Cardinal Tech Weblog

Getting a new computer? Look at our tips!

2011-01-26T10:59:00.000-05:00

Many students have been coming to us for advice for different virus protection, flash drives, computer programs, external hard drives and other ideas on what to look for in a new computer.

A lot of people think they know a lot about computers, but deep down don't. I'm not trying to make fun of those people, but spending that much money on a computer that could die the day after your warranty is up is a scary thing. Hard drives are formatted to run and save computer programs. Flash drives are not, they are formatted to save things on, pretty much anything. If your hard drive on your computer does crash, it is cheaper for you to go to the store, spend between $40-150 on an internal hard drive and install it yourself. All you have to do it take the back panel off, unplug the hard drive and put the new one back in and install your operating system and any other programs.

If you want to buy a brand new computer, there are some things you want to consider. You want to look at is the hard drive itself. Make sure it is big enough for everything you want it to do. You also want to look at the RAM (memory), which is the speed of the computer. Windows XP needs about 512 mb to run, vista needs 3 GB, windows 7 needs 1 GB and MAC OS-X needs 2 GB, plus you may want addition RAM to make the computer faster. Another thing is look at is the processing speed. When you look at a new computer, there a lot of numbers that are available, but you want to look at is the GHz. I recommend anything above a 2.0 GHz. When you get below that, your computer will be slow to process the information sent to it such as loading more than one program or switching tabs on the internet and everything between.

For virus protection, why waste your money and buy something? You get viruses for free so why not get a free anti-virus. With many students coming to us saying that have problems with Norton, all those problems are true. Norton will slow down your computer because it has programs running in the background that takes a lot of memory or speed to run on your system. If you get any other anti-virus, that have a smaller version of it but it works just as good or better. Here, we suggest Antivir or AVG. Every program has its problems, but you will have to find one that works for you.

If you need any other tips on how to keep your computer running strong, no matter how old it is, stop into the STC and we'll tell you how to keep it running. We cannot do it for you or show you how to do it, but we can tell you how if you would like.

Apple gets more money with Verizon and Iphone

2011-01-26T10:43:00.000-05:00

Everyone already knows that the new iPhone is coming to Verizon. Most people don't know how much of a money pit that phone can be. There are a ton of features on the phone, but the one that is important here is that Hotspot on the iPhone will costs $20 per month. What does this mean? You can get wireless internet (not personal wifi), for $20 per month from a personal computer that is releasing the internet signal, according to Gizmodo.com.

Welcome to the Cardinal Tech Weblog!

2010-10-22T16:03:00.001-04:00

The purpose of this site is to provide students with:

Easy access to helpful resources, tech reviews & how to's.
News and updates related to the STC news, workshops and events.

If you have any comments or suggestions for this site, please email TechTutor @ svsu.edu.

Getting Started with VSpace

2010-09-09T15:57:00.000-04:00

It's that time of year! We will be in full swing with the Fall 2010 Semester in less than 2 short weeks. Fall will bring us many new faces and questions. Many of those questions are always centered around accessing courses in VSpace, SVSU's learning management system, and its features.

With that in mind I would like to highlight some of the resources available to help you get started using VSpace.

A great place to start learning something new is with a quick video overview of the task. Below, Robert Long has created an easy to follow, "Introduction to VSpace" video, which is also available on the VSpace home page before you log in to the system for the first time.

A variety of VSpace tutorials are available in the VSpace Student-Zone.

For example, in the VSpace Student Zone, you will find video and pdf tutorials on My Workspace, VSpace Tests and Quizzes and Assignment Submission. Also available is a Quick Tip Cheat Sheet which overviews all of the common tools available in VSpace.

Finally, the Student Technology Center also has an Introduction to VSpace Tutorial on the Cardinal Tech Weblog.

Hopefully these resources will help you get off to a great start accessing your courses and uploading assignments in VSpace! But, if you do need extra help please feel free to stop in and see us in the Student Technology Center! We are located on the second floor of the Zahnow J. Melvin Library, and would love to have you stop by!

Pac Man 30th Anniversary

2010-05-24T14:09:00.001-04:00

Meet the Gurus Behind Insert Coin in this interview with creators, Marcin Wichary, Senior User Experience Designer, and Ryan Germick, Google Doodler, of the Pacman Google Doodle featured on the Google home page last Friday and Saturday (May 21-22,2010).

