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Thursday, November 20, 2014
Learn to use your smart phone to make amazing pictures
Wednesday, November 19, 2014
November News - News from TRI
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Pictured here is the Beast's Ballroom, a luxurious dining room in the Beast's French-styled castle in Disney's Fantasyland. Reservations for this restaurant, Be Our Guest, are difficult to obtain, but with patience you can wait for a table. As we carried the Lumiere candelabra through the palace rooms in search of our table, we were awed by the scale of the estate. Also impressive is the menu and varied wine selection considering alcohol is unusual at the Magic Kingdom. Highlighting the evening was the entrance of our host, the 8' Beast himself, entering the dining hall and taking a bow to the cheers and applause of everyone, young and old alike. It was by all accounts a thrilling honor. If you are skeptical, make the journey with a nine-year-old princess. | In This Issue | |
| November 2014 | Wacom Cintiq 24HD Iphone 6 Plus Dispatch Board | |
Welcome to News from trif.com! First time readers, I am glad you're here! Returning readers, welcome back! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone!
| Did you know we provide... Web hosting? | |
A Look at the Wacom Cintiq 24HD Touch Wacom has long been the choice of graphic pen tablets used by designers and artists alike. I have used these This is a world class 1920x1200 display monitor outfitted with a touch sensitive surface that is sensitive to 2048 levels of pen pressure along with varying degrees of tilt recognition. This means that you can draw as if you had a graphite pencil on a piece of paper. The monitor pen tablet connects as a second monitor to your PC or laptop using a single cable that has both a USB and an HDMI connector. The USB listens and the HDMI displays. What does this allow you to do? It opens the door to very precise graphic editing which can apply to drawing, painting, design, photographic editing and post production work. The key is precision. You can do all these things with a mouse, but it is difficult at best. For example, in photography post-production, you may need to remove a hair from a person's face, or a power line from a landscape. Using the spot healing brush in Photoshop, you can trace the line and it will disappear. Using a mouse, it is difficult. Using a pen on a tablet, it becomes a simple task. Just so you know, you don't need to spend $2,500, a 13" model is available for under $1,000.
| TRIF.COM Technology solutions are a part of doing business just like sales and marketing, It is an important component in servicing customers, managing costs and controlling operations. Our capabilities bridge database design and development, Internet services, network and computer sales and support, document imaging, bar code scanning, corporate communications, fax and email programs, mobile applications, cloud computing and help desk services. Interested in taking a step forward with technology? Looking to take advantage of the latest advances? Or just want to take advantage of your new computer? | |
iPhone 6 Plus The new iPhone 6 and especially the 6 Plus, what is called a phablet, are sleek and as pretty as any Apple product. What inspired me to upgrade The iPhone 6 Plus sports an 8 megapixel camera with optical image stabilization capable of some wonderful HDR images as well as 240 frames per second video. The result is very high quality images and slow motion video. The camera will also shoot excellent panoramic, square, standard and time delay photos. The editing features that now exist in IOS 8.1 are quite capable. Added to the list of editing are aspect ratio cropping and adjustments to saturation, contrast, cast, exposure, highlights, shadows, brightness, blacks, intensity, tone and grain. You might ask, can you watch a movie on such a small screen? The answer is generally a resounding yes, but certainly depends on the movie. Would I select this device as my screen of choice for a full length movie? No, but I frequently use it as my go-to video option for educational, instructional, Youtube or video shorts. It is large enough and in fact, quite beautiful. I will say that the size of the 6 Plus is more than one hand can handle comfortably. It is a two-hand phone. Drivers take head! Do not text with this phone while driving. Lastly, the comments regarding the phone bending are over blown. The phone is quite sturdy. If you put it in your back pocket and sat down at a picnic table, you might find that it was not intended to meet the contours of your butt. Don't sit on the phone.
| TRI is a Specializing in deploying Outlook | |
Time to Rethink Your Dispatch Board This past month, we created an automated dispatch board for a client to suit a 70 inch HD Smart TV. That is a screen more than five feet wide. No more writing slips, tickets, It can be completely customized for any of our logistics applications. Add the fields needed in the sequence desired. Assign special colors to identify service, commodity or status. Flash status when action is urgent. The application is in fact a web app tied to the necessary tables in the SQL Server database. The display refreshes every few seconds, keeping the information real-time. Records are listed and sorted according to the needs of the client. Watch for the sales coming up. Although prices are generally between $1,500 and $2,500, they can be had for under $1,500 and the resolution and clarity is excellent. Consider throwing away those cards, tickets and post-it notes - permanently!
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Nuts and Bolts Have you ever wanted to schedule an email to be sent? In Outlook, you can with a little known feature in the Options tab Use it for messages you want to be recieved on a particular date/time but don't plan on being close to your email at that time you want it sent -- or if you want to say something tomorrow, but want to forget about it today. Hope you enjoyed this new feature - Nuts and Bolts. Please let us know!
