Easy Lecture Streaming

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Looking to get in to broadcasting your lectures to off-campus students but not sure where to start?

ProCaster is a free Windows application (Mac is promised soon) that allows you to set up internet broadcasting without any problems. Just connect your camera to the application and go. Your broadcasts are available as a live stream and recorded for video on demand use later. You can mix in views of your computer screen and also chat (and tweet!) to your viewers interactively. The video is then streamed on the internet by Mogulus.

The viewer is Flash based so should be available on pretty much any platform you can think of.

You can try Mogulus broadcasting for free as long as you want if you don't mind ads appearing. Otherwise you can upgrade to the Pro version for a reasonable charge.

Try ProCaster here:

Procaster: One-click live streaming, powered by Mogulus

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Make Use of... Anything

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Make Use Of is a great site with tips for doing all sorts of things on your computer. On the day I looked the front page had a link to:

• Best source code sites
• Grabbing MP3s from FLV files
• Making use of Research features in Word 2007
• Using Gmail offline
• Online image editing

Add it to your feed reader today.

Cool Websites, Software and Internet Tips

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Didn't This Used to be Investigated by the Justice Department?

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OK Here's the scam.

1. Invent an operating system that's full of vulnerabilities
2. Create some software that plugs the holes (let's call it OneCare, for example)
3. Sell it
4. Find that no-one buys it because others sell similar software except cheaper and better
5. Make your software free
6. Drive all the other manufacturers out of the game
7. Sell your software at a new, higher, price

Microsoft are at point five on the list. Six and seven are sure to follow soon.

In the meantime take advantage of their "generosity" to make your Windows machine safe to use.

BBC NEWS | Technology | Microsoft to offer free security

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Other Video Chat Applications

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Following on from my previous post on Dimdim I found a LifeHacker post discussing the five best video chat applications.

Have a look and see if any of them fit your needs.

Hive Five: Five Best Video Chat Applications

Google Get Into Browsers

Image via CrunchBase, source unknown

Google live on the Internet and so it makes sense that they would want to influence the nuts and bolts of web browsing. To that end they have introduced their own browser, Chrome.

Some of the choices made in creating the browser such as multiple processes, secrecy mode and a brand new Java interpreter are interesting to say the least and are well explained in the accompanying comic. (It's Google, of course it's a comic!)

You can download the browser here (Windows only at the moment, Mac and Linux to follow). It's certainly worth a look and, as the code has been open-sourced, it's only a matter of time until at least some of the ideas appear elsewhere.

Browser wars in 2008. Who'd have thought?

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Improving Reading and Retention Skills

As part of student induction it is useful to teach some basic tasks like time management, library use and getting out of bed in the morning.

Download Squad have a pointer to a rather useful application that helps improve reading and retention skills. That can only help improve results.

Speed Read : Improve Your Reading and Retention Skills - Download Squad

Mac Educational Applications Bundle

Image via Wikipedia MacUpdate do a daily offer for Mac software at vastly reduced prices.

The offer today is especially good containing ten applications aimed towards education including:

• Hookup
• Alarm Clock Pro
• Periscope
• DevonAgent
• Mellel
• Norrkross Movie
• Bookend

for just $49.99. I think that's about two jam jars in our money.

If enough bundles are sold MacJournal, Contactizer Pro and LightZone are added. This is a great deal that you should jump on.

Today's MacUpdate Promo, 40% off

Binary in Computer Architecture

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The architecture course is almost universally disliked by students. This has nothing to do with reality but is instead rooted in the idea that it will be, and I quote, "pure,dead hard like".

One tool I'll be using to help explain different number systems is this binary clock application. Working in the same way as the binary watches that are widely available at Geeks'R'Us it shows the time using simulated LEDs. If nothing else it should be good for a fun five minutes in class.

Binary Clock

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OneNote for Education

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Microsoft Education Product Center: Microsoft Office OneNote 2007

I've never really got in to OneNote, Microsoft's free format note taking software. It looks fun but I've just not had time to really put it through its paces.

The new site from Microsoft might change that with its Teacher Toolkit containing templates and articles.

Try it and let me know how it goes in the comments. You might even convert me.