Sony's new Full-frame DSLR

Wow!

It looks like Sony is serious about their DSLRs. They just announced the DSLR-A850, a full-frame camera, usually reserved for the advanced or professional photographer.

The DSLR-A850 uses the same 24.6 Mp sensor and features of the Sony A900 introduced last year. The ultra-bright viewfinder with 98% field of view coverage and 0.74x magnification enables accurate framing and preview. With the HDMI output and Photo TV HD mode, your creative output can be enjoyed on an HD television.

The a850 (model DSLR-A850) will be available in September for about $2,000 (body only) along with related accessories. All a900 accessories are compatible with the a850 camera, including the dedicated vertical grip (model VG-C90AM). The SAL2875 lens will be available in November for about $800

“Sony is bringing the benefits of a full-frame digital SLR camera to a broader group of consumers,” said Kristen Elder, director of the Digital Imaging business at Sony Electronics. “The α850 strengthens Sony's alpha DSLR line, which now offers models in each step from high-end professional down to the amateur enthusiast.”

Canon T1i

Here’s a review of the new Canon T1i digital camera. An update to the popular XSi, this new model has ‘almost’ the same image sensor as the 50D. Click the image for a quote from Amazon.

“We tested a final production Canon EOS 500D / Rebel T1i running firmware version 1.0.9. Following our convention of testing cameras using their factory default settings unless otherwise stated, the EOS 500D / T1i was set to Large Fine JPEG quality, Auto White Balance, Evaluative metering and the Standard Picture Style; High ISO Noise Reduction and the Auto Lighting Optimiser were set to their default Standard settings, except in our High ISO noise tests page where the latter was disabled as it can introduce noise. Highlight Tone Priority was disabled apart from during our specific tests of the feature. Image Stabilisation was enabled for all handheld shots and disabled for tripod-based tests.”

Read the full review here.

T1i Features:

• New 15.1-megapixel CMOS sensor with DIGIC 4 Image Processor
• Includes Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS lens
• Full HD video capture at 1920 x 1080 resolution; HDMI output
• 3.0-inch Clear View LCD; Live View Function for stills (Quick, Live and Face Detection AF modes) and video
• Capture images and video to SD/SDHC memory cards (not included)

Canon T1i

Canon T1i Review

Another review of the new Canon T1i DSLR has been posted on the web, this time from Steve’s Digicams. An update to the popular XSi, this new model has almost the same image sensor as the 50D. Click the image for more views of this camera and a quote from Amazon.

“...we are very pleased with Canon's Latest Digital Rebel. The T1i offers some very powerful features that have been handed down from its big brothers, the Canon EOS 50D and EOS 5D Mark II. This camera possesses a high degree of appeal with loads of exposure options, and class leading ISO capabilities, performance, and image quality. With a sticker price of US $799.99 for the body only or US $899.99 with the Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS zoom lens, we feel the Canon Rebel T1i / EOS 500D offers a very competitive price for a camera that delivers so much.”

Read the full review here.

T1i Features:

• -New 15.1-megapixel CMOS sensor with DIGIC 4 Image Processor
• -Includes Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS lens
• -Full HD video capture at 1920 x 1080 resolution; HDMI output
• -3.0-inch Clear View LCD; Live View Function for stills (Quick, Live and Face Detection AF modes) and video
• -Capture images and video to SD/SDHC memory cards (not included)

Camera Effective Pixels Approx 12.1 Million pixels (CCD)

Lens Focal Length (35 mm film equivalent) 20x zoom: 28(W) - 560(T) mm

Dimensions (excluding protrusions)
124.0 x 88.3 x 86.9 mm (4.88 x 3.48 x 3.42 in.)

Weight (camera body only)
Approx. 560g (19.8oz.)

Others (Differences)
Blink detection, Enhanced i-Contrast, Scroll Display, Index Playback with a variable number of images, Rotate images (always on), Folder Creation (limited type), Hints and Tips display

STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO BUILDING A SUCCESSFUL WEBSITE

Does your website make you money?

My website does.

I've built several successful websites, actually, and this 2-part article shows the steps I take when creating a profitable website.

