http://www.kickstartnews.com/index.html Tech news, software reviews, hardware reviews, electronics reviews, tech book reviews for home, SOHO and small business en-us Tue, 20 Mar 2007 22:30:00 EST Tue, 20 Mar 2007 22:30:00 EST http://www.kickstartnews.com/kickstartnews.xml UltraEdit-32 v13 editor@kickstartnews.com info@kickstartnews.com http://www.kickstartnews.com/reviews/hardware/nikon_d80_slr.html Nikon has hit another home run by developing and releasing one of the most versatile, high quality digital SLRs available today. Is it for you? Is it too much camera? Thu, 15 Feb 2007 08:00:00 EST http://www.kickstartnews.com/reviews/hardware/nikon_d80_slr.html http://www.kickstartnews.com/reviews/hardware/kata_t214_gdc_torso_pack.html Carrying around a serious digital SLR is not laughing matter. They're heavy. Sling them around your neck and walk around for an hour or two to feel what we mean. But there are camera bags available which don't require endless rounds of mounting and dismounting, and which provide fast access to your gear all setup and ready to shoot. Thu, 15 Feb 2007 08:10:00 EST http://www.kickstartnews.com/reviews/hardware/kata_t214_gdc_torso_pack.html http://www.kickstartnews.com/reviews/utilities/jetaudio_628_vx_plus.html Does jetAudio Plus VX really stand up to the feature and function sets of iTunes, Windows Media Player and Cyberlink's suite of players? What about QuickTime? The fact is, there are alternative outside the mainstream which do quite well. Is this one for you? Thu, 15 Feb 2007 08:15:00 EST http://www.kickstartnews.com/reviews/utilities/jetaudio_628_vx_plus.html http://www.kickstartnews.com/reviews/utilities/norton_internet_security_2007.html We don't know why Symantec keeps changing things around in Norton. The user interface seems to be improving though, and the antivirus component is as good as ever. But some things are missing. Sun, 18 Feb 2007 07:00:00 EST http://www.kickstartnews.com/reviews/utilities/norton_internet_security_2007.html http://www.kickstartnews.com/reviews/books/practical_zone_system_4th_ed_johnson.html All great photographers use techniques honed by years of experience. The great Ansel Adams was no different. His visionary work was based on a healthy dose of raw talent and an equally healthy dose of sound technique. His Practical Zone System is renowned. Mon, 19 Feb 2007 22:00:00 EST http://www.kickstartnews.com/reviews/books/practical_zone_system_4th_ed_johnson.html http://www.kickstartnews.com/reviews/books/essential_color_manual_photographers.html The use of color and light are the two of the most important tools in the pursuit of modern digital photography. Without a thorough understanding of color and light, the very best photographs are frequently not possible unless you're real lucky real often. Mon, 19 Feb 2007 22:10:00 EST http://www.kickstartnews.com/reviews/books/essential_color_manual_photographers.html http://www.kickstartnews.com/reviews/graphics/noiseware_professional_plugin.html Digital photography, for professionals and amateurs alike, to some extent also means a battle with visual noise. When we all used film, we grappled with the effects of film grain, but now it's noise. Digital camera sensors are getting better and better at eliminating noise. But for now this Photoshop compatible plugin can work wonders in the right hands. Tue, 20 Feb 2007 23:05:00 EST http://www.kickstartnews.com/reviews/graphics/noiseware_professional_plugin.html http://www.kickstartnews.com/reviews/graphics/portraiture_101_plugin.html The world of photo retouching has always been somewhat removed from the mainstream. In fact, professional retouchers get paid a lot of money to make things look much nicer than they ever were in real life. Can a Photoshop compatible plugin do just as well? Tue, 20 Feb 2007 23:10:00 EST http://www.kickstartnews.com/reviews/graphics/portraiture_101_plugin.html http://www.kickstartnews.com/reviews/graphics/realgrain_101_plugin.html One of the great beauties inherent in film photography was the way in which film grain could be used to affect the look and feel of photographs. Digital photography, by definition, lacks anything resembling film grain. Leave it to smart programmers to figure out how to add it using a Photoshop compatible plugin. Tue, 20 Feb 2007 23:15:00 EST http://www.kickstartnews.com/reviews/graphics/realgrain_101_plugin.html http://www.kickstartnews.com/reviews/hardware/nikon_d40_digital_slr_camera.html Just imagine a reasonably priced, entry level digital SLR that allows you to make a smooth transition up from your feature and quality deficient point and shoot camera. It could happen. More important, the improvement in your photography just might prove to be absolutely delightful. Nikon knows what it's doing. Wed, 21 Feb 2007 20:15:00 EST http://www.kickstartnews.com/reviews/hardware/nikon_d40_digital_slr_camera.html http://www.kickstartnews.com/reviews/hardware/microsoft_zune.html Microsoft enters the portable media player battleground with a high quality but nonetheless flawed entry. The music, audio, video and FM radio playback is all fine. Nice screen and nice sound quality. While it might be a perfect choice for you, some notable problems exist. Fri, 23 Feb 2007 23:35:00 EST http://www.kickstartnews.com/reviews/hardware/microsoft_zune.html http://www.kickstartnews.com/reviews/graphics/bumpersticker_maker.html Updated Review: A terrific piece of software seems to get better every year. Enteractive has produced a lot of new content and templates. We love simple, effective software that just works. Mon, 26 Feb 2007 24:05:00 EST http://www.kickstartnews.com/reviews/graphics/bumpersticker_maker.html