Month: September 2012

By Dave Parrack, MakeUseOf – September 18, 2012 at 10:31PM

As everybody who is reading this now is likely to be a geek, living in a bubble where all their friends and family use computers on a daily basis, it’s easy to imagine there is no such thing as a noob these days. This is far from the truth. In fact, at the end of last year it was estimated that only around one-third of the world’s population had access to the Internet. This means that around 4 billion people aren’t online, and most of those will also not have the first clue about computers.

Inspired by Yaara’s article detailing six basic tech skills everybody should possess, we wondered what the starting point of the conversion from noob to geek should be. Imagine sitting someone down in front of a computer for the first time… where would you begin? This formed last week’s We Ask You column, and the responses we received were both varied and enlightening.

What Should Computer Noobs Be Taught First?

We asked you, What Should Computer Noobs Be Taught First? The response was fantastic, with dozens of people suggesting the first thing(s) they would teach to a computer noob. The variation in answers shows just how complex computers are, and how being presented with one for the first time must be absolutely overwhelming. Especially to those of a certain age for whom learning new skills does not come naturally.

There is no right or wrong answer to this question, and the responses were so varied they may be worth a full article in the future. However, just a few insights for those who don’t want to read through the whole thread include: Keep it simple, keep naming the hardware and software until it sticks, get them familiar with the OS that is installed, keyboard and mouse operation requires practice, teach the basics of staying safe online. Oh, and that tray is for discs rather than cups.

The suggestion to experiment with a computer in order to build confidence is an important one. It’s extremely unlikely random clicking around will do any real harm. As long as the operating system can be reinstalled, or the hard drive replaced, then letting people learn the intricacies by themselves isn’t a bad idea.

Comment Of The Week

The comments section was awash with great insights this week, making it difficult to choose just one winner. Several names deserve a mention… Rob Hindle for his fantastic (and lengthy) comment detailing a more hands-on approach to teaching a computer noob. Nicut Alexandru and Vipul Jain for intelligent lists of different steps to take. The several people who recommended Solitaire as a tool for learning how to use a mouse.

Comment of the week goes to Sumaiya, who, as well as the respect of myself and hopefully everybody reading this, receives 150 MakeUseOf points to use for Rewards or Giveaways. Their contribution:

I taught my mother the basics of computers..this is how i did it:
1. taught her the names of basic hardware like mouse, keyboard etc
2. how to start up and shut down windows
3. windows desktop/taskbar/menubar/icons and things like that
4. typing on notepad for familiarity with keyboard
5. game solitaire for using mouse
6. basic controls of microsoft office word
7. using the web browser (google chrome)
8. websites google, youtube, and facebook
im still teaching her..so far shes going great (and she absolutely LOVES youtube)

This comment wins because it offers a very common sense approach to teaching. Starting with the names of the hardware, then moving on to booting up Windows, and then getting used to using the keyboard and mouse combination. Then, and only then, do you take the computer noob online, where they can explore somewhat to their leisure.

We will be asking a new question tomorrow, so please join us then. We Ask You is a weekly column dedicated to finding out the opinions of MakeUseOf readers. We ask you a question and you tell us what you think. The question is open-ended and is usually open to debate. Some questions will be purely opinion-based, while others will see you sharing tips and advice, or advocating tools and apps for your fellow MakeUseOf readers. This column is nothing without your input, all of which is valued.

Image Credit: Michelle Hofstrand

By (author unknown), ScienceDaily: Latest Science News – September 18, 2012 at 04:36PM

Four words on a previously unknown papyrus fragment provide the first evidence that some early Christians believed Jesus had been married, Harvard Professor Karen King told the 10th International Congress of Coptic Studies today.

By Tim Brookes, MakeUseOf – September 17, 2012 at 06:31PM

Do you remember when a company called Macromedia introduced their rich web plugin, Flash? Back then, Flash was an exciting new prospect. It introduced the ability to animate, using frame-by-frame and using motion-tweening, add sound, buttons and interactions all from a relatively approachable interface.

The early Internet, or “Web 1.0″ if I dare use that term, exploded with nonsensical, bizarre and downright impressive animations from all over the world as geniuses, weirdos and bored teenagers got their hands on the software. Authors went on to make money, build brands and become demi-ambassadors for communities like b3ta, Something Awful and Newgrounds, and left a bounty of Internet culture in their wake.

