Recreated for the Silver Age

After achieving great success in 1956 in reviving the Golden Age character ”The Flash”, DC editor Julius Schwartz looked toward recreating the Green Lantern from the Golden Age of Comic Books. Like The Flash, Schwartz wanted this new character to have a different secret identity, origin, and personality than his 1940s counterpart. A long time science-fiction fan and literary agent, Schwartz wanted a more sci-fi based Green Lantern, as opposed to the mystical powers of Alan Scott, the forties Green Lantern. He enlisted writer John Broome and artist Gil Kane, who in 1959 would reintroduce Green Lantern to the world in ”Showcase #22” (September-October 1959).

Like E.E. Doc Smith’s Lensmen, the new Green Lantern was a member of an intergalactic constabulary made up of many different alien species who were given a device that provided them with great mental and physical abilities; however, both Broome and Schwartz have denied a connection between those stories from science fiction pulps and the Green Lantern comic book stories. Gil Kane drew from actor Paul Newman in creating Hal Jordan’s likeness, (contrary to the myth that he was based on Errol Flynn) and redesigned the Green Lantern uniform into a very sleek form-fitting outfit of green, black, and white – quite the opposite of Alan Scott’s red, yellow, green, purple, and black costume with a puffy shirt and cape.

The character was a success and it was quickly decided to follow-up his three issue run on ”Showcase” with a self-titled series. ”Green Lantern #1” began in July-August 1960 and would continue until #84 in April-May 1972.

This creative team was responsible for introducing many of the major characters in Hal Jordan’s life. First and foremost was Carol Ferris, Jordan’s love interest. She was in charge of Ferris Aircraft, and as such, Hal’s boss. While she preferred Green Lantern to Hal Jordan, she took an active role in trying to win him over, even going so far as to propose to him in the old Leap Year tradition. Although she gave Jordan some attention, her job and company always came first. Ferris was a strong-willed woman of authority at a time when this was rare, especially in comic books.

Another unique addition to Green Lantern’s supporting cast was his best friend, Tom Kalmaku, who was both Hal’s mechanic and the chronicler of his super-hero adventures. An Inuit (Eskimo) from Alaska, Tom’s nickname was “Pie” or “Pieface”, in reference to Eskimo Pie ice cream sandwiches. Like “Chop Chop” from the Blackhawk comics, this nickname is today understandably viewed as racist and has been downplayed by most modern writers. However, unlike “Chop Chop”, Tom was actually a competent and intelligent character with a well-rounded personality, not a stereotypical buffoon. Despite the unfortunate nickname, Tom Kalmaku was among the first minority characters to be portrayed in this manner and broke new ground for mainstream comic books. Tom would later be followed by another trail-blazing minority character, John Stewart, the first African-American super-hero of the DC Universe.

Jordan’s masters, the mysterious Guardians of the Universe, were physically based on David Ben-Gurion, the first Prime Minister of Israel, and were developed from an idea Schwartz and Broome had originally conceived years prior in a story featuring Captain Comet in ”Strange Adventures #22” (July, 1952) entitled “Guardians of the Clockwork Universe”.

Schwartz and company also allowed Jordan to have a family, which was another rare thing at this time in superhero comics. While he didn’t have a wife or children of his own, he had many interactions with his two brothers, Jack and Jim. The Brothers Jordan were primarily inspired by the Kennedy brothers, who rose to prominence during the sixties.

When compared to comics of the thirties, forties, and early fifties, Green Lantern broke new storytelling ground and can be seen as a precursor to the “Marvel Revolution” that would take place several years later. Whereas older comics treated each issue as a stand-alone with no real sense of temporal direction between issues, ”Green Lantern’s” issues followed the order of publication, with references within the stories to previous stories and adventures. Not only were references made, but subplots (such as Hal and Carol’s romance, the marriage of Tom Kalmaku, etc.) were advanced showing actual growth in the character’s lives. While these subplots rarely were given much notice in comparison to Marvel’s storylines in the sixties and especially to today’s modern stories, they were the first step toward this sort of serial storytelling instead of the episodic nature of older comics.

Likewise, Green Lantern was one of the first comics to be a part of a “shared universe”. The Justice League of America united several superheroes that DC owned, just as the Justice Society of America had in the Golden Age. The crucial difference was that events occurring in the ”Justice League” title were reflected and referenced in individual superheroes’ titles (such as Green Lantern).

Also adding to the advancement of the medium was Gil Kane’s use of dynamic art. Whereas previously, comics had mostly stuck with a six panel page consisting of six equal sized rectangles, Kane’s panels changed in size and shape to offer a more emotional and visceral experience. The action and/or scene dictated the art instead of being forced into a rigid box structure. In addition, while there had been plenty of flying superheroes in the past, none flew quite like Hal Jordan. Kane’s art made Hal look more like he was gliding or swimming through the air than the usual leaping or bullet-like flying motion of other superheroes. His fluid poses made Hal a more graceful and, as a result, realistic-looking flying man.

John Broome seemed to come up with stories centered on a common theme and then run them together within a fairly short time. For example, ”Green Lantern #2-4” each contained stories involving the anti-matter universe of Qward, issues #12 and #15 featured “Zero Hour” stories , and issues #8 and #12 involved Hal being sent to the year 5700 AD in the guise of Pol Manning.

Starting in issue #17, Gardner Fox joined the book to share writing duties with John Broome. The quartet of Schwartz, Broome, Fox, and Kane remained the core creative team until 1970.

The era of social conscience

Starting with issue #76, Dennis O’Neil took over scripting duties and Neal Adams took over as artist. This issue is one of the comics which is considered to have ushered in the Bronze Age of Comic Books. It is worth noting that Neal Adams actually drew his first cover in Green Lantern #63 in the late Silver Age. The collaboration of O’Neil and Adams produced the most famous and celebrated runs on Green Lantern. Julius Schwartz remained editor and hand-selected the two to revitalize the title, whose sales had been slipping. O’Neil and Adams had already begun preparation for the classic run in the form of their re-workings of another DC character: Green Arrow.

