SnagaJob

Looking for a job? Tired of filling out application and going to the post office to send them out? Don’t want to spend any more money to buy stamps and envelopes? Well, heres a great online tool that save you all the trouble. Snagajob, is an online site for employers to post job opening for the outside public. It takes 5 minutes to sign up and it’s free to join. Once, signed up the site allows you to search for jobs in your local area and surrounding areas. It also allows users to read exactly what kind of job positions companies and organizations are looking for. There are job openings from small business’s to private businesses.
This is a great site to receive up to date jobs. Snagajob updates their site every time a company or business has a job opening. The site saves employees and people like us a lot of time and money. It allows you to send applications in a timely fashion with just one click. The site also allows users to upload their resumes to send with the application. I would recommend anyone who is looking for a job to use this site, as it was very useful for me.

Sleeping with you Eyes Open

By Jermaine Wright

Ever sit down and think about how life would be with a descent amount of sleep? I know personally, as a college student, working, and me being the President of two student groups, I barely get any sleep. On average, I get about 4-6 hours of sleep per night. I know, I hear it all the time, it isn't healthy, but then again what is these days, you know? But the bad part is not that I get a limited amount of sleep, the bad part is that I dont sleep comfortably. I toss and turn more times throughout the night then I actually close my eyes. I've even gone as far as making unhealthy decisions to find peaceful sleeping solutions. There were times when I took drowsy medications to fall asleep and I wasn't sick. After researching, I found a perfect technological solution to my problems. That solution is called "Lighting Bug"

Lightning Bug is an android application that helps you find sleep and relaxation. This app provides simplistic and powerful ambience thar relaxes your mind. It uses a white noise mixer that allows life sound technology to touch the right nerves in your body to help you sleep peacefully. Lightning Bug has a bunch of sound loops and samples in its library. These sounds range anywhere from natural peace from rain storms, and ocean tides, to pure white noise, metropolitan sounds, meditation tones, acoustic and electric instruments, and slow mellow beats.

The unique part about Lightning Bug is that it doesnt just play simple repetitive loops of audio... It allows you to fully customize your engine to play sounds of harmony in random patterns, and therefore you will never hear the samething twice. As pleasing as it is to the ears, it is just as pleaseing to the eyes. This app comes fully equipped with soothing backgrounds and sound visualizations.

Lightning Bug has been a top application in the Android Market, and is fully covered in the Health Catergory. This app can be the healthy alternative to people like me who take unneccessary medications for asleep, which may end up causing more harm then help. With this app, you can fall asleep easily. The app sends soundwaves that coordinate with your brain patterns which serve as your own personal audio therapy agent. I strongly support this app, and I think it'll be a great addition to anyone's android library.

November Blog Post: Nicole Berard

Picnik: Creatively Enhance Your Photos




Picnik.com is an easy, fun, and non-complicated way for the everyday person to spice up their photos. Over the past few years the company has grown tremendously since its grand appearance in 2005. Just recently the site celebrated their acceptance into the Goggle family which leaves them with room to expand and enhance their overall site. I have always hated when I upload photos from my camera and was sadly disappointed in the overall quality. With the help from Picnik I was able to take those photos and create them into something I could have never done with just the simple editing tools. So how does this compare to other photo editing software and programs? Well, to start Picnik is completely free! Because it is an online site there is no downloading or setting up involved just type it into your browser and you may begin your journey right away. I have no recommendations for who should use this site because it can appeal to all ages. It’s fast and most importantly easy to use.

So what does this site actually offer you? Well, Picnik not only allows you to upload and enhance any photo from the web or folders but it can even help you create a whole new look and feel to your picture. The site contains all the basic editing tools such as exposure, lighting, red-eye as well as some other lighting effects. Black and White photos can sometimes get a little boring but Picnik allows the creator to mold and form that typical black and white picture into let’s say, an antique looking photo as if were out of the 1900’s. The program also offers different stickers and designs to add on as well as the ability to insert fun texts and quotes. With all these different ideas it can leave you Picniking for hours with hundreds of options to make your photos look fun, unique, and creative. It will leave people wondering if they were done by a professional.




