Get on the Bus with Microsoft

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Sharing Ideas and Good ICT

A few weeks ago I gave a presentation I’d been trying to put together for the best part of six months and this evening I’ve sent it on to the users who attended and who were unable to attend but showed an interest.  I realised at this point I hadn’t actually blogged about it so I thought I might put together a little post about it.

The aim was simply to share some ideas and some bits of ICT that could help people do their jobs quicker/better/cheaper/economically/more easily.  Many of these were based upon queries from users and solutions  found or in some cases pre-emptively finding options for issues that have yet to be raised.

A note was put into the staff briefing and some posters put up around the office to try and get people along to the presentation.  The attendance was surprisingly low and it’s unfortunate in terms of what people missed out on but I thought I’d highlight the areas that were discussed and some high level points on what was demonstrated and discussed.

The presentation was split into four main sections – software, hardware, web sites and engaging with the ICT team.

Software

• Skype
• Working with PDFs
  • Microsoft Office plug ins
  • PDF printers
  • PDF Bulder Toolkit
  • Drawloop.com
• Public Folders in Outlook

Hardware

• Photocopiers
  • Printing
  • Scanning
  • Secure printing & scanning
• Data Capture
  • Dictaphones
  • Digital cameras
  • DigiMemo
  • MIMIO
• Communication
  • Teleconferencing units
  • Audio/telephony cabling

Web Sites

• Collaboration
  • Microsoft SharePoint
  • Google Docs
  • Etherpad
  • Writeboard
  • Dabbleboard
  • Mind Meister
  • Vyew
• Online Presentations
  • Instant Presenter
  • Microsoft Communications Server
  • Dim Dim
• Meeting Scheduling
  • Doodle
  • Meet-o-matic
• To Do Lists
  • To Do Ist
• File Sharing
  • Orbit Files

Engaging with ICT

• Service Desk
  • Queries
  • Training
• Invitation
  • Project meetings
  • Team meetings
• Communications
  • Presentations
  • Briefings
  • Mailings
  • Bulletins
  • Newsletters

I don’t plan on publishing the presentation widely as much of it is only directly relevant to Academy ICT users in the way it is presented, but the outline above gives an indication of the content and areas in which the user community is developing.

Hopefully some imminent developments might help create a greater sharing of such ideas and information within a community and build a better culture of knowledge sharing and management.

Processing a Folder of Files

A few days ago I was speaking to one of my users about creating some PDF files from Microsoft Word and securing them so that they can’t be copied or printed.  Rather than using expensive software from Adobe or a generic creator like CutePDF I recommended using the add-in for Word 2007 that Microsoft provide as it provides some useful accessibility options (thanks to JISC TechDis for highlighting that one to me).

Unfortunately the add-in doesn’t have an option to secure a PDF so that’s where using a tool like PDFTK can help.  Being a command line tool though and the user having to produce more than 100 PDFs meant that a little help could come in handy.   Making use of the select folder VBScript I refined a little while ago, I created a generic VBScript to take a folder selection from a user and a command line operation via a simply single line input box to then process every file in the folder using the command line.

A percentage symbol is used as a place holder for the file path to be substituted into and any file paths for the command line (with the exception of the substitution – %) should include double quotes where there are spaces in the path.

Option Explicit

Dim strFolder, strRootFolder, strBaseCommand

'Get the information and process it
strRootFolder = SelectFolder("Select folder containing files to be processed:")
strBaseCommand = InputBox("Enter the command line to run against all files." & vbCrLf & "Place a percentage symbol (%) where the filename will be substituted")
ProcessFolder strRootFolder

'------------
'SUB ROUTINES
'------------

'Identify each file in a folder and run the specified command against it.
Sub ProcessFolder(pstrFolder)
	Dim objCurrentFolder, objFile
	Dim colFilesInFolder
	Dim strCommand
	Dim objWSHShell, objFSO

	'Initialise
	Set objWshShell = Wscript.CreateObject("Wscript.Shell")
	Set objFSO = Wscript.CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
	Set objCurrentFolder = objFSO.GetFolder(pstrFolder)
	Set colFilesInFolder = objCurrentFolder.Files

	For Each objFile in colFilesInFolder
		strCommand = Replace(strBaseCommand,"%","""" & objFile.Path & """")
		objWSHShell.Run strCommand
	Next
End Sub

'---------
'FUNCTIONS
'---------

Function SelectFolder(pstrDialogLabel)
	'Select a folder
	Const BIF_returnonlyfsdirs   = &H0001
	Const BIF_editbox            = &H0010

