How Does A Clone Differ From An Image

From the Archives of CTC, Inc:


Tech News and Views

Not too long ago I wrote an article about cloning vs. imaging a hard drive. But, some users are still confused. So here goes another attempt at an explanation of the differences.

If you make a clone of your hard drive, you will have an exact sector for sector copy. If you remove the hard drive from your computer and replace it with the clone, the computer will behave the same way it did before you made the switch. The operating system and all of the programs will transfer. But, let's suppose you made the clone a month ago. If so, everything is out of date. You could make a new clone everyday, but clones take a long time to make and each time you clone you overwrite the data that was on that drive.

Images are also exact copies, but the data is compressed, so you can have many images on one disk and the new ones will not overwrite the older ones. However, to boot your computer so you can restore an image, you must have made and now will have to use a recovery disk. To make one, just type "Create a Recovery Disk" in the Windows 10 search box and follow the prompts.

Originally posted by Alan Marcus

How To Add Sound To LibreOffice

From the Archives of CTC, Inc:


Tech News and Views

Here's the way to add sound to LibreOffice Impress.

Add sound to LibreOffice Impress Presentation

• Open the Impress presentation and Audacity (side by side)
• Click Record in Audacity and record the sound for the first slide. Click Stop to stop recording.
• Click File Export Audio and OK. Give file a name or number (such as slide 1) and save as WAV file.
• When Edit Metadata slide appears, just click OK.
• Go to Libre Office and click View. Select Slide Transition
• Choose None for transition
• Click down arrow by word Sound
• Click Other Sound
• Click the number of the saved sound file that matches the slide
• Click Open
• Click Slideshow and start from current slide to preview recording
• Click Edit Delete to delete audio track from Audacity, so you can record sound for next slide.
• Repeat process for remaining slides.

When you have recorded sound for each slide, click Insert Sound and then select respective slide. An image of a speaker will appear on the slide. Drag the image off to the side of the frame so that when a slide show is shown the speaker picture is not visible. Save all and then test the program.

The finished program with the speaker icons can be copied to a flash drive and to another computer.

Originally posted by Alan Marcus

The Difference Between Computer Image And Backup

From the Archives of CTC, Inc:


Tech News and Views

Many computer users do not understand the difference between a computer image and a computer backup.

Generally, backups refer to saving documents, pictures, downloads, videos and music. The backups are generally made by saving to an external hard drive, but, since flash drives have increased in size, some users are backing up to them instead.

Since backups do not include programs such as Printshop, Photoshop, Microsoft Office, etc, and don't include the operating system (such as Windows, Linux, etc), if the computer crashes, all of that missing information has to be re-installed. If the user had created an image (all files and programs from the computer), all could be re-installed in one fell swoop.

Originally posted by Alan Marcus

How To Start A New Line Within A Spreadsheet Cell

From the Archives of CTC, Inc:

To start a new line within a spreadsheet cell, use one of these options:

1. In Microsoft Excel, press Alt + Enter to create a new line within a cell. You can create many new lines in a cell by repeatedly pressing the Alt + Enter key combination.

2. In OpenOffice, LibreOffice Calc and Google Sheets, press Ctrl + Enter to create a new line within a cell. As with Excel, you can create many new lines in a cell by repeatedly pressing the Ctrl + Enter key combination.

How To Register For MyHealtheVet

From the Archives of CTC, Inc:

In June, 2016, I posted some info about a Veterans Administration site called MyHealtheVet. The site gives access to veterans regarding appointments, medical records, pharmacy orders and much more. If you want to see what the site provides use this link, myhealth.va.gov.

If you want to access the personal information the site provides, you must register. Use this form to become a registered member, myhealthevet/user-registration.

I have used MyHealtheVet many times to re-order medicines, send messages to my doctor, and to review and retrieve records.

Originally posted by Alan Marcus

Get A Fast SD Memory Card For Your New Camera

From the Archives of CTC, Inc:

The newest cameras have capabilities like 4K video, very fast frame rates (120fps) and very long burst shooting. They'll need a speedy memory card.

At the end of this post is a comparison chart for some of these SD memory cards. The write speed is by far the most important for most camera uses. That tells you how fast you can get data on to the card. The read speed, which is often used in marketing, tells you how fast you can get data off of the card.

It’s important to note when buying a card, you may not get much benefit from the fastest cards. It depends on what you’re putting it in. To take advantage of UHS-II speeds you’ll need a camera or reader that’s compatible with UHS-II. If it’s not, the card will still work, they’re backward compatible usually, but you won’t get the highest speeds the card is capable of.

Understanding the Specs

SD, SDHC, or SDXC

Plain SD cards have a maximum capacity of 2GB, while SDHC cards max out at 32GB, and SDXC cards can support up to 2TB. This metric does not affect speed at all.

UHS

Some SD cards have a UHS (Ultra High Speed) classification. This determines the maximum speed at which a memory card can read. Non-UHS cards max out at 25 MB/s, UHS-I cards have a maximum theoretical speed of 104 MB/s, and UHS-II cards allow for a maximum transfer speed of 312 MB/s. UHS-II cards also have a second row of electrical contacts to aid in the speed boost. If your memory card reader or camera does not have the second row of contacts, the speed will be more in line with UHS-I cards. The UHS classification is a good way to help gauge a card’s burst speed.

