nova charter

My List of the Best Free Software (Both Freeware and Open Source) for the PC

2008-10-29T16:23:00.000-04:00

Open Office (productivity) http://download.openoffice.org/

Avg (antivirus) http://free.avg.com/download?prd=afe

Spybot (antispyware) http://www.safer-networking.org/en/mirrors/index.html

aSquared Free (antispyware) http://download4.emsisoft.com/a2FreeSetup.exe

CCleaner (optimizer) http://download.piriform.com/ccsetup213.exe

Easy Cleaner (optimizer) http://personal.inet.fi/business/toniarts/files/EClea2_0.exe

Adobe Reader (pdf reader) http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html

Auslogics Disk Defrag (optimizer) http://www.auslogics.com/en/downloads/disk-defrag/disk-defrag-setup.exe

TypeFaster (typing tutor) http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=99968&package_id=107383&release_id=325958

Gimp (image editor) http://downloads.sourceforge.net/gimp-win/gimp-2.6.1-i686-setup.exe

Firefox (browser) http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/

Google Earth (map) http://earth.google.com/

K-Lite Codec Pack (video and audio codec) http://www.free-codecs.com/download_soft.php?d=4807&s=95

VLC Player (media player) http://www.videolan.org/mirror-geo.php?file=vlc/0.9.4/win32/vlc-0.9.4-win32.exe

Audacity (audio editor) http://audacity.sourceforge.net/latest/audacity-win/audacity-win-1.2.6.exe

Facebook's redesign and other annoyances...

2008-09-24T10:50:00.002-04:00

Overall I enjoy the redesign which I have been using for a few months now. Facebook has been the place to be in the world of social networking, like myspace was a few years ago. Facebook has grown up since its days are a college networking site and I think we are in the mist of some growing pains.

I believe the goal of the new design is to make sharing information with your friends easier and to improve communication (ie Facebook chat). And the advent of applications (although most are not useful) was a major step in the "Web 2.0" direction... which other social networks have been clonning.

With all of these "improvements" bugs have shown up. Some of the ones that I have experienced include: Not beign about to post links, not being able to post my status, and don't get me started on the chat feature.

Facebook has a long way to go to squash these bugs to bring back an enjoyable experience again. Have any of you ran into any bugs you'd like to share?

What would be cool for Facebook to add?
This is just a quick sugguestion to make facebook a compeditor in microblogging. Add the ability to send your status updates to an RSS feeder... What do you think?

EDIT: Another bug or poor execution? I had Facebook set to import my blog into the 'Notes' section of the site. My settings for that are no longer present... tsk tsk Facebook... tsk tsk...

Can't open those new Office 2007 files?

2008-06-11T21:00:00.002-04:00

I feel your pain. Until recently I thought that it was impossible to open the new .docx file format with Office 2003 or OpenOffice 2... That was, until today... I have found a link to Microsoft's Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats. Here's the link which has further instructions: Click Me!

What if you don't have MS Office? What to do... what to do... The free open source office alternative, OpenOffice.org, has a beta release of OpenOffice.org 3... this comes with no guarantees since it is just the beta version but if you really need to view those Office 2007 files try it by downloading here: Click Me!

Mac Screen Saver for Windows?

2008-03-27T17:22:00.000-04:00

In need of a new screen saver? Like how clean and crisp those Mac screen savers look? You're in luck! While searching on http://sourceforge.net/ I found a Windows version of the Furry screen saver originally made for the Mac by Calum Robinson. If you have a Windows 32bit system give it a try and download it here.

What are you watching?

2008-03-25T14:02:00.000-04:00

We are all familiar with sites like Youtube, that offers user uploaded content to be shared with the masses. As you probably know, Youtube has stopped a majority of videos that violate copyright laws... so where can people find legal streaming videos of the shows they love to watch?

Hulu (From NBC and News Corp): Ad-supported streaming television shows and movies, including some in high definition.

Fancast (From Comcast): Fancast delivers movie trailers, TV show schedules, celebrity biographies, photos, show episode guides, and more. Fancast is your source for entertainment-related news and information.

South Park Studios: For those of you looking for a South Park fix, South Park Studios is offering the entire series for online streaming.

