Logging in to my Bloglines account this afternoon, I was greeted with a prominently displayed message next to my updated feeds:
"As you may have heard, we are sorry to share that Bloglines will officially shut down on October 1, 2010." (Bloglines, 9/10/10).
The notice was accompanied by helpful instructions on how to export my feeds for later use. I've been using Bloglines for several years and enjoy the convenience of a web-based service; lacking the "bells and whistles" of other rss readers, it does what I want it to do. At least, it did. I have noticed a number of feeds that it no longer catches, downtimes appear with increasing regularity, and login began requiring word identification. Obviously, signs I ignored while mired in blogline complacency (smile).
I'm not relishing the task of finding a new reader and moving my feeds. I've considered Pageflakes, Netvibes, and iGoogle, but like the general reader format. The simplest option may be using Google Reader along with my other Google account items (Gmail, YouTube, Picassa, and Blogger). At the very least I need to move the feeds so I don't lose them.
I'm lucky enough to have Camtasia Studio on my work computer; as such, it's easy to get spoiled having immediate access to software for creating video tutorials. To create screen capture projects on my home computer, I've been exploring free options, specifically one that I would not have to download. I found Screenjelly, Screenr, Jing, HyperCam, and most recently Screencast-O-Matic. This summer, students in my technology class were very interested in using Jing and several wrote interesting reviews on the product. On the verge of downloading, I decided instead to try Screencast-O-Matic.
"Screencast-O-Matic is the original online screen recorder for creating screen capture video recordings (aka screen casts) with free hosting all from your browser with no install!" -- Welcome page (8/24/10)
Several reviews noted five minute videos were free, but the web site FAQs state fifteen minute videos (subsequently hosted on YouTube) are free. It is necessary to have java installed with your browser to access the product, but it does not seem to differentiate when using updated versions of either Firefox or IE8; I have used both browsers to create screen casts without issue. I was happy to learn it is possible to export completed projects directly to YouTube as an HD movie, as an MP4 file, or an AVI file for Movie Maker.
The product is easy to use and intuitive; it
provides opportunity to select video size from a list or adjust the screen to suit your needs
includes a pause button (or alt+p) during capture
starts each capture, both fresh video and after pausing, with 3,2,1, go!
has an option to reset the video and start again
After making screen casts on my work computer and on my personal computer, I noticed choice of microphone makes a significant difference, my $3 work microphone audio narration sounds a bit "tinny," however my $9 home microphone provides adequate results. There are interesting visuals included on the screen cast, it highlights mouse movement with halos and short bursts as the video producer moves through the story. I did not notice these features when creating the video, but when processing the finished product there is opportunity to opt out of any and all of the colored (yellow and blue) highlights.
Since I opted to use the free version, there is a Screencast-O-Matic watermark on the bottom, left corner of the video. It is less obvious than the Animoto markings and I found it easily ignored. If you do not want or like the watermark, pro accounts are reasonably priced ($9 per year) and provide editing tools and options of one hour video lengths.
Below are two videos recently created with Screencast-O-Matic. I elected to keep the mouse highlights on both videos; each was exported to my YouTube account, saved as MP4 files, and later embedded in separate project. This is a great product to create free screen cast videos, especially when taking into consideration it is not necessary to download prior to use.
Students in my section of EDCI 232/505: Introduction to the Principles of Instructional Technology finished their desktop movie assignment last week; it's the seventh of ten technology assignments required during the intensive Summer Y session at Ashland. Once videos are finished, they upload to YouTube for grading. As I mentioned to them after grading, finished products this term are some of the best I've seen; they creatively combined different media options such as web cam video, PowerPoint slides, personal digital images, and music (successfully using YouTube's Audio Swap) using Movie Maker and iMovie. Always a popular assignment, discussions on several blog posts this week touched upon different ways movies could be used in the classroom. This morning, YouTube introduced a "cinematic experience," Life in a Day, which could be adapted for classroom use (or libraries for that matter!).
Logging in to my Bloglines account this afternoon, I was greeted with a prominently displayed message next to my updated feeds: