Last week, I mentioned that I got a new laptop, and am pretty enamored with the little thing. Now that I've spent some time with Windows 7, I'm more in love than ever. Above is a demo of a very cool feature. Ok, it's not really a "necessary" feature, but it's fun to play with. If you have a bunch of windows open, you can click, hold, and shake the one you really need, and the others will go away. This can be very useful in meetings, when you need to quickly show someone a particular window. Of course most of the time, it's not hard to find the window you're looking for, because the edges of all of the windows are translucent. Here's another feature that can help - taskbar previews:
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Oh, and let's not forget sleep and resume...why wasn't it always like this? Just remember not to leave your laptop lying around if you use this feature:
Jennifer Pointer (e-mail) is in Tulsa, OK. She promotes a simple, a low-tech approach to effective online profile management, search engine optimization and social networking.
In our discussion on free web-based software this week, we have listed photo-editing, converting documents to .PDFs, and securing your computer. Remember, as we've mentioned before, these options may not replace the paid versions for professional use, but are usually sufficient for casual at-home use. Now, let's talk about educational software and online learning. Following are some resources we've dug up that you might want to check out.
School Forge and Sheppard Software have incredible lists of free educational software, including downloadable programs for scoring music, using 3D technology, building crossword puzzles, memory development, arts and crafts, games, learning geography and history, test-preparation and more.
Babelfish is the best language translator I've found, and it can be used for free online (without a download) at Yahoo! Babel Fish.
If you're an instructor or trainer and need a learning management system, or online courseware, check out Moodle, and WizIQ. Moodle is increasingly being used by school systems to transfer their brick-and-mortar classes to the online format, and WizIQ is a great place for instructors or trainers to set up an online courseroom to teach a hobby class or a refresher course. Although premium features cost money, free versions of both systems are availble, for instructors and students.
Want to take an online course for free? Education Portal, and U.About have extensive lists of courses available in many industries, fields, and interest areas.
Bonus: I wouldn't be able to finish this series on free online software, without mentioning my Dad's favorite talkshow host: Kim Komando (yes, that's her real name). Check out her download library (in the middle of the page) for a wide variety of software, much of it free.
Jennifer Pointer (e-mail) is a trainer and tech writer in Tulsa, OK. She promotes a simple, a low-tech approach to effective online profile management, search engine optimization and social networking. Her weakness is the mocha frappuccino.
This week, we're discussing free web-based software option, which may be able to replace its more expensive name-brand counterpart. These options may not replace the paid versions for professional use, but are usually sufficient for casual at-home use. Earlier this week we talked about photo-editing, and yesterday, we talked about converting documents to .PDFs. Now, let's talk about securing a home computer, for free.
Remove Spyware, Viruses, Trojans
Most of the "junk" we end up getting on our home computers is put there by marketers, for the purpose of selling us stuff. However, some "spammers" have more malicious intent, which violate our privacy, and damage our computers. Even the more "benign" cookies and spyware can slow us down and should be removed. Two programs available for doing this effectively that I have used numerous times are Ad-Aware by Lavasoft (download the free version), and Housecall by TrendMicro (download the free version). These programs will detect and remove basic spyware, viruses, and trojans, and will work with most existing anti-virus protection software and firewalls.
Anti-Virus Protection
One way to have less spyware, and fewer viruses and trojans is to keep your anti-virus protection up-to-date. Two applications I have used and liked are the free versions of AVG and Avast! Note that you will need to choose one or the other of these (and uninstall an existing anti-virus protection), because anti-virus programs tend to detect each other as viruses, and tend not to work well together. At the very least, you'll constantly be getting "false alarm" pop-ups, which can be very annoying.
Firewall
In addition to a good anti-virus program, you need to have a good firewall, which helps block spyware, viruses and trojans, and stop hackers from hijacking your computer and modem. Internet service providers are increasingly providing better firewall protection, so check with your internet provider, to see what is already provided with the service you're paying for. If you need additional protection, consider ZoneAlarm. Note that as with anti-virus software, firewall protection programs do not always play well together, so choose one and stick with it.
