MoLeNET Community Forum

Re: iPhone 3GS

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 14:44:38 GMT

by James Clay (MoLeNET Mentor).

From Macrumors so take with a pinch of salt...

In a brief note, DigiTimes reports that Taiwanese firm Foxlink is currently developing micro projectors for use in mobile phones, with Apple being one of the companies expected to launch devices with built-in projectors later this year. The projectors would allow the iPhone and possibly the iPod touch to directly project video output onto an external surface.

Re: Tools of the Day

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:35:21 GMT

by Keith Tellum.

One of our m-champions, Jonny Wathen, took a group of learners to France and came back with tons of video materials. To edit them, he tried out the online video editor JayCut http://www.moletv.org.uk/watch.aspx?v=7GLGO

Netbook makers go for growth

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 08:09:11 GMT

by James Clay (MoLeNET Mentor).

From BBC News.

When Asus debuted its Eee PC at Asia's biggest technology show two years ago, the Taiwan computer maker created an entirely new product category.

But now, there are so many copycats of the wildly successful laptop that Asus has no choice but to keep up with its own invention.

All Together Now

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 19:56:11 GMT

by James Clay (MoLeNET Mentor).

All Together Now 09 from Gavin Ricketts on Vimeo.

Spot the MoLeNET people in the video!

From All Together Now

iPhone 3GS

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 08:37:09 GMT

by James Clay (MoLeNET Mentor).

Apple have announced a new version of the iPhone, the iPhone 3GS

Now incorporates

3MP camera with better optics and autofocus
video recording
digital compass
voice control
faster 3G
faster hardware

http://www.apple.com/uk/iphone/

Guided Tour

HP test mobile social network

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 08:30:58 GMT

by James Clay (MoLeNET Mentor).

From the BBC

An intelligent, mobile-phone-based social network is being tested by researchers at Hewlett Packard.

Friendlee analyses calls and messages to build up a picture of a person's closest correspondents.

Jolicloud

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 09:02:14 GMT

by James Clay (MoLeNET Mentor).

One of the things I have always liked about the Asus EeePC is the Xandros interface.

The simple icons and easy access to the web and applications, mean that users who aren't use to Linux can start using the EeePC without worry.

Having recently used the Suse desktop on the HP 2133 it was fine but not as simple to use as Xandros. Sometimes I think it would be nice to have the Xandros interface on devices such as the HP 2133, Samsung Q1, etc...

Saw on Twitter recently a link to Jolicloud which is a new OS for netbooks.

It looks very nice.

Alas it is invite only at the moment, so I have signed up and am chasing down an invite code.

James Clay

iTunes U

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 08:03:45 GMT

by James Clay (MoLeNET Mentor).

Is anyone here using content from iTunes U?

Is anyone here signed up to iTunes U?

Re: Tools of the Day

Thu, 28 May 2009 13:19:40 GMT

by Danny Atwere.

Another useful website:

http://www.appappeal.com/apps/

Web apps review site - some great tools here!

Re: Tools of the Day

Fri, 22 May 2009 11:36:30 GMT

by James Clay (MoLeNET Mentor).

SplashURL lets you splash the URL of the page you're currently viewing in a browser as a large font minified URL or QR code, so that audience members can easily write down/visit the URL.

My favourite URL shortening service at this time is is.gd

Another useful service is bit.ly however as well as shortening URLs it also allows you to track and see logs about the shortened URL.

James

Video Resources Wiki

Mon, 18 May 2009 14:48:59 GMT

by James Clay (MoLeNET Mentor).

Great wiki on video resources. Really useful if you are using any kind of video with your MoLeNET projects.

http://wiki.rscwmsystems.org.uk/index.php/Streaming_video

Phone apps 'birth of new industry'

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 20:35:01 GMT

by James Clay (MoLeNET Mentor).

Nice little BBC news item on phone apps.

Sales in the world's mobile phone industry are expected to fall this year but downloads of phone applications is one area which is thriving.

Applications create new things to do on a phone and almost a billion of them have been downloaded to Apple's iPhone.

Rory Cellan-Jones examines the emerging new trend.

Re: MPEG4 Problem

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 12:40:22 GMT

by James Clay (MoLeNET Mentor).

Hi Andrew

I have tried converting an Xacti video file using Format Factory and have not managed to recreate your issue.

Could you upload (attach) both the original video and the converted video to this forum (probably have to upload as two separate replies and I can then check the video files.

James

Re: MPEG4 Problem

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 12:34:08 GMT

by Andrew Bailey.

Sorry I didn't give you all the info. I used one of our Sanyo Exacti's to capture a Key Skills bit but its 61.9 Megs - so too big for MoLeTV. (It's a quick and dirty piece that we did for experimental value!)

