COMPUTER STUFF

Advantages of Computer Spy

2009-11-11T07:54:00.001+07:00

Computer is one thing that is easily found now. Once people go to official place they will find computer there. Actually, this stuff is not only can be found in formal places, it can also be found in informal places. Computer does really can be found anywhere. There will be many computers found in schools, hospitals, offices, hotels, factories, etc. Nowadays, computer is one thing that cannot be separated from people since it is helpful enough in helping people doing many things.

Dealing with computer, another thing that people need to know is computer spy. For those who have not been familiar with this term, what they need to do is checking Brickhousesecurity.com. This website will give more explanations about what computer spy actually is to the visitors of this website. There are three steps how to use it that are provided in this website. Bt visiting thus website, people will be able to know about the spesifications and about the features of this product.

People need to know that computer spy is very important for many cases. Even for a family this product will be something necessary. One thing that really need to be noticed is that parents do not really know what their children do with the computer.

Two of the most popular advantages of computer spying:

1. Great way to catch cheating spouses.

Like most cheating now days takes place on the Internet, it only makes sense if you want solid proof that your spouse is cheating, then using this type of software is a must. The benefits you receive are proof of actual text messages from your spouse that could implicate him in illegal behavior. Even if no physical meeting (there usually is though), just because you discover he or she engaged in lewd behavior on the Internet may be more than enough reason there.

2. The supervision of children.

Monitoring of children on the Internet can be done with computer spy tool. The Internet is a huge world with lots of dangerous land for children to walk around. Monitoring tool is a necessity so that parents can know the whereabouts of their children as they travel through the web. Most parents are not worried that their children will deliberately go somewhere they are not supposed to, but they worry about how easy it is to be drawn into certain sites. And with the number of disgusting predators out there, parents want to ensure the safety of their children.

Speed Up Firefox by Optimizing Profile Database

2009-11-03T15:55:00.000+07:00

Though Mozilla Firefox is quit fast browser, with lapse of time you'll find it starts working much slowly, especially on old pc. One factor makes it so is fragmentation of profile databases including bookmark, password, history, etc. The solution is to use SpeedyFox to compact the databases without worrying about data loss. It means, SpeedyFox won't speed up your internet connection but it will speed up your slow Firefox browser.

Publisher of this useful tool claimed that SpeedyFox is abel to boost Firefox startup up to 3 times, speed up browsing history, cookies quicker operation etc.

Run SpeedyFox regularly to speed up Firefox depends on your browsing activity frequency. Whenever you feel the browser start slowly, it's time to SpeedyFox!

Download SpeedyFox newest version here.

Copy Bootable CD and DVD to USB Flash Drive

2009-11-03T07:47:00.001+07:00

Generally, we are only able to run bootable CD or DVD from its original media. You cannot just copy the installation files to USB flash drive and run them from the USB drive since bootable CD or live CD contains additional boot loader, different from non bootable CD. Then, here is a program that will let you copy bootable CD and DVD to USB flash drive, USB stick, HDD etc. It means, you can install Windows from the portable media to your computer or netbook. Of course it will certainly facilitate the installation process to netbook since most of netbook not equipped with optical drive.

First, download WinToFlash and extract it to your HDD. Choose newest version. No installation needed, it's a portable software. Run WinToFlash then choose advance or wizard mode. Choose drive of the CD or DVD device and the USB drive. This software using on the fly copy process, means it's able to copy files from CD directly to USB without drop in to HDD. Then just follow the steps until transfer process complete.

Besides copy bootable CD, it can handle several functions such as WinPE to USB transfer, use it as USB media erasing (full of quick) and create the drive with emergency boot-loader. WinToFlash currently supports Windows XP, 2003, Vista, 2008 and Windows 7.

Disable Autorun for USB and CD Drives

2009-10-08T21:37:00.001+07:00

Every time you plug a usb drive into pc or notebook, it will run an autoplay or autorun that scan what kind of files contained in the disk than give you choices on what application should used to open the files.

If you don't like this automatic action, you can disable this autoplay/autorun function.

For non-Home versions of Windows (for example, Windows XP Professional, Vista Ultimate):

Click Start, click Run, enter gpedit.msc (launch Group Policy Editor);
XP users: Open Computer Configuration | Administrative Templates | System,

Vista users

Find Turn Off AutoPlay in the right-hand pane and double-click it;
Choose Enabled and set it for All drives.

By enabling this setting, not only disable autorun for USB drives, you can also disable autorun for CD drive.

Or, in any Windows version:

Launch the Registry editor (Start | Run | regedit);
Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer;
Double-click NoDriveTypeAutoRun in the right-hand pane and set its value to hexadecimal FF.

By disable/turn off autoplay/autorn ability, you may also prevent spreading viruses and worms infect the USB drive such as Conficker or Downadup.

