Help Managing Remote Workers

Guest post by Tony Stokes of Contracting Solutions (New Media)

We are a software solutions provider specializing in Digital Media and Customer Flow Management software employing around 65 staff based here in the UK and Hong Kong.

While tracking staff members and timekeeping in our main offices is not normally an issue we are seeing an increase in the number of coders that prefer to work flexible hours from home. We started the home working scheme over 3 years ago and in general most staff members worked the required hours and were generally productive but we really had no way of recording the hours being worked by each employee. Looking around the market place we found many solutions but most were very expensive or required an on-going monthly payment dependent on the number of staff using the software.

After more searching we came across Flexi-Server Employee Attendance Software which initially we thought was quite cheap in comparison and perhaps would not fit our requirements. Nerveless we downloaded the trial and were amazed that we had it up and running in about ten minutes. Initially we only wanted to record the times that each employee was working and allow them to take breaks and work flexible hours that suited them. We found this initial requirement was very easy to configure and the web dashboard produced all of the statistics we needed.

The new CSMN office in India

During the period of setting up the initial Flexi-Server installation we were in the process of opening a new Office in India to outsource some of our extra coding requirements. We found an existing company and that fitted our requirements and asked them if they would be willing to use Flexi-Server to record each team member's hours to which they agreed. Having put this in place we then looked into the other features offered and found the most invaluable capability of recording screen shots and having them uploaded to our server, this has not only helped us monitor progress remotely but has also allowed us to spot issues and help to get them resolved.

Since then we have we have purchased a majority stake in the Indian company and have made considerable investment in a new office, extra staff and upgrades to the IT equipment. We would not have had the faith to do this remotely had we not had the monitoring, reporting and added peace of mind that Flexi-Server Productivity & Attendance Software provides.

Tony Stokes is Technical Director of Contracting Solutions (New Media), Innovators of Digital Signage, enhanced visual communications and multimedia solutions.

Creating and Editing Extreme Electronic Music

Guest post by Scott Lefebvre

My motivation for creating digital music is that the music I want to hear doesn�t exist yet, so I have to create it myself. I was looking for extreme break-core music and although I appreciate the work of musical artists like Bong-Ra, Drumcorps, Babylon Disco, Atari Teenage Riot, and Aphex Twin, I wasn�t able to find anything extreme enough to satisfy my desire for the ultimate in extreme electronic music, so it looked like it was up to me to try to create the sounds I was looking for.

Although the technology has existed for a few years to perform this task, the software has often been expensive, and required a significant amount of time to put towards learning how to use the software with any kind of proficiency.

I originally discovered NCH Software�s WavePad audio editing software through a general search for �Edit MP3s� on Cnet.com because I wanted to edit out the silence associated with many �Unlisted Tracks� on albums released by self-indulgent artists and play long, unnecessary silent periods.

While I was editing out those silences, I noticed that WavePad offered many other options to copy, save clips and to combine clips, so I began to assemble a sample library and experiment with mixing clips.

The single-track mixing offered by WavePad was prohibitive when I started thinking about compiling a full-length song, so I decided to try out NCH Software�s MixPad multi-track audio software. The interface of MixPad was simple to master and after only a couple missteps I was able to easily put together my clips in the way that I wanted to create new songs from the clips I had compiled.

A tip for new users: Don�t try to add all of your clips to your project at the same time or it will all play at the same time as an un-listenable jumble of sound. Add them one at a time and ease them into the sequence for the desired effect.

When I had a completed song, I wanted to post it to my YouTube account to share, but I wanted to create something visually stimulating to accompany the song so it wouldn�t be accompanied by a blank black screen. First I tried to use Windows Movie Maker, which I used to great effect when I was running Windows Vista, unfortunately, with my new laptop running Windows 7, Microsoft simplified the interface for Windows Movie Maker so much that it was impossible to do what I wanted. Since I had a positive experience with NCH Software so far, I downloaded their VideoPad video editing software.

VideoPad had all of the usability that older versions of Windows Movie Maker used to have so after about an hour of fumbling and playing around I was well on my way to creating the videos I wanted to make. Also it�s a relief that VideoPad has all of the effects and transitions making it possible to do some pretty amazing things.

Using Microsoft Paint and a 4,000 font package I downloaded for free from Cnet.com I was able to create a tribute to the title sequence to Gaspar Noe�s �Enter the Void� to accompany a re-mix I made while compiling a sample library from the discography of Japanese extreme pop music band Melt Banana:

Granted, it took a little time to figure out. But what probably took the film-maker thousands of dollars and weeks of time to put together I was able to do in a couple hours by myself using VideoPad.

My ultimate goal for this project is to put together an album of extreme digital music and to put together a band to perform the music live, kind of like Nine Inch Nails in concert was a live cover band for music created by Trent Reznor. I also want to create a video presentation to play behind the band to supplement the audio/video experience of the live show as I�ve seen done by Nine Inch Nails, KMFDM, and Neurosis.

To be perfectly honest, anyone can do what I�m doing with the NCH Software suite. All you need is the time and effort required to mix-down and sample your music library and the aesthetic sensibility to see how you would prefer that the samples be rearranged to suit your preference. So if you�re thinking about purchasing software from NCH Software, I say, don�t hesitate. The pros of this software are too many to list and the cons are so few that they are dwarfed by the incredible flexibility of the pros.

The only minor problem I have is with WavePad, and that I am not able to load an entire album of songs for editing down at the same time, but editing an album in ten song groups is a small price to pay for being able to capture whatever sample you want from whatever song you want and to be able to amplify and reduce noise on any sample.

