Leave No Trace: How to Completely Erase Your Hard Drives, SSDs and Thumb Drives

Why Wipe Data Securely? Whether you are preparing to reuse a hard disk for another operating system, clear off your junk shelves by passing along outdated drives to a friend or relative, donate an old PC to a charity or school, discard a too-small USB drive or flash memory card, or repurpose an SSD, you don’t want to leave any information on the storage device. With stories abounding of identity theft aided by information lifted from discarded storage devices, you want devices you no longer plan to use to have no usable information when they head out the door. Why Erasing Files Is Not Enough Sure, you could erase the contents of the drive, but keep this in mind: the act of erasing a file does not remove it from a storage device. When you erase/delete a file from your computer, it’s not really gone until the areas of the disk it used are overwritten by new information. If you use the normal Windows delete function, the “deleted” file is sent to the Recycle Bin until the space it uses is required by other files. If you use Shift-Delete to bypass the Recycle Bin, the space occupied by the file is marked as available for other files. However, the file could be recovered days or even weeks later with third-party data recovery software. As long as the operating system does not reuse the space occupied by a file with another file, the “deleted” file can be recovered. With SSDs, the erased file situation is even more complex. SSDs store data in blocks rather than in sectors as with magnetic storage. Overwriting a block was previously used involves copying the contents of the block to cache, wiping the block’s contents, delete the block to be overwritten from cache, writing the new data to cache, and rewriting the block with the new data. As an SSD is used with files that are deleted or changed frequently, the performance can drop unless the drive (and operating system) support a technology called TRIM that wipes out deleted data blocks as soon as the file using the blocks is deleted. TRIM is supported by Windows 7 and by some late model SSDs, but not by older Windows versions. So, disk wiping can be both a security feature and a performance improvement strategy. Data Wiping Versus File Erasure While erasing files simply marks file space as available for reuse, data wiping overwrites all data space on a storage device, replacing useful data with garbage data. Depending upon the method used, the overwrite data could be zeros (also known as “zero-fill”) or could be various random patterns. Products that can be used for wiping hard disks might not be suitable for wiping other types of drives. In this article, we will look at methods for securely wiping hard disks, USB flash memory devices, flash memory cards, and SSDs. Zero-Fill a Hard Disk Time Needed: several hours (varies with size and speed of drive) Software: Hard disk utility software from your drive vendor Media: blank CD or floppy disk Although writing zeroes across the entire hard disk surface (aka “zero-filling”) is not sufficient to meet government data sanitation (disk wiping) standards such as DoD 5220.22-M or the more comprehensive Standards and Technologies (NIST) Special Publication 800-88, overwriting the entire hard disk prevents most types of data recovery from being successful. Here’s where to get zero-fill software from hard disk vendors: Hitachi Drive Fitness Test (see website for specific models supported) http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/support/download.htm#DFT Select the Erase Drive feature to zero-fill your hard disk Samsung HUtil (see website for specific models supported) http://www.samsung.com/global/business/hdd/support/utilities/Support_HUTIL.html Use Tool, Erase HDD to zero-fill your hard disk Seagate (including Maxtor) SeaTools for DOS (see website for specific models supported) http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/support/downloads/seatools Use Full Erase to zero-fill your hard disk Western Digital Data Lifeguard Diagnostics (select drive model for specific version recommended) http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?lang=en Use Write Zeros to drive to zero-fill your hard disk 1. Determine the brand and model of hard disk you want to overwrite. 