Technorati Tags: disable autorun, disable autoplay, USB drive autorun, CS autoplay, autorun viruses,conficker, downadup

Find a Device on Your Network

2009-09-16T06:51:00.000+07:00

There are a few reasons to know your connected devices' IP addresses. For one, it's invaluable in troubleshooting. After making sure your unresponsive device is actually plugged in, the next step will nearly always be to point your PC's browser at its IP address and make sure that something having to do with the device appears, such as a configuration page, or at least the device name. This leads to another reason: Often, a device's "home page"—what you see in your browser when you type in the device's IP address—will give you easier access to device options, and in some cases, more settings and extras.

How can you find the IP addresses of your devices? Through your router's configuration screens. In your browser, type in your router's IP address, then find the DHCP client table among the config screens (which vary by router brand). This table shows all devices connected (physically or wireless) through the router. If a device doesn't appear, make sure it's powered on. Not sure about your router's IP address? At the command prompt (Start | Run | cmd) type ipconfig and hit Enter. Note the router's address on the line that reads Default Gateway. —Mario Morejon

Create Meetings in Outlook the Easy Way

2009-09-16T06:48:00.000+07:00

Most times when you need to set up a meeting in Outlook, the process starts with an e-mail you receive. I used to switch to the Calendar and add a new entry, with the date and time, and then paste the e-mail into the new appointment. But there's an easier way: Simply right-click on the original e-mail and choose Move to Folder, select Calendar, and hit OK. This actually creates a new appointment entry, complete with the e-mail inserted in the main window. You still have to enter the date, time, and participants, but you get to that point faster.

— Michael Muchmor

Clear Print Job Without Rebooting

2009-09-16T06:39:00.003+07:00

If you've ever had a print job hang, you're probably familiar with the Windows Print Spooler window. You get to this window simply by selecting the relevant printer from the Control Panel's Printers and Faxes applet (simply Printers in Vista). In the somewhat unusual event of a printer queue jam, you can go to the Print Spooler and simply delete the job. Sometimes, though, the system won't let you cut off print jobs that way: It marks the job "Deleting…" but never quite gets there, and you end up rebooting. Here's a better way to do it.

Open a command prompt (go to Start | Run, then type cmd) and enter the following:

net stop spooler

del c:\windows\system32\spool\printers\*.shd

del c:\windows\system32\spool\printers\*.spl

net start spooler

In Vista you'll need to open an elevated command prompt by right-clicking on cmd.exe and selecting Run as Administrator. For those of you who remember batch files, use Notepad to save the four commands above as a batch file. Save your file with example "clearprintqueue.bat" in notepad save box. Double click to execute the commands in the batch file.

What You Can Do with Firefox 3

2009-09-16T06:35:00.000+07:00

The latest version of Mozilla's popular open-source browser enjoyed one of the most successful launches in software history, with a record-setting 8.2 million downloads the first day it was available. With the ability to drastically expand the browser's functions using plug-in extensions and Greasemonkey scripts, many of Firefox 3's built-in features are overlooked. Here are eight handy things you can do with Firefox, ranging from tiny tweaks to hugely powerful capabilities, all with nary an extension to install.

1. Duplicate tabs with drag-and-drop.
Duplicating tabs is a piece of cake: Simply hold the Ctrl key while dragging the tab you want to duplicate to an empty space on the tab bar.

2. Minimize the toolbar.
Free up a little extra screen real estate by getting rid of the big, round "Back" button and replacing it with a more streamlined control. Right-click the toolbar, choose Customize, and select Use small icons. The new controls are perfectly functional but smaller, allowing the toolbar to shrink and leaving more room for viewing sites.

3. Use smart bookmarks.
Smart bookmarks are live bookmarks that don't just refer to particular sites but actually generate live lists of sites according to parameters you define. For example, you might have a smart bookmark that lists the 10 sites you visit most often, or the last 20 sites you've visited with a particular keyword in their title.

To create a smart bookmark, select Organize Bookmarks from Firefox's Bookmarks menu. In the window that opens, select Bookmarks Menu in the left-hand pane, then click Organize in the toolbar at the top and New Bookmark in the drop-down menu. Give your smart bookmark a descriptive name, such as "10 Most Recent Bookmarks." In the Location field, you're going to enter in a line of code telling the smart bookmark what to do. For the 10 sites you bookmarked most recently, you'd enter: place:queryType=1&sort=12&maxResults=10 . There are dozens of parameters you can use; Mozilla's developer site includes a list of commands you can use in smart bookmarks. Here are a couple of the most useful:

The 10 sites you've visited most recently (some installations of Firefox come with this smart bookmark already in place on the Bookmarks toolbar): place:queryType=0&sort=8&maxResults=10
The 10 most visited sites with some search term in them: place:queryType=0&sort=8&maxResults=10&terms=keyword (replace "keyword" with your desired term)

4. Send e-mail via Yahoo! Mail or Gmail by default.
Normally, clicking on an e-mail address on a Web page will open up a new e-mail using your default e-mail program. If you'd rather use Yahoo! Mail, open up Options under Firefox's Tools menu, select the Applications tab, and scroll down to the mailto: entry. Select Use Yahoo! Mail and click OK.

