f o r m a l l y Ages: 5 to 13 arrived a t Wonder Korner introduced. •

By MARA GULENS

44,

By MARA GULENS Occasionally, the game review process takes a n unexpected t u r n .

Although the reviewer has a stack o f software and good intentions, nothing seems t o f i t t h e bill, as was the case when I sat down to review a title for this issue.

Surveying the stack o f titles I wasn't ready t o start conquering t h a t particular morning made me, ponder the fate of the many CD-ROMs that have made their way into our house by way o f the review process. Many have initially been snapped up by eager, little computer player hands, and then have either been played again and again, or have been relegated to the "out-of-favour" stack.

Suffice to say the "played again and again" stack is very small.

I could go on about all the reasons the games failed, but it's probably more beneficial t o mention why the top three games i n our house have withstood the test o f time. Since some of these titles are fairly ancient, you may even find them in the bargain bins.

mainly, I think, it's because the game treats kids like humans, not couch potatoes who are satisfied with absent-mindedly clicking a key and watching shapes float by.

Little People Discovery Airport Fisher Price Ages 2 to 4 Little People Discovery Airport is a winner because there's no confusion. Sounds elementary, but not if you look at the many wacky ways games are designed these days. Kids can easily navigate between the mini games, change levels m i d game and return to sections they enjoyed. Little kids love animals, and t h i s game gives them t h e ! chance to complete tasks and feed very real-looking cats and dogs.

JumpStart Baby Knowledge Adventure Ages 9 months to 24 months This title has a n original and deluxe version, and although it's intended for kids 9 to 24 months, there's something about the program that even senior-kindergarten kids can relate to. It could partially be because both versions pack so much into the content that kids don't get bored — games, colouring and the chance to dress teddy. But

JumpStart Artist Knowledge Adventure Ages 5 to 8 This title rewards kids with part ofi a different amusement park ride for successful completion o f an a r t project — and kids like that. Not only that, successful completion of the entire park is a goal that keeps them playing. There's also a lot of variety and the chance to relate to a group o f characters f r o m t h e JumpStart world. •

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Madonna H o w not to treat your fans

By GEOFF MARTIN It's understandable that musicians become upset when their new albums are posted on file-sharing networks in the form of MP3s shortly after they're released, or, in some cases, before their release dates.

But it's not very cool to cuss out your fans when they're looking to download a preview track from your unreleased album, perhaps to see if they wish to pay for the whole enchilada.

That's the route Madonna has taken with potential music pirates of her latest album, American Life. On file-sharing networks such as Kazaa, fans who think they're downloading a version of her new songs are instead downloading a spoofed file that begins with a very menacing-sounding Madonna asking, "What the f"" do you think you're doing?" followed by several minutes of silence.

The tactic has had a curious effect, however, as there seems to be more interest from downloaders in finding the spoofed file containing her rant than there is in

actually subjecting themselves to her music.

"This sucks," wrote one frustrated poster at the message board section of Zeropaid.com. "I just downloaded American Life and I got the real song."

Other fans looking to download the new tracks simply received loops from American Life's selftitled first single, proving conclusively that there's nothing like hearing a bad verse repeated 50 times over to make you realize how truly insipid the lyrics are. As if being sworn at wasn't enough, Madonna thought she'd stick it to her fans by forcing them to listen to her rapping the following beautiful prose over and over "I'm drinkin' a soy latte/I get a double shottay/It goes right through my bottay/And you know I'm satisfied."

Oh, the humanity.

Instead of either berating her fans or subjecting them to a cruel form of musical Chinese water torture, perhaps Madonna should have taken a page from the book of the always affable Barenalced Ladies. Back in 2000, fans of our hometown band looking to download a pirated copy of their new single instead received a message from two of its members saying, "Although you thought you were downloading our new single, what you're actually downloading is an advertisement for our new album, Maroon. It comes out September 12, and, uh, after that point, I'm sure you can download lots of stuff from the

Queens lab creates computers with "manners" Researcher; at Queen's ttnivemitv in Kingston. Ont_ are further perpetuating Canada's reputation as a -polite- country by creating a fascinating set of computer devices and software that together employ a sort of manners," by sensing their user's needs and availability, and responding to them appropriately.

The concept v,as created by the Human Media Tab (11).:11.) at Queen's. and is known as the AttiTiti\k- User Interface (AUL Last month. se\cial members of the nine 'Mall HMI team. inclmihm, its director. Dr. Roei Veriegaal, travelled to Fort Lauderdale. Florida to present their Mil systems at a presligious conference ihat discusses as !hey With si; mail) A. CO:liptaLa tract us from wino we're 4 4

doing. this new conixpt in computing could he a godsend for some busy people. as it senses whether you are at your desk, and whether or not vou'rc embroiled in a demanding task before interrupting you with a notice of new mail. for example. or popping up instant messages and other distractions on your screen.

-We now need computers that sense when we arc busy, when we arc available for interuption, and know e,hcn to wait their turn lino,â?&#x2018;s we CIO in humanto-human interactions... says Dr. Wiregaal at the HiVIL Web site twww.hml.queensmeaL "Were moving computers from the realm of being merely tools, to being 'sociable' appliances that can recognize and respond to some of the non-verbal cues humans use in group conversation."

new record. But until then, you can just get lots of stuff with us bugging you."

Readers who are interested in hearing the Madonna rant should really save themselves the potential emotional damage that can arise from stumbling upon the aforementioned loops (or the real songs) on a filesharing network, and instead download a WAV file of the admonition here http//groups.yahoo.com/group/ winoc/files/madonnafake.wav In other news, the author wishes to advise readers victimized by the looped files that running your speakers through the dishwasher will not wash the ickiness from them, and is generally not advisable.

Itionours of their deaths were greatly exaggerated

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1941-2001

It's one thing to be prepared, but it's quite another to be caught with your virtual pants down.

The CNN.com Web site was embarrassed recently when pages containing the obituaries of several still-living public figures who have seen better days were left in a publicly accessible area of the site for all to see.

The pages were also accessible by people searching Google for information on the not-quite deceased parties, who included former US President Ronald Reagan, current US Vice-President Dick Cheney, Pope John Paul II and comedian Bob Hope.

