H is for Hardware

NCH Software ABCs Series

Hardware and software can't help but go hand in hand. You need a computer to run your software, a microphone to record audio, a video camera to capture videos, a phone for your apps and the list goes on. Despite being two distinct things, you cannot accomplish much with one and not the other. What can you do with a computer and no software? Or software without a computer for it to be installed on? Which is why so many of our software products have a section on the webpage or in the help talking about hardware related to that program.

AltoEdge is our sister company and carries hardware that compliments and has been tested with our software programs. For example, you can find foot pedals to go with Express Scribe. Video capture devices to help you connect older camcorders or VCRs to your computer so you can digitize old home movies. Then you can use VideoPad to edit and remaster, Express Burn to burn to DVD, or share them online. For the audio enthusiast there are microphones, headsets, mixing consoles and more audio equipment to help you record, mix, listen and produce high quality audio with our audio programs.

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What About My HD Home Videos?

I like to think of myself as a fairly multimedia-friendly parent. After all, my wife and I are pretty good about sharing our digital photos via email, Facebook, and an assortment of other avenues for getting pics out to family and friends, you know?

...But then, what about all those digital videos we've recorded? We have one of those great "Flip"-style cameras that takes HD video, and even phones that take high-def video, so we have some great videos to share!

Unfortunately, the options sharing for HD video aren't as simple as for pictures. Video files can be huge, especially in HD, precluding email for all but the shortest clips. Social media sites like Facebook or YouTube have length and size restrictions, and the time it takes to upload/download can be daunting, even on higher-speed internet connections.

So, what can I do with my HD videos? Internet, email, and social-media sites are limited, so I've started looking into physical media, and burning videos to disc. DVD is fairly ubiquitous nowadays, but because it's an older standard-definition format, I would end up losing quite a bit of the high-definition detail in my videos. I've also thought about sending data-discs with my video files, but that won't work for people who don't have computers, and I won't know if they even have the right software installed to play the files. What's the next option? Well, most of my family and friends who have high-def TVs have Blu-ray players, but is there something out there that will let me put my HD videos on a *playable* Blu-ray to share with friends and family?

...Fortunately, the answer is yes! Earlier this year NCH Software released a new version of their Express Burn disc-authoring/burning software, and it now supports Blu-ray video playable in any Blu-ray player. It works fine with my Blu-ray burner drive, and it's very simple to use; I just pick my HD videos (Blu-ray dics hold hours of them), re-order them as desired, and hit "Burn Blu-ray Video". Express Burn does the rest - it handles all the conversion to Blu-ray format, and burns it all to the disc. Re-encoding those HD videos can take a little time, but I can go make dinner while it's running, and the result is a Blu-ray that even my Dad can just pop in the Blu-ray player and watch.

How Many People Can You Stream Media To?

If you have music, audio files or videos that you want to share with your friends or put on a business website, you have a lot of options including posting on Facebook, YouTube, web servers and more. BroadWave streaming audio software and BroadCam streaming video software are a wonderful choice for hosting and sharing files with people directly from your computer, making it easy to put content up, take content down, invite specific people to listen or view, or even stream live content in addition to pre-recorded content.

But then the question becomes how many people can listen or view your content at once? To figure out how large an audience you can handle, you need to know two things. What the outgoing bandwidth is on your internet connection, and the bitrate of the file or stream that you are broadcasting. For example, if you have a podcast streaming at 128 kbps and you have 1536 kbps of upload bandwidth, you can support 1536/128 = 12 simultaneous listeners.

To help you make the calculations for your computer, here is a Streaming Bandwidth Calculator and an Internet Speed Test that can tell you what your download and upload speeds are.

Speed Up Your New Computer With Warp Registry Cleaner

Already I'd bet you're asking "Why do I need to clean my PC registry when I just bought it?" The answer is simple: Warp Registry Cleaner is not just a tool to fix errors in your registry. Warp also includes a feature to block programs from starting when you boot up your computer. Again, you might be thinking, "Why would I need to stop programs from running at startup?" The truth is most new computers come with tons of "PC tools" that are not needed at all. Some of these programs may be useful, but you may find many you won't use or trials you don't want that the PC manufacturer got paid to pre-install for you. Too many of these programs can slow down a computer drastically when they are all running. Using Warp PC Speed Up Software to stop these programs from running at startup is a great way to speed up even the fastest and newest of computers.

To see what is running at start up simply leave the "Programs run during startup" box checked when you run the Warp Wizard. The next page will list all of the applications that are currently launching at startup. Uncheck any items you no longer want to be launched. Press Continue and you are done, and those programs will no longer slow down your computer's boot time. So download Warp to speed up your computer no matter how old it is.

New Typing Games Coming to KeyBlaze Typing Tutor

Lately there has been a lot of development focused on not only KeyBlaze typing tutor, but specifically on the typing game. There are a lot of great improvements and fixes in the new version. We gave the game a new set of graphics in the motif of a snowy landscape. Along with the new graphics, we have changed the name of the game from Falling Words to Word Blizzard. The game mechanics have also been reworked to make it more fun to play (and coincidentally improve your typing).

Word Blizzard is the first of four typing games that KeyBlaze is going to gain in the next few months. The next game coming to KeyBlaze is going to be a race the clock style called 30 Seconds to Type, to help users develop their speed. Then we will do a game focusing on rhythm and key combinations called Typing Hero. If you like games, keep an eye out for these upcoming additions to KeyBlaze typing tutor software!

G is for Graphics

NCH Software ABCs Series

Graphics, photos, pictures and images: we are a very visual society between the tv and media we consume, to the pictures we share online. NCH graphics, image and photo software is available to help you edit photos, convert image formats or add pictures to other projects with software like Disketch CD and DVD labeling software to add that finishing visual touch to your discs.

Also included in our graphics software are some programs that might not immediately jump to mind because they are used in a business environment. Our graphics team also works on Barillo barcode generator and CardWorks business card software. Graphics are important not only in media but also in a professional setting, and we plan to expand the graphic tools we offer in the future to include even more useful applications. For example, we are currently in the early stages of development on a program for creating flow charts and diagrams. Our current range of graphics software includes:

• Barillo barcode generator
  
• CardWorks business card software
  
• Disketch CD DVD label software
  
• PhotoPad photo editing software
  
• Pixillion image converter
  

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Easily Extract Text From a PDF

Have you ever saved a PDF, but lost the original document? Or has a friend or colleague only sent you a PDF and not the original document? PDF files are wonderful for sharing and keeping in your records, but if you need to edit the text or use sections of the text for something else, a Word document is much easier to work with. The fastest way to get large amounts of text from a PDF isn't to try to select sections and copy the text, but rather to use a multi-format document converter like Doxillion to convert a PDF into a Word document. With batch converting, you can even convert multiple PDFs at the same time to quickly generate the documents you need in a more editable format.