A few of you might be a little skeptical to the site because it may seem a little complicated. Trust me, this site is a personal favorite of mine, and I am no artist or photographer. When you first sign into the site they offer different tutorials and ideas to help you get started. They even offer you step by step instructions using their own picture examples. Or on the home page you can click “Picnik Tour” and they will take you on a virtual tour of the site. For those of you who are experts in photo editing I do strongly recommending signing up for their premium upgrade which offers you a large amount of different features and tools for only 2$ a month.


Picnik has enhanced it CMC skills by now asking for its viewers and members to follow them on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook! For more information please visit their website at www.picnik.com or to start picnicking right away!


Sources:

www.picnik.com/aboutus

http://blog.picnik.com/2010/03/google-acquires-picnik/

Dropbox: Community Building through File Syncing

Dropbox is the easiest way to sync your files over all of your devices. This includes your work computer, desktop, mobile phone, and any other computers you want to sync with. Devices always seem to break at the most inconvenient times, but with Dropbox, your files won’t be lost. The “cloud” is the future of Web 3.0 and beyond, where less and less is stored on your personal hardware. While cloud storage is not new, Dropbox offers one of the most developed, yet intuitively clean and simple cloud storage utilities. Once you install it on your computer, you simply drop your files into the new Dropbox folder found in the Favorites section of Windows Explorer, so you don’t have to go out of your way to open up any other program or log into an account.

File syncing can be used on a personal level, by having all of your files backed up and easily accessible on the cloud, but the possibilities for collaboration with friends, family, and coworkers make this software particularly exciting. In your Dropbox folder there is a Public subfolder. This makes it easy to share files with a broad group of people in one place, at the same time, instead of tediously sending out individual files to each person. This grants affordances of consolidation of information, as well as the affordance of easily broadcasting or disseminating your multimedia and documents. The Public subfolder allows for community building through providing a curated list of files which are as visible or invisible to others as the user wishes. In addition to the Public subfolder, you can create other folders and share these folders with specific people or groups of people. This allows the user to control the information that is available to any given person. Once a folder is shared, all files added to the folder are automatically synced with everyone connected.

Speaking of community building, Dropbox’s website fosters the development of the larger community of all Dropbox users. It does this in two major ways, one being the traditional method of hosting community forums. This allows for users to create and enter discussions with other users as well as receive feedback from forum moderators. It has a personable yet still comfortably anonymous method for posting, in that posters are labeled by their real first name and last initial. The second, more innovative method Dropbox uses to promote community building is their Votebox. Votebox allows users to raise issues about the current software or suggest new innovations for Dropbox. After an initial suggestion is posted, others can vote in support of these innovations.

So you can look at Dropbox as an intuitive, customizable file syncing and cloud storage tool. However you can also look at as a new way to easily communicate with individuals and groups through user-friendly sharing of files. Updating Public or shared folders are automatic and hassle-free, so you are keeping the people that matter to you in the loop just as easily as you would save a file to a folder.

Vimeo

Vimeo is a video hosting website. Users are able to upload, share, and view videos. Many people may compare it to another popular video hosting site, YouTube, but in fact Vimeo is different in many ways from other video hosting websites.

A major affordance of Vimeo is it’s highly reputable nature of being focused on “indie” videos-or videos not intended to be seen by the masses (also known as “viral”). This major aspect of Vimeo gives it an important reputation that differs themselves from other video hosting websites such as Youtube, where a user can find a video of seemingly nothing that could have millions of hits in a short amount of time.