	Dim objBrowseFolderDialog, objFolder, objFSO, objSelection
	Dim bBrowseForFolder

	Set objBrowseFolderDialog = WScript.CreateObject("Shell.Application")

	bBrowseForFolder = true

	While bBrowseForFolder
		Set objFolder = objBrowseFolderDialog.BrowseForFolder (&H0, pstrDialogLabel, BIF_editbox + BIF_returnonlyfsdirs)

		'Check that something has been returned
		If IsValidFolder(objFolder) Then
			Set objFSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")

			Set objSelection = objFolder.Self
			If objFSO.FolderExists(objSelection.Path) Then
				'A valid folder has been selected
				SelectFolder = objSelection.Path
				bBrowseForFolder = false
			Else
				'The selection is not a valid folder, try again...
				MsgBox objFolder.Title & " is not a valid folder, please select another folder" _
					, vbOKOnly & vbExclamation, "Invalid Selection"
			End If
		Else
			'Nothing was selected, so return a null string
			SelectFolder = ""
			bBrowseForFolder = false
		End If
	Wend
End Function

Function IsValidFolder(pobjFolder)
	'Check that we have a valid value
	'i.e. you can concatenate it to a string
	Dim strTest

	On Error Resume Next

	strTest = " " & pobjFolder

	If Err <> 0 Then
		IsValidFolder = false
	Else
		IsValidFolder = true
	End If

	On Error GoTo 0
End Function

As it stands the folder just processes a single folder for all files (which was what I wanted), but simple amendments could allow this script to cater for specific file types (or patterns) and sub folders (a recursive call in the ProcessFolder() routine would allow this).

Exchange Mailbox Limits Update Lag

Microsoft Exchange is a fairly ubiquitous system for handling e-mails and I made a surprising discovery today whilst amending a user’s mailbox storage limits … they don’t get updated straight away.

So lets take a little step back and look at storage limits.  First of all Exchange allows three size limits (in KB not number of mails) to be placed on user mailboxes. The first level triggers a warning to the user that they are approaching a limit … ironically the warning is an e-mail but it is a small one so this can be forgiven.  The second restricts the user’s permission to send mail (but they can still receive it).  The third limit actually stops any mail entering the inbox, but the mail server will keep mails queued up for a little while to give the user chance to make some space so all is not immediately lost if the user reaches this third and final limit – which can happen if someone bombards you with lots of e-mails with large attachments.

We impose limits on mailboxes for a number of reasons.  Ones that immediately come to mind for example are (in no particular order):

1. It ensures that we have enough storage capacity on the mail server to handle all of the mailboxes.
2. It ensures that users can’t monopolise the available storage space.
3. It ensures that a user’s mail software remains responsive (though PST files can *really* trash this performance I also noted today).
4. It ensures that mailboxes can be backed up and restored efficiently.

Occasionally however people have a need to have an increased mailbox size to get them through a busy period where they may be out of the office and unable to spend time housekeeping or if they are receiving a number of large attachments (e.g. during a funding bidding process or event registration).  On these occasions a temporary increase in mailbox size is authorised for an agreed period.

This isn’t a common occurrence and I’ve probably only amended mail storage limits some half a dozen times or so.  This change has always been picked up within a few minutes and until today I hadn’t realised how ‘lucky’ I’d been.

Today I discovered that Exchange actually works from a cached set of mailbox limits and that the default turn around time on this is up to a whopping two hours.  So this is something we’ll need to keep in mind in future though it may be that we might consider applying a registry change at some point to remedy this (though I think this is one to test on our development environment before making the change to the live system) or at least identify roughly at what time the cache refresh runs so that we can give our users a better idea of when the limits will take effect.

Whilst the #326252 Microsoft Knowledge Base article applies to Exchange 2000, some background reading suggests that this is applicable to later versions of Exchange too.

Windows Mobile Keyboard

A little while ago I spent some time outside of work struggling with a particular application on my Samsung Omnia i900 mobile phone.  It seemed like it just didn’t work properly and I almost reported it to the developers as a bug.  Just before I did I came across another piece of mobile software and noted a very similar problem and this time something clicked and I realised what the issue really was.

The problem I was experiencing was that I could navigate within the applications using my physical pointer on the touch screen of the phone, but within some parts of the application there was just no response when tapping (or double tapping).  Using the inbuilt optical mouse button had an identical non-response.  Eventually I realised that the software had been written for Windows mobile devices that had a physical D-pad.

