The GIMP

The GIMP is an open source (FREE) alternative to Photoshop (The graphics industry standard). You can do anything with GIMP that you can do with Photoshop. The keyboard strokes may be a little different and there may be fewer or more steps involved in getting the job done ... But it can be done. GIMP is an acronym that stands for ... GNU Image Manipulation Program (formerly General Image Manipulation Program). GNU is an operating system similar to UNIX. I've used GIMP for a few years now and I love it's capability. Photoshop users find it confusing and a pain to use. Why? Because the special feature key combinations are different. A special feature in Photoshop may require you to press Alt + F5 ... While GIMP may require you to press CTRL + F9 for the same feature. There are tons of add-ons just as with Photoshop. As you can see from the screenshot, the dashboard is very similar to Photoshop. There are literally tons of videos on YouTube and free tutorials for both programs, so have no fear if you are a beginner. Speaking of beginners, I've found something very peculiar in my experience in graphics designs. It does not matter what program you use for the most part. Of course there are some tools available in the expensive packages that cannot be found in the less costly programs that allow you to do things that you couldn't do otherwise. However, it is the skill of the designer and his/her familiarity with the program used that makes all the difference. Case in point: I've created some graphics with my (quick and dirty as I like to call it) program that rivals work done by those who used Photoshop. Not the same images or projects but, my work looks great while the Photoshop users work looks amateurish. Wouldn't you like to know what my quick and dirty (program) is? Wouldn't you like to see some of the work that I've done with it? Well ... Your wish is my command, coming soon so stay tuned.

Serif PhotoPlus X6

Here's one from my graphics arsenal. Though it says photo editing, there is a plethora of tools available. Very similar to GIMP and Photoshop in it's application, layers are used, various sized brushes are available, and many tools are present that are also in the industry standard programs. Serif has a suite of programs that allow you to get real work done. I put these programs right up there with some of Microsoft's products. A couple programs in Serif's Suite of programs are even better than Microsoft's products. I've used most of their products and am very pleased. Free versions are available for download from the manufacturers website. Some of their highlighted programs include: Word Processor, Drawing Program, Movie Editing Program, Desktop Publisher, Web Page Designer, Photo Editor, And quite a few more. Don't sleep on these ... Great programs at a great price. The full versions cost less than half the cost of similar industry standard programs. Photo editing is not all you can do. With a little imagination you can create wonderful graphic images from scratch. One of the nice features that I found particularly useful was the cutout feature. This feature automatically creates the cutout image with a transparent background (default) whereas most graphics/photo editing programs you have to manually select this function. Programs like Photoshop are so bloated with features that it takes you a few steps to pull it off. I highly recommend this program for the artistically inclined and those who like Photoshop but not the long learning curve to become proficient with it ... Not to mention the high price tag. I think the full version of Photoshop runs around $500 - $600. The full version of this program costs $89.99, and it is well worth it.

Still Co-Ordinating

Greetings All ~ I'm at it again. I've been tweaking this blog to get an overall user friendly look and feel to it. I think I'm doing great so far but ... I still haven't heard from YOU! I've added a Google news feed. I think I found pretty good topic keywords for the feeds but ... If you let me know what you are interested in I could easily add those keywords for new news feeds. I've rearranged the right panel so that the order of the items make more sense. Additionally, I've added a friends section where I'll add relative sites/blogs if you care to surf the web for more content of relative topics. I don't want this blog to be all about me. I want this blog to be about you too. Tell me what you think.

Checklist On How To Revive A Dead Computer

What To Do When Your Computer Dies 

Its not something we tend to think about much but ... make no mistake about it, your computer will eventually fail if you keep it long enough. It may be a simple problem, such as the hard drive not reading the disk or it could be as severe as a major system crash. Because computers are run by humans, user error is the most common cause of computer malfunction or failure. When the user is at the computer, he or she may add or delete certain files, or he/she may remove or exchange certain hardware features which may effect the operating systems function. Believe it or not, simply pressing the wrong keys at the wrong time (not knowing exactly what you are doing) could reek havoc on an otherwise efficiently running computer system.