2. Download a CD ISO image or a floppy disk image (depending upon your equipment) and use the image to create bootable media. The floppy disk image is self-contained: run it, insert a blank floppy disk when prompted, and the image is created on the disk. You will need to use a CD burning program that works with ISO images to convert the ISO image into a bootable CD. 3. Restart your computer with the bootable media you created in Step 2. 4. Select the hard disk to zero-fill when prompted. 5. Choose the option to zero-fill the hard disk. 6. When the program is finished, follow the on-screen instructions to shut down or restart your computer. 7. Remove the wiped hard disk; you can now reuse or recycle the hard disk. Secure Wiping a Hard Disk Secure wiping goes beyond zero-fill operations, and provides an extra level of security. Most secure wiping programs are designed to meet DoD 5220 standards, which require three passes of overwriting with a special numeric pattern and verification. More information about this and other secure standards are available from the DataErasure website. (Note that the 2007 revision of the Defense Security Service, Updated DSS Clearing and Sanitization Matrix (June 28, 2007) now recommends degaussing or drive destruction for maximum protection. Stanford University's Disk and Data Sanitization Policy and Guidelines, a must-read for understanding data wiping issues, recommends Darik's Boot and Nuke (DBAN) for secure hard disk wiping. Secure Wiping a Hard Disk with DBAN Time Needed: several hours (varies with size and speed of drive) Software: Darik's Boot and Nuke (DBAN); available from http://www.dban.org/ Media: blank CD (all versions) or floppy disk (version 1.0.7 and older versions) 1. Download the DBAN boot image ZIP file (we used version 1.0.7 and beta version 2.0 for this article); we downloaded the ISO image for CD burning, but a floppy disk builder is also available 2. Extract the contents of the compressed file. 3. Burn the ISO image file extracted in Step 2 to CD; see our article on how to do this, or use the built-in ISO CD image burning support in Windows 7. If you downloaded the floppy image builder, run the program to create a bootable floppy disk. 4. Restart the computer using the CD or floppy disk created in Step 3. 5. Press Enter to run DBAN in interactive mode. 6. Use up and down arrow keys to highlight the drive to wipe. 7. Press the space bar to select the drive. 8. Press M to select the wiping method. 9. Press F10 to begin the wipe process. 10. At the end of the process, shut down the system. You can reuse or recycle the wiped hard disk. Note: if DBAN is unable to recognize your SATA hard disks, configure your system BIOS to use IDE mode rather than AHCI mode. Wiping Flash Memory Cards and USB Drives Programs such as DBAN or vendor-supplied hard disk utilities are limited in the devices they support: they are designed to work with internal ATA/IDE or SATA hard disks only. Programs that work with flash memory cards and USB flash drives often support hard disks as well, enabling you to use a single program for all disk wiping processes. Roadkil's DataWipe can be used with any hard disk, floppy disk, or flash drive that has a drive letter. Wiping Flash Memory Cards with Roadkil's DiskWipe Time Needed: Varies; from a few minutes to several hours, depending upon size and speed of drive and computer Software: Roadkil's DiskWipe, available from http://www.roadkil.net/ Media: Can be run from Windows desktop 1. Download Roadkil's DiskWipe. 2. Extract the contents of the compressed file. 3. Open DiskWipe. If you are running Windows Vista or Windows 7, right-click the program icon and select Run as Administrator. 4. Select the drive to wipe. 5. Select the type of wipe to perform; DiskWipe can zero-fill the disk or write random data. 6. Enter the number of passes. 7. Click Erase to start the process. 