Omnivorous Surfer

I have been using Creative Commons (CC) licensed photos for some time now, finding them by using Flickr's advanced search option. Compfight is a website that makes that search easier and much quicker. Basically, all you have to do is to click beside "Creative Commons" to change the parameter to "Only," enter your search tag, and click "Search." Click on your chosen photo to open it in Flickr, where you can check the CC details, and then view sizes to choose to download one or to use the link to the size of your choice. You can then copy and paste the URL or CC code to complete the attribution requirement.

You can also further define the search by using Seek Original, which refers to the size of the image: "Only" will limit results to images saved in their original size, "On" will display images of all sizes, with an informational blue bar giving dimensions of those which are not original size, and "Off" will display images of all sizes without the blue bar. Your search results can also be filtered by using a Safe Search to display only images which are safe for work.

If you aren't familiar with the Creative Commons license, it is a  license granting a set of baseline rights to the owner and requiring the work (image, video, audio, text) to be attributed to the original author. I won't go into details here, but basically, for a licensed work, you will see the CC logo along with a description of the guidelines for use. You are then given the opportunity and responsibility to use the work according to those guidelines. A CC license can be obtained for no cost from Creative Commons. When creating a license, the owner can decide if he or she wants others to have the right to use the work commercially and if others will be allowed to modify the work.

 Sometimes it's not easy to find an agreeable time for a number of individuals to meet. If you don't already have software that facilitates this, When is Good is an incredibly easy, FREE solution. There's no registration, no sign-up. How often do you see that! All you do is mark the dates/times that work for you and record a results code. Then you send to others an email with a link to the site. They see your times and mark those that would work for them. Finally you go back to the site, enter the results code, and you'll see a calendar with the days/times that are available for all.

I have used Doodle before, but I think this is easier. Next time I need it, I'll be using When is Good!

I have used Zamzar for a long time and just realized that I have never posted it here. This site will do a greater variety of conversions than most others I have seen and so can be quite useful.

This is my preferred site for converting YouTube or "otherTube" movies to a format (.mov, .wmv, .flv, or other) I can save to view/show offline; use the "Download Videos" tab for this. All you need to do is to paste the URL (Internet address) of the video in the first box and choose your preferred file format. If you have a video file on your computer you want to convert to another format, Zamzar will do that, too. The audio from these videos can also be converted to .mp3 or other audio format if you don't want or need the video portion.

For converting PDFs to .jpg, however, I use ConvertPDFtoImaGe.com. The site does other conversions, too, as described in an earlier post. Rather than email the converted file to you, this site allows you to simply download it once the conversion is complete.

For conversions other than video and PDF to .jpg, you may want to compare for yourself to see which you prefer.

Are you looking for an online app to use in the classroom or for personal use? I've always used a Google search to find Web 2.0 tools, but from now on I'll probably try Web 2.0: Cool Tools for Schools first. This is a wiki which provides links to cool Web 2.0 tools. Choose from the listed categories (e.g., presentation , converting, audio video, organizing, mapping) and you will be presented with an easy-to-read table of sites with a brief description of each.

Don't forget that since this is a wiki, you can add any cool tools you like that aren't already there.

The wiki does not include any kind of ranking, review or recommendation. This means you'll be trying everything out for yourself, but it does give you a quick starting point.

UNFORTUNATELY, eTRADE HAS ENDED THEIR "BABY" CAMPAIGN AND NO LONGER MAKES THE BABYMAIL APP AVAILABLE. (added August 2013)

My last several posts have been way too serious, so I think it's time for some fun. Who doesn't like the eTrade babies ads? Well, I'm sure there are some, and if you're one who doesn't, you won't be interested in this post. For the rest of you, eTrade has posted a little app, BabyMail, that will let you create your own short message to be delivered by one of their little cuties (or your own, though I haven't tried that one out). You can create your own BabyMail below!



Leslie Edwards shared this on her The WebFooted Book Lady blog after finding it on the Techno Constructivist blog, where Carl Anderson used it to share six reasons for using social networking in schools. You can learn about all kinds of things by reading blogs!