Improve Your Home Gaming With D-Link Gaming Router

If you are into gaming on the web, the most important aspect of that is getting outstanding performance. Particularly from your network connection to the web which is the one thing that seems to cause the most problems with playing online games. So you go out and make sure that you have the fastest connection, fastest computer and a good router. But, even that may not be enough. So, what you need is a router which can look at the traffic and make some decisions about it. Then it can give priority to some and not others. That would give you faster gaming performance, which is exactly what you are looking for. Well, your gaming is going to get better with the D-Link Gaming Router.

The D-Link Gaming Router is available starting tomorrow at a number of online locations, including Amazon and NewEgg. So, what makes this router so special over others? They are including Qualcomm's StreamBoost technology which gives priority to selected Internet traffic over others. So, if you are playing an online game, that traffic is going to get priority for throughput over that for say your email. This means that you will get the best throughput for gaming with the D-Link Gaming Router.

With the D-Link Gaming Router you get 4 Gigabyte Ethernet connections and their Wireless AC1300 which has dual band speeds. They are up to 450 Mbps on 2.4GHz and 867 Mbps on 5.0GHz with the wireless being backward compatible with the "n" specification. This all sounds great, but the goal is performance when doing online gaming. So they are saying you will get traffic shaping which is a strange description for providing you with prioritizing your network traffic. This is all done with the StreamBoost engine they have included. This allows for traffic to be prioritize which you can do through their interface which lets you drag and drop items to determine their priority. All of this is going to greatly improve your gaming performance.

The new D-Link Gaming Router is available at Amazon for $199.99 and NewEgg for $199.99 along with many other online stores starting on August 1st.

UPDATE: Ubuntu Edge SmartPhone And Desktop Looking For Funding

Ubuntu smartphone future is moving closer with funding appeal

We have seen technology shrink for a good many years. From the desktop computer to the laptop to the tablet. Add to that the smartphone which has increased in its value by embedding fantastic picture taking along with the ability to access the web. We have seen music and other thing merged into the smartphone and we all know that the computing power literally puts a computer into your hands. Ubuntu has been moving in that direction, along with others before them, such as the Motorola Atrix. The Ubuntu Edge will be their first smartphone coming to market.

The Unbuntu Edge is now a crowd-sourcing project on Indiegogo. And while the idea of that may not seem like much, consider that the goal is $32 million. That's right, $32 million. This is a record setting goal and if they achieve it, will be a fantastic achievement. But it is the goals for this which are attracting attention for so many. The Ubuntu smartphone is entering a very competitive smartphone market. That is a tough one to do and to help them in this effort, they are bringing the Ubuntu Edge as a smartphone that can also act as a desktop computer.

Sounds interesting. You could carry a single device and have everything that you need with you. You only have to add monitor, keyboard and mouse so that you now have a computer to do all your normal activities. And since the Ubuntu Edge can boot into either Android or Ubuntu (FireFox), you get your choice for the interface. All of this sounds very interesting and one that is going to be a challenge to accomplish.

While some have said they are not going to make the goal, as of today, they are closing in on the 25% mark with 24 days to go. So, it looks like they are going to get the money necessary to move into the production of the Ubuntu Edge with estimated delivery for contributors of May 2014. The really big challenge of making a smartphone with a great desktop interface will take much more work for the Ubuntu team.

This one is really worth following because if they are successful, they will be changing the direction of smartphones in the future.

UPDATE It seems that the Ubuntu Edge Smartphone is not going to meet the high expectations of $32 million which is a sad situation. They are currently under $10 million with 9 days remaining which would indicate they will fall short of the goals which were laid out. Give the fast start to the contributions, we are surprised that things dropped off so quickly after the first few days.

SmartPhone Charger You Wear - Wrist Charge

KickStarter Friday - Wrist Band You Wear as Phone Charger

If you are a smartphone owner, you know about the need to always carry your charge cable with you. This is one of those critical things that one has to do or you will face the dreaded low battery indicator and have no way of charging up your phone. That is not a fun place to be. So, is there a way to help you make sure to carry your charging cable with you? One option would be to wear it as a wrist band like so many others bands that people wear. Though, we have not seen any that are designed to be worn.

This weeks KickStarter project is Wrist Charge: The Band In Charge and does just what it says. While the band is not being used to charge up your smart phone, it can be worn as a wrist band so that it is always in sight and you know that you have it with you. A very convenient idea to make it part of what you see and with the colors it adds style. This is an active KickStarter project and the Wrist Charge is one that you should take a look at.

The Wrist Charge project is ongoing through August 28th and you can make a contribution and receive one as part of the initial group. For $15 or more, you will receive your very own Wrist Charge with the estimated October delivery. The lower end contributions are filling up fast and you might have to contribute at a higher level to get your very own Wrist Charge. They are not offering color selection with the initial run. At the moment, they are only offering an adult size wrist band, but we know that it will not fit everyone's wrist. Once they are able to offer a variety of sizes and colors, they are going to fill a market need.

