Build your own Intel i3 PC for $259

Posted on February 11, 2012 by Stephen Pate

TigerDirect kit with Intel i3-22100 CPU 500 GB hard drive and 4 GB RAM for a low cost Intel computer

Intel i3-2100 Kit

Low priced computer kits don’t mean low performance or quality. Tiger Direct has two kits anyone with reasonable skills could make for less than $260.

The first is an Intel Intel Core i3-2100 CPU. This i3-2100 processor scores at 3862 on the PassMark – CPU Mark test. Over 1,000 users rated this kit 4.5 out of 5 at TigerDirect.

While not the fastest game processor, you could fix that with a video card. The spec is decent and all you need is a monitor, keyboard, mouse and operating system. Continue reading →

Windows 8 consumer preview February 29 2012

Posted on February 9, 2012 by Stephen Pate

We’ve waited and it’s only a few days away for the next version of Microsoft’s popular operating system

Windows 8 Metro interface

Microsoft announced that the next step in releasing Windows 8 will occur with a Consumer Preview release of Windows 8.

Actually it didn’t announced the preview but did invite people to a special event in Barcelona, Spain after which consumers will be able to download the free consumer preview of Windows 8. Continue reading →

I Am A Pilgrim by Aaron Neville

Posted on February 8, 2012 by Stephen Pate

Black spiritual featured at BBC Celtic Connections

The famous spiritual is often associated with American country music and Merle Travis but it was a black spiritual long before that. More importantly, it had a double meaning about the underground railroad.
Continue reading →

Facebook may not erase photographs

Posted on February 8, 2012 by Stephen Pate

Facebook’s delay in erasing photos deleted by users is ongoing privacy issue

Burning those old Facebook photos (photo Ars Technica)

Users who delete their Facebook accounts have found their photographs still on the internet years later. The proper procedure is to manually delete each photograph or other post to your wall before you delete your account.

Privacy experts and users say Facebook has no timely mechanism to remove photographs and other private material from its servers.

Continue reading →

Doing it for love

Posted on February 7, 2012 by Stephen Pate

Creating Valentines to give away

Graphic Artist Marian Bantjes shows how she creates her art. Her course on Linda.com Marian Bantjes, Graphic Artist is a one hour tutorial in how to build your own Valentines.

Sign up for a 7-day free trial to lynda.com and you can watch the whole course free. A Lynda.com subscription has thousands of courses that will awaken the creative person inside you or someone you love. lynda.com software training My problem in writing about it is she checks this column.

James Taylor Free Guitar Lesson # 3

Posted on February 3, 2012 by Stephen Pate

Famed singer songwriter is offering his fans free guitar lessons – how cool is that?

James Taylor (picture James Taylor)

James Taylor is offering to teach the world how to play his unique finger picking guitar style. Free. On YouTube.

The project started in October and he just posted Lesson 3 called Second Wheel. Continue reading →

Chimes of Freedom all Bob Dylan all the time

Posted on February 2, 2012 by Stephen Pate

What’s not to like about a 4-CD 76-song tribute to Bob Dylan and Amnesty International for $20

Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan is a lot of Bob Dylan songs for only $20 sung by artists famous and not-so-famous. The project will raise money for Amnesty International.

Amnesty International are fighting for human rights and freedom around the world. They deserve our $20 and more for defending people from oppression.

It’s the 50th Anniversary of Amnesty International, Bob Dylan’s 50th anniversary of recording. The project seems like a winner. Continue reading →

Solar Eclipse Sunday May 20 2012

Posted on January 29, 2012 by Byline

Mark your calendar – Moon will pass in front of Sun over parts of USA, Pacific and Japan

By – Dr. Tony Phillips NASA – On Sunday, May 20th, the sun is going to turn into a ring of fire. It’s an annular solar eclipse–the first one in the USA in almost 18 years.

An annular eclipse occurs when the Moon passes directly in front of the sun, but the lunar disk is not quite wide enough to cover the entire star. At maximum, the Moon forms a “black hole” in the center of the sun.
Continue reading →

Lynda.com makes photo book production a breeze

Posted on January 27, 2012 by Stephen Pate

Online course explains how to plan, organize and publish a photo book on Blurb.com

Lynda.com Creating Photo Books with Blurb, showing book cover design

Self-publishing a book is a daunting task made relatively easy with the Lynda,com course Creating Photo Books with Blurb.

For example, if you want to create a really special Valentine’s Day photo book covered in How to make the best Valentine for under $50, the related Lynda course takes about 2 to 3 hours to complete and costs $25, or $37.50 if you use their sample files. The fee is a one month membership and you can also take other courses during the month. There also is a Lynda.com 7-day free trial.
Continue reading →

Google Chrome breaks computers again

Posted on January 27, 2012 by Stephen Pate

Installing Chrome browser with MS Office breaks the hyperlink feature

Sneak attack on MS Office and LiveMail

Google Earth comes automatically with Google Chrome browser. Installing Chrome on a Windows 7 computer which has either MS Office or Windows LiveMail will break the hyperlink feature.

Hyperlink allows to you to click on a link in a document and automatically go to the internet page in the link.

Continue reading →

iStrobosoft guitar tuner app review

Posted on January 27, 2012 by Stephen Pate

Peterson iPhone and iPad apps are accurate and low cost strobe instrument tuners

iStrobosoft iPhone app

Peterson has two apps for the iPhone and iPad that give the musician strobe tuning accuracy for about $10. The iPad app is being discounted to $9.99 until January 31st, 2012.

I wanted to see just how accurate the iPhone Peterson would be. I was not disappointed, although the under $20 Snark SN-1 clip on tuner was almost as accurate.

Last night I was practicing guitar while the news was on. It was handy to refresh my tuning without looking for a tuner. I’m not sure if musicians will risk damaging their iPhones in a studio or stage environment to use the iStrobosoft app. The practicality of the iStrobosoft tuner for those uses is up to each person to decide.

Peterson Strobe Tuners have been the pinnacle of stringed instrument tuners for decades and known for accuracy and high cost. Continue reading →