Upper Hutt SeniorNet Inc.

e-Books and e-Readers

2012-01-27T21:09:00.000+13:00

Click on me to enlarge

e-Readers were originally designed to look and feel like a paperback book. A special graphic screen for this was developed and was called called e-Ink. The Kindle among others used this technology, as it gave a high contrast, unpixelated view even in direct sunlight. These devices had a slow refresh rate meaning they could never be used for movies. As Tablets became more common they were being sold as e-Readers combined with web surfing. If used over a period of time, as in reading a novel, it will soon become apparent that sore eyes will be an issue along with poor visibility in bright light reflecting off the screen. (Jack of all trades but master of none.) e-Ink does not suffer from these effects and the readers are under $200 NZ. The battery life of e-Ink systems is measured in months unlike Tablets which are measured in hours.

Images in Tables

2012-01-25T18:09:00.001+13:00

If accurate placing of pictures in a word processor misbehaves by jumping all over the place a solution could be to insert the pictures in the cells of a table. The example shown was done in a simple word processor called 'Abiword' but should work in any modern wordprocessing package. The borders of the cells can be removed after the table is complete. The Pictures were resized in their accompanying cells for correct alignment.

Merry Christmas and a Happy new year

2011-12-18T13:44:00.000+13:00

Netbooks and TV's

2011-11-13T19:21:00.001+13:00

Click to enlarge

A small 7 inch Netbook is connected to a 26 inch TV as shown in the picture. The Netbook has its screen set to external monitor mode and the internet accessed by wireless. The system is controlled by a USB wireless mouse from across the room and makes use of a virtual keyboard as shown in the picture. For most activities the keyboard is hidden and the mouse is the main navigating device. Printing can be achieved through the wireless network to a printer in the house. This method makes use of a cheap computer to view movies, show pictures, and surf the internet to a group of people. The screen resolution is much better on the external monitor than the Netbooks screen. A USB hard drive can be used to store the movies or pictures for showing. Note: Windows 7 starter edition will not allow the external port to be opened. Unfortunately this is what most netbooks come with but an easy solution is to utilise the card reader slot and use a minimal operating system on a SD card.

Chrome Browser Update

2011-10-27T19:20:00.000+13:00

The Google-Chrome browser has been changing dramatically this year. Now boasting a Web Store similar to a phone for adding applications that are installed inside the browser rather than the operating system. All that is needed is a G-Mail account to access these Apps. There is a variety of free, trial and paid Apps which can be installed and uninstalled with the click of a mouse. Googles idea is that the operating system is to become irrelevant and everything can be run inside the browser from games to word processing. Printing can be achieved by simply sending the document to Google telling them what type of printer you are using and they will automatically send a print file directly to your printer.

Kindle Tablet

2011-10-03T20:12:00.002+13:00

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Amazon are extending the Kindle e-Reader to become a 7" Tablet. The price will be US$199 and is being released for sale in mid November. These will be Android based and can be used for surfing the Internet, E-Mail, and reading Digital books. Music and Movies can be bought and used on this Tablet.

windows 8

2011-09-17T14:41:00.000+12:00

Windows 8 will be run as two different systems using a common interface. The first released will be the Intel type which appears to be Windows 7 with a new Touchscreen and can run legacy applications. The units demonstrated that these are clearly not designed to compete against iPads and Androids as they are very heavy and require a fast CPU with a large amount of RAM. The other Windows 8 will be a new system running on ARM phone chips and will not run Windows 7 Applications. This one will be designed to compete against Apple and Google. Interestingly Apple said in court when suing Android manufacturers that they should dump Android for Windows Tablets because they don't look like iPads and iPhones. Obviously Apple are more worried about Android than Windows. Android phones now have over 40% of the new market compared to iPhones 25%.

Google, Android and Intel

2011-09-16T21:02:00.002+12:00

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Intel, the makers of the Pentium, Celron and Atom chipsets for personal computers are going to optimize their computer processors to run Googles Android operating system. Although this has been done by amateurs they would never be as successful as the full commercial model. The ported version should be ready by the end of the year, allowing it to be run on older computers, along with a new generation of Tablets running low power Atom CPU's. New Android registrations are now running at more that 500,000 per day.

