One reason Firefox is so awesome is that it is very customizable. A user can make it super simple or highly complex just by going to the Firefox Add-on site. As an avid Firefox user I try out lots of add-ons, but only two are mainstays on my system. One is functional and the other is a theme that I feel updates the Firefox experience and makes an already awesome app even better.

Xmarks is an essential add-on for anyone that uses several browsers. The concept is simple: You install the add-on, create an account, and then you can sync your bookmarks and/or passwords via the Internet to any browsers with the add-on also installed. The best part is that it has cross-browser support for not just Firefox but also IE, Safari and even Chrome. Further you can use it across different platforms so you can sync your Firefox bookmarks to Safari, IE, or Chrome, or any other combination for that matter. It also has some great search features as well. Xmarks will highlight the top three most bookmarked sites in your Google search and by simply clicking on the Xmarks icon in your url bar you can find out more information about whatever site you are visiting.

Chromifox Extreme Carbon is a great theme inspired by Google Chrome. Unlike Chrome though it has a nice industrial grey/silver color scheme similar to Safari. I like the simplicity of the Chrome inspired layout with the tabs above the menus along with the industrial design of Safari all while preserving the menus of Firefox. Chrome’s “Bug Zapper” blue color, overly simplistic menus, and lack of a separate search box annoys me. This theme take the best cues from three different browsers and marries them very nicely. Here is a screenshot:, click on it to view a larger version

The U.S. DOE, Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), awarded Bookshare $100K in supplemental funding to create the first accessible versions of open content digital textbooks. The initial planned conversion will begin with 16 math and science textbooks approved for California K-12 students. The open content textbooks will be distributed freely under a license selected by the author and available to all individuals without proof of disability. (PRWeb Nov 20, 2009)

Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/open-content/textbooks/prweb3226354.htm

U.S. Department of Education Grants Bookshare Supplemental Funding to Convert Open Content Textbooks to Accessible Formats – Available for All
(author unknown)
Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:18:35 GMT

The U.S. DOE, Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), awarded Bookshare $100K in supplemental funding to create the first accessible versions of open content digital textbooks. The initial planned conversion will begin with 16 math and science textbooks approved for California K-12 students. The open content textbooks will be distributed freely under a license selected by the author and available to all individuals without proof of disability. (PRWeb Nov 20, 2009)

Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/open-content/textbooks/prweb3226354.htm

U.S. Department of Education Grants Bookshare Supplemental Funding to Convert Open Content Textbooks to Accessible Formats – Available for All
(author unknown)
Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:18:35 GMT

Would you like to embed YouTube videos on your website? Would you like to ensure that your website viewers with disabilities have equal access to your video? Business.gov has made its YouTube video player available to web managers who would like to embed YouTube videos on their websites. This video player follows the Section 508 Standards for web-based applications.

Section 508 Compliant Video Player
(author unknown)
Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:39:24 GMT

Just like TV, captions play an important role in making online video accessible to everyone. While YouTube has offered captioning for a few years, today they’re making it significantly easier for publishers to add them.

Now, YouTube can automatically assign captions to video using speech recognition. Moreover, video publishers can now upload a transcript for their videos, which further helps the site add accurate captioning. You can translate these captions into multiple languages too when watching videos.
How does it work? Google explains:

“We’ve combined Google’s automatic speech recognition (ASR) technology with the YouTube caption system to offer automatic captions, or auto-caps for short. Auto-caps use the same voice recognition algorithms in Google Voice to automatically generate captions for video.

We’re also launching automatic caption timing, or auto-timing, to make it significantly easier to create captions manually. With auto-timing, you no longer need to have special expertise to create your own captions in YouTube. All you need to do is create a simple text file with all the words in the video and we’ll use Google’s ASR technology to figure out when the words are spoken and create captions for your video.”

Google demos the features in the video below:

---

YouTube Can Now Create Captions Automatically
Adam Ostrow
Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:07:11 GMT

The move is the first major step toward making millions of videos accessible to deaf and hearing-impaired people.

