Monday 13 December 2010

WordPress Web editor vs WordPress for BlackBerry

In my final blog post of this series of posts on the various ways to manage your WordPress blog I’ll be comparing WordPress Web with WordPress for BlackBerry.

If you have got a wordpress.com or even host your own blog using the wordpress.org Blogging software (for more on wordpress.org visit the official wordpress.org site here) you are probably using one of two options for writing your posts and that is either the basic QuickPress editor widget in your Dashboard or the more powerful enhanced editor that allows you to add url links either showing the full url or to mask the url link in a word that describes the link as well as to be able to work with the post using html code if you are proficient in working with raw html.  The downside of this is that you can only write posts while you are online.

The WordPress for BlackBerry Application opens to a screen that lists your blogs, once in your blog you are presented with a list of options.  Posts lists your posts (only shows a maximum of 50 posts at a time) where you can view and edit your current posts or create a new post by selecting New from the pop up menu after pressing the menu button, the editor is basic but more powerful than the Mobile Web editor, you have the Title area, a place to add media, tags, categories and to mark your post as a phone draft, draft, private, pending review and published.  You can mark the post to be geo tagged or private or public, the main editing box where you write your post and finally a row of basic formatting options.

There is also an option to view, edit or create a new page, the page creation editor is exactly the same as the post editor except there are page creation options instead of geo tagging and marking as public or private.

You can also manage your blog comments as well as reply to comments in the Comments option.  The comment editor is even more basic than the post and page editor as you see the basic info of the  comment author, their comment, a space to add your reply and the basic formatting bar.

There is an option to add media along with a title, and copy the location of the media to the device clipboard.  With the basic WordPress blog you can only add Photos and Audio, if you want to add Video you have to add an upgrade package to your blog account.

The stats option shows 29 days worth of blog views along with a bar graph of the views, you can also see the stats for op Posts & Pages, Referrers, Search Engine Terms, Clicks, and Video Plays.  you can view stats for each category mentioned for 7 Days, 30 Days, Quarter, Year or All Time.

The Options Option is a basic settings page that allows you to customize the app how you want it.  The final option Refresh allows you to refresh the app.

If you want advanced control over your blog I would recommend the WordPress Web dashboard.  If you want to manage your blog while on the go then I would recommend the WordPress for BlackBerry Application.

If you want total control of your blog then I would recommend using the WordPress web dashboard and WordPress for BlackBerry.

Roland

Windows Live Writer 2011 vs WordPress Mobile web editor

In part V of  my series of various ways to manage your WordPress blog I'll be comparing Windows Live Writer 2011 with the Mobile Web WordPress site.

Windows Live Writer 2011 enhances the online wordpress editor by allowing you to write your posts offline.  You also have more options for the layout of your post as you can change the colour of the text or highlight text as well as select different text styles such has heading style and paragraph style embed a hyperlink, picture or video into your post.  If you need to insert a table into your post you have the ability to that along with a map or emoticon.  You can even preview what your post will look like within the application, set what date your post will be dated as posted as when you publish it, e.g if you write a post today while off line and post it tomorrow you can set the post date to be today, can’t really se much point in why you would want to set  the post date before or after you have posted it beats me.

Windows Live Writer 2011s interface is very much like Microsoft Office 2010s interface, and the tabbed editor is very much like Microsoft Office SharePoint 2010s/ the Old Microsoft Office Frontpage XP

Main-diting-Screen_thumb2_thumb
Main Windows Live Writer 2011 Editing Screen

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Blog Preview in Windows Live Writer 2011

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The Windows Live Writer 2011 HTML Editor

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The Windows Live Writer 2011 Insert Menu Ribbon

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The Windows Live Writer 2011 Blog Account Menu Ribbon

The Menu Ribbon changes to a Web Preview one when you are in the Preview tab, the  Edit and Source Ribbon Menus are exactly the same.

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List of logging services supported by Windows Live Writer 2011

As you can see from the blog service list screenshot Windows Live Writer support more than just WordPress.  This review is a comparison to the WordPress online editors as I don’t use any of the other blogging services in the list, but as Microsoft have seen a a gap in the offline blogging applications market and created Windows live Writer I’m guessing that the other blogging services online editors are lacking in features.

Windows Live Writer 2011 is part of the Windows Live Essentials 2011 pack available  from here.

The Mobile Web WordPress is just a basic text site with a series of tabbed screens.  The default one when you go on the site is the stats tab, it lists your WordPress blogs with the number of visitors for today and yesterday, the next tab is the Post tab, it has a drop down menu to select which of your blogs you want to post to, then a title text box, the post text box. the Categories text box and the tags text box and save as draft and post buttons.  The editor is more enhanced than the QuickPress widget on your blog Dashboard but it is still basic compared to the standard WordPress editor or Windows Live Writer 2011. Then there is a Bookmark tab and Logout tab.

If you want a quick way to manage the basics of your blog then I recommend the WordPress Mobile Web Dashboard.  If you want more control of your blog and the ability to create posts while offline then I recommend Windows Live Writer 2011.

Roland

Windows Live Writer 2011 vs WordPress for BlackBerry

In part IV of my series on the various ways to manage your WordPress blog I'll be comparing Windows Live Writer 2011 with Wordress for BlackBerry.

Windows Live Writer 2011 enhances the online wordpress editor by allowing you to write your posts offline.  You also have more options for the layout of your post as you can change the colour of the text or highlight text as well as select different text styles such has heading style and paragraph style embed a hyperlink, picture or video into your post.  If you need to insert a table into your post you have the ability to that along with a map or emoticon.  You can even preview what your post will look like within the application, set what date your post will be dated as posted as when you publish it, e.g if you write a post today while off line and post it tomorrow you can set the post date to be today, can’t really se much point in why you would want to set  the post date before or after you have posted it beats me.

