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EDET 603 Web 2.0 Tool Shed
Audio/Music | Collaboration/MindMapping | Productivity | Graphics/Design

Audio/Music Tools:

 * 1) Title: **Musipedia** //- The Open Music Encyclopedia//
 * 2) Creator: Rainer Typke
 * 3) URL: www.musipedia.org/
 * 4) Category: audio, music
 * 5) Technical Information: Web browser, some elements require flash and java
 * 6) Description: Musipedia is an online database of musical tunes and melodies. Entries can contain sheet music and MIDI files, plus additional information about the tune and it's composer. Like Wikipedia, Musipedia is an open database that can be added to and updated by any user. What is particularly remarkable and useful is the search function. Users can search by typing out the melody on an onscreen keyboard, entering the general contour of the melody, or even by singing the melody into their computer microphone.
 * 7) Use: A Web 2.0 version of "Name That Tune", Musipedia can be very helpful in finding out what that mysterious melody is. I found voice to pitch transcription to be hit or miss at best, though that probably had more to do with my humming than the algorithm! It definitely is more skewed toward traditional melodies, hymns, and folk tunes than popular music. It found "Amazing Grace" and "The Star-Spangled Banner" as the first or second hit, but did not fair so well with "Yesterday".


 * 1) Title: **AudioTool**
 * 2) Creator: Des Pudels Kern GmbH
 * 3) URL: audiotool.com
 * 4) Category: audio, music
 * 5) Technical Information: web browser application requiring flash
 * 6) Description: Audiotool is an online music creation workstation. Users can configure various components such as mixers, synthesizers, loop players, and effects processors to create original music. The site includes ability to share, comment, and rate creations.
 * 7) Use: This tool is quite similar to the professional audio loop-based sequencer Abelton Live. Users can exchange their own and modify others' compositions under the Creative Commons licensing.


 * 1) Title: **voxMe**
 * 2) Creator: David Cano
 * 3) URL: www.vozme.com
 * 4) Category: audio
 * 5) Technical Information: Web browser, available as a Google gadget, Facebook widget, and plugin for various web designing software (WordPress, Blogger, etc)
 * 6) Description: voxMe is a text to speech converter. It creates an MP3 file from the entered text in various languages (English, Spanish, Italian, etc) with either a male or female synthesized voice.
 * 7) Use: A simple web tool that provides text to speech conversion. In addition, the developer provides code for implementing the vozMe tool in various other websites, blogs, FaceBook pages, etc. It does one simple task well, and allows you to use it just about anywhere.

Listen to an example: media type="file" key="vozMe.mp3" width="240" height="20"

Collaboration/MindMapping

 * 1) Title: **Wiggio**
 * 2) Creator: Wiggio (2 Cornell grads created it in 2008)
 * 3) URL: wiggio.com
 * 4) Category: Collaboration
 * 5) Technical Information: web browser. Some functions require additional computer hardware (conferencing) or cell phones.
 * 6) Description: Wiggio is a collection of online group collaboration tools. "The tools include mass messaging (emails, text messages, voicemails), scheduling, file sharing and editing, polling, conference calling, video conferencing, and project management".
 * 7) Use: This tool could be very useful for group collaboration, either professional or personal. I could see it being used for church groups, family reunions, or little leagues. Probably the biggest barrier to its acceptance is people's reluctance to sign-up with an unknown service.


 * 1) Title: **WikiMindMap**
 * 2) Creator: Felix Nyffenegger
 * 3) URL: wikimindmap.org
 * 4) Category: Mind Mapping
 * 5) Technical Information: web browser application requiring flash
 * 6) Description: To help navigate Wikipedia, WikiMindMap creates a Mind Map of any Wikipedia entry. This shows the entry at the center, and all of the links as nodes connected to it.
 * 7) Use: A great way to see relationships among Wikipedia content and to quickly navigate through a complex subject. The site also supports export to FreeMind mind map format.