Google to Caption YouTube Videos
By MIGUEL HELFT
Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:53:23 GMT

Last month, we began our countdown of the 25 most popular websites serving the blind and visually impaired. We analyzed data from Alexa Internet’s online website rankings to present our list. The ranks given are the overall site rank amongst the entire Internet. If you missed the first two installments, they’re linked on the bottom of this post.

15. Braille through Remote Learning

http://www.brl.org
Rank: 675,270

This site is an online instructional program that provides courses in reading and transcribing. Their courses include Introduction to Braille, A Transcribers Course, and a Specialized Codes Course. A large Braille reference desk is also included. In addition to the United States, a large following exists in India.

14. Future Aids, the Braille Superstore

http://www.braillebookstore.com
Rank: 659,932
Continuing our Braille theme, this Canadian-based site offers a wide variety of Braille books for children and adults. In addition, they offer a selection of low-cost, low-tech items such as talking clocks, Braille games, and Braille accessories. It is most popular in Canada, but also derives much of its following from the United Kingdom and the U.S.

13. GW Micro

http://www.gwmicro.com
Rank: 595,315

GW Micro first entered the market primarily as a software publisher of its screen readers, but has more recently expanded into other areas. Products today include Braille PDAs, a DAISY book player, magnifying aids, and Braille displays. The highest rank for GW Micro actually comes from Poland, made evident by some of the Polish scripts posted on its Script Central resource. Turkey, India, the U.S., and France round out the top five.

12. American Council of the Blind

http://www.acb.org
Rank: 580,828

The American Council of the Blind is one of the two major advocacy organizations in the United States. The ACB has member affiliates and divisions across the country and is known for services such as their jobs bank and ACB Radio. Not surprisingly, their primary reach is in the United States.

11. CNIB

http://www.cnib.ca
Rank: 462,771

Canadian residents won’t be surprised by the high rank for the nation’s largest blindness organization. According to the site, "CNIB is a nationwide, community-based, registered charity committed to research, public education and vision health for all Canadians. CNIB provides the services and support necessary for people to enjoy a good quality of life while living with vision loss." It’s ranked in the top 25,000 websites for Canada, one of the highest rankings by any country for a website on our countdown.

We’re down to the top ten. What is the most visited blindness organization in the world? The answer may surprise you. Plus, which school for the blind is big enough to make it into the top five? We’ll learn the answers to these questions and more, next time.

Previously:
The 25 Most Popular Websites for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Part 1
The 25 Most Popular Websites for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Part 2

Post a comment

Accessible Event lets everyone equally participate in meetings and webinars

Share: | Twitter, Facebook, del.icio.us, Digg, Yahoo

The 25 Most Popular Websites for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Part 3
(author unknown)
Tue, 17 Nov 2009 20:08:58 GMT

Last month, we began our countdown of the 25 most popular websites serving the blind and visually impaired. We analyzed data from Alexa Internet’s online website rankings to present our list. The ranks given are the overall site rank amongst the entire Internet. If you missed the first two installments, they’re linked on the bottom of this post.

15. Braille through Remote Learning

http://www.brl.org
Rank: 675,270

This site is an online instructional program that provides courses in reading and transcribing. Their courses include Introduction to Braille, A Transcribers Course, and a Specialized Codes Course. A large Braille reference desk is also included. In addition to the United States, a large following exists in India.

14. Future Aids, the Braille Superstore

http://www.braillebookstore.com
Rank: 659,932
Continuing our Braille theme, this Canadian-based site offers a wide variety of Braille books for children and adults. In addition, they offer a selection of low-cost, low-tech items such as talking clocks, Braille games, and Braille accessories. It is most popular in Canada, but also derives much of its following from the United Kingdom and the U.S.

13. GW Micro

http://www.gwmicro.com
Rank: 595,315

GW Micro first entered the market primarily as a software publisher of its screen readers, but has more recently expanded into other areas. Products today include Braille PDAs, a DAISY book player, magnifying aids, and Braille displays. The highest rank for GW Micro actually comes from Poland, made evident by some of the Polish scripts posted on its Script Central resource. Turkey, India, the U.S., and France round out the top five.

