Free antivirus - get 'avast'

Recently panic set in when I received notification that my anti-virus software was about to expire and I couldn't afford to pay the renewal price. So I trawled the net to find a free anti-virus that I could at least use for the trial period. There are plenty of these and they are all pretty good and good value; you get a free trial version and then on expiry of the trial period you are prompted to get out your debit or credit card to pay for their service.



'Avast' free anti-virus

 So imagine my surprise when I found an anti-virus that was completely free forever, use it free for as long as you like and no payment ever - unless of course you want to upgrade to a more thorough version.

So what is it called?  It's 'avast', a totally free-for-as-long-as-you-like anti-virus that works extremely well.  Avast works quietly in the background and sorts out any virus issues for you, it even upgrades itself automatically whilst you are net connected, just showing you a little pop-up to let you know that an upgrade has taken place.

Verdict!  Highly recommended!

Get 'avast' free by clicking here, download the free version and get it installed.

Excellent!

Download often? You need DAP

Speedbit Video Downloader is normally an excellent piece of kit for downloading flash videos to your hard drive but it's not without its faults.  My main gripe is that whilst downloading some video files the connection seems to be lost before the download is complete, and although this happens only on the odd ocasion it is rather annoying when it does.  You get to something like 75% and it doesn't download any more; fortunately I manage to resist the temptation to launch my computer equipment in anger.

The reason for this happening is that it primarily only downloads the file from one online location, and if the connection to that location is lost bang goes your download.  When this happens please resist the urge to yank your hair out from the roots for I have a solution to our frustration.

It's called 'Download Accelerator Plus' (DAP for short) and of course it's absolutely free - you wouldn't expect anything else from me would you?  So true to form I offer another awesome piece of totally free software to help you along.

It is a program that is provided by Speedbit and works in total harmony with their video downloader.  Fortunately if you don't have Speedbit Video Downloader then no worries!  Download Accelerator Plus works with or without it and has no vices about whether you have other Speedbit software installed or not.

DAP will speed up your downloads of anything to give you a download time of about one fifth of the time it takes to download without it.  So if your download would normally take about 5 minutes then with DAP chances are it'll only take just 1 minute.  Superfast downloads - cool!

It does it by downloading your file from multiple locations at once (average 5 to my experience).  This way if you lose one connection you've still got 4 more for example, and because of the multiple loations it downloads your file much quicker.

That is the basic gist of it, and it does have a few other features too but I've yet to learn them all.  One big advantage is it has a file checker built in so if the file is a bit dodgy it will tell you so.

As far as I'm concerned if you wish to download anything then Download Accelerator Plus is a no-brainer, a must have.  Get it installed on your PC, you will love it!

Click on the link below and download the free version from the Speedbit site.

http://www.speedbit.com/dap/

How to get super sound from a normal tv without the expense

I spent the whole morning the other day trying to get the best sound from my entertainment equipment.  By the time I'd done and not without a little trial and error I had it, super-sound entertainment with no extra expense whatsoever.

So what did I do?

I already had a bog-standard TV with 2 scart sockets on the back, a standard 'Sky' receiver/digibox, a combined mini hi-fi cd/radio with built-in DVD player, and 4 speakers.

The most favourable piece of equipment which made it all eventually come together nicely was the mini hi-fi, which I purchased from the local 'Aldi' store last Autumn for the paltry sum of just £54.  On first apperance it looks like a standard black-fronted mini hi-fi but the built-in disc player will play mp3 discs, DVDs, Xvid discs, and of course standard audio CDs, has a built-in radio, and will accept a USB connection and SD/MMC cards - plus it's remote control also.  It also has a host of connections on the back to input external sources, and believe it or not it came with not a one year, but a three year warranty as standard; quite a lot of kit for the low price tag.  It is by 'Tevion' - no, I've never heard of them either - but with a 3-year warranty who cares what it's called!

Up until now I only used it as a CD and radio player.

But regardless of any of this, almost any standard hi-fi can be used to get the desired results, as long as it will allow external connections so it can operate as an amplifier; and of course a normal amplifier will do the same job.

OK, here goes!