Getting Paid To Look At Ads On Your SmartPhone - Locket

There is so much advertising going on in the world today that we just plain get tired of it. It is everywhere and at times becomes an annoyance. But, what if you could turn intrusive advertisement into something where you could make some money? Would you be interested in the advertising then? Well, that is the idea behind a new start up which is going to pay you to look at advertisements on your smart phone. And this is all care of the normal lock screen that we all have and use.

The company behind this idea is Locket and their mobile app which replaces your smartphones lock screen with a new one. And it is this replacement where the ads will be displayed. With all the times that you have to unlock your smartphone during the day, this is a perfect method of getting advertisements in front of people. And they are going to pay your to participate in the process.

But, don't expect to get rich doing this as there are limits to what you can get paid of course. The concept is a simple one. Each time that your unlock screen is displayed, you will see an advertisement. You can swipe left which will take you to the advertisement or you can swipe right and unlock your smartphone. That is the ease of the Locket app and whether you go to the ad or not, you will still get paid 1 cent. And this all starting on Thursday.

You are not going to get rich with the Locket app and the advertising program. They are limiting you to 3 cents per hour which is going to limit your to 72 cents if you do it for 24 hours. That is not a lot of money and you can cash it out or get a gift card when you hit $10 dollars. But the really great thing is that you can donate the money to charity. While the list of charities is not known, the whole idea of donating to charity is a really great one for Locket.

This all starts tomorrow for Android smartphones as is something different that should generate a lot of interest in it at the start. This is likely to be popular as a simple way to make to some money.

Canary Home Security Device Funds Within Hours

There are many sources for getting funding for a new idea. We have seen KickStarter and Indiegogo as two of the more popular ones out there. And every now and then we see one new product that is so great that funding for it goes off the charts and in the end, it records a huge amount of money. But, we have now seen one that is so popular that it achieves its funding goals, not in a matter of days, but in a matter of hours. And that is what the Canary smart phone security device has managed to accomplish. And this one appeals to a very broad audience because of just how simple it is and the associated reasonable price to join in.

The Canary smart home security device is on Indiegogo and I have been watching it for several hours now. Today is the first day that it has been up and with a goal of $100,000, they have already had contributions of just under $207,000. That is very impressive for a new project. It is all that this can do for you which has attracted all the interest.

It is small in size, measuring only 6 inches tall and three inches across. Installation is a snap as you only have to take it out of the box and get it connected to your WiFi setup. Then you register for an account and you are done. It is up and running at that point.

Purely as a home security device, you use your smart phone to look at what is going on in your home. If the Canary detects movement, it will alert you to that with the free app that you download. At that point, you determine how to respond. You can call the police, a friend or neighbor, etc. You can even kick off a siren to scare them away. And at the same time, you can be recording what is going on in your home. Now that is a great set of features in a simple home security system with the ability to track movement and sound.

As part of those contributors who help fund the Canary project, there is the opportunity to get your own Canary home security system. if you Contribute Now you can get your own white Canary for a contribution of $199. We expect the price to be $249 when this comes to market in the middle of next year. Given the kind of funding it looks like they are going to get, there is no reason why they could not come to market sooner. This is worth taking a look at as a simple way to do home security. And is going to be highly successful as the contributions went up by over $4,000 from when I started writing this. This one is going to easily break the $1 million mark with the 35 days that are left.

Improve Your Smart Phone Recharge Time - Practical Meter

KickStarter Friay - Practical Meter charges your phone faster

We all have the goal of having a smart phone which will only require charging every 3 or 4 days. But, until that happens, we want to get our phones charged up as fast as possible. It seems that we can guess how long it will take and over time we become accustom to what it takes. Having some practical device to be able to help know how long it will take is a desire and it appears that we are going to be seeing one very soon. And there is more than just letting you know the time, but there will also be new USB cables which will improve the charging speed and time. This is coming as the Practical Meter and fast charging 3-n-1 cables.

This weeks KickStarter project is the Practical Meter project which has over 1300% of the goal. Impressive with less than 6 days to go, they are at over $136,000 of the $9,999 goal. Odd number for a goal, but the response continues to be fantastic given what they are offering. And it is the product offering that has collected the big interest.

One of the unknowns is that different USB ports may well be putting out different wattages and the higher the wattage, the faster your device is going to be charged up. There are 5 lights (bars) in the Practical Meter and with each one being lite up, it means that your smart phone is being charged faster. Or with less time if you want to look at it that way. In reality, each bar represents 1 watt of power flowing through it, so 5 bars is 5 watts. Just by trying different USB plugs you can find one that will charge things up much faster. More watts means a faster charge.

