Okay, now this is one very interesting video tool that will definitely make your Internet presence unique and memorable. Upon the arrival of your visitor at your website, it will place a temporary bubble on the screen, with your video animation or your recorded video welcome and instructions for your visitors. With this tool, you could be a star much quicker than you know. You still have to have some talent, though. Even memorable gimmicks won't make up for poor scripts or planning. Try it out and judge for yourself.
http://www.bubbleguru.com/home.php
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Adobe Acrobat ...or the free Gymnast?
Anyone who has ever wanted to create PDF files (portable and platform independent) has likely run into the cost of the most useful programs to accomplish the task (Adobe Acrobat, for example). You may have been able to afford the cost by digging into that huge advance from your publisher, the ongoing royalties from past works, etc. (by the way, it's hard to laugh with your tongue in your cheek.)
The answer for those who may be financially-challenged is to go for something more affordable (read: free). Gymnast is the PDF tool that will do just that. It can save you a lot of money when you are just starting out. I don't yet have a complete comparison of all the features, but the price is certainly appealing until you can afford the better recognized brand. Note that you will still need the free Adobe Reader, but you can now create the PDF for no cost, with Gymnast. Enjoy.
The answer for those who may be financially-challenged is to go for something more affordable (read: free). Gymnast is the PDF tool that will do just that. It can save you a lot of money when you are just starting out. I don't yet have a complete comparison of all the features, but the price is certainly appealing until you can afford the better recognized brand. Note that you will still need the free Adobe Reader, but you can now create the PDF for no cost, with Gymnast. Enjoy.
Odiogo - Text-to-Voice blog tool
A new utility program that allows you to "read aloud" RSS subscriptions and create your own "podcasts" of your blog is called Odiogo (alternately pronounced Oh-dee-oh-go and Odd-ee-oh-go). For a demonstration of the technology, check here: http://blog.odiogo.com/index.php/2008/07/07/how-to-demo-movie-deploying-odiogo-on-a-typepad-blog/.
I am actually quite impressed with the quality and realism of the read-back from this tool. The voice sounds very natural and the inflections and pronumciation are comfortable to listen to. Perhaps future incarnations of this program will allow you to assign male and female voices, upper and lower register adjustments and maybe a five band equalizer or such, to allow closer simulation of the voice of the person posting the blog, the RSS feed, etc. To assign these settings ahead of time wouldn't be that difficult and would certainly be the next logical step in the advancement of this technology. Besides, variety really is the spice of life, is it not?
The company's demo of this tool was having an issue or two when I was there, but this could have been because my browser was having an issue or two of its own. I never got to listen to the demo from their site, but having already heard it in a podcast I had downloaded, I was shocked to find that the podcast was actually an RSS feed that was being read by the software program. I knew then and there that I had to investigate this further and share the information.
http://www.odiogo.com/demo.php
This is a great technology that I suspect is going to be gaining a lot of popularity as more people find out about it. And maybe a lot more competitors, as well, trying to make those advancements that I suggested and more. This can only be good for us all, as competition usually leads to overall improvement of the technology as a whole.
On trying to install it on this blog, I was defeated for some reason, but that isn't going to keep me from determining the reason and trying again, as I know that some blog hosts are a bit more temperamental about changes to their templates and installation of "foreign" widgets, etc. Also, other things I may have installed--firewalls, anti-viral and anti-trojan-ware--could be at the root of the issue.
Should you want to sign up for this innovative tool, go to this link and have a go at it. I would be interested in your experience, so come back and post a comment, if you will. We all learn by sharing knowledge. Thanks.
http://www.odiogo.com/
I am actually quite impressed with the quality and realism of the read-back from this tool. The voice sounds very natural and the inflections and pronumciation are comfortable to listen to. Perhaps future incarnations of this program will allow you to assign male and female voices, upper and lower register adjustments and maybe a five band equalizer or such, to allow closer simulation of the voice of the person posting the blog, the RSS feed, etc. To assign these settings ahead of time wouldn't be that difficult and would certainly be the next logical step in the advancement of this technology. Besides, variety really is the spice of life, is it not?
The company's demo of this tool was having an issue or two when I was there, but this could have been because my browser was having an issue or two of its own. I never got to listen to the demo from their site, but having already heard it in a podcast I had downloaded, I was shocked to find that the podcast was actually an RSS feed that was being read by the software program. I knew then and there that I had to investigate this further and share the information.
http://www.odiogo.com/demo.php
This is a great technology that I suspect is going to be gaining a lot of popularity as more people find out about it. And maybe a lot more competitors, as well, trying to make those advancements that I suggested and more. This can only be good for us all, as competition usually leads to overall improvement of the technology as a whole.
