Gone Fishing's User Ed Application 3 [ACCEPTED/AWAITING RANK]

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Table of contents:

Making pop cans explode.
How to change what a file opens with.
How to check your DirectX settings.
How to make a program on your graphing calculator.
How to wear in jeans.
How to change what programs start up when your computer starts up.
How to use Camtasia Studio.
How to play burned PS1 Iso’s without a mod chip.
How to make a basic text editor in VB.
How to add objects to your desktop.
Basic CSS tutorial, getting started.
How to make a basic content generator in PHP.
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Why do I want to be a user ed? I feel that I should be a user educator because, in my opinion, I am pretty good at explaining things to people who have no background whatsoever on certain topics. I also feel that I know some pretty unique things that many people could find quite interesting to learn . I do like to help people, but that’s not really why I want to be a user educator, because NO ONE wants to help people, and if people say they want to help people, they are probably lying. I also want this rank because I think it would help me become more trusted among the community itself, which would be quite nice if you ask me.

I hope you all enjoy my tutorials . Constructive criticism is supported, but don’t flame please. All of these were written by me, and are not to be ripped off.
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Making pop cans explode.
Items needed:
A pop can (must be a can)
A hatchet (or an axe will work)
A clear area to use
Paper towels for clean up

Background – Me and my friends used to have a fort in the woods behind my house and we used to do this in there because we had a hatchet and we were bored . Hope you have fun.

1. Grab a can similar to this:

2. Go into an open area where you will not get in trouble for making a mess
3. Set the can down on a rock or the ground, a rock works better.
4. You have 2 options:
1. Smash the pop can with all of your might and watch as it explodes.
2. Chuck the hatchet at the pop can. I like this way better, it looks better.
5. The not so fun part, the clean up. Just clean up the areas covered by the soda, and don’t forget to dispose of the destroyed pop can. No one likes litter :\.

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How to change what a file opens with.

Information : Have you ever wanted a file, such as a .avi movie file, to open with a program other than windows media player? Well here is how:

1. Select the file that you want to change.
2. Right click it.
3. This menu should come up:

4. Another menu should come up when you roll over that menu.
5. Next select "Choose program…"
6. This menu should come up:

7. Here are what the numbers mean:
1. This is where you select the new program for it to open the file with.
2. By clicking this, it will make this change stay forever and this program will become the default program to open this type of file with.
8. Have fun changing your programs :].
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How to check your DirectX settings:

Information : Is there an error with your Direct X settings or do you just want to change your Direct X settings? Well look no further:
1. Go to start > run.
2. Type in "dxdiag".
3. This window will come up:

4. Now to check your settings, go to video at the top. You should get this screen:

5. I suggest that you test both to make sure they are working properly. If they are not I suggest that you either reinstall your current version of direct x, update it, or check if you have the right version. If your version of direct x does not support d3d, I suggest your upgrade your direct x version today.
6. You can also test direct music and direct sound, just select them at the top in the according tabs.
7. You can download direct x here : http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...DB71-4C1B-BC6A-9B6652CD92A3&displaylang=en’
8. Good luck :]

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How to make a program on your graphing calculator.

Information : I love programming in TI basic :]. I have come up with a very simple tutorial on how to make a dot move around on the screen when you hit the arrow keys.

Lets get started shall we? I am not going to use the numbers on this one because they get in the way :\.
First grab your calculator. I will be using my trusty TI-83 calculator. Turn it on and press the program button. Go over to "New". Name your program and then you will be in a screen with ":" on it.
This is where we have to start. First you need to set a few variables, X and Y. These are the variables that will handle where the object is on the screen. To do this you need to do this:

The arrow (->) can be found by pressing the button right above the on button. This piece of code puts the number 1 into x and y.
Now we need to start a loop so your program will keep refreshing itself. First we need to start the look by using while 1. While 1 is an infinite loop because 1 will always be 1.
Press the program key and hit the 5 button to get the while command. Then type 1. Then go to program and hit 7. This will end the contents of the loop.

