November, 2009 - Softonic English

LogMeIn Hamachi: file sharing

Welcome to part 2 of our beginner’s guide to Hamachi (you can catch part 1 here). Today we’re going to take a look at file sharing, one of the reasons you might want to use the program. If you’ve already taken a look around the options, you’d be forgiven for thinking that it is not a feature, but it is – Hamachi facilitates file sharing, but it doesn’t actually provide it. Let me explain…

File sharing is a feature that you’ll have to enable on your computer. Hamachi then provides the network via which your friend will access your files. Since Hamachi is already set up, you have to turn your attention to Windows’ file sharing. A word of warning – file sharing is a fairly routine procedure, but there is a degree of risk involved. If you are not totally comfortable with the process, you should probably become better acquainted with it before jumping in to the deep end.

First of all, go to Control Panel > Network Connections (this tutorial is based on XP). Right-click on the Hamachi connection and choose Properties. In the options that appear, make sure ‘Client for Microsoft Networks‘ and ‘File and Printer Sharing‘ are ticked. Continue reading “LogMeIn Hamachi: file sharing”

Photoshop tutorial: Make your own advent calendar

Believe it or not, it’s that time of the year again. 2009 is almost over and the countdown to Christmas has already started. And what is the best way to keep track of that countdown? An advent calendar, of course! Nowadays you can buy advent calendars of all shapes and kinds, but I still believe that the best advent calendar is the one that you create with your hands. Here’s an easy tutorial to design your very own advent calendar in Photoshop.

1. First, you need a base image for your calendar. Ideally it should have a Christmas-inspired design and enough room for 24 days. I’ll use this image from Stock.xchng. You can ask your kids to help you select the image, get them involved in the creative process.

How to create an advent calendar

2. Using rulers (Ctrl+R) create a grid on top of your image to design the calendar. Make sure you have at least 24 squares – or 25, if you want to make your calendar up to December 25th. Continue reading “Photoshop tutorial: Make your own advent calendar”

10 invites for the netbook OS Jolicloud Alpha

Update: I sent invites to the first 10 people to comment. However, anyone can now download the pre-beta for Jolicloud here. Enjoy!

There has been much attention given to Google Chromium OS over the last few weeks (here at OnSoftware as much as anywhere else). This is hardly surprising, given that a lot of netbook owners share the dream of an ultra light, fast-booting OS targeted at the web.

As we’ve seen from trying Chromium OS out, Google have a long way to go before they’ve got anything that vaguely resembles a functioning operating system. So while you wait for a workable beta (hopefully some time next year) – why not try the best alternative on the market?

Jolicloud is a light, fast web-focused Linux distro based on Ubuntu. It has a fairly smart one-click-to-install user interface, fast boot times and relatively low power consumption. It feels more ‘built for netbooks’ than Windows 7 and is simple enough for even the most novice of users. We’ve been testing Jolicloud for a few months now and we really like it.

Unlike Chromium OS, Jolicloud lets more advanced users do what they want, so key elements of the Gnome/Linux OS are still accessible via the terminal. Another big criticism of Google’s OS is its insistence on being connected to the Internet all the time. Jolicloud, meanwhile, supports more local storage options and lets you install VLC Player along with other powerful offline apps.

We’ve got 10 invites for the Jolicloud alpha, so to get your hands on this cool little OS, simply leave a comment below telling us what you’re planning to do with your smart new Jolicloud-powered netbook.

League of Legends – dangerously good multiplayer

Take elements of role playing, action games like Diablo and tower defense games, mix them together and you’ll get something like League Of Legends, the free to play online multiplayer game from Riot Games.

All you have to do is sign up, download the client and off you go. There’s a great tutorial, and joining online games is really easy. There are two teams of 5 players, and you battle to control the map you’re playing. Choose a caste of Champion, to join your team’s minions and destroy the opposing team’s defense turrets while battling their Champions. It’s fast paced and exciting.

For a free game, League of Legends is awesome. It’s really deep, and rewards extensive play. Also, as a new player you don’t feel completely lost against more advance players – tactics and playing style are really important whatever your level. What League of Legends is not is a casual game. It’s ideally played when you have a few hours, not minutes, so it’s quite an investment! Once you’re in a game, leaving will mean both that you lose any experience you gained in that battle, and also that you may doom your team to losing over all!

For any fans of fantasy and strategy, League of Legends is a no-brainer – just remember you still have to eat!

