Category: Arts & Entertainment (Page 1 of 4)

Free Audio Editing Software

September 14, 2023 / Jesse Mueller / 1 Comment

For those looking to edit audio files, or mix and create digital music files, please consider these open source options. There are a lot of free audio editing software options out there!

Audacity is the mainstay for editing and recording, and is available for Windows, MacOS and Linux. It looks like you might even get this to install on a Chromebook. And they still offer legacy downloads that may work on very old computers.

LMMS is comparable to Audacity, but more for editing and not recording. It’s available Windows, MacOS and Linux.

GarageBand is for Apple devices only, and is a digital audio workstation, like LMMS. You can get it for your Apple computer or iOS device, but it is not available for Windows computers. If you encounter anyone offering GarageBand for PCs, beware, it is likely a scam or a virus!

WaveShop is like Audacity, but old-school. Try this one if you like the retro feel, or if you have a very old Windows computer that can’t handle newer software.

Mixxx is more for DJs and mixing together audio tracks. It works on Windows, MacOS and Linux.

Free Flight Simulators

July 12, 2023 / Jesse Mueller / 0 Comments

Google isn’t the only one to offer simulated flight. If you’re looking to take to the skies from your computer screen, check out all these free flight simulators:

Google Earth Pro: downloadable for Windows, MacOS and Linux computers, after you launch the software, click Tools and choose Enter Flight Simulator.

Geo-FS: this one is web-based, meaning you should be able to use it in any browser on any type of computer.

YSFlight: downloadable for Windows, MacOS and Linux computers.

FlightGear: downloadable for Windows, MacOS and Linux computers.

DCSWorld: for Windows only, and is more battle/mission-oriented

Free Illustration Software

June 30, 2023 / Jesse Mueller / 2 Comments

If you’re looking to create digital drawings and other graphics, you’ll need to find a suitable software. Adobe Illustrator is the professional mainstay for this. But the pricetag for that is considerable, and I like to promote free software choices. Here are some fantastic free illustration software offerings, for you to try!

Krita is highly regarded as a professional-grade painting program. You’re welcome to install it on Windows, MacOS or linux.

Inkscape is a similar full-featured software, and is also downloadable for Windows, MacOS and Linux systems.

Sumo Paint allows you to draw and create in your browser, so it’s largely OS-independent. Use on your Chromebook, if you like!

ArtWeaver has a free version that you may install on Windows only.

Sketchbook is available for Windows, MacOS, Android and iOS. It has a $20 pricetag if you want it for your computer, but is free to download onto any mobile device.

Microsoft offers two apps for digital art creation, one is Paint 3D and the other is Fresh Paint. These are both free, but also only for Windows.

Adobe Fresco is a freemium offering, for iOS and Windows devices. By freemium, I mean that it starts out free, but as you bump into the limitations of the app, Adobe is ready to sell you the extra features they have locked up. Adobe Fresco is not (yet) available for Android or MacOS.

Vectornator is only available for iOS (iPhones & iPads).

You’ll find that some photo-editing apps also help with drawing projects, but what I’ve listed here are focused on art creation and likely offer the best tools for that. Enjoy!

PS: Adobe Express is a new free web-based tool to consider. It’s trying to do a lot of things, ranging from photo-editing to graphics creation to helping with your social media posts and videos. It could be a great freebie for any of your graphic design pursuits!

Online Piracy

May 16, 2023 / Jesse Mueller / 0 Comments

Please avoid online piracy. And by piracy, I mean: Downloading movies/music/software from ersatz sources without paying for them. Just don’t do it. You’ll live to regret it.

I won’t preach or get all moral about this. That’s for other people to do. And I can’t judge; I’m sure I’ve poached an album or two, back in the day. Instead of appealing to your ethics, I want you to appreciate this matter from a computer security standpoint. Pirated downloads carry with them a risk of infection.

When you obtain and open a cracked software package, or start to watch that movie you saw posted on Twitter, how do you know what’s in there? Some of these popular pirated movies come with a dose of malware. Your antivirus may not block the viral load. Your VPN doesn’t matter. And the infections can range from nuisance pop-up ads to serious password and data theft. Yikes!

Look, I’m as excited as many of you are to own and re-watch the new Super Mario flick. But online piracy has a cost that you can compare against the price of what you want to enjoy. Weigh it like this: You can buy a streaming copy of the aforementioned movie, through legitimate means, right now for $30. (That price will come down as the Blu-rays are released in a month or two.) Or you can take your chances with a torrented copy or pirate download from some shady link, and then pay me to fix your computer. My labor fee for virus-cleanup is typically a bit higher than the price of a properly-bought film.

PS: Besides the viral risk, there is also a non-zero chance that you could get in legal trouble. It’s rare, I’ll admit, but I have seen a few people get some nasty threatening letters from lawyers, over the years. Getting one of those letters is sure to ruin your weekend.

Steam Card Scams

April 3, 2023 / Jesse Mueller / 0 Comments

Steam Cards function like gift cards: you spend an amount of money for the card, to be able to use that as a voucher on the Steam website for purchasing video games and other software. And like any other gift card, Steam Cards are often targeted in scams.

Steam Cards can be bought at physical stores or online through the Steam website. They’re often on display with other gift cards, but the scams that involved Steam cards are a little bit different than you’d expect.