The pages were pulled down within 20 minutes by CNN.com staff, but not before Web site TheSmokingGun.com grabbed copies for archival purposes, after being tipped off by alert readers of the off-beat news site Fark.com.

This is actually the second time around with this sort of screwup for Bob Hope, who will turn 100 on May 29. In 1998, the Web site of the Associated Press mistakenly posted a pre-fab story with a headline announcing the comedian's death, prompting a US congressman to relay the sad but erroneous news on the floor of the House of Representatives. The story was launched when someone at AP.com pushed the wrong button after the death of Frank Sinatra, exposing a canned obituary for Hope with X's in the place of the still-undetermined date of his death.

For the sake of timely and well-researched news, it's a common practice for newspapers and other news outfits to have obituaries ready for public figures who have fallen on ill health, but in the Age of the Internet, it's important to keep a tight lid on such preparations. â&#x20AC;˘ TORONTO C O M P U T E S !

M A Y

2003 canadacomputes.com

PRESENTSTHE SECOND MUHL TRA c o n T e s T

MEDIAPARTNER : l i r A g e a

RULESAND REGULATIONS

SPONSORED BY : - E N R O L - T h i n k Wa r e

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].Tau may submit up to three 131 original compositions. Each composition • submitted must be your own original work. Compositions may not exceed five (5) minutes in length. A completed and signed application must accompanyeach entry. Contestants must submit all entries in MP3 format andburned on a CO.CDs will not he returned. Compositions previously recorded and released will be disqualified. Compositions using samples of previously recorded material will be disqualified unless accompanied by a release waiver from the original artist.

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2. This contest is open to amateur unsigned acts. All genres of music will heconsidered. Employees and families of Toronto Computes!, its parent company, subsidiaries and affiliates are not eligible. Contestants must be Canadian citizens or have landed immigrant status.

3. Winners will be chosen by a select panel of judges and will be judged basedon melody, composition and lyrics (when applicable). The quality of performance and production will also be considered.

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4. The first place winner will have first choice from the prize pool. The second place winner will have the second choice. The third place winner will have the remaining prize.

An outdoing package for DA, remixers and notebook computer based musicians!

This prize package features Arturia Storm 2.0, a comprehensive and easy to use virtual studio that combines a powerful sequencer with 13 instruments for sound synthesis and sample manipulation. Also included is Edirol's PCR-30USB Keyboard Controller, complete with 34 individual controllers—25 fully assignable—and Edirol's UA-20 24-Bit Audio and MIDI USB bus powered interface.

5. By submitting compositions and the signed entry form to this contest the entrant claims that their composition is original work and he/she holds all rights to the composition. The contestant also agrees to give Toronto Computes!, its parent companies and subsidiaries the non-exclusive right to use the compositions for future advertising and publicity purposes without additional compensation for a period of two (21 years from the date of the contest's closing date.

7. All entries must be postmarked by 5 PM ESTJune 30, 2003. Winners will be chosen by July 15, 2003. Winners will be contacted for their choice of prize. Results will be announced in the August issue of Toronto Computes!

8. All decisions of the judges are final.

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I was actually looking forward to the new Command Et Conquer game. a t C has always had a good combination of storyline and gameplay. In Command a Conquer: Generals, this has been preserired — the gameplay is very cool and much improved ( n o t that there was much wrong with previous versions), and t h e storyline i s interesting, although given the current global political climate, rather disquieting.

There are three forces in this game — the US, the Chinese, and the GLA. It is the last group that is unsettling. The GLA (Global Liberation Army) is by all accounts patterned a f t e r liberation groups t h a t existed i n t h e 1970s.

However, given that the geographical situation of most of the action here is in the "Stan" (Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, etc.) the GLA can easily become synonymous with a terrorist organization that is being' hunted right now. This kind of thing can lead to a lot of misinterpretations — especially with a scene of a minaret being blown up i n the lead-up to the first training mission.

Of course the storyline is not that simple — there is a triumvirate-of power in this world that is represented by the three combatants. The three have t o TORONTO C O M P U T E S !

battle it out in a series of skirmishes for world supremacy. (Where's t h e UN, Canadian peacekeepers?—Ed.) T h i s would be great i f the sides were really equal. In atC:G, the US is the top dog militarily a n d technologically. T h e Chinese run a distant second, and the GLA barely shows. There are a few skirmishes where the Americans' technological superiority is not a great benefit — a real life example would be that foot soldiers still have to slog i t out once in a while — but for the most part, it is easier to win a skirmish playing the US side than it is using the other two combatants. Although the GLA has a u n i t called Terrorist, y o u cannot exploit i t as a. real terrorist — as a strategic weapon that has an unlimited field of operation and is not limited to the field of battle.

The biggest improvement in atC:G is in the graphics. The ones i n previous versions were no slouches, but these ones have great 3D views and effects.

Zooming in, scrolling through the battlefield and jumping from unit to unit presented no problems, and the graphics were seamless. The computer I used for testing was a Dell Dimension 1.4 GHz machine with settings that were just slightly advanced o f the requirements. I had no problems running the game — not bad for a machine that is nearly two years old. The game has higher requirements and is moving into the realm o f first-person shooters and other graphically intensive games. The pace of this real-time strategy game is a little quicker than in previous titles — you really need to be on top o f your troop management here.

Aside from my misgivings about the politics o f this game, i t is fun, and I guess that is the point. Were the politics better in CEtC: Red Alert, with the US pitted against the Soviets? I'm not sure, but the timing was not as raw, I guess.

With t h e upgrade i n graphics and gameplay engine, this edition o f CEtC will no doubt be a success. I will be waiting to see who the baddies will be in the next version of this series. •

Command Is Ctinquer. $64.99 Electronic Arts I www.ea.com I, Requirements: TT W i n d o w s 98/985E/ME/2000/XP (NT/95 not .x supported); 800 MHz Intel Pentium III or ARID Athlon processor; 128 MB RAM; 8x CDHOWDVD ROM drive; 1.8 GB free hard drive space; 32 MB video card using the Nvidia GeForce2, ATI Radeon 7500 AGP video card, or more recent chipset with VirectX 8.1 compati sliaCrfver,SsirectX 8.1 compatible 16-bit Milk' T. . - i d s n M A Y

2003 canadacomputes.com

PCgaming: What's coming ...

