Submitted by drew on

All of this stuff is freeware.

Graphics Projects

IrfanView

For image viewing and very simple editing (such as cropping, scaling, rotating, etc)



GIMP

For raster artwork/editing. Like Microsoft Paint on super steroids.

It does have some vector editing tools.



Illustrator (ok, this one's not free)

For vector artwork.

This is also usually my main workspace for a new project, where I add all the different pieces into the final layout.

A freeware alternative would be Inkscape



LibreOffice

This is an office suite similar to Microsoft Office. It has equivalents to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc. It also has a vector drawing program which I have not really used on its own, but it can draw boxes and things within PowerPoint and the other programs in the suite.

Slideshow Projects

Here's various free software that can be used to make slideshows. The Microsoft ones are probably easiest to use. DVD Slideshow GUI is a bit more complex, but the most configurable.



Microsoft Live Movie Maker

Create a WMV video file from images.

   Download: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/products/features/movie-maker

   Tutorial: http://voices.yahoo.com/create-slideshow-microsoft-movie-maker-tutorial-2724966.html



Microsoft Photo Story

Create a WMV video file from images. This is an older product, but some people find it better in some ways than Movie Maker.

   Download: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphotography/photostory/default.mspx

   Tutorial: http://millie.furman.edu/mll/tutorials/photostory3/index.htm



IrfanView

Create either a script that reads images out of a folder or create a single executable file containing all of the images. If you just want to read a bunch of files out of a folder without an intermediate output, this is probably the way to go.

   Download: http://www.irfanview.com/

   Tutorial: http://www.butterscotch.com/tutorial/Creating-A-Slideshow



LibreOffice Impress with PhotoAlbum plugin

Create a PowerPoint presentation from images.

   Download (LibreOffice): http://www.libreoffice.org/download/

   Download (plugin): http://extensions.services.openoffice.org/en/project/PhotoAlbum

   Tutorial (old): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-DMrYi0yvs



DVD Slideshow GUI

Has a whole bunch of different output options, including video file, upload to YouTube, or burn to DVD.

(Note: Durations are in number of frames, not seconds. Using one of the NTSC options, one second is 30 frames.)

   Download: http://download.videohelp.com/tin2tin/

   Tutorial: http://download.videohelp.com/tin2tin/tutorials.html



Flash Slide Show Maker

   Download: http://www.flash-slideshow-maker.com/myspace-slideshow-free/

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Software

Converting version control repositories from Bazaar to Git (bzr to git)

Submitted by drew on

Bazaar is great on Windows. Several years later, git's tools for Windows still.... (ahem) are lacking or too commercial. However, official development on it has ended and git is so much more popular now. So I think the time has come to convert all my beloved bzr repositories to git.

First we need note some prerequisites:

Adding a hardware clock to Raspberry Pi (DS3231)

Submitted by drew on

The popular clock module is uses the DS1307 real time clock chip, which is not very precise. For just a few dollars more, you can get a module with a much more precise DS3231 RTC chip. The one I got was SunFounder's module from Amazon for $9 (free shipping for Prime). It plugs right onto the Raspberry Pi's 40 pin header and doesn't even interfere with the plastic case I have. I have a Model B, but this module should also work on Model A and Model B+. The instructions refer to DS1307, but the chips use the same I2C commands, so it also works for DS3231.

How to run a PiPresents show when you don't have a Raspberry Pi

Submitted by drew on

PiPresents is some pretty cool software that will run a PowerPoint-like presentation. But with lots more flexibility. It was originally written for the Raspberry Pi.

However.... perhaps someone else has your Pi. Perhaps you don't even have one. It is possible to run a PiPresents show on  your good ol' desktop computer (Windows, Linux, or Mac). Here's how.