Almost every single day, there is news of a new security breach somewhere, and that includes Canada too. And just one aspect of computer security is using a VERY difficult to guess password or passphrase.
What is the difference? To make a long passphrase short … IS a password! Passphrases are longer and are often REQUIRED to be longer than the passwords that we have become familiar with.
And in addition, something called MFA, Multi-Factor Authentication. Basically TWO things you need to know or provide, in order to proceed securely to a UVic or other important site. Think of it as an extra lock on your way into your home, each lock needing a unique key. If you don’t have the first key, you are stopped. And if you don’t have the SECOND key, you are also stopped!
This is great news and will provide ADDITIONALand IMPROVEDsecurity for all of UVic and that means for ALL OF US! Check out, of all places, Wikipedia for a ‘Wikipedia’ explanation of (MFA) Multi-Factor Authentication.
So, the next client might not be swearing at you … they might be providing you with their PASSWORD! WHICH THEY SHOULDN’T DO!
Some fun and interesting links below about famous movie hacks and security!
MORE
OAC WordPress Tips . . . . . . . or . . . CopyCatPost!
TIME for more OAC WordPress Hints and Tips! I have a previous post about OAC WordPress Tips here so this will be some new, brief ones that might save you some time or make your publishing a bit easier and more satisfying!
Copy Post
10)Copy a Post! If you have a previously published Post that is very similar to what you want to create in a NEW Post, then .. just Copy it, and edit out what you don’t want, keep what you want and start creating! That is what I did for THIS post, from my earlier post! Just click on Posts/All Posts, find the Post you want to ‘Copy’ and .. click on Copy! Rename it and you are off to the races!
Add Media to Library
9) Media Library Images – Simply dragany .GIF, .JPG, .PNG, .PDF into the .. Media Library! That is it! I have found that if you want to put a new image INTO your post, then SAVE your draft post FIRST. Then drag the new image resource(s) into the Media Library, then you can add them. If you drag them into the Media Library first, then try to place them in your post, they will not be visible .. until you update your new post.
Snipping Tool (WIN)Mac Screen Grab Keystrokes
8) Screen Capture to Media Library! Ah, if only a simple screen grab (Mac or WIN) could be simply .. taken and pasted into an OAC post. Nope! It must be saved as an accepted format (.jpg or .png) and then put into the Media Library. So Mac is (Command-Shift-4) and WIN (WIN-Shift-S) will give you a crosshair to capture a portion of your screen. Mac instantly makes it a file on the desktop (BONUS!) ready to put into your Media Library. WIN – I use the built in ‘Snipping Tool’ application, then I can edit it in Paint 3d, save it as a .png and then drag into my Media Library. A couple of extra steps, but still quite easy!
7) Small .GIFS are BETTER! I ran into a problem creating some .GIFs in a previous post. Turned out … the ORIGINAL .GIF files were simply TOO LARGE for OAC to animate! So I used ezgif.com to shrink them down to about 25% of original size and they worked fine after that!
Media Library Add NewInsert as URL
6) YouTube videos! Although I have tried to resize them, I can’t figure out how. So, you can insert them with the original URL copy/pasted where you want the video to be IN your Post, or copy/paste and Insert them through the Media Library/Insert from URL section. Both work! Neither can be resized! The trick to resize them is to do a screen grab of a frame. Then put that screen grab in the Media Library, then link it to the actual YouTube Video. Cludgy, but it works, such as at my Post about UVic’s YouTube Channel!
Captions Here NOW!Edit Image
5) Captions for Images! Once I discovered how to put a Caption BENEATH each image, I was off to the races! Adds a nice little touch to each image. AND you can also make it a clickable link to open in a new Tab to a site or even a larger image. It is basically anchored text to the image!
Adding the Caption can be done when you add a new image to the library or on the fly, by clicking on the inserted image, then on the Edit icon and then update the Caption field. It is THAT easy! I do NOT want to go back and edit EACH image, to include a Caption. So when I place one, and it does NOT have a caption, I update it .. and it is there for all the subsequent uses. It does not update older placed images, as far as I know.
