The Pitfalls of PowerPoint

In case you haven't seen these yet, they humorously showcase the pitfalls of PowerPoint.

Introduction to Presentation Blogging

For those who might be new to blogging, I'd recommend this exceptional video from Common Craft:

Welcome to My Presentation Blog

I'm intrigued by the possibilities that blogging holds for presentating information - mainly because I like to do more than just present. Rather than being the 'sage on the stage', I like to engage my audience and provide an interactive way for them to become involved in the content. We can all learn from each other, rather than be limited by my information.

Here's how it works:

• Each section title below is a hyperlink to the showcased resource - so just click on the title to go directly to that resource's home page.
• Add comments, share thoughts and opinions, ask questions, etc.
• Enjoy!

SkyDrive

SkyDrive allows you to store, access, and share your files from anywhere online.

- Free 25 GB, password-protected online storage
- Drag and drop upload process
- Share folders with classmates, coworkers, family, friends
- Each folder has a unique Web address

Cooliris - Larger than life graphical interface

Cooliris enhances your web-browsing experience. When you are on a Cooliris-enabled site, just click the Cooliris button. Your browser is transformed into a full-screen, 3D experience for viewing photos and videos.

This plug-in only supports a handful of graphics-intensive sites - Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Picasa, Flickr, Amazon, ESPN, etc.

ping.fm - Update social networking sites simultaneously

Widely popular, this site allows you to manage your social networking sites all in one location. Ping.fm offers a simple web-based dashboard from which you can update your status on a variety of social networks - Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and more.

In addition to supporting over 40 social services, you can also create groups of networks.

Xobni - A Lifesaver for Overcrowded Inboxes

Ever spent precious time searching your inbox for a particular message or attachment? Ever forgotten an important contact's name or organization?
Ever wonder who you spend the most time emailing?
Ever forget who all needs to be included in a follow-up message?

Xobni is an Outlook add-in that includes lightning-fast search, threaded conversations, email analytics, and more. This powerful tool helps you find emails, contacts, and attachments.

It also helps you stay connected and get connected through a variety of social networks - Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.

Zamzar - File Conversion

In four easy steps, Zamzar allows you to convert files (up to 100MB) to a variety of different formats - image, document, video, audio, etc.

Step 1: Select the file to convert
Step 2: Choose the format to convert to
Step 3: Enter email ID
Step 4: Agree to the terms, and convert

Please note that the conversion process (especially for larger files) may take time.

Zotero - Firefox Add-on to Collect, Manage, and Cite Resources

Zotero is a powerful research tool to aid in the storage and organization of bibliographical information.

Similar to Endnote and Evernote, Zotero offers additional benefits, such as:
- An Autofind feature
- Folder structuring
- Tagging
- Search as you type
- Notes
- Free!

In an age where we spend more time browsing virtual libraries and less time hanging out in physical ones, Zotero can be a real time-saver.

Even for those of us who do little bibliographical reasearch, Zotero can be a great way to collect, organize, and share web resources.

Clipmarks - Clip and save pieces of web pages

Comparable to a personal web scrapbook, Clipmarks allows you to cut/copy/paste and store pieces of web pages. And even better, your repository of clippings is taggable and searchable.

When you see something you want, either click the Clip It button or right-click and select the section you want to clip.

Watch an introductory demo on YouTube.

Hyperwords - Never go to a search page again!

"Do useful things with all the words on a page, not just the links."

Hyperwords is a selection-based research tool. According to the site, "The point of Hyperwords is to make every single word on every single Web page usefully interactive..."

To use it, select any word on any web page, then select from over 300 commands - Google search, Flickr search, Wikipedia, YouTube, Twitter, email, blog, translate, etc.

Drop.io - Simple, Private, Real-time Sharing

Drop.io allows you to privately share files and collaborate in real time by web, email, phone, mobile, and more. You can create each drop in two clicks and share what you want, how you want, with whom you want.

Key features
- 100 MB for free
- Use Tweet.io to share your drops over Twitter
- Pefect for real-time project collaboration
- Transferring large files

A drop is a 'discrete' (yes, "ete") chunk of space you can use to store and share anything (pictures, video, audio, docs, etc) privately, without accounts, personal registration, or email addresses. The site is not searchable and not 'networked', only people that know the URL of a drop can access it. You can create as many as you want and set things like a password, whether visitors can add to the drop, and how long you want it to exist.

Wondering what you can store & share on drop.io? Drop.io lets you share photos, video, audio, and other media files really easily. It takes the most common formats and converts them to be web friendly. If you send photos, drop.io will make thumbnails and put them in a gallery; if you send videos, drop.io converts them so you can view them online; if you send audio, drop.io will stream it; etc.