Green Arrow was a character originally created by DC in 1941 (then known as National Comics). He was a wealthy businessman named Oliver Queen who wore a green Errol Flynn-esque Robin Hood costume and shot “trick” arrows in his efforts to fight crime. His characterization was fairly basic (borrowing heavily from Batman but lacking the depth and tragedy of that character) and as such remained a second or third string hero throughout the Golden Age. However, the character managed to survive the fifties (during which most superhero comics were eliminated) by being a backup character in Adventure Comics. In 1961, DC added Green Arrow to the roster of the Justice League of America, but he still remained in the background.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article Hal Jordan, under the G. N. U. Free Documentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

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PHP-Nuke is a content management system allowing webmasters to create community-based portals (websites), allowing users and editors to post news items (user-submitted news items are selected by editors) or other types of articles. Registered users can then comment on these articles.

Modules can be added to the PHP-Nuke system allowing additional features such as an Internet forum, Calendar, News Feed, FAQ’s , Private Messaging and others. The site is maintained through an administration interface.

PHP-Nuke includes the following standard modules:

* Advertising—Manages ads on the page layout (theme). Supports images/links, javascript/HTML, and Flash

* Avantgo—Provides mobile versions of the last 10 news articles

* Content—Manages the main content “pages”

* Downloads—Manages file downloads. There are no uploads—it stores links to files on other servers

* Encyclopedia—Manages phrases/words and definitions

* FAQ—Manages Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

* Feedback—Communicate to the webmaster. It is an online form, but provides feedback via email.

* Forums—Manages discussion forums for the site. It is based on bb2nuke, which is a PHP-Nuke port of the popular open-source phpBB discussion board.

* Journal—Maintain public and/or private notes

* Members List—Displays site members

* News—Manages news stories, including future-dated news to be released at a specific date and time. Each article can be assigned to a single categ

* Private Messages—Allows members to send private messages to others on the site. Members can prevent messages from other members.

* Recommend Us—Send an email message recommending the site to others.

* Search—Allows users to search your site.

* Statistics—Displays summary and detailed site statistics, including page views.

* Stories (News) Archives—Provides access to older news articles.

* Submit News—Allow visitors to submit news. Email notification is sent, but the submission is stored in the administrator control panel. Administrator can delete, edit, and/or post the article without rekeying.

* Surveys (Polls)—Create visitor surveys

* Top—Displays the most-visited articles, downloads, etc.

* Topics—Displays news by topic. The administrator defines the topics and assigns topics to content.

* Web Links—Manages a hierarchical directory of links to selected websites

* Your Account—Manages members “profile” information, including their preferred theme, the number of news articles to display on their home page, etc.

PHP-Nuke supports many languages and its look and feel can be customized using the ”Themes” system, but major changes requires knowledge of PHP, HTML and CSS.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article PHP-Nuke, under the G. N. U. Free Documentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

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Let’s begin with a little history. Many years ago, when the web was up and coming and you needed to be on it, I paid someone to build a site for me. Afterwards, I could say, “Yeah, I have a site, go to -” and then I would name my site a feel a hit of pride. I’d also get satisfaction when my webmaster (if you could call him that; I don’t know that I would in retrospect, but that’s another story) occasionally forwarded me an email of an interested visitor. My satisfaction was short-lived, as you might imagine. I soon began to understand the power of the web and found the sad reality that my “webmaster” was getting all my emails from my website visitors to be annoying. I had him change this so that the emails came to me. He charged me a one-time fee for getting him to do this.

Okay, so these days it is not quite that bad, is it? Your webmaster or whoever is doing the “web thing” for you isn’t charging you for every little service? Excuse me. I’ll reserve my rant for another article, or possibly a blog entry.

So anyway, I fired my webmaster. I built my own webpage. I did this – of all things – with Microsoft Publisher. Yeah, well, it worked – in that I was able to build a site and, with some effort, get it on the web. I won’t go into why you shouldn’t try this, kids, at home. I was at home when I tried it, sure. But I don’t suggest building a site with Publisher. It can be done, but don’t do it.

One thing that happens – talk a

Well, I knew at the time I shouldn’t be messing around with Publisher. It’s great for putting together a book or something for print. It’s not good for websites. I had just been so excited because I had created a downloadable book for lulu.com. Publisher was great for laying out a book. I had so much momentum…

I put the Publisher site up, and thought I had done a pretty good job, considering that everything was crammed up to the left of the screen. I had yet to become a blogger, and I had yet to realize the importance of tagging and so on. All that important “extra” stuff. I’m joking. Writing tags is not extra. It’s essential. So is the blog – on the website.

Then I bought FrontPage and a book and… That’s all she wrote. I learned FrontPage and I haven’t tried anything else out since. Why not? So far I don’t need to use the fantastic Dreamweaver that everyone talks about. Oh, I can’t do Flash on FrontPage? Uh – yes you can. Easily.

I continue to believe that content is all-important. Not bells. Not whistles. Content. I don’t care what kind of a site you are putting up. Well, okay, I wouldn’t necessarily use FrontPage for every circumstance. But for you and me, the individual or small company that wants to be up and shining on the web, FrontPage is the clear answer. At least it was for me. As I say, I haven’t looked back since.

One needn’t learn the bells and whistles. One certainly needn’t incorporate dhtml or whatever that code is that will make letters pop and fly about. Old browsers can’t see it, and new browsers – mine, at least – don’t want to see it.

I have affiliated with companies. That is, I’ve tried to turn a dollar by putting them up on my site, a link or banner or what have you. Let me say that what I don’t like are the banners that flicker and blink and all that junk. If I want the Las Vegas experience, I’ll go there.