8. At the end of the process, close the program. You can reuse the wiped disk. Wiping SSDs To solve write performance problems on drives that don't support TRIM (check with your drive vendor for firmware upgrades) is to use wiper.exe (included with some SSDs) or to run the Secure Erase feature supported in most recent ATA/IDE and SATA drives. The Secure Erase feature can be activated on many systems by running Secure Erase 4.0 (HDDerase.exe), available from http://cmrr.ucsd.edu/people/Hughes/SecureErase.shtml. Version 4.0 works with most recent ATA/IDE and SATA hard disks and SSDs, but if you use an Intel X-25M, X-25E, or X-18M SSD, follow this link to download Secure Erase 3.3 http://www.iishacks.com/index.php/2009/06/30/how-to-secure-erase-reset-an-intel-solid-state-drive-ssd/. Note that it is no longer being developed, and we were unable to use it on a system running an AMD 690 chipset. Wiping Drives and Free Space with SDelete SDelete is a free program from Microsoft’s TechNet Sysinternals collection. It runs from the command line, and can be used to wipe drives, wipe files, or wipe free space. Time Needed: Varies; from a few minutes to several hours, depending upon size and speed of drive and computer Software: TechNet Sysinternal's SDelete, available from http://technet.microsoft.com Media: Can be run from Windows desktop 1. Download SDelete. 2. Extract the contents of the compressed file. 3. Copy sdelete.exe to c:\windows\system32\ (this will enable you to run it from any location) 4. Open a command prompt session with Administrator rights. 5. To wipe all files on drive X: and its subdirectories and to wipe free space, enter Sdelete -p 2 –s -z X:\*.* (to see all command-line switches, enter Sdelete with no options) 6. Wait; the program displays status messages as it runs. When the program is finished, you can reuse or dispose of the drive. Evaluating the Effectiveness of Disk Wiping Programs We used demo versions of two popular data recovery programs to evaluate some of the disk wiping programs discussed in this article. To determine whether a typical data recovery program could recover files on a SD card wipe with Roadkil’s DiskWipe, we first of all formatted the card using a card reader. Ontrack's EasyRecovery Data Recovery (available from http://www.ontrack.com) had no difficulty finding folders and files to retrieve. However, when we used DiskWipe to wipe the drive using a one-pass blank disk (zero fill) operation, EasyRecovery DataRecovery was unable to find the file system, let alone any files or folders. After reformatting the card, taking a few photos, and deleting the photos, EasyRecovery Data Recovery was able to find the new photos, but the contents of the card before running WipeDisk were unrecoverable. To evaluate SDelete, we used SDelete to wipe all of the files on a hard disk, but omitted the –z switch; when –z is not used, SDelete deletes files and renames them, but does not clear free space. To determine what might be visible, we used a demo version of Disk Doctors NTFS Data Recovery software, available from http://www.diskdoctors.net. Disk Doctors were able to locate the deleted folder and Outlook Express message folders, but SDelete had renamed them from their original names and DBX extensions (Outlook Express message folders). If you use SDelete, it’s very important that you take time to use the –z switch to clear free space on the disk (once a file is deleted, the space it occupies is free space). We also used Disk Doctors to evaluate the effectiveness of a freeware program called Eraser, which can delete and overwrite files and folders from the right-click menu. We created a documents folder with a subfolder called Figures and used Eraser to overwrite the folder and subfolder using its default settings. Disk Doctors was able to locate the folders, but the contents are files with garbage names and are zero bytes in size – except for leftover word processing temporary files (files that begin with $). These filenames were not changed, which could enable a snooper to figure out the names of the files in the folder – although the files themselves were destroyed. By using more overwrites or different methods available with Eraser, a more thorough wiping may be possible Conclusion We’ve highlighted a variety of free ways to protect data on castoff drives from being retrieved. As you can see, your best bet is to overwrite data directly, but you also might want to consider using a program such as SDelete to scramble filenames first and then use a disk wiper such as Eraser or WipeDisk to finish the job. Use demo versions of data recovery programs such as Ontrack Easy Recovery Data Recovery, Disk Doctors Data Recovery (various editions for NTFS, FAT, and flash media), and others to evaluate the effectiveness of your data wiping procedures. Remember, the full versions of these and other data recovery programs can save your data if you accidentally format or partition a disk because, until the data is overwritten, it’s still there.

