Web 2.0 Applications Review - Recently Updated Pages

Resources

cmedina — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 23:44:58 CST

Avatars

Blogs

Collaboration

E-mail video messaging

Eyejot

Image Editing

Microblogging

Online Photo Sharing

Podcast

Audacity

Podcast People

My Podcast

Pod Bean

GCast

Blog Talk Radio

RSS Readers

Share Videos

Social Bookmarking

Delicious
Stumbleupon
Digg
Diigo (also a social notetaking tool)

Social Network Services

Ning
Linkedin
Facebook
MySpace
HI5
Xanga
Mylot
Groupsite (formerly known as Collective X)

Video production

Web 2.0

Wikis

Social Network Services

cmedina — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:28:23 CDT

If you're rating a service 5 thumbs up then you can leave the 5 thumbs in the rating field. If you're rating less you can delete the unwanted thumbs.

Service Name: MySpace
Description: Although I do use MySpace more than others I do have to be honest about a couple of things. Most of the people that join this community do it for the sole purpose of hooking up and think that every one else is looking for the same thing. I recommend to keep your profile private to keep certain people out. Another issue are the Internet marketers that are always trying to spam you. Marketers have found a way to send you a bogus friend request and when you accept, you are actually accepting another account they have as your friend. Usually the account that is added to your friend's list is an account they use to spam you.
Customization allowed:Yes, you can pretty much do what you want with your page. This is the biggest advantage they have over other social networks. As long as you know CSS there is no limit.
URL: www.myspace.com
Fee: Free
Ease of use: Finding your way around is easy. Now, if you don't know what CODE is you might have a problem customizing your page. They call CODE, what we call Cascading Style Sheet (CSS). For me, it's very simple because I'm familiar with CSS and HTML but I know for those who don't have the same expertise it takes several times messing up your page before you get the hang of it. Now, there are a lot of sites that create free layouts but again you need to know where to put that CODE and how to manipulate the formatting.
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Service Name: Facebook
Description: They call this one the high class social network and I can see why. This service started off for college students only and believe it or not it kept it's content and look very clean. And even now that they have opened their doors to everyone, it remains pretty clean.
Customization allowed: Not much. You can move areas around but not change the look. You also have the option to add different applications which are like widgets that you can use to interact with your friends but that's it.
URL: www.facebook.com
Fee: Free
Ease of use: I personally think this one is harder to get use it. This could be because it's so different from the other social networks, everything you add to your page is an application. Your page can get messy if you add too many applications but these are a great way to interact with others.
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Service Name: HI5
Description: Very similar features to MySpace such as discussion board, forums, groups, chat, photo sharing, journal, etc.... This seems to be more popular in other countries.
Customization allowed: Yes, they have skins for your page and you can also create your own. The good thing is that even though you can create your own skin, you don't need to know CSS.
URL: www.hi5.com
Fee: Free
Ease of use: Very easy.
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Service Name: Xanga
Description: This one was just upgraded and I like it much better. It's still missing some features that other social networks offer. One thing I really like is that almost everything is accessed through the links on the left side of your page. To me it's much easier.
Customization allowed: With the new upgrade you can now use themes, modify the themes with a couple of clicks or customize the CSS.
URL: www.xanga.com
Fee: Free
Ease of use: Easy, and it's in-line with HI5 when it comes to navigation and updating your page.
Rating:

