How to spookify Windows 7

It's almost Halloween, which means lots of candy, trick or treating, and top-100 scary movie countdowns! For a bit of added fun, here are a couple of themes to spookify your Windows 7 desktop:

Eerie autumn theme
This theme from Microsoft, includes 15 spooky high-resolution wallpapers and some eerie system sounds. Just download the themepack and double-click on the file to install the theme.

Get it HERE.

(Credit: Screenshot by Ed Rhee)

(Credit: Screenshot by Ed Rhee)

Halloween theme
This Halloween theme from VikiTech, includes 33 ghastly high-resolution wallpapers, a replacement set of desktop icons, and hair-raising system sounds. If the music from the "Halloween" movies creeps you out, this is just the theme for you! Just be sure to click on the link called "Download | Apply," to download the theme and not on one of the ads that say "Download." Once downloaded, unzip the themepack file and double-click on it to install the theme.

Get it HERE.

(Credit: Screenshot by Ed Rhee)

OK, so not all the wallpapers are ghastly. These little guys are cute!

(Credit: Screenshot by Ed Rhee)

Bonus fright: "The Thing: Flame Thrower" Android app
If you have an Android device with a front-facing camera, give the app from the movie, "The Thing," a try. The app includes a game, the movie trailer, and an "Infect Yourself" feature. If you choose to "Infect Yourself," it'll launch your front-facing camera and ask you to line up your face to the guides on the screen. Once you snap your photo, it will add a horrifying effect to your face, which you can then save or share via e-mail or Facebook. We didn't want to spoil the surprise, so we didn't include a screenshot of the effect. Let's just say, it's a head-splitting good time. The app has a content rating of "medium maturity," so keep the little ones away while you gross yourself out.

Get it in the Android Market.

The game is a throwaway, but the "Infect Yourself" effect is horrific!

(Credit: Screenshot by Ed Rhee)

Joli OS – Your new personal cloud desktop

Joli OS is an Ubuntu-based Linux distribution for netbooks. It is geared towards extreme user-friendliness so that any computer user can install it with just one click. Besides the standard ISO image, the distribution is also provided as a Windows executable file which can resize an existing Windows partition and install Joli OS as an alternative operating system. Other Joli OS features include heavy orientation towards web application and services, online backup option, web-based software installation interface, inclusion of proprietary hardware drivers and non-free media codecs, and extensive social networking features.

CloudShare’s free product has been used in many ways — but we wanted to see if we could access it via iPad. (We know iPhone works, and of course an actual computer works). We can. Come get your own free Personal Cloud Computer (PC2) at cloudshare.com/pro

Working with Dragon 11.0 Tutorials

After you have installed Dragon 11.0 and followed its recommendations regarding microphone placement and then, performed, at the very least minimum training to allow Dragon to recognize your voice, it’s time to get ready for some serious work.

Activating Dragon

When you activate Dragon it loads your User Profile.
Note: If you have more than one user profile, the User Profile window will open. Then you will need to choose the profile you intend using. Having made the choice, click the Open button.

Selecting a User Profile

Dragon’s Opening Screen

After Dragon 11.0 initializes and accesses your User Profile, you will see the Dragon Bar appear across the Desktop and on the right-hand side of your screen, the Dragon Sidebar. If you don’t want it there click the X button in the right-hand corner.

Dragon's Opening Screen

You are nearly ready to go! But first you need to learn how to turn on Dragon’s microphone. You can o this by clicking the red microphone icon on the Taskbar.

Turning on the Microphone

Once the microphone is turned on, you can begin controlling your computer and dictating text into your email application or Word.

Controlling Dragon’s Microphone

However, before you can commence controlling your computer and dictating, you need to know more about Dragon’s microphone controls. 
The illustration below shows the three different icons representing the microphone.

Microphone Options

There are several ways you can control your microphone:

Method 1            Using the Mouse

There are two ways you can turn Dragon’s microphone on.
Click the microphone button on the DragonBar.