View original story : sure+look+all Feed : Maximum PC storage RSS Feed

How can both Rasmussen *and* PPP be right? And are Democrats done for?

In my PPP diary, as well as other diaries, we're seeing a back-and-forth take place over polling. People are saying that polls are cooked, and using various results to advance their ideological agendas, whether from the right or from the left. Here's my take. I think Scott Rasmussen is a solid pollster. This diary isn't meant to be a takedown, by any means. I'm not the one to do it, since I'm still studying survey methods and statistical analysis. It's that I get the feeling (and I'm not alone in this - there are others, like the folks at Swing State Project) that Scott is releasing polling at a nearly spam-like rate, nearly all general election based, and it's beginning to look like he's trying to advance a general theme that Republicans are headed for massive gains at every level. Now, I think that Democrats will lose seats. That's what happens when you run the White House and Congress. Moreover, a lot of those seats are in conservative districts - the days that you'll see the DCCC running six rounds of Red-to-Blue are long past. Will they get wiped out, though? That's a much harder question to answer, even as I'm sure people here will nod vigorously yes. I think the jury is still out on that - passing health care reform will help, an economic uptick will help, &c. The other thing that Democrats have going for them this cycle is the desperate lack of funds on the Republican side. While the GOP is outfundraising the Dems for the second month in a row, Dems still have a nearly 2-1 cash on hand advantage. We'll see if that continues to narrow. Back to Rasmussen. One thing that sticks out is the divergence between the two polls. They both show leads outside the margin of error, and it's a wide spread, to boot. I'm not saying the results are cooked; I am saying that we need to be paying attention. Either McInnis is leading (which is possible) or Hickenlooper is (more probable), but both cannot be true...unless the two pollsters are sampling widely divergent populations. Which is what I think is happening here: check this Democracy Corps poll (PDF) or this Gallup poll. They both show similar dynamics: that a demoralized, unenthusiastic base is the Democrats' biggest challenge going into the midterms. Let me elaborate. [taking a moment to watch Wade Norris, JO, &c. jump, cheer, celebrate - done? Great. Moving on.] According to DemCorps, likely voters are much more opposed to Democrats than unlikely voters (whom DemCorps dubs "drop-off voters"). How much more? Check it out: President Obama's Job Performance: Likely voters: 47% yes, 48% no Drop-off voters: 59% yes, 35% no "If the election were held today, would you be voting for [DEM HOUSE CANDIDATE] or [GOP HOUSE CANDIDATE]?" Likely voters: 44% D, 47% R Drop-off voters: 55% D, 30% R Simply astounding. Gallup shows the same striking demoralization of the Democratic base. Here's a graphic from their daily tracking poll: (courtesy Gallup daily tracker & Jon Chait) Republicans look fired up and seem ready to go, while the Democrats are anything but. What does that look like in a specific race? Well, the next graph ought to make Mr Norris glad, given his frequent cross-referencing of the Pennsylvania Senate race: (courtesy Salon's Numerologist, Dave Jarman) The first set of numbers show Toomey taking advantage of an electorate likely dominated by Republicans. The second set shows a different electorate, this time with Democratic turnout. That's precisely the same divergence you see here between McInnis and Hickenlooper. Rasmussen, it turns out, is probably modeling likely voters, and these folks are mostly Republicans. PPP is probably modeling drop-off voters, who are by and large Democrats. If I were advising a Democratic candidate, I'd be telling that candidate to start appealing to the Democratic base. In other words, I'd be telling them to do what Michael Bennet has been doing lately, regardless of whether the candidate was in a primary or not. Hickenlooper might be able to get away with not doing it, but in this environment, I think that's a high risk maneuver. One other thing. Based on what I've just written, many folks here would respond by saying, with respect to health care reform, that that's why Democrats should include the public option. I don't want to start off another whole debate on a totally different topic, but I'm indifferent to that strategy. Here's why. Getting health care reform, with or without a public option, is a progressive victory in and of itself. I'd love to see a public option included, but it's not necessary to the plan, and it can be added later. Now, before people start screaming about insurance company giveaways and such, I want folks to hear me out, all grown-up like. Way back at the beginning of this fight, a number of progressive organizations decided to make the fight for health care reform a proxy fight for progressive power. The vehicle they chose for this fight was the inclusion of a public health insurance option. That is the reason why it keeps coming back to life, over and over again. There's nothing magical or necessary about its inclusion in the health care reform legislation. In fact, it might even be better to move it as a separate piece of legislation...which is precisely what Florida Congressman Alan Grayson is doing! (You should click on that link, by the way.) Grayson's proposal, broadly stated, is even better than the weak public option that I'm so indifferent about. That's because the public option that folks are so fired up about would only have been available to anywhere from 2% to 6% of the population, while Grayson is talking about opening Medicare eligibility for everyone. Yes, you read that right. Everyone. Now, isn't that better than the public option? OK, off you go. Sign Grayson's petition and tell your representatives to co-sponsor HR 4789. Do it now, OK? Please? Your pithy, brilliant comments can wait. :-).

View original story : sure+look+all Feed : ColoradoPols.com - Front Page

San Diego, CA Personal Injury Lawyers Release New Website For People Injured in Serious Accidents

The Jurewitz Law Group, a California personal injury law firm with offices in San Diego and Carlsbad, recently launched the latest version of its very useful and helpful website designed to assist people injured in serious accidents. The new website design includes 20 new videos, additional helpful articles for consumers, and FAQ articles intended to answer common questions and concerns for injury accident victims. The launch of the new website also coincides with the release of the law firm's new helpful e-book for motorcycle accident victims, The Ultimate California Motorcycle Accident Book: How to Protect Yourself from Day One. As a public service to motorcyclists and their passengers, this book is free to all Californians. Be sure to stop by and look around the new site!

