Ive set up Skype for my parents to contact relatives overseas on a home PC.
It works fantastic, my parents actually got really into it, as they can see some of their family they haven't seen in many years.
There is also the advantage on no phone call costs, and you can see the person on the other end as well.
I haven't personally used it for anything, though do see it is a handy piece of technology.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Secondlife
Secondlife, I have never heard of it before, I am amazed at what it can offer.
I haven't had a chance to actually log in and play around with it, but by seeing some of the virtual campuses on YouTube it looks amazing.
I don't quite understand how everything works though, as in money and buying property, because I heard the currency can be converted into $USD as well.
At a glance it seems you can live your dreams, be the person you have always wanted to be in this fantasy land of Secondlife, but it isnt so much a second life if you have to pay for things, and i am assuming money can be generated from it as advertising space is sold on campuses for example.
When I get a chance I might sign up too look into it further, as I cannot quite get a grasp of it for some reason at this stage.
I haven't had a chance to actually log in and play around with it, but by seeing some of the virtual campuses on YouTube it looks amazing.
I don't quite understand how everything works though, as in money and buying property, because I heard the currency can be converted into $USD as well.
At a glance it seems you can live your dreams, be the person you have always wanted to be in this fantasy land of Secondlife, but it isnt so much a second life if you have to pay for things, and i am assuming money can be generated from it as advertising space is sold on campuses for example.
When I get a chance I might sign up too look into it further, as I cannot quite get a grasp of it for some reason at this stage.
Facebook is a technology that I think is going to contribute to a major problem.
Yes it's fantastic for contacting old friends, sharing photos with relatives overseas and meeting new people, but I can't help but feel if you really wanted to speak with old friends they wouldn't be "old friends" would they, they would be your friend!
Personally, it is creating a means by which people can find out a lot of things about a persons life, there favorite things, people they talk too, where they go, what they are eating etc etc. It has been nick-named 'Stalkbook' and it isn't hard to find out a lot about someone is it? Facebook makes this easy for you!
Where will it end? Facebook is creating an addictive medium in which many people are getting obsessed with other peoples lives and is pulling people away from interacting face to face like going for a coffee with a friend.
That's enough about that, the actual technology is fantastic, the interface is extremely user friendly and its features are brilliant. The photo albums are great, allowing users to easily upload photos, 'tag" their friends and allows everyone to see what you did on Saturday night, even you enemies!!!
If your wondering, I do use Facebook, I check it from time to time, though never have sat there for hours on end, in my spare time i'm busy exercising, seeing my mates, having coffee's and having a beer at the footy, you can't do that on Facebook can you???
Maybe in time....
Yes it's fantastic for contacting old friends, sharing photos with relatives overseas and meeting new people, but I can't help but feel if you really wanted to speak with old friends they wouldn't be "old friends" would they, they would be your friend!
Personally, it is creating a means by which people can find out a lot of things about a persons life, there favorite things, people they talk too, where they go, what they are eating etc etc. It has been nick-named 'Stalkbook' and it isn't hard to find out a lot about someone is it? Facebook makes this easy for you!
Where will it end? Facebook is creating an addictive medium in which many people are getting obsessed with other peoples lives and is pulling people away from interacting face to face like going for a coffee with a friend.
That's enough about that, the actual technology is fantastic, the interface is extremely user friendly and its features are brilliant. The photo albums are great, allowing users to easily upload photos, 'tag" their friends and allows everyone to see what you did on Saturday night, even you enemies!!!
If your wondering, I do use Facebook, I check it from time to time, though never have sat there for hours on end, in my spare time i'm busy exercising, seeing my mates, having coffee's and having a beer at the footy, you can't do that on Facebook can you???
Maybe in time....
MySpace
MySpace is social networking site allowing users to display networks of friends, personal profiles, blogs, groups, photos, music, and videos.
It allows relatively unlimited amounts of modification, though does require knowledge of scripting in HTML and CSS.