By CHRIS TALBOT The annual Electronic Entertainment Expo (generally referred to as E3) is only a matter of weeks away, but even before all the madness o f the conference and show floor begins, we've already been hearing about a number o f prominent releases for later this year.

One series is getting another addition to its line, a popular console title is coming to the PC and Mac realm, and a certain T V show will soon be turned , into a home computer game (fans will rejoice and the rest will scoff).

Join up with Master Chief

er real-time strategy, Halo was transformed i n t o a f i r s t -person shooter adventure game f o r X b o x a n d has remained- on the top o f the Xbox sales and rental charts since its debut with the big, green box. Microsoft and Bungie have been talking- about the computer version of the game fora long time, and it's finally expected to hit store shelves in September. PC garners shouldn't expect just a straight:port of the Xbox version of the game, but the story will remain intact.

However, there will be a few changes that computer garners should take note on First off, the game will be based on the typical mouse-and-keyboard combination found in most compOterbased first-person shooter games.

More importantly, though, will be the addition of online multiplayer support, something Xbox owners won't have until Halo 2. Educated guesses suggest up to 32 players will bri'ahle to, engage in multiplayer death matches over a LAN or the Internet.

Use the Force, young Jedi

•

Xbox owners were more than a little miffed i n March when the bad news came o u t o f developer Bungie: The much-anticipated Halo 2 is being postponed until sometime in 2004 so that the developers can focus their energies on bringing Halo: Combat Evolved to PC and Macintosh platforms. While that's terrible news for the console world, as Xbox owners still won't be able to, take Master Chief online for some fragging fun, it's excellent news for PC and Mac garners.

Originally to be released as a comput-

LucasArts i s working On the latest instalment of its . line Of Star Wars fitstperson shooters. J e d i Knight: J e d i Academy, the fifth Star Wars FPS in the series that started way back when with Dark Forces, will put playersin the role o f a Jedi apprentice at Luke Skywalker's academy (for t h e non-Star Wars fanatic who hasn't read the sequel novels, after _Rehm:: of the S k y w a l k e r founded a.

JediAatemy and started re-buildi n c "the order destroyed b y t h e Emperor and Darth Vader).

Up until now, the FPS series has followed the adventutes o f Kyle Katarn, a mercenary-kirrned-Jediturned-mercenary-agarn, and even though Katarn will be apart of the storyline as one o f the new character's instructors at the academy, be will not be the focal point of the plot this time.

Jedi Academy sounds like it will be a Star Wars fan's heaven, with the ability to create and customize a Jedi student charatter and work toward becoming a powerial Jedi (Katarn was a -bit o f a reluctant Force-wielder). Players will be able to select a species, a gender, clothing, facial features and physical attributes f o r their characters. They'll also have the ability t o choose a lightsaber, with more styles opening u p throughout t h e g a m e (including t h e double,-,bladed lightsaber).

Force powers, a variety of weapons and enemies following the Dark Side of the Force a r e _likely t o appear in this latest addition t o the Jedi Knight series. LucasArts is gearing up for an autumn release

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on PC and Xbox.

Reality TV on PC Reality TV hasn't exactly translated HARE THE NEXT AMERICAN IDOL? 95RCIRL

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well to the computer:lame:0 zoke).1V Just look at the survivor considered by some'reviewers to be' one: of the worst games made i n recent years. Hopefully. Codemasters will have better luck with its recently-acquired licence for American Idol.

Based on the TV show o f the same name, American Idol will be a musicbased rhythm game i n which players compete as singers on the popular television program Players will create a character, choose their musical style, train said character and then compete. According to the announcement w e received from Codemasters, over 40 music tracks will be available to choose from.

Of course, what's a. contest without judges? Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul will all appear in the game as computer-generated characters.

Each will record commentary and dialogue to be used in the,game.

Codemasters promiges a first look at the game at E3 i n May. It's unknown when Ametican IdolY willobe released, but we do know it's being planned for both PC and PlayStation 2. •

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Expansion packs extend the life of games

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Can't get enough o f your favourite computer games like Battlefield 1942, The Sims, Zoo Tycoon or EverQuest?

You're in luck - one of the more popular trends in the PC gaming industry is to offer expansion packs for successful franchises. These value-priced add-ons offer more gameplay to existing titles, adding elements such as new missions, characters and levels.

And they've proved to be a cash cow for game publishers, as i t doesn't cost much to develop them (compared to a whole new game and game engine), plus the consumer needs to own the original game in order to play the bonus disc.

The following is a brief look at three upcoming expansion packs.

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Computer game fanatics whose mouse-clicking finger i s n u m b f r o m .last year's s t r a t e g y e p i c , Warcraft I I I : R e i g n o f Chaos, can get ready f o r round two.

Blizzard Entertainment's Warcraft I I I : The =Frozen Throne will be the first official expansion pack to the fastest selling PC game in history. It will introduce a new story, three new "hero" characters and a handful o f never-before-seen fighting units like mountain giants and faerie dragons.

The Frozen Throne campaign, adds a new single-player tale to the original game, where players must return to the war-torn world of Azeroth to face a new threat: An imprisoned Orc King looking to break out of his icy tomb. New multiplayer features are also included.

This value-priced add-o n disc w i l l also include the ability for races to build shops and buy items, new graphical tweaks and pre-rendered c u t s c e n e movies a n d a n enhanced world editor that will offer players the option t o create their o w n c u s t o m campaigns.

Warcraft I I I : T h e Frozen Throne should be o u t sometime i n June.

The Sims: Superstar Think it's easy being a celebrity? Yo u ' l l soon have the chance to find out, with t h e s i x t h expansion pack f o r t h e best-selling computer game o f all time, The Sims.

Electronic Arts' The Sims: Superstar will allow players to turn their humble sims into glamorous celebrities by having them pursue careers as Hollywood actors, r o c k stars o r supermodels. The

new hub i n the game i s known as Studio Town, which is home to recording studios, TV networks, movie lots and o f course, a spa.

Just l i k e i n real l i f e , fame and fortune means a more comfy lifestyle with extra b u c k s t o t h r o w around for expensive art,

swanky furniture, a personal butler or a masseuse.

But there's a price to pay for this success - the paparazzi and relentless groupies may prove too big a thorn in your side to last in this biz.

