Posts - Blip

229 - Controlling Your Computer with an iDevice

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 04:05:48 +0000

Robbie and Eric show you how to control your computer with an iDevice and freely available VNC software.

228 - Controlling Your Computer with Your Head

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 04:07:04 +0000

Robbie and Hillary demonstrate an amazing piece of technology for ergonomic or accessible use which allows you to control your computer's mouse by simply moving your head.

227 - Freeplay Human Powered Devices

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 02:53:17 +0000

Robbie and Eric take a look at a handful of the awesome flashlights in the Freeplay product catalogue. Never change a light bulb or battery again!

226 - Creating a Desktop Wallpaper for Linux with GIMP

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 02:44:29 +0000

Robbie and Rachel demonstrate how to create a simple desktop wallpaper for your Linux machine.

225 - Changing photo backgrounds using the GIMP

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 04:40:33 +0000

Robbie and Hillary show you how to use the free GNU Image Manipulation Program to remove and replace the background in a photograph to make a Christmas photo usable throughout the year.

224 - Linux for little ones

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 05:32:42 +0000

Robbie and Christa show you how to setup Qimo as a session so when your young children login to your computer they are presented with a "made for kids" desktop experience.

222 - Tiling your Linux applications

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 13:54:44 +0000

Robbie and Christa introduce you to a Python script which lets you tile the windows on your Linux desktop, helping you organize your running applications and improve ergonomics.

221 - Making the Internet faster ... for free.

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 13:33:33 +0000

Robbie and Rachel demonstrate how to make your Internet service faster by using different DNS servers than those supplied by your Internet Service Provider. And best of all, it's a free upgrade, and you can change it at any time if you're not satisfied.

220 - HD Video, Web Streaming and Shopping for HD

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 13:26:07 +0000

Robbie and Eric show you the difference between four different grades of consumer video camera, and explain what each is capable of.

219 - Be a smart kid - Understand and stand up against cyber bullying

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 03:12:27 +0000

Sharron-Ann Reynolds from iamaSMARTkid.org joins Robbie and Hillary to discuss how technology has changed the bully and created the cyber bully. Important information for parents, and young people alike.

218 - Linux Distros - Part 4: Linux Mint 12

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 03:42:01 +0000

Linux Mint 12 RC gives us a glimpse into the upcoming "Lisa" release of Linux Mint. Robbie and Christa also give away prizes to our draw winner as well as on Click Race.

216 - The Cloud Powered by Asigra

Wed, 09 Nov 2011 05:12:29 +0000

Robbie and Eric chat with Eran Farajun from Asigra Inc. about Cloud backups and how "the cloud" relates to businesses and end users.

215 - Falling Back in Love With Ubuntu

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 03:31:23 +0000

Robbie and Hillary show you how to make Ubuntu 11.10 look more like the old-style Ubuntu with a Gnome 3 running with a Gnome 2.x-looking layout and theme.

214 - Halloween Special

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 03:56:01 +0000

Robbie and Christa (Spock and Paper Bag Princess) answer a slew of viewer questions in this special Viewer Question Extravaganza.

213 - Adding Textures in Photoshop (and GIMP)

Wed, 19 Oct 2011 03:10:19 +0000

Robbie and Rachel compare notes between Photoshop and the GNU Image Manipulation Program in a battle of epic proportions.

Enhancing the Linux Clipboard

Wed, 12 Oct 2011 03:34:17 +0000

Robbie and Eric show you how to obtain, install and use Glipper, an excellent clipboard enhancement for Gnome.

211 - Installing Ubuntu 11.10

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 11:52:27 +0000

To kick off Season 5, Robbie and Hillary show how to install Ubuntu 11.10 Linux on your computer.