And the Practical Meter is not all they are offering. They are also offering the 3-n-1 cable which is supposed to optimize the charging rate going to the smart phone. This comes with a 30 pin iPhone, a Micro USB and a MiniUSB connection. We have to believe that they will come out with a new iPhone lightning connector very soon given how popular this project is.

You still have time to contribute to the Practical Meter project and get both the Practical Meter and the 3-n-1 cable for a contribution of $19. And the estimated delivery is set for September. Something worth taking a look at. The company already has their Power Pot site up for the thermalelectric generator and are preparing to add the Practical Meter. Once the KickStarter project ends, you might be able to pre-order from the company site.

Apps To Track Your Sodium (Salt) Intake

If you have been following the news lately, you may have seen information from the American Heart Association regarding elevated blood pressure levels which can lead to potential heart risks from stroke, heart failure or osteoporosis. That means that it is important to keep track of the amount of salt intake in your diet in an effort to keep your blood pressure at levels which are determined by your doctor. Towards that end, they are reporting significant increases in children and adolescent blood pressure levels, which can be attributed to excess salt and obesity. As expected, the mass of information can seem to be hard to follow. But the bottom line is that it is important to be aware of sodium intake as too much over prolonged periods can create risks.

The press release from the American Heart Association does indicate that we are getting too much sodium in our diet with recommend levels 1,500 milligrams per day. For most of us, we have no idea how much we are getting, but with the recommendation level, it is time to take a look. Some sodium occurs naturally in products and some is added, making it difficult to keep track of. A Big Mac contains 970 milligrams of sodium and is more than 50% of the 1500 daily allowance now being recommended. Keeping track may be the only way to see how you are doing in regards to your own sodium intake each day. But as you will quickly find, without some way to collect the information for later review, you are going to get lost very quickly. That is where mobile apps come into play and for the moment do not provide as much as is needed to assist you in collecting the information.

At first glance, I found 3 apps which may help in your efforts to see how much sodium you are collecting, but it may not be that easy. From iTunes, there is Sodium 101 or Sodium One. From Google Play, there is EZ Sodium Tracker. There are few reviews from users on these, but they do contain databases to look up items so you can enter the sodium you are getting. If you eat out a lot, it is going to make it difficult to track the amount you are getting and having databases of chain location foods does not help when you go to the food truck or an independent location for lunch.

These apps, and others, are a starting point to get an idea of what you are taking in. Given the American Heart Association's interest in lowering blood pressure by reducing sodium intake and weight, these kinds of apps are going to become more popular and improve. For now, you are going to have to search for far more information than one should to determine your sodium intake on a daily basis.

Smart Phones To Replace Your Car Dashboard

Technology continues to make huge improvements in what it can do in our lives. We have seen so much integration that one wonders where it will go next. You may have to look no further than the car that you drive to see your smart phone or tablet being integrated into your transportation. I am not talking about plugging a connection into your smart phone so that you can listen to music. Nor am I talking about taking features of the OS and integrating them into your console. The future holds many things for us and having your smart phone as your dashboard in the future may be what it holds. And some are coming much closer.

There are already kits available where you can plug in your tablet or smart phone into the dashboard to become your music and/or navigation system. As an example, the Visteon system which lets you put your iPad in your car dashboard or the Devium which lets you integrate your smart phone into your dashboard. But, those are add ons to your car and are not truly integrated into your car.

The future holds much more promise than that for you. Imagine a time where you snap your smart phone or tablet into your dashboard and it becomes the dashboard for your car. That is what the future holds for us. And it may not be that far away. A recent example coming is the Smart eBike which will have a place to plug in your iPhone. And once plugged in, it becomes the dashboard for the electric bike. That is the integration coming in the future and is not that far off. As shown in the picture, the smart phone shows the battery level and speed as it is now connected to the electric scooter. The eBike with smart phone integration is scheduled for delivery in the US in 2014 and with that, we expect to see the ability to use many different smart phones as the electric bike dashboard.

We can expect to see more electric scooters coming with smart phone integration in the next few years where you plug your smart phone into a dock and it becomes the dashboard for your use. It will not be too much longer before we will start to see some of the same uses for mobile technology in electric cars or even gas powered vehicles. The integration between our mobile devices and our transportation is not that far away. The future integration of what we carry with us each day with how we move about is the wave of the future.

SolePower Charges Battery While You Walk

KickStarter Friday - Walking Power Can Recharge A Mobile Battery

This year, we have seen a large variety of portable battery chargers to handle those situations where you get a low battery indicator on your mobile device. And the number continues to rise. We have seen a number of portable solar panels to charge up a mobile battery, but that requires you to stay in a fix location while the sun hits the solar panel to charge up your mobile battery. What is needed is a method to charge up a mobile battery while you are being mobile. And if you do a lot of walking, then the coming SolePower is going to give you another option to charge up your mobile battery.

