Online tools for journalists

Delicious

2009-04-23T05:27:00.001-07:00

Delicious is a site owned by Yahoo that allows a user to save their bookmarks and access them from any other computer online. You can also share your bookmarks and subscribe to other users you want to follow. For a journalist this tool can be very useful, the ability to have access to stored information from anywhere is important for a journalist in the field.

For example you could subscribe to ‘the centre for investigative journalism’ and read their news story posts about the industry. Tags can be added to bookmarks making searching very simple. A tab alongside your search results gives the amount of people that have bookmarked that particular page giving an indication as to its popularity.

This website also gives you the opportunity to share your own bookmarks with everyone else, including your own webpage. By adding the appropriate tags on each story/video published your piece can be easily found by any delicious user using the clean, simple interface. If you write a blog you can sync it with delicious and create a daily post of your latest bookmarks to your blog.

Setting an account up is extremely simple, it only takes 2 minutes and has detailed instructions whether your using internet explorer or firefox. The downside to this technology is that when you search it will typically come up with all the most popular news sites eg. BBC, CNN and the more useful ones are buried deep down. This site can be incredibly valuable but needs to be utilised properly. Even if it is used solely as a bookmark organisation tool it is worth joining.

Is it free? Yes

Where do I get it? Delicious.com

Easy to use? 4/5

Useful to journalists? 3/5

Tweetminster - Get it while it's hot

2009-04-23T05:27:00.000-07:00

Every man and his WiFi-enabled dog is on Twitter these days. There are some great stories to be had, but often a depressing amount of searching is needed to root them out. But for those of a political bent, help is at hand. Behold Tweetminster!

Tweetminster collects all the Twitter feeds of MP’s and prospective MP’s into one place, along with the official Downing Street feeds. Updates are in real time, and there is a handy ‘Tweetometer’ that shows which topics are currently popular among Tweeters. There is also a downloadable desktop application called The Wire, which allows for tracking Tweeters without the bother of opening a web browser.

There is undoubtedly journalistic gold to be found using Tweetminster. A search function allows users to find and follow their local MP, and the official Downing Street and Defence feeds post links to fresh stories. However, there is still a great deal of irrelevant chatter to trawl through, which would make searching for stories here an arduous process. There’s also the problem that most politicians are aware of the popularity of Twitter, which could lead to their posts being as reserved as if they were delivered live on television.

Probably the biggest flaw is that there are far too many Labour representatives on there. 59% of all Tweeters wear the red rose, so if you’re after anything about the Tories, who have a measly 16% presence on there, you’re going to struggle.

Overall, Tweetminster is a useful and interesting site - if you’re prepared to sift through a lot of chaff to get to your bit of wheat. Alas, I can’t help thinking that its increasing popularity will lead it eventually to become little more than a mass of one line press releases.

Is it free? Yes
Where can I get it? http://tweetminster.co.uk
Ease of use: 4/5
Usefulness to Journalists: 3.5/5

Reviewed by: Adam Kaczmarek

Dropbox - Free and unlimited file sharing

2009-04-22T07:55:00.000-07:00

In a digital age, journalists are using an increasingly varied number of computers and devices to produce and share their work. Dropbox is a free tool that allows fast and easy transfer of files instantly between separate devices, even when they are turned off. It allows for complete peace of mind for backing up work, and provides tremendous freedom to the journalist who is constantly on the move.

How does it work?
Dropbox utilises the concept of an online 'cloud'. A place where you can upload and store any file of any size. It creates a specific folder on your PC or Mac into which you can copy files. These are then invisibly uploaded to your online dropbox for access anywhere, at any time. Any item placed into your dropbox is synced automatically with any device you have designated to share with.

Is it useful for journalists?
Dropbox allows safe and secure file transfer between an unlimited number of devices. It works on Macs, Windows PCs and is compatible with Linux systems. You have access to your dropbox anywhere, from any computer with internet access. Online counterparts to every file can be downloaded, and using the automatic syncing of files you will never lose a backup file ever. Save files on an office PC and by the time you arrive home, duplicates will already be on your home machine.

