New poll – Do you use Facebook?

There is a new poll over on the right, this time about Facebook!

You can answer it by clicking on one (or more) of the answers and then clicking on “Vote” at the bottom of that box.

I use Facebook every day, but how about you? Feel free to leave some comments below!

Georgia

Codec

E.g to play a video

Before we get into this one, “Codec” stands for compression/decompression, or compressor/decompressor. You don’t really need to know that, but if you’re a bit of geek at heart it’s interesting all the same! Basically, a Codec is a computer program that shrinks large movie files and makes them playable on your computer. To help speed up downloads, Codecs make video and audio files smaller so it’s easier for them to travel through the Internet.

Sometimes queries on the clubroom are solved by downloading the right Codec, making videos viewable on your PC or Laptop. Codec programs are required for your Media Player to play your downloaded music and movies. For example, if you can’t watch one of the vieos on the PC Inner Circle website, it might be because you don’t have the right Codec installed.

Unfortunately, there isn’t just one Codec that you can download and solve all of your computer problems! There are literally hundreds of them. Lucky for us, though, some nice people somewhere online have created downloadable packages of Codecs, so you can download the ones you need in one go, instead of hunting for them separately.

If you think you might need a Codec pack, or if you want any more information, do let us know!

Georgia

Hello

Following a good idea from a member, I’ve just spent the afternoon having a go at creating a version of the Yahoo video (see below) with captions.

I recently got a set up that allows me to add captions to my videos – the plan is to gradually add captions to all of my videos (though it could take a while) so this was the ideal chance to try it out.

It might be a bit rough round the edges as it’s my first attempt, but if you go to the page at http://www.pcinnercircle.co.uk/index.php/videos/yahoo-email-upgrade it now has a link at the top to click on to get a version with captions.
I’d be interested hear what people think of it!
Tim

PS the program uses “speech recognition”, then you go through it and correct it every time it’s got a word wrong (which is a lot!)  My favourite was when it thought I’d said “click here and then next year on this option” rather than “…down here on this option”.

Here’s a short video I recorded yesterday for you – but only if you use Yahoo email (or BT Yahoo email).

Yahoo have upgraded the way their email works – but it doesn’t happen automatically.  They’ll only apply it to your email if you tell them to.

There are a few changes and most of them aren’t too important (it’s a nicer colour scheme, for example).  But there’s one that is important – it all works much faster!

So if you use Yahoo, I’d recommend telling them to upgrade yours – and this video shows you how.

You can get at it through the videos button up above or directly here: http://www.pcinnercircle.co.uk/index.php/videos/yahoo-email-upgrade/

Tim

New poll – Which Browser are you using to surf the internet?

There is a new poll over on the right, this time about Browsers!

You can answer it by clicking on one (or more) of the answers and then clicking on “Vote” at the bottom of that box.

If you want to know a bit more about Browsers before answering, have a look at the last “word to the wise” I put up, all about Browsers.

You can find it here: http://www.pcinnercircle.co.uk/index.php/2011/07/word-to-the-wise-browser/

Georgia

A couple of people have asked me about Linux (an alternative to Windows) lately.  And I don’t think it’s coincidence.

A large US based company have been promoting their new newsletter by saying “The UK is switching to Linux – are you?”

Now, I don’t want to have a dig at Linux – it’s a good alternative for some people and it really is free.  But it’s not quite what’s being made out…

1. Depending on which survey you look at, around 1%-5% of computer run Linux.  Windows has over 90%.  So it’s not exactly true that the whole UK is switching over!
2. Linux is free – that bit is true.
3. They say Linux is “super easy to use”.  By coincidence I was recently trying out the same version of Linux that they’re promoting.  I’d say it’s about as easy to use as Windows XP – once you’ve learnt it.  Not bad (especially for free).  But not what I’d call “super easy” – especially if you’ve already learnt how to use Windows.
4. There are different versions of Linux from different companies (eg Ubuntu is one of the most popular).  They’re all slightly different – which makes it a bit confusing if you need help from someone and they have a different version.  A bit like the difference between Windows XP and Windows 7.
5. Linux will not “soon replace Windows”.  It’ll carry on being used by some people and might even get a bit more popular – but it’s not going to beat Windows any time soon.  (Its fans have been saying it will take over for 20 years or so.)
6. The offer says “Thank you gifts only available today”. If you click on it to see the webpage it even says “only available today 5th July” (or whatever day you click on it). The thing is, if you click on it the next day it’ll say “only available today 6th July”. 
7.  The small print at the bottom of this particular offer mentions that by taking the trial, you agree to sign up to their newsletter.  After the first 30 days it costs £14.95 per 8 page issue – and if you don’t cancel in the first 30 days you’re locked in for 16 issues. I know there are lots of situations where you sign a contract for a year.  But I can’t help feeling this one is not exactly cricket.  Especially when it costs fifteen quid for 8 pages.

If you do fancy giving Linux a try, I’d suggest downloading exactly the same version of it from www.ubuntu.com You can then get a Linux magazine for a few pounds in a decent sized newsagents to read up on it.

But it’s only something I’d recommend to people who are pretty comfortable experimenting on their PC.  It’s really ideal for people who like tinkering to get something to work (in other words it’s ideal for people like me or Georgia!)

It’s not so ideal if you just want using your PC to be straightforward – if that’s you, I’d suggest giving it a miss.

Tim
PS if it’s something you’re interested in, leave a comment – if lots of people are interested I’ll write an article summarising what’s good and bad about Linux – after all, as I said, I’m not trying to saying Linux itself is necessarily bad.

This weeks “Word to the Wise” is about about something that most of us will use every day! A Browser…

E.g. Internet Explorer, Mozlla Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari, Opera

You are probably using a browser to read this right now. A Web browser, often just called a “browser,” is the program we use to “surf” the World Wide Web. What it does is puts together all the code and fancy stuff on the Internet, and lays it out in a nice page format, like a web page. Without the browser, all you would see is a long list of jumble that doesn’t make much sense to anyone! So the browser is used to bring the information to us in a way we can make sense of.

There are loads of different browsers, as listed above, and they all seem to be good at doing different things. Internet Explorer is probably the most common browser, and comes as standard if you buy a PC or Laptop from Microsoft. Google Chrome is becoming increasingly popular though, as it is always coming up with nifty new features, and colourful themes so you can personalize your browsing space!

There are literally hundreds of browsers in development, but if you would like to see a list of the most popular/most developed, take a look at the link below! You can even try out a new one if you like!

http://www.webdevelopersnotes.com/design/browsers_list.php3

Hope you found that useful!

Georgia