I can't guarantee *your* success, obviously, but the article's based on the checklist I use to create my own websites. (I've built sites using it for over a year now, to make sure it works!) So, hopefully, you can use this step- by-step guide to create YOUR very own successful site.

Anyway, let's begin.

== Aside == The article assumes that you can design websites - you know about HTML, JavaScript, Perl/CGI, page design and usability etc. - or you know someone who can design websites.

If you can't design websites, then I suggest you visit The Newbie Club to learn about HTML etc. (or buy a web design book from Amazon). Or you could visit Site Build It! and let this all-in-one tool do (almost) everything for you (i.e. there's no need for you to have any techie skills whatsoever). Or you can simply pass this information onto a web designer of your choice! :-) - http://www.newbieclub.com - http://www.site-buildit.com" target="www.site-buildit.com">http://www.site-buildit.com == Aside ==

==> 1. Do keyword research

Lets begin at the beginning. What will your site be about?

Ideally, the site should contain information about something you're interested in, or passionate about. (Then building and maintaining your site won't feel like work, it will feel like fun.) Even better, there should be a strong demand for your site content (or product/service), with little or no competition.

Wordtracker - *the* keyword research tool - lets you determine exactly this.

Basically, Wordtracker tells you the keywords people type into search engines like Google, that have few (if any) competing websites.

You can use the free trial at Wordtracker, but if you're serious I recommend you use the full version of the online tool for (costs less than $10 for a days usage).

- http://www.wordtracker.com

==> 2. Register your domain name

Register your domain name, preferably containing your keywords (as determined above).

You can register domain names in many places online. The best places to do so, depend on the type of domain name you want to register (e.g. .com or .co.uk or .de etc.).

I've used the following registration resources and can recommend them all: - http://www.nameboy.com - http://www.godaddy.com - http://www.orderyourdomains.com - http://www.freeparking.co.uk - http://www.supanames.co.uk

==> 3. Build useful content

Useful content? This could mean informative articles, tips, or product reviews that inform and educate the people who visit your site.

And that's where your passion comes in.

Because of your passion for the subject matter of your website, you can provide detailed tips and advice, not found anywhere else. Add humour, or reflect your unique personality in the content, and you have a site that people may want to visit.

Do make sure that you check content for spelling mistakes and poor grammar. Sloppy spilling (!) etc. always spoils a website.

Four examples of sites that offer useful content: - http://www.selfpromotion.com (Site promotion; quirky) - http://www.willmaster.com (About Perl/CGI) - http://www.clickbankguide.com (About Clickbank) - http://www.jessett.com (* - see below)

* I recommend you take a look at the last example. Why? Because it's a step-by-step guide to creating a web site!

==> 4. Try and capture your visitors' e-mail address

It's important to stay in touch with your site visitors; they may never return to your site, if you don't.

The most obvious way to capture e-mail addresses - and hence stay in touch - is to offer a newsletter (e-zine) related to your site. But you can capture email addresses in many other ways - e.g. competitions, e-mail courses, site membership - just be creative.

This article explains how to write a newsletter - http://www.HowIPromoteMyWebsite.com/publish-news

This ebook (not free!) explains how to think creatively when it comes to email capture - http://www.list-machine.com

And this software lets you send newsletters, e-mail courses, auto responders - you name it - for one single payment. (There's now a free trial, too!) - http://www.autoresponseplus.com

==> 5. Monitor your site stats

You must know how many visitors your website gets, where they come from, and what pages they view.

And this means that you must have access to your website stats. (Otherwise, how will you know what your visitors really like, and what they don't like, about your site, other than by asking them, of course - see part 2 of this article!)

