Brigada » Software

5) Best Free Software to Resize Your Digital Pictures –

brigtoday — Mon, 24 May 2010 03:55:52 +0000

Here it is, quite possibly the best free software to resize your digital pictures, for example, to web-appropriate size. Let’s face it: Maybe 80% of the public are getting this wrong. Cameras keep offering more and more megapixels because the public has come to equate higher megapixel counts with higher quality (not always the case, by the way). So we now regularly snap pictures 4 megabytes and larger, even when we intend to use them on a website for which, truth be told, they would load much more quickly if they were 80k or less in size. So here’s the solution: Image Resizer:

http://www.vso-software.fr/products/image_resizer/

Mac users will want to try DroPic:

http://www.kreynet.de/dropic/

Get started today, resizing your photos to produce snappier online experiences (100kb per image max).

8) Is this the World’s Best Journal or Note-taker?

brigtoday — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 04:52:29 +0000

I’m not talking about a person. It’s software.

http://www.dklevine.com/general/software/tc1000/jarnal.htm

If you have a tablet computer or a computer with a touch-sensitive screen, this program will truly shine. But either way, Jarnal will be fun, especially if you’re the least bit graphically inclined. What’s more, you can always pick up a slate input device to make it even more effective with your computer. For example, add a device like the Genius MousePen Graphic Tablet (under $50) and suddenly your budding artist (or your Creative Arts Dept) has a great doodling set-up. Somewhere here, there’s a great Christmas gift lurking for the artist you love. :-)

3) Need to Create PDFs? Can’t Afford Adobe Acrobat Standard?

Editor — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 04:57:30 +0000

Try PrimoPDF (alias PDFCreator). It’s fast, it’s effective, and it’s free. See it at…

http://www.primopdf.com/index.aspx

As far as we can tell, there are no malware or adware programs installed. You can choose a paid version… NitroPDF Professional, but even it is just $69 (but only ’til Nov. 30th). With the free version, you get a file similar to a “printer driver.” When you send a file to that “printer”, it creates a PDF instead. So you can start with any program, … including 2003 versions of Word, Excel, or Powerpoint. Best of all, the “PDFCreator” version, like we mentioned above, is free.

4) Headed to a sensitive field? Encrypt your Hard Drive for Free

Editor — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 04:56:03 +0000

Now you can use…

http://www.truecrypt.org/

to completely envelope your laptop’s hard drive in a proective shell. Check it out. You can encrypt a folder, or force encryption of an entire hard drive, pre-boot. What’s more, after that, ancryption is “real-time.” You can even hide keep a hidden volume within the encrypted portion, thus tricking an adversary into believing you’ve given up the hard drive, when in reality, you’ll retain private information on the hard drive in a secure sub-partition.

1) Hope Esl Software: Free English Teaching Cdrom Presenting The Bible

Editor — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 03:58:00 +0000

This high quality CDrom is being used creatively around the globe in many mission contexts. Students develop their English skills while comprehending a dramatic presentation of God’s redemptive story in 12 chapters from creation through Jesus Christ. This CDrom utilizes beautiful images and audio while ALSO including the full film of The Hope (see

http://www.thehopeproject.com/

This resource is brilliant for short-term teams, classes and 1 to 1 tutoring opportunities. Additionally, it can be copied and distributed without charge making it a cheap and practical gift wherever English is in demand. In a spirit of partnership the new version of this resource is being distributed FREE to missionaries and national Christian workers around the globe (donations for postage is appreciated).

http://www.roofbreakers.org/

or email

1) Time To Revisit Fundraising/Accounting Software

Editor — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 03:58:00 +0000

Which kind do you prefer? Quickbooks? “Church Missions”? What’s your favorite and why? Just click on “Comment” below and don’t forget to provide a link to the site for your preferred tool. Thanks!