I STILL want an iPad

2010-04-30T00:32:00.001-04:00

Yes, I'll admit it. The iPad may not have Flash, it doesn't have an SD card slot, but it is still amazing! You could focus on what you think it is missing, or you could embrace it for all that it does well! : )

Check out this review by Crunch Gear..

How to Edit Movies in iMovie

2010-03-19T14:46:00.001-04:00

The Year of the Tablet?

2010-02-24T19:39:00.000-05:00

The buzz as of late that 2009 was that 2010 would be the year of the tablet.

According to reports from Wired, PC World and others, a number of companies (Apple [Obviously], Dell, Lenovo, HP, Microsoft) are working on tablet computers to be released in 2010. But, this is not a new concept. Check out this article from Wired about a shy tablet aptly named, "Bashful".

For a full spec comparison of some of the up and coming tablets check out Gizmodo's Slate Showdown: iPad vs. HP Slate vs. JooJoo vs. Android Tablets & More.

Student Technology Center Services

2010-02-15T11:50:00.000-05:00

Welcome to
the Cardinal
Tech Weblog!

I would like to take this opportunity to introduce you to the services offered by The Student Technology Center (STC), located on the 2nd Floor of the Melvin J. Zahnow Library.

This site, the Cardinal Tech Weblog, serves as an online, repository for step-by-step tutorials created by the Student Technology Center tutors, and links to other helpful resources. If you look to your right -->, you will see a list labeled, STC Tutorials, on everything from iMovie to VSpace.

The Student Technology Center (STC) employs student tutors who are specially trained to provide technology tutoring and software assistance to SVSU students. STC tutors are able to provide help and guidance with course projects and assignments, or projects related to SVSU student organizations, initiatives, and sponsored events.

The STC can provide assistance with formatting research papers and writing assignments for online and print formats which comply with APA and MLA guidelines. Black and white and color printers, and scanners, are also available within the STC, as is common office productivity software.

Specifically, the STC provides students with access to and assistance with the Microsoft Office suite, which includes Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Publisher, Excel, and Access. STC tutors can also provide tutoring and training related to design and illustration software, web development and publishing, and video production and editing.

The STC and its corresponding labs provide students with access to and tutoring with professional editing programs that are not available in other open labs, such as Adobe Acrobat Professional, Dreamweaver, PhotoShop, Fireworks, Flash, InDesign, Illustrator, and Apple’s FinalCut Pro.

The STC also provides tutoring support for special course-specific software on a case-by-case basis. Please contact the STC Coordinator prior to the semester when you will be using the software to discuss purchase, installation and training. The STC cannot guarantee support of special software without prior notification.

In addition, faculty members who require students to use technology to complete assignments may request in-class workshops for their students. The STC staff is available by reservation to deliver software training customized to support learning objectives, assignments and projects in virtually any discipline.

To schedule a workshop, contact us at 989.964.2299 or by email at techtutor(at)svsu.edu.

The Apple iPad

2010-01-28T16:09:00.000-05:00

Apple has released their newest creation, the iPad. While opinions vary and many speculate whether or not it will hit or miss in its target market, the proof could be in the apps.

Some reports seem to focus on its limitations, yet with an ever growing trend of building stable, user friendly platforms on which developers can create their own master pieces, the applications yet to come will likely be the proving pieces that make or break new technologies such as the iPad.

If the iPhone is a comparable predecessor then it would seem the iPad would have a promising future in the realm of apps. While it is early in game for iPad, it will be interesting to see how it and it's 140,000+ apps are received by anxious Apple enthusiasts. Apple has already made the call to developers, offering everything necessary to get started creating your own iPad apps.

This tablet is designed to be used in conjunction with the Internet, games, Apple TV, the App Store, iTunes, and iWork '09. Using Wi-Fi and/or 3G Networks, the iPad functions similarly to the iPhone and iPod Touch. The iPad features a 9.7 inch screen, additional connectivity options and enhanced efficiency and performance to provide for an extreme battery life of up to 10 hours on a single charge.

See Steve Jobs' demo yourself on the video below from the ABC Nightline Coverage of the iPad unveiling hosted on Hulu:

For more information and full specs visit apple.com/ipad.

