Microsoft Office for Free

PSA: One of the coolest, free services on the Internet today is one that many people would benefit from, but it seems almost nobody knows about it...

Microsoft has made completely free, web-based versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote available through its (also free) SkyDrive service. These are reduced-functionality versions of the desktop apps, but they are still extremely functional, and you probably wouldn't miss any of the omitted features. It works on all of the major browsers, including even the iPad. And, like Google Docs, they support real-time collaboration so multiple people can be working on the same file at once. 

To access this software, just create a new (or activate an existing) SkyDrive account at www.skydrive.com. Click the "Create" link at the top of the page and select the type of document you want to create. Or upload existing files from your computer and view/edit them online.

These aren't time-limited trial versions of a paid product... they are completely free to use. And if you have 2010 or 2013 versions of the desktop apps, saving and opening documents directly to/from SkyDrive is built in. (And working on documents saved to SkyDrive also enables real-time collaboration in the desktop apps as well, without a SharePoint server.)

TOTW #12: Free Protection; Zoom, Zoom, Zoom!

Computer Tip: Free Protection

Looking for a free solution for anti-virus and anti-spyware software? You're in luck; there are options available.

Free Anti-Virus #1: AntiVir

AntiVir is very highly rated, and they offer a free version for personal use on a single computer. Personally I like this one better than other free solutions; it feels more polished.

Free Anti-Virus #2: AVG

This is the one that it seems like everyone knows about. It does fairly well at detecting viruses, but it seems to struggle with removing even some of the more common ones. Nevertheless, it is still a decent solution. Also for personal use.

Free Anti-Spyware #1: Microsoft Windows Defender

This is first because you may already have it. It is include with Windows Vista, and is available as a free download for anyone running Windows XP. It isn't the best solution available; it tends to miss some spyware detected by other solutions, but as basic protection it is fine.

Free Anti-Spyware #2: Malwarebytes Anti-Malware

Technically it isn't free; there is a $24.95 registration fee to unlock real-time protection. However, the trial version is fully functional as far as scanning and removal is concerned. it features better detection than many other solutions. Download here.

Noticeably missing

I've see copies of Ad Aware and SpyBot running on a lot of computers as free solutions to spyware problems. I have omitted both here because, while once effective, they both have slipped in their ability to detect a wide variety of spyware infections. If you are running one of these products, it would be best to supplement it with one of the products listed above. You can install multiple anti-spyware solutions (just make sure that no more than one is set to scan in real-time), but I don't recommend installing multiple anti-virus products.

Recommended Commercial Solution

I have been recommending Webroot's Antivirus with AntiSpyware for a while now, and it is holding up quite well. It's Anti-spyware feature is top rated, as is the anti-virus feature. But I especially like it because they offer 3 and 5-computer subscriptions for just a few dollars more than the price of the single computer offering, and if you renew before your subscription expires they give a discount.

Best Solution

The absolute best way to prevent viruses and spyware is to use caution when on the Internet. When visiting a web site you can't fully trust, don't allow it to install anything on your computer. If it pops up a request to install anything, just say no. One of the more common ploys in use today is the request to install a "codec" to install a video. Just don't fall for it.

Along with that, making sure your computer stays up-to-date by checking for and installing Windows updates frequently and automatically. This can go a long way toward avoiding infections in the first place. If you aren't updating as often as you should, it's a good time to start.

Checking for and installing updates also applies to Macs too. Despite what you may hear, there are exploits for problems with OS X in the wild. Macs that are not kept up-to-date can be hacked into faster than Windows Vista, for example.

Personal Experience

Ironic as it might be, I actually don't run my computers with anti-virus and anti-spyware scanners turned on. There hasn't been a need because I just haven't ever had a virus. Spyware, on the other hand, does manage to work its way on to my computers, so I set them to scan once a week. But most of the time all they find are cookies, which actually aren't harmful.

Multimedia Tip: Zoom, Zoom, Zoom!

The most common reason people use the zoom feature of the camera is to attempt to get closer to the subject they are shooting. While zooming does make small objects bigger, it has other effects on an image that aren't immediately obvious. Allow me to explain.

