Indiana Gazette from Indiana, Pennsylvania • Page 40

-u- If E-8 The Indiana, PA Gazette (LEISURE) Sunday, April 6,1997 COMPUBUG Inkjets can capture digital images By DWIGHT SILVERMAN Houston Chronicle has three components taking pictures with a camera that uses no film; altering and storing the resulting pictures on a computer; and either sending the images to other people electronically or getting them "onto the old-fashioned but useful technology known, as Previous columns have talked about the first two stages, Now it's time to move'on to what you need to do to share these images with "other people. I'm going to concentrate here on paper, since electronic sh'aring is fairly simple you can either e-mail the images or post on a World Wide Web site. While decent digital cameras remain relatively expensive expect to pay around $500 for one that will give you at least tolerable images-7-the cost of color printing has dropped dramatically. Color InkJet printers that produce decent pictures on paper can be had for as low as $200, making black-and-white printers almost obsolete. The quality of a printer's images is defined by dots-per-inch, or dpi.

The more dots per inch, the better. Most color inkjet printers will do at least 600 dpi, some do as high as 1,440 dpi. Using these maximum settings and special paper and in some cases, special ink you can achieve results that rival traditional photos. The paper'and ink can be pricey. But in the long run, they can save you money because you don't have to pay for film and processing.

Several computer manufacturers have started to sell systems devoted to creating" photo-quatity images using a computer. Hewlett-Packard will offer in May a system called PhotoSmart that includes a digital camera, a scanner and a printer designed solely to produce photo-quality pictures. However, it won't come cheap. Expect to pay about $500 for the printer alone when it's available. To me, standard color inkjet printers are the best bang for your buck for printing digital images.

And you can use them for other purposes such as the mundane, black-and-white business letter. Here's a look at two inkjet printers, one aimed at the home, the other at small or home businesses. Stylus Color 400 $229, Epson America. Last year, Epson's Stylus Color 500 was a surprise hit. The printer was in such demand that Epson couldn't keep up, and those who tried to buy one around Christmas were often out of luck.

The 400 replaces the lowrend model in the Epson line, the Stylus Color 200. But its performance is actually better than that of the 500, which, to further confuse things, has been replaced by the 600. The 400 is faster than either the 200 or 500, and its image quality is better than those of older models. Even the pricing is better. The 500 sold for $50 more than the 400 does.

The 400 prints in 720-by-720 dpi in high resolution, with normal resolution being 360-by-360 dpi. It does this relatively quickly. I went to Kodak's Web site and grabbed a page that had a picture of a kitten along with text and some icons. It took about a minute to print this page using the 720 dpi setting and Epson's own high-quality paper. That's pretty fast.

Larger images will take longer, of course, but this kind ofmixed-irhage page is what most folks print most of the time. A full page of double-spaced text took about 20 seconds to print. The 400 can achieve near-photo-quality results. While it does require special, glossy paper for this level of printing, it does not require special inks. If you're interested in serious, high-quality photo printing, look at the Stylus Color 600, which prints in resolution.

It sells for about what the older 500 did. Color Jetprinter 2055 $299, Lexmark. This is a rather basic inkjet printer aimed at small businesses. It's designed to make printing on different formats forms, cards, envelopes relatively easy. It comes loaded with business-oriented software.

does a decent job of printing photographs but lacks the resolution of the Epson. The Lexmark's maximum dpi is 600-by-600, so on special inkjet paper its images aren't quite as smooth in appearance as the Epson's. Picture perfect Dr. Bombay JULIETTE Two Saturday nights ago, as I headed to Rural Valley to visit my mother, I looked out the window of my car and noticed what everyone has been buzzing about for the past month. No, not the Big Dance the NCAA Tournament or even the Charlie Hogan is getting to be just as big, but Hale-Bopp, the comet that is sweeping past planet Earth at breakneck speeds.

I couldn't believe my eyes. In one part of the sky was a full moon and in the west, as plain as the eye could see, was the Hale-Bopp Comet. I could feel the adrenaline build and my heart began to pound and, as much as I wanted to visit my mother, I was compelled to turn my car.around and head home for the 'carifera and tripod. Mom would have to wait until the next day. As I headed home, my mind was rapidly making decisions about film, -camera format, lens choice and location.

I knew that I wanted part of the landscape in the photograph as a. way to connect the 'comet, to this great planet of ours, but what kind of landmark would be best suited for a comet? I thought about using sites, particularly the courthouse (NBOC) clock'tower and the Sutton Hall bell tower, but my preference was'to work with the natural land- scape to give the image more of a 'timeless feeling and universal quali- ty like something that could have been made at anytime and anyplace. The fact that I'm drawn to big, old trees solidified my decision and I knew just the tree." By the time 1 had my gear in the car, it was pushing 9 p.m. and dark, but full moon was reflecting enough light that I thought I might try to take advantage of it. I knew just the location to use the moonlight as an element of the composition.

I'm sure you've seen it a hundred times if you travel the new Route 422 bypass. The tree sits on the edge of a field at the top of a steep bank and looms over the surrounding landscape. (A Milk Marketing Board sign now sits in the field next to the tree). I have been eyeing up this tree as subject for the past several years and was waiting for the opportune time to photograph seemed to be it. As I drove past the site on the bypass, I knew the time was right the position of the comet and moon relative to the tree would place everything just the way I wanted it.

I parked my car off the Rustic Lodge road at the foot of the bank I to climb to get to the Climbing the steep bank was no easy" task since it was so dark and the weeds were dry and knee deep. I had heavy camera' bags, a tripod, a flashlighfand some sourdough pretzels I was prepared to stay as long as it took to get an image: I got everything to the top of the bank in one trip and then began to survey the site. Since this was my first trip to the base of the tree, I was impressed by its girth much larger than the impression one gets from the highway. I was excited by the possibilities in front of me, but still had to figure out how to best photograph the scene before me. I chose to photograph in color, knowing that could always make a and white print if I desired.

