Layer blending allows you to control the range of light or dark pixel values in the active layer and in underlying visible layers that appear in your final image. Among other things, you can use this feature to remove a dark background from a light [...]]]> Remove unwanted background detail from images in Adobe Photoshop (CS2/CS3/CS4/CS5)

Layer blending allows you to control the range of light or dark pixel values in the active layer and in underlying visible layers that appear in your final image. Among other things, you can use this feature to remove a dark background from a light image or vice versa.

To remove a range of dark pixels from the background layer, open an image in Photoshop. In the Layers panel, convert the background layer to a working layer by double-clicking on it and clicking OK in the resulting New Layer dialog box. Next, click the Add A Layer Style button at the base of the Layers panel and choosing Blending Options from the resulting pop-up menu. On the Blending Options panel, choose Gray from the Blend If pop-up menu to specify a blending range for all channels. Finally, move the black triangle on the This Layer slider to the right and watch the background disappear! Pixels with brightness values less than your specified setting remain unblended and are excluded from the final image. This, however, is creating a blunt edge between dark and light pixels.

To create a smoother blend, start by [option]-dragging ([Alt]-dragging in Windows) on the This Layer black slider to split it in half. Then, drag the left half of the slider to 80 and click OK.

<?xml version=”1.0″?> <Certification>     <Exam>        <Item>             <Question>Should I use XML?</Question>             <Answer>Duh.</Answer>        </Item>        <Item>             <Question>Should I use XSL?</Question>             <Answer>Of course.</Answer>        </Item>     [...]]]> When developing XSL Stylesheets, you may often need to output a formatted number.
With more complex output structures, you may need to maintain links between objects using the same counters. We suggest you create reusable templates to maintain consistency and ensure accurate output.

<?xml version=”1.0″?>
<Certification>
    <Exam>
       <Item>
            <Question>Should I use XML?</Question>
            <Answer>Duh.</Answer>
       </Item>
       <Item>
            <Question>Should I use XSL?</Question>
            <Answer>Of course.</Answer>
       </Item>
    </Exam>
</Certification>

If you apply the stylesheet below:

<?xml version=”1.0″?>
<xsl:stylesheet version=”1.0″ xmlns:xsl=”http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform“>
    <xsl:template match=”/”>
       <xsl:text>Test:</xsl:text>
       <xsl:apply-templates select=”descendant::Question”/>

       <xsl:text> Answer Key:</xsl:text>
       <xsl:apply-templates select=”descendant::Answer”/>
    </xsl:template>

    <xsl:template match=”*”>
       <xsl:apply-templates/>
    </xsl:template>

    <!– reuseable counter –>
    <xsl:template>
       <xsl:number count=”Item” from=”Exam” format=”a”/>
    </xsl:template>

    <xsl:template match=”Question | Answer”>
       <xsl:text> </xsl:text>
       <xsl:call-template/>
       <xsl:text>.) </xsl:text>
       <xsl:apply-templates/>
    </xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>

It produces the output

Test:

1. Should I use XML?
2. Should I use XSL?

Answer Key:

1. Duh.
2. Of course.

Sometimes, you may want to deactivate hyperlinks so they act like regular document text. In fact, you may have wanted to do the same with field codes, too. Instead of digging around in dialog boxes and shortcut menus to solve the problem, Word offers [...]]]> Instantly deactivate all hyperlinks or fields in a document (Word 2000/2002/2003/2004/2007)

Sometimes, you may want to deactivate hyperlinks so they act like regular document text. In fact, you may have wanted to do the same with field codes, too. Instead of digging around in dialog boxes and shortcut menus to solve the problem, Word offers two shortcut keys you can use to accomplish either task.

First, place the insertion point anywhere within the hyperlinked text or field you want to deactivate. (If you’re deactivating a hyperlink, be careful not to launch it.) Or, if you want to simultaneously strip all the hyperlinks and field codes in your document, begin by pressing [Ctrl]A to select the entire document ([command]A in Word 2001). 

Next, press [Ctrl][Shift][F9] or [Ctrl]6 ([command][shift][F9] or [command]6 in Word 2001). Word removes any selected hyperlinks and fields—without disturbing their original display text.

Keep in mind that if your hyperlink’s display text is different from its URL, the URL stored behind the scenes is stripped along with the hyperlink—only the display text remains.

To use MSCONFIG to prevent startup programs:

Individuals and organizations can now copy, distribute and transmit a variety of Microsoft’s security-related content.

