Effectiveness of Computer Assisted Instruction in Reading Achievement Among Secondary School Students

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Effectiveness of Computer Assisted Instruction in Reading Achievement Among Secondary School Students

COMPUTER ASSISTED INSTRUCTIONS IN READING ENGLISH AT HIGHER SECONDARY LEVEL

            Technology is an ever-increasing part of the English Language arts classroom Today’s teachers are developing new and exciting means of integrating Language writing and literature with innovative technologies.

            The President of India, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, formally launched the India-U.S. Edusat Network at Rashtrapati Bhavan on 8th December 2005.  His advocacy for a knowledge grid connecting educational institutions, research facilities and industries is the logical follow-up of a series of measures that have been undertaken by Anna University to ensure that tele-teaching reaches even to the remotest corners of the state.  This will enable the knowledge users to have access to high-performance computing environment, virtual reality, simulation systems, parallel/clustered servers, and super computer infrastructure from any end of the grid.

            According to him, the whole purpose of education in a country was to develop and enhance the potential of human resource and progressively transform it, into a knowledge society.  Every Nation wants to produce students who ultimately become the knowledge workers in their own economy to be global citizens.  In the 21st Century, the need for competitiveness, in the field of Higher Education knows no bounds.  In the words of Dr.Kalam, “The competitiveness is powered by knowledge power.  Knowledge power is powered by innovation.  Innovation is powered by science and technology and technology is powered by resource investment”.  (The Hindu, Friday, December 9, 2005).

            The progress and growth of Technology in Higher Education is significant and it can be measured in terms of the excellent output in research – teaching – research cycle leading  to societal transformation.  Gartner has projected that the total Indian enterprise IT spending (not including consumer IT spend) including hardware, software, telecommunications and IT  services will reach Rs. 1,903 billion in 2006, growing at a compounded annual growth rate (GAGR) of 20.8 per cent from 2004 to 2009.  The aim of this paper is to focus on the ‘Impact of Technology on Teaching and Learning in Higher Education’.

            Education is facing a significant challenge in preparing students and teachers for future” knowledge based society”.  In recent years the educational access to digital information and communication technology (ICT) has grown dramatically.  ICTs are quickly becoming more accessible, like computer, internet and WWW. ICTs are not single technology but it is a combination of hardware, software, media and delivery systems.  ICT can influence much in developing teaching and learning environment in the following ways, which is quite different from older technologies.

Integration of multiple media :  into single educational application.

Interactive and include the capacity to control, manipulate and contribute to information learning environment.

They are flexible offering freedom from rigid scheduling and from barriers of time and location.

Through connectivity they provide access to every other person on the planet who has a internet account, to hundreds and thousands of information archives and to million of web-pages.

            Because of these differences, the teaching and learning environment finds new frontiers and educators are finding powerful new ways to integrate digital ICT into the curricula at the higher education levels, all over the world.  Of course India is not an exception.

            The various information and Communication technological tools such as web resources, educational CDs, computers, multimedia etc find place in teaching, learning, research, administration and data management.  These ICT tolls have changed the learning styles of the students. Learning in the higher education level is not simply knowledge acquisition but knowledge ‘managing’ and knowledge ‘creating’.  Hence the present study attempts to find out the impact of ICT tools in the learning style, and awareness about these tools among graduate and postgraduate students, their attitude towards the integration of these tools in the learning process which enables the educational planners and policy makers to update or modify the present curriculum and methodology of teaching.

            The impact of Technology on teaching and learning in Higher Education has enhanced students’ achievement in mastering the following skills.

Basic  Skills Instruction

Computer assisted instruction to drill
Multi-media software – teach to a variety of learning styles.
Videodiscs – strengthen basic skills.
Video and audio technologies – bring material to life.
Distance learning –at least as effective as traditional methods of instruction.
All forms – develop new skills related to use of technology itself, necessary in workplace.

           A five-year report (1987-1992) by the Sacramento School District in California found that students using multimedia and telecommunications showed improved attitudes toward reading, social studies, and science and became more active and independent in learning.  Some also showed improved reading scores.

            Whether Computer Assisted Instruction (CAI) can improve reading achievement of students has been a crucial question addressed by studies in the past.  Many research studies reveled that Computer Assisted Instruction does have a positive effect on reading achievement.  Although the effects of CAI in many studies were not homogeneous there seems to be no particular study characteristic that might have caused the heterogenity.

            There is general agreement that reading is essential to success in our society.  The ability to read is highly valued and important for social and economic advancement. The consensus supports the belief that reading is fundamental.

            Most children learn to read fairly well.  However there are children whose educational concerns are at risk because they do not read well enough to ensure understanding or to meet the demands of an increasingly competitive economy and changing demographics.  It is the opinion of educators that not all of the children in schools are learning to read as well as they should.  Many of them are experiencing serious difficulty in learning to read and as they progress through the grades they continue to lag in reading achievement.

            Computer assisted instruction (CAI) is among the range of strategies being used to improve students achievement in school subjects including reading.  Programs for CAI have come a long way since they were first developed over two decades ago.  These programs tutor and drill students diagnose problems, keep records of students progress, and present material in print and other manifestations.  It is believed that they reflect what good teachers do in the class room.

            Students are expected to benefit from CAI.  Among the benefits that have been expected are better and more comfortable learning for students since they learn at their own pace and convenience; opportunities to work with vastly superior materials and more sophisticated problems; personalized tutoring; automatic measurement of progress, and others.