A D-pad (or directional pad) is typically found below the screen on a Windows mobile device and has five physical buttons.  One for return (usually in the centre) and four directional buttons (up, down, left and right).  Since the Omnia has no D-pad my next thought was to have a look through the inbuilt keyboard options for an on screen keyboard with directional buttons.

By default I use the “Samsung Keyboard” which does not have any directional buttons.  A quick search through the options showed that the “MS Keyboard” was the only one to have arrow keys.  I tried using this keyboard and it did indeed resolve the navigation issue in the applications.  the only problem is that whilst I could navigate using the physical pointer and the optical mouse with this keyboard it is slow and fiddly as the keys are simply so small.  I use my fingers to do most of my interaction with my phone so I decided to continue looking for another finger friendly solution.

My first investigation was in trying to find a “virtual” or “on screen” D-pad.  Unfortunately everyone’s favourite font of all knowledge (Google) didn’t yield any usable results and so I took a step back to see if there were any keyboards for Windows mobile that could be configured to have large directional keys.

This time my search was a little more fruitful.  PCM Keyboard is an incredibly flexible keyboard for Windows Mobile devices.  Using the Microsoft emulator for WM6, a base theme package for PCM Keyboard called “dream2“, some rough documentation and several hours of confusion and frustration later and I have managed to configure more than just a simple on screen D-pad.

My solution is “DPress” a theme for PCM Keyboard.  Copy the DPress.zip file to your Windows mobile device and place it into the same directory as your PCM Keyboard installation (check under Program Files on whichever storage area you installed PCM Keyboard to).  Select the options for installed keyboards and the options for the PCM Keyboard.  Select DPress and ensure that you select a keyboard type (qwerty and azerty are included).  Save the changes and then the likelihood is you’ll need to restart your device and reselect the PCM Keyboard as the input option to get the DPress keyboard.

Below are some screen shots on how to access the different displays of the keyboard.  Click on the thumbnail images for larger views.

The lower case keyboard left is the default keyboard view as one might expect. From here the keyboard layout can be changed through a number of key presses. The most obvious one is pressing the shift key. This will change the layout to upper case(shown on the right). Pressing and holding the shift button will enable what is in effect caps lock and the upper case layout will remain until the layout is again changed – e.g. by pressing shift once more.

A number of keys provide quick access to in-situ additional keys.  Pressing and holding vowel keys will give access to extended character sets, similarly pressing and holding space will give access to numbers, the comma button will allow access to emoticons and the return button will give access to some function buttons (options, cut, copy, paste).  Some of these are illustrated in the following screen shots.

Clicking the “.,123″ button swaps to a numeric keypad (left image below).  Clicking and holding the period (“.”) button swaps to a symbolic keypad (middle image below).  Finally (and the one you’ve probably been waiting for) by clicking and holding the “.,123″ button a D-pad is displayed (right image below).

Quite versatile for one keyboard theme on a mobile device? I think so.

I’ll be blogging about the pieces of software I had the issues with in the not too distant future, but in the meantime enjoy the DPress keyboard. It is provided as is with no guarantees and I’m sure it probably won’t display well on every Windows Mobile device, but if it doesn’t work why not modify it yourself and modify it to suit your purposes. That’s exactly what I did with the “Dream2” theme so ultimately my thanks go to the author of that theme and PCM Keyboard.

Microsoft Tags vs. QR Codes

Microsoft have relatively recently launched their new “mobile tagging” beta programme.  It’s quite similar to the existing QR codes that have been around for some time and it was for this reason that it caught my attention and I decided to give Microsoft Tag an evaluation in comparison to QR codes.

For anyone unfamiliar with QR codes, they use a simple matrix of monochromatic pixels to encode a string of text.  Microsoft Tag on the other hand is a “High Capacity Colour Barcode” (HCCB) that uses five lines of a series of triangular markers coloured cyan, yellow or magenta (CYM) to encode a string of text.  The text strings contain meta data as well as data effectively identifying what the data should is and how it should be used.

So the first thing to examine are the types of ‘things’ that the two technologies could encode.  For these comparisons I’ve used the QuickMark QR Code Generator and the Microsoft Tag Beta.

Data Object	QR Code	Microsoft Tag
URL	Yes	Yes
Bookmark	Yes	No
Phone No.	Yes	Yes
SMS	Yes	No
E-mail	Yes	No
vCard	Yes	Yes
meCard	Yes	No
Generic address	Yes	No
Simple Text	Yes	Yes
Encrypted Text	Yes	Yes
Geographic Coordinates	Yes	No

Microsoft Tag has a couple of features that can be applied to each of its available options. First of all a password can be applied to apply an additional level of security.  Validation dates can also be added to any option allowing things to expire or be valid during a certain event or marketing campaign for example.