The glamour starts i n May. Neverwinter Nights: Shadows of Undrentide As i f the 8 0 + h o u r adventure wasn't l o n g enough, N e v e r w i n t e r Nights players looking for m o r e classic RPG gameplay will find solace in S h a d o w s o f Undrentide.

This expansion will include a new 30hour single-player campaign a n d a handful of new game features such as additional Dungeons Ft Dragons skills, feats, classes, monsters, weapons and spells.

The story opens in the town of Hilltop, with the player uncovering a mystery surrounding stolen artifacts.

Shadows o f Undrentide also houses three new tile sets and other assets for use in the Aurora Toolset, the free editor that enables players to create their own game modules and swap them online.

This Neverwinter 'Nights expansion is being co-developed by Edmonton-based BioWare and Floodgate Entertainment, a young company made up of developers from Looking Glass Studios (Thief System Shock).

The add-on is due out sometime this spring. •

ATARI0.

TORONTO C O M P U T E S ! M A Y 2 0 0 3 c a n a d a c o m p u t e s . c o m

Macromanagmg the universe

By WILLIAM A. WOOD Master of Orion 3, the "ultimate space strategy," has ultimately become a source of some controversy.

The latest i n a , popular turn-based "conquer the galaxy" strategy series, Mo03 is really a sequel in name only. It became clear early on that the developer (Quicksilver Software) was going to diverge from the series' previous style of play. Some o f these changes worried waiting fans, but the company was enthusiastic. _ Quicksilver released planning details for an ambitious, grand-scale game that, involved running a galactic empire using the same basic Mo0 formula (research technology, colonize planets, develop fleets, conquer your neighbours), but from a different perspective. As the exalted leader, you would be removed from the nitty-gritty of running your empire; instead of having to micromanage your civilization, you would rely on underlings to do much of the dirty work, concentrating instead on macromanaging such things as overall development plans and diplomacy. As well, space combat would no longer require (or allow) you to'control individual ships, but rather have you direct task forces (small fleets), which would fight more or less on their own.

Although many of the more ambitious plans were ultimately scaled back, the bake design arrived as promised—sort of.

but the macro connectivity (that is, how players make big decisions and get useful feedback) is often hard to comprehend. Mo03 -came very poorly documented, in both the manual and the ingame help — even the developers admit that. Finding out how to play properly requires garners to scour the official discussion boards for help, which may be more effort than many are prepared to make.

Luckily, the game's"Al is a pushover; apparently, it was nerfed (made easier) shortly before release because the beta= testers couldn't beat the game on the

hardest levels. But now, gamers (even those that like it) complain Mo03 can be beaten with lithe effort.

For and against The online community has split into those that were severely disappointed by the game and are giving up on it (noisily) versus those who like the concept and enjoy playing it, but just want it to be patched/polished a bit more. Mo03 is fairly easy to modify ( i n some ways), and many gamer-created mods have appeared to

change t h e pace o f play, improve the documentation and even redo the art.

But this begs the question: How is it that the gaming community can do more to improve the play balance (and therefore the fun) i n weeks than the developers and testers could d o i n continued on page 50

Things to do during su liner vacation

Learn to love me The game itself takes some getting used to. While the capacity for micromanagement still exists to some degree, Mo03 is clearly designed to discourage that, so' playing with the old mindset leads to frustration. Taking the game on its own merits, trying to see the "bigger picture," is definitely the way to go.

Unfortunately, I'm not sure just how much fun that is. I n many respects, being divorced from the "local" decisions (particularly the ones that were so crucial to Mo02, like space combat and specific researching) takes a change of philosophy. the game's learning curve is almost vertical. There is a lot of data to digest,

1 N Master of Orion 3 $70 Infogrames moo3,quicksilver.com

F

O T E E N

W O R E

Minimum requirements: Windows 98/ME/28/XP, 300 MHz CPU, 128 MB RAM, 800 MB hard-drive soace can ada c o m p u t e s. corn

Now that summer's on its way back, I've started dreaming about lazy days at the beach again, building sandcastles like I did as a Idd. Well, maybe not sandcastles so much as sand trailer parks, consisting of a row of single sand piles forged from the same mold and with no architectural detail to distinguish them from the ant colony down the road.

Anyway, I'm guessing that many people had this experience, spending hours —well at least kid-brain hours, which are more like, say, 10 minutes long working on • this beachfront property development, dreaming Of the people who were going to live there, and all the profits to be made from waterfront redevelopment, and whether to add a boardwalk of Popsicle sticks, and where to get all the Popsicles (probably would need 30 or so), and how to eat all of them fast enough that they wouldn't melt. But during the Popsicle financing negotiations, along comes a bunch of bigger kids playing football, straight through the new development like a tornado, flattening the hours (read: 20 minutes) o f work in five seconds, as tornados are apt to do with trailer parks. So it's back to square one, wetting and packing sand, turning it over and removing ,the mold ever, so gently, until it all happens again. It might be the incoming tide this time, or an overtired sibling out for a fight, but the flat-

MAY 2 0 0 3 T O R O N T O C O M P U T E S I

tening is inevitable.

If you remember that feeling, that flattening, deflating feeling, then you might be able to imagine my distress while playing Impossible Creatures.

I'm not the best juggles — the world is much better off if I, and those like me, stick to doing one thing .t a time (actually, I'm not great at doing that either, but that's another column). Having played real time strategy games before, with more or less calamitous results, I stepped into this one gingerly, starting with the tutorial.

Tutorials are great for building up your confidence. Having mastered the art of rotating the camera angles by moving the mouse around the screen, moving on to commanding a henchman to shovel coal with nary a complaint, I figured I was on my way to conquering the island.

One o f the most engaging components i n I C i s the Army Builder.

Basically, players create hybrids of animals, combining two different creatures to make one "Impossible Creature" that merges the strengths and abilities o f them both. The idea is to put together a collection o f these creatures that will, then fight someone else's collection of creatures, either an AI player or another human player over a network.

It's remarkable how agonizing this can be, pouring over the special abilities of each animal, and once they're combined, deciding which o f each species' features to incorporate in order to produce the strongesccombination.

Is it better to combine a Komodo dragon and elephant with the dragon's head or the elephant's head? The dragon's tail has obvious battle uses, but what about the legs and torso?

