App of the week
Denso
Free, from the Apple App Store
Denso is a couch potato's dream. It is an easy way to discover and organise interesting Web videos.
It works like Instapaper, except that instead of saving text, you are saving videos for future viewing. Sadly, the app will not work with YouTube videos, but it works with many other sources. It has compiled a list of videos to help you find topics that interest you.
You can also watch, share and comment on videos shared by your friends on Facebook and Twitter.
This is a universal app for both the iPhone and iPad but, as with most apps which handle video, it looks best on the iPad.
Perhaps the best thing about this app is that it was made in Singapore.
PresentationTube provides a desktop
presentation recorder and video sharing network to help instructors,
students, virtual presenters, and business professionals record, publish and
share quality, accessible, and interactive video presentations for
free
They record and share their speech for peer feedback. Users can watch videos and animated articulation that helps them not only hear, but also see the correct pronunciation of all key English phonemes.
NIE student teachers felt that this tool can motivate users to continue using and improving their speech with their voice recordings for formative assessments.
1. Call the IRS at +1 267 941 1099
This is a direct line to the dedicated unit in Philadelphia that deals with foreign entities (that's you) who need an EIN. Press 2 on the computerized menu to get through to an operator. While I've heard it's possible to get your EIN through some embassies and consuls, that certainly doesn't apply to all of them and this number will work for everyone. Note: they won't take a call from anyone using a "speakerphone". If you are using Skype on your laptop, have a set of headphones plugged in before you call, to avoid an undignified scramble around your apartment. Finally, while there is an online facility for doing this, foreign entities can't use that.
2. Tell them you're applying for an EIN for a foreign entity.
They may ask if you are a legal officer of the company or some such, I said that I was a sole proprietor, and the owner of the business, which satisfied them.
3. There's a 50% chance that they will tell you that you need Form SS-4
You do not want to go down this path, which requires form-filling, fees, delays, and somehow locating a fax machine. If this is what they tell you, politely end the call, and call them back. I only had to do this once, and then got someone a little more helpful.
4. Give your details
They will ask for your name, mailing address, phone number, the name of your company, and the country it was incorporated. This will involve a lot of spelling and repetition, but make sure all the details are correct.
5. They will ask if this is for compliance with withholding
Say "yes".
6. They will ask if this is for e-books
Say "yes".
7. They will give you your EIN!!!
Well,
that was quick. Right after yesterday's surprising announcement,
Sony flew its yet-to-be-released NEX-VG10 camcorder into London just in time for
today's showcase event. Naturally, we had to get our hands on this shiny baby,
and boy we were impressed. In case you missed the news, this snazzy device is
the world's first consumer HandyCam with interchangeable lens, meaning you can
share E-mount lenses with your young NEX DSLRs, or take advantage of
the abundant A-mount lenses with the help of an adapter (which will cost you
extra, mind you). Likewise, there are also hot and cold shoe mounts on the mic
shaft to cater your current camera accessories. Read on for our thoughts on the
rest of the camcorder -- we've put together a little sample clip for you at the
end as well.
There
isn't much to complain about with this $2,000 (and, sadly, possibly £2,000 for
the Brits) piece of kit in terms of appearance and ergonomics. We like being
able to hold it by either the seemingly solid body (using the strap) or the mic
shaft, and both ways provided comfortable grip without much fatigue due to the
light weight (even with the bundled lens). We were also able to quickly master
the jog-dial control next to the 3-inch screen, but for this price, we expected
a touchscreen interface as well to make life easier. As for the bundled F3.5-6.3
18-200mm lens, we found that zooming required a bit more effort than we liked,
so thankfully there's auto focus mode -- just like any ordinary camcorder -- to
save us from further wrist work with the focus ring. We must also point out that
unlike the Olympus PEN,
this Sony camcorder didn't pick up any mechanical noise from its lens auto
focussing; otherwise, this kit totally wouldn't deserve such price tag.
Of
course, what we really care about is the picture and sound quality. All is
revealed in our sample reel below (remember to enable HD playback mode), but in
brief: stunningly accurate colors, sharp 1080/60i picture, and impressive audio
sensitivity (notice how the mic was able to pick up conversations from afar; you
can also enable just the front mics to minimise background noise). You may
notice some shakiness while we were adjusting the lens -- we'll blame it on our
lack of practice from the little hands-on time we had. Regardless, the NEX-VG10
certainly lived up to our expectation, and we look forward to hear what the
filming hobbyists think of this prosumer-level camcorder when it comes out in
September.
Update: commenter
aim120 dropped us a link to Sony's own sample clip. Enjoy!
If we are ever going to get to a point where we can use mobile technology as a learning tool we need to help executives get past the idea that the use of mobile phones are limited to email. We have to show the ease of “mobile working” before we can truly persuade leadership to invest in “mobile learning.” How you ask? I suggest including some new courses in your curriculum – add a “Blackberry: It’s more than email” course and get people using the technology the way it was meant to be used.
90 HTC Desires to its agents to help clean up the trash in the city. Basically, it uses the GPS in the phone to report people that have let their bins overflow, or if a company has failed to pick up the trash. The application allows the agents to send a voice comment, photo, and the GPS Location of the offending site.
Here are 9 cool web services which pay you for trading in your phone (or other old gadgets) you have lying around. In order to help you pick one, we did a head to head acid test by picking 3 phones and comparing payouts from trading in each phone, from each site.
While it’s certainly true that HTML5 has the potential to change the web for the better, the reality is that t
hese kinds of major changes can be difficult to grasp and embrace. I’m personally in the process of gaining a better understanding of the subtleties of HTML5′s various new features, so I thought I would discuss some things associated with HTML5 that appear to be somewhat confusing, and maybe this will help us all understand certain aspects of the language a little better, enabling us to use the new features in the most practical and appropriate manner possible.
Visual LightBox JS is a free wizard program that helps you easily generate web photo galleries with a nice Lightbox-style overlay effect,
in a few clicks without writing a single line of code.
Just drag&drop your photos into Visual LightBox window, press "Publish"
and your own web gallery with beautiful LightBox 2 effects will open
in the browser instantly!
No javascript,css,html coding, no image editing, just a click to get your gallery ready.
If you need a non programming and non flash gallery (Picasa) option. Here's one. May be useful for your portfolio if you need a gallery to showcase your works.
Henry, please test this app out. It reportedly pulls videos from various databases.
Tried out the apps. it pull lot of video from various sources. The layout like YouTube format.but search button not so obivous.