http://www.kickstartnews.com/reviews/education/essential_acoustic_guitar_dvd.html Learning to play the guitar with the help of your computer does not necessarily mean pressing keys to emulate plucked strings. Nope. Sometimes a good old fashioned interactive guitar lesson running on an interactive DVD does the trick much more effectively. Fri, 09 Mar 2007 21:45:00 EST http://www.kickstartnews.com/reviews/education/essential_acoustic_guitar_dvd.html http://www.kickstartnews.com/reviews/hardware/mediamvp_digital_multimedia_bridge.html Streaming audio, video, photo and Internet radio content from your PC to your TV and stereo has traditionally been a big pain the neck. It would help of course if somebody simply made a box which could talk to your TV, stereo and home network all at the same. This one has a couple of limits which may or may not affect you. In any case, it seems to work. Fri, 09 Mar 2007 21:45:00 EST http://www.kickstartnews.com/reviews/hardware/mediamvp_digital_multimedia_bridge.html http://www.kickstartnews.com/reviews/utilities/diskeeper_2007_pro_premier.html It's sometimes important to look in the mirror for the answers to problems which suddenly start plaguing your Windows PC. Sometimes too, especially when it comes to hard drive and operating system design, it's possible to do a whole bunch of things just right and still end up with problems. Diskeeper 2007 is much more than a simple drive defragmentation tool. Tue, 20 Mar 2007 22:30:00 EST http://www.kickstartnews.com/reviews/utilities/diskeeper_2007_pro_premier.html http://www.kickstartnews.com/reviews/productivity/mindmap_4.html The ability to describe a great idea is probably as important as the original idea itself. Basically, if you have a great plan or idea but no way of effectively describing it to someone else, it's going to be mighty difficult to make yourself heard. Mind mapping software and idea visualization tools are not new, but they've improved dramatically in recent years. ConceptDraw's MindMap 4 is a powerful and interesting entry in this busy product category. It's easy to use too. Tue, 20 Mar 2007 22:30:00 EST http://www.kickstartnews.com/reviews/productivity/mindmap_4.html http://www.kickstartnews.com/reviews/productivity/ultraedit32_professional.html While it's probably unwise to get all gooey over a text editor, some of this kind of software really is quite superior to its brethren. UltraEdit-32 has the distinction of being equally at home on programming, web development and writers' desktops. Wondering if it's really good enough to draw your attention away from whatever editor you're already using? Read the review. This is a very nice piece of software. Sun, 25 Mar 2007 22:35:00 EST http://www.kickstartnews.com/reviews/productivity/ultraedit32_professional.html http://www.kickstartnews.com/reviews/hardware/zonealarm_secure_wireless_router.html Some of my neighbors have absolutely no clue about how or why they should secure their wireless home routers. Some days the sniffers and squatters are lined up on the street, parked in front of certain houses, pumping away on open, unsecured wireless connections. One of the neighbors was recently warned by his ISP that any more spamming will result in termination of service. He came to me scratching his head in confusion. A dummy-proof router is needed. Sun, 25 Mar 2007 22:35:00 EST http://www.kickstartnews.com/reviews/hardware/zonealarm_secure_wireless_router.html http://www.kickstartnews.com/reviews/books/how_to_do_everything_with_your_digital_camera.html It's impossible to mess up a photo taken with any of the new high resolution digital cameras, right? Wrong. It's actually quite easy to mess up a photo opportunity, the photo itself and the photo processing afterward. Digital cameras can occasionally be baffling until you get straightened out by some good advice from a good book. Tue, 03 Apr 2007 22:30:00 EST http://www.kickstartnews.com/reviews/books/how_to_do_everything_with_your_digital_camera.html http://www.kickstartnews.com/reviews/hardware/nikon_coolpix_p5000.html Some of us are still bemoaning the demise of the prosumer digital camera category a couple of years ago. Although they never really went away entirely, Nikon and Canon certainly stopped producing prosumer models a couple of years ago. The Coopix P5000 is a small, brand new and suspiciously prosumer design though, so we were eager to put it through its paces. Tue, 03 Apr 2007 22:35:00 EST http://www.kickstartnews.com/reviews/hardware/nikon_coolpix_p5000.html http://www.kickstartnews.com/reviews/books/hands_on_guide_video_blogging_podcasting.html Come on now. You know you want to try blogging or podcasting. It's hard to figure out how to get started. Written blogs and audio podcasts seem straightforward enough mind you, but when you stir video into the pot, actually producing something interesting becomes a somewhat more intense effort. So what you really need may be a book to explain the whole process in plain and authoritative language. Tue, 03 Apr 2007 22:40:00 EST http://www.kickstartnews.com/reviews/books/hands_on_guide_video_blogging_podcasting.html http://www.kickstartnews.com/reviews/productivity/progecad_2007_professional.html The last time anybody looked at the price of AutoCAD, their eyes glazed over and they fell away in a dead faint. But price is not the only consideration. The power to lead almost every design and engineering project in the world makes AutoCAD the software to beat. So what if we told you there was something almost as good for a small fraction of the price? Tue, 03 Apr 2007 22:45:00 EST http://www.kickstartnews.com/reviews/productivity/progecad_2007_professional.html