These animations are relics of the Internet’s golden age of emergence, when your social network was your phone book and a cloud was merely something that rained on you. It’s time to feel old, kiddies.

Xiao Xiao (Zhu Zhiqiang)

I was probably 13 when I first saw this animation, and I fondly remember being amazed at the detail, fluidity and effort that must have gone into the series. Even today, the Xiao Xiao series of stick figure animations are impressive.

The creator was Chinese animator Zhu Zhiqiang who later went on to receive commissions for advertising from the likes of CityPlaza and Heineken.

There are alledgedly 10 official Xiao Xiao cartoons, and you can watch them all – along with numerous spoofs, parodies and blatant rip-offs – over at Newgrounds.

Radiskull & Devil Doll (Joe Sparks)

In the early 2000s, Joe Sparks created Radiskull & Devil Doll – a rather simplistic and crude Flash animation which soon gained traction and earned a loyal following. Joe initially worked for Paracomp a company who in the early 90s merged with Macromind to become Macromedia.

Joe was an intrinsic part of Shockwave.com and the development of rich media, with Radiskull & Devil Doll being his own personal project. He animated and recorded all sound and music himself, which served only to inspire further random animations. Joe now works for Google and has been featured in a huge range of publications, having worked on some fairly exciting projects. You can read his bio and watch the cartoon on his website.

StickDeath.com (Rob Lewis)

There were a great number of stick animation websites back then, though StickDeath was probably one of the first to really gain traction – with many animated GIFs present that pre-date Flash. Once Flash landed, however, the site became infamous for its graphic and crude content (ok, some swearing and animated violence) which lit-up the faces of children in classrooms the world over.

StickDeath is unfortunately no longer online for one reason or another, so instead you’ll have to turn to the WayBack Machine in order to view the content.

Fat-Pie.com (David Firth)

David Firth is probably best known for his weirdest creation, Salad Fingers, but also enjoyed success with many of his other webtoons. The dark, disturbing world of Salad Fingers (quote: “I like it when the red water comes out”) isn’t as old as some of the animations featured here, having being released in 2004.

Another of Firth’s series was Spoilsbury Toast Boy, an equally weird and unsettling series of animations that featured a silent boy and lots of cockroaches.

Finally there was the try-hard but ultimately useless superhero, Burnt Face Man which also debuted in 2004 and became somewhat of a hit.

You can check the rest of David’s animations out on his website and official YouTube channel.

Weebls-Stuff (Jonti Picking)

The creator of a great many Internet phenomena, Jonti Picking is probably most famously associated with Weebl and Bob, the adventures of two very simple eggs who took the world by storm when MTV picked up the series and renamed it “Wobbl and Bob”. The original episode entitled “pie”  was uploaded in 2002, and can be seen here.

Jonti is also responsible for one of the web’s most annoyingly catchy animations, simply titled “Badgers” which you’ve probably seen more times than you care to remember.

Much of Jonti’s materials consists of looping musical stories that make very little sense. If that appeals to you then you should probably check out the thousands of animations on his site.

RatherGood.com (Joel Veitch)

I really don’t know where to begin with this one, there are so many to choose from and I’m really not sure which are a good idea to put on this page, so I’m just going to say take your pick from this lot.

One particular series that sticks in my mind was Tales of the Blode, a badly-drawn blonde blob with a friend called “Food” that ended up doing something with a zeppelin involving a crab? Yeah… Internet jokes.

The funny thing is that if you’ve seen any of the dancing kitten with rude words and/or loud music videos from the early 2000s era there’s a good chance they were from RatherGood.com, which helped kickstart the whole “lolcats” thing that eventually gained so much real-world traction that there are now actual printed books on the subject available. Joel, what did you do?

Conclusion

The days of Flash are undoubtedly numbered, with extensions like Flashblock increasing in popularity and newer technologies like HTML5 and CSS3 replacing our old plugin-dependent friend. It’s nice to take a trip back down memory lane to when Flash was a brand new fangled toy to play with an exploit, even if the animations look a little rough around the edges now.

If you’re searching for more nostalgia of this ilk then one of the finest resources has to be Albino Blacksheep, a huge collection of Flash goodness – including games, videos and animation. Of course, there’s also Newgrounds which shouldn’t be missed either.  Finally if you’ve ever seen this content hosted on a certain website called eBaum’s world then here’s a video just for you.