So at this first stage QR codes seem to have a greater range of ‘things’ that can be coded than Microsoft Tag, but Microsoft Tag has a few additional features that if you’re just encoding URLs may make it a better option.  One thing I would like to see that isn’t covered by these (but I guess could be if you created a URL to an appropriate file) is something relating to a an event definition – e.g. iCalendar.

The next element I examined was the generation options for the final image.

QR Codes PNG |JPG |GIF |SVG |TXT

Microsoft Tags PDF | WMF | XPS

The QR code generation has a range of code generation sizes (30 levels) with UTF character set options and a couple of four level (L/M/H/U) error correction options.  The Microsoft Tag generator on the other hand only offers a size changing option but rather than being level based the user can choose a code size between 0.75″ and 120″.

Whilst the Microsoft Tag file formats for code generation are based around vector graphics formats ideal for printing I personally find it useful to be able to put the codes on a web page.  I’ve frequently used QR codes on web pages to get software links or other information onto my Windows mobile phone so I think having the codes available directly as images to be published in-line on a web page to be a distinct advantage.  So for me on this one I think that QR codes definitely have the edge as I would think that SVG and WMF could be used equally well by publishers (though if there are any publishers reading this who know differently then please add a comment to this post).

At this point it’s time to look at the software used to capture the code.  I’ve used my Samsung Omnia i900 as the capture device and two separate pieces of software for the capture of the codes.  For QR codes I’ve used the QuickMark Reader and for the Microsoft Tags the Microsoft Tag Reader.  In terms of user interface the two are very similar providing a framed viewer on the phone’s camera view and both automatically capture a code when they recognise it.  On the i900 however the QR code reader is definitely the easier to use to focus over the tag as the Microsoft Tag Reader inexplicably seems to rotate the image 90° anti-clockwise making it quite disorienting just to centre the code.  However the Microsoft Tag Reader seems capable of picking out and actioning much smaller tags than a the QuickMark Reader (which was the most accurate QR code reader I’ve found).

In my tests on an reading from an X-black LCD display an 88 x 88 pixel QR code for a URL was successfully read.  A Microsoft Tag for the same information was successfully captured for just a 52 x 52 pixel tag.  Less space for successful pick-up of codes is obviously an advantage as they take up less screen or page estate and so would cost less to put on a media advert for example and scaling up is not going to be an issue.

QR Code

Microsoft Tag

Greyscale Tag

It was at this point that I wondered about the colour aspect of the Microsoft tag system so I thought I’d have a bit of an experiment and try a simple conversion of the colour tag to a greyscale tag – after all monochromatic printing is cheaper than colour printing.  It turned out that the Microsoft Tag Reader could still capture and interpret it so it looks like the encoding may be more to do with contrasts than the actual CYM colours.  However in greyscale the same basic tag used earlier could not be recognised at 52 x 52 pixels, but it was recognised at 73 x 73 pixels which is still significantly smaller than the equivalent QR code.

The greyscale tag is 97% larger in area that the colour tag and the QR code is 186% larger than the colour tag.  It may actually be that a vCard code can now fit on the back of a business card or be displayed on a phone screen such that a code reader enabled phone can now read the vCard straight in.

So assuming that the Microsoft Tag Reader rotation issue gets resolved for the Omnia then the size benefit of Microsoft’s HCCB system gives it quite a competitive edge, and being Microsoft there’s a little more to this competitive edge….

The Microsoft Tag system relies on the reader having an internet connection as all of the encoded links actually link to information held on Microsoft servers.  QR code decoding however requires no such connection.  The benefit of the Microsoft route is that the number of uses of a particular tag can be measured and reported on – which is great.  However if you want to use it to exchange a vCard on a midlands cross country train in the UK then you won’t have an Internet connection and it just won’t work.

So which is best QR codes of Microsoft Tags?  Well I personally think that the QR code system might have reached the end of its functionality pretty much.  The future is probably in some higher capacity data format.  However QR code readers are far more prevalent on today’s phones and so I think they still have some life left in them, particularly if you consider how embedded they are in Japanese society who are undoubtedly the leaders on mobile technology.

Microsoft Tag may however be the future – after all it is a beta.  So what do I think needs further development to move forward?

