How to Be a Social Media Research Ninja for your Blog

Just found a very interesting article about tools you can use to help you better use Facebook, Twitter, and other social media,

Social media enthusiast like you and me love to find new tools to increase engagement on our favorite social networks. Keeping on top of current events and trends on sites like Twitter and Facebook is also a great way to conduct research for our blog posts. Here are a few of my favorite tools to help curate content, sort through the noise, and focus our attention on the information and the users that are critical to the success of our blogs.

Click here to read about Twylah, Pluggio, Summify, Social Mention, StumbleUpon, EdgeRankChecker.com, Klout, PeerIndex, TwentyFeet, Paper.li, Twilerts, and Google Alerts enhanced with YoLink

Video: Tips to Eliminate Passive Writing

We technical writers and instructional designers know how hard it is to get an engineer to write in active voice.  How much time do YOU spend turning sentences active?

Aggie Villanueva, author of the handbook, The Rewritten Word: How to Sculpt Literary Art, No Matter the Genre,  offers valuable tips for improving students’ writing in this video:

20 Slick YouTube tips and tricks you need to know

Wow. I'm getting behind.  Here I am, the YouTube Queen, and I haven't even tried several of these tip and tricks!

With over 3 billion YouTube videos watched every single day and 48 hours of footage uploaded every single minute to the world’s most popular video sharing website we wanted to produce a useful guide for getting the most out of the service. You’ll struggle to find somebody who uses the web and doesn’t watch YouTube videos on a daily basis but there is so much more to YouTube than just little funny videos of cats.

The list also provides tips and tricks for publishers. Over the coming years we can expect YouTube to continue its growth especially on mobile and possibly even on to our smart TVs in the future to form a core part of our daily entertainment experience. Here is how you can get much more out of YouTube…

Click here to find out how to use the following YouTube services:

• Leanback
• Disco
• Charts
• Editor
• Creative Commons
• Annotations
• Captions And Subtitles
• Watch Later
• Quiet Tube
• Live
• Watching Videos On Your TV

Do You Want To Be A Digital Nomad When You Grow Up?

Do you daydream about quitting your job and traveling around the world? What about taking it a step further and building a location independent career, so you can live and work wherever you want to?

10 Digital Nomads to Learn From (or should we say, " . . . from which to learn"?)

My Quest for the Perfect ‘Digital Nomad’ Office

Becoming a Digital Nomad: Options for Working Remotely from Anywhere

Why the downturn can be good for digital nomads

Is digital nomad living going mainstream?

20 Fascinating Color Post-Processing Effects Photoshop Tutorials

Want to know a secret?  One reason I started this blog and one way I choose what to post is that I include tips and information I think I'll want to use later.  Well this post definitely falls into that category.  I just created my first set of senior pictures.  I played around with effects and color, but the techniques in the article linked to here are amazing.  Who will be my next victim?  I LOVE Photoshop!!!

Enrique Flouret  explains:

"Often overlooked, color post processing effects are usually a quick and easy way of turning a dull photo into a cool piece of art. It is not that there is no work involved. In fact some effects such as cross processing or HDR need some more extra steps than other good looking effects. But beside those, many of these effects are dead simple to achieve and offer a great amount of tweaking possibilities at no extra effort."


I've included a few examples of what he will teach you how to do with your photos.  And here's the link to discover how to do it!

 

ASCII ART -- Just for Fun

INSTALLING SUMMER.....
███████████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ 44% DONE.


I don't know what you'll use this for, but . . .

Find a simple picture online.  Small and very simple is best . . .  probably clipart.  Or, then again, maybe your own picture posted online . . . .

Next, copy the URL of the picture, and go to IMG2TXT: ASCII Art Made Easy!

The resulting images are very large and will not fit in this blog, so I can't show you a picture . . . you'll just have to try it for yourself!