Like many networking and hosting sites, Vimeo has a free membership and videos can also be seen without being a member. There is a comment space on videos that can provide feedback and allow users to communicate with each other. A major affordance of Vimeo as a hosting website is there is no time limit as to the length of videos that users want to upload, making it a popular choice to people that are serious about their videos being seen by other serious users. Users also have the option to sign up for Vimeo Plus. Vimeo Plus is not free, but it does provide opportunities for users to upload videos in the ultimate high definition and provide editing tools-another factor of being an attractive choice for people not interested in “viral” videos.

Users can also access the many features Vimeo has to offer, only adding to the computer-mediated communication. For example, Viemo hosts “groups” that members may join on the webiste. These groups are based on users interests or experience. Vimeo also has channels, so people can find their favorite users latest updates. Vimeo also offers links to products that can enhance user experience, such as video cameras.

The fact that Viemo is known for having “indie” video dominance, it is also a website that filters and curates video streaming. If a user wants to look for quality music videos without having to wait for advertisements or look through dozens of videos to find the one a user desires. Users are also able to tag their videos with relevant keywords, allowing for filtering by the user. You may gain access to Vimeo by clicking here www.vimeo.com/

Yahoo Messenger

Yahoo messenger is an advertisement supported instant messenger client. Yahoo messenger is similar to Google's G-chat, and other instant message services such as AIM. It is free of charge,no download required and can be used with any web browser. All one needs to sign up is a Yahoo id, which requires you to sign up for Yahoo. This will allow you to have access to all of Yahoo's other features such as Yahoo Voice. Yahoo messenger allows you to connect with other users to play online games, and even keep in touch through Facebook. Yahoo messenger can also be connected to ones cell phone, making them always available to chat or use it other features. As a member one can use chat rooms, use web cam, send pictures, and audio all through Yahoo messenger. One can customize their page with animations, custom statuses, and music statuses. This allows the user to have control of their self presentation and image management. You can only interact with users that are your "buddies" or friends on Facebook. This makes Yahoo messenger more personal and allows privacy within this application.

Tumblr

Tumblr is a website and a short blog platform, which allows users to post text, audio, pictures, quotes and videos to their tumblelog. It is said that Tumblr is to other social media websites, as texting is to email, short and direct. Tumblr is one of the 10th largest social media websites, with much similarity to Twitter and Facebook. Tumblr combines Twitter and Facebook, in a sense that it is a blog site but also allows you to follow others such as celebrities and friends. By following others you can comment on there blogs and other posts much easier then on Twitter, and its not as personal as Facebook. One can completely customize their Tumblr blog with background pictures, their desired font, and much more. This makes self presentation and image management all up to the user. Tumblr is the new way to blog and is catching on quickly with users who originally used Twitter. Tumblr makes it easy for one to post blogs, pictures, and see the comments all one one page. Tumblr is an interactive for of communication by allowing users to comment on others blogs. The account holder can make their Tumblr as private as they would like making your blog free to the public or private to only other users one accepts. To sign up for Tumblr one must register with an email address and password, and once complete you can start blogging right away. Tumblre might be the next best thing, so get a jump start and sign up today.

Google Maps

When needing to get directions or locate something on a map Google Maps is the place to go for all of your location and destination needs. This application will help you get to any destination, no address needed. Being able to save your places, change the mode of travel and edit your routes are also useful tools when using Google Maps.

The point of Google Maps is to get you to where you need to go. Getting started is easy by just going to http://maps.google.com/. On the home screen you can type in an address, landmark, or destination and by pressing the search button you will be taken to that place on a map. This is useful if you need to find where something is on a map like a national park or a business. To find directions to a place just click the "get direction" button. Here you can type in your desired addresses/destinations in the Point A/Point B boxes to help you find where you need to go. One cool feature of Google Maps is it's ability to find your location for you, so if you want to find out how to get somewhere from where you are and location services are enabled, you only need to type in your destination in the Point B space. Maybe you just wish to roam the landscape of the world? Clicking and dragging on the map will take you anywhere you want. Zooming in and out using the + and - buttons will show more or less on the map.