Gmail is not included as a built-in option in every installation of Firefox, but if yours doesn't have it, you can add Gmail easily enough. Skip the Options dialogs for now and instead type about:config in Firefox's address bar and hit Enter. In the Filter field, type gecko.handlerServiceAllowRegisterFromDifferentHost. Actually, you can simply type gecko and find the entry in the filtered list. Double-click the gecko.handlerServiceAllowRegisterFromDifferentHost entry to change it to True.

Next, cut-and-paste this line into the address bar and hit Enter: javascript:window.navigator.registerProtocolHandler("mailto", "https://mail.google.com/mail/?extsrc=mailto&url=%s","Gmail")

A message will appear at the top of the browser window asking if you want to add Gmail as an application. Now, repeat the process above for choosing Yahoo! Mail, but select the new Use Gmail option instead.

5. Change or remove the Close tab buttons.
By default, Firefox 3 puts an X on each tab, similar to the X button that closes an application. You can remove this button, or see it only on the tab you're currently viewing. Open about:config again and enter browser.tabs.closeButtons in the Filter field. Enter one of the following values depending on the behavior you prefer:

0 (Zero) Close button only on the active tab.
1 (Default) Close buttons on every tab.
2 No close buttons.
3 Single close button at the end of the tab bar, instead of on the tabs themselves.

6. Change the behavior of the Awesome Bar.
Mozilla has dubbed Firefox 3's address bar the "Awesome Bar" because of the useful suggestions it makes as you type. By default, the Awesome Bar bases its recommendations on your recent history, pages you've tagged, and your bookmarks. You can change the way the Awesome Bar acts in the configuration page. Open about:config and change the following values, depending on the features you want:

To disable the Awesome Bar entirely and revert to Firefox 2–like functionality, change the value of browser.urlbar.maxRichResults to -1.
To allow the Awesome Bar to recommend only sites whose address you've typed directly into the address bar, change browser.urlbar.matchonlytyped to TRUE.
To remove unvisited bookmarks from the pool of recommendations, change places.frecency.unvisitedBookmarkBonus to 0 (zero).
To remove all bookmarks from the Awesome Bar, change both places.frecency.unvisitedBookmarkBonus and places.frecency.bookmarkVisitBonus to 0 (zero).

7. Search any site from the address bar with smart keywords.
The smart keyword function allows you to create searches for any site with a search engine, and trigger the search from the address bar using your choice of keyword. For example, you could create a smart keyword "me" to search the archives of your own site. If you wanted to see if you'd ever written about cat juggling, you'd type me cat juggling into the address bar and Firefox would return the results from your own site's search page. Visit the site you want to search and right-click its search box, selecting Add a keyword for this search. In the window that pops up, add a short description of the search and enter a short, memorable keyword that you'll use to trigger it. For example, to create a smart keyword for PCMag.com, I visited the home page, right-clicked the search field, opened the smart keyword window, entitled my search PCMag.com and then entered the keyword pc as my search keyword. Now, if I want to search for something—say, laser printers—I just type pc laser printers and the search is run.

8. View your saved passwords for any page.
To view the passwords associated with any site, go to the log-in page and right-click anywhere on the page. Select View Page Info, and then the Security tab. Click View Saved Passwords. Another window will pop up showing the usernames associated with that site. Click Show Passwords to see the passwords for each username.

If you want to view all of your saved usernames and passwords, open Options under the Tools menu and select the Security tab. Click Saved Passwords to open a list of every site you've ever saved a password for. Again, click View Passwords and the list will display all of your passwords. You can't print this list, but you can just as easily take screenshots if you want to print out your passwords for safekeeping. Isn't this a huge security hole?, you may ask. Why yes, it is. Knowing how easy it is for anyone with access to your PC to view all your passwords, maybe you'd like to password-protect your passwords. In the Options | Security tab, click Use a master password and enter a password. Now this password will have to be entered any time you or anyone else tries to view saved passwords. You'll be asked to enter your master password every time you open Firefox; without it, Firefox won't automatically enter saved passwords for you. Make sure you don't forget this one!

Source: PCMag

Resize Multiple Images With SNS-Resizer

2009-09-15T21:33:00.003+07:00

The easiest way to resize multiple pictures is using a batch program named SNS-Resizer. Besides resizing multiple images, with this application you can add 'Picture taken on' data, frame, and watermark to images you want to modify.

First, download SNS-Resizer here (853kb). After download, you don't have to install anything because this is a portable application or no installation needed, so run it.

Select the scaling method, target size, and image quality. Choose also the process option. If you check 'Save in a separate directory', SNS-Resizer will create new folder on the image directory you processed.

To add 'picture taken on', check it to activate the option. the date displayed taken from metadata (EXIF) of the images. If you would like to add frame, check also the Frame option. You can add watermark and set the watermark position under the frame option. To make watermark, make an image file and name it 'watermark.png' in the same location/folder with SNS-Resizer. After all finish, click 'Add current setting to the list' on the top right corner. If you don't do the last action, your configuration won't be available on the send to menu. Why send to menu? because to resize these multiple images, you just need to select the images, right click, send to and choose the configuration you set. Last, save it.