View original story : sure+look+all Feed : San Diego Injury Lawyer Blog

5 Questions With ... Etienne Sauret, director of 'Dirty Pictures'

We e-chatted with Etienne Sauret, director of “Dirty Pictures,” a documentary portrait of Dr. Alexander “Sasha” Shulgin, a famed chemist dubbed the “Godfather of Psychedelics” for his discoveries in the field of psychedelic drugs, including MDMA, aka Ecstasy. The movie “examines the impact of Dr. Shulgin’s lifelong quest to unlock the complexities of the human mind.” Sauret’s other credits include “WTC: The First 24 Hours” and “Too Pure.” “Dirty Pictures” screens at 9:30 p.m. Saturday at the Austin Convention Center; 7:15 p.m. Sunday at the Alamo South; and 5:30 p.m. March 19 at the Alamo Ritz. What led you to Dr. Shulgin, so-called “rogue chemist,” as a subject? Etienne Sauret: It began unexpectedly. I have a friend who runs a drug prevention center in the U.K. who wanted to bring Sasha to London to speak at a conference on drug policy. Sasha couldn’t go to London, so my friend enlisted me to go to California with him to make a short film with Sasha for the conference. As we were filming, I found myself really touched by Sasha. I found him special and endearing, and that’s where it began. - Describe the relationship between Sasha and Ann Shulgin, his wife and work partner of 40 years. It’s very special, one that comes through in the movie. They complete one another. Alex (Sasha) has the scientific and chemical knowledge to create the compounds and Ann has the ability to verbalize what their work is all about. He’s a child at heart, more interested in tinkering and finding the next compound, where she can verbalize the philosophical and spiritual considerations that they’re trying to get across. So in the movie and for their two books (“Pihkal” and “Tihkal”) she’s a strong voice in explaining their experiences; she takes up where he leaves off. What does Shulgin think about the destructive capacity of Ecstasy and other drugs he’s had a hand in making? Sasha has always regretted that MDMA has come to be seen and used as it has, as part of the party drug Ecstasy. For him, MDMA would have stayed as it was initially, a tool that was used in controlled environments — successfully by psychology counselors — to create a treatment benefit. He doesn’t see the club thing as really having anything to do with MDMA as he created it, which was as a drug to provide insight for people. He’s not against people having fun, per se, he just sees his creations as a more serious endeavor and one to be taken seriously. As Sasha likes to say “They are no casual experiments.” Ann reinforces this belief by adding that one “can deal with matters of life and death” when taking psychedelics. How does the mainstream scientific community regard Shulgin and his creations? Some chemists openly admire his work, and a few of them are in the film. … I think some other chemists must secretly admire what Shulgin does, although they can’t directly say it because of possible repercussions. I think some of them must look up to him for the freedom he has made for himself to dictate the scope of his own research. As a maverick, he’s been able to do what very few of them can do because they work for big companies, which is what he walked away from years ago. … On one hand he is a folk hero with a dedicated worldwide fan base who appreciate his work, but to the outside world, he’s often seen as a rogue chemist who is responsible for people’s children’s experiments. And I think that’s a burden to him, because he knows what good his drugs can do, and he sees this as a vulgarization of that potential. I’m sure law enforcement isn’t overly pleased with his work. I don’t know for sure, but I suspect that these days they’d probably rather just ignore him. Drug enforcement now deals with drugs that have nothing to do with Sasha’s discoveries at the prime of his career, when he was in consultation with law enforcement and researching new drugs. I think the DEA is more concerned with huge labs that are making a ton of drugs that are really nasty and that have nothing to do with the psychedelic experience. What’s the most lasting thing you learned while being immersed in Shulgin’s world? Foremost is the power of individuality, of somebody who stands up against all odds. Sasha decided what he wanted his life to be, then he went all the way and never looked back. … There’s something very inspiring about that. … If there were more people like him, we’d live in a better world. Meaning, if there were more individuals who took it upon themselves to find materials which could possibly enable people to better themselves, we’d live in a better environment. Anybody who improves people’s ability to feel good and understand themselves has got to feel pretty good themselves. More about the movie HERE.

View original story : sure+look+all Feed : Austin Movie Blog

Last Day of SXSW, Heading to San Diego and it's Greystone Greeters Today

SXSW has been a freakin blast but like all good things it has to come to an end. I'm heading out this afternoon to San Diego, but not before meeting some great new people as well as finally meeting some social media people in person. Greystone Greeters is the shirt of the day and we LOVE our interactive, online video ads. What better way to engage your customers then to greet them the second they visit your website! Check out some of the programs they’ve produced here. Plus, you can do a demo to see what Greystone Greeters will look like on your company website. Just type in your URL in the “TRY YOUR SITE HERE” demo box. Check it out. It’s pretty cool stuff. You can take my word for it or read some stats: - In February 2005, roughly 50% of purchases were preceded by an online search. In 2008, that number has skyrocketed to about 85%. (Source: Double Click) - 80% of online visitors recall seeing a video ad, 52% take action (Source: Online Publishers Association) - 16% of online video viewers make a purchase (Source: Online Publishers Association) - Video scores five times the click through rates as display or banners ads (Source: Online Publishers Association) - Online video trends deliver more informative, relevant, entertaining, often helpful videos (Source: Enterprise RSS Promotion) A big thank you to Georgia from Greystone Greeters for producing some fun, interactive walk on ads for IWYS. Oh, and make sure you check out the interactive video of Evan and me on our Proud Partners page too! Jason's Photos » Videos on YouTube Evan's Photos » Videos on YouTube