Just give me content. FrontPage can handle that and handle it well. You want to be able to upload Flash, for sure. FrontPage can do it. You want to be able to get as much information on your website with as few bytes as possible. FrontPage can do this as well as any program. So, I’m happy. Are you happy – yet?

Beau Smith is an artist, writer, and webmaster. Through screen capture tutorials, Beau Smith’s website, http://www.TutorialJoe.com will teach you right now for free how to use FrontPage 2003.

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The word flash has always been synonymous with lightning and thundering and the advent of flash movies has brought a similar revolution in the cyber world. Flash movies have gained an immense popularity among web designers and the public equally. Why? Flash software enables you to create animations alongside interactive content and this feature creates a movie like feeling for the viewers.

Flash is an application that works on a multilevel platform. It is consistent across all platforms and browsers and any movie created in Flash will appear the same on all browsers and platforms – all that is required is the correct plug-in, which is really not a Herculean task. If the plug-in is not in built with the browser, it can be downloaded for free.

There are many advantages in using Flash Flash is a wonderful tool to add games, animations and video to your website. Flash movies are relatively smaller files when compared to GiF formats and other video versions. It also offers a plethora of colors, blending options, and opacity levels with smooth animations and accurate typography.

Now let’s say you want to create a website and you need a demo or a tutorial to be placed in it. You have three options….. the first is to give it only in text, the second is through visual only I.e. only visuals and videos and the third …is a tactful handling of visual and text and that is where Flash helps. Flash movies help you to create a site where you can explore options for effectively combining text and videos. This helps to give var

A web designer always wants his website to be interactive and unique to gain an edge over competitors. Flash movies enables them to do this through features that allow them to add attractive text, draw graphics, and create special effects and much more. In short, using a Flash maker you as a site owner can speak to your audience and make that best impression on them. They help to catch audience attention in a quick way that cannot be seen in other kinds of media communications. In order to gain the full benefits of using Flash software all that is needed is harnessing its rich graphics and powerful programming features.

However as with everything “Excess of anything is harmful.” So avoid getting tempted to use too much of Flash or use Flash where it’s not needed. Why?

Flash takes a lot of space, hence it takes time to load a website with lot of Flash elements. So when using Flash movies, use it appropriately and meaningfully. Think of using it, like using images in a book – there has to be a balance between the text element and visual elements. They should compliment each other.

At the end the choice is at your discretion. However, it is advisable to use Flash as a part of your website rather than cluttering it up with it. So all the web designers out there- Do flash, but Flash in style!

So while flash movies can be great for your website, to create flash movies you need to learn actionscripting and programming. Fortunately, now there is a way by which flash has been made be easy… so average people like you and me can also make flash movies for our websites – and without spending a fortune on expensive flash makers Or months in learning all this technical Flash mumbo-jumbo first…

So while all the “Industry Experts” said it “could never” be done…

We Out of Pure Frustration, researched and reached out to the Greatest Programmers to Build “The Ultimate Flash Maker.” A flash maker that can create flash movies without any programming! And we did it!

Proudly presenting to you:

http://www.toufee.com/

The Easiest and Fastest Flash Movie Maker Online!

If you know how to use a mouse… you can create flash movies with Toufee’s Flash Maker.

P.S. There is currently a 14 day free trial going on Toufee.com, so you can check it without actually buying anything!

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Adobe Flash Player: a greater risk to privacy and security than you may realize

Do you know that if you have Adobe’s Flash Players plugin installed on your web browser that your internet activity and history is potentially being tracked and used without your knowledge or permission? Just managing your web browser’s tracking cookie through your web browser doesn’t prevent your internet browsing activity, and its history, from being tracked. Additionally, just keeping your computer current and fully patched with all of Microsoft’s critical updates keeps your computer safe from hackers, think again. Even using an antivirus program, with the most current virus definitions current doesn’t always prevent your computer and privacy from being at risk.

Recently I came across a news article that caught my eye. It was a New York Times technology piece with the title “Code that tracks users’ browsing prompts lawsuits” (Vega, 2010). This article reports about the increasing number of consumers taking legal action against companies that track their web activity without the consumer’s knowledge or permission. Adobe’s Flash Player is the main conduit for capturing this tracking data. This isn’t the first time that Adobe’s Flash player has created legal privacy issues. In 2008, Windows Secrets Newsletter published an article on Adobe’s Flash cookie privacy issues. Recently they published another article called “Eliminate Flash-spawned “zombie” cookies&#

How does this happen

Adobe’s Flash Player browser plugin uses and stores Flash cookies on your computer, separate from your better known browser HTML cookies. Both types of cookies are used to store browsing and site preferences, along with your browsing history and tracking information. Flash cookies, like your web browser cookies, are small bits of data saved by the websites you visit. These websites use these cookies to store website settings and info (like your name, preferences, Flash game scores, etc.), to track website behavior, and to target you for specific advertisements. They can also create what is known as persistent identification element to uniquely identify you and track what websites you have visited.

Flash cookies are not managed through your web browser’s cookie settings. This same Flash cookies storage area can also be used to store a copy of your browser’s cookies, allowing Adobe’s Flash to recreate cookies that have been previously deleted from your browser, i.e. spawned ‘zombie’ cookies.

What to do to protect yourself

Adobe doesn’t make it easy for users to manage Flash cookies. By default, when Flash Player is installed, it automatically allows third parties to store and access your computer. To change these settings you need to access Flash’s Global Setting Manager. The easiest, most straight forward way to get started is to open your web browser and copy the Adobe URL listed in my references (Ezinearticles does not allow me to place the link here). Or do a Google search on: “adobe flash player setting manager.” The macromedia.com link should be the first and second items found.

This will take you to the Global Setting panel for Adobe’s Flash Player (see Adobe Flash Player Global Setting Manager below). The image embedded on the web page is the actual management console, not a picture. The current version of this panel has eight panels or tabs. Each tab covers a different aspect of privacy and security. You may want to add this to your browser’s Favorites for future reference.

