Image Editing
Raster image editor:
www.picasa.com
From all programs, I have used only Picasa, and I have a positive impression about it. I usually use that as a tool for organizing and editing my photo albums, as well as to share photos with friends through e-mail.
http://www.freeserifsoftware.com/software/PhotoPlus/default.asp
PhotoPlus is the photo editing software that enables users to fix and enhance digital photos, create graphics and even web animations.
www.gimp.org
The GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) is a raster graphics editor used to process digital graphics and photographs. Some of the features are creating graphics and logos, resizing and cropping photos, altering colors, combining multiple images, removing unwanted image features, and converting between different image formats. It is often used as a free software replacement for Adobe Photoshop.
Vector image editor:
Desktop:
http://www.serif.com/drawplus/drawplusx2/
DrawPlus X2 software includes drawing and animation features.
http://www.inkscape.org
An Open Source vector graphics editor, with capabilities similar to Illustrator, CorelDraw, or Xara X, using the W3C standard Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) file format.
Online image editors:
http://www.lunapic.com/editor/
Free Online Photo Editor. Photo and paint effects. Great for Myspace, Facebook or bebo.
http://fotoflexer.com
Free online photo editor, can remove blemishes, change skin/hair color, morph photos and much more.
http://www.splashup.com
Powerful editing tool and photo manager. It is easy to use, works in real-time and allows users to edit many images at once. Splashup runs in all browsers.
http://www.picresize.com
Free online tool, allows users to resize, shrink, and crop their pictures.
http://pixenate.com
Pixenate is online photo editing software that one can use stand-alone or integrate into an existing photo-sharing or photo-printing website.
http://www.webbild.com/default.asp?pageid=13291
Free online photo editor that allows users to load pictures from their computers or cameras and rotate, crop, resize, adjust brightness, contrast, sharpen, reduce file size and save back to the computer. One can also convert files, as bmp or tif to jpg, gif, and more.
MS Word as the best choise
By using and comparing all of the document writing/editing tools in this learning unit, I realized that Zoho Writer has the most user friendly interface and majority of options that suit my need. The disadvantage of Zoho is that it is an online tool and requires constant high-speed internet connection. Therefore, and also due to being used to MS Word and its options, I decided to continue using MS Word. It also provides me with the most detailed set of features needed for professional text writing/editing.
Facebook, Ning, LinkedIn, Pownce and Friendfeed
Facebook is a social networking website that allows users to join one or more networks and connect with other people in the same network. Users can add friends to their profile, and that allows them to see their friend’s profiles. Also, users can upload albums and photos, thus enabling friends to see them. Fun wall is an interesting way of communication. The Facebook Wall allows users to post messages on the profile of their friends. A user’s wall, dependent on privacy settings, is visible to anyone who is able to see that user’s profile. Basically, Facebook is widely used as a way of communication among people. The Photos application is one of the most popular on Facebook, since users can upload an unlimited number of photos.
Ning is another social networking website, catered to specific audiences, that allows users to create their own custom social network for a particular topic or need. Since we communicate through the Ning for our ENGR 6923 class, I have positive impression related to this program. Everything is well organized, which makes communication very easy.
LinkedIn is a business oriented social networking site. It has similar features like Facebook and Ning, such as connecting and communicating among users. It is mainly used for professional networking, which is the main difference between LinkedIn and other sites. Users can invite anyone (whether a site user or not) to become a connection. It can then be used to find jobs, people and business opportunities.
Pownce is also a free social networking site, which allows users to share messages, files, events, and links with already established friends. Basically, options are similar to the aforementioned social networking sites.
Friendfeed is an interesting social networking site, which allows users that are using multiple social networks to provide themselves and others with details on all of their activities on various social networks that they use.
Facebook and Pownce have similar options that allow users to communicate and stay in touch. They are usually used as an everyday communication tools and serve for fun.
Ning is a great tool for collaboration among teachers and students, as we do it in our class.
LinkedIn is an excellent tool for business world.
Friendfeed is useful for individuals that like to keep track of all their activities on all other social networking sites.
I was not a Facebook user before, but through using it for this course I realized that some good options/features are offered. I will use it in order to stay in touch with my friends, considering that some of them live overseas and that is an excellent way to stay in touch. I also like features offered by Ning, and I will use it in the future.
Group Page
http://sites.google.com/a/student.ysu.edu/info-tech-tools-group-1/Home