On trying to install it on this blog, I was defeated for some reason, but that isn't going to keep me from determining the reason and trying again, as I know that some blog hosts are a bit more temperamental about changes to their templates and installation of "foreign" widgets, etc. Also, other things I may have installed--firewalls, anti-viral and anti-trojan-ware--could be at the root of the issue.
Should you want to sign up for this innovative tool, go to this link and have a go at it. I would be interested in your experience, so come back and post a comment, if you will. We all learn by sharing knowledge. Thanks.
http://www.odiogo.com/
Creative's VADO camera for video blogging
It is becoming more popular all the time to embed video links in blogs. Creative's VADO camera is a great tool for when you want to do interviews, product demonstrations, share an experience, show off a talent or just vent your frustrations. It is also a wonderful tool for documenting instances of police abuse, terrorist attacks, candidate faux pax's and campaign promises (so you can hold them accountable on YouTube at a later date). Won't that be fun?
Use it to record your classes at school or what is on the bulletin board, so you can review it another time. Film your favorite rock band and share with your friends. Send friends that recording from the family vacation and all the wonderful sites you visited (the giant ball of string and the armadillo-shaped eatery your Dad just had to stop at), plus the map zoom-in of the route you took, proving that you really were in the very center of nowhere. You are limited only by your imagination. However, having said that, I would recommend using a higher quality camera to record such important things as baby's birth, first steps and first word, the graduation ceremonies, etc. You will always wish you had, if you don't. Other than that, it is a great buy and decent quality.
CAUTION: It is also a quite effective tool for verifying your personal I.Q. level. In the few minutes or hours that you take to develop remorse and remove the link, there can be long-lasting consequences from the subsequent downloads and sharing of your file--worldwide!
The MPEG-4 format allows commonly available editing software to handle the task of cleaning up and polishing before you upload the final rendition to the Net. (See CAUTION above). Other features include a 2X zoom, good low-light performance and one-touch record.
Cost? For approximately $100, you can get the device in pink or silver, with a carrying case for about $15, extra battery packs for around $15, the charging cradle for $30, and an AV-out cable for approximately $10. The VADO also happily works with the Mac OS X 10.4.11 or later system and the most recent Windows PCs. All in all, this is destined to be one popular camera, I would guess. A fine tool, inexpensive for the niche it was intended to fill.
Use it to record your classes at school or what is on the bulletin board, so you can review it another time. Film your favorite rock band and share with your friends. Send friends that recording from the family vacation and all the wonderful sites you visited (the giant ball of string and the armadillo-shaped eatery your Dad just had to stop at), plus the map zoom-in of the route you took, proving that you really were in the very center of nowhere. You are limited only by your imagination. However, having said that, I would recommend using a higher quality camera to record such important things as baby's birth, first steps and first word, the graduation ceremonies, etc. You will always wish you had, if you don't. Other than that, it is a great buy and decent quality.
CAUTION: It is also a quite effective tool for verifying your personal I.Q. level. In the few minutes or hours that you take to develop remorse and remove the link, there can be long-lasting consequences from the subsequent downloads and sharing of your file--worldwide!
SPECS:
The VADO camera from Creative is quite an impressive piece of equipment. About the size of a cell phone, it is USB rechargeable, records up to two hours of video (having 2 Gb of built-in flash memory) in 640x480 resolution, on a 2" anti-glare screen, and is great for immediate uploads to your computer, YouTube or PhotoBucket by way of the built-in software, which takes over automatically when you plug into the USB port using the swivel-out USB adapter built into the camera.
The MPEG-4 format allows commonly available editing software to handle the task of cleaning up and polishing before you upload the final rendition to the Net. (See CAUTION above). Other features include a 2X zoom, good low-light performance and one-touch record.
Cost? For approximately $100, you can get the device in pink or silver, with a carrying case for about $15, extra battery packs for around $15, the charging cradle for $30, and an AV-out cable for approximately $10. The VADO also happily works with the Mac OS X 10.4.11 or later system and the most recent Windows PCs. All in all, this is destined to be one popular camera, I would guess. A fine tool, inexpensive for the niche it was intended to fill.