210 - A Year of Batteries and a Browser-Based Photoshop Alternative

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 04:46:01 +0000

Robbie Ferguson and Christy Burton (Van Noort) demonstrate a web-based Photoshop alternative that lets you edit images directly in your browser window with a professional image editor. Lionel Lalonde from Eco Alkalines joins the on-air team to award a year supply of eco-friendly batteries to a lucky viewer. Also, looking at a GUI front-end for lshw, a Linux tool that shows you detailed information about your computer hardware.

209 - Enhance your video directly on YouTube

Wed, 21 Sep 2011 05:24:45 +0000

Robbie Ferguson and Christa Wells demonstrate how to use YouTube's new video editing feature to enhance the quality of your videos, practically instantly. Rachel Xu joins the Category5.TV Team and presents news from the Category5.TV Newsroom.

208 - Making LibreOffice Load Instantly

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 05:59:50 +0000

Robbie Ferguson and Eric Kidd demonstrate an easy way to make LibreOffice (and OpenOffice) load instantly on your computer, effectively improving the perceived speed of your computer.

207 - Creating Stop-Motion Video on Linux with Free Software

Wed, 07 Sep 2011 11:37:51 +0000

Robbie and Hillary demonstrate how you can create a stop-motion movie using free software and a webcam in Linux.

206 - Space Fish gets a name, and Windows programs work on Linux

Wed, 31 Aug 2011 05:12:14 +0000

Robbie and Christa introduce a fun way to test if the lag issue is a [ahem] thing of the past by giving 25 viewer points to every user. Space Fish gets his name, and is happy to finally have an identity and purpose in life. Robbie demonstrates how the free "wine" utility can be used on Linux to run popular "Windows Only" applications directly and natively on Linux.

205 - A Year of Batteries, Pogoplugs and Live Lag

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 05:41:55 +0000

Robbie and Christa talk about HP's decision to shut down its PC/tablet arm, announce your chance to win a year supply of Eco Alkalines batteries, and offer a couple Pogoplug devices to give away. Many viewer questions are addressed. Lag on the streaming server unfortunately placed an unexpected delay on features, so viewer interaction was restricted, but a make-good episode will take place next week.

204 - Naming Space Fish and Creating Magazine Covers

Wed, 17 Aug 2011 04:11:01 +0000

Robbie Ferguson and Hillary Rumball demonstrate how to create a magazine cover using the free GNU Image Manipulation Program. The new Category5 Space Fish needs a name and you could win up to 300 viewer points.

203 - Viewer Question Extravaganza and an iPad

Wed, 10 Aug 2011 04:30:21 +0000

Robbie Ferguson sits down for a little one-on-one with the viewers, answering a wide assortment and large number of viewer questions. He also demonstrates the upcoming new version of the Category5 TV mobile site using an iPad.

202 - Technology Makes Its Way to Cottage Country

Tue, 09 Aug 2011 03:43:26 +0000

Robbie Ferguson visits with Silver Beach Developments' Gerry Kowalski to discuss their involvement in getting technologies such as high-speed Internet and zoned heating/cooling systems into Haliburton, Ontario. Hillary Rumball reviews the incredible Liquid Image MX video camera mask, and gets muddy doing it.

201 - CyberPower GreenPower UPS

Wed, 27 Jul 2011 09:32:44 +0000

Robbie and Christa take a look at the CyberPower GreenPower UPS, an economical battery backup with higher-end features such as a full LCD display, better-than-average surge protection, a $500,000 Connected Equipment Guarantee, and cost saving, environmentally friendly features. A large assortment of viewer questions this week as well.

200 - Celebrating 12,000 Minutes of Category5 TV

Wed, 20 Jul 2011 11:17:27 +0000

Robbie Ferguson is joined in studio by Christa Wells, Eric Kidd, Carrie Webb and Jodi Krangle to look back at 200 episodes of Category5 TV.

199 - Linux Distros - Part 3: CrunchBang Linux

Wed, 13 Jul 2011 10:56:53 +0000

Robbie introduces CrunchBang Linux, a hacker-esque distro based on Debian and featuring the ultra-fast OpenBox window manager.