Windows Live Writer 2011s interface is very much like Microsoft Office 2010s interface, and the tabbed editor is very much like Microsoft Office SharePoint 2010s/ the Old Microsoft Office Frontpage XP

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Main Windows Live Writer 2011 Editing Screen

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Blog Preview in Windows Live Writer 2011

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The Windows Live Writer 2011 HTML Editor

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The Windows Live Writer 2011 Insert Menu Ribbon

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The Windows Live Writer 2011 Blog Account Menu Ribbon

The Menu Ribbon changes to a Web Preview one when you are in the Preview tab, the  Edit and Source Ribbon Menus are exactly the same.

Blog-List_thumb2
List of logging services supported by Windows Live Writer 2011

As you can see from the blog service list screenshot Windows Live Writer support more than just WordPress.  This review is a comparison to the WordPress online editors as I don’t use any of the other blogging services in the list, but as Microsoft have seen a a gap in the offline blogging applications market and created Windows live Writer I’m guessing that the other blogging services online editors are lacking in features.

Windows Live Writer 2011 is part of the Windows Live Essentials 2011 pack available  from here.

The WordPress for BlackBerry Application opens to a screen that lists your blogs, once in your blog you are presented with a list of options.  Posts lists your posts (only shows a maximum of 50 posts at a time) where you can view and edit your current posts or create a new post by selecting New from the pop up menu after pressing the menu button, the editor is basic but more powerful than the Mobile Web editor, you have the Title area, a place to add media, tags, categories and to mark your post as a phone draft, draft, private, pending review and published.  You can mark the post to be geo tagged or private or public, the main editing box where you write your post and finally a row of basic formatting options.

There is also an option to view, edit or create a new page, the page creation editor is exactly the same as the post editor except there are page creation options instead of geo tagging and marking as public or private.

You can also manage your blog comments as well as reply to comments in the Comments option.  The comment editor is even more basic than the post and page editor as you see the basic info of the  comment author, their comment, a space to add your reply and the basic formatting bar.

There is an option to add media along with a title, and copy the location of the media to the device clipboard.  With the basic WordPress blog you can only add Photos and Audio, if you want to add Video you have to add an upgrade package to your blog account.

The stats option shows 29 days worth of blog views along with a bar graph of the views, you can also see the stats for op Posts & Pages, Referrers, Search Engine Terms, Clicks, and Video Plays.  you can view stats for each category mentioned for 7 Days, 30 Days, Quarter, Year or All Time.

The Options Option is a basic settings page that allows you to customize the app how you want it.  The final option Refresh allows you to refresh the app.

If you are using a basic web enabled phone from Nokia, Samsung, Motorola etc. then the Web app is fine, But if you are using an iPhone, Nokia Smartphone, BlackBerry, iPad, iPod Touch or Android phone then I’d  recommend the dedicated WordPress Application.

If you want a feature packed Mobile blog editor I’d recommend WordPress for BlackBerry.  If You wand an advanced editor I’d recommend Windows Live Writer.  If you want the best of both I’d recommend Windows Live Writer 2011 and WordPress Online Dashboard + Wordpress for BlackBerry,  If like you want the complete package I’d recommend Windows Live Writer 2011 and WordPress Online Dashboard along with WordPress for BlackBerry and WordPress Mobile.

Roland

WordPress Mobile Web vs WordPress Web editor

In part III of my series on the various ways to manage your WordPress blog I'll be comparing the WordPress Mobile website with the WordPress website.

The Mobile Web WordPress is just a basic text site with a series of tabbed screens.  The default one when you go on the site is the stats tab, it lists your WordPress blogs with the number of visitors for today and yesterday, the next tab is the Post tab, it has a drop down menu to select which of your blogs you want to post to, then a title text box, the post text box. the Categories text box and the tags text box and save as draft and post buttons.  The editor is more enhanced than the QuickPress widget on your blog Dashboard but it is still basic compared to the standard WordPress editor or Windows Live Writer 2011. Then there is a Bookmark tab and Logout tab.

If you have got a wordpress.com or even host your own blog using the wordpress.org Blogging software (for more on wordpress.org visit the official wordpress.org site here) you are probably using one of two options for writing your posts and that is either the basic QuickPress editor widget in your Dashboard or the more powerful enhanced editor that allows you to add url links either showing the full url or to mask the url link in a word that describes the link as well as to be able to work with the post using html code if you are proficient in working with raw html.  The downside of this is that you can only write posts while you are online.

If you want a to write a quick post while you are on the move then I would recommend the WordPress Mobile site, but if you want a more powerful editor then I’d recommend the WordPress web editor.

Roland

WordPress Mobile Web vs WordPress for BlackBerry

In part II of my series on the various ways to manage your WordPress blog I'll be comparing the WordPress Mobile website with WordPress for BlackBerry.

The Mobile Web WordPress is just a basic text site with a series of tabbed screens.  The default one when you go on the site is the stats tab, it lists your WordPress blogs with the number of visitors for today and yesterday, the next tab is the Post tab, it has a drop down menu to select which of your blogs you want to post to, then a title text box, the post text box. the Categories text box and the tags text box and save as draft and post buttons.  The editor is more enhanced than the QuickPress widget on your blog Dashboard but it is still basic compared to the standard WordPress editor or Windows Live Writer 2011. Then there is a Bookmark tab and Logout tab.

The WordPress for BlackBerry Application opens to a screen that lists your blogs, once in your blog you are presented with a list of options.  Posts lists your posts (only shows a maximum of 50 posts at a time) where you can view and edit your current posts or create a new post by selecting New from the pop up menu after pressing the menu button, the editor is basic but more powerful than the Mobile Web editor, you have the Title area, a place to add media, tags, categories and to mark your post as a phone draft, draft, private, pending review and published.  You can mark the post to be geo tagged or private or public, the main editing box where you write your post and finally a row of basic formatting options.

There is also an option to view, edit or create a new page, the page creation editor is exactly the same as the post editor except there are page creation options instead of geo tagging and marking as public or private.

You can also manage your blog comments as well as reply to comments in the Comments option.  The comment editor is even more basic than the post and page editor as you see the basic info of the  comment author, their comment, a space to add your reply and the basic formatting bar.

