Podcast Workshop

The Podcast three-day workshop series is generating fun & engagement from the participants. Have a listen to some of the participants 'Podcast Shows' from the links below - they will be updated each week, next week we are creating 'enhanced podcasts'!!!

• http://vincedownunder.podomatic.com/



• http://vinceshepherd.podomatic.com/



• http://unilooney.podomatic.com/



• http://gkeam.podomatic.com/

NOTE: you can 'subscribe' to podcasts shows using iTunes!

Fauxto

http://www.fauxto.com/ is an impressive free online photo editor that has many of the features of Photoshop!

iPhoney - iPhone web previewer

iPhoney is a small app that allows you to preview what websites will look like on the iPhone screen - its not an iPhone simulator though - it uses a skinned version of Safari:

• Test your iPhone-enabled Web 2.0 applications and compatible web sites.


• Open any website that works with Safari (use Safari 3 beta for the most accurate experience).


• Rotate to see websites in either portrait or landscape orientation.


• Show or hide the location bar for a full-screen iPhone experience.


• Simulate the iPhone user agent, to test browser redirection scripts.

Opera Mini 4 Beta released

http://www.operamini.com/beta/

Available for Java, Blackberry & Palm.

Demo Flash movie http://www.operamini.com/beta/demo/

TV online

http://tv-video.net/

Video Editing 2.0: 8 Ways to Remix Online Videos

Video Editing 2.0: 8 Ways to Remix Online Videos: "Jumpcut lets you upload video, photos, and audio, or import from Flickr or Facebook, and edit using a Flash interface. Add titles, effects, transitions, music, and split and crop video tracks. Then publish your video and let others remix it. Jumpcut also has some social networking features (like groups). Jumpcut is probably the best of the online video editors, though I really wish there was a way to export videos off the site.


Of the bunch, Jumpcut's editor most resembles the feel of offline editors, like iMovie."

(Via Read/WriteWeb.)

YouTube Remixer!

YouTube now have a basic online (browser based) video editor, with very similar tools/interface to that of either iMovie or Windows Movie Maker (It's actually using Adobe Premiere Express! - great advertising move by Adobe - they include a link to 'do more' by using Adobe Premiere Elements 3) - includes a timeline, ability to combine video, phots, music, and graphical effects (Titles, borders, symbols) and transitions! There's also a Flash demo overview. WOW!!!

"About YouTube Remixer

Sometimes, instant gratification video is just the thing you need.

If you've ever uploaded from your cell phone, wished for an easy way to add titles and transitions, or just wanted to remix your own videos, Remixer is a great place to play. It lets you assemble your new video in an easy drag-and-drop timeline, and then publish it right back to YouTube. Your original videos will stay exactly the same."


YouTube also have some other cool features: http://www.youtube.com/testtube


Finally - the mobile version of YouTibe is now live: http://m.youtube.com and you can upload videos to YouTube directly from a video capable mobile phone via MMS - every YouTube account has a 'secret' youtube mms address: xxxxxxxxxxx@mms.youtube.com

JISC Conference Summaries

daily summaries of the JISC online conference are available HERE.

Thom & Giedres online presentation on Communities of Practice was well received:
"The Institutional Transformation In Context area also offers a wealth of engaging and interactive experiences. Submissions under the Open call are located in this section, which this year included opportunities to engage in a wiki on using communities of practice to develop educational technology literacy..."

We also ran a short informal survey on participants use of social software in education. Results:

Mobile Web2 - its almost a reality!

iPhone to Support Third-Party Web 2.0 Applications

Innovative New Way to Create Applications for iPhone

WWDC 2007, SAN FRANCISCO—June 11, 2007—Apple® today announced that its revolutionary iPhone™ will run applications created with Web 2.0 Internet standards when it begins shipping on June 29. Developers can create Web 2.0 applications which look and behave just like the applications built into iPhone, and which can seamlessly access iPhone’s services, including making a phone call, sending an email and displaying a location in Google Maps. Third-party applications created using Web 2.0 standards can extend iPhone’s capabilities without compromising its reliability or security.

“Developers and users alike are going to be very surprised and pleased at how great these applications look and work on iPhone,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Our innovative approach, using Web 2.0-based standards, lets developers create amazing new applications while keeping the iPhone secure and reliable.”

Web 2.0-based applications are being embraced by leading developers because they are far more interactive and responsive than traditional web applications, and can be easily distributed over the Internet and painlessly updated by simply changing the code on the developers’ own servers. The modern web standards also provide secure data access and transactions, like those used with Amazon.com or online banking.


Safari on Windows - why? - got to be some tie in to the iPhone's capability - Safari synching?!!! on Mac & PC? with iPhone...





"To maintain the security of the iPhone, Apple decided not to let developers write actual applications for the iPhone, but rather create Web 2.0 applications that run within the version of Safari included on the iPhone. Those Web apps can integrate with the iPhone’s built-in services, giving them access to making a call, sending an e-mail, or looking up location in Google Maps. Since most of the application code runs on a server, Apple said the software is both secure and easy to update." via Macworld

Heaps of potential here, particularly with:

1. Web Clip to widget feature of Safari 3 (Mac & now PC too!)


2. Dashcode


3. Create your own widgets - then sync to your iPhone (my thoughts!)

"This application eases the process of creating widgets. It includes all the tools you need, such as an HTML, Javascript, and CSS editor, as well as a library of buttons, shapes, and lines to help lay out the widget. Dashcode includes templates for many types of widgets, including countdown timers, RSS feeds, photocasts, podcasts, and gauges.