Are there alternatives to dropbox?
While Apple has their own iDisk utility, it is currently only available for Macs. Their MobileMe platform - while as universal in use as Dropbox - has a subscription fee. Dropbox is completely free of charge, providing gigabytes of storage for you to save files in. The software uses minimal system resources and can be setup to never interfere with your internet browsing.

Dropbox is an invaluable tool that allows for rapid and secure distribution of documents and files freely between an unlimited number of devices.

Is it free - Yes

Where do I get it - Visit www.getdropbox.com

Ease of use

Utility to journalists

Review by - Aaron Bayley.

Twirl........An essential tool for journalists!

2009-04-17T15:28:00.000-07:00

A good Journalist has to be organized,in touch with recent activities and above all needs access to one of the best and most popular web client on windows. Twhirl connects you with Celebrities, politicians, family, friends and most important fellow journalists accessing Twitter.
Twhirl is a social software desktop client, that is based on the Adobe Air Platform.It is easy to use and most of the features available on Twitter are also accessible through Twhirl. In this day and age Twitter is one of the most famous and loved social network,people share important messages, pictures and videos.

For a journalist any social network that allows you access to picture,video and message sharing is vital. Twhirl is so convenient that it supports handling multiple twitter accounts, so instead of being limited to logging on to one account Twhirl allows you to access all your other Twitter accounts.Essential for journalists that love Multi-tweeting.It can also be customised to receive and post without even going to the web.

Twirl pops up notifications on new tweets,shortens long URLs using snurl or twurl and you can also search tweets using TweetScan. Twhirl allows you to cross-post updates to networks such as Pownce and Jaiku which can be very useful for journalsits. Did i mention that it was voted the second most popular web client on Wakoopa?

It's not all journalists that like to have everything in English.On twhirl you are given the option to change the software language.You can change it to Spanish,French, German or even Italian.
The only downfall to twhirl is that sometimes when you click on the links it opens on the browser twice which can be a bit annoying but other than that,it is easy to access,connects you with the rest of the world and is very useful.

Fact List

Is it free? Yes.
Where do i get it from?Log on to: www.twhirl.org
Easy to use? 5/5
Useful to journalists 4/5

Reviewed by Jean Huni

Newssift - The New Search Engine

2009-04-17T14:42:00.000-07:00

For Journalists, the answer is here! 'What was the question, you might wonder?' it is, 'How do we find exactly what we're looking for on these search engines?'

Gone are the days, where you put in what you're looking for into one search engine, only to find yourself about seven pages in, still not having found what you're looking for.

Newssift, is a recently launched business news search engine. created by the Financial Times.The aim of it is to create a better, faster and more refined way to search for information; and in the world we live in, the more of this we have, the better.

From the screen above, you can see that categories are allocated to its related topics. It is also the first search engine to 'apply a relationship based algorithm to business news'. This search engine is very advanced, it practically does the work for you!

The archive is so healthy, it makes your searches straight to the point, but more importantly, easy to locate.

Less than a month old, Newssift is used by a wide range of people, from business decision makers to investors to academics and also including journalists,proving that the new internet faze, Twitter, has no effect on the success of this powerful search engine.

Is it free? Yes

Where do I get it? http://www.newssift.com/

Easy to use? 3/5

Useful to journalists? 5/5

Posted by Ore Onile - Ere

Tweetdeck is making Twitter much more accessible

2009-04-17T14:19:00.000-07:00

Twitter has become a hugely important site for journalists, with many politicians, celebrities and other journalists joining the social network. Tweetdeck an application built on the Adobe Air Platform has arrived to make Twitter so much easier to use.

Tweetdeck works with a display of three panels, one showing friend updates, one showing replies and the other showing direct messages. This makes all the information you need a lot more accessible.

The application updates every minute, unlike the main Twitter site where you have to refresh the page, and you get an alert if you are browsing other pages, which is a great feature.
Another good feature is that Twitpic is built in, so you don’t have to go to the site to upload pictures. Also Twitscoop is a tool which monitors words that are frequently used; this could help you keep up with the latest breaking story.

