resolutions

Dealing with workplace conflict

Why can't we all just get along? Because it doesn't work that way. There are lots of reasons why folks don't get along. There are cultural differences, gender differences, style differences, all kinds of differences. And that's just the beginning.

According to a number of studies, at least 10 percent of the U.S. population has some sort of personality disorder. That includes depression, bipolar disorder, and borderline personality disorder, to name a few. That can't help.

In the workplace, it gets even worse. There are bullies, jerks who want to stab you in the back, and folks you just plain don't like. My personal favorite are people who are passive aggressive--they openly agree to something and then do the opposite.… Read more

MotionDSP promises better photos and video

I'm among the legions who fume when the investigator on the TV show zooms in endlessly on a photo to uncover some minute detail that in reality couldn't have been photographed by any camera. Worst is when the investigator clicks some "increase resolution" button to smooth a bunch of blocky pixels into a richly detailed image.

Although that Hollywood hokum is an information-theory impossibility with a single image, some limits are lifted when you have multiple shots of the same scene. And a start-up called MotionDSP is working on commercializing that technology to improve photo and … Read more

A technology blogger's new year's resolutions

Looking back on my first 6 months as a blogger, I decided to come clean about my shortcomings and start an improvement plan. Here's what I came up with, based mostly on feedback from all of you:

1. Don't be so arrogant and preachy. After spending an entire lifetime being an egotistical know-it-all, this is a tough one. For example, saying "...CEOs don't come with expiration dates stamped on their foreheads" may have been a bit much. Same goes for Do the ends ever justify the means? I'll try to be more humble.… Read more

Sites to make New Year's resolutions stick

My New Year's resolutions for 2007 were largely a flop, although I did frame and hang some vintage 1930s cruise ship menus as promised.

But if you're dead set on changing your life in 2008, many Web sites can assist with tallying and tracking resolutions. Some will continue to ping you with reminders, or even enlist other folks to pester you over the next 12 months. Facebook users can pick from various third-party widgets for setting and sharing goals, but other sites offer more customization.

Sweet and simple, Joe's Goals help you log progress on to-do items … Read more

New Year's tech resolutions

The New Year's resolution might be way up there on the great list of journalism clichés, but that's no reason not to go back to the well and see what our pals in the tech industry are pledging to do in 2008, at least as far as their gear and gadgets are concerned.

"Make spam a priority, and eliminate clutter." --Don Sears, eWeek.com

"Hack and/or overclock what I have more, so that I don't have to always race out to get the latest and greatest. And buy an iPhone if … Read more

Underexposed blog: Links of the day

Here's some of the backlog from a virus-induced hiatus that knocked me out for a couple days.

PhotoAcute Studio. Leading super-resolution technology for better photos. PhotoAcute's product description: "It increases image resolution, removes noise without losing image details, corrects image geometry and chromatic aberrations and expands the dynamic range." PhotoAcute Review. Uwe Steinmuller's testing of super-resolution software that combines multiple images into one. Lightroom Journal: Lightroom 1.3.1 and Camera Raw 4.3.1. Lightroom update fixes Nikon D100 and Olympus E-3 compatibility problems, tweaks SKD's FTP export module. New Lightroom Galleries--O'Reilly Digital Media Blog. … Read more

Toshiba LCD goes nuts for resolution

We're not quite sure how to categorize Toshiba's latest LCD monitor, which has an incredible resolution of 3,840 x 2,400 pixels. More is usually merrier when it comes to resolution but, in this case, squeezing this many pixels in a relatively small 22-inch display seems to be the doings of a mad optometrist who believes myopia is good. The densely packed dots mean that text will be too small to read comfortably.

Though we do congratulate the Japanese maker for making this technological advance, the sad fact is this 2,079,000 yen ($18,162) LCD … Read more

Simply 12 megapixels and other cameras: Olympus' new FE models

'Tis the season for new camera announcements, it seems. Olympus has joined Canon, Nikon, and Sony in picking this week to announce its fall camera lineup. Olympus announced several new camera models today, including three additions to the company's FE-series of simple point-and-shoots.

At 12 megapixels, the FE-300 breaks the company's FE-series' resolution record. With a 50% increase over the last generation's high-resolution model, the FE-250, the FE-300 offers some of the largest photos available from Olympus' snapshot line. According to Olympus, the FE-300 will be the slimmest 12-megapixel camera on the market, measuring just 0.9 … Read more

Wii Sports: Geeks are the new jocks

The champagne hangover's worn off, and CES and Macworld are quickly becoming memories; it's time to get serious about that list of New Year's resolutions. And though No. 1 (get more exercise) and No. 12 (master a new video game) seem to be mutually exclusive, one blogger has shown that you can game your way to better health, or at the very least, a smaller pants size. After six weeks of playing Wii Sports for 30 minutes a day--and making no other change to his diet or everyday activities--the Philadelphia-based blogger reported that he'd lost nine … Read more