Next we have to draw the character with the output command. You want to output him at Y and X. Go to program, hit right, and hit 6. This will give you the output command. Type (after the output) Y,X,"*".
It should read "Output(Y,X,"*") "
Or:

Next add a "clear home" so that it clears the screen after it draws it so your screen doesn’t get spammed with * symbols. If you remove the clear home you will understand what I mean.

By now you should know how to find functions by hitting the program button so I will not guide you though that part from now on. Find the get key function and add it. Then after it add an arrow and then add a K. It should look like this "Getkey -> K" or:

What that does it takes the key you enter and stores it in K. Now here is how to make your character move without going off the screen:

What this does it, it checks what key you hit, and then moves the character depending on the key.
Left = 24
Right = 26
Up = 25
Down = 34
The x-1->X and the code like that means, subtract one from X and then set that = to X, so basically you are subtracting 1 to x or adding.
Now you’re done! Have fun with that!

NOTE: Make sure your code goes in the following order:
While 1
ClrHome
Output()
Otherwise this code will malfunction.
~~
5th Guide :]. How to wear in jeans.
Don’t spend cash on jeans that are already worn in..
Information : The reason I have included this is because people are spending cash on pants or jeans that are worn in, that’s just stupid. Here is a guide to do this yourself for no extra cost.
1. First, get a belt sander, or a hand sander. Sand paper will not work. Well it might, but trust me you don’t want to do it that way.
2. Put your jeans on and have a friend sand where they are tight or where you want them to be worn in.
3. You should feel the seams loosen up. As they loosen, tell your friend to stop when they feel alright.
4. You can do this without them on, but it might be a bit harder to tell when they are sanded enough.
There you go :]. Now you don’t have to wait a year until they wear in!
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How to change what programs start up when your computer starts up.
Information : Many programs run in the background of your computer without you knowing it. This is a way to disable those programs from running on the startup, so that way you do not have to deal with added lag.
1. Go to start > run.
2. Type "msconfig"
3. This screen should come up:

4. Click on startup, which I have outlined for you .
5. This menu should now come up:

6. Check the programs you want to start up and uncheck the ones you do not want to come up.

NOTE: SOME PROGRAMS ARE ESSENTIAL TO RUNNING WINDOWS DO NOT REMOVE FILES YOU ARE UNSURE OF!
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How to use Camtasia Studio.

Information: This program is used to take screen captures and video captures. I will explain to you how to make a video capture and how to save it. I will also teach you how to save a file as a .gif file so you can have an animated video clip for the web .

Recording a project:
First, click here:

Then this will pop up:

Click Specific Window.
Then click the Select Window button and click on the window you want to record.
Click next. If you want to record audio or a camera, select those. If not, click next.
This next part is critical. On the next screen make sure you check this:

DISABLE ACCELLERATION! This will make it so there is no lag while you are recording!

Cick finish and you will get this menu:

When you want to record, just click the button.
HOTKEYS:
F9 – Record
F12 – Stop Recording
When you are done recording move onto the next steps:

Saving your file
First go to file>Produce video as.

Then you will see this:

If you want to save it as .gif, see the next side note. Otherwise, skip the side note and move on by clicking next with the settings I have added above.

[SIDE NOTE] Saving as . gif.
In the same step above, click "Manage presets":

Click new.

After that enter those settings and just keep clicking next, the rest of the settings are ok. Then click ok and click next.
[/side note]


Now back to the main screen. After you hit next, this screen will come up. Select the dictionary and the file name that you want and it will create a folder with your project in it:

Now click next then finish and wait for it to save.
NOTE: It lags quite a bit while you are saving, so don’t be doing anything important.
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How to play burned PS1 Iso’s without a mod chip.
1. Well, this requires disk switching, so you have to make it so your playstation will stay open and it will think it’s closed. On your PS1, under the lid in the upper right hand corner there is a round circle. You need to get this to stay pressed down, which will make your PS1 think it’s closed. Here is how I did this:

What I did was I put a screw driver into that button and held up the screw driver with a pair of pliers because that was all I had on hand at the time. However, you can do this in many ways, such as taping a rock onto that spot or taping another angular object onto that item.
2. Now, I’ll assume that you know how to burn your Iso’s, but if you don’t just download alcohol 120% and look up a tutorial. Burn your disk and grab a REGULAR ps1 game, any game doesn’t matter which one.
3. This is where the switching comes in. What you have to do is first put in the regular (real) PS1 game. Wait until the disk starts to speed up (usually when the diamond symbol on the white screen comes up and it makes the usual sound on that screen) and once it speeds up, switch it with the burned game.
4. Now you should be on the black playstation screen. Now you have to watch the disk. The disk will speed up and then slow down considerably 2 times. (Speed up, slow down, speed up, slow down). When it slows down the second time, switch it with the SAME original playstation game.
5. The game should start to load up, as soon as this happens; switch it with the burned game again. Voila! You’re done. It takes a few tries to get the pattern down, but you should get the hang of it.

How to make a basic text editor in VB.
1. Open up VB and make a new form. This project only needs 1 form.
2. Make a command button and name it "save".
3. Double click on the "save" command button and add this line of code:

Code:

 Form1.CommonDialog1.CancelError = False
Form1.CommonDialog1.Filter = "Text Files|*.txt|All Files|*.*"
Form1.CommonDialog1.ShowSave
On Error Resume Next
Open Form1.CommonDialog1.FileName For Output As #1
Print #1, Text1.Text
Close #1 

What this does is it opens up the save dialog box, sets the filter to Text files and all files (you can edit this to whatever you want, if you set it to html, the files will save as .html and if there are html tags, they will be read as html.). Then it saves. Note on this line:

Code:

 Print #1, Text1.Text 

If you named your text box (see below) a different name besides Text1, you will have to change the "Text1" to whatever you re named it.
4. Press "Control + T" and it should open the components window. Look for the "Microsoft Common Dialog Control" component:

5. Now, you should have a new button on your toolbar, select it and add a dialog control to your form.
6. Add a text box to the form. Make it reasonable size. Next, under properties, make sure that the "multi line" function is turned to "true".

7. Now add another command button and set it’s caption to "clear". This will be used to, yup that’s right, clear the text box. Once you have it added, double click it and add this code:

Code:

Text1.text = ""

NOTE: If you named "text1" something else you’re going to have to make the correct adjustments.
8. That’s it, your form should look like this:

This program is very useful to give yourself little notes or comments.

How to add objects to your desktop.
NOTE: This method only works for Windows XP and above.
1. Go to your desktop and right click and select "properties".
2. Click on the "Desktop" tab.
3. Click on Customize Desktop:

4. Go to the "Web" tab.

5. Click "New".
6. From here you will be able to select "browse" and pick any image or html file that you want to appear on your desktop. Until you delete them, they will always be on your desktop, you can more them around, and you can also make more than one.
7. Click "Ok", and then click "Ok" again to close the properties window.

Basic CSS tutorial, getting started.
Well, I’m pretty sure this hasn’t been done before, so I might as well do it .
CSS stands for Cascading style sheets. CSS has several main uses, it is used to add color and formatting to html that doesn’t have structure, and it also allows you to eliminate the use of tables in certain cases; however that is a bit more advanced.

Here is the basic format of CSS using the terms that I will use in this tutorial:

Code:

selector {property : value;}

The selector is what you are adding the css to, this will be explained later.
The property is what is what is being manipulated, such as color, border, or font.
The value is what color, border, or font you are actually adding to the property.

