Archive for the ‘Free Software’ Category

Discover Paint.NET the best free software for retouching portrait photos – TechRadar

Retouching portrait photos is often referred to as 'Photoshopping', but you don't need to splash out on Adobe's premium software to make your images look amazing.

Paint.NET is a completely free photo editor that's just as capable as many full-price programs. It was originally created as an upgrade or replacement for Microsoft Paint, but has evolved from those humble beginnings into a powerful tool for editing images and creating your own artwork from scratch.

Editing out blemishes is easy with the stamp tool - hold [Ctrl] and click a nearby area to take a sample, then click and drag to 'paint' over the flaw. Like all the tools in Paint.NET, the stamp is fully configurable and can be adjusted using the options at the top of the main window. For a natural look, enable antialiasing and reduce the hardness of the brush.

When retouching portrait photos you might need to take several samples and to make sure the colours line up with the contours of the face. The clone stamp is also very useful for editing out flyaway hair, or specks left by dust on the camera lens.

Like Photoshop, Paint.NET supports plug-ins, some of which are specially created for retouching photos. Installing plugins is easy - just download the ZIP archive, then extract the DLL file to Program Files > Paint.net > Effects.

One of the best for photo retouching is Liquify, which you can download from the Paint.NET forums. Just like the Photoshop tool of the same name, it lets you distort images by clicking and dragging, and you can use it to smooth out bumps, slim down noses and tighten jawlines. Keep your changes subtle, and bear in mind that the background will also be distorted by Liquify, so avoid using it near any lines or regular patterns.

Like any photo editor worth its salt, Paint.NET includes a levels editor (under Adjustments), which you can use to adjust the contrast in your image. Tweaking the diagonal line into a gentle S shape will increase contrast and make your picture look more dramatic, but you might find decreasing the contrast yields a more flattering effect.

For a more dramatic change, try the Soften Portrait tool (under Effects > Photo). This softens skintones in your picture and lightens colours to obscure imperfections (a little like deliberately over-exposing a photo). It also adds a flattering warm color cast. The default setting is a bit strong for retouching portrait photos, so tweak the sliders until you're happy with the result. The Vignette effect (also in the Photo menu) is worth a try too - it adds an Instagram-style retro camera effect that draws attention to the subject.

With so many dedicated functions and filters, plus user-created plugins that replicate the most popular features of premium retouching tools, Paint.NET is an essential tool for perfecting everything from selfies to wedding portraits - and it's completely free.

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Discover Paint.NET the best free software for retouching portrait photos - TechRadar

Want Hollywood results on a budget? Here’s the best free video-editing software – Digital Trends

People like movies no question about it but not everyone likes to go through the painstaking task of filming and editing their own feature-length film. Its often a difficult process, one that can be filled with time-consuming chores and tedious work, not to mention a costly budget. However, simple editing can be done on the cheap if youre willing to ditchpowerful, high-end software such asFinal Cut Pro or Sony Vegas Pro in favor of a more modest program. Lets face it, youre probably not going to be taking home the Palme dOr with the film you cut on your laptop, but your home movies and YouTube uploads can take on a whole new shine with a few straightforward tools.

Below areour picks for the best free, video-editing software available for Windows and MacOS. Now you can channel your inner Michael Kahn, Thelma Schoonmaker, or Arthur Schmidt on a nonexistent budget. Ready, set, EDIT.

Apples iMovie has long been one of the most consumer-orientated video editors out there. Its bundled with all new Macs, and touts some serious practicability for the everyday user. The latest version of the software allows you to import and edit 4K video clips from a variety of external devices, such as smartphonesand GoPro cameras, and sports a clean interface that is attractive and easy to navigate. The ability tostart editing on iPhone or iPad and finish on a Mac just renders it even more convenient.

Aside from video, images and audio can also be incorporated into your project by simply dragging your desired multimedia into the project area and arranging them in timeline-like fashion. The resulting video can always be previewed in real time, as well as any effects themes, text, music, voice-overs, etc. before exporting the file directly to YouTube, Facebook, or a wealth of other platforms. Other recentfeatures include a basic audio editor, the option to make previews for apps youve developed, and the even ability to make your own movie trailers complete with transitions and end credits. Its not a tour de force in terms ofvideo editing, but its perfectly suitable for home videos and minor projects.