Adobe Flash Player Global Setting Manager Global Privacy Settings

The first tab on the Global Setting Manager is for your computer’s camera and microphone settings. You have the option of setting this as “Always deny…” or “Always ask…” The “Always ask…” option forces the Flash Player to ask for your permission before allowing a third-party to access your computer’s camera and microphone. “Always deny…” does just that, it always denies permission to access your camera and microphone. You will not receive any notification that a third-party tried to access either your camera of microphone with this option.

Your current settings are not displayed. Clicking on “Always deny…” or “Always ask…” overrides any previous global setting made for this. This setting is for sites you have not already visited. I recommend that you select the “Always ask” option. This will allow you the option of using an interactive flash site, requiring the use of your camera and microphone. You will be prompted to confirm your selection.

You will always be prompted for your permission at any website requesting access to your camera and microphone.

Global Flash Cookie Storage Settings

The second tab of the Global Setting Manager controls how much disk space you will allow for new web sites (third-parties) to store information, Flash cookies, on your computer. By denying all, you may prevent some websites from functioning correctly.

This panel determines the amount of disk space you will automatically allow third-parties to use for websites you have not already visited. Some websites may not function correctly if you do not allow some disk space storage. This is the total amount for each website. If a website needs or wants more you will receive a prompt to allow or disallow this additional space (see below). Your installed Flash Player must be version 8, or newer, to have the option of allowing or disallowing third-party flash content. If your Flash version is older than version 9, you will not have the option to allow/disallow storage and sharing of common Flash components.

The suggested settings that work for me are shown above. The Allow third-party Flash, and Store common Flash, are needed by a lot of sites to allow them to function correctly.

Global Security Settings

The third tab is the Global Security Settings panel. This panel controls how Shockwave Flash (SWF) and Flash Video (FLV) are handled. The problem with these types of files is that they can contain applets or computer scripts that can be used to collect and share information about you without your knowledge or permission. Both SWF and FLV files can be embedded on web pages. These files can and do exchange audio, video, and data using Macromedia’s Real Time Messaging Protocol. It is possible for SWF or FLV content stored locally on your computer to communicate with the Internet without your knowledge of permission.

I recommend setting this to “Always ask.” If a website needs to store Flash cookies on your computer, you will be prompted for permission. By being prompted, you will be aware of the website’s tracking activity.

Global Flash Update Notification Setting

The fourth tab is the Global Notification Settings panel. This is where you set how often Flash checks for updates. I recommend enabling this feature and having Flash check for updates at least every seven days. I strongly recommended that Flash updates be installed as soon as possible for security reasons. By keeping your Flash Player updated, you make the malicious code writers’ job just a little harder. The security vulnerabilities for Flash Player plugins are very well-known.

After installing any Flash updates you should validate that your privacy and security settings have not changed. With previous Flash updates, the settings within the Flash manager have reverted back to default, i.e. wide-open, settings.

Protected Content/License Settings

The fifth tab is the Protected Content Playback Settings panel. When you purchase or rent Flash “protected” content, license files are downloaded to your computer. Sometimes these files become corrupted. By resetting these files, new licenses can be downloaded. This option should only be used when protected Flash content is not playing correctly, and a technician has advised you to reset the licenses files. This will reset ALL license files stored on your computer; you are not able to select individual files.

If you click on the “Reset License Files” button you will be prompted to confirm or cancel your selection.

Website Privacy Settings

The sixth tab is the Website Privacy Settings panel. This is the list of websites you have granted permission to store data on your computer. This panel is where you can “Always ask,” “Always allow,” or “Always deny” access you your computer’s camera and microphone.

The recommended setting is “Always ask” or “Always deny.” You can edit these by highlighting the website and change the permission or delete the website. You can also remove all the websites from this list by selecting “Delete all sites.” The settings on this panel override the default setting from the Global Privacy Settings panel for these particular websites.

If you choose to delete a website from this list you are prompted for confirmation.

Note: The list of websites displayed in this and the following panels are stored on your computer and displayed to allow you to view and change your local settings. Adobe claims that it has no access to this list, or to any of the information that the websites may have stored on your computer.

Website Storage Settings

The seventh tab is the Website Storage Settings panel. This lists all the websites that you have visited that use Flash content, and how much storage they are using on your computer. You can change the amount of storage you allow, delete individual websites, or all the websites. This panel overrides the Global Storage panel settings.

On a Windows 7 computer, the storage location for these files is: C:Usersuser_nameApplication DataMacromediaFlash Player in a folder called #SharedObjects or a subfolder of: macromedia.comsupportflashplayersys.

Note: Deleting the website using the Flash Global Settings Manager only removes the website’s storage content; it does not remove the folder created for the website. An empty folder will remain on your computer.

By selecting a website and using the “Delete website” button, you can delete that website from the list of visited websites. This also removes all data that the website has stored from this storage area.

Peer-Assisted Networking Settings

The last tab is the Peer-Assisted Networking Settings panel. This is where you allow or disallow users who are playing the same content to share your bandwidth. If you are not on a broadband internet connection, you never want to use this option. When in use, this option increases network traffic on your internet connection and to your computer.

It is recommended that you disable this option. This will not prevent Flash from working.

Other Notes and Considerations

The current versions of Internet Explorer 8 and Firefox version 3.6 share the same Flash settings. Changing or updating Flash through this console makes the changes for both. To verify this, validate the Flash Management console from within each web browser you use.

After installing any Flash updates you should validate that your privacy and security settings have not changed. With previous Flash updates, the settings within the Flash manager have reverted back to default, i.e. wide-open, settings.