Android 2.3

2011-09-13T10:19:00.001+12:00

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Android 2.3 is used as a phone Operating system. Although it's designed for a small touch screen many manufacturers of TV's,Tablets and Settop Boxes are using it to browse the Internet and check e-Mail. PC's are also able to run it but it is still work in progress. Newspapers are now starting to distribute sub $200 Tablets free, with subscription to their paper for digital reading.

Lifetime Membership

2011-09-02T18:27:00.001+12:00

Congratulations Bill

Bill McDermott Has been awarded a lifetime membership of the Upper Hutt Seniornet. The award is for his outstanding performance during the time he was responsible for Fund raising. This is always a difficult position to fulfill, especially in recession times.

HP is the first casualty of post PC era

2011-08-21T20:32:00.000+12:00

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HP are pulling out of the PC market and concentrating on 'Cloud Services'. As the end of the home PC nears and Mobile devices take over HP tried to come in to a market dominated by Apple and Android with their WebOS system. These did not sell well so moving out of PC building was the best option. This takes out the Compaq computers as well as they are owned by HP. The shift to mobile (Tablets & Smart TV's) sees many companies that traditionally did not make PC's move into this field. Apple is leading with 60% tablet market but is slowly losing to Android with currently 30%. Android is used by many companies including Samsung, HTC, LG, Motorola, Hurawei and many cheap unnamed Chinese Tablets. Although they are small they can plug into a large monitor and make use of keyboard and mouse through USB or Wireless. This system gives a mobile and Desktop in one. These devices will meet most average computer users needs, without having to worry about Viruses and Updates.

Google Chromebooks

2011-07-25T14:51:00.000+12:00

Samsung and Acer are selling Google Chromebooks with some success in the US. This is a little surprising as they are just a 12 inch Netbook that does everything through a Browser. It only has a few Offline Applications although Google has promised that Google Docs can be used Offline before the year's out. The Touchpad is large and supports Multitouch points similar to a Tablet. The price is around the same as a small Laptop but as it boots in around 8 Seconds and has no Virus or Updates to consider, this could be the draw card. Could be useful for Business or Schoolwork.

Tablets for July 2011.

2011-06-20T18:57:00.002+12:00

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July will see a huge jump in the available number of Tablets. A large choice of Operating Systems and hardware layout will be in the retail outlets. These are primarily designed for internet use and documents are edited on-line, although Google have announced that an off-line version of Google Docs is about to be released. This is the last part that is required for the Tablet to replace the Home computer.

Samsung, Vizio, Acer, Dell, Toshiba, Sony and Motorola are opting for Andoid Honeycomb. Googles Chromebook will run ChromeOs. HP Touchpad will use WebOs. Acer will also use Meego as well as Android. Blackberry's Playbook will run on QNX. All these systems are derived from UNIX. Asus are making Android and Windows 7 Tablets. The Windows 7 Tablets will need a Hard drive instead of the normal Solid State Drive (SSD) and will alone require Virus checking. It was hoped by many that they would use their Phone 7 or CE operating systems.

The Tablets will come in sizes from 5" to 12" , and could have cameras, card readers, USB ports, wireless keyboards and External Monitors or TV connections. Normal input is via the Touchscreen.

Apples iPad2 has also been recently released after excellent sales on the original iPad which it deserves from being the innovator of making these devices user friendly. It is also has its roots in UNIX.

Open Office Tutorial

2011-06-14T10:52:00.001+12:00

This magazine is a 160 page tutorial on how to use Open Office efficiently. It is put out by Taylor Made publishing Ltd. http://www.essentialwebworkshop.co.uk/ I bought my copy from Silverstream bookshop at around $30. All basic parts of Open office are covered in glossy coloured pages.

Windows 8

2011-06-04T13:53:00.001+12:00

Windows 8 has now been previewed at a consumer trade fair. Apparently this is not a new Operating System but a modified Win 7 with an overlaid desktop similar to the Phone 7. It will be used on everything from tablets to TVs. As it's based on win 7 virus checking is still required, unlike the iPad and Android. The launch date has not been determined but early 2012 is mostly forecast. This is the same time HP will be debuting their new WebOs. The hardware requirement for the tablets is very specific which is upsetting some manufacturers including Acer, who are releasing three Ubuntu Netbooks in July. They are using their own modified version of last years Ubuntu which points to them having thought about this for a while, as Win 7 is very slow on a low powered Netbook.