I assembled what I thought was a pretty strong army o f creatures and started a game — just a simple game against the computer. And that's when cold, hard, virtual reality set in.

First of all, having henchmen is great —they're big, strong guys who do all the heavy work at your command with no argument, just "You're the boss." But they're not very bright. When I tell them to build something, they build it, but i f I don't notice right away when they're finished, they'll just stand there.

You'd think they could look around and see that there was still coal to shovel, but n0000 — they're not paid to, think.

Well, they're not, paid at all, but if they were, it wouldn't be to think.

As soon as I had gathered enough resources, I built a creature chamber and started cranking out an army, one creature at a time. The trouble was, every time I managed to build up a pack of creatures, I'd hear the panicked alert from one of the henchmen: "The critters are under attack! Our base is under attack!"

The valiant henchmen would keep on, shoveling coal while the creature pack fought to defend the base. And I'll give them credit, they fought off the enemy creatures several times. But in the end, the enemy attacks were relentless and we didn't have enough time to replenish our ranks.

There I was, heartless, distant leader, cranking out clones' of these hybrids as fast as I could, while one creature after the other fell and faded away, like they were just expendable assets rather than the carefully considered experiments of a mad scientist. So we were flattened, over and over and over. It wasn't pretty.

Like I said, I've started dreaming about lazy days at the beach again. • 49

EA's Baseball is an MVP

By TED KRITSONIS The boys of summer return• for another season on EA Sports' latest instalment of its baseball franchise, previously called Triple Play. Released j u s t before the Major League Baseball (MLB) season was set to begin, this game is as realistic as it gets when it comes to the sights and sounds of the game.

Given the plethora o f options that sports games have nowadays, the simplicity around this game is a little surprising. You can easily play this game and b e competitive using either a gamepad or the keyboard. A more efficient engine, new player models and a new player interface make it easier and faster to get used to the keyboard controls, which is a definitive difference from previous years.

All t h e ballparks l o o k gorgeous, regardless o f whether you're playing a day o r night game. Of course, seeing consistent sell-outs at the Skydome and Olympic Stadium in Montreal is laughable, but it's not surprising that EA did that, considering the league's well-publicized attendance problems i n many ballparks.

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The graphics, otherwise, are excellent.

Watching an outfielder run and dive for a flyball i s captivating, because the sound o f the crowd's anticipation and reaction, coupled with the sounds on the field, add a strong dimension of realism to the gameplay. But, as always, there are those gameplay issues that can drive you crazy a t crucial moments o f the game. Case in point: The first baseman dives to field a sharp groundball, but the pitcher takes too long to run to first and catch the ball from said first baseman to back him up and run over the basepad for an out.

For the most part, players do make the right decisions at the right times, but when the game is tied in the late innings a glitch like that can be a crucial turning point. Thankfully, t h e gameplay gaffes don't seem to happen too often, so they shouldn't impede garners from enjoying this one.

Picture-in-picture base running is an added feature that greatly strengthens a gamer's control over the baserunners.

Now, when you desperately need to try and manufacture a run late in the game to win or tie, assessing the right time to steal a base or bunt for a sacrifice is

INDEX 53 47 19 14 16 32 11 39 55 26 31 53 52 53 21 23 37 24 48 53 20 22 56 43 53 2

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53 33 18 34 51 5 38 36 3 27 17 12 30 53 53 47 53 40 15 8 40 9 7 28 51

.• Toronlo Computes! is not responsible for errors or omissions: The Ad Index is printed as a courtesy to our readers and advertisers.

50

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made a lot easier with this feature.

Going even further, EA included a franchise mode t o give garners the chance to see how good they can be as a general manager. By managing the payroll, scouting up-and-coming talent and drafting players, you can be immersed i n the front office just as much as you are on the field. A n d with the online elements, y o u can update the current rosters during the course of the actual MLB season.

Online play is a PC exclusive; none of the console versions have it. Network play via LAN and Direct IP connections should get you up and running to challenge ball players everywhere.

The home run derby, which is popular among many, is a great one to play on your o w n o r against another player online. There are certain distances that you have to try and reach for points, so it isn't just about who can h i t more homers. But it's not as easy as it sounds, because the timing of the batter's swing plays a huge role, just like in a normal game situation.

At the end of the day, EA has put out a great baseball title that captures the

sights and sounds of the game so well, while remaining fairly consistent in its gameplay. W i t h t h e added features, gamers should notice a greater amount of control, and that makes for a great experience in any sports game. •

I N F O MVP Baseball 2003 SS9.95 EA Sports svww.easports.com Minimum requirements: SOOMhz or faster Intel Pentium II or AMD Athlon processor; 64 MB or more RAM; 700 MB free hard disk space; 16 MB or greater video card; DIrectX 8.1

Musical Odyssey: Instruments galore continued from page 40 Violin The standard way to get a half decent violin sound i s t o point a dynamic microphone at the centre o ' the violin, around t h e bridge. The microphone should be a bit higher than the violin and towards the front of the instrument.

It is best to keep the microphone and its stand away from the bow hand, as placing the mike too close will lead to contact between the two.

You can b u y inexpensive, stick-on, contact microphones f o r the violin, which can also be used for mandolin, guitar and a host o f other stringed instruments. These produce a relatively tinny sound with a propensity for feedback if you are monitoring what you are

recording. However, used in conjunction with one o r two regular microphones and mixed well, you can get a very nice tone.

Lately, I ' v e been using a Yamaha Silent Violin borrowed from a friend.

This is a great instrument because the sound is passed directly to the mixer, or soundcard, without the need for microphones, and the sound is excellent.

Macromanaging the universe continued from page 49 months?

-To their credit, t h e developers are working on an official patch to fix many of the issues (the too-easy A l , bugs, interface difficulties, etc.), but there is, at the time of writing, no release date — and it's hard to feel grateful when we should expect a game t o be finished when i t is released for sale. In today's

marketplace, t h a t seems increasingly rare, I'm sorry to say.

I was a huge fan of Mo02, and some aspects o f Mo03 intrigue me, but ultimately, I did not enjoy the macromanagement experience (at least, not as i t exists now). I f you want to give this a by, be sure to read the discussion boards first — and wait until the patch comes out. Perhaps y o u r patience w i l l b e rewarded. •

T

O

Hand drum Just like with a drum set, miking a hand drum can be a bit of a challenge.