By (author unknown), Core77 – September 17, 2012 at 03:00PM

In a couple of weeks it’ll be October, the weather will get cooler in our neck of the woods, some will reach for gloves, and a European company called Hi-Fun will release a special pair of gloves called Hi-Call. As you can guess from the photo above, the gloves are wired up with Bluetooth connectivity, a mic in the pinky and a speaker in the thumb, so the wearer can actually make phone calls by making that “call me” gesture.

Early adopters of Bluetooth headsets looked foolish for a short time, before we all got used to seeing people walking around talking to no one. Should these gloves take off, there’ll probably be another brief adjustment period where you think a crazy person is talking into their hand. Early Hi-Call adopters will probably be given extra personal space on the sidewalk, at least for a few weeks.

This demo is a bit underwhelming, but at least they show that the thing works and is real:

Hi-Fun may be the first to market with these, but they’re not the first to come up with the concept. A San-Francisco-based hacker named Rachel shared her Instructable for Bluetooth gloves here, and the comments for it indicate other people have produced something similar.

(more…)

By Saikat Basu, MakeUseOf – September 17, 2012 at 02:01PM

Prehistoric man knew how to communicate with images. Thankfully, his descendants didn’t forget; because where would we be without art, photography, movies, X-rays, animation, digital imaging, 3D printing, and Instagram. Okay, the last one was bit of a light-hearted addition, but even that shows you the pull of a picture.

For more day to day mundane uses, we need free images for decorate a blog post, seek inspiration, set a wallpaper, make a collage, or just finish the school homework. This post thus takes a ‘back-to-basics’ approach and attempts to go over the same image searching ground as before, but in a more comprehensive manner. I hope to again show that searching for the right free image is easy enough, provided you know where to look.

But first, let’s answer how image search engines actually work? And then…

What Exactly Is A Free Image?

When we talk about free images, there are three terms which you will encounter in your search.

Royalty free images: These images are not free. You have to purchase these images for a fee, but beyond that you can continue to use the image as long as you want. But this is a non-exclusive right as others may also purchase the same image for use.

Public Domain images: Images which are not covered by any copyright and are available free of charge are called public domain images. Images whose copyright have expired also fall under the public domain. To put it this way, any image which is freely available may not be a public domain image; but a public domain image is freely available for use without permission.

Creative Commons: Creative Commons images (or the licenses) should not be confused with public domain and free-to-use images. Creative Commons is a set of free licenses which cover fair use and allow creators to reserve some rights for themselves while freeing up the work for the benefit of the public. Learn more about Creative Commons on the CC website.

Our search for free images shall cover the last two types – public domain images and images licensed with CC.

The Big Daddy

Google Advanced Image Search

The Advanced Search is your quick bet because it is familiar and allows you to filter your search by license. You can search for only images that can be reused (free to use). These images include Creative Commons, or public domain images. But still check the copyright status of each work before you download.

But you would be wrong in thinking that Google Image Search is a bully. Because it’s not and you can also call on 5 Good Image Search Engines Apart From Google Image Search.

The Stockists

Tina went after the usual suspects when she covered Flickr, Wikimedia Commons, and Stock.XCHNG with three others to make it 6 Free Websites For Public Domain Images & Free Stock Photos. Supplement that reading with this – Top 5 Free Websites for Quality Copyright Free Photographs and the more recent The Five Best Places To Find Free Creative Commons Photos and you have a good resource bank to build upon.

Free Photos Bank

The search and advanced search takes you to your specific photo. Check out the Hot List for popular free photos. Photos are rated. As a user you have non-exclusive, non-transferable license to images.

MorgueFile

MorgueFile is a free high resolution digital stock photography resource that lists images contributed by many different photographers and artists. According to the blog, the site will undergo a major redesign this October. You can filter photographs for download using options like color, creative, and geotag. The site also has a portfolio section for budding photographers.

EveryStockPhoto

EveryStockPhoto is a search engine for free stock photos. The search engine covers most of the popular image stock sites like Flickr, SXC, NASA, and a few more. You can quickly view the image’s license and other details like the source site and photographer on the right.

