Learnings of the Week (Quennie Rose Colegado)

A computer is a machine that manipulates data according to its list of instruction. It is an electronic device that helps people perform different tasks. An electronic device for the storage and processing of information. It is a programmable machine that inputs, processes, and outputs data.

There are six types of computers:

• microcomputer
• workstation
• minicomputer
• mainframe computer
• supercomputer
• wearable computer

Microcomputer

-is a computer with a microprocessor as its central processing unit. Another general characteristic of these computers is that they occupy physically small amounts of space when compared to mainframe and minicomputers. Many microcomputers (when equipped with a keyboard and screen for input and output) are also personal computers (in the generic sense).

Workstation

-is a high-end microcomputer designed for technical or scientific applications. Workstations are intended primarily to be used by one person at a time, although they are commonly connected to a local area network and run multi-user operating systems.

-a desktop computer that has a more powerful processor, additional memory and enhaced capabilities for performing a special group of task.

Minicomputer

- is a largely obsolete term for a class of multi-user computers that lies in the middle range of the computing spectrum, in between the largest multi-user systems (mainframe computers) and the smallest single-user systems (microcomputers or personal computers). Formerly this class formed a distinct group with its own hardware and operating systems notably having smaller address space (notice the cited numbers of bits in a data word, ranging from 8 to 24 bits commonly around 16-bits). While the distinction between mainframe computers and smaller computers remains fairly clear, contemporary middle-range computers are not well differentiated from personal computers, being typically just a more powerful but still compatible version of a personal computer. More modern terms for minicomputer-type machines include midrange systems (IBM parlance), workstations (Sun Microsystems and general UNIX/Linux parlance), and servers.


Mainframe computer

-a very large and expensive computer capable of supporting hundreds, or even thousands of users simultaneously.

Supercomputer

-the fastest type of computer, channels all its power into executing a few programs as fast as possible.

Wearable computer

-are computers that are worn on the body. They have been applied to areas such as behavioral modeling, health monitoring systems, information technologies and media development. Government organizations, military, and health professionals have all incorporated wearable computers into their daily operations. Wearable computers are especially useful for applications that require computational support while the user's hands, voice, eyes or attention are actively engaged with the physical environment.

"Wearable computing" is an active topic of research, with areas of study including user interface design, augmented reality, pattern recognition, use of wearables for specific applications or disabilities, electronic textiles and fashion design. Many issues are common to the wearables, mobile computing, Pervasive computing, Ambient intelligence and ubiquitous computing research communities, including power management and heat dissipation, software architectures, wireless and personal area networks and sensor networks.

One of the main features of a wearable computer is consistency. There is a constant interaction between the computer and user, ie. there is no need to turn the device on or off. Another feature is the ability to multi-task. It is not necessary to stop what you are doing to use the device; it is augmented into all other actions. These devices can be incorporated by the user to act like a prosthetic. It can therefore be an extension of the user’s mind and/or body.

Learnings of the Week (Quennie Rose Colegado)

Windows Movie Maker

Windows Movie Maker is video creating/editing software bundled with the Microsoft Windows operating system since Windows Me. It contains features such as effects, transitions, titles/credits, audio track, timeline narration, and Auto Movie. New effects and transitions can be made and existing ones can be modified using XML code.

The layout consists of a storyboard view and a timeline view, collections for organizing imported video, and a preview screen. When in Storyboard view, the video project appears as a film strip showing each scene in clips. The storyboard/timeline consists of one 'Video' (with accompanying 'Audio' bar), one 'Music/Audio' bar, and one 'Titles/Credits' bar. In each bar, clips can be added for editing (e.g., a .WAV music file will belong on the 'Music/Audio' bar). Still images can also be imported into the timeline and "stretched" to any desired number of frames. The Video and Music/Audio bars can be "cut" to any number of short segments, which will play together seamlessly, but the individual segments are isolated editing-wise, so that for example, the music volume can be lowered for just a few seconds while someone is speaking.

