Most people rely on their phones to take pictures. But professional cameras, such as DSLRs, do a much better job. 

Professional cameras have sensors about the size of 12 Lego bricks. Your phone’s sensor is probably about half of one, according to CNET. 

But phones are catching up. Some have sensors the size of two Lego bricks. Meanwhile,  Xiaomi, the world’s third largest phone maker after Apple and Samsung, is developing one that lets you mount a Leica M lens. It’s been dubbed the “12S Ultra Concept Phone.”

In other news, LG Innotek is introducing a new telephoto zoom camera module at this month’s Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas. The module’s moving lenses will be similar to professional camera lenses, and can zoom in four to nine times. The new module will also offer optical stabilization. It’s coming soon to top-of-the-line phones.

I’m fine with the photos I take with my Motorola G Power, but a friend gave me an inexpensive Canon point-and-shoot. I have to admit it’s far superior.

Time Zone Confusion

I have friends and family in four time zones, so I just added a clock widget to my Android phone. Now the home screen shows the time in the three zones I use most. But I had to move a lot of icons out of the way first to make room.

If you want to add a widget to your Android, do a long press on a blank area of the home screen and look for a clock in the widget category. On an iPhone, touch and hold an empty area of the home screen until the apps jiggle. Then tap the add button and select a widget. Finally, choose a widget size, tap “add widget,” and tap “done.”

Transparent Keyboard

The “Finalmouse Centerpiece Keyboard” is like typing on a brilliant computer screen. The keys have ghostly outlines that rest atop either videos or graphic illustrations. It’s powered by its own CPU and GPU, so there’s no resource drain. Check it out on YouTube. Cost: $349.

Password Conundrum

In 2017, Bill Burr, the bureaucrat who came up with our current password requirements, admitted that his system is not the best. His password rule requires at least one upper case letter, one lower case, one number and one symbol. The idea came from a white paper written in the 1980s, before we even had a web. Using this method, people tend to create easy-to-remember and easy-to-solve passwords, like “IluvU2honE,” though the most common password of 2022 is “password,” followed by “123456.” Some experts suggest using four mismatched words, such as “pine stapler yogurt celsius.” Those can take 500 years to crack. 

But the best passwords, says author Shelly Palmer, contain 18 random characters with letters, numbers and symbols. Those probably can’t be solved for 439 trillion years. I prefer a friend’s last name, a favorite author or teacher, a number and a symbol. 

Giving Away an Old Computer

 “I got a new computer for Christmas,” a reader wrote. “Is there a free program to securely remove all the data from my old one?”

Yes there is, and it comes with Windows. To find it, type “Recovery” into the search box in the lower left of your screen. When it comes up, click “Getting Started” under “Reset this PC,” and then choose “remove everything.”  If you have a Windows XP or WIndows 7 computer, choose  “factory reset” instead. Either way, the new recipient of your old machine will get a fresh copy of Windows plus all the apps that came with it.

I’ve also been asked about a place to drop off a computer without being charged. I suggest Goodwill or Habitat for Humanity.

Epson Waves Goodbye to Laser Printers

Epson recently stepped out of the laser printer market because inkjets are more eco-friendly.

According to CNET, inkjet printers use up to 85% less energy than laser printers and produce 75 percent less carbon dioxide. They have 59 percent fewer replacement parts.

Of all the inkjets I’ve tried, the Epson Ecotank printer stands out. Instead of tiny cartridges that end up in landfills, it uses five-inch long bottles of ink. These last a long time. My Ecotank ET-2803 All-in-One, $230 at Target, came with enough ink to print 4,500 pages in black and 7,500 pages in color. Refills will save me 90 percent of what I would normally spend on cartridges.

Why You Should Still Use DVDs

If you find yourself paying too much for streaming services, consider the DVD or Blu Ray disk, with movies from the library. You can get a great Blu Ray/DVD player from Sony for about $80 on Amazon, and the videos you play on it will look even better than what you can stream, according to ReviewGeek. In addition, Blu Ray offers interviews with the stars, extra footage and commentary. Your favorite series will continue basically forever, even after they’ve left HBO and Netflix.

Internut

Neil.fun is a fun website with an asteroid launcher, an iPhone designer, a “spend Bill Gates money” game, a baby map that flashes a location every time a baby is born anywhere in the world and more. I got close to spending Gates’ $100 billion by choosing over a hundred Boeing 747s, lots of $45 million dollar mansions, exotic cars and cruise ships. With the asteroid launcher, I saw what would happen if an asteroid hit Chicago. It’s not pretty.

Filed under: apps, cameras, DVD, environment, Internuts, keyboards, passwords, printer