Resources

I've always wondered, how can I ______

(Type in your question here so we can try to answer it)

Gadgets, Gizmos and Trends

1. theawesomer.com - Awesome stuff
2. gizmodo.com - Blog about the latest gadgets
3. engadget.com - Trend spotters and early adopters of consumer electronics
4. wired.com - Technology oriented news

Tools

1. PortableApps.com - Install and run PC applications from a flash drive (e.g. GIMP for graphics, Audacity to record and edit sounds, OpenOffice, etc.)
2. Piazza.com - make your own discussion group for your club, organization or class
3. Dropbox.com - store your files in the cloud and access from anywhere. Use this link to sign up and you and I both get some extra free storage.
4. Keepass. It is a cross-platform secure password organizer. I use it to store all my passwords for many web sites, multiple machines, personal information, etc. It runs on PCs, Macs and phones. The beauty of it is when you store the created keepass file in dropbox you can retrieve and update your passwords from any computer or from your smartphone. Very cool.

Software

1. Screen capture:
   1. This can be used to create a tutorial or help you create a business presentation. Screen capture can be done on a PC by using the PrtScrn key, then pasting it in to a document. To get just the current screen use Alt + PrtScrn. On a Mac use Command + Shift + 3 to capture the whole screen, or Command + Shift + 4 to capture just an area. If you want to be able to annotate what you captured you can use the built-in Paint program, but for something a little nicer you can buy Snagit ($50 Spring '12) and annotate your screen captures.
2. Screen video capture:
   1. Same company that makes Snagit (see above) makes Camtasia, as of Spring '12 arguably the best screen video capture. Make an instructional video then save and edit it, then upload to YouTube or Vimeo.
   2. Graph Paper: See Phillipe Marquis' PC program gpaper that lets you create (and print) different kinds of lined paper.

2. Web Anonymizer: Trapped in Lower Volta during an insurgency? Communicate securely using Tor, a special version of the Firefox browser.

Tips and Tricks

1. Custom Print Google Maps: Google maps not giving you exactly what you want? Capture the screen portion you want (see above) and paste into a Microsoft Word document and print from there.
2. Maps Distance Tool: Want to find out how far you jogged (or will jog?) Use Google maps and select the drawing tool to draw your path.

1. 3D Google Map Views: Install Google Earth and get 3D map views, which you can capture and annotate. Run the stand-alone Google Earth program and you can fly through areas in flight simulator mode. Select the Tools menu, then choose the flight simulator.

1. Shorten Long Web Address: Go to bit.ly and copy and paste a long web address to make an equivalent short one.
2. Switch between windows on a PC using Alt + Tab (or "backup" using Alt + Shift + Tab). Similarly use tab to switch between input fields on a web window where you are typing in information.
3. Copy video: Like a YouTube or Vimeo video and want to have a copy you can run without being online? Just copy the address into keepvid.com and right-click on the resulting link to download it.
4. Not an artist, but still want to have a combination of colors that are aesthetically pleasing? Use ColorSchemeDesigner.com

1. Login to your stuff without logging out someone else: Open an incognito window, where a separate person can log in to their own account without you having to log out. In Google Chrome this is Control + Shift + N. In Firefox it is Control + Shift + P.
2. Backups: Buy an external hard drive and backup your files regularly. Better yet buy two and keep one "offsite". That way if your stuff gets stolen you won't lose your data, which will eventually be more valuable to you than your equipment. If you don't have too many media files (pictures, videos) then you can probably just use something like dropbox (see above)
3. Sort Text: Need to put a bunch of text into alphabetical order? Copy into Microsoft Word, highlight the items to be sorted, then select the sort button:

Fun Learning

LightBot runs in your browser. You'll have so much fun you won't realize you're learning.

CrayonPhysics.com - Solve problems creatively by drawing objects with "crayons" that obey the laws of physics

TED.com - Some of the worlds best minds giving short talks on cool stuff on just about any topic you can imagine

Computer Explanations

How do computers work? See the Nerds 2.0.1 site. The Glossary of Geek section includes a good animation of how packets are used on a network. [Thanks to Rich Kick]

Other

1. Electronics: Integrate technology and electronics into your life using the supplies and tutorials at SparkFun Electronics Education
2. Demos: Some of the cool CS-related videos I showed from time to time in class are at the bit.ly/CoolCSDemos page.
1. See the contents for MIT's Computer Science E-2 course, with links to readings very much along the lines of this course.