Bleachbit - cleaning your pc, thoroughly!

It’s the day after Christmas. Most probably some of our readers are still happy with their new PC. They like how fast the system is. Others who are still using their old pc (ie old might mean just six months ago!), might get infuriated at how slow their computer is. Well, we visit thousands of websites, each one of them use cookies which are implanted in our pc. Some of them install tracking devices…...we might not notice, yet the speed gets slower all the time until it becomes unbearable!

We are proposing a free and open software – BleachBit. In fact when your computer is getting full, BleachBit quickly frees disk space. When your information is only your business, BleachBit guards your privacy. With BleachBit you can free cache, delete cookies, clear Internet history, shred temporary files, delete logs, and discard junk you didn't know was there. Designed for Linux, Mac and Windows systems, it wipes clean thousands of applications including Firefox, Internet Explorer, Adobe Flash, Google Chrome, Opera, Safari etc... Beyond simply deleting files, BleachBit includes advanced features such as shredding files to prevent recovery, wiping free disk space to hide traces of files deleted by other applications, and vacuuming Firefox to make it faster.

If you want to download the program, it is here. More details about the program is found here. Help will be readily available in the forum post.

Organizing photos

Who does not take photos nowadays? Nearly all the people, which includes both students and teachers. A photo says one million words. Consequently nobody says that it cannot be used for educational purposes. Obviously when one starts taking photos, the pc or mobile phone will soon be full of photos. How does one organize such collection?

Today we are presenting another open source and free program called digiKam. This program is available for Linux, Windows and Mac.

Besides making an album, one can manipulate photos according to one’s likes. One can simply use this program in a simple way or else go up to a professional level! With Digikam you can view, manage, edit, enhance, organize, tag, and share photographs. It is an advanced digital photo management application for KDE, which makes importing and organizing digital photos a "snap". The photos are organized in albums which can be sorted chronologically, by folder layout or by custom collections.

If you wish to download it, for windows go here; mac here; linux here. If you need some tutorials, then go here. Documentation is here. Enjoy playing with your photos!

How to secure files in your PC - ccrypt

Many students and teachers are still unaware that files on one's computer are not secure! Even though you save it on an extra hard disk, it’s still not safe. Some teachers still use the email program to discuss exams and other sensitive material!

Today we’re providing a very small program which can lock files from intruders! One can set his mind at rest that if the worst happens (eg laptop is stolen or pc is hacked), one cannot read his files! They are still secure.

Ccrypt is a utility for encrypting and decrypting files and streams. It was designed as a replacement for the standard unix crypt utility, which is notorious for using a very weak encryption algorithm. ccrypt is based on the Rijndael block cipher, a version of which is also used in the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES, see http://www.nist.gov/aes). This cipher is believed to provide very strong security.

The program could be used in windows, mac, solaris, android, linux, FreeBSD etc….If one needs help for installation and/or use of program, one can visit several sites down below:

Installation: http://ccrypt.sourceforge.net/

FAQ: http://ccrypt.sourceforge.net/faq.html

Video tutorials: http://tinyurl.com/guj3mdw

http://tinyurl.com/qe93txv

Writing a DVD (video)

Some of our students learn faster when the lesson is presented in a video form! Others prefer the video format in order to present their studies/presentations. The American idea of a flipped class is all based on video based lessons. This gives the opportunity to teachers to present content in a personal way. Student would love to listen to their teacher’s voice rather than a strange and unknown one.

Today we’re presenting Open DVD producer. One can edit and generate DVDs on any platform: Ubuntu (linux), Mac or Windows. The main functions of the DVD specification are implemented in the software. For example, one can create a DVD in any supported format, with various menus, with directional buttons, videos with chapters and set sections of videos to play.

There is no need to use some external converter. Open DVD Producer is able to convert from any kind of known video format.

Want to play at some point in the video? No problem, you can set chapter marks directly on the timeline, and also set segmented pieces of video.

If one needs to download the program, here is the link: DVD. There is another link. If one needs help about installation, here’s how to install it.

Graph Visualization Program

Most teachers and students would like to put their understanding or studies in a graphic mode. It seems to be much easier to remember and/or  to study. We are today presenting another free and open source program for graphics - it's called graphviz.

It has important applications in networking, bio-informatics, software engineering, database and web design, machine learning, and in visual interfaces for other technical domains.

The Graphviz layout programs take descriptions of graphs in a simple text language, and make diagrams in useful formats, such as images and SVG for web pages; PDF or Postscript for inclusion in other documents; or display in an interactive graph browser.