• I’d like to se the niggly camera rotation problem on my Omnia resolved (and I’ll mail it in once I’ve posted this).
• Add more encoded formats such as e-mail, geographic co-ordinates and calendar entries.
• The option to decode non Internet related items (such as vCards) without an Internet connection.
• Some additional guidelines on how to use the Microsoft Tags in greyscale to optimise the recognition on the reader (for reduced publishing costs).

BETT Show 09

As anyone who’s been following the RebootIT Twitter feed today will know, I’ve been at the first day of the BETT Show 09. BETT (or British Education and Training Technology) is an education focussed technology event with the global industry giants of IT such as Microsoft right the way down to businesses run by individuals providing specialised learning materials. Whilst the Academy is not dealing directly with educating students, we do work in the HE sector and so the suppliers are often the same. Additionally we do need to train our own staff in technology and so there’s some parallels there too.

I spent a few minutes at one of the two large Microsoft areas watching a demonstration of Microsoft Surface. This has been all over the Internet and in the media in general for some time now but this was the first opportunity I’ve had to see it actually being used. I had expected it to be a bit sluggish or non-responsive, but it was working really smoothly and Microsoft have obviously been investing in developing software specifically for using it in a school environment with a range of demonstrations including – wiping the screen to reveal an underlying image a bit at a time, building a photo collage and interacting with an intricate 3D model of the human heart.

The reaction from the audience was verfy positive and the people around me were audibly impressed with it. This became particularly so as small groups were invited up to have a go themselves with some of the software and they all had no difficulty with it finding the interface very naturalo and fluid to work with. It was interesting to note that Microsoft had adopted the use of some finger based pinching gestures that Apple have used on the iPhone … but these gestures seem to be appearing on many of the laptops these days as “gesture enabled glide pads”.

I had been looking forward to looking at some of the latest offerings from ASUS that might be useful for the Academy’s mobile workers. Unfortunately the tempting news item on the BETT web site about the new EEE tablet was a bit of a let down as there wasn’t one available at either of the ASUS stands. There were a variety of other ultra mobile laptop developers showing off their latest and greatest including Dell, HP and MSI.  I also got a close look at the Sony TT Series laptop.  Whilst the integrated web cam was not the best I’ve come across it is dockable and has the most amazing flexible screen I’ve seen – it looks much more durable than past Vaio machines.

I revisited a couple of suppliers who I spoke to last year to see what updates they had. The first was a supplier for AceCad DigiMemo a clipboard that acts as a real time scanner and captures whatever you draw or write. This can later be exported or even OCR’d (handwriting recognition). Their update was a plugin Bluetooth module for the clipboard, but at significantly over sixty pounds (+ VAT) I think most people would stick with the ubiquitous mini-USB cable that comes with the clipboard.

My other visit was to Mimio. They now provide a portable tablet device to remote control this portable interactive whiteboard and data capture system. This probably won’t be of much use in the Academy, but I can see how this would free a classroom teacher to be able to walk amongst the class whilst teaching and also allow children who maybe aren’t confident enough or are unable to stand in front of a class to use the system without leaving their desk. What I did discover however was that there has been a significant update to the Mimio Studio software and this is available from the Mimio web site as a free upgrade for existing customers.

The Academy York office has both of these technologies available for staff to make use of, but I’m hoping to run some sort of show, tell and use session in the not too distant future to highlight some of the underused and unknown technologies that the ICT stores have to offer.

BETT has a whole section on assistive technologies and since the Academy hosts and provides ICT support for JISC TechDis I also had a chat to some of the suppliers. One of particular note was HumanWare who provide a number of products for supporting people with visual impairments and visually related learning difficulties such as dyslexia. The item I found most interesting was an item called the BrailleNote – a kind of Braille laptop. It features WiFi, a Braille output, text to speech, and text entry for the onboard applications (word processor, e-mail, etc.). At the same sort of price as a low end laptop or a netbook this appeared to be a very functional and versatile device. Apparently there are cases that allow it to be worn at the waist and “used on the move” … but I’m not exactly sure how safe that is whether your sight impaired or not.

Specifically in relation to events I had a chat to some guys from TxtTools about their SMS system for use by the Academy at the larger events such as the Annual Conference or Academy Away Day. The system essentially allows the routing and collating of text messages for groups. This allows an events team to text delegates reminders or changes to an event schedule and delegates to text in responses for evaluation of a session or questions for a live debate. Whilst I think that an RF based remote control system would be good for a consolidated session such as a main presentations (allowing for instantaneous responses, feedback in zero cell reception areas and typically more sophisticated data collection), the SMS approach allows people who are spread across a site to have simple, direct and personal interaction with the event when it suits them. So if you’re attending one of the aforementioned Academy events in the furture it may well be worth ensuring you have your mobile phone with you to take advantage of this sort of offering.