Depending on where you position the microphone, the sound changes.

This can be used to your advantage — if you move the drum while playing the passage, a n interesting effect can be made. •

COMPUTES! M A Y 2 0 0 3 c a n a d a c o m p u t e s . c o m

Robin Hood on the PC

CISCO SYSTEMS

ISCOTraiiiill P

By CHRIS TALBOT

exist to help Robin add to his treasury so he can later pay the ransom, while Rob from the rich, give to the poor. others further the plot itself.

Repeat. In a sense, that is the life of hisGraphically, Robin Hood: The Legend tory's most notorious legendary charac- of Sherwood is good, but not great. The ter, and Montreal's Strategy First has g r a p h i c s are decent and the i n -game brought Robin Hood to life on PC in c h a r a c t e r animations are smooth, but what has been billed as a tactical strat- t h e game does look like it's about two egy game. y e a r s old at times. The sound is actual In truth, Robin Hood: The Legend of l y fairly good, though. A light score Sherwood is part tactical strategy game p l a y s in the background and the sound mid part role-playing adventure game• e f f e c t s are well-timed. Voice acting is From there, the game becomes more m e d i o c r e however, and the characters strategy-oriented, with Robin (the play- u s u a l l y come off as melodramatic when er) deciding which missions to take on. t h e y ' r e conversing. I t doesn't detract The goal is to gather enough money to f r o m the gameplay, though. pay' the ransom to free King Richard, Overall, Robin. Hood: The Legend o f who has been imprisoned b y Duke Sherwood is a good interpretation of the Leopold. As in the legends, paying the legends and a decent game.. ransom will bring back King Richard, who will fix all of the problems in jolly o f England his brother Prince John has created.

To do that, players will have to guide rategy First Robin and the Merry Men through misstrategyfIrst.com sions involving simple robbeiy, infileguirements: trating Nottingham, attacking castles indows 98/ME/2000/XP, Pentium II MHz processor or better, 64 MB of RAM, and ambushing wealthy oppressors MB hard disk spat v i d e o ca along the king's roads. Some missions

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Profile: Nick Kopachkov At a small, dark, Queen Street lounge DJ Twitch, a.k.a. Nick Kopachkov,-is the only o n e n o t moving t o t h e hard baseline that is pounding out o f the speakers and ybeingbeingal)sorbed b y ' the patrons. He's; focused over the pair o f Technics 1200 turntables — one hand adjusting the pitch, the other pushing vinyl — and looks up only to smile and mouth a couple o f words to a friend who's watching him mix. His lips spell out "watch this," and the previous song is replaced with a new one to excite the AudioWerks Lounge crowd.

DJ Twitch has been playing alongside some o f digital music's biggest names since 1995. His big break came in 1997, when he was booked by Hatiras to p l a y at an event for over 10,000 people.

"Hatiras was one of the top promoters in Toronto's e r u p t i n g scene," h e explains. "It was a great opportunity to expose my sound to the masses." Since then, Kopachkov has been one o f the biggest names in Toronto's trance music scene at large scale events, as well as many o f the city's regular club nights.

He's also played several times in the US, and had his own radio show on Global Groove 89.5.

Through i s success a s a D J , Kopachkov was able to get another venture started. Digital Love, his favourite type of adoration, as well as, the name of his graphic design/event promotion company, began when he started making flyers for rave production companies. " I h a d a l l these connections through DJing and all these great ideas," he says. "It just made sense to put them together." He's since designed most o f the flyers for many of Toronto's biggest rave production companies.

Who: Nick Kopachkov, El Presidente of digitallove.ca, a.k.a. Nick Kopa, a.k.a.

Twitch.

Computer now used: iMac G3, with 40 GB, 384 MB RANI (256+128), with OS 9.1 as my operating system.

Computer f i r s t used: M a c PowerPC 6400, 1.5 GB, 96 MB RAM (64+32) Favourite computer: Mac PowerBook with 17-inch screen.

Other technical gadgetry in use at this time: "Nokia cell, and I'm gonna get a Canon S45 digital camera. I don't think

you want t o know about m y E p s o n scanner or Epson 820 borderless printer. Do ya?"

research. It's n o t like I can't go on, it just means I would then have to trek downtown to deliver files by hand o r pay for). is courier." t

Do y o u u s e y o u r computer f o r play?

"As t h e K o o l - A i d mascot would say: Oh yeah! B u t n o t actual gaming, just recreational stuff like music and Internet."

Best thing about the technology you have: "It allows me to get paid while doing what I love."

Worst thing: "Having to rely on computers isn't always the best, especially when things go wrong, as in when the Internet goes down, my business almost comes to a halt."

What can't you live without? "It's a given that I couldn't live without Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator. The Internet has become such a useful tool, mainly f o r f i l e transferring a n d

Is there anything y o u think y o u n e e d ?

"Definitely need that digital camera, and a laptop would make my life much easier. Also on the list of things I will get i n the near future is a minimum (it's a design thing) 21-inch monitor for the home."

What frustrates you the most ab technology? "I don't get frustrated my Mac, but when I use a PC, pr much everything is frustrating. I g the only thing with Macs is their p It would be nice if they joined the w of PCs in that aspect."

Personal take on issues dealing technology: "Just leave it be and it all work itself out." • -interview by Miryana Golubo

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THE CHALLENGE: Spring is in the air LI Y e t eau me a digital genera to czature the subject. Melt can he submitted era e-mail -0.,at5.tcp.eal.liccompamiloo few !bete whoold be the ind model ot the camera you used, the moms Many 17: you used to modify the Image end, syuesible. psal at otter speed 1,, used to ta/te O t t o . oho:op./Os , t b t i t a a b e 6Y Oaf 12th 2 ,163.1ao ati al woes* Wm- Cornea e .

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Package deals to PC heaven.

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PLEASE NOTE: Advertised prices exclude shipping and taxes except where otherwise noted. See footnote 1 for current shipping charges.

0 In-Home Service! In the event that youexperiencehardwareproblems with your Dell desktop that we can't fix over the phone, we'll send a technician to your home._ O Access to software and peripherals. With thousands of softwarepackagesand peripherals to complementyourPC,we're a one-stopshop for all your computing needs.