Just for fun, here are a few already made:

╓──╖░╓────╖╓─╖╓─╖╓───╖
║░░║░║░╓╖░║║░║║░║║░╙─╢
║░░╙╖║░╙╜░║║░╙╜░║║░╓─╢
╙───╜╙────╜╙────╜╙───╜

╔══════╦═╗╔═╦═══╦═╦═══╗
║░╔╗╔╗░║░║║░║╚══╣░║░╔═╝
║░║╚╝║░║░╚╝░╠══╗║░║░╚═╗
╚═╝░░╚═╩════╩═══╩═╩═══╝
¸.•*¨*•♫♪¸.•*¨*•♫♪¸.•*¨*•♫♪¸.•*¨*•♫♪


 ✰✰✰✰✰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰ If Your Proud To Be An American Wave
✰✰✰✰✰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰ This Flag In Honor Of The Fallen Men
✰✰✰✰✰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰ And Women Who Serve Our Country
✰✰✰✰✰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰ And For Those Who Are Still Fighting
☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰☰ THANKS AMERICAN SOLDIERS! ♥

.
║║╔║║╔╗ ║
╠╣╠║║║║ ║
║║╚╚╚╚╝ O

♥ღ♥ღ♥ღ♥ღ♥ღ♥ღ♥ღ♥ღ♥ღ♥ღ♥ღ♥ღ♥ღ♥ღ♥ღ ♥  ♥ ♥░▀█▀░░░▀█▀░▀█▀░▀█▀░░▀█▀▀▀▀█░♥ ♥░░█░░░░░█░░░█░▄▀░░░░░█░░░░░░♥ ♥░░█░░░░░█░░░█▀▄░░░░░░█▄▄▄░░░♥ ♥░░█░░░░░█░░░█░░▀▄░░░░█░░░░░░♥ ♥░▄█▄▄█░▄█▄░▄█▄░░▄█▄░▄█▄▄▄▄█░♥ ♥░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░♥  

 ▀███▄─▄███▀▄███▄███▄▀███▄─▄███▀
─▐███████▌─█████████─▐███████▌
─▐█▌▀█▀▐█▌──▀█████▀──▐█▌▀█▀▐█▌
▄███▄─▄███▄───▀█▀───▄███▄─▄███▄                                                                   

                                     

┏┓╋┏┳━━━┳━━━┓
┃┃╋┃┃┏━┓┃┏━┓┃
┃┃╋┃┃┗━━┫┃╋┃┃
┃┃╋┃┣━━┓┃┗━┛┃
┃┗━┛┃┗━┛┃┏━┓┃
┗━━━┻━━━┻┛╋┗┛

☻/ღ˚ •。* ♥ ˚ ˚✰˚ ˛★* 。 ღ˛° 。* °♥ ˚ • ★ *˚ .ღ 。
/▌*˛˚ღ •˚ ˚…just sprinkling some Love on your page. ~♥~˚ ✰* ★
/ \ ˚. ★ *˛ ˚♥* ✰。˚ ˚ღ。* ˛˚ ♥ 。✰˚* ˚ ★ღ
ⒽⒶⓅⓅⓎ ⓈⓅⓇⒾⓃⒼ ⒷⓇⒺⒶⓀ ⓉⒾⓂⒺ

WHOO HOOO!!!! ★ ☆•°*”˜˜”*°•.¸☆ ★ ☆¸.•°*”˜˜”*°•.¸☆•°*”˜˜”*°•.¸☆ ★GO GO GO -HAPPY DAY!!!-★ ☆•°*”˜˜”*°•.¸☆ ★ ☆¸.•°*”˜˜”*°•.¸☆•°*”˜˜”*°•.¸☆ ★ GO GO GO ...GO TEAM!!!! ★ ☆•°*”˜˜”*°•.¸☆ ★ ☆¸.•°*”˜˜”*°•.¸☆•°*”˜˜”*°•.¸☆ ★★ ☆•°*”˜˜”*°•.¸☆ ★ ☆¸.•°*”˜˜”*°•.¸☆•°*”˜˜”*°•.¸☆ ★★ ☆•°*”˜˜”*°•.¸☆ ★ ☆¸.•°*”˜˜”*°•.¸☆•°*”˜˜”*°•.¸☆ ★★ ☆•°*”˜˜”*°•.¸☆ ★ ☆¸.•°*”˜˜”*°•.¸☆•°*”˜˜”*°•.¸☆ ★ARE YOU HAPPY?