12. American Council of the Blind

http://www.acb.org
Rank: 580,828

The American Council of the Blind is one of the two major advocacy organizations in the United States. The ACB has member affiliates and divisions across the country and is known for services such as their jobs bank and ACB Radio. Not surprisingly, their primary reach is in the United States.

11. CNIB

http://www.cnib.ca
Rank: 462,771

Canadian residents won’t be surprised by the high rank for the nation’s largest blindness organization. According to the site, "CNIB is a nationwide, community-based, registered charity committed to research, public education and vision health for all Canadians. CNIB provides the services and support necessary for people to enjoy a good quality of life while living with vision loss." It’s ranked in the top 25,000 websites for Canada, one of the highest rankings by any country for a website on our countdown.

We’re down to the top ten. What is the most visited blindness organization in the world? The answer may surprise you. Plus, which school for the blind is big enough to make it into the top five? We’ll learn the answers to these questions and more, next time.

Previously:
The 25 Most Popular Websites for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Part 1
The 25 Most Popular Websites for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Part 2

Post a comment

Accessible Event lets everyone equally participate in meetings and webinars

Share: | Twitter, Facebook, del.icio.us, Digg, Yahoo

The 25 Most Popular Websites for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Part 3
(author unknown)
Tue, 17 Nov 2009 20:08:58 GMT

WolframAlpha a máquina do saber

Algumas coisas surgem de maneira simples e se tornam grandes como o twitter, já o Wolfram foi criado para ser um gigante. Por ser um motor de busca todos pensavam que seria um google ou bing da vida,erraram seu objetivo é trazer todo conhecimento sistemático imediatamente computável e acessível para qualquer um, ou seja ele dá respostas imediatas ao invés de ir atrás de links que talvez tenha a resposta. Ele foi criado por um gênio de 50 anos chamado Stephen Wolfram e por enquanto só funciona em inglês. Você pode digitar na barra de busca uma equação qualquer que terá resposta imediata, se escrever São Paulo saberá que a cidade tem 10,02 milhões de habitantes suas condenadas etc…Ele também faz calculo de física engenharia estrutural, química tudo mastigado, cria códigos de barras localiza IP’S converte medidas tipo qual meu número se eu comprar um tênis em Londres, ensina acordes e tudo mais que possa ser calculado.Ele nos devolve ao mundo concreto de fatos e números, e de vez em quando é bom ter certeza do que se lê na internet tipo a distância entre a terra e a lua é de aproximadamente 381 801 km.

 Eu já havia falado do WoframAlpha aqui no blog quando ele foi lançado em maio deste ano, mais é sempre bom voltar ao assunto quando vamos descobrindo mais funcionalidades da ferramenta.

To celebrate what has been a successful six months (our statistics) since we first launched Captionfish, we’ve added a bunch of new features: E-mail notifications: Get e-mail notifications when Captionfish finds captioned showtimes in your area for the movie(s) that you want to see! Look for this feature in the sidebar next to every trailer that you view.Revamped …

Captionfish – a Captioned Movies Search Engin – Captionfish Gets Bigger and Better with Beta 3 Update!
Captionfish – a Captioned Movies Search Engin
Fri, 13 Nov 2009 03:40:25 GMT

With the vast internet and all of the many services available the more you know can never hurt you. It is important to know what you want from a type of service before joining, doing some research, and picking the best service to fit your needs.

Sadly in every service I have ever used there are always these people that try to turn that service into something it’s not. If a service is feature rich, they want a lite version…if a service is lite they want more features. Why people don’t pick the service they want in the first place has always baffled me. For me I look for the most simplistic set-up, that is reliable, has a liberal privacy policy, and can load on several different kinds of devices with no issue. In this pursuit I watch dozens of products, join several to test them out, and actually use the ones I like the most. Along the way I try to point my logical path out to others.