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pen tablets, they are like an extremely accurate mouse with a familiar feel. What I have been waiting for is a large screen touch and pen sensitive tablet compatible with Adobe Photoshop. I believe Wacom has delivered with the Cintiq 24HD Touch Graphic Monitor. 
was the screen resolution on the 6 Plus which matches your desktop; 1920 x 1080. That is full retina HD quality in a 5.5" display. That is resolution at 401 pixels per inch (PPI). Phenomenal. And it is incredibly bright. In comparison tests, it is far more brilliant than the Samsung Galaxy which sports greater resolution and PPI. 
or magnetic strips. No more ugly magnetic boards. It is more efficient, better looking, easier to adjust or edit and viewable on any device - not just the 70" screen. The same dispatch board can be viewed on any screen any where in the world. 
of Outlook called Delay Delivery. It allows you to delay the sending of an email until a particular date and time. The email will sit in your Outbox until it is time for it to be sent. Test this before you put it into action. I found some inconsistencies with date scheduling but it worked like a charm for times. But keep in mind that the message will be timestamped the time you create it, not the time it was actually sent.
Copyright ©2014 TRI
All Rights Reserved
All Photographs Copyright ©2014 by Robert McKay Jones unless otherwise credited
Artists Sketch by Bruce Davidson
This document is provided for informational purposes only.
The information contained in this document represents the views of Robert McKay Jones and Transportation Resources, Inc.
All information provided in this document is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind, either express or implied.
The reader assumes the entire risk as to the accuracy and the use of this document.
Permission to use the words in this document for commercial purposes usually is granted. However, commercial use requires advance authorization.
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Tuesday, October 14, 2014
October News - News from TRI
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Ansacomet Pond, also known as Comet Pond in Hubbardston, MA is a 127 acre cold water pond noted for its trout. It is stocked with brown and rainbow trout and when available, broodstock salmon. You will also find large and small mouth bass, perch, bluegills, smelt and shiners. The pond however is infertile so fish will not find good forage. That said, the undeveloped east shore is breathtaking right about now. Don't you agree? | In This Issue | |
| October 2014 | Create Your Own Website Space Problems Be an Author Too | |
Welcome to News from trif.com! First time readers, I am glad you're here! Returning readers, welcome back!
| TRIF.COM Technology solutions are a part of doing business just like sales and marketing, It is an important component in servicing customers, managing costs and controlling operations. Our capabilities bridge database design and development, Internet services, network and computer sales and support, document imaging, bar code scanning, corporate communications, fax and email programs, mobile applications, cloud computing and help desk services. Interested in taking a step forward with technology? Looking to take advantage of the latest advances? Or just want to take advantage of your new computer? | |
Create Your Own Website - Free I have gone back to school part time to get better at Photography. I am taking a Portrait Photography class which requires We are using a web service called Weebly. Weebly is a very basic template based web application that allows anyone with very little training or experience to create a web site instantly. Sign up at www.weebly.com and create a home page and 4 additional pages at no charge. You start by selecting the type of site, blog or store, then you select a theme. You can create your own domain name for a charge or use a sub-domain of weebly.com. For example, my site for my class is robertmckayjones.weebly.com or another I am creating to display photographs of Sterling, Massachusetts. If you want to create more than 5 pages or add more advanced features, you can subscribe for as little as $3.29 per month and for as much as $19.54 per month. You can even set up an ecommerce store. Give it a try. Let me know if you create a site!
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C-Drive is Running Out of Space The C-Drive is a throw back to the first PC's when the A and B drives were reserved for floppy diskettes. Some things never change. Now that the C Drive is the primary drive on every PC, space is essential and depending on how big your
Lastly, call for help! If all else fails, give us a call and we will help! | TRI is a Specializing in deploying Outlook | |
You Can Be An Author Too This past month, I self-published my first photographic book. I produced it with software provided free of charge from Blurb.com. You can too! When I travelled to Sedona, Arizona earlier this year, I took more than 2,500 photographs. Over the With the BookSmart software, you can select the type of book, layout template and then go to work. Create the cover page, add credits and dedications, and add information about the author. Place pictures on pages, arrange them, size them, write captions or add thoughts. Page after page, you review your work as you go. Move things around. Delete, add, delete again. And then you begin the publishing process. This is where the local copy of your book is uploaded to the blurb.com web site and processed. This takes a little time, but when done, you can review your final published book. I did this. Eight times! Because every time I reviewed it, I saw another glaring mistake. And even after I received my hard cover book (you have to order at least one), I found 2 more typographic errors.. It was actually a great experience but after producing the first book, I have just a few thoughts to share. These are things I will remember when I publish my next book, Alaska - The Inland Passage which will be available later in November.
It is a very rewarding experience, after all, it is a permanent record of your creation. Once produced, you can offer your book as a hard cover, a PDF, or an eBook for an Apple iPad or iPhone. Good luck. Please let me know if you take the plunge! My book is for sale on blurb.com. Click here.
