Ratscallion's Hints & Tips in the PC World

I'm Bringing Posting Back..

2010-03-12T07:55:00.002Z

Hi!

Really brief update right now...

Basically, I've not been posting, or doing videos, much recently, and I'm ashamed of that fact. My blogs and stuff have all been just sitting here not doing very much. :(

However, it's coming up to the Easter Holidays, where I'll have 2 weeks to post and do videos, and I think when I start doing that in the holidays, I'll get back into the habit of doing things.

So yeah, I'll be back posting within at least 4 weeks. Sorry.

Yours,
Ratscallion

Ok.. So...

2010-02-07T17:32:00.002Z

Right, then.

Ok, so I'm busy coding. Unless I can get something done during February half term (not the coming week, the one after) there may not be a video, or even a post, for a while.

Basically there's something that could be very big getting done at school that only a few select people know about, and I'm head of design and the website, and need to get it all done. However, there'll be nothing happening (likely) throughout half term, so I may get it done then.

That's just a quick note to why there's not been much action. Been working on a few sites that I administrate and that school thing. I'll update you when I can. Otherwise, expect to see a small pause. Sorry. :'(

Ratscallion

formspring.me

2010-02-06T19:47:00.003Z

your a sexxy girrrrrl

And so are you...?

Give me something to answer...

formspring.me

2010-02-06T19:47:00.001Z

your an idiot and your never gonna know who this is, :D

Hmm.. How many guesses do I have? :P

Give me something to answer...

Video: How to: Trim Audio In Audacity

2010-01-23T08:58:00.003Z

I told you it wasn't going to be long, and I wasn't wrong about that!

The first in the 'Series' of How-To videos is below: How To: Trim Audio In Audacity.

I must state, though, to start with, that you don't need Audacity to be able to trim audio in this way. As you may know, there are a wide variety of different audio editing programs out there that are available, and, as far as I'm aware, they all work in a similar way when it comes to trimming audio.

Now I've got that off my chest, I can carry on!

Audacity is a free download from audacity.sourceforge.net and is, as I've said before in my look at Audacity and some of its features post and its respective video.

In this post, however, I'm telling you how you can actually dive in and get in with the editing of the audio itself.

First of all, you'll actually need some audio. In this example, I used Ke$ha's Tik Tok as it has a sound effect that I wanted to edit out. One thing I must say is that I advise that you make a copy of the audio before you edit it. If it goes wrong, then you won't have the original.

On with the actual editing now, then. First off, you need to select the audio that you want to delete. A common mistake here is that a user may edit the stuff they want to keep. Don't do this. Instead, as I just said, select what you want to delete. In audacity, this is done by going to the select tool on the top left of the screen (the icon that looks like an 'I'), clicking it, then going down and selecting your audio.

I went and selected everything before the stuff I wanted to keep, first, and then going to 'Edit' and then 'Delete'. However, you can be much quicker by just pressing the delete key on your keyboard. Note: You can neither select audio nor delete it when audio is playing or is part way through. Press the 'Stop' button (the square) and then the 'Go back to the beginning' button, the one that is like '|<<'. So, once you've deleted the parts before what you want to keep, go delete the bits after it. Finally, you'll want to zoom in (hold 'Ctrl' whilst scrolling, or press 'Ctrl' and '+') and delete the bits that you've no doubt missed before and after the audio, just tidying it all up. So, now, you have a nice bit of trimmed audio that you can play to your heart's content. Audacity will, by default, save as an audacity project. You can't play this in any other programs, so you want to go to 'File' -> 'Export' -> 'Export as Wav' or 'Export as MP3'. To do the latter, however, you'll need the 'LAME' extension for Audacity, and I'll be showing you how and where to get that in another video! :P

Hope you enjoy the video!

Latest Tech News: Unless you've been living under a rock on a desolate wasteland of a planet for the last god knows how long, you'll no doubt know that Apple have got one of their amazing keynotes coming up next Wednesday. There are many things that are rumored to be released during the event. However, the widely anticipated Apple tablet is supposed to be one of them, along with iPhone OS 4.0, and some further Mac updates and upgrades. To be honest, if Apple do end up releasing a tablet, I don't know what's going to be happening with it, I don't really get all the fuss around tablets, and I do know that I'm not alone with this. I guess we'll just find out on Wednesday!

In Other News: As I said in my previous post, I've got a ton of new videos coming in total, read that post to find out more!

For now,
Yours,

Ratscallion

So sorry...

2010-01-21T17:25:00.002Z

*sigh*

This is the first post of 2010, the first post of the new decade, and it's 21 days into it.. I'm very annoyed at myself that I haven't actually posted this year yet, and the first month is almost out!

Don't worry, I'm not stopping my blogging altogether.. I've got 4 new videos in the pipeline, and I hope that I'll get at least one of them out before the end of this month. It's another Audacity-based one, and I've got another one after that one coming that's Audacity.

The other two are completely different, and unexpected. However, all 4 of these videos are in a sort of how-to series that I thought I'd base a few of my videos on. The aforementioned Audacity 2 are "How to in Audacity" and the other 2 are in the format of "How to (optional) in .

The main problem is just that I can't find the time to do the video editing and recording that's required, as my video editor is Windows only, and I can't get an Ubuntu screen recorder working. I guess I'll just have to find a way around it all.

Nevertheless, I'll continue working on this next video, don't you worry about that! So we'll get at least one video out before the month is out, that just needs the credits at the end, rendering and uploading, then it's done. Therefore, that one should be up by the weekend, as I've had a pretty homework-free week.

Also I hope to get at least one extra video done in the February half-term, which is only 3 weeks away. So that's 5 videos coming up.

As well as all these videos, I'll hopefully be getting some more news and reviews posts up pretty soon, so look out for those.

Finally, I thank you thoroughly if you've been following this blog in the way that you do, and just keeping up and all that. I value each and every person who reads any of the material on the blog, or even just visits us, I really do. Thank you, and hopefully it won't be long before I speak again.

Latest Tech News: Here's something new that I think I'm gonna try and throw in at the end of every post, just before the other news part that I've had before. Something new for the new decade. Upon writing this post, I downloaded and installed (well, Ubuntu did, for me :D) Firefox 3.6. It's out today, a full version, stable. Several alphas, betas and release candidates later, it's here. Go and download it by clicking here. There's a ton of new features, but I'm not going to go through them here. That's for yet another video**.

In Other News: I've not just been sitting on my arse doing nothing whilst I haven't been posting here, don't worry. I've been working on my latest creation with a friend of mine, a new site. Web Development is one of my favourite things, by far, and I've utilised it here. We are SmartIdeas. Hope to see you on that corner of the Web soon! Don't worry, as I said, nothing is replacing Ratscallion's Hints, we'll always be here ;-).

For now,
Yours,
Ratscallion

*That's a clue for one of those 4 ;)

**6 now! Wow.

Video: Noticeable Changes Between Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope and Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala

2009-12-29T18:54:00.005Z

Hi!

Although I haven't posted for a while, I've been busy creating this video for you!

On the 29th October 2009 (although it was a while ago, it's still relevant as lots of people are still using the previous version), Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala was released. Despite the fact that most people have upgraded to this new version, there is still support for 9.04 until April 2010.

The first of these features is that all of the Ubuntu predecessors had Ubuntu Add/Remove programs, the main GUI (Graphical User Interface) to add or remove programs on the Ubuntu system. This has been replaced in this version and in all of the versions to come with Ubuntu Software Centre, and the interface for this has also been revamped.

Another of the changes is that a user's home folder has now got thumbnails on the folders that are created upon user creation.

As with the latest version of Windows, Windows 7, a load of new wallpapers have been introduced to the new version of Ubuntu.

Unfortunately, unlike the previous versions of Ubuntu, the login screen customising has gone. You can no longer change the background and positioning of the boxes of your login screen. There may be a patch/hack for this, and, if that is the case, do let me know :)

I told you I'd get 5 videos out before the end of the decade, and that was the fifth! This has, in just over a year, taken the total of my videos up to 20! 5 videos from 14th November to 29th December!

If I don't see you before the end of the decade,

Happy New Year and End of Decade! See you in decade 2 of 2000!

Ratscallion

For now,
Yours,
Ratscallion

Video: BBC iPlayer Downloading and Features Walkthrough BBC iPlayer Desktop

2009-12-19T20:55:00.004Z

Hello!

It may have been a while, but we're here nonetheless!

The BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) has a TV on Demand service: BBC iPlayer. Not only does the service allow you to stream video that is online and has been broadcast on the television or radio in the past 7 days, but it also allows you to download this programme. The service also has a feature that not many people are aware of: Downloading.

Underneath the Flash part of the page where the TV (radio programmes do not yet have this feature) programme is streaming, there is a download button. This button will launch, if not yet installed, BBC iPlayer Desktop. If the software is not installed, it will take you to the BBC iPlayer Desktop download page.

BBC iPlayer Desktop is an Adobe AIR application, and will, therefore, work on any Operating System: Windows, Mac or Linux. However if you have many computers – or one computer with multiple operating systems installed on it – there is no way of syncing this, or watching them from those other Operating Systems as yet. You may be able to try and change the repository setting, but I’ve not tried that way, yet.

Once the programme has downloaded, no matter how you downloaded it (see below), it’ll expire and become un-watchable after 30 days since the download has completed. Also, once you’ve watched the programme (actually once you’ve started playing it, even if only a second or two) you’ve got 7 days to finish watching it and then it will expire.

If you haven’t got BBC iPlayer Desktop (or have, and you don’t want to use it for a certain programme) you can click the ‘More Downloads’ button underneath the simple ‘Download’ button, you can download it in other formats. This feature is only available in certain programmes, though it is slowly becoming standard, like the ‘Download’ button.

This ‘More downloads’ button allows you to download the programme in a different format than the one that BBC iPlayer Desktop downloads it in, as this cannot be opened in any other application. This button allows you to download the programme in a Windows Media Player format so that you can watch it in that instead of BBC iPlayer Desktop.

In Other News: As promised, I'm going go try and get another video done before the end of the decade, which should be really good. And maybe a Christmassy one, but how I'm going to top last year's one, I don't know! :P

For now,

Yours,

Ratscallion

Video: Happy 1st birthday, Ratscallion's Hints!

2009-11-22T12:37:00.003Z

Happy Birthday, Ratscallion's hints!

It's been a whole year since the first post was made on this blog, and around that since the first video was uploaded to the YouTube Channel. To celebrate, I made a video, a birthday video.

Happy Birthday, Ratscallion's Hints (the video's above).

Also, conveniently timed, I set a competition for a logo for this blog, and, here it is, the winning logo:

. Brilliantly designed by Jordan, it has all the things that were needed in the criteria, the text, the avatar and the windows/Ubuntu logos. Brilliant I say! And it's the perfect dimensions!

The logo's going to stay in the widget thingy at the top of the blog for a few weeks, then it'll move to the side.

In Other News: We've got at least 2 videos left before the end of the decade, and I think I've decided on what they're going to be. Like this one was, it's going to be photo/screenshot + narration based, but also VERY informative.

For now,
Yours,
Ratscallion

Video: How to use an Ubuntu Live CD

2009-11-21T19:10:00.003Z

Woo! In this video, I show you how to use and set up your computer to be able to use an Ubuntu Live CD:

Once you've got your Live CD, boot up your computer and put it in the tray. Shut down your machine, and then boot again with it in the tray (or drive if you don't have a tray like a Mac). If it doesn't boot, you've got 2 options: Enter and configurate your BIOS to boot from CD first, then the Hard Drive (shown in the video), or press F12 (only if your BIOS supports it), and select the "boot from CD/DVD" option.

Now you've booted. Select the language that you want to use in the Live CD, this can be changed both in the Live CD and when you install the system. Unless you want to go for the straight install, you're going to want the "Try Ubuntu with no change to your computer" option. Select it with the arrow keys and press enter.

The Live CD will now load, and it'll take quite a while to boot, though it'll be way quicker if you install the system, as it's running from the CD.

Once it's finished loading, you'll be logged in as the "Live CD User" automatically, and then you can begin playing around with the system and seeing if it all works with your hardware. If you've got any problems with hardware (the most common ones are graphics, sound and wi-fi) you can either ask me in the comments, or have a look in the Ubuntu Forums for answers.

In Other news: The birthday/logo video/post will be up later today. :-)

For now,
Yours,
Ratscallion

Many Apologies

2009-11-18T18:21:00.002Z

Apologies in advance for what is about to be said:

Unfortunately, I've been on Linux today, and have not been able of doing it.. Hopefully, however, I should have it done by Saturday and, if it comes to that, we'll be getting TWO videos then!

Wow.. Two.

In Other News: Competition entry will come inside the birthday video post.

For now,
Yours,

Ratscallion

Almost Birthday time!

2009-11-17T17:25:00.003Z

Afternoon!

