SP Tech Blog

There is a bunch of software out there. Some good, some bad but there are some programs that are must have’s on any computer.

First, and most importantly, virus protection. Whether you’re buying a brand new computer or getting your hands on a previously owned one, you need to have virus protection if you’re using a PC. Microsoft Security Essentials makes an excellent product and it’s free! Click here to see our blog about Microsoft Security Essentials.

Have you ever gone to a webpage and things just don’t look right? You see square boxes with little red x’s in the top left hand corner and can’t figure out why you can’t view the content of the page properly. These two small programs will make all of your worries go away and will help your web experience tremendously. Adobe Flash Player allows you to view video on web pages properly. The majority of sites on the Internet are now using Flash Player and if you don’t have it installed, the page will not load correctly. Java… no not the coffee. Java is a small program that allows certain scripts to run on webpages. These scripts allow special content of the page to load correctly. Without this program installed, you could see those ugly square boxes with red x’s.

VLC Media Player: VLC Media Player is an excellent audio/video content player that installs special codecs (codecs are special files that allow certain types of video to play) on your computer that allows all types of audio/video to play. Windows comes with Window Media Player but it lacks several different codecs that Microsoft doesn’t support. With VLC Media Player you get all the codecs you need with one simple program.

We all know that Microsoft Office is essential. We need it to create word documents, spreadsheets, and power point presentations. The problem is Office is EXPENSIVE. There is a free program out there called Open Office. Open office contains its own version of Word, Excel, and Power Point. The program allows you to create, edit, and save documents/spreadsheets/power points all in a format that is compatible with Microsoft Office. Oh and did I mention it’s free? This is an excellent piece of software that is a must have if you don’t want to fork out the dough for Microsoft Office.

Real Player: See our blog about Real Player. With Real Player installed you have the option of downloading any video online and storing it on your local computer. What an excellent way to save video’s that you really want to keep.

iTunes: Whether you want to download your favorite tunes and organize them or subscribe to your favorite podcasts, iTunes is a software must have.

Mozilla Firefox: Much like Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox is a web browser that allows you to view different web pages and Internet content. People usually say “I use Firefox because it’s faster than Internet Explorer.” That’s true to an extent. Your Internet speed will be only as fast as the connection to your computer. The reason why people seem to think Firefox is faster than Internet Explorer is because the program is able to process scripts much faster which allow Internet pages to load faster. I use Firefox as my default browser and love it.

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware: The second most important piece of software on this list. This program IS NOT virus protection but it does remove spyware and viruses from your computer. This program DOES NOT protect your computer in real time from viruses. Ideally, you should have an antivirus program installed on your computer as well as this piece of software. This software does a fantastic job of removing “garbage” from your computer and allows it to run properly. You have to initiate the scan on this program but you’ll only need to run a scan twice a month or so to keep your computer in tip top shape. (Note: once this program is installed make sure you click on the update tab to install the latest updates for this software. Without the latest updates, the software will not pick up any “garbage” that’s new)

Mint: Mint is not a program you install on your computer per se, but it’s a website you go to. www.mint.com allows you to track all of your financial information in one, free, secure, easy to use website.  You can link your bank accounts, credit card accounts, retirement accounts, and various other financial accounts all to this website for a full glimpse of your entire financial portfolio. You can even schedule bill reminders and payments from this site. It’s a great way to get yourself financially organized to actually see where every penny goes.

Looking for a way to organize all those photos at home? Windows Live Photo Gallery is great way to organize your photos. The program does it all for you! You simply drag and drop your photos into the program and it organizes them by date. You can even tag people in the photos so you can simply search for people instead of clicking through pictures. (note: Windows 7 required for Windows Live Photogallery) If you don’t have Windows 7, Picasa is a great, free alternative that will allow you to store, edit, and organize your photos.

Adobe Reader: Everyone has used Adobe Reader before. The program is pretty basic and it allows you to view (not edit) pdf documents.

Carbonite: You need to backup all of the data on your computer to protect yourself in case something were to happen to your computer. By using Carbonite you can. See our blog about Carbonite.

We hope you make use of this must have software. All of the above are free with the exception of Carbonite which costs $54.95 per year. You can click on each italicized word to be taken directly to the download page for each piece of software. Enjoy!

I am a football fan. I love football. Do you know how sometimes in training camp the veteran players will make the rookies carry their pads and helmet off the field after practice simply because they don’t feel like doing it and it serves as kind of an initiation? Well I am certainly still a rookie at photography and probably couldn’t hold Laura Kurz’ or Ed Brown’s pads at this point. Last year around Christmas I took the plunge from one of your basic point and shoot digital cameras to a more advanced DSLR (digital single-lens reflex). DSLR cameras are usually bigger than normal point and shoot cameras and have several options that make photography much more confusing than using a point and shoot camera.

