Tech Tips for Catholic Teens

“Is there a way to subscribe to Podcasts that are not in the iTunes store?”  I just received a call from a good friend from our Church and he was asking if and how to do this.  I used to think that you had to use Juice (a.k.a. iPodder) or some other pod-catching software, if your favorite Podcasts were not listed in the iTunes store.  However, I later found out that there is a feature in iTunes that allows you to subscribe to RSS feeds*.

This feature has actually existed ever since iTunes added podcast support, but people rarely know about it.

Step 1: Open iTunes and go up to Advanced > Subscribe in the menu bar.

Step 2: When the podcast dialog box pops up simply copy and past the podcast feed url and click “Ok”.

* You can listen and subscribe to any Podcast feed inside iTunes as long as it is a valid RSS feed with media enclosures.

Athanasius contra mundum of the 50 Days After blog thought of a really cool idea.  He calls this idea “Adopting a Catholic Blog”.  Contra says that “By adopting you would keep the author(s) in your prayers and link to their site on your sidebar (if you have a site). But you would also read their blog with some frequency, maybe blog on one of their posts, and comment on his or her blog as you see fit.”

Four Easy Steps to Adopting a Catholic Blog:

1. Choose one of your favorite Catholic bloggers (preferably a St Blogs Blog.)
2. Add a link to this blog in your blogroll or links section of your own blog.
3. Post your selection in the comments section of Contra’s post (try not to adopt the same blog as someone else.)
4. Pray for this blog’s author(s).

Please direct your comments to Contra and let him know that you are praying for him as he is being deployed soon.

Let me start by saying how much I dislike Windows Vista!  Okay, now that I’ve gotten that out of my system, I want to share with you an available fix for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008.

Windows Vista did away with the old Windows Help (WinHlp32.exe) program that allows you to view 32-bit Help files with the file extension .hlp.  Microsoft is strongly encouraging developers to no longer use the .hlp file format, because “WinHlp32.exe has not had a major update for many years, and it does not meet Microsoft’s [new] standards…”  However, they have graciously made WinHlp32.exe available as a download from the Microsoft Download Center.

Here are the proper steps to ensure a successful install:

1. You must install the correct version of the update!  Click here to verify your environment (you have to use Microsoft Internet Explorer for this to work).  For instance, I am running 32-bit (x86).
2. Once you have figured out the information needed in step 1, you are ready to install the update.  Make sure that you are logged on as an administrator.  Click here to obtain the WinHlp32.exe download for Windows Vista.  Click the “continue” button and wait for it to validate.  Then click the “download file below” link.  You will then be taken to a page with different versions of the file.  You will want to download the file which corresponds with the information you received in step 1.  Run this file and you should be all set to view those old Help files.

As always, if you have any problems with this tutorial, feel free to post a comment.

Q. I used to use the Filter menu > Color > Invert Color on a group of shapes with multiple colors to quickly change the colors. In CS3 the Color Filter is gone in the Filter menu! I tried the Invert and Complement options in the Color panel, but they don’t work on multiple colors. Invert makes everything black, and complement makes everything the complement of the topmost object… obviously not what I want to do. Where’s my color filter in CS3? I liked some of the other options too… like the saturation filter. Can someone point me in the right direction, or am I out of luck with this? Adobe often moves things around in upgrades, and sometimes it drives me nuts.

A. I totally understand your frustration. I often wondered why, in the earlier versions of Illustrator, spell-check was under the Type menu and not under Edit menu. Then, just when I started getting used to it being under Type, they went and switched it to Edit in the following upgrade.

Like you, I love the Color Filter feature that used to be found under the Filter menu (which only made sense). Well what I have found, after a little searching, is that they’ve moved it to: Edit menu > Edit Colors, in CS3. I read somewhere that the move was to help support the new Live Color feature.

See the related links for a better explanation of Live Color.

• Edit Colors in the Live Color dialog box
  
• Create a Color Group in Live Color
  

Blessings,
Joshua

If you have a question about anything computer or faith related, contact us and we will gladly respond in a futurer post.

A couple of months ago, Tim, one of the creators of the Faith Database, asked if I would be interested in helping beta test the new version.  How could I say no?  I had been using the previous versions for some time and quickly saw how powerful of a tool this truly is.

The first thing I noticed in the latest version was the new interface.  Not to put down the previous versions, but this latest version looks wonderful!  They have included some video tutorials built into the program to help the user more fully use the database to its intended potential.  When I watched the first video tutorial, I instantly recognized the narrator to be Jerry Usher of Catholic Answers.

If you are like me, you have a bookshelf in your home that includes numerous translations of the Bible, a couple Scripture commentaries, two different editions of the Catechism, the Compendium, the Code of Canon Law, various Encyclicals, books on Church History, some of the classic Christian writings, books about the Saints, writings of the Early Church Fathers, and so on.  The Faith Database is like having your own personal Christian library at your fingertips, but with greater search abilities.  Search any topic relating to the Christian faith and instantly have access to virtually hundreds of resources on that very theme.  One of the nice features is the capability to bookmark portions of a text that you know that you’ll be referring to time and again.

Let’s just say that you can’t find what you are looking for; the Faith Database actually has a built-in web browser, which allows you to search the internet from within the program itself.