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Service Name: MySpace Hispano
Description: This is the latin version of MySpace and the same that I mentioned about the kind of people that join MySpace applies here. It also has very similar features such as discussion board, forums, groups, chat, photo sharing, etc..
Customization allowed: Yes, but not as much as other social networks. You have the option to change the color scheme and you don't need to know CSS to personalize your page.
URL: www.myspacehispano.com
Fee: Free
Ease of use: It's in-line with other social networks.
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Service Name: MyLot
Description: This is very similar to the MySpace, Facebook and Hi5 sites but with the exception that you get paid for your contributions.
Customization allowed: You can customize the color schemes and personalize the information that is displayed on your page with topics of your interest.
URL: http://www.mylot.com/?ref=cmedina
Fee: Free
Ease of use: This one is probably simpler than the rest of the social networks because you are only customizing the colors. There is no need to mess with the CSS code like in MySpace or add applications like in Facebook.
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Service Name: Ning
Description: You can create your own social network allowing your members to have their page in which they can share pictures and videos, have discussion, publish blog post, and create groups within your community.
Customization allowed: Yes, you can customize the look and feel of your community plus choose to add or hide features.
URL: www.ning.com
Fee: They offer a free account which displays Google ads, but for $20 a month you can run ads yourself and block their ads. They also charge extra for having your own domain, more storage space and to remove the Ning promotional links.
Ease of use: It's very easy to use, I created a community for my family in less than 30 minutes and that was with some customization, and adding some pictures and videos.
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Service Name: Groupsite formerly know as CollectiveX
Description: You can create your own group site or community very similar to Ning but it has less features.
Customization allowed: Yes.
URL: www.groupsite.com
Fee: They offer 3 types of accounts, the free account includes calendar, discussion board, file sharing, member profiles, email blast and a couple of other things. Then they have the premium account which is a one time fee of $79 and you can customize the look and feel, then they charge extra a month for more storage space, your own domain, etc... They also have the Enterprise account which allows you to create unlimited number of communities and more features but the price is not disclosed to the public.
Ease of use: Very simple, maybe even easier than Ning but again it doesn't have the same amount of features.
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Testing

cmedina — Sun, 17 May 2009 15:32:04 CDT

There is no abstract available for this page revision.

Web 2.0 Applications Review

cmedina — Sun, 17 May 2009 15:13:28 CDT

This wiki is geared towards helping others become more aware of the rapidly changing technology "Web 2.0" and how these services are being used by others. I review Web 2.0 services and provide my two cents on how these services can be used by corporations and hopefully this will help anyone that is looking into implementing these services.

I've categorized the services and in their introduction page I provide a list of uses in corporations and helpful tips and videos when applicable. For each category I include a page that describes the different services I've reviewed, and their ease of use, fees (if any), URLs, if customization is allow, my star rating and any other information I think will be helpful. Please understand that I am not endorsing any services and the rating given are solely based on my personal experience.

In some review pages you might see just the name of available services. These are services I know exist and will be reviewing soon but if you've had experience with these services feel free to add your review. You are also more than welcome to add other services. For help on adding a page visit Need help adding a page?.

Do you know what Web 2.0 is? If not, visit our What is Web 2.0? page.

Also feel free to visit my blog Going Web 2.0 for more technology and online services articles.

Alternate Reality Games

cmedina — Sun, 17 May 2009 14:36:55 CDT

An Alternate Reality Game (ARG) is an immersive, interactive narrative in which players use the real world and a variety of media to play the game. A Puppet Master often creates a Web site (often referred to as a Rabbit Hole) centered around a cryptic scenario that players discover and aim to unravel through real world media and participation. The Puppet Master sets the ground rules and direction for the game but their identity and role is kept hidden from the players. Even though the scenario is fictional, the game is played out in the real world as if it were real. For example, any phone number or address that may appear in an ARG actually works and leads somewhere. The primary aesthetic of an ARG is that This Is Not A Game. You play as if the scenario is real.

ARGs are a collaborative experience in which the ultimate result of the game is dictated by the players. Though Puppet Masters may have a narrative in mind, players are allowed to branch off in unanticipated directions that expand the depth of the narrative. Most of the game content is actually generated by the players. ARGs are a hyper-interactive way of building collective intelligence and creating a collaborative learning experience.

ARGs have been used to promote movies, TV shows, video games, and by socially conscious organizations that seek to solve real world problems in a risk-free environment. Players use blogs, videos, other Web sites, video games, and any other form of media they can conceive to play the game and solve the puzzle presented by the Puppet Master. Demographics for ARGs range from teenagers to people in their 60's and older. A well designed ARG is not limited to any particular generation and can attract millions of participants.

Do not confuse Alternate Reality Games with Virtual Reality Games. A Virtual Reality Game is on par with a video game; a player is immersed in a simulated, computer generated world. Alternate Reality Games take place in the world we live in and there is no virtual component beyond the initial Web site.

Alternate Reality Games can be used to:

Have employees complete scenario based practices
Incorporate employees on current company events or solutions to ongoing issue

Here is a teaser video for the World Without Oil ARG. In this game, the Puppet Master posited a scenario in which there was a global oil crisis. The primary purpose was to let players play out the scenario using a variety of media, think out how our world would change, and submit your own solutions for a world where oil was no longer available.

