Today we spent the whole class using and learning about www.pixlr.com, an advanced online image editing application. Unlike www.picnik.com and www.photoflexer.com, Pixlr is designed to look and function like Photoshop. Depending on how you look at it, this is good or bad. If you don't have any experience using Photoshop, the interface isn't very user friendly. However, if you have used PS, then it will look very familiar. In terms of this class, it is really nice because it is likely that you will take additional digital imaging courses in the future which will likely utilize PS. Thus, the time you spend learning Pixlr will be well spent as nearly everything is the same.
For homework you are to take a new photo of a friend. Then, using Pixlr, you are to manipulate it into a goofy photo. Then downsample it to 200px wide, save it to your computer as a JPEG, then upload it to your blog and write a little about what you think of Pixlr and if you had any problems using it.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Computer Security
Okay, you probably know that you should have an anti-virus program running on your computer that you keep up to date and regularly use it to perform a scan of your system.
Unfortunately, that is the very least that you should be doing to insure you and your data is safe on your computer. PC World magazine recently published the best article on computer security I have ever read. You should definelty read it. I guarantee there are real threats out there that you never even thought of.
PC World article "11 Hidden Security Threats".
If you are having weird computer problem, I would suggest your using an online safety scanner. There are two that I am aware one. I have used Microsofts's Windows Live OneCare safety scanner a number of times. It will search for virus, all manner of malware, registry errors, and it will also defragment your hard drive and give you the option of deleting unnecessary temporary files.
Unfortunately, that is the very least that you should be doing to insure you and your data is safe on your computer. PC World magazine recently published the best article on computer security I have ever read. You should definelty read it. I guarantee there are real threats out there that you never even thought of.
PC World article "11 Hidden Security Threats".
Back to this issue of anti-virus software, with numerous excellent, free options now available, there is no legitimate excuse not to use one. If you think that it isn't necessary, then just ask a room full of people how many of them have had a virus of other malicious software cause havoc on their system. I currently use Microsoft Security Essentials on my laptop. It is non instructive. I have used AVG Free for years and currently have it on my desktop computer, but it constantly tries to convince you to "upgrade" to a paid version. I have also used Avast Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware in the past, but was annoyed by the audio alerts to scan my system. That being said, if you like to be reminded to run the scans, you will really like Avast!
Of course, there are plenty of other commercial products on the market that may offer additional features and possibly better protection. That being said, I have been using free products for years and have been very happy with their performance which is to say, I haven't had any virus problems.
Of course, there are plenty of other commercial products on the market that may offer additional features and possibly better protection. That being said, I have been using free products for years and have been very happy with their performance which is to say, I haven't had any virus problems.
If you are having weird computer problem, I would suggest your using an online safety scanner. There are two that I am aware one. I have used Microsofts's Windows Live OneCare safety scanner a number of times. It will search for virus, all manner of malware, registry errors, and it will also defragment your hard drive and give you the option of deleting unnecessary temporary files.
Trend Micro, a legitimate provider of computer safety programs, has a similar online scanner service named Housecall. I haven't used it, but it is highly regarded.
1990 students, I want you to read the PC World article. I also want you to run your anti-virus program and take a screen shot verifying that it has been ran. Post that screen shot to your blog.
1990 students, I want you to read the PC World article. I also want you to run your anti-virus program and take a screen shot verifying that it has been ran. Post that screen shot to your blog.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Do you know where your backup is?
Do you have all your data backed up? Is it a current backup? Is it a complete backup? Haven't you lost dat at some point in your life? I know you have......
At minimum you should have all the data on your computer backed up. This is to say, you should have a complete copy of all the data on your computer that you care about. There are a variety of ways to do this. You can choose to use an external hard drive hooked up via USB, firewire, or eSATA. You can also back up your data over a network. This can be saved over your local network or remotely on a server. Ideally, you should have an offsite copy of your data. This is to say that it is not on premises. This way, if the worst should happen, a fire or a flood, then your data will still be safe. Online backup has a ton of advantages. It is offsite and if you are using a reputable service, then they are keeping multiple copies of the data at multiple locations. The major drawback of online backup services are that the initial backup of your system can take a very long time. A few of the services offer an initial backup via an external hard drive. Then all subsequent backups are performed online. Mozy.com and a number of other online backup services offer a free 2GB service so that you can back up some data and get a feel for how it works.
Introduction to RAID for photographers
Crashplan
At minimum you should have all the data on your computer backed up. This is to say, you should have a complete copy of all the data on your computer that you care about. There are a variety of ways to do this. You can choose to use an external hard drive hooked up via USB, firewire, or eSATA. You can also back up your data over a network. This can be saved over your local network or remotely on a server. Ideally, you should have an offsite copy of your data. This is to say that it is not on premises. This way, if the worst should happen, a fire or a flood, then your data will still be safe. Online backup has a ton of advantages. It is offsite and if you are using a reputable service, then they are keeping multiple copies of the data at multiple locations. The major drawback of online backup services are that the initial backup of your system can take a very long time. A few of the services offer an initial backup via an external hard drive. Then all subsequent backups are performed online. Mozy.com and a number of other online backup services offer a free 2GB service so that you can back up some data and get a feel for how it works.
