The Importance of Flash Drives

What are flash drives?

Flash drives are a relatively new technology and they are extremely convenient to have around.  Flash drives are small devices that plug into your computer’s USB port so you can store data on them.  The data is stored in a special kind of memory called “flash memory”, hence the name.  They are the modern version of the floppy disk and they hold much, much more data.  Most of them are about the size of your thumb and they are also known as “thumb drives”.  They are very inexpensive and can hold large amounts of data.  They are handy because you can transfer and use data on different computers.  This is why they are also called “Jump Drives”.  The prices can range from around $10 to $100 depending on the type and size of storage and can be purchased from most department stores or online.

What can you do with them?

The most important use is make your data portable.  I carry one constantly with me so that I can access my files and programs in class when a teachable moment arises.  You can store data as well as

Open Source Vector Graphics – Inkscape

There are two main types of computer graphics in use today.  They are vector and raster graphics.  The difference is the way the graphics are made by the computer.  Vector graphics are generated by the computer using mathematical equations.  This allows vector graphics to be sharp at any resolution.  Raster graphics are made by using little dots called pixels to make up the graphic.  These are not sharp when blown up to a larger size.

Photoshop is probably the best known raster graphic editor.  Illustrator is probably the best known vector graphics editor on the market.  However, there is a program that is open-source called Inkscape.  Inkscape is a vector graphics editor comparable to Adobe Illustrator or Corel Draw.  It has many features like layers, drop-shadows, blur, masks, and many others.  Check it out and tell me what you think.

Free Photoshop Alternative

Adobe Photoshop is arguably the most popular image editing software in the world.  It is a very mature and complete product.  However, the down-side to the software is its price tag of around $500.  This is out of the reach of most schools.  I use an alternative in my computer lab called GNU Image Manipulation Program or “GIMP” for short.  It has most of the features of Photoshop and it’s free for anyone to use.  You can download it at www.gimp.org.  It runs on many platforms, so download the version for your particular operating system.  GIMP runs on Windows, Linux and Mac OS X.  I teach a Photoshop class and one of my students used GIMP to do all the assignments because they wanted to work at home.  The results and concepts were the same.  Take some digital photos and give GIMP a try.  There are some video tutorials on www.designyourownweb.com and Amazon sells book about the program.  Let me know what you think.

An Alternative Office Suite

Sun Microsystems has a wonderful open-source office suite of programs that anyone can use for free.  It is called OpenOffice.  It is release under the GPL license and it is available for download at www.openoffice.org.  This package includes a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation software, drawing program and database.  It can also read and write Microsoft Office files.  Every student can now have a professional grade office suite for free.  This is definitely worth checking out.