Computer in a pocket

2011-05-19T19:40:00.000+12:00

Raspberry Pi (UK) have announced that they are building a computer for school children to learn more about programming for a price of around $40 NZ. The computer is shown on the right hand picture, and uses a 700 MHz ARM Processor with 256 Mb RAM. A SD Memory Card slides in from the bottom to hold the Operating system and Data. The Screen is a HDMI Television set and the single USB port goes to a HUB to provide Mouse and Keyboard Input. The provided Operating System is a stripped down Ubuntu, but other Operating Systems that use the Phone type ARM chip could be used. Maybe Windows 8 which is being developed for ARM chips could also be a possibility. The Specifications look minimal, but the first iPads ran on something similar.

Easy to use Computers

2011-05-06T13:46:00.002+12:00

Ubuntu has just released their 11.04 operating system. The desktop has been designed with the user in mind. There is no Control Panel, Menu or Start Buttons. Everything is started using the Quick Launch (left of the screen) or the Dashboard (centre of the screen). The Dashboard comprises of three sections (most used, installed and can be installed). There are a number of dashboards that are split into various sections (Internet, Multimedia, office, etc). If the programs name is known, typing into the search box will find it. When an application is running the Quick launch slides away out of sight but can be brought back at any time by pushing the mouse to the left of the screen. There are four desktops that can be run simultaneously with an easy desktop switcher application that determines which is the current screen in use. The complete system resembles a cross between a phone or tablet, and has touch screen functionality built in as well as normal keyboard and mouse use. I am running this system happily on an eight year old computer with 1 Gb of slow RAM. Like the iPhone, Android, and modern tablets, the traditional computer manufactures may be too slow to see these new devices coming. System 76, ZaReason, Kogan and Jolibook computers are already just starting to appear on the market.

TV's as home computers

2011-04-26T16:51:00.002+12:00

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With the next generation of TV's being internet capable the home
computer is slowly becoming redundant. The latest TV's can
browse the web, check e-mail, view photos, stream movies and
play music. Documents can be created by online office programs.
The remote can be used in the same way as texting on a phone to
place words on the screen. Alternatively a wireless keyboard
can be used. Printing is attained by using a network or e-printer.
Files can be saved to a SD card or thumb drive. This is all achieved
by adding less than $100 to the price of the tv. Android is the most
popular operating system that allows this to happen, as it is small,
secure and requires no maintainance.

Open Office Draw

2011-03-15T17:54:00.003+13:00

Click to Enlarge

Open Office suite has a particularly powerful and easy to use drawing component built in. Once the drawing is complete it can be integrated into the word processing or presentation section of the suite. Open Office is free so does not have to change formats and layouts to sell the next version, but keeps on improving on the last update. As it's free and backward compatible there is no reason not to use the latest version 3.3.
As the suite has a common base and all the other sections are added on, it means it will run quite happily on a pentium 3 with 256mB RAM.
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Process Controller for home use

2011-03-06T19:33:00.000+13:00

Further to Clive's discussion on Process control there is a small $40 device that is an educational tool but is quite capable of serious work, on the market. It is the "Arduino Diecimila' and is shown in the picture. A USB port on the left is connected to a computer for programming. By the thumb is a terminal strip that is used for the inputs (switches, sensors etc) outputs (leds, relays, actuators etc) communication (RS232, PWM etc). Once the device has been programmed using a simple instruction set it can then be put in 'Run Mode' and disconnected from the computer. The program should keep running for up to 40 years. As the output signals are tiny a simple amplifier circuit may be required for useful applications. If all inputs and outputs are rated at less than 48 volts there are no safety issues.
More information at Arduino Homepage

Sales of Tablets are gaining on PC's

2011-03-06T16:43:00.001+13:00

iPad-2

As Apple's iPad-2 has just gone onto the market they are clearly trying to stay ahead of the competition. It is faster, lighter and has camera's, which is partly to hold off the Android invasion. Apple's iPhone held the lead for two years but Google's Android has recently overtaken it. Apple are trying to keep ahead of the game with their Tablets.

The competition includes Google's Android, HP's WebOs, RIM's Playbook and Fujitsu's Meego. Microsoft has Tablets based on Win 7 but heavy hardware requirements and prone to viruses put it out of the race. Maybe Win 8 which will run on different hardware will help but could be too late. Competition has meant technological advances are swift and large pondering companies can fall quickly, like Nokia.

