November 30th, 2009
The designers say this website makes broadcasting your online TV shows as easy as blogging, and it certainly is easy to set up a channel. In minutes you can have set up your own channel, your show names and logos, and have scheduled your first episode. Video tutorials take you through the necessary steps so that even a first-time broadcaster could manage. After that the service is designed mainly for people wanting to broadcast by streaming live and then archive a show to broadcast as a repeat later on the channel.
Your channel will show an ‘Off Air’ screen while you aren’t streaming, and once your episode is being broadcast you can add members to the team to work on it and even allow viewers to comment during the broadcast, with or without moderation. All of this is very like Livestream, the benefit being that VideoLobby feels easier to set up and use with all the video tutorials and links to a Wiki page for extra tips. In fact the Wiki pages are invaluable for anybody interested in broadcasting because they’re so full of information.
It’s not quite so easy to see how to broadcast shows users might already have in their own archives. Other services allow shows to be easily imported from other places including YouTube. All of this might be possible on VideoLobby to make it a complete service for people wanting to set up and run a channel, but an extra video tutorial is needed to explain how to do it, plus easier step-by-step guidance on the menus.
Tags: broadcasting, online TV, Streaming, television, vidcasting, videography, VideoLobby
Posted in Video | 1 Comment »
November 29th, 2009
I’m reviewing few websites that help you run your own business these days, and that’s because I know how useful it is to have a website that will take care of mundane but essential tasks like invoicing. InvoiceDude jumped out at me as soon as I saw it because it can be particularly tricky for newcomers to business trying to sort out how to manage this task. The designers created this website because they needed an easy and effective invoicing system and realised how hard it is to find one.
With InvoiceDude you fill in the details as simply as filling in a form and you can invoice your customers and clients wherever you are in the world so long as you have internet access. The data is also backed up by InvoiceDude so, whatever happens, you should have the information you need for your accounting. I would also always keep my own data backup and printed out copies of invoices. Clients can also have their own panel where they can check to see their invoices, and InvoiceDude lets you ask for payment to your PayPal account. All of this makes credit control much easier.
Recurring invoices can be set up for regular invoices for the same amount of money, multiple currencies are supported, and there are ways of importing and exporting data. Customised emails to send your clients notification and the ability to add your business logo are two other features. There are other business management websites, but this one is particularly good for invoicing and is completely free.
Tags: accounting, bookkeeping, credit control, InvoiceDude, invoices, invoicing, self-employed, small business, SOHO
Posted in Web Apps | 1 Comment »
November 27th, 2009
This is one of those websites that immediately comes across as an excellent idea. It’s an open marketplace to let teachers buy and sell materials, from lesson plans to books. With teachers already on the website offering materials for all ages, from children to adults, it seems sure to do well. What a great time-saver it should be for teachers, and also an economical way to buy books and other goods. The chance to put those lesson plans to good use by sharing them seems like good use of time and effort, and why not make some extra income from them?
It’s well organised with bestselling items, newly added items, a full catalogue to browse, and ways to sort and search for exactly what you need. The website has been designed by teachers for teachers to use, and there’s no charge to list items for sale. Once sold the seller gets 60% of the price if they are using the free subscription. This rises to 85% if users pay an annual subscription fee of $59.95.
The site claims to be the first of its kind and states its aim as helping teachers to help each other succeed in their work, as well as making extra income. The materials are offered in various formats including PowerPoint presentations for the classroom. It’s easy to see how it could appeal to teachers wanting to sell their carefully developed lesson plans, and also those wanting to buy a prepared presentation.
Tags: Ecommerce, Education, teachers, teaching
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
November 27th, 2009
The dangers of using a laptop to browse the internet while in wifi hotspots, including popular cafes, has been in the headlines. Watchdog showed how easy it is for hackers to share our information while we’re online as the wifi works as a network they can access. People are looking for ways to keep their wifi communication secure, so a site like Geid could prove popular.
Geid has a system called SecureConnect which encrypts and keeps data secure while you’re using wifi, and at the moment the site is offering a free trial period, so it’s worth taking advantage of this protection. The site also has a blog with information about keeping your computer and communications secure. It’s a new site which has started up just as wifi security is a hot topic, and with users worried about whether and how to use the internet while in public places the products and the information available at Geid should be useful.
Tags: cybercrime, Identity theft, internet security, password management, Passwords, SecureConnect, Security threat, wifi, wifi hotspots
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
November 26th, 2009
Any dog-owner knows how hard it can be to find places to go and places to stay that allow dogs. Even using public transport with a dog can be a problem, so it’s best to be able to check where dogs are welcome before planning an outing or holiday. FidoFactor is a new website with just a few locations covered so far, but it’s such a useful idea that I hope to see it grow. Currently covering San Francisco, Boston, New York City and Portland, it shows the locations where dogs are welcome, together with reviews provided by members.
