4 Options for Converting Slides to Digital Format

4 Options for Converting Slides to Digital Format Got stacks of slide carousels loaded up with old family photos? Unfortunately, the pictures on those slides are probably fading as you read this. Now is the time to save those memories for future generations by converting them to digital format.   There are  four  major options for digitizing 35mm  slides. Flatbed Scanner Many traditional flatbed scanners do a good job at slide scanning as well. Look for a scanner that is designed to scan negatives and slides in addition to traditional paper photos and documents. The optical (not digital) resolution should be at least 2400 dpi or greater. Many flatbed scanners require an extra transparency adapter attachment for scanning slides- sometimes it comes with the scanner, and sometimes you have to buy it separately. Good bundled scanning software is also a must, to give you control over the final results, although Hamricks VueScan offers an excellent alternative and works with most flatbed scanners. Read user and editorial reviews to find a flatbed scanner that handles slides well before you buy. Dedicated Film Scanner From an image quality standpoint, the best method for digitizing your slides is to use a high resolution dedicated film/slide scanner. They can be fairly expensive, so probably not the best option unless you literally have thousands of slides to scan. Dedicated film scanners do, however, offer excellent resolution, and the control they offer over the final images is something you generally dont have when you opt for a professional scanning service. Slide Duplicator If you own a good digital SLR (single lens reflex) camera, a slide duplicator, or  duper, offers a good, inexpensive option for digitizing your slides. A slide duplicator attaches to your DSLR cameras in place of the lens, using a T-mount adapter ring. The other end of the duper is a sliding gate that holds two slides. The duper also has an internal lens, with a fixed aperture and focusing distance, that focuses the slides image onto your DSLRs imaging plane so that you can then take a picture of the slide. While slide duplicators are  inexpensive and easy to use (they require no electricity or a computer since you can take the pictures directly onto your cameras flash card), dupers do not offer the digital quality you can get from a flatbed or film scanner. In most cases, youll find that some image cropping is unavoidable. Most digital cameras also dont offer the dynamic range (the amount of gradation between light and dark in the photo) of a scanner, which can affect the photos shadow detail. Scanners generally offer a better resolution (a 3200 optical dpi scanner is about equivalent to a 12-megapixel digital camera) as well, so if you want to print larger photos from your slides, this may be a deal breaker. Professional Photo Shop If you dont have too many slides, or if youre not very comfortable with computers and software, then your best bet is probably to opt for a professional service to scan your slides for you. Many such services can be found on the Internet, but you may find more peace of mind by checking with local photo labs. Definitely shop around because pricing and quality control vary widely. Do be sure to ask whether the photoshop cleans and scans each slide individually. If they batch scan, you probably wont be happy with the quality. Tips for Scanning Slides The trick to getting good digital scans of your slides is to start with clean slides. Dust both sides of each slide off with a quick hit of compressed air and be careful not to touch the emulsion. Make sure your computer is fairly new with a fast processor and plenty of memory and hard drive space to store all of the digital images. A plug-in external hard drive is a good option when scanning slides or photos. We highly recommend that you scan directly into a good photo organization/editing program such as Photoshop Elements, which can drastically cut down on the time spent scanning as you can save naming the files, cropping, rotating, etc for later once, the images are all on your computer in the organizer. After scanning, back up your new digital files onto DVDs - and make extra copies to share with your family members!