            Teachers as well are expected to gain from CAI.  Among the benefits that have been expected are better and more comfortable learning for students since they learn at as they experience less drudgery and repetition greater ease in up dating instruction materials, more accurate appraisal and documentation of students progress and more time to work directly with students.  With increasing advances in computer technology Computer Assisted Instruction (CAI) is now seen by many as a method of providing relevant instruction for large number of students.

            Learning from computers encompasses approaches to CAI in which the computer is used as a means for transmitting specific subject matter, such as reading.  Te flow of information is basically from the computer to the student with the computer presenting learning material or activities for student responses.  The computer retains records of the student’s progress Through the course of study.  Based on the degree of interaction between student and computer researches have identified three levels of CAI:

DRILL AND PRACTICE:-

            The computer provides the student with exercises that reinforce the learning of specific skills taught in the class room and supplies immediate feedback on the correctness  of the response.  Used in this manner, CAI functions as a supplement to regular classroom instruction and may be especially useful when a teacher does not have the time to work individually with each student.  Drill and practice on the computer may also motivate students more than traditional work book exercises.

TUTORIAL :-

            Tutorial CAI provides some information or clarifies certain concepts in addition to providing the student with practice exercises.  In this sense the computer begins to take over actual instructional functions tailored to the student’s individual level of achievement.

DIALOGUE :-

            With this type of computer use the student takes an active role in interacting with the computer giving instructions in the form of a computer language so as to structure the student’s own curriculum.  The computer provides information, exercises and feed back Dialogue CAI is believed to come closest to actually substituting for regular instruction.

            The verdict for the use of computers in education seems to be in.  As stated by the National Center for Education statistics (NCES) computers have become an essential tool in our society.  Early exposure to computers may help students gain the computer literacy that will be crucial for future success in the workplace.  Access to computers at school and at home allows students to retrieve information, manipulate data and produce results efficiently and in innovative ways.  Examining the extent to which students have access to computers at school and at home may be an indicator of how well-prepared students will be to enter an increasingly technological work place. 

            Has computer assisted instruction CAI produced benefits that result in greater achievement for students in this case in reading?

            Soon after the introduction of CAI educational researches began to develop evaluation studies produced potentially useful information on the effects of CAI their messages were shrouded in ambiguity.  One reason for unclear messages was that each evaluation report was published separately making the total picture somewhat murky.

            Another problem had a deeper and more serious nature.  These evaluation studies were never exact replications of one another.  They differed in experimental design and execution, setting and the type of computer applications investigated.  To confound matters evaluation findings or results tended to differ from one investigation to another findings from different studies differed from each other with some studies producing contradictory results.  As well many of the reviews are typically narrative and discursive in presentation resulting in their multiplicity of findings not capable of being absorbed by the nearer without quantitative methods of reviewing.

CONCLUSIONS :-

            Alarms about a “literacy crisis” among young people have been sounded on a regular basis for more than a century.  Yet as each generation of students matures, it is able to accomplish the reading and writing tasks necessary for society to continue.  Perhaps then, rather than sounding more alarms, it is time to consider what anxieties, particularly economic anxieties, drive the perpetual literacy.

            Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) is often presented as a promising learning method.  However, it is also facing some new challenges.  Apart from answering  the question of whether or not working with CSCL generates satisfying learning outcomes, it is important to determine whether or not all participants profit from collaboration, with the computer as a means of communication.

            Students whose language, ethnicity and race are not represented in a school’s dominant culture experience varying degrees of success in reading achievement, resulting in persistent gaps in reading achievement.  Culturally responsive instruction can help to close that gap.  This is teaching strategy capitalizes on the knowledge and literacy strategies students learn in their homes and communities.

            Experiments that assign intact groups (usually schools) to treatment conditions are increasingly common in educational research.  The design of group randomized experiments requires knowledge of the intraclass correlation  structure to compute statistical power and to determine the sample sizes required to achieve adequate power.

            Some researchers have argued that the different domains comprising language (e.g., phonology, semantics, and grammar) may influence reading development in a differential manner and at different developmental periods.  The purpose of this study was to examine proposed causal relationships among different linguistic subsystems.

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Free Course – Pure Photographic ’special Effects’ Without a Computer or a Darkroom!

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Free Course – Pure Photographic ’special Effects’ Without a Computer or a Darkroom!

The following is just the text from the free course on ’special effect’ photography – THE MAGIC LANTERN

It was the accidental chance projection of a slide, without having the screen in place that resulted in a portrait appearing partly on some fabric and partly on the wallpaper. The curved fabric distorted the image and when the picture was clearly focussed the weave and texture of the materials forming a type of screen became part of the portrait. This was sufficiently intriguing to leave the projection as it was and to study the possibilities of this occurrence.

If this effect could be photographed, then one can photograph projected images on other textures or even on other objects. This proved to be the basic approach to gain full control of all images. Providing a completely new way of superimposing and controlling every aspect of photographs. Obviously if one can see it, one can photograph it!

The projector however offers so many more possibilities than the darkroom enlarger to create pictures. Take any image on any film; it is just as easy to project negatives or transparencies in colour or black and white on to whatever is desired. Consider the potential when projecting an image on to; fabrics (not always flat), textures, or even on to other objects, then try bouncing the projected photograph off a reflective surface and focus it on to a screen, or have a look at what happens if a crystal is placed near to the projector lens (behind the lens as well as in front). Colour filters can be used, or parts of the image can be masked (again compare the results obtained in front, as against behind, the projector lens).