O 24x7 telephone hardware technical support.' If youhaveanyhardwarequestions about your DellPC,we're available over the phone or online, 24 hoursa day, 7 daysa week.

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Dell (Desktops

Dell I Notebooks

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Reg. Price St954 Starting from $39/mo.* 48-mos. Purchase Ran' ouolwePtimENhaOseRDPIEaRnI: QUOTEWHEN ORDERING: EWhale Code: 71123 CHBXCPS E Value Cods: 71123 CHFSCPS SAVE 5220'

• Inter Pentium.' 4 Processor at 2.2011Hz with 517X 12 Cache • 256MB shared DDR-SDRAM • 60GB Ultra ATA-100 Hard Drive (7200 RPM) • 17' (16.0' vi.s., .25dpfk4782 Flat Screen CAT Monitor • Integrated Intel' 3D Extreme Graphics • 16X DVD-ROM Drive • 48X CD-RW Drive with Roxio's Easy CD Creator' (2nd Bayl • Integrated Audio • Harman Kardon HK-395 Speakers with Subwoofer • Integrated 10/100 Ethernet • 56K' PCI Telephony Modem • Microsoft' Windows° XP Home Edition • WordPerfect" Productivity Pack with Quicken* • 1 Year In-Home Service' • Upgrade to 3 Year In-Home Service' for M T

514

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• Intel Pentium Processor at 7-66GHz with 512K 12 Cache + 53311111z From Side Bus • 256MI3 DDR-SDRAM • 60GB Ultra ATA-100 Hard Drive 17200 RPM) • 64MB DDR NMDIA° GePorce4 MX" Graphics Card with W-Out '19' (18.0' v.i.s., .244p1 Flat Screen CRT Monitor • 165 DVD-ROM Drive • 48X CD-RW Drive with Roxio's Easy CD Creator' (2nd Bay) • Harmon Kardon HK-395 Speakers with Subwoofer • Sound Blaster Live) 5.1 Digital Sound Card • Integrated Intel° P0010/100 Ethernet • 56K' PCI Telephony Modem • Windows XP Home Edition • WordPerfect Productivity Pack with Quicken • 1 Year In-Home Service' • Upgrade to 3 Year la-Home Service' for $159'

Recommended Upgrades: T u r b e c h e r g e Your System: • Altec Lansing' ADA745 4.1 Surround I n t e l Pentium 4 Processor with HT Technology Sound Speakers with Subwoofer A r i d $100' 3.06GHz; 512MB DOR HIRAM Add. $500 (Save 57651 • 512MB shared DDR-SDRAM at 266MHz A d d $160' QUOTE WHENORDERING E ValueCode:71173 CHIMMP

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When you buy direct from Dell, you get:

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See FOOTNOTE 6.

Dell I Software & Peripherals

Inspirer 5100 Notebook # f t Inspiron 600M Notebook

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Reg. Price.$2445-Starling from $49/mo.* 49-mos. Purchase Plan' $ 1 QUOTEWHEN ORDERING: E Value Code: 71123 CHMSHP

RegrINice.SN69-Starting from $59/m0.40 48-mos. Purchase Plant QUOTEWHEN ORDERING: E Value Code: 71123 CHOMSHP

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9

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• Intel Pentium 4 Processor at 2A0GHz • 14.1' XGATFT Display 11024 x 7681 • 256MB DDB-SDRAM at 266MHz • 40GB Ultra ATA Hard Drive • 32MB DDRATI MOBILITY' RADEOM" 7500 AGP 4X Graphics • 24X CD-RW/DVD-ROM Combo Drive • Internal Modem and MC • 12 Cell Lithium Ion Battery • Deluxe Nylon Carrying Case • Windows XP Horne Edition • WordPerfect Productivity Pack • 1 Year Express Depot Warranty with 1 Year CompleteCare" coverage'

Enhance your Dell PC!

• Inter Cerrsiao' Mobile Technology Intel' Pentium° M Processor at 1.30GHz Intel' PRO/Wireless 2100 WEAN (802.11b 11Mbs) Mini-PCI Card • 14.1 XGATFT Display (1024 X 768) • 512MB D011-SDRAM at 266MHz • 4008 Ultra Hard Drive • 32M13DDRATI RADEOM" 9000AGP 4X Graphics • 24X CD-RW/DVD-HOM Combo Drive • Internal Modem and MC • 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery • Her' 64MII USB Memory Key Windows XP Horne Edition • Microsoft° Office XP Small Business • 1 Year Express Depot Warranty with 1 Year CornpleteC.re'" coverage'

-Recommended Upgrades: Add $99 • Microsoft' Windows XP Professional A d d $150' Add $200' • 60GB Ultra ATA Hard Drive A d d $250'

DELL'" Personal Laser 'WY Printer P1500

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vok

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Please visit www.dell.ce/rebetes for mime endrebate details. Offer ends May 7, 2001 Rebate must be post marked by Jon 7, MM. Print, copy and scan in colour, with fax capability, in one easy-to-use device far your home or small office.

Based on 9.99% interest per year. The applicable interest rate and your monthly payments may be higher depending on your creditworthiness as determined by lender in its sole discretion. See FOOTNOTE 2 for details.

Package deals. Easy as

41b̀Order the easy way. Visit www.dell.ca or call toll-free 1-877-517-6596 MON-FRI 8AM-10PM EST* SAT 10AM-6PM EST • SERVICE IN FRENCH: MON-FRI SAM-7PM EST • SAT 10AM-6PM EST

Dell recommends Microsoft® Windows* XP Professional for Mobile Computing Advertised configurations and limited time offers only available to customers in Canada. All purchases subject to your CustomerAgreement or Dell's standard terms of sale, Dell's limited warranty terms and the applicable Dell or third party service agreement. Copies available on request or at . d e l l . c e .