After capture, any clip can be dragged and dropped anywhere on the timeline. Once on the timeline, clips can be duplicated or split, and any of the split sections deleted or copied using the standard Windows keyboard shortcuts or clicked and dragged to to another position. Right-clicking any clip brings up the range of editing options. An AutoMovie feature offers predefined editing styles (titles, effects and transitions) for quickly creating movies.

Like all non-linear editing systems, the original camera file on the hard drive is not modified in any way; the current project file is really just a list of instructions for re-recording a final output video file from the original file. Thus, several different versions of the same video can be simultaneously made from the original camera footage.

Windows Movie Maker can only export video in Windows Media formats or DV AVI. ^[8] It includes some predefined profiles, however, users can create custom profiles which utilize newer codecs using Windows Media Profile Editor (part of Windows Media Encoder 9 Series) and copy those profiles to the %ProgramFiles%\Movie Maker\Shared\Profiles folder for them to be used in Windows Movie Maker. ^[9]

Earlier versions of Windows Movie Maker did not support direct burning of DVDs. The project had to be first saved as an AVI file, and a separate authoring program used to produce and burn the DVD. (Limited but adequate authoring software was often bundled free with DVD drives). The Windows XP Media Center Edition version, bundled the Sonic DVD Burning engine, licensed from Sonic Solutions to author and burn the DVD. The Windows Vista version of Windows Movie Maker passes the video project to Windows DVD Maker to burn DVD-Video discs.

Video can be exported back to the video camera if supported by the camera. Movie Maker also allows users to publish a finished video on video hosting websites.

ersions 2.x included in Windows XP includes 60 transitions, 37 effects, 34 title and 9 credits animations. The Windows Vista version includes a different set of transitions, effects and title/credits animations while dropping a few older ones. There are in all 49 effects and 63 transitions. They are applied by using a drag and drop interface from the effects or transitions folders. Titles and credits can be added as stand alone titles or overlaying them on the clip by adding them onto the selected clip. Titles range from static (non-animated) titles to fly in, fading, news banner, or spinning newspaper animations. Due to the flexible interface, programming custom effects and other content is possible for version 2.0 and higher using XML. The Windows Vista version suppors Direct3D-based effects. Microsoft also provides SDK documentation for custom effects and transitions. ^[10] At the Movie Maker forums, users can get assistance on creating and adding custom effects and transitions.

LEARNINGS OF THE WEEK (Emerald May L. Caligdong)

A computer is an electronic device that helps people perform different tasks. An electronic device for the storage and processing of information. An electronic device stores, retrieves, and processes data, and can be programmed with instructions. It is a programmable machine that inputs, processes, and outputs data. It is a device that uses digital technology to process and manipulate information.

There are 6 types of computers namely MICROCOMPUTER, synonymous with personal computer (PC) or a computer that depends on a microprocessor. There are types of Microcomputer, (1)Personal Computer, a computer designed for an individual user and (2)Portable Computer, a computer designed to be moved from one place to another. There are types of Portable Computer, (1) Laptop or Notebook Computer. It has similar computing power to personal computers but are much lighter and portable. It has a removable, chargeable battery pack. (2)Sub-notebook Computer, slightly lighter and smaller than a full-sized notebook computer, and smaller keyboard and screen. (3)PDA or Personal Digital Assistant, handheld computers designed as personal computers, but became versatile over the year, known as pocket computers or palmtop computers. PDAs can be used in calculations, as clock calendar, playing computer games, accessing rhe Internet, sending and receiving E-mails, video recording, and many more. (4)Tablet PC. It is a notebook- or a slate-shaped mobile computer. Its touch screen allows the user to operate the computer using a stylus or digital pen, or fingertip. The computer is linked to a network using wireless or wired link.

WORKSTATION, a desktop computer that has a more powerful processor, additional memory and enhaced capabilities for performing a special group of task.

MINICOMPUTER, in size and power, it lies between workstations and mainframes. It is a multiprocessing system capable of supporting 4-200 users simultaneously.