Two products for email I have been speaking praises about for those that are looking for a strong feature set are Zenbe and Orgoo. For me these services have too much going on, but I think some people might find them useful. In recent months though I have stepped away from that praise. So a little update:

Zenbe: is still kicking but apparently is a much smaller service than I had thought. Earlier in the year they launched a paid Business service…while at the same time they turned off sign-ups for the free version. Since that time there has been no commitment to the free service from the Zenbe Team and no updates. A team that is so small that it can’t maintain all its products is worrying. I am downgrading Zenbe from a “use” to a “watch”.

Orgoo: This service basically is an amped up email/chat mash-up. It is way more than just email with a chat window. For those people obsessed with chatting in a email window this would be a very exciting service. However, it went offline more than a month ago due to a censorship issue and hasn’t been herd from since. I am down grading Orgoo from a “watch” to a “stay tuned” Ill let you know when or if they will be back up.

One downside to all the many services coming out is that not all of them will make it. The days of having just a couple providers that are very stable are gone.

Well the two services I really liked are basically off the table now. On to some new picks!

1. Zoho Mail: Take the simplicity of Gmails interface, add the ability to have several inboxes to manager multiple accounts (not one universal one, each account gets its own inbox within the same window), no threaded emails like Gmail, unlimited storage, a good user policy, optional add-on services like a notebook and online office editor, built in chat,  a well established company, and you get Zoho Mail. My rating “use it”.

2. Fuser: Collect all your email accounts and social networks in one place. Once there you can reply to emails, social networking content, even send a tweet all from one place instead of a five different websites.  My rating: “try it”

For more on my rating system check out the Rating Page

Hello!

Thank you for your interest in participating in accessibility studies at Google.

To be added to the list of our study participants, please complete the brief questionnaire below. We will contact you as we plan our studies.

You must:
- be at least 18 years old
- be willing to sign our Non-Disclosure Agreement

Thank you.

Antonella Pavese
Senior User Researcher at Google NYC

Google Invitation page

Hello!

Thank you for your interest in participating in accessibility studies at Google.

To be added to the list of our study participants, please complete the brief questionnaire below. We will contact you as we plan our studies.

You must:
- be at least 18 years old
- be willing to sign our Non-Disclosure Agreement

Thank you.

Antonella Pavese
Senior User Researcher at Google NYC

Google Invitation page

The computer age was supposed to hail in an era were we did everything on a computer. The computer was going to replace newspapers, typewriters, pen and paper, books, magazines, phones, stores, game systems, checkbooks, and TV’s just to name a few. But now that we have the power to make this a reality we seem to be going backward…but not all the way.

Instead of turning off the computer to read a book, more and  more people are reaching for an ebook reader like the Kindle. Even though many computers could easily replace a 27 inch TV which was extremely common size for a regular TV, more and more people are reaching for 45 inch LCD TV’s. Now comes the Peek a dedicated device to check email, send texts, and update Twitter. Isn’t carrying around a bunch of single use items what the tech revolution was supposed to put an end to? What do you think?

I love Google Voice, I’ve been using it since before Google bought it when it still went by Grand Central. Its a great program that has saved me a bunch of money.

I got rid of my cell phone since I can check my Voicemail/Texts from any computer. Also because Voice “tricks” land-line phones into thinking they are receiving incoming calls I no longer require expanded Toll or Long Distance service to make land line calls.Yes, I have to make my calls from my computer and they are then routed to my phone; with all my savings and the fact that my home phone sits on the same desk as my computer this not a big deal for me.

Currently my home phone bill is 17 dollars and in this economy you can’t beat that. Voicemail, caller id, call filtering, unlimited calling, call recording, three-way calling,  manage multiple phones routed through one number, and still have a land line for better 911 and other emergency services when the lights go out for the price of basic Touch-Tone service….really this is one of the few services that has come out that is useful within my definition.

My definition of “Useful Technology“: A technology that helps customers be more productive than with the services it replaces, while at the same time saving the customer money over the services it replaced.

