Tips and tricks: Beyond the obvious

Internet surfing is never really complete without visiting Google—a virtual synonym for search engine in today's world. But even as Google currently enjoys a large search engine market, there are other interesting engines coming up with added capabilities such as allowing natural language queries, content summarisation, and calculations based on questions. Here’s a look at few such engines that go beyond keyword searches.

WolframAlpha.com

Recognising the fact that search is performed for knowledge discovery and often a user has to combine data from a number of pages returned in results, WolframAlpha attempts to automatically summarise the findings. For example, entering a simple term, 'Life expectancy' results in a detailed summary of global trends — ranking top 10 highest and lowest countries, distribution graph, rank curve, along with other demographic trends. Such detailed analysis would take hours if performed manually, considering that within each section, there's a 'More' button further expanding the information.

This makes WolframAlpha particularly useful for students and researchers. For example, try looking up GDP of Pakistan on this engine and on Google. The results at former are tabular, with trend graph and additional economic data such as inflation rate, unemployment rate, GPD at purchasing power parity, exchange rate and local currency, etc. For record purposes, you can download the information in PDF files as well.

Other interesting knowledge computations include time, geography and lots of other data. You could try 'Time in Canada' to generate local and foreign clocks, 'January 1950' to generate back or post-dated calendars, solve mathematical formulas, enter name of website to view number of daily visitors, page views, or enter a city name to view its location on map along with population, temperature and other statistics, or enter names of two cities—say, Karachi and Lahore—to find the distance and flight time in between, and find nutrient contents in food by entering 'Vitamin C in orange'. Since this type of search is not common, it’s advisable to go through the examples section to get acquainted with type of data made available by Wolfram.

Deep web

Deep web, invisible web or dark web is equivalent of dark matter in the realm of cyberspace. As the name suggests, it’s that part of the web—considered to be about 500 times the size of the web we come across—which is not reachable through normal search engines. This huge data often resides in databases and other non-common standard formats making it difficult for ordinary search technologies to harness it in their results. Deepdyve.com claims to be expanding their deep web search capabilities, while CompletePlanet.com and Archive.org offer similar capabilities.

Semantic web / meta-search

Such catch phrases have been around for some years now with experimental search engines coming up every now and then. The idea behind these engines is to make sense out of otherwise cluster of words by understanding context of natural language and possibly linking them with each other. Some of the sites offering this type of search include cuil.com, hakia.com and clusty.com with a feature of showing groupings of topics related to the term being searched on the left.

Via DAWN

Techno tricks: Create your own fonts

If you are bored of the same old default fonts offered by Windows, there are two things you can do — download new fonts from the internet, or create your own fonts. We are going to discuss the second option here — how to create custom fonts that could be based on your own handwriting as well!

Construct fonts

http://fontstruct.fontshop.com/

This is a free online font creator that allows creating and sharing fonts using a simple font editor. Unlike some other custom font creation tools, it doesn’t require the user to scan handwritten characters against alphabets and numbers, rather it allows the user to directly draw alphabets over the screen using the mouse.

On the home page of Font Struct, press the ‘Start Now’ button to get started. This brings up the login and sign-up page. Get registered here by pressing ‘Sign Up Now’ button. Enter the correct email address and fill in other details and press ‘Sign Up’ button and then login using the link sent over email.

By default, the user is logged into a private home page that allows font creation, with a link to a public page where fonts can be showcased for other users to see and download. on the private home page, press ‘Create New FontStruction’ button. Enter a name for the font being created and press ‘Start FontStructing’ button. Wait for a while as the font editor is loaded in browser window.

This is a sleek looking and user-friendly interface. Instead of typical brush tools to draw, there are a number of brick shaped to give smooth edges and variety of shapes to the font lines and edges. In this way, create custom characters using the horizontal slide bar at the bottom. Press the ‘Save’ button often while editing fonts to ensure it doesn’t get lost.

At any point in time, press the ‘Preview’ button to try out the new fonts right there in the browser window without downloading the font.

For more detailed options such as extra rulers and measurement information, minimal and full screen view, etc., use the ‘Advanced’ dropdown. Once done with the editing, press the ‘Download’ button and save the ZIP file. Then there’s the ‘Zoom’ option and changing the basic stencil of characters from Latin to say Arabic or Greek, etc. And there’s a ‘Tools’ window too with standard items such as pencil draw, eraser, rectangle, lines and pen in order to help the editing of fonts.

Create through handwriting

Sites such as Your Fonts (www.yourfonts.com), Fontifier (www.fontifier.com) and Font Capture (www.fontcapture.com) offer templates that can be downloaded for font creation. The basic idea behind all such sites is the same — download a PDF or an image file that has all the possible characters already printed in a commonly used font. Print this sheet and write a handwritten version against each printed character and complete the sheet.

