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Thanks to all who contributed to CE<br />
Magazine. Have an article you would like<br />
contribute? You can mail it to:<br />
CE, P.O. Box 8619<br />
Michigan City In 46360<br />
Or E-Mail it to<br />
computerease@juno.com<br />
CE Magazine is part of OtherSide Ministries © all rights<br />
reserved<br />
Founder & Chief Editor<br />
Peter Nadal<br />
Editor<br />
Pamela Kennoy<br />
Art & Design<br />
Peter Nadal<br />
Our Writers<br />
Rodrigo Esperanza<br />
Nomar Shaw<br />
Diane G<br />
In our November Issue Vol. 3<br />
5 Hey Pete! On this <strong>issue</strong> “Re creating<br />
how I did the dream picture<br />
11 Digital art by Rodrigo Esperanza<br />
14 Biz Cards board!! Hey its free<br />
15 Secret Scroll Tip<br />
16 What it a PNG File by Lifewire<br />
22 5 Ways to Keep Your Phone Safe from<br />
Hackers by RD Cassandra Lombardi<br />
25 USO with web site link<br />
26 Sending Invitations via <strong>ce</strong>ll phones?<br />
By Nomar Shaw<br />
28 GPS’ing to Grandma’s House for<br />
Thanksgiving! By Peter Nadal<br />
30 Computer Magazine From The Past!<br />
31 Come a Long Way Baby!<br />
32 Thanksgiving from all of us<br />
Outside Sour<strong>ce</strong>s On This Month <strong>issue</strong><br />
Lifewire<br />
Reader Digest -Cassandra Lombardi<br />
Front Cover<br />
The image in my mind!<br />
artwork and fonts by Peter Nadal<br />
Original Computer-Ease logo ©<br />
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The leaves have turned all shades of colors, we had our 1 st snow and Thanksgiving<br />
is just around the corner. Halloween edition, for those of you who did not see it,<br />
was based on horror and it was a gas! Told the staff to let it rip and some<br />
questionable claims it the stories to be true came up, mmmm! This edition is about<br />
digital art and because of our digital world it makes it real easy for anyone to try<br />
their hand in creating the picture of their dreams. My dream picture is the front<br />
cover that I created from a dream I had the night before I created it, just think on<br />
what you can do! Hey Pete I recreated the front cover again pie<strong>ce</strong> by pie<strong>ce</strong> to show<br />
you, my reader, on how it‟s done. Don‟t worry if you guff up, try, try again and you<br />
will get it. You will noti<strong>ce</strong> on the articles on the upper right two hands punching<br />
through the paper with 2 thumbs up, this is to let you what we think about the<br />
article we come by.<br />
As a vet I do give thanks for their servi<strong>ce</strong>, I do it especially when I go to the VA<br />
Clinic. If you know a vet in your neighborhood, invite him or her over for<br />
Thanksgiving and let‟s <strong>ce</strong>lebrate Thanksgiving the American Way by watching and<br />
caring for those who served and keeps freedom ringing and don‟t forget our boys<br />
and girls in blue!<br />
Now for those who have loved ones in the servi<strong>ce</strong> and want to share Thanksgiving<br />
with them, here is a novel approach: Pack a box with all the trimmings and send it<br />
out including a letter with some instructions; “When you get this Thanksgiving in a<br />
box call me via video phone when you are ready and will have Thanksgiving<br />
together!” for iPhone use Fa<strong>ce</strong>time.<br />
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From all of us of CE Magazine we thank you for<br />
your servi<strong>ce</strong>! May the Lord watch over you Amen!<br />
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How do you do that!<br />
Fa<strong>ce</strong> it, all of us one time or another dreamed on been a Picasso, but, that never<br />
happens, however, the digital world we live in makes it possible. The picture below,<br />
our front cover, is a combination of bit and pie<strong>ce</strong>s of 3 wallpaper pictures, I call it<br />
“Picspaint”. In past<br />
<strong>issue</strong>s I have shown<br />
the use of Corel<br />
Draw 12, but, this<br />
time I will show you<br />
the technique of<br />
blending and<br />
feathering pictures<br />
together. It sounds<br />
hard, but, it really is<br />
not all you need is a<br />
good deal of<br />
patien<strong>ce</strong> and a good<br />
pot of coffee (if you<br />
are a coffee drinker).<br />
5
The Pictures I used; 1: Mountain &<br />
lake, 2: Country road, 3: Panoramic<br />
mountains & fall trees are.<br />
Step 1:<br />
Picture 1 I used my<br />
freehand mask tool and<br />
selected part of the picture<br />
I used as the base picture.<br />
Copy it and paste it on a<br />
blank page, in our case a<br />
8x11 blank page. Now<br />
select Object (top row)<br />
then Combine then click<br />
on Combine Objects With<br />