Regardless of which type of camera you have (a basic point and shoot or more advanced DSLR) I am going to outline some pointers in this blog that have helped me and will help you. All camera’s usually have an assortment of shooting modes… you have your portrait mode, your landscape mode, your night shot mode, and various other pre-programmed camera modes. All you have to do is turn the dial to the setting that you want and shoot away, regardless of which type of camera you have. Well, have you ever been in a place where you use one of these pre-programmed modes and you just don’t get the result you’re looking for? Let me guess most of these blurry shots come in low light situations, right? The most common answer… use the flash. The flash will take all that blurriness away and make everything perfect. Sure you can use the flash and you probably will get the picture you’re looking for but the subject(s) will be drowned in artificial whiteness and natural color will be taken away.

The uncommon answer? Venture into the camera’s manual modes. There are three manual modes on most camera’s that will help you make your pictures look fantastic as long as you know how to use them. These three modes are Tv (shutter priority), Av (aperture priority), and M (Full Manual Mode). Before going any further let me explain what these three modes mean.

What is Tv? Tv is the shutter speed of the camera. Do you ever take pictures of your kids playing sports and think you got a great action shot of them only to look down at the LCD screen and realize it’s a blurry mess? This is because your shutter speed on the camera was not fast enough for the shot. In this mode, if you’re shooting action shots, your shutter speed should be set extremely high so the camera’s shutter captures the image as fast as possible. This will make the image as clear as possible without any of the blur.

What is Av? Av is aperture control of the camera. In other words, this mode controls how much light gets into the camera. Remember the low light scenario we were talking about a few paragraphs up? This is the mode that will ease all of your pain in low light scenarios. This mode also controls the depth of field of a picture. Have you ever seen a professional photo where the subject sticks out but the background is blurry? That’s right you can do that too… with your current camera… within the Av mode. Within the camera there is a small lens, which resembles a human eye, that gets bigger and smaller depending upon what the aperture is set at. If the aperture is set at a low number the lens gets bigger, allowing more light in. If the aperture is set high, the lens gets smaller allowing less light in. So to paraphrase… low aperture number = more light. High aperture number = less light. So what would you use in a low light scenario? You want as much light coming into the camera as possible, so you would use the lowest aperture number possible.

What is Manual? Now that you have an idea of what Tv and Av do, it will be easier to explain manual mode. When you are in Tv, you are saying to the camera “ok I’ll select the shutter speed but I want you to select the aperture.” When you are in Av, you are saying to the camera “I’ll select the aperture but I want you to select the shutter speed.” In full manual mode, you select all the settings… aperture AND shutter speed. This mode can be a bit overwhelming at first but I promise you if you get used to this mode, you’ll never go back to those pre-programmed modes and your pictures will turn out so much better. If you want full control of your camera, this is the mode you want to be in. Tv and Av are great modes and will give you better results than any of the pre-programmed modes, but sometimes you need an excessive amount of light or need a faster shutter speed than the camera will pick for you. When defining your settings within manual mode, here’s your cheat sheet:

Av: lower number = more light coming into the camera. Higher number = less light coming into camera

Tv: the lower (slower) the shutter speed = more light coming into camera. the higher (faster) the shutter speed = less light coming into camera.

Try starting off in Av and Tv separately so you can get the hang of what each mode really does. Then as you get the hang of them, venture into the manual mode to apply both settings at one time.

Another main aspect of a camera that people often forget or don’t even know about is the ISO feature. On most camera’s an ISO level can go from 100 to 800 but on some DSLR’s the ISO feature can go up to 1600 or even 3000. Remember back in the days of loading film into your camera you had to buy 100 or 200 ISO film if you were going to be outside shooting pictures or 700 or 800 ISO film if you were going to be shooting in low light? Well now days with digital camera’s the ISO feature is included within the camera and all you have to do is adjust the ISO setting depending on your lighting conditions. 100-400 ISO should be used in outside-fair lighting conditions. 400-800 should be used when you’re shooting inside. The only downside to the ISO feature is, the higher the ISO you select the more noise and grain your picture will have.

Hopefully these four basic photography skills will help you along your way to becoming a pretty good hobbyist photographer. After you get these down pat, then you can venture into the world of white balance, telephoto lenses, and manual exposure times… haha… I know I’ve already made your brain spin too much today. But let’s get the basics down first. Hopefully my rookie terminology helped you understand a little bit more about photography. Your memories will thank you for reading this blog. 

Are you having trouble signing up for e-mail web alerts through our website? By having e-mail web alerts, you will receive SP breaking news right in your Inbox as soon as it’s posted on our website. Here is a video tutorial on how to sign up!

