For Learning 13 we had to join 3 websites and create animations with pictures:

Animation on Animoto: http://animoto.com/play/WbC38VFm3SkEOBCkd3kL5Q

Profile on toufee: http://www.toufee.com/37117

Animation on Toufee: http://www.toufee.com/37117/movies/Civil_Engineering

sprout link: http://farm.sproutbuilder.com/327702/load/wQD3CAHiBWgZX5Zv.swf

Some of these animations can be found on my freewebs personal site as well:

http://www.freewebs.com/hadichammas/

Task2:

screencast video: http://freescreencast.com//screencasts/watch/519

Task3:

For this task i signed on seesmic, my username is hadichammas, and i left a comment on Dr. Alam’s video: support LU12.

Task4:

For this task i joined voicethread and John Unger’s group and i commented on his post, this is the link for it

voicethread: http://voicethread.com/#q.b124795.i649086

For this task I went to the Microsoft and apple websites, I picked some high definition movies, then I downloaded them on my computer, unzipped them and watched them. These are some of the videos I liked:

·         High definition videos from Microsoft website:

720p:

http://download.microsoft.com/download/b/0/0/b00e8489-b4fd-490e-9e7c-19b06c7bc3ed/The_Living_Sea_720.exe

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/musicandvideo/hdvideo/livingsea.aspx

 1080p:

http://download.microsoft.com/download/a/9/3/a9327df4-aeb5-46de-b438-d0f60da6fb54/Coral_Reef_Adventure_1080.exe

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/musicandvideo/hdvideo/coralreef.aspx

 ·         High definition videos from Apple website:

 http://www.apple.com/quicktime/guide/hd/ducati.html

 http://www.apple.com/quicktime/guide/hd/higherground.html

 Task #2:

For this task I had to use my webcam and microphone. I recorded a video of me talking about “Social Bookmarking” using the software that came with my webcam. I saved this video on my computer. I created an account on www.youtube.com and uploaded my video in a public format so that the class can see it. This is the link for the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAhJX0juYSE

Task #3:

I did a live recording on http://www.ustream.tv/ and I saved it under “my videos”. This is the link for the video: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/380666

I picked ustream because it was easy to record videos, it generated a clear picture and perfectly synchronized with the audio. It was also easy to spot the URL for my video, unlike other websites where I had to look everywhere to find it. One other reason is that I used ustream before and I am familiar with it.

Task #4:

I joined the WIZIQ website and this is my public profile:

http://www.wiziq.com/member-profile/31258-Hadi-Chammas

Task #5:

My username for seismic is: hadichammas

http://www.slideshare.net/hadichammas

I had to add an mp3 file to this presentation and synchronise the voice to match the slides. I did not want to record my actual voice so i tried to use a text-to-speech softwares to convert my text in the slides to an audio mp3 file and add it on slideshare to create a slidecast. I downloaded several TTS softwares but most of them required a fee to convert the text to mp3. The free trial was only to read the text. I finally found a good software, “TTS Reader 1.10″, that saved my text in an mp3 file. I uploaded the mp3 file on the “internet Archive” and this is the link where it could be heard:

http://www.archive.org/details/SocialBookmarkingHadiChammas

Then i added the audio file to the powerpoint and create the slidecast. First an error kept appearing on my screen saying the file can not be shared from the URL provided. I had to try the different URL’s provided on the Internet Archive website for this mp3 file. Finally it worked. Then i shared it on my freewebs site.

As for Task 1 of this LU11, we had to find some panoramas and post the links:

http://www.panoramas.dk/fullscreen7/f30-versailles.html

http://www.virtualparks.org/scenes/ZdmATvXi9-q9ZBpQfXmltdA.html

My Stumbleupon link: http://hadichammas.stumbleupon.com/ 

My freewebs link: http://www.freewebs.com/hadichammas/

http://www.scribd.com/people/view/533255

My Wiki Program Document:

http://wordprocessor.wetpaint.com/page/Word+Processor+Comparison+Article

My list of audio processing and podcasting web sites (Del.icio.us): http://del.icio.us/hadichammas

My list of audio processing and podcasting web sites (Stumbleupon): http://hadichammas.stumbleupon.com/

Facebook’s MyOffice:

The MyOffice application found on Facebook is very useful and efficient when it comes to organization for oneself or collabortive teamwork.  Several individuals are able to join the same application group and work together on projects and tasks using the discussion board or whiteboard.  Additionally, text documents and other files are able to be attached to the group’s MyOffice and specifically be able to delegate tasks to each individual in the group.  This is helpful to split up projects through delegation and everyone is able to see who has what responsibilites.  This is a great advancement beyond just a calendar with event reminders as it permits discussions and delegation of tasks.