WHO'S FOOTPRINTS WILL YOU FOLLOW?
———-Oooo—
———–(—-)—
————)–/—-
————(_/-

●●●▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬●●●
(¯`’★♫♪•♥ WISHING YOU A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! ♥ •♫♪★’´¯) ●●●▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬●●●



*★Merry★* 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
•。★Christmas★ 。* 。
° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~＼。˚ ˚ ˛
...˚ ˛

•˛• ˚ ｜ 田田 ｜門｜ ˚And a Happy New Year - (◠‿◠✿)SNOWBALL FIGHT!!!! o´¯`❄.¸(░)`O.¸¸.¸.o´¯`❄.¸(░)`O.❄。¨¯`*✲ ´*。.❄¨¯`*✲。❄*´*。✲O.¸¸.¸.o´¯`o.¸(░) `O.¸¸.✲.¸.o´¯`¸.o´¯`❄¸(░)`O.¸¸.¸.✲´¯`o.¸(░) `O.¸❄。`O.¸¸.¸.o´¯`❄。¨¯`*✲....¸.o´¯`o.¸(░) `O.¸¸.¸.o´¯`❄.¸(░)´*。✲´*。.❄¨¯`*✲。❄。*。¨¯`*✲ KEEP IT GOING!

(¯`•.•´¯) (¯`•.•´¯)
*`•.¸(¯`•.•´¯)¸.•´
¤ º° ¤`•.¸.•´ ¤ °º


Another Link:
fUNICODE: The Ultimate Fun Text Generator  

    


Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ♥♥♥ჱܓƸ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ♥♥♥ჱܓƸӜƷ♥♥♥
╔╗──♥╔══╗♥╔══╗╔══╗♥╔══╗♥♥
║║──♥║╔╗║♥╚╗─╚╝─╔╝♥║═╦╝♥♥
║╚═╗♥║╚╝║♥─╚╗──╔╝─♥║═╩╗♥♥
╚══╝♥╚══╝♥──╚══╝──♥╚══╝♥♥˙·٠•●♥ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ♥
ƸӜƷ♥♥♥ჱܓƸ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ♥♥♥ჱܓƸӜƷ♥♥♥♥

▄▀▄ █───█ █▀▀ ▄▀▀ ▄▀▄ █▄─▄█ █▀▀
█▀█ █─█─█ █▀▀ ─▀▄ █─█ █─█─█ █▀▀
▀─▀ ─▀─▀─ ▀▀▀ ▀▀─ ─▀─ ▀───▀ ▀▀▀
(¯`*•.¸♥♫ ♫ B░E░A░U░T░I░F░U░L ♫ ♥¸.•*´¯)

Most Popular E-Learning Tools

In a recent thread in the Instructional Design & E-LearningProfessionals' Group,  several e-learning designers listed their three favorite e-learning tools.   As I was curious to see which were most popular among this group, I charted them.   My numbers may not be exact, as several people listed suites and I'm not sure they used everything in them, but I believe the chart and numbers below are fairly correct. 

For myself, my favorite tools are Captivate, Camtasia, PowerPoint, Snag-it, Photoshop, Audacity, and Windows Movie-Maker.  I have used Flash and Articulate. Some of the tools listed below look very interesting and I'm going to have to find out more about them.


Captivate, PowerPoint, Photoshop, Flash and Articulate are the clear winners!

Click the chart above to view it larger

Click the chart above to view it larger


The list below is of tools that were mentioned three times or fewer. Those with asterisks are free.

• Gimp* 
•  Scrubus* 
• Inkscape 
• Google sketchup* 
• Google Picasa* 
• Blender* 
• GeoGebra*
• Freemind* 
• Kompozer* 
• OpenOffice* 
• Cam Studio* 
• Moodle* 
• Salasaga* 
• SoftChalk 
• Rapid Intake's 
• Unison 
• JQuery 
• CSS# 
• Assignment Builder 
• PDF 
• Centra 
• Live Meeting 
• Hype 
• Visio 
• Panopto 
• Blackboard 
• Actionscript 3 
• RAPTIVITY 
• Jing* 
• Screenr* 
• YouTube*