Chet Davis - Your Technology Tutor

Amazon Adds iPad App for Instant Viewing of Movies & TV Shows

I have been enjoying the AMazon Instant Video service on our computers and our home entertainment system - if you are a member of Amazon Prime (the premium service for folks that receive free shipping on identified Amazon purchases) you hopefully know you have access to more than 20,000 streaming videos in the Amazon Instant Video Collection at no additional cost.

Amazon just released a new way to view these Amazon Instant Videos - using the Amazon Instant Video iPad App.  This adds mobile viewing to this popular mobile device (another app available for the Kindle Fire). 

It will continue to be interesting to see how various 'players' in the entertainment industry continue to work to become the first choice for distribution of digital media.  Who is your favorite provider?  I still prefer Netflix but also really like Amazon Instant Video.

Free Webinar: Using Pandora as your Own Custom Internet Radio Station

Join Chet Davis - Your Tech Tutor for this on-line classroom where he will teach you how you can use the Pandora internet radio service to create your own custom 'radio' station. 

You'll learn how to set-up you own music 'channels', interact with them to further customize your channel/s, how to find & listen to others channels, and how to use Pandora on your computer, your smart-phone, and your home entertainment system.

Chet  will be offering this free on-line lesson in two separate sessions, click below to register for the session that fits your calendar best:

• Wednesday, Jun 6, 2012 7:00 AM - 8:00 AM Pacific Time
  

• Wednesday, Jun 6, 2012 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM Pacific Time

Got a toddler in your home, or a grandchild who visits? Secure Your Batteries & Remotes

In an alarming report, doctors in the nation's Emergency Rooms report that "The number of kids treated in emergency rooms after swallowing batteries -- or lodging them in their noses and ears -- has almost doubled over the past 20 years".

In the article 'More batteries to blame for kids' ER visits   doctors report that the tiny watch-sized batteries seem to be more attractive to toddlers and end up making their way into the child's nose or throats.

Come to find out these little 'button' batteries can also cause tissue damage and/or burns if ingested - even if the battery no longer has enough power for an electronics device.

One surprising source of these small circular batteries is in some of the greetings cards that sing or play music...best not to leave those with your youngester.

If you don't have a young one around full-time, or if you're about to be a new, first-time parent one of the things to secure are the remotes for your electronics.  Remotes for TVs, DVD players, etc. are often at toddler level and the battery compartment is usually unsecured...meaning they are not secured with a screw or lock.  So - it is possible children can pop open the remote (or it may open on falling to the floor) giving the child access to the batteries and the sharp small plastic battery door. 

My own first-hand experience benefitting from a UPS

So glad today that I have my computers and video editors connected to a UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supply).

I had a layered effect rendering on my editor while I was doing some website work on my computer - I heard a buzz come from my UPS and thought "that's odd". I heard my son downstairs comment that the power went out, with our audio system and lights shutting down.

The power came back up quickly but if I hadn't been connected to my UPS my computer/editor would have received a voltage spike and/or simply shut down and stopped the projects I was working on. So - before you really NEED it I recommend you start using a UPS for your computer station. I have the Model #ES 550 from APC. 

Here's my affiliate link to the specific model I use - you may find another  model that works best for you... but my recommendation is to get a UPS working soon in your computer set-up!

The 'Outernet' shows where you can go in your community to get real social

Wonder where today's internet based companies got their ideas? Here's a cute look at the 'real life' counterparts of today's internet sensations (social media in 3D perhaps). Very clever!

 

Now if/when our internet service is down we know where to go to get our 'fix' of social media in our community.

WIndows PPT to Video... yes, if you are 2010+

Essentially, this was the topic of my webinar yesterday.  Where I presented to video producers some important functions in the PowerPoint program and how to transfer or move a PowerPoint presentation from your computer into a video editing application or device.

I shared several fundamentals that video producers may need to access like how to modify the background (style) of a slide show, the font or colors to better present on a finished video.  

Then the real focus was how to move or convert a PowerPoint presentation over to a video editing application or appliance (like the Casablanca video editor).

I demonstrated clearly why your better choice over JPG is to export slides as PNG files if you are exporting single slides to re-create the presentation in your video editor, I also showed the easy use of 3rd party conversion applications - built just for this purpose like the ImTOO PowerPoint conversion tools.  

