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Updates for Firefox and Opera
Time to update your browsers again with updates released for both Firefox and Opera.
Firefox 3.5.4 fixes several security and stability problems and lets you re-submit crash reports.
The update should download automatically, but if you want to make sure, click on the Help menu and then Check for Updates.
The update for Opera (10.01) also fixes some security problems as well as some bugs including random instances of downloads not starting and problems with creating a new mail account.
Checking for updates is exactly the same as Firefox
Look closely to install AVG Free 9
AVG Free has been a valuable tool in the battle against malware offering a decent level of protection without costing people anything. It benefits everybody in the long run because fewer unprotected computers mean fewer bots, computers that have been hijacked by hackers and used in online attacks.
The trouble is that when a new version comes out, AVG Free 9 in this case, the upgrade process causes some headaches. The AVG window says that a new version is available with a large, friendly, button to upgrade. The problem is that the webpage you get taken to doesn’t appear to have any reference to the free version. Click on the image on the right to see the full page as appeared on my computer.
If you want to stick with the free version of AVG, you will need to scroll all the way to the bottom of the screen and look for the rather small text ‘update my current product only’.
I can’t blame AVG for wanting people to upgrade to the paid protection, but I don’t think it should be this hard to upgrade. At least you know now.
Book review: Timing for Animation
It’s not just the big film studios like Dreamworks or Pixar that can take advantage of computers for producing animation. There are programs around suitable for home use that are either affordable like Antics or without any cost at all like Pencil.
Creating a cartoon with a computer might be faster than drawing every frame by hand but many of the skills are just the same regardless of how the cartoons are made.
The book is very well laid out with plenty of illustrations of the various concepts described.
New sections of the book cover topics such as digital storyboarding (the process of planning scenes), digital effects, timing for both hand-drawn and digital and the principles of speed lines and motion blur.
This is an excellent title for anyone planning to work with animation, whether a computer is involved or not. Best of all, it’s inexpensive as far as computer related books go.
You can read a section of the original book at Google Books.
Title: Timing for Animation Second Edition
Authors: Harold Whitaker, John Halas, Updated by Tom Sito
Publisher: Focal Press
Price: £14.99
ISBN: 978-0-240-52160-2
Save money with the DIY Dynamic Templates software
Enthusiastic for technology as I am, there are times when a paper based solution is hard to beat. My Filofax is still used for all kinds of important notes that I don’t want left at the mercy of batteries. The trouble is that buying new paper can get expensive. So I’m very grateful to the people behind the D*I*Y Planner for the DIY Dynamic Templates utility.
You can use it to create new pages for a variety of Filofax sizes, or even A4 if you want to use it in a ring binder. It doesn’t explain the exact size needed for different organisers but you don’t have to get a ruler out as there is a quick summary on the download page.
It has several templates for calendars and some for note taking pages, including the Cornell system.
There’s one small but essential preparatory step, which is to install the Blue Highway font because this is fixed for the templates. It’s a shame you can’t choose your own font, but it’s a very minor thing compared to how useful this program is.
The other disadvantage is that it can’t print directly. Instead it creates the page as a PDF that can be printed from software like Adobe Reader.
Power saving advice from Microsoft
If you’re not interested in getting the latest graphics cards and/or power supplies then the amount of power used by your computer is probably not uppermost in your thoughts. The closest I normally get is trying to get the most life out of my notebook battery on the train.
You can worry about power from a environmental point of view or the amount of damage it’s doing to you bank account via electricity bills. Monte Enbysk has covered some of the myths about turning a computer off at night. Screensavers don’t save energy and the only way to get the power consumption of the computer to zero is to unplug it from the wall.
There are some other ideas in the Greening your PC article. They range from another suggestion to turn the thing off to using alternative energy sources. Collecting enough electricity for running a normal desktop via solar power is probably not that realistic unless you have very deep pockets but there are plenty of more realistic alternatives like the Power Traveller Solargorilla or a solar powered Bluetooth headset.
Forget server farms, what about server communes?
A server farm is the name given to the room of computers used by a company when one isn’t enough. They might each have different jobs or are used to spread the load for one job across several computers.