GraphViz lets you use simple text or GXL (a variant of XML) to describe charts, and then it does the drawing work for you. See the Gallery for examples of the types of graphics it can create. Operating Systems: Windows, Linux, OS X.

If you need to download it go here. Documentation is found here. Any discussions are carried out in the forum. The Gallery will show you work which could be done using graphviz.

Double Commander

The saying in English goes…..finding a needle in a haystack. When was the last time that one looked for a file (desperately), and couldn’t find it? By time, one adds so many files that it becomes a nightmare to look for it especially before an important exam or presentation!

Today we’re presenting Double Commander. It is available for Linux, Mac, Windows and FreeBSD. It opens up and shows two panels of one’s hard disk. So one can easily find the missing file or else transfer the file from one part of the hard disk to another (or usb).

Besides this, one can use it to split files, pack files, compare or change attributes or permissions.

Its home page is here. If one wants to download it, then click here. For any problems, questions etc...click on the forum.

The computer reads the text for you!

Some students like multitasking. They would like to study as they do other duties like for example cleaning their room, cooking etc…..Other students have impairments with vision.

What’s the solution? Well a program can transform words into sounds where the computer reads the contents of a page and transforms it into speaking...as if a person is reading the text!! Some students would prefer to study in this manner, because it helps them assimilate better the educational content. It helps them to face the lonely days of studying especially if they are living on their own.

Our solution works in Linux, Windows, Solaris, Android and Mac. It is called espeak. It can be downloaded from here. If one needs documentation, it is here. The forum is quite helpful for newbies. 

 

Moodle - Software learning management system

The internet is full of resources, webpages, music, notes etc...Some students do get lost or take a lot of time to find the right tools for learning. Others are easily distracted. Parents feel uneasy that opening the internet for students might lead them to meet other persons who are not teaches and who might teach their kids other subjects, which might hurt their children in one way or another.

How can all three (teachers, students and parents) meet online to continue learning? In other words, can they  have the educational technology all in one, safe place?

All three would like a place on the internet where students could revise the lesson conducted in class and find alternative help too in order to understand the lesson better. One can submit papers/written exercises online. Parents can watch their own child's progress. Teachers can have a private chat both with parents and students at the same time. 

Today we are presenting Moodle, which is a free and open-source software learning management system written in PHP and distributed under the GNU General Public License. Developed on pedagogical principles, Moodle is used for blended learning, distance education, flipped classroom and other e-learning projects in schools, universities, workplaces and other sectors.

To download/ Documentation/ To setup/ To teach with moodle/ To find Support.

Visual Help (YouTube videos).

Open Educational Resources

It's an open secret that not many teachers or students would share their knowledge or experience. Others would never tell anyone from where they are getting all their information. Others seal their information and would make one pay if one wants to make use of it! Hence there would be a financial burden for some.

Through this blog, we have been gaining more attention from more readers towards an outward mentality approach where sharing is truly caring for others. Sharing means enrichment to the very person who shares because one can receive feedback and become richer. Readers would be enriched because the information is being shared. So it's a win win philosophy.

Though the term "open educational resources" has become widely used in recent years, not everyone is clear on exactly what it means.

According to the Hewlett Foundation, whose definition is considered the most official, says Lisa Petrides, the CEO and founder of the Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education (ISKME), "[open educational resources] are teaching, learning, and research resources that reside in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual property license that permits their free use and re-purposing by others. Open educational resources (OER) include full courses, course materials, modules, textbooks, streaming videos, tests, software, and any other tools, materials, or techniques used to support access to knowledge."

Just visit the following webpage for further information:

http://www.centerdigitaled.com/higher-ed/What-Are-Open-Educational-Resources.html

QCAD, a free open source application for computer aided drafting

Students/Teachers who are involved with design lessons and exercises, find it difficult to find free programs which can express their drawings. Well we are presenting QCAD. What is QCAD?

QCAD is a free, open source application for computer aided drafting (CAD) in two dimensions (2D). With QCAD you can create technical drawings such as plans for buildings, interiors, mechanical parts or schematics and diagrams. QCAD works on Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. The source code of QCAD is released under the GPL version 3 (GPLv3), a popular Open Source license.

The current stable version of QCAD is version 3.15. If you wish to download it, click here. If you need documentation about how to use the program, go to this webpage. If you prefer youtube videos in order to master the program, go to this link. There is a facebook page too! Or a google plus page. You can have a free ebook about the program too!

A powerful music mixing program - Mixxx

Music is a universal language! Teachers can always use music in order to make lessons and studying much more interesting. There are teachers who teach music. Others teach communication through modern means. Is there anything open source and free? Yes there is! And it's Mixxx.

