Klavaro

We still remember the nostalgic sound of a typewriter. We used to take courses in order to learn how to use touch typing (ie focusing on the written note without looking at the keyboard layout!!). Nowadays most people do not take such courses….and then they complain because they need to type a few paragraphs, knowing that it will take a long time to type on the computer!

Not knowing what we used to call touch typing, makes the life of a teacher, student or parent quite miserable. Is there a program which might help in this area? Oh yes of course there is. Today we introduce Klavaro. It is available for Windows and Linux.

Klavaro is more than just a free touch typing tutor program. We felt like to do it because we became frustrated with the other options, which relied mostly on some few specific keyboards. Klavaro intends to be keyboard and language independent, saving memory, time and money!

In addition to the familiar "QWERTY" keyboard layout, it supports six other built-in layouts, or you can use the keyboard editor to create your own. It's also available for 25 different languages, making this a good choice for users. One can use it for a basic course or else use it for other purposes such as: fluidness test; velocity test; adaptability exercise; progress charts etc….

If one wants to download it, then go here. In this page there is also documentation and a forum, where users can look for further information or try to get an answer for their queries. If in need of graphical tutorials, then go here. 

 

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.