First I will explain how to start using CSS. First of all, to add css to your pages, you must put the actual CSS into these tags:

Code:

<STYLE TYPE="text/css">CSS HERE
</STYLE>

Now that you know how to actually add css, lets start manipulating existing tags, such as <p>. If you want to manipulate an existing html tag, all you do is put what is between the < and the > as the selector. So it would look like this:

Code:

P { property : value; }

Next, lets say you wanted to change the color on every page to be blue, you would use the "Color" property, and then change it to blue like so:

Code:

P { color : #0000FF; }

NOTE: #0000FF is the html code for the color blue.
The ";" at the end of that is very important, it lets the code know when the end of that line is. In css, whitespace doesn’t matter, so let’s say you wanted to add a new line to that code, let’s say you wanted to add a different font onto that code, you would do this:

Code:

P { color : #0000FF; 
font-family: times; }

However, if that ";" wasn’t there, the computer would read it like this:

Code:

P { color : #0000FFfont-family: times; }

It would think the "color" you are trying to use is "#0000FFfont-family: times;", which, as I hope you know, isn’t an actual color.
Now, this really helps you when you are working on large scale project, you wouldn’t have to keep re defining the font color. You can also make tags of your own, lets say you wanted to make a tag that changes the font to times new roman and the color to white, so it stands out, and you don’t want to keep having to change the color with the font tag, you could make a very short tag like <k></k> and it would work. You would just have to make a custom css for it like so:

Code:

K { color : #FFFFFF; 
font-family : times; }

Now there are other ways of doing this, you can also use a "class" function. This is very helpful while applying css to tables. Lets say you have two different tables and you want each of them to have different sets of css. You would use the class function to give them different classes:

Code:

<table class="1">
<tr><td>Table 1</td></tr>
</table>

Code:

<table class="2">
<tr><td>Table 2</td></tr>
</table>

Now, in the css you can add all sorts of custom settings to these classes, however, classes are slightly different; this is how you use a class:
.selector { property : value; }
You must have a period in front of the selector, which in this case is the table name.
Lets say you wanted to have 2 different border styles for each table, you would do:
.1 { border: 1px solid black;}
.2 { border: 1px dashed blue;}
You can also change other properties such as background-color, width, height and other various table properties.
You can also use <div class="class"></div> to apply CSS to a certain area of text, and it works the same way as the table class function as noted above.

How to make a basic content generator in PHP
Well, for those of you who do not know, a content generator is where there is a form that people enter specific values, and your program turns it into a piece of code, these are commonly found on Myspace websites.
Today I will show you how to make a marquee generator, only because it is simple and I am writing all of these tutorials assuming the reader has no prior knowledge of these coding languages, so I am trying to keep it simple.

First off, go to notepad and open a new file.
Now, we are going to write the HTML section of this code. We need to make the form where the user enters the information that they want to manipulate, in this case it will be the text and values of the marquee. So here is how you make a form in html:

Code:

<form method="post" action="process.php">
</form>

The method "post" is how the form will handle the variables and the "action" is the page that the user will be taken to after they click "submit". Now, we need to add the fields to the form, I used a table to organize these fields:

Code:

<form action="marquee.php" method="post">
<H3>MARQUEE GENERATOR</H3>
<table>
<tr><td>Marquee text:</td><td><input type="text" name="text"></td></tr>
<tr><td>Marquee behavior:</td><td>
<select name="behavior">
<option = "none">None</option>
<option = "alternate">Alternate</option>
<option = "slide">Slide</option>
<option = "scroll">Scroll</option></select></td></tr>
<tr><td>Marquee direction:<td><select name="direction">
<option = "left">Left</option>
<option = "right">Right</option>
<option = "up">Up</option>
<option = "down">Down</option>
</select></tr></td></table>
<input type="submit" value="Generate Marquee"> 
</form> 

Now that you have that done, what we need to do is make "process.php", so save that code above as form.html. Now for process.php, what this will do is process those values into php, input them into a marquee and then generate a code. Here is how you do that:

Code:

<?php
$text = $_POST['text'];
$direction = $_POST['direction'];
$behavior = $_POST['behavior'];
echo 'Your text : <b>'.$text.'</b><br>';
echo 'Your behavior <b>: '.$behavior.'</b><br>';
echo 'Your direction <b>: '.$direction.'</b><br>';
echo 'Preview: <br>';
echo ('<marquee direction='.$direction.' behavior = '.$behavior.'>'.$text.'</marquee>');
echo '<br>';
echo 'Marquee code:';
echo '<br>';
echo ('<input size="90" type="text" value="<marquee direction='.$direction.' behavior = '.$behavior.'>'.$text.'</marquee>" >');
?>

There you have it. That code takes everything the user put into the first form and formats it into a marquee.