6) Using Twitter For Christ’s Global Cause

Editor — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 03:53:00 +0000

There’s been some chatter recently, stirred in part by Brigada participant, Doug W., as to whether or not he might be able to use Twitter in overseas communication and reporting. If you’re a regular Twitter user, would you jot a note in the Comments below about how you employ it??? Please mention any limitations and a pointer or two to guiding websites, if there any.

1) North African Team Needs Cell Phone Feature

Editor — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 03:30:00 +0000

Does anyone know of a cell/smart phone that has (or could get) software which would allow an incoming call to (A) immediately be responded to via a text message and (B) simultaneously forward the caller’s information to another assigned phone number? If not, would anyone have the ability or interest to develop a little application like this? It would truly revolutionize a system that believers (missionaries and nationals) in North Africa are developing to do follow-up ministry with the seekers who call in on phone numbers after seeing Christian TV programs on satellite. Got a lead or a brainstorm on this or a related resource? If so, just click on “comment” below to add your response.

2) How Would You Advise This Mission Team To Respond?

Editor — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 02:30:00 +0000

Here’s a mission team in a Muslim land with 6 local volunteers who are wanting to help answer 400 emails from seekers that are starting to rot in our inbox. After finding them, the team put together a pretty good plan for getting them access to computers/DSL/VPNs, etc. But now they need a secure way for these volunteers to access the emails, then respond to, and finally send them. To bypass the issue of whole disk encryption this all needs to happen online. If this system had some nifty capacity to manage/limit user account, route all incoming messages back into the central in-box, etc. that would be ideal. In some ways, this sounds, in part, like a Customer-relation management software package, but the team has no full-time I.T. guy, so the solution has to be easy to implement. Any easy solutions? If so, just click on “comment” below to leave your response. They’d be very grateful.

3) Language Software For Everyone

Editor — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 00:00:00 +0000

We know every tongue, tribe, and nation will be in heaven! Frequently this will be preceeded by ‘foreigners’ bringing the Good News. Most language software will be irrelevant for those foreigners, though, because it only targets big markets (French, Spanish, Chinese, etc.), ignoring 99% of the world’s 6000+ dialects. If you have computer programming talent (or know someone who does) or linguistic expertise, would you please join in a dialogue to explore the creation of a database approach language software that could be used for *any* dialect? Just click on “Comment” below to follow the discussion . . . or better yet, add to it.

4) Online And Offline Digital Library Solution

Editor — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 23:00:00 +0000

See a sample digital library at

http://library.maf.org/

This can be put on a CD for those without internet access. If you are interested in creating an electronic library, view the collection, “How to Build Your Own Digital Library”. Contact the librarian

working with MAF Learning Technologies

http://maflt.org/

for more information. Got a question or comment? Just click “Comment” below.

5) Think Outside The Stack: "Borrow" A Book From A Digital Library

Editor — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 22:00:00 +0000

Along the same theme as the item above, Phil and his colleagues are experimenting with

http://unlibrary.com/

which he thinks will be interesting for missionaries. You can set up private communities in your areas, put your books on there (along with your friends), and then *borrow* a book instead of buying it. As Phil points out, this could work well for some, especially in view of int’l shipping costs. Just like a real (physical) book, you can keep track of the borrowers and rate them, as well. Phil claims it’s easy — and that information from Amazon fills out the book profile. Think outside the stack! :-) What do *you* think about digital libraries? Comment on this below.

6) Get The Word Out About Your Training

Editor — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 21:00:00 +0000

The Evangelical Training Database is a searchable online database at

http://www.trainforChrist.org/english

The project seeks to give information on all evangelical pastoral, theological and missionary training courses world-wide, so that people everywhere can more easily find the training they need to serve the Lord. As well as English, the database has interfaces in Afrikaans, French, German, Portuguese, Serbian and Spanish, and translations are underway into other languages so that the database is truly international. The project is run by the Missionary Training Service, a member of the UK Evangelical Alliance and Global Connections (formerly known as the Evangelical Missionary Alliance). Got a comment on this concept? Click “Comment” below.