Computers & Technology

You'll be smiling behind the camera after you master all the tips and tricks exposed in the second edition of Digital Photography For Dummies by photographer and digital imaging expert Julie Adair King. This updated guide to taking great pictures with a digital camera -- whether you're shooting for fun or for profit -- delivers up-to-the-minute advice on everything from selecting the right camera to using advanced image-correction techniques, all written in clear, concise terms and presented with easy-to-follow steps. With traditional 35mm cameras, after your picture is taken, that's it. But with digital camera images, the fun is just starting. Run your digital images through a variety of special effects, from adjusting the color balance to cropping out unwanted elements or sharpening the focus. Create new images for your Web site, send your pictures to friends and family over the Internet, or print your suitable-for-framing pix on high-quality paper. Plus, Digital Photography For Dummies, 2nd Edition, comes with a bonus CD-ROM loaded with image-editing utilities, such as Kodak Picture Easy 3.1, Spin Panorama 1.0, and trial versions of several popular tools and programs, including Adobe's award-winning photo-manipulation program, Photoshop 5.

Let the adventure begin with this straightforward guide to GURPS!This is it—the key that unlocks the riches of GURPS (Generic Universal Role Playing System) and gives you a wealth of information on how to create your character and fine-tune your play. Produced in partnership with Steve Jackson Games, the game's creator, GURPS For Dummies is the ideal companion to GURPS Basic Set, 4th Edition that explains the rules. It gives you insight into the choices you’ll make in everything from creating a fun, dynamic character using the allotted number of points, to playing in an adventure, to becoming a GM. Whether you want to be an Amazon princess or a stalwart warrior, an old-fashioned swashbuckler or a modern investigator, a tough cop or a cat burglar, a sorcerer casting spells or a cosmic ranger, fighting lawlessness in the asteroids, this guide will help you: Determine your character’s basic attributes: IQ, DX (dexterity), ST (strength) and HT (health)Figure out your character’s secondary characteristicsChoose advantages (including powers and perks) and disadvantages (including quirks and disadvantages with a self-control roll modifier)Optimize your points by using talentsSelect your skills based on functional area or the campaign settingEnhance your character with spells, magic items, magic staves, and powerstonesStrategically purchase equipment for different characters, tech levels, and campaign typesCreate and manage a character sheet, write a character background, keep a character log, and more—all with samplesChoose good combat techniques and play with your characterIf you want to become a GM, this guide gets you going with advice on creating the adventure, managing the character creation process, managing combat, and interpreting the rules. There’s even a handy Cheat Sheet tear-out GM screen in the front of the book. There are tips throughout, plus advice on how to: Create your very own GURPS universe for your campaign, whether it’s dungeon-crawl, high-adventure, combat-focused, puzzle-focused, or masquerade-type Provide a basic write-up of the world for your players, including technology level, supernatural and supernormal abilities and powers, races, setting, character templates, cultural and social information, and limitations Create an electronic combat grid, a battle log, a tactical map, and more—with samples Do mapping, planning, and plotting Create memorable NPC (nonplayer characters), both good guys and bad guys GURPS For Dummies helps you create more detailed, exciting, and interesting characters and take your game to the next level. That’s important whether you’re saving a princess or saving the planet…searching for hidden treasure or for secrets to eliminate disease… fighting crime or combating armies of evil robots…casting spells in medieval castles or destroying terrorist cells in modern day milieus. With GURPS, the only limitation is your imagination.