There is an option to add media along with a title, and copy the location of the media to the device clipboard.  With the basic WordPress blog you can only add Photos and Audio, if you want to add Video you have to add an upgrade package to your blog account.

The stats option shows 29 days worth of blog views along with a bar graph of the views, you can also see the stats for op Posts & Pages, Referrers, Search Engine Terms, Clicks, and Video Plays.  you can view stats for each category mentioned for 7 Days, 30 Days, Quarter, Year or All Time.

The Options Option is a basic settings page that allows you to customize the app how you want it.  The final option Refresh allows you to refresh the app.

If you are using a basic web enabled phone from Nokia, Samsung, Motorola etc. then the Web app is fine, But if you are using an iPhone, Nokia Smartphone, BlackBerry, iPad, iPod Touch or Android phone then I’d  recommend the dedicated WordPress Application.

Roland

Sunday 12 December 2010

Windows Live Writer 2011 vs Wordpress web editor

In part I of my series on the various ways to manage your WordPress blog I'll be comparing the WordPress website with Windows Live writer 2011.

If you have got a wordpress.com or even host your own blog using the wordpress.org Blogging software (for more on wordpress.org visit the official wordpress.org site here) you are probably using one of two options for writing your posts and that is either the basic QuickPress editor widget in your Dashboard or the more powerful enhanced editor that allows you to add url links either showing the full url or to mask the url link in a word that describes the link as well as to be able to work with the post using html code if you are proficient in working with raw html.  The downside of this is that you can only write posts while you are online.

Windows Live Writer 2011 enhances the online wordpress editor by allowing you to write your posts offline.  You also have more options for the layout of your post as you can change the colour of the text or highlight text as well as select different text styles such has heading style and paragraph style embed a hyperlink, picture or video into your post.  If you need to insert a table into your post you have the ability to that along with a map or emoticon.  You can even preview what your post will look like within the application, set what date your post will be dated as posted as when you publish it, e.g if you write a post today while off line and post it tomorrow you can set the post date to be today, can’t really se much point in why you would want to set  the post date before or after you have posted it beats me.

Windows Live Writer 2011s interface is very much like Microsoft Office 2010s interface, and the tabbed editor is very much like Microsoft Office SharePoint 2010s/ the Old Microsoft Office Frontpage XP

Main diting Screen
Main Windows Live Writer 2011 Editing Screen

Preview Screen
Blog Preview in Windows Live Writer 2011

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The Windows Live Writer 2011 HTML Editor

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The Windows Live Writer 2011 Insert Menu Ribbon

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The Windows Live Writer 2011 Blog Account Menu Ribbon

The Menu Ribbon changes to a Web Preview one when you are in the Preview tab, the  Edit and Source Ribbon Menus are exactly the same.

Blog List
List of logging services supported by Windows Live Writer 2011

As you can see from the blog service list screenshot Windows Live Writer support more than just WordPress.  This review is a comparison to the WordPress online editors as I don’t use any of the other blogging services in the list, but as Microsoft have seen a a gap in the offline blogging applications market and created Windows live Writer I’m guessing that the other blogging services online editors are lacking in features.

Windows Live Writer 2011 is part of the Windows Live Essentials 2011 pack available  from here.

Roland

Friday 10 December 2010

An alternative option to Microsoft Office Outlook

If you are looking for an alternative to Microsoft Office Outlook I would recommend IBM Lotus Notes 8.5, it comes with a thee application Office Suite called Lotus Symphony that consists of Symphony Documents, Symphony Presentations and Symphony Spreadsheets.

I’ve still not worked out how to set it up for non IBM Lotus Domino server use, but since I’ve also got a copy of IBM Lotus Domino Server 8.5 I’ll probably add that to my server project along side Microsoft Exchange.

When you first run Lotus Notes after Installation you get the choice of using it with a Domino Server or as a standard PIM application.

 

Roland

Thursday 9 December 2010

My move from iDeneb 1.6 Mac OSX 10.5.8 to Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat

After my failed project to put Mac OSX 10.5.8 onto my Advent 4213 Netbook I’ve decided to Install Ubuntu Linux 10.10 Maverick Meerkat onto my Netbook instead.

I’ll do a full review of  my findings as well as a full review of Maverick Meerkat tomorrow  or Saturday hopefully.

Roland

Monday 6 December 2010

Installing and using Mac OSX 10.5.7 on Advent 4213 Netbook

I've managed to get iDeneb Installed onto my Advent 4213 Netbook, but it will not boot past the Apple boot screen.  So therefore I've abandoned this project until I've got the time to trouble shoot it.

Roland

Sunday 5 December 2010

Installing and using Mac OSX 10.5.7 on Advent 4213 Netbook

Due to a technical problem with the DVD image I was unable to burn a working Install disk to start my project.  I'm having to re-download a new DVD image, once this is done I'll start my project.

Roland

Saturday 4 December 2010

Installing and using Mac OSX 10.5.7 on Advent 4213 Netbook

I’ll be doing a project that will turn my Advent 4213 Netbook into a mini MacBook.  I’ll be using iDeneb v 1.5.1 that will Install Mac OSX Leopard 10.5.7 along with patches and fixes that will make it run on the x86 PC Architecture.

The spec for the Advent 4213 Netbook can be found here.

I’ll be Installing Mac OSX tomorrow hopefully as I’ve got to re burn the Installer DVD tomorrow morning as it did not burn right.

 

Roland

Thursday 18 November 2010

Using the Advent 4213 Netbook as a Server

Part 1: Choosing your OS


The choice of OS to use for a server is huge, there are free and paid for options.

Free


For the free options you have mainly Open Source options that are Linux-based OSs such as:

Red Hats Fedora Core

Novell's OpenSuse

Conical's Ubuntu

Mandrivia's Mandrivia Linux

Open Suse, Fedora Core and Mandrivia are all mainly Desktop based OSs but also have the capability to be used as Web, Email, File Servers and more, they all have a graphical Desktop so configuring the server is easier to do.