Proxy Server
To make it a little more difficult (not impossible) for the webmasters of the websites you frequent to track your web-surfing habits, you can use a "proxy server," which masks your true I.P. address (the unique identifier assigned to your internet connection by your internet service provider). Java Anonymous Proxy (JAP) is a good free service. Again, there is no way to completely block your I.P. address, so I would not recommend doing anything using the software that you would not do if you knew your I.P., address were being tracked.
Jennifer Pointer (e-mail) is a trainer and tech writer in Tulsa, OK. She promotes a simple, a low-tech approach to effective online profile management, search engine optimization and social networking. Her weakness is the mocha frappuccino.
As we discussed yesterday, purchasing software can be very expensive. While for professional reasons, you may need to opt for the full-price deal in some cases, for casual home use, and for the purpose of blogging as a hobby, you may have a free web-based software option. Yesterday, we talked about photo-editing. Today, let's talk about converting documents to .PDFs.
Portable Document Files (.PDFs) were created by Adobe Acrobat several years ago, as way to transfer documents while retaining or protecting the original formatting. A .pdf file maintains and preserves the integrity of the original document when e-mailing or posting to the web. If a document is another application such as Word or Excel, the formatting is often lost between versions of the software and browsers. Also, legal or sensitive documents can be less-easily manipulated using .pdf formatting.
While Adobe provides a free online reader, which allows you to read .pdf documents, if you want to convert your documents to .pdf files using the original Adobe software, you need to be prepared to spend at least $300. Of course, Adobe Acrobat has a lot of other features, too, including file sharing and form creation assistance.
But wait! If all you really need to do is occasionally convert a copy of your resume or a white paper to .pdf format so you can e-mail it or post it to your blog, you might want to try PDF Online (pdfonline.com/convert-pdf). This will convert a Word document (maximum 2MB) to .pdf format for free. You simply upload your document, then receive an e-mailed copy of it after a few minutes. I have used this software several times, and really like how easy it is to use, and how accurate the results have been. You can also convert a .pdf file to a Word document or to an HTML file (for web pages) for free. There's also a free trial (or purchase at $29.00) for a download to convert any Excel, Powerpoint, or Word document to a .pdf file.
Jennifer Pointer (e-mail) is a trainer and tech writer in Tulsa, OK. She promotes a simple, a low-tech approach to effective online profile management, search engine optimization and social networking. Her weakness is the mocha frappuccino.
One thing you've probably discovered if you've owned a computer for more than five days is that purchasing software can be very expensive. In some cases, you get what you pay for, particularly if you are purchasing software for professional use. But for hobbyists, who occasionally need to edit a photo for a blog, or convert a document to .pdf format, or provide basic, general protection for their home computer, it doesn't have to be expensive.
Today, let's start with photo editing software.
Blibs.com is a site that allows you to upload a photo and add from a large assortment of formatted or animated text, graphics and effects. The edited photo can then be downloaded from the site for use on your computer or the web. I've used this site extensively, and really like it. Animate your online holiday greetings with snowfall, or create a slideshow of several photos quickly. Blend images, or add a water effect - all very easily, with very little knowledge of photo-editing needed. Remember that animated photos usually need to be saved in .gif format.
GIMP.orghas been recommended to me by several graphic designers. It's a free download, with features similar to Adobe Photoshop. While the features may not be sufficient for the pro's, they are usually more than enough for hobbyists. I have not used this one extensively, but the few features I have tried on this program were quite easy for me (a total photo-editing newbie) to use.
And remember, for very, very basic photo editing (cropping, re-sizing, adding text), the software already installed on your computer just might do the trick. I've successfully edited a lot of photos using Microsoft Paint (for adding text, and manipulating colors and content), and Microsoft Picture Manager (for re-sizing and cropping).
Jennifer Pointer (e-mail) is a trainer and tech writer in Tulsa, OK. She promotes a simple, a low-tech approach to effective online profile management, search engine optimization and social networking. Her weakness is the mocha frappuccino.