Another great feature is how you can export any document or search result to Word, Open Office, Excel, or as a PDF, HTML, TIFF, BMP, PNG, GIF, JPEG, PDF, RTF, XFF, XPS file.

Oh! And just for fun, you can test your knowledge about the Catholic faith by clicking on the Test tab.  I am currently rated a “Novice Apologist” in case you were wondering.

Here are some screenshots of the Faith Database (Beta Version)

Product Summary

• Search over 10 Bible Translations, hundreds of early Church doctrines, and over 1500 classics covering 2000 years of Christianity all at one time.
• Read what the Fathers and Doctors wrote about any particular passage in Scripture.
• Know how to defend your Faith using quotes from the Scripture and Early Church Fathers.
• Contains over 1500 writings, 75,000,000 words & 80,000 pages.
• LEARN MORE >>

I hear that a Mac version is in the works!

Below are some related links about the Faith Database:

• Biblical Research with FaithDatabase (Video Tutorial)
• Searching FaithDatabase (Video Tutorial)
• Faith Database (Giveaway!)

Ever get one of those disastrously long URL’s to copy and paste into your browser? Something like this:

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SavingandDebt/SaveMoney/SaveMoneyDyn.aspx?cp-documentid=9298194&GT1=33007

There’s a really easy simple way to give your friends small short URL’s so that they don’t have to type them in, or worry about getting them cut off in an email or twitter message.

The TinyURL service lets you put in the URL above and get this as an output:

http://tinyurl.com/6lmuzl

TinyURL has been around for a long time and is a reliable service. If you use Firefox, you can download the plugin which lets you right-click a URL and get the tiny version in your clipboard. Very useful for twitter messages.

To change the default font (Myriad Pro for CS3 and Myriad for CS2) in Adobe® Illustrator, you must create a custom startup file by editing the Normal Character Style in the Illustrator startup files for CS2, or the default template files in CS3.

To change the default font for Illustrator CS3

1. Choose File > Open and go to Documents and Settings/User/Application Data/Adobe/Adobe Illustrator CS3 Settings/New Document Profiles (Windows) or to Users/User/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Adobe Illustrator CS3/New Document Profiles (Mac OS).
2. Open one of the default document profile template files (Basic CMYK, Basic RGB, Mobile and Devices, Print, Video and Film, or Web, depending on which type of document you intend to use).
3. Choose Window > Type > Character Styles.
4. Select the Normal Character Style and choose Character Style Options from the palette menu.
5. Select Basic Character Formats and choose the desired font from the Font Family menu.
6. Click OK, and then choose File > Save and close the file.
7. Choose File > New and select the desired default document profile.

To change the default font f or Illustrator CS2

1. Quit Illustrator.
2. In the Adobe Illustrator CS2 Plug-ins folder, copy the current default startup file–Adobe Illustrator Startup_CMYK or Adobe Illustrator Startup_RGB–and save it with a different name. (This creates a copy of the original startup file in case you need it again.)
3. Open one of the default startup files (Adobe Illustrator Startup_CMYK or Adobe Illustrator Startup_RGB, depending on which type of document you intend to use).
4. Choose Window > Type > Character Styles.
5. Select the Normal Character Style and choose Character Style Options from the palette menu.
6. Select Basic Character Formats and choose the desired font from the Font Family menu.
7. Click OK, and save the new file as Adobe Illustrator Startup _CMYK or Adobe Illustrator Startup_RGB in the Plug-ins folder.
8. Restart Illustrator.

If you have any questions about this tutorial, please post them here.

As many of you know, I am a graphic designer. I use Adobe® Illustrator almost every single day.

One of the first things you should do, after you have purchased and installed Illustrator, is to customize your workspace, toolbars, shortcuts, scripts, fonts, and other preferences to your liking. In the weeks to come I will be posting some helpful tips on how to do just this!

The following tutorial will help you customize your starting document (new document). This also works in Illustrator CS2, however the process is slightly different.

To create a custom document profile in Illustrator CS3:

1. Open the New Document Profile file you want to customize in the New Document Profiles folder located in the below directories.
   • Windows: Documents and Settings\(User)\Application Data\Adobe\Adobe Illustrator CS3 Settings.
   • Mac OS: Users\(User)\Library\Application Support\Adobe\Adobe Illustrator CS3
2. Delete any existing swatches, graphic styles, brushes, or symbols you don’t want to retain.
3. Do any of the following:
   • Select the font and style you want as your default font.
   • Create any colors, patterns, and gradients you want, and save them as swatches. You can also import swatches using the Swatch Libraries command and then move the swatches you want in the Document Profile file into the default Swatches panel.
   • Save any graph designs that you want available in your files using the Graph Design dialog box.
   • Create any graphic styles you want and save them to the Graphic Styles panel.
   • Create any brushes you want and save them to the Brushes panel.
   • Create any symbols you want and save them to the Symbols panel.
   • Select the options you want as default settings from the following: View preferences (from the View menu), ruler origins, page origins, print settings (in the Print dialog box, File > Print), and actions.
4. Save the Document Profile file and restart Illustrator.

If you have any questions about this tutorial, please post them here.

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I’m amazed at some of the great comments people have been posting on Catholic Tech Tips.  You can subscribe to the comments feed and feel free to join in on the conversations.

Now I know that AppleTV Has been out for quite some time now, but I still don’t have one. Here is a look at the AppleTV complements of Fr. Geek’s Video Podcast.