MAINFRAME COMPUTER, a very large and expensive computer capable of supporting hundreds, or even thousands of users simultaneously.

SUPERCOMPUTER, the fastest type of computer, channels all its power into executing a few programs as fast as possible.

WEARABLE COMPUTER, the latest trend in computing, integrated into watches, visors, cellphones, and even clothing.

LEARNINGS OF THE WEEK (Laraflyn B. Camay)

A computer is an electronic device that helps people perform different tasks; for the storage and processing of information; stores, retrieves, and processes data, and can be programmed with instructions. It is a programmable machine that inputs, processes, and outputs data. It is a device that uses digital technology to process and manipulate information.

The types of computers are microcomputer, workstation, minicomputer, mainframe computer, supercomputer, and wearable computer.

Microcomputer is synonymous with personal computer (PC) or a computer that depends on a microprocessor.

Types of Microcomputer: Personal Computer, a computer designed for an individual user; and; Portable Computer, a computer designed to be moved from one place to another.

Types of Portable Computer: Laptop or Notebook Computer, has similar computing power to personal computers but are much lighter and portable. It has a removable, chargeable battery pack; Sub-notebook Computer, slightly lighter and smaller than a full-sized notebook computer, and smaller keyboard and screen; PDA or Personal Digital Assistant, handheld computers designed as personal computers, but became versatile over the year, known as pocket computers or palmtop computers;Tablet PC, a notebook- or a slate-shaped mobile computer, its touch screen allows the user to operate the computer using a stylus or digital pen, or fingertip.



Workstation, a desktop computer that has a more powerful processor. Minicomputer, a midsized computer. Mainframe computer, a very large and expensive computer capable of supporting hundreds, or even thousands of users simultaneously, uses its power to execute many programs concurrently. Supercomputer, the fastest type of computer, channels all its power into executing a few programs as fast as possible. Wearable computer, the latest trend in computing, integrated into watches, visors, cellphones, and even clothing.

LERANINGS OF THE WEEK (Ana Lea Cacayorin)

I learned how to use the Windows Movie Maker this week.

Windows Movie Maker is video creating/editing software bundled with the Microsoft Windows operating system since Windows Me. It contains features such as effects, transitions, titles/credits, audio track, timeline narration, and Auto Movie. New effects and transitions can be made and existing ones can be modified using XML code.

The Video and Music/Audio bars can be "cut" to any number of short segments, which will play together seamlessly, but the individual segments are isolated editing-wise, so that for example, the music volume can be lowered for just a few seconds while someone is speaking.

The efficiency of the importing and editing process is heavily dependent on the amount of file fragmentation of the hard disk. The most reliable results can be obtained by adding an extra hard disk dedicated for scratch space, and regularly re-formatting/defragmenting it, rather than simply deleting the files at the end of the project. Fragmented AVI files result in jerky playback on the editing screen, and make the final rendering process much longer.

All Windows Vista versions require pixel shader hardware support. Some systems might not be able to run the newer version. Therefore, Microsoft has also released an updated older version 2.6 for Windows Vista on the Microsoft Download Center. This version requires Windows Vista and allows the use of Windows Movie Maker on systems where the Windows Vista version cannot be run.

In June 2008, a memo purportedly by Bill Gates from January 2003 was circulated on the Internet in which he heavily criticized the downloading process for Movie Maker at the time.[13]. The memo was originally made available online as part of the plaintiffs' evidence in Comes vs. Microsoft, an antitrust class-action suit, and was submitted as evidence in that case on January 16, 2007.

Importing video into Movie Maker 2 is quite easy, mostly because the XP operating system already supports digital camcorder capture. Simply connect your camcorder via a firewire cable, turn it on, and Windows XP will automatically detect it and bring up the capture window. Then, it’s just a matter of choosing your capture format. For high-quality video editing, this means either uncompressed DV-AVI or the new WMP9 compression. This WMP9 compression is excellent, and yields video that is almost as good as DV-AVI, but at a tiny fraction of hard drive space. You can capture manually, or have Movie Maker rewind and capture your entire tape. If you like, the program will automatically split your video into individual scene clips.