Background (Short term I<br />
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will use in the article is<br />
„COWB‟).<br />
Step 2: Now, I wanted more<br />
fall trees, so, using my<br />
Freehand Mask Tool I<br />
selected the tree line I wanted<br />
then copied went to the page<br />
I‟m working on and pasted it.<br />
I moved it and adjusted the<br />
height and width to where I‟m<br />
satisfied then COWB<br />
Step 3: I used my Freehand Mask Tool (picture to the right) I selected the tree and<br />
the road I wanted then paste on the page then I‟m making then I flip horizontally.<br />
See tool bar on next page.<br />
7
-tool bar-<br />
Step 4: The picture now is in the rough, we need an embankment on the other side.<br />
On the right picture with the Freehand Mask Tool I selected the embankment and<br />
paste it on the picture, as seen. Stretch it till it looks liked it belongs there. At this<br />
point your Picpaint will look this… next page<br />
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Now comes the fine tuning your Picpaint, Feather tool (under Object), Using<br />
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custom airbrush, now, to get to airbrush- take a look at tool bar -click on paintbrush<br />
then look at to tool bar and click the down arrow icon menu drops then choose<br />
airbrush. Now choose shape by clicking down arrow and scroll almost to the<br />
bottom, my choi<strong>ce</strong> was 57, 39 and 38 for feathering make sure to use the<br />
eyedropper tool to add or change the paint brush/airbrush color. I used the airbrush<br />
to spay the blue sky and making clouds.<br />
I hope you find some inspiration from this How do you do that it is not as hard as<br />
it looks.<br />
Have fun, get creative!!<br />
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By Rodrigo Esperanza<br />
Well, the boss knocks it out the park, again! So, my article is about a few<br />
pla<strong>ce</strong>s I found for “FREE” on digital art pictures you can use to create<br />
your own master pie<strong>ce</strong>. I was surprise when the Boss used the terminology<br />
“Picspaint”, so, I Google it and would you now such a word dose exist, oh<br />
well, learned something new! So, on we go…<br />
1: pngtree is a great site for free graphic resour<strong>ce</strong>s and its free, just sign<br />
up and download what you need click on PNG and it will take you to the<br />
page I was playing with. You will be able on<strong>ce</strong> you sign up under free<br />
account to download 2 items on<strong>ce</strong> a day or buy the premium package<br />
Here is a sample<br />
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2: TEMPLATE.NET If you want to see us nerds do when it comes<br />
to digital art click on Template.net and take your time looking and reading<br />
on all the art pictures. You can also click the free template (see picture<br />
below)<br />
You may just find that template you been looking for.<br />
3: wallup.net is another great pla<strong>ce</strong> to find any type of wallpaper and<br />
inspiration to what you want to create, sample picture below;<br />
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They have 9637 digital art HD Wallpapers click on it and will take you<br />
to their digital art page and all I can say is SUPER FINE!<br />
And not to forget Google search click here nature digital art background<br />
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14
Review<br />
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The explanation on PNG art files is extremely good we even learned a lot<br />
on the subject as all of us here had very little knowledge on PNG art files.<br />
Do go to Lifewire and check out the rest of their site!<br />
What Is a PNG File?<br />
How to Open, Edit, & Convert PNG Files<br />
by Tim Fisher<br />
Updated September 03, <strong>2018</strong><br />
A file with the PNG file extension is a Portable Network Graphics file.<br />
The format uses lossless compression and is generally considered the<br />
repla<strong>ce</strong>ment to the GIF image format.<br />
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However, unlike GIF, PNG files do not support animations. The very<br />
similar MNG (Multiple-image Network Graphics) format does, however,<br />
but has yet to gain the kind of popularity that GIF or PNG files have.<br />
PNG files are often used to store graphics on websites. Some operating<br />
systems like macOS and Ubuntu store screenshots in the PNG format by<br />
default.<br />
Another use for PNGs is when portions of the image need to be<br />
transparent, which can be helpful when making illustrations, designing a<br />
website, creating photography, etc. For example, if you have a logo you<br />