As you may have realised, there's no birthday video yet.. I still need to do that.. Should hopefully be doing that once I've done this report I need to do.. Eugh.

If it's not done, however, which may be the case, then I apologise in advance and it, along with the next instalment of Ubuntu Live CD will be put onto the channel on Saturday at the VERY LATEST.

Apologies for any inconvience caused.

In other news: We have a logo! Just check the poll at the top of the blog for the winning logo, I'll be doing a dedicated post for it in the Birthday Post!

For now,
Yours,

Ratscallion

Video: Ubuntu Live CD Unboxing

2009-11-14T20:03:00.003Z

Although a little later than I wanted it to be, this video is here and you can watch it below.

It, like some of the other videos, have a HD button on the embedded player, though this is just due to the dimensions of the intro (and the fact I set it this way :P). Unfortunately, the camera I used was a stills one and isn't optimised for video. This explains both the rubbish audio (I should have post-edited that in.. :/) and the rubbish video... Ouch. So the main of it isn't HD, but the intro is, so you don't need to worry about pressing that button :P

There it is, and here's the details:

To get more information on Ubuntu and order the CD for yourself, just go to:
http://ubuntu.com

I think that this is one of the best things I've got in the post for AGES and enjoy using Ubuntu at all times. If you have any queries, just contact me by either using the comments, going to my Twitter and replying me or going to the contact page.

In Other News: This time next week we'll be seeing the next instalment of this series of videos. Remind me if I've not done it by Thursday!

For now,
Yours,

Ratscallion

5 Videos before the end of the decade!

2009-11-10T19:22:00.003Z

I've got an announcement!

This announcement is as follows:
I have 5, yup, that's right, 5, videos coming up before the year ends. Which, seeing on the progress so far, it's been one video a month on average and there's around a month and a half until 2010.

I think I'll only tell you a portion of that list of 5 videos, the rest, however, will be left to be revealed at a later date.

The first three of those videos are as follows:

Ubuntu 9.04 Live CD unboxing
Ubuntu Live CD walkthrough (basically, how to use a Live CD)
The two together. I'll do the two on their own, then one with the two combined.

That's all I'm saying... For now...

For now,
Yours,

Ratscallion

Ubuntu Karmic!

2009-10-30T12:33:00.010Z

It's here! The much anticipated 9.10 release of Ubuntu has hit the Internet by storm. Ubuntu Karmic Koala is here.

It, as with all Ubuntu releases, contains the latest version of both the Linux Kernel and GNOME, the desktop environment used on the default Ubuntu release.

There are a few differences between this version of Ubuntu and its predecessors, though. The first of which is probably the Instant Messaging client. It is not, like in previous releases, the much loved Pidgin. It is, instead, Empathy. This may be a good thing for some people, but for many, it is not. Although Pidgin cannot meet up to the many features that other messaging clients offer, it is still a very good one, and Empathy, I must say (in my opinion), is not. You may like it, if you don't however, go into the Terminal (Applications -> Accessories -> Terminal) and type the following:

sudo apt-get install pidgin

That command installs pidgin on your system for you. Enjoy.

Another new feature is that of the login screen. I cannot find a way to change the login screen as seen in the other versions. In this version, it's a simple dialog, and I cannot find a way to use new or existing login themes with it, even once it's unlocked. If you do know, let me know in the comments, share your info :)

Now, the next new feature is quite possibly something that Canonical (the people that make Ubuntu) put in to compete with Windows 7 and OS X Snow Leopard, who, if you remember, were all launched recently. This feature is not really a feature, but more an improvement. It is wallpapers. As you may or may not know, Windows 7 came with LOADS of wallpapers that were all really good and artistic. Snow Leopard may have had a similar improvement. Ubuntu isn't one to go with the trends, but it's still gone and done it. There's about a dozen (possibly more) pre-included wallpapers which makes a change from the less-than-4 that have been seen in other versions.

There's a ton of other features which I'll hopefully be looking at in a video soon. I'll be taking some screenshots of 9.04 (which I'm still using) and then comparing them with 9.10 which I'll hopefully upgrade to this afternoon.

To upgrade your Ubuntu version, go to System -> Administration -> Update Manager. At the top you should see a bar similar to the one you see below...

Just click update and then it'll connect to the update server, download the iso (could be some time as the servers are completely full with the amount of people getting on and downloading) and then it will install on your computer. It'll then install this new update, keeping all your applications and documents etc. However, it is a good idea to backup just in case.

If you haven't got Ubuntu currently installed, use the usual instalation method which is detailed on the website

If you're downloading, remember to use Bittorrent as this keeps the loads off the Ubuntu servers for those upgrading.

That's some of Ubuntu Karmic's new features.

In Other news: The poll is still open for the logo competition. See the previous post for details and use the poll at the top of the blog.

For now,
Yours,

Ratscallion

A Wave and Competition Update

2009-10-22T18:00:00.003+01:00

Hi!
Those of you on Google wave (and have been on it recently) will know that there's now a green dot on at least your own avatars.
Well, it used to be on the Dev Preview Sandbox thingy, but it was removed from a bug, but, according to Lars Rasmussen (creator of Wave, yes I had a conversation with him) said (quoting from a Wave):

"Folks, we turned back presence today, but there is still an issue to be ironed out I'm afraid. We originally turned it off because we accidentally were leaking presence to people merely in your "suggested contacts" because you had mailed with them once in a blue moon. Now we only show you presence of a user if that user has you in their "my contacts" group. Unfortunately, we have mistakenly been putting users you add to your contacts from within wave in the "all contacts" group so some presence will still be missing. We are working hard to fix it!

Happy waving..."

Meaning, hopefully, it'll be all sorted soon, so it'll be back like it was in the Sandbox!

If you want to see that Wave, you can just go here

In Other News: I've got an update for the competition for ya! As I mentioned in my previous post, we have 3 logos to vote for. You can either go to this Wave (opens Wave in a new window again, as before), or vote on the poll at the top of the blog. We're keeping the poll and voting open until 10th November 2009, giving me enough time to be able to get it sorted and whatnot (got some surprises in store) for the Blog's 1st Birthday. So get voting. On the closing date, the total votes from all the places will be totalled up and then we will have a winner. If there's a draw, the one with the next vote gets the win.

For now,
Yours,
Ratscallion

I'm back!

2009-10-17T15:52:00.001+01:00

Oh hi there!

I've returned to the Interwebs, with 10 meg fibre optic broadband.. Just thought I'd say I'm back and pretty much online on everything. This same post is being rippled through to all my blogs, so don't worry if you see a re-post on something!

In Other News: I May be getting an external hard drive this afternoon.. If so, I'll be posting about it.

For now,
Yours,

Ratscallion

Next two Videos

2009-10-12T19:42:00.003+01:00

First of all, as you may have realised, the embedded Wave in the last post didn't really go as planned.. I'm still looking into and playing with the Google Wave Embed APIs as much as I can to try and get it working, as soon as I do, I'll make a post with one in. If you've not a Wave account, you get, instead, an iFrame of the Google Accounts log-in page.

Right then, on with the main post. I've got the next two of my videos sorted and planned out. Firstly, there's the Ubuntu unboxing one I discussed previously, which will likely be split into a two-parter. I'll be shooting this on the 19th, though the narration for it (which may have to be done separately, may be done at another point). Then, we'll be revisiting DropBox. Now, it has an iPod Touch/iPhone app which I do think is amazing. Therefore, I'll be looking at that, and covering it along with it working with the desktop app.

Just a brief post to keep you updated, oh, and if you missed the first DropBox video, it's embedded below. By the way, here's some pointless trivia and a bit of a "did-you-know" for you: that DropBox video was my first video in HD!

Here it is:

In Other News: I'll be offline for most of Saturday morning, we're getting new Internet and while it's being installed I'll be completely disconnected. To fill the time, I'll be doing a load of C++ and podcast catching upping.

For now,
Yours,

Ratscallion

Let's try something...

2009-10-07T07:18:00.007+01:00

So, like I said in my last post, Wave is now open to lots of people. Which is why I'm going to try something.

Google has some Embed APIs for Wave, which I'm playing around with, and I thought I could try something. Anyone who has Wave, feel free to play around with what I'm going to do, anyone who doesn't, use the official comments, or the Contact Page to comment.

So, here it is, there's a Wave embedded in this entry, and, if all goes well, I'm going to use it for comments on the posts. Seeing as the Wave will be made public (so that you don't need to be added to it to be able to see and/or post to it), it'll be accessible from within Wave itself, by simply searching for "with:public", so I'll be posting a link to the post inside it.

In other news: Don't think I've forgotten about the video and/or competition.. I'm going to be doing a judging competition for the logo soon, and we'll get a new logo in time for the blog's first birthday!

For now,
Yours,
Ratscallion

Google Wave and a delivery!

2009-09-30T18:18:00.005+01:00

Hi!

I lie... Google Wave didn't really open its doors today, just to 100 thousand more people... There's simply a new redesigned wave.google.com which looks rather fancy.

As you may know, I'm on the Wave Sandbox at the moment, and am currently waiting to be migrated to the new service, the 100k one. However, as many people have said, they haven't yet got their invite, only a select few, and, as Mashable stated, there's still thousands that have not yet got the invite. Once I get migrated, I get around 5-10 invitations to invite other people to Wave. The aforementioned statement is one of the reasons why I am not using my invites yet, the other is that I'm not migrated :P.

I got a special delivery today... Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope Official CD from Canonical! Ordered it a few weeks ago, came far earlier than expected! You may think that it's pointless getting Jaunty, as Karmic (the next version, which I will also order) is coming soon. However, that was the reason I did so! I have the 8.10 version (the previous version) and I thought I might as well get this one to make sure I've got them! I should be getting a broadband switch the Saturday before Karmic comes out (from 0.9 to 10 megabits per second) so I'll also download it.
Yes, there is a reason I included that in this post: It's my next video! I'm doing a very geeky thing and doing an unboxing for this. It may not be a gadget as such, but it's tech and geek based so it's allowed :P. Yup, next video will be of me unwrapping the Ubuntu Jaunty disc. You'll also see me doing my first run of it (basically putting it in and booting from it). Though there will be two: Simply that of the unboxing, and that of the unboxing and putting in. There may be a third, of just the putting in, but I'll have to think about that one.
Yes, I have NOT unwrapped the disc yet, I made a tiny tear in the paper just before I decided I was going to do an unboxing, it's only about an inch long (2-3cms) so it doesn't make much difference.

In Other News: There may also be a video going up about Google Wave soon (one of my own, as opposed to the one I planned, but decided not to, earlier this year of a clipping of the IO Keynote) and a brief overview of some of the features that are now enabled.

For now,
Yours,
Ratscallion

Competition comes to a close

2009-09-28T19:21:00.004+01:00

The competition I opened last month for logo entries for this blog has come to an end.

I will now be going through the process of choosing one of the logos that will feature on this marvelous blog, flickr, etc.

However, if this is the first you've heard, I will allow more entries as long as they arrive BEFORE I announce the winner.

Watch this space!

In other news: Google Wave opens its doors in just two days! Wednesday 30th September.

For now,
Yours,

Ratscallion

Google Wave comes next Wednesday

2009-09-24T07:54:00.002+01:00

Hello!

First of all, I'm sorry for not posting for a while, I've been busy with Web Development stuff and haven't had the time.

However, big news now for anyone who even slightly likes Google Wave.
Google Wave is making it's big Public Beta launch on Wednesday the 30th September 2009, get that date in your diaries. I do advise, however, that unless you have an amazing Internet connection (that's me out) that you do not go on to Wave until at least a few days afterwards as the servers will be packed and therefore very slow. I mean, it was slow and sluggish on the Sandbox build (which I happen to be on) and it will no doubt be worse than that for a good few days after the launch.

If you want a look at Wave before launch, go to wave.google.com and watch the I/O video which showcases all the features.

In Other news: There's going to be something big coming soon... Watch this space. And I'll be trying to post more while I get it sorted.

For now,
Yours,
Ratscallion

Apple September 9th Event: It's Only Rock and Roll (but we like it)

2009-09-09T18:05:00.007+01:00

Today is the day of the very anticipated Apple September 9th event and I've been following the keynote since it started (6PM GMT) and this post is going to be covering most of the things announced in the keynote which I am following here.
First of all, OS 3.1. OS 3.1 is the new update for the iPhone and iPod Touch, the main new feature (that has been covered so far) is that there are now App Genius. The same as Genius for the music, but now for Apps. Genius recommends new apps based on the ones you already own! Genius!

Next, iTunes 9. it is officially live NOW and, I think, you can download it now too! Here's a breif run down of new features:

Genius mixes. Basically, iTunes DJ crossed with Genius.
Improved syncing! App management in iTunes! You see the homescreen and everything!
Home sharing with shared libraries. Copy songs from computer to computer up to 5 times!
iTunes store reonnovation!
iTunes store now has LPs!

