Archive for Social Media

vgordon | April 26, 2013
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Tech Tune-up: 50 sites (Part 1)

Here are the 25+ sites that I presented at the Tech Tune-up on 4/24/13.   Michael Fitts will be posting his list as well. Hope you enjoy visiting these sites! — Valerie Gordon

p.s. Do you have suggestions on other types of fun classes you’d like to see at Lister Hill?  An Evernote Users Group?  Lifehacker Happy Hour? Productivity Tips & Tricks?  Post your comment here or send a suggestion to vgordon@uab.edu

Tech Tune-up:  50 Sites (Part 1)

Productivity

  1. TechLister http://www.lhl.uab.edu/tech/
  2. Profhacker http://chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/
  3. Study Hacks: http://calnewport.com/blog/
  4. Becoming minimalist http://www.becomingminimalist.com/
  5. Yarny: https://yarny.me/

Plus old favorites: Lifehacker: http://lifehacker.com/ & Zenhabits: http://zenhabits.net/

Home & Garden

  1. Apartment Therapy: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/
  2. Gardenista: http://www.gardenista.com/
  3. A way to garden: http://awaytogarden.com/
  4. Ikea hackers: http://www.ikeahackers.net/
  5. Take them a meal: http://takethemameal.com/

Plus old favorites: Houzz http://www.houzz.com/ & design sponge http://www.designsponge.com/

More design

  1. Polyvore www.polyvore.com
  2. The sartorialist: http://www.thesartorialist.com/
  3. I love typography http://ilovetypography.com/

Travel

  1. Road trippers https://roadtrippers.com/
  2. Birmingham Library Pinterest Page http://pinterest.com/bplonline/
  3. Storyverse  https://www.smalldemons.com/
  4. IMDB: Downton Abbey: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1606375/

Plus old favorites: AirnBnB  https://www.airbnb.com/ & Yelp http://www.yelp.com  & Tripadvisor http://www.tripadvisor.com/

Explore

  1. Open Culture http://www.openculture.com/
  2. Sulia  http://sulia.com/
  3. What NYPL is reading: http://pinterest.com/nypl/what-nypl-is-reading/
  4. Allmyfaves.com http://www.allmyfaves.com/

Plus old favorites:  Stumbleupon http://www.stumbleupon.com/ & reddit http://www.reddit.com/

Smile

  1. Catalog living http://catalogliving.net/
  2. Zoo borns http://www.zooborns.com/
  3. Soulpancake  http://soulpancake.com/
  4. Funny or Die: http://www.funnyordie.com/
  5. LetMeGoogleThatForYou:  http://lmgtfy.com/
Category: Fun, Graphics, LHL Resource, Productivity, Social Media, Uncategorized |
Fitts | February 21, 2013
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My Fitness Pal

myfitnesspal

Although I haven’t been a long time user I’d like to share with you all a fitness application that a good friend and doctoral student recently shared with me known as myfitnesspal (the app not my friend lol). Basically MyFitnessPal is a diet and fitness community built wish one purpose in mind and that is providing individuals with the tools and support needed to achieve weight loss goals.

I will go on record that one of the first things about the product was the fact that is actually available on all of the major mobile operating systems including my system of choice Windows which often gets overlooked by application developers. fitnesspal_os

Studies have shown that keeping a food journal can actually double your weight loss. MyFitnessPal provides you not only with the tools needed to be successful but also the support system as you communicate and share with either your friends or others trying to lose weight as well. The more you use it the faster and easier it becomes as it becomes more customized to some of your common favorite food entries.

In addition there is actually an online component as well and it integrates with Facebook so that you can invite your friends or see if they have already discovered this tool. One think about it that I find particularly useful is that fact that when registered whether you update diary online or via smart phone, it automatically syncs and updates the other device for you.

With myfitnesspal you can track not only your food & exercise but it allows you to set your weight loss goals and how many calories that you need per day in order to accomplish your goals. It allows you to interact with a community of your friends to keep each other encouraged yet accountable. One of the most useful tools on the application is the food look-up that has literally thousands of food items (including restaurant menu items) that help with your nutritional tracking. Better yet it has a barcode scanner that allows you to simply scan the items barcode and up pops the nutrition facts of said item. It also gives you the option of adding new food entries.

Here is a sample of one of my completed food diary logs: fooddiary

To begin your journey all you need is a username, password and email address. I’d like to encourage you to try myfitnesspal out to see how it can and will benefit you. Afterall its free and you have absolutely nothing to lose but unwanted weight:

fitness_benefits

Category: Free, Fun, Mobile, Productivity, Social Media, Uncategorized, Windows |
vgordon | January 21, 2013
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New Year’s Resolutions: Find Balance

beach

Here are the resources presented in the first class in the New Year’s Resolutions series.  If you have other suggestions for apps, websites, or books, we hope you’ll share them in the comments section.

