Archive for August, 2009

Video cropping

Sunday, August 30th, 2009

Sometimes I need to show to my students only part of a video I have downloaded. So, how does one crop a video?

Format Factory is a free program that does the job perfectly. Below is an example of a crop I just did. Find the mistake in what is being said by the math expert.

In the UK around 3,400 people die each year in road accidents. That means there is a 1 in 200 chance that anyone of us will die the same way.

Format Factory also converts wav files to mp3. Very convenient as my voice recorder uses wav files while the plugin for playing sound on a WordPress blog requires the mp3 format.

Posted in Software | No Comments »

IBM Office for free

Saturday, August 22nd, 2009

ibmoffice

With the introduction of Lotus Symphony age-old rivals, IBM and Microsoft, will again compete with each other. The Lotus Symphony is a free office suite, targeting Microsoft’s golden hen, MS Office. IBM reports that its new office suite offers millions of companies and consumers the chance to save hundreds of dollars on each of their Microsoft Office licenses by providing support for Microsoft Office 2007 with the newest version of Lotus Symphony, IBM’s free of charge productivity software suite. This could translate into millions of dollars in savings at many large companies that are looking for financial relief in the current economy.
The ability to import Microsoft Office 2007 files into Symphony means that Microsoft Office customers can save on licensing costs by switching to Symphony while retaining access to, and easy use of, the contents of their Office files.

With the introduction of Lotus Symphony age-old rivals, IBM and Microsoft, will again compete with each other. The Lotus Symphony is a free office suite, targeting Microsoft’s golden hen, MS Office. IBM reports that its new office suite offers millions of companies and consumers the chance to save hundreds of dollars on each of their Microsoft Office licenses by providing support for Microsoft Office 2007 with the newest version of Lotus Symphony, IBM’s free of charge productivity software suite. This could translate into millions of dollars in savings at many large companies that are looking for financial relief in the current economy.

The ability to import Microsoft Office 2007 files into Symphony means that Microsoft Office customers can save on licensing costs by switching to Symphony while retaining access to, and easy use of, the contents of their Office files. – Read more

IBM Lotus Symphony has a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation, and browser. It does not have a data base program.

However,

The new version of Symphony allows users to drag-and-drop plug-ins, extending its use to other business applications.

By the way:

Symphony is based on an older version of OpenOffice.org, although the code has been heavily modified by IBM.

I downloaded it from here.

Posted in Software | 2 Comments »

Protecting the data on your USB stick

Saturday, August 22nd, 2009

I have put all the data I currently use on an 8GB USB stick.

The other data has been archived on an external hard drive with copy on another external hard drive.

My main reason for putting all the data on a USB stick was for it to be portable. Regardless if I am at home, at school, or travelling I will always have the data available.

The data is backuped regularly to my laptop’s hard drive using the free and easy to use backup and synchronisation program EZBack-it-up.

Now, what can go wrong with this setup? Quite a few things, actually.

I may forget the USB stick in a computer
For this not to happen I put the USB cap near the keyboard to remind me that the USB stick is not in my pocket. Other people attach the USB to their key chain, so when they try to get into their car or house they suddenly remember that they have left the USB stick behind. Others tie it to a string that goes around their ancle. And so on, and so on.

Somebody wrote a little program that reminds the user that a USB stick is in the drive when they shut off the computer. The sad thing is that the script does not work with Windows XP Home Edition. A more serious objection is that I want the script to run when I log off, not when I turn off the machine. I have searched high and low for such a program, but without any luck.

Rename the USB stick

RENAME

Students and teachers rather often leave their USB drive behind. To find who the owner is I normally have to open some of the files (break of privacy) to get a clue. A few knowledgeable users have named their USB stick. When I open it in My Computer (Windows Explorer) I immediately see who the owner is. In the illustration above, two USB sticks are connected to the computer. One has been renamed (drive E) while the other (drive G) still has the name of the USB brand. To rename the USB stick, just right-click it and choose Rename.

Adding a text file called ‘Contact information for the owner of this USB stick’ in the root folder is another good idea.

If you find this USB stick please call 123-456789 or send an email to elvispresley@gmail.com.