want pla<strong>ce</strong>d over a photo, it's much easier to "cut" the logo out, leaving<br />
transparent pixels around it, so that when it's pla<strong>ce</strong>d over the other picture,<br />
that picture will show through the transparency.<br />
How to Open a PNG File<br />
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The default photo viewer program in Windows is often used to open PNG<br />
files because it's included as part of a standard Windows installation, but<br />
there are many other ways to view one.<br />
All web browsers (like Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, etc.) will<br />
automatically view PNG files that you open from the internet, which<br />
means you don't have to download every PNG file you want to look at<br />
online. You can also use the web browser to open PNG files from your<br />
computer, by using the Ctrl+O keyboard combination to browse for the<br />
file.<br />
Tip: Most browsers also support drag-and-drop, so you might be able to<br />
just drag the PNG file into the browser to open it.<br />
There are also several standalone file openers, graphic tools, and servi<strong>ce</strong>s<br />
that open PNG files. A few popular ones include XnView, IrfanView,<br />
FastStone Image Viewer, Google Drive, Eye of GNOME, and gThumb.<br />
To edit PNG files, the XnView program just mentioned can be used, as<br />
well as the Microsoft Windows included graphics program called Paint,<br />
the Windows 10 Paint 3D tool, the popular GIMP utility, and the very<br />
popular (and very not free) Adobe Photoshop.<br />
Considering the number of programs that open PNG files, and that you<br />
very likely have at least two installed right now, there's a very real chan<strong>ce</strong><br />
that the one that's set to open them by default (i.e. when you double-click<br />
or double-tap on one) isn't the one you'd like to use.<br />
If you find that to be the case, see my How to Change File Associations in<br />
Windows tutorial for detailed instructions on how to change that "default"<br />
PNG program.<br />
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How to Convert a PNG File<br />
probably every single image file converter that you run across will be able<br />
to convert a PNG file to another format (like JPG, PDF, ICO, GIF, BMP,<br />
TIF, etc.). There are several options in our Free Image Converter Software<br />
Programs list, including some online PNG converters like FileZigZag and<br />
Zamzar.<br />
Pngtosvg.com is a website that can be used if you want to convert a PNG<br />
to SVG.<br />
Another option for converting a PNG file is to use one of the image<br />
viewers I've already mentioned. While they exist mainly as "openers" of<br />
various image types, some of them support saving/exporting the open<br />
PNG file to a different image format.<br />
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When to Use PNG Files<br />
PNG files are a great format to use but not ne<strong>ce</strong>ssarily in every situation.<br />
Sometimes a PNG can be way too large in size and not only use up<br />
unne<strong>ce</strong>ssary disk spa<strong>ce</strong> or make it harder to email, but can also drastically<br />
slow down a web page if you're using one there. So before you convert all<br />
of your images to PNG (don't do that), there are some things to keep in<br />
mind.<br />
Strictly thinking about PNG file sizes, you'll need to consider if the image<br />
quality benefits are good enough to sacrifi<strong>ce</strong> that spa<strong>ce</strong> (or slow web page<br />
loading, etc.). Sin<strong>ce</strong> a PNG file doesn't compress the image like other<br />
lossy formats like JPEG do, quality doesn't diminish as much when the<br />
image is in the PNG format.<br />
JPEG files are useful when the image is low contrast, but PNGs are better<br />
when dealing with sharp contrast like when there are lines or text in the<br />
image, as well as large areas of solid color. Screenshots and illustrations,<br />
then, are best in PNG format while "real" photos are best as JPEG/JPG.<br />
You might also consider using the PNG format over JPEG when you're<br />
dealing with an image that needs to be edited over and over again. For<br />
example, sin<strong>ce</strong> the JPEG format undergoes what's called generation loss,<br />
editing and saving the file again and again will result in a lower quality<br />
image over time. This isn't true for PNG sin<strong>ce</strong> it uses lossless<br />
compression.<br />
More Help With PNG Files<br />
To make the background transparent in a PNG, your options include<br />
automated tools like Clipping Magic or the free Background Burner tool,<br />
or nearly any image editing program.<br />