Simplify – Decide what’s important to you

How you spend your time is how you spend your life
The Happiness Project
37 days
Steve Jobs How to Live before you Die
Rescue Time
Hours Tracker Free

Figure out what you can reduce or eliminate
Zen Habits
The 4-Hour Work Week
Screen Free Week

Decide what routines or habits will help you simplify
Simplify your work and other books by Elaine St. James
Remember the Milk
Astrid
Evernote

Be present
The Amazing Power of Being Present
Three beautiful things

owl

Practice gratitude
Thanks
The Joy of Appreciate Living
The Gratitude Journal

Give to others
Do One Nice Thing
29 Gifts
Freecycle.org
CSW Suits for Success

Meditate
Serenity to Go
Free UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center meditation podcasts
Universal Breathing
Resource Center Meditation, Yoga, & Tai Chi

Get help keeping your resolutions
LifeHacker

Category: Fun, Productivity, Social Media |
Fitts | November 25, 2012
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Free You Tube Downloader

Free You Tube is freeware for downloading and converting video. It downloads video from You Tube converts video to the standard formats for cell phone (3GP); Windows Media Video (WMV); Xvid MPEG-4 (AVI); iPad, iPhone; PSP (MP4) & iPOD (MOV), and also plays back videos in a very basic player. This software is 100% free to use and is guaranteed not to contain any spyware, viruses or any other kind of malware.

Why would one even want YouTube Downloader? Well I am glad that you asked as there are many practical applications with this tool including but not limited to:

You want to view the video on a mobile device or phone such as an iPod, iPad, iPhone, MP3-player, MP4-player, Zune, PSP

You have a slow internet connection or you’re viewing HD video, which causes buffering delays while streaming video.

You’re only interested in a specific part of the video and you’d like to cut out any parts you don’t need.

You want to make sure you don’t lose the video when it’s removed or altered by YouTube or by the author.

So how does You Tube Downloader Work?

Step 1: Start YouTube Downloader

Start YouTube Downloader by clicking the desktop or Quick Launch shortcut. The main window should then appear.
Download YouTube videos


Step 2: Choose a video to download

Enter a YouTube URL (for example “http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7gK3W9yg60″) choose an output format and the preferred quality of the video, then click “Download”. The application will now proceed to download and convert your video.
Downloading a YouTube video


Step 3: Finished!

As soon as YouTube Downloader has finished processing the file, you can open it using your favorite media player and you can then play the downloaded and converted file.

Category: Free, Fun, Graphics, Mobile, Productivity, Social Media, Uncategorized, Windows |
Pat Higginbottom | October 15, 2012
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1000memories

I taught a class on different imaging tools and apps last week so I’m going to follow up here with more information than I could include in the session.

The first things I want to cover are 1000memories and the ShoeBox app.  1000memories is a website for storing photos, either those born digital or scanned copies of old photos–though actually it is also good for or programs or ticket stubs or any other paper keepsake.  You organize items into Shoeboxes–just like in the top of your closet–but in this case you can easily add metadata (tags) and share them with family and friends.

I love this idea!  Even more interesting to me though is the scanning app for iPhone and Android: ShoeBox.  Download the free app, set up an account and  use your phone to scan those old photos right into 1000memories.  You can do some minor editing, add names, places, etc and select the appropriate shoebox.

I love that if you can’t answer all the questions about a photo, you can send the question to someone else.  Maybe your brother remembers where you were when you fell in that creek that time.  Even though we have a scanner right here, this is SOO much easier that I’m sure I’d get more old photos saved this way.

The scanning worked pretty well on my Droid Bionic.  The biggest problem is that my old photos don’t lie flat so they look a little funny.  Squished in a scanner would be better in that regard.  I found that upload from my phone was pretty quick and easy.

Some more great features:

  • Shoeboxes can be private or open for anyone to view
  • Photos can be copied into more than one Shoebox
  • Once posted you can share your photos on Twitter, Pinterest or Facebook
  • Easy to upload photos from your computer or import from Instagram, Facebook or Flickr

And it is all FREE.  They do seem to be working toward a fee version with additional features/storage (?) but for now, it is all free and very easy to use.  Highly recommended!