The NCH Software suite has made it possible for me to easily create the music that I want to hear and I would recommend it to anyone interested in creating their own digital music without a moment of hesitation.

Scott Lefebvre creates digital music under the name Master Control. You can see more of his music projects on his YouTube channel or follow the adventures of Master Control at www.facebook.com/TheLefebvre

VideoPad Introduction in Manga

Not only is it fun for us to learn about see or listen to the audio and video projects that people create with NCH Software products, we also enjoy hearing and seeing what people think about and have to say about our software. When we stumbled upon a comic in a Japanese blog introducing readers to our VideoPad video editing software we contacted the creator and asked for permission to share a translated version with our readers. So take a look at the translated VideoPad comic below.

For those of you who are curious or know Japaenese you can view the original and read more of his thoughts on VideoPad in his blog, Try! Various things! (?????!????!). While you're there scroll to the bottom of the post to watch his test video showing some of the things that VideoPad is capable of.


If you are read to give VideoPad your own test drive, visit www.nchsoftware.com/videopad to download a copy for yourself.

Screencasting For Better Communication & Teaching

Guest post by Eric Karkovack

Sometimes, your job title doesn't always necessarily explain the full extent of what you do. Personally, I'm a freelance web designer (and have been since 1996). But a great portion of my job is about doing things that have very little to do with design itself.

For example, one role I often find myself taking on is that of a teacher. Whenever I create a website that my clients will update themselves, I have to teach them how the process works. Sometimes it can be difficult to get my point across. It's especially hard when clients don't have much experience with technology.

For awhile, I offered manuals to my clients to use as a reference material. While that helped, it certainly wasn't as interactive as their website's content management system. I felt that I really had to find a better way of communicating.

The idea of "screencasting," or recording my screen with a voice-over, came to me. If my clients can see what I'm doing on my screen and can hear my explanations of how to accomplish specific tasks, it could be of great benefit to all of us.

When I found Debut Video Capture Software, I was sold. It works exactly as advertised, it's affordable and easy to customize to my needs.

Probably my favorite part of Debut is that I can simply plug in my headset microphone, open up the software and start recording. That's really all there is to it. Within a half hour, I've created a few short tutorials that will help my clients. I've saved a ton of travel time and my client has an interactive reference that illustrates exactly how to update their website. It's hard to put a price on that kind of convenience.

Eric Karkovack is a freelance web designer with well over a decade of experience. He designs and maintains websites for clients in a wide range of industries. For more information, visit him on the web at www.karks.com

NCH Software Packages Fully Accessible to the Blind and Visually Impaired

Guest post by Craig Faris, President of Seeds of Promise International Child Welfare

This information does not apply to everyone, but for the blind and/or those using screen-reading software, I can save you a bit of time. I myself am totally blind, live in Canada, use Window-Eyes 7.5 as my screen-reader of choice, and recently tried Express Scribe. Much to my immense surprise and considerable delight, the software package is fully accessible to the blind, as every single option can be selected from ordinary text-based menus! In addition, the software uses ordinary dialogue boxes which can be fully read aloud with a screen-reader, and generally the software is fast and easy to use.

This simple fact is a rarity in today's graphics-based computing environment, where custom dialogue boxes, photo buttons, and other generally inaccessible programming methods are commonly employed to make the screen busy and appealing to sighted folks.

I have since tried some of NCH Software's business point-of-sale software, such as Copper, Inventoria, and Barillo, and these packages are all also easily used by a totally blind individual like myself!

Hats off to NCH Software for, perhaps inadvertently, making their lightning-fast, user-friendly software packages fully accessible to blind computer users.

Now all we need is for the POS software packages to somehow be linked together, or at least use a common database, and I can open my own storefront with 100% accessible software!

WavePad at the Radio Studio

Guest post by Daan Berg

There are many local radio stations in the Netherlands, 285 to be exact. I am a volunteer at one of these stations, where I produce and present a live weekly breakfast-with-news show every Saturday morning.

However, sometimes I need to cheat, when I need to be somewhere else during broadcast hours. Therefore, whenever I can't make a live show, I pre-record it and upload the three hours of material to the control room server, which plays the recordings during my broadcast hours as if I were there, talking live and playing music to my listeners.

I do my recording in a small studio booth in the cozy building of the combined radio and television station, in which all the professional equipment -- from audio mixers and microphones to professional recorders -- are installed. I can plug my laptop into an outlet of the mixer and start recording, which usually works fine. But recently, things went wrong.

I had just finished recording three hours of great radio with lots of enthusiasm, which one always needs when hosting any kind of show. I opened up WavePad which I always use for audio editing, to cut off the silences at the beginning and end of the files and listen if everything sounded OK. It didn't. What happened?

It turned out the internal sound processor of the audio mixer, the boards full of sliders and knobs you always see in front of radio producers, had its limiter set to a way too aggressive setting. Limiting is the act of bringing the volume of a device down quickly when it's too loud. For instance, you will notice that if you bring a microphone close to your mouth and shout into it, you will hear that your speakers can't cope. However, radio hosts shout into microphones from time to time. On the radio, it is very rare to hear this, as the limiter in the control room will automatically pull the volume of the microphone down to make sure no gear is damaged and to make the sound more enjoyable.

However, a limiter can also be set too aggressive. Instead of only pulling down peaks that go above a certain maximum level, a limiter can also see every peak as a peak that's too loud. The result: a recording with terribly annoying volume changes every tenth of a second, like someone is heavily abusing the volume knob on a radio.