With more than one projector it is possible to combine and superimpose with perfect control more than one image. By projecting these images, one on top of the other, and then masking away the overlapping parts of each image, that are no longer required, a totally new picture can be formed.

These are the basic principles, the projector provides all the magic, and such is the diversity that can be achieved with it. The older types of projectors are better than the modern automatic ones, because it is easier to gain access to the space behind the lens. An important advantage with these techniques – so one should look out for cheap second hand ones!

Adding Texture

The easiest way to begin is to experiment with the projected image, try projecting a favourite portrait on to a selection of textured surfaces, to be used as a screen. An enormous variety of textures are possible to use, they do not always need to be white, nor do they always need to be flat.

There is likely to be an element of distortion, as it is not possible to have the camera lens in exact alignment with the projector, but do not worry about this yet, distortion can be useful as described later.

The use of a texture in portrait work is particularly attractive, some of the beauty and character found in painted portraits is lacking in photographs. But the realism of the photograph becomes more abstract simply by adding a texture and this can bring out more expression or character than was evident before. This does not mean that one is copying paintings as totally different images are created from those ever painted, but that this abstract quality that so enriches portraits, can also apply to photographs.

Distortions

The only way of avoiding distortion is to project square on to the choice of screen and to photograph the image with a plate camera. Then one can correct the angle of view with the lens movements as used for architecture or perspective correction.

However, more often than not, distortion can be a very interesting effect if used carefully. It can even be a very dramatic tool. Any image can easily be elongated and stretched, or squashed and made wider. It just depends on the angle of the projector, or the camera, to the screen.

Reflections

So far it has been shown how an image can be influenced by; the addition of a texture, the effect of distortion, the use of colour filtration, and the use of negatives or black and white films.

Another fascinating way of manipulating a projected image is to consider reflections. The principle involved is basically to photograph a projected image as seen in a mirror, or bounced off a mirror. But instead of using a mirror, there are many other options. Try a piece of acetate film as this material allows one to bend or twist it, and so distort the image seen, by forming a flexible mirror.

There are two quite different effects achievable even with the flexible mirror in a fixed position and the same image projected. The first method is to project the image on to a screen and to photograph the reflection seen. The other is to project the image into the flexible mirror, so that it bounces off it, on to the screen; it is this new image that is then to be photographed.

There are many reflecting surfaces that can be used. They do not always need to be smooth, a highly polished old silver cigarette case, with a machine finished pattern as an over all design, has been used to advantage.

All photographs including those techniques already described can be made into patterns rather like a kaleidoscope by the use of mirrors. By positioning mirrors at right angles to each other, with the image projected on to a choice of screen in such a way, that the reflections are repeated in the mirrors will then form a pattern that can be photographed. The possibilities of scale and size are no problem when projecting images, the biggest building in the world can easily be projected between a couple of small mirrors or on to a small object!

Crystal Patterns

Spectacular patterns can be created by the use of crystals or prisms. Apart from the special effect types available for use on the camera, remember these can be used with the projector too, it is also interesting to use old crystals designed to form a chandelier.

Experiment with different crystals placed in front of the projector lens, not always square on, and see how the image scatters according to the cut. The best results are often found to be with a fairly small image within the transparency frame.

Quite a different pattern will be formed, by moving the crystal behind the lens. Obviously as these crystals are not optically perfect, the projected image will lose some definition, but it can still be useful as a background image.

Colour, Black And White Or Negative Images

Photography has the advantage of instantly reproducing an image in a number of ways. Just by the selection of film the image can be in black and white, colour or in either of these choices it could also be in negative form. All these can be projected!

Negatives can be unusually beautiful in themselves and they should not just be regarded as the means of obtaining a print. The choice of projected images should not be restricted to transparencies but include film in all its forms. Black and white images positives or negatives can be projected and used. Colour can still then easily be added to the black and white projected images by the choice of screen, as well as by the introduction of colour filters.

Filters

Many filters are available for the camera, and these can be used with the projector too. But any bits of coloured cellophane can also be used with the projector. There are hundreds of colours easily available, as one only needs such small pieces.

Even if they are not optically of use with the camera, if used between the projector condenser lens, and the film, they can influence the colour of the projected image, without any optical problems. With care it is also possible to change the colours of specific parts of the projected image.

Make Your Subject The Screen

It is not difficult to move on to other objects that can do more than just act as a screen. These are items that become an important part of the subject of the new photograph just as essential as the projected image.

For example an original portrait was projected on to a clamshell, amongst other shells, and the contours of the shell influenced the projected image. With careful masking using a diffused mask behind the lens, allowed light to illuminate other parts of the scene too.

There are a number of other objects that have been used in this way; a butterfly with a river scene, an orchid, a ball of wool and a Siamese cat, a coin, or a decaying holly leaf.

Even a highly reflective surface can be used such as coins. The camera was directly in front of the top coin, so that the projected image from the projector was to the left of the camera. This meant that the camera lens avoided the very bright reflection. Even the edges of the pages of a book have been used.

It can be fascinating to take your projector for a walk! Use an extension lead and just project a selection of slides on to everything in sight. By focusing on to a wide range of objects, you will be able to see what happens – expect to be surprised at some of the possibilities that will no doubt come to light!