Technorati Tags: resize images,image resizing,batch process,portable,no installation

Duplicate CD and DVD That Match Your Need

2009-06-15T14:59:00.003+07:00

Nowadays, CD and DVD is a common media to deliver most digital media. Digital media could be anything regarding to digital thing such as digital audio, video, pictures, presentation, software, etc. There are two ways to duplicate your CD and DVD; first duplicate them by yourself; second is using CD and DVD duplication service.

To duplicate CD and DVD by yourself, here are the checklist you must have:

CD or DVD burner
Burning software
Blank CD or DVD

CD or DVD burner, also known as CD-RW and DVD-RW is an optical hardware that has ability to write files into blank CD or DVD. From the physical appearance, there is no differences between CD-RW or DVD-RW with CD-ROM or DVD-ROM. Even though CD-ROM or DVD-ROM hasn't ability to write files, they only read written CD or DVD.

Since Windows XP support to burn CD or DVD, actually you don't need additional software. But if the CD you need is more complicated such as Video CD, you need more than that. There are a lot of CD or DVD software, either paid or freeware.

Last but not least, you need blank CD or DVD as media you burn your files to. One box of 100 CDs priced at around $7 - $15. While DVD usually more expensive. When all you need is complete, you now ready to duplicate your CD and DVD.

With above method, you'll able to duplicate CD and DVD with limited number. If your office need to duplicate dozens or hundreds of CD and DVD, it's better to go to the CD and DVD Replication Service. If you live in US, especially Chicago you can go to CD Duplication in Chicago. Besides that, there is also Chicago Video Production Company is other place to go when you need to produce video and spread them to you customers.

Download Multiple Files with Free Download Manager

2009-06-14T22:36:00.002+07:00

Free Download Manager, besides can download single file, it can also download multiple files in one download action. It means you don't have to download those multiple files one by one. Here I give example on how download NOD32 antivirus update from an online directory.

Make sure you've installed Free Download Manager
Go to the directory contain multiple files you want to download.
Right click anywhere on the screen and click Download All with Free Download Manager
'Add list of downloads' box will appear and remove the file you don't need. In this case we will download only files with extension *.nup and *.ver and remove the rest.

Select destination folder of downloaded files. OK. Wait until download process finish.

dontclick.it - Innovative Web Interaction

2009-06-06T15:53:00.002+07:00

If you didn't ever hear dontclick.it before, it's time to check it out. Dontclick.it is a website with a tag Institute for Interactive Research. The site offer new experience in very interesting habit of interacting with a site. You don't need any single click anymore. In the middle of your exploration, you'll get a simple vote weather you miss clicking something? Beware to not click anything that could bring you to "hang screen".

Convert and Open MS Office 2007 in Older Version

2009-06-06T13:32:00.001+07:00

Along with MS Office 2007 launch in January 2007, Microsoft introduced several xml-based format for their MS Office document. Two of the most popular MS Office document format is DOCX and DOTX. DOCX is a regular extension of MS Word document replacing DOC format. XML-based formats came with MS Office 2007 is completely different with older Office formats such as DOC, XLS etc. So if you make a document in DOCX or DOTX format with Office 2007, you cannot open or edit it in older MS Office version.

To make your older MS Office is able for opening and editing MS Office 2007 document, you need download and install Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats (27.5mb). After install, any Office 2007 documents opened with older Office version will be converted into older Office format.

File extension DOTX is a template file format for MS Word 2007. With a template, you can set default format for your future documents such as font style, page setup, line spacing, etc. There is always at least one file extension DOTX included in MS Word 2007 installation. While you may create additional template for all your needs.

In a case you got document with file extension DOTX or DOCX from others, sometimes you may get error due to bug on MS Office 2007 that run on Vista, you can convert the files into RTF. Docx2Rtf is a tiny software that able to convert docx, dotx, sxw, and odf to rtf (Rich Text Format). RTF is a format that could be opened by most text editing application. Or, you can download OpenOffice to open file extension DOTX or other MS Office 2007 format.

Photoscape - Best Free Photo Editing Software

2009-06-04T23:05:00.004+07:00

Once you download and install it, you may won't believe that it's free! Photoscape is a free photo editing software with tons of abilities and easy of use. This best photo editing software armored with:

Viewer: View your photo collections in thumbnail mode and folder tree. You can resize thumbnail size easily.

Editor: Open a photo, you then can add frame, insert simple object, crop photo, remove red eye, resize photo, adjust brightness and color, add effects, and other useful yet simple operations.

Batch Editor: Just like Editor function with automate operation.

Page: Make a collage of some photos in one page. Similar with Contact Sheet on ACD See, with many available template.

Combine: Combine and merge photo shots in sequence. This function is like photomerge feature in Adobe Photoshop and Canon Photostitch.

AniGIF: Create a gif animation photo contains some photos.

Splitter: Split and divide photo into multiple parts

Screen Capture: Capture a screen shot and save it into many file formats.

