March, 2007 - Softonic English

Record and edit videos with Camtasia Studio

Camtasia Studio is a complete application suite to record, edit and share your videos online, on CD or with a portable player. This highly-acclaimed program allows you to create screencasts or video tutorials, and can also be used to prepare presentations. Let’s get a run-down of all the things you can do with Camtasia Studio.

Thanks to the Camtasia Recorder, you can record and save screen captures or webcam broadcasts. We enjoyed playing around with it, adjusting the region size, highlighting cursor movement and setting elements such as time stamps and captions. Depending on what you need to record, you can also choose to hide or show the cursor and disable audio.

The production studio is the central piece of the application, from where you’ll be doing your editing. Drag and drop your recorded videos onto the timeline at the bottom of the interface. Camtasia embeds a player in the studio interface and you can constantly replay your production. From the menu on the left side you can choose from a selection of 18 different transitions, many call-outs (effectively bubbles to insert text into your video) or captions. The Zoom-n-Pan feature can be used to focus in on one part of the video in particular and teachers can use the Flash Quiz Survey feature to prepare multiple choice tests for their students. Camtasia Studio also includes an audio editor to simply record a voiceover directly to your video or tweak the audio in your production. Use Menu Maker and Theater to create full tables of contents and credits.

Continue reading “Record and edit videos with Camtasia Studio”

It’s not a game. It’s a world.

A game capable of attracting millions of players all over the world who religiously pay their monthly fee to play on World of Warcaft’s online servers is certainly worth reviewing. The story of Warcraft began in 1994 with the launch of Warcraft: Orcs & Humans, a real-time strategy adventure. Ten years and a few sequels later the series took the leap onto the online world with World of Warcraft, which has nowadays become the world’s leading MMORPG.

Being a subscription-based and online-only title, the first thing you must do after installing the game is to open an account on Warcraft’s website and activate it with your credit card. Then launch the game, enter your username and password on the welcome screen and you’ll be ready to join the adventure.
Continue reading “It’s not a game. It’s a world.”

Rocky road ahead for the new Camino?

camino The Camino project was launched by Mozilla to embrace everything that Macs are loved for – elegance, functionality and simplicity. The aim was to design the ultimate Mac internet browser fitting for a machine of its calibre. Version 1.0.4 has just been released although it seems the developers have got a long way to go before they reach their lofty aims.

Despite being released to address stability and security issues, it seems many users have found it actually less stable than previous releases. Various disgruntled users on Digg suggest that version 1.1 Alpha was the last stable release whilst others complain of disappearing bookmarks and regular crashes.

However, its clear that the project has a lot of potential. Many users praise the speed that it can load webpages compared to Safari and even Firefox. The Gecko engine its based on also gives it a WYSIWYG editing capability for websites making it popular with many developers.

One of the most annoying aspects of Camino remains the fact that there are few options for customisation. Compared to Firefox with its hundreds of plugins, Camino users have to do with what they get. However, there is an unofficial website called PimpMyCamino which features a host of cool plugins and add-ons to beef it up. Another cool add-on to check out is CamiTools which is gradually adding more and more functionality to this still fledgling browser.

Ten online games

I can imagine you right now: sitting in front of your computer, drifting from website to website, not knowing exactly what to do. Enough! We have the perfect solution for you. Get on the move and have a look at our games category, where you’ll find plenty of game demos and full versions you can download and play on your computer. But if you’re looking for something simpler, check this list of 10 online game we’ve prepared for you. Ranging from logical puzzles to absolutely absurd time wasters, you’re sure to find your perfect pastime for the weekend. Don’t forget to post your highest score in comments!

Ball of Bastards : soccer seen from a hilarious perspetive
McDonald’s Video Game : a mixture of fun and criticism
Linerider : a simple yet addictive physics toy
Dots : who hasn’t played this classic pastime during a boring lesson?
Mr Picasso Head : make your own cubist self-portrait
Hewitt : a nice point and click adventure
Sobics Brick Game : simple addictive color puzzle
CatchThirtyThree : how fast can you click on 33 numbers?
QWERTY Warriors : the faster you type, the more enemies you kill
Throw Paper : a true time waster

“Out Of Bounds” effect with Photoshop

Have you ever seen one of those images where people or objects seem to reach out of the picture’s margins? It’s called an out-of-bounds (OOB) effect and it’s something you can do for yourself with your favourite picture. Not sure how? Launch Photoshop, follow this easy tutorial and see for yourself!

First of all, select the picture you want to work with, duplicate the background layer and create two more new blank layers over the copy.

Continue reading ““Out Of Bounds” effect with Photoshop”

BBC to launch iPlayer

BBC iPlayer BBC Worldwide has announced it is to launch its own iPlayer in an attempt to rival Apple’s iTunes for downloaded music and video content. It is expected to be approved in the Spring although no official date has been set for the release.