On a Windows 7 computer, you can manually manage Flash cookies by navigating to: C:Usersuser_nameApplication DataMacromediaFlash Player in a subfolder located at #SharedObjectsnonsensical-filename and macromedia.comsupportflashplayersys. Deleting the website using the Flash Global Settings Manager only removes the website’s storage content; it does not remove the folder created for the website. An empty folder will remain on your computer in the C:Usersuser_nameApplication DataMacromediaFlash Playermacromedia.comsupportflashplayersys folder. The Application Data folder is a hidden systems folder. You will have to have hidden directories visible using the “Show hidden files, folders, and drives” option under the Fold Folder View option. You may also need systems permission to actually view and navigate these directories on a Windows 7 computer.

Instead of doing this manually, you can also use a free utility like Flash Cookie Cleaner 1.0, produced by ConsumerSoft (www. ConsumerSoft.com). This product will clean up and eliminate unwanted and unneeded Flash cookies in both the #SharedObjects and macromedia.com subfolders. This is a much simpler and more efficient way to clean up Flash cookies. You can download this free program from: http://www.flashcookiecleaner.com/ . This utility is free of spyware, adware, viruses, and other malicious programs. Download and save this file to your desktop and run it from there. This is a stand-along program that does not install itself on your computer.

References

Adobe – Flash Player: Help. (n.d.). Adobe. http://www.macromedia.com/support/documentation/en/flashplayer/help/settings_manager02.html

ConsumerSoft – Freeware Products. (n.d.). ConsumerSoft.

Leonhard, W. (2010, August 5.). Eliminate Flash-spawned “zombie” cookies. Windows Secrets.

Vega, T. (2010, September 20.) Code that tracks users’ browsing prompts lawsuits. The New York Times.

To request a pdf of the article with screen shot please visit the Friend Consulting web site and send an email from there with the Title: Adobe Insecurity.

To request a pdf of the article with screen shot please visit the Friend Consulting web site and send an email from there with the Title: Adobe Insecurity.

Joe Friend is the owner and senior consultant of Friend Consulting, a full and managed services Information Technology company. Joe retired from the Air Force as an Intelligence and Information Systems Analyst. Joe earned his bachelor’s degree from National American University in Computer Information Systems, Magna Cum Laude, and is currently working on a Master’s in Business Administration, also from NAU. Joe has extensive experience as a network and I.T. systems analyst, including over ten years doing I.T. consulting and support for small and medium sized businesses. He is a Microsoft Certified Professional and a Small Business Specialist. Additionally, he is a member of the Garrett College, McHenry MD, Business and Information Technology Advisory Board and teaches computer and business courses for the county Continuing Education and Workforce Development.

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We are often interested in the Flash animations which are being played when we browse a web page. Because of the Flash files are vector graph and the animations are smaller than other video formats so that they are very suit for browsing on-line. But the links of these Flash files are hidden very well in the web pages, so we can not download them simply with the downloader which we have used usually. Want to extract the favorite Flash animations from a web page simply? No problem! It is a little case as long as you have a powerful Flash tool that allows you save the Flash files from the opening web pages. Now I will commend some popular and excellent Flash downloaders to you. They are: EZ Save Flash, Flash Saver, Flash Saving Plugin, FlashCapture and FlashFavorite and Flash Miner. Following are the detailed introduction of them.

EZ Save Flash is an Internet Explorer add-on that enables us to easily save Flash (.swf) files to our hard drive. It integrates into the IE context menu, and toolbar, and adds new right-click option to save selected or all flash files on the current page. In addition, it also offers a floating toolbar that appears whenever we hover our mouse over a Flash animation, as well as an IE cache browser to view/save previously browsed Flash animations. EZ Save Flash provides a compact, friendly interface. Not only can beginners use it simply but also experienced users can also use it for advanced application. EZ Save Flash is an ideal solution for Flash animations fancier and webpage designer. It is the fast, affordable way to extract F

Flash Saver is a tool to simplify the way of downloading Flash files to our local hard drive. It can work as a standalone application or as a handy IE plug-in, that will automatically list all .swf files on the current page by pressing F7. We can then choose which files to download, preview them and also select a category to classify them. To speed up download times, we can also choose to download the file from our local browser cache rather than the Internet.

Flash Saving Plugin allows us to easily save Flash content from Internet Explorer (and other IE based browsers). It adds a new button to the Internet Explorer toolbar that lets us save Flash movies from any web page to a specified folder. In addition, it provides access to cached Flash files (Cache Browser) and comes with a Flash Gallery features, that lists all the Flash items contained in a page, along with their URLs, file sizes and last modification date.

FlashCapture is an Internet Explorer add-on, that enables us to save, email, snapshot and categorize Flash (.swf) files in just one click. FlashCapture integrates into the IE right click menu and makes new option available when right-clicking on a Flash item. We can choose to Save as…, Send by Email and more. We can create custom categories and automatically save Flash files into a selected category by using the Save Flash into… menu item. In addition, FlashCapture offers a floating Flash toolbar, similar to the IE image toolbar that offers the same functionality whenever we hover our mouse over a Flash file in IE. To speed things up, we can also use the new tool-button on the IE toolbar to save multiple Flash files at once. It opens a dialog that displays thumbnail version of all Flash items on the page and then allows us to select the ones to be saved to disk.

FlashFavorite allows us to browse downloaded Flash files in our Temporary Internet Files and the currently open web page. We can preview each Flash file (.swf) with the built-in viewer and optionally rename it and save the Flash clip in a user defined category. FlashFavorite also integrates into the IE toolbar, so we can quickly save a currently playing Flash movie.

Flash Miner is a tool to mass download Flash (swf) files from a given URL. It can spider the site to find files that are linked from other pages as well. We can set additional filters to exclude or include certain parts of the site based on keywords in the URL and also set a limit to the number of files and their sizes. Flash Miner comes with an integrated Flash viewer to play the downloaded files.