So I was stuck with three hours of material that I couldn't use. Until I remembered that WavePad has an Automatic Gain Control function, which analyses the volume of the audio file and makes adjustments where needed.

It most certainly worked! Of course, the result wasn't perfect yet -- software can never 100% undo what was done with analog equipment -- but when the edited files were played back through the central server, it sounded fine. This had to do with the fact that the control room also sports a compressor, which is a machine that does the opposite of a limiter; it increases the volume when it's too soft.

Thanks to WavePad Audio Editor, I didn't have to start recording all over again. If I had done it all over with my enthusiasm completely gone it would've sounded terrible.


Daan Berg is a local journalist in the Netherlands. He writes for a national newspaper and hosts a weekly breakfast radio show on local radio. He also makes all kinds of media productions, from radio & television items and shows to websites.

Amazing Tools for Transcription

Guest post by EQ Trans UK

As a transcription services provider which caters to clients all across the UK, we believe in the importance of using technology that enables our transcriptionists to perform at their optimum, while simultaneously benefiting our clients as well. Using the appropriate software while working on a transcript can help a transcriptionist do a better thorough job of transcribing and, of course, help in meeting deadlines faster, too.

We have been using various NCH software for a while and they are now form basics of what we do. If you are new in the transcription industry, here is what minimum you need to have to get going:

Express Scribe � This audio player which can be used on both PCs and Macs comes loaded with many features, such as support for foot pedals, variable speed playback, as well as speech-to-text integration. This software does a great job of supporting all the popular file formats. It also gives a transcriptionist better control over the audio playback through the use of a foot pedal and even keyboard shortcuts. Express Scribe does not take up too much screen space, unlike other software, and runs quietly in the background while a transcriptionist is at work.

Switch Sound File Converter - Although there are plenty of file converters available, this software wins hands down for its simplicity. Our clients often send us digital audio files in other formats and we use this software to convert them into an mp3 format using 128 bit mono encoding. This makes it easier for uploading files on our secured server so that our transcriptionists can get to work. Switch also gives users an additional option of configuring up to 3 right-click options which make the conversion process faster, too.

Prism Video Converter - This video file converter converts files from any format to the most commonly used formats, either in singles or in batches, and can even convert files directly from DVDs and other multimedia devices. We use this software mainly for converting large video files into mp3 file format so that they can be uploaded on our server easily. Prism also has another option of resizing a video file format and customising it in terms of the frame rate, brightness, and contrast, as well as text and caption addition.

WavePad Editing Software - One factor which can be detrimental to the process of transcribing itself is the presence of background noise in an audio file. The WavePad Audio Editing Software works on both PCs and Macs, allowing the user to cut and paste specific sections of the recording, besides adding features like noise reduction. This software supports a large number of file formats and has a remarkably easy-to-use interface as well.

EQ Trans UK is a transcription agency based in the UK. We have a well-trained and certified team of transcriptionists to address any client requirement.

Recording Screencast Tutorials with Debut

Guest post by Dalvin Aboagye

I'm sort of what you call a tech-oriented person and usually know my way around tech products. I maintain a YouTube channel dubbed Tech Time HD where I review and critique products sent by a myriad of companies, and cover tech rumors and news sometimes as well. I first started out on YouTube doing tutorials, so I needed a screen recording software solution to make these screen casting tutorials. I tried other software such as Cam Studio and Fraps but they didn't cut it for me. I stumbled upon Debut Video Recording Software whilst browsing Google. My first impression when I installed it was that it was a bit gimmicky and I wasn't impressed with the user interface, but after a couple weeks of using Debut I took back everything I said. The UI is very easy-to-use and intuitive, it doesn't gobble up on system resources as much as other programs I had tried, it supports a wide variety of video formats and has a great set of features�even the free version. I found myself hooked and would recommend it to anyone and everyone who needs to record a screencast, capture card or webcam. You won't regret downloading the trial, and you surely won't regret buying the software. My only wish is that the watermark feature was included in the free version, but it's a small price to pay for such great recording software.

Transcription City Makes Their First Instructional Video

Guest post by Transcription City, specialist transcription services

As most transcriptionists know, NCH Software makes some pretty awesome dictation and transcription software. Most of our transcriptionists use Express Scribe for their transcription work, and it is the programme I always recommend when anyone asks for advice on transcription software because of its simplicity and ease of use with pretty much any audio or video file. At the office, I also use Switch audio file converter from time to time, usually because somebody has sent me a file in an unusual audio or video format. I also use Switch to compress large files, which can save so much time when a transcriptionist needs to download a file for quick turnaround. In my opinion, NCH make some of the best software around, so when we decided to make some instructional videos for our clients, NCH VideoPad was our first choice for video editing.

Watch all the Transcription City videos on YouTube at youtube.com/transcriptioncity

Transcription City is an up-and-coming company, and we want our clients to be able to get to know us as a trusted and professional brand. This is why we came up with the idea of making a few videos to help our clients to get to grips with our website, as well as learn a few tips on recording a high-quality audio or video file. In theory, it was simple: make an informative video and then post it to YouTube. As Company Director, I felt the responsibility should lie on me to introduce potential clients to our company, but the problem was once the camera was pointed at me, I would instantly forget what I was going to say or burst into fits of laughter due to my embarrassment; after all, I�m no Angelina Jolie! We needed a solution so we could cut out the guff and get our point across to our clients clearly and informatively.

