On Computers

Joy uses Bluesquirrel to make yearbooks for her P.E.O. chapter. (The letters stand for Philanthropic Educational Organization.) It’s an old program that has been out for many years but is regularly updated. It was originally designed to easily turn Word documents into small booklets but the latest version can also transfer files to iPhones, iPads and Android tablets.

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Filed under: graphics, magazines, word processing | Comments Off on TAKE IT WITH YOU

We got some criticism when we wrote about the Freemake Video Downloader, a free program that saves YouTube videos to your hard drive. It’s technically illegal to download stuff from YouTube, but if it’s just for your private use, it’s unlikely the techno cops will come knocking at your door. (We downloaded “This is Not Yellow,” from TweetSauce.)

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Filed under: video, YouTube | Comments Off on SAVING YOUTUBE VIDEOS

“Infographics” are very useful, and a new book shows you how to design them. “The Power of Infographics,” by Mark Smiciklas, $24 from Que Publishing takes us through it with lots of illustrations. Infographics refers to the visualization of data. It’s not new and it can be done in a number of ways. What is new is the computer’s ability to do it quickly with lots of choices. You see it in newspapers and magazines all the time. In its simplest form it can be a graph of monthly changes in car sales shown as stacks of cars. In more complex situations, visualizing the structure of molecules in a new way led to a breakthrough in understanding organic chemistry. The […]

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Filed under: business, education, graphics, trends | 1 Comment »

FundersClub.com is a new crowd-sourcing site, like the better known Kickstarter. It collects investments from individuals who kick in for the manufacture of some product they think should be made or a cause that should be helped. Unlike Kickstarter, however, each investor gets a share in the company or project they invest in.

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Filed under: business, crowdfunding | Comments Off on ONLINE START-UPS

The “Spare One” is an emergency cell phone that came out in January, but we just recently decided to try one.

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Filed under: mobile, phones, security | Comments Off on LONG LIVE THE EMERGENCY PHONE

More than 61 percent of the tablet computers sold this year will be iPads, but that’s down from 66 percent last year. In toto, 73 million iPads will be sold this year, estimates Gartner Research, compared to 40 million last year. About 38 million Android tablets will be sold this year, 32 percent of the tablet market.

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Filed under: numbers, trends | Comments Off on IPAD AND TV TRENDS

Our youngest relative, age 5, likes to go around the house with arms outstretched, saying “Brains, Brains, they’re coming,” meaning the Zombies. It’s a line from the “Plants vs. Zombies” game he’s been playing since he was 4.

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Filed under: games, kids | Comments Off on PLANTS VS. ZOMBIES

Tinyurl.com/webneel displays 60 really neat logos. If you need to come up with one for your group or business, these provide great ideas. We liked the one for the programming business “Codefish,” which showed a fish made of mathematical symbols.

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Filed under: art, business, graphics | Comments Off on LOGO INSPIRATION

“Smart Soundtracker” fits a soundtrack to your videos, and has a button for sharing on Facebook or YouTube. The 99 cent iPhone/iPad app comes with five soundracks, and you can buy more from within the app.

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Filed under: apps, music, video | Comments Off on APP ADDS SOUNDTRACKS TO VIDEOS

Pintograph from Alien Skin draws complex line art. If you ever had a “Spirograph” as a kid, Pintograph is like that, but much more sophisticated. It’s free for iPhone and iPad.

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Filed under: apps, art, graphics | Comments Off on ANDROID APP MAKES COMPLEX ART