Clicking on "my places" allows you to create places on a map, lets you star your favorite places, and you can also view places that you have rated or where you have checked in. Google Maps lets you be customize your experience as much as you desire. When finding directions you can change your mode of transportation from car to public transportation, bike, or walking. When driving somewhere you can also choose to avoid highways or tolls by clicking "show options" under your destination. Finding the reverse directions are also easy by clicking the up/down arrow button. There are also buttons that allow you to print your directions (with or without the map) and allow you to email or instant message a link.

Google Maps is a tool for everyone. It's interface is simple and will get anyone from point A to point B. It is one of the multiple applications to come from Google and may just be the most popular. Social interaction and communication is not the primary focus for this application however adding those functions would make the app more appealing and even more user friendly than it already is.

"Dude Wheres My Car"???

How many times have you driven your car to the supermarket? Better yet, a huge shopping mall? From the time you leave your house and enter your vehicle to the time you park it, you are filled with either excitement or determination, which usually leaves you in a good mood. You are either excited to shop, or determined to get the best gift for whatever occassion. Now have finished shopping, bags in hand, you look outside of the shopping mall automatic doors and you ask yourself "where the hell did I park"? You travel all around the parking lot, looking for landmarks and familiar signs of your previous existence, but you find none. During your search, your frustration builds enormously. Your bags begin to weigh a ton, and some of your bags start falling out of your hand. You reach down to pick up the bags, and your purse drops out of your hand, spilling out your money from your change purse, your id, your credit cards, and your keys. You pick up your keys and you think to click the "beep beep" button on your car remote and you realize (1) of two things... (1) "I knew I should have changed my car battery" or (2) "Dammit... I dont have one" ... Your frustration builds and you are stuck in huge parking lot filled with cars, with yours no where to be found. Down and out, looking at all of your bags and belongings on the floor, you whimper out a frustrating "Why Me?" ...

Well guess what, you dont have to ask yourself this question ANYMORE... With Android Market's "Car Locator" you can find your car in an instant. Car Locator uses GPS technology to successfully locate your car. Ok so when I first researched this, I thought to myself "ok so is this the part when they try to tell me to buy this high-tech tracking device that Batman uses in the cartoon?", but to my surprise it doesn't work like that at all. With the click of a button, just like a pic on facebook, you "tag" your cars position and you save it on a database, and it reads your exact distance from your car as you move. It utilizes the satellite and the global positioning system in your mobile device, allowing you to successfully track your car, and never have to be embarrassed, fed up, or frustrated again.

Not only does it help you find your car, it has a very user friendly interface. It is easy to navigate and provides a bunch of assistance to successfully help you find your car. A couple of other cool things about this app is that you can use a split screen function that allows you to see your position on the map as well as a picture of your vehicle or what ever spot you tagged on your GPS. It also has other functions asside from locating your car. It has a parking timer, which helps you keep track of your time at meters. This helps avoid trouble with the law, as well as making sure you dont over or under spend on a meter. You can also save the radar visualization as a live wallpaper on your phone so that you can keep track of your car from the home screen of your phone.

This is a great app to have for anyone with a car. Whether your a college student in a hoopty or a successful adult in a Benz, it happens to all of us. From the supermarket, to the mall parking lot, we can/have all fallen victim to the terros of parking lots. I would highly recommend this app to everyone. This app is $2.99 on the android market... Im actually about to buy it now, and you should too! 

Mindomo

Mindomo is a collaborative mind-mapping program that is a great way to stay focused and in-touch with the plan you want to develop. This type of program lets you brainstorm and create webs of content that you can manage together. You can organize your ideas around a subject and keep your mind connected. It allows you to store random ideas and imaginations as well as spur of the moment thoughts that you need to get down right away before they escape you. You can pour what's on your mind on the page and refine and refresh your ideas at any time.