And I demonstrated how to export a PowerPoint presentation as a video file directly from the PowerPoint application itself.  A note of clarification - in follow-up research it turns out this option to export as a video/movie file is only available on the 2010 and higher versions of Microsoft Office if you are on the Windows platform. 

If you are using Microsoft Office/PowerPoint on the Mac - you'll find that option to export as MOV file even going back to the 2004 versions of Microsoft Office (If you can explain that logic to me, please let me know in the comments below...how Microsoft did not include this option until 2010 while it had it available to Mac users for 6 years prior)

PowerPoint for Video Producers - Free Webinar

PowerPoint for Video Producers
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
9:00 AM - 10:00 AM PDT

In this free on-line classroom Your Technology Tutor Chet Davis will provide an introduction to the Microsoft PowerPoint software, with an emphasis on what Video Producers should know.
You'll get an overview of the presentation software and how you can take a client's prepared presentation (or your own) and best transfer that show to video. Chet will details the different means to export the presentation; as individual slides transferred to images (both JPEG & PNG), as a 'live' presentation recorded as a video, and as a PowerPoint Movie.

The recording of our session will be available to those who sign-up in case you cannot make the live session or if you wish to review the information. Register now at  https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/14280297

Thinking About a New Laptop Comptuer? Wait...says Walt Mossberg

In what may be a very helpful column for some - Walt Mossberg (Wall Street Journal's Head Tech Writer) posted his Annual Spring Laptop Buyer's Guide this week.  

He mentions that it is very likely a good time to wait to buy a laptop unless yours is on the verge of dieing and you really need a replacement now.

Among the salient points he mentions, Windows will have a new Operating System... Windows 8 that he claims will be "the most radical version of Windows in years" but not until summer or Fall. So radical it will really take advantage of touch-screen navigation that won't be accessible with most of today's available Windows laptop computers.

And for those who are considering a new Mac laptop - this summer promises the release of a new Apple OS - Mountain Lion.  As Walt points out, not as dramatic a difference in OS versions as on the Windows side but he also points out that Mac is about ripe for a revamping of it's laptop products, particularly the MacBook Pro.  You can read the details in his article here: Permission to Procrastinate: Wait to Get a New Laptop

YouTube - Favorite Cooking Lessons

I spend a lot of my time checking out cool things technology can enable us to do -- sometimes better, faster, Today I am sharing three YouTube Channels I read about in the May 2012 issue of Food and Wine Magazine (you may be surprised to know that I love to cook as well).

Why you may ask would I take your time to share these with you?  I think it important for us to remember that technology should not be the end-all... it is a tool for us to enrich our lives...here's three examples of on-line resources to do just that ! And YouTube has SO much information, so many videos available - I thought it fun to point out what a Food Expert likes on the channel to help you and me cut through all the other options and view some really note-able offerings.

Grade Parisi - Food and Wine author/chef - shared these 3, her favorite YouTube Cooking channels:

• Vahchef - A channel 'About Indian food cooking' - "Inspire To Cook --- Inspire To Taste"

•  Maancghi- A channel that provides lessons on"Korean food with Maangchi"

• Cooking With Dog - A channel where a poodle (the Dog) narrates or rather translates what the Japanese chef is cooking. Or as the channel describes: "About Japanese Food + Dog = Cooking with Dog"

Apple Makes Available the JAVA Update for Mac OS 10.6 Users

If you are running a Mac Computer with the 10.6.x (x = any number) Operating System you should install the new JAVA update if you have not done so already.  To check which version of the Mac OS you are operating under, click on the Apple icon at the top left corner of your computer monitor - and select 'About this Mac'. On the small menu that pops up you will see the 'Version' beneath the shiny apple and the Mac OS X.

To install this software update (that eradicates those computers infected with the Flashback malware and protects against this vulnerability in the JAVA software) - click on the 'Software Updates' from the same Apple menu. The system should automatically check for new software updates and show you the screen at right (if you have not performed software updates in some time you may have additional updates ready for you... you can click to add or remove updates you do not wish to install)

Then simply follow the instructions to download and install the update. It only takes a few minutes and provides you with a more secure computing environment.  If you wish to read more about this update - check the Apple Tech page here: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5242?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US