Examples of Steam Scams

You find yourself locked out of your Steam account, and someone is contacting you to help you regain access to it. But they need you to buy a Steam Card and send them the number from it before anything can be restored.
Someone messages you, stating, “I accidentally reported your account and am worried that you will be banned from Steam. Contact Steam Support at this number/email and do what they say to remove the account ban!” And if you cooperate, the fake support person will threaten to delete your entire library of games unless you buy Steam Cards for them.
An attractive person messages you over Steam or Discord, asking for Steam Card Codes, so that they can play the same games with you. Instead of pressure tactics, they may be flirtatious or send racy photos.
You encounter a Bitcoin investment opportunity, where you fund it with Steam Wallet eGift Cards.

In any case, treat Steam Cards as you would all gift cards: They are equivalent to cash, and should only be given to people you know and trust. Treat unexpected requests for Steam Cards as you would any other gift card scam. Shut it down as soon as you recognize it. Block or avoid the person trying to commit the scam.

If you don’t use Steam, you may still need to be aware of all of this to safeguard any young gamers in your household. As your children or grandchildren come asking for Steam funds, make sure everything is on the level. Check that they want these cards for their own use. If you learn that they want a Steam Card for something other than just buying a game, you may have a teachable moment on your hands!

Vudu’s Disc to Digital Program

March 30, 2023 / Jesse Mueller / 0 Comments

If you like to buy and collect digital copies of movies, then you need to know about Vudu and their Disc to Digital offering. Using this program, you can add a digital movie to your library for $2 or $5. This is typically far cheaper than buying a digital movie from other vendors.

How this works is based on the movies you already physically own. You are buying a digital license for a DVD or Blu-ray that you have in hand. The process goes like this:

On your smartphone or tablet, go to www.vudu.com/disc
Scroll down to the Convert Disc button and tap it.
Tap the next Convert Disc button and take a picture of a barcode from a DVD or Blu-ray case that you have on hand.

If Vudu can offer that movie to you as a digital copy, you will then have the chance to pay $2 or $5 for it. If the movie is not available for this program, Vudu will let you know.

Other Details & Thoughts

Not all movies are eligible for Vudu Disc to Digital, and I can’t find any “master list” of films, showing what’s accepted or not. But Vudu Support says that if you see the Movies Anywhere logo on the case, it should work. For older movies, you can only check by scanning, to find out if it can purchased.

While this is intended for you to expand your digital library based on your physical library, I don’t see much security or restriction to how this process works. So, thinking outside the box, this program would also work for you if you checked a movie out of the public library and scanned its barcode. Or borrowed a movie from a friend, and decided you wanted to add it to your digital library before returning it. All that is necessary is that you scan the official barcode from the movie clamshell case and pay the nominal fee.

And I have to say, I was astounded by one success I had personally with this program. I have a particular movie on Blu-ray that is out-of-print. At this point, it is not available for streaming, and can only be bought through collectors & shylocks on eBay. But somehow, Vudu’s D2D program allowed me to buy a digital copy for $2. Now I can stream and download a movie that I thought only existed on disc.

Steam Tweak to Reduce CPU Usage

March 1, 2023 / Jesse Mueller / 0 Comments

Some clever people over on Reddit have figured out that the Steam Client sometimes gobbles up too much of your CPU. If you see Steam using too many resources in Task Manager, try these steps. It may lighten the load that Steam places on your gaming rig.

Open Steam.
In the lower-right corner, click Friends & Chat.
On the Friends window, click the cogwheel icon.
Go to the last option for “Enable Animated Avatars…” and switch it Off.

The Fortnite Settlement

December 21, 2022 / Jesse Mueller / 0 Comments

If you play Fortnite, you may want to keep tabs on this: Epic Game, the maker of Fortnite, has to pay over a half of a billion dollars to our federal government. This is a settlement over charging players for unwanted items, as well as locking people out of the game when they tried to dispute charges.

And a lot of that money will come back to Fortnite players! But… the FTC hasn’t figured out that part yet. I’m sure it’ll come out soon. If this affects you, keep an eye on the FTC page about this settlement, or sign up for FTC email updates.

Epic Games – Holiday Freebies

December 15, 2022 / Jesse Mueller / 0 Comments

Every year, Epic Games goes on a giveaway binge. Starting today, you can get a free game every day til the end of the year. The holiday freebies change each day, so check in daily to see what’s up for grabs. Go to this page and scroll down to the Claim Today section.

Epic Games - Holiday Freebies — What will tomorrow’s game be???

And put this on your calendar for next year, so you won’t miss the next round of holiday freebies. We can expect Epic Games to uphold this tradition every holiday season, starting in December!

OCTOBER 22: INTL CAPS LOCK DAY

October 21, 2022 / Jesse Mueller / 1 Comment

TYPING IN THIS MANNER OFTEN SIGNIFIES I’M SHOUTING
MOST OF YOU DO KNOW ME WELL AND THIS WILL LEAVE YOU DOUBTING
INDULGE ME JUST A TINY BIT AND PLEASE DECIDE TO STAY
LONG ENOUGH TO CELEBRATE THIS WONDROUS CAPS LOCK DAY

FEEL FREE TO TYPE ALL TEXT IN CAPS FOR THIS GRAND HOLIDAY
AND ALSO ON JUNE 28TH, TO HONOR BILLY MAYS
IF ANYONE REGARDS YOUR TYPING AS IRRATIONAL
REMIND THEM CAPS LOCK DAY IS TRULY INTERNATIONAL

IF YOU OWN A CHROMEBOOK YOU MAY FEEL A BIT LEFT OUT
YOUR KEYBOARD LACKS A CAPS LOCK KEY, BUT THERE’S NO NEED TO POUT
I HAVE A HANDY TIP FOR YOU BEFORE THIS RHYME IS DONE
PRESS ALT + SEARCH ON YOUR KEYBOARD AND YOU CAN JOIN THE FUN