An interesting theme throughout the event was that of robotics. Whilst not relating to the work of the Academy it was something you couldn’t really help but notice. As usual LEGO Mindstorms had a popular demonstration though they were having trouble with their coloured brick sorter when I wandered past – red and blue were good but yellow proved a bit of an issue for the new colour recognition sensor. There were also a couple of Wow Wee robots (such as Robosapien) suppliers providing programming software and another one from the Far East (probably Japan) that I’m sure was aimed at encourging kids to build little robots for the next series of Robot Wars. Finally Dell had brought along their robotic salesman.

I was hoping to get some information at BETT around Virtual Learning Environments (VLE), remote and self-supported computer based training systems (CBT) and services for broadcasting and arranging online learning sessions.

Most of the VLEs were heavily focussed on fulfilling the needs of primary or secondary education which was not surprising but I hadn’t expected the focus to be such that it really didn’t look professional enough to be used in a progressive corporate HE environment (for supporting the training of Academy staff). There was an organisation who support the leading open source VLE of Moodle, but I was amazed that there was no representative for Blackboard – the leading commercial package.

Unfortunately I couldn’t find any CBT or broadcast based products to examine and talk to someone about. There were plenty of course materials bundled with the VLE packages on offer and also various video recording systems with online functionality, but there was nothing for really allowing the sort of CBT functionality and webcast/webinar functionality I was really looking for.

I came across many others at my day in BETT and apologies if you didn’t make it to my blog post … but from my point of view you just weren’t quite interesting enough for me to blog to the masses about – so please don’t take offence. Hopefully I’ll be able to use some of the informaiton and contacts I made to good use and progress the efficiency and effectiveness of the Academy’s ICT services.

Casting for Apple Devices from Windows

When it comes to podcasting Apple is the king.  The iPod and its variations lead the market and  the software bundled with Mac OS X makes creating any sort of podcast a breeze.  Unfortunately not everyone has access to an Apple Mac be it for financial reasons or for internal IT related issues.  Creating podcasts from Windows is a little more laborious, but with the right tools it can be made much easier.

Many Academy staff have an interest in creating podcasts and they do find situations where they and/or the people they are working with may only have access to a PC running windows.  It is for this reason that I’ve decided my first post for the new year will focus on some tools for creating a range of podcasts.  Specifically I’ve also chosen to look at creating them in formats for the Apple suite of podcast players (iPod/iTunes/iPhone) as this is probably the most common format for playing them back – but keep in mind that it isn’t necessarily the most accessible format.

The software and information are not a de facto way of creating the podcasts, but they are all ways that I’ve used to create these podcasts on a PC running Windows and just by using free software.

Types of Podcast

Apple have specified a number of supported formats for podcasts and there are actually four types of podcast:

• Audio – a podcast
• Audio, still images and web links – an enhanced podcast
• Audio and video – a video podcast  / vodcast
• Text – a PDFcast (not a textcast) … for iTunes only

Podcast

Freeware:

• Audacity (Download it)

File Format: MP3

Audacity has been the people’s choice for recording audio on many operating systems for some time now.  A simple  way to record and edit audio content.

Enhanced Podcast

Freeware:

• Audacity (Download it)
• iTunes (Download it)
• NoteTab (Download it)
• Paint.net (Download it)
• Slideshow Assembler (Download it)

File Format: M4A

Again Audacity is the choice for recording any audio which is the first step.  Then a note of the time stamp should be made for each point in the audio recording where the image to be displayed should be changed or where a URL should be overlaid on an image.

In order to build an enhanced podcast we also need to put the audio into AAC (MPEG4) format.  If the audio is not in this format (which Audacity as far as I’m aware doesn’t do natively), the you can use iTunes to convert it for you. You would probably want iTunes installed to test your podcasts in any case.  To convert the audio, drop the file into your iTunes library, and then right click on it and select Create AAC version.  Once created you can copy or drag and drop it from iTunes into an appropriate podcast building folder.

Images could simply be screen shots from the PC, photographs uploaded from a digital camera, scanned images, or simply an image copied from elsewhere (an e-mail, the web, etc.).  Often these will need to be cropped or edited in some way and whilst there are some really sophisticated image editing packages that are freely available (e.g. the GIMP), they are often complicated to use.  A relatively simple image but feature full image editor is paint.net and is a good tool for producing the images for an enhanced podcast.