Astrophotographers -prefer, Fugico- lor 800 Super film for its speed, relative sharp grain, and its ability to record the subtle blues and greens of the gasses and the yellowish-reds of the dust trails produced "by a comet. Photographs of the night sky usually call for a fast-reacting film, but since I envisioned a large print as my final product, and I'm not fond of the grain of an ISO 400,800 or 1000 film, ISO 200 represented a nice compromise. Breaking with convention, I chose ISO 200 Fugicolor film. The next 'decision was the lens choice. My 300 mm lens would bring the comet into a narrow field of view, but would likely eliminate any view of the landscape.

I'd have.a nice close shot of the comet, but the image would lack a reference point to tie it to Earth, and showing this relationship was important to me. I 'opted for a 24 mm lens. I liked the perspective it gave me and the wide depth of field, which was an' important consideration for this photo-, graph because of the close proximity of the tree to my The final decision was exposure time. In this situation, the'camera meter is all but useless. Due to the extreme low light level, the exposure would have to be long, but not so long that the movement of the Earth relative -to the comet would cause it be a streak in the sky.

An exposure of 30 seconds would'be about' as long as I could make and still expect stars to be sharp, but the 24 mm lens would give me slightly more flexibility perhaps as long as a minute. If you look closely, you'll notice the Hale-Bopp Comet. Framing it with this tree enabled me to show its relationship to the Earth while conveying how It appears to the human proportion to the vastness of the universe. eye in (Ron Juliette photo) By DR. EM1LIO BOMBAY Fort Worth Star-Telegram DEAR DR.

BOMBAY: I have been using the Net for a short time. Frequently I receive messages that 1 have "received a cookie." What is a tooth DEAR TOOTH: Remember when your mother warned you about that weird guy in the raincoat who lived down the street? And how you weren't supposed to take treats from him? Well, that was me, and, honest, 1 just wanfed to be friends. Web sites you visit just want to be friends, too. In fact, they'd be so happy to see you visit a second time, they gather information so they can personalize stuff for you when you return. Note to the truly paranoid: Yes, they know your Internet address and what kind of browser you use.

They also can see and hear exactly what you're doing at any moment by means of an advanced secret technology originally 'developed by the CIA to monitor every household in the civilized world through the so-called "television set," so keep it clean. Well, it's probably too late for that since already parked outside your apartment complex keeping you under surveillance." Anyway, the Web sites take the information sometimes it's gathered automatically, sometimes you fill in a form and stores it on your hard disk as a text file. The site checks your disk for the cookie each time you visit. in the dim past of computing, a pasty-faced. programmer, in desperate need of a sugar fix dubbed that text file a "cookie," arkj it stuck.

V. -Mfyc4J don't like the idea of some unknown entity fiddling with your hard drive, you're'not-alone, but have too many alternatives. Browsers "like Internet; Explorer can be set to warn you that a site is trying to transfer a cookie. You can refuse the cookie, but you probably won't get into as well. You probably don't want any proof that you visited the Leather Biker Chick Hot Candle Wax Hall of Fame home page.

More for you loonies: You can always cover your tracks. Look for a file pialled or a folder called "Cookies." Delete to your heart's content. They'll bake more." DEAR BOMBAY: What can you tell me about an E-mail program called it really free? Cheapskate DEAR SKATE" These days, when you tell somebody you don't have E-mail, they look at you like you're the banjo kid from "Deliverance" but soisoipathetic. If you're one of the six or seven people left on the planet without Internet access, a service like Juno might save you a little gratuitous pity. Basically, you have to look at some ads if you want to read your mail.

Not a bad trade-off. In Juno's case, there are some 400 local-access numbers computer dials into. using their free software to connect with the service. are some other free, ads) E-mail services, like HotmaiiorRocketMaii, that require you to have Internet access to use them, which is a pretty goofy: concept. If you have an Internet provider- and you don't already haye E-mail, the'n maybe yoii are the banjo kid.

You can get sign up at wwwjuno.com, www.hotmail.comor www.rocketaail.com.. Now play us a little tune, boy. (Noted computerologist Dr. EmilioBombay oftete occasionally accurate advice about most things electronic. He can be reached on Internet at or via snail-mail at Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Box 1870, Fort Worth 76101.

His real name is Michael Gerst, editorial systems manager for the Fort Worth I made four exposures at that would give me "the depth of field to include the foreground weeks as well as the distant comet. My exposures were 15 seconds, 30 seconds, one minute and-two minutes. The final two exposures proved too long the stars and comet were recorded as thin lines rather than points of light and the tree was too bright. The 30 second exposure gave me the best relationship between the moonlit tree and the comet. photograph reproduced here is" the result.

Am I pleased with this image? Not really. It's not bad for a first attempt at comet you know what you're -looking for. But I learned that the full moon washes out the sky and isn't the best time to do astrophotography. I found that I must find a-way to compromise my need to make an aesthetically pleasing composition and my desire to have a great of the Hale-Bopp Comet one in which the comets stands out more dramatically. But there's hope.

Until April 8, Hale-Bopp will be visible in a moon-1 -less sky, and, if we get a clear nighty I'll be making the trek to'the tree. again. It's something I have to do. For Early Home Delivery: 465-5555 Your information link to millions of users uia 16,888 networks in oiier 98 countries: INDIANA MfOPC COMPRTIBLE at ou at tfstem 7.B or up, with at least with at least 4 MB of RH QJINDOIDS 3.H Of UIINDOUJS 95 at least 14,481 Baud rate It Standard Tiliphont LIni Monday through Friday, 9 a.