LEARNINGS OF THE WEEK (Emerald May L. Caligdong)

Our lessons these week is all about Movie Making. We used the Windows Movie Maker.

Windows Movie Maker was introduced in 2000 with Windows Me, but suffered from poor reviews due to its modest feature set in comparison with the year-old iMovie product on the Apple Macintosh. [1][2][3] Version 1.1 was included in Windows XP a year later, and included support for creating DV AVI and WMV 8 files, but cannot be used with Windows Me. Version 2.0 was released as a free update in November 2002, and added a number of new features. Version 2.1, a minor update, is included in Windows XP Service Pack 2. Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 introduced a new version of Windows Movie Maker, 2.5, with more transitions and support for DVD burning. A WPF version was included in some builds of Windows "Longhorn" (now Windows Vista), but was removed in the development reset.

Using the Windows Movie Maker, you can make videos by importing pictures, audios, and videos from the computer or from the internet.

The layout consists of a storyboard view and a timeline view, collections for organizing imported video, and a preview screen. When in Storyboard view, the video project appears as a film strip showing each scene in clips.

Windows Movie Maker can only export video in Windows Media formats or DV AVI. [7] It includes some predefined profiles, however, users can create custom profiles which utilize newer codecs using Windows Media Profile Editor (part of Windows Media Encoder 9 Series) and copy those profiles to the %ProgramFiles%\Movie Maker\Shared\Profiles folder for them to be used in Windows Movie Maker.

There are over 130 effects, transitions, titles, and credits available. They are applied by using a drag and drop interface from the effects or transitions folders. Titles and credits can be added as stand alone titles or overlaying them on the clip by adding them onto the selected clip.

LEARNINGS OF THE WEEK (Laraflyn B. Camay)

This week, i learned about Movie Making using the Windows Movie Maker.

Our past lessons are the Premechanical Period, Mechanical Period, Electromechanical Period, Electronic Period, and the First-Fourth Generation of Computers.

In making a video of these lessons, we downloaded and collected pictures and videos about these periods and ages.

Windows Movie Maker is video creating/editing software bundled with the Microsoft Windows operating system since Windows Me. It contains features such as effects, transitions, titles/credits, audio track, timeline narration, and Auto Movie. New effects and transitions can be made and existing ones can be modified using XML code.

In the timeline view, the images can also be stretched to any desired number of frames.

Using a microphone, you can narrate a timeline and also put in on the timeline. You can also cut it.

When importing footage into the program, a user can either choose to Capture Video (from camera, scanner or other device) or Import into Collections to import existing video files into the user's collections. The accepted formats for import are .WMV/.ASF, .MPG (MPEG-1), .AVI (DV-AVI), .WMA, .WAV, and .MP3. Additionally, the Windows Vista Home Premium and Ultimate editions of Movie Maker support importing MPEG-2 Program streams and DVR-MS formats. Importing of other container formats such as MP4/3GP, FLV and MOV ,MIDI, AIFF, AAC and SWF is not supported.

After capture, any clip can be dragged and dropped anywhere on the timeline. Once on the timeline, clips can be duplicated or split, and any of the split sections deleted or copied using the standard Windows keyboard shortcuts or clicked and dragged to to another position. Right-clicking any clip brings up the range of editing options. An AutoMovie feature offers predefined editing styles (titles, effects and transitions) for quickly creating movies.

Video can be exported back to the video camera if supported by the camera. Movie Maker also allows users to publish a finished video on video hosting websites.

The efficiency of the importing and editing process is heavily dependent on the amount of file fragmentation of the hard disk. The most reliable results can be obtained by adding an extra hard disk dedicated for scratch space, and regularly re-formatting/defragmenting it, rather than simply deleting the files at the end of the project. Fragmented AVI files result in jerky playback on the editing screen, and make the final rendering process much longer.