#Bluetooth framework for teaching #vmvwiki #vmvhw

This post will be a record of things I discover while trying to set up a Bluetooth framework for teaching (so this post will actually be more like a wiki and change!)

1. Speakers.

• Purchased: HIFI X-6 MINI Sound Rugby Football Wireless Bluetooth Speaker AUX USB Portable Audio Player Music for phone Computer Subwoofer http://www.aliexpress.com/item/HI-FI-X-6-MINI-Football-Wireless-Bluetooth-Speaker-TF-AUX-USB-Portable-Audio-Player-Music/32309649617.html


• Unfortunately Bluetooth  does not work with Windows. Windows cannot locate a driver (it appears that the speaker has no description attached so Update cannot link a driver). Worked fine with iPad/iPhone. Buddy jack design actually not working (linking the speakers together) I think they need to add a din plug output to connect to aux in other speaker for this to work.

2. Mouse.

• Purchased: Adjustable DPI 1600 Brand New Wireless Mouse Bluetooth Rechargeable Optical Mice 3.0 For Notebook Computer Laptop PC BM01-K60 http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Adjustable-DPI-1600-Brand-New-Wireless-Mouse-Bluetooth-Rechargeable-Optical-Mice-3-0-For-Notebook-Computer/32236660866.html


• First issue was that after remaining idle the mouse would switch off. Seemed to be an issue with windows power management. See below for how this was fixed.


• Interesting the side buttons on this mouse - allow a browser back/forward (alt left-arrow/alt right-arrow or backspace/shift backspace-though shift backspace doesn't quite work) - which is not the same as PowerPoint's back button.

---

Configuration issues

Problem: Device disconnects

It appears that by default Windows power saving kills a USB device. The mouse connected would die and not reconnect. To disable this you need to

1. go to Start > type in "Device Manager" >


2. Expand Bluetooth Radios >


3. Right click on Generic Bluetooth Adaptor + Properties, and


4. uncheck "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power"

 

Windows 8: Change default photo viewer ( #vmvwiki )

A problem in Windows 8 is when you click on an image in Windows explorer it annoyingly loads it into the Win 8 photo viewer app.

To fix this:

go to Control Panel > Programs > Default Programs and select  Set your default programs.
Scroll down and click Windows Photo Viewer in the Programs list.
Then, click 'Set this program as default' if you'd like the Viewer to open all the file types it can handle, or select the 'Choose default' options if you prefer to specify which file types it should open. Finish by clicking OK.

PC-iPad screen share: [1] Windows 7 starter, ad hoc network

According to Microsoft Win7 starter is unable to create an ad hoc network. Am trying to screen share an iPad with a laptop without 3G needed.

A quick search on Dr. Google reveals that the ad hoc network option is actually there in starter, but the link is missing. To set up an ad hoc network just click on start and in the box "Search programs and files" type "ad hoc".. this will bring up the wizard and away you go.

Will add to the post how well this goes with screen share with iPad

 

Some notable free software #vmvwiki

1. Microsoft Expression Web 4 (HTML Web authoring tool)

• Microsoft has discontinued the support of this product (it is embedded in Visual Studio and Sharepoint) so have released this as freeware


• http://www.microsoft.com/en-nz/download/details.aspx?id=36179

2. Adobe Acrobat 8 Professional

• Version that can convert pdfs to Word files (doc not docx)


• http://www.techspot.com/downloads/4683-adobe-acrobat-8-free.html

3. Paint.net

• A freeware drawing and photo editing program, allows you to resize images


• http://www.getpaint.net/

4. Zoom-it

• Allows you to zoom your screen when doing presentations


• http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897434.aspx

5. CCleaner

• Will clean up your PC's registry and Hard Disk Drives


• http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner


• ( defraggler - a disk defragging tool is also useful http://www.piriform.com/defraggler/download )

Computing e-books for $5

Computing e-books for $5

https://app.packtpub.com/#

Make sure you go through the app store for the discounted books.

Microsoft Product keys

 

Track down lost Microsoft product keys with ProduKey

Find your lost key for any properly installed Microsoft product with the help of this free tool.

Instructions:

http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/window-on-windows/quick-tip-track-down-lost-microsoft-product-keys-with-produkey/7579?tag=nl.e098&s_cid=e098&ttag=e098

Download

http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/product_cd_key_viewer.html

PowerPoint - will not proceed to next slide

Found out today that if the PowerPoint is set to Kiosk mode (In Office 2010 buried in Slide Show > Set up slide show > Show slide type) then it will only display the first slide and clicking (or using arrows) to go to the next slide doesn't work

2013 Feb: YahooXtra's email hacking

YahooXtra: What actually happened? 

A Wordpress vulnerability caused this...

http://www.iitp.org.nz/newsletter/article/414?utm_source=email 

and another

http://arstechnica.com/security/2013/01/how-yahoo-allowed-hackers-to-hijack-my-neighbors-e-mail-account/ 

 

 

.. and looks like my Backup blog has suffered a hack again too. Getting to the stage I'll switch it off and use a different Blog system.