Podcast

cmedina — Sun, 17 May 2009 14:07:24 CDT

What is a podcast?

A PodCast is a media file that can include audio, text and graphics or video and it's published on a web site for distribution. There is a misconception of PodCast being only viewable through your iPod, and this is not true. That is how the term started but today, PodCast are available in many ways. You can download PodCast through services such as iTunes, from the publisher's web site or even view it online. If you have an iPod, you can view it on your iPod or just as regular computer file. Another term for this is WebCast.

There is another term you might have heard of which is "Podcatching" - this is when you automatically receive Podcast updates through a service. If you use iTunes, you can subscribe to receive updates from PodCast publishers, and when updates are available they will automatically appear in your iTunes account.

There are online services that allow you to create PodCast. These services usually required the use of a micrphone in order to record your voice. Most of these services are free and they provide you with a page in which you can promote your PodCast. Some of these services allow you to download the files to your PC but some restrict you to viewing the PodCast only through their services by means of your page.

PodCast can be used to:

Enhance
Engage
Motivate
Reach out to an audience

Tips for creating PodCast:

Research topic, have graphics available, write a script
You must have a quiet recording space
Use metadata (tags, and description)
Be aware of copyright restrictions
Save the file as MPEG4 - this file should be viewable for everyone

Watch this video for a basic explanation of what is a PodCast and how it works.

Blogs

cmedina — Sun, 17 May 2009 13:50:58 CDT

What is a Blog?

The word Blog comes from the words Web Log. It's a Web site that allows an individual, or group of individuals, to share a running log of events and personal insights with online audiences. In simple terms, a Blog is an online journal.

There are many different ways to blog. You can blog online (standard written story), mobile blog (moblog) from your cell phone, video blog (Vlog) using videos instead of a written story, cartoon blog with a story told with a cartoon strip, and micro blog by writing small blurbs and recording what you're currently doing.

In Blogs, you can write articles for others to read and read articles posted by others. The articles in Blogs are called posts and each post gives you the opportunity to add comments and, sometimes, rate the post and e-mail it to another person.

A great feature Blogs have is the ability to archive your posts. The Blog service automatically archives your posts to organize your blog and make searching for content easier for your readers. You can select how often your posts are archived; every 30 days, every week, and so on. But don't worry, your posts are still accessible through the Archive links on the sidebar of your Blog. Not only are your posts archived to the appropriate month, but also to the appropriate year.

Standard Blogs (including mobile blogging) can be used to:

Share insights and experiences
Collaborate in project teams, post meeting minutes, assignments, action items, research and more.
Link to other places on the intranet
Talk about what you know (Subject Matter Experts)
Blog about the moment
Post video interviews with Product Managers about a product, employees about their experience with a product, etc...
Blog about up coming internal training or products
Share your insights about products or as a trainer
Use the blog to ask what classes they need a refresher on or what are the hardest task they have every done and how did they overcome it

Micro Blogging can be use to:

Keep everyone informed of your everyday activities
Share resources and links
Keep your team up-to-date on projects
Share your class notes
Summarize lectures, meetings, conferences. or presentations as they occur

Tips:

You can set a blog to send emails to everyone when you make an update (RSS)
Blog content before a class launch and after, blog at least once a week
Encourage employees to blog at least once a week
Use the blog to promote your classes, ask what classes are needed
Provide blog etiquette rules

Watch this video for an explanation of Blogs in Plain English.

What is Web 2.0?

cmedina — Sun, 17 May 2009 13:05:33 CDT

According to Wikipedia - Web 2.0 refers to a perceived second generation of web-based communities and hosted services — such as social-networking sites, wikis, and folksonomies — which aim to facilitate creativity, collaboration, and sharing between users. The term gained currency following the first O'Reilly Media Web 2.0 conference in 2004. Although the term suggests a new version of the World Wide Web, it does not refer to an update to any technical specifications, but to changes in the ways software developers and end-users use webs.

In a nutshell, the term Web 2.0 isn't a new version of the web, it's just a new way people are using it. Before you use to go online to just read about news, hobbies, or play games. Now, you go online to have discussions on topics you are an expert on, to voice your opinion, to meet other people in your field, in others words to collaborate with others all over the world. You can call it user generated content aka read/write web, that is Web 2.0.

