Video on the web - viewing and sharing videos

1. FORMATS
.MPEG (compressed, open standard); .AVI (Audio Video Interleave, Microsoft standard); .WMV (compressed, proprietary Windows Media Video); .MOV (Apple’s QuickTime proprietary format); .SWF (playable in browsers, Shockwave)

2. PLAYERS AND SOFTWARE
Browsers; Windows Media Player software; Quicktime software.

3. MOBILE GADGETS
Personal Video recorders; iPod video players; Advanced phones such as iPhone; PDA (Personal Digital Assistants); MPEG players; Microsoft’s Zune.

4. SHARING MY VIDEO ONLINE (YouTUBE)

You can upload video files to public web sites such as YouTube.com for others to view, tag, comment and share. This is part of a trend that may see TV-type content available on computers and portable devices.

Audio on the web - Listening to and sharing music and more

1. FORMATS
.WAV (uncompressed, large files); .MP3 (compressed, open standard); .AAC (compressed, iPod proprietary format); .WMA (compressed, Windows Media Audio); .RA (Real Audio, proprietary streaming format). DVD-Video is a standard for storing video content on DVD media.

2. STREAMING AUDIO
Referred to as Podcasts or Streaming Audio, often in MP3 format. Can be played ‘live’ as a download, or stored and re-played. You can ‘subscribe’ to regular broadcasts using software such as Juice.

3. PLAYERS AND SOFTWARE
On a PC using Windows Media Player, Real Audio Player, Quicktime etc.

4. MOBILE GADGETS

iPods; MP3 players; MP3-enabled phones and portable storage devices; PDA (Personal Digital Assistants).

5. SHARING MY AUDIO ONLINE (MP3.COM)
You can upload audio to public sites such as mp3.com. You can create and upload podcasts (see www.podcast.net for a directory).

Images on the Web - Viewing and sharing your pictures

1. FORMATS
Image files can be: .BMP (uncompressed, large file size); .PSD (Photoshop, proprietary to one program); .TIFF (Tagged Image File Format, multiple images and metadata); .GIF (Graphics Interchange Format, compressed without loss); .JPEG (Joint Photographic Expert Group, compressed with possible loss); .PNG (Portable Network Graphics, open standard); .PDF (Portable Document Format, compressed images and text)

2. VIEWERS AND SOFTWARE
Browsers and email software will display images.

Image editors such as Photoshop, Paintshop Pro or free online programs such as Picnik or Picassa can alter images and convert formats.

3. MOBILE GADGETS
Mobile phones and Digital cameras can take, store and download image files. Email can be used to send them between devices.

5. SHARING PHOTOS ONLINE (FLICKR)

You can upload images to web sites for others to view, tag, comment and share at sites such as Flickr.

Communicating on the Web - From Email to Twitter

1. EMAIL
This is the original application killer; one that has been a staple of the Internet since the start. Internet Vendor email accounts have been supplanted in part by free web-based email from either Yahoo, Google or , less frequently Microsoft’s Hotmail (Live mail). Like many Internet applications, the trend has been towards more mobile email access, with iPhone type devices and small notebooks - NetBooks.

2. CHAT
“Chat is a bit like e-mail in real time. Users have conversations via the keyboard in "Chat rooms" with other users. Chat has been criticized for being addictive as well as concerns over unsuitable contact between children and adults. To join a chatroom you usually have to give your e-mail address and this can lead to spam.”
http://www.smallbizonline.co.uk/glossary_of_internet_terms.php

3. INTERNET MESSAGING
This is a form of chat, often using a client software such as ICQ, AOL Instant Messenger (AIM), Microsoft MSN Messenger, and Yahoo! Messenger.

4. INTERNET TELEPHONES (VOIP)

Voice Over Internet Protocol programs enable phone-type communications across a broadband Internet connection. Skype is one such service. Although low cost per call, broadband access costs need to be considered. There may be additional hardware devices to purchase or rent. It can be via a computer or to a phone handset.