Mindomo is one of the most effective mind-mapping programs because it is the easiest representation of your mental model and your thought process which is characterized by expansion in multiple directions. It is collaborative because you can invite other to have access to your page. Whether they are on your project team or whether you need inspiration or brainstorming in real-time with your colleagues. Mindomo has such features as: high density maps, video and audio capabilities, pictures, simple and real time collaboration, offline working, multi-level numbering, comment/voting on topics, spell check, importing contacts and exporting your maps.

The are three different versions you can get: Free (3 maps/limited tools), Premium ($6 a month/unlimited maps/more feature than free version), and Team ($9 a month/team administration interface/all features). The only negative to this program is the ability to use all of the tools only if you pay monthly for the service and the ability of people to edit your work can backfire if you do not save it in another place. They can edit your ideas and give comments and you may not be able to get them back.

The present series of studies have found that self-disclosure is higher in Computer-Mediated Communication than Face to Face and that both visual anonymity and heightened private/reduced public self-awareness can be implicated in this effect (Joinson 2001). Since studies prove that a good percentage of people overall are more comfortable behind a computer than in person, you have a great chance of sending someone your ideas or giving them access to your mind-map and getting their true opinions on your structure and plans.

References:
Joinson, A. (2001) Self-disclosure in computer-mediated communication: The role of self-awareness and visual anonymity. European Journal of Social Psychology 31, 177-192

Voxer... Could it be the next big app?

Messaging apps for smartphones are nothing new, but Android and iPhone app Voxer brings something new to the table. It's a free 'walkie-talkie' service, that uses 3G or WiFi. You can text, send photos and best of all send voice messages.

Voxer is free on both iOS and Android; you just download it and sign up. You can also connect to Facebook, which I did without getting any resulting spamming of my friends. Contacts already using Voxer will automatically appear in your Voxer friends lists, and you can send messages to any Facebook friends and phone contacts inviting them to get the application.

Getting people involved is always the tricky part with these things but there has been a huge buzz on twitter about the new app especially that the Walkie-talkie element is great fun. Open a chat, touch the 'Hold and Talk' button then speak. Once you let go, your voice message is sent. Whoever you're chatting to can also listen to you live whenever you have the walkie-talkie button pressed.

Sending short voice messages is quicker than writing a text, although less discrete, and I find Voxer is much easier to use than my phone's voicemail. According to Techcrunch, Voxer has been getting really popular in Brazil, and it starting to gain traction in other markets too. I think it's got great potential to steal lots of users away from other apps.

This app uses a good mode that ensures a lot of people will use because in today almost everyone either has an android or an iphone. So getting the app is very easy. It is very easy to create a community because most people have facebook and if you sign in using your facebook account they are automatically your friend and then you can see their friends and a whole new community is created.

This application allows you to use personal identity with the use of being able to put up picture and allowing you to put up a voice note about yourself.

YouTube

YouTube is a website where the user is able to create videos, view others videos, and share videos with people.  YouTube is user generated, so you have to be a member to upload videos, but anyone can view the videos posted.  You must be a registered user to view certain videos with explicit content.  You must have an email address to register, but you do not have to disclose your personal information. Self presentation and image management is therefore up to the user to decide upon.

With YouTube, you are able to broadcast information to vast audiences through the internet.  People are able to access these videos at any time by searching the internet, or YouTube specifically.  Broadcasting information through social media sites, such as YouTube, has become much more simple, and is available to users at no cost, which is expanding and changing the way people receive information nowadays.

YouTube is an interactive form of computer mediated communication.  It allows for content to be published, and for a return of feedback through comments or related videos created by other users.  Users are able to network through YouTube by subscribing to other users 'channels' where they post their videos.  Users can build their social networking community by using these subscriptions.  They can view other users who share the same subscriptions, and subscribe to their channels.

Each video uploaded has an area for a description of the video, which allows for people to filter through similar videos to find what they are looking for.  Also, using key words in the title of the video allows for viewers to search easily for the specific video.