Although Movie Maker is not officially supported inWindows 10, you can still download and use it to create videos.Like iMovie, itsanother easy-to-use video editor capable of creating fresh videos without the bells and whistles associated with more robust programs such asFinal Cut Pro andAdobe Premiere Pro. The software letsusers combine video, images, and audio using a drag-and-drop method similar to iMovie, and it features all the essential functions we now come to expect from any basic editing software. Adding themes and effects is a breeze, as is trimming video and one-step uploading to various sites such asYouTube and Facebook.

Limited format support is a drawback, as is the jarringwhite background which makes its resemblance to Microsoft Word even more pronounced. A decent video converter or media player can typically solve the format issue within minutes, though. For the background color, youre on your own. Additionally, the full-screen preview and high-definition webcam capture are also a plus. Theaudio-editing capabilities are pretty limited, but for simple videos, the softwares fade in and fade out capabilities should suffice. Windows Movie Maker certainly wont floor you with its capabilities, but it does offer enough free incentives to keep the amateur video editor satisfied without the financial burden of the aforementioned, heavy-duty programs.

Most of the software programs in our roundup cant boast Hollywood credentials like Lightworks can. EditShares non-linear editing system has been used to help produce everything from LA Confidential andPulp Fiction toHugo and The Wolf of Wall Street, offering a solid set of both free and premium tools that we simply cant ignore. Notable features include professional-level color correction, GPU-accelerated real-time effects, video capture, and nearly all-encompassing format support. However, the free version is only capable of exporting MPEG-4 files with a resolution of up to720p. Thankfully, Lightworks also offerstraditional tools for importing, trimming, and seamlessly weaving audio and video together with a few effortless mouse clicks.

Other great inclusions are the programs instant auto-save functionality, which works flawlessly in the background, and the ability to select Avid and Final Cut Pro keyboard layouts if you refuse to adopt Lightworks default design. Despite its brawny capabilities, itsquick and on-point,and the full-screen interface is polished and well organized as well. Also, given the open-source nature of the software and steep learning curve associated with the freemium product, theprograms forumsare more bustling than most. Lightworks is by far the most fully featured video editor on our list, however, its also the one that requires the user to be the most tech-savvy to truly tap into its powerful framework and flagship feature set.

Avidemux is the Instagram of video editing software: quick, dirty, and impressively capable. The software is designed for quick trimming, filtering, encoding, and a slew of other basic features. The cross-platform software also remainsopen-source with a resourceful wiki page to boot and tasks can be automated using assorted projects, job queues, and custom scripting capabilities that push it beyond barebones functionality.

With light features also comes a light footprint, and Avidemux takes up little space compared to the other programs in our roundup. It also allows users to change extensions and select individual output formats when theyre finished editing a video, but the less-than-friendly interface makes it difficult to utilizethe more intricate features and worthwhile tools. It may remain a bit buggy and prone to crashing, but the programs defaults still work as intended, making Avidemux is a standout choice once youve learn your way around the software. Just remember to save your work.

The lesser-known VSDC Free Video Editor comes bundled with a hodgepodge of video-editing features not to mention an onslaught of adware most of which isdesignedfor quick editing and conversion. Also, while the software might be free, the technical support is not.

However, the editor stillboastsa good deal of capabilitieswhen it comes time toalter lighting, splicevideo, and applyfilters and transitions in post production. Moreover, once you get used to the clunky interface, you can make good use ofall of them. Thesoftwaresports a minimalist design and a simple navigation ribbon that isnt nearly as complex as it looks, and it handles many common formats, from AVI to MP4. It also combinesaudio and video effects with ease.