Enter VideoPad. After downloading VideoPad from the NCH website (which took us less than a few minutes) we began editing our video. VideoPad was so user friendly that we had a fully edited video in around half an hour, without even watching the tutorials. We were so impressed with the software because we could easily edit and upload video from any camcorder or even an iPhone. VideoPad will accept any video file and it can easily be uploaded to YouTube or transferred to DVD (great if you have made a lot of home movies). You can easily add music or narration, stabilise a shaky video or add photos and captioning to your film.

I can honestly say that by using NCH VideoPad, we have created professional, informative videos that our clients can really benefit from. Now, if we could just get them to arrange George Clooney to star in our next video...

Transcription City offers specialist transcription services to businesses and individuals around the world. They provide a cost effective way of getting work done quickly and faultlessly for large and small companies alike.

NCH at the Heart of Transcript Divas Transcription Services

Guest post by Transcript Divas Transcription Services

NCH Software is at the heart of our business process at Transcript Divas Transcription Services. We use three of their programs to edit, convert and transcribe audio and video dictation files.

NCH Software is key in solving two problems we often have to deal with, even before our typists get to work. Obscure recording formats can be problematic�although Express Scribe handles most common formats, clients do send us files that are difficult to handle, especially large video files. So to save time at the typist's end, we batch-convert these problem files to the smaller and more compatible MP3 audio file format using NCH's Switch File Converter.

The second key difficulty we often encounter is how to deal with poor-quality recordings. A surprisingly large number of interviews take place in noisy cafes, with hissing coffee machines and clunking cups almost drowning out the speech. We also receive poorly-recorded group sessions, where the participants farthest from the microphone are practically inaudible, while the closest voices are deafening. In these situations Transcript Divas employ WavePad sound editor to process recordings before they go out to typists. Functions we find particularly useful are 'normalize,' 'amplify volume,' and 'remove noise or hiss.'

Almost all of our 30 Divas use NCH Software's Express Scribe, which is free�though there's also a paid version, Express Scribe Pro, which has more functionality. Express Scribe's user-friendliness makes it the preferred choice when compared with other transcription software packages, and this is something it shares with all of NCH's programs. As one Diva put it, "I especially like the fact that you don't need to be a technical whiz-kid to use it!" Key features that Divas mention are its ability to handle most common file types, the essential functions of speed adjustment, rewind and fast-forward, and the 'volume boost' for quiet files�which saves typists having to go into WavePad for a small poorly-recorded Express Scribe Pro also plays video files�an ability our 'Video Divas' put to good use. To maximize typing speed, many of our typists also use a foot-pedal.

Another key feature our typists have highlighted is Express Scribe's ability to insert time-coding. This is seen as a real gem by the typists, and can save countless hours of inserting them by hand! For the uninitiated, go to Options ? Display�this allows you to set the required combination of hours, minutes and seconds. Once you have chosen, simply go to 'Notes,' 'Insert' and 'Time' each time you need to put in a time code, or press Ctrl+Shift+T to save even more time.

Transcript Divas Transcription Services is a transcription agency with offices in London, New York, Toronto and Sydney.

Flying High with First Person Video and VideoPad

Guest Post by Scott Turchin

In 1986 I was living in a dorm at Washington State University on the eleventh floor that looked over the rolling hills of wheat fields. I daydreamed about flying an RC plane from there, over the hills. The technology just was not there back then.

But today it is, it's called FPV or First Person Video and with the advent of micro technology you can put a camera on an RC plane and fly it and also pack along an HD camera to film some beautiful shots.

After buying the gear and waiting on it to be delivered, I found myself in a quandary. The GoPro recorded in Mp4 format and I had no editor that could handle it. I had used Windows Movie Maker previously, but it lacked a lot of the things that I wanted and it did not work with MP4 files.

After some research I came upon VideoPad Editor and started filming various things just to edit the video and test out VideoPad. I recorded a trip to pick up my brother on Christmas Eve, and did some mixing with that video without any trouble, so I could not wait to get my RC plane into the air.

This past weekend we had some beautiful weather and I got the chance to fly to my heart's content. After coming home and downloading the video, I fired up VideoPad and two hours later I had exactly what I wanted to best represent the day flying.

I've heard of problems people have using the big name brands but I have not had any of those issues with VideoPad, the software just works!

I hope you enjoy my video. Check my YouTube channel for more high flying videos in the future. I plan to go back to Pullman this summer to fulfill that dream of flying over the wheat fields!

Growing A Quality Transcription Business With Express Scribe

Guest Post by Annalisa Holmes, Director of The Transcription People

We have been using Express Scribe transcription software in our Australian-based outsource transcription business for years and we love it. Why? I have a list, so here goes:

Cost Effective

You can't get more cost effective than free software. For as long as I can remember Express Scribe has been free. This continues to be the case with a free version still being offered alongside a new paid Pro version.

In my business I employ a mix of transcriptionists; we have some work onsite in our office but the majority are work-from-home micro-businesses. Included in that mix are a wealth of "old school" typists and "wannabe" transcriptionists. Old school typists are used to the cassette tape days of micro and mini cassette dictation and are very experienced at transcription. Wannabe typists have time on their hands, want to learn a new job skill and possibly work from home or for an employer.

Express Scribe is perfect for both these dynamics, experienced typists can very quickly switch their mindset to the digital way of doing things and with the option of a USB foot control, can make the transition very quickly from tape to digital transcription with a free download and a low-cost foot pedal. Those new to transcription can have the software installed in minutes and have the flexibility of training themselves using the configurable control keys. For a zero dollar outlay Express Scribe is a very attractive tool to those looking to start a career in transcription.