Originally the Web (Web 1.0) was driven by organizations that pushed the content they thought users were interested in. Now the Web (Web 2.0) is driven by individuals who create their content based on their needs and allow others to contribute. Users now learn from each other more than ever, increases peer to peer learning. Good examples of Web 2.0 sites are YouTube, Wikipedia, del.icio.us, and Blogger.

Another important part of Web 2.0 is to harness the power of collective intelligence. Web 2.0 sites allow users to not only contribute, but to also rate, review, bookmark, and share the content with others. This way their sites get better the more people use it.

Good examples are Amazon and Netflix which allow users to rate the products/movies and their web sites also give you recommendations "Users who bought this item also bought .......".

Watch this video for a quick overview on Web 2.0.

RSS

cmedina — Sun, 17 May 2009 13:01:18 CDT

What is RSS?

According to Wikipedia, RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a family of Web feed formats used to publish frequently updated content such as blog entries, news headlines, or podcasts. An RSS document, which is called a "feed," "web feed," or "channel," contains either a summary of content from an associated web site or the full text. RSS makes it possible for people to keep up with their favorite Web sites in an automated manner.

In a nutshell, RSS is a way of delivering content from one Web site or blog to another. Why would you do this? Well, if you continuously read someone's blog and you want to be informed when an update is made, you can subscribe to that blog. Whenever they update the blog you will receive something similar to an e-mail in your Reader which contains a title and a quick description of the new content. If you want to read any of the items, then click them to be taken to the Web site or blog to continue reading the article. There are also other services that allow you subscribe using an e-mail address and updates are sent via e-mail.

RSS can be used to:

Keep up to date on company information and professional organizations.
Powerful research tool.
Receive updates to your favorite blogs and wikis.
Subscribe to a network of educational bloggers in your same field.
Share your feeds with other trainers and view their feeds.
Make announcements to participants after class.
Track participant blogs and wikis.
Subscribe to Podcasts. Participants can track each other's blogs and share their feeds.
You can breakdown the walls of the classroom to provide a connection to the outside world.

Watch this video for an explanation of RSS in Plain English.

Video

cmedina — Sun, 17 May 2009 12:58:45 CDT

What is a video?

The word video comes from the Latin words "I see". Per Wikipedia "Video is the technology of electronically capturing, recording, processing, storing, transmitting, and reconstructing a sequence of still images representing scenes in motion. Video technology was first developed for television systems, but has been further developed in many formats to allow for consumer video recording. Video can also be viewed through the Internet as video clips or streaming media clips on computer monitors."

Videos can be used to:

Provide a quick overview of a class
Teach concepts
Engage students
Promote your classes
Introduce an asynchronous course

Just like there are photo sharing sites, there are video sites where you can upload your videos and share them with your friends or the world. Most of these site are free, and they usually provide you with a page on which you can promote your videos.

Do you need expensive equipment to create videos? No, that is a misconception. To create videos for classes, blogs, and web sites you do not need expensive video cameras, lighting kits or anything of that nature to get the point across. Actually, the more professional and flawless your video seems the less people will trust the message. The more spontaneous the video the more your users will believe you.

The camcorder I use is the "Flip Ultra" and Flip MinoHD, this is an inexpensive camera which produces great videos, and you can do some of the editing on the Flip software it brings or use Windows Movie Maker which comes free on your PC.

Avatars

cmedina — Sun, 17 May 2009 12:47:57 CDT

What are Avatars?

An avatar is an image representation of yourself, whether as a three-dimensional model used in games or as a two-dimensional icon or picture used on blogs, wikis and other communities. You can also use avatars to create virtual worlds, these are becoming very popular.

Avatars can be used to:

Simulate tasks
Emplyee orientation

Here is an introduction to Second Life which is a very popular 3D virtual world.

Wikis

cmedina — Sun, 17 May 2009 12:46:33 CDT

What is a Wiki?

The name Wiki comes from the Hawaiian term Wiki Wiki, which means quick. A Wiki is a type of Web page that allows anyone with an Internet connection to create and modify pages easily and quickly. This means that anyone that visits your Wiki will be able to create new pages and update your content whenever they desire. Opening a Web page to your visitors promotes user generated content and peer-to-peer learning.

