I subscribe to an electronic newsletter from MACUL called the “Big Deal Book of Technology” and in the April 1, 2008 edition I noticed that Atomic Learning has created free video training sessions for Google Docs.  It will only be free through May, so don’t hesitate to check it out.  This quote is taken directly from the newsletter:
 
“Atomic Learning recently announced a free tutorial series on Google Docs, the free Web-based word-processing program that allows users to keep documents up to date and allows selected individuals to update files from their personal computers. The Atomic Learning series, titled “Google Docs—A Focus on Docs,” includes more that 60 short, show-and-tell movies that guide users through the creation, implementation and use of Google Docs. Topics include working with documents, organizing files, document options, sharing and publishing, working with collaboration, and utilizing the edit, insert and revision tab options. The series is being offered, free of charge, through May 1, 2008.”

View the Videos Here!

Well, if you were expecting food, you came to the wrong post…but if you are hungry to hear about the best online photo editing tool, you’ve come to the right place!

Picnik.com is a new website that allows you to edit any picture you care to upload.  It is VERY user friendly, so much so, that I’m not even going to give you a “How-To” handout, the site does it for me.  The best thing?  You don’t have to download any software and it easily interfaces with picasa web albums, myspace (There is even a plug-in for that), facebook, flikr and many other sites.  It’s well worth the test drive.

One caution though, if you are using dial up, it can be painfully slow since it’s all done on line.  However, if you have a broadband connection, you will be amazed!

Media Fire is a great new site if you have files that are too big to e-mail, or if you just need some space to share files. You can use this site to upload files for sharing, or for personal use. Best part? It’s Free! You can create an account if you want, but it’s not necessary. Here is an example of how you could share a file. I have created a .wmv version of “Did You Know?” an interesting video by Karl Fisch – The Fisch Bowl

Click here to see how it works: Did You Know?

Ever been on the road or away from your desk and wished you could quickly jot yourself a note that could be e-mailed to you? Well, now you can! I discovered a cool website called Jott.com where this is just a few mouse clicks away.

Once you set up a free account, program the call-in number in your cell phone, you are good to go.  When you want to jot yourself a note, call the number and record a voice message.  That’s it!  It will be automatically be changed into text, and sent directly to your e-mail address. Cool eh? You can also add a number of e-mail addresses to your account so you can Jott anyone with an e-mail address!

Check it out!

Ever been working at home, find a great site to use in your classroom, bookmark it, only to realize you can’t get it at school when you REALLY need it? I have the answer. Del.icio.us is a social bookmarking site which will take care of that for you. You can save all of your favorites online and all you need to view them is a computer with Internet access. (You can even check them from Disney World, should you be so inclined!) What makes it a social bookmarking site is that you can share your bookmarks with others and you can also see other people’s bookmarks. It’s a great concept, if you know someone who shares your interests, let them do the leg work and find all the good sites. One better, if you don’t want to share a specific link, you can mark it as “Do Not Share”.

Check it out by going to Del.icio.us, click “Get Started”, and be social!

Have you ever wanted a quick peek at the weather? You used to be able to go to Weather.com to get it, but with the advent of streaming weather maps, etc. it is tough to get a quick peek at todays weather without all that extra stuff. I got this site from Kim Kommando’s cool sites. Nothing fancy, just weather with a five day forecast. Check it out it’s simply, weather!

Simple Weather

Adding pictures to your blog or Power Point presentation is very easy. One of the most important things is to make sure the photo is sized correctly. This allows you to keep the overall file size low, and will allow people to browse your blog or e-mail more quickly. (For blogs, it will also allow you to provide a thumbnail for the picture, which is pretty cool…)

This is also useful if you want to e-mail pictures to friends or relatives, as the pictures don’t show up HUGE in the e-mail!  (Doncha just love it when it takes 5 minutes to receive one e-mail?)
Here is a great website for resizing, cropping, and editing photos all online without downloading any software to your computer!

Site URL: Snipshot.com

How To Document: Snip Shot How-To

This link will take you to the site to add the Del.icio.us buttons to your Internet Explorer tool bar on your home or school computer.

Del.icio.us Buttons