Ubuntu Linux comes in to versions the standard Desktop Os that can be used as a Server or the dedicated Server version.  The Desktop version of Ubuntu has the graphical Desktop but can also be configured to be used as a dedicated server by uninstalling all the desktop applications, where as the server version is a dedicated server OS and does not include the graphical Desktop and is configured using the CLI so it's basically like running the pre Windows Microsoft DOS OS and having server applications installed that don't have a graphical interface.

If you go the Open Source route with your server then I would recommend staying well clear of Ubuntu Server unless you are used to using Linux and feel comfortable using the command line.

There are many more free Open Source OS's than the ones I've mentioned that are available but mentioning them all would take up to much space.

Paid


For the paid option you have mainly proprietary OS's but there are some Open Source options that offer paid for versions of their OS.

OpenSuse is a free download from there website but they also offer a paid boxed option that includes the DVD and CD needed for installation along with a user manual and 90 days of free support once you register your installation.

Mandrivia also has a paid option that gives you more drivers than the free version and support as well

Red Hat and Novell also offer dedicated server OS's but they are mainly used in Enterprises and would be impossible for a consumer to get hold of.

Microsoft Windows XP/Vista/7 can all be used as a simple web and file server and with the right third-party software could also be used as an email server.

Apple's Mac OSX Server (but as the Advent 4213 is a non Apple piece of hardware that is not an option)

Windows Home Server meant as a simple Home file and streaming media Server, mainly comes on dedicated Home Servers but can sometimes be picked up on ebay as just the OS without the Server Hardware.

Windows Server 2000/2003/2008 are all ment for businesses and enterprises but can still be picked up by the consumer on ebay.

Compared to Windows XP/Vista and 7 Windows Server is a dedicated Server OS but is still user-friendly thanks to the familiar Windows Desktop.  Windows Server can be used as a simple Web, File and streaming media server as well as being used for email (using Microsoft Exchange Server), it can also be used to push email to BlackBerry Smartphones using the free BESX software or the paid for BES software.

For this project I have chosen to go down the Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Route with Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Enterprise and BESX as I've got a BlackBerry Smart-phone.  I'll also be adding a wordpress.org Server as it's a free piece of software along with a phpBB run forum (free software again) and a MySQL Database Server (also free).

In part 2 I'll be covering configuring Windows Server and installing Exchange and BESX Servers as installing  Windows Server is exactly like the installation of Windows XP.

Roland

Wednesday 17 November 2010

Using the Advent 4213 Netbook as a Server

Later on today I’ll be starting a project on turning the Advent 4213 Netbook into a Server.  I’ll break it down into a series of blog posts.

Part one of the series will be on choosing a Server OS.  When I have finished the project I’ll create a full version of the series with pictures and create a pdf file of it and post it to my Windows Live Sky drive and post a link to it in my last post of the series so that you can download the project so that you can use it if you want to create your own Advent 4213 Netbook Server.

Roland

Wednesday 3 November 2010

Google Street View Trouble Continues

After reading this Article I can see another government failing.

They should have slapped a hefty penalty on Google for invasion of privacy when their street view cars accidentally stole personal information from unsuspecting people via their wi-fi networks as they drove past.

This also shows that people don't know how to secure their wireless networks or choose to turn off the encryption system that is built into the router or modem/router (gateway) as I've got an unused  BT branded Gateway that has wireless encryption turned on as standard and the Thomson Gateway provided by PlusNet also has wireless encryption turned on as standard as do the BT Home Hub Gateways that they use in their BT Broadband and BT Total Broadband services.

The wireless equipment manufacturers should not put the option to turn off wireless encryption in consumer wi-fi equipment and only allow it to be turned off in equipment for Hotels Bars and Restaurants that want to offer free wi-fi access that way things like this would not happen again in the future.

Rant over

Roland

Monday 1 November 2010

Windows Movie Maker 2.6 vs Windows Movie Maker 6.1 Comparison

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This is my comparison of Windows Movie Maker 2.6 vs Movie Maker 6.1.

Windows Movie Maker 2.6

Windows Movie Maker 2.6 has got the time line/story board for piecing together your movie of the original Windows XP Movie Maker.  It has got the standard preview window of any video editing software, a drop down list with preview window for your A/V clips and gives you access to the built in transitions and video effects.

There is a task panel with sections for Capturing Video that is for  importing your video clips, pictures or audio or music/Edit Movie with options to view you collections, view video effects, view transitions, making titles or credits and and to make an auto movie and Finishing Movie with options to save to computer or to send to a DV camera.  Also it has the standard menu and shortcut bar.

Windows Movie Maker 6.1

Windows Movie Maker is very much similar to Windows Movie Maker 2.6 and it has got the time line/story board for piecing together your movie, it has also got a new time line called Narrate time line for doing narration in your movie.  It has got the standard preview window from MM 2.6 but it has got the Windows Media Player 11 style controls, a drop down list with preview window for your A/V clips and gives you access to the built in transitions and video effects and also some view shortcuts.

The task panel is cleaned up and has got new style with the sections for Capturing Video, Editing Movie and finishing Movie now as fixed lists instead of drop down lists Capturing Video has now been renamed Import with all the same options for importing your media as in MM 2.6 From digital video camera (New in MM 6.1),Videos, Pictures and Audio or Music/Edit Movie has been renamed Edit  with options to view you collections(Now Imported media), view video effects (Now Effects), Transitions, Titles and credits and Finishing Movie has been renamed Publish to with expanded publishing options to save to computer, DVD, Recordable CD, Email and Digital video camera Auto Movie has now been removed from the Publish to menu and placed on the shortcut bar.  Also it has the standard menu and short cut bar from MM 2.6 but it has got the Windows Vista style to it as this version of Movie Maker has been exported from Windows Vista and has been re-packaged to install under Windows7.

The Installer also Installs Windows DVD maker but you don't need to bother with it as the shortcut just opens up the Windows 7 version of Windows DVD Maker, a Program of interest is the Capture Wizard that allows you to Import video without having Movie Maker open I don't have a DV Camera so can't confirm if it is possible to Import from a DV Camera without opening Movie Maker.