This does create some issues, as people who do not have a great knowledge of design can make their pages very hard to read, make them look unappealing and more than often detract the user from actually viewing the content as they are so distracted with background and text colors.
Though, if done correctly, pages can look fantastic.
One issue that I personally do not like with websites is the constant need to scroll down web pages, MySpace pages are renowned for the user to scroll down a long way to view all the content. Other sites such as Facebook, have a far better layout, are more user friendly, and filter the information into a more readable and efficient format.
It allows relatively unlimited amounts of modification, though does require knowledge of scripting in HTML and CSS.
This does create some issues, as people who do not have a great knowledge of design can make their pages very hard to read, make them look unappealing and more than often detract the user from actually viewing the content as they are so distracted with background and text colors.
Though, if done correctly, pages can look fantastic.
One issue that I personally do not like with websites is the constant need to scroll down web pages, MySpace pages are renowned for the user to scroll down a long way to view all the content. Other sites such as Facebook, have a far better layout, are more user friendly, and filter the information into a more readable and efficient format.
RSS Feeds
RSS feeds are actually quite handy, as they display a feed of a site in summarized form. This enables you to quickly view the latest news headlines at a glance.
I created a Bloglines account, subscribed to a few feeds and even imported the Herald Sun's AFL RSS feed into my blog (see top right hand side of my blog!)
I'm sure an RSS feed could be incorporated onto the kindergarten's desktop to give them an update on Vicnet or post help items and tips for windows.
I created a Bloglines account, subscribed to a few feeds and even imported the Herald Sun's AFL RSS feed into my blog (see top right hand side of my blog!)
I'm sure an RSS feed could be incorporated onto the kindergarten's desktop to give them an update on Vicnet or post help items and tips for windows.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Flowchart - Gliffy.com
I chose to use Gliffy to make a flowchart.
Below, shows a basic sign up process for Gliffy as the theme of the flowchart.
It is a very simple sigup process.
The program itself is very user friendly, editing colours/sizes is very intuitive and publishing it to the web is a click away (maybe two!!)
Below, shows a basic sign up process for Gliffy as the theme of the flowchart.
It is a very simple sigup process.
The program itself is very user friendly, editing colours/sizes is very intuitive and publishing it to the web is a click away (maybe two!!)
Wiki's
Wiki means "Quick" in Hawaiian, I always wondered where the word came from!
It certainly is a "quick" was of collaborating a website via an infinite number of people being able to edit or add information to to a Wiki site.
Had a look through eh Future Melbourne Wiki site, and thought it was a very interesting idea, to generate input from Melbournians on the way they want to see Melbourne progress in the future.
I also went through the Whirlpool Wiki. Whirlpool is an excellent forum dedicated to broadband and IT related topics, which is a great pint of reference for many things related to IT. I knew that Whirlpool had a very extensive topic coverage, but was amazed when looking at the Index on the Wiki, to how many different topics are actuially collaborated.
It certainly is a "quick" was of collaborating a website via an infinite number of people being able to edit or add information to to a Wiki site.
Had a look through eh Future Melbourne Wiki site, and thought it was a very interesting idea, to generate input from Melbournians on the way they want to see Melbourne progress in the future.
I also went through the Whirlpool Wiki. Whirlpool is an excellent forum dedicated to broadband and IT related topics, which is a great pint of reference for many things related to IT. I knew that Whirlpool had a very extensive topic coverage, but was amazed when looking at the Index on the Wiki, to how many different topics are actuially collaborated.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Google books
Had a search within Google books for my favorite book, "Lance Armstrong, It's not about the bike."
Not only does it display basic info regarding the book, it provides reviews, references, places to purchase the book (online) and also places to borrow the book.
You can search for libraries by location, though is more likely to display an Australian location by tying "AU" after your location.
Apparently this book resides in the Redmond Barry Reading Room!
Not only does it display basic info regarding the book, it provides reviews, references, places to purchase the book (online) and also places to borrow the book.