198 - Linux Distros - Part 2: Zorin OS 5 Free

Wed, 06 Jul 2011 11:15:55 +0000

Robbie and Christa take a look at Zorin OS 5 Free, an exceptional Linux distribution, especially for users wanting to migrate from Windows or Mac to Linux.

197 - Linux Distros - Part 1: PCLinuxOS 2011.6

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 10:39:13 +0000

Robbie and Christa begin our new series taking a look at an assortment of Linux distributions, starting with PCLinuxOS 2011.6 with KDE.

196 - Creating Screencast Tutorials on Linux

Wed, 22 Jun 2011 17:37:15 +0000

Robbie and Christa answer a ton of viewer questions and have a great time doing so, and then show you how to record and produce your own screencast tutorials on Linux using an assortment of free tools.

195 - Ubuntu Unity Replacements

Wed, 15 Jun 2011 02:20:01 +0000

Robbie and Christa take a look at scaling video to fill the frame in OpenShot video editor, and offer a couple viable alternatives to Ubuntu's default Unity desktop.

194 - Free Video Editing in Linux

Wed, 08 Jun 2011 02:25:02 +0000

Robbie demonstrates the free OpenShot video editing software, which brings non-linear editing, 3D titles and effects to Linux.

193 - Viewer Question Extravaganza

Wed, 01 Jun 2011 03:19:37 +0000

Robbie and Christa go through a handful of viewer questions and say hello to viewers from all over the world.

192 - Web Site Development - Part 12

Wed, 25 May 2011 01:40:05 +0000

Robbie finishes off the web development series with Search Engine Optimization, and offers a free online tool for Search Engine Submission.

191 - Web Site Development - Part 11

Wed, 18 May 2011 01:50:39 +0000

Robbie fixes the footer of the web site and slices the HTML file out into PHP includes. ; A handful of viewer questions are answered and new chances to obtain Viewer Points are introduced.

190 - Web Site Development - Part 10

Wed, 11 May 2011 01:45:54 +0000

Robbie adds Lorem Ipsum placeholder text and some padding to the site layout. ; Several viewer questions are also answered during this episode, and two more viewers win 100 viewer points for wearing a cardigan.

189 - Web Site Development - Part 9

Wed, 04 May 2011 02:08:27 +0000

Robbie fixes the z-index issue from last week, and finishes off the main layout of the site as he and Christa continue the Web Development series.

188 - Web Site Development - Part 8

Wed, 27 Apr 2011 01:51:13 +0000

Robbie and Christa continue coding their new web site by placing the Polaroid photograph and beginning the placement of the submenu below the woodgrain. Learn about absolute positioning in CSS and how to use margins to position an element within a container.

187 - Web Site Development - Part 7

Wed, 20 Apr 2011 01:42:30 +0000

Robbie interviews Loudon Owen, the chairman at i4i and discusses the US Supreme Court lawsuit against Microsoft and what it means for patent holders. Robbie and Christa continue their series on web site development, and we learn how to center text using CSS, and place image elements by both HTML and CSS.

186 - Web Site Development - Part 6

Thu, 14 Apr 2011 01:58:46 +0000

Robbie and Christa battle a failing broadcast server, but entertain you none the less as they integrate the Google Font API into the web site.

185 - Web Site Development - Part 5

Wed, 06 Apr 2011 01:37:31 +0000

The menu is ready to go and Robbie and Christa get moving into the actual site layout and begin implementing the woodgrain area.

184 - Web Site Development - Part 4

Wed, 30 Mar 2011 04:10:09 +0000

Robbie and Christa continue coding the web site and teach us how to add specifically-sized top margins to our site and place our logo and menu elements using CSS floats.

183 - Web Site Development - Part 3

Wed, 23 Mar 2011 01:53:39 +0000

Robbie teaches us how to reduce the filesize of our polaroid PNG file, and then gets started coding the site itself. We learn the very basics of what our site will need for CSS, and start coding the layout itself.