Turning On Microphone

Click the microphone symbol in the Windows Taskbar.

Microphone Off

Method 2            Using  Windows Taskbar

When Dragon is running its microphone icon appears on the Taskbar. You can turn it on or off by clicking its icon.

Switching the Microphone On or Off

Method 3            Using the Keyboard

Press the plus key (+) and the numeric keypad. This is much quicker than moving and clicking the mouse. It is one example of Dragon’ s hotkeys.

Controlling Microphone with + Key on Keypad

Method 4            Using Voice

To temporarily stop the microphone from working, say “Go to Sleep” or an “Stop Listening“. When you issue the command Dragon ignores everything except the wake-up calls which are “Wake-Up” or “Listen to Me“.
Note: Once Dragon is in the off position, you cannot turn it on using voice as Dragon cannot hear anything at all. 

Now it’s time to look at two important features of Dragon. They are the relocatable DragonBar and the interactive Dragon Sidebar. The latter’s contents change when you switch programs or tasks.
We’ll start with Dragon’s DragonBar. For some users they may find the default location at the top of your screen not to their liking. Fortunately, you can change its location either by activating a command within its menu or using voice commands.
We’ll look at the first option – using the Dragon menu. This involves clicking the Dragon icon on the extreme left hand side of the DragonBar. In the drop-down menu there are five options allowing you to move the DragonBar to another location. The illustration below shows you how to access this menu and lists the five alternative locations.

Dragon Bar Options accessed through Menu

Using Voice Command

There are three voice commands you can use to relocate the DragonBar. Note: For this to be effective you need to hold down the CTRL key before issuing the command, otherwise Dragon will assume you may be dictating text.
Here’s what you can say:

• “Switch to Floating Mode”
• “Switch to Docked to Top Mode”
• “Switch to Tray Icon Only Mode”

The illustration below shows Dragon in Floating Mode. When Dragon is in this configuration you can move it anywhere around the screen. For some this is a useful option but for myself I prefer Dragon securely located at the top of my screen. It’s really a matter of personal choice!

DragonBar and Sidebar

Note: it is worth pointing out how intuitive Dragon Sidebar is, in that it automatically provides a set of commands relating to the task in hand. This in my opinion is really clever!

Dragon Sidebar

Let’s look closer at Dragon Sidebar.
As mentioned before an obvious in the illustration above Dragon Sidebar automatically responds to switching applications by providing appropriate speech commands suited to the new application. While this does not work with every application it certainly works extremely well with word processors such as WordPerfect and Microsoft Word. Similarly it works with Microsoft Excel.
Below are two screen pictures illustrating the point.
The first illustration shows you speech commands pertaining to Word and WordPerfect. Note the different sets of commands –

• Working with Documents
• Cutting, Pasting, Inserting, Undoing
• Moving and Selecting
• Formatting

           and so on!
Note: you can scroll down the Dragon Sidebar to see additional speech commands.

Dragon's Speech Commands for Word

In the second screen picture you will see DragonBar again response to the changing environment and supplies a set of appropriate speech commands relating to Microsoft Excel.

Dragon's Speech Commands for Excel

If you wish to put this interactive feature to the test, click on the following applications stored on the Taskbar. While it does not work with all applications it is very useful for Dragon Sidebar to provide these voice commands for the applications listed below.

• Internet Explorer
• Windows Live Mail
• Libraries (Desktop Explorer)
• Windows Media Player

Closing Dragon

You can use a voice command to shut down Dragon. All you need to say is “Close Dragon” and the Exit Dragon dialogue box opens.

Closing Dragon

Say Yes and Dragon commences its shut down proceedure.
Its final act before closing is to ask you if you wish to save your speech profile files. This final stage requires you to click the Yes button. Click the Yes button and Dragon saves the changes to your User Profile and then closes.