While the software does run slow when utilizing more power-intensive tools, the recent builds rarely crash and offer optimized save outputs for a variety of devices, including smartphones and gaming consoles. Like the aforementioned Lightworks, the non-linear editing system is able to produce stellar, professional-grade videos in the right hands, but users will have to get over the learning hurdle before they really start to see what VSDC Free Video Editor is capable of.

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Want Hollywood results on a budget? Here's the best free video-editing software - Digital Trends

US Trade Group Hacked With Chinese Software Ahead of Xi Summit – Washington Free Beacon

Reuters

BY: Reuters April 6, 2017 12:36 pm

By Joseph Menn

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) A sophisticated hacking group that pursues Chinese government interests broke into the website of a private U.S. trade group ahead of Thursday's summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, according to researchers.

The hackers left a malicious link on web pages where members of the National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) register for upcoming meetings, according to researchers at Fidelis Cybersecurity and a person familiar with the trade group.

The nonprofit NFTC is a prominent advocate on international trade policy, with corporate members including Wal-Mart Stores Inc , Johnson & Johnson , Amazon.com Inc , Ford Motor Co and Microsoft Corp .

The malicious link deployed a spying tool called Scanbox, which would have recorded the type and versions of software running on the computers of those exposed to it, said Fidelis researcher John Bambenek. Such reconnaissance is typically followed by new attacks using known flaws in the detected software, especially older versions.

Scanbox has only been used by groups associated with the Chinese government, Fidelis said, and was recently seen on a political site aimed at Uyghurs, an ethnic minority under close government scrutiny in China.

The breach was detected about five weeks ago by a NFTC director who is a customer of Fidelis, the security company said. Both the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the NFTC were notified and the malicious link removed, and Fidelis said it had no evidence of NFTC members being infected.

The FBI and the NFTC declined to comment. A spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

Bambenek said he believed the attack was classic espionage related to international trade talks, rather than a violation of a 2015 agreement between former U.S. President Barack Obama and Xi to end spying for commercial motives.

The summit starting on Thursday is the first meeting between Xi and Trump, who blamed China on the campaign trail for the loss of many U.S. jobs and vowed to confront the country's leaders on the matters of trade and currency manipulation.

"I think its traditional espionage that happens ahead of any summit," said Bambenek. "They would like to know what we, the Americans, really care about and use that for leverage."

Other security firms agreed that wholesale theft of U.S. intellectual property has not returned.

Instead, FireEye Inc and BAE Systems Plc said that the hacking group identified by Fidelis, called APT10, has recently attacked government and commercial targets in Europe.

FireEye researcher John Hultquist said heavy industries in Nordic countries have been hacked more often as Beijing switches priorities.

"They are certainly taking those resources and pushing them to other places where they can still get away with this behavior," Hultquist said.

(Reporting by Joseph Menn in San Francisco; Addtional reporting by Dustin Volz in Washington; Editing by Bill Rigby)

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US Trade Group Hacked With Chinese Software Ahead of Xi Summit - Washington Free Beacon

Gadget Daddy: If you use AOL, free software is going away – News … – News Chief

By Lonnie Brown Ledger correspondent

You might have noticed that my email address appears each week at the end of this computer column. I have been an AOL user even before there was an America Online: I was a subscriber of Quantum Link, an Internet provider formed in 1985 specifically for Commodore 64 computers. Thirty years ago, Commodore was the top-selling computer in America, and it's what I used to write the computer column back in those days.

Quantum Link grew, and in 1991 changed its name to America Online and gave the Quantum Link users a lifetime membership in the newly named company.

I stuck with AOL all those years. It was easy to use then, and still is. At one point, that free membership was worth $20 a month, when computer users who wanted to get online had to "dial up" a phone number and connect with AOL.

Today, there are still dial-up customers left in mostly remote areas of the country, but the majority use their telephone or cable company to get online. If that's the method you use, AOL has a free "bring your own Internet connection" that allows non-AOL members to use AOL services, including reading their AOL emails.

Once again, AOL is about to change its business model. If you use AOL software to access your email, or use its chat rooms or other features, that software will cease to work on April 7.

To use AOL after that date, you'll need to download the new AOL Desktop Gold and subscribe to the service for $4 a month.