How to make a cloud in a jar (I learned this is science class, I’m pretty sure it’s not a magic trick)
Materials needed:
A jar with a small air hole, or a 2 liter pop bottle (works better)
An air pump (optional)
Matches
A twig
Water

1. Fill the Jar or Pop bottle with a small amount of water, then seal the bottle or jar up and then shake it slightly so there are water molecules all around the bottle or jar, like so:

2. Take the matches and light the twig on fire, then blow it out.
3. Hold the twig inside the jar, so the smoke builds up inside it like so:

4. Either use an air pump or blow inside the jar for about a minute.

NOTE: You can not let any of the air get out, so if you use an air pump, you must completely seal off the empty space between the pump and the rest of the opening. Same if you blow in it, you must cup your hands over the opening so none of the air escapes; you are trying to slightly pressurize the jar. Here is what I mean:

The yellow area must be filled in, with your hands, just cup them around the area and blow into the hole.

5. Release your hands or remove the air pump and the water vapor should explode and a cloud will be formed for about 2 seconds, so watch carefully, it’s cool &#61514;.
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Hope you enjoyed .

 

Very nice, but add some color please, make it more interesting to read.

 

Oh shoot, I forgot that, I was planning to do it but then I kept getting error messages whenever I tried to post I forgot . One sec I'll add it.

 

The Youtube tut has been done quite a lot. The Camtasia tut is a bit basic, and it all explains itself.
Also, not everyone has a TI calculator, so I'd replace that tut by an other one
Add some colours, and give it a better lay-out
GL getting accepted

 

@Youtube, Yea, you're probably right .
@TI calc, actually, A LOT of high school students have them...
@Colors, I have the colors added, however it won't save my post when I try to edit it .
And thanks ^_^.

 

I'd recommend you to add another guide to compensate for the youtube guide, i'll tell you user eds arn't very keen on it lol.

Take or leave it , just trying to help

 

Again, I can not make any changes because it won't let me edit my post . I would gladly add more guides to make up for the shitty Youtube one (lol I don't even know why I added that one TBH), however it will not allow me to edit my post, so I can't add color either .

 

ermm, should work :s

If not just make the code up tonight and then insert it tommorow, should be a good app m8.

Well done.

 

All the guides look the same to me due to the colour, but I like them (sort of), Try spacing out each guide and colour each guide in a certain colour and making them bald, it'll be easier to read them, and try to maxim out your subtitles and titles, contents, etc, they look like a long story novel.

 

Fixed ^^;.

 

Guide 1 doesn't help very much but its still a good application.
if i got to vote i would probably say yes.

Good jobs i hope you can edit it.
Check spelling and Grammer

 

I already did, why do you see any errors :S? I'm pretty sure I got them all .

 

Dear Gone Fishing,

Thank you for applying to be a part of the User Education team. Your application has been viewed, and is set to Pending. Presently, a poll on whether the User Education team feels your application should be approved or denied has been created.

If at any point you desire to change something in your application, simply inform us, via post, of what changes occurred. Sometimes the smallest tweak can change a User Educator's vote. Should you wish to withdrawal your application at any time, please notify a Head User Educator, and they will remove it.

Again, good luck on being accepted.

Pending.

 

Dear Gone Fishing,

Congratulations are in order!

You have been accepted into the User Education team! All that hard work has paid off! Before you can begin posting guides and joining in discussions in the private forum, take a few minutes to read the rules, and meet the User Educators.

Rules: http://www.sythe.org/showthread.php?t=232611

Welcome to the team!

Accepted.



P.S. Please speak with me, I have an issue I would like to discuss with you. By the end of this week preferably.