On the back of the 'Sky' receiver/digibox can be found two audio output connectors - left & right, usually coloured red & white - on the back of the hi-fi or amplifier can be found two connectors the same as on the receiver/digibox - a straight coupled standard audio connecting lead can be used to connect all four together - Voila! job done! - now whenever the TV is watched via the receiver/digibox the sound comes through the hi-fi or amplifier speakers - spread the speakers a distance apart and there you have it, wide supersound that you can adjust through the hi-fi or amplifier controls.  Don't worry about the TV as it is already connected through the system via the scart which is needed to watch programs from the receiver/digibox on it. 

That's just the basic set up.  However I went a little over the top and I can now watch TV through 'Sky' and hear it on the hi-fi speakers (of which I have four in the four opposite corners of the room to simulate a surround-sound effect), of course I can play any audio or mp3 CD and hear it through all the speakers, watch a DVD and hear it all around the room, and I can also run the sound from my PC through the same kit.  Awesome!

What's more it didn't cost me a penny as the 'Tevion' hi-fi/radio/DVD came with all the connecting leads.

This basic method can be applied to almost any digital receiver or TV as long as an audio output is available on it.  You can also connect games consoles like our 'Nintendo WII' using a similar method which merely requires a fairly modern TV that has the audi out connectors (most HD, LCD and digital TVs have this).  The majority of today's standard DVD players also have the audio out connectors.

To connect a PC using this method you will need a 3.5mm stereo jack to 2 x audios lead; you plug the 3.5mm stereo jack into your speaker output on the sound card of your PC or the headphone socket, and the audio connectors on the other end of the lead into the audi inputs on the hi-fi or amplifier.  Please note however that you may need to switch your hi-fi control to auxiliary (aux) for it to work.  You can pick one of these leads up from any decent supplier for a few quid, they're not expensive at all; fortunately for me I already had one spare as this is the one lead that didn't come with the hi-fi.

On a similar note:  If your TV doesn't have any audio out connectors you can still connect up as above through the headphone socket, if it has one of course.  However with the impending national analogue signal shutdown if you don't have at least a digital TV or some other digital receiver connected to the TV through scart you're doomed, because soon you will get no signal on the TV without the right equipment.  A digital television or a television with a scart socket will be the minimum requirement, so you will be able to use the methods above anyway.

Who needs to buy a fancy telly when you can get great sound without the expense, just a simple hi-fi or amplifier and a connecting lead or two?

Go for it!

Let me know how you get on.

Thanks for reading!

A brief explanation for my recent absence

Hello! I'm back!

Yes I know it's been a while since I last posted anything on here. I've been rather a busy fella. You see I'm in the process of setting up a website of my own as a platform to sell my stuff on. This is still in construction but will be online soon; hopefully!

Other than that my main reason for my absence is purely down to my family commitments. 'Family first' is a policy I've always stood by my whole life. Recently a few of my grandchildren have had birthdays, have you noticed how with birthdays they all seem to happen at about the same time of year?

You see as I am such a great cook and baker, lol, I have been recently commisioned by family members to supply all the baked goods for my grand-kids birthday parties. First it was my youngest grand-daughter only a few weeks ago, next my grand-son last weekend, and still yet to come this weekend one of my other grand-daughters, so my baking commitment as I call it is still on-going. All this coupled with days out (after all it's the six-week's holiday at the moment), my internet ventures, and various other lifestyle pressures something occasionally has to take a back seat; and unfortunately my blog posts are it.

But I'm back with a vengeance now, or at least from this weekend, yes there's still day trips and my other internet ventures but no more party baking until next month.

I'll post you soon!

Pete.

Recent update

Hi!

I've just finished updating my post called 'The purpose of this blog'.

Please take a look !

Thanks!

A brief description of how to make your own karaoke video

By utilising your previously downloaded or created instrumental audio file in a standard (freely available download of course) video creator or editor it is possible to make your own simple karaoke version of the tune.

To make karaoke however you should be sure to only use an instrumental version of the song. To get your instrumental song file you can either use one you already have on your hard-drive or an audio CD, download one from the internet, or use a midi file.

A good and safe way to get a good quality audio mp3 or wav file to use I suggest you take the audio from an online music video; download the selected music video using SpeedBit Video Downloader and then convert or extract the audio section of the video using a suitable converter such as Any Video Converter or Freez flv to mp3 converter, all available as totally free downloads – exactly what you expect from ‘Media Bandit’, free stuff! My 1st media ebook explains exactly how to do this.

Alternatively use a free midi file or one you’ve created yourself using perhaps the method explained briefly in a couple of earlier blog posts (see here and here). 