Upload this sheet as scanned file and let the website construct fonts out of it. This is done by cutting the boxes in which the characters are written down. The next step is to preview the font online and make necessary changes if required. Finally, download the font file and install it in Windows.

Fonts are downloaded as files having extension TTF (true type fonts). Installing fonts in Windows XP is quite straightforward. Go to Start > Control Panel > Fonts. Select ‘Install New Font’ from ‘File’ menu and browse to the location where the font file is downloaded. Or simply drop the font file in ‘Fonts’ folder under ‘Windows’ folder using ‘Windows Explorer’.

Though standard fonts are always recommend for formal communication, custom fonts can always be fun and a new learning experience.

 Via DAWN

Creating Artwork

Creating artwork is a good pastime — be it on paper or over the computer. Those who are a bit tech-savvy and prefer (or simply want to explore) computer programs to drawings, as hobby or even passion, find it difficult to start with propriety packages such as Photoshop while programs like Paint, available by default in Windows, are way too simple.

So today we are introducing a free program specifically designed for creative digital artwork called Artweaver. This tool can be used to create original artwork and for touching up photographs or for converting them to look like paintings as well.

The interface of Artweaver offers standard controls on the left, such as selection, shape, text, zoom, colour selection and brush. By default, brush tool is selected with its window appearing below the standard controls. Here’s where real strength of Artweaer lies as there’s a long list of realistic brush tools available within the brush tool with a variety of options to control their behaviour. These brushes apply differently when dragged or single clicked on screen just like their equivalent behaviour over hard board or canvas. Brush styles can be changed using the dropdown in brush window. Default is acrylics and available options range from airbrush, artistic paint tube, oil paint brush, calligraphic pen, nozzle, chalk, charcoal to crayon and pencil.

Creating art with a particular tool can be very interesting. For example, selecting ‘calligraphy’ from the brush dropdown allows selection from one of the 10 calligraphic pens using the adjacent dropdown. Depending upon the intended drawing — which could be your name handwritten in a local language — select a suitable pen, such as one with wide width, dry ink, grainy edge, smooth edge or thin edge. Below these dropdowns, there are other controls too that can further alter brush behaviour.

These controls include size, spacing and, most importantly, the ‘type’ dropdown. Type can be air brush, bristles, circular, etc., and are applicable in different ways for different tools. For example, chalk brush applied with ‘type’ set to bristles will show vertical scratch lines but appears as thick solid form if ‘type’ is set to circular.

One interesting ‘type’ is called ‘image hose’. As evident in the name, this ‘type’ can be used to paint selected images rather than default brush lines. The advantage of such a tool is that it allows easier insertion of repeated images with a stroke of a brush rather than copying and pasting small images. Think of painting stars in the backdrop of the sky or flowers in background — this functionality can easily take care of such requirements.

Apart from this vast variety of paint tools, try opening up an existing photograph and see what can be done with it in Artweaver. Start off with ‘filters’ menu offering eight categories of effects that can be applied. Try these out as required such as texturing, sharpening, distortion and blur etc. These are all available as menus with submenus allowing multiple effect types under each. For example, ‘stylise’ menu allows ‘sketch’ effect that converts image to a pencil like drawn form, and an ‘old look’ effect that makes a photograph look like one of those in your old family albums!

For those willing to explore more advanced options, there’s a detailed level ‘layers’ option. Layers can be thought of as multiple transparent sheets kept on an original image. This means that the user can draw on layers instead of altering the original image. Not only this preserves the image, but allows more flexibility in experimenting with application of effects and addition or merging different photographic items. Say adding a text title on an image can be drawn on a layer which can selectively be turned off using the eye icon in ‘layers’ window on the right.

With these three distinct functionalities offering paint brush tools, photographic effects and layers support, Artweaver becomes one of the best freeware digital art and photography tool — ideal for beginners and advanced users alike. Most of the things a normal user would do in Photoshop can be done easily in this lightweight program. Download and enjoy this new tool this season and show off some of your very own digital art!

For download: http://www.artweaver.de/

Source: DAWN.COM Young World

Be An Architect

Creating 3D graphics is apparently an uphill task. 3D tools have traditionally been costly and propriety in nature such as 3D Studio Max, and can be time consuming or even require professional training for an advanced level expertise.

But for starters, Google offers a free tool named Sketch Up. Though Google is popular for its search engine and email, the company has attracted substantial number of Sketch Up users as 3D models (replicas of original buildings) created in this tool can be submitted for insertion in Google Earth — the satellite based rendering of the world available for free.

