February 5th, 2008
12:56
Filed Under: Links, Social Media, Technology
2008, facebook, google, linkedin, mashup, myspace, politics, social networking, trends, twitter, video, youtube
Super Tuesday is here for the U.S. (I’m voting after work!), and Google, Twitter, and lots of other new media and social networking platforms are all a-buzz.
Check out some nifty tools I’ve found for keeping on top of election results, news, and the candidates, Web 2.0 style.
Mashups
Candidates on Social Networking Platforms
- Twitter: Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Ron Paul, (and out-of-the-running John Edwards and Joe Biden)
- Facebook: Hillary Clinton, Mike Huckabee, John McCain, Barack Obama, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney
- MySpace: Hillary Clinton, Mike Huckabee, John McCain, Barack Obama, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney (a full list of all candidates, including out-of-the-running ones can be found here)
- LinkedIn: Barack Obama, Ron Paul
Tools
Elsewhere in Blogs…
Anything I Missed?
Have you come across a political mashup, tech tool, or social networking site? Let me know in the comments!
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If you’re like me, you probably have a stack of audiobooks on CD. While CDs are okay, I’ve been looking for a convenient way to get these audiobooks onto my iPod using iTunes for the sake of portability.
After some searching and tweaking, I think I’ve finally got this down to a science - so take a look at this tutorial, and enjoy listening to your books on the iPod!
(This seems to be a legal grey area - but as I understand the law in the US, you can make a copy of a CD you’ve purchased for your own personal use, which is what I’m doing. Please don’t use these instructions to break any laws in your country.)
What You’ll Need
Got everything installed? Great. Now for the steps:
In iTunes:
1. Navigate to Preferences > Advanced > Importing
2. Set the following preferences:
- On CD Insert: Show CD (or Ask to Import CD, your choice)
- Import Using: AAC Encoder
- Setting: (Spoken Podcast will save you some time and file size, but I use High Quality, so I don’t have to switch settings for music CDs.)
- Check Boxes: Automatically Retrieve CD Track Names from Internet (this will help, I promise!)
3. Insert the Audiobook CD you want to burn, and import it. If your Audiobook has multiple discs, import them all.
4. Find your Audiobook in your iTunes Library (click ‘Music’ on the left sidebar and scroll through).
5. Select all the tracks of the Audiobook (click the first, hold down the Shift key, and select the last).
6. Launch Join Together (if you installed the AppleScript that came with the app, select it from your AppleScript menu in iTunes. Otherwise, just navigate to the program in your Applications folder and open it).
In Join Together:
1. Make sure all the tracks are in the correct order (you may need to glance at your CD case to be sure - but if you got the CD track names from the internet as I suggested above, this should be easier!).
2. Type the author, title, and album as you want them to appear in your Audiobook list in iTunes. Some of this may auto-populate for you based on the CD track metadata.
3. Tweak your settings:
- Data Rate: 32 kbps should be just fine for spoken word - increase this for better file quality, but a larger file.
- Channels: Mono (again, this is fine for spoken word and will save space)
- Sample Rate: I left this alone. Tweak as needed.
- Save As: You MUST save it as a .m4b if you want to add chapters (see Bonus Section, below).
4. Hit ‘Proceed’, and your conversion will start.
In QuickTime:
1. Now QuickTime is going to start lining up boxes across your screen as it pulls each individual track from the CD together into one audio file. When it’s found all the files and started the conversion, you’ll get a progress bar, like this:
2. Depending on the size of your audiobook, QuickTime and Join Together should be doing their work for 20 minutes to an hour. Get a cup of coffee, read a book, keep yourself otherwise entertained for a bit.
Back in iTunes…
1. When the conversion finishes, open iTunes back up, and click on Audiobooks on the left sidebar. See your book?
2. If you want the audiobook on your iPod, plug it in and sync like you usually would, making sure to check ‘Audiobooks’ (or ‘All Songs and Playlists’) from the ‘Music’ tab.
Whew!
That’s it! Once you’ve done this once or twice, you’ll get the hang of it (I know, it seems like a lot of steps at first!), and you’ll be listening to your books on your iPod in no time.
Bonus Section: Creating Chapters/Bookmarks
Personally, I’ve never tried this, since I’ve never needed to use it, but audiobooks in iTunes can be paused and resumed from the same place, and can be broken into chapters. In case the bug strikes you, here’s a list of tutorials and resources to get you started.
For More Information…
This tutorial will be updated regularly as new versions of software are released. Any questions? Ask in the comments!
*Sorry, PC folks! I’m a Mac-savvy girl. I think this bit of software may help you out, though: MP3 to iPod Audio Book Converter.
