Podcasting is online audio content made available through the Internet using a subscription "feed". Vodcasting (video-on-demand casting) is the same principle as Podcasting with the addition of video.
How can I use Podcasting/Vodcasting in my classroom?
This feed can be downloaded and played directly on your computer using free software such as Windows Media Player or iTunes. Podcasts can be transferred and played on any portable media player such as an iPod or MP3 player. Vodcasts can be transferred and played on any MP3 video player.
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!
Why Develop for Android?Android is an open-source platform based on the Linux kernel, and is installed on thousands of devices from a wide range of manufacturers. Android exposes your application to all sorts of hardware that you’ll find in modern mobile devices — digital compasses, video cameras, GPS, orientation sensors, and more.
Android is an open-source platform based on the Linux kernel, and is installed on thousands of devices from a wide range of manufacturers.
Android’s free development tools make it possible for you to start writing software at little or no cost.
Publishing to Android Market incurs a one-off registration fee (US $25 at the time of writing) and, unlike Apple’s App Store which famously reviews each submission, makes your application available for customers to download and buy after a quick review process
Here are a few other advantages Android offers you as a developer:The Android SDK is available for Windows, Mac and Linux, so you don’t need to pay for new hardware to start writing applications.An SDK built on Java. If you’re familiar with the Java programming language, you’re already halfway there.By distributing your application on Android Market, it’s available to hundreds of thousands of users instantly. You’re not just limited to one store, because there are alternatives, too. For instance, you can release your application on your own blog. Amazon have recently been rumoured to be preparing their own Android app store also.As well as the technical SDK documentation, new resources are being published for Android developers as the platform gains popularity among both users and developers.
This article also includes a step by step walkthrough development for android app using Android SDK. With so little offering courses on Android development currently, it could prove to be a good read. ;)
If you have ever entertained that seemingly laughable thought of installing anti-virus software on your mobile phone, you are not alone.
A few months ago, Kaspersky Labs discovered two Trojan-SMS malware that masqueraded as media player apps for Android devices. Once installed, the malware can send premium SMSes costing US$6 ($7.70) each without the user's knowledge.
the money is still on computers, and cyber criminals follow the trail of money. The increasing number of people using smartphones is a factor, but not a big one yet. There are some banking services on mobile platforms, but the majority of consumers still use computers to access banking services
According to Kaspersky, closed platforms (iPhone, BlackBerry and the old Symbian) are more secure while open platforms (Android, Windows Mobile 6 Series and the new Symbian) are less so. This, Kaspersky explains, is because the level of security is inversely proportionate to the ease with which developers can build apps on it.
"The more secure a system is, the harder it is for development - both for the good guys and the bad guys," he said.
security and ease of app development are two sides of the same coin that have to be finely balanced in order for a mobile platform to succeed.
iPhone users face exactly the same problems, but unfortunately, Apple has a very strict regulation on the apps industry, and the SDK it gives to software companies doesn't let us develop what we need. (Thanks to Apple's efforts policing the platform) iPhone users face maybe fewer virus problems, but the threat with confidential data is still there - and it only takes one threat. Android may face more viruses, but at the same time, there will also be more solutions from us and our competitors
Open source and Closed source mobile platform faces security issue. An open source platform may be more prone to malwares and viruses.
Some factors we should consider in our context here in education to protecting confidential contents and issues while considering developing apps. for example we could risk all of our contacts information being stolen and end up being sold to some advertising spamming companies who spam you daily or watches your daily activities.
I used to think open source platform was very good for development but now you can have different view if you think like a hacker. It will take at least a year or more before mobile security catch up.
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.
Animoto’s functionality is in the ability to take photos and video that the
user specifies, add a music soundtrack ,which can be from their open source
music library or music uploaded by the user, to create a movie complete with
transitions.
it is a great way to have students in an online class introduce themselves.
Students are able to choose the images they would like to share as well as
select their music. This provides a window to the students when they get to
choose how to express themselves
Exporting & Saving
One thing that SVG can’t do is save the resulting image as a bitmap. It’s easy for <canvas> because the element is already a bitmap in the first place! The canvas can export its image to a data URL (e.g., data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGg...). This data may then be rendered in the browser, which could then be saved or dragged to the desktop, used in a new canvas, and so on.
The browser must support PNG images, and it may have varying support for GIF and JPG. For our example, we’ll stick with PNG since it supports alpha transparency, and where we haven’t drawn on the canvas, it’ll be transparent.
To get the data URL, we simply call canvas.toDataURL('image/png'). Note that we’re calling toDataURL() on the <canvas> element, not on the 2D context. This is because we’re getting all the pixels in the canvas, not just the pixels in a particular context.
