|  | TechRepublic Community Central
| | | | | | TechRepublic Community Members:
Woo Hoo! We are very excited! When we first launched "TechRepublic Community Central" we had exactly 6 members signed up. Well, just a little over 7 months later we have exceeded 4000 members! Now if we could only get more of that 4000 to actively particpate by sending us your "Tips of the Week", photo's for our many member galleries, questions of the week, and all the other fun things that Sonja begs for each week in TROLOV (that's TechRepublic Outloud on Video) - remember not only does it get you some swag when it's featured on TROLOV (and in several spots in the newsletter), but it's YOUR participation that makes TROLOV and TRCC (TechRepublic Community Central) what it is today!
Check out the below to see what has been happening this week in the community and what you might have missed!
-- Sonja Thompson, Senior Editor and Tammy Cavadias, Community Moderator | | | TechRepublic Outloud on Video |  | |  In this TR community video, Sonja Thompson breaks out the Flip video and tries her hand at stick figure animation. This episode also contains all the usual suspects, including the top discussions and most active members on the site.
Watch the Video | | | TechRepublic 10th Year Spotlight | | |  At the TechRepublic 10-Year Anniversary Event on June 26, Jason Hiner told of how TechRepublic evolved from a long-shot startup in Louisville, Kentucky to become one of the world's largest technology Web sites.
Watch The Video | | Tip of the Week This week's Tip of the Week is brought to you by TR member: aabishop@... Reduce file sizes when using photos
Many people are now using photos from digital cameras in Word documents and PowerPoint presentations. These can often create enormous file sizes.
If you are using any type of graphic from any source, use the following process to reduce your file sizes dramatically:
1: After downloading pictures from your camera, you can insert them into any Office document or presentation by clicking Insert | Picture | From File
2: Locate the folder where the photo resides and click Insert
3: Resize the picture as required (if you are resizing manually, always use the corner handles to maintain height/width proportion)
4: Use Edit | Cut (or Ctrl+X) to cut the picture
5: Click Edit | Paste Special
6: Scroll down and select Picture (JPEG)
7: Click OK
This will convert your photos to JPEGs and keep you file sizes manageable. Read the Full Blog.  More Tips of The Week Have a tip to share with the TechRepublic community? We'd love to feature it here and in the TROL Blog! It can be anything from keyboard shortcuts to easter eggs to how to navigate the TR community. Simply send us an email with your tip and if we feature it in the TROL Blog - you will soon be the recipient of some nice cool swag! | | | Question of the Week | | | Mistakenly ran a system restore
 Can some one tell me if I have a way out of this problem? I have an Hp Pavilion PC that I ran the built in restore on. I forgot that the HP restore contained my original OS XP Home and I had since upgraded it to Pro. I have also misplaced my XP Pro discs. Can I update XP home again and what type of installer fro pro do I need. -- cclc
Read Full Question | | Please remember to give well deserved "Thumbs Up" when receiving assistance for your questions & problems - they are much appreciated | | | Member Photo Gallery | | |  The TechRepublic community has come together in the Discussions forum to share their love of gardening. This week's "Garden Pic of the Week" was sent in by TR member GSG.
View Full Gallery | | Want to show off your pet, garden, body art or your ghoulish costume? Email us a photo to have it included in the TR member galleries, plus if we featured it on TROLOV - that's TechRepublic Outloud on Video - you'll get some cool swag! | | | Community Happenings | | | | The brand new TR member photo gallery is here! Check it out and send in your Garden photos! | | | Swag Central | | | | Spot your user name listed below and we'll send you some cool swag! Each week we will feature 3 TechRepublic members - so watch this spot for your chance to get some cool swag! | | | tintoman@... | | singhsons | | b4real@... | | | Simply send us an email with your mailing address, and you'll soon be sporting your very own TechRepublic swag - just remember though you only have until 11:59pm ET, Friday July 17, 2009 to let us know you spotted your name! | | | (Note: Due to the possibility of duplicate user id's - click the User Name(s) to be taken to that members profile to see if that is you. Please send email from your registered email with TechRepublic.) | | | | | | TechRepublic Blogs | | | Google Chrome OS: 3 reasons it matters, and 4 reasons it's irrelevant
Jason Hiner: Google has finally announced its long-expected operating system, the Chrome OS. Here's what we know about it, plus my take on both why it matters and why it could turn out to be irrelevant.
Read Full Blog | | ............................................................................................. | Video: Firefox about:config hacks that can speed up and customize your browser
Unbeknownst to many users, Firefox has a whole host of hidden settings that can fine-tune and potentially speed up your browsing experience. Bill Detwiler shows you how to access and modify Firefox's preferences using the browser's about:config feature.
Watch the Video | | ............................................................................................. | 10 ways to be liked in your job interview
Toni Bowers: Everyone wants to make a good impression in job interviews. But did you know that too much smiling or asking too many unrelated questions can circumvent that goal?
Read Full Blog | | ............................................................................................. | Getting expensive software without buying it
Meredith Little: A drawback to being an independent consultant is that you have to pay your own bills. If there's expensive software you need to use but you haven't bought it yet, read these cost-cutting tips.
Read Full Blog | | ............................................................................................. | Photo Gallery: Microsoft Office 2010 technical preview
Although Microsoft isn't planning to release Microsoft Office 2010 until the beginning of that year, we got to test drive the invite-only technical preview now. Here's what Redmond has in store for its ubiquitous ubiquitous productivity suite.
View Full Gallery | | Member Soap Box | | | | Is billing by the hour unethical?
"The reason so many have such a hard time accepting value-based fees is because it's really about value-based positioning. That's all about being strategic." -- josh.t.richards@... Woman sues to have name of anonymous web poster revealed
"Lots of companies are doing web searches before they hire a candidate. So they search her name and find that she allegedly exposed herself to some children. She's just lost her chance at that job." -- GSG Poll: What's your 'geek look?'
"Basically I look like a bum, albeit a neat, clean bum. If I have shoes and jeans on, it's because I either have a date or it is cold out." -- Forum Surfer 10 ways to avoid viruses and spyware
"These people that make malware are after MONEY! They don't care what OS you use, they will hack the one that gives them the greatest opportunity to CASH IN!!!" -- staylor@... | | | Top 5 Active Members | | | | The Top 100 represents the most active TR community participants, ranked in ever-changing order. Here is the Top 5 active TechRepublic members. | | | Yuk IT Up | | | Types of computer viruses:
Adam and Eve virus: Takes a couple of bytes out of your Apple.
Arnold Schwarzenegger virus: Terminates and stays resident. It'll be back.
Federal bureaucrat virus: Divides your hard disk into hundreds of little units, each of which do practically nothing, but all of which claim to be the most important part of the computer.
Government economist virus: Nothing works, but all your diagnostic software says everything is fine. | | | For more humor check out last week's Friday Yuk started by boxfiddler! | | | |