China, Google, Internet Explorer and Cyber Attacks

2010-01-21T10:22:00.000-05:00

These are few of the hot topics in the news in the past week. A number of articles have been released alerting users to a vulnerability in Microsoft's Internet Explorer that played a role in the recent cyber attack on Google, as well as in attacks on a list of at least 20 other well known organizations.

The attacks originated from China. Understandably Google is now carefully considering how to proceed with regard to continuing to offer service in China. Google is currently investigating a number of cyber attacks which have been dubbed 'Operation Aurora' by experts at McAffee.

According to research summarized by Robert Lemos, a freelance journalist for MIT's MIT’s Technology Review, CIO.com and SecurityFocus, the recent attack on Google seemed to be used for surveillance and originated from 6 IP addresses in Taiwan.

Yet another article released on Info Security's website today discusses the type of code used in the attack on Google, which appeared to be in development as far back as 2006.

To get additional news and updates related to the attacks, you can visit the Technology section of the BBC News, the Unsafe Bits weblog or the Official Google Blog.

Need to create a survey?

2010-01-20T14:54:00.000-05:00

If you are considering or need to create an online or email survey this semester, consider using Survey Monkey.

Survey Monkey offers both a Free and a Professional version that allows users to create web based surveys employing 15 different types of questions and offering multiple data collection and analysis methods.

To learn more about it or give Survey Monkey a try visit surveymonkey.com.

Technology Buyer's Guide 2009

2009-11-29T20:36:00.000-05:00

Confused on what to get someone for Christmas when they want the latest technology? Or do you want to keep up to date with the latest technology. According to TIME magazine, here is the Tech Buyer's Guide for 2009.

New iPhone worm can act like botnet say experts

2009-11-25T22:36:00.000-05:00

Attention iPhone users! There is a worm exploiting Jailbroken iPhones when unsuspecting owners access online banking through their iPhone. This is currently a problem in the Netherlands and elsewhere, but it could eventually spread to the United States.

People are reporting money missing from their bank accounts when the phone gets this virus. There are some ways to detect if your iPhone has been compromised. For more information on this virus, read more at BBC News or Mashable.

If you own a (Jailbroken) iPhone, here is a quick, step-by-step article by Chris Leckness of iPhoneMVP that will help you protect your phone by changing its root password.

Google Chrome Operating System

2009-11-23T22:43:00.001-05:00

Google has been hard at work an open source operating system for low cost netbooks. According to Google representatives, they have designed the OS to load each program in the tab of a browser instead of a window. This and other features of Google Chrome have been designed to optimize performance and impact speed, providing a load time of a mere 7 seconds! Read the complete article from Technology reporter, Jonathan Fildes, on BBC News.

Google Chrome OS demonstration

A look at PhotoShop Mobile

2009-11-23T19:16:00.000-05:00

Once you are stuffed with Turkey and find yourself sitting around with nothing to do but peruse through the Black Friday ads, take a moment and read up on the sweet apps that are being developed for mobile phones equipped with the Android OS and iPhone, like the PhotoShop Mobile app for the iPhone and now Adroid equipped phones.

Are you ready for the future?

2009-11-10T15:37:00.000-05:00

Social Bookmarking: What it is / Why to care

2009-11-05T20:41:00.001-05:00

2009-11-05T20:11:00.000-05:00

The coolest thing since sliced bread.

Jing Project.
by TechSmith

Saving Word Documents in RTF and Other Formats

2009-10-20T23:46:00.000-04:00

Check out this easy to follow, step-by-step guide for Saving Word documents in other formats including .rtf or older formats, such as 2000 - 2003.

Word 2007_ Saving a Documen..

How to Start your own Blog

2009-01-29T08:51:00.000-05:00

So you want to create your own weblog..

There are many blogging sites to choose from, but to get started in the world of blogging I am going to recommend Blogger because it is straight forward and customizable.

Blogger hosts a variety of helpful video tutorials, like the one below, and has an excellent help center if you get stuck on something.

Watch the video below, and it will walk you through the initial set up of your blog.

For additional help getting started with your blog project check out Blogger's Getting Started Center, or visit us in the Student Technology Center on the 2nd Floor of Zahnow Library to get one on one assistance with your new weblog.