When we look at user error, we must remember that since we're human, the user error may be as easy to solve as simply asking the last user if he/she installed any software, re-configured any software or hardware settings, etc. Case in point: A dear friend of mine was having a problem with his laptop, it would not type the proper letters. It would type numbers when certain letters were typed. It would continue doing so after rebooting and nothing seemed to help. In steps the computer geek-a-zoid (moi). The casual user may not be aware that almost all laptops have alternate keyboard settings to access special characters. Reason being that most laptops "do not" have the extended keyboards (with a numeric keypad) that are somewhat standardized with external keyboards and desktop computers. Turns out my friend had accidentally pressed the alternate keyboard key sequence and was not aware that he had done so. All it took was a quick Google of the situation and the answer was found 3 or 4 links down the list. Laptops are different so the key sequence is not the same as per manufacturer.

A large percentage of computer malfunctions are due to environmental factors such as power surges caused by lightning, resulting in over voltage. This is especially common in areas where there is a lot of rain and thunderstorms. In this situation you may have to check your home circuit breakers. Modern circuit breakers are more intricate and area/outlet specific. These circuit breakers are for specific things now like, kitchen appliances, heating, separate rooms (or only half of the room in some cases). Extreme temperatures and extreme changes can cause problems with computer function also. Queen City Example: I am a resident of Buffalo, AKA snow city. We had a very serious snow storm a few years back (48 hours continuous, 7 foot accumulation) ... circuits were going haywire. We also had another situation where there was 3 feet of snow in one day prior to the Autumn leaves falling (city called in National Guard to remove damaged trees). I did not have an uninterrupted power source, so in both cases nothing could be done until the calm after the storm.

Another cause for failure may be room temperature being too high or low, as well as dust, dirt, or sunlight. I find that servers are more prone to fall in this category however, newer computers are on the fast track to achieving server status. If you're in business and heavily dependent on your computers, such factors as room temperature, sunlight and protection against power surges is of the utmost importance and simply cannot be overlooked. The accumulation of dust on integrated circuits causes major problems. The dust retains heat and can actually be the culprit to overheating and the cause for circuits burning out prematurely. And as most of us are aware of this, overheated computers do strange things ... lol.

Speaking of strange things ... Malicious viruses that aggressively replicate themselves can bring your computer to a grinding halt. Not to be taken literally because there may not actually be "grinding" sounds but, you'll be stuck for sure. Before you know it, you're scratching your head or pulling your hair out and cursing your life-mate's existence. Hypothetical Example: If you click the Microft Word icon and nothing happens ... The first thing you should do is a virus scan. If there are any strange anomalies similar to this, do a virus scan right away. Doing virus scans on a regular basis (weekly at a minimum) can prevent a lot of problems before they become serious.

The most common PC problem is when you can't access your PC at all. When you turn on the power switch, NOTHING HAPPENS! Below is a quick checklist of troublshooting procedures you should follow if you encounter any of these problems. There are also videos available that you can download from the Internet (YouTube) should you need assistance in knowing exactly how to perform any of these procedures:

1. Try the Power Switch a second or third time.
2. If nothing happens... Check the wall outlet (switch sockets)  for power. 
3. If the outlet has power. Check the power cord itself (for damages or breaks) from wall to computer. 
4. Check the Power Supply inside the System Unit. 
5. Replace the Power Supply rather than trying to repair it, they are fairly inexpensive. 
6. If the system makes those normal click noises during booting, but the screen is blank, check the Monitor. 
7. If the monitor proves to be good, check the video card, even new systems may have manufacturers design flaws or defects in it's components.
   
8. Don't forget we live in a world of greedy corporate entities (built-in obsolescence), so one or more of the major components may have to be replaced.