As Jobs himself says (did I forget to say STEVE bley JOBS is doing the keynote???!!! Well, he is.) these are just a few of the new features in iTunes 9.

Straight after this happened in the usual Apple fashion, image with bullets to the side, Jeff Robins pops on stage to demo iTunes 9 by starting with App Organisation and connecting his iPod Touch.

So, you can select multiple apps at once, and move them, just click and drag. You can even reorder the pages! Then, in the usual way, click Apply and it's done.

Robbins then demos the Homesharing part of it all, which is really quite self-explanatory so I won't really cover that too much, just that it requires lots and lots of passwords! Now this is neat: The ability to sync purchases. Loving it!

iTunes Store re-design:

Nav bar at the top, no more going back to home, and each category has its own sub menu and within that are genres for each category
Click an album, and you get a pop-up with all the tracks
Share information to Facebook! (the first of many social features)
Another look at iTunes LPs comes now...
Each page in the LPs have a custom theme, same principle to that in Tap Tap

iTunes extras:

Movies have a DVD/BluRay extra features

The iTunes 9 demo concludes as STEVE bley JOBS returns to the stage. iTunes 9 is available NOW says JOBS as Phil Schiller takes the stage. You may remember him from the recent conference when he covered for Jobs.

Moving onto iPods:

225 million units sold!
73% of market share, as opposed to Zune's 1.1%
Not surprisingly, the iPod Touch is the most sold
20 million of those alone sold
Phil begins comparing the iPod to other gaming devices, the PSP and DS, I honestly don't care here... :P
And then, there's a demo of iPod games, which is going on a bit...
When it finally ends, Phil Schiller returns to talk about the fact that the iPod Touch is the cheapest way to the App Store
We now have a 64GB iPod Touch, which is 50% faster!
They've also added OpenGL|ES to the 64GB version
And there's a new ad for the new iPod Touches, which they show off now (that's your cue Apple :P)
They're also changing the iPod Classic to 160GB as opposed to 120GB
New Shuffle colours! Black, pink, silver, green and blue
Plus, a special edition stainless steel version in black for an upped price
The rumours are true! Video cameras have arrived!
The iPod Nano: Video camera, speaker and mic, all built in!
And, iPod Nano gets Genius!
Not only that, FM Radio, Voice Recorder and Pedometer (works with Nike + by the way), all built in.
And here comes the NEW iPod Nano ad which shows of Video a lot...!
Norah Jones comes on stage to play her new set...

Just a small update here, with the Apple Store back up now, there doesn't seem to be any cameras on the new iPod Touch, however there is a Remote in the 16+GB versions along with a mic, but not in the 8GB.

After the iPod part, STEVE bley JOBS ended the keynote and sent everyone packing... No show of the rumoured tablet, and not even a camera on the iPod Touch, just the Nano.

For now,
Yours,

Ratscallion

Video: A look at Audacity and some of its features

2009-09-05T18:44:00.004+01:00

Here's a quick video I decided to make about Audacity.

Audacity, as it says in the video description and the official website, is a free, cross-platform (meaning it will run on Windows, Mac and Linux) audio editor.

Want to download it? Go here.

This video is simply a brief overview of the installation of Audacity and some of its basic features, NOT one to show every single feature available.

This is one of the main reasons I advise you to play around with Audacity as much as you like to see some of the more advanced features (as well as these ones) for yourself on your own audio. With this approach, you will quickly see why this is such a brilliant tool to use.

In other news: You may have noticed that this video looks slightly rushed.. That's because it is. I hadn't got a clue what to do it on! If you've got any requests, I'm always open to them! Let me know in the comments or drop me an email by simply clicking here.

For now,
Yours,
Ratscallion

Snow Leopard not come yet? What a shame!

2009-08-31T13:55:00.003+01:00

Going in for a bit of a rant now, well, more of an argument but oh well.

People keep complaining to me (I don't know why, but still) on Twitter, MSN, the like that their order of Snow Leopard, the latest instalment of the Mac OS X Operating System that they pre-ordered hasn't arrived yet.. What a shame. I love Mac, I'll say that right now: It's reliable, looks good and makes you look like someone with a job beginning with executive.

I'm not going in for one of those Mac Vs PC, Mac Vs Linux, or even Mac Vs Pc Vs Linux arguments but I'll just say that on that day in October when Windows 7 comes out, the same thing will happen again. People in certain areas will be getting it before others, like now with Snow Leopard.

However, that day in October when Ubuntu Karmic Koala 9.10 comes out, I'll just log onto the Ubuntu website and hit the download button. No waiting for it to arrive in my country, no pre-ordering. No paying. Hit download, wait a few hours, done.

And the install, once I've downloaded, will be quicker than Mac OS X Snow Leopard too, 15 minutes. Up to 45. No more. Boot time? They're getting it down to less than 45 seconds from off to desktop, including time to enter user credentials. Beat that Mac and Windows!

Just a little rant I wanted to get off my chest.

In other news: I'm now on DeviantArt and Digg! My Digg is here and DeviantArt is respectively here.

For now,
Yours,
Ratscallion

Competition Update

2009-08-23T12:01:00.003+01:00

Hello!

Already, after just 3 days of announcing the competition for the logo for the site I've already had two submissions and been told another is on its way in the coming weeks. Wow.

Anyhow, heres a small addition to the competition that you can use:

If you want to, you can use an animation making program to make an animation that is for the site. It still has to meet with all the criteria listed here though it's animated.

It needs to be exported as an animated gif so that people without Flash (or the latest version) installed and those on unsupported browsers, platforms and Operating Systems (like the iPhone, Chrome for Linux etc) can still view it. It must also be less than a minute in length so it's not too lengthy and for at least half of it, it must include the words "Ratscallion hints".

As mentioned in the Terms and Conditions it must include my avatar (found here), the Ubuntu logo (text or without, I don't mind) and the Windows logo (XP or later, again, with or without text).

As I mentioned earlier, it must be no bigger than 300x50pixels and preferably, no smaller, but it can be if you want it to be.

If you don't know how to export your .fla/.swf file in Adobe Flash (I'm using CS4, but it may work in other versions), I'll tell you how now. This is the final part of the post, so if you know how, you might as well skip down to the Other News bit..

So, once you've got your fla file open (must be fla, not swf) you go into the file menu, then on the export menu that's about 1/2-3/4 of the way down the file menu and then you want the Export Movie option (or you can just press Ctrl + Alt + Shift + S, not sure on a Mac however, if anyone knows, feel free to let me know). Once you're in the new dialogue, click the Save as Type drop down and select Animated Gif. You can change the file name if you like... Then just hit the Save button and you're done! Well, you get a new dialogue. Most of the time you can skip this, but, if you're doing it for this competition, you'll need to change the dimensions to 300x50 pixels but Flash can't do this as it has to keep the same aspect ratio, so do this at the start of the creation of the animation as a whole. Feel free to change the repetitions to as many as you like, though I'd prefer 0, but it's your choice. Once you've clicked Ok there, then you'll get a loading bar and it's done!

For now,
Yours,

Ratscallion

Back and a YouTube announcement (plus a small surprise)

2009-08-19T17:41:00.003+01:00

Long time (ish) no see!

Came back from Devon at the weekend and as soon as I got back I had an enourmous amount of admin to do (photos of which will be up shortly).

When I moved onto my YouTube subscriptions, I discovered something new: there was a 'link' on the actual video. Now usually this is only on embedded videos which will link you to the official YouTube page of it, though this was different, it was on the main page.

I went to click and found that it now pauses it, with a fancy animation (really fancy). Try it yourself! It's simply a zooming in of the new status of the video, paused or playing, with the same icon as is on the pause/play button.

Gets quite addictive pausing and resuming videos when you first discover it.

As for the surprise that I mentioned in the title. It's more of a competition than a surprise really, but anyway, it still stands. Any of you into graphics design? Well, I need a logo for the site and instead of doing it myself, I'd like my readers to do it. You have just over one month (requests for longer are allowed, and I can extend it if you wish) to make me a logo which is no more (and hopefully no less) and 300x50 pixels. It must include the following:

The text "Ratscallion hints" in any font or size you wish, but it must be readable easily
The Windows icon (any one you wish that is recent, ie, nothing that is pre-Windows XP)
The Ubuntu icon (this can be with or without the text, I don't mind)
My YouTube account avatar (found on Flickr here)

The closing date for this is September 28th and you can get your submissions to me in many ways:

Submit them to a photo sharing site (Flickr, Twitpic, etc) and paste the link to a photo in either a comment or email (or Tweet it to me, I'm @samozzy)
Send it to me as an email. Just send it to my Google Mail account as either an attachment or within the email. Click here to make an email addressed to me.

As I said, you can use any of the aforementioned methods to send your submissions or questions (including lengthening the competition time).

I will slowly but surely wittle down the submissions (though all will be featured on my Flickr and on here) until I have one that is my favourite. This will be featured on anything I can including my YouTube, advertisements on other sites etc.

In other news: I'm dropping the Google Wave video. As I found out, there is already a shortened version of the keynote on YouTube which I will embed into the next post.

For now,
Yours,

Ratscallion

For now,
Yours,
Ratscallion

Holiday!

2009-08-06T16:54:00.002+01:00

Hi!

Just a quick announcement post here just to say that I'm going on holiday this weekend for one week and therefore will not be posting anything until a few days after I return.

Don't worry though! I have plenty planned for when I get back, reviews, tips and some videos all in store... Really, I have, I'm not making this up just to keep you interested :P

Anyhoo, I'll be coming back on the 15th, but will probably be relaxing that night, so the next post should be on the 16th. There may be a couple of more posts but I don't think so.

That's it for now then... No buttons on this post as it isn't worth it as much as the other posts are.

For now,
Yours,

Ratscallion

Google Wave!

2009-08-01T13:08:00.003+01:00

Hello!
Ever since Google Wave was announced, I applied for a sandbox account..
I got my Sandbox invite on Wednesday and sent off the link and received my account details on Thursday. I was like, omg, why me, but still, it's wave, no complaints!

When you first log in, you're prompted to change your password to something other than the one Google gives you. Not only do you get your sandbox account, but you also get a test account (which I let a friend into) for the collaboration parts.

Already, I'm loving Wave and have been playing with some of the Robots, things that can help you with Waves. One of the more famous robots is Rosey, the translator and Bloggy, which embeds a Wave into a blog or web page. At the moment, however, Bloggy creates a sample blog on the appspot domain because Wave is not yet released to the public.

My main concern, however, is the Embed API which is basically a manual version of Bloggy. I've been having a play with it and trying to get it to embed into my other blog (here) though, as yet, I haven't been able to implement it. Even if you're not on the Sandbox, you can see if a Wave is embedded by the fact there's something in the box. If you're on the sandbox, you get to see the Wave itself - and add to it if you're a participant or if it's a public wave - and if you're not, you get a messsage saying you're not on the sandbox. At the moment, however, there is nothing (or what looks like nothing) there at all.

As for Wave itself, I've been loving it!

More updates to come as I get further into discovering Wave and its many features!

Sorry about the lack of posts, I've been playing around with Wave and its APIs. I should be embedding a Wave here soon enough!

Also, if you want to add me on the Wave Sandbox, feel free to do so!
I am samozzy@wavesandbox.com

For now,
Yours,

Ratscallion

Video: Sync calendars with iPod

2009-07-27T13:03:00.003+01:00

Hello! Very brief video here, it's just a small tip, and, I thought, as I hadn't done one for some time yet, I'd do one now. So, here it is, a small tip, it may be small, but it's still something not many people no how to do. In iTunes, if you want to sync calendars, you must have a certain software installed, it's different in the Mac and Windows versions. Most people just think, right, I haven't got this software, I can't put my calendars on. In fact, you can! Just follow the steps in the video below:

So, to be able to do this, you'll need a few things:

An iPod (I don't think the iTouch or iPhone work... Though I'm sure the Nano does...)
iTunes (if you don't have it, get it here
A calendar in .ical format (post on how to do this coming soon)

Assuming you have all the aforementioned items, we can continue. Hook up your iPod to the computer either via a docking station or the USB cable. iTunes should recognise it's plugged in, so go on and sync your music stuffs to it if you want. Ok, that done, go into the iPod Summary page, and make sure the box next to "Enable disk use" is checked. Apply the changes, and head over to Computer. Find the disk that is your iPod and go into it. There should be a folder called "Calendars". Then, open a new File Browser window or Tab (tabbed file browsing in Linux is the best ever!) and browse to where your calendars are located. Copy whichever calendars you want (like me, you may have more than one) to the Calendars folder. Remember, in most iPods you can choose what calendars to view when you go into Calendars, or view all of them, so you could categorise them.

Done that? Go back into iTunes, disable disk use (you don't have to, but you can if you want to), sync up, and eject your iPod. Your calendars should be synced.