Conclusion

If you are a Windows 7 user and currently use Windows Live Movie Maker or Windows Movie Maker 2.6 or have upgraded from Windows XP or Windows Vista I would advise upgrading to Windows Movie Maker 6.1.  For a download link for Windows Movie Maker 6.1 then please visit this Blog.

Roland

Windows Movie Maker 2.6 vs Windows Live Movie Maker Comparison

This is my comparison of Windows Movie Maker 2.6 against Windows Live Movie Maker.

Windows Movie Maker 2.6

Windows Movie Maker 2.6 has got the time line/story board for piecing together your movie of the original Windows XP Movie Maker.  It has got the standard preview window of any video editing software, a drop down list with preview window for your A/V clips and gives you access to the built in transitions and video effects.

There is a task panel with sections for Capturing Video that is for  importing your video clips, pictures or audio or music/Edit Movie with options to view you collections, view video effects, view transitions, making titles or credits and and to make an auto movie and Finishing Movie with options to save to computer or to send to a DV camera.  Also it has the standard menu and shortcut bar.

Windows Live Movie Maker

Windows Live Movie Maker is a bare bones video editor compared to the old Movie Maker it just has a video preview window and a search panel for your videos and photos and has the new ribbon style menu bar at the top.

It has a selection of different transactions known as animations along with various video effects.

Conclusion

Windows Live Movie Maker is nowhere as powerful as Windows Movie Maker in Windows XP and I advise Windows 7 users to download Windows Movie Maker2.6 over Windows Live Movie Maker

Roland

Windows Movie Maker vs Windows Live Movie Maker Comparison

This is a straight comparison of the Windows Movie Maker built into Window XP compared to Windows Live Movie Maker for Windows 7.

Windows Movie Maker

Windows Movie Maker that comes as part of Windows XP is a simplified version on other free and paid for video editing software.  It has a time line that allows you to stitch video and audio clips together or you  can stitch pictures together and add music to it to create a picture slide show.  It also has a story board where you can piece A/V clips from your camera together and add different transitions.

You can also import video from a variety of different sources as well as save your finished movie in a variety of different formats.  You get the usual video preview screen along with the story board/time line panels along with a tabbed panel that lets you select from your video clips, audio clips and transactions etc.

Windows Live Movie Maker

Windows Live Movie Maker is a bare bones video editor compared to the old Movie Maker it just has a video preview window and a search panel for your videos and photos and has the new ribbon style menu bar at the top.

It has a selection of different transactions known as animations along with various video effects.

Conclusion

Windows Live Movie Maker is nowhere as powerful as Windows Movie Maker in Windows XP and I advise Windows 7 users to download Windows Movie Maker 2.6 it's only meant to work on Windows XP but I've successfully managed to get it to run on Windows 7 Ultimate before.

Disclamer

I have not used Windows XP in a while so if there is any inaccuracies in my description of Windows Movie Maker in Windows XP then I'm Sorry and I've currently not got Windows Movie Maker 2.1 installed to use as a visual aide in writing this review.

I'll do a Windows Movie Maker 2.1 vs Windows Live Movie Maker soon.

Roland

Spam Comments On Blogs (Final Follow Up)

This is a final post on the Spam Comments On Blogs.  Following my rant about Spam Comments that I was getting on my Blog all spam comments have stopped infecting my Blog and I'm now getting legitimate comments only on my Blog.

Roland

Friday 22 October 2010

Akismet Spam Filtering In WordPress

I've noticed that for some reason the Akismet spam filter on my WordPress Blog has got the habit of sometimes filtering out legitimate comments out as well as correctly filtering out spam comments.

I don't know if this is Akismet related or WordPress related, but thought I would post about this problem.

Roland

Thursday 21 October 2010

Ubuntu Lucid Lynx Desktop Edition vs Ubuntu Maverick Meerkat Desktop Edition (Follow up) UPDATED

Due to a request in a comment to the original post I'll be doing a full detailed review of both Ubuntu Lucid Lynx and Ubuntu Maverick Meerkat including an upgrade review and a comparison review over the weekend and it will go live on my Blog sometime on Monday.

Due to unforeseen circumstances I'll be starting work on my full comparison review tomorrow and will be posting the review on Wednesday at the earliest

Roland

Wednesday 20 October 2010

Is Twitter Value Spam

I've noticed a search on my Blog asking is twittervalue spam.

Twalue is not spam but a site that converts your twitter account into a $ value that is your twalue and gives you a choice of  posting your twalue to twitter or not.  It's just for fun though.

Roland

Spam Comments On Blogs (Follow Up)

I'm having this rant today because when I checked my Blog this morning I found out that WordPress had found three lots of Spam Comments.

When I checked the Spam folder I found out that the Spam Comments were the same, just on three separate Posts, and these comments were all advertising the same Porn website.

Now I have no problems with people looking at Porn if they want, but what I have a problem with is advertising this porn in comments on my Blog especially when none of the posts that were subjected to were even talking about Internet porn.

Luckily WordPress has a spam filter so I was not notified that I had got Comments that needed approving.  I know people use Blogger because they can make money from using Google Adsense to advertise on their Blog which makes it superior to WordPress but if Blogger doesn't filter comments then I'm glad that I chose WordPress even though I can't bake any money from my Blog I can at least stop crap infesting my Blog in Comments.

Rant over

Roland

Monday 18 October 2010

Spam Comments On Blogs

I'm writing this post to highlight a new spamming trend that I have fallen victim to, and that trend is spam comments on Blog posts.

I've received many spam comments on my Blog recently, I don't know if it happens on other Blogging services like Blogger, but it happens on WordPress but thanks to the anti-spam feature on WordPress I don't get notified by email about these spam comments and can delete them from my WordPress Blog Control Panel.

I'll be really upset if spam comments on Blog Posts gets out of hand an ends up ruining Blogging like it has done for email.

Rant over

Roland

Tuesday 12 October 2010

Otter BOX Defender Series Case Vs A Normal Case

After purchasing an Otter BOX defender Series case for my BlackBerry Curve 8520 I've got to say it's well worth the money as it feels a lot stronger than the generic Hard case that I bought.