This weeks KickStarter project is SolePower: Power by Walking and it is closing in a few days. They have recently exceeded their goal of getting $50,000 in funding so they can move forward with creating their unique idea for charging up a mobile battery. The idea is a very simple one. We all walk to get where we are going and with that, there is energy expended in the process. They have taken an insole which is inserted into a boot and captures the energy as you step down on the insole. That is translated into electrical current and charges up the battery which you attach to it. Pretty simple idea.

The SolePower insoles will be designed to fit various shoe sizes and not cause issues with your feet as they have consulted with podiatrists. And it will be waterproof because they have designed this to be used by people in the outdoors for the initial market. As you hike, you are charging up the battery. This is supposed to be able to charge up a smart phone battery in a 2 to 5 mile walk and if it does it is going to be a versatile product with lots of uses.

There are still challenges to be handled. Where to run the wires from the SolePower insole to the outside of the shoe so that it does not irritate the foot is one of those challenges. Another is how to keep the price down so that it will be of interest to a large population. At the moment, they are indicating it will cost between $150 and $175. The current estimated delivery for those eligible contributors is December 2014 but there are estimates from others which seem to indicate they could complete the work to deliver by December 2013. This is a new and unique product from SolePower and one which fills a valuable need.

MaxCDN vs. Amazon CloudFront

MaxCDN and Amazon CloudFront are two popular choices in realm of CDN services. Both are affordable services, MaxCDN starting at just $39 per terabyte, while CloudFront is a little more expensive, but pay as you go with no minimum. Aside from price, the big question is which one performs better. After using both CDNs for some time on several WordPress sites, the following is my experience with each service.

In case you've never heard of a CDN, it stands for Content Delivery Network. It's basically a group of web servers located around the world that have a copy of your website and its files. When a visitor comes to your website, the CDN delivers your site files from the closest physical server to them. For example, if your website is hosted in California, a visitor from the UK has to travel halfway around the world to reach your site, which may make it seem slow and unresponsive to that visitor. However, when using a CDN, that same visitor might access a copy of your site in Europe or even in the UK, which makes your site load a lot faster and more responsive to that visitor.

[caption id="attachment_5623" align="alignright" width="223"] MaxCDN[/caption]

MaxCDN is company that specializes in CDNs. I first started using MaxCDN a few years ago, as the pricing was reasonable and the company's reputation was solid. MaxCDN was very easy to configure and install on our WordPress sites using the W3 Total Cache plugin.

After implementing MaxCDN on several sites I was extremely pleased with the results. Evaluations on speed test apps showed a major performance improvement while Google's PageSpeed grade was over 90 on each site. Plus, when I browsed my sites, the pages they just felt like they were loading a lot faster than before.

I had a very positive experience with MaxCDN but since some of my sites change ownership, I thought a pay-as-you-go bandwidth model might fit my needs better. I may go through periods of high bandwidth usage, but if a couple of my busy sites were acquired by another party, I might experience a period of low usage. I might stock up on bandwidth then suddenly not need it. Under MaxCDN's pricing model unused bandwidth could expire after a period of time.

I looked at Amazon CloudFront as an alternative. CloudFront is a CDN service from Amazon, one of many "cloud" computing service offerings billed as AWS (Amazon Web Services). Under Amazon's AWS model, I only pay for the bandwidth I use. If I need a lot of bandwidth I just get a bigger bill, less bandwidth equals smaller bill.

So I liked Amazon's pricing model and decided to set it up on some sites. Like MaxCDN, configuring CloudFront was easy. Setting up WordPress was easy too; I just had to edit a record in our hosting DNS and a couple more settings in W3 Total Cache. However, unlike MaxCDN, performance was a completely different story.

According to speed tests, there was a significant drop off in performance. For some sites, my Google PageSpeed grade really fell off, dropping down to the 60s. According to Google, the reason for the low grade was slow downloads from our CDN hosted files! I found the results to be very strange; I rechecked the configuration, made sure all Edge locations were selected.

Test results were inconsistent; sometimes I saw good grades, other times not. Whatever the explanation, if these are maintenance issues or traffic spikes at some of Amazon's datacenters, I'm just not comfortable with the irregularities. The reason you use a CDN is for performance, this was like buying high octane fuel but never knowing when it was going to kick in. Another than the inconsistencies, when scores were good they were not as high as with MaxCDN.

That's why I'm going exclusively with MaxCDN. I never had any issues with performance. If I end up buying more bandwidth than I need, then so be it. The peace of mind is worth it. Occasionally they run specials so I can get great deals on bandwidth to help with expenses. In fact, they are running one right now: 25% off.

There's also the advantage of customer service. I never had to call MaxCDN support in the past, but it's there if I need it. With Amazon web services, you're pretty much on your own.

Again, this was my experience running over a dozen WordPress websites with these two CDN services. My testing was not scientific, for me the stakes (cost of switching CDNs) were too low to justify spending a lot of time on testing. I tested enough times on each site to reach a point where I felt I needed to make a change.