View original story : sure+look+all Feed :

cosmicmojo says "good, but be careful if your skin is light, this stuff is BRONZE" about Physicians Formula multi-colored bronzer

I love all Physicians Formula products, am transitioning to using them more and more exclusively. I particulalry love the multicolored productes because I think they fill in voids and even out unevenness in my face magically. I bought the Physicians Formula multi-colored bronzer thinking to add some "sun" to my face. Unfortunatley, it is way too dark for my pale skin tone, what was i thinking? SO, I use it as eyeshadow and it is great. The bronze color is very dark and definitely BRONZE. If you don't have bronze tones in your skin, this stuff could look like a spray-on tan. So be very sure about matching your skin tone, or do as I do and use it as eyeshadow, I love the ease of using Physicians formula mixed palattes for all my makeup needs. They do all the thinking so I don't have to! I have pretty sensitive skin, so Physicians Formula multi-colored bronzer is great for me for two reasons: (1) it does not irritate my sensitive skin; (2) it evens out any splotches that have surfaced......

View original story : sure+look+all Feed : Reviews about Face Makeup

"Lumber core" plywood - be sure you know what you're getting

I thought I’d try a new (to me) product I found at my local “good” lumberyard – “lumber core plywood” – to build a few utility-grade shop projects. It’s made of solid lumber pieces laminated with thin face veneers. The core pieces are tongue-and-groove joined along their edges, which you can see in the first picture (if you can’t make out the part in focus, look below and to the right at the piece in the clamps. You can see the contrast between a light and a dark piece). This seems great at first glance, but there’s a problem: only the pieces on the edges are the full length of the sheet. The interior pieces are of random lengths, and the ends are simply butted – there are even little gaps. See the second picture with a utility knife for scale. This edge is parallel to the long dimension of the sheet. The edge below it is the factory edge, which looks continuous and beautiful. This construction method SERIOUSLY compromises the bending strength. The piece in the second picture was going to be a shelf, but with those two gaps, which are typical, I have serious reservations about using it – in fact, I’m not going to. Since the core pieces are of random lengths, and are edge-jointed, the problem isn’t so bad on a wide piece (more continuity), but it gets worse as you rip it narrower. About the only suitable application I can see for this material is as big pieces subject to edge-to-edge compression, like sides for a base cabinet or a cabinet-style bench. There is one upside: it’s light, probably because it isn’t all soaked through with glue, like conventional plywood.

View original story : sure+look+all Feed : Woodworking Reviews at LumberJocks.com

Tamron AF 18-250mm F/3.5-6.3 Di-II LD Aspherical (IF) Macro Zoom Lens with Built In Motor for Nikon DSLR