5. TWITTERING
Twitter is a social networking and micro-blogging service that allows its users to send and read other users' updates (known as tweets), which are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length. Senders can restrict delivery to those in their circle of friends who can receive updates via the Twitter website, SMS, RSS, or through applications such as TwitterMobile, Tweetie, Twinkle, Twitterrific, Feedalizr, Facebook, and Twidget.

Blast Off with a Techno Thriller

Here are some of our popular techno thriller titles:

Bond, Larry
__Angels of wrath 1996
__Dangerous ground 1996
__First team 2000
__First team: soul of the assassin 2000
__The enemy within 2000
__Fires of war 2001
Brown, Dan
__Digital fortress 2000
__Robert Langdon ; Vol. 1 Angels and demons 2000
__Robert Langdon ; Vol. 2 The Da Vinci code 2003
__Deception point 2008
Buff, Joe
__Crush depth 2003
__Seas of crisis 2003
__Straits of power 2003
__Thunder in the deep 2003
Clancy, Tom
__Jack Ryan Red rabbit 1994
__Jack Ryan The bear and the dragon. 1998
__Jack Ryan The cardinal of the Kremlin 1998
__Jack Ryan The hunt for Red October 1998
__Jack Ryan The sum of all fears 1998
__Jack Ryan Clear and present danger 2003
__Jack Ryan Debt of honour 2003
__Jack Ryan Executive orders 2003
__Jack Ryan The teeth of the tiger 2004
__Jack Ryan Patriot games 2005
__Jack Ryan Rainbow six 2005
__Net Force Tom Clancy's net force 1994
__Op-centre Vol. 1 Call to treason 2003
__Op-centre Vol. 2 mirror image 1996
__Op-centre Vol. 3 games of state 1996
__Op-centre Vol. 5 balance of power 1994
__Op-centre Vol. 6 state of siege 1997
__Power plays Vol. 5 cold war / 2008
__Net force: breaking point 1994
__Red storm rising 2001
__SSN : strategies of submarine warfare 2003
Coonts, Stephen
__Deep black ; Vol. 1 Deep black 2000
__Deep black ; Vol. 2 Biowar 2007
__Deep black ; Vol. 4 Payback 1994
__Jake Grafton ; Vol. 5 The red horseman 2006
__Jake Grafton ; Vol. 6 The intruders 2003
__Jake Grafton ; Vol. 8 Hong Kong 1984
__Jake Grafton ; Vol. 9 America 2008
__Jake Grafton ; Vol. 10 Liberty 1984
__Saucer ; Vol. 1 Saucer 2005
__Saucer ; Vol. 2 The conquest 2008
__Tommy Carmellini ; Vol. 3 The assassin 1991
__Combat 1973
__Fortunes of war 1984
Crichton, Michael
__Timeline 1997
__Jurassic Park ; Vol. 2 The lost world 2002
__Prey 2002
__Rising sun 2002
__Sphere 2002
__State of fear 2002
__Next 2005
__Airframe 2006
__Congo 2006
__Disclosure 2006
Meadows, David E
__Submarine action Final run 1997
__Joint task force: Africa 2002

Archibald.Prize.09 - Vote for your favourite

Here is a list of the finalists. You can view them at:
www.thearchibaldprize.com.au/finalists/archibald