Switching from CloudFront to MaxCDN was dead simple. Since I already had everything setup, I only had to change a few settings. I still have a few sites to switch over; I'll document the steps I take and post them as a follow up to this article.

9 Free Tools You’ve Probably Never Heard Of

Most of us rely on awesome free online tools like Skype and Dropbox every day without thinking much about it. As great as those two are, they're really just the tip of the no-cost productivity software iceberg.

Chances are you've heard of free tools like Audacity and Gimp to help create graphics and audio and FileZilla to move those files around the web. The fact is there are dozens, perhaps hundreds of productivity tools we can take advantage of without paying a dime.

In this article, I highlight 9 valuable tools that have been around for a while but you may not have heard of. Software that allows you to do things like:

• extract audio from video then save it as an MP3 file;


• edit digital photos;


• make fun graphics;


• view and organize images;


• connect to someone else's computer system or vice versa;


• turn your pictures into paintings, drawings or cartoons;


• manage your fonts; and


• type faster.

The following is a brief quick-start guide on each tool. I'm sure you'll find a few of these valuable if not most of them. Depending on what you do, some might be more useful to you than Skype and Dropbox.

Freecorder

Freecorder 6 is a free collection of tools for capturing all kinds of web video, music and audio right from inside your browser. It runs inside Chrome, Firefox or Internet Explorer on any PC with Windows 7, Vista or XP. Freecorder is a 100% free program where you can:

• Download videos from YouTube


• Record Audio into an MP3 file


• Record Video directly from your screen


• covert video and audio files into other popular formats


• Opens the default video player for your recorded files

Getting Started with Freecorder

• Go to freecorder.com and click on the Download Free button


• After downloading, Run and Install the program


• Once installed, all the Freecorder tools appear as a button inside your browser.

Saving YouTube Videos:

• Play any video from YouTube.com


• Select the YouTube downloader icon from your freecorder toolbar


• The YouTube video downloader window will appear

• Select the format you want to use to save your video. The download will start after choosing the format.

• The Freecorder Video window will appear. Once finished, play your video.

If you want to convert your video, use the drop down arrow next to your downloaded video to display more options. Click convert if you want to bring the file into the converter application or make an mp3 audio by selecting Save to MP3.

You can pause your recording by clicking on the On switch so that it goes to the Off position. Select Off to restart the recording session.

Recording MP3 Audio:

• Select the Audio Recorder button from your freecorder toolbar. The audio recorder window will appear

• Click on the start slider then play the audio you want to record


• Click on the Stop slider to end recording all audio


• Select properties on the drop down menu to change its file name then click OK

Converting Video and Audio Files:

• Click the convert button from your Freecorder toolbar

• Click on the Add Items button to add files

• Click on the Conversion Setting and choose the format you want to convert to

• Click the Start slider


• Click the Stop slider to cancel conversion

Making Screen Capture Videos:

• 
  
  Click on the Screen recorder button on your freecorder toolbar
  
  


• To start screen capturing, drag the cross hairs icon on a video playing on your browser or choose one of the options from the drop down menu


• On the drop down menu, you have to select an area either; select video in browser, select full screen or default selection.

• Then click the Start button to start capturing


• Click Stop when done recording

To learn more about Freecorder, please visit this site:

http://freecorder.com/

Next up, creating audio files...

Audio Extractor

Audio Extractor (AoA) is a free tool that allows you to extract audio from video files without losing its sound quality and save them as MP3, WAV and other audio format. Using AoA, you can easily set the bit rate, sample rate and the volume and channel of an audio. You can also define the time you want to split by setting the start/end time or using the slider bar.

Major video formats that AoA supports:

• AVI


• FLV


• MP4


• MOV


• RM


• 3GP


• WMV


• VOB


• other

Getting Started with AoA

Visit www.aoamedia.com/audioextractor.htm to download the Audio Extractor tool for free. Click "Free Download" button, and it will ask you where you want to save it. Then "Install" the program.

When you open the program, you'll see four columns with Title, Start, End and Output format. Below the main window are the Output Audio Options where you can choose on the drop down menu the output format, audio bit rate, sample rate and channel (mono or stereo).



Select a video that you want to extract the audio from. Click on the "Add" folder and choose the video files. The information of the video such as Title, Start, End and Output Format will show up in the main window. Click "Start" to begin the extraction process.

When finished extracting, you'll see your audio file at the location specified. If you check the sound quality between the audio and video, you'll see that they are exactly the same.

To learn more about using Audio Extractor, just visit their website:

http://www.aoamedia.com/audioextractor.htm

Next, free photo editing...

PicPick

PicPick is user-friendly computer program that offers a variety of ways to edit digital photos, suitable for software developers, graphic designers and home users. It is available in multiple languages and can be used in either a single screen or double screen computer environment.