Google Calendar:

 Google has come out with an application, Google Calendar, to help individuals organize personal event dates and appointments while being able to share it with others.  This application is very user friendly and allows the user to plan their schedule not only daily, but hourly.  Just like Facebook’s MyOffice, both of these applications are free to the user, but Google Calendar permitts more time specific scheduling versus being able to upload and manage documents with my fellow group memebrs.   

Yugma:

I really like the Yugma application because it is very organized when it comes to scheduling and conducting meetings with other group members through instant messaging in addition to being able to share calendars.  This is used as a virtul meeting application where recording and sharing of videos and meeting sessions takes place as well as being able to rotate “presenters” of the meeting.  Yugma allows users to invite others to the chat session through the use of session identification numbers.  These are easy to share because it is very direct and specific which is conducive to holding national or international meetings.  Even though this application only permits a 14 day free trial period because there is a charge to use this service, this application is very beneficial for business meetings.  Often business needs to be conducted between engineers and other collegues who are not located in the same area, and through Yugma, these professionals can join together and conduct a meeting which in the long run will save money on flight travel, transportation, and lodging.  The disadvantage of this application is that it is difficult to download as well as it makes the computer processing very slow.  Good connectivity is required to launch this application successfully. 

Zoho Project :

Zoho Project is an application that permits the management and team collaboration of projects such as the Learning Unit 9.  What I found interesting in this application is that it can be executed in 12 different languages which allows popularity internationally when it comes to manangement.  This is also very user friendly, but it has many more organizational options than Google Calendar.  The downside is that Zoho users may be charged a fee depending on how many projects need to be managed.

Website Links:

Google Calendar Link: http://www.freewebs.com/hadichammas/hadicalendar.html

Flickr website: http://www.flickr.com/photos/hadichammas/

Picassa website: http://picasaweb.google.com/hadichammas/HadiSPictures

My logo svg file on Facebook: http://apps.facebook.com/freedrive/file/273933

My Personal Web Page: http://www.freewebs.com/hadichammas

My Blog Web Page: http://hadichammas.wordpress.com/

Numerous softwares are available online for image editing one can download and use. Some are free and others are expensive. For the use of Learning Unit 9 we are dividing the programs in two different types:

·         Vector image editing  programs

·         Raster image editing programs

The softwares available to be downloaded are as follows:

Raster:  Adobe Photoshop,  Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo, Corel Painter, Corel Photo-Paint, Microsoft Paint, Ulead PhotoImpact, Splashup, Pixenate, PicniK, GIMP, and Picasa2.

Vector:  Adobe Illustrator, CorelDRAW, Macromedia Freehand, Serif DrawPlus, and Xara Xtreme.

The six programs I am picking for LU9 are listed below in order:

Raster image editing programs: 

1.     Picnik: It is a relatively new online image editing tool. It is fast online photo editor. Picknic is my personal favorite now in online photo editing. Picnik would be a good alternative to any offline photo-editing tool for simple operations like crop, resize, and more. It also offers few advanced options like basic photo effects, borders and special effects. 

2.     Picasa2: I like Picasa2 for its ease of use, the ease of uploading and organizing photos, and the fact that photos are easy to share with friends and classmates. Picasa2 is fairly quick and free.  

3.     GIMP: It looks like a powerful application to me since I didn’t get the chance to play with it much. It has features including: channels, layers and masks; colour operations such as levels, curves and threshhold; advanced selection operations using intelligent scissors and selection channels. GIMP is free software, which means it can be freely distributed and modified. The only disadvantage about it is that the free version has some limited capabilities. 