Multiple Use Scenario

Most people think of Express Scribe as just a tool for transcription typists. That is true for the majority of people, but in my business we also utilise Express Scribe for our proofreading team. My company is renowned for producing high quality, accurate transcription and the way that we do that is with a two-step quality assurance process. Step one is the traditional transcription typist who listens and transcribes. Step two is where the quality and consistency across clients is provided by our proof-reading team. The proofreaders do not transcribe, their role is to apply customer-specific formatting and act as a second set of eyes over the transcript, ensuring the highest quality.

My proofreading team use Express Scribe to play back audio whilst reading through the transcripts. Typically they prefer the control key functionality and love the variable speed playback, one of the many features in Express Scribe.

Very Easy To Set Up, Install and Use

Express Scribe can be installed and up and running in minutes. For users of all technical levels we have found Express Scribe to be a breeze to get working and get used to. People of all transcription abilities get used to Express Scribe very quickly. As we all use the same software throughout my business, we have a pool of experts within our own teams who can help each other out with any questions.

From a business point of view, all my staff are on the same page when it comes to transcription and proofreading software. We don't need to waste time supporting various vendors' software. Consistency across the team makes for a smoother transcription and proofreading workflow.

The Future

I really can't see my business moving away from Express Scribe, there is no need. It has served us well for years and will continue to do so for years to come. We are particularly excited about the new Pro version of Express Scribe which can now process the DSS Pro audio files created on the latest Olympus and Philips digital dictaphones. Before the Pro version came along we had to include an extra file conversion step from .ds2 to .dss. Now NCH has that covered.

Thank you NCH for your excellent software, which has helped my business get to where it is today.

Annalisa Holmes is the director of The Transcription People Pty Ltd, one of Australia's largest outsource transcription services. Annalisa started as a transcription typist in the early years of forming her business and now oversees a large team of transcription typists across Australia and New Zealand. The Transcription People service clients from across Australia, the USA and the UK and boasts AMP, Holden, Ernst & Young as some of her clients.

Scribe Excels at Thesis Transcription

Guest post by Clara Bianchini

I was transcribing the interviews for my master thesis and, like every student in this situation, I didn�t have enough time! I was using the software that my teacher recommended, but it was still taking too long and it wasn�t pleasant to use. To listen and type at the same time I had to reduce the speed, but the voice got distorted to the point that some of the transcribed sentences didn�t make any sense when you read them back. I had already transcribed two interviews and I had 17 more to go. Since quality and timing were crucial to my work, I decided to ask Google about better software.

On the first organic result that Google gave to me I came across a comment that caught my attention. I am normally the type of person that is a little skeptical and will investigate at least three options, but when I read the comment that essentially said, "Express Scribe made my transcribing work 5 times faster, without distorting voices. You should try!" I stopped. It was later than 10 P.M.; I was tired and frustrated with my teacher�s software so I decided to give it a try.

I Googled for where I could download Express Scribe, and in few short seconds, it was in my computer. I opened it, and the first impression was already better: it looked MUCH better than the other software. I opened one of my audio files there, changed the speed from 100% to 50%, crossed my fingers and waited to hear what the sound would be like. To my surprise, the voice was totally clear, almost without distortions, and there was a typing box right there, almost smiling at me and waiting for me to have fun.

The next day alone I transcribed two more interviews, at an incredibly fast pace. I was so happy that I shared my discovery with all my classmates. I am pretty sure that without target="_blank"Express Scribe I would be still transcribing interviews right now. It really made all my work much faster and easier.

Clara Bianchini is a student of Imagineering, a Master's degree in Strategic Business Innovation from the experience perspective, a new program about how to design companies towards co-creation of value. In a more participatory approach, business is done together with stakeholders and value and experience are co-created. Some people might say that this is the next stage of Marketing. In order to understand how to design the participation of stakeholders during her thesis research, Bianchini conducted qualitative research which included one-on-one interviews that were transcribed for analysis.

The End of Accounting Nightmares

Guest post by John Chellan of ISOBE Soft Pvt. Ltd.

I am a small software business owner with lots of experience in software development, but little real knowledge of accounting. Sure, I have done my taxes online, but had never balanced a balance sheet or did any type of journal entry work. Honestly, I�d rather not think about accounting, and just spend my time being more productive developing software and meeting clients.

But at the end of every month, I knew it was inevitable that all those transactions needed to be somehow entered into Excel and create some kind of crude income statement. That was all I could do, and that is all I knew how to do. In the back of my mind, I realized there is was lot more information in those numbers, and I needed either a professional accountant or software to get to that data. So I called a few accountants. Ouch, they were expensive! Next, I tried the trial versions of the two most popular, very expensive accounting programs and I couldn�t figure out what to do�and trust me I spent days trying to figure out what I was doing. Then I tried some free programs off the internet, and they were just silly with no good reports and user interfaces that looked like they came out of the Stone Age of programming. Almost at the verge of going back to Excel, I ran across Express Accounts.

I was skeptical at first and didn�t expect anything different from what I had seen from the trials of the other software. Well let me tell you, I was pleasantly surprised. First of all, Express Accounts was easy to install and quick, too. The interface was broken down in such a manner that one only needs to understand how the sales and purchase process works, and how to enter in expenses. The interface is quite user friendly and intuitive. The wealth of reports was the big thing that really impressed me about the software. Setting up the electronic invoicing and purchase ordering system was also very easy.

I have been using this software for 6 months now, looking for something to go wrong. The reality is, the more I use it, the more I become accustomed to its wealth of functionality. I really think this is one of the best cost-saving tools for small businesses that can�t afford to put up a professional accounting staff and need to streamline the accounting process and produce business data on the fly. Express Accounts has made the end of the month a stress free time, and now I spend my nights dreaming of growing my business.

