Nico Baird

LAST week I attended a number of workshops at the University of the Free State. In the past whenever I attended one of these workshops there would always be someone promoting blogging in education. This time I was surprised that blogging was not presented as a great tool, but rather glogging. Yes it is not a typing error, I did say glogging.

If you like scrapbooking you will love Glogster (www.glogster.com). The website can be used for you to create your own online “scrapbook”. You can add all your photos, videos, memories, even sounds of your life to the page and easily arrange and manipulate it to form a beautiful collage. You can arrange and resize images, videos and even rotate and stack images on top of each other. You only realise how much you are able to do with it after you have viewed a few of the demo pages that are available on Glogster.

I think this is probably one of the greatest tools for educators who want their students to create a themed website by researching a topic. Glogster knows this and there is even an educational category on the website.

I must tell you that for individual users the creation of a page is still free but there are options with more features etc. that you will need to pay for.

You will, however, be able to create great things with the free version.

If you are a teacher, you should really use it for your next assignment. Your students will love you for it! But as I said, if you love to scrapbook or express yourself creatively and even if you just feel arty, then this is a great tool to explore.

Nico Baird is a new media expert and can be contacted at nico@clicksa.co.za or visit www.nicobaird.com.

IT looks like Gadaffi is finally on his way out and we are able to get up-to-the-minute video reports from most international news channels.

Not only through the standard satellite links, but also through a constant barrage of citizen journalists sharing their experiences through the internet.

This phenomenon of citizen journalism is contributing internationally to the downfall of many regimes.

The power of images being captured by ordinary citizens are often blurred and of poor quality, but they convey more than just an image to the viewer.

These video clips often convey pure emotion and because they are generally amateur in nature they really convey the emotion.

We were able to watch hundreds of rioters in England running around causing millions of pounds worth of damage to the stores and the cities.

Now it is helping police round up and arrest many of them through the use of these images that were captured by ordinary citizens.

What an incredible compilation of history are we going to leave behind for our future generations?

Every single event being recorded from various angles, and from various points of view?

Those who are in favour of an event and those who are opposed to an event sharing their experience.

History is no longer only written by the victor.

From now on history will be written by all and the victor will no longer be able to erase the history of the rest.

We are so quick to point out the problems and the negative aspects of technology.

We should focus on the advantages and how it will improve our lives.

Remember that you have a powerful recorder of history in your hand, take your phone, record your life and preserve it for your future generations.. Nico Baird is a new media expert and can be contacted at nico@clicksa.co.za or visit www.nicobaird.com.

IT is vital that you, as a website owner, constantly keep up to date of all the keywords that drive traffic to your website. If you own a website and you do not know what the keywords are that drive traffic to your website, you need to urgently start monitoring this.

But that is not what this week’s column is all about. I would rather talk about something that I have seen in the search terms that drive traffic to some of my websites.

I do not know if it is disturbing or just a sign of the times but I have decided to share it with you.

We are living in a time where we use Google for all our answers. I guess it is only a natural progression in the psyche of man to want even more from Google. The search term I found was “Dear God, where can I find a good man, please help me” (Translated from Afrikaans).

I am no psychologist, but I think this could be something to investigate. Are we in this modern age thinking of finding religious answers from Google?

I do not know if this is a wake-up call for churches to also make sure they provide answers to these types of questions online.

I know this is probably very upsetting to most people and I must admit that I was very surprised when I saw it, but after thinking about it, I realised if churches ensured they have proper resources and information online, they will be able to provide answers to life’s deepest, most religious and private questions with the proper keywords.

Think about it, where do you go to find answers to most of your questions? .Nico Baird is a new media expert and can be contacted at nico@clicksa.co.za or visit www.clickkliek.com.

A FEW months ago a friend of mine opened a DVD rental shop in Gauteng.  I asked him why he did this as I truly believe that DVD rental in South Africa will soon be a service that will start to decline.  This will be due to video distribution via the Internet.

Maybe a service like Netflix, which has gaining popularity in the United States.   Needless to say, he was pretty upset with my comment.

I am very excited to announce that things are happening faster than I thought they would.   Last Friday DStv announced and launched their new BoxOffice Service.  Truly a huge step in the right direction.  I do feel sorry for video store owners, as I really think this service will have an impact on DVD rentals in the coming years.  Not only are you able to watch some of the latest releases directly on your television without having to get in your car and drive to the shop, but you are also able to watch the movies in high definition if you have the necessary PVR and television.  I believe that some of the main advantages are that the price for movies (R25) is exactly right.  You will also have 48 hours to watch the movie.

For most people the greatest feature would be the fact that you will not have to remember to return the DVD the following day.  You watch it and your access to the movie is automatically removed after 48 hours.

No late fees and no worries.  I think Multichoice has changed the way we rent movies for ever.