To learn more, just read these two articles about website stats and tracking your visitors:

- Analyse Your Website Traffic: http://www.HowIPromoteMyWebsite.com/web-traffic

- Learn From Your Visitors Using Cookies: http://www.HowIPromoteMyWebsite.com/cookies.html

~~~

In part 2, you'll learn about hosting, promoting and automating the site creation process. And you'll read about some extra considerations that help make a website successful.

Part 2 continues here... http://www.anyonecansellonline.com/build-a-website-2.html

C Copyright 2002-2004 Steve Nash. All Rights Reserved.

=============================

BUILD A SUCCESSFUL WEBSITE ON AUTOMATIC, use Site Build It! This unique, all-in-one tool does your keyword research, registers your domain, hosts your website, helps you build site content, includes e-zine and autoresponder, offers site stats, AND even promotes your website... Visit this FREE guide to learn more http://www.site-buildit.com


More articles on WEB-BUILDING

Step-by-Step Guide to Unlock iPhone 3G

Step-by-Step Guide to Unlock iPhone 3G

The iPhone dev team released the much awaited software solution to unlock iPhone 3G so that users can use any GSM carrier's SIM, a perfect New Year gift for all those waiting to unlock their iPhone 3G.

Here is a detailed step-by-step guide to unlock iPhone 3G using Dev team's yellowsn0w application.

Some important points to note before we start:

Hacking your iPhone could void its warranty.

Dev team's yellowsn0w application is still in beta and has not worked for all iPhone 3G users but they are working hard to fix the issues and have been releasing new versions of their application.

• Since one of the important requirements to unlock iPhone 3G is to upgrade to iPhone firmware 2.2 (as it exclusivley works with baseband firmware 02.28.00 which comes bundled with firmware 2.2), you need to be aware that iPhone firmware 2.2 breaks Turbo SIM (in case you are using it) - the hardware method to unlock iPhone 3G so if Dev team's software method which is still in beta does not work you might not be able to use your iPhone 3G.
• This step-by-step guide is exclusively to unlock iPhone 3G. We haven't tried it with the 1st generation iPhone. We would sugges you use QuickPwn to unlock the 1st gen iPhone.
• The current version of yellowsn0w does not support SIMs with PIN enabled. So please disable any PIN you may have on that SIM before using this guide. The Dev team are currently working to support SIMs with PIN so this is a temporary limitation.
• Please note this guide does not work for baseband 02.30.03.
  
• If you want to know if Dev team's unlocking solution has worked for your carrier, please check the Yellowsn0w report.

Preparatory steps before unlocking your iPhone 3G:

• Dev team's unlocking solution works exclusively with baseband firmware 02.28.00 which comes bundled with firmware 2.2, so you will need to upgrade your iPhone 3G to iPhone firmware 2.2 without preserving its baseband and jailbreak it. You can check your firmware and modem firmware(baseband) versions via Settings->General->About and look for Version and Modem Firmware. iPhone 3G firmware Version should be 2.2 (5G77) and Modem Firmware should be 02.28.00.
• You need to first jailbreak your iPhone 3G to unlock it. You can checkout this simple step-by-step guide to jailbreak iPhone 3G using QuickPwn for Mac users or this step-by-step guide to jailbreak iPhone 3G using QuickPwn for Windows users.

Once your iPhone 3G running iPhone firmware 2.2 (with baseband firmware 02.28.00) is jailbroken, you are ready to unlock iPhone 3G.

Unlock iPhone 3G using yellowsn0w:

1. Launch Cydia from your iPhone 3G's home screen.
2. You need to add the source of the yellowsn0w application. So tap Manage, one of the tabs at the bottom and then tap Sources.



3. Tap the “Edit” button on the top-right corner of the screen.



4. Then tap on the “Add” button on the top-left corner of the screen.



5. You’ll be prompted to add a Cydia/APT URL. Enter http://apt9.yellowsn0w.com/ as the source URL for the yellowsn0w application and then tap the "Add Source" button.



6. Once the source has been added press the "Return to Cydia" button at the bottom of the screen.



7. Then tap the "Done" button at the top-right of the screen. This completes the steps to add the source for the yellowsn0w application so you can install it.



8. Tap on the apt9.yellowsn0w.com source that was just added from the list of sources.