The clear cover that goes over the keypad protects it from getting dirty and bits getting in to the phone through the keypad, The Hard shell feels a lot stronger than the the generic hard case that I was using previously and I like the clear protector that goes over the camera lens to protect it from getting scratched and the silicone outer skin is a lot stronger than a normal form fitting silicone skin and I like how their is a flap that covers the Micro USB port and the headset socket to protect them from letting dust into the phone.  The only open parts of the case are just the microphone on the bottom of the case and the speaker on the top of the case as well as the handset speaker for non headset or speaker phone calls.  The provided belt clip holster is a nice addition to the package as the Otter BOX makes the phone very bulky and heavy.  The plus point of having a heavier and bulkier phone is that you are less likely to drop the phone compared to an un protected Curve as they are very light.

Roland

Monday 11 October 2010

My move from Ubuntu Maverick Meerkat Netbook Edition to Windows 7 Ultimate Edition

After suffering technical issues with the Release Candidate of Ubuntu Maverick MeerkatNetbook Edition I decided not to Download the final version and instead decided to go back to Windows 7 Ultimate Edition.

As Windows 7 supports all of my hardware except my Umax Scanner  it made more sence to go back to Windows instead of staying with Linux, especially as it takes less messing about to geteverything working correctly and seems to suffer less glitches in rebooting, shuttingdown etc.  Ubuntu would sometimes refuse to shutdown, reboot or hibanate but instead log me out and I'd have to hold the power button down to power off.

Roland

Friday 8 October 2010

Ubuntu Maverick Meerkat Unity Netbook Desktop Bug

I've discovered a bug in the Unity Desktop of Ubuntu Maverick Meerkat.

I don't know if this is related to it still currently being a Release Candidate or whether it's a general bug in Unity, but when I logged into the Unity Desktop this morning I had an error saying no Driver found use the Desktop Edition when logging in.  A quick re-boot solved the problem, will let you know if this bug goes away in the final release or whether it's still there in a later post after I have upgraded to the final release on Sunday.

Roland
The next version of Ubuntu is coming soon

Thursday 7 October 2010

Ubuntu Maverick Meerkat Desktop Edition vs Netbook Edition

After trying out the Release Candidate of both the Netbook Edition and Desktop Edition of Ubuntu Maverick Meerkat I've come to the conclusion that my favorite Edition has got to be the Netbook Edition as it's the only Edition that has brought anything new with the cool Unity Desktop.  I can't comment on the other Ubuntu flavors such as KUbuntu, XUbuntu, MythBuntu, Ubuntu Studio, Edubuntu, LUbuntu and Ubuntu Server as I've not tried these versions.

I'll report more on Maverick Meerkat once it is officially released and I've upgraded my Netbook to the official release, but so far it's looking to be in my eye the best Netbook Edition that I've tried.  The Desktop Edition needs Overhauling before I'd consider ditching the Unity Desktop for the standard Gnome Desktop though.

Roland
The next version of Ubuntu is coming soon

Ubuntu Lucid Lynx Desktop Edition vs Ubuntu Maverick Meerkat Desktop Edition

After Installing the Release Candidate of Ubuntu Maverick Meerkat Netbook Edition  yesterday I thought I'd login to the regular Desktop and compare it with the Desktop Edition of Lucid Lynx and the only thing that has changed in this release to the previous release is that the clock is the new clock with the pop down calendar when you left click on it.  The Connection manager still uses the old graphic and the volume control is the old style modern looking on that is present in the previous release and not the old blocky volume control that is in the Unity Netbook Desktop.

Roland
The next version of Ubuntu is coming soon

Wednesday 6 October 2010

Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat Netbook Edition Release Candidate

Here are my findings after installing the release candidate of Ubuntu 10.10 Netbook Edition as outlined in this post.

Network Manager has been given an overhaul and is now more like the signal strength meter of a cell phone when using Wireless and Mobile Broadband (don't know what it looks like when using a wired Network Connection, the Volume control has lost its cool visual appeal but that could be due to it only being a release candidate at the moment. The clock has had a major overhaul and now contains a drop down calendar when you left click on it.

The Ubuntu Menu has had an overhaul compared to the beta version that I installed in Lucid Lynx. it now has a more visual front page that takes you to the full menu if the option you click on contains more than one program.  The full Ubuntu menu is reached by clicking on the Applications option on the Launcher.

You are now no longer restricted to the Unity desktop when you install the Netbook Edition of Maverick Meerkat as you also have the option to login to the full Desktop Edition from the login screen compared to Lucid Lynx that was restricted to the Moblin Desktop unless you had installed another Desktop.

You Ideally need an always on Broadband connection that you can connect to by a wired modem, wired modem with wireless router if you have Cable Internet or a combined wireless modem router, 2.5GB of free HDD space and be plugged into the mains via your charger, you have the option to download updates and 3rd party applications during the install ( I declined these options as I'm going to upgrade to the official release once it comes out on Sunday).  The instal takes slightly longer than with Lucid Lynx but it is nowhere as near as long as  OpenSuse 11.3 or Windows.

Roland
The next version of Ubuntu is coming soon

The New Unity Desktop Beta vs The Moblin Desktop in Ubuntu 10.04 Netbook Edition

When you Install the Unity Desktop Beta onto a Ubuntu 10.04 Netbook Edition system it Installs side by side with the default Moblin Desktop and you select which one that you want to login to on the login screen, The 10.04 Netbook Desktop is the default one though.

Once the Unity Desktop is loaded up it looks similar to the default Netbook Desktop with the Panel on the top of the screen showing the Left to Right: Ubuntu Menu, Network Manager, Battery Indicator, Sound preference, Mail and Broadcast Message, Time, Social Networking Menu and Session Menu.

When you click on the Ubuntu Menu you now get a drop down menu with Search feature instead of the show Desktop action in the old Desktop.