Google Voice does just that. Yes it is a bit different, but if you’re tightening your belt like me its a great option and worth the effort to learn a new system.

Currently I have three invites to Google Voice, if anyone is interested feel free to shoot me an email at: nightarcher141@aim.com

My invites will go out on a First come, First serve basis.

In looking at my previous posts I realized that I never stated the purpose of this blog. So I will do that now and use it as a way to lead into my two part post on choosing a email provider:

We live in an exciting time, but we also live in a very complex time. With hardware and software being created and changed at the speed of light it is very hard to keep up, make informed choices, and fully realize the potential of the products and services we all use.

At the heart of all of this change is the steady move away from computer based software to internet based alternatives. This has really grayed the waters because now your not just choosing services to use on a given hardware, but you are choosing web applications to interact with it all too.

Mobile or desktop hardware, web-based or desktop based software…and how they interact with each other are considerations taking up more and more time for users. With this blog I will be looking at the cornucopia of hardware/webware/and software solutions in order to help you, my readers make informed decisions.  I will be looking at services that are taken for granted like email, to social media, and even some exciting new possibilities. Also I will take a break from looking at individual products and services to teach you strategies for selecting, using, and moving to different products and services with minimal headaches.

Whether you’re in the mood for some classic animation or some old-school spooky films to get you into the spirit of things, Classic Cinema Online has hundreds of films in dozens of categories. The movies are not audio described but are certainly worth a listen for their archaic dialogue and small budgets.

Classic Cinema Online has gathered together hundreds of films in categories ranging from Action to Westerns and even old cinema shorts and news reels. They routinely feature selections of movies based on the time of year, holidays, and other notable events. Even if you can’t sit down and watch a film from yesteryear, browsing the awesome movie posters is worth the price, free admission.
Click this link to visit http://www.ClassicCinemaOnline.com.

The Mercury Theatre on the Air

Now, if you want more classics, check out The Mercury Theatre.

The finest radio drama of the 1930’s was The Mercury Theatre on the Air, a show featuring the acclaimed New York drama company founded by Orson Welles and John Houseman. In its brief run, it featured an impressive array of talents, including Agnes Moorehead, Bernard Herrmann, and George Coulouris. The show is famous for its notorious War of the Worlds broadcast, but the other shows in the series are relatively unknown. This site has many of the surviving shows, and will eventually have all of them.

The show first broadcast on CBS and CBC in July 1938. It ran without a sponsor until December of that year, when it was picked up by Campbell’s Soup and renamed The Campbell Playhouse. All of the surviving Mercury Theatre shows are available from this page in RealAudio format (some are also in MP3 format). There are several Campbell Playhouse episodes available here as well, in both RealAudio and MP3 formats; the rest are being added gradually.
Click this link to visit The Mercury Theatre on the Air: http://www.mercurytheatre.info.

 

Classic Cinema Online
noreply@blogger.com (Michael McCarty)
Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:38:32 GMT

The other day I received my invitation to the new Google Wave announced earlier this year. When I herd about it I immediately went and signed up for an invite, so It does take awhile to get in.

Based on what I had read on the service and what was shown in the various videos around the internet I had some very high hopes. Sadly, this service is a very long way from prime time.

Firstly the service lives on a very small island. There is no intergration with other Google services, it has its own address book and everything. Further you can only have “Waves” with other Google Wave members. This brings me to the big problem.

Since Wave is in an invite only state there is no way to bring in people TO COLLABORATE WITH and since it lives on an island it is basically useless for early adopters.  How is this going to change the internet? Unless everyone signs up for the end product of course.

Now, of course this is an early release so I am sure Google with address these two fundamental issues. My optimistic hope is that Google will expand to a wider “Beta” in the near future so early adopters can kick the tires more effectively. But really as long as it requires everyone to have Wave accounts to communicate with Wave members I will remain skeptical.

Until that happens I stand firmly behind Spicebird which is based on the power of Mozilla. It is unfortunately not web-based but really thats my only problem with it at current. If you want a collaboration tool to be more effective with your various contacts and content, Spicebird is your app.