Masking

Masking is best achieved by using black card that is stiff enough to stay upright; yet is easily cut into whatever shape is required. It works well in front or behind the projector lens. If masking in front of the lens it will quickly become apparent that the nearer to the screen the mask is placed, the sharper the shadow cast. The ideal is to always use a soft edge shadow so the mask will not be very far forward of the lens.

If it is possible to work behind the lens, then the nearer to the film, the sharper the shadows edge will be. It is then simple to perfectly blend different images when working with more than one projector.

There have been times when instead of masking with black card a transparent opaque plastic has been preferred, this avoids a black shadow forming, especially if the second projection is not adding much in that particular area. Tracing paper has been effective for this purpose normally placed behind the lens near to the film.

Before considering a second projector, with just one, there are now an amazing amount of possibilities that can be achieved with the projected image. However with two projectors the additional special effects are quite sensational.

Double exposure – With the Magic Lantern

The first option with the projector is to mount two pieces of film, sandwiched in the same mount, and project the combined images on to a screen. By focusing on one of the images, the one in true focus will dominate and soften the other. Much depends on the slide carrier used, but if there is room to insert more than two mounts in to the carrier, then the more space between the two films the greater the effect of one image dominating the other. Should both images need to be in focus then the closer they are to each other the better.

When sandwiching films in this manner it is possible to insert one or the other upside down, on its side, or the other way round. But there is little more opportunity with this technique of controlling the end result, so it is only a little bit better than double exposure as at least one can see what the result looks like first.

Two Projectors

This method involves using two projectors, but one has then an exciting way of blending any two previously created pictures, with far more control!

The technique is simple; just project both images separately on to the same choice of screen. However, these images can now be positioned whichever way one might wish, one image could be much larger than the other, or by masking parts of each image, a different blend of the two pictures can be created. This is how any parts, of any picture, can be blended together and all the time one can see exactly what is to be photographed.

Ideally, two identical projectors should be used, if possible with zoom lenses. Should this prove impractical then variations in performance of the second projector can be allowed for, by masking the brighter of the two, just in front of the lens to achieve the same brilliance from both projectors.

To enhance the quality of the results one can achieve with this technique, there is an advantage in obtaining a screen designed for rear projection.

Image Blending

Once the full potential of using two projectors is realised, there will be a need for quite different types of images, these are what are referred to as background shots, in the advertising world. A completely new stock of photographs will have to be taken, with blending potential in mind, no matter how many pictures are available from the past.

Now each image can be simply modified: The brightness of one image, as against the other, can be controlled. By masking and shading just parts, of each image, can be blended. Colours of certain areas can be altered with filters. The position of each image, relative to each other, can be adjusted. Or even the size, of one image as against the other, can easily be altered. One of the images could be distorted, reflected, or be changed in to a pattern by the use of a crystal. The possibilities are quite staggering!

Best of all, the combined images are there to be seen all the time, until the desired result is formed. There is no need to rely on guesswork, as so many other special effects seem to demand, with these methods so no film really should ever be wasted.

With two projectors it becomes possible to mix film effects together in a way not possible before. It is so easy to blend negative images with transparencies, in colour or black and white. Instead of transparencies in both projectors, one of them could be projecting a black and white negative or a colour negative just as easily.

Plate 3

‘Spirit of Spring’ is a well-known award winning study that won much acclaim for the author. This transparency of a portrait was projected over; a second projected colour negative image of a red tulip. A variation of this concept (plate 59 Poetic portfolio) is where another profile of Susan was blended with a colour negative of the centre of a tulip. (See this and other photos in the author’s ‘Poetic portfolio’ at www.jncohen.net).

More projectors

There are no reasons why more than two images should not be projected all at once, providing the projectors are available.

There have been a number of occasions when four projectors were in use together. However three have been the most that have normally been used, with the fourth one occasionally; simply projecting the author’s signature in to the scene.

Rear Projection

There are some valuable advantages in having a rear projection screen especially when owning more than one projector. The first advantage that comes to mind, after the obvious one of avoiding distortion, with at least one of the images, is the opportunity to add a light coloured background when photographing projected images on to other objects.

Should the rear projection screen simply be used to provide a background scene, often expected to be in a softer focus, an expensive screen is then not needed. Even tracing paper will do!

Inspired Accidents

Hoping that readers having reached this far will agree that the possibilities described, offer photographers working in colour so much more than simply recording reality. Trusting readers will also agree that this form of photography really justifies recognition in the art world, as it has certain qualities that are quite unlike those of any other media.

This has been published with the hope that photographers will not just create strange pictures or gimmickry, but produce works of true artistic merit.

The most satisfying time spent is without doubt in the creation of the work. Frequently regardless of the medium used, if an artist is truthful, the end result obtained is not always exactly as initially conceived.

Often the author has decided on a theme, or it could be just a thought about a pattern or composition that exists in the mind, in an abstract way, as yet unexpressed. Perhaps the last portrait taken inspires the desire to do more with it. Whilst considering and projecting certain images, to blend with such a portrait, something can suddenly be seen that fires the imagination.

At other times an idea occurs and a clearly defined image forms in the mind. However, whilst trying to create this picture, it is not so unusual that one strays across a certain amount of accidental inspiration. This can be the chance blending of two images in a way never thought of before, that looks just too good to ignore! The best thing to do then is to be prepared to change direction, and pursue the new study, rather than the original concept. The first attempted creation can always be tried again later on.