The Side Bar/Desktop has been cleaned up significantly since 10.04.  Instead of having a tabbed Desktop you have a sliding side bar that houses your favourite programs, Trash can and quick access to the Programs and Files and folders.  There is also access to a Mac OSX feature that shows all your open windows as thumbnails.

As this is only a Beta version of the Unity Desktop and running on top of Ubuntu 10.04LTS Lucid Lynx and no 10.10 Maverick Meerkat it doesn't have all the updates that 10.10 will contain.  If I can get hold of a disk Image of the Pre Release version of 10.10 Netbook Edition I'll download it and give it a try.  In the meantime here is a rundown of all the new features of the different Editions of Ubuntu 10.10.

For more on the Unity Desktop please visit this Blog.

Roland
The next version of Ubuntu is coming soon

My move from OpenSuse 11.3 to Ubuntu 10.10 Netbook Edition Part 1

Installing Ubuntu 10.04 Netbook Edition

After reading about the impending release of Ubuntu 10.10 on the Ubuntu website and after some Googling to find out what the new features are going to be in the Netbook Edition of Ubuntu 10.10, and finding out that it will have a new Unity Desktop instead of the old Moblin desktop that was in Ubuntu 10.04 Netbook Edition I thought that I would ditch OpenSuse 11.3 for Ubuntu 10.04 Netbook Edition and update to Ubuntu 10.10 Netbook Edition when it is released on Sunday.  I'm currently Installing the Beta of the Unity Desktop on to my running 10.04 Netbook Edition.  I'll add a post about Unity when I've taken it for a test drive.

I'll add part 2 of this two part post on Sunday when I get 10.04 Netbook Edition updated ot 10.10 Netbook Edition.

Roland
The next version of Ubuntu is coming soon

Monday 4 October 2010

My move from Windows Vista to OpenSuse Linux 11.3

After previously using Ubuntu Linux 10.4 and then OpenSuse 11.2 and upgrading to OpenSuse 11.3 I had to go back to Windows Vista.  I now thought it was time to move back to Linux and OpenSuse 11.3 and my Advent 4213 Netbook runs a lot faster than it did under Windows Vista and Goggle Chrome opens up immediately compared to the long wait that I had under Windows Vista that resulted in multiple copies of Goggle Chrome being opened due to repeatedly clicking on the Goggle Chrome Icon on in the Start Menu.

The KDE Desktop is clean and uncluttered, the use of widgets on the Desktop instead of Icons makes for an incredibly customizable Desktop as you can add widgets to the Desktop, System tray or the Task bar.  I would recommend adding a Desktop widget for the Recycling Bin/Trash Can or as they call it in Linux the Waste Basket.

The Task Bar looks very similar to the new Task Bar in Windows 7, if it wasn't for the very different style of the Task Bar in Windows 7 you would be mistaken for thinking that Microsoft had just copied the Task Bar straight from KDE.

The Start menu is much more cleaner in KDE than it is in Windows with a Universal Search Bar sitting at the top of the Start Menu with the main part of the Start Menu split up into 5 tabs.  The first tab that you see is the Favourites tab that is similar to the Pinning Area on the Windows Start Menu, the second tab is the Applications tab which is similar to the Programs option on the Start Menu, the third tab is the Computer tab which is similar to the right hand side bar on the Windows Start Menu, the fourth tab is the Recently Used list which is like the area between the Pinned Applications list and the Programs option on the Windows Start Menu, the final tab is the Leave tab it's a bit like the Shutdown options on the Windows Start Menu but you also get the option to Lock the Computer.

OpenSuse 11.3 comes with loads of free software ranging from Office Software to Development tools, there is literally thousands of applications supplied on the DVD if you chose to purchase a boxed set it comes with a Dual Layer DVD that contains the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of OpenSuse and a CD that contains Non Open source Software and comes with a printed manual and 90 days free phone and e-mail installation support.  If you chose to download OpenSuse from there website you have to download the 32-bit and 64-bit versions separately as they have to be burned to individual Single Layer DVDs also I'd advise you downloading the Non Open source Software CD as well.  With the downloaded version you lose the printed manual and the 90-day support but the OpenSuse Forums have some very helpful members that can help you out with anything that you are stuck with.

I'll do more follow-up Posts as I find other things that you need to know rather than edit this post to add stuff.

Roland

Saturday 2 October 2010

Bullying and Threatening behaviour on Facebook

I've been forced to write this Post after being subjected to threatening behaviour on Facebook for the second time in as many years.

The first time was last July and my cousin threatened to kill me because her and most of my dads side of the family were not invited to my wedding and she thought that her and the rest of them had got a god given right to be at the wedding. I reported her to Facebook for threatening behaviour and they did nothing about it.

The second time was today when I had a go at my wife's Aunt when she had a dig at me for Blogging while I'm unemployed and her cousin/my wife's aunts Daughter didn't like the fact that I just didn't sit back and take it but bit back so she threatened  to rip my head off.  I've just blocked her on Facebook as I know there is no point in reporting her to Facebook for threatening behaviour as the people that run Facebook don't care what goes on on there site.

Since I posted this another one of my wife's cousins as started on me.  I've done nothing to cause this abuse, they've started it by sticking there nose where it's not wanted.

Rant over

Roland

Microsoft sues Motorola over Android phones

After reading this article on the BBC News website I can't help but wonder who will be next on Microsoft's hit list, will they go after Research In Motion over their Blackberry Smartphones and say that RIM have infringed some obscure Microsoft Patent on Push email or the use of a Homescreen that lists your upcoming calendar appointments, emails/SMS messages and your upcoming tasks.  Microsoft are as bad as News Corp/ BSkyB at trying to crush any competition.

I'm betting that the next two to be involved in a law suit will be RIM and Apple over the BlackBerry Homescreen and iPhone/iPod Touch Homescreen having a launcher bar at the bottom of them.

Why does every company have to be so greedy and want to take the competition down.  These patients that Microsoft are alleging have been infringed have not technically been infringed by Motorola and  instead have been infringed by Google as they are the ones that have put contact, calendar and email synchronizing into Android not Motorola so doesn't that mean that Microsoft should go after Google and not Motorola?