I'm getting an iPod Touch in the coming weeks, so there'll be both a review on that, and an update to say if I can do this on there.

In other news: Not much happening at the moment, few posts about some software, maybe a couple of videos? Not quite sure as yet. However, I do have a Tumblr now. Go to it here.

For now,
Yours,
Ratscallion

Oops and Ahh!

2009-07-26T19:14:00.003+01:00

Hello!

Just to tell you now, I got my dates mixed up for August’s holiday, I’m actually leaving a week later than I first thought, meaning the Tip of the Month will be up August 1st at some point. I’m not sure when as yet, as my wi-fi card has been playing up today and I’m not sure if it will stay this way!

Also, I have some VERY bad news: The Google Wave highlights video editing seem to have been misplaced… Actually, deleted. Yeah, I had a few problems with Ubuntu in Wubi (root and boot.disk disappeared to be precise) so I did a quick and easy reinstall like I explained in my previous post and video (it’s just below, so you don’t need a link :P). Anyhoo, after the install, I decided to set up my bookmarks and saw this blog… All that time… For nothing. I was almost half way through as well!

Then, I remembered, I luckily copied the *.kdenlive file into the same folder as the actual mp4 (Google IO.mp4) on my Windows partition (/host in Wubi). Phew!

So, now, all I have to do is reinstall the video editing software I used (Kdenlive in this instance) and can carry on with the editing. Excellent!

I think that’s a lesson for all of us here: back up your data. You never know what’s going to happen to it and when. In this particular instance, if I hadn’t backed up, there was no way (I don’t think, I mean, I could have gone down to a root prompt in the recovery Kernel and copied it, but, really, I don’t think that will be the option in many cases) I could have restored or gotten to the file. Think about it, your hard drive (or at least, a partition of it) is inaccessible and contains important file(s). Tough luck there trying to get it back. With Wubi especially, even with a Linux Live CD, you can’t access the Wubi stuff. It can only be accessed within Wubi.

So, that’s it for now,

Yours,

Ratscallion

Video: Install Ubuntu Within Windows With Wubi

2009-07-23T11:39:00.008+01:00

Hi! Here comes the unveiling of the surprise video that I have not yet told you the name of. (Cue dramatic music to build tension)... Install Ubuntu With Wubi!

Since I started this blog, I've been hoping to do some videos in Ubuntu, and this is the first. Apologies in advance for the awful sound quality, I had to record it post-filming. Not only that, but the video quality for the filming of the Ubuntu parts is not the best either. Despite that, you can get the information that you do need from the video and I'm always getting emails when you post comments (on the video and the blog), so I will be there to answer them!

Anyhoo, after this breif explanation, here's the video you've all been waiting for. Enjoy! :

To get Ubuntu installed via Wubi, you'll need to download a few things. First of all, you'll need the Wubi executable. It works with all versions of Windows from Windows 98 and upwards (excluding Windows ME). Go and grab it by going here.

While that's downloading, you can go and grab the Ubuntu ISO, or disk image, from The Ubuntu Website. Just click download and then choose the Ubuntu version and desktop environment that you want. The default version, Ubuntu, uses the GNOME desktop environment, whereas Kubuntu uses the KDE desktop environment. Xubuntu is ideal for old computers with less RAM and a smaller Hard Drive. Go to the official Xubuntu website for the complete system requirements. Xubuntu uses a toned down version of the GNOME desktop environment. Most of these ISOs - apart from Xubuntu- are around 700MB, with the Xubuntu one being a bit less.

Once both files have downloaded, put them in the same folder and launch the executable (Wubi). Choose your desktop environment (see previous paragraph), language, installation size (needs about 10GB to be comfortable, the minimum allowed is the minimum in the list) and a user name and password that you'll use to log in. Once all this is done, hit install. You'll be about 15 minutes as long as you have the ISO previously downloaded, otherwise, Wubi will download it for you, but not save it anywhere (I think, correct me if I'm wrong).

Once the install is complete, you'll be asked to reboot - you don't have to, but it is recommended that you do. Once you have decided to finally reboot, you get the choice of OS: Ubuntu and Windows. Windows will be selected as it is the default OS. Use the arrow keys to select Ubuntu and hit enter to boot to it. There'll be a video coming up showing how to edit the default OS and other options.

Ubuntu will act as if it's booting from the CD, so speed will be cut at this point. However, this does not reflect the speed for the actual OS once installation has completed. Anyway, the installation will continue as normal and you shouldn't be prompted to do anything. This part will last around half an hour - give or take a few minuets - so you can go and do other things while you wait. Once the whole thing is done (you don't need to watch every bit of the installation) it will reboot. Again, you'll need to select with the arrow keys to boot into Ubuntu. This time, it will be full speed as if you'd partitioned. Now, you'll be prompted for the User Name and password that you specified in Wubi.

After entering the User credentials, you are presented (in seconds, literally) with the Ubuntu desktop. It's really quite incredible seeing it for the first time, all clean and ready to be used. In the not too distant future I should be making more videos about Ubuntu and how to customize it.

In other news: As I mentioned in my previous post, the Tip of the month for August will be up in a few days prior to August as I'm going to Devon and may not have an Internet connection to be able to put the Tip up while I'm there.

In further news: Got plans for some smaller videos set up, though they are on Windows. However, one does work in any OS. Not saying anything as yet, though one was hinted about in the above article.

For now,
Yours,
Ratscallion

An Update of All Sorts, and news.

2009-07-21T15:14:00.003+01:00

Hello! First of all, there are going to be a few posts in the next few days, just because I can.

To start off with, I went into an Apple Store for the first time ever today! Here's a picture of what I saw upon entry:
[IMG]http://images.apple.com/uk/retail/images/store_photos/photo_miltonkeynes.jpg[/IMG]
Anyhoo, I went in there to firstly have a look to see if I could buy a plug for my iPod to charge it from mains, then see what I could get in the way of iTouch cases. Turns out, the iPlug (love the name? I made it myself!) was £25 a HUGE amount for a plug. Secondly, I moved on to the iCase and found they were even more! Going to end up ordering the case from Amazon, same case, half the price! Instead of getting a plug, I'll just plug my iPod into my Wii's USB Port. Works very well as a charger, can just put the Wii on standby. That's a tip for all of you! On both entering the store and going upstairs, I bumped into a few Geniuses (??). On the American programmes and films, you see the Geniuses as cheesy helpful typical Americans. In the UK, it's exactly the same. In fact, a few of those Geniuses were American as well!

Next, a small piece of news: There will be no action from me from July 31st through to August 8th, I'm going on holiday to Devon, a well deserved one I think. Nice week away. May do a reminder post on the 31st of July, the day I'm packing. Photos will probably end up on my Flickr.

As for video news: I'll be doing narration for the surprise video on Thursday, so a little more editing after that and it should be up a few days after. Probably at the weekend, so July 25th ish. As for the Google Wave Keynote highlights, I've been doing a lot on that recently. Still got a lot to do, so it may not be up until mid-August, maybe later. Also, I'll hopefully be doing a small tip video, around the length of Sound and Audio Device Enabling/Disabling (click to watch). However, I'm still not 100% sure on what it should be as yet... Will hopefully pop into my mind soon!

In other news: There's a lot of software I hope to be reviewing, some in the way of articles, others in the way of videos. Lots coming up and I'm really excited about it all!

For now,
Yours,
Ratscallion

Small video update

2009-07-14T17:44:00.003+01:00

Hello! I'd just like to say a big thank you to everyone who read the last post. It was very lengthy and probably a struggle for a lot of people to read in one big gulp.

Anyhoo, this post is just a small update to tell you all how my videos at the moment are getting on. Firstly, the Google I/O Day 2, Google wave highlights. This video will almost definitely be a multi-parter as the main thing is over 90 minutes long, and I am going to struggle to get it into one 10 minute sitting. So yeah, probably a few parts. Also, I have finally found a video editor with MP4 support. It's in Linux and uses FFMPEG, YAY!

Finally, the surprise video. As far as I'm aware, I haven't actually said what it's going to be, and, until it's released, I probably won't. It's a really big risk for me, as I had to use my camera on a super reflective screen (yup...). Still, all of the filming and screen recording has been completed and edited with zooms and crops. All that's left now is to add the narration. I did it this way so that it all fitted in together, and will probably do it this way in the future too.

In Other news: There will be NO blog posts for the second week in August... I'm on a well deserved holiday down in Devon. Well, that's if (very likely) there's no Wi-Fi. I'll still probably take the laptop, going to watch some movies and can't be bothered to get a porto DVD player.

For now,
Yours,
Ratscallion

Google Update

2009-07-11T18:42:00.008+01:00

Hello! Not updated you for some time now, and I'd just like to say, I've been very (well...) busy with... stuff. So, yeah... (bad excuse, I know). As for videos, I've recorded the video part of the next video. However, there was a little problem, I imported the video into Linux, and then copied the avis to the Windows partition, and now the folder I put the avis in is "Corrupt". Going to try and sort it out later along with narrating and editing it.

As for the Google I/O , Google Wave Highlights video, I still need either a converter for mp4 to something else, video clipping software with mp4 support (ideas?).

Google Wave, eh? Google's got another thing coming soon too: Chrome OS. Chrome OS is an Operating System that is being constructed as I type this, by Google. There have been many rumors going around the net that Google will construct and OS soon enough. Sometimes, though, they aren't even rumors, mainly just wishes. Still, it IS officially going to happen. Still doubtful? Google posted in their official blog (http://googleblog.blogspot.com) about the introduction of Chrome OS.

The idea behind it is that many people use the web for almost everything nowadays (just think, how often to you spend offline completely, compared with that of online and using online applications). Therefore, Google are simply going to base their new OS on the Internet. Not only that, but Google now have their own web browser (Google Chrome), so that will be the default browser for the OS. Also, as known and actively used by many, Google offers many different services that are slowly making us creep closer and closer to cloud computing. For example, there's no longer a need for any downloadable office software, we have Google Docs, need a program for RSS feeds? Google Reader's there. The list goes on and on, and on, and on (it really does).

Basically, Chrome OS is going to be aimed at netbooks and netbook users, whose main aim is to be constantly connected to the net and use it whenever possible. That's why Google have covered this point in their blog post:

"People want to get to their email instantly, without wasting time waiting for their computers to boot and browsers to start up. They want their computers to always run as fast as when they first bought them. They want their data to be accessible to them wherever they are and not have to worry about losing their computer or forgetting to back up files."

The article then goes on to say:

"Even more importantly, they don't want to spend hours configuring their computers to work with every new piece of hardware, or have to worry about constant software updates."

Google also has some of the main suppliers of netbooks behind them as, already, Acer, HP, Lenovo and Asus, to name a few.

To put it in a nutshell: Google is going to make an OS that will be speedy and based on the Linux kernel (meaning it will probably be free). It will be based on the net using all of Google's applications (Reader, Docs etc) to function. It will be mostly aimed at netbooks, but that will only be to start with, it will no doubt end up on the Desktop. Google is also creating an entire new window management system from scratch.

I do suggest reading the aforementioned blog in full to be able to grasp everything that Google will be offering. However, I do have a few more things to say before you casually navigate off of this blog.

Firstly, it's quite easy to figure out what Google is going to be using for it's Instant Messaging: Google Wave. Of course, it's still in development, but Google say that Chrome OS will not be available until mid/late 2010, and Wave is supposed to be released " later this year," so there's plenty of time to wait for Wave.

Secondly, Google are going to have to put their heads together and work really hard on trying to sort this out. Think about it, you're using Chrome for pretty much everything, so if you click a launcher that's on the desktop for, say, office software, and you already have an instance of Chrome open, is it going to open a new instance (window), a new tab, or do nothing? At the moment, in the desktop environment of GNOME, it would say it's already open, because it's using the same program... Though Google, as I mentioned earlier, is making a new Desktop Environment, so that should hopefully sort out this problem.

Next, I'd just like to flatten the whole thing by saying one thing: Google is a company. A company's only purpose is to earn money, and, as previously discussed on the net, Google makes money by using 2 things: adverts and data. Data? Yes, data. It collects the usage data of the customers and then sells them to third-parties. For example, the Google Wave whitepapers state that the data will be kept on the servers, but not for how long. You'd assume that it would be until the data has been received by the recipient, but, no. It would conveniently get sold to the highest bidder. As are all our search queries. So, let me ask you, Google, how are you going to get our data this time, and, once you have it, what are you going to do with it. Both questions are relatively simple to answer. Firstly, there will probably be some sort of 'data collection service' that you can opt in and out of at your free will, we hope. Seeing as Chrome OS is going to be based on a Linux Kernel, we'd hope this, as Google will not - hopefully - be able to edit the kernel source code, and it would be included in the Terms of Service if there had been. This data collection would probably just be things like what you do on a day to day basis. Basically Wakoopa, but it sells the data and collects more than what software you use, but what you actually do and every character you type in the software.