Essentially, the announcement means public and private organizations can gain access to the company’s research [...]]]> In a recent Microsoft blog post, the company revealed it will be changing the Creative Commons license to allow companies to employ their Security Development Lifecycle software.

Individuals and organizations can now copy, distribute and transmit a variety of Microsoft’s security-related content.

Essentially, the announcement means public and private organizations can gain access to the company’s research and documentation on computer and internet security.

In order to properly wade through the layers of software copyrights involved with applying Microsoft’s new services, companies will need to depend heavily on their IT professionals and even consider making new hires to meet the demand.

The products and software companies will be able to glean from Microsoft represent a widely varied base of knowledge. Users will immediately be able to access case studies, white papers and training materials. As more products receive licensing updates, more information will become available.

Currently, the IT job market is among the fastest growing in the country, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Growth is expected in almost every field, especially as corporations begin to invest more heavily in network security related jobs.

Open Text Corporation, provider of Enterprise content management, has announced the availability of tools to help IT [...]]]> SharePoint has historically been most successful as a program that can help groups deal with end-user requirements. After projects and users moved on, however, companies had trouble dealing with the legacy content, leading to a variety of legal problems.

Open Text Corporation, provider of Enterprise content management, has announced the availability of tools to help IT managers work with SharePoint 2010 to avoid the lingering problems that come as a result of legacy content.

The recently released SharePoint 2010 has the tools to solve various problems that IT managers are facing. Open Text Content Lifecycle Management and Open Text Case Framework are both designed to help SharePoint 2010 users manage sites over an extended project cycle.

Lubor Ptacek, vice president of product marketing for Open Text, explains “By combining the Open Text ECM Suite with SharePoint 2010 deployment expertise, we are in a position to help IT regain control over content in SharePoint 2010 sites, improve efficiency and put in place comprehensive governance, risk management and compliance solutions not only for the content in SharePoint 2010 sites, but for content across the enterprise.”

These features make it possible for IT departments to manage a site over the entire time span of SharePoint 2010, lowering their risk of legal issues in the future. The Metropolitan Corporate Council reports that legal offices are employing SharePoint as a tool to assist them in document management.
Date: 8/31/2010

Dynamic DNS (DDNS) in Windows Server 2003 offers you the convenience of clients and servers updating their own DNS records. (If you use DHCP, the DHCP server is capable of updating its clients’ resource records within DDNS for them.) Obviously, DDNS saves you considerable time because [...]]]> Thwart hackers by securing Dynamic DNS (Microsoft Windows Server 2003)

Dynamic DNS (DDNS) in Windows Server 2003 offers you the convenience of clients and servers updating their own DNS records. (If you use DHCP, the DHCP server is capable of updating its clients’ resource records within DDNS for them.) Obviously, DDNS saves you considerable time because you don’t have to manually create and maintain your clients’ DNS records.

The drawback to DDNS is that it can leave your network more vulnerable to attack if you haven’t secured it properly. For example, a hacker can “hijack” users’ connections simply by configuring a host computer to insert a resource record with the same IP address as one of your file or application servers. DDNS would then redirect users to this bogus server—enabling the hacker to then capture each user’s activity.

You can avoid this security breach by securing DDNS. To do so, configure your DNS servers to store their zone information in Active Directory. (You can configure this option only if you host DNS on your domain controllers, which is a Microsoft recommended best practice for implementing DNS.) You should also configure your zones to permit only secure dynamic updates. This setting enables only those computers that have successfully authenticated to your domain to update their DDNS records, which makes it much more difficult for a hacker to insert or update a DNS resource record.

Stylesheets can quickly become complex, especially if your data model contains a lot of elements and attributes. A good programming practice is to modularize your code into reusable components.

The stylesheet below uses xsl:include elements to modularize the stylesheet. In this scenario, the xsl:template rules for your table’s data [...]]]> Use xsl:include to modularize your XSL stylesheets

Stylesheets can quickly become complex, especially if your data model contains a lot of elements and attributes. A good programming practice is to modularize your code into reusable components.

The stylesheet below uses xsl:include elements to modularize the stylesheet. In this scenario, the xsl:template rules for your table’s data model, defined in tables.xsl, are made available to the stylesheet processor.

<?xml version=”1.0″?>
<xsl:stylesheet version=”1.0″ xmlns:xsl=”http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform“>
    <xsl:include href=”table.xsl”/>
    <xsl:template>
       <xsl:apply-templates/>
    </xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>

Take care to note the difference between xsl:import and xsl:include. Use xsl:include when you want to modularize your XSL transformation. Use xsl:import when you want to customize and override an existing XSL transformation.