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.