Finally, I'd just like to say, thank you very much for taking your time and reading through this post. I do admit that it is a big chunk of writing to be able to read through and was hesitant myself in actually submitting it, but, nevertheless, thank you.

In other news: As previously mentioned, I am still having a few problems with the video because of "folder corruption" which should be fixed shortly.

For now,
Yours,

Ratscallion

Surprises coming soon!

2009-07-03T20:49:00.005+01:00

Hellooo! Just been filming the next of my videos, and I have to tell you, it is going to be big. Unfortunately, I'm keeping it quiet for some time, possibly until it's posted. It will take some time to edit because I had to use my actual camera to film it (there's a hint for you!). This means I'll have to remove the sound from the camera video and then narrate it and get the timing right. Also, when recording the screen, I decided to not record the audio on that as well, narration too! I may also have to edit the video, rather than the timeline because of some reflection issues... The room I recorded in wants to stay secret for some time thank you!

In other news: I'll be doing an article on Wakoopa, then possibly Google Wave (though probably not until it is released) and some more software. These will definitely include screenshots!

For now,
Yours,

Ratscallion

Mozilla Firefox 3.5

2009-06-30T16:29:00.013+01:00

Just today (30th June) Mozilla has posted the next, and one of the most anticipated, release to their multi-award winning browser, Firefox 3.5. It's fully out of the Beta and Release Candidate stages of its life, and is now on the road to the end. The road that will eventually mean it joins its predecessors, in the Recycle bin, ready to be finally deleted and replaced with the next, even better version. However, we don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves, we've only just found out 3.5 is released.

Despite the fact I haven't tested/installed it as yet (the update is not just yet ready for Ubuntu, though I could download a replacement if I wanted, I don't), I have looked at the complete New features list (here, if you wanted) and it looks very feature rich. So much so, it seems to be competing highly with the other main browsers (Safari, Chrome, Opera, IE). For example, it has now introduced the Private Browsing feature (still keeping the Delete Browsing History of course), just weeks after Safari 4 was released with this feature. Coincidence? I don't think so.

Anyhoo, I do think it is worth installing, seeing as many bugs have been squashed and *almost* every new add-on and extension that is going to be made in the future (until the next release), will struggle to be compatible with the previous version. Not only that, but this version has a really persuasive video to go with it, nothing like videos from previous versions...

Firefox 3.5 is available for all 3 of the major OSs (Windows, Mac and Linux) and in over 70 languages. Get YOUR firefox HERE!

In other news: I think I'm going to do a new video on Friday (hopefully, possibly not :(, and I'm still looking for that video editor with MP4 support. If anyone knows of one, give me a shout. Not sure when QuickTime X will be released, that will obviously give MP4 support...

For now,
Yours,

Ratscallion

Bit of a problem...

2009-06-19T18:54:00.004+01:00

Hello.

I have a bit of a problem this week: I have been really busy with school work and the lark, and haven't had much time for video editing etc. However, I have a plan up my sleeve! Seeing as I have been using Ubuntu a lot recently, (9.04) I can probably find some video editor in the repositories that supports mp4. I'll keep you posted with the latest news!

For now,

Yours,

Ratscallion

Video: Safari 4 Beta, New Improvements and Changes

2009-06-09T20:30:00.002+01:00

Hi!

Here is the video that I have been planning for some time: The new features in Safari 4

To get Safari 4, the world’s fastest browser, from Apple, just go here. The download will take a matter of minutes on an average broadband connection and the install will be around the same. The installation is the same as any other program, almost completely automated, just click next, next (a few more times) and let it install. You may need to change a few things though!

Safari 4 (full version) is deceptively similar to its predecessors, however there are many differences that can be discovered in minutes. These include cover flow bookmarks: Organise your bookmarks into folders and browse through them with Cover Flow, just like in iTunes. Not only that, but in the same interface of the bookmarks you can search through either your bookmarks but you have the option of searching through EVERYTHING recorded in Safari. Safari also acts as an RSS reader, simply click on the RSS button in the address bar (when it’s available) and save it as a bookmark. This feed will update automatically and notify you when you have an update. There are LOADS (150 in total!!) of new features in Safari 4, just go here to view them all, courtesy of Apple.

In Other News: I’m going to try and get the Google I/O sorted ASAP. Whether ASAP is tomorrow, or next month, it will be soon. Furthermore, there’s an article coming up, but I’m not going to tell you. I am VERY excited about it, and the release of the item I’m describing. That was a hint, here’s another: It’s from Google…

For now,

Yours,

Ratscallion

Apple Wordwide Developer Conference June 2009

2009-06-09T18:04:00.002+01:00

Hello again.

This June it is time once again to welcome the Apple Developer Conference. Unfortunately, I was unable to be able to go to one of the biggest tech events of the year. Instead, I got the live feed which was constantly being updated throughout the event second by second.

Prior to the event, many sites and forums compiled a list of things that would be introduced or changed in the event, here are some of those items:

Mac OS X Snow Leopard will be released
A new iPhone will be released
iPhone and iPod Touch OS 3.0 will be released
New versions of LOADS of Apple software will be updated and released
New Mac Books will be released with the possibility of 3G

These were just some of the many items that sites were rumouring Apple would release on Monday 18th June. Many, if not all of these sites were completely right when they made these guesses. In fact, ALL of the guesses I mentioned were released by Apple at the event. Here comes a more in-depth explanation of what was released at the event.

Mac OS X Snow leopard – The new operating system for ALL Macs has been released for the rip off price for the whole OS is a mere $29. There have been loads of changes including 3D Rendering on the Dock; Exposé on the Dock; the install frees up 6GB of Disk Space; The installation is 45% faster; and JPEGS and PDFs load over 1.5% quicker.
A new iPhone – The new iPhone has been called the iPhone 3G S, S for Speed. It has double the RAM and a huge processor. Not only that but it can go up to 32GB, unfortunately, the S is not available with the 8GB.
iPhone OS 3.0 - As mentioned in the iPhone SDK video a few months ago, many of the features listed in this video were echoed in the demo at WWDC. In case you managed to miss BOTH of these events, here is a quick run through of many of these features: Landscape keyboard in loads of apps including notes and mail, cut, copy, paste and undo, Peer to Peer game and app sharing, in app subscriptions. Just available for iPhone: Push notifications, Find my iPhone, a feature to track your iPhone and also wipe it remotely with a password if you lose it. With Find my iPhone, iTunes will automatically back-up the contents of your iPhone. OS 3.0 will be released on June 19th 2009.
New versions of LOADS of software – Quick Time is being updated from Quick Time 7 to Quick Time X (10). I think we all need a moment to think about what would be in 8 and 9 if they were ever to be released… OK, that done, we can now just take a small look at the new features in Quick Time X when it will be released: Users will be able to to basic video editing in Quick Time (time line) without having to go into iLife and other programs; It will act more like the iTunes video player as the controls (and title bar on a Mac, not sure about Windows) will all disappear when the mouse is not hovering/moving. There are loads of other features including the completely new UI and icon. Not only that, but the WWDC did not mention anything about the differences between the Pro and free versions, nor the price of the Pro. This has made many people (including myself) simply assume that Quick Time X and Apple have dropped the pro feature and all the features will be available in one free version. Furthermore, Apple have completely re-written the WHOLE of the Finder, this time in Cocoa allowing loads more possibilities. Despite this, the UI is the same, it just has a few more features. Finally, Safari 4 is being publicly taken out of Beta and the full version is being released. The main new features in Safari 4 will be explained in my video when it is released in a few days.
Finally, ALL the Mac Books have been completely revamped. They all have a brand new display and the Apple lithium battery offering over 500 charges and 7 hours of battery life. Not only that, but all of the Mac Books have been turned into a Mac Book Pro, making a series of 3 different Mac Book Pros and only one Mac Book: The one with the plastic back. Not only that, but all Mac Book Pros now have some very good new features: the already mentioned battery, screen and graphics cards; the fire wire 800 port has returned; an SD card slot has been added; and the processor count has shot up, most of the MBPs (15 and 17”) now have 3 different varieties, with the processor going up to over 3Ghz. Unfortunately, there were no hopes of a 3G Mac Book, so that idea goes out the window for the time being.

As you can see, this year’s WWDC was a big and important one for many Apple enthusiasts, though many things that were rumoured were not included:

Steve Jobs (former Apple CEO until his ‘sick leave’) did not make an appearance which was very unexpected as his Wikipedia Page states that Jobs: “announced a six-month leave of absence until the end of June 2009 to allow him to better focus on his health”
There were no updates to any of the other iPods other than the Touch and iPhone, suspected rumours included the Nano getting a camera and updates to the shuffle also.

Other than this, the Keynote went down a treat. Everyone just hopes that the next Keynote from Apple will be even better.

In Other News: The Safari video is almost ready, just a final bit of editing to go. The Google I/O video will be taking a while as I cannot find a video editor compatible with MP4, any advice is welcome. However, Quick Time X WILL be able to do this in the video cropping feature, when it is released, so I may be testing that, in which case another article will be done on that.

For now,

Yours,

Ratscallion

Twitter and Digg

2009-06-03T19:36:00.003+01:00

This post has been Edited, please see the bold parts and below for the new version of this post. Thank you.
Bit of bad news now. Unfortunately, the ReTweet and Digg buttons have all stopped working for the blog at the moment. Therefore, there will be no more ReTweet or Digg buttons until further notice. I will also edit the the sidebar gadget explaining this change. Sorry for any invonvenience caused in this problem. However, if anyone has any ideas about how I can get these buttons back and working, I am open to ALL ideas. Feel free to add these ideas to the comments!
EDIT: Please note, this issue is only because of the NoScript Add-on that is available for Mozilla Firefox. If you can NOT see the buttons and have the NoScript Add-on installed, please allow blogger.com (any scripts on the blog), tweetmeme.com(Retweet button), digg.com (Digg button) and ubuntu.com (for the Ubuntu 9.04 ad I put on) to be able to see the buttons. Thank you.For now,
Yours,

Ratscallion

What’s coming up…

2009-06-03T19:29:00.003+01:00

Just going to say what I’m going to be doing in the next few weeks:

As many are probably aware, Google has announced that their new service: Google Wave, it has been launched in the development stage. Meaning that only developers that sign up for the Sandbox can only use it, and for developing only. Google say that the first public version will be released “later this year,” that could mean tomorrow, or December.

Before I do my big article about my thoughts and whatnot, I think I’ll just let you know that because I haven’t done a video for sometime, I’m going to do one about Wave. None of it will be my own work, I’ll simply use the Google I/O Developer Presentation, which is over 1 hour 20 long, and cut it down to produce the highlights. This will then be published as my next video both here and YouTube.

In other news: The Safari 4 video may have to turn into an article as I haven’t had the time for the recording of a video, need silence, hardly ever happens in my house!

For now,

Yours,

Ratscallion

The World of Tomorrow

2009-05-23T19:02:00.002+01:00

Hi everyone! While I was surfing the web, I came across this picture. It is an artist’s representation of the current Social Media. However, a thought struck me: Is this the world of tomorrow? For example, there is a building for the bookmarking site Delicious, this could very easily become a reality, with buildings all over the world. People could go into the buildings, make an account (maybe a card like a library?), and recommend places around the world for people to visit or have a look at. They would also be able to look at places and topics other users of the service have recommended. Even if the place user they want to view is on the other side of the world (or even the other side of the city) the user would simply have to log in with their card to a computer and check any of the newly recommended places. Users could also print their recommendations out and give them physically to their friends who may not be members of the service.

Further along the landscape there is the Skype truck. I do think that it would be a building rather than a truck. Anyway, this could be used to make video calls, like the current computer based service, to other members of the service. All that would be needed is a handheld device (similar to a pager) that all users would be carrying around with them that would instantly notify them (text based) if someone was trying to contact their unique number. The user would then go to their nearest Skype building and use their unique number to ‘log in’ to a booth. They would then be able to access all their contacts, missed calls, current calls and also call other people whether they’re on their contact list or not, just like a normal phone. The main advantage would be that users would now be able to see the people they were talking to, allowing better communication between people. For example, if someone was talking about how good their new iPod was, they would also be able to show them the iPod and take the person they were talking to through it.

Furthermore, the Google building would be great if anyone wanted any information fast. They’d simply go into it, and, like an Apple store, as a clerk at the counter a question. This clerk would then check any of the files and, in seconds, would come up with an answer. If it wasn’t the answer required, then the clerk would search again. Did I forget the mention that the clerks were probably robots? Well, the clerks are probably robots. This would make the search more efficient allowing the clerk to index their own memory, making it far quicker for everything to take place.