Features





Screen Capture - it can perform a variety of captures with customizable keyboard shortcuts

• Full Screen [Print Screen]


• Active Window [Alt + Print Screen]


• Scrolling Window [Ctrl + Alt + Print Screen]


• Repeat Last Capture [Shift + Ctrl + Q]


• Window Control [Ctrl + Print Screen]


• Region, Fixed Region [Shift + Ctrl + Print Screen]


• FreeHand [Shift + Ctrl + Alt + Print Screen]

Image Editor- PicPick Image Editor has a sophisticated screen capture utility, color picker, ruler and magnifier, and a whiteboard function.

Color Picker and Color Palette- You are able to pick and save your favorite colors so you can easily use them for the future. It supports various color code type (Rgb, HTML, C++, Delphi)

Screen Pixel Ruler- You don't have to install any other screen ruler software. You can take horizontal and vertical measurements with various units such as Pixels, Inches and Centimeters.

Screen Magnifier- It has the capacity to zoom up to 10 times

Screen Protractor- Helps you find angles on screen or measure angles between two lines.

Screen Crosshair- Used for aligning objects and calculating relative coordinates on screen, it helps to get the position of any pixel on the screen

Whiteboard - Allows you to write on the screen with the mouse and then capture it as a screenshot.

Getting Started with PicPick

• Go to http://www.picpick.org/download and click the "Download Home Free-version (from NTeWORKS)" link.


• Then click the "Click here to Download now" link and install


• Open your PicPick and you'll see the features that you can use in editing or creating your image


• If you want to take screenshots, just choose from a variety of captures under "Screen Capture" menu and simply click on the screen

• The captured screen can be opened directly in the image editor for editing
  

• Save your image by pressing Ctrl +S then save

The main elements of the PicPick Image Editor are:

• File tabs


• Drawing and text tools


• Image size and image canvas


• Zoom tool


• Image modification and filter buttons

There are so many output options for captured screen such as:

• Copy to Clipboard


• Save to Image File


• Print the image


• Upload to Facebook


• Upload to Twitter


• Upload to FTP


• Email using Outlook


• External Program


• Auto Save As...

Using the tools on the Picpick Image Editor, you can draw, insert shapes, arrows, lines and text, use effects like blur, sharpen, hue and pixelate, adjust contrast and brightness, and rotate or flip the image.

When finished, just press Ctrl + S and save it. The popular formats for the web are .JPG and .Gif.

To learn more about using PicPick, watch this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4-dFWeieEM

Next, cool image effects made quick and easy...

FotoSketcher

FotoSketcher is a cool application that converts digital images into pencil sketches, watercolor, oil paintings, pen, ink drawings and cartoons. It can also apply vintage photo and sepia effects. Simply choose the photo you want to edit then select the desired sketch style and it will instantly apply the effect. There are over 20 different styles available.

Getting Started with FotoSketcher

• Go to www.fotosketcher.com and click on the gray "Download Now" button.


• It will take you to the download page; just click "Get FotoSketcher from Download.com."


• Then click "Download Now" to start your download automatically


• After downloading, execute then Run.


• After installing, launch the application to get started

Here's an example of what this software can do:



How to Use FotoSketcher

• Launch the application then click on "File" and select Open a Picture


• It will load up the Drawing Parameters

You'll see all kind of settings that you can set. You can change the Drawing style, adjust edge threshold, edge intensity, color intensity, level of contrast, darken or lighten the image, and add frames and text.

• You can see different Drawing styles. Just click the arrow and select from the list of styles that you want to use or go to Edit then select drawing parameters or F10
  

• You can add text to the image by opening the drawing parameters, then check the Add text checkbox and click on the box with three dots.

• You can use the icons below the main menu in editing your image. You can crop the image, add text, print, undo and redo the action you've made, save the drawing as... etc.

Click Draw when you're done making changes to the Drawing Parameters.

Once you're finished, Save it by going to File and select Save the drawing as... or simply by clicking the icon on the menu. You can save it as JPG, PNG and BMP files.

To learn how to use FotoSketcher, check out these tutorials:

http://tutorials.downloadroute.com/video-170199.html

Next up, creating desktop videos...

Jing

Ok, I said 9 free tools you've probably never heard of, but I'd be surprised if you don't know what Jing is. Jing is a fast and easy way to capture images and record videos of what you do or see on your computer screen. It has a free version and a paid professional version. Pro version allows you to save files in MP4 format while the free version only saves SWF (Flash Video) files.

Jing allows you to:

• capture any screen shot you want


• add arrows or caption windows


• create a quick tutorial video


• record screencasts


• collaborate with Snagit and Camtasia

Getting Started with Jing

• Go to http://www.techsmith.com/jing.html to download Jing


• Click Free Download button at the right-hand corner


• Choose a version of Jing to download; Windows or Mac. Click on the appropriate operating system


• A window will pop up which will have installation instructions. Follow the instructions to install Jing on your computer


• As you're installing Jing, you'll be asked to register for a free account with screencast.com.


