Friday 22 February 2013

FREE Website Design Software

Compared with 5 or even 10 years ago, there are now very few free website design programs; especially highly specified ones.

Kompozer is one such program. It's fully WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get), with a raw HTML tab and a split tab of the two. It boasts a markup cleaner and a W3C call function to validate your HTML against current standards. Available to suit Windows, Mac, and Linux, it has a strong focus on standards compliance and clean code.

That is not to say Kompozer is easy to use if you've never designed a website before. It would certainly require plenty of homework on how to use its facilities properly. But, it is free and on an almost comparable level with many of the design packages costing many hundreds of pounds.

Let's have a look at some screenshots:





You can download the full, free version from here:-
Kompozer Download

Sunday 17 February 2013

FREE Movie Software

Avidemux

Avidemux is a name you may not have heard of but if you're interested in video editing and want to make things easy for yourself, then it's a name you want to become familiar with.



This free video editor is designed for simple cutting, filtering and encoding tasks. It supports many file types, including AVI, DVD compatible MPEG files, MP4 and ASF, using a variety of codecs.


As can be seen from the screenshots, the interface is easy and there is plenty of support via the online documentation.


As always, if you don't like it, just uninstall.


If you do like it, there are forums to give you help and advice. Download from this page Avidemux Download

Saturday 16 February 2013

Secure Your Wireless Router

Most people sigh a breath of relief after they have successfully logged their laptop/tablet/smart phone onto the home router...and then forget it. Forgetting it could get you a criminal record! Let me explain.

It is possible IT savvy criminals to hack into your router and visit illegal websites, or perform illegal acts over the web using YOUR internet connection!
As your router has a unique identifying code linking it to you and your address, any illegal activity will be traced to you. Not a very pleasant thought, especially as this could result in an early morning call by the Police!

Can this scenario be avoided? Absolutely. Here's how...

1) Make sure your wireless router has a password. If unsecured (without a password) anyone within range can log in to your router and, at the very least, use your internet connection for free.

2) Your router password should be changed regularly, say once every six months.

3) The password should be cryptic with letters and numbers. Make it 8 characters or more. Avoid using common names.

4) Keep an eye on the router lights. You will notice that several of the lights will flicker madly when you are using the internet. When nobody is accessing internet, the lights should calm down to an odd flicker now and then. If the lights are still very active 30 minutes after the last user has logged off, you may have a hacker.

5) If your internet connection is unusually slow, you maybe sharing the router with an unknown third-party.

6) If you live in our area, PC Partners can help you secure your wireless network. Otherwise, call your ISP (Internet Service Provider) and they will advise you.

Wednesday 13 February 2013

More Free Graphics Software

Since putting a review and link up to the free graphics software Gimp, I've been asked if there is another similar package that is not so complicated and a bit more intuitive. The answer is yes!

The program is called Paint.NET and here are a few screenshots to illustrate how it looks:




You can download the program from this link:- http://www.dotpdn.com/downloads/pdn.html


Tuesday 12 February 2013

Who's King of the Global Search Engines?

As you would imagine, Google is King of the hill (or should that be Emperor) when it comes to World rankings accounting for a 65.2 percent share with 114.7 billion search queries during November and December 2012.

Ranked second is China's Baidu with 14.5 billion queries and an 8.2 percent share.

Settling for third was Yahoo with 8.6 billion queries and a 4.9 percent share.

Russian search engine Yandex came in fourth recording 4.8 billion queries and a 2.8 percent share.

The big surprise was Microsoft's Bing dropping to fifth with 4.4 billion queries and a 2.5 percent market share.

What conclusions can we draw from these figures? Well, it's clearly obvious that Bing has made very little inroads into the Russian and Asian markets. The reasons why are many fold, but the most important of these must be Microsoft's close ties with the US. Both Russia and Asia largely reject American ideology and Microsoft by association.

Both Google and Yahoo are perceived as Global companies, rather than tied to the US. Therefore, they do better globally.

If Microsoft are to increase their share of a global market, cutting the umbilical with the US might be their only resort. Can it be done? Probably not.

Monday 11 February 2013

Free Graphics Editing Software

GIMP

From time to time we recommend software that's worth more than a second look. Gimp is versatile, powerful, fully featured and FREE! Although if you're new to this area, it will take some time to get used to all the features. 
The Gimp publicity sums it up nicely:-

"Looking to do some advanced photo editing and digital painting but can't justify the expense of Adobe Photoshop? Try GIMP, the GNU Image Manipulation Program. 
An open-source graphics editing software packed with the ability to edit on layers and masks, GIMP is a powerful set of editing and manipulation tools for the amateur and budding pro alike. Plugins and scripting support allow for additional automation of repetitive tasks and the ability to work with animation."


This screenshot will show you what you can expect and reflects the sophistication of the software. You can download it here:-

Give it a try, it won't cost you a penny.

Wednesday 6 February 2013

Microsoft buys Dell Buys Dell

Yes, I know, the title of this piece is confusing but all will become clear.

The media have been full of story about Michael Dell buying back his old company Dell Computers. Partly true.

Michael Dell is, in fact, funded by Microsoft, so it's actually Microsoft buying Dell with Michael Dell as a figurehead.

I'm sure Microsoft are rubbing their hands with glee in anticipation of getting their mitts on those lovely phones, tablets, laptops and pc's; all soon to be running Windows operating systems.

But is it all too late? Dell have slipped down the rankings in recent years. Poor customer service, high prices and an outdated company perception have all served to lower profits and caused it to join other IT companies on the slippery corporate pole. And when you're on the slippery pole, there's only one way to go!

Branson Doesn't Back Britain!

After all the fuss Richard Branson made in recent weeks about buying British and staying in the European Community, he has now sold his Virgin Media business to an American company!

Like politicians, many business leaders say one thing and do the opposite. They do what's best for themselves, their shareholders and their companies. It's a fact of life.

It's also no coincidence therefore that Virgin Media has put it's prices up this month by around £42.00 per year for the average customer. A nice sweetener for the new American owners.

One thing's for sure, we have not seen the last of regular price rises from Virgin Media.

Goodbye Richard and thanks for showing us your true colours...