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and so, I think, is one's opinion of a camera lens. I've learned over the years that lens reviews are helpful, but they are just opinions. Yes, for sure, you generally get better optics with more expensive lenses, but it's certainly not a guarantee. And for reasons one can only wonder about, oftentimes two copies of the same lens will produce very different results. For example, my friend Sara, who is as nuts about buying (we're like compulsive buyers) and using Canon lenses as I am about buying and using Nikon ones, has a Canon EF-S 18-55 kit lens that produces images so tack sharp through its whole range that would make you cry. And so it goes with super zooms, these wonderful lenses that go from pretty wide to very long. If you look at the reviews of any of them, some people claim horrible results, while others scratch their heads, because they're just loving them to death. My first superzoom was a Sigma 18-200 which I got about five years ago and I was blown away with what I could do with just one lens. Plus my shots were pretty darn sharp. The lens was more expensive then, than it is now. It's still a good lens, it weighs a couple ounces less than a pound and if I only could have been satisfied, I'd have saved a bundle of money. Ah well. Anyway, I had an opportunity to try out the Tamron 18-200 as well back then, but I decided on the Sigma. It was a coin toss. At the time I thought both lenses would be good general, all purpose, walkabout lenses. They wouldn't be as sharp or fast as primes and wouldn't be as light as shorter zooms, but heck, one lens which went all the way from 18 to 200mm (okay 27 to 350mm in the real world), such a deal. Both lenses were five star lenses as far as I was concerned, both still are, because they are what they are, a very good compromise. If you're expecting a lens that will reach out across a dark night and grab a shot of lovers making out by the beach, then you don't want these lenses, but if you're looking for a good general walkabout lens, both will suit you and they won't break your bank. But they don't have image stabilization and when Sigma came out with it, I had to have it. So I shelved the Sigma zoom I had, (thankfully I didn't sell it) and bought the Sigma 18-200 OS and Sigma's Optical Stabilizer worked great. I got sharper handheld shots in lower light, but they came at a price, almost half a pound. It doesn't sound like much, eight ounces (7.6 to be exact), but try carrying it around on your shoulder all day long. I really noticed the difference, especially when I was shooting. I probably wouldn't have gone to that auction site with my fairly new lens, if it hadn't been for Tamron. They came out with their Tamron 18-250 and I had to have it. A bigger reach, the heck with image stabilization. Not only could I go all the way from 27 to 375mm in the real world, but I got back a bit over six ounces, the lens was lighter. So now I had two super zooms, which was good, because I go out people shooting with my sister a lot. So one would think I'd be satisfied, but when the Nikon 18-200 came out, well Nikon optics in a superzoom. I had to have it, so the Tamron went up for auction (because I just loved the Sigma, even though it didn't reach as far). The Nikon lens focused faster, but not that much faster then the other two, had image stabilization and was faster at the long end and it took great shots, but it weighed more than the other lenses, coming in at a whopping 20 ounces and it was creepy, creepy, creepy and with no zoom lock. The other lenses had almost no zoom creep and they had a zoom lock, which I never used. Very annoying the zoom creep was, still, great shots from a great lens. Satisfied, well for awhile, then came 2008 and the Tamron 18-270 with their VC version of image stabilization and up for auction went my expensive Nikkor lens. Yeah, I still hung on the my first super zoom, the Sigma. For sure the Nikkor was a five star lens, but a girl can't justify more than two super zooms at any one time. The Tamron lens actually weighed a fraction less than the Nikkor it replaced. It was a bit slower on the long end, was a bit stiff in the zooming, but easy to get used to and almost no, sometimes no, zoom creep and it has a lock. It's just simply one heck of a lens. Sometimes it's a bit slow to autofocus in lowlight, but still I think it finds its focus faster than I would, but not as fast as the Nikkor. I should add here that Nikon has upgraded their 18-200 adding a zoom lock. I've played with one and not only have they added that zoom lock, but it doesn't seem to creep nearly as much, but that could just be the copy I used. I should also mention that Sigma has come out with their Sigma 18-250 OS which I was lucky enough to use for a month. That is just one super fine lens. It focuses fast and I think it finds its focus better in low light than the Tamron 18-270. Also this new Sigma has a super quiet motor, though I've never really been bothered by the sound of a focusing lens. By reading other reviews of these lenses, I've learned that they are all subject to zoom creep, so I suppose in the main, I've been lucky. All of these lenses are very good, at least all of the copies I've used. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend any of them. However, if you go with Nikon, you're going to be paying an awful lot more. You get a slightly faster lens on the long end and you get Nikon quality, but Sigma and Tamron give quality as well and Tamron warranties their lenses for six years, so they're pretty confident that they're building a great product (and now they're part of Sony). So through my whole super zoom experience, which one do I wind up using the most? You guessed it, that Sigma I bought five years ago. Like the proverbial Timax, "It takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin'." If the day is bright and I'm going people shooting it's the one I put on my camera, because it's light and it's images are true. Features Built in motor for use on the new Nikon Cameras Zoom lock Includes lens hood 6 year Tamron Warranty 62mm filter size Click to read more details | Customer Reviews

View original story : sure+look+all Feed : Bestselling Normal Lenses at Digital Cameras 4 Less

Talkcast Reminder: Tonight at 10pm EDT, now with added fun!