Vector image editing programs:  

1.     Serif DrawPlus:  It is a free program compatible with Windows 95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP.  It has a nice and organized interface, with options helping to create the first document with no complications. There are different palettes and a colour wheel to give total control over swatches. Other features include a selection of design templates, which are only marginally useful because it’s easier to start from scratch. It Creates and modifies drawings and animations. It’s easy to use, reads and writes many formats such as photo and animation as well as vector: JPG, BMP, EMF, WMF, PNG, and more. Serif DrawPlus includes clipart, fonts, and wizards. It has easy line/curve drawing; full transparency, blend, and fill features, all anti-aliased; animation such as onion skinning, backgrounds, overlays, and frame management.  

2.     Xara Xtreme3.2:  It sells for $79 online but has a free 30-day trial version compatible with Windows 2000/XP/Vista. Xara Xtreme3.2 is a good graphics software for all types of drawings and day to day photo needs. It is ideal for both printing and online use.  Xtreme is normally used for simple logos and detailed illustrations. It has simple one click auto-enhance, advanced photo compositions, can produce buttons and flash animations. 

3.     Macromedia Freehand: It is expensive to buy ($399), however there is a free trial version for 30 days available online. It works best with 98/ME/2000/XP. It uses commercial line art illustrations and newspaper infographics and mixed media pieces where it combines line art with bitmapped images and typography, as well as graphic elements, interfaces, and animations for the Internet.     

Stumble Upon website: http://hadichammas.stumbleupon.com/
 
Digg.com website: http://digg.com/users/hadichammas
 
del.icio.us website: http://del.icio.us/hadichammas
 

Group1 web page on Google: http://sites.google.com/a/student.ysu.edu/info-tech-tools-group-1/Home

Professional web page: http://hadichammas.googlepages.com/infotechtoolsgroup1

Personal web page: http://www.freewebs.com/hadichammas/

Facebook URL: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=49108190

b-      Ning: It lets anyone create, for free, a site for their own personal use, company use, or other social groups. I personally liked the level of creative control in Ning. It also offers a variety of design templates and let you point and click to add elements to the page without the need to download applications because the site creation is entirely Web-based. And Ning also will provide you with a URL within their domain.

c-      Linkedin: It is more like a business type of sites where you connect with other people to either look for a job or find other coworkers. It has a more serious theme than facebook. On Linkedin you can import contacts via webmail or other contact programs such as Outlook. Some of the available features are the ability to send messages, post job openings, review resumes, the power to ask legal or professional questions where other users are able to reply.

d-     Pownce:  It is compareable to Twitter in available features. It doesn’t have any mobile access so Twitter wins there, but Pownce has a better interface, and has smoother connections between the comments or discussions. The basic account is free like the other sites being used in this class, and the professional account is $20 per year. I found Pownce to be more organized and focusses on sharing messages, links, files, and events to all of your friends. Friends are separated into multiple sections and you can forward appropriate messages to each section. For example, the Info Tech Tools class forms a community on Pownce and all classmates can interact with each other. Pownce also supports mass distribution same as Facebook. When I receive a message from a classmate, I can forward it to all the other classmates in one click.

e-      Friendfeed: The concept of FriendFeed is simple. You add different accounts across blogs and social networking services, and Friendfeed combines them so friends can follow what you are doing. The network is fairly clean, since it was founded by ex-Googlers, and it is easy and straightforward.

 I personally prefer Facebook and I will be using it in the future since it is the most popular site and has the most useful applications.

Websites links: 

Blog Site: http://hadichammas.wordpress.com/

Zoho Site: http://hadichammas.wiki.zoho.com/Learning-unit-8,-Hadi-El-Chammas.html

Wiki Site: http://infotechtoolsgroup1.wetpaint.com/page/Learning+Unit+8

Google Docs Site: http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=df9gn96h_6fmwkc7cd&pli=1

Group1 web page on Google: http://sites.google.com/a/student.ysu.edu/info-tech-tools-group-1/Home

Professional web page: http://hadichammas.googlepages.com/infotechtoolsgroup1

Personal web page: http://www.freewebs.com/hadichammas/

Facebook URL: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=49108190