As newer Tablets can use external monitors (TV's) and wireless keyboards (remotes) the PC's future for households is looking bleak. Games are played on Game Consoles. Office suites and Picture Editors are run from the 'Cloud'. Files can be saved on Flash drives or External USB drives. There is no need for a large unreliable desktop computer anymore.

Nokia and Windows Phone 7

2011-02-17T16:34:00.001+13:00

Windows Phone 7

Android Phone

Nokia announced that Windows Phone 7 will be their main product. This is a last ditch effort to stop Android and iPhones from being the only relevant platforms. This announcement stripped Nokia's value by 18% in two days. How this is going to work with Nokia's Engineers that no nothing about Windows phone's software trying to fit it on a device that was designed for the Symbian Operating System, is anybody's guess. After the Symbian System has been declared obsolete and development is to be stopped most buyers will look at the two main alternatives as Windows phone 7 will be at least a year away. By then iPhone and Android will be fourth generation devices. HP's WebOs will be a better contender for third place as it is ready now for production as a Phone, Tablet and Consumer PC.

Phones, Tablets and Touchscreen PC's.

2011-02-12T16:59:00.002+13:00

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As Mobile devices are now selling faster than traditional PC's the major manufactures have announced which Operating Systems they will support for the home users.

Apple and Android devices are presently taking up most of the new market, but there are a number of new contenders coming on line in the next few months.

Blackberry are producing the 'Playbook' which will also run Android Applications.
Nokia is going to use Windows Phone 7 as they are rapidly losing ground with Symbian.
HP, the biggest computer manufacturer, is swapping Windows for their own WebOs.
Fujitsu will use Meego for Tablets that Nokia developed.
Google are releasing ChromeOs for Netbooks.
Most Korean and Chinese manufactures are building on Android 2 (phones) or Android 3 (tablets).
Apple will produce iPad2 to stay in front.

Consumers will be spoiled for choice over the next six months for mobile devices that will use software on remote servers ( ie on the cloud ) to search the Internet, do E-mail, Skype, Edit Documents and retouch photo's. This will also apply to Internet ready TV's.

Save your documents from a PC that won't boot.

2011-01-31T19:55:00.001+13:00

When a PC refuses to boot the usual procedure is to reinstall the Operating System. This will mean that all files will be lost that were on the 'C' drive. This could be where your family photo's had been stored. Fortunately these can usually be saved with the help of a 'Live CD'. I use Puppy 5.20 for this job. Simply boot from the CD and then click on the 'SDA1' icon in the bottom left hand corner. This should display the 'C' drive in a file manager. Place a 'Thumb drive' in the USB port and it will appear as an icon in the bottom left corner. Click on it and it will open another file manager. Find the files to transfer from the first file manager and pull them across to the second file manager. This process will copy the 'C' drive files to the 'Thumb drive'. This live CD also has a program for removing 'Viruses' from the Windows partition and can often restore a Windows Operating System thereby saving a repair bill.

Android on a PC

2011-01-30T20:26:00.000+13:00

Home Screen

Applications

Android was designed for a touch screen phone, but as it was an open sourced program this allowed it to be used on any suitable device. This covered phones, TV's, tablets and PC's. I had it running on a PC at Seniornet on the 25 January meeting. Those that saw it running were impressed with the speed and simplicity of usage. Although this system was only a 'proof of concept' it demonstrated what is about to be released by every major electronics manufacturer this year.

Microsoft finally roadmaps Windows 8

2011-01-07T14:03:00.004+13:00

Click on me to see me waiting

Microsoft announced that Windows 8 will run on 'ARM' phone chips to be possibly released by next year. This means that all current software will need to be recompiled, if possible, or completely rewritten. If rewriting is needed then this will be done on the latest software only. Most analysts are predicting Microsoft will base it on Windows CE. Windows CE does not run normal desktop applications but is used as a secure embedded operating system as used in EFTPOS terminals. Networking and a modern browser is already in use for this OS.

Android 3 unveiled at CES

2011-01-07T13:49:00.000+13:00

Desktop using Tablet Dock

Android 3.0 was showcased at CES (Consumer Electronics Show) on the 6th January. The Image shows the tablet docked into a Touchscreen and Keyboard. This is clearly the way Personal computing is headed. Android is now being used by most major electronic companies for phones, tablets and TV,s. This is the only serious rival to Apple's iPad. Google was making ChromeOs for this function but this may never happen as the success of Android took them by suprise. As most of these devices run on 'ARM' Technology used in Phones it will be interesting what 'Intel' will do.