Tweetdeck makes it easy to create groups, so you can easily keep up with one person or a bigger group of people. Also it’s easy to update messages, just write you’re update at the top of the screen and hit return, this works as well when replying to other messages and sending direct messages.

The main drawback is, that it’s not easy to search and follow new people, other than that Tweetdeck is a great application for Twitter, which makes using this networking site a pleasure.

This product is very easy to use, and once you’ve installed it you won’t know how you coped as a journalist without it.

Is it free? Yes
Where do I get it? www.tweetdeck.com/beta
Easy to use? 5/5
Useful to journalists? 4/5

Reviewed by Gary Hammersley

iPhone 3G

2009-04-17T14:04:00.000-07:00

First impressions mean a lot and I’m afraid the iPhone does not give a good one to a journalist. A very basic 2.0 mega pixel camera that has no zoom and with no video camera tool it is questionable why journalists would ever consider this a good journalism tool.

But this is the only major failing of the iPhone. There are many good features that a journalist can use to their advantage. The apps store has been widely publicised by apple and it quite simply is an ingenious tool. Journalists can download at apps which tell them of the latest news and because there are so many variations they can choose an app which is suitable for them. Other apps include translators and Skype.

And then there’s the maps tool, probably the best tool on the phone. It can locate any place in the world providing you give adequate information. It can direct you there by foot, car or train. I would not recommend this as a replacement satnav because it does take a while to update your position.

So although there is much room for improvement for the iPhone before it will be accepted as a fully fledged journalistic tool it is still incredibly useful and I am sure that in the near future the iPhone will establish itself to many journalists.

Is it free? No. Handset costs £342.33 (8GB version) and £391.27 (16GB version)

Where do I get it? Available on Apple website, or from O2 or the Carphone Warehouse websites

Easy to use? Takes some getting used to if you haven't used a touch screen before. 3.5 / 5

Is it useful to journalists? Yes. But it desperately needs a decent camera and video recorder. 4 / 5

By Jonathan Gilmore

Samsung Pixon

2009-04-17T11:01:00.000-07:00

Do you want a touch screen phone, but worry that the screens are too small or the menus too complicated to use?

Let the Samsung Pixon put paid to your touch screen fear.

Compared to the Samsung Tocco, the Pixon’s screen is much easier to navigate. It has a 3.2 inch screen, with easy to use menus. Sending a text message is quite an experience. You can either hold the phone vertically and use the number keypad or hold it horizontally and use a full QWERTY keyboard.

You can even write on the screen with the pen provided and handwrite a text message. The pen can also be used to edit images on the LivePix application, a program similar to Paint.

It’s got an 8 megapixel camera on it, and as you can see from this picture, the quality’s not half bad.

It’s got an optical zoom on it, which works even in video mode. Face recognition technology and Advanced Shake Reduction are just two of the dozens of brilliant functions. In all honesty, the Pixon’s camera is better than some of the standalone cameras available on the market today.

Besides pictures and videos, voice recording is a possibility, making it a fantastic tool for recording interviews.

Compared with other phones with 8 megapixel cameras, the Pixon is the slimmest of the bunch at just 15.5mm thick.

The Pixon is capable of web browsing, but not wi-fi, and with it’s 16 million pixel display, you could even watch HD videos on it.

It comes with a 1GB memory card, and also has internal memory.

Is it free? No – phone contract prices vary from network to network
Where do I get it? Any mobile phone retailer
Easy to use? 4/5
Useful to journalists? 5/5

Reviewed by - Kelly Owen-Simpson

TweetDeck :: A must have for journalists

2009-04-17T08:50:00.000-07:00

With the glut of celebrities rushing to join Twitter, signing up to the social networking site is essential for any journalist.

Actors, presenters, politicians and singers are amongst those who give the public an insightful eye into their lives while potentially providing journalists with material for stories.

TweetDeck, developed by Iain Dodsworth in 2008, is a desktop application which enables users to easily view their most important Twitter information by creating a personal dashboard.