Overall, EZ Save Flash is an Internet Explorer add-on that enables us to save Flash (.swf) files to our hard drive easily. It is an ideal solution for Flash animations fanciers and webpage designers. Flash Saver is a tool to simplify the way of downloading Flash files to our local hard drive. Flash Saver can work as a standalone application or as a handy IE plug-in to save Flash files from the Internet. It is the fast, affordable way to extract Flash files from a webpage. Flash Saving Plugin adds a new button to the Internet Explorer toolbar and comes with Flash Gallery features, which list all the Flash items contained in a page, along with the detailed information of them. FlashCapture is a multifunctional Flash saver with some handy functions, such as a floating Flash toolbar. FlashFavorite allows us download Flash files from the Temporary Internet Files and the currently open web page. Flash Miner allows us to download Flash (swf) files from a given URL and comes with an integrated Flash viewer to play the downloaded files. Is there a favorite Flash saver for you? Well then, why are you still reading? Download it and experience how handy and simple it is!

Softsea.com provide the latest software reviews & downloads, include latest flash tools freeware, shareware.

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If you are looking for a way to dramatically improve your flash photos, you need to move your flash unit away from your camera. This means you will need an external flash unit and a means to hold and trigger it off the camera.

Why should you go to the trouble and expense of using a remote flash when your camera most likely has a perfectly good built-in flash? Almost all cameras that feature a built-in or pop-up flash unit place the flash directly over or just to one side of the lens. Any professional photographer will tell you that is the worst place for the flash to be. This article will explain how you can use a remote flash to improve portraits of people, but most of the following will apply to any subject.

Consider the list of problems created  by having your the flash inline or near the lens. First off, this is where red-eye originates. If the flash is fired from an area in close proximity to the lens, the chances of your subject displaying red-eye is increased substantially . Some cameras offer a red-eye reduction mode and you can usually fix the problem by editing your images with software. Neither of these solutions is ideal, however. The best fix for red-eye is to move the flash away from the axis of the lens. The further the flash is from the lens, the less chance that people and animals in your photos will exhibit red-eye.
 

The second problem with direct, on-camera flash is the harsh shadows it creates behind your subject. If you are outdoors or in a very large open room, you might be able to avoid this problem.

Another short-coming of direct flash occurs when you are shooting someone with eye glasses. You fire that direct burst of light into the lenses of their glasses, which promptly reflect it right back to your camera. The result is a nice portrait of your subject with white streaks where there eyes should be. Moving the flash will allow you to aim it in such a way that the glasses show no reflections. 

Direct flash can also cause your subject’s skin to reflect light, causing bright hot spots on their cheeks or forehead. The fix is the same as that for eyeglasses; move the flash.

Finally, direct flash can cause a “deer-in-the-headlights” look on your subject’s face. The flash wipes away all the natural shadows we are used to seeing on a person’s face and leaves everything looking flat. Lighting experts know that side lighting exaggerates texture, while frontal lighting minimizes texture. You might want to tone down the texture in someone’s face to a degree, but you don’t want so much head-on light that eyes, nose, mouth and facial features appear flat. 

All of these problems can be eliminated by simply moving the flash so it is not inline with the lens. How you accomplish this will vary with the type and brand of camera you are using. The easiest way is to use a flash bracket, which mounts a remote flash high and off to one side of the lens. You can also simply hold your camera with your right hand, while directing a remote flash with your left hand. Both of these solutions assume your camera has a PC port or hot-shoe that will allow you to use a sync cord to fire a remote flash.

If you camera lacks a way to sync with a remote flash, your options are more limited. You may be able to use an optical sensor to trigger a remote flash when it senses the light from your built-in flash unit. Many cameras, however, fire a pre-flash beam before the actual exposure. This beam is used to calculate exposure and focus. If this is the case with your camera, a generic optical trigger will not work, because the pre-flash will trigger the remote unit too early to have any effect. 

Should you discover that you camera doesn’t support remote flash in any way, then you won’t be able to take advantage of off-camera flash. You can attempt to minimize the effects of on-camera flash by moving your subjects away from walls and adding extra tungsten light to reduce shadows.

If your camera will support moving the flash off-camera, don’t hesitate to start using this technique. Once you see how much better your images look using remote flash, you will never go back to shooting with a built in or hot-shoe mounted flash. 

Read more photography articles by Tom Bonner at Alphatracks.com, the weblog for Sony and Minolta SLR enthusiasts.

Tom Bonner is the author of the Sony Alpha DSLR-A300/A350 Digital Field Guide, published by Wiley Publishing. A photographer for more than three decades, he offers photography and web design services to clients in the Charlotte, NC area.

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Digital cameras flash units come in many shapes and sizes. Low end digital cameras include low energy built in flash units. High end digital SLR cameras can support sophisticated external flash units which can provide superior lighting in difficult scenarios. Here are some basic facts about flash units both built in and external.

Flash units came a long way since their early days. Back then flash units were using powder that was lit by electrical current and literally “blew up” to produce the light energy. Using these flash units was a risky business. It was also difficult as the flash units were not automatically synchronized to the camera’s shutter. The photographer had to make sure that the flash goes off at the exact right time synchronized with the shooting of the photo.

Nowadays flash units are sophisticated technology devices. They use an electronic flash tube that is automatically synchronized to the camera. The photographer merely needs to do nothing. New digital cameras can decide on their own if the flash is needed, they can set its intensity and other parameters and they can fire the flash at the exact right time when the shutter is opened. All this is done automatically in the background. Digital camera also provide the user with the ability to manually control the flash, force it to either fire or not to fire, set its intensity and more.

Flash units are divided into two categories: Internal built-in flash units or external flash units. Internal flash units are built into the camera. Almost all digital camer

Digital cameras can use their flash units in automatic or in manual mode. In automatic mode the camera measures ambient light and fires the flash when not enough ambient light is available. Sometimes the camera will make the wrong decision as to using the flash and will either fire or not fire the flash when the opposite was needed. Setting the flash intensity is important too. If the flash unit fires too much light energy on objects that are too close to the camera the digital photo will be washed out. On the other hand if the flash unit fires a small amount of light energy on an object that is farther away from the digital camera the digital photo will be a too dark.