Color Picker: Pick a color anywhere on the screen with Hex and RGB format. Similar Quick Color Picker.

Raw Converter: Ability to convert raw file format into JPG.

Rename: Renaming multiple photos with series of filename.

Print: Of course you can also print photos with many template size and thumbnail print.

I think a free photo editing software couldn't be better than this. That's why Photoscape is the best amazing free photo editor. I do recommend Photoscape for beginner and intermediate photo editor. Even a pro will get many advantages. It is a must have software.

Pros: Free, easy of use, tons of abilities.
Cons: It's rather hard (or impossible?) to capture Photoscape window itself.

Download Photoscape here.

How to Insert Date in Excel

2009-06-04T00:38:00.000+07:00

Here is a very simple yet effective way to insert or add date in excel. To do so, you only need to type one of these function in a cell:

=now() to insert current date and time
=today() to insert current date only

FYI, with the two formulas above, it will add current date same with your computer date and clock. Make sure to synchronize your computer date and time first. If you use formula above and save your documents, you'll find the date and time changes by date of your computer. So if you open the document tomorrow, the function will show date of tomorrow. To avoid changing date made by both formula, copy and paste values it in same cell. You can also change the date format from menu Format - Cells... or press Ctrl + 1

How to Download Youtube Video and Anything

2009-05-24T23:02:00.003+07:00

Still confuse on how to download a Youtube video? and anything? Haha. First of all, you must download Free Download Manager (FDM). FDM is a download manager that supports resumable downloads and multiple simultaneous downloads. You can choose between regular FDM or FDM Lite. FDM Lite contain only download manager program without any plugins. Regular FDM includes video conversion plugin, bittorent plugin, uploads plugin and language pack. After download, install it.

Next, open your browser (i.e. Mozilla Firefox). Go to Youtube.com or any web you wish. Right click the video title and click Download with Free Download Manager.

Decide where you want to save downloaded video. OK.

Besides download video, if you download a zip file, FDM gives you option to preview the zip files before download them. Even you don't assign FDM to download something, if you let FDM start on Windows startup, it will take over your downloading action because it is able to monitor any download activities.

Update:
You now can download Youtube video directly from the site by clicking on Download MP4 button. Go to My Videos -> Uploaded Videos.

Picture taken from labnol.org. Anyway, you can still use Free Download Manager to boost your download speed.

Official Google Blog: Add Google News to your website

2009-05-24T21:53:00.000+07:00

Official Google Blog: Add Google News to your website

iTunes Store and m4p File Extension

2009-05-05T00:59:00.000+07:00

Since iTunes Store launched on April 2003, it has become the most famous software-based online digital store. On the iTunes Store, individual songs were sold for the same price with no subscription fee.

Musics in iTunes Store are in the protected AAC format, called m4p file extension. File extension m4p is fairly new, which is an audio format that is purchased from Apple's Music Store (iTune) and is protected by a Digital Rights Management scheme. File extension m4p has smaller size than mp3 with equal quality. .m4p file format was created by Apple to protect .m4p files from illegal distribution.

Once you buy a music file in .m4p format, you can play them with most media player; iTunes, QuicTime, Winamp, RealPlayer, Media Player Classic or others. If Windows is unable to play this file extension m4p, you may need to install apropriate player or may have registry errors. To solve this problem, simply install the applications above and/or scan your registry for errors.

Though there a lot of media players support .m4p files, you can only play it in limited numbers of portable media. In the past, file extension m4p only playable on few digital music players that is support .m4p files. Fortunately, now available song in iTunes Store sold in iTunes Plus song. iTunes Plus songs are free of burn limits and digital rights management (DRM). So the musics your buy from iTunes Store you can play it on iPod, Apple TV, Mac and WIndows computers, and more media players.

The Magic in Video Editing

2009-05-01T23:13:00.000+07:00

Do you have a lot of video tapes at home taken during the holidays, birthday parties, summer getaways, and many other special occasions? Perhaps some of them are merely sitting on the shelves and accumulating dust. Travelers usually carry camcorders because they want to have fun memories and souvenirs from a foreign place they’ve visited. Piles of video tapes are often no longer viewed but the magic in video editing changes that.

Digital camcorders are cheaper these days and so you can easily capture videos of high quality. If you have a capture card, good editing software, and computer at home, you can start editing the videos you’ve collected over the years. Once you have the final output, you can now watch it together with your friends.

Magic requires you to have windows 98, ME, 2000, or XP in order to use such program. It supports media formats like WMA, AVI, ASF, SND, WMV, AIFF, MPEG, AU, and QuickTime.

What can you do using Magic?

You can capture videos by simply using FireWire or USB input device. You can also give good grade effects to the videos you’ve collected. The video and audio components can be edited separately even if it is a single file only. Like other editing programs, you can also decorate the videos with over 150 transitions. It is also possible to overlay tracks with the use of Magic. Video files can be added with voiceover and background score. The timeline is one the most important windows in the editing software. In Magic, you can combine different file formats on the timeline.