• Either create new account or use an existing account, you'll need to provide an email address and password.


• Click login in the lower right of the screen

Capture an Image

• Once you've successfully installed Jing on your computer, you'll see a sun icon at the top of your screen


• Mouse over the sun icon and three rays will appear


• Select Capture - the one with the cross-hairs


• Draw a rectangle around the area you would like to capture by clicking in the corner of the image you would like to capture and drag the cursor to the opposite corner (you'll notice that everything outside the rectangle will turn gray and the part you are capturing will maintain its color)


• After you have drawn your rectangle, lift up the mouse and a menu will appear at the bottom of the image you just captured just click Capture Image
  


• Name your picture and save it on your computer or copy the image to your clipboard

• Arrow - allows you to draw an arrow anywhere in the picture


• Text - allows you to create a text box then type text in it


• Box - allows you to draw a box around an object


• Highlighter - allows you to highlight any part of the image


• Color - allows you to specify the color of the highlighter and box


• Undo and redo - allows you to undo or redo the action in case of mistakes

Record a Video

• Mouse over the sun icon and select Capture


• Click and drag the cross-hairs to select a region


• Click the Capture Video button (if it's your first time to use it, Jing will ask which audio device you'd like to use)


• There will be a 3-second countdown before capturing the video and yellow strip-like vertical brands will start scrolling to indicate that the recording is in progress

• You can Pause, Restart, Stop or cancel your recordings by clicking on the buttons below your captured video


• When finished recording, Click Finish then Save.

Videos are limited to 5 minutes in length for both Jing and Jing Pro version.

To start using Jing, visit this link:

http://www.techsmith.com/jing.html

Next, enhanced screen captures ....

Screen Hunter

For screen captures, I love SnagIt, but have to admit it's a little expensive. Screen Hunter is an alternative that is free. This type of software enables you to take screenshots using several methods. It's a very easy to set up and use, and you can upload the saved web images right into your gallery without having to resize them in an editing program.

Screen Hunter is free with a paid Pro version that offers more features.

Getting Started with Screen Hunter

• Go to http://www.wisdom-soft.com/products/screenhunter_free.htm


• Click on the blue "Download" button


• You'll be taken to a page where you can join their mailing list. If you don't want to join click the "Just Download" button on the right-hand side.


• Under Free Programs, Find and click on the "SetupScreenHunterFree.exe" link


• Download and Run the saved setup package


• Open the program wherever you installed it

To get started, pick a Hotkey (the key you can press on your keyboard to capture anything on your screen). Set your Hotkey or manage your profile by clicking on the button at the right hand corner of the Screen Hunter window. Choose any combination that you would like to set as your Hotkey or simply click the Capture Now button to capture.

• Select Rectangular Area and check on the Mouse pointer

• On the To tab, check clipboard to copy the capture to the Windows clipboard


• Check Editor if you want to edit right after (for Pro users only)


• In the Save to File group box, select the type of file you want the image to save as


• Click the folder button at the bottom and select the location for your captures

Capture:

• Click Capture Now or press your hotkey on your keyboard to capture a rectangular area on the screen


• Press the left mouse button down and drag it anywhere on the screen, then release the mouse button after capturing the area


• If the Adjustable Rectangle is checked on the Rectangular capture settings, after you release your mouse, the selected area is shown highlighted


• Open your capture on your Desktop or on the location you've set up to save your captures (the capture is also copied to the clipboard)


• When you have started capturing and you want to cancel, just press the Esc key to cancel


• If you select Full screen on the Capture What group, after clicking on the Capture Now button, it will automatically captured the whole screen

There are only limited features that you can access if you're using the free version. You can upgrade by going to the Tasks tab and choose Upgrade. Below are some of the features that you can unlock if you upgrade to a Pro version:

• Enable Auto-capture on the Timer's group then set the time you want to capture your screen


• Capture Video screen


• Capture only specific window


• Enable shapes


• Add effects such as caption, watermark, border, auto-scale, colors


• Send capture to Editor, Printer and Email


• And so on...

To download Screen Hunter, just visit this website:

http://www.wisdom-soft.com/products/screenhunter_free.htm

Next, type faster by giving your keys a boost...

Speed Typing

This is one of my favorite tools. Speed Typing saves frequently used text quickly and easily. It is very useful for fast standard typing phrases such as signatures, email addresses, URLs and a lot more. All you have to do is to type a word and Speed Typing will automatically replace it with a line or a paragraph.

