FREE GUITAR LESSONS
Posted on January 7th, 2014 by Joy Schwabach
MAKE YOUR OWN BOX OR GIFT BAG
Posted on January 7th, 2014 by Joy Schwabach
Ideogram.nl/boxmaker has a neat free template maker for making gift bags, boxes, cones, envelopes, and other things out of card stock. Select any size or geometric shape and it will create a template that shows you how to cut out what you need and where to fold and glue it. (How about a dodecahedron? Twelve sides.) Paint it, color it or use fancy paper and you’ve got an unusual gift box.
Filed under: art, how-to, Internuts | Comments Off on MAKE YOUR OWN BOX OR GIFT BAG
APPY MUSIC
Posted on January 7th, 2014 by Joy Schwabach
— “Sketch a Song” for Android or iPhone lets you create music by drawing patterns on a cartoon background. (NOTE: Similar programs for composing go all the way back to the Apple II, thirty years ago. Jazz musician Herbie Hancock used one.) — Spotify.com, the music service that lets you find just about any song and add it to your playlist, has a free version for smart phones and tablets.
GETTING A NEW WINDOWS 8 COMPUTER
Posted on January 6th, 2014 by Joy Schwabach
Just when we thought we’d heard every complaint about Windows 8 computers, we heard a new one. A friend wondered where in the world she should save her files, because now she sees two choices: “Skydrive,” and “This PC.”
Filed under: PowerPoint, presentation, spreadsheet, Windows, word processing | Comments Off on GETTING A NEW WINDOWS 8 COMPUTER
A-GOGGLE ABOUT GOOGLE MUSIC
Posted on January 6th, 2014 by Joy Schwabach
COMING UP AT THE CONSUMER ELECTRONICS SHOW
Posted on January 5th, 2014 by Joy Schwabach
At the International Computer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this month, LG manufacturing will show off an all-in-one desktop with the Google Chrome operating system. It’s called “Chromebase.” All-in-ones have all their innards stuffed into the case that holds the screen. More importantly, the big advantage of the Google operating system is that it updates your computer every time you start it up. It corrects any problems that are slowing down your system and eliminates viruses. Poof, it’s magic!
Filed under: computers, Google | Comments Off on COMING UP AT THE CONSUMER ELECTRONICS SHOW
NOTES AND NOTS
Posted on January 4th, 2014 by Joy Schwabach
Cyberlink’s “YouNote,” a new free app at the Windows app store, is fun and even useful. It’s a virtual notebook for collecting notes and pictures and putting them in pockets of interest. We found it fun to collect notes this way under different topics, like recipe books, travel, sports, etc. Add the pictures, cartoons and scribbles and some of our notes are cute enough to use as scrapbook pages or greeting cards. The program works with regular or touch screen PCs using Windows 8. But, alas, all is not yet perfect in this infinitely perfectible universe: There are other ways to skin Schrodinger’s cat. YouNote is missing some key features found in the older and massively popular Evernote, a free […]
Filed under: art, graphics, word processing | Comments Off on NOTES AND NOTS
BRAIN GAMES
Posted on January 3rd, 2014 by Joy Schwabach
There was quite a bit of interest in the small research study “Video Games Make Adults Smarter” that we wrote about last week. Though the study group was small, it jibed with our own personal observation of more than 30 years, that playing video games seemed to make people sharper. It worked across all ages. Though it’s generally thought that computer games are mostly played by children, several marketing studies over many years have found that the most frequent game players are in their mid 20s to mid 30s.
BOOK: A THEORY OF FUN
Posted on January 2nd, 2014 by Joy Schwabach
“A Theory of Fun for Game Design,” by Raph Koster, $35 from oreilly.com, is now out in color, with a full-page cartoon flanking every page of text. The author was the lead designer for massive online games such as “Ultima Online” and “Star Wars Galaxies.” He discusses what makes a game fun and how games can teach primitive survival techniques. Creative designers, he says, use other games for inspiration. The forward is by Will Wright, creator of SimCity.
Filed under: books, programming | Comments Off on BOOK: A THEORY OF FUN
FUN AND GAMES
Posted on January 2nd, 2014 by Joy Schwabach
“Mech Mice” is an online game and iPhone app (coming soon to Android) that challenges players to build their own squad of mechanical mice to defend against invading armies. It was designed by Lance Priebe, the co-creator of Disney’s Penguin Club.
We liked it that instructions pop up to show you where to
Filed under: apps, games, kids | Comments Off on FUN AND GAMES