Wiki software often uses toolbars similar to those found in word processors in their content editors, making for an easier learning curve and instant content updates.

Wikis can be used to:

Encourage ownership of knowledge. They actively seek it, and they create it.
Increase high-level critical thinking which is developed as participants critique others' contributions for accuracy.
Increased information literacy skills are required as participants check their facts for accuracy and correct errors discovered by their peers.
Create online lesson plans, assignments, calendar, and collaborative notes for training programs.
Engage in collaborative projects with other employees and departments.

Watch this video for an explanation of Wikis in Plain English.

Examples:

Classroom 2.0 - http://www.classroom20wiki.com/
Technology review page - http://web20applications.wetpaint.com
Fan page - http://www.thegreysanatomywiki.com and http://miamisportscards.wetpaint.com
Travel - http://www.wikifido.com
Hobby - http://circlebackstudio.wetpaint.com

Resources:

Social Bookmarking

cmedina — Sun, 17 May 2009 12:45:45 CDT

What is Social Bookmarking?

According to Wikipedia, Social Bookmarking is a way for Internet users to store, organize, share, and search bookmarks for web pages. In a Social Bookmarking system, users save links to web pages that they want to remember and/or share. These bookmarks are usually public, but depending on the service's features, may be saved privately, shared only with specific people or groups, shared only inside certain networks, or another combination of public and private.

So what is the difference between Social Bookmarking and saving your favorites?

When you save your favorite web sites on your browser, these favorites are only stored on that one computer. If you use a Social Bookmarking site, the bookmarks will be available to you where ever you are. Some services allow you to import your favorites from your browser to their site.

This is a great way to recommend web sites and for you to see what bookmarks others in your field of interest are bookmarking. From your bookmarks, you can see how many people have also bookmarked the same Web sites.
Social Bookmarking can be used to:

Network with other trainers around the world who share your interests.
Create social bookmark account for your company and allow participants to contribute to your web resources.
Contact other people for professional networking, based on their social bookmarks.
Allow yourself and your participants to share bookmarks on research topics.
Subscribe to someone's bookmarks via RSS and receive updates when ever they add new websites.
Share bookmarks between other communities.
Search web sites that have been recommended by others.

Benefits:

You can import your favorites to your browser and access them anywhere you are
View how many people have bookmarked the same sites you have
Share your bookmarks with others
Tag your bookmarks

Watch this video for an explanation of Social Bookmarking in plain English.

Micro Blogging

cmedina — Tue, 05 May 2009 09:33:40 CDT

If you're rating a service 5 thumbs up then you can leave the 5 thumbs in the rating field. If you're rating less you can delete the unwanted thumbs.

Service Name: Twitter
Description: You can blog about what you are currently doing, one sentence at a time.
Member limits: No limitations.
Customization allowed: You can customize the colors of your page and the background image.
Private content allowed: Yes
URL: www.twitter.com
Fee: Free
Ease of use: Extremely easy. You can either twitter using text messaging or online. You can also follow friends which is the term used for knowing what others are doing all the time.
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Service Name: Yammer
Description: Yammer is for corporations and in order to sign up you must have an e-mail address with your company's domain. This site is used for blogging about what you're currently working in. You can also create groups to collaborate with other coworkers. Another nifty feature it has is the Org chart. As you invite coworkers to join, you can position them in your own org chart.
Member limits: No limitations.
Customization allowed: You can customize the colors and logo.
Private content allowed:
URL: www.yammer.com
Fee: Free for employees to sign up on their own but they also have two paying plans for companies which gives them access to administrative tools such as Company Usage Policy, managing content, manager members, directory integration and more.
Ease of use: There is no learning curve if you're familiar with Twitter.
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Podcast Services

cmedina — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 10:46:27 CST

If you're rating a service 5 thumbs up then you can leave the 5 thumbs in the rating field. If you're rating less you can delete the unwanted thumbs.

Service Name: PodcastPeople
Storage limits: Monthly storage for the free account is 100 MB.
Customization allowed: You can select a theme, and change the colors.
Files can be downlaoded: Yes, and you can select what type of audio and media file you want to make available.
URL: www.podcastpeople.com
Fee: They no longer gave a free account. There accounts range from $8-$30 a month.
Ease of use: It's very simple to create your podcast.
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Service Name: GCast
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URL: http://www.gcast.com
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Service Name: My Podcast
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Wiki Services

cmedina — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 20:51:37 CST

If you're rating a service 5 thumbs up then you can leave the 5 thumbs in the rating field. If you're rating less you can delete the unwanted thumbs.