182 - Web Site Development - Part 2

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 01:53:58 +0000

Graphic Designer Christa Wells returns and Robbie puts Photoshop up against the GiMP as they both use their respective software to slice the web site Christa mocked up on last week's show.

181 - Web Site Development - Part 1

Wed, 09 Mar 2011 02:49:53 +0000

Robbie is joined by graphic designer Christa Wells to begin the series about Web Site Development. In this first part of the series, Christa demonstrates the creativity required to create the design of a professional looking web site.

180 - Restoring from a Bare Metal Backup with Clonezilla

Wed, 02 Mar 2011 02:31:13 +0000

Robbie uses the free Clonezilla tool to restore a full backup of the entire hard drive, bringing your computer back to its previous state, including the drive's data and files.

179 - Bare Metal Backups with Clonezilla

Wed, 23 Feb 2011 03:52:28 +0000

Robbie uses the free Clonezilla tool to create a full backup of your entire hard drive.

178 - Creating Mosaic Images

Wed, 16 Feb 2011 02:41:56 +0000

Robbie demonstrates how to create a mosaic image: one big image comprised of thousands of tiny images.

38 - Logitech Wave Keyboard

Thu, 10 Feb 2011 17:51:53 +0000

Robbie demonstrates what he believes to be the most comfortable, ergonomic computer keyboard ever developed, and also shows us how to re-partition a harddrive with free software, without losing the data.

177 - Surge Protection

Wed, 09 Feb 2011 02:38:40 +0000

Safer Internet Day in Canada: protect your children by educating yourself about the Internet. Making sure you buy the right surge protection.

176 - Becoming a Blogger

Wed, 02 Feb 2011 02:58:25 +0000

Setup your own WordPress blog and get blogging with your own web site URL provided for free from WordPress.

175 - Internet Broadcasting 101

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 02:39:59 +0000

An in-depth look at live streaming, along with representatives from Telestream (the makers of Wirecast 4), Filippa Hasselstrom and Christine Porter. Robbie and Hillary host an informative, practical discussion about how live video streaming on the Internet is revolutionizing media and video content delivery.

174 - Synergy

Wed, 19 Jan 2011 02:30:06 +0000

Robbie teaches us how to share our keyboard and mouse with multiple computers (Linux, Mac or Windows) using the free Synergy Software.

173 - Drum Beats on Linux

Wed, 12 Jan 2011 02:38:31 +0000

Hillary joined Robbie and Eric in studio, and we learn to create professional sounding drum beats on Linux using the free Hydrogen step sequencer. A lot of viewer questions were asked and answered, giving us a plethora of topics for Episode 173.

172 - Miro Internet TV

Wed, 05 Jan 2011 07:05:12 +0000

Robbie demonstrates Miro Internet TV - a great tool for Mac, Windows or Linux that lets you obtain and watch the top quality Internet TV shows. Also, a tour of the new Category5.TV web site is provided, along with a cool web-based tool that sorts your text lists for you.

171 - VirtualBox 4.0 and Time Tracking on Linux

Wed, 29 Dec 2010 02:38:07 +0000

Installing VirtualBox 4.0 on Linux and setting up the Hamster Gnome Applet to track your time.

Category5 TV Episode 169

Wed, 15 Dec 2010 03:45:39 +0000

Episode 169

Category5 TV Episode 168

Wed, 08 Dec 2010 02:32:20 +0000

A simple technique to create a glossy web button out of any image.

Category5 TV Episode 167

Wed, 01 Dec 2010 02:28:15 +0000

Robbie's wife had the baby, so Robbie, Eric and Hillary do their best to pull a show together, which is more "fun" than "educational".

Category5 TV Episode 166

Wed, 24 Nov 2010 02:03:32 +0000

Mounting a Pogoplug in Windows or Linux. Adding DD-WRT to your router, or choosing a router specifically to install DD-WRT.