Keep your Twitter Archive fresh on Google Drive using a bit of Google Apps Script

 

http://mashe.hawksey.info/2013/01/sync-twitter-archive-with-google-drive/?utm_source=jan13newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=jan13nl 

Google Drive Crop Drawing

While there is no actual cropping tool, this is achieved by

1. putting the image on the top left of the canvas then click and


2. drag the bottom right hand corner of the canvas until the canvas is the same size as the image.

Actually quite simple really !!!

Windows 8:shut down

To shut Windows 8 down, just move the mouse cursor to the bottom right corner of the screen, click the Settings icon - or just hold down the Windows key and press I - and you'll see a power button. Click this and choose 'Shut Down' or 'Restart'. Some of the tricks available in previous versions of Windows still apply. Press Ctrl+Alt+Del, for instance, click the power button in the bottom right-hand corner and you'll be presented with the same 'Shut Down' and 'Restart' options. And if you're on the desktop, press Alt+F4 and you'll be able to choose 'Shut Down', 'Restart', 'Sign Out' or 'Switch User' options. From Paradigm PCs

Handbrake DVD rip

Some Open Source software that (apparently) allows DVD ripping. As far as I know it is ok to burn a personal backup copy. I read somewhere that it works with VLC but haven't had time to play around with them yet.

http://www.winxdvd.com/resource/handbrake-windows-tutorial.htm

Some Music Software

 

If you are into writing/ playing with music, check this out

It is free, almost writes it for you, will play back to you etc

http://musink.net

Wordpress hacking: Bat Boy and Mr. DJh

Grr!@###$

What a damn nuisance  looks like there is a way to hack your WordPress web site. My research shows it as The Bat Boy or in my case Mr. DJh (see below)

It does 2 things

1. Changes your admin login & email account in the users table and (this means you can't log in as admin)


2. Changes index.php code for the theme (which is what shows on the page)

Anyway this is how to fix it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESp_rceZ_gw

UNFORTUNATELY, in my case the admin user was unchanged (but I still can't log in) but one of the index.php files in the template was changed (you can see by the edit date on the server) though cleverly in code: starts like

? echo(stripslashes(base64_decode('PGh0bWw+ ..... 

Renaming the folder killed the site so the hack is in there somewhere and this was the only program with a different date that I could find.

At this stage I can either find the index.php file (which is pretty old) or reinstall Wordpress and import the main blog (which I will probably do as it was only my backup anyway). 

I am guessing a flaw was found in one of the versions of WordPress and subsequently fixed by the WordPress people, however (as in my case) this was my backup blog and was quite old - so probably had the flaw still, and so wide open for the hack. My more recent one was left alone (so far) - this one. Can anyone confirm this???

So the Moral is "Keep up with updates" - yes I should know that!!!!

Free Programming

 

Codecademy is an easy way to learn how to code. It's interactive, fun, and you can do it with your friends for free

http://www.codecademy.com/

Backing up Twitter Posts

From Steph

http://mashe.hawksey.info/2011/11/twitter-how-to-archive-event-hashtags-and-visualize-conversation/

Hidden text in Word 2007 and password protecting

Just a couple of Word things that I need when preparing examination papers!!

How do you remove Hidden Text from a Word Document?

Working with a copy of the document (just in case!!)

• Use Office button (or File) > Prepare > Inspect document > [Inspect]


• You will see the Hidden  Text option and a button [Remove All]

How do you add a password to your document?

• Use Office button (or File) > Prepare > Encrypt document and enter your password


• then re-enter it to make sure.

Warning - it is pretty well impossible to recover the document if you forget the password!!

How do you remove a password from a file?

• Use Office button (or File) > Prepare > Encrypt document and delete your password

 

XP Antivirus (Malware)

This is a real pain.. while surfing for content on a Security class XP Antivirus installed itself. If continuously nags to say you have virus's (which are false) and asks for money. It has a believable interface and looks like an actual Microsoft program.

To remove http://www.myantispyware.com/2010/11/11/how-to-remove-xp-antispyware-2011-virus/

This needs you to create a  registry patch file, then we ran

spybot http://download.cnet.com/Spybot-Search-amp-Destroy/3000-8022_4-10122137.html

Which finally removed the damn thing!

Future (and present) uses of Glass

A Day Made of Glass... Made possible by Corning

Miku 39 on youtube. Computer performer using #Vocaloid s/ware in a live concert. http://trunc.it/f1yst

 

Application stacks for Open Source Software

http://bitnami.org

Run your favorite apps ...  Joomla!, Drupal, Redmine,Mediawiki, Wordpress,... on your favorite platform. BitNami Stacks include an open source application and all of the other software necessary to run it, such as Apache, MySQL, PHP or Ruby..

(Also from JJ)