Search my Media Library for ‘Capybara‘
4) Search your Media Library! I have … many … images in my Media Library! I should have been including Captions, ALT-Text and Descriptions initially but … did not know! About as simple a search as possible! Will find your criteria in any of the categories associated with your images (Alternative Text, Title, Caption, Description etc.) and even including the file name if you edit it BEFORE adding it to your Media Library. The image above is when I searched my own library for ‘Capybara‘.
shift-return (enter)
3) SINGLE SPACING! This is simple. Sometimes you want to separate a paragraph, image, text by a single line, not the default double when you hit Enter. Just hit SHIFT-ENTER (or RETURN) and … single space. Works especially well for formatting … poetry!
Paragraphs
2) Paragraph/Section Titles! You can use Paragraph and Headings throughout your Post! I use them for titles to YouTube videos and seemingly … out of the blue too!
This post has TWO purposes! First is a post on how to add Text to GIFs! And secondly … to announce the next Jeopardy version MEMES ‘R US is ready for training, sometime in May!
It took me a bit of expermenting with a site called EZGIF.com to come up with easy ways to include formatted and positioned text, in any GIF. I chose to work with GIFs that had NO text, as … I wanted my own text!
How to turn this …. into THIS!
The original GIF, whether you found it or created it yourself, will not be modified at all, just a copy, so you can try all kinds of things with a copy. And worst case, you can just start all over, upload the original GIF and keep on trying new features!
Go to EZGIF.com and click on Add Text. (I have edited out ads)
Click on ‘Choose File’, locate the GIF you want to edit, then click the blue Upload! button. I am using the iMac GIF above as an example.
The GIF will load, start to play, and beneath, all the frames will be displayed in the order they play.
EACH FRAME needs to be edited (for THISGIF) to have the colour in the frame. So I typed EACH ‘colour’ into EACH text box i.e. “BONDI” in the first box and THEN CLICKED SET! That will edit the default settings and put the word ‘BONDI’ IN the frame, with the default settings. Each time you edit each frame, you mustclick SET! I will change ‘BLUEBERRY’ to a different font, position, colour and size to show the differences you can edit, as shown below:
This particular GIF needs edited text in EACH FRAME. Other GIFs, that have more animation, will be a ‘best guess’ as to the timing of the text. But each frame shows a frame, OF the GIF, so actually not that hard. But any text you enter, you must hit the SET for each frame!
When done, at the very bottom of the page, which might be longer, depending on how long your GIF is, will be a blue button to Create GIF!
Click it and in a few seconds, your GIF will be created and run! If it is not quite right, go back and edit those frames you want to change! Then … Create GIF! again!
When done, click on the icon of a floppy disk called ‘save‘ and the site will export your newly ‘Textified‘ GIF to your downloads folder! It is THAT SIMPLE! The … more artistic part comes when you have more frames, more text, a message at the top, followed by a message at the bottom, making text disappear half-way through … etc. AND that is only THIS SECTION of EZGIF.com.
So, crazy question – what IS the difference between Bondi and Blueberry! LOL! Maybe, in person, there is a noticeable difference!
Totally free, easy to use and many more features. With this iMac GIF, I had to use the resize feature as the original GIF was HUGE! I resized it to about 25% (trial and error) and then it was perfect for legibility and running in OAC. The bigger the GIF, the greater the chances it might not actually display in OAC. So … just resize it first!
I have also used Video to GIF as sometimes, you have a .. video clip, and this will convert it to GIF and then .. ALL the controls are there for your new GIF.
I have MANY MANY new MEMES/GIFS for our upcoming CHD Training, and I will put a few below, for fun:
TODAYis Day 407 since Help Desk staff – ALL of us, have been working from home!
Sounds like an entry in a Doomsday Diary!
And … kinda right about that! So, of course, I immediately think of Time Travel! But, to keep it centred on TECH .. I will offer proof that the Commodore 64, and in fact, my own Commodore SX-64 is .. THE FASTEST COMPUTER OF ALL TIME! So .. Time Travel between different Techs and how fast they actually .. Travel through Time …. stay with me!
Absolute video proof that it is faster than any computer … AT STARTING UP! Hey, Time Travel is possible … but for now .. only forward!
You can see that my SX-64 is fully booted .. even before the Apple chime HAS FINISHED on my Apple 27″ iMac! BOOM! Hands down WINNER.. for starting up!
And as you can probably guess, my SX-64 is fastest at … shutting down too! Just turn the switch off! My 27″ Mac has to go through the proper shutdown sequence, and that can take anywhere from 30-60 seconds.