Category5 TV Episode 164

Wed, 10 Nov 2010 02:20:35 +0000

Hillary Rumball returns to us as News Correspondent from school. Robbie shows us how to run Planet Calypso on older hardware. You can win a brand new Brother MFC-J615W all-in-one printer.

Category5 TV Episode 163

Wed, 03 Nov 2010 12:49:53 +0000

Basic Photo Manipulation Part 7: A simple photo editing technique that will enhance any color photograph.

#Category5 TV Episode 161

Wed, 20 Oct 2010 01:12:49 +0000

We talk with Marc Ruel from Brother Canada about home office organization. Win a Brother MFC-J615W and Nanodots.

Category5.TV E160

Wed, 13 Oct 2010 01:24:13 +0000

Installing Ubuntu 10.10 in a virtual machine. Giving away more Nanodots.

Category5.TV Episode 159

Wed, 06 Oct 2010 02:35:24 +0000

Setting up a Twitter.com Account. Giving away Nanodots.

Category5.TV Episode 158

Wed, 29 Sep 2010 02:54:01 +0000

Data Security.

157 - 3rd Anniversary Special - Category5 Technology TV

Wed, 22 Sep 2010 03:17:34 +0000

Recorded Live September 21, 2010. * 3rd Anniversary Special. * 2 hours long. * Special guests: Carrie Webb, Christy Burton, Hillary Rumball, John Van Noort, Bekah Ferguson, Tali Ferguson, Zech Ferguson.

156 - Panoramic Photo Creation - Category5 Technology TV

Tue, 14 Sep 2010 02:39:52 +0000

Robbie presents Hugin and demonstrates the beginning steps to creating a panoramic image using the free software tool. Also giving away several sets of Nanodots, so don't miss it!

155 - Answering Questions with Eric - Category5 Technology TV

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 01:09:57 +0000

Recorded Live September 7, 2010. Robbie welcomes Eric Kidd to the set.

Category5.TV Episode 154

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 01:19:31 +0000

Basic Photo Manipulation Part 6: making a summer photograph look like it was taken in the fall.

Category5.TV Episode 153

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 01:13:25 +0000

Basic Photo Manipulation Part 5 - batch resizing photos.

Category5.TV Episode 152

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 01:08:05 +0000

Basic Photo Manipulation Part 4 - Doing "Hollywood-style" photo touch-ups, part 1 Launch of the Category5.TV Newsroom.

Category5 TV Episode 151

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 01:05:01 +0000

Basics of photo manipulation part 3: making photos look old. Creating your own hackergotchi.

Category5 TV - Episode 150

Wed, 04 Aug 2010 01:06:27 +0000

The basics of photo manipulation series, part 2. Understanding what "Layers" are. Removing a complicated object from a photo while maintaining the background (at least, seeming to).

Category5 TV Episode 149

Mon, 02 Aug 2010 01:26:40 +0000

The Cottage Special. Looking at underwater video recording with a Liquid Image digital camera mask, which records what you see while you dive or snorkel.

Category5 TV Episode 148

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 01:14:29 +0000

Learning the basics of photo manipulation.

Category5 TV Episode 147

Wed, 14 Jul 2010 01:11:24 +0000

Farewell, Christy Burton

Category5 Technology TV Episode 146

Wed, 07 Jul 2010 01:00:20 +0000

Watch the sun rise and set on your Ubuntu desktop.

Category5 TV Episode 145

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 00:59:48 +0000

Pogoplug now supports Internet-based printing from mobile devices. Planet Calypso now has vehicles.

Category5 Tech TV Episode 144

Wed, 23 Jun 2010 01:12:25 +0000

Reverse Image Searching.

Category5 TV Episode 143

Wed, 16 Jun 2010 01:15:35 +0000

Episode 143

Category5 Technology TV Episode 142

Wed, 09 Jun 2010 02:30:14 +0000

Clean that computer, Christy!

Category5 TV Episode 141

Wed, 02 Jun 2010 01:19:21 +0000

Hillary installs Ubuntu 10.04.