Litestep... an alternative to the Windows Explorer Shell

2008-03-20T15:30:00.000-04:00

Are you using Windows XP and you're tired of staring at that green Start Menu... I have a free alternative for you... Litestep.

Warning: Do not install Litestep if you don't know what you're doing. Only install if you are an advanced user. I will not be explaining how to install Litestep, but I will be going over the basics of what it is and provide links for more information.

In computing, a shell is a piece of software that provides an interface for users. - "Wikipedia"

Litestep uses a small core that loads configurable modules. This allows the users to have a either a full featured desktop with calendars and Winamp controls to a minimalistic Desktop with nothing on it. The major advantage of using Litestep is that you can make or download themes, so if you are a Linux fan that is forced to use Windows, you should that a look at this shell.

The main module you'll use the most is xPopup module. This replaces the green start menu and is used by right clicking anywhere on the desktop.

I've been using Litestep for a few months now and rather enjoy changing the theme of my desktop from time to time. Using forums, I have been able to learn how to modify themes that I have downloaded to look and function the way that I want it to, with a great degree of success.

Before downloading Litestep, please read the forums at http://www.litestep.net/. You'll need to signup to use this forum, but all it requires is an active email account. Also check out the official page at http://www.lsdev.org/.

Surfing the Internet? Which Browser Do You Turn To?

2008-03-18T20:14:00.000-04:00

Today I uploaded a new feature to my website, a scrolling RSS feeder that uses Javascript and Cascading Style Sheets. I decided to see how it rendered in 3 windows based browsers: Internet Explorer 7, Firefox 2.0.0.12, and Safari 3.0.4. I also wanted to see how the rest of the pages rendered. Here's how it went.

Internet Explorer: Overall the page renders correctly with minor annoyances. The "Accordion" main menu is not positioned correctly in IE, it is slightly higher than in both Firefox and Safari. The RSS feeder works, but the Cascading Style Sheets again aren't displayed correctly, omitting a one pixel border around it. Overall IE is my least favorite browser, hopefully when I review IE 8 later this year, it will move up the ranks.

Firefox: Already I have a bias and want this browser to do better than the others. It rendered everything correctly. Page loading was slightly slow, but Firefox 3 claims to fix that problem.

Safari: Rendered correctly, was fast, and the font smoothing looks incredible. I have to admit that I originally wanted nothing to do with Safari, but was impressed with its results.

Summary: Firefox is probably the best browser out there and seems to render everything I have encountered splendidly. Safari so far gets a thumbs up but there are security holes in the program, and since it doesn't have add-ons like Firefox, it is unlikely to convert me. IE promises to render like it's counterparts when version 8 is released to the public. Having a community of developers to mend fixes and discuss changes is a big advantage that Firefox has over its competitors. If you have the choice, give Firefox a try

Is your computers clock running too fast?

2008-03-06T14:08:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone,
I ran into this fix today when I was trying set the correct time on one of the computers at a computer learning center I work at. If syncing with an internet time server doesn't work, try this (I've only tested it on Windows XP):

1) Click: Start / Click: Run / Type: CMD
2) Type: Net stop w32time
3) Type: w32tm /unregister
4) Type: w32tm /unregister (intentional duplication)
5) Type: w32tm /register
6) Type: Net start w32time
7) Type: exit

Now that you have restarted your windows time service, you can now update the System Time to sync with an internet time server:

1) Click: Start / Click: Control Panel / Click: Date and Time
2) Click: Internet Time Zone tab
3) Make sure Automatically synchronize with an Internet time server is check
4) Click: Update Now

Hopefully that solves any problems you have with syncing your time.

Edit: Also tested on the 32-bit version of Vista.

Best Software

2007-09-27T19:49:00.000-04:00

I use a variety of software and time and time again when I'm at work I find myself using this one quite a bit. The software I'm talking about is Portable Apps. Like it sounds, it is software on the go. It can be run from any USB Drive or even an iPod connected via USB. What would the advantage of this be? Say you need to print a word document at a friend's house... then you come to realize that your friend doesn't have Word or OpenOffice. You're up a creek without a paddle... right? Wrong! The very same USB Drive that you have the document on can now be used to run a portable version of OpenOffice. Pretty neat huh?

