2.7 Podcasting and Online Video

Podcasting
 
Podcasting is a form of distributing audio files over the Internet, allowing users to access them by subscribing and downloading them.

Podcasting is a useful tool for people to share information.

A podcast is an audio file that you make available for others to listen to, usually via your web site.

The key to podcasting is making your audio files available on the web and allowing people to subscribe to them using an RSS feed.

2.6 Online Video and Image Sharing

For easy communication, video and photography can be used effectively. 

Digital images and digital video have many advantages as they can be easily transferred to a computer, edited with basic software and shared in different formats, sizes and levels of quality.

Video sharing services allow people to upload short videos and offer features such as the possibility to embed video in web pages, rate and comment on videos, subscribe to video channels or send “video replies”.

Image sharing allows users to easily upload digital images to the web and organize them in albums, groups or clusters according to their preferences.

2.5 Blogging and Microblogging

Blog
 

Blog is a information site published on the web consisting of posts typically displayed in reverse chronological order so the most recent post appears first. 

A typical blog combines text, images, links and other media.

 

Mibroblogging

Microblogging is a broadcast medium in the form of blogging. A microblog differs from a traditional blog in that its content is typically smaller in both actual and aggregate file size. Microblogs allow users to exchange small elements of content such as short sentences, individual images, or video links.

Social networking sites (such as Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, etc.) have their own microblogging features,

2.4 Tagging and Social Bookmarking

Tag

A tag is a non-hierarchical term assigned to a piece of information . This kind of metadata helps describe an item and allows it to be found again by browsing or searching. Tags are generally chosen informally and personally by the item's creator or by its viewer, depending on the system.

Social Bookmarking

 

Social Bookmarking services allow you to save web addresses on the Internet, under a personal account, and tag each page you find with keywords. . 

2.3 Subscirption, Feed and Syndication

Social networking services give users the possibility to subscribe to their content by Really Simple Syndication (RSS) or XML feeds. Thus, instead of users going to individual website to search for specific content, the content reaches to the user through a feed reader.

Feed reader is a free RSS and Atom aggregator for Windows.

2.2 Hosted Services

Social Media 

Social media includes web- and mobile-based technologies which are used to turn communication into interactive dialogue among organizations, communities, and individuals.

Social Networking Service

A social networking service is an online service, platform, or site that focuses on facilitating the building of social networks or social relations among people who, for example, share interests, activities, backgrounds, or real-life connections. A social network service consists of a representation of each user (often a profile), his/her social links, and a variety of additional services. An example would be Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook which was launch in February 2004.

Software licenses

A license defines the way you can legally use the software you buy or the software you find on the web.

Proprietary Software

You have permission to use the software under the vendor's conditions. This usually means you cannot make copies of the software, you cannot distribute the software and you cannot change the software. The vendor may give you a limit of number of computers in which the software can be installed.

Shareware and Freeware

The software is available for free on the web under different conditions.Sometimes you have a "trial period" before you have to pay a fee to use it, sometimes you have to pay to use all the features, sometimes you agree to see advertising displayed on your computer in exchange for using the software, etc. You cannot modify this software.

Free/Open Source Software

You can use, change and distribute the software for any purpose. There are different licenses, but in general they allow you to access the software and re-distribute it freely.

2.1 Group Productivity and Collaboration Tools

What is a Groupware??

Groupware is business software for the organization of an efficient collaboration of employees and team work inside a company.

The main advantage of using such business solutions is the creation of a one informational environment within one company. All employees now work using a business software solution and communicate in it. This helps you quicker assign tasks and control their fulfillment. All information about clients and suppliers are automatically systematized.

Groupware applications can be done at three basic levels :

• Communication
• Conferencing
• Collaboration

Communication

Allowing group members to stay in touch with each other. For example:

1. Email, Email lists
2. Voice mail
3. Phone and Voice Over IP (communication via Internet)
4. Text Chat
5. Video chat and Videoconferencing
6. Group blogs and
7. Web forums.

Conferencing

Allowing members to "meet" at the same time (synchronously) for active discussion. For example:

1. Online chat and instant messaging
2. Video conference
3. Conference call and
4. Web meeting.

Collaboration

Allowing group members to add, modify and re-shape each other's work.For example:

1. Shared calendars
2. Wikis and other shared writing/editing tools
3. Project management tools and
4. Online documents.