Secure computing for online transactions

2010-12-13T19:58:00.001+13:00

Click to Expand

As Windows has become more prone to Malware and Viruses (WikiLeaks) the American 'Department of Defence' has issued a Bootable live CD that allows only a minimal, secure system for their everyday use. No settings can be changed, runs entirely in RAM, local hard drive is locked out, and starting the Internet is automatic. This is purely for safe transactions and can be used on a PC full of viruses as the hard drive is not accessable. The banks in America have asked for a public version to be available. http://spi.dod.mil/lipose.htm Download the iso file and use Nero or similar to burn the Bootable CD. Start the PC with the disk in the drive and it will automaticaly load the operating system and connect to the Internet with their Homepage. Adding software is not possible, but new versions will be periodically available.

Upper Hutt Library

2010-11-21T13:15:00.001+13:00

Upper Hutt library has been refurbished and now sports a comfortable lounge with sofa's, tables, chairs, and a coffee machine. WiFi connection is free for general web surfing and E-mail use. Coffee is $2 a cup. My netbook boots and is on line in just under a minute. In another part of the library computers can be hired for general use.

Online Wordprocessing with 'Google Docs'

2010-11-16T17:01:00.004+13:00


Click on Image

If a Computer, Tablet or Smartphone is on broadband or 3G then Wordprocessing without any additional software other than a modern browser and Acrobat reader is easily accomplished. Printing is done by automatically generating a PDF file for Acrobat reader and printing from that. Files are saved on Googles server but can be uploaded to your computer as well.
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The Image shows that the menu structure is similar to a standard Wordprocessing package. Pictures can be edited using an Online editor as well.

Coping with 'Tablets' as PC's become obsolete in homes

2010-11-13T19:54:00.002+13:00

Click on me

Since 'Vista' the PC needed a huge amount of resources to cope with the up and coming games and the new media centres. Looking at the latest game 'Black Ops' sales, it becomes obvious that virtually all sales were for 'Playstation' or 'XBox'. The PC has no motion controllers so the future looks bleak for games. The Media centres were also a flop as 'Freeview' and 'Tivo' type devices were much cheaper and more reliable. The large hard drives for storing movies and music have shifted out of the PC and put on as 'Portable Extended Drives' plugging into the USB port. Modern office suites such as 'Oracle Office', 'Ashampoo Office and Libre Office run quite happily in 256Mb RAM on a Pentium 3. Home drawing programs such as 'Inkscape' are a good choice for Labels and Greeting cards. The PC has now become an unreliable resource hungry machine that struggles to keep itself running without third party help. This is where the Tablet comes into its own. The biggest choice to make is whether to use a 7" or 10" screen. If you can read a paperback book then a 7" screen will suffice as these are much clearer to read than the printed word and easier to hold. The 10" screen is slightly larger than a hard covered book. The virtual screen keyboard can use 'Swyping' rather than 'typing' to make it quicker. Using voice control to type is annoying for anyone else in the room. 'Apple' and 'Android' are the only options at the moment but by the end of the year there will be many major players coming to the market. The tablet consists of a touch screen display, a basic computer with a small amount or RAM, a small solid state flash drive and a battery. Communication is achieved by ethernet, wireless or bluetooth. External memory by USB or card reader. Printing achieved by using email or network printers.

Network Printing

2010-11-01T19:23:00.001+13:00

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As many homes have more than one computer or other devices such as smartphones, Internet TV's, DVD Recorders and Tablets that can all use a printer it makes good sense to put the printer on the 'Network'. To do this effectively use a Printer that has 'PCL emulation'. It will probably be PCL5e or PCL6. These are slightly dearer as they have a computer in them and are not relying on the host computer to build the page for printing. Cheaper GDI printers can be made to work by setting them up as a Local printer on a new Bidirectional Port but will only work for PC's and some GDI Printers. To check if the printer has PCL emulation, Google the printers model and check the specification.
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Note: PCL3 GUI and PCL6 Enhanced are not normal PCL Printers. Its the 'GUI' and 'Enhanced' part that diminishes their capabilities.