It has everything you need to start making DJ mixes in a tight, integrated package. Whether you're a basic learner in class or at home, you're DJing your next house party, spinning at a club, or broadcasting as a radio DJ, Mixxx has what you need to do it right.

Here are some interesting links:

download;

manual (online book);

forums (help from other users);

wikipedia (general information);

You Tube tutorials;

Kalzium

When students study, most of the time they are buried under an immense load of papers. It’s very easy to get lost finding the needle in a haystack! Well there are some programs which should help them make it easier to study! For teachers, it helps them with the presentation of a long and tedious list of information about elements. Well we’re presenting Kalzium.

Kalzium is an application which will show you some information about the periodic system of the elements. Therefore you could use it as an information database.

Kalzium has already some nice features but there are still a lot of things to do. We are currently coding quite lot to bring in some new and nice features and make it as fast and useful as possible.

You can help them by testing it or make proposals for new features or a better design. To download it just click here (redirected to other pages because you need KDE in windows). If you want to know more about it, go here. If you are interested in the contents, go here.

Zotero

How many times it happens that we're reading, listening or watching a video on the internet and we wish to save it for later use? Others do collect all these kind of media but then they'll forget where they had put them!

We need something free, open source and easy to use. Well, zotero is a great friend with everybody especially teachers and students. Zotero [zoh-TAIR-oh] is a free, easy-to-use tool to help you collect, organize, cite, and share your research sources.

Zotero is the only research tool that automatically senses content in your web browser, allowing you to add it to your personal library with a single click. Whether you're searching for a preprint on arXiv.org, a journal article from JSTOR, a news story from the New York Times, or a book from your university library catalog, Zotero has you covered with support for thousands of sites.

Zotero collects all your research in a single, searchable interface. You can add PDFs, images, audio and video files, snapshots of web pages, and really anything else. Zotero automatically indexes the full-text content of your library, enabling you to find exactly what you're looking for with just a few keystrokes. It is available for windows, mac and linux.

For downloads click here. For help click here. 

 

Open Source Web Conferencing Software

Meetings in a school have become a headache. With parents having a variety of different jobs which include different working hours, it’s almost impossible to find a common time for everybody to have a meeting.

Technology has come in handy with some excellent solutions. In fact meetings and video conferencing are one of the most popular tools online today. Teachers, students and parents can meet online while staying kilometres away from each other!

There are various open source solutions. Some of them can be found here. Our choice is for Jitsi. Jitsi features HD audio with Opus, full security encryption, desktop sharing, and integrated chat support. You can also transfer files and send professional webinar and video conferencing invites to your attendees thanks to their customized URLs.

A few other perks of using Jitsi are: video relaying, an active support community, and an integrated media library. It runs on all operating systems, including Mac and Linux. If you run into any issues, their site provides a comprehensive FAQ that covers a number of useful topics, which is a notable benefit for those who are new to the world of online video conferencing.

If you need to look at some screenshots before installing you can do so here.

Dyslexic Fonts

Some students feel embarrassed when finding great difficulties in reading texts. Most probably they feel shy to speak about their difficulties.
As in all difficulties, when one doesn’t speak about his/her problem, the chances of overcoming it would be very slim. At schools one would find various kinds of help. Today we wish to focus on a computer-related solution. Can one have a font which helps these kind of students? Yes there is and it’s called open dyslexic font. It could be downloaded from here.

If one needs help how to install fonts in windows; mac or linux, one easy guide is found here.

One can use the same fonts when browsing through a browser (a program with which one goes into the internet). There are addons which change the original fonts of websites.

Addon for Firefox is found here.
Addon for Chrome is here.
Addon for Opera is here.
Addon for Safari is here.

GeoGebra

Geogebra makes a link between geometry and algebra in an entirely new, visual way. Students finally touch, see and experience math. It goes beyond the blackboard and leverages new media. It allows students to connect with math anywhere and anytime - in school, at home and on-the-go. Geogebra creates the interactions that students need in order to 'absorb' mathematical concepts.

Geogebra doesn't replace teachers. It helps teachers do what they do best - teach. It gives teachers the freedom to be themselves, creating lessons they know their students will find interesting. Geogebra teachers are part of a global math community.

Schools love it because students who use geogebra are students who are more motivated which consequently leads to better results.

If you need to download geogebra please click here.

If you need any tutorials on how to use it, click the following links:

link 1;         link 2;          link 3.

Geogebra works in Mac, Windows, Linux and Android. Any help can be found here. 

 

Electric: Electrical CAD system

Electric is a sophisticated electrical CAD system that can handle many forms of circuit design, including:

• Custom IC layout (ASICs)
• Schematic drawing
• Hardware description language specifications 

It is a free and open software and works in windows, mac or linux operating systems! It can be downloaded from here. 