I haven’t played with the Wave Api yet, I will report back when I get around to that.

For over 60 years Disability Awareness has been part of the United Spinal Association mission and culture.

Millions of people each year are made aware of disability issues through United Spinal Association’s web sites, public service mailings, journals and magazines, conferences and instructional sessions, informative publications, participatory events, email alerts, television and print media, and by our greatest assets, our members and supporters.

Our membership magazine, Action, informs our readers of the latest legislative and technology news, research initiatives, and recreational opportunities. It also provides inspirational human interest stories and self-help columns you won’t find anywhere else. We also publish Multiple Sclerosis Quarterly Report covering timely news and information on multiple sclerosis research and clinical trials taking place across the country.

Action Magazine and Action Online are read not only by people who have lived with disabilities for years, but also by people who are newly injured and diagnosed, by their family members, their friends, their service providers, and by readers generally interested in spinal cord injury and disability.” said Christofer Pierson, managing editor of Action. We plan each issue to educate this diverse audience about the possibilities for living well with a spinal cord-related disability.”

United Spinal has distributed over 250,000 specialized publications, such as our popular Disability Etiquette booklet, providing information on interacting with people with various disabilities including mobility and sensory impairments. Others include fire safety and accessible air travel tips; information on the Americans with Disabilities Act and Fair Housing Amendments Act; women’s health; selecting a mobility device and advice on accessing state and local government.

We regularly distribute press releases and newsletters highlighting our most recent activities, advocacy efforts, and events. In addition, United Spinal hosts a variety of web sites offering detailed info on our programs and services.

Accessibility Services
Devoted exclusively to making our built environment accessible to people with disabilities.

USA TechGuide
A portal to wheelchair and assistive technology information, reviews, and advice.

Able to Travel
Assisting the disabilities community with accessible travel and information.

Spinal Cord Advocates
A joint effort in grassroots disability advocacy.

Spinal Cord Central
A joint effort in assisting all Americans with spinal cord injury or disease.

United Spinal is highly active through various social media outlets and online communities, including Twitter and Facebook, allowing us to reach out to more people than ever before and promote disability awareness in new and exciting ways.

Tom Scott
Editor
Marketing & Communications
United Spinal Association
75-20 Astoria Blvd.
Jackson Heights, NY 11370-1177
718-803-3782 ext. 7223

Sharing Our Disability Awareness Message
Administrator
Sun, 18 Oct 2009 23:24:35 GMT

Introdução

Web 2.0 é uma evolução da tradicional World Wide Web, isso não quer dizer que é uma “internet diferente”. Segundo um homem chamado Tim O’Reilly a Web 2.0 é apenas uma mudança de paradigmas, uma mudança de idéias e conceitos que iniciou-se a partir de 2004, já nesta época a Web estava muito carregada, tinham sites com muita poluição visual e com muita animação, sendo assim as páginas demoravam muito para carregar e gerava cansaço ao usuário.

O principal diferencial dessa nova mudança de conceitos é a utilização da web como plataforma, e dentro deste contexto se encaixa a enciclopédia Wikipédia que reforça o conceito de troca de informações e colaboração dos internautas com sites e serviços virtuais. A idéia é que o ambiente on-line se torne mais dinâmico e que os usuários colaborem para a organização de conteúdo.

• Aparência

Antigamente as páginas web eram repletas de textos, imagens, muitas vezes estes conteúdos eram dinâmicos. Além disso, não existia um padrão para o design e layout, era muito comum encontrar sites com o fundo na cor preta, e texto vermelho, ou fundo preto com imensos textos em letras brancas, o que tornava a permanência do internauta quase impossível.

Os novos conceitos são baseados em simplicidade: páginas com o branco predominando ou com tons claros. Tudo deve ser feito pensando na usabilidade, deixando o site limpo e livre de informações desnecessárias. Os sites mais visitados atualmente são exemplos muito claros sobre isso: http://www.google.com, http://www.gmail.com e http://www.yahoo.com.br.

