Free of charge audio of literary work:
http://www.fredshead.info/2005/11/free-of-charge-audio-literary-works.html
“Design Science announces that MathDaisy 1.0 is Now Shipping. This add-on enhances the Microsoft Save as Daisy plug-in for Word and allows schools to easily create accessible math from Word documents.”
http://www.dessci.com/en/company/press/releases/090413.htm
Use a phone camera and this software to read bar codes: http://www.snappr.net/
New concept of a Braille e-book:
http://i.gizmodo.com/5219669/braille-e+reader-concept-raises-dots-with-e+ink
Have a Mac and spending too much time distracted by the internet? http://macfreedom.com/
Video Capture: I’ve been asked recently and also had interest myself, in finding screen capture software that would allow me to capture videos of teaching and learning in immersive worlds. Here’s some information from the Second Life Wiki on that topic that I thought was worth sharing:
Multi-platform Free
- Jing Project (PC & Mac) – Captures SL but at very slow framerates; limited by only exportng to SWF.
Windows Free
- CamStudio
- Taksi – Sometimes cited as an open source alternative to FRAPS.
- WeGame.com – Relative newcomer that includes both the software and a site to host the videos on. Very easy encoding and uploading process.
Commercial
- Camtasia (US$299) – On the expensive side, but its strength is it can record both Second Life and standard Windows applications. It has a great lossless codec which is useful for recording relatively static content with lots of flat color — for capturing inworld footage, use a codec like DivX instead.
- Game Cam (US$24.95, Lite version is US$9.95) -
- Game Recorder (US$39)
- Fraps (US$37) – This is possibly the most popular video capture utility.
- Capture Me – Originally a screen capture program for still images, now can also record MPEG-4 videos (no sound) up to 60 seconds.
- iShowU (US$20)
- Screenflow (US$100) – Has some very nice features, like an easy picture-in-picture mode for your iSight or other webcam, but only runs on Leopard (10.5) and lacks more advanced editing capabilities.
- Snapz Pro X (US$69) – Generally regarded as the Mac equivalent of Fraps in terms of its popularity with Residents, it’s a tad on the pricey side but very elegantly-designed.
Linux Free
- glc – An ALSA & OpenGL capture tool for Linux.
- Xvidcap – Known to work for SL machinima on Linux.
- RecordMyDesktop – audio and video capture to full quality Theora –Allen Kerensky 13:15, 22 May 2008 (PDT)
- Instanbul – nice stop start button, easy to work, low quality Theora –Allen Kerensky 13:15, 22 May 2008 (PDT)
- Yukon – a front-end to seom –Allen Kerensky 13:15, 22 May 2008 (PDT)
Gotta Run! So, now I’m off to Indy to go check in for tomorrow morning’s start of the Indy Mini-Marathon. I thought I’d mention this as this will be the first year of the race for some new timing/tracking equipment. Basically, I’ll wear a disposable RF tag on my shoe that will track my start and stop time as well as allow people to track progress online at 500festival.com. Then, at the end of the race I simply discard the RF tag. Pretty cool technology and I’m anxious to see how it works! My main reason for mentioning it here is the recent increase in discussion about HOW to keep the expensive technology a school owns, in the school and out of student pockets/backpacks. A cheap (disposable) RF tag might be one solution to tracking your equipment and knowing when it’s walking out the front door! Of course, you’d need an RF receiver as well, which likely isn’t as cheap (disposable). Still, this seems like really cool technology that could be worth keeping an eye on!