If you have any other questions about this process please feel free to call us at 410-825-4400 ext 3400 or email us at helpdesk@stpaulsschool.org

Antivirus Software. It’s important. It protects you. But is it worth paying for? Most new computers come with antivirus software included. McAfee and Norton are two of the main names that come pre-installed on new computers.  You know the drill… You are buzzing along on your new computer, all seems well, the Internet is fast, your printing great, and then all of a sudden on day 30 of using your brand new computer that you paid all that money for you get a rather alarming pop-up from your antivirus software that states “Your trial version expired, click here to purchase the full version.” If you go back to the place that you bought the PC from and look at the fine print, it will probably say “McAfee Security/Norton Antivirus 30-day free trial.” So now this company wants you to pay between $100-$200 for a yearly subscription. If you do fork over the cash, McAfee and Norton will do a good job of protecting your computer from malicious threats. But the secret that no one is telling you (up until now) is that there are free alternatives out there that work just as well, if not better.

Microsoft has released a great free product called Microsoft Security Essentials that does the same exact thing as McAfee and Norton. Microsoft Security Essentials protects your computer in real time, updates its virus definitions automatically, and has the ability to do a full system scan manually or automatically. Really, when it comes to antivirus software that is all you need to be protected. To be honest, personal firewalls and phishing detectors that come in paid antivirus solutions are really a bells and whistles benefit. If you are a home computer user, firewalls and phishing detectors do nothing but annoy you, are not necessary, and are intended for large computer networks. Microsoft Security Essentials is very easy to install and you’re protected in real time as soon as the computer starts up.

Another good, free product out there is called AVG Anti-Virus. AVG also protects your computer in real time and has features similar to Microsoft Security Essentials. Be careful when you go to their site to download their free product because there are versions that you have to pay for which include, you guessed it, phishing filters and personal firewalls. Again, features that you do not need as a home computer user.

The real time protection and automatic virus definition updates that these programs provide will satisfy your security needs as a home computer user. So the next time you receive that message on your computer, maybe think about going the free antivirus software route. Your computer will thank you and so will your wallet.

Digital computing started off with computers having 25 megabytes (25,000,000 bytes) worth of hard drive space and floppy disks that would hold 3.5 megabytes worth of data. Boy did we think we were something with green and black screens to boot. Nowadays, people are used to 400 gigabyte (400,000,000,000 bytes) hard drives and computers that do everything but talk to you. Oh wait, they do that too.

In today’s fast paced society people want access to their files on demand, from anywhere, regardless of which computer they are using. And another thing, BACKED UP. Probably the most underused and put off thing by home computer users. What happens if your home computer crashes and you don’t have your precious pictures/files/videos burned to a DVD, backed up on a thumb drive, or backed up to an internet storage facility (that’s another blog for another time)? You’re out of luck right? WRONG. As Microsoft would say in their recent advertising campaign “to the cloud” we go.

Cloud what? A cloud in the technology world actually does not resemble one of those big puffy white things you see in the sky on a sunny day. Cloud computing means that you use your computer to access your files on the Internet (cloud). The cloud is not actually on your computer but stored on the Internet so you can never lose it. Picture removing the hard drive out of your computer and storing everything on it out on the Internet somewhere, securely. That’s what we’re doing here. That way it doesn’t take up precious space on your computer so you can keep it running fast. Think you got it? Ok let’s move on.

With Microsoft’s brand new cloud computing rollout, users can take advantage of 5 gigabytes worth of online synced storage and 25 gigabytes worth of online uploaded storage (hang with us we will explain the difference in a few minutes).  The 5 gigabytes worth of synced online storage means that you can sync a folder on your computer to automatically backup that folder straight to your skydrive. Your skydrive is your brand new “hard drive” within the Internet cloud. After the initial setup there are no button’s you have to click to start the backup process. The skydrive automatically does it for you. But wait it gets better. You can sync that folder on more than one computer. For instance, say you have a folder on your work computer that is synced with your skydrive and you also have the same synced folder on your home computer. If you save a file on your work computer to that synced sky drive folder, you guessed it folks, that same file will be waiting for you on your home computer in your synced sky drive folder. (Note: This feature is only available on Windows Vista and Windows 7)

The 25 gigabytes worth of online storage is not automatic like the synced feature but it’s still 25 gigabytes worth of free online storage. You have to automatically upload the files that you wish to have on your sky drive but it’s still a great way to store and backup photos, documents, and music. Like we tell the students at St. Paul’s, “you can lose your computer but you can’t lose the Internet.” (Note: This feature is available on Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7)

So together, between the skydrive synced storage and uploaded storage, you have 30 gigabytes of free online storage (an average 3 min song is 3 MB 30GB = 10,000 songs or 500 hours). So you’re probably saying by now, “This is awesome! How do I get one of these skydrives?” Freshman students at St. Paul’s are already using the skydrive. Faculty and Staff at St. Paul’s can request to have an account setup and they will be issued a username, password, and a website where they can access their files. Anyone else (faculty and staff can choose to do this if they wish) interested in having a skydrive can create a standard hotmail account for free and you will have access to the sky drive and synced storage. What a great way to store and share all of those Christmas pictures you took a few weeks ago.  We promise you one thing, you won’t lose them.

