DV for Teachers

Another site devoted to free software for the Mac – of course that’s obvious from the name, but I had to type something down here.——-

A good basic guide:

“Do you have iTunes, Windows Media Player, or portable digital music player? If so, then you have the ability to access audio programs that cover everything from technology to news, from comic books to cooking. Here is the first big secret of podcasts; they are nothing more than downloadable MP3 files.”

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How cool is this?!!

“Welcome to Storyline Online!

The Screen Actors Guild Foundation is proud to bring you Storyline Online, an on-line streaming video program featuring SAG members reading childrens books aloud. Hand-picked by BookPALS National Program Director Ellen Nathan, a former teacher and librarian, each of the books on this site offer an accompanying lesson plan and activity guide.”

This is terrific. The videos are available in Windows Media, Real, and QuickTime, and in three sizes in each of the three formats. Very nice. Found via the Macworld forums. ——-

As posted at The Unofficial Apple Weblog:

“BitPlayer is a cool alternative to Quicktime that offers some features that you won’t find even in the pro version of Quicktime. The first big ticket feature in BitPlayer is playlists.

Playlists are just what they sound like; lists of movies that you can play in a certain order. BitPlayer has a drawer into which you can drag different movies to create a playlist, you can then play through the entire playlist or just view certain movies.

BitPlayer also supports playing videos in full screen, something the free version of Quicktime should support, and exporting Quicktime files into other formats.

BitPlayer requires OS X 10.2 and it is a free download.”

The full-screen function is really nice; the export function doesn’t have the full range of options that QT Pro offers, but it’s great for ripping the sound from a QT movie or converting to Apple’s MPEG4 format. I wish it would allow making slide shows with audio, but apparently that still requires QT Pro. Overall, a very nice deal for a freebie app. Kudos to Tanjero, the developer.——-

He says,

“So, is it safe yet? The answer is a qualified ‘maybe.’”

I’m still on 10.3.7. It’s a great service others provide when they figure out the issues for us later adopters.——-

There’s always room on DV for Teachers for another set of guidelines for making good instructional video clips:

“Recently, I published Playlist’s first vodcast (Video-on-Demand broadcast) and since its publication I’ve received enough “How did you do such and such?” messages that I thought I’d offer a few tips for creating these kinds of instructional videos.”

Make sure to take a look at the 50 Mac Gems, a great slew of shareware and freeware, from Macworld as well (previously blogged here).——-

The ubergeeks at Ars Technica on photo editing; note the free software they recommend on the way.——-

Planning to keep important projects, video or otherwise, on DVD discs? DVDs have real limitations, and D.W. Leitner explores some of them:

“The question remains: as media, how secure are DVDs we presently use? Are they indestructible, or do they physically degrade over time, like film, videotape, and all things plastic?”

He links in the article to the US Dept of Commerce’s “Care and Handling of CDs and DVDs-A Guide for Librarians and Archivists,” which is pretty exciting reading if your archives and your professional life – depends on it.——-

An excellent list of freeware apps for a huge variety of purposes. Above is linked to the Mac list, and here’s Brilliant Ignorance’s list for PC users.

[Edited 26 March 2006 to fix link issues from the import from Manila.]

Frankly, I’m surprised. Sony has finally (according to this review) released a Mini-Disc recorder that allows drag and drop file transfer, and not just to PCs, but to Macs as well.

“Sony, which invented portable audio 25 years ago with the introduction of the Walkman, has just released its latest model, a top-notch little field recorder called the MZ- M100 (MSRP $439.95). It can record high-quality uncompressed PCM audio files onto Hi-MD removable discs, which come in 1GB capacities and cost about $7 apiece.

The Linear PCM capability and the small size (2 ª x 2 ª-in. square) should make the MZ-M100 attractive to anyone seeking a high-quality mobile recorder that can transfer audio to a computer for editing. Among the potential users Sony has targeted for the MZ-M100 are recording engineers and journalists.

The MZ-M100 comes with a miniature stereo microphone , and includes an optical port for recording directly from digital playback devices. The optical port will also accept analog input via a mini-plug. There is a USB port for connecting to a computer, and software for transferring files on both Macs and PCs is provided—SonicStage for the PC and Hi-MD Wave Importer for the Mac (OS 10.2 and above).”

I’m not recommending this unit; I have only read this one review, but it seems that Sony has produced a nice recorder that allows easy importing for editing.——-