Anthony Bennett-- Self-portrait in the bathroom discussing beauty, Bukowski and Brett Whiteley with my ex, now a stripper, who likes to dress as Wonder Woman
Ann Cape -- Lucy & friend
Adam Chang -- Spirit of an ancient culture
Mike Chavez -- Portrait of a bad muthaf***a
Jun Chen -- Ray Hughes and five other moods
Zhansui Kordelya Chi -- Good morning, this is Neil Mitchell
Yvette Coppersmith -- John Safran
Sam Cranstoun -- Gyton
Leeanne Crisp -- Considering Persephone. Portrait of Gay Bilson
Ngaire Devenport -- Ken Done
Vincent Fantauzzo -- Brandon
Hong Fu -- Dame Elisabeth Murdoch
David Griggs -- Zoloft nation (self-portrait)
Peter Hanley -- Remembering Titian
Robert Hannaford -- Self-portrait
Nicholas Harding -- Margaret Whitlam
Cherry Hood -- David Helfgott
Paul Jackson -- Flacco’s chariot
Jasper Knight -- Jasper Knight
Richard Larter -- Portrait of Nell
Sam Leach -- Marcia Langton
Mathew Lynn -- Heiress
Abbey McCulloch -- Nell
Angus McDonald -- Beyond
Alexander McKenzie -- Richard Clapton
Guy Maestri -- Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu
Nick Mourtzakis -- A portrait of Alex Wodak
Richard Onn -- Coupe SX010F
David Paulson & Michael Nelson Jagamara -- Michael Nelson Jagamara & singing rain story
James Powditch -- Peter Powditch is a dead man smoking
Ben Quilty -- Jimmy Barnes – there but for the grace of God no. 2
Megan Roodenrys -- Waiting for the day
Paul Ryan -- Mountain of Tom
Jenny Sages -- Heidi & Sarah-Jane ‘parallel lives’
Megan Seres -- The rest is silence (Brendan Cowell as Hamlet)
Garry Shead & Adrienne Levenson -- Soffritto di Lucio
Mark Thompson -- Greta Scacchi as Queen Elizabeth in Mary Stuart
Jan Williamson -- Nancy Kunoth Petyarr
Michael Zavros -- Ars longa, vita brevis

Leave a comment about your most and least favourite image for 2009.

Farmyard Frolics - April 21

Click image to see full size.

Embracing Diversity

We are highlighting Social Diversity in our community this month.

Diversity includes:
* race
* ethnicity
* gender
* sexual orientation
* socio-economic status
* culture
* age
* physical ability
* religious, political and other beliefs.

Environmental Display

You will find a wide range of Information Brochures on display during March about Lake Macquarie's environment (available online here).

These include:
* A Coastal Wetlands Park
* A Local Rainforest Bushfood Garden
* A Local Seaside Bushfood Garden
* A Local Wetland Bushfood Garden
* A Native Cottage Garden
* Adopt-A-SQID Groups Located Around Lake Macquarie
* Beyond the Backyard
* Black Neds Bay- A Century of Change
* Blue Flax Lily - Dianella caerulea
* Camphor Laurel - Cinnamomum camphora
* Communities Protecting Waterways
* Crofton Weed - Ageratina adenophora
* Cyclepaths in Lake Macquarie
* Eastlakes Birding Routes
* Environmental Fact Sheets
* Everything you do Affects the Lake
* Indian Myna Birds
* Lake Macquarie Catchment Poster
* Lake Macquarie Coastal Planting Guide
* Lake Macquarie Landcare Yearbook 2008
* Lake Macquarie Streambank and Foreshore Planting Guide
* Lilly Pilly - Acmena Smithii fact sheet
* List of Landcare Groups in Lake Macquarie
* Living on the Edge - A Guide for Residents in Foreshore Areas
* Managing Black Slag - Information Sheet
* Marine Turtles in Lake Macquarie and Tuggerah Lakes
* Noxious Weed Declarations
* Resources and Services for Schools
* Shared Pathway Map
* Sharing our Saltwater - Raising Biodiversity Awareness in Lake Macquarie's Marine Environments
* Stormwater Pollution - You Can Make a Difference
* Sustainable Living Guide
* The Importance of Weeds on Your Site
* The Replacement of Weed Species on Your Site with Suitable Native Species
* To Mulch or Not to Mulch?
* Waste Fact File 1 - Waste: What is it?
* Westlakes Birding Route
* Wildflowers of the Lake Macquarie Region
* Wildlife Corridors in Warners Bay

Seniors Week Technology Talk - March 16