So, literally, my SX-64 is fasterthan my 27″ iMac – coming and going! I also have an old Mac SE, amongst other computers, too! But that needs a FLOPPY to boot up – and installs a RAM disk and … well if you know what a RAM disk is … good times … good times! And the SX-64 would still beat it! I even have an old external SCSI 100MB drive. That is NOT a typo – 100MB drive! Sure was an upgrade from 800K floppies!
OH, and that is my pet Flerken, Lilly! She is always on, so she wins by default! Don’t mess with Lilly!
Original iMovie
So, sometimes old tech, even ancient tech, might still have a purpose! I want to do a post about the original, ORIGINAL version of iMovie! Yes, WAY back when! I created some training videos WAY before I joined The Computer Help Desk!
Back to the Future
And I still have an old 24″ iMac in CALL, dedicated (i.e. NO internet at all!) for analog to digital video conversion using a Pinnacle Movie box. Works incredibly seamlessly, and literally, I can digitize a 90 minute VHS movie in about 90 minutes of real time conversion! Then burn it to a playable DVD (Single or Double-Density!) in about the same amount of time. BOOM DONE! And uses either USB or Firewire .. how quaint!
But that is another OAC Post .. in the future of course! BACK to the Future of course!
PS: This is my 200th published post here at OAC! First person to email me with this ‘200’ number wins a … chocolate bar!
NEWis good, right? Of course it is! And new technology is even better, right?
Absolutely! So .. NEW iMACS ARE FANTASTIC, right? YOU BETCHA!!!!
SPOILER ALERT #1 – Yeah, a big fan of Apple! Ever since I was able to convince a skeptical Macintosh salesclerk to ‘Test Drive A Mac‘, way back in 1984, I have been hooked! Okay, also a Commodore-64 Fan Boy too! But I do use WIN computers for about 99% of CHD stuff now too! I was able to demonstrate the all new Macintosh, to the entire teaching staff where I worked – and even to my night courses too! Good times … good times …..
Apple Spring Loaded Event April 2021
The entire Apple “Spring Loaded” event is below, at YouTube! And just the new iMac announcement too! They are certainly a far cry from the first ever Macintosh sold by Apple! Click here to see a full roster of ALL the Apple Events going back to 2019.
iMacs will now be powered by an 8-core M1 chip, which is a huge step forward for security. THAT ALONE should be a major factor when considering a new computer.
Colours ARE pretty – but not new. Apple did a similar theme years ago with the a ‘Fruit Colors’ release of the G3 iMacs! And I just found out that there were 13 different colours! WOW! I actually still own the Graphite one – and it still works! All the colours are in a YouTube video below and an article here.
For me, the M1, Big Sur, RAM, CPU, SSD, 4.5K (there is half a ‘K’ now?) etc. are all fine and dandy. I expect improvements and enhanced tech in those areas. But I was SO GLAD TO SEE … A RETURN TO THE 24″ SCREEN!
I have a 27″ and it is … too large. CALL has had 21.5″ screens for years … and they are fine. But I really like that ‘Sweet Spot’ of 24″ monitor size!!!!!! Just seems the right size for my eyes and desktop.
And the new ‘Magic Keyboards‘ also look VERY promising! I am an old school fan of the wired extended keyboards and mice, but those are not an option, so I will eventually … get used to them!
The ‘new’ size monitor, Magic Keyboard and Mouse are the real imporovements for me. What you see, what you type and what you point at. Yup, those are key to me!
I will probably order my new iMac in July-ish, when their Educational promotions are on. So probably just a free headset that I will never use! It could be a cheap christmas present too!
I will just have to wait! I have small Table below (one of my new favourite ‘toys’ with OAC!) comparing the original Macintosh (128K) and the new iMacs announced!
And further below, is a great site, EveryMac that you can look up ANY Apple product and find specifications! A great site!
Mac vs iMac (Apples vs Apples!)
The TECH Stuff
Macintosh
(1984)
iMac
(2021)
RAM
128K maximum 512K
Up to 16GB
STORAGE
400K Single Sided 3.5" floppy! Maybe an external SCSI HD of 10MB if you were lucky!
256 / 512 / 1TB SSD
SCREEN
9" monochrome
512 x 342
"True Tone" widescreen "Retina 4.5K" display mounted on a svelte aluminum stand.
