Scan Documents To PDF Using FastStone Image Viewer

I have written about FastStone Image Viewer here on the blog in the past and can attest that it is probably one of the best, if not the best, image viewer out there. As a matter of fact it carries a 5 star CNet rating. I think if you use it you will find that it is more than just an image viewer

FastStone Image Viewer is a fast, stable, user-friendly image browser, converter and editor. It has a nice array of features that include image viewing, management, comparison, red-eye removal, emailing, resizing, cropping, retouching and color adjustments. Its innovative but intuitive full-screen mode provides quick access to EXIF information, thumbnail browser and major functionalities via hidden toolbars that pop up when your mouse touches the four edges of the screen. Other features include a high quality magnifier and a musical slideshow with 150+ transitional effects, as well as lossless JPEG transitions, drop shadow effects, image annotation, scanner support, histogram and much more. It supports all major graphic formats (BMP, JPEG, JPEG 2000, animated GIF, PNG, PCX, PSD, EPS, TIFF, WMF, ICO and TGA) and popular digital camera RAW formats (CRW, CR2, NEF, PEF, RAF, MRW, ORF, SRF, ARW, SR2, RW2 and DNG).

For example, buried in Fastone Image Viewer is an option where you can scan documents and save them as PDF files. I personally use this all of the time to convert my paper documents to the digital PDF format.

To get to this feature, launch FastStone Image Viewer, click on the File menu, and select Acquire Image From Scanner.

You will then be taken to the Acquire Image From Scanner workspace where you simply click on the scan button to begin your scans.

Typically, by default, this will launch your scanner software.  You can scan single documents or perform batch scans were you scan one document after another. When done, select save and select the PDF Format option.

Also, on an added note, you can also save image files in FastStone Image Viewer to the PDF format, as well.  Very powerful image viewer utility that can either be installed or used as a portable app.

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Take Me Back In Time To Visit An Archived Version of The Internet

I actually developed an interest in computers that pre-dates the internet, as we know it (with the graphical user interface, html web pages, etc…). I can remember way back when, being in attendance at a local school where a representative from a large telecommunications company was speaking about computers and that something innovative was on the horizon that would change our lives, as we know it.  What he was talking about at the time was the building of the internet. No one in attendance, including myself, could really grasp at what he was talking about and just how important it would become.

It was some years later, as a result of computers and the internet, my life changed for me personally. Suddenly being labeled as a computer geek, I was thrust into a new career field (as an IT Manager) where I became part of that innovation of what we call internet. Our entire lives has been changed by the internet and the connectivity it has brought; AND, without it we would be at a great loss.

I started thinking about all of this; and, knowing the digital world being as it is, was there was a way to go back in time to revisit the internet in days past? You know, sort of reminisce…  It was after this thought that I remembered hearing about the Wayback Machine.

The Wayback Machine is “a service that allows people to visit archived versions of Web sites. Visitors to the Wayback Machine can type in a URL, select a date range, and then begin surfing on an archived version of the Web. Imagine surfing circa 1999 and looking at all the Y2K hype, or revisiting an older version of your favorite Web site. The Internet Archive Wayback Machine can make all of this possible”.

You are not going to find every site ever created out there, but the Wayback Machine is a great learning and research tool and is just plain interesting to see what the internet landscape looked like in years gone by. For example here is part of a page I pulled from Microsoft’s web site in December 1997:

You can also upload your own digital artifacts to the Wayback Machine, as well…

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Using Google Search As A Calculator

There are many instances what I write about here on the blog is from personal experience. Today, at my retirement job, we had to complete a purchase order in quick fashion and I needed to perform some math calculations to determine costs. Instead of pulling out a calculator I pulled up the Google Search box and started typing in the calculations (in plain English).  Once I entered what I needed to be calculated, Google performed the calculation for me and also sent me to an online calculator in the event I needed to perform additional calculations.

I also found that you can perform math calculations using Microsoft’s search engine, called Bing, as well; however, minus the online calculator.

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Use Wikipedia’s Book Creator To Compile Multiple Articles Into A PDF File

Did you know that buried on the left side column of any Wikipedia article, under the Print/Export selection there is a selection for Create A Book?