You can search for libraries by location, though is more likely to display an Australian location by tying "AU" after your location.
Apparently this book resides in the Redmond Barry Reading Room!
Google Docs
Google keeps on surprising me, with new an innovate ways to do daily tasks online easier.
I had previously never heard of Google Docs, at first glance it looks like a simplified version of Microsoft Office.
This though is not its downfall, as the majority of people who use word processors, spreadsheets and presentation software do not utilize all the tools available to them within the software. Maybe because they simply do not need anything more than simply type a letter, calculate or formulate some data or create a small presentation.
Google Docs seems extremely user friendly and has the ability to save any document to your PC as a PDF as well, which is really handy.
I had previously never heard of Google Docs, at first glance it looks like a simplified version of Microsoft Office.
This though is not its downfall, as the majority of people who use word processors, spreadsheets and presentation software do not utilize all the tools available to them within the software. Maybe because they simply do not need anything more than simply type a letter, calculate or formulate some data or create a small presentation.
Google Docs seems extremely user friendly and has the ability to save any document to your PC as a PDF as well, which is really handy.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Google Maps
View Larger Map
I have used Google maps many times before. It is a really good way to get a quick look at a street or suburb.
In the past I have checked out places I have traveled to in the world and also in Australia.
The great feature of Google Maps in my opinion is the "street view" function.
Not every street has this ability, though more and more are appearing as time goes by. My post shows where I have purchased my little bit of Australia!
iGoogle
iGoogle is a great tool to integrate many websites or information. It helps by not having to navigate to the actual website, rather providing a snapshot of the information you need. As it is fully customizable, you can select what you want to see. The interface is extremely well put together, making it simple to change things like your theme, appearance or add gadgets.There seems to be unlimited gadgets available and it iGoogle even allows you to create your own.
Even Super Mario was available as a gadget, so he lives on my iGoogle page aswell as Google Maps, Facebook and Sudoku!
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Downloadable Audio Books
Checked out Project Gutenberg
I was actually surprised to see how many eBooks are available to download.
To be honest, I was unaware of this sort of service on the net, the amount of resources here is quite amazing actually.
I then checked out YPRL's Overdrive Downloadable Media,
Again I was surprised about the variety and number of audiobooks, eBooks andvideos available to download.
I was actually surprised to see how many eBooks are available to download.
To be honest, I was unaware of this sort of service on the net, the amount of resources here is quite amazing actually.
I then checked out YPRL's Overdrive Downloadable Media,
Again I was surprised about the variety and number of audiobooks, eBooks andvideos available to download.
Podcast
Via the ABC - Radio National Podcasts, I had a look through the music section, as i usually get podcasts that are music related.
I navigated to the Triple J music web site, and actually found a podcast which I was really interested in.
The podcast is called "Triple J Unearthed" which provides a sample of new Australian music via their show.
The link for the podcast is:
http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/podcast/unearthed.xml
Usually, I automatically receive other selected podcasts via iTunes.
Then all I do is plug my iPod in to my PC, and the podcasts download and load automatically to my iPod, which is really handy.
I navigated to the Triple J music web site, and actually found a podcast which I was really interested in.
The podcast is called "Triple J Unearthed" which provides a sample of new Australian music via their show.
The link for the podcast is:
http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/podcast/unearthed.xml
Usually, I automatically receive other selected podcasts via iTunes.
Then all I do is plug my iPod in to my PC, and the podcasts download and load automatically to my iPod, which is really handy.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Library Thing
What's on my bookshelf?
Check out the link below to see........
Michael's Bookshelf
Creating my list of books was really simple.
The registration is really easy, as you are only required to enter a username and password then your away!!!
My list is very sport orientated by the way........
Check out the link below to see........
Michael's Bookshelf
Creating my list of books was really simple.
The registration is really easy, as you are only required to enter a username and password then your away!!!
My list is very sport orientated by the way........
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