4480 x 2520
MOUSE
Clunky but works
Wireless
WIRELESS
Yeah.No. Cables galore!
Wireless everything!
INTERNET
HAHA x ♾
One iMac to rule them ALL!
PROCESSOR & SPEED
8 MHz 68000 processor,
5-nm Apple M1 processor with 8 cores (4 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores), an 8-core GPU, a 16-core Neural Engine, 8 GB of onboard RAM
Operating System
Original Mac 0.97
macOS 11 Big Sur
Original Price
$2495 (US)
$1499 - $1699 (US)
Weight
16.5 lbs (7.5 kg)
9.88 lbs. (4.48 kg)
FULL TECH details of Macintosh, iMac and … G3 MAC CUBE!
I will still go out on a limb and say that the SX-64, that I still own, and still WORKS, is the fastest computer ever built! EVER! Well, EVER .. for startup!
I will prove it too! BUT in a future post about how fast computers are! You will have to stay tuned for that!
And that is about it! Definitely .. Apples and OrangesCommodores!
Yes, a bit cheeky, but just think about how much technology has not only changed, but IMPROVED! Look below for a comparison between a mobile phone and the computers used to … LAND A MAN ON THE MOON! And don’t be so hasty to dismiss …. older technology!
Oh, and … learned about inserting a TABLE here too! BONUS! Tables are very curious beasties here at OAC. A bit of fiddling but .. they do work. Just fussy! And I did learn about them! And that will be a future post too!
I have actually been working on campus, every Tuesday, since September. I alternate sharing an office with three incredible colleagues, strictly following our Safe Return to Work plans, set out specifically for our return to work.
My anxiety level has lessened but is still there, even though I take ALL the precautions necessary. But it was nice to be back ON CAMPUS for the first time since late last March. And with the Fall session, it looks like we might all be back on campus, Full Time. So, why not celebrate a bit with some great spots ON CAMPUS to check out .. and a few … slightly OFF campus!
One of the best parts of working at UVic is biking up to work. I have been biking every day, for 22 years! Well, not 2020/2021 due to Covid, and not most of 2018 (knee replacement) but I was fully back in the saddle by 2019! And the best part of biking … SUNRISE! SPOILER – I actually took this last week, while … GASP … driving to UVic, but I did bike last Tuesday to campus and will each day from now on … barring horrible weather! Mea culpa!
Click on the title below the photo for a much larger image.
And I really like using a Gallery too! And I will include some video for some soothing UVic fountain moments for everyone too! Okay, some aren’t QUITE from campus, but they were taken on the WAY to campus!
Duckies!
More Duckies!
Even MORE Duckies!
Legend Pole
Legend Pole
Oak Bay Sunrise
Oak Bay Sunrise II
Legend Pole
Sunrise Surf Dragon
Mystic Vale Sunrise Bike Ride to CHD
Who doesn’t miss the fountain and the sound of water?
Just sit back and enjoy the sound of moving water!
UVic Cool Sites … Just for fun … when you need them!
“Social Media” – absolutely …. everywhere! And that includes UVic!
SPOILER ALERT #1 – I personally am not that much into “Social Media“. Go ahead and use Google to search for me, but .. not much there! Besides this post is about UVic social media!
OAC or Online Academic Community (WordPress) is the most visible and most used by yours truly, so it is #1 on my list of UVic social media!
If you are reading this … YOU ARE AT OAC! Valid UVic NetLink credentials gives you not just a free site, but FREE SITESPLURAL! Make one for courses, for photos, for recipes or for … anything you want! In fact, some courses might even allow for it to be a project or an actual assignment!
And of course, Facebook. EVERYONE has a Facebook account! Spoiler Alert #2 – I DO have a Facebook account … but good luck finding it!
One of the BEST UVic OAC sites is My UVic Life! Written by and for students at UVic always has a timely, informative and FUN perspective on life at UVic!
When I went to find a list OF all the social media at UVIC, I found the following site of all the Official UVic Accounts … to the right …
A great list of sites! But then ….. right at the bottom, there is a line that says ‘See the full list: uvic.ca/socialmedia‘ and it takes you to THIS BELOW! The treasure chest of ALL UVic social media sites! WOW AND WOW!