John Chellan founded ISOBE in 2009. ISOBE started as a humble English language training center in Tamil Nadu and by 2010 had evolved into an educational consultant for colleges, schools and business. In 2011, ISOBE became ISOBE Soft Pvt. Ltd; and began to develop its own home grown software for small to large businesses.

Bringing A Comic To Life With Photo Slideshow Software

Guest post by Jessica Warner "Tomoyo Ichijouji"

At the heart of everything, what I want to do the most is to bring great stories to life. I'm primarily a writer, so that usually has to do with the techniques of prose on the page, of which I'm pretty comfortable with already. But, in the past year or two, as a result of getting involved in amateur voice-acting (I'm now a moderator of the forum I participate in, VoiceActingAlliance), as a lot of voice-actors there also put together their own media to voice, I've discovered many resources that could bring a story from simple text to a full blown multimedia production. I had sound effects to mix anything from a walk in the park to an epic battle of giant robots, and voice actors with professional-grade talent who I had at hand to recruit to make characters all that more real to the audience. Even better, I even had a few composers I could collaborate with to make a totally immersive, original work you could listen to. Really, what more could you ask for?

However...I have always been a visual person. While you can do a lot with just sound alone, characters and stories don't really feel complete to me unless you can really "see" them. In writing, these come in the form of prose descriptions, whereas for multimedia, pictures are a necessity. There are people in my online community with the artistic talent, patience, time, and resources to actually make full motion animations, buuuuuut...let's just say that I lack enough of each category for that to really be feasible for me, haha.

I had a project in mind that when I first learned enough to take a crack at these productions myself, I wanted to try to bring to the screen. It wasn't my own; it was an online webcomic called No Rest for the Wicked, as of yet unpublished and unfinished, that I saw a lot of potential in to be a lot more than simply a webcomic. It was presented in a way that I could see it practically coming alive in a cinematic form in my head. The art in the webcomic was characteristically stylistic and pleasing to the eye -- couldn't there be some way to present those same images in a way that allows that cinematic nature to be evident, and to combine it with all those resources I had to make something that was barely a few steps away from being like an actual "motion picture". And so I thought, "...Why not?!"

I was remembering from photo slideshows I'd seen, how they had different panning and zooming effects along with transitions, and I thought, perhaps if I could do the same for the images from the webcomic, that would simulate the panning and zooming techniques used in actual animated features usually with a lower budget to be able to make the most out of a single image, as well as to establish action shots with fast shifts and flashes.

After all, I already had the images in front of me -- it was a matter of how to have them displayed to make them come alive. It sounded like a very interesting endeavor indeed, and really played to my general life creed of "make the most possible out of the least amount possible". That said, how would I do it?

I started to research on what programs I could use to do this. I got recommendations of the widely-used programs that could do everything under the sun -- but when I looked at the licenses for those programs, it made me bang my head on my desk. I can't afford $500+ for a program license! I could probably better use that money to upgrade my computer equipment so that I could even USE such complex programs without crashing my hard drive after an hour of working with it. I wondered, did you really need to pay that much to have a slideshow program with customizable transitions and effects? Surely there was something else that people simply hadn't bothered to look into that would serve just as well?

After some careful searching, I came across the NCH Software programs, one of which was PhotoStage Slideshow Producer. I thought, sure, sounds like what could work. Seemed pretty simple in both structure and interface (it was a tiny download, I was amazed what functions you could pack into a few megabytes), straightforward, yet flexible. Downloading the trial version, but being the skeptic I have always been about good deals (why hadn't anyone heard of it before if it was so useful?), I wondered how much I'd be able to tell from a trial program that usually only lasted long enough for me to use it once or twice at most.

However, I found that PhotoStage let me use it for well beyond its suggested trial period, even keeping ALL of its features except for some file formats that weren't crucial to the functionality of the program. I have a lot of respect therefore for programs that will in fact trust that if you find you really like the program, eventually you'll support the programmers and publishers by paying for a shiny license for it that shows that you are in fact legit without having a swimming pool of money in your backyard.

And eventually, that's exactly what happened. I was actually well into working on the project, having done several clips already that I showed my staff as I'd been well into getting in the lines and mixing all the stuff together, and finding a special on licenses going on, I thought it was the right time to get one -- and I knew already, having been able to actually DO something with it, that I was getting my money's worth.

Here's a few of the test clips I've done so far of the production so far, from various parts of the webcomic (some of the voices and music are just placeholders and will be different in the finished production):


This test clip shows a more cinematic setting-establishing scene, where the panning and zooming is put to full use. Source reference: Ch 2, pg 1-3

This test clip has more narration, but I made little illustrative panels come to life by erasing out various objects and phrases, having them fade or pop back into view depending on the context. Source reference: Ch 1, pg 1

This test clip shows the control of comedic timing between the visuals and dialogue. Source reference: Ch 1, pg 12

This test clip integrates a lot of the things above, using both panning, zooming, and fades at various speeds for a comedic, almost cartoon-like effect. Source reference: Ch 2, pg 42-43

I'm still working away on the production and it's not anywhere near finished, but I'm getting there! (See, again, why I don't like programs with ticking fuses, because my working pace in general is tortoise slow) If you're curious as to more detailed progress info, here's my production blog, and there's a few additional test clips up at my Youtube production channel, Videocaptor Productions. (Tomoyo Ichijouji is my online alias, a little more unique than my real life name, haha)

I'm not sure at this point what future projects I'll use PhotoStage for next, but I've been pointing others at my community who want to do comic dubs like mine to PhotoStage as an easy, elegant way to bring some motion to the images to go with the voices and sound. It seems like the ones who've tried it liked it, so who knows? Considering nobody else in my forum seemed to know about it before I started mentioning it to people, maybe it'll start catching on. In the end, for me, it's all about making the most of what you've got. PhotoStage was definitely one of the programs that let me do that, so I'm sure I'll continue using it for creative purposes in the future.