Getting Started with Speed Typing

• Go to www.colorpilot.com/speed-typing.html


• Scroll down and find the "Download Speed Typing 1.40 (140K)" link

• Execute the program then Run and Install


• You can open the Speed Typing program into your taskbar if you pinned it there or by clicking on the "show hidden icons" arrow


• Right click on the icon then choose Phrases…

• 
  
  The Speed Typing - Phrases window will appear. Click New on the speed typing interface

• Another window will appear. Enter a keyword and phrase or the message that will appear when you enter the keyword

• Hit okay when done and add more if you like


• Once you're done, try to compose an email message then type in the keyword that you set up and you'll see how it will automatically populated the composition message that you're going to send

Now you don't need to type over and over again the same phrases or paragraph, all you have to do is set things up on your Speed Typing interface and you're good to go.

To learn more about using Speed Typing and how to get it, please visit site:

http://www.colorpilot.com/speed-typing.html

Next, real online collaboration...

Team Viewer

Team Viewer is a personal computer software package for desktop sharing, online meetings and file transfer between computers. It provides easy, fast and secure remote access to Windows, Mac and Linux and Android OS. You might think of it as a free version of GoToMeeting.

Getting Started with Team Viewer

• Go to www.teamviewer.com - this is where you download the team viewer software


• Click on the "Download" Free for private use


• Once downloaded, Execute - Run, choose Install or Run and click Next


• You'll be asked "how do you want to use Team Viewer?" Is it for personal, for company or both. Click Next


• Tick on the License Agreement then Next


• Choose the installation type then hit Finish

How to Use Team Viewer


Once you have installed Team Viewer, Launch the application and you'll see the Team Viewer remote control interface

Note: The other participating party must have Team View open in order for you to take control of their computer

Here you can find your Team Viewer ID and password. This is what you give to your partners to connect to your system.



If you want to establish a Remote Connection:

• Launch the Team Viewer Application


• Request your friend's ID and Password to have access to his/her computer


• Hit the "Connect to Partner" button then you will be ask to enter your partner's password. Click log on.


• You are now connected to your partner's computer.

If you choose "File Transfer" instead of Remote Control, you will be allowed to send and receive files. Just select the files to be transferred and the destination, then hit the Send or Receive button.

Setting up/ Joining a Meeting

• If you want to start a new session, click on the Meeting tab then press Start instant meeting


• You will be the presenter; the participants should know the meeting ID in order to join the meeting you have set up.

• But if you are the one who wants to join the meeting, you should also know the meeting ID then type in your name and hit "Join meeting" (There is no restriction on the number of people that can join)


• The name of the presenter and all the Participants can be seen on the meeting interface

You can create a list of your computers by signing up an account in Team Viewer. Click on the Computers & Contacts link located at the lower right hand corner of the Team Viewer's interface.

• Click Sign Up then provide the information needed such as Username, E-mail, Password then click next.


• Set a name and password for your computer then press next.


• You'll see a confirmation saying that your computer was added to your list of computers. Click Finish


• The computers and contacts window will be attached to the Team Viewer's window. It should look like this:

Team Viewer's Menu


On the Connection menu, you can choose to Invite Partner, Setup unattended access or Exit Team Viewer.



On the Extras menu, you have the Options, tell a friend about Team Viewer, Open log files, Activate license, play or convert recorded session and see your trial period.

When you go to Extras then options, you can edit or change some info about your Team Viewer's account. Here you will see options for the following:

• options for access your computer


• options for remote control


• options for meetings


• options for Computers & Contacts


• Settings for audio conferencing


• Settings for video source


• Template for "Invite partner" - Email


• Advanced Options

Help menu is where you can access Team Viewer web help, Team Viewer website, Feedback, Check for new version and About.



To learn more about using Team Viewer, please go to this website:

http://www.teamviewer.com/en/index.aspx?utm_expid=60202728-6

Next, become a font master...

Fontster

Fontster is a very simple tool used for displaying and previewing all your PC fonts. Fontster comes in the form of an HTML Application and normally run on any windows 2000 or later system as long as Internet Explorer is available. It is perfectly capable for font viewing, with handy options to customize its preview text and change the font size.

Getting Started with Fontster

• Go to www.nattyware.com/fontster.php


• Below the Download Fontster now, you can download a portable application or a zip archive file


• Choose the one you want to download, then launch the application

Once you've open Fontster, you'll see the lists of different types of fonts on the left-hand pane and preview on the right-hand pane of the Fontster's interface.

At the bottom is where you can change the font size preview as well as the exit button




Using Fontster

• Type in the text that you want to preview using different fonts


• You can change the font size to give you an idea of how the text will look at different sizes


• Then click one of the fonts and you'll see the sample text

This may be a very simple tool but it can be very useful to others.

If you wish to learn more about using Fontster, please go to this website:

http://www.nattyware.com/fontster.php

There you have it, 9 great tools that will improve your productivity. If you use a little-known, but extremely useful tool to add to our list, please let us know about it by leaving a comment below.