Sketch Up supports diverse range of uses — simple 3D home plans, small projects such as furniture or woodwork items, architectural and interior design, or Google Earth models. Select one of these templates from the start-up screen or select ‘Simple Template’ for general 3D modelling. In the same start-up screen, along with ‘Template’ there’s a ‘Learn’ menu offering links to videos and documentation. And that’s one of the best parts of Sketch Up that realistic models can be created simply by watching videos of an already created model. This makes it easy to learn new techniques and to convert what’s in your imagination on to the screen.

Start off with ‘Simple Template’ and press ‘Start Using Sketch Up’ button. 3D perspective axes are displayed with a human figure standing in the middle. An ‘Instructor Window’ appears on the right showing basic operations for the selected tool. Select rectangle tool from the toolbar and see that the pencil pointer now shows a small rectangle attached to it. Place the pointer in the middle point, and as the mouse coincides with the origin, it turns yellow. Drag the mouse diagonally to create a rectangular surface. To convert this into a 3D box, select ‘Push/Pull’ tool from the toolbar (the icon with a red upwards pointing arrow over a triangle) and move the mouse over surface area already created.

Surface selection is shown by filling it up with dots. Drag it upwards to see it getting turned into a cube shape. Let’s now add a door in it and extend a roof to make it look like a hut. This can be done easily again using the simple rectangle and ‘push/pull’ operations. Draw a door shaped rectangle on the front surface of the cube and then push this surface inwards. This creates a hollow opening of the door. At the top of the door, draw a horizontal line stretching from end to end of the wall and then again use the ‘push/pull’ tool to pull this surface outwards to extend the roof outwards and complete the hut type shape.

The advantage of Sketch Up is that complex objects can be created simply by creating a basic structure first and adding/ subtracting surface shapes and pulling and pushing them.

For learning more advanced concepts, there is a wealth of information available online in ‘User Guide’, ‘Reference Guide’ and a number of online tutorials. These detailed guides offer tool-wise information as well as conceptual details. To see the creation of other users, check out ‘3D Warehouse’ or submit your own for addition to this online gallery.

Sketch Up is a wonderful free tool that runs smoothly over normal PCs. The interface is easy to follow and use with less cluttered environment — yet the tool is powerful enough to create very realistic and detailed level models. Many online design competitions ask submissions to be made in Sketch Up. Make use of this tool to bring out the hidden architect in you!

Source: DAWN.COM Young World

Recovering deleted files

How many times it has happened that you accidentally deleted a file only to find out that it is no longer there even in the ‘Recycle Bin’? If this sounds familiar check out the free data recovery tools we are going to discuss today.
Restoration http://www.aumha.org/a/recover.php

The main advantage of Restoration is its small size, which is less than 200 KB. It is a simple and easy-to-use tool with a drive selection dropdown at the top right corner of the window. By default, this is set to ‘C drive’ which is the most common partition where Windows is installed. The next field below it can be used to search a specific file name. This is a useful option when searching specific document type by simply typing its extension; for example, DOC for MS Word files, or TXT for simple text files, etc.

Now press ‘Search Deleted Files’ to start search process that takes a while, depending upon the size of the disk. Deleted files are listed in the main panel in the middle along with folders from where they were originally deleted. Select the ones to be restored and press ‘Restore’ by ‘Copying’ button as this brings up ‘Save As’ window to select where the restored file has to be saved.

Another supplementary functionality in Restoration is to permanently delete files using menu ‘Others > Delete Completely’ so that they cannot be restored. There are specialised tools also available for this purpose.
Recuva http://www.piriform.com/recuva

Recuva starts with a ‘Wizard’ interface. If you are new to data restoration, use this ‘Wizard’, or else press ‘Cancel’ and go directly and explore the advanced options. For now, press ‘Next’ in ‘Wizard’ and select the type of document to be restored, say pictures, documents, music, videos or others. Next, select a location if you remember where the file was deleted from. Selecting ‘I am not sure’ here results in a search all over the hard disk. This may take some time and the progress report is not always 100 per cent accurate in displaying estimated time left. Once the scanning is complete, a list of deleted files is displayed along with ‘State’ information, that is if the file is in ‘Excellent’ condition which means it can be recovered, or ‘Unrecoverable’.

Note the presence of an additional column named ‘Comment’. This is an informative bit about fate of deleted files and tells us exactly why a particular file cannot be recovered.

In a computer file system, deleted files (including those removed from ‘Recycle Bin’) are not actually deleted permanently. Here’s what happens: after the deletion takes place, the size occupied by ‘deleted’ file is reported as free so that other files can be overwritten in their place. Until that happens, a deleted file can be restored in most of the cases. And that’s precisely what Recuva tells us in the ‘Comments’ column.