If you think that these are all the things that Magic can do, you’re wrong. Other features that Magic offers are the following – include text titles, trim audios and videos, create DVD or VCD file formats, change contrast and color, rotate and zoom in/out video angles, and export videos to digi-cams.

Your videos will look like the videos created by the pros in no time. With Magic, professional editing is no longer expensive. The interface is drag and drop which makes it easier to capture the footage into the timeline. This is also the time to add background music, title effects, scene transitions, and other effects to finish your masterpiece. On the timeline, you can also add others file formats like WMV, AVI, JPEG, MPEG, and ASF. You can create a unique video or movie output in a matter of minutes.

The MPEG format is required if you want to create DVDs, SVCDs, and VCD. You can create a movie in PAL or NTSC standards.

The volume of the tracks in the video can also be displayed so that you can instantly change the audio clip’s volume to create dopler effects, fade outs, fade ins, and other volume effects.

With Magic, you can split, join, trim, crop, merge, and modify color of the video files. The transitions make it even more interesting for users to create ordinary videos which look like great art works.

It doesn’t really matter whether you’re a pro or an amateur. You see, with Magic, the basics are easily learned and in no time, you can start working on your video productions. It costs $39.95 but you can also try the trial version by downloading it.

Is Magic for you? Try it now and see if it works great.

Seven Free Downloads for Video Editing

2009-05-01T23:05:00.000+07:00

For those who have already tried creating their own home videos, you can make use of these seven free downloads for video editing.

If you try to search the internet, you will notice that there are lots of software programs out there ranging from below $100 to over $500. Well, here’s great news – you can also download certain video editing programs for free. Even if you don’t have money, you can still use a decent video editing tool but you need to spend some time browsing the web.

For newbies, it would be best to make use of these free software programs so that you will learn the basics of video editing. Once you get used to using different software programs, you can now purchase complex ones that offer special effects and other fun stuffs. Commercial software programs are too complicated for beginners so you’d be better off with free software.

The top 7 downloadable video editors are the following:

Latest personal computers now have pre-installed video editors, the Windows Movie Maker. You can create new videos/movie and edit or share them. With a few drags and clicks of your mouse, you can create a movie. You can exclude bad shots and get only the best scenes. You can save the movie and perhaps share it via the internet, in a CD, or through email. If you save it on your computer or camcorder, you can play it over and over again.

For Mac, you can use the Apple iMovie. This is one of the easiest ways to create your own video. You can add new clips to your existing project or replace them. It also allows you to edit the audio as well. This software is free only if you have a Mac system. When the Advanced Tools are shown, you can use additional options like green-screen effects, picture-in-picture, and cutaways.

For Linux and PCs, you can use the Zwei-Stein freeware. You can make use of the advanced features it offers like making custom effects or you can also do panning and cropping.

Debugmode Wax may be outdated but it’s still great for video editing. The visual effects are flexible and so you can easily create superb video sequences.

Jashaka can be used for Linux, Mac, and PC. It makes use of the OpenML and OpenGL hardware which allows users real-time interactivity. The platform comes with image processing, paint, and full CG modules.

Virtual Dub offers very simple editing tools. If you’re an advanced editor, this software is not for you. If you have an existing video footage, you can use this software to make clean and simple edits. It can handle AVI files, read MPEG-1 and BMP images.

These six software programs are downloadable. Only then can you use the software to create or edit videos or movies. If you want to use another good online tool, you can use Jump Cut. However, this can only be used online and you can’t download it. With this tool, you can cut videos; add effects, photos and titles. With Jump Cut, you can upload media, share them, remix, create new movies, or publish it for your friends.

For your video editing needs, get a suitable software program. The free software are easy to work on and you will hardly encounter any problems.

Best Software in Video Editing

2009-05-01T23:03:00.002+07:00

When you are about to engage in video editing, you must answer this question first – What do you want to do? There are so many video editing tasks but you can’t possibly do everything unless you’re a pro. Most of today’s videographers prefer to do certain editing tasks but not all of them. So when choosing for the best software, you must consider the things that you’re planning to do; this is the only way of getting the best software for you to work with.

It’s ordinary to see a lot of attractive promos when you’re shopping for the best software, online and offline. There are even programs that come with a free camcorder; don’t be fooled by these things. Stick to your needs and get the appropriate software if you want to end up with a software program that’s useful.

Firstly, you need to look at the format. What is the format that you’re currently working on? Do you want to create a final video or movie of the same format? The input is largely determined by the material you’re using – a DVD recorder, camcorder, etc. The input may be standard definition or high definition. The output can be in DVD wherein MPEG2 files are written on the DVD, in HDD, Blue Ray Disc, handheld devices, computer viewing, and many other formats.

Focus on the source of your files because the output will be mostly of the same format. Choose software that ensures ease of work with the particular input format so that you will not encounter any difficulty.

Sellers of various software programs see to it that their products are ‘attractive’ to the eyes of customers. Even if the program is not what you want, the seller can make it something that you want and so you’re tempted to purchase such software program.