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For example, if you have Photoshop, pla<strong>ce</strong> the image in its own layer,<br />
delete the background layer, and then use any tool (e.g., Eraser, Marquee,<br />
Lasso, etc.) to erase the portions of the image that should be transparent.<br />
See Get More Help for information about contacting me on social<br />
networks or via email, posting on tech support forums, and more. Let me<br />
know what kinds of problems you're having with opening or converting<br />
the PNG file, including what tools or servi<strong>ce</strong>s you've already tried, and I'll<br />
see what I can do to help.<br />
__________________________________________________________________<br />
Help our vets with your Donation by clicking HERE<br />
CE Magazine public servi<strong>ce</strong><br />
21
Saving Money<br />
Never enough tips for <strong>ce</strong>ll phone security<br />
5 Ways to Keep Your Phone Safe from Hackers<br />
Cassandra Lombardi<br />
The way you use your phone could easily give hackers ac<strong>ce</strong>ss to your<br />
personal information.<br />
leungchopan/Shutterstock<br />
Most of the <strong>ce</strong>ll phone privacy debate has focused on our phones‟ ability to track<br />
our whereabouts. But there are other dangers—like getting hacked—that the<br />
average <strong>ce</strong>ll phone user would find much more worrisome, if only they were aware<br />
of it. The more we rely on our phones to transact our personal financial business,<br />
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the more we‟re all exposed to little-known mobile security pitfalls: everything from<br />
your online banking password to your credit card details.<br />
Plug up leaky apps<br />
It‟s tough to tell the differen<strong>ce</strong> between a good and bad app. Sin<strong>ce</strong> so many people<br />
are creating mobile apps, sometimes we see unsophisticated apps that could<br />
seriously compromise your online privacy through bad privacy practi<strong>ce</strong>s or careless<br />
coding. Only download applications from sites you trust (iTunes, the Android<br />
Market, Amazon, etc.), and only after checking each app‟s rating and reading the<br />
user reviews to make sure it is widely used and respected. And whatever you do,<br />
never login to apps using social media.<br />
Set a password on your phone<br />
Your online passwords is only as strong as your recovery questions. But without<br />
one on your phone, anyone within an arm‟s length can start reading your email, text<br />
messages or listen to your voi<strong>ce</strong>mail. Setting a password is the first line of defense,<br />
and it only takes about 30 seconds.<br />
Watch for suspicious links<br />
People are three times more likely to click on a suspicious link from their phone<br />
than their PC, according to a re<strong>ce</strong>nt study. It‟s one of the many security scams<br />
hackers use. Due to the small size of the screen, it‟s harder to decipher whether a<br />
site looks legitimate or not. Be wary of suspicious-looking links sent to you in<br />
email, over text, or on social media. Entering your personal information on these<br />
sites puts you at risk for fraud or identity theft.<br />
Be careful what you do at unsecured WiFi hotspots<br />
Use caution when checking your email on public WiFi (for example, at a local<br />
coffee shop). These wireless hotspots transmit your data over the air, so when you<br />
enter your password or credit card details while using one of these wireless<br />
networks, you run the risk of someone else seeing your sensitive information. These<br />
are the other nine times you should never use your credit card.<br />
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Keep spyware from watching you<br />
Spyware might sound like something out of a detective story, but it‟s much more<br />
like something out of a horror story if you end up with it on your phone. Without a<br />
password, people can (and do) download spyware onto your phone and track your<br />
phone usage, text messages, location and banking activity, among other things,<br />
without your knowledge. In the Android Market or iTunes store, search for “mobile<br />
security” and download a free app that will stop you from inadvertently<br />
downloading viruses onto your devi<strong>ce</strong> before you do it. On<strong>ce</strong> you‟ve done that, read<br />
up on other ways to protect your phone from a virus.<br />
Originally Published on Readers Digest<br />
24
Click on USO<br />
CE Magazine public servi<strong>ce</strong><br />
25
Sending Invitations via <strong>ce</strong>ll phones?<br />
By Nomar Shaw<br />
I spend over 3 hrs looking for a simple app for my computer or <strong>ce</strong>ll phone<br />