If you need to see the manual of the program, please go here. If you need more help, please go here.

The meaning of safety

It's not the first time when teachers, parents and students feel embarrassed when surfing the internet. There all types of advertisements on the internet. They could delay the speed of the internet as well especially if it involves a moving advertisement. Is there a solution? Yes there is. When using Firefox as a browser, there is adblock plus (could be used in Chrome, Explorer, Opera as well). The link is here. It's just an extension where it is easily installed. Can block tracking, malware domains, banners, pop-ups and video ads - even on Facebook and YouTube.
 

Safety involves more. It's not just preventing unwanted ads from appearing on the screen, it's preventing other people from entering your pc and spying on your activity. There are several options. We are mentioning just some of them. One of them is self destructing cookies. It gets rid of a site's cookies and Local Storage as soon as you close its tabs. Protects against trackers and zombie-cookies. Trustworthy services can be white listed.

Cookies may be used in an evil and intrusive spying mechanism, tracking your every move on the net - or a harmless device designed to make your life easier. When you visit a site that uses cookies for the first time, a cookie is downloaded onto your PC. The next time you visit that site, your PC checks to see if it has a cookie that is relevant (that is, one containing the site name) and sends the information contained in that cookie back to the site.

The site then ’knows’ that you have been there before, and in some cases, tailors what pops up on screen to take account of that fact. For instance, it can be helpful to vary content according to whether this is your first ever visit to a site – or your 71st.

Https everywhere encrypts the web. It makes the internet safer. Here is the link.

TransferOnLan - Sharing between 2 (or more) computers

We are used to use a usb or stick to transfer files from one computer to another. But is there a faster way? Is there a way of sharing a file when connected to the same network (house or school) ? Yes there is. One can try it. If you are moving or copying files from one location to another, the process is fairly simple.

In a heterogeneous network environment, one has to configure numerous sharing options to ensure seamless file sharing between systems running different operating systems. In this hectic and busy life, no one has the time to configure complicated settings to get the things worked and everyone is looking for rather simple solutions, for everyday computer work. We have found a handy solution that might help you out in transferring files between computers with distinct OS environment.

Labelled as Transfer on LAN, it is a cross-platform utility (ie various operating systems) that allows users to transfer files without having to configure any type of file sharing options, and therefore suitable for heterogeneous network environment. The application lets you specify custom computer identification name for sharing files with others. Additionally, it comes with an option to hide system name from its list, so that other connected clients can’t identify your system. More details after the jump.

The application sports quite a simple UI (ie what you see is what you get), but its also very easy to use. In order to enable seamless sharing between PC’s, you need to install Transfer On LAN on all the machines that require sharing files. After installation, head over to Preferences tab to specify User name, Destination, Avatar image and Sound. You can change the Language, Appearance, Username, and Destination Folder. If you want to hide system name from others, uncheck Appear in the List of users option. When settings are in place, click Apply and move to Users tab.


If you want to download it, it’s here. If you want to learn about it, a written explanation is here. For videos we have this.

Libre Desktop Publishing

Most schools do publish a newspaper, magazine or leaflet. Students, Teachers and parents would like to see what’s going on in their son’s or daughter’s school. Students would be proud to publish their achievement. In a few words, school need a program which is suited for this type of printing. We are proudly presenting today – Scribus.

Since its humble beginning in the spring of 2001, Scribus has evolved into one of the premier Open Source desktop applications. Encouraged by professionals and beginners alike, the Scribus Team, with support from a large and growing number of enthusiastic contributors.

Because it’s reliable and Free. Free really means Free with an uppercase F. Free is more than just gratis (which is just a side-effect). It means that you are in control of your data and, if you wish, the code of your desktop publishing tool. That’s what smart individuals and companies prefer. Consequently it is available for windows, macintosh and linux (and other operating systems).

If you need to download it, this is the link. If one needs to tutorials in order to use it well, there several links. There are video links (1) and (2); and there are written links.

Email program: Thunderbird

Email was, is and will still be a powerful program to communicate with others. It’s  important for both students and teachers. They need it not just to send messages but for many other uses.

There are several email programs out there, so why Thunderbird?  First reasons could be  that maybe one needs it to connect with other online email accounts.

One can use a chat mini program inside it if one prefers to use an email program for chatting. One can encrypt the emails too.

One can use this program on several computers whilst receiving emails from the same email account, especially for people who are constantly on the go.

One can order the emails received according to his wishes ie to be put automatically in different folders for easy access.