Dragon saves speech profile files

Now how easy is that!
Of course, you can shut Dragon down by clicking its icon (top left-hand side) on the DragonBar and clicking the Ok button. Whichever method you use Dragon seeks permission to save your speech profile files before shutting down. This way you update them every time you use Dragon. Well done, Dragon!

Seeking Help from Dragon

In this article you will learn where you can find effective help to maximise your use of Dragon. The first and most obvious place is Dragon Sidebar. There are other locations too and these are found in Dragon’s Help Menu. Here you get useful advice and tips from Tutorial and Dragon on the Web. These will be dealt with in a later article.

Taking Advantage of Dragon Sidebar

So you’ve just purchased Dragon and are a bit stumped as what to do! Well, you turn on Dragon and let’s see where you can go from there! When you start Dragon it places its DragonBar across the top of your screen (this is the default location for it) and adds its Dragon Sidebar to the extreme left of your screen.

Desktop showing Dragon 11

Because Dragon is intuitive it recognizes you are on your Desktop and offers assistance in the form of Dragon Sidebar. Here you will find lists of speech commands grouped by various topic headings. Scroll down the sidebar to see the range of options.

Desktop SideBar

The Dragon Sidebar is a good place to start.

Dragon’s Commands for Word Processors

Not being sure about how to open Word using a voice command, you open Word using conventional means either through All Programs or by clicking it’s icon on the Taskbar or on your Desktop.
Once Word opens, Dragon’s Sidebar keeps in step with you offering a specific set of Voice Commands tailored for Word (and of course WordPerfect).

Word Processor SideBar

Dragon also caters for most common applications on your computer. These include Excel, PowerPoint, WordPad, Dragon Pad (Nuance’s derivative of WordPad), Internet Explorer, and Windows Live Mail.
Note: Previous versions of Dragon did not have this feature.
Each set of speech commands offers you a quick and effective ways of completing tasks. Now this brings up another important matter, the one of Training. If you skipped training at the start you may find the results poor despite Nuance’s claim you can get a 95% results at the outset. There is no substitute for completing the basic training offered at installation and later doing even more. 

Performing Additional Training

Here’s how you go about it!
Click the Audio menu and select “Read Text to improve accuracy”.

Audio Menu - Additional Training option

This opens the General Training window. Follow the prompts.

General Training

The more time you have spent training Dragon the better the result.

Windows 8 Could Offer Calling Ability

Could Windows 8 succeed Windows Phone? That's the question on my mind, after a few blogs leaked screenshots of what seems to be a calling capability baked into Windows 8. Certainly it's an idea that's been floated around before. The blog istartedsomething snapped a few of those screenshots of a Windows 8 phone feature during Microsoft's BUILD conference (which ran from Sept. 13-16). The next-generation operating system will reportedly arrive sometime in 2012. Those screenshots included a "Missed Calls" tile on Windows 8's user interface, as well as the option to "call mobile" for an individual contact in the "People" app. The blog WinRumors also offered some video footage of the latter. For some time, rumors have circulated that Microsoft will follow its upcoming Windows Phone "Mango" release with a build codenamed "Apollo." This "Windows Phone 8" will arrive sometime in 2012, at least according to sources like this Slashgear posting. Take with all the requisite grains of salt. Microsoft has revealed quite a bit about Windows 8, but less about the ecosystem it plans to build around the next-generation operating system. It will run on both tablets and traditional PCs, courtesy of a touch-centric interface (centered on colorful tiles) paired with a traditional desktop, with easy switching between the two depending on the situation. The tablet-ready interface embraces the "Metro" aesthetic pioneered by Microsoft's Zune and Windows Phone software, drawing away from the "Aero" design used in Windows Vista and Windows 7. When it flips to desktop mode, Windows 8 offers a "look" that, at least at this early stage, seems chunkier and more blockish than Aero. That desktop mode aside, Windows 8 does bear a startling similarity to Windows Phone, not the least because of those big colorful tiles linked to applications. Microsoft would almost certainly need to make significant compromises to squeeze a variant of Windows 8 onto a smartphone's smaller form-factor, though, which makes me question the benefits of trying to extend the operating system's hardware footprint in that direction. Then again, iOS and Mac OS X will probably merge in some way in the future; so why not do something similar with Windows Phone and Windows 8, especially since everything's drifting toward mobility anyway? I'm sure questions just like these are keeping Microsoft executives awake long into the night.