The excitement and pleasure one feels when inspired in this way is hard to describe. So even if one starts with just a vague concept, it is worth spending some time experimenting. Think of it as being the stage where the artist is selecting and mixing the paints on his palette, still unsure of what he might paint, but just feeling the need to make a start. Whilst thinking of the various possibilities, surprising relationships can develop, that might well become the basis of the final picture. It is only really by actually making a start that you create the opportunity for something exciting to happen.

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“SEO/Search Engine Optimization is a Scam,” says Hillsboro Computer Consultant

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“SEO/Search Engine Optimization is a Scam,” says Hillsboro Computer Consultant

SEO is a scam! – The way it’s usually presented. It’s only part of the truth, not the whole truth. Why? Because it’s only one link in the chain to success of making money on the internet, even if you rank number one on Google in one category. If your content isn’t presented correctly using good market principles you’re not going to convert any of those visits into inquiries or sales. Yes SEO is important, but good content is more important.

Having said that, let’s look at the bridge that must be built to get your all important content, via technology, before the very eyes of your buying public. Do you know how to connect your well written blog to your web page? Is your blog laid out attractively, logically, easily interactive for the nonprofessional public? Are all of the elements on your blog site working in harmony.

Do you have a fabulous YouTube video that you could insert on your blog but can’t get it to fit in and work just right? How about those cranky automatic responders? Are they giving the viewer the information he wants with a smile? Or is it giving you a heart attack every time you try to tweak it a bit? Well, something can be done about all these technical challenges.

You can spend many frustrating weeks learning, until you do it right and lose sales in the meantime or you can hire a geek to do it for you right away, so you can spend your valuable time doing what you do best and what you enjoy doing.

The best way to find a good Search Engine Optimization (SEO) 2.0 company is to search for them in Google and see if THEY are on top of the list: Try Googling SEO 2.0 – Search Engine Optimization 2.0 – Universal Search Engine Optimization – Universal Search SEO.

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Making Music With Your Computer

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Making Music With Your Computer

Computer based home recording studios must include a reasonably powerful computer (with at least 1 GB of RAM), an audio interface, and a digital audio workstation program. If you want to record any kind of acoustic instruments or vocals you will need microphones. For those who interested in using synths, samplers, loops, and drum machines I highly recommend the Reason software. You will also, of course, need some sort of system for listening back to your music. You really should have both speakers and headphones (listen to your music both ways to make sure you have a good mix.)

What kind of computer should you get? Well if you already have a computer that you are happy with then you can likely use the one you already have. But you must make sure it has at least 1 GB of RAM. And in all likelihood you’ll want more than that. I recommend at least 2 GB. Your recording and mixing software will work far better with more RAM.

Should you get a Mac or a PC? In my opinion either option is fine. Most people make too big a deal out of this. Some programs work better with one or the other and while other programs only work with one or the other. So if you have a certain program that you really want to use, make sure it’s compatible with your computer.

What kind of audio interface you get depends on two things: Your needs & your budget. If you only plan on recording yourself then you won’t need more than two inputs (at most.) Unless of course you have a live drum set (it’s good to record drums with many inputs for the different microphones.) But there’s more to consider than just how many inputs you get with your interface, you should also consider sound quality. The more expensive models tend to also have better sound quality. Get what you can afford.

There are a lot of choices as far as digital audio workstation (DAW) software. There’s Pro Tools (which works with the Digidesign audio interfaces.) There’s Cubase. There’s Nuendo. There’s Logic. And there’s quite a few others as well. Which one is right for you? Well first you should know that some of these programs only work with PC (Cakewalk’s SONAR & Sony Acid) or Mac (Logic & Digital Performer.) Bedsides that I think they are all quite similar actually. The important thing is which one you feel most comfortable with. You can download free demo versions to see which one fits you best. There are some general tips about digital audio workstations that I can give: Sony Acid tends to be a good choice for those who do loop based music (like hip hop and techno.) Cubase is a good choice for people on PCs or Macs. Pro Tools is a good choice for those using a Mac but it’s probably not the best choice for those using Windows. It tends to work better on Macs and it’s actually not as full featured as Cubase.

As far as microphones are concerned you will want to buy a condenser microphone for recording vocals and acoustic instruments. With microphones you usually get what you pay for. Better clarity comes from better mics (and better mic preamps but that’s getting a bit too complicated for this article.) Better mics cost more money. Dynamic mics are good for recording drums and amps. I would say they are less essential unless you have a drum set. If you have some good guitar effect plugins (such as Waves GTR 3) then you’ll probably be able to get a good sound plugging your electric guitar (or bass) directly into your audio interface.

Reason is the best all in one solution for those who want a drum machine, a sampler, a synthesizer, and/or a looping program. It’s top quality software that I cannot recommend any higher. If you can afford it and you are interesting in any sort of “synthetic” elements in your music then it’s a must have.

Effectively Remove Adware From Your Computer

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Effectively Remove Adware From Your Computer

You may not be aware of just how much damage adware can present for your computer. In addition, it can create havoc for your personal finances if it leads to them getting their hands on your account numbers and password. Since adware is behind the scenes it may be too late by the time you figure out what is taking place with your computer. This is the most severe type of adware known as spyware.

Other types of adware track your patterns of behavior in relation to using the internet. You will them be sent advertising materials based on your habits and interests. You may even find your computer is redirecting you to sites you didn’t enter into the browser because of the codes in the adware. You won’t be able to notice if adware is being added to your computer because it is hidden in various forms of advertising.

