Monthly Archives: August 2011

Windows Live Movie Maker

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I recently was called upon to create a video from still photographs as part of a celebration of life event.

Many of the still photos were black and white and 30 to 50 years old.

So, I cracked out my old flat-bed scanner and got it configured on an XP machine since there was no driver available to run the scanner on Windows 7.

I then scanned the photos in at a default resolution that allowed for excellent quality when displayed on a modern large flat screen display.

I did not have to concern myself with compression of photo file size because I had no intention of uploading the images or video to the internet - I simply had to prepare the video to be displayed on a large flat screen television that could output HD in 720 P.

And yes, some of the resulting photo file sizes were very large – some were 4 megs or more.

Once I had my chosen photos scanned in, my next task was to import the scanned image files into a video editing program.

Yes, I wanted to make a movie “Ken Burns” style.

I wanted to simply make a movie from still photo images so that I could add a movie title and captions to individual images, etc.

I chose to use Windows Live Movie Maker because it is a free download  if you are on Windows 7. It is also easy to use and I was already familiar with the program and it’s capabilities.

It will only run on Windows 7 and you can download it for free here: http://explore.live.com/windows-live-movie-maker

The program downloads and install quickly and is intuitive to use.

You can add a title for your movie and control the order and timing of your “slides”.

And yes, you can add an audio narration or background music.

You can add captions to your photo images.

You can incorporate simple transitions between slide images.

You can add credits to the end of your movie.

And finally, you can choose a format to publish and display your movie.

In my case, I wanted to burn the finished movie to a re-writeable DVD.

For some reason yet unknown, I had trouble and was not able to burn my movie to DVD.

Then I ran out of time and it was time for the event.

How could I show the movie on my brother-in-law’s big screen tv?

I could save the movie as a .wmv (Windows Movie) file – so I saved the movie and put it on a 2 gig usb flash or thumb drive.

Then I simply handed off the usb drive to my nephew who is also technically inclined.

When I showed up to their house for the gathering my video was playing full screen on the large flat screen TV.

I asked my nephew how he got it running and he told me he simply plugged the usb into his Sony PS3 which connects to the TV via dvi (or hdmi) and walla! 50 year old still photos were displaying in high quality and full screen!

I received many compliments and also some questions of how I accomplished this excellent result.

So, this post is for you.

 

 

Desktop Virtualization and Security

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Another potential benefit of desktop virtualization that interests me is the benefit of enhanced security.

I envision a strategy where all data is stored on the servers and never on pc’s, laptops or other mobile devices.

I like the idea that end users can not install applications on said devices; thereby greatly enhancing the security of company information resources.

If a device is lost or stolen – no data is lost.

Authentication methodoligies could also be added to the mix so that if a device is misplaced, an authorized user could not login to secure information resources.

Applications could be centrally managed and locked down for security.

These security benefits might be especially compelling in environments with compliance constraints such as finance or healthcare.

There’s my two cents.

What do you think?

How Does WordPress Work?

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So I have been wondering for some time now: How does WordPress work?

And although I am still learning; I will share with you what I understand so far.

WordPress is a framework.

You can use WordPress as is without coding to write your blog and or website.

If you want your WordPress website and or blog to be public on the internet you will have to install and configure WordPress on a web server.

You do not need your own server – there are many hosting companies that offer inexpensive (or even free) WordPress hosting. They will often even help you setup your blog or website for next to nothing.

Most often WordPress will be installed on an apache web server in a linux environment.

But, as I understand it; you can also run WordPress on a Microsoft Windows IIS web server.

And of course, since your website / blog will have dynamic content – you will typically have a mySql database backend that will store all your content in database tables.

Again; I believe you could also use a Microsoft Sql database if you prefer – please correct me if I am wrong.

You see; you do not just simply write static html code where your web pages always display the same information.

Instead, WordPress uses php code to make calls (or queries)  for the different content that is stored in the database backend.

And yes, WordPress has templates and default CSS files that dictate the look and layout of your blog or site.

WordPress offers free “themes” that are all ready to go if you like the look (and functionality) of a particular theme: http://wordpress.org/extend/

If you can not find a free theme that suits you there are paid premium themes available on the open market; along with paid consultants who offer their WordPress expertise to help you achieve WordPress nirvana.

And most features, functions and basic appearance can be customized without having to resort to programming code.

But; if you are a coder with some CSS chops you can completely control the look of your site.

And their are also free and paid “plugins” that can add desirable functionality (ex: sidebar widgets) to your website – again, without having to resort to programming code.

Many of these plugins will utilize javascript along with jquery and ajax wizardy.

These plugins can make it extremely easy to add powerful features to your website that you might otherwise not have the expertise or budget to accomplish.

And WordPress itself is free.

So is MySql.

Perhaps that is part of the reason that WordPress is used on approximately 50 million blogs /websites and counting on the internet.

So if you are an aspiring writer you now have a self-publishing platform par excellance; along with a potentially large; world-wide audience.

Or, you could build a web store by adding an ecommerce plugin.

And if you are up to learning about SEO (search engine optimization) you could optimize your site for your target market and track your efforts.

You can easily add video, photos or podcast audio content to your blog or website.

And again, you can completely customize (or “brand”) your website with your logo, layout, theme, colors, etc.

You could do much of the work yourself and or hire a graphic designer if you are not a visual artist.

So, I hope this post is helpful for those who are new to or considering WordPress.

Feel free, to add your comment to this post and please let me know if this post was helpful or not.

Thank you.

What is WordPress?

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This blog post and website are built with WordPress.

There are actually two different versions of WordPress.

I started blogging with the free, WordPress.com blogging platform and after a year or more I moved to using the WordPress self-hosted platform available at wordpress.org.

Both versions are free.

WordPress is essentially a no-code framework that allows for a non-programmer to build a website or blog (or both).

My understanding is that there are now approximately 50 million WordPress blogs / websites now on the internet.

So WordPress is also a very popular phenomenon.

There are many reasons why WordPress is so popular.

Not only is WordPress free, but there are free themes and plugin widgets that are available to add branding and functionality to your website or blog: http://wordpress.org/extend/

I am currently using the free, twentyten theme; but I am looking to use the new twentyeleven theme in the new future.

WordPress is constantly being updated with new features and functionality.

I do have some web pages dedicated to building a WordPress website: http://www.daveduggan.com/wordpress-website/

So you could build a robust and nice looking website yourself and learn how to backup and update your website if you are so inclined.

And another great thing about WordPress is the community of WordPress users that are often happy to help those who are new to WordPress.

I am currently reading an excellent book: “Beginning WordPress 3″ by Stephanie Leary - I highly recommend this book if you want to gain an excellent understanding of this powerful platform.

You could also consider attending a Wordcamp event like the upcoming one that is scheduled in San Francisco on August 12 thru 14: http://2011.sf.wordcamp.org/

There is even a WordPress video channel: http://wordpress.tv/

And I post on occasion on the topic of WordPress here on my blog and you can search or view my posts by category by clicking on WordPress over in the category cloud located to the right in the sidebar of my website: http://www.daveduggan.com/category/wordpress/

Cool huh?

You know it.

WordPress rocks!

 

Sharepoint Online: Expense Report Application

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Here is an excellent video that shows how to create an expense report application with an approval workflow in Sharepoint Online:

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22qbaOohCDQ&feature=related

Note: I am going thru this demo on my Sharepoint Online site step by step as we speak – I am finding this video easy (and fun) to follow – there is no programming required to create this very handy example application that illustrates the power and utility of Sharepoint.