9. Tap on apt9.yellowsn0w.com again from the list of packages.



10. You will get an option to install the yellowsn0w application. Tap the "Install" button on the top-right corner of the screen.



11. Tap the "Confirm" button on the top-right corner of the screen.



12. This will install the yellowsn0w application, you will see the progress on the next screen and the "Return to Cydia" button will come up once installation is complete.



13. Tap on the "Return to Cydia" button and press the "Home" button on your iPhone 3G to go back to the home screen.
14. You need to reboot your iPhone 3G so that the yellowsn0w application which is a small daemon is launched on boot up. Press the “Sleep” button and hold it until you see the “Slide to power off” message. Then slide to switch off the iPhone.
15. Once your iPhone 3G has shutdown, insert the desired SIM card and restart your iPhone 3G.
16. Once your iPhone boots up and you see the “Slide to Unlock” screen, wait for around 10 to 15 seconds (may be more) to see if your iPhone 3G picks up the carrier signal.
17. The Dev team has reported that there is a known issue with SIM cards that have STK (SIM Toolkit) application menus. So if your iPhone 3G doesn't pick up the carrier signal after reboot then try to try to pull out the SIM card and re-insert it, wait for another 10 - 15 seconds and see if your iPhone 3G picks up the signal of the carrier.

If it does then you have successfully unlocked your iPhone 3G.

Some Tips to unlock iPhone 3G if the above procedure does not work:

If the above guide did not unlock your iPhone 3G, then try some of the workarounds mentioned below as it has helped some readers to successfully unlock their iPhone 3G.

Method 1 (via Hackint0sh):

1. Airplane mode on.
2. Airplane mode off, you should see "searching" and should pick up the carrier's signal.

Method 2 (via Hackint0sh):

1. Launch Moble terminal app (you can install it via Cydia).
2. Type yellowsn0w -r wait for a moment 10 sec
3. Type yellowsn0w -c wait for a moment 10 sec if you get NO SERVICE wait until u get 5 dot and run it again if you don't encounter NO SERVICE just run next command
4. Type yellowsn0w -r
5. Type yellowsn0w -a if you get busy message in under 15 sec and don't see NO SERVICE it's unsucesfull and you have to do -r and -a again until it loads to NO SERVICE and wait untill it changes to 5 dots and wait for 10sec
6. Airplane mode on (keep it in that mode for more than 10 seconds)
7. Airplane mode off, you should see "searching" and should pick up the carrier's signal.

If that didn't help:

1. Type yellowsn0w -r once and after 5 sec wait 1 min.
2. Airplane mode on (keep it in that mode for more than 10 seconds).
3. Airplane mode off, you should see "searching" and should pick up the carrier's signal.

Note: Ignore the Unknown message (0xe3ff8000), the command still works even if you get it.

Method 3:

This was suggested by Anton, one of our readers (Thanks Anton!)

1. Install BossPrefs via Cydia.
   
2. Disable all Functions with BossPrefs (don't worry if you can't disable EDGE)
   
3. Reboot your Phone with BossPrefs (not in the normally way - important!)
   
4. Wait 1.30 min when you see the Lockscreen.
   
5. Take out your Sim and re-insert it.
   
6. Wait a moment (30 seconds).
   
7. Go on Settings and Turn on the Airplane mode (keep it in that mode for more than 10 seconds).
   
8. Turn off Airplane Mode.
9. Your iPhone 3G should pick up the carrier's signal.

Method 4 (via YouTube, user reda92):

1. Reset Network Settings. 99% of your success rate will depend on this. (You can find this in settings - general and to the bottom you'll see a "reset" menu in which you can find this)
   
2. Reboot your iPhone
   
3. Wait a little over a min.
   
4. Remove your SIM card and re-insert it back in
   
5. Wait 30 sec.
   
6. Turn on Airplane mode and wait 10 sec. (This is important as well)
7. Turn of Airplane mode, you should see "searching" and should pick up the carrier's signal.

If these workarounds did not help unlock your iPhone 3G, then report the problem to the Dev team using this link.

Update (Jan 7th, 2009):

Dev Team have updated their yellowsn0w app to unlock iPhone 3G. It fixes even more problems.

Please don't forget to drop us a line to tell us if you were able to successfully unlock your iPhone 3G using this guide or the workarounds. If you have any tips for fellow readers don't forget to mention them in the comments as well.