To get free midi files my favourite method is to use VanBasco which gives you access to thousands of totally free midi downloads – they also have a very user-friendly kar player you can grab for free. Once at their site just type the name of the tune you want into the search bar and you will be confronted with a list of available versions of your desired tune, click on the one you want and once directed to the source just right click and select ‘save target as’ to download the midi song to your hard-drive, it only takes a second or so.

Alternatively search for the title of your desired midi tune followed by the suffix mid or midi using a good search engine. Once found right click and ‘save target as’ as mentioned before, or click the download button in some cases.

If your instrumental audio is not already in wav or mp3 format but is in midi format you will in most cases need to convert it to use it with a video creator or editor. To do this I recommend using ‘Switch Audio File converter’, go to http://www.nch.com.au/switch/index.html and click on ‘Download the free version’. This will easily convert your midi file to an mp3, wav or almost any format you like.

A good free video editor or creator can easily be found on all recent ‘Windows’ platforms – I think it’s available with ‘Windows XP’ and later versions and is simply called ‘Windows Movie Maker’.



VideoPad video editor

 If however you would rather try a different editor or creator or you don’t have ‘Windows Movie Maker’ on your PC then I suggest VideoPad Video Editor from ‘NCH software’, this is actually a free trial version that I have found to be the easiest to use in my opinion and I highly recommend it. The only drawback with this however is that after the trial period it locks you out if you don’t pay for the full version, but you can get around this but I don’t think it is wise to explain how here; please email me at prenterprises2010@gmail.com if you would like to know.

Once you have your video creator or editor and your instrumental audi file you can add background images or video clips, add sequenced lyrics so as the performer knows what to sing, then save it all as a video file on your PC. You can then convert it if you wish to an alternative format for use in your playback equipment, Any Video Converter as mentioned earlier will do this for you.

The basic step-by-step process involves:



Finding or creating your own background images or video clips

Inserting your clips or images into the video creator or editor in the right sequence

Removing or muting any audio in the video clips and then adding your own audio file

Changing the duration of the images or clips to appear in sequence at the right time with the music

Adding the lyrics into the visual part of your video; if you don’t know the lyrics then do a lyric search in Google

Previewing and saving your completed masterpiece karaoke video for later useDon’t worry, it may sound complicated but is quite easy once you’ve got the hang of the basic controls of the video creator/editor. It is quite time-consuming however and you will need to pay attention to detail or it could all go drastically wrong, but if you have saved all your original source files you can always scrap it and start again.

Of course you could also record your own singing voice into it if you think you are talented enough. One distinct advantage of a decent free video editor/creator is that if your singing is a bit rough you can always mute or remove it from the finished video.

Using free sheet music to create your own midi music

Sheet music for many popular and classic tunes can be downloaded free from the internet. You can then just copy the note durations and positions into a midi notation editor (also free) and you have your great sounding home-made version of the tune. It's not difficult, time-consuming yes, but quite easy if you pay a little attention to detail.

Even if you cannot get hold of any sheet music online many public libraries lend sheet music books and music scores using your normal membership (totally free of course). You can then scan into your PC and save a copy or just use the music score and copy it into a midi notation editor (I suggest the free 'NoteworthyComposer')

Another alternative is to look online for the tune you would like as a midi file and download it. If you then open the downloaded file in your midi notation editor it will show you its own version of the sheet music to play with at your leisure.

Please note however that you should save the original version of the midi file on your hard-drive so that if you mess it up when editing you can still go back to the original version and start again.

Once you are happy with your unique version of the tune or your own created tune you can save it to use as you like. Oh and by the way 'Windows Media Player' will happily play mid or midi files with no alteration, tweeks or codecs.

With the right software (which you can also get as a free download) you can if you want convert your finished midi music file to 'mp3' or 'wav' to make an audio CD or enable it to play on your playback equipment.



'KaraFun' in action

 There are also a few other great pieces of free software available as downloads that will let you play your completed instrumental midi or other audio file whilst you sing into a microphone (if you think you are talented enough) and record it for playback later -a good way to realise how good or bad your singing really is. Don't worry though, if your singing is bad you can always remove it from the file afterwards. 'KaraFun' is a good free application that will do this.

Don't forget to first save the original midi or other audio file seperately first in case you mess things up!

Look out for my tutorial ebook coming soon that guides you step by step through the whole procedure.