When members add reviews or locations the FidoFactor team makes a donation to the San Francisco SPCA to look after dogs. These donations are funded by FidoFactor and the exact amounts are clearly listed with $1 donated for an added location and $.0.50 for a first review, then $0.25 for subsequent reviews. This should all help the website to grow as well as helping needy dogs.
Along with information on taking your dogs out and about, FidoFactor has a community spirit with Pooch Pics dotted about the map for members to click on for a good view of each other’s pets. There’s also a forum for doggy discussions and articles with information on looking after your pets and other useful pet tips. I would love to have this kind of site to help me plan trips and times out with my dog so hopefully it will catch on or be imitated internationally.
Tags: dog friendly holidays, dog friendly hotels, dog friendly restaurants, dog transport, Dogs, pets
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
November 25th, 2009
YouMicro aims to do for music and audio what YouTube has done for video. There should be great interest in this as many people want to share their music without having to film their performance or set their audio track to video. Another good thing about YouMicro is that it isn’t limited to music but could be used for any audio file. This will appeal to comedians and other performers, including writers performing their work and sharing fiction and poetry. It could also work as citizen journalism, which is really catching on at the moment, to let people tell their own news stories or voice their opinions.
YouMicro describes itself as a community so it should work as a social network, very like the YouTube approach. Members can upload their files, promote albums and events, and create playlists. A Help Centre and video tutorials help members get started, while the MicroForum encourages the community to get chatting. For ideas on what to listen to the most popular audio broadcasts are listed. It’s a site designed and run by a young team, and the vitality comes across. I’ll be using this one myself for broadcasts as I use video at the moment but sometimes sound alone is more effective.
Tags: audio, broadcasting, concerts, entertainment, Music, youtube
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
November 24th, 2009
Social networks are all very well but some of us want to be building a virtual community network with people we could actually meet locally. This is particularly important if people are using a social network to build up contacts for a shared interest or activity, or if they want to use it for business or educational reasons. For those using social networks in order to find friendships and personal relationships it would also be of benefit to have their virtual contacts living within travelling distance. For these reasons SocialStreets will appeal to many who can’t find what they want on the usual social networks.
If you take a look at SocialStreets check on the first page to see if your country is available. The US, UK and many other countries are already there. After that you can narrow down to your local region and type in a key word to become more specific. This will let you connect with people and activities in your actual area. At a glance SocialStreets seems particularly useful for listing your work or business activity and also for finding businesses and services in your local community.
Tags: business directory, local business, Social Networks
Posted in Web Apps | No Comments »
November 23rd, 2009
Buying a car is a major investment and headache, and the reviews and opinions of owners are a great help. OpinionAuto aggregates the views of car owners from a good selection of popular review sites to provide a complete set of information about the vehicles buyers are considering. The information is easy to access by clicking on the make of car on the home page. This displays a page with the different makes and years, together with a star rating and a link to all the reviews. It shows how many reviews there are and what percentage of this figure is five-star rated.
Given the amount of information the site is easy to navigate and clearly presented. There’s a quick option to search for the make and model of car to get to the ratings and reviews. The information on the site pulls together reviews from AOL Autos, Autobytel, CarGurus.com, CarSurvey.org, Drive, Epinions, MSN Autos, New Car Net and Yahoo Autos. A site well worth checking if you’re thinking of buying a car, or to see what others think of the car you’re driving.
Tags: automobiles, car reviews, cars, vehicles
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
November 20th, 2009
CutMyPic came to my attention just as I needed a quick way to cut a portrait from a photo for a poster I was designing. It’s a site I’ll be using many times as it’s such a handy way of working with photos and also enhancing them and saving them to use with another application, or to email to friends. The designers jokingly say it could be used to ‘cut out that guy who shouldn’t have been in the picture’, and in fact it really is a convenient way to take out anything you don’t want from the background or to focus in on a particular subject. This is just as useful for personal albums as it is for work, education and sharing photos. For social networks and other places where you need to post a profile it helps by letting you cut out a good head and shoulders shot.
The programmers are in Japan and the site can be read in English or Japanese. It’s a simple site with no adverts, just a step-by-step method of working with your photos. No membership is required and the site is used as a tool where you upload a photo, use the cursor to drag a frame around the part you want to cut and keep, choose a photo shape (square/rectangular, round, or with rounded edges), plus it has a quick method of adding or removing drop shadow. Drop shadow adds realistic shadow around your image. The photo can then be saved on your computer or emailed via CutMyPic. Photos in jpg, jpeg, png and gif image files can be handled by CutMyPic, but not others. Highly recommended for those who don’t have great photoshopping skills but need to do the basics easily.
Tags: images, Photography, photomanipulation, photoshopping
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