 

Category: Free, Graphics, Social Media |
Lee | June 3, 2012
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Spam-free searching? Try blekko

Are you interested in experimenting with a different search engine to add to your searching toolkit? blekko www.blekko.com  offers a different, intriguing approach.

blekko professes a bias towards quality sites so does not include sites such as content farms, reducing spam. blekko believes in human curation and uses “slashtags” as a one method to identify quality sites, as shown in the video below. blekko also promises to be open and transparent, making freely available to its users “all of the data that provide the underpinning of search results. This includes web data, ranking information and the curation efforts of users.”

Read the blekko Bill of Rights

For an example, adding the health slashtag created by blekko limits your search results to the 162 websites curated by “experts.” Unfortunately, I was unable to locate a list of content experts or an editorial board.  Also, although blekko provides complete SEO information, it is unclear what goes into the algorithm for relevancy ranking.

To create slashtags, or to mark results as spam, create an optional personal account. Or you can choose to log in using your facebook account. Learn more. You can also share your slashtags with your students, colleagues or friends.  blekko help will answer most questions about searching blekko, creating and sharing slashtags, removing spam and more.

The image below shows a blekko result list with the option to mark a site as spam displayed.

 

Free stuff from blekko:  Check out the free stuff blekko offers here.  Included is an an embeddable search bar, a browser tool bar, free t-shirts, trading cards and stickers and more.

 

Category: Free, Fun, Mobile, Productivity, Social Media | Tags: ,
Lisa | May 1, 2012
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Optimizing Images for the Web

Ever tried to open a PDF and have it take FOREVER? Do you still encounter images that slowly load? I am often surprised by the number of folks that still don’t know how or why to optimize images when they want to post them to the web.  Images for the web (and documents for that matter) have very different requirements than images meant for commercial publishers.

Optimizing is a very important step in publishing materials to the web. The short version is that computer monitors and most normal office printers are only going to display or print at a certain resolution anyway. So you are sacrificing storage space and the reader’s time by leaving the images uncompressed without making any difference in how the images appears to the reader.

There are lots of good tools for compressing images but if you are a PC user and have Office you already have one of the easiest to use.  Microsoft Picture Manager allows you to easily batch edit photos for compression in addition to cropping, rotating, adjusting color, etc. I sometimes like to print my photos to give as gifts or hang on my own wall and sometimes I like to play with the different features in Photoshop. That means I have my camera set to take pictures at a high resolution so when I post them I need to make sure they are optimized for the web. In my below example I am using a picture I took in Georgia.

The original image is almost 9 inches by 7 inches and is 1.93 MB. Now I could define the size I want the image to display on the screen using width and height attributes in HTML but the image would still be huge. It would take up storage and it would load slowly.

So let’s optimize it using Picture Manager.

The first thing I am going to do is add a picture shortcut from the menu on the left.

Now from the menu on the right I am going to choose Edit Pictures. This will give me the options of resizing and compressing the photo. It is important to realize these two things are different.

Let’s look at resize on the Edit Pictures menu first.

I’m just going to choose a predefined size (Web-Large 640 x 480 pixels).

Be sure and note what the original pixel size was and hit OK then save. Just doing this took the file size from 1.93 MB to 225 KB.

Now let’s try the compression.

If I choose compress for web it takes the image size from 1.93 MB to 91.5KB!!

Remember that you should also compress images that you are placing in PDFs AND that PDFs should be compressed as well!

Category: Graphics, Productivity, Social Media, Uncategorized, Windows |
Cara | April 10, 2012
One comment

New CDC iPad App

Last week, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released its first ever app designed specifically for the iPad.  The app, available for free from the iPad App Store, features nine major sections or tabs: Health Articles, Vital Signs, PCD Journal, Public Health Matters, MMWR, Newsroom, CDC Podcasts, Social Media and Image Library.

Health Articles features articles written on timely topics.  Today’s headlines include information on food safety at fairs and festivals and safe gardening techniques.  Right now, you can access ten articles from this tab which are also available on the CDC website.

Vital Signs is a monthly feature that offers data on public health issues.  The March issue covers health care-associated infections (HAIs).  Each issue covers the problem, who is at risk and what can be done and by whom, ranging from the federal government to a health care provider to an individual patient.

Preventing Chronic Disease (PCD) Journal is a peer-reviewed journal addressing the link between public policy, research and and public health. It doesn’t appear that you can access the entire archives of the journal through the app, but you can access the most recent articles.

Public Health Matters is a blog written by CDC employees who share their experiences on a variety of public health topics.   Currently, you’ll find blog articles on running, disaster movies, and floods in Thailand.

MMWR- In this tab you can access the latest articles published in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.  The CDC provides access to previous issues on its website.

Newsroom- As the title of this tab implies, this is a running list of articles and/or press releases on the results of CDC research, reports and telebriefings.