Inkscapes 'Free' Drawing program

2010-10-31T14:03:00.001+13:00

Inkscape is a 'Free' Drawing program that has minimal system requirements. It can be run as a portable application and is available for all platforms. It uses all the normal drawing tools and can import pictures. The pictures can be scaled, made translucent and cropped. It has a 'snap to' grid plus co-ordinate positioning. There are many online tutorials for this program. Can be saved as many file types including PDF. Also supports Layers.

Draw This

Ubuntu shifts to Mobile Desktops

2010-10-31T12:25:00.002+13:00

Ubuntu's next release in 5 months will see the Desktop changed to this form. It will be known as 'Unity' and will be used for Mobile devices and Desktops. This change is required as the biggest sales next year will be in the 'Tablet Form'. All the the old Applications will still work as the basic OS is still the same but with better interfacing for small 'Form factor' machines. Touch screens will be in common use. The total cost of the device should be significantly cheaper as a keyboard, mouse and separate computer case is not needed. The power supply will be a standard plug pack. RAM usage will only need to be 256 Mb as most applications are run on line. Bootup time should be under under 6 Secs as this is already achieved on the current version with the right 'Hardware'.

Ray Ozzies 'Post PC World'

2010-10-31T12:18:00.001+13:00

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Ray Ozzie has just resigned as 'Microsofts' chief software architect and has recently put a blog on his site about the future of PC's. Interestingly he's titled it 'The Post PC World'. Microsoft announced that they have sold 240 million copies of Win 7, but not how many are actively used. They thank you for the spectacular profit this gave them, but now realise they are going down the wrong track and would like to get into the new 'Mobile device' world. Ray started this off with 'Windows Phone 7' ( Nothing in common with Windows or Mobile 6 ), this is a completely new OS, and will require new applications. The look and feel is similar to the 'Zune' media player and will be a big part of their future strategy along with 'Azure' online office applications. Changing the 'Desktop' on an old inefficient and insecure system is no longer possible with today's new competition. Suing companies by using general patents such as 'e-mailing to a PC' will only drive manufacturers to countries such as China and India where the patents have to be more specific and not in general use. The PC (personal computer) is rapidly becoming obsolete. New systems include Apples iPad, Googles Android, Googles ChromeOs, Nokias Meego, Blackberrys Playbook and Hewlet Packards WebOs. These are all loosely based on Unix. I don't know what Phone 7 is based on. As these are minimal Operating systems that don't require Virus checking bootup should be only a few seconds.

Phone 7

2010-10-23T14:34:00.001+13:00

Microsoft's Phone 7 has now been released. Reviewers have put it behind iPhone and Android but a step in the right direction. It has a completely new operating system but is competing in a large field of new devices. Android, iPhone, Webos, Meego and Playbook to name a few. As these others are evolving into Tablets and small Laptops, I wouldn't be suprised if Microsoft doesn't do the same thing. It has to be better option than the inefficient Windows 7 that requires continuous third party maintenance.

Ubuntu 10.10

2010-10-17T13:03:00.004+13:00

Desktop

Netbook / Tablet

I have installed the Desktop version on my 8 year old, 2.4 G Single core - 1G DDR Ram computer. Installation took approx. 30 Minutes. Internet, Video and Sound all worked correctly. Next the restricted drivers were downloaded from Ubuntu and 3D with acceleration was now working. Reboot was not needed. Set up 3 printers in the next 30 minutes. One local, one jetdirect network and one on a bluetooth adapter. All worked perfectly. Downloaded Webcam software from Ubuntu which worked well. Canon scanner worked with initially installed software. Oracle office was also initially installed. Photo editing was by 'Shotwell'. Boot time of around 30 Seconds. Virus and Malware checking not required. Wish other Operating systems were so easy to install, maintain and use. Updates are given as a list and a check box to tick so individual items can be updated if required. Mulitouch point is available for 'Touch Screen' Monitors.

Wordprocessing Software for Senior's

2010-09-25T16:58:00.003+12:00

Retired people do not generally use Oracle Databases, PAYE, ACC or GST associated software so their Office software should not include Microsoft office, Open office of Corel office suites. They need something that can read the extensive range of different types of Doc's. One way is to use something like Abiword which just strips out the text, tables and pictures and displays them without using the formatting. This is more useful than a dialogue box saying 'Can't read this File'. Abiword is also a simple word processor that just writes text with different fonts and puts images in the Document.