It is truly amazing how many Departments, Programs, Services, Galleries and … YOU NAME IT … have a social media account of some kind! Everything from “Academic Communication, Centre for (CAC)” to “Youth and Society, Centre for” … JUSTshy of a ‘Z’ category … and missing ‘X’ too!
Did YouKnow … You might be able to experience . . . macOS on a WINcomputer? . . . OR other neat EMULATORS too?
You can actually try legacy operating systems … on a browser! And it does not matter if you have WIN or macOS either! There are websites that … almost … let you Time Travel to see what earlier version of (then) current Operating Systems were like! They are not intended to be functional, only descriptive and .. kinda fun, most of them! And no implied guarantee of success here! Just some emulator sites I found out there!
And a HUGE distinction between an emulator of an OS, running on a browser and … actually remote access TO a real computer on campus. That is through a real service at: remotelab.uvic.ca and is EVEN COOLER! The screen grab below is of my old MacBook Pro, accessing a WIN computer in Clearihue! A rather existential question arises … is this Windows IN a Mac, or Windows ON a Mac! 🙂 This will be a future post, just to whet your whistle!
And what is regarded as the single greatest Macintosh game of all time is … DARK CASTLE! And you can try it out at the same Mac System 7 site! A bit more on games later ….
Inevitable updates to all operating systems are … inevitable! And one of the next ones was Mac OS 8.6: The classic Mac OS nears the end of its life and this was a HUGE upgrade from System 7 – the number alone is … 1+! You can go directly there from here or click the Mac desktop to the left.
The one that started them all .. well, at least in 1995 .. WINDOWS 95! And again, these are all from VirtualDesktop.org, amongst many others! Considering The CALL Facility started out with DOS based machines, running McMaster French, more closely resembling a text adventure game … WINDOWS 95 WAS CONSIDERED SLICED BREAD at the time!
And a final pairing of WINDOWS ME and WINDOWS NT! Microsoft sure like using lots of letters of the alphabet! But, to be fair … Apple liked using cats before Roman Numerals and then portable devices started to show up and now all kinds of … flavours … just like an ice cream shop!
For more Virtual Experiences, I will list a few sites below, but the best to see the most, is at VirtualDesktop.org. Not all there, but .. enough to do a decent days work of Time Travel and see how Operating Systems have changed considerably over the years!
And one last emulator, from my first ever computer that I bought … COMMODORE – C64 Online Emulator! The drawback here is that you need to upload some kind of file FROM an original C64, then it works. So, not much to try here. But I am going to find out HOW to do it though! And even more Online Emulators from the same place too!
I mentioned games earlier, but will have another post in the future about games. Spoile – I am NOT a Gamer!
Clearihue has … SECRETS? Well, maybe not … secrets …. exactly! More like HIDDEN GEMS that many students might not know about! So I will list a few of what I consider to be Clearihue’s Hidden Gems! And … Spoiler Alert … the VERY BEST ONE IS AT THE END! [Double Spoiler – shameless product placement on my part!]
The Computer Help Desk! What, how can CHD be a Hidden Gem? Well, why not ask someone … how to get there! We are located in the A-Wing of the BASEMENT of Clearihue! Simple enough, but only 2 stairwells with twists and turns, or ONLY ONE elevator with MORE twists and turns … will get you to the front counter of The Computer Help Desk!
And did you also know there are TWO MORE satellite CHD locations in Clearihue? At the entrance to all the Computing Classrooms in A-wing, first floor and …. in The CALL Facility too! I’ll bet you didn’t know that!
Computing Classrooms! The actual computing classrooms, 1st Floor of A-Wing … AND in the Lower Floor of A-Wing too!. Many students do not know that there are 4 classrooms (3 WIN / 1 MAC) and a Multi-Media (WIN & MAC) alcove for drop-in use upstairs! AND that there are 3 MORE classrooms and Multimedia computers in the basement! Rooms ARE booked for scheduled classroom use, but are fully drop-in outside of those posted times. And when Covid is over, hopefully we can go back to just dropping into the computer labs!
During Covid, all other rooms in all other buildings are unavailable. We strictly adhere to UVIC Covid guidelines in ALL our Computing Facilities and The Computer Help Desk in Clearihue.