CDC Podcasts – You can also access CDC podcasts on a variety of health topics.  Current offerings include sexual assault awareness month, the CDC nutrition report, and adult immunization.

Social Media – This tab hooks you up to the CDC’s various Facebook pages and twitter feeds.  You can point your Spanish speaking colleagues or patients to the CDC en Español Facebook page.

Image Library –The CDC has provided a limited number of images available through the iPad app.  You can see images of people doing yoga, gardening, a cutaneous pigmented lesion and more.  I don’t recommend the cutaneous pigmented lesion unless you’re just into that sort of thing.

Category: Free, Mobile, Research, Social Media | Tags:
Fitts | March 25, 2012
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HeyTell (Instant Voice Messenger)

Have you ever wished that you could utilize a PTT service free of charge or without having to go purchase a Boost Mobile pre-paid phone? Well now you can with a cross-platform voice messenger known as “HeyTell” that allows you to instantly talk with friends and family. HeyTell is an “Instant Voice Messaging” system that allows users to connect in a manner similar to a push-to-talk radio handset. It supports different privacy levels as well as a friends list and geolocation. One of the best things about it is that it is supported across not only IOS (which seems to be the norm) but also Android, BlackBerry and Windows. Once you download the app no account needed, you’d just enter in your name on the set-up screen. Afterwards just start the app, choose a contact, and push the button to start talking! In order to choose a contact you may send them an invitation link by either sending a text message to a saved contact in your phone or by email address. Either way they will get an invite and link to HeyTell which they can begin using almost immediately. They will simply enter their desired “name” on the set-up screen. It’s simple as that. Once you created your friends list you may begin talking with them by selecting or highlighting their name and pressing the “hold and speak” button down. When finished with your brief message just remove your finger from the button and HeyTell does the rest.

You have the ability to choose from three different privacy levels to control how users can contact you without an invite:

✓ Low Privacy: Anyone who knows your contact information can connect with you without an invite.

✓ Medium Privacy: Anyone who knows your contact information and is friends with one of your HeyTell friends can connect with you. Otherwise, they must invite you to connect.

✓ High Privacy: No one can connect with you until you accept their invitation.

HeyTell offers a variety of options in the setup other than the ones mentioned above such as what (if any) email address and/or # to make it easier for friends to find you. In addition you have control over whether you want to receive notifications when app is not running, whether messages expire automatically after 300 days and whether you decide to (if you choose to do so) share your location with selected contacts while you talk.

So in conclusion I would say that if you’ve ever hoped for a way to send voice messages to your friends without making a phone call, your wish has been granted. The application available through not only IOS and Android but also Black Berry and my personal favorite Windows called “Hey Tell” allows you to record a quick voice message and instantly send it to friends as they would typically do for a text message. Similar to a walkie talkie, this app is perfect for users (like me) who may want to send a quick message to a friend or co-worker without having to carry on a long drawn out conversation.

Category: Free, Fun, Mobile, Social Media, Uncategorized, Windows |
Pat Higginbottom | December 21, 2011
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Pinterest

I have been writing this post on Pinterest for over a week now.  Every time I get ready to work on it, I pull the site up and fall into the black hole of browsing the pins.  Pinterest is an online pin board where you keep pictures and links to things you love, or want to make, or what your bridesmaid dresses are going to look like.  You can go to the site to view boards but to join you must have an invitation. Once you get one (you can request on the site or comment and I’ll send you one)  you can set up a free account using your Facebook or Twitter accounts and start pinning.  You can use their default categories or make your own.  You follow friends or people you admire and repin or like their pins.

You can share your pins on Twitter or Facebook but I don’t see a lot of people doing that. You get emails when someone follows you and a weekly wrap-up email to make suggestions of people to follow.   When you view the site you can look at everything or by some basic categories:

The site has been down a couple of times when I’ve tried to go in and sometimes (often actually) I’ve gotten errors when I tried to pin something but overall it seems to work fine and is very easy to use.

After playing with it for a while I’d say Pinterest is a fun distraction but I think it is a reflection of what we’d like our lives to be.  In Pinterest our babies are always cute and our nails are perfect and there is a beautiful and delicious dinner on the table.  Instead of watching TV we make cute Christmas wreathes out of saved wine corks and knit hats with beards for our nephews.  I have found some great ideas there though and have already made a few recipes pinned by others but I dont see this replacing any of the other tools i use to track sites or info.  It is most valuable if you follow friends and get away from the crowd.

Update 3-2-12

Interesting post on permissions and copyright in relation to Pinterest from Beyond PR:  Unpinned

Category: Free, Fun, Social Media |
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