LogMeIn Hamachi: set-up and chat

Lots of you out there, especially fans of games such as Borderlands and Modern Warfare, will have heard of Hamachi (now LogMeIn Hamachi). Like dedicated techies, you’ll have checked it out, downloaded it and click, click, clicked your way to installation. Great! But what happens now?

The program’s interface gives away no clue. There’s no wizard, tutorial or even any advice about how to use it, so it’s up to you to figure it out. Well, you’re not completely alone: today we’re going to take a look at the basics of Hamachi – setting up a network and chatting. You’ll either need to ‘Create a new network‘ or ‘Join an existing network‘. In the case of the latter, it’s your friend who’ll have to create the network, but we’ll assume that you’re doing the creating in this tutorial.

When you choose ‘Create a new network’, you’ll be asked for a Network ID (just a name for the network – this can be whatever you want) and a password. Then hit create – it’s as simple as that. Remember! Your friend has to download Hamachi too and they’ll need your details to search for and connect to your network. Once they have found you, you’ll have to approve their request. When they appear in your list, you’re ready to chat!

This couldn’t be easier – you simply right-click on your friend’s name and select ‘Chat’. A (very basic) chat window will appear, and you use it like you would any other. Now that you’ve mastered the basics, it’s time to move on to more complicated tasks, like file-sharing and gaming, something we’ll tackle in the next Hamachi post. Stay tuned!

Friday Timewaster: Captain Forever

This week’s timewaster is an unusual game set in space. Start out by collecting scrap floating in space to build a ship, and journey around looking for more parts, or destroying other ships and scavenging from them.

Captain Forever looks great, and building up your space ship is excellent. There are lots of other ships flying around and you have to judge whether or not you can take them on. If you get into a fight you can’t win, and lose your weapons you’ll have a tough time. It’s also really disappointing to lose a ship you’ve spent time creating!

Free writing apps to help you relax

Writing on a computer can be terribly distracting. Word is full of buttons and toolbars, WordPress is incredibly busy, and your system tray is likely to flash up notifications just often enough to put you off your words.

There are a number of writing applications designed especially to improve the atmosphere of your desktop, so you can concentrate on just writing.

WriteMonkey is my favorite free writing app for Windows, that clears your screen of anything that might ruin your stream of consciousness. All you see is a blank page and the words you write on it. It’s fully customizable in terms of fonts and colors, so you can set it up to be perfectly comfortable for your eyes. Use it with headphones, and you can even turn on typewriter sound effects!

There are other free options, like Dark Room, JDarkRoom and Q10, but they are a bit harder to use, and are a little less flexible than WriteMonkey.

JDarkRoom also runs on Mac OS X, which already has the paid apps WriteRoom and Scrivener. However, a design agency in Barcelona has just released a great free beta of something they call OmmWriter:

This is a really slick application, and while you don’t have total freedom with font or color choices, OmmWriter makes up for this with its great backgrounds, selection of ambient sounds and really pleasant keyboard effects. It’s really easy to use too – everything comes naturally, making it even more relaxing.

I found I could write much more efficiently using these apps, and I actually found OmmWriter incredibly pleasant to use too. How do you block out all the distractions that working on a computer brings?

Thanksgiving activities for kids: coloring, crafts and… programming!

Kids love Thanksgiving, but unlike Christmas, there are no gifts to keep them entertained. Sure, this particular season is more about being gracious than receiving lots of cool stuff, but there’s a limit to how much kids can take. Keep them in a festive mood with some great activities this Thanksgiving!

There’s no kid alive who doesn’t like a bit of coloring. You can keep things traditional by downloading some of these cute Thanksgivin g printables. Pick the large version, print, dig out the crayons and get creative! If you’d prefer to keep the carnage to a minimum – or there are no crayons around – don’t worry! There are loads of fun, no-mess coloring programs available. Tux Paint has interesting pictures and some cool effects, while Kea Coloring Book lets you color a variety of pictures or even make your own. Magic Whiteboard, as the name suggests, takes a slightly different approach and lets users connect on a network. It even allows remote access, so you can supervise the kids while working on your own tasks.

If you’re determined not to let the opportunity slip through your hands, you can even make sure the rugrats learn while they play. Kidsmouse contains a selection of educational games that should keep younger children interested for a few hours, while Machinarium will really stretch older kid’s minds with some beautifully-drawn robot strategy. My favorite educationally-focused program though, has to be Visual Basic for Kids. Yep, you heard right – programming for children! It will definitely keep older ones busy, teaching them the basics and setting them projects which, if you’re lucky, will keep them busy from now to Labor Day. Well, you can dream!