Filed under: Hardware, Retail, iPadYes, that's 10pm Eastern DAYLIGHT Time; hopefully by now you've worked out exactly what time it is where you are so you can show up on time instead of coming in at the end. (Thanks, cell phone with automatically updated clock!) Tonight's show will also include the debut of a TUAW challenge! What kind of challenge? Tune in to find out! While you're there, I'm sure we can find some other Apple news to discuss this evening. I'm sure if we look really hard there is some interesting tidbit out there for all of us to chat about... Unlike those customer service recordings that try to convince you, your call really IS important to us. Without the audience, we are just talking to ourselves, and what fun would that be? To participate on TalkShoe, you can use the browser-only client, the embedded Facebook app, or the classic TalkShoe Pro Java client; however, for maximum fun, you should call in. For the web UI, just click the "TalkShoe Web" button on our profile page at 10 pm Sunday. To call in on regular phone or VoIP lines (take advantage of your free cellphone weekend minutes if you like): dial (724) 444-7444 and enter our talkcast ID, 45077 -- during the call, you can request to talk by keying in *8. If you've got a headset or microphone handy on your Mac, you can connect via the free Gizmo or X-Lite SIP clients; basic instructions are here. Talk with you then! Talkcast Reminder: Tonight at 10pm EDT, now with added fun! originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 14 Mar 2010 18:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Talkcast Reminder: Tonight at 10pm EDT, now with added fun! originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 14 Mar 2010 18:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

View original story : sure+look+all Feed : The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)

Are You Sure If The Silver Jewelry You Bought Was Authentic?

Buying a Sterling Silver Jewelry has always been my dream as a woman. But on other hand, I was a bit hesitant whether to buy Silver Jewelry online. Is it safe enough to but Silver Jewelry from web site you don’t know? The answer is yes, we can always go to buy Sterling Silver Jewelry on websites which has secure online transaction process. We always here of web sites who have beautiful design listed for Silver Jewelry, but when it comes to delivering the right design and Silver Jewelry they lack the trust. But there are companies offering Sterling Silver Jewelry which are 100% certified, design are unique on their own and also guide you how to maintain your Silver Jewelry. Silver Jewelry is something which looks not only beautiful on women but also goes well with men. Sterling Silver Jewelry is what we as women always look to buy these days which are in the market with semi-precious stones to match your attire. Sterling Silver Jewelry is not something been popular or been worn recently, but have been in fashion since old age. Silver Jewelry was worn by ancient women all over the body to make themselves look charming and adoring. If we talk about Turquoise Jewelry it was and this time also considered as a gem-stone to wear as per your astrologer says. But new designs engraved in Silver Jewelry have made Turquoise Jewelry favorite among people of all ages. There are all sort of turquoise stones used in Turquoise Jewelry and the cost might vary depending on the clarity, size and the metal used to design Turquoise Jewelry. Turquoise Jewelry made in silver looks more enchanting and might get costly if that is made in Gold. JNJ offers you numerous designs in Turquoise Jewelry either for you or your mom. Turquoise jewelry has been designed keeping taste and likes of all ages. When you go on surfing the net you will find Stone Jewelry and Turquoise Jewelry in lots. But you can’t trust all the sellers till you are referred by someone or have read about them. Previously, Stone Jewelry was considered to be worn only on special occasions but these days it has become so popular with use of precious or semi-precious stones that young generation love to wear Stone Jewelry that goes well with their clothes. The demand for Stone Jewelry has increased with teenagers that new Stone Jewelry designs are always there in the market. If you have enough money to spend, you can go for Stone Jewelry with precious stones, and if you have less you have options to go for Stone Jewelry made with semi-precious stones. You can also find lots of Silver Jewelry, Stone Jewelry and Turquoise Jewelry on internet at great prices which can also term them as Discount Jewelry. Buying a Discount Jewelry does not mean that those Silver Jewelry or Turquoise Jewelry or Stone Jewelry are having any manufacturing defects. Whatever Discount Jewelry you will find on jnjcollections are 100% new with no manufacturing defects. Discount Jewelry can also be used by someone interested in doing home based business. JNJ offers Discount Jewelry round the year on their website and this is something that can save you heavily when you are always looking to buy Sterling Silver Jewelry. Whatever Sterling Silver Jewelry designs are sold as Discount Jewelry, the same might be offered to you by other companies at original prices. So you are in a position to gain more buying this Discount Jewelry. So why wait for when you have the best options available to buy your favorite Sterling Silver Jewelry at best prices and with authenticity. If you miss this opportunity to buy at the prices we are offering these Sterling Silver Jewelry, you are truly missing something you might be thinking of later. For safe shopping experience of your favorite Silver Jewelry, Stone Jewelry and Turquoise Jewelry visit http://www.jnjcollections.com Read more on Are You Sure If The Silver Jewelry You Bought Was Authentic?…

View original story : sure+look+all Feed : Diamonds world