Need access to your files anywhere, anytime? Then store them online using Scribd, which not only allows for the storage of files but also encourages public sharing of the documents. Scribd’s stated aim is to “create the world’s largest open library of documents“. The files can be viewed in a web browser using Scribd’s custom flash document viewer. Interestingly, the original file can be downloaded in a variety of different formats (pdf, word, txt or mp3).
Files may be uploaded individually or in bulk. You can decide to keep the documents private or share them with the world! You can also create and join different groups and like other social networking sites, Scribd also lets you add friends.
MediaFire is a free file hosting service which allows anyone to share files and images. There is, currently, no limit on the number of files stored.
I am also using an account on Box (1GB storage). When I signed up it was completely free, but I notice now that they are charging for all of their accounts. The entry level Plus Plan allows 2GB of storage (50MB per file limit) for $25 per year. It will be interesting to see how long mine remains free!
Update: 25/8/08: Automatic convertion to mp3 at Scribd does not seem to be available any longer.
KartOO is a metasearch engine, which presents its results in the form of an interactive map. You must type in your keyword/s in order to start the search.
About 15 results are shown on each map. You can refine your search by selecting items from the suggested topics (shown on the map and listed beside it) or by typing in further keywords.
Quintura presents a visual tag cloud that you can navigate and easily refine in order to find information. The resulting links are shown on the right hand side of the screen.
The tag cloud continually changes as you move your mouse over each tag in the list.
If you want to create a traditional website presence on the Internet, then look no further than Edublogs. Although designed as a blogging platform, this site also allows you to create a ’static’ first page, which gives the look and feel of a traditional website. You can then add as many other pages as you wish.
Netvibes, Protopage and Pageflakes all allow you to create your own personalised website by using widgets. All of these sites let you to create multiple ‘tabs’ so you can build up a whole set of web pages.
You can choose to make your pages either private (for your eyes only) or public (for anyone to see). The public feature is currently not available in Netvibes but will become available shortly.
Before deciding which one to use it is advisable to try them all out and see which one suits you best. For more information, Graham Wegner gives a personal review of Netvibes, Protopage, Pageflakes and Webwag.
This promises to be a marvelous multimedia educational resource. The Encyclopedia of Life is a website that intends to “transform the science of biology, and inspire a new generation of scientists, by aggregating all known data about every living species“.
Contributions will be taken from scientists and amateurs alike – in true Web2.0 fashion! Check out the inspirational promotion video on the website.
According to Jeff Koo at Technorati: “Technorati is the recognized authority on what’s happening on the World Live Web, right now. The Live Web is the dynamic and always-updating portion of the Web. We search, surface, and organize blogs and the other forms of independent, user-generated content (photos, videos, voting, etc.) increasingly referred to as ‘citizen media.’ ”
The Favorites and Watchlist sections are useful features. In Favorites you can keep a track of all the blogs that you want to read. The Watchlist allows you to set up searches, for interesting social media, using tags and URLs.
There is a simple workaround for providing content from blocked video sharing websites such as YouTube, although it does involve a bit of extra effort and planning.
KeepVid and Vixy are two sites that enable you to download online videos from a variety of video sharing websites. Simply enter the video’s URL and download the file. Another example is the VideoDownloader site.
The Vixy site also enables you to convert the video into different formats depending on how you are going to use it. For example you can covert it to a mov file and burn it to a CD. It could also be converted to the mp4 format, transferred to an iPod and then played through a TV for whole class viewing (that’s if you have the iPod!).
This is an example of a video that, I think, would be well worth the effort of downloading and using.
Vodpod is a social bookmarking site for videos. It allows you to create your own collection of videos from many different sites on the Internet. You can also add videos from your own computer. Once included, the videos can be organised into different categories. Tags can be added for easy reference.
Vodpod provides a browser bookmark allowing you to easily add videos with just one click. It also provides two widgets that can be used on your own blog or website. So far, I have had no problem adding videos from YouTube, TeacherTube, 5min.com and GoogleVideo. Have not had any success with BlipTV yet!
Jing allows you to capture screen images, record video of what you do or see and to upload immediately to the Internet. You may also save the files directly to your hard disk. The uploading is currently being provided free of charge by Screencast - you must have an account with them to use this feature. This is likely to change in the near future.
The .NET 3 framework must also be installed on your computer before you can use Jing.
This tool could prove very useful in an E-learning online environment where students are in contact with tutors as Tony Dunckel, the Jing Project Manager explains:
“Think of Jing as a supplement to all your chat discussions, email threads, forum posts and blog entries. It sits nicely on your desktop, ready to capture and share your stuff at a moment’s notice. Simply select an area of your screen, capture it as an image or record it as a video, and then click Share. Jing conveniently places a URL to your content on your clipboard ready for you to paste the URL into any of your conversations.”
Need access to your files anywhere, anytime? Then store them online using Scribd, which not only allows for the storage of files but also encourages public sharing of the documents. Scribd’s stated aim is to “create the world’s largest open library of documents“. The files can be viewed in a web browser using Scribd’s custom flash document viewer. Interestingly, the original file can be downloaded in a variety of different formats (pdf, word, txt or mp3).
If you want to create a traditional website presence on the Internet, then look no further than 
Patricia Donaghy
