TinyURL.com

Sometimes URLs can be very, very long. Sometimes you want a short link. Use http://www.tinyurl.com/ to make your long links....short! :)

Did You Know Video.

This video is awesome. Please click the link below, and take the time to watch it. It is a real eye-opener! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXx1_6T09jM

The video reminds me of a quote by Alvin Toffler, "The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read or write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn." We are living in exponential times, and change comes every day. Some change is good, some is bad. Do not be afraid of new technology! :)

Love, Love, Love IT!!!!

I stumbled across a website yesterday that is absolutely fantastic. I spent WAY too much time reading posts by the pioneer woman!! Please visit this site for great photography and Photoshop hints and tricks. Also, if you love to cook, you have GOT to check out her recipes. There is much, much, more on the website. I hope you will check it out! http://thepioneerwoman.com/photography/

Free PDF software!

For years I have been telling students how to create .pdf documents using CutePDF Writer. I just noticed that I didn't have the link up for my students.

http://www.cutepdf.com/ will allow you to make .pdf documents from any document, for free! A .pdf document is great because it cannot be edited. Also, your downloaded fonts STICK, and can be viewed on any computer....which I LOVE! :)

I would suggest making your resume a .pdf file before sending it to potential employers. Your formatting, fonts, and layout will stay how you like it. Also, anyone worldwide can view a .pdf file for free if they have a Adobe PDF reader. The PDF reader is free also, and most computers come with it installed when you purchase them! If you don't have the Adobe reader you can get it here: http://get.adobe.com/reader/

Graphics

Places to find graphics online:

http://www.istockphoto.com/ (incredible pictures if you are willing to pay).

http://www.sxc.hu/

http://www.flickr.com/ (shoot the owners a message and most of the time people are cool with you using their stuff as long as you don't sell it. Just make sure to ask).

http://www.vecteezy.com/ (sometimes you have to wade through a lot of skulls and junk to find something useful).

http://www.imageafter.com/

http://www.freeiconsweb.com/index.html (icons)

http://dezignus.com/

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

Watch FREE movies and T.V!

Visit http://www.hulu.com/ to watch free movies and television. You can watch anything...from Sponge Bob to the nightly news! With free websites like this, who needs satellite or cable television anymore?? :)

Comment and let me know what you think!

Graphic Editing -- FREE!!

I know most of you love Photoshop CS3, but simply cannot afford to buy it. Here are a few links to free graphic editing programs that will do basically the same thing as Photoshop!

Photoshop Express: https://www.photoshop.com/express/landing.html

Photoscape: http://www.photoscape.org/ps/main/index.php (a little confusing to learn, but contains great tools. You can find instructional tutorials on http://www.youtube.com/)

Picasa by Google: http://picasa.google.com/

I hope you will spend some time editing photos. It is quite addictive.

Very Cool Website!

My new favorite website is http://www.etsy.com/ where you can find very unique things that are homemade. Some of the prices are incredibly LOW! Find a stress ball, a laptop decal, a mouse pad, or a wrist rest for your office. I love searching the children's clothes and jewlery. I have a feeling that once you look at the site, you will be hooked!!

I love the laptop decal and sleep mask (see pictures). They are perfect gifts for a busy college student (or teacher....hint!) :)

Scrapbooking Made Easy!

I am soooooo addicted to a free scrapbook program online at http://www.scrapblogs.com/. My friend and colleague, Delana Foster, showed me an awesome scrapbook that she created for her Delta Epsilon Chi student association. I can’t believe how you can choose backgrounds, stickers, etc… and it is all free. When you are finished with your personalized scrapbook, you can order it for $35 or you can turn it into a blog that friends can view online. This is an unreal price, considering how much you would spend at a hobby store to buy and put together a scrapbook yourself. Try it out!

Free file conversion!

Do you ever need files converted into a different format? My daughter got an .mp3 player for Christmas, and I didn't realize that it wouldn't play .mp4 files! So, needless to say, my Christmas was spend converting files.

I hope you will find this website useful. http://www.youconvertit.com/convertfiles.aspx

Sorry it has been so long....

With the holidays, I did not have much time to update my blog. Sorry! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas.

Dave Ramsey, is one of my new favorite people. You can visit his website at http://www.daveramsey.com/. He is helping me become debt-free, and hopefully a millionaire one day! :) As I was listening to him on the radio the other day, he mentioned GOAL SETTING. I have summarized what he said on the radio below...

I encourage you to set clear, measurable goals for the new year. One key component to goal setting, is WRITING them on paper.

Set goals for your life in the following areas:

• Career (school?)
• Financial
• Spiritual (want to read the Bible all the way through?)
• Physical (don't just say "lose weight". Come up with a specific amount, and a specific time frame)
• Intellectual (do you want to read more books? The average millionaire reads 1 book a month)
• Family (want to spend more family time? family time does not include watching TV)
• Social

One thing Dave always says is "Failure is not permanent." So, whatever is going on in your life, or whatever has been thrown your way....keep a positive attitude and set goals to improve your life.

make a digital story....

Wednedsay night I gave a presentation about Digital Storytelling for the Instructional Technology Student Association at USM. I also demonstrated how to create a movie using a simple, free software -- Photostory 3. You can download it at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphotography/photostory/default.mspx.

Try it out! It is as easy as uploading your photos, typing text, and adding music. Very cool.

I will try to add an example digital story later today.....