Once the audio and video is prepared Slideshow Assembler can be used to put the audio and the images together.  Slideshow Assembler however is the least appealing tool in that it is a command line tool, but it is still possible to use it without typing in commands at the command prompt.

An instruction file (a POD file) has to be created to tell Slideshow Assembler how to put the enhanced podcast together (what audio file is being used, what images, when to insert them and what URLs to add in too).  This can be edited with any text editor including Windows’ Notepad application, however I favour NoteTab recommend the free light version for all your text editing needs.  Slideshow Assembler includes an example file and it is quite straight forward to put together as the example also contains some explanatory comments, but if you do get stuck try and get someone who has some technical know-how to walk you through it.  Once you get the idea of how to add each image change in it really is simple to build.

Finally find your Slideshow Assembler executable (take a look in the Slideshow Assembler folder that should be linked to in your start menu after you installed Slideshow Assembler).  By default it will be in C:\Program Files\Slideshow Assembler and be called SSA.EXE.  Next drag and drop your POD file onto this EXE file.  A window will appear telling you that the instructions are being processed and when  it closes the enhanced podcast file will be available in the same folder as the POD file.

Vodcast

Freeware:

• MediaCoder (Download it)
• VirtualDub (Download it)

File Format: MP4

With a vodcast you could produce the video in a number of ways such as through screen capture (e.g. using Auto Screen Recorder, CamStudio or Wink) or by recording from a camera – directly attached or by filming off-line and uploading a video file to the PC later on.

VirtualDub is a simple video editor in much the same way that Audacity is used for audio it provides a simple interface for editing video files.

MediaCoder is a branched selection of media encoders that will convert video to a range of formats, form factors and quality.  One particular version is available for Apple devices and would be the recommendation for vodcast production.  The video file is simply passed to MediaCoder, the output format selected and then a click of a button initiates the transcoding into MP4.

PDFCast

Freeware:

• CutePDF Writer (Download it)

File Format: PDF

This final format is included here more for the sake of completeness but is probably a form of podcast that many don’t realise is an available option.

Many applications can save or export to the PDF format but for those that cannot there are a number of pieces of software that install as a virtual printer which you can then print to in order to generate a PDF file.  My favourite of these is CutePDF writer.

The last step is to publish the file you have produced.  Without this publishing step you don’t have a podcast as it is the XML file that links the media file to an RSS feed that makes it into a subscribable podcast.  There are many tools and services to do this depending upon your web site/podcast hosting provision.

My own preference is to take an existing XML file and edit it to match my own needs, but for those who don’t like getting their hands dirty there are other methods … unfortunately far too many for me to cover in a single blog post.

Hopefully you now have enough information to produce any podcast you need to on a Windows PC (should you not be able to lay your hands on a Mac).  So good luck with your podcasting and happy new year!

Connect the Dots

One of the biggest things in the Academy is communication. Just like any other organisation there’s a whole heap of discussion about the right ways to communicate and about who receives what information, and about what constitutes too little and information versus information overload. There will never be a perfect fit for everyone, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t worth exploring the options we have available and trying things out from time to time.

Social networking is something that is often mooted amongst the technical communities as a possible option for improved communication in the organisation and is something that I have considered pursuing on several occasions. The reality is however that there are some additional factors with creating a social network in the corporate environment (CESN) that need careful consideration before implementing any potential solution.

Productivity

Anything that is put in place to enhance how people work be it faster, smarter, or cheaper is looking at the productivity of the organisation. Whilst the whole point of social networking is to provide a medium through which to improve communication and knowledge sharing, productivity can be thought of very much like any sort of investment. “It may go up as well as down”.

The diagram below I’ve dubbed the social networks productivity spectrum.

At one end people can spend their time idly checking the network believing that they are being productive whereas in fact they are not focussed on the work they need to do. In such an instance the social network is no longer a tool but more of a source of procrastination – otherwise known as “The Facebook Effect“. At the opposite end of the spectrum a person can spend their time providing valuable input, but finds themselves involved in too large a proportion of the network to the extent that not only does their own work suffer but perhaps even that of the others involved who may find the constant need to validate their decision with or respond to queries from the individual. In the middle of the spectrum is the ideal balance of contribution that allows everyone to work effectively.