Since the BBC is a publically funded institution, the iPlayer had to prove that it will fulfil a public service. As a result, it will initially only be available to UK licence-fee payers and will allow them to re-watch programs broadcast within the past 7 days (more on the negotiations here). However, the BBC plans to take further controversial steps towards commercialisation by generating revenue from advertiser driven content and pay-per-view downloads. It’s even possible that other commercial broadcasters may be invited on board which would turn the iPlayer into the biggest online broadcaster of terrestrial channels in the UK.

The new project is part of the BBC’s renewed drive to embrace online video including plans to put clips of popular shows on YouTube. Its also currently in the process of working with IBM to create an online searchable database of its children’s programmes.

However, there’s no guarantee that such an on-demand service will work. UK broadcasters Channel 4 and Sky have both experiemented with putting content online but without spectacular results. Most people who miss a program that is broadcasted on TV record it on a VCR or hardrive anyway so it’s debateable whether people will really want to watch a rerun of a soap such as Eastenders online. However, if the BBC were to put its unique archive online on a pay-per-view basis, it might find more success.

Ad-Aware 2007 Beta ready to test

Ad-Aware 2007 Beta is finally available for registered testers. Over on their blog, Lavasoft claim that over 50,000 users have already downloaded it. Anybody interested in trying it out just needs to go to the Beta registration page. If you’ve never heard of it before, Ad-Aware is one of the best free anti spyware applications out there. The program has a constantly updated database on all latest malware and will thoroughly scan your PC.

I personally received an email from Lavasoft yesterday, but the download page kept crashing. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one with this issue. Luckily, the folks at Lavasoft have worked hard fixing the problem and this morning I was able to install the Beta.

My first impressions are of a sleeker interface and a more “pro” feel compared to the old Ad-Aware. Lavasoft have already posted a full list of new features available in this version. The Ad Watch Connect feature, that protects you from “hijackers” as you browse the net, and the new advanced CSI technology, to detect malware seem to be the biggest improvements. The new Ad Aware will also have a function to clear out your cache, cookies and history from your browser in a click. The System Restore Point will keep you safe from accidentally erasing files and it seems Lavasoft have added a file editor to customize the Hosts file to improve your protection. I’ve had a few crashes, but, as the people of Lavasoft remind, that’s very likely to happen with this Beta version. Thanks to all the useful feedback and bug reports from testers, Lavasoft should be able to release the final version of Ad Aware 2007 sometime this month. We’ll make sure to let you know as soon as we’re aware of it.

Much more than just a photo viewer

ACDSee is the kind of application that has been around for years, launching version after version. It began as a fast, simple image viewer and has now evolved into a heavyweight program with lots of tools – indeed, this is exactly what ACDSee has been criticised for of late. In any case, let’s take a closer look and see what lies behind this classic image viewer.

Firstly, you must go through a quite lengthy installation process, which involves providing an email address to unlock the trial if you want to use it for 30 days instead of the 7 allowed by default. The installation also includes the Yahoo! Toolbar but fortunately you can skip this if you don’t want it added to your web browser.
Continue reading “Much more than just a photo viewer”

The basics of computer security

Your brand new PC just arrived at home and you’re eager to start surfing the web. No sooner have you connected it to the router than somebody begins to lecture you about all the dangers you may encounter when connecting to the world wide web. Don’t worry: the Internet is a safe place, that is, as long as you know how to protect your PC.

Computer security is based on three types of software: anti-virus, anti-spyware and firewalls. The first one identifies and erases computer viruses from your PC, usually scanning files on your hard drive and also files you download or receive by email. Anti-spyware tools fight against any kind of suspicious software, often presented as toolbars, which may be collecting personal data without your consent. Finally, a firewall is an application that monitors your connection by controlling any application that access the Internet and denying any attempt to enter your PC.

Nowadays anti-virus, anti-spyware and firewall tools are very easy to configure and use. Sometimes you won’t even need to change anything, as they’ll work fine with their default settings. Also, there’s a wide range of options to choose from, so just take a look at our Security category and make your choice.

If you want to go online without risks, this is basically everything you need to be aware of. Of course, there’s always the possibility of being infected by an unknown virus or falling in some wicked hacker’s clutches but believe us, this is truly unlikely to happen if you use these basic security tools and keep them up-to-date.

Is NASA World Wind a Google Earth killer?

Browsing over any part of the world and focusing down on a spot with incredible precision is now possible with free software like NASA World Wind. This program uses satellite technology to bring the globe to your desktop.

NASA released World Wind six months before Google Earth, yet it failed to make as much of an impact. However, anything coming out of the prestigious aeronautics administration is definitely worth a closer look. So what sets World Wind apart from Google Earth?

World Wind’s real selling point is the quality of its satellite imagery. World Wind reveals Earth in many different perspectives thanks to the large variety of maps. Blue Marble exposes Earth in its true colors, Landsat 7 gives you high resolution imagery, and MODIS can display time relevant data such as earthquakes, fires or floods. Browse mountain ranges and observe the snowy peaks, the clouds, and the different colors of the rock, with incredible precision. Be aware though that the lower you go, the more detail will appear, and World Wind will take more time to process the image.

Continue reading “Is NASA World Wind a Google Earth killer?”