The hardware of a computer is the physical parts, but without software it would be useless. A book provides an analogy: the pages and ink are the hardware, while the words and meaning are the software.
Computer software includes everything from photo viewer technology to system optimisation programs. The internet is smothered with options, but quality programs should come from reputable sources.
VLC Media Player
VLC Media Player is a free and open-source media player and streamer. It supports a wide range of audio and video formats and features an extensible architecture. It also allows users to create and modify playlists and can playback multiple streams simultaneously. Its powerful streaming capabilities make it a convenient choice for remote use.
In addition to its streaming and audio playback functionality, VLC Media Player can act as a multimedia converter and can rip DVDs. It also provides a variety of visual effects, including cropping and geometrical view & magnification. Its intrinsic debug logging feature lets users know when there is a problem with their video file or codec.
VLC is a popular multimedia player due to its wide compatibility with a variety of file formats and extensive feature set. However, some users may prefer alternative options based on specific needs and requirements. In these cases, it is worth exploring alternatives such as MPC-HC or Kodi.
WeDo 2.0
WeDo 2.0 is a robotics and coding kit that sits between Lego Technic and Lego Mindstorms. It has 280 building elements to motivate students to collaborate and build, while sharpening computational thinking skills such as logical reasoning and pattern recognition. It also teaches programming in an intuitive way through a colorful drag and drop interface.
The WeDo 2.0 software has been updated to support Windows 10 and features in-app pairing. However, it is not compatible with older operating systems and requires the Bluegiga BLED112 Bluetooth 4.0 adapter to connect to a Smarthub. This is a minor inconvenience, and most students will not have trouble using the app.
The WeDo 2.0 Computational Thinking curriculum is compatible with Chromebooks and will be available on Android devices in 2017. When online, projects are automatically synchronized with students’ Google Drives and can be accessed on any device. When offline, projects are stored locally on the computer. This makes WeDo 2.0 an excellent choice for schools that use Chromebooks in their classrooms.
SUMo
SUMO is an open source microscopic traffic simulation, which enables the prediction of traffic flow for multimodal networks. The model is deterministic by default and there are various options for introducing randomness. This software can be used to address a wide range of transportation management topics.
The SUMO package includes a number of applications that are used to import/prepare road networks and demand data for use in the main SUMO application. Moreover, these applications are used to visualize the results of SUMO runs.
The SUMO package also contains a command line interface which is used to control the simiulation. This allows for fast and flexible customization of the simulation. Moreover, it also helps in extending the capabilities of the application. The new features include a centralized data management login for users, which is ideal for predicted busy periods, and the ability to create security alerts and assess graphs/charts. In addition, the SUMO Logic platform provides improved User and Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA) functionality.
MAME
MAME is an emulator that can recreate decades of video-game history. It uses ROM images that have been dumped from the arcade machines’ original circuit boards. It aims to preserve these games and prevent them from being lost as technology advances.
The MAME team has made some notable improvements in recent versions. It has improved its compatibility with TV displays and arcade and fixed-frequency monitors. It also has more support for hardware emulation and fixes several bugs in the system’s graphical rendering engine. It has also introduced a new back end for C.
In addition, it has added initial support for the Sega TV Ocha-Ken system, a much simpler system that uses barcode cards to trigger mini-games. It has also improved the accuracy of its CPU emulation and now supports a wide range of CPUs, including SH-2 and MIPS R3000. The project’s source code is available under the GNU General Public License, version 2 or later, and a more permissive 3-clause BSD license.