Portable Apps has a wide variety of open source software in portable form that you can choose from. So be more productive... and don't be stuck without your paddle.

http://portableapps.com/

Social Networking... Good or Bad?

2007-06-27T13:38:00.000-04:00

Unless you've been under a rock for a few years, you've heard of social networking sites like Myspace or Facebook. What is the purpose of sites like this? To summarize, it's a web-space where you can write about yourself, post pictures, and connect with people to become "friends" and even blog and post videos... Amazing. I even belong to some of these sites, including the two mentioned above.

I was reading in a local paper the other day, Boston Now, that people who use Facebook usually go to college and are more well adjusted then those using Myspace (See original reference Here.) Now if you view the comments on the article it brings up a very good point... Facebook started as a college only networking site which has just recently expanded to allow anyone with an email address to join... just like Myspace. Does this mean that Facebook will be infected by the "burnouts" of Myspace? I doubt it. More likely, people like myself already have both types of accounts, at least the younger generation of networkers do.

Are these sites safe? Even before sites like these, there were chatrooms where people asked the same questions. These sites are safe for adults with a good head on there shoulders... as for teens... I don't think they have the ability to cope with the distractions that come with these sites. Working at several community technology centers, I can attest to the face that Myspace is very popular with teens. They don't only use the site to connect with friends, but use it to try to "hook up" with people and some even practice "cyberbullying". Seeing this usually upsets me, because they should be using their limited time at the computer labs to do something productive and learn something new.

So, are social networking sites good or bad? Like anything else, it really depends on how you use them.

Keep Your Computer Running Smooth...

2007-06-19T16:37:00.001-04:00

Okay, so you buy a computer and it's running great for a few months or so, then it starts to get slow and pop-ups start sprouting everywhere. "What happened?" you may ask yourself.

This is a common problem and I've seen it on every computer that I've looked at. There are way to prevent this from happening with regular maintenance and prevention. Below I'll list free programs that I use myself and you might find come in handy.

Firewall: Windows comes with its own firewall but I prefer something with a little more muscle. That's why I use the free version of ZoneAlarm. I admit it can be annoying sometimes to have the ZoneAlarm warning pop-up when it sees something is trying to access the internet, but with a simple click you can have the program save your preferences to allow the programs you want to go online and deny the ones you don't. This also helps prevent hackers from gaining access to your computer.

Anti-Virus: Something everyone who goes online regularly needs to have. AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition is what I use. It has a regularly updated database of virus definitions available for download. Virus' can cause a lot of damage to your machine, and even take it over without you even knowing.

Anti-Spyware: Again, everyone who goes online needs this program. I highly recommend having more then one Anti-spyware program. The one I recommend the most is Ad-Aware. Spyware is what causes all of those popups, so make sure you download this one.

System Optimizer: Now, there are tons of little files that just sit around your computer and do absolutely nothing. You obviously don't need these files taking up space on your hard drive. "How do I get rid of them you ask?" Try CCleaner. When I used this tool it cleaned up almost 2 gigabytes of space. This tool also has a Registry cleaning tool. If you don't know what can be deleted safely, you should avoid using this option because it can lead to some serious troubles.

System Defragment: What does this mean? Well, when you download a file or install it, it isn't saved as one big file, instead its broken up into pieces. This can slow your system down because it has to find the pieces. Windows has a program that will do this but Auslogics Disk Defrag 1.1.5 works much faster and is easier to use. This program made my computer 16% faster!

Open Source

2007-06-13T14:55:00.001-04:00

There is a wealth of good software out on the web for free and people just don't know about it. Open Source Software is a great alternative to paying hundreds of dollars for something that is basically the equivalent to the freebies. Now, don't get me wrong, I use proprietary products all the time and I'm not saying that we should all stop using them, they are solid and good products. For people that can't afford software, or for those who want to support the people making free software, open source is the way to go.

Why am I making this post? Well, I have been doing research on the various software titles for an upcoming workshop that I will be teaching at work. I have put together a list of my favorite titles and programs that I think are the most beneficial. Open Source Software

Download and try the programs and let me know what you think!

First Posting

2007-02-20T11:47:00.000-05:00

I intend to use this Blogger account to post teaching tools (ie websites) that I come across, teaching experiences, and interesting antidotes. Hopefully in time this blog will help others, instructors and students alike.