It has all the usual basic features and can save your Document in PDF format so other users can display and print it correctly. There is no support for wordart or similarly useless features. Can be used as a portable application and is totally free for Windows, Linux and Mac computers. Will run well on old computers.

Click on the image to increase the size of it.

Touch screen 'SWYPE'

2010-09-22T18:14:00.000+12:00

Swype instead of Type. Start by pressing on the 'S' and slide past the 'W' without lifting your finger. Then slide past the 'Y', 'P' and then the 'E'. Now lift your finger. The computer will have worked out the word as 'SWYPE'. Much easier than pressing keys. A space between words is not needed as the pressing and lifting of the finger indicates the length of the word. This only works on a touch screen and is available for Nokia and Android devices. iPad will soon join them.

Portable Apps

2010-09-11T17:35:00.001+12:00

These are Applications that can be run on any Windows machine but can be run from a Thumb drive. The program has its own library files and only requires Windows to give it access to the Video, Sound, Printer, Scanner and Network. Windows itself is not modified and the Registry not used. Only free software can be used in this way as the prgrams can be copied or shifted from PC to PC. It generates its own Onscreen menu. There are about 200 available applications including Open office, Firefox, Picassa and Irfanview.

Peppermint Ice

2010-09-10T18:38:00.007+12:00

Designed to run everything in the cloud from a Thumb drive. Boot speed is very fast without any preliminary setup. Network, Video and sound all automatically detected. Used for Internet Browsing, E-mail, Document writing and Picture Editing. The Programs for these are held and updated on a remote server. Truly Maintenance free computing on a low powered PC. Install to a hard drive is an option.

Android works on a PC

2010-08-30T19:39:00.005+12:00

Android 1.6 running on a Netbook from a flash drive.

It automatically connected to the Internet and gave quick access to the built in Webcam. No setting up required for anything. The latest netbooks can make use of the touch screen facility.

PC Tablets

2010-08-29T20:56:00.001+12:00

Just as the iPhone revolutionised the mobile phone market the iPad will do the same for mobile computing. Most major manufacturers are now building 'Android' touchscreen tablets and Netbooks for general computer use. Office work including 'Cloud Printing' will be done over Broadband internet. These devices will probably double as phones.

PC's in India

2010-08-29T19:50:00.001+12:00

Intel Atom 1.6 GHz CPU
1GB RAM
DVD Writer
250GB Hard drive
22 inch Monitor

Ubuntu Preloaded

Retail Price SA16631 Desktop Rs.10000 ( NZ$ 300 )

New Android connections

2010-08-10T12:17:00.001+12:00

Android based smartphones and other devices are now being connected at 200,000 units per day worldwide. In a few months the TV's with Android built in for internet and E-mail will start being connected, along with Tablet PC's.

XP updates probably extended to 2020

2010-07-15T19:51:00.000+12:00

Microsoft are continuing giving XP license's with win 7 pro for businesses until 2020. This presumably means updates will be still available.
For the domestic user that already has a XP disc and license, buying a minimal PC with win 7 home and replacing it with XP could be a good choice.
XP requirements are less than 25% of win 7 and XP runs more legacy software.

Android Laptops

2010-06-28T11:35:00.000+12:00

Following the success of the Android phones, the computer manufacturers are now making Android Laptops. These are cheap low specification machines that rely on the internet for most of their applications. Like their phone counterparts they do not require security software.

New 'VLC' Media Player

2010-06-25T18:41:00.001+12:00

Video Lan have released ver 1.1 of their popular Media Player. It is available for Windows, Mac and Linux.

Microsofts Patent Trolling Scheme

2010-04-30T09:27:00.000+12:00

For years, Microsoft has made patent threats against Linux. Mind you, Microsoft has never proven, or even attempted to prove, any of these claims.

Full story here

Low cost netbook.

2010-04-15T14:29:00.005+12:00

Simmtronics and Ubuntu to market a low cost netbook.

Designed specifically for mobile computing, Simmbook netbook has standard netbook specifications, its equipped with a 1.6 GHz Intel Atom N270 processor, 1GB RAM, 160GB HDD, a 1.3 megapixel camera, and a 10-inch display.

The Simmbook will be initially available off-the-shelf in African countries, India, Thailand and Vietnam, with other countries to follow. Its price tag just US$190 is also symbolic – Simmbook tries to get low-cost computing into emerging markets, with others to follow later.