What this is handy for is compiling multiple articles together into a PDF file. There are several other eBook formats available, as well.  Also, if you prefer to not create a book you can download specific Wikipedia pages and articles as a PDF file. I know many folks, especially students, when doing research using Wikipedia, end up printing the page in its’ native html format when they could be saving the information electronically.

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Create A Desktop Shortcut To Your Windows 8 Apps and Software

What many of you do not know is that I often use the blog to document tips, that I come across, for my own future reference. Today’s post is a good example of this. Recently I discovered that I can create a Windows 8 desktop shortcut that will launch the Windows 8 GUI (graphical user interface) menu for all of the apps and software that I have installed on my computer.

As you well know, if you are a Windows 8 user, there is no Start Menu. This shortcut, in essence, will go to serve the same purpose of the Start Menu; however, in appearance it does not look like the Start Menu you have been accustomed to. The good about this is, that once you click the shortcut and you get to the apps screen, you can simply start typing to search for the app or software program you are looking for. For example, let’s say I want to launch the calculator that is built into windows. I simply click on the shortcut that will launch the Windows 8 GUI menu or apps screen, then start typing calculator and very quickly the tile to launch the calculator will appear.

To create this desktop shortcut, here is what you have to do:

Right click on desktop and click New -> Shortcut

A dialog box will appear prompting for a location of the item.  Copy and Paste the following into the dialog box, then click Next:

%windir%\explorer.exe shell:::{2559a1f8-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}

After you click on Next, another dialog box will launch prompting you to give the shortcut a name. In this case, I named the shortcut Windows 8 Apps.  After you enter the name for the shortcut, click on Finish.

Click on your newly created shortcut, to launch the Windows 8 Apps Screen (menu)…

What I am finding, by using this shortcut technique, I am using the Windows 8 GUI menu (or apps screen) on a regular basis.

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Evernote To SpringPad Converter

Evernote and SpringPad are the top guns out there when it comes to storing notes, thoughts, images, articles, etc… I currently lean toward Evernote, calling it my supplemental brain; however, SpringPad always has my eye. I encourage you to look at either of these online note keeping services. You will not regret it…

As I mentioned, SpringPad has my eye and recently I decided to give it another good look. What had me concerned is that I could not find any easy way, within SpringPad, to import my notes from Evernote.

After doing some futile searching, I did come across an Evernote to Springpad Converter site that gives you the ability to convert the Evernote “enex” notebook files to the SpringPad format.

In order to do this, you will have to install the desktop version of Evernote so that you can export each notebook to a file (enex format) that can be uploaded to the converter.

Anyway, after getting my notebooks transferred to SpringPad, and really playing around with it, I am still hooked on my supplemental brain (Evernote). SpringPad is still developing, looks very nice; but, what I experienced is that the search feature for a specific note or specific text in a note was not as robust as in Evernote.

In the end, after going through all of this, I decided to share the information about the Evernote to SpringPad Converter in case you want to make the switch or you wanted to give SpringPad a try.

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An Ad Free Weather Service

There are a lot of really cool (and dependable) weather services out there, but what upsets my apple cart is that when I go to those sites they are driven by advertisements to the point that the only storm I see is the outpouring of the ads.

With a winter storm bearing down on my location in Maryland, I thought it would befitting to present to you an ad free weather service, that I depend on, called the National Weather Service (NWS).

The National Weather Service (NWS) , once known as the Weather Bureau, is a part of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the United States government. It is headquartered in Silver Spring, Maryland.

When you get to the National Weather Service homepage simply enter your zip code and press “go” to get the weather information for your location.  If you notice, the page load is fast and there are no advertisements; and, not forgetting to mention all the weather information you will ever need.

As an added bonus, my brother Tim, who serves as a weather consultant in Pumpkin Center, MD,  pointed out to me, on the NWS site, you can get a full screen nationwide snapshot of the weather [HERE] .  Also, if you want to listen to the NWS weather broadcasts, over the internet, the best listing I found for this is actually at another favorite weather site of mine called Wunderground.  You can get to the listing of NWS broadcasts at the Wunderground site [HERE] .

The NWS is tasked with providing forecasts, public warnings, and other products to organizations and the public for the purposes of protection, safety, and general information. This is done through a collection of national and regional centers, and 122 local weather forecast offices (WFOs). As the NWS is a government agency, most of its products are in the public domain and available free of charge.

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