Screen Sharing

Was there ever a time you tried to explain to someone what you were looking at and never quite got the message across? Just try to think of the time and confusion that could have been saved in the past where problems with the computer had to be explained over the phone. Wouldn’t it have been so much easier if you could have shown the problem as it was shown on the computer monitor? Now that screen sharing software was made available, companies and individuals have an advanced method solving such problems over the internet.
The screen sharing technology allows users to share what is on the desktop at the time. Things that are shared such as: web browsers, documents, and spreadsheets over the Internet to other people. Screen sharing displays the desktop content of the presenter on the viewer’s computer screens. Anything that the user is doing on their screen, the viewer will be able to see. Not only is it used for engines such as Skype, but screen sharing is ideal for business meetings and is a great way to have a business meeting without spending the time and money involved with traveling efforts. Some of the bigger companies receive an even greater advantage because of the separation of outlets (oceans), so screen sharing is a much needed asset. Different schools or teaching services offer screen sharing to help educate the students. College students also use it to work on group projects.
Screen sharing is considered to be a very easy form of interaction online. Once downloaded, it is very easy to set up the screen sharing media. It is much more convenient to use screen sharing when you are trying to explain something.

Pinterest- Blog post #3

My cousin recently introduced me to a really cool app for my IPhone called Pinterest. After exploring this app, I found out that it is also a website that can be accessed by anyone with a computer or any other device that can access the internet. 

Pinterest is a virtual pin board that lets you organize and share a bunch of cool things you find on the web.  Pinterest also allows you to browse pin boards created by other people, which is a fun way to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests.

The mission of Pinterest is to connect everyone in the world through their common interests. A favorite book, toy, or recipe can reveal a common link between two people and with millions of new pins added every week, Pinterest is constantly connecting people all over the world based on shared interests.

Pinterest has many affordances.  Along with connecting people all over the world, Pinterest also serves as a place to learn creative do it yourself projects, find delicious recipes, or share beautiful photographs.  Many people use their Pinterest pin board to save decorating ideas for a new home, to plan a wedding and allow others to comment on the dresses or decorations, or even to share your own personal style; many people like to pin clothing that they like to wear.

I am so glad I was introduced to Pinterest.  I am having so much fun exploring and re-pinning the things I have an interest in.  Make sure you check it out when you get the chance! You’ll be happy you did!

Coming Soon....The Facebook Timeline

The Facebook profile has been evolving ever since Facebook was created. The initial profile page was very basic and included your name, where you go to school and a picture of yourself. The profile then changed so that you can communicate to your network on Facebook by adding photos and personal updates. Once your page gets overstocked, certain updates get left off the page and the only way to find them again is to continually click “Older Posts” and search for what you are looking for. This can be both very tedious and time consuming. It is now possible to place all of your favorite Facebook moments and place them into a single page. This can be done with a Facebook Timeline.

Timeline does not vanish your old memories like the old profile, everything stays even when you add new stuff. It is more visually appealing because it is a wider profile. The top photo is your cover and you can pick and choose which photos you put in there. With this addition to Facebook, you are in charge of the image making that you develop for yourself based on your Facebook profile. You are in complete control with what people can see and of the image you create of yourself. As you scroll down the page, your photos, events, and posts are all in order as they occurred. If there is something left out, you can easily add it to the correct spot on the timeline. You can also add social apps to you timeline. If you add a song or a video to your timeline, I can listen or watch the same thing and we can then discuss it. It adds a whole new way to get in touch and communicate with your network. Also based on the apps to choose to add, other can understand more about your real self.

The timeline is coming out in a few weeks and will greatly increase your experience on Facebook. It will be a great way for people to find out who you really are, and ways for you to learn about other people in your network. With the timeline, you can find more about a person and find similarities. You will be more connected with your network then ever before.

Check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzPEPfJHfKU for a short video introducing Timeline and learn more information about it.