Finally, the YouTube building would be ideal for anything vlog. A user would simply go in, and go to one of the cameras. The whole building would really be more of a skyscraper, probably Empire State Building size, to be able to accommodate all of the ongoing users and video recording. The main building would probably have a few floors dedicated to video editing. This would be great for vloggers as they would be able to request that one of the staff edit their video for them, cutting out anything they don’t want to see. However, if the user didn’t want staff to do it, they’d be able to use whatever software available for them to edit their video. This software would be anything from novice software like windows movie maker, to professional software used in professional movies. I would have thought there’d be a few other floors filled with computers, with both microphones and webcams connected allowing users to make a screen cast. The computers would also be fitted with the video editing software on the other floors, it’s just that these computers would be used for screen casts ONLY to increase the amount of people editing at any one time. Users would also be able to ‘log in’ to any of the computers (will be loads on every floor, but these will be used only for the following purpose) and check if any of their friends have made a new video. They would also be able to ‘subscribe’ to someone and get notified (on the same pager device used with Skype) when they make a new video.

As you can see the possibilities of what would be in this Social Networking city are limitless. I have mentioned only a handful of things shown in the image. I now have just one question for you all: Will the world actually turn into, or a version of, this city? Discuss in the comments if you will.

In other news: As mentioned in the previous entry, the next video I make will be about the new features in Safari 4. I may also make a few articles before then as I don’t have much time for videos at the moment. I will, however, get more time in the not too distant future.

For now,

Yours,

Ratscallion

Competition Results

2009-05-20T18:08:00.002+01:00

Hi all!

As you may remember, I recently ran a survey to ask you all what you wanted the next video I made to cover. The answer was unanimous: A look at the new features in the public Beta of Safari 4.

In this video I will cover a number of the new features, though not the advanced ones, however I may touch on these a little bit.

While I have been away waiting for these results, I have been studying the art of Digital Photography and Photo Manipulation. Especially in Adobe Photoshop CS4 Extended. Therefore, I plan to do a video on some of the basic features you can do in this version of Photoshop. Some of these may be available in the other versions, though I am not sure.

The video I make after the Photoshop one will be about how to succeed when making a YouTube video. This will be shot when I am uploading the Photoshop video, therefore I may have to delay the upload of Photoshop. Or, instead, I might not do this video altogether and instead make an article out of it.

I have also decided what the following videos and/or articles will also be, however, I have decided to keep them hidden away for the time being.

For now,

Yours,

Ratscallion

Twitter News

2009-05-14T17:42:00.005+01:00

Hi all!

On Twitter this week, the Twitter 'bosses' have been doing some updates to the servers and site itself. One of the most talked about updates in all of Twitter has been the fact that Twitter has removed the setting to filter the replies you see on your Timeline. Replies are any Tweets that include your Twitter user name preceded by a @ sign. For example, if I was to send a Tweet to Evan Williams (Twitter CEO) asking him what he was doing I'd say:

"@ev What are you doing?"

Before Twitter was updated, there was a setting in "Notices" that allowed you to filter the types of replies you see in your timeline. This particular setting was a drop-down menu, the choices were as follows:

~ Show replies from anyone you're following

~ Only show replies if you're following both the sender and the person being replied to

~ Show none

If one was to select the "Show none" setting, they would still be able to see replies with themselves in the question, but only by going to their replies page. However, if I was to select any setting, I'd still see Tweets like:

"Just asked @ev what he was doing."

Despite the fact @ev is included, it is not a direct reply to him, it is showing other Twitter users that I have spoken to @ev. (Yes, I know, it gets very confusing )

As I mentioned at the start of this entry, Twitter has removed this setting completely, disallowing users to change this setting. Instead, Twitter has made it so that users automatically use what was the second setting: "Only show replies if you're following both the sender and the person being replied to." This means that if I send the Tweet mentioned above:

"@ev What are you doing?"

Only people following both myself and @ev would be able to see the Tweet. As again mentioned, users are still able to see Tweets just mentioning users, like:

"Just asked @ev what he was doing."

However, if, for example, I was to send the Tweet to @ev, he would not be able to see the Tweet because he is not following me. The only way of seeing this would be for him to check his replies feed, which, because he is CEO would be very full. The same principle of people not seeing messages you send to them unless they check their replies feed is the same for anyone you send a reply to who is not following you.

This same issue applies in a case like this: I am following @chrisdjmoyles, though I am not following @ev (for example, I am, in fact, following both). If @chrisdjmoyles sends a Tweet to @ev reading "@ev Hello, I like Twitter." I would not be able to see this Tweet as I am not following ev. I would only be able to see this Tweet if I were to go to @chrisdjmoyles' Twitter profile page. However, this sort of thing is not really quick and easy when you have to constantly keep checking people's profiles to see if they say anything.

Many Twitterers have been commenting on this all week (since the update) and are hating it. Mostly it is because many people like to view the Tweet being replied to and possibly follow that person.

Many Twitterers have also been making a hashtag (popular subject tagged with something preceded by a #) with #twitterfail and #fixreplies and tagging many of their "hate mail" as it were, with this particular tag. They are both some of the most mentioned things that they have BOTH made it into the Trending topics: an item in Twitter listing the 10 most mentioned words or phrases.

Discuss your thoughts on this topic in the comments and on Twitter itself.

In other news: Remember, the vote for the next video ends on Sunday 18th. There have already been many entries, enter yours now, it may be the video!

For now,

Yours,

Ratscallion

Good news and bad news.

2009-05-10T14:12:00.003+01:00

Hi!
Today I have some good news, and I have some bad news. I'll start with the bad news, so that the good news can cheer you up!
Here's the bad news: The program advised by PCWizKid for screen recording in Ubuntu, Gtk-RecordMyDesktop is not working on my machine. I don't know what it is, but the screen recording overtakes the sound (frame skips) and some of the parts of the sound have been cut out. This means that it neither looks nor sounds great. This means that, for some time, the most of my videos will end up being Windows.
Here's the good news: I have recently joined Del.icio.us under the name of Ratscallion and will be sorting my bookmarks out soon. This means that I will attempt to add a Del.icio.us button to the end of the blog, to add to the ReTweet and Digg This buttons. After some time, I will possibly be adding a Facebook, MySpace, Reddit, Bebo etc buttons, and may, instead, add the bar that is often seen on many places.

I have also added some more parameters to the Vote mentioned in the previous post:

The deadline for sending submissions will be Sunday 17th May 2009.
The submission must be Windows based, unless it is suitable for an Article, in which case it must be Windows or Ubuntu (preferably 9.04) based.
If software is being submitted, then the full install should be under 1 GB.
If software is being submitted, then it must be free on either a trial or permanent basis.
The item must not have an age restriction on it.

There has already been a few submissions, all pointing to one topic in particular. I am not obliged to reveal this, and, do not actually wish to at this time.

For now,
Yours,

Ratscallion

Hmm... Help?

2009-05-06T19:17:00.003+01:00

Hi everyone! As most of you know, I've had this blog for sometime now. At the start of the blog, I had a poll at the bottom, asking viewers what they thought of the blog... Unfortunately, the poll didn't actually have ANY replies. I was quite annoyed at this, though, knowing the blog was new, ignored the fact.

Now, because of the fact I have put blog links on many websites (twitter, Ubuntu Forums, my personal blog, unofficial mills, gnome-look.org, customize.org) I think I have quite a few more readers now. Therefore, I am going to ask you to help me.

I cannot actually think of an article/video topic to do this month. This is why I ask you, readers, to send me a message, on any of the sites I am a member of (I will put a link to each at the end of this post) to request anything you want. You can chose to make a preference for either a video or article, though, if you don't, I will choose the most appropriate.

Here are the links for the sites I will regularly check for comments and/or messages:

My YouTube Channel
My Customize.org Profile
My Ubuntu Forums Page
My Unofficial Mills Profile Page
My Gnome-Look.org Profile

If you don't want to use any of these, feel free to e-mail me directly with your request: Here it is!

Finally, you can always just comment on THIS post. I will ignore all request comments on other posts, only these one's will count.
Once I have done this first round, unless there is a unanimous winner, I will put all the ones with the biggest votes in a poll in this blog.

For now,
Yours,
Ratscallion

Ubuntu Jaunty!

2009-04-24T18:37:00.003+01:00

As many of you are probably aware, Ubuntu 9.04, Jaunty Jackalope was officially released on Thursday April 23rd, which happened to be St. George's Day. Anyway, I'll be installing that on a fresh install, and putting everything (network etc) on it in the next few days. That is, as long as I can download it (awful Internets at the moment...). Once that is done, the next video will be a simple showing of the new changes in Jaunty, what they are, and how to use them.

Until then,

For now,

Yours,

Ratscallion

Spotify: The Free Music Player

2009-04-19T18:33:00.002+01:00

Hi everyone! Have you ever wanted to simply play music, that you don’t own, on your computer? Well now you can! Spotify is a free client that allows you to stream music from an online source. This enables you to be able to listen to almost any song or album, absolutely free.

To get started, all you have to do is go to the Spotify Website and navigate to the download page. Spotify is available for both Windows and Mac. Although there is not a certified download for Linux, you can use WINE to run *.exe files in Linux, which also enables you to run Spotify under Linux. However, the Linux ‘version’ is not as stable as the others, so you may experience other problems.

After installing Spotify, you can start listening to music pretty much straight away, there is no need for a reboot. Just go into the main interface, to the search box at the top, and you can search for the Track Name or Artist. Though you do need to create a Spotify account, this is so all your Playlists can be saved to your account, and accessed from any computer where Spotify is installed. Once this is done, you can click the “Remember Me” button, and you’ll be automatically signed in whenever you launch Spotify.

Furthermore, you need a working Internet Connection to be able to use Spotify, as all the music is streamed from the online source. You will also need an Internet Connection to be able to log in, as you’re logging into the online database.

A brilliant feature of Spotify is the playlist feature. This allows you to save songs you like to a list you can play again and again. Simply go onto the left hand side pane, and click “New Playlist.” Adding songs to your playlist couldn’t be easier! When you have search results being displayed, you simply need to drag and drop the song you want to your playlist, and the song automatically gets put in there. Something I like to do quite a lot in Spotify, is make an album playlist. This involves making a playlist, and naming it the title of an album. I’d then search for the name of one of the songs in said album, and click on the name of the album. Spotify will then bring up each and every song in the album (that is available in the Spotify Library). Then, all you need to do, is select the songs you want (select multiple items by holding down the control key and clicking the items, or pressing control + a to select them all) and drag & drop them all into your playlist.

Another of these brilliant features, is the cover image. It is a small item on the left of the Spotify interface, which displays the Album Cover of the currently playing song.

There are two versions of Spotify: The freeware version, and the full version. To use the full version of Spotify, you have to pay an extra £9.99/month. The free version includes many banner ads, which don’t really block your view. There are also occasional audio ads, which don’t come up very often, but when they do, it gets rather annoying. They are about 20 seconds long, and advertise the full version of Spotify.

To conclude, Spotify is a great bit of software to have on your PC! If you hear about a song, but not sure if you want to buy it, it’s a fantastic way to sample it.

For further information regarding Spotify, and help and support, if you need it, go to The Spotify Website

In other news: Ubuntu 9.04, Jaunty Jackalope, is going to be released soon, why not download the Release Candidate now, from The Ubuntu Website. Do note that Jaunty is still not completely Stable, and should not be used for proper home use. If you do wish to try it out, this is for testing purposes ONLY.

For now,

Yours,

Ratscallion

Video: DropBox Features Walkthrough

2009-04-18T13:23:00.005+01:00

Hi everyone! Here is the video containing information on the File Synching program, DropBox.

To get started with your file sharing, simply go here. Click on Download DropBox, and then you can download the automated installer to get started. The account creation process will happen in the installation, so no need to worry about web based sign-ups.

All you need to do now, is get those files shared. You can do this in one of two ways: Navigate to your DropBox in Windows Explorer/Mac Finder and drag+Drop files/folders into the DropBox. Using this method is easy, as all the files in the DropBox get automatically synched with every computer linked to your account.

I did mention that there would be a special surprise in this video, and there are actually two. However one is more significant than the other. The first, less significant one is that I have changed the title music, and added some music to the narrated parts of the video. The second, more significant one, is that I have changed the video dimensions, they are now approximately 1000x700 pixels. This adds the option to play the video in High Definition, which, as I have tested, is bigger (literally) and better than ever before! Please Note: I have encountered a small bug (may only be my machine) where you need to turn it on, off and then onto HD again before HD works properly. Again, this may only be my machine.

In other news: I will be doing an article on the music program Spotify shortly, which should be up by next Sunday at the very latest. If it is not, then do file a complaint to either my YouTube channel, or the blog comments.

For now,

Yours,

Ratscallion

Video: SUMO Paint Features Walkthrough

2009-04-18T13:03:00.004+01:00

Hi Everyone! The long anticipated wait of the SUMO Paint video has come to an end. I have just finished uploading it to YouTube and here it is.

To get to the SUMO Paint website to register/login you can go here. However, if you want to get cracking and start drawing your masterpieces, go here instead.