Another big headache you will most likely encounter if you're a regular user of your computer system, is the fact that Windows will fail to load or the system's POST will fail to run. Google "Power On Self Test" to learn more about the Windows program used to handle this situation. Don't forget those other Windows programs used as preventive maintenance procedures that should be done often to keep your PC running at peek performance. Running such Windows ultilities as Scandisk, Disk Defragment, and Disk Cleanup will help your computer performing at its best. Using a can of compressed air removes dust that could build to the point of causing a short. If you get the computer to boot but it does not want to read from the hard drive'the Master Boot Record on the hard drive may be corrupted or even missing. To verify that the master boot record has not been damaged... Boot from the floppy disk that contains the FDISK program and type the command "fdisk mbr" to restore the master boot record onto your hard drive.

This is by no means a complete "tutorial" on how to keep your system running trouble free with so many variables of things that could go wrong, but ... this advice is more of an investigative starting point to determine what the problem is and how it may be remedied at little or no cost. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. There are situations that may call for a heavy outlay of cash for service repairs (labor) or major components (motherboard or CPU). Depending on the age of your computer this may be where you have to consider a last resort. You'll have to ask yourself, "Is it worth it?"

Zeitgeist Addendum (2008)

Why does it feel like the harder I work the less I get ahead? Why does it seem like money is not worth what it used to be? Why does it seem like no matter which political party we choose nothing much seems to change? These are questions that actually have simple answers once you know how the system is manipulated and how corruption is breed in the very nature of how these systems are set up. Is it really true that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer? Is it true that Juan coming across the border is the major reason that there is unemployment and taxes are so high? What is to become of out great nation, is it doomed to collapse and failure? The basic principles of nature, morality, logic ... answer a lot of these hard questions and clear up many of the myths and stereotypes which we all cling to in order to feel more secure or superior (good about ourselves). Corporate America, the government and the spin (a politically correct word for "To hell with the truth") put on history play a very large role in what we believe to be truth ... which in reality is not. You ever wonder why things that are put in place to supposedly help us actually do more harm than good? ... I think this documentary has that one covered too. Just as in "The Venus Project" a couple of posts back, the ideas here became a movement. This group is actually mentioned in "The Venus Project" and vice-verse. There are several sequels to this documentary that give a better idea of what the supporters of this group are about that can be found at the website ~~> http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com/ The entire series can be downloaded freely. Unfortunately, the site has not been updated with the latest installment "Zeitgeist - Moving Forward (2011)". But I'm sure you pirates out there know exactly what to do to get it (wink).

WATCH THIS !!!

Motorola Droid RAZR XT912

Fantastic Phone !!!

 

 

With the advent of Apple dropping 3G I know that it won't be long before other manufacturers follow suit. I knew it was time to retire the old (original) Motorola Droid A855 slider for a new 4G phone. I chose to stick with Motorola because of a few things. One, Motorola has been in the communications business for about 85 years. Two, tons of rave reviews regarding this phone and it's performance. Three, It fits right in with my home server network. If I had only known what I was missing ... I would have upgraded long ago. Though this is not one of Motorola's newer models, it does just about everything the newer ones do.

First of all, the image is stunning. Big 1080P HD screen and it looks fabulous! The speakers are solid and clear. It is one of the thinnest mobile phones that I've ever used and lightweight yet solid (doesn't feel cheap). Battery life is fair and it supports a sufficient sized memory card. The digitizer is very smooth and accurate. Dual front and rear camera views can be swapped with the touch of an icon. Photo and video quality are awesome. I got a great deal on one with a busted screen that I plan to replace myself. I used to repair and upgrade phones as a value added reseller on eBay. Maybe I should have a section where I show the repairs I've done on items. What do you think? The first phone to impress me was the Blackberry 1080i. In its premier days it was one of only a few phones that had both Blue Tooth & Wi-Fi and sound that could fill a room. This is the second phone to impress me via it's convertible versatility, stunning resolution and smooth operation. Setup was a breeze as with all Motorola phones. Finally, as this phone has been around for a while there are quite a bit of accessories available. I chose a little "kick-stand" holster ... To watch movies on those boringggggg dates (yawn).