All promotional offers ere subject to cancellation of change at any time without notice Remember to back-up your data. Dell is not responsible for lost or corrupt data or software. Dell reserves the rightro limit quamities to five (5) systems per customer. Dell cannot be responsible for errors in typography or photography 1 . SHIPPING AND APPLICABLE TAXES NOT INCLUDED. CURRENT STANDARD SHIPPING CHARGES: $139 FOR DIMENSION AND INSPIRON, $99 FORNETWORKED BUSINESS PRODUCTS11.1.SERVERS MID STORAGE.OPT1PLEX,PRECISION AND LATITUDE) AND THE DELL BRANDEDPROJECTOR, $25 FORTHE DELLBRANDED PRINTERS AND THE DELL MOM X5. AND $15 FORALLOTHERSOFTWAREAND PERIPHERALS. Prices and specifications are subject to error and change without notice. Promotional pricing is not combinable with other offers or volume based or other discounts to which you may be entitled. To receive the advertised price you must mention or input (on-line) the e-value code advertised beside the price point. Availability maybe limited. Pre-loaded software does not irciude documentation and may differ from retail version 2 SHIPPINGANDAPPLICABLETAXES NOT INCLUDED. 48-Month Purchase flan offered through Dell Fnancial Services Canada, an independent entity, to qualified customers. subject to credit approval and availabifity. Minimum transaction site of $899 is required (before shipping and applicable taxes). No down payment required. Monthly payments are based on advertised prices depicted for a 48 month ten, cakulated using an interest rate of 9.99% per annum. Your monthly payments may he higher depending on your aedftwonhiness as determined by the Lender in its sole discretion. Available interest rates per annum are 9.99%, 13.99%, 16.99%, 17.99%, 18.99%, 21.99%, 26.99% and 28.99%.Fmanceexample: $1199.00 el9.99%l (13.99%1,116.99%L117.99%1118.99%1.121.99%L126.999UL128.99%1Perannum equals($30.401.1$32.761. ($34.5911$35.21). ($35.84107.771. ($41.10],1$47.471 per month for 48 months. Total payable: 1$1.459.2011$1.572.48LM1.660.321 1$1,690.0811$1,720.32L ($1.612.96L161,972.801 32.938.561 Full cost of borrowing:19260201 1$373.48L1$461.321.1$491081.1$521.3211$613.96L 5773.21, 1239.561. Terms subject to error and change without Notice. Please contact Dell for full details 3. Download speeds are limited to 53 Kbps. Upload speeds are less (about 30Kbps). Speeds can vary by modem manufacturer and line conditions. Analog phone line and compatible service required 4.See Dell's limited warranty terms and the applicable Dell or third party Service Contract for service and warranty terms and conditions Copies available on request or at vmw.dellca. Services may not be available ' in all areas. In-horne service refers to Dell's Next easiness Day On-Site Stellar. In-Home service may be provided try a thud party contract with WHOM andmay not be available in certain areasTECHNICIAN WILLBEDISPATCHED,IFNECESSARY,FOLLOWINGPHONE-BASEDTROUBLESHOOTING.Dell must notify the service provider before 5:00 pm localettS10111INtime; otherwise it may take an additional business day. Complaterere coverage only covers internal hardware components and does not cover peripheral devices, damage et loss caused by fire, theft, intentional acts, or by normal wear if the normal wear does not affect performance 5.90 Day Deferred 48-Month Purchase Plan offered through Dell Financial Servirxis Canada, an independent entity to top tier onvdit qualified customers subject to approval and availability as determined by lender in its sole dime-lion. Minimum transectoosize of 6699 is required (before shipping and applicable taxes). Maximum total transaction size per easterner of $5,C09(after shipping and applicable taxes). Not available on past orders or past financing. Additional restrictions and conditions apply. Cell Dell for full details B. All Promotiortal Internet Access Offerm Limited time offers available to Canadian residents with the -purchase of a Dimension or Inspiran computer for home use. To be eligible, you must be within the service area of the Internet service provider you choose; final eligibility for service will be determined by the Internet service provider. You must be a new subscriber and register at time of computer purchase (forAOL must register within 6 months of invoice from Dell). You must accept the Internet service provider's then current teens of service. Promotional period begins upon registration and cancellation must be made during this period in accordance with the internedSfilViCOprovider's then current terms of service, otherwise service will continue and you will be billed the Internet service prodder's then current monthly rate. Contact the Internet service provider fora copy of their then current terms of service. Limit one(11 offer per computer per household. Dell systems must be equipped with a Network Card (Ethernet cardIfor high-speed access ar a modern for dial-up access. Offers not combinable with any other Internet access offers from Dell nor other offers km the respective Internet service providers. Fro AOL you must be111vand have a major credit card. During six month included membership period. members outsideAOLCanada Inc.'s local calling areas may incur telephone charges on their phone bill. Communication surcharges, telephone bill charges, and premium service area charges will apply if you use the services during your six months includedAOLmembership. See on ins registration for complete details.AOL is not available for Windows 3.1, Windows NT and Macintosh.

AOLis a registered trademark and the triangular logo,AOL Instant Messenger, Buddy List. Parental Controls and theAOLtriangle logo are trademarks, of America Online, Inc. For Bell Sympatico High Speed, Servile only available to residential customers in Ontario andOuebec where technology permits. Must register by major credit card or pre-authorized payment. Offer applicable to the self-installation option only and does not include the cost to correct any wiring Lediourations in customer's residence. One time activation lee of $29.95 is currently waived. Sympatico High Speed is a bade-mark of Bell Canada 7. Promotional offer variable with eligible purchase made between now and May 27, 2033. 10pmEST for phone orders, 5pmEST for online orders. To receive the advertised price you must mention or input ion-line) the *value code advert sad beside the price point. Not combinable with other offers or volume based or other discounts to whith youmay be entitled. Limit one (1) offer per eligible system. limit five(51systemsper customer I Mail-in rebates valid on qualifying purchasesmade between now and May 7, 2003. Canadian residents only. Rebate ea mot be combined with volume or other discounts ( including corporate employee purchase plan programs) a other pmmotional offers (except dose advertised herein). Rebate form must be postmarked no later than June 7, 2003. Applicable postage must be pad. Limit one rebate per qualifiong system. Rebate must be submitted with a dated copy of the packing slip. Visit www.dell.ca/rebates or call for a rebate loan and full details Dell, the Dell logo, Dimension, Inspire°. Axim, and CompleteCare are trademarks of Dell Computer Corporation"' Microsoft. MS. Intellimouse. Windows and Windows NT are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Intel, Intel Inside, Intel Inside logo, Xeon, Centrino, Pentium and Celeron are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. TM All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their registered holders. te) 2003 Dell Computer Corporation. All rights reserved AD CODE TC20