This post was written as a part of the Daily Blog Tips Tutorial Writing Project.
Popularity: 100% [?]
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January 6th, 2008
19:36
Filed Under: Reviews, Technology
docuwiki, mediawiki, pbwiki, scribblewiki, socialtext, software, stikipad, tikiwiki, twiki, wetpaint, wiki, wikispaces
Wikis are rapidly becoming commonplace as educational tools - and with good reason! Wikis make it easy to collaborate and share information, in a relatively simple format.
But if you’re the one charged with setting up a wiki for your company, school, or classroom, there are several factors to consider - such as ease of set up, user accounts, page versions, syntax, attachments, and a lot more.
Here, I’ll list some of the most popular wiki platforms on the market today, along with some pros and cons, so you can pick the best wiki for your needs.
Compare Them All
First of all, there are several wiki comparison tools available on the web already. Check out:
Oh my! That’s a lot of wikis to sort through! So I’ve done a bit of the grunt work for you.
Easiest to Install / Set Up / Start Using Out of the Box
Want to start using it right away? These are your best bets.
pbWiki [http://pbwiki.com] (hat tip to Wes Fryer, thanks!)
I tried this one - set up took me about 5 minutes total. Wow. Check out mine: [http://edtechhacks.pbwiki.com]
Pros: super-easy setup, hosted, no ads on educational version, page history and multiple user support
Cons: must pay for more features, advertising on non-educational wikis
Wikispaces [http://www.wikispaces.com]
Another one I tried - super-easy as well. Good for a plain, no-frills wiki. See mine: [http://edtechhacks.wikispaces.com]
Pros: very easy to set up, hosted, page history and discussion pages, notification options, WYSIWYG editing
Cons: ad-supported (but less obtrusive than some, can get k-12 ad-free), few customization options
Best Multi-User Support
Using your wiki to collaborate? Keep in mind page revisions and user accounts - and check out these wikis.
MediaWiki [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/MediaWiki]
The wiki engine behind Wikipedia. If you’re an active Wikipedia user, this platform will feel very familiar.
Pros: can view page revisions/history, support for multiple users, well-documented support, open source, free
Cons: requires hosting (Apache or IIS), a bit complicated to set up (PHP and SQL knowledge a plus)
ScribbleWiki [http://www.scribblewiki.com]
Powered by the MediaWiki engine, ScribbleWiki offers a hosted version. Here’s mine: [http://edtechhacks.scribblewiki.com]
Pros: free, can view page revisions/history, support for multiple users, hosted
Cons: ad-supported
DocuWiki [http://wiki.splitbrain.org/wiki:dokuwiki]
Targeted towards software developers and collaborative workgroups, this platform has it all for multi-user support.
Pros: open source, free, section editing, revision history and locking features
Cons: requires hosting, WYSIWYG option as plug-in only (not automatically included)
Simplest Syntax / WYSIWYG Support
Want the easiest possible editing of your pages? Take a look at these.
WetPaint [http://www.wetpaint.com]
Very simple point-and-click editing. Nice array of features too. I made a test of this one too; see it in action here: [http://edtechhacks.wetpaint.com]
Pros: support for multiple users and page history, site analytics, widgets, pre-set themes, easy WYSIWYG editor, hosted
Cons: ad-supported (google text ads all over the place - but can apply for an education wiki if you meet certain criteria), orientation demos are a bit much for experienced wiki users, but great for beginners
StikiPad [http://www.stikipad.com]
Supports formatting in Textile and CamelCase; very simple documentation.
Pros: uses wiki-standard syntax, simple set-up, clean interface, no advertising (except for StikiPad itself)
Cons: limited configuration on free version
Best Enterprise Platforms
Need branding, your own domain, tech support, or tools for business users? These are the way to go.
TikiWiki [http://info.tikiwiki.org/tiki-index.php]
More than just a wiki, TikiWiki boasts a large list of features, such as forums, directories, blogs, articles, and more
Pros: open source, free, requires hosting, good documentation, active development community
Cons: steep learning curve, not for beginners
SocialText [http://www.socialtext.com]
Lots of features for scalable deployment - personal, small business, and enterprise options.
Pros: choose hosing on their servers or yours, supports blogging and IM integration, file management options
Cons: not free (except personal, discounts offered for non-profits), limited info on homepage (must contact sales team for more info/pricing)
Twiki [http://www.twiki.org]
Open source, enterprise targeted platform.
Pros: requires hosting, plugin and application support, can add attachments, multi-user friendly with revision and access control, WYSIWYG editor
Cons: no tech support, semi-steep learning curve (from personal experience - my workplace experimented with this platform!)
What Did I Miss?
Do you have a favorite wiki platform that should be included in this list? Add it in the comments!