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Have an Emergency? Need Support Now? Email: support@trif.com | ||
students to create a website and post pictures we have taken and developed for class. 
hard drive is and how the builder of your computer partitioned your hard drive, space may become a problem over time. Your disk fills up with files over time and keeping it clean can sometimes become an arduous task. Here are a few tips to pickup some space when you are in a jam.
Copyright ©2014 TRI
All Rights Reserved
All Photographs Copyright ©2014 by Robert McKay Jones unless otherwise credited
Artists Sketch by Bruce Davidson
This document is provided for informational purposes only.
The information contained in this document represents the views of Robert McKay Jones and Transportation Resources, Inc.
All information provided in this document is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind, either express or implied.
The reader assumes the entire risk as to the accuracy and the use of this document.
Permission to use the words in this document for commercial purposes usually is granted. However, commercial use requires advance authorization.
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Tuesday, September 16, 2014
September News - News from TRI
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A number of years back we built a pond in our back yard. As it turned out, it was one of the best additions to our home we ever made. All year, our little brook carries water down a rocky path and falls briskly into the pond. What a glorious sound. Over the years, we have hosted koi, gold fish, dragon flies, frogs, tad poles, water spiders, mink (they ate our koi), water iris and the most wonderful lilies. A new family of frogs are growing up among the flotilla of leaves. It is a lesson in meditation to sit at pond edge in stillness waiting to catch a glimpse of a frogs tongue snap up its prey. | In This Issue |
| September 2014 | GeoReminder If This Then That Word Press Plug-ins |
Welcome to News from trif.com! First time readers, I am glad you're here! Returning readers, welcome back!
| TRIF.COM Technology solutions are a part of doing business just like sales and marketing, It is an important component in servicing customers, managing costs and controlling operations. Our capabilities bridge database design and development, Internet services, network and computer sales and support, document imaging, bar code scanning, corporate communications, fax and email programs, mobile applications, cloud computing and help desk services. Interested in taking a step forward with technology? Looking to take advantage of the latest advances? Or just want to take advantage of your new computer? |
GeoReminder and more... Have you ever made a trip to Home Depot and forgotten 4 of the 12 things you needed or walked the aisles of the grocery You can add reminders based on the geographic location of destinations. So not only can you keep a list of things you need, you can connect that item to a location. You can tag Home Depot as a location and add to-do's associated to that location. The next time you visit Home Depot, a reminder will pop-up, much like the graphic to the left that reminds you to pick up a screwdriver or whatever it is you need. Keep in mind, for this App to work, you will need location services turned on at all times. The downside here is that GPS can drain your battery faster than normal. It makes no difference if you use an Android or an iPhone, there are Apps available for either. Here is an Apple option. Here is an Android option. Slowly but surely, Apps are taking our excuses away from forgetting anything!
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If This Then That In researching GeoReminder, I also stumbled upon a very clever web application based on the common exercise if-then or. If this then For example, what if you wanted to automatically save every gmail attachments to your Dropbox folder. First you need to link IFTTT with your gmail account and also your Dropbox account. Then you can set up an IFTTT RECIPE that will look at your gmail as it arrives and if there is an attachment, the attachment will be extracted from the email and copied to a folder in your Dropbox account called IFTTT\GMAIL. You can set up recipe's using web applications, but also text messaging, time clock or Microsoft OneNote. The recipe will look like this: You can use IFTTT for a huge number of automated events. Here is a short list:
IFTTT.COM is set up to interact with partnered applications or channels. Here is a complete list. Put your imagination to work on this one. It is really very cool indeed. |  |
WordPress Plug-ins I have written about WordPress before, but today I wanted to write about Plug-ins. Plug-ins are applications that you can
My favorites and what I would consider must-haves depending on your circumstances are:
If you would like to create your own WordPress web site or are looking for some assistance, please let us know.
| TRI is a Specializing in deploying Outlook |
Have an Emergency? Need Support Now? Email: support@trif.com | |
that is really quite clever. A trigger results in an action. IFTTT calls this a recipe. 
download and implement on your WordPress site. There are more than 33,000 of these plug-ins and most of them are nominally priced. If you have your own WordPress site or are looking to create one, check out these sites for plug-in recommendations. These sites will also help you with Themes and other things you might want to learn, like PHP:
Copyright ©2014 TRI
All Rights Reserved
All Photographs Copyright ©2014 by Robert McKay Jones unless otherwise credited
Artists Sketch by Bruce Davidson
This document is provided for informational purposes only.
The information contained in this document represents the views of Robert McKay Jones and Transportation Resources, Inc.
All information provided in this document is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind, either express or implied.
The reader assumes the entire risk as to the accuracy and the use of this document.
Permission to use the words in this document for commercial purposes usually is granted. However, commercial use requires advance authorization.
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