Category Archives: Great Web Sites

The End of Boring Powerpoints

It is no secret that one of my pet hates is bad power point presentations and to be honest most power point presentations are bad.

Part of the problem is I can not understand why people are not just that little bit more creative. Sure they are quick and easy but are the memorable and effective.

So, you all cry what should we be using – why Prezzi I reply.

My Web site of the week is 

http://prezi.com/

Once you get the hand of this software you will never look back – it is fun and free and funky!

Please try it out and put an end to the snorefest that can be power points.

One slight little warning – may cause sea-sickness! Try it and find out why.

Winning Web Site

Want to win some books?

Why yes Mrs Baird I do!

Super – go log on to the world book day web page  HERE and enter the competition.

Why not check out some of the other competitions on the go at the moment and you could win an X-box 360 , signed Skulduggery books or have your own book published or… well check out the pages and jump in. Entries must be in soon so get your skates on!

(Please note if you are 13 or younger you will need guardian/parent permission to enter these competitions)

How it should be done!

Calling all authors who have rotten web sites – check out the Cherub site.

www.cherubcampus.com/

Full of information and videos and links and pics and blurbs and competition and sneaky bits and secrets and shop and sometimes even freebies. I e-mailed him directly and the lovely chappie or one of his cherubic minions sent me out some posters, now that I like!

That is one dangerous baby!Right from when our first adventure started with The Recruit this web site was all singing and dancing and even if you are not a fan of the books you will still find this to be an enjoyable way to pass an hour or two or three or…

So, authors who think they can get away with some limp little facebook page that tells us how many cups of tea you drink a day- put down the cup and pick up some web tools otherwise you could be left waaaaaaay behind.

Animoto

As many of you know I HATE boring presentations but to be honest who does?

So, one web site I am very happy to tell you about is animoto.

This is a clever little site where you can create your own mini videos; or as I am currently working on with S1 mini adverts.

You can sign up for free as long as you only want to create vids or films of 30 seconds long then it stays free.

Bye Bye Powerpoint- hello Animoto

Add your own pics or ones from the web – add some music – add a groovy backgrouns and Robert is your mother’s brother!

Http://animoto.com

Go BZRK!

http://gobzrk.com/

This is the brain child of Gone author Michael Grant (who will be coming to Glasgow soonish for the Aye Write festival). If you have read his other books then BZRK will not be too much of a shock if you have not then be afraid probably very afraid!

This web site is a brilliant example of a growing trend in storytelling called “Transmedia” – which started as an academic term, coined by Henry Jenkins in his book Convergence Culture who said, “transmedia represents the integration of entertainment experiences across a range of different media platforms,” Jenkins defines transmedia as storytelling that “immerses an audience in a story’s universe through a number of dispersed entry points, providing a comprehensive and coordinated experience of a complex story.”

 One person has described the book as if “Stephen King had written Lord of the Flies”, this should give you an idea (or warning!) of what to expect.

I am planning something of my own transmedia project in the next few months based on The Hunger Games – so watch this web site for more information. Oh, and enjoy going BZRK!