to send ni<strong>ce</strong> looking Thanksgiving invitations to my family‟s <strong>ce</strong>ll phones,<br />
and all I can say is “Whaaa”. I did find a whole bunch of ex<strong>ce</strong>llent<br />
software that could do the job, but, nothing that fit my quest. So, I went<br />
Google Play and search for “Thanksgiving invitation maker”, by the way,<br />
click on Google Play and it will take you to Thanksgiving invitation maker<br />
page. Here is what you will find;<br />
And I should have done this sooner! As you can see it’s loaded with Thanksgiving<br />
apps for your android phone and Apple is about the same. Now, if you’re creative<br />
or better yet if your teenager kid is, have him/her to create an invite for the<br />
Thanksgiving Dinner, trust me, they will jump on the “OH YEAH, I CAN DO THAT<br />
FOR YOU !!” wagon. On<strong>ce</strong> the invite is done sit down with your teenager and get<br />
all the <strong>ce</strong>ll numbers of whom you’re going to invite. Share the moment and glory<br />
26
with your teenager when the accolades come from everyone of the spread of food<br />
on the table. It will make a differen<strong>ce</strong> in his/hers life, I know this to be true as we<br />
do this at our home.<br />
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GPS’ing to Grandma’s House for Thanksgiving!<br />
By Peter Nadal<br />
It‟s time of the year we pile in the car and head for Grandma‟s house,<br />
driving it a zillion times without GPS!<br />
So why do I need it?<br />
GPS can make your trip a very efficient and stress free trip by calculating<br />
the quickest route, bypass construction sites and the biggest obstacle<br />
TRAFFIC!<br />
Ok, I have a <strong>ce</strong>ll phone can I use that?<br />
Yes, if you have a android phone you can use Google maps, however,<br />
many states frown on <strong>ce</strong>lls phones actively in use when driving and that‟s<br />
were a dash mount GPS unit is better<br />
It figures, how much do I need to spend?<br />
Most pri<strong>ce</strong>s start around $35 and they<br />
are better then <strong>ce</strong>ll phones as they are<br />
kept updated and they will tell you<br />
rerouting your trip if there is<br />
construction, traffic or any other reason<br />
to detour. The one you see in the picture<br />
to the left is my GARMIN 205W and I<br />
use it every time I travel more then 20 miles away from home. It has<br />
diverted me more times then I can count from traffic tie ups and<br />
constructions. Found it at a yard sale for $10, $15 for a 16 gig micro sd<br />
card for a total pri<strong>ce</strong> of $25.<br />
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Is that good for a used GPS?<br />
Yep, that good, it will tell were to turn, how fast you‟re really going from<br />
the satellite, how many miles left to drive, how much miles per gallon you<br />
are using (now that one has me scratching my head). When it‟s in use the<br />
drive is very relaxing, I have to say it is worth every penny (even if you<br />
buy brand new one)!<br />
So, let the kids play with the <strong>ce</strong>ll phone, keep your phone off (if by<br />
yourself) or let your go-pilot handle the <strong>ce</strong>ll phone.<br />
29
Computer Magazine From The Past!<br />
30
Come a Long Way Baby!<br />
From this..<br />
Apple 1 Computer in a briefcase. From the Sydney Powerhouse Museum<br />
collection [Via]<br />
Along with George, the Festival has a replica of an original Apple I and<br />
many other examples of early Apple computers. There are even robots that<br />
look like they‟ve walked out of a 1970s scien<strong>ce</strong> fiction epic.<br />
The Mobile Digital Computer is also on display, which was created on a<br />
trailer and made it one of the first examples of a mobile computer. It<br />
needed two trailers to make it work sin<strong>ce</strong> one would hold its computer,<br />
while the other would hold the power supply and generator which ran on<br />
petrol.<br />
31
This mobile PC was funded by the US Military in the 1960s, sin<strong>ce</strong> they<br />
wanted to look at ways to bring a computer to an <strong>issue</strong> rather than having<br />
to communicate long distan<strong>ce</strong>s to solve a problem via telegraph or<br />
telephone.<br />
Several versions were made, and the manufacturing company even<br />
produ<strong>ce</strong>d some commercial versions.<br />
To This!<br />
32
From my home and staff to your family, have great<br />
Thanksgiving and May Pea<strong>ce</strong> duel in your home.<br />
From:<br />
Peter Nadal, Pam Kennoy, Rodrigo Esperanza,<br />
Nomar Shaw, Diane G and Big Poppa<br />
And<br />
The Nanomites<br />
Thank for reading CE Magazine<br />
Chow For Now<br />
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