The Power of Picasaweb

Picasaweb is a image uploading website similar to imgur, this website can be used to upload pictures from your computer into albums which can be public, private or shared with individual friends. Just press the upload button and pick what images you want and you'll be all set. The albums you create can be made into slideshows by pressing the slideshow button in the top left. You can also add captions to individual images that will be shown in slideshows. Since Picasaweb is cloud based, you can access your uploaded images from any computer with internet access, which is much less complicated than having to bring your computer with you to school, or storing images on a flash drive. With Picasaweb, a great image sharing website is just a few clicks away

Senior Project Audio Assistance!

Ever needed audio but have no way of getting it? In a tutorial video I walk you step by step through how to extract audio from Youtube videos. Watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Su1wK7iCQfQ

One Device

If I could only bring one device to school, it would undoubtedly be my iPhone 5. The iPhone is the most accesible, easy to use device that will connect you to pretty much anything.

The reason the iPhone 5 appeals to me so much is its accessibility. Just on my cellphone, I have email, Facebook, Twitter, the Pingree app, Youtube, games, internet browsing, Google Drive, music, and more, all in my pocket. I prefer the iPhone over my iPad because it is much smaller, so I don't have to take it out of my backpack to use it. The iPhone is perfect for day to day school life because its small, contains everything I need, and unlike laptops, has 4G (internet everywhere).

Let's talk about specs. The iPhone 5 has a 4-inch (diagonal) widescreen Multi-Touch display, with much more screen real estate than its predecessor, the iPhone 4s. The phones front facing camera shoots in 1080p while the back facing camera shoots 720p. The iPhone 5 also features the ability to take panorama photos. It has a built in rechargeable lithium-ion battery that I will admit, does not last as long as users would like. The phone features Apple's new "Lightning Charger" which is much easier to use than the previous charger. The screen displays beautiful graphics and is very responsive.

What are some of the cons of the iPhone 5? Well for starters, the price. If you have an upgrade available with your current cell provider, it will probably cost you around $100 or more. On top of that you have to pay monthly fees, and with any service provider it will cost you at least $25 a month for limited data access. The iPhone is also not very durable. I went out and bought an Otterbox protective case for mine, which does the job, but adds a considerable amount of bulk to the phone. 

In the end, the pros of the phone far outweigh the cons. The iPhone can connect me to anything anywhere, and is the perfect tool for school.

VoiceThread

VoiceThread - Conversations in the cloud. VoiceThread is a fantastic tool for students to engage and learn with each other, from anywhere. It is a website where people can communicate with large groups of people while discussing certain topics that everyone is learning about. You no longer have to be in a classroom at a certain time or place, all you have to do is have your computer and learn whenever and wherever you want. VoiceThread allows students to talk and communicate with each other online. Also, a teacher can teach an entire lesson online as well. For example, if there was a class on the Boston Red Sox, the teacher of that class would be able to create the entire course on VoiceThread. One day, the teacher could upload a photo of the Red Sox in 2007 winning the championship and record his voice and list the roster for that slide for everyone to hear. Then, students would be able to write or speak their reactions to the Red Sox winning in 2007 for the rest of the class to hear. VoiceThread is a great tool that allows students to go to class, on the computer.