WavePad Makes Doing Radio Fun Again

Guest post by Paulette MacQuarrie of Nash Holos Ukrainian Roots Radio

Back in 2002 I was introduced to audio editing software, when the AM station broadcasting my weekly radio show finally went digital and got rid of its reel-to-reel tapes.

It was the end of a romantic era, and I was not enamoured of the change. (Can anyone say "buggy whip"?) But I eventually realized it had ushered in an exciting new era of its own.

The things I could do now! No more razor blades, guesswork, or scrubbing tapes. No more recording shows onto cassette � they could now be archived on a microchip! And on a website for listeners who missed the radio broadcast. (This was before the term "podcast" was invented.)
Best of all, I could record in my own home studio. No more traffic!

I was well aware that as time marched along, my software was becoming dated. Still, it was comfortably familiar. I had become reasonably competent with it, and I hated learning new software on my own. It was hard enough with help!

When the time came to upgrade my computer, however, upgrading my audio software was no longer optional. I discovered to my horror that it was not compatible with Windows7.

One day while in an office supply store in Bellingham, WA I found myself in their software section. A nice-looking box labelled Audio Essentials by NCH Software caught my eye.

The description sounded good and the price was way less than an upgrade for my existing program. And, I recognized the name WavePad as one that a colleague has for years been ranting and raving about, and bugging me to try. So I bought it and once it was installed, it was pretty much love at first sight.

I don�t usually go crazy over software but WavePad cut my production time in half just on my first try. So what�s not to go crazy about?

Working with my old program involved selecting and arranging regions, then doing a mix-down to a Wave file. This resulted in a studio mix that, after all my finicky editing, was considerably more slick than what I had produced on reel-to-reel. And gradually I forgot how much I enjoyed the "performance high" from recording "live to tape" in my pre-digital days.

WavePad has rekindled that excitement while providing more efficient tools for the studio work.

Probably the most useful is "Insert file" (under Edit menu). I can add ready-to-air files (commercials, interviews, etc.), rip tracks off CDs in seconds and copy them in, as well as record my intros and extros right into the file. No mixing down and converting � just save file as an mp3 and I�m done.

Now the fun is back again!

I love the click-saving icons for basics like adjusting volume (Amplify), fading and cross-fading, mixing and pasting files, noise reduction, etc. I especially love how you can zoom in and out with the scroll of a mouse wheel!

WavePad has handy time markers along the bottom of the page and an indicator showing the length of the entire file and selections. That keeps me on track so I have less editing and adjusting to do later.

I still like to work in WAV because it�s uncompressed. The Batch Converter allows me to convert the show and several components to mp3s in a flash, to post on my program website. Skookum!

WavePad has to be one of the most user-friendly programs I�ve ever encountered. The interface is uber-easy and user-friendly. The brief video tutorials are helpful, and the manual is excellent. The support staff are prompt, friendly and helpful. Definitely real people!

Now I�m starting to experiment with MixPad and am finding it a similarly pleasant experience. It�s almost a surprise how fast and easy it is! I�m looking forward to using the other NCH products that came in the package.

My only regret is waiting so long to make the switch!

Author bio: Paulette MacQuarrie lives on Vancouver Island, Canada where she produces and hosts a syndicated one-hour weekly variety show called Nash Holos Ukrainian Roots Radio in (mostly) English. More details at the show�s website www.nashholos.com and blog nashholos.blogspot.com

WavePad Analyzes Electronic Voice Phenomena

Guest post by Shawna Hunter, investigator with Florida Paranormal Research

I love using WavePad Sound Editor from NCH Software to listen to EVPs, or Electronic Voice Phenomena. EVPs are believed to be possible communication with different entities in the paranormal realm. When investigating paranormal activity audio recordings can be made and analyzed later, sometimes bring sounds and patterns to the surface that I didn't pick up with my ears alone, but after I review the audio, using WavePad, there's an EVP! The opposite is sometimes also true and I will personally hear something with during the investigation that is never caught on the digital audio recorder. It really is amazing stuff.

I use WavePad as a tool to review the audio from our investigations. It is a very user-friendly tool. I can cut a section of the audio, amplify, slow-down, and even loop the clip of audio in question. This enables me to show our clients the evidence in a clip. This is one of the easiest programs to use that I have come across for reviewing audio in regards to the capture of EVPs. I suggest WavePad as a tool to help anyone who is looking for an easy to use audio program for the capture of EVPs from their audio recordings.

Become a part of the investigation: www.thewhitenoiseforum.com

Making A Music Video

Over on Review Explorer Chris McGivern posted a detailed interview with Singer-songwriter Andy Fosberry of Ironlight River about making a music video. Fosberry took a do-it-yourself attitude and made a great video without sacrificing his creativity or breaking the bank. And we were particularly thrilled that Fosberry turned to NCH Software using Switch Audio Converter, Prism Video Converter and VideoPad Video Editor to help him along the way.