If none of these grab your attention, there are loads of online games for both the littlest kids to older ones. Take a look at these, and have a very happy Thanksgiving!

Fatty Bum Bum (all ages)

!Fishy! (older children)

Hedgehog Launch (older children)

Swordless Ninja (older children)

How to change your voice in Skype

If you fancy having a bit of fun next time you use Skype then why not try out a voice-changing app? You’ll be able to do all sorts of cool things, from prank-calling your pals as Darth Vader to faking a sore throat in order to get a day off work. There are a number of software tools around that can change your voice in Skype, and none of them are particularly difficult to use.

Skype Voice Changer is a free app that does exactly what its name suggests. Install the application on your PC, open up Skype and agree to the permission request. You’ll then be presented with an effects panel that lets you alter your voice. There are a range of presets and you can tweak each of them using the sliders to change various aspects of the sound.

A more comprehensive and easier to use solution is MorphVOX Pro. The program has some really cool preset voices, including a demon, robot, woman, kid and even a dog! You can also apply background noises to your voice as you’re talking, such as a shopping mall or a traffic jam (perfect for a call to your boss saying you’ll be late for work). Another great thing about MorphVOX Pro is the ‘Voice effects’ section, where you can apply various filters to your dulcet tones, including nasal, growl, underwater and monotone. All of the presets can be customized using the ‘Tweak Voice’ control panel. The downside of MorphVOX Pro is that it costs $39.95, although you can try the program free for 30 days.

If you really want state-of-the-art then check out AV Voice Changer. This app is loaded with a multitude of options that let you really fine-tune your fake voice. There are lots of preset voices to make you sound young, old, sexy, patronizing, joyful or sarcastic. The program includes a ‘Parady Mixer’, which lets you sample celebrities voices before calling people up and pranking them. The tinkering you can do with AV Voice Changer is more akin to a professional audio production app, including a formant morpher (to alter acoustic resonance), voice equalizer and noise reduction settings. The only trouble with AV Voice Changer is the trial is pretty limited, and the program is more expensive than MorphVOX Pro.

If you really want an idea of the fun you can have with voice changers, then you must watch this video of a guy using MorphVOX Pro with some hilarious consequences.

[youtube]opb1NjhJlLY[/youtube]

Macs can be victims of passive smoking too

If you’re of the opinion that smoking bans have gone far enough, then you won’t like what you’re about to hear. It seems that Apple think that smokers should have more respect for their Macs – and not smoke around them. The penalty if you don’t comply? Well, consider your Applecare warranty invalidated.

This might sound like a story of “political correctness gone mad” but according to The Consumerist, two Mac users in the US have been told they’ve invalidated their repair warranties because the internal components of their Mac are covered in tar. They’ve even taken their cases as far Steve Jobs himself – and have still been rejected.

One of the aggrieved users described what had happened in his e-mail to Jobs:

The Apple store called and informed me that due to the computer having been used in a house where there was smoking, that has voided the warranty and they refuse to work on the machine, due to “health risks of second hand smoke”. Not only is this faulty science, attributing non smoking residue to second hand smoke but no where in your applecare terms of service can I find anything mentioning being used in a smoking environment as voiding the warranty.

Meantime the other user was informed her son’s smoke was a “bio-hazard”:

When I asked for an explanation, she said he’s a smoker and it’s contaminated with cigarette smoke which they consider a bio-hazard! I checked my Applecare warranty and it says nothing about not honoring warranties if the owner is a smoker.

There are going to be those who jump on this and say that Apple are making-up any excuse to get out of repairing products.

But damage caused by bio-hazards invalidates an Applecare warranty so Apple are well within their rights to refuse repair of a Mac that’s covered in tar. I very much doubt Apple would try to get out of performing a few repairs just to save a bit of money for what would be very bad PR. By all accounts, Applecare customer service is revered by most of those that have had to use it. If a Mac’s internal parts are covered in black sticky tar from years of being surrounded by smoking, I don’t blame Apple for claiming it could have done damage to the computer not to mention the poor maintenance guy who has to clean it all up.

So if you’re a Mac user, this news is one more good reason to give-up smoking for Christmas.