Public Domain Photos

The site has a large and growing collection of public domain photos which are free to use without due credit of any kind. No, you do not need to credit the site as a source also. The site is neatly organized into categories and tags, with the number of photos in each category indicated. Most photos can be downloaded in multiple sizes.

If you have a particular liking for Flickr, do stop by to read How To Search & Credit Properly-Licensed Photos On Flickr  for a handy Firefox related tip. Also, check out all our articles that talk about Flickr like The Top 5 Best Search Engines To Search Photos On Flickr.

The Specialist Image Searchers

Pixabay

I searched for computer images and I got 1085 hits. Pixabay searched for both photos and clipart from other public domain websites. The image information tells you about the source, the type of license, and the important EXIF information. You can also view photos by the camera used.

Best Photos

Best Photos uses Google Custom Search to scour the web for free photos. The results may not be that pretty (it’s a straightforward Google search), but it is very effective. You have to click through to the source site and download the image from there.

Sprixi

Sprixi sources shareable images from Flickr and OpenClipArt. I wrote a detailed review about it about how you can use it to embellish your blog posts : Sprixi – A Free Image Search Engine With Creditworthy Image Use For Blogs.

Turning Back The Clock

U.S. History Images

This collection takes you back to the history of The United States (going back to 1862), especially the Civil War. Nearly all of the 5000+ images are free to use with a few exceptions. The image pages are very well organized in chronological order and cover most of America’s early history.

The Wayback Machine

On the Internet Archive, you can go back in time to at least 1999 and browse through archived versions of Web sites. The Internet Archive Wayback Machine contains almost 2 petabytes of data and is even larger than all the matter in The Library of Congress. On the Internet Archive, you can type in a keyword and then filter the results by media type (image) to get access to millions of archives images which are licensed under Creative Commons. Check the specific license as they also have CC – Non-Commercial attributions.

Clipart-History

Clipart History is a free high-quality public-domain clipart collection covering all ages of the Worlds History from pre-historic to now. You can browse the sections which cover the span of the pre-historic to the modern. Most images are black & white, but it is undeniably a good resource for school projects and other assignments.

Break Into the Government Archives

Totally Free Images

A huge collection of 500,000+ images culled from various government sources are available on this searchable site. The site itself is plain Jane with just a search bar and filters for image types. You can search for images related to astronomy, painting, and microscopy too. All images are free to use and you do not even need to attribute them.

USA.gov

This is the national portal to all other governmental sites. You can search for images by topic. The site has this to say – Some of these photos and images are in the public domain and may be used and reproduced without permission or fee. However, some photos and images may be protected by license. You should read the disclaimers on each site before use. Also check out the governmental photostream on Flickr.

For The Love of Education

Pics4Learning

School assignments and projects need pictures. Take your learning a notch up or two with pictures that are primarily for education. Pics4Learning has animals, architecture, geography, science, tools, and natural disasters. You can find images through browsing categorically or by searching for specific keywords. The images on the site have been donated by students, teachers, and amateur photographers.

The Oddballs

PhotoRogue

PhotoRogue is a different king of photo and image website as it takes requests. Volunteer photographers go to work on your request and their service is free. As the site says – You can request ANYTHING, and we’ll try to make it happen. Typically we’ll return between two and ten pictures.

Cadyu

2D and 3D CAD diagrams and images? I would agree. Try out Cadyu which is a collaborative library of 2D and 3D models. All are in public domain and Creative Commons licensed. It could be a one-stop resource for you if you are a designer.

Pinterest

Yes, the very same Pinterest. It gives you a roundabout way to search for free images. Log-into Pinterest – use the search box to type in “public domain” and view the results. Click on the specific image and then click on the source to view the license and verify if it’s truly public domain or at lease Creative Commons.

Here are many more image websites we have covered that you might consider off-the-beaten-track:

• The Best Websites For Free Clipart Downloads
• Top 7 Sites to View and Download Space Images
• 10 Best Websites For Free Vector Art Downloads
• 20 Great Resources to Download Free Patterns

The 17 image search resources represented here are like a few good men. Some have already been covered by our previous articles on image search and the links I have included in this post. Then some more lie undiscovered. Maybe, you will pull the curtain of anonymity and bring them into the limelight? Which is your favorite way to get to free images online? More importantly, why and where do you use the free image?

Image Credit: 100% free stamp via Shutterstock