Now that SmartNotebook can play flash files (flv). Now youtube files that are blocked by firewall can be dowloaded and played within the software. Which leads to the point of this post. I found a nice nice program for downloading youtube videos. YouTube downloader is a simple java program that downloads the video. Copy the link to the video and paste it in the box and start dowloading. Here is the link to the software:http://sourceforge.net/projects/ytd/

SmartNotebook Express

I was looking around this morning and stumble across SmartNotebook Express. It is a SmartNotebook in a browser. If you already have your notebook file (.xbk), you can open the file in Express. It has the basic commands of the SmartNotebook (draw add text, and add slide) has. The is the beta version, so it may change. It looks to be a good tool for distance education tool.
Here is the address: http://express.smarttech.com/

Aviary.com has been coming out with some really cool web apps lately. They released Myna the other day. It is a web-based audio editor. The setup looks similar to Garageband. It imports wav, aif, mp3, wma, m4a, and ogg files. (Really nice selection) You can set the type of license to the recording. It works really well if you are using smaller files that are to be assembled. Multiple tracks can be added to the recording. There is a library that sounds can be pulled from. The compilation can be downloaded as a wav or as a mp3 file.

Photobucket Mashup

I was stumbling around looking for a free web-based video editor. I came across the fact that Adobe has one. It is Premiere Express. It is that backbone of Photobucket's Remix option. The look is similar to Windows MovieMaker and iMovie 06. Images and Videos can be uploaded into Photobucket. Different pieces can be added to a timeline to create a story. Text can be added to images and videos. Other extracs can be added and then the video can be published.

Creating Model View with Photos

I was looking to create an interesting photo for the front of our brochure. I thought creating a a model view of the front of the media center. I found a tutorial on using masks in Photoshop to create a model view. I saw on Cole Camplese's blog that there was a response with a web site that can create these photos for you. The web site is http://tiltshiftmaker.com. The focus can be adjusted up and down. Everything outside of the focus becomes blurred to create the effect. The pictures I took were from on top of a ladder. Here is a the image I created:

Developing an a Organizational Plan

I was looking at the way the way Penn State's TLT Community Hub and Cole Camplese's blog about how they are using stickers to track what who was going to what event at their TLT conference. I thought it would be nice to label each entry with a box that that would like enties by likeness. Here is what I came up with:
It is a little blurry, but I had trouble getting it into blogger. I am trying this at work. As a item is taught, I am going to label equipment that matches what was taught. Hopefully, I will start seeing folks have better recognition in what is actually possible. I hope this makes sense.

Web 2.0 animation

I have been looking at a couple way to create animation. I wanted something that would be easy for young children. My son likes to write stories and draw pictures. He is starting to learn how to create pictures by clicking and dragging. I first found goanimate.com first. You will need to create an username and password to create a It allows for pre-loaded characters to be placed in a setting and be controlled by selecting an action. Personal images can be added and placed into the setting. Personal images can not have actions placed on them. The animation is broken down into scenes. In each scene, a character can have one action per scene. When the animation has been completed, it can distributed as a hyperlink in an email or embedded in to a webpage. For example, I embedded an animation on my moodle site. The other animation web page is xtranormal.com. This site is a little more complicated. You can create basic animation, however the animation is script-based. As the script is built, actions can be added. When the video has been created, a web link and embed code will appear on the side of the web page. This is a brief overview of what I have found so far.

Catching up

I am trying to catch up on my wiki tutorial for software. I am trying to complete the programs that are already posted. Here is the link: http://oss-tutorials.wikispaces.com/

Microsoft Learning Essentials 2.0

Microsoft Learning Essentials comes in two versions (Educator and Student). This Educator Edition contains tutorials, examples, rubrics, tools, and links items that would help educators with Office. It has activities that could be used in the classroom. The Student Edition has templates, tutorials, and links. All of the tutorials have step by step directions. Both tools are free. Enjoy

Kid Browser for the Computer

For those whose kids like to get on the web and look at their favorite cartoon's web site, http://kidoz.net/ has create a kid friendly browser. Download and install the app to your (their) computer. The browser has several icons that can be selected that will take them to the page. Have fun while your kids are occupied.

Screen Casting

There are several solutions that I have found for creating screen capture video. The most popular is Techsmith's Camtasia, which cost a mint to purchase. Jing, which is also made by Techsmith, is a free screen capture app that installs on to your computer and exports as a Flash file. Not easy to work with once captured. CamStudio is another free program that can be downloaded from sourceforge. com. It captures the screen and saves the video either as .avi files which can be edited or as Flash. The one I am using currently is ScreenToaster.com. It does not require any software to be installed. This product can be used on computers that are locked down. The file can be downloaded in a .mov format (quicktime, iMovie). All of these software can either capture the whole screen or part of a screen. Jing and ScreenToaster need the computer to be connected to the interent. Try them out and use the one the suits you.

Photo Editing with Cekli PhotoLab

Cekli PhotoLab is a nice software for making simple edits to pictures. I uploaded an image and cropped down. Here is the link: CEKLI

Installing Virtual Cutter

I installed Virtual Cutter (Software Link) on to my server. This software takes video that is stored in a web directory an cuts a certain section out. It was easy to install in to my web directory. If you are a NCSU person, I will send you a link of my setup.I did not take long to cut the piece out. Virtual Cutter displays a button at the bottom to download the clip. I have not look at the backend yet to see how it stores the clips that are cut.

Playing with Tokbox.com

I saw Tokbox being used Techtiker.net (great site). I tried it out. It is what Iam4cam used to be when it was completely free. It is video conferencing on a small scale. Tokbox combines im chat with multiple video visits. So far I have made five concurrent connections on one call. It worked fine. If you do not have a web cam, the software gives you audio access. In this time of a weakened economy, free calling to create collaboration is a must.