SUMO Paint runs on Flash and Java, so make sure you have the latest version of both installed. If you haven't, you can go here.

SUMO Paint is an online photo manipulation program, it is very similar to Photoshop, as it has different tools and you have the feature to add different layers to your image. Use the tools on the left to add different effects and the colours on the right to find the perfect palette.

In other news: The DropBox video is going to have a special surprise with it... I'm not going to reveal it now, but it is something I've been secretly planning and hoping to do for some time... It should be ready and uploaded by tomorrow (Sunday) at the very latest.

For now,

Yours,

Ratscallion

Changes to a few things

2009-04-17T12:04:00.005+01:00

Hi everyone!

After the previous entry explaining the addition of Digg and Retweet buttons, I have decided to make some further edits to the blog.

First of all, I have removed the Twitter Updates section, mainly for more space.

Secondly, the Gadget of the Month will be changed, as abowman.com is running out of gadgets that I haven't already used. It will be changed into a Tip of the Month. Containing similar things to what is currently in it: a mini tip or hint that many people do not know, but I think should.

In other news: The SUMO Paint video will be uploaded today (Friday) and will be put on the blog by tomorrow (Saturday). I am also in the middle of editing the DropBox video, so that will be up soon as well.

For now,

Yours,

Ratscallion

Digg and Retweet Buttons

2009-04-16T18:25:00.007+01:00

Hi everyone! This evening, I have found the one thing that may make this blog flourish: Digg and Retweet buttons. If you're not sure what they're for, they are buttons that allow the user to Digg (via the Social Networking website Digg) or Tweet (via the Social Networking Site Twitter).

I am not a user of Digg, though will probably end up registering with it in the next few weeks, depending on the reaction of the Digg buttons.

These buttons work solely on JavaScript, so it would need to be installed and enabled before the buttons can be used.

Here's the buttons for this page with both the ReTweet and Digg buttons:

Every new post will include both of these buttons, and I may also add a bar for other social networking sites such as facebook, myspace, bebo etc. Both the buttons are to Tweet or Digg the blog entry, rather than the blog itself. I will set up one for the blog itself on the right hand column, above the Tip/Gadget of the month item.

In other news: I've finished shooting the next two videos: SUMO Paint and DropBox. Both of which will be finished by the weekend. I'll also be doing an article for Spotify shortly after the two videos have been finished.

For now,
Yours,
Ratscallion

Upcoming Videos and Articles

2009-04-15T11:09:00.004+01:00

Unfortunately, due to some issues with planning, I will probably be unable to make videos for all the free software mentioned in the previous post. Therefore, I will do a video for Sumo paint and possibly Spotify. Plus, I will be doing an article about DropBox. Although I said I will do a video for Spotify I may end up doing an article for it.

I will be doing some, if not all of the Sumo Paint video today (Wednesday 15th April) and will hopefully edit it today as well. After all 3 of the free software articles and videos have been done, I will be doing a features walkthrough of the worlds fastest browser: Safari 4 beta. Not only has Apple claimed that it is the fastest browser, I have also tested it, along with Firefox 3.0.8, Internet Explorer 7 and Google Chrome 1.0.154.53. All of these browser tests were done on Futuremark's Peacekeeper Browser Benchmark test. There is a features walkthrough that has been done by PCWizKid that can be viewed here Not only that, but you can get to the PeaceKeeper Browser benchmarker here.

Until then,

For now,

Yours,

Ratscallion

Top 5 Freeware

2009-04-08T16:12:00.004+01:00

Hi everyone! I've just been watching (over and over) a clip from the Gadget Show Website and have found the video about Top 5 freeware. This sample is very good indeed, but Gail Porter hasn't put enough information into the snippets as I would have liked. That is why I am going to be doing a video on almost all of the freeware items featured. These will be done under Windows Vista Home Premium, however, during each video I will explain whether they can be used under different Operating Systems (Mac/Linux).
The following items will all have a video made:

Spotify
Sumo Paint
DropBox

I will try and make at least one of the Ubuntu videos before I do these, however, that will, unfortunately, probably not happen.
Until then,
For now,
Yours,

Ratscallion

Video: Sound and Audio device enabling and disabling

2009-04-06T18:50:00.002+01:00

As I mentioned at the beginning of the month, I would be making many videos this month, and, here is the second one. Seeing as I've been using Windows Vista quite recently, I decided to do another one for Windows.
For your viewing pleasure, here it is:

All you have to do is go to the Control Panel and the Sound section of it. Then just click on manage audio devices, and you should get a dialogue box showing you your audio, recording and windows sound schemes. Go into whichever tab you want to edit, then choose the device. Once you've selected the device, click on properties, and at the bottom, you can change the selected item in the dropdown to either enable or disable. By default, in Windows Vista (maybe XP, though I'm not sure), the dialogue doesn't show any disabled devices, though it does show disconnected ones, strange. Anyway, to view these disabled devices, right click on any of the white space, and you should get two different items:

View disabled devices
and view disconnected devices.

To toggle the view of disabled devices, just click it. Then you can re-enable your disabled device.

In other news: Unless Ubuntu sorts its sound problem out, I will be doing a video on Command Prompt and batch file basics (two seperate videos). If Ubuntu does sort itself out, I will be doing the videos mentioned previously:

Making Ubuntu look like Mac OS X
and installing KDE onto Ubuntu.

For now,
Yours,

Ratscallion

Video: Google Maps Street View

2009-04-03T15:58:00.003+01:00

The video of Google Maps Street View is here. After a small blip in the creation process I managed to shoot and edit the video in 3 hours, quite good for me!
I did do a bit of ranting in part of it, which I did point out!
Anyway, here is the video:

Go to Google Maps and search for any location to check if Street View is available. Just go over to the left control and drag the slider up to zoom in. Once zoomed, click and drag the yellow figure to any of the blue areas.
You may not be able to access street view in certain places, but persevere. It is a work in progress, and many places still aren't available.

In other news: As mentioned in the video, I hope to make 3 more videos quite soon, they are:

How to install KDE onto Ubuntu
How to turn Ubuntu into Mac OS X, really.
And a tip for windows sound + audio settings.

These probably won't be in that order, and, if Ubuntu's sound problem keeps up, the Ubuntu one's may have to go on hold for sometime. Sorry about that.

For now,
Yours,

Ratscallion

Ubuntu Jaunty Countdown!

2009-04-01T19:33:00.002+01:00

Hi all! As many of you are probably aware Ubuntu 9.04, Jaunty Jackalope is going to be released in April 23rd. Of course, being the Ubuntu, and Linux in general, fan I am, I will upgrade/install the Jaunty update as soon as the stable release if available. I have found a few countdowns for the Jaunty release, and I'm going to try and both embed the one which can work with Blogger, and, of these, my favorite, to both this post, and the blog sidebar. The sidebar version of this will probably end up being removed when Jaunty is released, or maybe kept at the bottom of the blog for about a month... I'll probably decide closer to the time. &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.ubuntu.com/"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;img src="http://www.ubuntu.com/files/countdown/904/countdown-9.04-1/00.png" alt="Ubuntu 9.04 - on desktops, netbooks, servers and in the cloud" width="180" height="150" border="0" /&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; In other news: Seeing as it is April, I'm not going to add a pet as such, instead, it will be some form of April Fools website tips!. Also, seeing as abowman includes gadgets as well as pets, I'll rename it to gadget of the month. For now, Yours,

Ratscallion

No March Video!

2009-03-28T15:21:00.002Z

Unfortunately, I have not had the time to pull out a video for this month! I'm so sorry everyone. However, I will try my hardest to get one video and an article done and uploaded for April. Maybe even two videos, as I will be making one on Friday. It will probably be how to turn the default Ubuntu GNOME desktop into Apple Mac OS X, or how to install KDE onto GNOME. These will almost definately be the two for April. I may also include an article about Twitter, however, it will probably end up being on something like Google Maps Street View.
Until then,
Yours,

Ratscallion

TWITTER!!!

2009-03-24T17:05:00.002Z

Twitter has landed. I am now officially a Twitter user, I'll see if there's a way to try and get my updates, or just a link, of my Twitter account to this blog, but hey, it may not be possible.
On Twitter, I'll be posting a load of rubbish about stuff I'm doing, one-liners mostly.
There will be some links to here, but not, of course, the whole article, mainly because it's Twitter.
For now,
Yours,

Ratscallion

Video: Microsoft Office 2007 Features Walkthrough

2009-02-22T14:05:00.008Z

Hi all.
I have just finished my latest video on the new features of Microsoft Office 2007.
It is shown a little below, but I just need to say one thing before you see it. I did it in two takes, one for the main program and another for other parts. For the first part, my microphone wasn't as sensitive as the latter, therefore, I advise you turn your volume up for the first part until it gets louder. It is split into two different parts:
The new features of Office 2007
A brief overview of Office Live Workspace Beta.

Office 2007 has many new features, like tabbed formatting, and the Office 2007 button. The above video explains these features and what they do.
Office Live Workspace is located here. It allows you to login with your Windows Live Account which can be used for mail, Xbox Live and more. Basically, the purpose of Office Live Workspace is to allow users to not only save documents to an online server to access elsewhere, but also to share them with others. For example, if you were doing a project with others, you wouldn't have to use e-mail and Memory Sticks to pass the project to and fro, you could use Office Live Workspace. You are both working on the same version simultaneously, you can edit it, and save it back to the server for the other person(s) to read later. You can also see previous versions to see what had changed, and also, save it to your own hard drive. You can access any Office Live documents from anywhere, by just logging in with your Windows Live account.

In other news: I will be making my first Ubuntu video soon, it will be a basic overview of my desktop and the features.

For now,
Yours,

Ratscallion

Ubuntu Tweak 0.4.4

2009-02-09T18:38:00.014Z

I'm going to do quite a lengthy post this time around. I also do suggest, if you really want to see the screenshots, that you click on them to view them at full size. Thanks to Ubuntu-Tweak.com for letting me use them.
Seeing as I have had almost a year now without Internet on Ubuntu, I had spent the time with Ubuntu finding and exploring different features of the many programs it has to offer. One of the best programs I found was Ubuntu Tweak. Ubuntu Tweak is very similar to Tweak UI for Windows XP and Tweak VI for Windows Vista. It allows the user to modify the system settings for Ubuntu (Gutsy through to Jaunty) without having to either go into command line or the gconf (Ubuntu registry).
It is very User Friendly as it comes in an easy on the eye GUI (Graphical User Interface) with just simple checkboxes, textboxes, drag-drops, and sliders to modify the settings. This allows even the novice Ubuntu User to be able to tweak Ubuntu to their desires.
The version I am most used to having installed on Ubuntu Intrepid was one of the older versions, 0.4.3.
It did include some very nifty features including:

Being able to rename the Trash, Home and Computer Desktop shortcuts
Accessing the Add/Remove Programs, but only the most downloaded
Tweaking Compiz-Fusion
Changing your default locations

Although these features are brilliant options to be able to have in Ubuntu, I for one still felt that there was something missing. ubuntu-tweak.com has listened to this and included some new features in the latest version, 0.4.4. Ubuntu Tweak 0.4.4 still has the old features, there are some very good new features that have been included.
One of the newest, and best (in some opinions) that is in Ubuntu 0.4.4 is that you can now choose to have Metacity as the Default Window Compositing manager instead of the Ubuntu Default of Compiz. It looks simple, but it doesn't make the graphics card work too hard if you need to 'Power Use' Ubuntu. Ubuntu 'Power Using' can be things like having 10+ tabs open in a web browser being used at once, and multiple documents open simultaneously.
Furthermore, Ubuntu Tweak 0.4.4 introduces the feature to specify the Default Program for managing file extensions. For example, by default, the Ubuntu Archive Manager is the program for managing .exe files. With Ubuntu Tweak, you can specify WINE (Windows Program Emulator) Furthermore, there are many image editing/viewing programs available for Ubuntu (many of which are pre-installed) which may become annoying when you always want to use one program for viewing, and it isn't the default. This tool not only allows the user to choose what program to use for images, but also what file extension to have it work with. For example, if you want GIMP to handle png's and Image Viewer to handle jpeg's, this tool allows that to happen.
In the older versions of Ubuntu Tweak there were neat little scripts that could be used on the right click. In Ubuntu Tweak 0.4.4, these scripts have been categorised into things like Move scripts, Image scripts and more. As always, the user can add/remove scripts and even reset them all to their default positions. These can be used to make working in Ubuntu as easy and quick as possible. For example, if you want to convert an image from png to jpeg without having to open it and then save as, you can. This is done by adding the script in Ubuntu Tweak, and then simply right clicking on the image, and clicking the 'Convert to Jpeg' script.
In Ubuntu, Nautilus (the default File Browser for Ubuntu) stores all the thumbnails that are used in a cache. This cache can become absolutely massive, especially for those who enjoy managing, viewing and editing their photos. If you were to go into your Home Folder, showing hidden files, and navigate to the following path “~/.thumbnails/normal” you will be astonished to see the amount of image thumbnails stored in that folder. They are all of your own image's thumbnails and, surprisingly, they stay in that folder even when you log out, so, if others wanted to, they could see it by navigating to your home folder. Usually, these thumbnails have no logical name (well, not logical to you, but obviously were to the coders of nautilus and Ubuntu). with the latest Ubuntu Tweak, you can choose to do a couple of things with these thumbnails. The first of these options, is to choose how long a thumbnail can stay in the cache at any one time. This both limits the space of the cache, though if you look at your photos a lot, it wouldn't make much of a difference. However, it is used for those PC's where there are multiple users, basically, it's a privacy tool. The second tool is limiting the size of the cache. Seeing as the cache can become very big indeed, it is important to limit it. Around 20 meg is probably best, though, really, it depends on the size of the current cache. Finally, there is the button that completes a full cleanup of the cache, it empties the cache completely. Thouh emptying the cache may seem like a good idea at first, it can sometimes backfire because there is no way of restoring the thumbnails. You may think, "Why would I need to restore the thumbnails," well, deleting the thumbnails will make all of the images on your hard drive take much longer to load in thumbnail view because they haven't been previously viewed and stored.
To download Ubuntu Tweak 0.4.4, go to this Here!
In other news: The Office 2007 video is now finished and will be uploaded this week or next week
For now
Yours,

Ratscallion

We have lift off...