Once adware accesses your computer it is immediately able to attack the programming of your computer system. Even if you don’t buy anything but you click on advertisements it can attach itself to your computer system. Since these programs are commonly developed by those with advanced computer skills they are continually evolving into others ways to penetrate your computer system.

The various types of adware programs all work differently so you want to have a defense system in place that is able to work well against all of them. Make sure it offers continuous updates so you always have the most current line of defense. If you are using an older version of an adware detector and a new type of adware is coming your way it can get into your computer.

You will find various types of adware tools online that you can download for free. Others are software programs that you have to pay for. Make sure you carefully select the right adware tools for your computer operating system. You want to make sure you have the very best line of defense in place. Allowing adware to get into your computer can really have adverse effects on you that take years to correct.

The exact number of accounts accessed due to adware isn’t known because it is simply too difficult to detect in many instances. Those who engage in such behaviors know there is very little chance they will get caught in their criminal activities so they are motivated to continue trying to get into various computers. Don’t become one of their next victims because you weren’t prepared for it.

An effective adware program will continually scan your computer to look for adware and spyware. Once it is detected it will be isolated and then removed so it can’t continue to harm your computer. It is vital to protect your personal information so that no one can access it for their own use. This is becoming quite a common practice that you want to make sure you don’t fall into.

It only takes a few minutes to successfully download a good adware software program. It is well worth it to make sure you have done all you can to protect yourself. Don’t wait until you think you may have adware on your computer to do something about it. With the right system in place, adware will be something you only have to hear about not experience first hand. Knowing how to protect yourself from such predators is important because they will continue to search for those who don’t have the information or they don’t want to take the time to download a spyware protection program.

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You Can Now Download Youtube Videos to an Ipod or Computer

admin    Flash Video     Computer, Download, iPod, Videos, Youtube

You Can Now Download Youtube Videos to an Ipod or Computer

Yes, you can now download YouTube videos to your iPod or computer. How is this possible? With proprietary new software that was designed to overcome the problem of not being able to use YouTube videos in wider applications than just being able to watch them for free online.

It only makes sense to be able to download YouTube videos instead of simply view them online. They are posted for free and shared for free. So there is no conflict of interest in being able to download them for free. The advertisements that make the website money are still seen by all who go to YouTube to find videos to view or, now, download to their iPhone or computer’s desktop (or other computerized storage area).

The designer of this new proprietary software realized one day that there was no way for anyone to use YouTube videos because they couldn’t be downloaded. The problem was the formatting of the videos.

You see, the videos at YouTube and other similar sites like Video Jug are stored there in what’s known as “Flash Video Format” (FLV). They aren’t AVI or MPEG files, so you can’t do anything with them except upload them and watch them. You can’t play them in Media Player, you can’t embed them in your PowerPoint presentation, you can’t use them on your blog or websites or e-newsletters, and on and on.

The new software converts YouTube videos into formats that can be used in these and other applications.

Now you can not only download YouTube videos to your iPod or computer, but at the same time you convert the videos to AVI, WMV, MPEG, MP4, MOV, and 3GP video formats, for easy playback on your computer or DVD or MP3 players.

What’s more, now you can: extract the soundtrack from the video to an MP3 file; embed the videos in a PowerPoint presentation; and import the videos to your iPod, Zune, Sony PSP, and any other portable media player.

This software’s benefits are not limited just to YouTube, either. Google Video, Metacafe, Video Jug, MySpaceTV, and other similar sites can now have their freely shared videos downloaded and converted for your use as well.

An additional benefit is that you can now create your own personalized library of favorite online videos or their soundtracks, and share this with your friends while you enjoy them over and over again without having to troll across YouTube or other video sites, or even be online at all. Again, these videos were posted to be shared for free, so you are not infringing on any copy rights and you are doing a service to their posters.

This software is 100% free of any spyware or viruses, and has been certified as such by Softpedia.com.

Check into this software and begin enjoying the new world of being able to download YouTube videos to your iPod or computer to be used in any application for work, education, business, or pleasure. This is a new world of endless possibilities.

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Get Guitar Effects for Your Computer

admin    Adobe After Effects     Computer, Effects, Guitar

Get Guitar Effects for Your Computer

Once you have learnt some chord progressions and riffs and you are beginning to sound like a guitar player it will be time to start getting yourself your own individual sound. These days guitar players can add effects to their playing in many ways. It used to be necessary to connect to an amplifier but now their are guitar plug ins and software to give you all kinds of effects. You can apply distortion, sustain, wah-wah, chorus, flanger, reverb, delay effects and listen to the results in your headphones without disturbing your family or neighbors. All you need is a sound card.

The effects software that many guitarists think is the top of the range is Native Instruments Guitar Rig 3. It is expensive but good.  It provides guitar and bass effects by modeling many popular amplifiers, cabinets, microphones, and effect pedals. It has twelve guitar and bass amps, and a matched cabinet module gives you real classic sounds. The Guitar Rig software has faithfully modelled stomp boxes, distortion and volume pedals, eighteen guitar and six bass cabinets, four rotary speakers and nine microphones – all based on popular vintage gear. A great feature of this effects software is the drag and drop interface for mixing your sound. Just choose an amplifier from classic Fender, Marshall, and Mesa Boogie amps, select the size of your cabinet and play around with the forty-four effects.

The Line 6 Pocket Pod Guitar Multi Effects Processor has over three hundred onboard/portable tones and over 3000 presets. Battery-powered and about the size of a tuner, Pocket POD is a portable guitar effects solution. You can use it for effects in front of your amp, or just plug in headphones and practice.