Standing back from an object and zooming in on it produces a very small field of view. If you were to draw a line from the camera to one of the objects at the left edge of the frame, and another line from the camera to the an object at the right side of the frame, this angle would be very small. Objects in this field of view may be large, but they lose any sense of size and depth. The ratio of the size of your subject vs. the size of the background is small. In effect, zooming in compresses space and distance, making objects close to and far away from the camera seem to be at the same distance. As a result, images appear flat, lacking the details that give our eyes a feeling of distance, texture, and reality, and are less exciting visually than those taken with a wide angle lens. (To compensate, make sure your primary light source isn't coming from behind or above you; side lighting helps to re-establish the feeling of depth.)

Stepping forward and zooming out has a different effect altogether. Again, draw an imaginary line from the camera to an object at the left edge of the frame, and another from the camera to an object on the right edge. The angle between the lines is much wider. Objects in the field of view tend to appear smaller than they would if you zoom in, but the sense of distance and space is larger. Zooming out exaggerates space and distance; objects closer the camera feel closer than they really are, and objects farther away feel a lot farther away than they are in reality. If you have ever seen a building, venue or room on TV then seen it later in real life, it usually appears much larger on TV because of the use of wide angle lenses.

So how do you use this when composing a picture? First of all, when taking portraits, stepping in too close and zooming out to compensate will cause distorted features on your subject. Any body part close to the camera will be perceived to be larger than it really is, and conversely any body parts farther away will appear to be smaller than they do in real life. So if making someone's nose or forehead look too big is your goal, step in an zoom out. Otherwise, step back and zoom in. But not too much; we don't want noses to disappear because they have no depth, or ears to appear too close to the face. For SLR cameras, a good guideline is 85mm divided by your camera's focal length multiplier (1.5 on Nikon, resulting in 57mm; or 1.6 on most Canon bodies, for 53mm).

Sometimes we want to convey a message that whatever we are taking a picture of is large, or to make the space between two objects look bigger than it really is. That's when we step forward and zoom out. For the widest views, a wide angle lens is required, however, so you might be limited in just how wide you can go.

Ultimately, however, the Zoom on a camera should be use more like a cropping tool than an attempt to get physically closer to our subject. The vast majority of the time you'll get a more realistic picture if you just step closer and zoom out.

TOTW #11: Multiple Selections; Alternatives to Photoshop; Life Tip #1

Life Tip #1

Don’t let yourself get so busy that you don’t have time to write Tips of the Week for your blog.  And don’t let people talk you into projects that you really don’t have the time to work on, no matter how much they beg.  And when two of your business partners are both unavailable for a significant period of time, don’t try to plan on doing anything besides answering customers’ questions and fixing problems.  And don’t even think about sleep when your landlord wants to remove the wallpaper and paint your living room with less than twelve hours’ notice while all of the above is going on.  And certainly don’t waste time on silly online physics games, no matter how fun they are.

Computer Tip: Making Multiple Selections; Copy & Paste Files

If you have a list of files or objects on your computer and want to select more than one, you probably already know that you can hold down the Control (or Cmd on Mac) key while clicking on each one of them to add them to your selection. 

You might even know that you can click on one file, then hold Shift while clicking on another to select all of the files between the two.

What you might not know, however is that you can use a combination of both Shift and Control (Cmd) to add a group of files to a selection without deselecting your previous selection (I can’t think of a better way to say that).  For example:  If you have files File A through File Z in a folder, and want to select the “vowel” files as well as G through K, first click on File A without any keyboard modifiers, then hold Control (Cmd) while clicking on File E, I, O, and U.  Then to add the range G through K, continue to hold Control (Cmd) and click on File G.  Then add the Shift key (so you are holding both the Control and Shift keys) and click on File K.  Make sense?  Click A, hold Control, click E, I, O, U, G, add Shift, click K.  Got it?  Good.

Now for the fun part.  Say you want to make a copy of these files into another folder, but don’t have the destination folder open (so you can’t just drag them).  Press Control+C (Cmd+C) to copy the list of files to the clipboard.   Then navigate to the destination and press Control+V (Cmd+V).  Or to move the files instead of copying, use Control+X (Cmd+X) to Cut instead of Copy.

Bonus tip: In Microsoft Word, if you want to select a rectangle-shaped area of text/pictures, hold down the Alt key while dragging over that rectangle.

Multimedia Tip: Free and Cheap alternatives to Photoshop

Not everyone needs the full power of Photoshop.  Or can afford the hefty price tag.  There are some nice cheap and free alternatives.  And all of the choices below offer the basic tools necessary to perform the most common repairs and effects.