I Thought I'd use format factory to drop the quality down so that I could upload it but when I convert I loose the sound! Its there on the original file but not on the converted. Not too experienced in the CODEC dark side and need a Jedi Master to advise!

Re: Tools of the Day - Audioboo.fm

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 09:36:44 GMT

by James Clay (MoLeNET Mentor).

Anyone who has been to a MoLeNET event or seen one of the Mentors in action will know how much we liked Gabcast. A great tool to allow people to phone in to create podcasts...

And then...

Gabcast started to charge! $1 for 10 minutes which doesn't sound much, but if you were doing a 30 minute podcast a week for a year would cost you $150...

Over the last few weeks we have been looking for a free alternative, most we found were based in the US which meant phoning an US number.

Dave Sugden came up with a possible VOIP solution with Gabcast.

So I think I have found a free alternative called Audioboo.fm.

It’s a service I first saw demonstrated at the All Together Now event at Channel 4. To put it simply it is an App (iTunes Store Link) on your iPhone that allows you to record an audio recording, add your location, a picture and upload the lot to a website.

As well as viewing the “boos” on the website they are also accessible via the Audioboo App.

As you have an account on the website (not essential but recommended) your recordings are kept together and also have an RSS feed as well.

This is the test recording I made using the App on the iPhone.

With the iPhone App you can add a picture and geo-data to your audio recording which allows you to add not just a visual reference but the location data as well. This has some real potential for learning activities.

Yes I can hear you saying that this is no Gabcast replacement, firstly you need an iPhone and most people won’t have one of those.

Well the Audioboo people are also looking at how they can make the service device agnostic and they have a prototype phone service now in beta. You can phone in your Audioboos via 0203 393 6430. This is a recording that I made using this number on my Nokia N73 (though of course you can use a BT line if you so wish).

I did comment when I posted about Audioboo on my blog that

Now at this point in time you can not collate these phoned in recordings (as you can with Gabcast) but I am sure at some point that this will be possible…

Well less than a week later Audioboo have mentioned on Twitter

You can now link to your audioboo account from any phone. More detail tomorrow but the API seems to work.

Well today (or this week) we should see how this enhancement will work.

This means that you will be able to phone into Audioboo and it will record you and convert it into an audio file with RSS.

A really good Gabcast replacement if you ask me. The fact that there is an iPhone app which allows you to add pictures and geo-data is just a bonus.

Re: MPEG4 Problem

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 14:42:33 GMT

by James Clay (MoLeNET Mentor).

Hi Andrew

I had a go using PRISM at converting a few files including MPEG2 and HD MP4 files and they worked fine(ish). There was audio.

What formats are you trying to convert from? Or better where are the small videos captured from (what device).

For uploading to MoLeTV generally you can upload in a variety of formats and they will do the MP4 conversion for you.

So why are you converting?

If you are losing the audio, this is generally down to the original video file using some obscure audio codec.

Are the original files smaller than 50MB, if so you could upload one attached to a reply to this.

James Clay

MPEG4 Problem

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 07:35:54 GMT

by Andrew Bailey.

Hi All, (Thanks to JC for twitter based help) I have been trying to convert some small videos from a range of formats to MPEG4's (for use on MoLeTV) using PRISM and Format Factory. Everytime I do this the converted file looses its sound! Can anyone tell me what I am doing wrong? Thanks in advance, Andrew

Re: Video editing software

Tue, 07 Apr 2009 11:34:36 GMT

by frank wall.

Hi Julia,

Here at Tower Hamlets College we have experienced similar issues with video editing and windows movie maker.

Initially We opted for Cyberlink power director which is fine, cheap, and a more versatile solution than WMM but the options for exporting your edited video file are a bit limited, and without the option of creating a wmv or flash file the exported videos are pretty big files (though we are using an older version so not sure how much the newest version has changed).

I personally prefer Premire Elements, it is a very professional interface but is still very user friendly and has lots of options for exporting videos including wmv and flash. Its a bit more expensive but we have installed it on selected machines that staff can have open access to. Its important to install it on a machine with a fast processor and lots of RAM though.

Hope this helps

Frank

Re: Video editing software

Mon, 06 Apr 2009 13:28:45 GMT

by James Clay - PM - Gloucestershire.

Ah well...

My IT guys have recommended Cyberlink Power Director 7 Deluxe as a possible Windows solution.

Getting a copy to evaluate.

James

Re: Tools of the Day

Mon, 06 Apr 2009 11:50:30 GMT

by Ron Mitchell (MoLeNET Mentor).

Just remembered a tool that I did use for the first time yesterday. There are lots of free online mind mapping tools but I hadn't personally used mindomo before. http://www.mindomo.com

Used it as part of a brief to delegates attending an RSC-London webinar http://www.mindomo.com/view.htm?m=2cdbd20677bf4969af9e4d34fd2f5ea1