Guitar FX 3 is a cool software that has not been updated for years but it is good and it is free. Just do not expect it to work if you are using Vista and you should make sure you have plenty of RAM. To get started you just plug your guitar into the microphone or line in. It offers a big range of presets plus you can the tabbed menus to create custom tones which can be saved as presets. You can apply distortion, wah-wah, noise gate, compressor, flanger, reverb, chorus, delay and some of other filters.

Another free effects program is Audacity. Audacity is a free, user-friendly audio editor and recorder for Windows, Mac OS X, GNU/Linux and other operating systems. With Audacity you can record live audio, convert tapes and records into digital recordings or CDs, edit Ogg Vorbis, MP3, WAV or AIFF sound files, cut, copy, splice or mix sounds together. You can record from a microphone, line input, or other sources and create multi-track recordings. You can change the pitch of your music without altering the tempo, or vice-versa plus Audacity lets you remove static, hiss, hum, or other background noises. The guitarist can alter frequencies with Equalization, FFT Filter, and Bass Boost effects. Other built-in effects include echo, phaser, wah-wah and reverse.

Just so you are not left looking for the guitar effects software using redundant URLs I have left it to you to search using the product names. Some of the software that you need to pay for is available on a trial basis or you might find it for less money on ebay.

How To Watch Satellite Tv On Computer? – Getting Tv On The Internet

admin    Google TV     Computer, Getting, Internet, Satellite, Watch

This article will explain the facts about how to watch satellite TV on computer. It can be done. Other articles you may find on the web will make the claim that the process is simple and free. I will tell you that while setting up your PC to watch satellite TV is moderately simple, it is certainly not free.

To receive satellite TV signals on your computer, such as those provided by companies like DirecTV and Dish Network, you must be a subscriber and install a satellite dish at your place of residence. Computers and websites are not capable of receiving satellite signals. Only a satellite dish can do this.

It is easy to find software on the web which claims to provide free satellite TV for your PC with prices which range from about $10 to $50 dollars. These are not worth the time it takes to give them your credit card number and certainly not worth $50 or $10 or even $5 dollars. All these programs do is search the web for freely available video content and present it to you in an organized and colorful way. A simple search engine like Google can do the same job for free.

So, now that your dish is installed and you are receiving a signal, you need to send that signal to your PC in the same way that you would if you were sending it to your TV–with a cable wire. Plug the cable wire into the jack on the back of your PC (assuming you have a “tuner card” installed).

Most computers you can buy in the stores today are capable of receiving TV signals from a satellite dish. Check your PC’s configuration details or look at the back of your PC to see if a tuner card is installed (looks like any other coaxial cable connection). If your PC doesn’t have one, that’s alright because they are simple to buy and install (or you can buy a USB adapter).

that is how to watch satellite TV on computer. Sounds simple, right? Yes, but now comes the difficult part! Now you need to spend the time to install and learn any software that came with your hardware, searching for satellite signals, dealing with guide and audio issues, troubleshooting, and talking to tech support. Good luck!

Hacking Your Computer is Super Easy

admin    Adobe Flash Player     Computer, Easy, Hacking, Super

USB-slurping, Trojan generator and social manipulation are the security buzz words you have to learn yourself today.

In addition to understand what usb-slurping and social manipulation is about, you should keep your PC updated on the security side. It has never been easier to be a hacker and get into your PC than now. . Standard recipe is easy, all you need to know is the IP address and services available on the victims computer and there you go. The computer can be relatively well updated; it does not matter to what you want to do now. Scan yourself to the IP address and then perform a scan of the ports on that IP address. The software you use contains a long list of vulnerabilities associated with the various ports, choose one of the vulnerabilities and press attack and there you are.. The attack is the easy part of the hacking, where you can navigate files, take screen dumps, log key strokes, and more, without the owner(s) of the attacked computer knows anything, because the computer has not given any signals that something is really wrong now.

We all say, well I do not have anything of interest on my computer anyway. It may be the case, but there are always someone with more evil plans than you think of that would like to use your computer for several purposes. For instance if someone has a grudge against you or your family, they might want to plant information or virus on your computer that makes the world like living hell to you. They can place things in your temp files and other relevant folders and put tracks of child porn for example. Then they will call authorities and the next thing you know, you have someone knocking on your door and wants to see what you have on your computer. Imagine the problems you will run into and all the hassle to just get out of that situation.

The hacker can get hold of the administrator password once he has entered your computer through hacking it. Through so called bruteforce, or wordbook attack a hacker can very easy guess himself to the password on any computer system. Youth with cell phones and memory sticks

A trend today is that youth takes into use tailor made Trojans to follow their friends or girl friends. As long as you have a Trojan generator that is a very simple program, it takes only a few keystrokes to make the Trojan file that can be sent to the victim. This is where the expression social manipulation comes into the picture, or social reengineering if you would like to call it that. By intricate and smart ways the victim is cheated to run the software you have made, and then you can access files, click their web camera, listen to the microphone, sniff to their msn traffic and so on, without the victim knows anything at all.

Hackers hijack your web camera


Adobe went out with a warning in October 2008 that hackers used so called click jacking to turn on the web camera and the microphone on victim’s computers without victims knowing it at all. They have called it a critical problem, the highest level of security threat the company use. It is the software Flash that is used for advertisement or other interactive fancy applications, that is vulnerable to this problem. It is present problem on all platforms. Luring people to visit evil web sites where hackers’ hijacks apparent innocent clicks that enable them to turn on equipment without the victims knowing it at all. Click jacking web browser problem hits all Adobe Flash Players microphone- and camera access setup.