Even if you’re not a programmer, you can use one of the templates to make your own official widget—all with absolutely no coding. Drag in an RSS link, for instance, and you’ve created a new RSS widget. While you’ll want to have some coding knowledge to really take advantage of Dashcode, experienced power users may be surprised by what they can do. Widgets built with Dashcode can be submitted to Apple.com for download." Via MacWorld

Dummies2Delight Reflections

Just been brainstorming with Giedre (over coffee) re motivation and success factors in our round two of Communities Of Practice at Unitec.

Why did we get such buy-in from the first D2D compared to its successors?

1. Key D2D members were concurrently reading/researching the concepts of COPs


2. D2D members interacted more as peers and beyond the COP official sessions


3. Second Generation COP members appear to be treating the COPs as a series of traditional 'Workshops' - with too much reliance upon the tech steward/facilitator and little/no peer interaction in between

The implications are that for second gen COPs we have assumed participants have an understanding of the concepts that make COPs unique and successful. DOH! This not being the case - we need to include in the early stages of new COPs an investigation of "what are COPs" and "How do COPs work" - i.e. explicitly emphasize how to nurture COPs.

MarsEdit Updated

MarsEdit (my preferred Mac Blogging client) has had a few updates in version 1.2.

1. Growl support


2. Picasa image uploading for Blogger.com


3. Vox blogging

Microsoft Surface

Microsoft have announced their version of the new computer User Interface paradigm 'MULTI-TOUCH' - this is the same UI that will be used in the upcoming iPhone, and has been around for a while, its just taken time to get to a consumer level. However, Microsofts version is still beyond the budget of the consumer at around $10000 US for its 'Surface' coffee table computing device/interface.

Plenty of future potential here for educational environments - good bye to the not-so-'Smartboard'!!!

View video overview here:

Free Educational Content Now Available from iTunes U on the iTunes Store

Free Educational Content Now Available from iTunes U on the iTunes Store: "Apple announces iTunes U. A dedicated area within the iTunes Store, iTunes U features free content – course lectures, language lessons, lab demonstrations, sports highlights, and campus tours — from such leading universities as Stanford University, UC Berkeley, Duke University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. iTunes U, created in collaboration with colleges and universities, allows anyone with access to iTunes to easily extend learning, explore interests, learn more about a school and stay connected with an alma mater."

(Via Apple Hot News.)

Palm Foleo

An interesting new product from Palm - not what I expected - a 'mobile companion'. Its basically a wireless keyboard for your bluetooth phone combined with a WiFi Internet tablet (without the touchscreen interface).



Still reserving judgement on this at present - while it appears to be a great product, its size and cost make it equivalent to a cheap laptop (without the wait for bootup times), so convincing students to spring for one will probably meet with the same resistance that convincing them of the need for a PDA did... Now if it was half the price - then it would be a goer.

http://www.palm.com/us/products/mobilecompanion/foleo/web.html

http://www.palm.com/us/products/mobilecompanion/foleo/experience/index.html

Google Calendars go Mobile!

Great news - Google Calendars are now mobile friendly. Simply put the URL http://calendar.google.com/ into your mobile browser to view and add Google calendar events. GREAT!

Although there are a few Google calendar mobile synching utilities around (e.g. GooSync), I've found them quite buggy - and you can end up with multiple event entries. So great stuff not having to mess with synching anymore!

Picasa Slideshow

Picasa now features embedded slideshows (finally), although quite basic compared to slide.com, but still useful.

Here's a slideshow of our Sydney photos from Picasa:



Mouseover slides for options.

Fring Makes Twitter Free

Fring Makes Twitter Free: "

Mobile startup Fring has found a smart way to make itself relevant and useful: by integrating Twitter. For those who aren’t familiar with it, Fring uses your phone’s Internet connection to make VoIP calls, send IMs and use VoIP services (Skype, Google Talk , MSN Messenger and SIP are supported). The addition of Twitter means that you can save on your SMS bill, since Fring works with Wi-Fi or your fixed data plan. So, no extra cost assuming you already have a data plan for your phone.

They’ve even put up a YouTube video explaining the service (embedded below). So does this make you a Fringing Twitterer? Or a Fritter?

Recommended: Piczo Stuff at Mashcodes!

"

(Via Mashable!.)

NOTE: At the moment Fring appears to only support Nokia phones (about 50% of the market), hopefully they widen their user-base soon.

CTLImobilized

CTLImobilized, originally uploaded by thomcochrane.

To see how the ctliblog looks in your mobile phone, type the url http://ctliblog.unitec.ac.nz into your mobile phones web browser (assuming you have a data account).



Or, use an online phone browser emulator such as http://emulator.mtld.mobi/



This Wordpress plugin comes courteousy of http://www.andymoore.info/wordpress-mobile-plugin/

Shozu test

testing blog from shozu settings

Web2 Awards for 2007

Seomoz have released their web2 awards list for 2007 - a nice collection of the 'best in category' web2 sites around.

http://www.seomoz.org/web2.0