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Windows Live Writer 2011 - a convenient way to do your blogging offline

Valerie — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 15:00:42 +0000

For people who prefer to write their blogposts offline, Windows Live Writer 2011 is your best solution. If you're running a Windows 7 OS, chances are you might already have this software installed on there somewhere. For those who are running an older Windows OS, you can grab the download and get started with blogging right away.

The software is a great way to write your drafts and easily upload, even publish them, to your respective blogs. No more griping about losing everything the moment you lose your internet connection while saving. It supports blog themes, categories, tags and so much more that there's really no need to head to your blog's interface just to write your post.

When you first start up Live Writer, you have the option to choose which type of blog publisher you're using. The Writer then customizes and adopts the look as well as feel of your blog interface.

One notable feature this updated version has is the ribbon layout. The ribbon makes it convenient to input text, add images or videos, place tags, emoticons, links and so much more onto your post. You can even edit HTML codes and tweak everything to your liking.

Moreover, there's a spellchecker available in several different languages apart from English and also a chance to preview the post. This preview option uses your existing blog theme and showcases how your post will look like as if it was up on your blog. As soon as you're all done, you can cap off by hitting publish. If you like, you can also click "Post draft to blog" if you still have plans of editing everything one last time.

This 2011 version is definitely a step up from before. It makes blogging so much more convenient and eliminates that frustrating and awkward moment you lose your 500 word post because your internet faltered right at the exact moment. Give it a try and see if this works for you.

Videospin - a free video editing solution perfect for beginners

Frostech — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 14:00:07 +0000

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Pinnacle Studios has received a handful of criticism for limited functionality of its software, but things seem to have changed with VideoSpin. VideoSpin is a free video-editing software that offers plenty of options for beginner editors. This video-editor performs really well in comparison to its other free counterparts, making this a perfect choice for casual use.

This obviously is no match to the full-paid editors, but does a decently good job by providing options like transitions, various codec supports, output of clips for Video networking sites such as Youtube, Metacafe, just to name a few.

VideoSpin starts of as a trial software on the first download with an evaluation period of 15 days. Within the trial period, all features of the software are unlocked and gives users the ability to output video files in DivX, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, AVI, Flash, Real, and MPEG-1 formats, further allowing for storage of files on a user specified memory location. After the trial period, the functionality gets limited to the basic, but remains ...

VideoSpin also packs in functions such as enhancing films, uploading images, graphics, blending effects, multiple transitions format, ability to add text (various formats), adding sound files and under-laying videos with music just to name just a few. The UI is very clean and uncluttered and has a feel of the Final Cut Pro.

At the end of the specified trial-period, users can continue using the software minus the ability to output videos in DivX, MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 format. So users have the option to choose from AVI, Flash, Real, and MPEG-1 codec. Also, the interface size gets fixed, and full-screen mode goes for a toss. Other limitations include, no brightness adjustment for dark movies. There is no audio editing, except for levels. Biggest drawback being, no ability to import from DV camcorders. A tutorial after the break.

To continue using full-fledged features of the editing suite, and prevent the kick-in of limitations, users have the option of buying a set of codecs for $15, and if that is also a bit costly for your casual video editing needs, you have the option of buying individual codecs for $5 each. Chances are you won't need any of them, but if you will, the company is making money by providing them to you.

Comparing it to the Adobe Premier Express online editor, I used simultaneously to the Pinnacle VideoSpin, the former forced a dozen of limitations on the user. Unlike other video-editing suites, the hardware demands of VideoSpin are fairly moderate and the software would basically run on every recent machine.

If you are the type who likes casual editing and finds Windows Movie Maker a tad bit boring, VideoSpin from Pinnacle is the perfect bedroom Video-editing solution you can get, without burning a hole in your pocket, and even when the trial period ends the functionality offered by the software should suffice any beginner.

Adobe Flex - create cross-platform apps with a free tool

Frostech — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 14:00:11 +0000

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How many times have you thought of developing an app, and seeing it in full glory on a particular device or platform? Well, if you have given it a thought, Adobe Flex is the tool for you.

This particular software eases the process of developing apps that run seamlessly on the iOS, Android, and Blackberry Tablet OS platforms. The buck does not stop here, with Adobe Flex, developing applications for traditional browsers and desktops is also possible using the exactly the same programming model as for mobile ones.

The Flex update version 4.5 is the latest, and brings in support for iPhone, iPad, Blackberry Tablet OS and is built on the Adobe Flash architecture. Yes, even though Apple does not allow the use of in-browser Flash, these apps can be developed as stand alone ipa (iPhone Applications), the biggest move made for iOS developers till date. Developers trying to give this SDK (Software Development Kit) a try, would need sufficient knowledge of Drupal, Flex Builder, MXML, PHP and MySQL.

What really sets Adobe Flex apart is the use of ActionScrpit 3.0. Developers were already creating ActionScript 3.0 applications in Adobe Flex, much before ActionScript 3.0 was offered to Flash Developers. Also, a major development working in Adobe Flex's favor is the software environment needs no timeline, but at the same time its use is not limited and neither is the functionality cut.

The integration options with Adobe Flex also make this development program a developers best-friend, with back-ends including Java, Spring, Hibernate, PHP, Ruby to name a few. It's also brings flexibility to developers allowing them to build flash based apps for the iOS.

The entire data available on Adobe Flex is very vast, and a newbie with basic knowledge of programming, and development language can just breeze through the entire app developmental procedure, sometimes taking just 2 hours to develop a full-fledged application. Adobe Flex runs on, Microsoft Windows 7, Windows Vista (32-bit), and XP Professional with SP 2 or 3, Only Intel-processor based Mac OS X (v10.5.6), Ubuntu 9.10, and Fedora Core 12.

Flex is a free Open-source software, and it is a must try for all newbie developers out there. A big advantage to developers choosing Adobe Flex is also the extensive number of tutorials available on sites such as Youtube and a plethora of help site available for in-depth app creation procedure.

XolidoSign - create digital signatures and protect your documents

Valerie — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 14:00:59 +0000

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Protecting your work and documents has become really important in this day and age. Thanks to technology, it's become quite easy to send information and even sensitive documents via email. The only problem though is that it's also very easy to duplicate content illegally if there's no proper way of authenticating them.

If you want a guaranteed way of protecting your files, then check out XolidoSign. This simple but efficient software lets you add a timestamp or digital signature to your files so you can easily verify them. It also allows your recipient to verify the signature, ensuring that you are both receiving untampered documents.

XolidoSign is packed with plenty of helpful features. For instance, it can identify different types of electronic signatures such as PKCS7, CadES-C, CMS, CadES-XL and so much more. The program works on Windows 2000, Vista, XP and 7 without a hitch. For first time users, there's a free downloadable manual available for use.

Other features that accompany the program include the capacity to work with various files such as PDFs, Word, Excel, Text, and HTML. Users can also specify whether they want the signature to show or not.

Moreover, the program has an interface that is simple to navigate and the results can be interpreted easily as well. Pretty much, everything can be done with just a few clicks of the mouse. It's perfect for anybody who has to handle proprietary documents like engineers, designers, physicians, artists, journalists etc. Give it a try and see for yourself. You'll find this very helpful.