How to convert text to an e-book
— -- Question: My father has written several books about his time as a game warden. How can I convert these to e-books?
Answer: Start with a converter program like Calibre. It can turn TXT, ODT and PDF files into common e-book formats. You could also use an e-book-creation programs like Sigil. To create an e-book for the Kindle, use Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing service. Visit http://www.komando.com/news to find links to all these programs and services.
Q: I'm trying to print some photos from a friend's Facebook account. They keep turning out blurry. What can I do to make them clearer?
A: The photos you're printing are probably low resolution. In other words, they have a low number of pixels or color units. Trying to blow them up to a normal photo size makes the pixels larger and causes blurring. You'll want to contact your friend and see if he or she has high-resolution originals you can download. That should give you better prints.
Q: I accidentally set my OS X user account image to a goofy photo I took. How can I change it to something else?
A: To exile the goofy self-portrait, go to System Preferences, then to Accounts. Click on the photo, and you'll be able to replace it with the generic art there or a better self-portrait. Your iPhone and other Apple gadget will grab the Account Picture from your home computer and put it in your Contacts file whenever you sync the device (to get new music or an operating system update). Deleting or replacing the Contacts picture is as simple as tapping on it.
Q: I was trying to tell someone to type a "/" over the phone. Then I realized I didn't know what the symbol is called. Can you shed some light on it?
A: Certainly. That is called a forward slash. Other keyboard symbols you might need to know are # (number sign, pound or hash mark), > (less than and greater than), (caret), ~ (tilde) and \ (back slash). You'll see the - (hyphen or minus), _ (underscore), | (pipe), [ ] (square brackets) and { } (curly brackets). You probably already know * (star or asterisk), % (percent), and ! (exclamation point).
Q: I'm trying to remove the background from a photo. I know you can do it in Photoshop, but I can't spend the money. Is there another program you can recommend?
A: Photoshop is a very powerful program, but it's very expensive. For a similar programs that's truly free, I recommend GIMP. You can use GIMP's select tools to separate your subject from the background. In many cases, it won't be simple, but I have the steps for you at http://www.komando.com/news
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Kim Komando hosts the nation's largest talk radio show about consumer electronics, computers and the Internet. To get the podcast, watch the show or find the station nearest you, visit www.komando.com. E-mail her at techcomments@usatoday.com.
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