Thunderbird can become much more powerful than other email programs just because one can add several addons to make it more powerful. One of them is surely the calendar where one can be aware of all coming appointments.

What makes thunderbird so particular? Well there are several reasons but one author has found at least 10 reasons.

Thunderbird is the one for the job. To download it go here. If one has any questions, this is the FAQ page.

Meeting students/teachers online

Notwithstanding all the notes, presentations, written tutorials etc. students or teachers might prefer an online personal meeting in order to understand each other better. It seems that students would prefer some quality time with their teacher. Technology helps to bring the student and teacher closer to each other. They need something simple to use, no need to configure something or spend hours in order to get it working.

Today we are focusing on an open source and free browser – Firefox, which obviously works in all operating systems. It is hello which can be used for online communications. One can share the desktop (or what the student has on his/her screen), with his/her teacher in order to make it easier for the teacher to understand what problem or challenge the student is facing! It saves both the student and the teacher a lot of time. It could be used between students when discussing a project etc...

Where is Hello in firefox?

 

Do you prefer a video tutorial?

Written tutorial?

More help.

Mnemosyne - Flash card tool for studying

Exams time calls for a good memory. Students need to revise quite a lot of material. Is there any program which could serve as a companion in order to help them remember what they’ve learned? 

 

Yes there is and it’s available for Android, Windows, Mac or Linux users! It’s free and open source so there aren’t any financial constraints in order to achieve a copy of the program. The name comes from the Greek’s goddess for memory – mnemosyne.

It’s a free flash-card tool which optimizes your learning process. So you put your information (which you need to remember for your exam) on a sort of a card (digital one). Now you can practise by reading the question and trying to answer it.

What makes this program a great studying too is that difficult cards that you tend to forget quickly will be scheduled more often, while Mnemosyne won’t waste your time on things you remember well. So actually the coming up of cards can vary from student to student (according to a memory exercise).

One can make use of a picture or other languages (example Arabic) so as to make studying easier. To download the program one can go here. On the same page, one can find any kind of help and/or documentation.

Students learn how to manage money

Students learn not only through 'normal' lessons but especially through daily experience. One of them is how to keep track of the money saved, spent, invested etc...Most students struggle in order to appreciate the value of money, or to learn how to spend money wisely.

GnuCash is personal and small-business financial-accounting software, freely licensed under the GNU GPL and available for GNU/Linux, BSD, Solaris, Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows.

This open source program could be an invaluable tool, together with other measures, to give students an impressive lesson on how to manage money.

Designed to be easy to use, yet powerful and flexible, GnuCash allows you to track bank accounts, stocks, income and expenses. As quick and intuitive to use as a checkbook register, it is based on professional accounting principles to ensure balanced books and accurate reports.

If you wish to download the program, go here. Looking for someone to contact about GnuCash? Try the Mailing Lists, which are public, email-based discussion groups where you can ask and answer GnuCash questions to other users. 

 

Note taking software

There is something which both teachers and students need urgently everyday – note taking software. Both of them need something easy to use but quick to open and write on.

Today we are presenting another free and open source software about note taking – QOwnNotes.

QownNotes is the open source (GPL) plain-text notepad with markdown support and todo list manager for GNU/Linux, Mac OS X and Windows, that (optionally) works together with the notes application of ownCloud.

• You own your own notes! All notes are stored as plain-text files on your desktop computer.
• Sync them over devices (desktop & mobile) with ownCloud.

So you are able to write down your thoughts with QOwnNotes and edit or search for them later from your mobile device (like with CloudNotes) or the ownCloud web-service.

If you need more information just go to their own site: QOwnNotes. If you want to download it, just press installation on the same page.

Free Flash Card Tool

How many times as a teacher or student, one is reading something and would like to write down a note, comment or observation? How many times students would like some short questions in order to revise what they studied? People do look for simple programs which can organise their studies and makes it easier to follow their learning method.

We suggest a free and open source program called: Mnemosyne. It’s a strange name isn’t it? Well it’s the personification of memory in the Greek mythology! It could be used on Windows, Mac, Linux and Android operating systems!

The Mnemosyne Project has two aspects:

• It's a free flash-card tool which optimizes your learning process.
• It's a research project into the nature of long-term memory.

We strive to provide a clear, uncluttered piece of software, easy to use and to understand for newbies, but still infinitely customisable through plugins and scripts for power users.

Mnemosyne uses a sophisticated algorithm to schedule the best time for a card to come up for review. Difficult cards that you tend to forget quickly will be scheduled more often, while Mnemosyne won't waste your time on things you remember well.

To download the program just go here. If you would like some videos to get to know how to use it properly, this is the link. For a written tutorial, problems, questions etc… go to this link.