I created this little video to demonstrate to faculty at the school how to download video content from the internet e.g. YouTube.  The reason this is useful is simply if you have the file on your computer you do not need to worry about the video buffering as you try to watch it or the tragedy of the internet being down/slow when you are trying to show it to students.  Here it is:

Obviously if you are not a faculty member of St. Paul’s or when you watch this the file is not in that folder simply go to http://www.real.com/realplayer/search (active link as of 01/10/2011) and download it, then follow the same directions.

You will also find that on Firefox it will act a little differently (and if you wait for the whole video to buffer on Internet Explorer the same thing happens) because it when you have a video present and you hover the mouse over the video a little bar appears over it asking if you want to download it - it does the same thing.

PLEASE NOTE - Not all videos will be available to download, some websites do not allow visitors to download their content so if you try to download and it says you can’t it is likely you have one of those sites/pages.

Windows used to come with Movie Maker built into it and it wasn’t too bad (I’m not saying it was great I fought with it on many an occasion).  Then Apple vamped up their built in movie editing software iMovie and therefore Microsoft had to up their game a little bit too and created a well thought out title “Windows Live Movie Maker”.  Now if you were to compare the two you’d probably find that iMovie has it beaten (I’ll probably do a blog on iMovie at some point) but because more of our teachers and students have access to Live Movie Maker I chose to give a tutorial on that first. 

So what you will find below is a quick video that will show you the basics: 

• What can it do?  
• How do you go about setting up a project  
• The basic stuff
  

It also includes many screen captures of me doing things  which will hopefully make it easier for you to follow and do yourself.  If you hover your mouse over the video you will get a list of chapters (in case you want to look at something specific or have to view it in more than one setting) and will also be able to make it whole screen. Unfortunately this is not viewable on iPads or iPhones as it uses Flash :(

So what you will find is that for making a quick video of yourself from the webcam for your students, friends, or family, it is very easy.  If you want to make a simple slideshow of photographs with a music accompaniment it’s not bad.  Finally if you have some video that needs very little editing work (simple cropping off the front and back) it will allow you to make a basic video.  Essentially (see what I did there, this is from Windows Live Essentials..) for the technophobe/technoreluctant/video editing newbie this will suffice for your needs.  At best it will do what you need it to do, at worst it will frustrate you because it will not do what you want and therefore will whet your appetite for something more meaty and you’ll become an amazing video editor (I am OK with a walk on part or a minor speaking role in any Hollywood movie you make)!

Home PC backup is cumbersome at best for home computer users. Most people have tons of data on their home computers that they don’t even know where to start when thinking about backing up their files. Even if they do backup their data, their either burning several DVD’s or copying their data to an external hard drive. Either way, both tasks are time consuming and require the user to initiate the task. Which means finding the time to do the manual backup. In addition, some home computer users don’t understand the importance of backing up their personal computer files. If a hard drive crashes on a home computer and the data isn’t backed up, it means that all of your pictures, important personal budget files, and video’s of your children are gone.  JUST. LIKE. THAT.

One of the best ways to backup your home computer data is to use an Internet website called Carbonite. I personally use Carbonite at home and it’s a fantastic service. Upon signing up for Carbonite you will be asked to download a small piece of software to install on your computer. This piece of software will backup all of the data on your computer and send it up to the Carbonite servers quickly and securely via your home Internet connection.  After doing the initial backup of your computer, Carbonite will automatically recognize changes made on your computer and will back them up on demand, without the user having to do anything. Carbonite offers you unlimited storage space for your data. So if you have 200 gigabytes worth of pictures and music, Carbonite will backup that as well as anything else you may have.

You will know that your data is backed up completely by the little green circle on the bottom right corner of files and folders. If the data has yet to be backed up and is currently waiting for backup, you will notice a yellow circle.

Carbonite costs $54.95 per year and is a great investment in knowing that your personal data is backed up safely and securely in case anything ever happens to your computer. We invest money for retirement, college education, and spend money on life insurance to protect us in case something horrible was to happen. Look at this as $4.57 per month to protect yourself against losing the video of your child’s first steps, your entire photo library, or your monthly budget that holds all of your financial information. You might be thinking “does this guy work for Carbonite or something?” Not in the least and I promise you, I am not even receiving a year of free service for writing this blog. What I can tell you is I have seen the pain on people’s faces when I’ve told them that their hard drive crashed and their data is gone.  Hopefully I don’t have to say that to you and if I do you can say “I backed it up and I’ll get it back.”