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Now, more than ever, there is a wide variety of free software available. The hardest part is finding it; with so many choices identifying the good programs can be a challenge. Here is a short list of free stuff we think is useful.
del.icio.us
Del.icio.us is an online, social, bookmark management service. Click here for more infomation on how to setup and use del.icio.us.
http://del.icio.us
The Centre for Learning & Performing Technologies Tools Directory
The tools directory is a categorized list of over 2,000 different software applications and websites. Sample categories include: blogging tools, screen capture tools, and personal productivity tools. Each tool in the directory has a short summary of its functionality and the cost of the tool. Many of the tools listed are either free or have a demo version.
http://www.c4lpt.co.uk/Directory/index.html
JAlbum
JAlbum is a free software for easily creating image galleries for Blackboard and the web. JAlbum is available for most operating systems, including Windows and Mac OS X.
http://www.jalbum.net
CamStudio
CamStudio is Windows software that allows you to create movies of your computer screen and save them as AVI or Flash SWF files. The SWF format is ideal for adding to Blackboard or the Web, because it creates small files that download quickly. Since it’s free, you can also share CamStudio with your students for their use.
http://camstudio.org/
FreeMind
FreeMind is a cross-platform application for creating mind maps. FreeMind can save mind maps into serval formats including: HTML, JPEG, PNG, and PDF.
http://freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
Kuler
Kuler is an online color theme creation and managment tool. “It helps you to explore, create and share color themes for your creative projects.” Theme creation is easy. You choose a base color, and then you have the option to use one of the color rules to select the remaining colors, or select them manually. It allows you create color themes with up to five colors. You can download your themes for use with a Creative Suite program, like Photoshop, or you can also publish the theme for other people to view and save. If you don’t have Creative Suite, don’t worry, Kuler displays the values for all the colors in a theme so you can replicate them anywhere.
http://kuler.adobe.com
DeskTask
DeskTask is a plug-in for Microsoft Outlook that will display items in the Outlook tasks and calendar on the desktop.
http://www.carthagosoft.net/desktask.htm
PDFCreator
A small application released under SourceForge.net that creates a virtual printer on any Windows 98 or later PC; with the program installed, a PDF can be created from anything that can be printed. To create a PDF document from a file, be it a Microsoft Word document, Excel spreadsheet, or webpage, simply go to File>Print and choose PDFCreator as the printer. Users are then prompted for a filename and location to save the PDF. To download this software go to:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/pdfcreator/
Microsoft Photo Story 3
An application from Microsoft for Windows XP or later that can easily add effects like music, fades, and voice narration to a set of pictures, creating a “photo story.” The project can then be exported in a number of formats, including WMV, Video CD, or DVD. To download Photo Story 3 go to:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphotography/
photostory/default.mspx
Audacity
A
robust audio recorder and editor. Audacity’s interface is simple and easy to use. The control buttons use the standard icons found on CD and DVD players and changing the sample rate, or quality, of a project is a matter of clicking a drop-down menu. Several tools for trimming audio are also available, including the ability to trim everything except the selected segment. In addition to the basic editing features Audacity includes several filters including noise removal and fades. Audacity can be downloaded at: http://audacity.sourceforge.net
ACID XPress
ACID XPress is designed to create sound loops. Sound loops are pieces of music that can be played over and over with no recognizable break. ACID XPress is a tool for creating sound loops that is easy for beginners to use. The interface is easy to learn and it comes with a “Show me how” area which has walkthroughs for using the software. ACID XPress is made by Sony, who also makes several looping applications for the consumer market. The drawback is that there are several advertisements in the software for Sony’s other products.ACID XPress can be downloaded at:
http://www.sonymediasoftware.com/download/freestuff.asp
Google
Google isn’t just a search engine, it can be used as a dictionary, a calculator, a phone book, and a measurement converter; Google can even search UPS and FedEx tracking numbers to give updated information about the location of packages.
To look up the definition of a word in Google, simply type “define:word” in the Google search box and Google will return definitions for the word. It works great for acronyms too. For conversions type “how many X in a Y” into the search box, where X is the desired unit of measurement and Y is the known. For example to find out how many bytes are in ten gigabyte simply type, “how many bytes are in 10 gigabytes” and Google will return the answer. For a complete list of Google’s functions browse to the webpage http://www.google.com/help/features.html
In addition to the standard search page Google has several specialized search tools including:
Google Scholar
http://scholar.google.com/
A tool for searching academic works including books, articles, and theses.
University Search
http://www.google.com/options/universities.html
Search for information in university websites.
Froogle
http://froogle.google.com/
A tool to help locate, price, and buy products. Froogle also has a “Local Shopping” feature where users can find local stores that sell products they are looking for.
Google Book Search
http://books.google.com/
A tool that searches the full-text of books. This tool also helps locate books in libraries and bookstores.
Google Maps
http://maps.google.com/
Google Maps is a Web-based mapping tool that provides driving directions, business locations, and three different zooming views, including a sattelite view with streets superimposed.
Google also has tools you can download to your computer including Picasa, a photo management software, and Desktop, a tool to help index and find things on your computer. For a full list of Google’s services and tools go to http://www.google.com/intl/en/options/.
Google Earth
http://earth.google.com/
Google Earth is an interactive 3D online globe. Google Earth can be used to create video animations of trip directions, virtual tours of cities, and share geographic information online.
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