Video editing software makes your camcorder even more enjoyable

From the PCMike NBC-TV Report… With the holidays coming, a lot of people will be capturing a lot of special memories with their camcorders. Thanks to great advances in video editing software, it’s never been easy to make your digital memories, full fledged family movies, complete with special effects.

Here’s a quick overview on what software is available.

Video editing is all drop and drag. If you know how to use a word processor, you can video edit. You plug your camcorder into your computer, import your clips and compose your projects on a timeline. You can add text overlays, import still pictures, and then export to the Web or burn to a DVD.

There are scores of video editing packages out there and i have some suggestions for you. Read more

Time for fall cleaning of your PC: Lose the junkware

From the PCMike NBC-TV Report…It’s autumn and time to get ready for winter. But don’t stop with the house and yard. Your computer also needs some attention. Just like we insulate our homes against the elements, so we need to insulate our computers against outside threats.

At the start of every season, you need get rid of the Adware and Spyware. All it takes is a few months for all sorts of needless software to sneak into your computer, gunk that is secretly installed by questionable websites to snoop on your privacy, deliver you unwanted ads and generally clog and clutter your computer. Read more

How to find best prices on Internet and phone plans

From Mike’s NBC-TV report…With the economy in turmoil saving money is of vital importance to consumers.

And a good place to look at is the monthly fees we pay for the Internet, phone and video subscriptions. But with so many choices — satellite, cable, even the phone company – how can you find the best deal? I have some suggestions. Read more

Watching video online instead of at theaters and on TV

From Mike’s NBC-TV report… More and more video is being released online… TV shows, independent films, even full-length movies.

A new Internet “Screening Room” comes from the folks at YouTube, what Google calls the world’s largest theater.

This past week it introduced YouTube’s very first full length movie… a one hour and 19 minute film from famed director Wayne Wang called the “Princess of Nebraska” that has had nearly 200,000 views in its first few days… which compares favorably to the box office take in many theatrical releases. Read more

The new G1 “Google Phone” from T-Mobile

The smartphone wars are on, with a tusanmi of new touchscreen phones flooding the market to compete against the iPhone.

The latest will go on sale next Wednesday (Oct. 22) when the much anticipated T-Mobile G1 is released… a phone that has been sometimes dubbed the Google phone.

The T-Mobile G1 is the first phone to run on Google’s new Android operating system, a phone that looks and works a lot like the iPhone… and more.

For starters, it’s a touchscreen. You can move stuff around with your fingers… open applications flick from screen to screen. It has a music player and downloads songs from the Amazon MP3 store. Read more

Social networking for sick people

Social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook have spawned all sorts of copycat sites, like online destinations for seniors, babies, pets and the like. But here’s one you may not have heard about: A place for patients of cancer and other serious illnesses to find support and share their journey.

It’s called the Caring Bridge and it is a deeply personal and yet inspirational resource designed for patients and their relatives to keep loved ones informed during difficult times.

In return, family and friends give patients and caregiver support through guestbook messages, responding to the patient’s online website and journal… creating a special community of family and friends to rally around a loved one at the time of a health crisis or accident. Read more

Financial calculators to help you know your assets

From the PC Milke report on NBC-TV… The crazy financial roller coaster of the past week has had us all gasping for breath and wondering just how secure our assets are un these tumultuous times. I’ve found some online calculators that will help you cut through the financial fog.

When it comes to personal finance, you can never know too much. So start Read more

Google launches In Quotes Website

From PC Mike’s NBC-TV Report… Google has launched yet another website, this one gathering up all the quotes attributed to Presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain and comparing them side by side.

Called Google In Quotes, it also comes in versions tailored for readers in Canada, Great Britain and India featuring their political leaders. Read more

Protect e-mail login with password manager

From Mike’s NBC-TV report - There’s no doubt about it: It’s a hassle managing all the different passwords needed for e-mail and various Web sites and services these days.

Maybe that’s why so many people are so careless and keep making the same mistakes that allow identity thieves to so easily swipe personal data. Just ask GOP VP nominee Sarah Palin, whose Yahoo! e-mail account was hacked and then displayed all over the Net.

I have a valuable tip on how you can not only keep all your passwords safe but… actually remember them! Read more

Twitter is now mass media

From my PCMike NBC-TV report…One of the Internet’s hottest services these days is Twitter, which has millions of users using their mobile phones to text short messages about what they happen to be doing or feeling at the moment. Sounds silly, but Twitter has become so popular that its mass media in and of itself.

It’s a social networking site, sure. But it is also much more these days.

“What are you doing?” is Twitter’s mantra and man, do people ever answer, sharing with friends and the world…everything. Read more

Google’s Chrome is innovative and efficient

From Mike’s NBC-TV report…Google’s new Chrome browser is an impressive salvo in its simmering skirmish with Microsoft that signals more ambitious plans to fully compete with not just Microsoft’s Internet Browser but it’s full Office suite of applications, too.

Chrome’s biggest strength in my book is the innovative way it uses detachable, movable tabs in place of the traditional toolbar at the top of the screen to manage web pages, offer very quick back and forth viewing of different sites and offer a visual sampling of your most recent browsing.

These tabs behave as browsers-within-a-browser and automatically group related tabs together. Very nifty.

Then there’s what Google calls the “Omnibar,” a replacement for the traditional search box that uses what is normally the address box where we type in the URL. Start typing and suggestions are offered based on your personal search history, Google’s auto-completion feature and the standard Google search engine. Read more

How credible is the news? Check its NewsCred

From the most recent NBC-TV PC Mike segment…
The Internet has made everyone a critic. From eBay ratings to music reviews to social networking sites and now, to the news media. A new site keeps track of and chronicles breaking news from all over the world. That’s handy, sure… but what makes it unusual is that users vote on how credible the information is.

The idea behind Newscred is amassing all the world’s credible news, in one place… typed by trustworthiness and how credible is the story. And that is determined by readers, not the media, who follow the story and then rate it for reliability, bias and fairness in presenting differing views.

There’s a bunch of mainstream media outlets sampled, from TV networks to big newspapers and wire services… as well as dozens of the most popular blogs. Stories are categorized by subject matter… like reporter beats. Read more

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