The next thing that you need to consider is transition. When a scene changes, you should insert transitions between the clips. Transitions can be straight cut or cross fade and there are still others that you can use. You see, each software program usually offers about 50 different transitions.

Overlay tracks is another great feature of editing software programs. You can see this effect on movies and TV shows. A very good example is the news wherein you can see the station logo, tape readout, and a video of the reporter on a particular scene. Controlling the overlay tracks is important so that you won’t make a mess on the video output.

The audio control feature is limited in most consumer video editing programs. Just as the word suggests, the software is used mostly for editing videos and not audio. If you want to have maximum audio control, get advanced software packages used by pros.

DVD authoring is another feature that attracts videographers. You can use this if you have high definition materials. Make sure that it provides 10-20 menu templates for full customization.

Rendering is one of the most important features. The file is not finished until you render it; all the changes you’ve made on the video material are ‘virtual’. After rendering, the final video material is saved in viewing format.

Still looking for the best software in video editing? Focus on your needs and wants. If you know the video editing tasks that you’re about to do, then you can easily purchase the right software.

Non-Linear Video Editing

2009-05-01T23:01:00.003+07:00

Once you learn how video editing works, you will have a lot of fun in finalizing your video clips on the computer. Videotape editing these days is a lot cheaper as compared to editing many years ago. You can do it quickly by using the appropriate video editing program. However, the learning curve is a bit steep and many individuals give up because they are easily intimidated by the program. If you’re determined to learn how video editing works, you can handle any tasks no matter how difficult it is.

What you need to do is learn the basics and after that, you can have a lot of fun in editing your videos. When you open any video editing program, you will see an interface with so many windows. In fact, among all computer programs, video editing is the most complex. You can easily get overwhelmed with the many windows that pop on the screen once you open the program.

If you’ve tried using WMM (Windows Movie Maker), then you already have an idea of what a universal interface looks like. Most programs follow the same on-screen layout. WMM is much easier to use than other complex programs because you will initially see four separate windows on the screen. Other windows can be opened one by one so you will not be confused in using them. Each of the windows has its own function and once you know the different functions, you can work with ease. You can also hide other windows while you’re working. Almost all editing programs have 8-20 windows. These windows confuse new users especially if they hardly know anything about video editing.

When you open WMM or any other basic video editing program, you will see that the three windows are located on the top-half section and the bottom half contains a large window. These four windows are the timeline, task pane (on the upper left), collections (middle), and output (on the far right). The bottom window is the timeline or the turquoise section.

The timeline is one of the most important windows in the program. You can build your movie or video in this window and it will serve as its visual representation. A squiggly line or waveform representation can be seen on the screen as well as a running time on top. In the WMM timeline, one line is for the standard video, titles, and video transitions or effects; for audio, there are two lines. At the left side of the screen, you will see the labels and black lines separate them horizontally. Complex programs usually have additional lines for audio and video. If you want to create simple videos, WMM and other free software programs may be enough.

On the task pane, the different tasks are shown and included in the list is the ‘edit movie’. Links are also found in the screen which leads to other functions and one of these links teaches you how to edit videos. You can hide/show this window on the menu at the top portion. The collections window contains all the media from your projects. You can watch the edited video/movie in the output window.

In videotape editing, you will be working on these four windows most of the time. You can learn how these four windows work and then learn more about the other windows.

Linear Video Editing

2009-05-01T23:01:00.000+07:00

Most of today’s emerging videographers are more familiar with non-linear video editing. But did you know that there is also the so called ‘linear video editing’? Prior to the introduction of computer-based editing software in the nineties, video editing was mainly linear.

The process involves selecting and arranging sounds and images on a videotape. Such sounds and images are also modified whether they are generated from computer graphics or video camera.

The medium used was primarily the television. Shot edits were done mostly in live TV productions. More than two cameras are used and the shot edits were executed by switching from one camera to another. Video switchers allowed the handling of several synchronized inputs and at the same time, mixing them into one output. With the use of the switcher, cuts are easily done in various video sources and in wipes, dissolves, and fades.

Modern live TV productions follow the same linear editing system but due to technological advancement, the productions are much more effective and efficient. The airing of shows over and over again was only possible with kinescope but that was before the videotape was invented. With kinescopes, picture degradation was a major problem as well as evident scan lines and image distortion. Delay on broadcasts was also another problem since the kinescopes were processed in film labs.

Because of the tiring procedure with kinescopes, the videotape was developed. After some time, videotape editing became viable just like film editing.

The first accepted videotape was the quadruplex recording, about two inches in width. The tape was cut and spliced to carry out editing tasks. The process was arduous and not many videographers performed it. It involved many disadvantages such as – you can’t use edited tapes again, you need to be skilled enough to carry out the process, lose sync, and each editing task requires several minutes (too time consuming).

Are you familiar with the TV show - ‘Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In’? This show utilized the arduous linear editing process. The hand editing was first developed in the 1960s. But since it involved problems like short buzzing (audio), it was not used all the time. This method was impractical for most producers. Producers are not familiar with the process and they can’t give their personal opinions. Documentary television productions hardly used video because of these problems.