• Webwares

A web já vem sendo utilizada como plataforma para a utilização de várias ferramentas, ou seja, o usuário não precisa tem um editor de texto instalado em seu computador para abrir um documento, isso já pode ser feito através do próprio navegador/browser. Hoje em dia já temos uma grande quantidade de ferramentas deste tipo, tais como os serviços que o Google oferece: reader (leitor de arquivos pdf), docs (que o usuário pode trabalhar desde textos simples e apresentações de slides a planilhas com fórmulas mais complexas. Em 2008 a Adobe lançou uma espécie de “Photoshop online” onde os usuários podem utilizar algumas das ferramentas do software de sistema.

• Web 2.0 e a programação

Começaram-se a desenvolver softwares que são usados pela Internet e vendidos não em pacotes mas como serviços, pagos mensalmente como uma conta de água. Além disso, mudou-se a forma de fazer softwares. Para que tudo funcionasse bem na Internet, foi necessário a união de várias tecnologias (como AJAX) que tornassem a experiência do usuário mais rica, com interfaces rápidas e muito fáceis de usar.

Definiu-se então que quanto mais simples e modular a programação, melhor. Assim é fácil tirar ou acrescentar uma funcionalidade ou compartilhar uma parte do seu software com outro software.

Segundo estes princípios, os softwares são desenvolvidos de modo que fiquem melhores quanto mais são usados, pois os usuários podem ajudar a torná-los melhores. Por exemplo, quando um usuário avalia uma notícia, ele ajuda o software a saber qual notícia é a melhor. Da mesma maneira, quando um usuário organiza uma informação através de marcações, ele ajuda o software a entregar informações cada vez mais organizadas.

• Conteúdo Colaborativo

Podemos citar uma quantidade relativamente grande de exemplos de conteúdos colaborativos nas web, como os FEED’s RSS; Blogs que são feitos através da interação entre designer e usuários, ou até mesmo criar um site apenas com conteúdo RSS; Comunidades de relacionamento (opensocial) também são consideradas uma grande conquista dessas mudanças, tais como o facebook, myspace, Orkut e o mais recente de todos, Twitter; os dois mais conhecidos hoje em dia são o youtube e a Wikipédia, onde todo o conteúdo é feito pela comunidade de usuários.

• Conclusão

Para fazer Web 2.0, o web designer precisará entender muito melhor sua função social. O ‘por quê’ a empresa precisa dessa interface? Como ela se insere em suas estratégias? Quem são as pessoas que vão usá-la? Que impacto a interface tem em suas vidas? O web designer 2.0 precisa saber que seu trabalho vai muito além de uma tela de computador, e que os internautas estão cada vez mais ligados ao conteúdo e não ao design, porém, para que este seja encontrado com maior facilidade é preciso relacionar conteúdo com design tornando a navegação mais dinâmica e objetiva.

Hi Everyone! I had a few thoughts about starting out in our program.

As this program progresses each student comes across a lion’s share of new web tools and techniques that each promise to add value to future projects. Maybe there are a few elementary tools and ideas that each WDIM student should embrace early. I’ve come up with a short list of things that I think we should have all been familiar with from the very beginning. This is by no means an exhaustive list. Please feel free to add more resources to this post with a comment.