Local Backup
Simple device to turn any external hard drive into an automatic backup system
Article on backing up automatically using SyncBack on a PC
Apple Time Capsule
Drobo
Internal Drives, Network Attached Storage, USB hard drives, firewire, eSata
Introduction to RAID for photographers
http://www.earthboundlight.com/phototips/raid-for-photoshop.html
Online backup
Good write up on how online back up works
Comprehensive listing on companies offering online storge
Crashplan
Sugarsync
JungleDisk
Intronis
"Free" online backup
Monday, February 8, 2010
UT Alert system - You should sign up
UT has an alert system in which they can text and email you when something important is happening on campus that you should immediately be aware of.
I encourage you to sign up. I am signed up. It never hurts to be aware of what is going on around you.
You can sign up here.
I encourage you to sign up. I am signed up. It never hurts to be aware of what is going on around you.
You can sign up here.
Class Recap for Thursday 4th
We began class by viewing the second Animoto videos you made. They looked good! I enjoyed the variety of music that you all selected.
I also demoed LightScribe labeling technology. LightScribe is a labeling technology in which special disks are laser etched on the flip side of the data side. HP includes LightScribe enabled disk burners/recorders on many of their computers. I really like the look of the results. They are relatively low contrast, but they have a very unique look to them. Since not a huge amount of people use it, they still provoke interest in people who haven't seen them before. I always use it to label disks I am sending out to exhibitions or jobs which require images on CD.
Everyone also created a Google account to have use of Google Docs. Google Docs is a free Google cloud computing application which provides an alternative suite of office productivity apps for free that can be readily access on only computer with internet access. I use it all the time to access notes and create documents. It include apps which are roughly equivalent to limited version of Word, Power Point, and Excel. You will be using it to create a slide show presentation on the theme of "A Day in the the Life". This weekend you should take photos documenting what you do over the course of a day or a weekend. I encourage you to get creative with with. Last semester, a student did a presentation on the day in the life of her socks! It was really funny.
Lastly, I introduced you quickly to Mozy.com and asked that you create a free 2GB account and back up all your Word documents to it. We will go over this again on Tuesday so if you have trouble with it don't worry about it. I will also show you how to take screen grabs.
The remainder of the class will be spent creating your presentation which we will view as a class on Thursday.
I also demoed LightScribe labeling technology. LightScribe is a labeling technology in which special disks are laser etched on the flip side of the data side. HP includes LightScribe enabled disk burners/recorders on many of their computers. I really like the look of the results. They are relatively low contrast, but they have a very unique look to them. Since not a huge amount of people use it, they still provoke interest in people who haven't seen them before. I always use it to label disks I am sending out to exhibitions or jobs which require images on CD.
Everyone also created a Google account to have use of Google Docs. Google Docs is a free Google cloud computing application which provides an alternative suite of office productivity apps for free that can be readily access on only computer with internet access. I use it all the time to access notes and create documents. It include apps which are roughly equivalent to limited version of Word, Power Point, and Excel. You will be using it to create a slide show presentation on the theme of "A Day in the the Life". This weekend you should take photos documenting what you do over the course of a day or a weekend. I encourage you to get creative with with. Last semester, a student did a presentation on the day in the life of her socks! It was really funny.
Lastly, I introduced you quickly to Mozy.com and asked that you create a free 2GB account and back up all your Word documents to it. We will go over this again on Tuesday so if you have trouble with it don't worry about it. I will also show you how to take screen grabs.
The remainder of the class will be spent creating your presentation which we will view as a class on Thursday.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Class recap
Last class, we used iTunes to rip CDs to lossless AIFF file format so that we could burn them back to a blank CD with no loss in quality. I also showed you how to make copies of those files in other formats such as MP3 for use on your iPod or on Animoto. I also mentioned the HP Light Scribe labeling technology as those are the CDs that I gave you, so I will be brining in my laptop today to show you how that works. I you want, I you can use my computer to "burn" a custom label onto your recorded CD.
For homework, I asked you to make another Animoto video of your choosing. I encourage you to post it to your Facebook and/or MySpace page.
Next class we will discuss data/computer integrity and CD labeling technologies- LightScribe and FlashLabel.
For homework, I asked you to make another Animoto video of your choosing. I encourage you to post it to your Facebook and/or MySpace page.
Next class we will discuss data/computer integrity and CD labeling technologies- LightScribe and FlashLabel.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Copying a music CD on a Mac
You would think that it would be really simple to copy a music CD using a Mac. You would be wrong. There is no provision to copy a music CD using the operating system only. Turns out many people use iTunes to rip the CD then burn it back to CD. This works, but is more complicated than necessary. If you do go the iTunes route, be sure to rip the CD to a lossless format such as Here are three programs which allow you to copy music CD more easily. They also all you to convert music to multiple digital music formats and allow you to rip CDs.
Burn - A simple to use program which has a feature to easily copy a Audio CD
Max - well documented.
LiquidCD - I believe it allows you make "backups" of your Wii disks as well.....
Here is a write up on copying a CD using iTunes.
If you rip a CD as a lossless format such as AIFF or Apple Lossless, then you might want to also create copies in other formats for your MP3 Player or other reasons. Here is how to do it using iTunes.
Burn - A simple to use program which has a feature to easily copy a Audio CD
Max - well documented.
LiquidCD - I believe it allows you make "backups" of your Wii disks as well.....
Here is a write up on copying a CD using iTunes.
If you rip a CD as a lossless format such as AIFF or Apple Lossless, then you might want to also create copies in other formats for your MP3 Player or other reasons. Here is how to do it using iTunes.
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