Programs used on the Picture Demo on the 11th:
Irfanview is a "free" Program used to "massage" Pictures it is available here.
Adobe Elements 6 is available on the net, at Staples, Best Buy, etc.
Photo Story is a Free Microsoft Program and can be downloaded here
CD/DVD Burner and Pictures 2 on January 25th:
There was some discussion on the 11th about "Burning" CD's & DVD's and we will Demo this on Wednesday the 25th. The bottom line is that you need some sort of Program to burn a CD - windows has the capability, but that is a bit too messy. Most Computers that have burners also have some sort of program to burn DVD's and of course there are lots of them for sale, like Nero. Disc burning is also an integral part of Slide Show & Video Programs like Elements and Studio 11. I posed a question on the Studio Forum and Gordon Romesky came up with a Free Burner - I've tried it and it works well - It is called Silent Knight Micro Burner and can be downloaded here. I will demo this program on the 25th Here is a slide show of CD Burning that I will show on the 25th of January
Computer Finance & Investing Programs On Jan 18th: Bob Potter and Darel Demonstrated some Finance and Investing Programs on January 18th Links to the programs are shown below:
Quicken is a widely used home financial program here is link to Quicken.com
Here is a link to QuantumOnLine.Com a favorite site of Bob's for Preferred Stock Analysis
Bob also presented another site called ETF Connect.com which is used in the analysis of Exchange traded funds and closed end ETF's. Here is the link to the analysis site
Utilities Demo on February 1st. There are lots of small programs that are great for specific tasks. I will demo some of these on February 1st. Here are links to some of the programs that fall into this catagory:
There is a FREE Screen Capture Utility called Captura and here is the link.
A fancy screen Capture utility (which costs $29) is called "Snagit" and is available here:
There are several utilities to capture sound (anything going through your sound card) and record it on the hard drive- The one I use is called Audio Recorder Pro and is available here. (cost is $29)
Have you ever wanted to calculate a percent change in investments or other things or would you like to see what inflation is doing to that fixed retirement. If so click here (free)
There are several utilities to see how fast your "high speed" internet connection might be. Here are a couple to look at: here (also lists your IP Address) and here must be some reasons their answers do not agree, but oh well it is interesting.
Generate your own Music from Microsoft Music Producer get it here. Select Music Producer and following the download and install instructions "exactly".
Bonnie Demonstrated a Picture handling Program called PICASA which is available here.
Lee Also found "Power Toys for Windows" from Microsoft and can be downloaded here.
If anyone has a favorite utility, let me know and I will add it to the list. (darelhar@aol.com)
The Links to Louisa's Presentation on Genealogy are listed below - Thanks Louisa for putting together the Demo.
February 22nd - Discussion of Computer Parts and what to look for in buying a computer.
The Demo was presented using Microsoft Power Point and you can view it here However if you do not have Power point you will need a "viewer" version which available as a free download from Microsoft. This program provides the capability to play Power Point Presentations even though you do not have the Power Point Program. The "viewer" is available here. There was a question on Cache (Pronounced Cash) which is explained better here.
Magazine Clips - If you do not have Microsoft Office there is a Free Suite of Programs called openOffice.org that accomplish essentially the same thing click here. There is a free photo calendar maker (Flickr Calendar Creator) which you can find here.
Volunteers: If anyone would like to Present a Demo something please Volunteer
During the previous seasons we have had volunteers present a "mini class" on a specific topic; for example, Quicken, Digital Cameras, etc. Some of the "potential" subjects are listed below and the intent of this page is to stimulate some discussions, enlist some volunteers and come up with a schedule for these presentations. Some of the topics are listed below, but if there other areas of interest we need to consider them also:
1. Digital Camera (From Taking Pictures, to Downloading, & Edit)
2. How to develop a Slide Show of your pictures.
3. Quicken, home finance Program
4. How to make a DVD of your Video's and/or Slides
5. How to buy on Ebay.
6. Greeting Card Programs
7. How to Generate a Web Page
8. Stock Market Analysis and Investment Programs
9. Utility programs for Screen Capture and Sound Capture
10. The Care and Feeding of Windows XP
11. Sound Stuff (internet Radio etc)
Please Volunteer to present your favorite subject or if you have specific topics that would be of interest please let me know at darelhar@aol.com.