1. Facebook. Like it or not, you need it. Having a Facebook account will help you connect to the rest of us in the program. As a general rule, we’re a very social group. We want to meet more people in our major and Facebook helps us keep in touch. Get it right away.
2. Twitter.  It’s another way for you to not only connect with other WDIMers, but also to keep up on information of interest about the field. Still don’t get twitter? Check this out video made by local design house commoncraft.com http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddO9idmax0o
3. Gmail. You need a gmail account. You’ll be sharing google docs in your upcoming classes and sampling other google offerings like Google Wave or Google Voice or many others.
4. Dropbox. This awesome webware allows you to just drag files into a special folder on your home computer and then allows you to access them from a web interface when you’re logged in from a different computer, even at school. Go to Dropbox.com to get it. They give you 2GB of space to use and it’s free!
5. Get some webspace and pick up a domain or two. These will definitely make your life easier later on. It’ll be good to have some space to experiment with. It could be an easy place to display some of your recent work to your friends or family. Ask around your classes to see who other people are using for hosting companies. I use Godaddy.com, but I know some people like 1&1. Domain names are pretty inexpensive and are potentially very valuable when it comes time to build your personal brand. You could get more than one and have them point to the same webspace.
6. Project selection: WDIM can be an intense major. Because there is so much to try to learn in short periods of time, it can be tempting to chose easier class projects that take a little less time to complete. Why not keep your eventual goals in mind when you’re thinking about projects to create? As you progress through the program you may want to establish a personal website that can display some of your work or links to some of your work. This may help you pick up some freelance jobs that will in turn help you develop your skills as well as improve your financial situation. Newflash: You’re slowly building a collection of resources that you can reuse over and over. These could be eye-catching layouts, navigation bars, or snippets of code that will save you time later on.

Is there anyone that has some other advice or good resources to add? Please do? Disagree? Please comment!

~Joe Tedesco
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/houseofjoe Twitter: @HouseofJoe

Good news for coordinators of testing! Early next year, the College Board (SAT, PSAT, etc.)will establish an online system for accommodation requests for students with disabilities–including AT use! Click on http://professionals.collegeboard.com/testing/ssd/application/online-accommodations-eligibility-system for more information.

College Board accommodations application to go online
Susanne Croasdaile
Fri, 16 Oct 2009 05:38:32 GMT

I’m sure a lot of you have heard about this Google Wave thing.  The first two thoughts that come to your mind may be: “What is it” and “Why should I be concerned about it?”.  While I pine away, hoping for my Google Wave invite, here are some my thoughts regarding Google Wave.

What is It?

Google Wave, at its core, is going to be a communications hub.  This hub will connect all of your Google Apps (Gmail, Google Talk, Google Voice, and Google Docs) with the outside social world (Facebook, Twitter, blogs, etc.).  Additionally, Google Wave allows for a whole level of online communication and will allow for people to collaborate on the simple things (ie. blogs) as well the complex things (chats, meetings, and eventually video if not already available).  Very succinctly, Google is wrapping up all of their ‘loose ends’ and putting a wrapper around them called Google Wave.

Why Should I Care?

In my opinion, churches and non-profits have the most to gain from service like Google Wave because of the idea that it will allow a cheap collaboration tool to allow organizations to collaborate, share ideas, and stay connected better than be done before.  As the Internet/Information age starts to settle, services and tools like this will become essential in the fabric of organizations that have a need to maintain communities while becoming more flexible to the changing technology climate.  I don’t want to step out on a limb here but I foresee that uber-communication hubs like Google Wave will become commonplace over the next 5 years and we could even see churches start to use hubs like this to build and strengthen not just online communities but the traditional church community that is becoming more digital with each passing year.

I can’t wait to jump in and see what else Google Wave holds.  Don’t take my word for it, though.  Check out Lifehacker’s recent Google Wave First Look or Google’s own frontpage demonstration video.

My church uses Planning Center to manage the creative arts team.  Even as a volunteer leading the visual tech ministry team leader it has become an invaluable way for me to stay connected with other volunteers and coordinate necessary Sunday schedule.  One thing that has piqued my interest with Planning Center is the way that they are transforming their offerings with social connection apps.

The most, Planning Center’s Facebook app, connects my Planning Center schedule with Facebook and, in my opinion, offers a cleaner and quicker preview of my Planning Center schedule.  Their other connection application, is an app for the iPhone which connects me to Planning Center Online and allows me to review and edit almost everything I might want to on the run.  This is also definitely worth a look.

So, if your church uses Planning Center be sure to check out these cool apps.  I think is this is an important demonstration how churches and organizations alike can integrate technology for the betterment of the community.  Adapting to different technology and reaching people in different ways will definitely fortify the effectiveness of Christian communities in our digital age.