Kind regards,

Elvis Presley

I may lose the USB stick or it may be stolen
To avod this, you may carry the USB in a string around your neck or keep it in a pocket or compartment with a zipper.

If the worst comes to worst
Some of the data on your USB stick may be personal or confidential. If that is the case, you should password protect and encrypt the files. Who would carry in their pocket confidential information that is easily lost or forgotten? The sad truth is that we almost all do!

Password protect and encrypt your files
When you save a document in Open Office Writer you may add a password on the file:

save

password

When the file is saved it is also automatically encrypted so it can not be read by another program.

A more expensive option to keep all the data private is to use USB sticks that are unlocked using a finger scan.

Posted in Note | No Comments »

Opening MS Word and Excel files

Friday, August 21st, 2009

opendoc

If you want to open a Microsoft Word file do not double-click it in My Computer or right-click and use the Open option. If you do, you may be asked to save it, which is the opposite of what you want.

Either right-click the file and choose Open With and select swriter (see the above image) or open OpenOffice.org Writer and use File – Open to open the file.

openxls

For Microsoft Excel files either right-click, choose Open With and select scalc (see the above image) or open OpenOffice.org Calc and use File – Open to open the file.

Note
The above is the case if the file associations for .doc and .xls files have not been changed to point to OO Writer and OO Calc respectively. If they have, just double-click the files and they will open in the appropriate OO application.

How to change the file associations
In My Computer (i.e. Windows Explorer) click Folder Options on the Tools menu. Click the File Types tab and scroll down to DOC (typing D once and then scroll is another way). Click Change and select swriter.

fileassociations

For xls files, scroll to XLS and select scalc.

Posted in Open Office Calc, Open Office Writer | No Comments »

Online learning proves its worth

Thursday, August 20th, 2009

A new study is out:

“On average, students in online learning conditions performed better than those receiving face-to-face instruction.” – Read more

In school I learned that correlation does not improve causation. Meaning that the reason for better results may lie elsewhere than in the mode of instruction. For instance in the level of motivation of the students.

To me it does not matter. Online learning has a lot of advantages regardless of how well the students perform. For one thing it may reach students who can not attend face to face instruction. Here is another:

The real promise of online education, experts say, is providing learning experiences that are more tailored to individual students than is possible in classrooms. That enables more “learning by doing,” which many students find more engaging and useful.

Online learning doesn’t mean learning alone:

“The technology will be used to create learning communities among students in new ways,” Mr. Regier said. “People are correct when they say online education will take things out the classroom. But they are wrong, I think, when they assume it will make learning an independent, personal activity. Learning has to occur in a community.”

Posted in Online learning | No Comments »

Thin client or netbook?

Wednesday, August 19th, 2009

asus

The Eee PC 1000HA allows users to take to the streets with stable and reliable computing on-the-go; 7 hours* of battery life, and exclusive 10GB Eee Storage makes it the ideal traveling companion for outdoor activities. The large 10.1″ display provides comfortable viewing, and a keyboard that’s 92%* sized of generic notebooks make for easier typing and relaxing usage. – Read more

I just bought the above mentioned netbook for USD 310. It has 1GB Ram, 160GB hard disk, and after testing it for a month: I am in love!

Imagine a school where every student has one. Whenever there is a need the student picks it from his bag and connects to the Internet, the school’s network, or uses programs installed on the netbook.

rmasus

RM Asus miniBook is a simpler notebook priced at USD 277. Click here to try the demo.

Today I was made aware of another option for schools: thin clients or thin client laptops. The latter is used at one of my previous schools.

base_media

HP 6720t Mobile Thin Client – Intel Celeron M 423, 1GB SDRAM, 1GB Flash Memory, 15.4″ WXGA TFT Flat Panel, 802.11 a/b/g Wireless, Windows XP Embedded, 1yr Depot Warranty.

What is the better solution? Here is an article and comments with arguments for and against these, and other, options.

Some people dismiss netbooks as personal playthings; others see them as potential desktop replacements. Could they be vehicles for desktop virtualization, too? – Read more

Posted in Note | No Comments »