Linux foundation new mobile OS: Tizen

Linux foundation has announced a new mobile operating system called Tizen. Samsung and Intel are the prominent backers of this OS, which will also work on tablets, netbooks, TVs and in-vehicle devices.

Tizen is a new open source mobile and device operating system based on Linux which will be designed to support multiple device categories such as smartphones, tablets, smart TVs, netbooks, and in-vehicle infotainment devices.

The project is hosted by the Linux Foundation with development led by a technical steering team from Intel and Samsung. Tizen will build upon technologies developed as part of the MeeGo and LiMo (Linux Mobile) projects.

Intel, along with Nokia, was part of the Linux Foundation's earlier project called MeeGo. "Over the next couple of months we will be working very hard to make sure that users of MeeGo can easily transition to Tizen, and we will be working even harder to make sure that developers of MeeGo can also transition to Tizen." An Intel representative working on the MeeGo project said on the project's website.

MeeGo is not dead but Nokia has left it in favour of Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 as its smartphone OS. Intel is still backing MeeGo, but will now move to Tizen and will use its knowledge for this new project.

Google recently announced its decision to buy Motorola, which will put it directly in competition with device makers like Samsung, LG, Acer, Asus and HTC who use Google's Android operating system in their smartphones.

After the move it was widely speculated that the device makers will look for a new OS to hedge the risk. With Samsung already participating in the Tizen project, Acer and Asustek are expected to join it as well. HTC is also evaluating its options (according to Digitimes,) but it is clear that it was indeed keen on a new operating system.

There are several reasons to believe that this project will taste success or will at least remain in focus. Samsung already has a smartphone operating system under its belt with bada (an OS that has seen a fair amount of success,) and will use its know-how to improve Tizen. Intel too has a lot of experience with MeeGo, an OS which techies used to love.

The other reason is that Linux Foundation has a fairly large number of members in Fujitsu, Panasonic, NEC, Motorola, ARM, ACCESS, Casio, NTT Docomo, SK Telecom, Telefonica, Vodafone and a host of others. While it is still not clear what their position with this new project is, we certainly expect to hear some of them joining it soon. Motorola could be ruled out as it is now owned by Google, the biggest rival of this project.

The Tizen application programming interfaces are based on HTML5 and other web standards, which means compatibility will not be an issue. And that is why Linux Foundation anticipates that the vast majority of Tizen application development will be based on these emerging standards.

According to the Tizen website, HTML 5 and web standards based APIs will cover various platform capabilities such as messaging, multimedia, camera, network and social media. For those who use native code in their applications, the Tizen SDK will include a native development kit.

What is also good is that Intel will support Tizen with its Intel AppUp developer program and a developer framework based on HTML5 and WAC standards. Intel is also encouraging developers to continue building and submitting apps for MeeGo netbooks already shipping, apps that will be compatible — unchanged — on Tizen netbooks.

So by the time Tizen OS makes its first appearance, it will have a good stack of apps. A lack of apps had killed HP's WebOS, which was otherwise touted as a potential iOS killer.

HTML5 and Web Standards support means that this OS will be very suitable for cloud based services like those of Amazon, Google cloud service (Google Drive), Windows Sky Drive and iCloud.

Mobile manufacturers like Huawei and HTC are also trying their hands at cloud services and so are mobile operators across the globe. These companies will like this OS for this reason more than anything else.

Linux foundation will open the entire Tizen software stack from the core OS up through the core applications and polished user interfaces. Tizen and its SDK (software development kit) are expected to be released in the first quarter of 2012, with the first devices hitting the market in mid 2012.