2009-02-06T10:36:00.004Z

Hi everyone,

First of all, I know I said Microsoft Office Word 2007 video to come next, you may think I have stopped posting, but, I am having sound problems, so it may be a while. However, I have finally managed to get my Wireless card to work in Ubuntu 8.10, and therefore, will begin to make videos for Ubuntu after the Office video. The office video will be coming a little later this month, simply because of these sound problems. Plus, we are having a lot of snow in the UK, and snow means fun, and fun means not making videos. But, I am trying my hardest to get this video done before March. It is going to be a longer video because it covers all of the new features in Office Word 2007. Futhermore, it will need a lot of editing, because in Word it displays a lot of your own files and I need to blur them out for privacy reasons.
Before I do make the video, I will be replacing the animal from aBowman.com with a new edition. It will be posted today (Feb 6th). As usual, I will post another animal in March. This months animal will be marking the congratulations that I have Internet on Ubuntu, and therefore, will be a penguin. Penguin because the Linux mascot is Tux, a penguin.

For now,
Yours,

Ratscallion

2 Upcoming videos

2009-01-26T20:06:00.002Z

As you may have seen from my previous post, my next video will be a features walkthrough of Microsoft Office 2007, specifically, Word. This is because I have recently installed the full version of Home and Student and wish to explain some of the main features and differences. After that one, I will begin work on my first Ubuntu tutorial, installing with Wubi. The reason I haven't done an Ubuntu video sooner is simply because I have had Internet connectivity issues. The Office video will be coming in February sometime.
Also, a new animal will be introduced in February and we will have to say a said farewell to the hamster.
For now,
Yours,

Ratscallion

Video: An Overview Of Pivot Stick Figure Animator

2009-01-21T21:35:00.003Z

The surprise video that I was talking about has been released. It has now a title sequence along with title music. I forgot to add the watermark to the video, but will do in the upcoming ones. The title sequence in this is in the Beta stages, and I am to finalise it and add the finished title sequence to the next video along with the watermark.
Well here it is...

Notes: Download Pivot From The Pivot Website.

Download the *.zip and use the installer when required. You can add figures by going to File-> Load Figure Type. You can make figures by going to File-> Create Figure Type. Click on a circle to move that part. Hit enter to register a frame.

News: The next video will be a small coverage of Microsoft Office 2007

For now,
Yours,

Ratscallion

An important announcement

2009-01-19T21:53:00.001Z

The fore coming video that I am producing (secret surprise video) is going to be a very simple overview of the software. Therefore, the use of the microphone will not be until the video afterward, though I have not yet decided on what that will be…

For now

Yours

Ratscallion

Video: Make Your Own Mouse Cursor

2009-01-11T16:00:00.004Z

It's here, the video Make Your Own Mouse Cursor is available for your viewing pleasure.
Unfortunately, I have had sound problems so the music has been removed.
Well, here it is anyway.

Video Notes: Download GIMP Image Editor from http://gimp.org
Install it
Make a new image
Draw your cursor
Click colours, New alpha Colour
Make the background transparent (See above)
Save as a *.ico
Rename in Windows Explorer as *.cur
Go into Mouse Configuration and browse for your cursor.

The next video will be... Wait, that's a surprise isn't it? Almost told you, but that would, of course, spoil it. There will be no posts until the release of the video, though comments and e-mails will, as usual, be replied to.

For now,
Yours,

Ratscallion

New Video Coming Up

2009-01-11T11:20:00.004Z

I have newly gotten my laptop, with everything installed and have just recently finished making the Make Your Own Mouse Cursor video. Camtasia Studio is much better than Windows Movie Maker. I will begin using the microphone for the narration of my videos as of the video after Make Your Own Mouse Cursor. The Make Your Own Mouse cursor video will be released today for your customizing needs. I have also decided what the video after will be, but it is a surprise for now. By the way, I am in needing of a program which will allow me to make an opening sequence for the upcoming videos, if anyone could direct me to such program, I would be very grateful. Thanks.

For now,
Yours,

Ratscallion

Coming Soon...

2008-12-23T14:38:00.006Z

The next video isntalment that I will put onto YouTube will probably be in the New Year, so

those of you who are wishing for one now, then I'm sorry, you'll have to wait. It will be quite a while into January becuase

sometime in January I am getting a new laptop, which, as with Windows, (Sigh) will probably be in a few seperate boxes, and take 5 hours to set up. After actually installing Vista, I have then to customize and tweak it in the needed ways. Finally, after all that Camtasia 6 will be isntalled, allowing me to capture and edit video, Hoorah. After Camtasia, I will use my newly delivered Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid Ibex Operating System onto the laptop. Once all that is configured and set up, I will then install the video program and all the codec so I can begin to make videos for that. As you can see it will take sometime until I continue the video making job. However, I do now know what the next two videos I make will be. The first will be about making your own mouse cursor, done which can be done on both Windows and Ubuntu, and the second will be an overview of my Ubuntu desktop. The ubuntu desktop video will be leading up to the series of videos on customizing the ubuntu desktop for different uses and how to do so.

nless anything major crops up. I'll see you in the new year so, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all! :)

For now,

Yours,

A very festive Ratscallion

Video: Army Of Nine

2008-12-23T13:57:00.007Z

The Ratscallion Christmas Special, Army Of Nine, has been officially uploaded to YouTube. I also have it here for those of you who prefer to watch my videos on my blog. Feel free to comment, but do so to YouTube not this post please, thanks. I thank Crackle.com for letting me download the video and use it here.

Well, here it is, I'll say only, Enjoy!

For now,

Yours,

Ratscallion

A little surprise

2008-12-20T13:56:00.003Z

I managed to find a small hamster toy thing on the Internet. I do find it quite addictive myself. Therefore, I have placed it as a gadget at the side of the blog. Feel free to do whatever you want with him.
Instructions:
Click anywhere in the area to drop food there
Click in the centre of the wheel to make him roll around
Hover your mouse anywhere and he will follow it.
I will change the pet each month, so keep watching out for new arrivals.
I will not pre-post on the new animal, it will always be a surprise.
Until the New Year it will be a hamster, however, if I can find a Christmas one, I will replace the hamster with that, and the hamster will apear in the new year.

For now
Yours

Ratscallion

Coming Soon...

2008-12-19T19:01:00.003Z

Coming soon, soon as in tomorrow at 2.00pm GMT, I will post the latest, quite off topic, video, Army Of Nine, I have a two Screenshots here of the video just as a sneaky preview for blog viewers, remember, this is not on my YouTube channel so its exclusive to blog viewers only. Army of Nine is about reindeers being able to train to work for Santa to help deliver presents.

The first one is the Thumbnail Preview, the Second one is the ad for it within the first 15 seconds of the video clip.

For Now,

Yours,

Ratscallion

Video: Customize your Mouse Cursor

2008-12-19T18:33:00.004Z

The video has just now been released to the public on YouTube. It's the one we've all been waiting for! Customize your mouse cursor is here for your viewing pleasure WOOP!!

Just a few video notes as usual.

First of all, go to my favourite website for mouse cursors: http://customize.org

Click on cursors in the Browse Menu.

Find one you like and download it.

Unzip the archive

Open up Control panel and Click Mouse

Go to Pointers Tab

Browse for the cursors in the unzipped folder

Do the browsing for the rest of the cursors.

Save it

Apply Changes

Then you have your own mouse cursor instead of the BORING Windows Default. However, those on Windows XP I do recommend the Windows Vista cursor as it is a good change to the eggtimer, however, I now use the Mac OS X cursor because it is very decorative.

Up Coming Video: A Christmas Special, Off Topic very much, but it is quite humorous, it's called Army Of Nine, I downloaded it via my PSP. About training Reindeer for Santa.

For now

Yours,

Ratscallion

A Little Notice

2008-12-19T15:53:00.002Z

I have realised that I have not posted for a while, and I am sure most of you have. This is simply because I have been very busy trying to get Ubuntu (recently installed in Wubi) to work the way I want it to and configure it. Since I cannot get it to work with AOL, (USB Modem is a pain) I have needed to resort to downloading everything in Windows or on my PSP. Both of which are annoying, Windows for being so slow and my PSP for having a portable Internet Browser instead of a full one. However, I will post my next video on the site shortly. I am thinking at the moment on what it will be about, currently Im thinking Ubuntu, because of what I have recently been doing, but it may not be. It SHOULD but may not be ready by Christmas, and I will have an extra, slightly off topic video posted at Christmas too.

Merry Christmas everyone.

"And, as Tiny Tim observed, "God Bless Us, Everyone!"" A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens.

Sorry for the delay.

Yours

Ratscallion

Purpose

2008-12-02T17:39:00.003Z

Most of you may not need to read this post as it may not apply, but many of you have been e-mailing my YouTube account asking what is the point of the videos. Well I'll explain it now.

The first video, fulfilled its purpose, a simple introduction to me, and a little preview of my two sites - simple.

The second video - file extensions and hidden files- is a little more technical. This video is linked to my upcoming video - how to make your own mouse cursors, where you MUST change the file extension this way. This trick is also useful for changing a jpeg into a gif and viewing some hidden folders. Plus, if you want to play a prank on other users by going into their startup folders and placing a trick (for example a shutdown command) and you want to hide it, this is the way to go. Furthermore, this tweak is a USER ONLY SETTING therefore, the above mention works brilliantly because if they check their startup for the annoying application it will appear there is nothing there.

Just a little note. Until next time

Yours

Ratscallion

Video: How to view file extensions and hidden files

2008-11-30T09:25:00.006Z

Here it is, the latest video on viewing file extensions

In case your browser cant view the video, or you just don't have the time, here are some notes on how to do it:

Open any Explorer window (just run explorer if you want)

Go to Tools -> Folder Options, and go to the view tab

Click the radio button "Show hidden files and folders"

Uncheck the box "Don't show file extensions for known files"

Click apply, and any hidden files and folders will appear, and all file extensions will be shown.

In other news: Next video, customize your mouse cursors.

Two new videos coming up

2008-11-26T16:30:00.003Z

Hello blog viewers!

I am going to post my next video (Show hidden files and file extensions) on Sunday (30th) at the very latest. The next video, will be on how to customize your mouse cursors (part 1 of 2 on mouse cursors) and then sometime after that I'll post a video on making your own mouse cursors.

For now...

Yours

Ratscallion

First Video Uploaded

2008-11-21T18:27:00.002Z

Hey guys, as you can see, my latest video, Introductory Video, is now on the blog, feel free to take a look, and peak at the links and don't forget to subscribe to my You Tube channel.

In other news:

Next video instalment: Show File Extensions and Hidden Files

Yours:

Ratscallion

Ratscallion Welcomes those who wish to be foretold of many hints

2008-11-19T17:11:00.004Z

Hi there. It's me Ratscallion, sometimes known as Ratscallion129 when Ratscallion as a User Name has been taken LOL. Anyway, anyone who wishes to have any reviews on new computer software, guides on other software, or simply a little help, simply ask me. I will do my best to make a Windows Movie Maker, or notepad (Probably WMM) based video on that topic & I will post it on this here blog and on my YouTube channel.

Footnote: My latest video (VirtualBox Ubuntu) will soon be deleted as it is not of very good quality, therefore, the first video I release, after the brief intro to myself, will be on showing file extensions and then making your own mouse cursors (cool eh!?)

Yours,

Ratscallion