In implementing a CESN it is impossible to ensure that all users will fall into the middle of the spectrum, but the guidance given for the purpose and use of the network should include information about the organisation’s expectations on such purpose and usage. Rather than deciding what is the right way to use it I think just some general guidance on what is appropriate usage is all that’s required but even so there may be several people in an organisation that might have input into what reasonable usage is.

Speed of Thought

Communication is the name of the game with social networking and like any real world grapevine it is always surprising how fast communications can occur. Whilst this can be invaluable in corporate terms, it can also be a danger. Corporate communications are often filtered and throttled to ensure that information gets to the right people at the right time. Mis-information put out into a social network can quickly cause problems that are probably less manageable than through any other communication medium due to the openness and far reaching communication. In many systems some sort of moderation (e.g. flag posts for publishing) would ensure that this situation cannot arise, but the nature of social networking is such that it cannot be constrained by this sort of control system – it simply wouldn’t work.

On balance this one is very tricky to weigh up- there could always be a risk that misinformation can generate poor decision making or even create mistrust. The only solution is really to fully trust all users of the social network. Again here there is nothing beyond guidance and training that can be used to manage this risk.

Red Tape

Whilst any social networking solution should probably be (certainly initially) limited to Academy employees only, there is still as ever a legal consideration. There have been cases where social networks have been used to harass and victimise employees and in order to protect an organisation there does need to be due consideration to appropriate policies and possibly even training in order to ensure that users are aware of what constitutes appropriate and inappropriate use.

An investment in time to write an appropriate policy or to enhance an existing computer systems usage policy would have to be included in implementing any social networking solution and there could even be a need to incorporate ‘external’ usage agreements should the social networking system be hosted by a third party.

Integration

A CESN is just one element of collaborative working and it would be useful to consider how it could integrate with the Gateway work towards a collaborative Intranet/Extranet. Close integration may be possible but could add considerable expense to the work. Establishing something entirely separate may mean that a highly valuable resource cannot be fully utilised an (for want of a better term) leveraged.

Looking at social networking options that provide integration with the sorts of technologies being considered for the Gateway is obviously a wise consideration, but until various decisions are validated and ratified then choices are simply educated guesses and there is always an associated risk of poor choice.

Administration

Whenever a new system is implemented there should always be consideration given to the administrative overheads required to maintain it. Who will add and remove user accounts, create / remove /archive sub-networks, check backups add additional storage capacity, etc.? Resources, be they financial or human, are always finite. Any undertaking should be supportable and allocated to a trustworthy and sustainable source.

Budgets are always stretched and staff are always asked to fit more work into their hectic schedules but irrespective of this there is always a need to invest in order to advance – the question is simply where should the investment be from?

Engagement

Even if a CESN is put in place there is always the chance that it will not be successful because people do not use it or do not understand how to use it. Whilst people can be conscripted into using a social network, the uptake will always be better through invitation but the question then becomes who to invite.

Most people are familiar with social networks so it may not seem difficult at first. However how many people are familiar with how best to make use of a social networking tool in a closed environment? The nature of the Academy is that there are a combination of academic and non-academic staff. Academic staff may be experienced in using social networks across disciplines and perhaps between institutions and departments. Non-academic staff are probably more familiar with using social networking purely in a social environment. Neither quite maps to what would be required of a CESN for the Academy … but both have something to offer.

Considerations for ranges of experience (of using social networks and working with communications), work areas (including administrators, projects staff, advisers and managers) and opportunity (i.e. ideas for areas of work people could use the CESN for) are necessary to prime the use of the social network. However it would seem from much of the available case studies on CESNs that invitation and natural evolution will provide the strongest basis for embedding into the organisational culture … once the right opportunities to make best use of it are established.

Which finally brings me to easily the most important consideration…

What for?

A social network is in essence a way to communicate and share when a face to face meeting or collaboration is not possible. As well as supporting the networking of people in different geographic locations social networks also allow people to communicate in a way that allows them to respond and contribute when it is convenient to them (just like e-mail) in a single point of contact.

However if people are presented with a CESN what would, could and should they do with it?

No matter how much research I have carried out I haven’t quite managed to identify what gap this might fill for the Academy. I can see many uses within the wider academic and corporate spheres where social networks can be used but I personally still struggle to establish what specific issues and requirements the implementation of a CESN for the Academy will address.

Whilst I feel that the Academy’s technical community could provide ideas for how to use a CESN I wonder if it would then become a technical community social network (which I think would have merit over the existing mailing list)? Could it be that the best way to find an answer to this question is to provide a social network in which people could discuss potential uses?