FireScribe - Tool for bloggers
I am always looking for tools that will make the writing process easier--especially when it comes to blogs lately. I have found just such a tool, which immediately caught my eye--ScribeFire for the FireFox browser (version 3). I have to admit that I have lost my patience with IE7 and its constant crashes and lockups.
This blogging tool works directly from the system tray of your browser. It allows you to add Flickr photos, YouTube videos and keeps a running list of all your current blogs and entries. FireScribe has been easy to set up, as well. I have to confess that I like this tool because of the user friendliness and the short learning curve. Not to say that it lacks any essential features for the beginning to accomplished blogger. Only the most advanced bloggers might wish for other features (that would usually require special skills, courses and a pilot's license, for the average person). For these advanced bloggers, WriteToMyBlog should fit the bill (I will cover this in another article).
ScribeFire allows you to alter timestamps, trackback URL's and ping sites directly from the user interface. You can even set Categories for your articles. It has a lengthy list of your entries at a glance, making for quick and easy access. You can make notes regarding any of your articles and attach them. These show up only for you, I assume.
You have easy formatting in Rich editing, Source editing and Live Preview of the post, just as in most any other user interface, but I like the fact that they have added the ability to add an impressive and sizeable list of special characters, as well. Letters can also be made much larger or very small at will. In addition to bold, italic and underline, you also have strikethrough. There are 10 fonts beyond the default font, each a fairly common and very readable font. I would like to see the ability to add a few more unusal ones, for the times that you demand some flair. Perhaps a future incarnation will offer it. I also noticed that you can justify the text and make ordered or unordered lists. What seems to be missing, however, is a spellchecker. Perhaps this was an oversight on the part of the programmers of the tool. You have to be confident with your spelling skills or a good proofreader (which you should do anyway).
I also love a feature that Blogger itself has sadly lacked in the past (unless you use Firefox, as I have lately done)--the ability to highlight and cut and paste text. I have never been able to do that in Blogger. If there is a way, it has eluded me. ScribeFire allows this easily and without the slightest complaint. I feel to rejoice!
The Promote tab beckons to me to delve into its mysteries and the Settings tab brings everything to the forefront in a snap, without the need or worry of having to first save the text or lose it in the page switch, as I have in Blogger in the past. As with anything, the proof is in the pudding, as they say. ScribeFire definitely works and I will likely be using it in the future on a regular basis. All in all, a very nice tool for blogging. Take care and happy writing, everyone.
This blogging tool works directly from the system tray of your browser. It allows you to add Flickr photos, YouTube videos and keeps a running list of all your current blogs and entries. FireScribe has been easy to set up, as well. I have to confess that I like this tool because of the user friendliness and the short learning curve. Not to say that it lacks any essential features for the beginning to accomplished blogger. Only the most advanced bloggers might wish for other features (that would usually require special skills, courses and a pilot's license, for the average person). For these advanced bloggers, WriteToMyBlog should fit the bill (I will cover this in another article).
ScribeFire allows you to alter timestamps, trackback URL's and ping sites directly from the user interface. You can even set Categories for your articles. It has a lengthy list of your entries at a glance, making for quick and easy access. You can make notes regarding any of your articles and attach them. These show up only for you, I assume.
You have easy formatting in Rich editing, Source editing and Live Preview of the post, just as in most any other user interface, but I like the fact that they have added the ability to add an impressive and sizeable list of special characters, as well. Letters can also be made much larger or very small at will. In addition to bold, italic and underline, you also have strikethrough. There are 10 fonts beyond the default font, each a fairly common and very readable font. I would like to see the ability to add a few more unusal ones, for the times that you demand some flair. Perhaps a future incarnation will offer it. I also noticed that you can justify the text and make ordered or unordered lists. What seems to be missing, however, is a spellchecker. Perhaps this was an oversight on the part of the programmers of the tool. You have to be confident with your spelling skills or a good proofreader (which you should do anyway).
I also love a feature that Blogger itself has sadly lacked in the past (unless you use Firefox, as I have lately done)--the ability to highlight and cut and paste text. I have never been able to do that in Blogger. If there is a way, it has eluded me. ScribeFire allows this easily and without the slightest complaint. I feel to rejoice!
The Promote tab beckons to me to delve into its mysteries and the Settings tab brings everything to the forefront in a snap, without the need or worry of having to first save the text or lose it in the page switch, as I have in Blogger in the past. As with anything, the proof is in the pudding, as they say. ScribeFire definitely works and I will likely be using it in the future on a regular basis. All in all, a very nice tool for blogging. Take care and happy writing, everyone.
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