Service Name: WetPaint
Member limits: Unlimited number of members, pages, and wikis.
Customization allowed: No, for the look and feel you can only select from the templates they have available unless you upgrade to the private label service.
Private wikis allowed: Yes
URL: www.wetpaint.com
Fee: They have a free account with google ads. They also offer a private label wiki which will remove the ads but the fee is pretty high since WetPaint will design the wiki for you. Now if you're an educator you can request for them to remove the ads as long as your wiki is used for educational purposes.
Ease of use: This is my preferred wiki service. Not only is it easy to use but it looks much more professional than other wikis. I love the way your pages are added automatically to the menu and you can create a menu structure with sub pages with a couple of clicks, this feature is hard to find. The only thing I don't like about this service is that you can't add javascript applications..... there are so many cool javascript widgets available and you can't add them here and you can't add links in the navigation that point to an outside web site.
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Service Name: WikiSpaces
Member limits: Unlimited members, pages, and wikis.
Customization allowed: Yes, but you must upgrade to the paid account to be able to customize it.
Private wikis allowed: Yes.
URL: www.wikispaces.com
Fee: They have a free account with google ads. They also have three other types of accounts that will remove the ads and allow customization of the look and feel of your wiki. For only $5 a month you can remove the ads and customize your wiki, the other accounts are $20 or $100 a month. Now if you're an educator you can request for them to remove the ads as long as your wiki is used for educational purposes.
Ease of use: It's simple to add content but the menu has to be changed every time you add a page. Another issue I find with this services is that the editor has a mind of it's own. Sometimes you add your content and format it the way you want and when you save it, the fonts and formatting are completely different and you have to change it several times before it stays like you want it.
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Service Name: PBwiki
Member limits: Unlimited members and pages.
Customization allowed: Yes, but you must upgrade to the paid account to be able to customize it.
Private wikis allowed: Yes.
URL: www.pbwiki.com
Fee: They have a free account and a paid account which is pretty high in price, there price is by number of users.
Ease of use: This one has the same editor issues as WikiSpaces. Again, the content is very easy to add but you spend too much time fixing the font sizes, colors, and formatting.
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Service Name: StikiPad
Member limits: Unlimited users and one wiki.
Customization allowed: No, you can only pick from the four templates they have available. If you need to customize the wiki you will need to upgrade to a paid plan.
Private wikis allowed: Yes.
URL: www.stikipad.com
Fee: The free account allows you to have only one wiki but unlimited users. If you want to remove the wiki limitation you can upgrade to the next plan which is $4.95 a month.... this gives you also an ad free wiki plus custom template option.
Ease of use: This one is very easy to use and I like some of the features available. On each page there are links to go back in time to a previous version, and to view the changes made to a page. The editor works also pretty well.
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Service Name: Social Text
Member limits: Unlimited wikis but only 5 users allowed in the free account.
Customization allowed: Yes, they provide some skins which you can download and customize to your liking.
Private wikis allowed: Yes.
URL: www.socialtext.com
Fee: They have a free account which includes everything mentioned in this review. They also have other plans for businesses but prices are not shown.
Ease of use: This one is very confusing. You get a wiki and a blog, and you get a workspace which has a lot going on and it's not clear where to go for what.
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Service Name: Netcipia
Member limits: Unlimited users and storage.
Customization allowed: It has three templates you can choose from and you can add your logo.
Private wikis allowed: Yes.
URL: www.netcipia.com
Fee: Free
Ease of use: You get a wiki and a blog in the same site which is great. One advantage they have is that they offer you the option to charge to subscribe to your site, and you can specify a time limit and even a subscription pattern. The design is very clean plus they also allow you to have your own Google adsense ads... pretty cool.
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Blog Services

cmedina — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 22:27:50 CDT

If you're rating a service 5 thumbs up then you can leave the 5 thumbs in the rating field. If you're rating less you can delete the unwanted thumbs.