Flash units have limitations too. They can not light any scene and any object at any distance from the camera. It is important to know your flash unit limitations. For example check what the maximum light energy that it can emit is and what the farthest that an object can be effectively lit from. This is also known as the effective flash range. If the object is out of the effective flash range it is actually better to turn off the flash altogether and use a tripod with a longer exposure. Sometimes it is useful to use the flash even if there is enough ambient light. In such cases you can manually force the camera to fire the flash. This is also known as fill-in flash as it is usually used to fill-in shadowed areas on objects in the digital photo.

Ziv Haparnas is a technology veteran and writes about practical technology and science issues. This article can be reprinted and used as long as the resource box including the backlink is included. You can find more information about photo album printing and photography in general on http://www.printrates.com – a site dedicated to photo printing.

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In this article we look at one of the most useful feature you have on your camera, the flash. Surprisingly we almost always take this feature for granted, thinking that all there is to it is to switch it on and off whenever we need it or don’t. Well, this time, I’ll share some tips with you on how you can effectively use your flash.

Most of us would have the standard flash unit built-in on our (digital) camera. Of course if you have moved on to a prosumer (digital) SLR camera, then you may already know about the different ways of using an external flash. This set-up gives you the versatility of using bounce flash and a more powerful flash output. But this month we’ll focus on the compact digicam.

Understanding Your Camera’s Built-in Flash

We are most familiar with the usage of flash at times when there is not enough light to take a good picture. Set on Auto, your camera would compensate by adjusting shutter speed and aperture to light up and give you the best exposure for your subject. It is also the most portable lighting equipment that you will ever have.

On a standard camera, your flash unit has 4 settings, namely “On”, “Off”, “Auto” and “No Red-Eye”. “On” and “Off” is quite obvious, allowing you manual control in switching the flash on and off. “Auto” setting lets your camera choose to activate the flash depending on lighting conditions. The “No Red-Eye” setting prevents red-eye effect on your su

Let There Be Light

Okay, on with the tips. Here are a list of things you would use your flash for apart from just illuminating the scene.

1) Light up shadows : One of the most useful times to use flash is when natural light is at its brightest. This is when harsh shadows are created on your subject. Because of the amount of light, your camera would not automatically switch on your flash; therefore you would have to do it manually. The resulting flash will light up the shadow areas on your subject giving you a more balanced shot.

2) Put a sparkle in her eyes : Sometimes even when natural light is enough, consider using the flash to give a sparkle in your subject’s eyes. This also lights up your subject’s face resulting in a livelier look.

3) Flash in a night scene : When you are taking a picture of your subject against a night scene with the normal flash setting, you would probably end up with your subject brightly exposed by your flash and little else of the background. Most new digicam have “Night-Scene/Mode” setting on them. This means the camera uses flash along with a slow shutter speed. Use this to illuminate your subject and at the same time enough lighting from the scene will be captured by your camera.

4) Freeze the moment : Using your flash is also a great way to freeze motion. What happens when you are faced with low lighting condition and you have a moving object to capture? Use your flash for a burst of light to freeze your subject. Your shot is then less likely to result in blurring. You could even try using “Night-Scene/Mode” and panning (using your camera’s viewfinder to track your subject) to create nice effect. This allows you to capture your subject sharp against a motion-blurred background.

5) Improve contrast and saturating colors : Low ambient lighting results in poorly lit low contrast images. Use your flash to improve the contrast level of the object you are shooting. This also brightens and increases the color saturation of your picture. You will have to trigger your flash manually to do this.

When Not to Use Your Flash

Okay, in getting to know when to use your flash, you should also know when not to use it.

1) When your subject is out of range : Most built-in flash have an effective range of approximately up to 10ft or 3m. If your subject is standing beyond this range, either move closer to your subject or switch off your flash and use a slower shutter speed setting. On your digicam you can also use a higher ISO setting to capture your subject at a higher shutter speed.

2) When you are taking a pleasant and usually warm ambiance : If you want to effectively take the pleasant nature of a scene that is lit by warm lighting such as candle light, don’t use flash if it is possible. However, make sure you have enough ambient lighting to prevent underexposure or blurring due to movements. A tripod is best used here.

3) When you are shooting a reflective surface : Shooting with the flash on and directly in front of a reflective object is a sure way of ruining your picture. This includes shooting through a window or between metal bars or fencing. The reflection from your flash will bounce off the shiny surface and right back to the lens resulting in a blurred highlight. If you have no other choice, try shooting from an angle to avoid reflections.

4) No flash photography allowed : Some places like museums, art gallery, or specialty zoos do not allow flash photography. Here using a slower shutter speed coupled with a tripod or simply switch your camera to a higher ISO setting.

Personally, I almost always keep my flash on. The added highlight created by the flash on my subject is a good ingredient in creating a brighter and livelier shot. Practice on having a good eye on observing lighting conditions around you. Eventually you will be able to predict how your flash will work in different conditions without having to do a double-take.

So, go ahead, flash it!

Hi! My name is Kenny Goh. I have been passionate about photography for the past 11 years. I love the emotions that come with photography… the passion, the excitement, the excitement, the calmness, the pleasures, the expressions. It’s all there for interpretations. Capturing time at its most vulnerable moment and then looking at it over and over again trying to emulate the same feelings… but, then it’s never the same. Currently, my full-time career as a Senior Creative Director for an advertising company has allowed me to create, conceptualize and also view photography works of others. From this, I find myself having to critique about my own work as much as I do of works by others. Moving on from taking photographs I have also since ventured into the field of Digital Imaging. This is an inevitable move to the next level of digital photography and imaging. I have been writing articles and conducting workshops on photo-editing and always on the search for even more creative executions. I have been a writer and a contributor for magazines and book publications such as Sound & Pictures, Chip Photo Video, Click! Magazine and Digital Photography and Camera as well as frequent photography contributor to foreign book publishers. I hope you find what I have here, enjoyable and worth reading as much as I loved writing and shooting too.