Pressing ‘Switch to Advanced Mode’ button now brings up new options at the right panel including ‘Preview’, ‘Info’ and ‘Header’ tabs which display relevant information for the selected file. One of the strong points of Recuva is its ability to search ‘Non-Deleted Files’ in order to recover data lost from damaged or re-formatted disks. Along with this, Recuva is a portable application which means it can be run directly off a USB disk. And just like Restoration, it can also search data in common Windows file system called FAT, or from advanced Windows file system called NTFS.

Other free tools offering data recovery include Test Disk http://www.cgsecurity.org/ and Pandora Recovery http://www.pandorarecovery.com/. Apart from having recovery tools at disposal, the best defence against data loss is regular backups and thinking before using the delete key! So remain equipped, but, at the same time, keep your data secure.

Source: DAWN.COM Young World

Geek’s advice: Playing it safe

 

Oh my God! My computer system crashed again,” screamed little Bilal. “Why does this happen to my computer only? I got it repaired only last month but it crashed again. I am fed up of doing it again and again. Now what should I do, I have to prepare the presentation and submit it tomorrow.”

Does this sound familiar? You must have heard such complaints from your siblings, friends and colleagues. Most of the time, it happens because you are not operating the computer properly, or it may have a virus in it. I am sure you are well aware how hazardous viruses are for a computer system but they just seem to get into it somehow. But to stop a virus corrupting computer and you losing all your data, there are a few simple measures you can take.

 Use an anti-virus program

A virus can attach itself with other programs and destructively interfere with the normal activities of the computer — the core objective being to disturb or confuse the user. Usually, they halt the microprocessor and occupy all the memory by copying unnecessary data. Also they are well-known to erase, corrupt or to relocate program files from the disk.

An anti-virus program plays a vital role in protecting computer system from destructive programs. Therefore, it is necessary to run an updated anti-virus program on periodic basis. However, no anti-virus program guarantees protection against all viruses. A good anti-virus program checks infected files automatically every time when you insert any kind of disk.

Famous anti-virus software programs include Norton, Kaspersky, Mcafee Virusscan, Avast, Nod32, Pccillin, Virex and Symantec.

Scan the external disks

Gone are the days when floppy disks were used for data storage. With the passage of time, the increasing size of software demanded multiple diskettes which caused system crashing. Now flash disks (USBs) and memory cards are used to store data.

Extra care has to be taken while using any of the above data storage media because the use of external disks sometimes cause severe system crashing. Always scan the external disks by an updated anti-virus program before you explore it. Most of the times, external disks contain viruses, worm and trojans that reside in the system memory and can also cause your system to run abnormally slow.

Turn on Firewall

If you are using Windows XP, always keep in mind that your ‘Firewall’ should be turned ‘ON’. The Firewall is a dedicated appliance which inspects the network traffic passing through it. Its core objective is to monitor the network operations.

Away from bogus downloading

Other common reason for systems to crash is the poor downloading of files from the internet. Downloading from the internet may sometimes seriously harms your computer or the applications running on it. Always monitor your browsing habits and make sure you know the downloading source. Keep yourself away from heavy downloading of games, music and software from bogus websites. Also avoid surfing websites related to pornography because they are well-known for causing problems in a system.

Periodic updates

Periodic updates help computer owners to protect systems from crashing. Whenever you install computer programs, don’t forget to select the check box for indication of the latest updates. Many computer users consider this option useless but actually it helps computer owners to secure the system.

Turn on pop-up blocker

Again, if you are an XP user, always turn ‘ON’ pop-up blocker. The pop-up blocker helps you to block pop-ups while browsing. This feature is only available in Windows XP and you can access it through ‘Internet Explorer > Tools > Pop up blockers’. Also various pop-up blockers are available to provide protection to your computer system.

E-mail scanning

Always be careful while checking your mailbox. Many small viruses attach themselves with emails and when you open the email, the virus gets stored in the hard disk and causes serious problems. Avoiding suspicious or anonymous emails reduces this threat.

Don’t share files through IM

It is a common practice to share files through messenger services. Although it is recommended to use email service instead of direct transfer through IM because most of the email services now have virus check, which alerts you if the file is infected or contains virus.

Disk cleanup

Last, but not the least, lack of disk space or a fragmented disk greatly contributes to system crashing. Thus, it is very important to run ‘Disk Defragmenter’ / ‘Disk Cleanup’ on regular basis. To avoid system crashing, it’s better to delete unnecessary files from a disk and keep the disk clean. The ‘Disk Defragmenter’ can be found under ‘System Tools’ in ‘Accessories Tab’.

Source: DAWN.COM Young World