So taking the example we’ve put together already, we’ll make the browser redirect to a PNG version of the image when a user clicks on the <canvas> element (a contrived example, I know!):
canvas.onclick = function () { window.location = canvas.toDataURL('image/png');};
I am sharing of export images from web app specially to Eve and Sham, maybe useful for our harmonia project.
This is the workflow i was mentioning on exporting the contents of the new html5 tag canvas to an jpeg or png and it opens in a browser, which then can be save or be used for other things, we could also explore on other options of sending the image directly to other applications.
http://jsbin.com/abagi3/5/
Above url is a live prototype and you can actually view source to see how easily it is being done. :)
A set of Android user interface guides, released by Mutual Mobile, seeks to create standards for a platform where "official" standards don't exist.
The guidelines follow the whole process of designing an application and all of its elements, including pop-up windows, colors, fonts and list views, through screenshots, so designers can have examples in front of them during the development process.
Office Tabs is a powerful office addin to view, edit and manage documents, workbooks or presentations etc via a Tabbed View in Microsoft Office 2003, 2007 and 2010. Microsoft Office has not supported tabbed view by itself yet. Office Tabs solves this issue. With Office Tabs, you can manage multiple documents within a single window easily and quickly.
With the continued penetration of smartphones into the mainstream market, QR codes are becoming more of an option for designers to prompt interaction. The two-dimensional barcode can easily be generated from text, including a website link, and printed on materials in magazines and conferences. An artist in Paris found an unusual use for the black-and-white squares: to animate a tattoo.
Ok, I think this isn't ever going to make it into ANY school... but this is an amazing concept of how we can use QR codes to enhance real-world art in education... i.e. cyberspace meets meat-space (literally).
An idea that I gained from this is that we could use this idea for, say, a printed picture book... if we scanned the QR code in the printed page using our iPhones, the moment the video loaded, we could just place our iPhones directly over the printed page, and it would give a compelling illusion that the printed page had suddenly come to life a la Harry Potter. :)
BTW do watch the video from 2:05 onwards! :) (esp if you're squeamish about watching a tattoo process)
Now, for an iPad-sized tattoo... any takers? ;) (Just kidding!)
Another idea: Imagine we were doing a bio lesson and wanted our students to "see" a beating heart. We could get a mannequin and paste QR codes over the chest. Then the teacher can scan the QR code, load the corresponding Youtube video and place the mobile phone directly over the chest. The result would look to the students as though the phone was a magic window for them to peer through the chest to "see" the beating heart.
So QR codes could be used for 3D object lessons too.
Ever wanted to make presentations a more interactive, Web 2.0 experience?
The PowerPoint Twitter Tools prototypes are now available. Created using SAP BusinessObjects Xcelsius (but requiring only PowerPoint for Windows and Adobe Flash to run), the twitter tools allow presenters to see and react to tweets in real-time, embedded directly within their presentations, either as a ticker or refreshable comment page.
So can computers actually help improve our concentration and contemplation, instead of leading us into distraction?
The problem, as Pang puts it, is that "Technologies that were supposed to help us think better, work more efficiently, and connect more meaningfully with others now interrupt us, divide our attention, and stretch us thin."
In the paper he outlines give principles of contemplative computing;
Build awareness through DIY and self-experimentation
Recognize that we are cyborgs, and humans
Create rewarding challenges
Support mind-wandering
Treat flow as a means, not an end
Pang suggests that we don't have to choose between information technology and contemplation, and suggests contemplative computing as a new way forward. He describes contemplative computing as something you do, not a product. But the principles of contemplative computing could be extending to application design. "The problem is that today's information technologies are often poorly-designed and thoughtlessly used: they're like unreliable prosthetics that we have to depend on, but can't quite control or trust," Pang says.
You might be surprised to see "support mind wandering" on the list. But Pang makes a distinction between mind wandering and distraction, and points out the value creative value of mind wandering and day dreaming (for more on this subject, check out this article by Jonah Lehrer, though Lehrer doesn't really make the distinction between distraction and mind wandering).
A fascinating post on "contemplative computing", where computing can be used to facilitate and even enhance creative education/workflow process... where the software would allow you to try out multiple versions of a music composition / essay / video seamlessly... while enabling you to wander around exploring on relevant topics on Wikipedia without getting distracted off-topic! :)
Active Worlds (AW) is a 3D virtual reality platform and it's free.The Active Worlds client runs on Windows. Users assign themselves a name, log into the Active Worlds universe, and explore 3D virtual worlds and environments that other users have built. Users can chat with one another or build structures and areas from a selection of objects. AW allows users to own worlds and universes, and develop 3D content. The browser has web browsing capabilities, voice chat, and basic instant messaging. This integrated software can allow users to connect, explore, and gain a more in depth understanding of AW. Educational clients of Active Worlds can make use of the interaction, communication, and media to provide functional environments suited for their objectives.
Pratima Majal on 07 Sep 10Video+subscription = vodcasting
