Bio
I have been helping individuals, teachers and small businesses be more productive on their computers since 1981. I see all of technology as a big box of tools. You determine the result wanted and then grab the tools that will help you achieve it. Buying a train to take you across the street makes little sense and wastes a lot of money. I will be looking for and sharing those little tools that you grab off the shelf to do just one thing. Most of us already are familiar with the Trains.
I teach: To long ago to matter!
To ages: 3 to 22+
Reviews
Free or fee programming tool, inspired by the earlier stack based “HyperCard,” that takes you from testing what computer programming is all about to publishing your own software and apps for MacOS X, Windows, Linux, iOS and Android.
The community version is free and runs on MacOS X, Windows and Linux. Plenty of tutorials and help from beginning to advanced.
Free, quick and easy way to add logo type lettering to any presentation or document. Pick a style, pick a font, adjust size, shadow, color, and then render as a transparent png file. Download immediately. Limited logo styles but hundreds of font to choose from and you can download them for your documents.
Here are thousands of free to download, royalty free photo textures with very liberal use granted. Read the License to reassure yourself. The free membership limits you to 15 MB over a 24 hour period. Some, like the trees, even have the backgrounds removed. I go here first when looking for a hassle free photo for a flyer, slideshow, movie overlay or collage project. Almost always find something.
There are also paid subscriptions which allow more downloads per day and other perks.
For the money – free demo with almost full functionality to older versions to MacOS 10.7 (Lion) – EazyDraw is a great introduction to vector graphics. I suggest the demo version to see if you like it. Be sure you select the one that works on your computer. The “Retro” supports AppleWorks files (if your computer can) or you can download the demos for Leopard or Lion. Be sure to grab the free Contributions Pack which is full of tutorials, extras and samples.
http://www.eazydraw.com/support.htm
EazyDraw is the only program I know of that creates unusual shapes, including converted text, that can also be edited and used in Keynote (iWorks suite). Be sure to check the Customize Toolbar (always under View) to see the over 150 other items you can put on your tool bar, as you need them!
You can start slow making cards, flyers or other completed projects. Or, create and export objects to use in other applications. Then start through the manual (under Help on the Menubar) to see what to explore next.
Almost full featured versions for Mac or Windows. Limited filter presets of 70 but you can create and save your own. Its only drawback is it has links on the tool bar that take you to its for-sale software. “Layers” and “Effects” do not.
Includes layering, masking brush and bug, paint in effects, cropping, blending and merging. All those words that may be new to you but are easy to learn. These kind of graphic tools assume you already have the picture and want to improve it or merge it with others. Lots of tutorials accessed by the “University” link on their site.
Blender is a full featured 3d application and is constantly being updated by the Blender Foundation. You can learn the basics with it and then become as advanced as you wish. It is free open source.
I love this tool for manipulating short videos. You can resize, crop, add overlays, adjust color to get the look you want. From there you can add captions, save out scenes, or grab a sequence of scenes for a stop motion look. Great for all ages and not over-kill like an expensive, full video processor would be.
Over a hundred ways to draw a straight or any other kind of line. I generally spend the first few minutes (correctly read, “lots of minutes) playing around with all the brushes and their variations. Your line may be a multicolored ribbon, a spray of flowers, grunge look or a delicate calligraphy stroke. Those lines can be combined into a picture right in Livebrush or used as a flourish on a word processing document. I love them for my brochures and multimedia.
Fluid Noise Generator allows you to create looping motion backgrounds or just unusual background graphics. Be sure to play with the controls. You can go from overlay texture for another graphic to unbelievably beautiful video with a few clicks of the mouse! Add these to your videos, websites or multimedia.
I purchased this the moment I downloaded it, even though I have several much more expensive applications that do the same thing with a lot more work. It is not only easy to use but the resulting graphics are excellent. It allows you to convert to line drawings, watercolors or oils or a combination of all of them. Pick what kind of paper you want it on and your done.
Once it opens, you grab a photo or graphic and drop it on the window. Another window pops up showing you what it looks like, changing as you select different options. When you like what you see, you press the “Process” button and it applies it to your photo. You can stop there or add more filters.
Patterno has over 50 background patterns and each of those can be changed to your liking. And, when you tire of their objects, you can just add your own! The adjusting tools are so easy to use, you can make slight changes and save a series of pictures to create an animated background for multimedia.
ToyViewer is hard to explain. It does what many other graphic manipulations do but just does them more completely. It can read almost any graphic format you can find. It also has an unusual interface and method of handling your graphics. But, once you use it awhile, you wonder why everyone doesn’t program that way.
The tools I use the most are the color changer and the transparency tools. You select a color and either change it to another color or remove the color to create a transparent area. The transparent graphics currently need to be exported as pdfs.
When you use a tool it sometimes appears that nothing has happened. ToyViewer drops the graphic on top of the previous one. Just drag it off. Then you can work with either one as you try other tools. Delete the ones you don’t like and save the versions you do like.
Started as a brush to make flames and just took off from there. Provides great backgrounds and unusual drawings.
Adds weather effects to your photos. Easy to control settings to create something unusual. For example, turn the Rain Effect into green confetti.
Color wash a grayscale photo. Original and washes on two layers and you control both.
Simple, one purpose tool for removing something from a photograph.
Resizes a photo or graphic but allows you to keep key elements protected from change.
There are two ways for students to tell their stories. The most common is to respond to what someone else is expecting. A teacher wants the student to demonstrate his or her knowledge of the eight planets circling our sun. It is a test.
The second is for the student to understand the concept of "planets." The student may talk about the definition of the word as it applies to space, and why Pluto lost its membership. The student may talk about Planet Earth and its formation as assumed through geological evidence. The student may talk about how fiction writers have created new intelligent species and complex cultures on other planets that may or may not mirror our own. The student may… but you get the drift. The teacher opened a door.
HyperStudio is a way for students to tell their stories.
Free tool for non-commercial use. Matches an unloaded photo with where it is displayed on internet sites. Helpful for attribution.