Edit suites were developed by 1970s. It already involved the use of computers. Time codes were used to synchronize auxiliary devices and tape machines. CMX, Ampex, and Sony created the edit systems. Only high-end productions were able to access the edit suites because most of them are very expensive.

Today, linear video editing is still being used in newsrooms and some production facilities where newer technologies are not available. Because of the improvement in today’s technology, linear editing is less complex. As compared to non-linear editing, linear editing will require you to carefully learn the skills of a good videographer. However, if video editing is just your hobby, you can opt for non-linear editing.

Video editing has a very interesting history. Just imagine the videographers cutting tapes and putting the together again to create a final production; it was really expensive, time consuming, and arduous. Thanks to the modern technology, video editing is already possible even in the comfort of your home.

Still, if you want to try linear editing, start gathering experience now.

Computers and Video Editing

2009-05-01T22:59:00.002+07:00

Many years ago, it would have been impossible to edit videos at home because it can only be done in exclusive editor suites. But now, things are quite different. If you have a desktop computer with enough disk space, CPU power, and FireWire or USB port, you can now edit cherished videos to create good quality videos with all the effects you see in modern professional movies.

When you’re editing videos, huge CPU power is being used as you move lots of data to and from the disk. Having a fast machine allows you to write and render in a few minutes but if you’re using a slow computer, the task will take several hours.

If you’re doing a lot of writing and rendering files, Pentium Quad Core computers are great or even a Mac model with 2 to 1 GB of RAM. Pentium 3 machines can handle data stream but when you’re using other applications, the video editing software will not function.

In order to edit videos, you must also choose good quality software. If you have Windows XP, there is already built-in software that lets you edit raw footages. The same thing is true with Apple and Sony computers.

Why is it that many video editors use Adobe Premier? The reason why many people use Adobe is because it provides free demo versions and it can be used on Macs and PCs. Adobe’s software is also well respected and full featured so you can do various editing tasks. Still, if you don’t want to spend on a new editing software, you can always use the WMM (Windows Movie Maker) and IMovie.

Aside from the CPU, RAM is another crucial element in video editing with computers. Even if the CPU is fast, the machine will still remain sluggish without the RAM. The recommended RAM is 512 MB although there are individuals who use 128 MB. So if you’re using the 512 MB RAM, you can browse and use more than two files with ease. Here’s a good example. When the CPU needs a file, the file will be delivered to the RAM from the hard disk for greater speed manipulation. If another file is requested, you can get both files successively. Now this is possible only if you’re using 512 MB RAM but if you’re using the smaller one, the computer will work slower.

If you currently have 128 MB RAM, add more especially if you plan to do a lot of video editing tasks. You must be aware that Windows XP requires 256 MB (RAM) and when you load other applications, it will need additional RAM to remain fast and responsive. For starters, you can settle with 512 MB or if you want to invest more on video editing, you can increase the RAM to 768 MB – 1GB.

Make sure that you get the appropriate RAM for your computer’s motherboard. So far, the most appropriate in the market is the RDRAM 1066. This is suitable for a Pentium 4 cpu and it is expensive. A less expensive alternative is the DRAM or DDR. You can choose among DDR266, DDR300, and DDR400. If you’re no familiar with the motherboard of your computer, you should check with the seller company or the online site.

Now that you know the computer requirements, you will know if your computer is suitable for video editing tasks.

Privacy Policy for anyutilities.blogspot.com

2009-04-06T22:07:00.000+07:00

The privacy of our visitors to anyutilities.blogspot.com is important to us.

At anyutilities.blogspot.com, we recognize that privacy of your personal information is important. Here is information on what types of personal information we receive and collect when you use and visit anyutilities.blogspot.com, and how we safeguard your information. We never sell your personal information to third parties.

Log Files
As with most other websites, we collect and use the data contained in log files. The information in the log files include your IP (internet protocol) address, your ISP (internet service provider, such as AOL or Shaw Cable), the browser you used to visit our site (such as Internet Explorer or Firefox), the time you visited our site and which pages you visited throughout our site.

Cookies and Web Beacons
We do use cookies to store information, such as your personal preferences when you visit our site. This could include only showing you a popup once in your visit, or the ability to login to some of our features, such as forums.

We also use third party advertisements on anyutilities.blogspot.com to support our site. Some of these advertisers may use technology such as cookies and web beacons when they advertise on our site, which will also send these advertisers (such as Google through the Google AdSense program) information including your IP address, your ISP , the browser you used to visit our site, and in some cases, whether you have Flash installed. This is generally used for geotargeting purposes (showing New York real estate ads to someone in New York, for example) or showing certain ads based on specific sites visited (such as showing cooking ads to someone who frequents cooking sites).

You can chose to disable or selectively turn off our cookies or third-party cookies in your browser settings, or by managing preferences in programs such as Norton Internet Security. However, this can affect how you are able to interact with our site as well as other websites. This could include the inability to login to services or programs, such as logging into forums or accounts.

AdSense Privacy Policy Provided by Computer Stuff