What about email? Desktop Gold will have it, of course. But even if you don't subscribe to the new service, emails will still be available from the AOL website: http://www.aol.com. Just click on "Mail" and use your screen name and password to sign in. You will not lose your AOL screen name if you don't advance to Desktop Gold.

Speaking of screen names: Each primary account user can have six other screen names under his or her primary account. With AOL Desktop Gold, "Each account can have seven screen names," said Natalie Azzoli, AOL's communications director. "Nothing has changed."

If those users want to continue under a primary account, they will need to download Desktop Gold and also obtain the primary user's confirmation email to activate the Desktop Gold connection.

So what does the less-than-$1-a-week fee get you?

"What we will provide as a value service is that if you ever have questions or need support with AOL Desktop Gold, live AOL experts are available to help by phone or chat messages 24 hours a day, seven days a week," said Azzoli. "You can get assistance with anything from installation to toolbar customization, desktop connectivity and more, right when you need it. We believe this will be helpful to our users."

I know there are readers out there whose parents use AOL. And those readers are thinking: "Oh thank goodness. If they sign up, they can call AOL instead of calling me." As one offspring wrote on a message board recently: "I would like to have them stop using AOL but they're in their 80s, they have used the service for 25 years, and it's not going to happen."

So when those parents call up, keep the AOL help-line number handy.

Desktop Gold users won't get it immediately, but Azzoli said that "anti-phishing and anti-keylogging are currently on the roadmap to be part of Desktop Gold in the near future." And the current chat rooms on AOL's older desktop versions won't be immediately available, but will be added to Desktop Gold within the next several weeks.

AOL Desktop Gold will automatically update itself with new versions, and updates will be installed faster. It will keep the look and feel of current AOL desktop versions.

Also new is a two-step verification feature that should make accounts much harder to hack. "Plus, added encryption makes the personal information youve stored in AOL Desktop unreadable to anyone attempting to steal it," Azzoli noted.

There is a 30-day free trial for the software, but you'll have to notify AOL when the end of the trial date approaches or you will continue to be billed for it. The new desktop will automatically transfer usernames, passwords, icons, mail, contacts and mailing lists from the old desktop.

To learn more, visit this AOL website for questions and answers: http://www.tinyurl.com/AOLDesktopGold.

Contact Lonnie Brown at ledgerdatabase@aol.com.

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Gadget Daddy: If you use AOL, free software is going away - News ... - News Chief

Microsoft Goes Completely Open Source Grab All Its Software And Source Code For Free – Fossbytes

Short Bytes: Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has just announced that Microsoft has become a completely open source company. It means that you can now grab all software like Windows and Microsoft Office for free and get your hands on their source code as well.Nadella added that the company is looking to expand its cloud business and planning to try out new things very soon.

While many people were worried about Microsofts hidden intentions, the Linux Foundation director, Jim Zemlin, said that Microsoft is a changed company. But nobody thought that Microsoft could ever become a completely open source companynot until today.

In an announcement made earlier today, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced that all Microsoft software are open sourced and the users can freely download them. Just in case youre wondering, this open source list of softwarewhich already had Powershell and .Net Core 1.0now also includes Windows 10 operating system and Microsoft Office productivity suite.

So, what would Microsoft do to make money? Well, the answer lies in cloud. Yes, Microsoft is raking tons of money with its Cloud business and giving Amazon and Google Cloud a run for its money. Nadella, who has been an advocate of cloud computing, said that Microsoft is also looking to explore new and exciting forays, which will be disclosed in near future.

Having said that, you can go ahead and visit this link to grab the source code of Windows and Office. Read Microsofts blog for more information.

It was an April Fools Day prank, obviously.No matter Microsoft expresses tons of open source love, its not going to be a completely open source company in near future. But, we can surely hope that this fake news turns out to be true someday.

Meanwhile, dont forget to share this post with your friends and family and give them shock of a lifetime.

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Microsoft Goes Completely Open Source Grab All Its Software And Source Code For Free - Fossbytes