Service Name: Blogger
Member limits: Unlimited members allowed.
Customization allowed: They offer some templates which you can make some color changes to and if you know CSS you can customize your blog. There are also a lot of sites that offer free templates which you can copy and paste into the editor but you have to take into account that after you use someone else's template you have to make updates in the CSS. So if you're not familiar with CSS you will have a harder time making changes.
Private blogs allowed: Yes
URL: www.blogger.com
Fee: Free
Ease of use: To me this is the easiest blogging service. There is only one down fall though, you can't create categories to organize your post.
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Service Name: WordPress
Member limits: The free service is limited to 35 users.
Customization allowed: They offer some templates but you can make minor changes to them. To fully customize your blog you have to upgrade to a paid service.
Private blogs allowed: Yes
URL: www.wordpress.com
Fee: Free but they offer a paid services which removes the member limitations, allows customization, and more.
Ease of use: I'm not to fond of the navigation in the editor, but after you get used to it, the editor is pretty easy. Another thing to take into account, if you want to categorize your post you have to pick a template that allows for categorization.
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Service Name: 21Publish and 21Classes
Member limits: You have a limit of 200 MB of space and 100 members. Each member can create their own blog and the storage space can be set by the administrator. You can either give everyone 2mb of space or set it to divide the 200mb equally amongst the members allowing the more active members to use more space. You can increase the storage space and the number of members by upgrading your account to a paid account.
Customization allowed: Yes, you can add your own CSS layout or use of the existing layouts and update the CSS style in that layout.
Private blogs allowed: Not for the free account.
URL: www.21publish.com and www.21classes.com
Fee: They have a free account that includes everything in this review, and they also have paid accounts to increase number of members allowed and storage limits.
Ease of you: I like this service very much, unfortunately they don't give much space but they have really cool features available such as star rating, guest book, allows for mobile blogging, offer photo blogs, current mood and you can customize the look and feel of the site.
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Service Name: Xanga
Member limits: You can't remove ads on the free account.
Customization allowed: With the new upgrade you can now use themes, modify the themes with a couple of clicks or customize the CSS.
Private blogs allowed: No but you have a lot of privacy settings you can play with.
URL: www.xanga.com
Fee: Free
Ease of use: Easy, and it's in-line with HI5 when it comes to navigation and updating your page.
Rating:

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Service Name: Live Journal
Member limits:
Customization allowed:
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URL:
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Service Name: Vox
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By E-mail Services

cmedina — Mon, 05 May 2008 23:45:45 CDT

If you're rating a service 5 thumbs up then you can leave the 5 thumbs in the rating field. If you're rating less you can delete the unwanted thumbs.

Service Name: Feed Blitz
Description: Users can subscribe to receive your blog updates via e-mail, and actually they also can receive updates through twitter, AOL, and Skype.
Customization allowed: Your e-mails can be branded to a certain extent plus you can add some cool features to your e-mails such as article rating and forward this to a friend. They also offer different ways for you to advertise your subscriptions and you can send e-mails to all your subscribers or just to a specific group.
URL: www.feedblitz.com
Fee: They offer a free account which includes unlimited subscribers, unlimited lists, unlimited messages, unlimited auto responders. They also offer a paid account which charges a monthly fee depending on the numbers of subscribers and no ads are placed in the e-mails.
Rating:

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Service Name: FeedBurner
Description:
Customization allowed:
URL: www.feedburner.com
Fee:
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Alternate Reality Game Links

cmedina — Mon, 05 May 2008 23:42:02 CDT

Here are some links to actual Alternate Reality Games (ARGs) and information about games and how to possibly use them.

A Myster Movie Teaser Has Gamers Seeking Alternate Reality - A very good Washington Post article on how ARGs are being used to promote movies and video games, and all the ingenious ways Puppet Masters are luring players.

ARG Net - A Web site dedicated to ARG information, news, and links.

World Without Oil - An effective and fascinating educational ARG that posits a world in which oil is no longer available. A wonderful example of how an ARG can be used for collaborative learning and solving problems in a low risk environment.

Online Photo Sharing Services

cmedina — Mon, 05 May 2008 23:41:24 CDT

If you're rating a service 5 thumbs up then you can leave the 5 thumbs in the rating field. If you're rating less you can delete the unwanted thumbs.

Service Name: PhotoBucket
Create SlideShows:
Photo Editing:
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Service Name: Flickr
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Service Name: RockYou
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Service Name: Shutterfly
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Service Name: Picasa
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