Cheap Alternative #1: Adobe Photoshop Elements.

Photoshop Elements is a stripped-down cousin of Photoshop.  It has most of the more important elements of the full product, for around $80.

Cheap Alternative #2: Corel Paint Shop Pro

Paint Shop Pro started out as a simple image retouching program over a decade ago. Since that time it is trying to become more and more like Adobe’s flagship product.  It does more than Photoshop Elements, but it isn’t quite as easy to use.  And it isn’t as well known, so getting help if you have a question might be a bit of a challenge.  Price is about $90.

Free Alternative #1: The GIMP

The GIMP is a free photo editing program.  But because it’s free it doesn’t have the polish of its commercial competitors.  The user interface is a bit weird, and it is very slow to make changes in photos, but it is otherwise a fairly capable piece of software.

Free Alternative #2: Photoshop Express

Adobe has created a really stripped-down version of Photoshop and put it up on a web site for all of the world to use.  No software to install, just go to www.photoshop.com/express and begin making basic image corrections for free.  They even give you 2GB of online storage and your own web site to show off your photos.

TOTW #10: Laptop Battery Life; Photo Composition; Bonus Tip!

Computer Tip: Laptop Battery Life

In a conversation I had earlier this week with a friend it became pretty evident that there are many misconceptions out there about the best ways to take care of the battery on a laptop to give it optimum life. So here's an attempt to clear some of that up.

Most laptop batteries today use a Lithium-Ion technology to store their charge. LiIon batteries require different care than older NiCd and NiMH batteries. NiCd and NiMH batteries would lose their ability to hold a charge more quickly if they were not drained fully before being recharged. LiIon don't have that limitation. Their life span is mostly related to the total number of times they are charged and discharged.

Most LiIon batteries have a life span of somewhere around 500 charge cycles before they won't accept a charge any longer. Fully discharging then fully recharging a battery would be one cycle. Likewise, discharging half way and recharging would be a half of a cycle. After around 500 total cycles the battery is done.

As batteries go through charge and discharge cycles, their capacity to hold a charge diminishes gradually until it just won't take any charge at all. You will see shorter and shorter times that you can run your computer on battery.

So basically the more you use your laptop running on battery, the more quickly that battery will wear out. If you discharge then recharge your battery every day, you'll probably get a little over a year out of your battery before it won't take a charge any longer. The moral of the story here is to plug in whenever you can to avoid going through the charge/discharge cycles.

With older laptops and batteries, it was best to remove the battery from the computer once they were fully charged to avoid overcharging. With newer laptops and battery chemistries this is no longer the case. The charging circuit always maintains the ideal charge on the batteries, so it is best to plug in the computer and leave the battery in the computer all the time.

After a battery is worn out, take it to any number of facilities that collect batteries for recycling. Two of the more common collectors are Radio Shack and Best Buy. The service is free.

Multimedia Tip: Photo Composition

I'm going to go with a cop-out this week and just direct your attention to my second photography class from about a year ago. The class was on techniques you can use to create visually appealing images. So when you have about 45 minutes, crawl up on your couch with a laptop and watch the class:

Bonus Tip: Synchronizing Files Between Computers

I came across a really cool free utility this week designed to synchronize and share files between computers. It's called FolderShare.

It works on both Mac and PC. On each computer you can select one or more folders that you wish to synchronize with other computers. Those computers don't even need to belong to you; you can setup shares to synchronize files with other people. And it all happens automatically. As soon as you create a file in, or copy a file into a shared folder, FolderShare begins synchronizing it with all of the other computers that are sharing that same folder, completely behind the scenes. There are no limits on the size or types of files. The data is also compressed and encrypted so it transfers quickly, and can't be viewed by third parties.

The other nifty thing that it does is that it can (optionally) make all of the files and folders on your computer available via the FolderShare web site. You log into the site and can see and download any of the files and folders on your computer at home. (The files are downloaded directly from your computer; they aren't stored on the FS site.) So you might not need to carry a USB flash drive any longer, as long as you have access to the Internet you have access to any of your files at home. The service even works if your computer is behind a firewall or router.

I have some file shares setup between me and some business contacts, and some friends. We can all access and share files without having to exchange the files via email or a web site. It all happens in the background. It's a great way to share pictures or video with friends and family.

I was thinking of writing a program like this and charging money for it. Then I discovered this service, and it's totally free, so it looks like I'll have to find another software idea. :)