The interesting thing about this phone is that it has a docking accessory that literally turns it into an Android based laptop. Additionally, there is a HD dock available with a HDMI port to stream phone content to your big screen TV. Outside of fitting my server environment perfectly ... You may ask, What's in it for me? For around $250 retail new or as low as $100 used/street it's one of the best models to take full advantage of the Android OS and all of it's features ... newer phones with the exact same features can cost as much as $500 - $600 dollars. Perhaps I'm a bit too practical for most but ... Why have/pay for dozens of features I'll never use just because it is the newest model out? That being said, I'm more impressed with what it can do than if it is new.

SiliconDust HD Home Run PRIME Network Digital TV Tuner HDHR3-CC

 

Home Run Is An Under Statement

As somewhat of an advocate for "FREE TV" I've never been very fond of cable. I never saw the purpose of getting cable boxes, satellite dishes ... And so forth (all having tuners) while there resides a tuner in your television set. Furthermore, being financially responsible for equipment that you do not own sucks raw eggs. You could wind up buying 3 or 4 tuners for the same A/V setup. I prefer monitors as opposed to full fledged television sets to circumvent this dilemma. Problem is ... Just a monitor alone doesn't capture broadcast or cable television programming. With the introduction of this product ... Problem solved. It has 3 built-in digital television tuners. This device connects via your ISP (Internet Service Provider) router and makes all stream-able content available to the 3 tuners. You can tune into 3 different channels on 3 different devices at the same time for example. Though you don't need one, it has been the perfect compliment to my home server which I control remotely via my wireless router. The included software works in conjunction with Windows Media Center also making it easy to setup custom viewing preferences. My router is wireless so a network wiring nightmare has been eliminated for me. Additionally my Samsung Blu-Ray DVD player with Wi-Fi sees this device. The device has true 1080p high definition. Streaming is smooth and stable. Yet another impressive addition to my home network and A/V entertainment system.

LOOK! NEW LOOK!

I've been working on column formatting, uniformity, photo resizing and a host of other things to enhance the look and overall experience of this blog. Hope my efforts have not been in vain. Thanks for all whom have visited ... Please come back again ... and again ... and again ... LOL And don't forget to follow, join, or leave comments.

THE VENUS PROJECT

Imagine your home being made by means of the plastic waste of plastic soda bottles, trash bags, and supermarket bags recycled and extruded from a big apartment making machine. This machine is built to maintain, upgrade, and re-fabricate (make it's own parts) itself as well. The entire apartment building can be shrunken or expanded as community living quarters needs change. Jacque Fresco is a man who has devoted much of his life to not only redesigning the way in which we use material things but also redesigning behavior and culture as we know it. I've included some photographs of models of this housing, the types of communities, and future design by this man's ideas. His ideas are so incredibly fascinating that they actually started a movement. When I first viewed this it seemed a bit strange and odd. As I listened and sort of tuned in if you will ... I was so impressed with this man's plans and ideas that I had to share. One of the most influential parts of the film is how our culture views the purpose of money and what it is used for. The monetary system seems to be the major entity that enslaves our culture physically, mentally, and spiritually. Funny thing is, this notion of being enslaved by our jobs, money, and living standards seems to be a common eco-political/socio-political thread that weaves it's way through all free thinkers.

WATCH THIS !!!

Announcing A New Catagory

Hey folks! Some movies are so incredibly awesome that they actually get us to change the way we think about things or have a lasting effect on our lives. I've decide to create a new category reviewing such movies and documentaries. I am a big documentary fan, and boy have I seen some heavy ones. Hope to hear some reactions as I too have been blinded and misinformed by our government, great leaders and the news media ... we all have. Enjoy this new section called "WATCH THIS !!!"