Question: Violeti asks, "How do you change the computer's language to Spanish?"
Answer: Great question Violeti. Your computer has the capability of operating with multiple languages, but there are limitations. You can enter text in different languages with any version of Windows, but making things on the screen appear in Spanish requires either a corporate version of Windows, or a Spanish version. But if you have the licensing version of Windows XP Pro, you can install the Multilingual User Interface pack. For Vista and I suppose Windows 7, these are built into the Ultimate and Enterprise versions. The only other way to do it is to buy a Spanish version of Vista or Windows 7 and install that. This is one of those questions that comes up whenever people have to prepare a computer in one country for use in another where the language spoken isn't the same. For example, a computer donated to a missionary. If the off-the-shelf English version of Windows is donated, then while the missionary can use the computer, he'll almost have to buy another copy of Windows in the country he's been called to if he wants to use it as a teaching tool.
Cool Site: Instructables: Did you ever want to know how to do something? Well, at instructables.com, you can find out how to do almost anything; from making homemade buttermilk biscuits to an air-powered pirate cannon. Each how-to article is illustrated with photos and are generally written in a step-by-step format that allows you to get a good idea of what you need to do. The site has an Answers section, which is like a search engine that lets you ask how to do something, and if there's an article on it, you'll be directed there. They have lots of contests going on, like "Make it Stick" – a Gorilla Glue contest, an LED contest, a Back-To-School contest, and many more. Each contest has a deadline and you can see how many entries have already been submitted. You'll find forums on their various topics, so that you can discuss your projects with others. You can submit your own articles for others to use and learn from, but you have to sign up as a site member first. As with most websites, membership is free. You can also upgrade that membership to a Pro membership for a fee, and then you can download PDF versions of the instructables articles. You can spend a lot of time there, but the best thing about it is that it's all educational – mostly all, that is.
Cool Gadget: 3D Shot Cam: 3D is all the rage now: 3D movies, videos, TV's, monitors, and now cameras. The Takara Tomy company is releasing a simple 3D digital camera next spring in Japan. I hope it comes here soon after. The camera has two lenses which allows its 0.3 megapixel sensor to capture a 3D digital image. It uses SD memory cards up to 8GB. The big drawback is that there's no way to view the pictures you took without printing them out. But when you do, and then insert the pictures into one of the two included stereoscopic viewers, you'll get a full 3D image. Of course, at only a third of a megapixel, those images won't be terribly detailed. The camera is slated to run about $70. More on 3D next week.
It's All "Geek" To Me: Permalink: This week's term is "permalink". You'll see this one in blogs, and it's just a combination of "permanent" and "link" the same way permafrost is permanent frost. In blogs specifically, a given post or article can appear on a main page, but may move around later. If I want to be able to get back to the article in the future, I need a link that will always work. That's the function of the Permalink.
