EDAD660 (2010)

This brief tutorial will walk you through how to embed a widget on your blog that can play any podcast RSS feed.

1. Find a podcast RSS feed – copy it using Edit->Copy
2. Visit http://www.widgetbox.com/widget/media
3. Paste in the RSS feed link in the box labeled “Playlist”
4. Click “Get Widget”
5. Copy the HTML code and paste it onto your blog as HTML code

In class I mentioned that a podcast is nothing more than an RSS feed that contains at least one link to an audio file.  Once you have created an MP3 file using Audacity (see this tutorial) you can easily use your blog to create your own podcast.  Here’s how:

1. Open up your blog’s dashboard
2. Create a new post
3. Give your post a title
4. Click on the ‘Add Audio’ button
5. Upload your MP3 file
6. When this finishes, click on the ‘File URL’ button and then click on ‘Insert into Post’
7. A hyperlink should appear in your post.

That’s it!  People can now use the RSS feed for your blog to subscribe to your podcast.  The feed URL is usually located at the bottom of the page, but if it is missing you can add it back in by enabling the ‘Meta’ widget.

Keep in mind that podcasts created in this way have a few limitations, including:

1. At most, you can only have one audio file per post
2. WordPress limits the maximum size of file uploads.  Currently this is set to 5mb on globalblogs.org

If you want people to be able to play your MP3 file without having to subscribe to your podcast feed you can provide a MP3 player directly on your post.  Here’s how:

1. Make sure that your post is published
2. Visit your post and right-click on your audio file – copy the URL to the file
3. Visit this widgetbox page:  http://www.widgetbox.com/widget/mp3-player
4. Paste the URL into the ‘Music URL’ box
5. Click ‘Get Widget’
6. Copy the embed code and post it into your blog post as HTML

Here’s a link to an interesting article about how Twitter is being used to solicit and collect donations from people around the world on behalf of those affected by this week’s earthquake in Haiti.

http://money.cnn.com/2010/01/13/technology/twitter_haiti_donations/index.htm

And here’s an article on how Google Maps is being used to compare before & after images to assess the devestation:

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/01/14/haiti.google.maps.earthquake/index.html?hpt=T2

Last night Radwa discovered shapecollage.com which allows you to create photo collages using your own photos.  You can even embed the collages once you’re finished.  Here’s an example of what you can create (I used one single photo for this demo but you can use any number of pictures.)

Screenshot of my shapecollage - visit the link above to see the interactive version

The following is a list of great online tools to help manage your digital photographs:

1. Photoshop Online (https://www.photoshop.com/): Upload, edit, store and embed your digital photographs using Photoshop Online’s free interface.  The editing capabilities are fairly basic (level adjustment, color manipulation, etc) but for small projects the site works very well.  The free version of site allows you to store up to 2GB of photos.
2. Aviary (http://aviary.com/): Aviary offers an impressive array of photo manipulation tools that can be accessed directly via your browser.  Edit photos using advanced tools that are normally reserved for desktop applications, add special effects, and even make a movie out of your photos.
3. Picnik (http://www.picnik.com/): Picnik is a slick web-based tool that lets you perform basic image manipulation tasks such as cropping, rotating, red-eye correction, etc.   It has an impressive array of sharing options, including a direct link to Flickr, Facebook and Myspace.
4. Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/): Flickr delivers a wide range of educator friendly services, such as image annotations, integrated discussions and commenting, and the ability to make all of your Flickr images private to the outside world.
5. PhotoSynth (http://photosynth.net/): Photosynth turns your digital photographs into an explorable 3D space!  Simply upload a set of images (20 or more) and the software will “stitch” them together into a cohesive 3D space.  Photosynth requires a download and is only available for PCs.
6. Make your own Magazine Cover (http://bighugelabs.com/magazine.php): Create your own customized magazine cover using photos from your desktop or from Flickr.