"As a musician, I use a piece of software call Switch by NCH Software which converts audio formats. And it�s brilliant. To convert these video files I used their A/V equivalent which is called Prism. When it was downloading, I had the option on loads of other things and saw something called VideoPad, which was billed as editing software. I figured it would be like WavePad and, therefore, just for clips etc, but it�s a fully working, kind of mid-level piece of editing software ... Its just so beautifully usable. So much so that I had a working edit in about 8 hours. All the effects, are nicely editable in themselves. So you can really make significant changes to what you are working on."

� Andy Fosberry

If you're interested in making your own music video(s) we would encourage you to go over to Review Explorer and read How To Make A Music Video � For Free for more details on what Fosberry did for his video, and to see the results.

Use What Works: Why a Podcaster Uses Switch Audio Converter Every Day

Guest post by podcaster Kole Ross www.koleross.com

We take it for granted that our tools do what we ask them to. If they didn't, we probably wouldn't use them anymore. What makes a piece of software great, however, is how easy it is to tell it what to do. For me, Switch Audio Converter is one of those great programs, and I rely on it daily.

I'm an underemployed podcaster, a part the digital serf caste. You see us around, the overweight or underweight bearded dudes with laptops, blogs, and opinions about why Facebook sucks.

I graduated from an Electronic Media program where I was surrounded by these digital serfs, and learned how to use lots of different pieces of media software. Final Cut Pro, Adobe Creative Suite, Pro Tools, the list goes on. If you have more than a passing acquaintance with these software suites, you probably have an opinion about which one works best.

I get them, I understand how to use them, and I know how powerful they can be. When I was starting out, though, I could never shake the feeling that they were "too much." If you're cutting a steak, you don't whip out a Swiss army knife. You use a steak knife, like a normal person.

I started podcasting in 2007, wanting to turn my internet radio show into a packaged, persistent product. This first podcast eventually turned into Stand Under the Don't Tree and Riddle Me This, a video game talk show with a bewildering name. Three years later, I started a second podcast, Those Damn Ross Kids, a NSFW comedy podcast that I do with my brother, Kris.

When you're a poor student (or even a poor graduate�feed me please) it's difficult to afford fancy software to fuel your hobbies. So, you use what works. To this day, I edit my shows in Garageband because it's free and simple. A friend of mine once criticized me for using "kiddie gloves," but my response remains: "It doesn't get in the way when I sit down to make things." I like a program that does one thing well. Every button and lever I don't use is just wasting my time.

The same goes for Switch, which simply does what I ask it to without putting up a fuss.

The end product of a podcast is always an MP3 file, but it goes through lots of different phases in its life cycle. The shows are recorded over Skype as high-sample rate stereo AIFF files. My voice is always on the right channel, while the incoming audio from Skype is on the left channel. I drop this file into Garageband to separate the tracks, and re-export them so that I'm able to do multitrack editing, making editing out overtalk a breeze.

The separated files are still in stereo, though, so I pop those back into Switch to squash them into mono AIFF files. These are easier to edit, and take up half as much space. I then put these files onto separate tracks in Garageband and go to town, making what we say clever and insightful.

When I'm done with that, I apply the Levelator to the AIFF. The Levelator's motto should be "Crummy thing go in, pretty thing come out." It doesn't work all the time, but it's better than spending an hour trying to configure a compressor.

The final step comes when I drop the finished file into Switch again, compressing it to a 96kbps mono MP3 file for distribution. This is the best compromise between sound quality and size. It's a quick download, and it doesn't waste all of that time I spent equalizing it to sound good. Switch made this easy to figure out. All I had to do was mess with the encoder options and re-convert until I got something good.

Voila, that's a podcast. Spank it on the bottom, FTP it, and let the world know that it's ready.

There have been other times in my professional and academic career where Switch has bailed me out... For example with how finicky Final Cut Pro is vis-�-vis what kind of audio files it will play nice with.

The moral of the story is this: Even though the aforementioned $1000+ media suites can probably spit out the kinds of files you want, I don't need all of the excess functionality that comes with it. Switch just exists. It's a box on my desktop that takes one thing and makes it into another thing, without complaint.

I don't need a Jaws of Life to open my beer, thanks. Just let me make something and get on with my day. My job is to be funny in front of a microphone, not fiddle with software.

FlexiServer Creates a More Efficient Work Environment

The Center for Pain Control business manager Peter Graf was having difficulty managing his employees� computer usage. The Center, which makes it possible for patients to avoid a hospital stay for surgical procedures while helping them to manage pain, has just over twenty employees. Graf wanted to ensure that each employee was using their computer systems efficiently. This is a very real concern for businesses considering how much money businesses are losing due to non-work related internet browsing.

Graf immediately turned to NCH Software, since he had successfully used products of theirs in the past. He came across FlexiServer employee computer usage monitoring software, which he now uses to double-check hours worked, view application use by staff, and to restrict programs and internet sites on necessary computers. �FlexiServer is easy to use and set up,� said Graf.

Using FlexiServer to monitor employees has finally given him the opportunity to get some real work done. �I run a report once a month to see where employees spend most of their time. This freed up more time for actual work,� said Graf. Before FlexiServer, Graf manually entered the hours of every employee into an Excel spreadsheet.

Graf�s favorite feature is the ability to prohibit employees from using programs and internet sites that they shouldn�t be using during work hours. He can also pinpoint which sites viruses were picked up on, and generate reports on employees� start and end times.

FlexiServer software automatically logs employee time and attendance. It features tools for quality assurance monitoring and reporting, and works with home or remote employees. FlexiServer gives managers the confidence they need to know that work is getting done without needing to micro-manage. The monitoring features are non-invasive and respect the employees' need for privacy, allowing them to enter private mode when necessary, while creating a paper trail that can be referenced if needed.