Even if your operating system is updated, you can be in trouble if you have not updated all the other things you have on your computer. For instance if you click a link to a popular mp3 song, that was opened in a older version of Winamp software playlist. Despite you have a well updated Vista or XP operating system on your computer, your machine is hacked through this vulnerability. It is a new trend, people update their operating system and Microsoft Office software, but are very bad on updating their other applications, either its stand alone or just supporting software like flash, WinAmp etc. WinAmp is just lying there and works, so why should they worry by updating it? This enable the hacker to utilize security holes in older versions of WinAmp and the Trojan is in the computer even after the Winamp is closed, or even deleted from the computer.

Just to make it even scarier for you, as easy as you can hack a PC, you can hack a windows based Cell phone. Whatever you can do on a PC, you can do on a Windows Mobile or Symbian operating system.

And if you think you are safe when you are sitting on the airplane totally isolated from the internet, think again. This is were the USB slurping enters the arena. If a stranger just friendly enough asks whether he can charge his IPod through your USB port, be on guard. The concept USB slurping is very simple. A MP3 player, USB memory stick or equivalent can be put into the USB port and begins to grab data, or slurping the data from your computer onto the accessory connected to your USB port. It is done through a auto run program on the accessory put into your USB port. You will not notice the theft or installment of malicious software to your computer at all, unless you are extremely observant. So next time you are on a conference or on a travel with your laptop, and someone asks to borrow your computer for only as simple as power charging through the USB port, avoid by politely decline the suggestion. There is a simple solution to avoid this to happen if you want to be a friendly borrower to people in need, turn off the auto run function.

Antivirus is not everything, Regardless of how safe your system is, the problem occurs between the chair and the keyboard. We use internet for what it is worth and the question is whether we use our brain at the same time.

We have another issue to talk about, and that is when we are moving around, we have a tendency of forgetting various gadgets we carry around with us, and some of these gadgets have valuable information and sometimes very sensitive information that comes into wrong hands sometimes.

Things go very fast and sometimes there is not much time between glory and the downturn. The launch of Google Chrome is one example of this, where it was hailed into the skies when it came to the market, being user-friendly and speedy and the next week it came out lots of security warnings associated with this product, making it less of useful for the users.

It is no longer popular to send Trojans and viruses through the emails, this is the old fashioned way of spreading viruses on computer systems. The new thing is to include the viruses on well recognized net sites, with reputations of being solid and clean. This is done for instance through advertisements on the net pages. Adverts are using security holes like seen in Norway where the MSN.no page was infected with advertisements full of viruses and all users of this otherwise seen as a secure Microsoft web page, suddenly had their computers full of viruses, spread through these advertisements. This methodology is not captured yet by antivirus software, and is seen as yet another way of attacking computers. Malware which is the most normal virus to get through this methodology is malicious software which exploits especially the older versions of Flash software again. This software is common software used to animate advertisements and if you have entered a page with animated adverts and have a old version of flash, it is high likelihood you have got a malicious virus on your computer. That means that online newspapers are prone to this virus attack, and since the files are changing every fifth or tenth second, the antivirus will not catch it.

We all agree that antivirus software is important, but not regard it as you are 100% safe even with the most reputed antivirus software installed on your computer.

Watch Satellite TV On Computer Through Internet

admin    Google TV     Computer, Internet, Satellite, Through, Watch

Nowadays it is very common and quite easy to watch TV on your PC. These are the equipment you need to start watching TV on PC.

A computer with Internet Connection.A software that enables you to watch TV.

Basically that is all you need. The software is not expensive and you can claim your own from online shops. This is the fastest and easiest way to start watching TV on your PC and the best method. Certain type of software do not have any high or monthly fees but just a one time low fee.

You basically install the software following the instructions from the vendor and that it is. This is like installing Messenger, a game, an anti spyware software and so on. It is not different then the other software and not difficult.

Not all software offer same features and functions. For example some offer the ability to watch a thousand worldwide channels. Others may only offer channels in certain regions or countries. You want to find the best deal.

The software requires no special PC requirements. You do not need to upgrade your computer or buy more RAM for example. Most work on all versions of Windows and they come with the install and uninstall option so you can install the software on more than one computer if you wish.

These software do not allow you to watch TV channels only. Usually they allow you to watch thousands of channels like having a cable or satellite system.

You can watch TV in Full Screen mode of course and you have all the other functions that a TV offer. Some tips to make your experience better may include:

Get a TFT monitor, the larger the better. TFT monitors are getting cheaper nowadays.

Make sure your computer has no hidden errors or files known as junk files. These are unwanted files such as software you do not use, images you do not want or other files you do not need. Uninstalling unwanted software, removing files you do not need will improve your computer performance and speed. Make sure you remove only the files you are sure you do not need. Most often downloads from the Internet that you are not using.

Make use of a Registry Cleaner. You can download one for free. These are important cause they remove errors in your computer, which are not visible yet they make your computer slow. Use Google or Yahoo to find this software. You can also visit Yahoo Answers and ask the community to tell you which software they recommend.

Cable TV fees are very high nowadays and usually monthly fees. Watching TV on your PC is now very easy, comfortable and very inexpensive.