Play with who you start with.....

I just read where the Dodgers just reacquired Greg Maddox from the Padres. I don't care at all about the Dodgers or the Padres but I see this as a symptom of what is wrong with baseball. I think once you leave Spring Training, you should have to play the season with the players you have on your roster or fill you roster from your minor leagues. I don't think that at this time in the season, you should be able to go out and build your team. I also don't think it is fair to the fans for you to be "dumping" your players midseason.

If you've read my blog at all, you'll know I am a Braves fan. I love baseball and I live near Atlanta so following the Braves was kind of a no brainer. I bought tickets for our family to go to a game on September 6th. I did this awhile back. As you probably know, the Braves stink this season. However, I bought the ticket before that was all known. I also bought the ticket thinking I was going to see Tex playing first base. Since then, the Braves traded Tex. Is that fair to me - the fan? I also thought I might see Smoltz, Hudson, or Glavine. I can live with not seeing them, they are all on the disabled list. That's no ones fault. However, I am disappointed not to see Tex -- do you see my point in this.

It would be a totally different game if you couldn't "buy" an upgrade for your team over half way through the season. Let them play with who they start with......

Slide.com

http://www.slide.com/(Roll over each image to see the caption. This site also offers dozens of themes, features and options for your slideshow).

You to not have to sign up to create a slide show. Just use the for Slide.com. Copy the code in the white box and ignore the rest of the steps.

Animoto

Try out this tool:

Animoto - http://animoto.com/

(Click the Play arrow to view - no captions in this one. Animoto analyzes your images and creates a 30-second "music video" style presentation. There is free music on the site, or you can upload your own (mindful of copyright, of course). You have to register to use Animoto. Find the embed code under the "thumb tack" icon, select embed and choose "other sites."

Bubbleshare

Here's a new tool I've recently looked at.

Bubbleshare - http://www.bubbleshare.com/(Click the orange Play arrow to view. This is the most basic of Bubbleshare options. They have lots of themes and sliding shows. The text is actually speech balloons. Bubbleshare is extremely easy to use. You have to register to use Bubbleshare. Add to My Blog to access the various slideshow formats. ALSO -- It's a good idea to leave lots of white space in your speech/text boxes (if you use them). Sometimes words get mysteriously cut off.

Slideshare

Check out slideshare at http://www.slideshare.net/

SlideShare is the best way to share your presentations with the world. Let your ideas reach a broad audience. Share publicly or privately. Add audio to create a webinar.

You can search for slideshows on a specific topic. If someone already did one, why recreate the wheel, simply borrow what you need and keep going.

Eclipse Crossword/ Puzzlemaker

Crosswords are easy with Eclipse - http://www.eclipsecrossword.com/

I've used this tool to create crosswords from my vocabulary. The best feature may be that you can save them and post them online. This one is linked from my wiki page - http://wesleyantech.wikispaces.com/space/showimage/Office-Ch1-Vocab.html
My students can do this online. No more printing sheets to hand out.

I've used Puzzlemaker and that one is good too. http://puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com/
Puzzlemaker is better if you want to do different kinds of puzzles but you can't link them online in a wiki.

Voice Thread

Voice Thread is a cool new tool that I have begun using. You can upload pictures and make a slide show. You can add audio files. There are tools that you can annotate on the picture while you are talking about it. These files are then on the internet and you can share them with others. Other people can leave comments on specific parts of your show.

Check it out at http://voicethread.com/