Rant over

Roland

Saturday 10 July 2010

My move from Ubuntu 10.04 to Open Suse 11.2 (Updated)

The transition from Conicals Ubuntu 10.04 Desktop Edition to Novells OpenSuse 11.2 was an easy one as the built in 3G Modem in my Netbook works out of the box along with. The built in WIFI and Bluetooth, the Web Cam seems to work but as I've not yet found a Web Cam App I've been unable to check if it works..

The KDE 4 desktop is taking some getting used to after using the Gnome desktop of Ubuntu. I've now upgrade the default KDE 4.4.3 to the new KDE 4.4.5 and nothing seems to have changed from the older KDE 4.4.3 that came as standard with OpenSuse 11.2. I've now just got to workout how to get OpenOffice 3.2.1 that I've downloaded from the PornOffice website to download. Will keep you updated on any more developments regarding hardware when I've played around with it more. I've now moved on to the latest OpenSuse 11.3 and nothing much seems to have changed over 11.2. The new KDE 4.4.4 is better than 4.4.3 the only other change that I've noticed is that OpenOffice has now upgraded to OpenOffice 3.2.1 fron 3.1.1. I've now hit a stumbling block as I tried to Upgrade from KDE 4.4.4 to 4.4.5 failed and I've now not got the ability to connect to the Internet, so now I've got to reinstall and then Upgrade to KDE 4.4.5 when I'm at my mums tomorrow and have got access to a propper Internet connection. I'll let you know the details of KDE 4.4.5 when I've Upgraded to it tomorrow. I've got evetthing back working on OpenSuse 11.3 but I can not get wifi to connect at my mums and mobile broadband is to un predictable so to try and do a major upgrade like upgrading from KDE 4.4.4 to 4.4.5 so I'll have to try and upgrade to KDE 4.4.5 when I can get on wifi.

Wednesday 23 June 2010

Video Editing and Encoding in Linux

After having to pull Video clips off my mums JCV Video Camera and trying to work with the cameras native .MOD files. To find that the only way to make the clips play or be usable in a video editing package was to use ffmpeg to re encode the .MOD files to .AVI files. I wish there was a video editing package that could work natively with the .MOD files or re-encode them on the fly as re-encoding 2-3 years of video clips to .AVI files to be able to edit them is taking forever.

I'd love to be able to find a video editing package with the features of Adobe Premier and the ease of use of Windows movie Maker as the ones that I've tried or eather overly complex or really stripped of features.

I've been told by a friend on Twitter about a Linux Video Editing App called oneshot, will update this post with more info on it when I've had a chance to try it out.

I really wish there was a simpler way to work with the .MOD files that my mums Video Camera produces as it takes an age having to convert each file to a .AVI file, even batch converting the files takes ages with ffmpeg.

Tuesday 22 June 2010

My move from Windows 7 to Ubuntu 10.04

The transition from Microsofts Windows 7 Ultimate Edition to Conicals Ubuntu 10.04 Desktop Edition LTS was an easy one and all the hardware.on my Advent 4213 Netbook was detected and setup correctly. The only thing that needed manual configuration was setting up the built in Mobile Broadband modem to connect to T-Mobile UK Web 'N' Walk, but that was a painless operation as all that needs to be done is select your country and Service Provider.

Ubuntu 10.04 Desktop Edition runs fast on the Advent Netbook. The only draw back is the lack of leds for Caps Lock and Num Lock make it hard to tell when Caps Lock and Num Lock are on. I've yet to find a Linux alternative to the Windows only OSD app that comes as part of the pre-Installed Windows software that is installed on the default Windows XP. SP3 Home Edition installation. I've also got to work out how to get my Lexmark X735 Printer and Umax AstraSlim SE Scanner. Also I need to get my head around the Coadweavers Crossover Office Demo to see if I can get all my Windows Apps to work.

There are plenty of free alternatives to paid for Windows apps to be able to cover anything you might need to do without having to use Crossover Office or the fee much more complex Wine Windows emulator.

The only thing that I'm currently struggling to work out is how to install the K Desktop Environment easily as there are a lot of Packages that need to be Installed to get it to work.

My wish list of essential apps are a Linux veersion of Windows Live Writer, Windows Live Mail App and a Linux version of BlackBerry Desktop Manager, come on RIM please develop a Linix version, there's a Windows and Mac OSX version of BlackBerry Desktop Manager a Linux version would be nice.

Afte a few days of using Ubuntu I've got to say that I really love the clean Desktop of the default Ubuntu Gnome Desktop. It took a bit of getting used to having a panel on the top of the Desktop with an Applications Menu (equivelant to the Windows Start Menu), a Places Menu that contains links to the Home folder and various other folders and Flash Drives e.t.c, a System Menu that has links to System Preferences and System Administration and the Notification. The bottom of the Desktop has a Panel with a link to Show Desktop a Taskbar of open applications and a link to the Deleted Items folder (equivelant to the Windows Recycle Bin). This Desktop setup gives you an in obstructed view of your chosen wallpaper.

The Gnome Desktop is a lot more. Intuitive than the KDE Desktop. If you like a flashy bells and whistles Desktop then the KDE Desktop is for you, but if you prefer a clean and snappy Desktop is for you.

If you want the Gnome Desktop version of Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx then head over to ubuntu.com and select eather the Netbook version of 10.04 that is exactly. The same as the Desktop Edition but with a re-designed Desktop interface that's ideal for the smaller screen of a Netbook, or the Desktop Edition of 10.04 that comes in 32 but or 64 but versions.

If you want the KDE Desktop version of Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx then head over to kubuntu.org and select eather the Netbook version of 10.04 that is exactly. The same as the Desktop Edition but with a re-designed Desktop interface that's ideal for the smaller screen of a Netbook, or the Desktop Edition of 10.04 that comes in 32 but or 64 but versions.

If your needs go beyond the normal KDE or gnome version of Ubuntu then there is the Server Edition if you need to run a Server of any kind available from
Ubuntu.com and selecting the Sever Edition.

I've now moved over to OpenSuse 11.2

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