The Crimes of Brandy Holmes

The Crimes of Brandy Holmes During the early evening hours of January 1, 2003, the Brandy Holmes and her boyfriend, Robert Coleman, forced their way into the rural home of Julian Brandon, a retired minister who was 70 years of age, and his wife Alice, who was 68 years of age. Reverend Brandon was shot at near contact range in the underside of his jaw with a .380 caliber handgun. The bullet separated into two pieces: one fragment entered his brain and the other exited the top of his head. Julian Brandon immediately collapsed. Holmes and Coleman then took Mrs. Brandon to the rear bedroom and demanded her valuables, cash, and credit cards as she begged for her life. Ignoring her pleas, they placed a pillow over the womans face and shot her in the head, and left her for dead.    Over-Kill After shooting Mrs. Brandon, Holmes and Coleman heard Reverend Brandon struggling with his wounds and returned and stabbed and slashed him to death. Concerned Friends Discover the Bodies On January 5, 2003, four days after the attack, Calvin Barrett Hudson, a family friend of the Brandons, became concerned when the couple did not attend church on Sunday and decided to check on them. When he and his wife went to their friends residence, they found Reverend Brandon lying in a pool of his blood on the carpet. Hudson immediately went to a neighbors house and called the sheriffs office. When the police responded to the call, they found Reverend Brandons body. It was not until the authorities checked the house that they discovered Mrs. Brandon was barely alive. Even though Mrs. Brandon received a gunshot wound to the head, she survived the attack, although she was permanently disabled and requires around-the-clock care. Tips Lead Investigators to the Killers Door After the television news reported the crime, the Caddo Parish Sheriffs Office received a tip from persons at an apartment complex near the crime scene. The callers indicated the Holmes had been bragging about killing an elderly couple down the road near a church and that she was trying to sell their jewelry. Detectives then went to the trailer of Brenda Bruce, Holmes mother, which was located near the homicide scene. There they located Holmes, Coleman, her mother, and her 15-year-old brother, Sean George. All four agreed to accompany the officers to the sheriffs office for interviews. Over the next two days Holmes made six recorded and unrecorded statements, implicating herself and others to varying degrees in the homicide and robbery. She also said that two days after murders, she and two of her young nephews bicycled to the Brandons home. The youngest nephew, nine years of age, entered the home with her and she walked to the back of house and heard Mrs. Brandons heavy breathing and turned around and left.   The nine-year-old nephew entered the home with his aunt, where he saw Reverend Brandon lying in a pool of blood and heard Mrs. Brandon screaming from another room in the home. A neighbor witnessed both nephews fleeing from the residence, leaving the Holmes inside the home. Evidence Police recovered considerable circumstantial evidence that proved Holmes involvement in the crime. Although the gun used in the shootings was not recovered, ballistics evidence demonstrated that the weapon used in the Brandon homicide was the same weapon that had belonged to Holmess father and had been stolen from his residence in Tylertown, Mississippi. Holmes admitted she had stolen her fathers gun in one of her statements to the police. In addition, a surveillance video from Hibernia Bank depicted the Holmes and Coleman attempting to use the Brandons credit card at an ATM. A search of the Bruce trailer where the Holmes and Coleman were staying led to the discovery of several items that belonged to Mrs. Brandon. Three fired .380 cartridge casings were found in the rain gutter of the trailer where she lived.   Laboratory analysis revealed that Reverend Brandons DNA was found on one of these casings.   Ã‚   Additionally, forensic analysis matched the .380 projectile recovered from Reverend Brandons brain and the dining room ceiling to a projectile recovered from a tree at the home of Holmes father in Mississippi. Brandy Holmes was found guilty of capital murder and sentenced to death.

Dirt Bikes Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Dirt Bikes Management - Essay Example The company has since customized its products to racing and off-road recreational activities. The company does marketing through involving or participating in staged races with it bikes. The most renowned dirty bike staged races in the United States include the Daytona Bike Week competitions and Barstow-Las Vegas race. The company has four services that include the Enduro 250, the Enduro 550, the Moto 300 and the Moto 450. d) How many employees are managers, production workers, or knowledge or information workers? Are there levels of management? The company has since grown from two employees that it started with as its owners to the current 120 employees that include design, engineering, and production teams along with 3 engineers and 3 full-time product designers. Additionally, the company has 20 employees in line with corporate sales and administrative staff. The company also has 4 person parts department. The departmental employees form the company’s management team that in clude 5 employees in the shipping and receiving department, 1 marketing manager, 1 controller, I accountant, 1 administrative assistant, 2 HRs, and 2 information system specialists. The above listing and categorizing of employees show that the company has well-articulated levels of management. e) What kinds of information systems and technologies would be the most important for a company such as Dirt Bikes? Information systems and technologies are vital in facilitating decision making both at high and low levels of management.