Ed Tech Review

In a recent post I talked about Microsoft Live Writer on a PC. Needless to say I was pretty impressed. Prior to using Live Writer I always took the time to go to the admin and type it on the website. Because my primary computer is a Mac so after using Live Writer I started my search for a Mac Blogging client. I must say first that although I settled on a winner, it was settling. The Mac Clients don’t even come close to design, functionality, and ease of use to Live Writer. Although, there are a few outliers the two applications that stand out from the crowd are MarsEdit and Ecto. While my first inclination was to go with MarsEdit, and that is what I’m typing this on, Ecto has a little but more capability when it comes to formatting and adding things to the entry like keywords or ads. The media management however is not as strong. It’s not that MarsEdit doesn’t have some of the formatting features but they are buried and difficult to use.

Ecto is not as pretty as the rest, but it does what you need it to do. I would like to see a single window interface, and easier media management, but it is very easy to format your articles and text like you want. One feature that is either not there or difficult to find is the ability to add columns. It is not important for this blog, but it is a feature I use all the time on my classroom blog for spelling and vocabulary lists. Inserting ads, and links is very easy, and it is possible to create your own scripts to make repetitive tasks a breeze.

It’s not often that Mac software is blown out of the water by PC apps, but in the case of Blogging clients Mac software doesn’t even come close. But if you are on a Mac, your best option is Ecto.

https://www.photoshop.com/express/landing.html

Adobe has just released a great tool for basic editing of photos.  The best part about it is that it is free and does not require installation.  Photoshop Express is a free online application that lets you do a variety of things to photos, including: Cropping, Rotating, adding effects, correcting blemishes and more.  This is not Photoshop CS3,  The advanced tools and layers functions are not available in this version, but in reality for teaching middle grade students and perhaps even primary grade students how to do basic photo editing it is very cool.  If you an advanced Photoshop user looking for a new version you will have to wait for Photoshop CS4.

In our last post on this subject we talked about possible operating systems, and security issues. In this article we will discuss software for your older PCs. When the machines were developed they ran existing software very well. The trouble came when we upgraded software that put more demand on the machines than they were meant for. When we are running older machines it is best to use software that was developed from around the same time. Look in the old closets at the school, or the local thrift shop, and you will be surprised at the many options you find. The learning software was fun then, and still is. If we must have the latest and greatest software on our old machines, be prepared for misery.

With Linux systems you have a wide variety of open source software. Some of which is very demanding on a system, and some of which is easy on system resources. Pay close attention to system requirements and make sure you are not loading software beyond your systems capabilities.

Website: http://www.adobe.com/creativelicense/
Grade: ? Pending
Price: $489.95-$995.95 depending on version (Academic Pricing)

Later this month Adobe is scheduled to release it’s CS 3 suites of creativity software. Adobe has made many acquisitions over the last few years including Macromedia with the most used web development software Dreamweaver and Premiere the popular Video Editing software. With the release of CS 3 now the interoperability of these industry standards will be paired with Adobe’s dominant Photoshop software package that works seamlessly together. The way the programs work together is the most significant change, but each of the applications has many enhancements that significantly improve the user experience.

Program: Stellarium
Website: http://www.stellarium.org/
Grade: A
Cost: Free

Stellarium is a free open source planetarium for your computer. It shows a realistic sky in 3D, just like what you see with the naked eye, binoculars or a telescope. This application is available for Mac OSX, Windows, and Linux. A useful guide is also available on the site that provides you with all of the information you need to get started. The imagery is amazing and very accurate. This is a very powerful tool that is being used in many planetariums. This is a perfect application for any class studying space.

I have received a significant amount of response from my consumer alert regarding System Mechanic 7 Professional. Many others have had great challenges and problems with System Mechanic. The challenge we are faced with is how do we keep our XP systems running efficiently. I am currently looking at the other alternative of System Mechanic, from Norton. It is Norton System Works Premiere. I’ll wait to post a review of this software until I have had time to sufficiently try it out. The problem with Windows systems is over time things happen under the hood that gradually slow the system down. It becomes necessary to preform a little maintenance to keep your machine running smooth. I like the idea of having an all in one location where I can fix these issues, but as we found out with SM7 that is not always helpful.

In this article I will cover the basics of keeping your computer up and running correctly. These solutions can be done using software included with windows or with free downloadable software. Here are the steps you should take and the recommended frequency of the tasks.

1. Run Disk Cleanup (once a month) run on computer by going to Start>All Programs>Accessories>System Tools>Disk Cleanup.
2. De fragment the hard drive. (once a month) run on computer by going to Start>All Programs>Accessories>System Tools>Disk Defragmenter
3. Remove unnecessary programs from Startup. (When new software is installed) Go to Start>Startup>Right click on unwanted programs and select delete. This does not uninstall or disable the program. You can still start it through the start menu all it does is keep the program from starting every time you start your computer.
4. Clean up your desktop. Remove all unessisary files and start buttons from your desktop. Files should be put in folders. I even group my applications in folders. The more icons you have the slower your machine boots up.
5. Install and run Spy ware software. (Weekly) I recommend Spybot Search and Destroy

One other major issue is registry problems. There is some fine software to assist you with this like Registry Mechanic, but you need to pay for it. Unfortunately I have yet to find a free tool to do this well

I recently purchased System Mechanic 7 Professional because I had some slowing of my machine and my Anti-Virus subscription ran out so I thought I would give it a shot. I made the mistake of purchasing the program without using the 30 day trial, and it turned out to be a big mistake. System Mechanic Professional is made up of 3 basic components, first there are the system tools, second an antivirus, and third a firewall. I will discuss the three basic components.

First the system tools are a set of utilities that help fix and optimize your PC. Many of the tools work very well, and do make a significant difference in PC performance. Purchasing the standard version includes all of these tools. I have had a little trouble with the disk defragmenter utility because it freezes halfway through the process. But with that exception it has worked well.

The Antivirus is the worst I have used. It hogs system resources and is very slow and tedious. The worst component is the email scanner. When it would start it would run for hours using %90 of the processor resources and when running would not allow us to send and receive email. I have since uninstalled the Iolo antivirus and loaded AVG Free and all of my problems disappeared. In fact the AVG antivirus found 2 viruses that iolo missed.

The firewall is very effective at blocking all traffic on the internet. It requires manual configuration for any interactive web sites, so for a blogger and techie like me it would have taken hours to get it set up so all of my web applications would run correctly. It was just to impractical to use.

If you need system tools to tune up your PC the standard version is capable and I reluctantly say may be worth the $39, however the Professional version that includes the antivirus and firewall should be avoided at all costs. Even with the system tools you should take advantage of the 30 free trial to make sure it works well for your system. Iolo will not issue refunds after the purchase for any reason, But that’s to be understood. I would have a hard time standing behind the product too.