Of course there isn’t much point having a server farm at home (not even in my wildest techie dreams). But what about the other way round with one server for a group of neighbours? Barring video, I struggle to fill even the modest hard drive in my home server and it irks me to have space sitting unused. I suspect the needs of my immediate neighbours are modest enough that it wouldn’t break the server to share it with them.
Keeping it local makes connections easier. Living in a terrace, even wires are a possibility.
I have a feeling that the biggest problem here is the internet connection; bringing everybody onto the same network would involve sharing the same ISP. Still there might be ways round that. I’d love to hear them if more network minded people read this.
Has anyone ever done this? Or is the risk from the teenage computer expert next door breaking into your documents too great?
Windows Installer Cleanup
Some of the most annoying error messages we come across are from programs that have not been uninstalled properly. Windows repeatedly asks for the CD or installer file and it takes several clicks on Cancel to make the message disappear.
The problem with this message is that there’s no way to get rid of it if you don’t have the installation file for the software in question.
The solution is the Windows Installer Clean Up utility. It can be downloaded from here. Install, run it and a list of installed programs will be displayed. Left-click on the entry for the offending item and then click on Remove. Be careful to only remove the correct item and remember that this won’t actually uninstall the software, just the records Windows has about it.
The iPhone Book (Third Edition)
The popularity of the iPhone shows no sign of abating and, given that they work with Windows as well as Mac, here is a good guide to getting started with your iPhone. It covers the original iPhone, the 3G and 3GS, and the iPod Touch.
The book has a clear layout with one tip on each page with an accompanying photo. There are some markings to highlight buttons but the simple interface means this is rarely required. The chapter introductions don’t really offer that much but it’s not a big problem because the tips themselves are well written.
All the important aspects of getting started with an iPhone are covered from email to voicemail. It won’t take long to read but is a worthwhile investment. Given the cost of an iPhone, you’ll want to get the absolute most from it.
Title: The iPhone Book (Third Edition)
Authors: Scott Kelby, Terry White
Publisher: Peachpit Press
Price: £12.99
ISBN: 978-0-321-64723-8
Firefox link tip
I’m a enthusiastic graphics tablet user, but I recognise that there are times when they need to be treated a little differently to a mouse.
Opening a link in a new tab in Firefox is a good example because pressing the right-click button without moving the pen can sometimes be a little tricky.
There’s a simple work around. Drag the link up to the Tabs bar at the top of the browser. An arrow will appear as in the screen grab. Release the pen (or mouse button) and the link will open in a new tab. More convenient than right-clicking and then left-clicking on Open in New Tab.
This also works in Chrome and Opera, but not in Internet Explorer 7 or 8.
Everything you ever wanted to know about icon design
It’s not always well publicised, but Microsoft provide a huge amount of documentation about Windows and their other software online and without requiring registration. The MSDN (Microsoft Developer Network) is sometimes a little technical for ordinary users but there’s still good stuff to be found.
Case in point are the Icon Design Guidelines. If you’ve ever wondered about creating your own icons for custom folders or websites, they’re worth a read.
Some of the instructions are geared towards Photoshop but there is still plenty of useful advice, and a list of other software that can be used. If you want to convert images into icons, you may want to also look at Icon Craft or The GIMP if you don’t want to spend any money.
Head in the cloud, feet on the ground
As useful as online storage is, keeping it in sync with my local files has been something of a headache.
The Windows Live SkyDrive is pretty generous with 25Gb of storage space online, but there’s no Sync app provided. You may remember that I found out Live Sync doesn’t use the online storage the hard way.
I may have found the answer in the form of Gladinet. Once installed on your computer (Windows only though 32- and 64-bit versions are available) it can connect to the SkyDrive folder as if it was a network drive.
I’ve installed the Free Starter Edition and my first impressions are favourable. I’ve downloaded files directly to my SkyDrive folders and worked on them in other programs.
The Premium version comes with extra functions for Google Docs, more advanced backups, encryption for better security and instant messaging support. There’s a comparison table here. All this costs US$40 and there are referral deals if you can persuade friends to sign up as well. Teachers and Students are eligible for discounts too.