Popularity: 79% [?]
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January 1st, 2008
14:59
Filed Under: Education, Lifehacks, Social Media, Technology
2007, 2008, elearning, mashable, predictions, social networking, software, techcrunch, twitter, year in review
It’s that time of year, when all the blogs do a “best of” post for the year, and set some goals or predictions for the next year. Since I’ve been reading these like crazy, I thought I’d distill down the list to a few great ones relating to Ed Tech. Enjoy!
Education
TechCrunch - “Top 2007 Education Apps: Learning 2.0”
What makes this a great list isn’t the article itself, but it’s call to readers to list their own best educational apps. A strong response in the comments provides a great list of educational resources online.
Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day - “The Best Web 2.0 Applications for Education - 2007”
The blog post that inspired the TechCruch post (above). Another wonderful list of resources for online learning.
The Rapid eLearning Blog - “Your 10 Most Popular Posts of 2007”
An excellent roundup of this blog’s best posts - if you’re wanting to jump on the rapid elearning bandwagon, here’s your reading list!
Technology
TechDigest - “20 Trends Defining Virtual Worlds in 2007”
Virtual worlds are rapidly becoming a part of online learning - here is a great analysis of how far the technology has come, and directions it could go in the future.
Ars Technica - “Looking Back, Looking Forward: Best of 2007 and Predictions for 2008”
A great overview of the top tech stories of 2007, with some well thought out predictions for the year to come.
Google Earth Blog - “Top 10 New Google Earth Features 2007”
Many educators are starting to use Google Earth in the classroom - here’s a list of new features added to the software this year.
Lifehacks
Lifehacker - “Best of 2007: Twenty Top 10’s of 2007”
Earlier this year, Lifehacker started a “Top 10″ series - here are the 20 most-viewed of the year.
Lifehacker - “Lifehacker’s 2007 Guide to Free Software and Webapps”
The list you can’t live without - software for every platform and some wonderful online apps - all free!
ReadWriteWeb - “Top Web Apps & Sites of 2007”
A roundup of the best web software this year.
Social Media
Logic+Emotion - “2007 was the Year of Social Media. 2008 is the Year of Mobile Media.”
Very good insights on how the ways people interact with technology are changing.
Mashable! - “Best of 2007: Trends That Shaped the Web”
Highlights of the year in social media, including social networking, politics online, open source software, and more.
Twitter - See what other bloggers are saying by following predictions08 on Twitter!
What did I leave out?
Did I miss any spectacular 2007/2008 lists? Did you write one of your own? Let me know in the comments!
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So, I went back and made another lens on Squidoo. I actually think it’s a bit addicting.
The new one is “Getting Started with RSS” and contains a lot of good links and info for RSS beginners.
I was actually inspired to do this one from a presentation I gave on RSS at work earlier this year. If I can find my presentation notes, I’ll beef up the lens a bit more.
Let me know what you think of the lens! I’m still new to this whole Squidoo thing.
Popularity: 22% [?]
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I’ve been fighting this issue for months and finally found a fix, so I thought I’d post what I learned to help others with the same issue.
The Problem:
Every time I tried to sync my iPhoto Library to my iPod, I would get an Error -50.
If I just synced my Pictures folder, it worked just fine. But I wanted to have my albums on the iPod.
Note: I know the Error -50 occurs for other reasons, so I can’t help you with that. But if you’ve isolated iPhoto as the problem, keep reading.
The Steps:
Under Pictures/iPhoto Library, you’ll find a file called AlbumData.xml.
Open this in a web browser. (For Firefox: File>Open Location)
If you get an error message (XML parse error, expected closing tag, etc.), continue.
Open iPhoto. Go to Preferences>Keywords.
Look through all these keywords and delete those with non-alphanumeric characters in them. (Mine had < and > characters, among others.)
Close iPhoto, then open your AlbumData.xml file in the browser again.
If you don’t get any errors this time, you’re good to go!
Re-Syncing:
Remove all the photos from the iPod, in iTunes. (Devices>Your iPod Name>Photos>Uncheck ‘Sync Photos From’ and re-sync, removing photos when asked.)
Re-sync your iPhoto Library to your iPod. (Devices>Your iPod Name>Photos>Select ‘Sync Photos From: iPhoto’)
*Also, always connect the USB cable directly to the computer, not through a USB hub. This fixed several earlier issues, before the -50 error.
Success!
Look! No error messages! And albums are on the iPod!
Hopefully, this fixes this error for someone else out there.
My specs: MacBook, OSX 10.4.11, iTunes 7.5, iPod 80gb video (5th gen). Instructions may vary slightly based on OS, browser, and software versions.
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