Speed Class

To determine the minimum write speed of a card, you need to look at its Speed Class rating. This means that the card has been verified to never write slower than whatever it's class rate is. Some cards may write a lot faster, especially since the fastest speed class is currently just 30 MB/s, but they will never write slower.

• U3: Minimum 30 MB/s Write
• U1: Minimum 10 MB/s Write
• Class 10: Minimum 10 MB/s Write
• Class 6: Minimum 6 MB/s Write
• Class 4: Minimum 4 MB/s Write

Video Speed Class

The SD Association has also recently introduced a Video Speed Class rating, designed to identify cards capable of 8K, 4K, 3D, and 360° video. This speed class is just another way of verifying the minimum sustained write speeds of cards.

• V6: Minimum 6 MB/s Write
• V10: Minimum 10 MB/s Write
• V30: Minimum 30 MB/s Write
• V90: Minimum 90 MB/s Write

Comparison Chart
(based on independent tests by havecamerawilltravel.com)

Brand	Model #	Class	UHS	Write (MB/s)	Read (MB/s)
Lexar	Professional 2000x LSD32GCRBNA2000R	U3	UHS-II	241.4	278.0
Toshiba	Exceria Pro N101	U3	UHS-II	231.7	254.4
SanDisk	Extreme Pro SDSDXP	U3	UHS-II	196.8	257.7
SanDisk	Extreme Pro SDSDXPA	U3	UHS-I	89.2	94.5
SanDisk	Extreme Pro	U1	UHS-I	85.4	94.3
Lexar	Professional 1000x LSD32GCRBNA1000	U3	UHS-II	82.2	156.3
SanDisk	Extreme PLUS SDSDXSF	U3	UHS-I	64.6	88.7
SanDisk	Extreme SDSDXNE	U3	UHS-I	62.5	89.5
Sony	SF32UZ/TQN	U3	UHS-I	56.3	91
Sony	SF32UX2/TQ	U3	UHS-I	55.9	90.6
KIngston	SDA10	U1	UHS-I	54.2	92.5
Kingston	SDA3	U3	UHS-I	53.1	91.7
PNY	Elite Performance P-SDX128U395-GE	U3	UHS-I	51.5	95.2
SanDisk	Extreme SDSQXNE	U3	UHS-I	48.7	89.2
Lexar	Professional 633x LSD64GCBNL633	U3	UHS-I	40.1	79.4
Transcend	TS32GSDHC10U1E	U1	UHS-I	34.6	95.3
SanDisk	Extreme	C10	UHS-I	34.4	47.4
SanDisk	Ultra SDSDUNC	C10	UHS-I	17.1	75
Lexar	Platinum II	C10		16.4	23.6
SanDisk	Ultra 30MB/s	C10	UHS-I	11.4	45.9

Credit:nbsp; havecamerawilltravel.com/  and  www.bhphotovideo.com/

3 Search Sites That Don't Track You Like Google And Others Do

From the Archives of CTC, Inc:

When you need to get information or find something online, chances are you go to Google. But while Google is great at Web searches, it’s hardly stellar when it comes to privacy. It saves your search history, scans your Gmail, tracks your location, keeps everything you say to “OK Google,” and a lot more.

Google does this partly to make its services more useful to you, by knowing what you want before you want it. But it also does it so it can serve you ads targeted just for you. Google also owns the digital ad network DoubleClick, which serves those interest-based ads.

Aside from blatant ad targeting, Google also filters results for you based on your search history. This "filter bubble" means that you and a family member can search for the same term, but come up with different results. To be fair, Google does let you wipe your search history, but it's always going to be trying to put two and two together.

If you're tired of Google and its lax view of privacy, here are three private search sites that don't track you. Check them all to find the one that's best for you.

DuckDuckGo

DuckDuckGo is a solid Google replacement that doesn't track or target your IP address or search history. You don't have to worry about targeted search results or being trapped in a filter bubble, which actually means you get more results.

DuckDuckGo includes the nifty calculators and other tricks you've come to expect on Google, but that's not all. You can customize its interface, with search shortcuts and an Instant Answers feature that's just as good as, if not better than, Google's Knowledge Graph. You can also make DuckDuckGo an extension of your browser and activate more privacy settings to keep your search history as protected as possible.

Yippy

Yippy automatically detects and blocks adult content, including pornography, gambling sites, sex product sites and other websites that are not appropriate for kids. Plus, the site protects your privacy.

It will not collect personally identifiable information about you, like your name, telephone number, address and email address. It may collect anonymous information about your computer, though, such as your IP address. It also uses cookies, but not to track your personal behavior.

Startpage

Startpage calls itself the world's most private search site. It doesn't record your IP address, browser information or search history, so advertisers can't track you. Startpage also keeps you out of filter bubbles, so you can get the search results you're looking for.

It also gives you the privacy of searching via proxy, so the sites you visit don't even know your real IP address. This is similar to Tor, but without the hassle of setting it up. Startpage's proxy option gives you the most online privacy. It may slow down your searches, but when you select "proxy," Startpage makes you invisible online.

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Even if you minimize your use of Google, it's not the only company collecting your information and using it in scary ways. Facebook and hundreds of other sites track and share what you do.

Credit: foxnews.com/tech/, Kim Komando