Clearihue A102Clearihue A030 (Click photo for more pictures)
And if you have not been to our newest upgrade classroom in Clearihue A030 in the basement of Clearihue, just down the hallway from The Computer Help Desk CLEA037. It is a really SPIFF CLASSROOM!
BEC Bookable Rooms
And it gets even BETTER! Ever want to book a room for a study session or a group project and nothing is available at the Library? Well, check out BEC and their Rooms that you can book! AND THAT INCLUDES A ROOM DEDICATED TO VR TECHNOLOGY! Okay, so technically, not in Clearihue, but let’s call it a HIDDEN HIDDENGEM, eh! Bet you didn’t know THAT!
And there are a few other locations in Clearihue that might warrant a bit of a scavenger hunt on your part ……
Clearihue Corner (CLE B001b)
And this is a highly guarded, super secret, need to know basis location ….. NOT! But it is just as hard to get to as The Computer Help Desk! Either from the pictured elevator in B-Wing, or the stairwells at the groundlevel corners of B-Wing. Spacious, quiet, comfy sofas and plugins too! There are even recycle bins to put your organics, plastics, refuse and paper! BE GREEN! There are classrooms, office space and meeting rooms, so just remember to be quiet and polite in this section of Clearihue please.
CLE B001bCLE B001b
Clearihue Inner Courtyard
What a great hidden gem .. hidden in plain site! Quiet, accessible from literally every corner, with sun and shade for all! Even some steps to sit on for a group lunch! Hidden in plain site! the photo below is actually available as a Virtual Background for Zoom! Oh, and … remember … no smoking anywhere inside Ring Road!
And, I saved the BEST for the last! And no apologies for .. WORKING IN THE CALL FACILITY! Shameless promotion! CALL has been around since the Fall of 1989 … and so have I! I have given countless demos, orientations, workshops, projects and assistance to countless students, staff, faculty and guests. And I am amazed each year how many people DO NOT KNOW WE EXIST! I have done many CALL OAC posts and I have a PAGE that is always available no matter what Post you are reading, listing all the Pages too. It is only current to January of 2020 … because … well … Covid. As soon as we are back, I will update absolutely EVERYTHING!
The CALL Facility CLE A025
What is VERY exciting is that just after everyone started to work from home .. NEW FURNITURE ARRIVED IN THE CALL FACILITY! I wrote a post about it here and a few of the photos are below! Click here to see all the new furniture!
New CALL FurnitureNew CALL Furniture
And could it get BETTER? YES, OF COURSE!
At the back of CALL are 2 new large screen monitors and desk space for 6 people at each one! Want to preview your group project in PowerPoint? Want to watch a movie for class? Want to see your Word document SUPER SIZED? Then use this area!
CALL Facility Large ScreensCALL Facility Large Screens
And CALL has USB headsets, optical media, Dual-Boot computers, study space and … The Computer Help Desk BUILT IN TOO! The CALL Facility is the LARGEST COMPUTING CLASSROOM ON CAMPUS!! And yeah, I have been working there since 1989 and it is SO MUCH FUN! Great learning environment and best of all … GREAT UVic STUDENTS AND FANTASTIC COLLEAGUES AT THE HELP DESK!
True story – a student wandered into CALL one day, asking if she could find a computer to charge her iPhone. I said sure, she could use one of the iMacs for either WIN or MAC or just to charge! She asked what ‘this place‘ was. I then asked her what her degree/major was. She replied ‘Linguistics and Italian’. I told her that CALL was HER lab to use, not only for her courses, but at any time she wanted!
And then she said that she was ABOUT TO GRADUATE AND HER PROFS HAD NEVER TOLD HER ABOUT THE CALL FACILITY!
That definitely qualifes The CALL Facility as a Hidden Gem!
I hope you investigate and look for all these Hidden Gems in Clearihue!
The Computer Help Desk – 3 locations in Clearihue
Computing Classrooms – Upstairs and Down
Clearihue Corner – So quiet
Inner Courtyard – Hiding in Plain Sight
The CALL Facility – You can check out, but you can never leave
So, the next client might not be swearing at you … they might be providing you with their PASSWORD! WHICH THEY SHOULDN’T DO! 
When done, click on the icon of a floppy disk called ‘
TODAY 
SPOILER ALERT #1
This is UVic
The one that started them all .. well, at least in 1995 .. 