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As photographers we spend a lot of time playing with light. Light is our medium, we talk about its color, its quality, its size and its softness. And a lot of our talk is about how to change it. One of the first things that a novice photographer tires of and wants to change is the boring, flat light that their camera flash produces. While there are any number of devices that can filter or shape light one of the biggest groups of light changers are the remote flash triggers.

At the most basic level one of the fastest ways to change flash light from flat and boring is to move its position. If instead of having our flash shoot a head-on beam of light into the subjects face what would happen if we moved the flash up and to the right or left of the subject? The answer is that we get better and more flattering light. However once the flash is moved off of the top of our camera it loses the vital connections required to make it fire. This is where Remote Flash Triggers come to play.

While there are dozens of varieties of flash triggers available they all have one chief purpose: to cause the flash to fire at the precise moment that the camera’s shutter is open. This process is what we call “flash synch” and it has been around for about as long as cameras themselves.

Corded flash triggers attach to the top of the camera and have an electrical communications cord of from six inches to over 30 feet which on its other end connects to the flash through either a shoe or a plug of some sort. A flash cord is pretty much error free –

Here is an important detail to remember: while a flash cord may limit movement or present a slight trip hazard, with the right match of camera, cord and flash full TTL automatic exposure is maintained. With only a very few exceptions, remote flash triggers don’t offer automatic exposure.

One of the earliest remote flash triggers is the “electric eye” slave sensor. The slave sensor is still a popular accessory today. A slave sensor requires at least two flash units. The first flash unit sits atop the camera just as it usually does. The second flash is positioned where it is needed and a slave sensor is attached or plugged in. Multiple sensor equipped slave flashes may be used. The slave sensor remote trigger is simplicity itself; so long as the slave sensor’s electric eye can see the camera mounted flash, it will trip the slave flash every time that it “sees” the camera flash go off.

Another variation on the original slave sensor is a sensor system built around infrared (IR) controls. Why would anyone go to the expense of using an IR control? The photographer wants to trip one or more slave flash units without adding any flash light from the camera’s position. In the previous flash to flash slave setup the camera mounted flash is a part of the exposure and if the photographer is working handheld and change in position changes the main light in the exposure. With an IR controller rather than a master flash on the camera the photographer can roam at will.

Slave sensor flash triggers work pretty well in a studio or living room where there isn’t a lot of distance or interference. But what is the answer for the photographer who wants to position a flash out of sight? Electric eye sensors require line of sight to the master flash or IR controller or they won’t fire. So much for illuminating a back wall with a flash hidden behind a sofa, or using multiple flashes to fill every dark corner of a church.

To solve this need we take the next step up the ladder and use a radio frequency flash trigger. All the setup is the same with a radio trigger, a controller attached to the camera and a sensor attached to each slave flash. However with radio we now have a system for just about any need. From one camera position it is possible to fire as many flash units as desired at ranges of from 100 to 1,600 feet. Around corners, behind couches, in every dark spot of a church it is possible to add flash light with a radio remote flash trigger.

The effective range of radio communication is one of the attributes that contributes to cost. A basic radio trigger from Promaster that can reach out to around 100 feet may cost less than $80.00 while a system from PocketWizard that can range up to 1,600 feet can hit the wallet for over $400.00 (prices are per remote flash by the way).

If you are attracted to remote flash triggers I suggest going directly to the radio type triggers. They are more versatile and may be used in the studio, in a gym or in a church. There is more cost up front but the photographer won’t need to repurchase and upgrade later.

Anytime that the flash is not physically attached to the camera the photographer will need to be shooting in Manual exposure mode. Without the multiple connections that are made between the flash foot and the camera hotshoe automatic exposure is impossible – with two pricey exceptions.

There are two different systems from three manufacturers that permit in-camera exposure control (Program Mode, Aperture (Av) Mode or Manual Mode) of a flash that has no direct connection to the camera. One type uses optical means as seen in the original Nikon CLS Multi Flash System.

CLS used either a camera mounted flash or the built-in flash as a controller that would fire remote flashes while maintaining automatic exposure control over those flashes. By sending out coded 1/10,000 second emissions from the camera flash the remote flashes were told both when to fire and just how much. All of the flashes used must support the CLS system which pretty much confines flash purchase choice to the Nikon brand.

Canon uses a similar concept but the controller is an infrared emitter, the STE-2, rather than a camera flash. Nikon also offers an IR emitter option for its CLS system, the SU-800. Flash controlled or IR controlled these optical trigger systems have an operational range of under 45 feet.

PocketWizard announced a radio remote flash controller that supports camera-based exposure control. Unlike the Canon / Nikon optical systems, the PocketWizard system offers the very large range of radio systems complete with TTL flash control. The PocketWizard system was first made available for Canon digital cameras and in late 2010 a Nikon version was added.

In conclusion: Remote flash triggers are an important accessory for those looking to improve their flash photography. Optical trigger systems such as those that are flash based or infrared based work well in studios, living rooms and other like-sized spaces. Radio trigger systems are more expensive but offer versatility such as the ability to fire a flsh that isn’t in line of sight. For the majority of remote flash trigger systems Manual exposure mode is required, a few select systems can add TTL auto-exposure but at a premium price.

Stu Eddins is blogger, instructor, merchandiser, and is generally in charge of a lot of things for Porter’s Digital Cameras and Imaging. Visit their site at www.porters.com. Years of experience over the counter and in classrooms have turned Stu into an evangelist for image preservation, capturing and sharing memories, and helping people understand digital cameras, digital camera lenses.

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