 * 1) Title: **Mindomo**
 * 2) Creator: Expert Software Applications srl
 * 3) URL: www.mindomo.com/
 * 4) Category: Mind Mapping
 * 5) Technical Information: web browser application requiring flash, can also run offline on a desktop computer using Adobe Air
 * 6) Description: Mindmapping tool. While it is free for limited use (7 maps), there are two pay plans (Premium and Team) that give greater storage, collaboration, and advanced import and export.
 * 7) Use: Mindmapping is a powerful tool for organizing ideas and seeing relationships between data. Mindomo is an effective mindmapping application, with extensive keyboard shortcuts that speed map creation. It also includes a desktop version and the ability to import/export the mind maps you create. While the pay plans are not expensive (starting at $6/month - 50% less for educational use), I feel they are a necessity. The free plan is far too limited, includes advertisements, and - most surprising - is not secure! As stated on the Mindomo website: "However, you should remember that the Free version of Mindomo does not provide secure access to our server. This means your username and password are transmitted via the Internet, and other users may have access to your account." This alone would make me look elsewhere.

Productivity:

 * 1) Title: **Nexty**
 * 2) Creator: binnyva (independent developer)
 * 3) URL: nexty.org
 * 4) Category: Productivity
 * 5) Technical Information: Open Source. Accessed via a web browser. Can use local server or web server.
 * 6) Description: Nexty is a personal productivity organizer based on David Allen's //Getting Things Done// methodology of projects, next actions, and contexts.
 * 7) Use: Who can't use better organization of their projects? Since this is open source, the developer provides the code to download and install on your own server. This allows you to use the tool without relying on a public server.


 * 1) Title: **Nirvana**
 * 2) Creator: PeopleLikeUs (Elbert McLaughlin, Christiane Magee, and Romina Esquenazi )
 * 3) URL: www.nirvanahq.com
 * 4) Category: Productivity
 * 5) Technical Information: Open Source. Accessed via a web browser and several (but not all) mobile browsers.
 * 6) Description: Nirvana is another personal productivity organizer based on David Allen's //Getting Things Done// methodology of projects, next actions, and contexts. It is a well developed web application. Currently it is in Beta, but it will move to a free/premium service in the future. Basic services will remain free, but for a monthly charge (t.b.d.) they will provide additional services.
 * 7) Use: A great web 2.0 site for those who are GTD'ers. Nirvana is a mature app that allows access to your tasks online, but only via the Nirvana server.

**Graphics/Design:**

 * 1) Title: **Colorblender**
 * 2) Creator: Kim Jensen
 * 3) URL: www.colorblender.com/
 * 4) Category: graphics, design
 * 5) Technical Information - web browser
 * 6) Description - This tool helps users pick an attractive palette of 6 web-safe colors. There are two modes of use. In the first, users specify the first color and the tool will build the other 5 colors. In the second, users can directly modify each color and see them side-by-side. There is also a random color palette generator. Color palettes can be saved, downloaded (for Photoshop or Illustrator), or emailed.
 * 7) Use: As evidenced by the great many garish-looking sites on the web, designers need assistance choosing colors that work well together. I used the Colorblender tooI to choose the colors for this Wiki, based on my first choice of the dark blue banner. However, Iwas not able to get the save function to work properly.


 * 1) Title: **Repper**
 * 2) Creator: Studio: ludens (Wouter Walmink, Alexander Rulkens)
 * 3) URL: www.studioludens.com/repper
 * 4) Category: graphics, design
 * 5) Technical Information - web browser
 * 6) Description - A tool for creating wallpaper backgrounds from any image. Repper acts like a kaleidoscope. Once you upload an image, you can use the cursor to move the select a small portion of the image for the kaleidoscope to use. In real time you can see the wallpaper that is created. Since Repper uses such a small portion of the source image, just about any image can create a huge variety of wallpapers. The basic tool is free. There is a pro desktop version which has many more features for about $40.
 * 7) Use: Extremely easy to use. In less than 30 seconds, I learned the tool's interface, uploaded an image, and created a wallpaper. I selected a small area near the horse's head which included the tan of the landscape, the green of the foliage, and the black from the horse. What I like best is that you can grab the colors from a source image, but the source image is unrecognizable in the wallpaper.