A selection of panes which include direct messages, replies, and tweets can be arranged in columns to suit a users needs.

The key feature for journalists is the ability to assign each of the people you are following into groups in order to clearly view their updates.

For example you could have separate groups for the tweets from celebrities, news corporations, friends and job adverts. An example of the interface can be seen below.
The application updates itself every minute and notifies you of any new tweets by displaying a box in the top right corner of your screen so it is impossible to miss out on any piece of news.

The dashboard is easily set up by clicking on the icons at the top of the TweetDeck window which will make panes containing your desired information appear.

A useful feature available to users is called Twitscoop which monitors all the tweets from everyone on Twitter. It picks up words that have been frequently used and displays them in a tag cloud which could be crucial in discovering a breaking story.

This product is exceptionally simple to use and is available to download free on both the Windows and Mac operating systems.

Is it free? Yes

Where do I get it? www.tweetdeck.com/beta

Is it easy to use? 5/5

Useful to journalists? 5/5

Review by Mark Weatherup

Make Twitter work for you with TweetDeck

2009-04-17T08:45:00.000-07:00

Twitter is becoming a very important and useful tool for journalists. However, through a browser it can be a little confusing and disorganised.

In steps TweetDeck! It's a downloadable application for both Windows and Mac which helps to organise your twitter feeds. Tweetdeck displays tweets in three columns, 'All Friends', '@replies' and 'Direct Messages'. You can see these all at once instead of having to navigate to different pages.

TweetDeck also allows you to make your own groups. So you could split your incoming tweets for example into 'Friends', 'Colleagues' and 'News'. This helps you to quickly find the information you want.

The application runs in the background and automatically updates every minute (although you can change this). When tweets are received, a box appears in the top right corner of your screen to notify you. It also tells you which categories the tweet(s) are listed under. This is very helpful as it keeps you connected to events without disrupting what you're doing.

TweetDeck also makes it easy to post messages. Just type in a box at the bottom of the screen and hit return. There are also simple buttons allowing you to @reply, retweet, Direct Message, send pictures and shorten URL's. There's also the ability to search tweets (either friends or worldwide) for any term you wish. This could be invaluable when chasing facts on a story.

There are some drawbacks. It's more difficult to find and follow people through TweetDeck than using the online interface. Also, the information delivered through the app is only as good as your contacts!

TweetDeck is a huge leap forward for Twitter. It's wonderfully customisable and a great asset for any journalist.

FACTFILE

Is it free? Yes
Where do I get it? Download for Mac and PC from www.tweetdeck.com
Easy to use? 5/5
Useful to Journalists? 4/5

by Chris Heath

Audioboo – A journo’s perspective.

2009-04-17T08:05:00.000-07:00

Audioboo, a new, free audio-blogging application, is attempting to take user-generated news, one step further.

Audioboo enables audio-blogs, including pictures and videos, to be sent straight to the Internet, via an iPhone.

Creator, Marc Rock, has a degree in Film & Photography and a CV to die for. He is founder and CEO of audio and video toolsets developer, Best Before Media, and previously a co-founder of design & technology company, Static 2358 Limited.

Audioboo is incredibly simple to use and according to Rock, already attracts more than 1000 hits per day.

Journalists may find it useful in terms of social networking, if it does well. The BBC is already considering using it.

Blogging is extremely popular, but the idea of using words, does intimidate some. Audioboo allows people to blog without having to write, opening up the idea to more people, potentially meaning more information and news, which is always good for journalism.

The quality of Audioboo blogs isn’t yet fantastic. When the information within the blog is priceless to a journalist though, this doesn’t always matter.
Audioboo is far from perfect though.

The fact that the website admits to being ‘scrappy’ is worrying. Seeing as Audioboo is a web-based application, the quality of the website does matter. This raises the question about the quality of the project as a whole.

Audioboo is currently only available for the iPhone too, although it has been said that this may change.

The most concerning thing though is the advertising of Audioboo, which requires dramatic improvement. In order to be hugely popular and therefore, useful to journalists, the application needs to be easily accessed.

The application is still in the very early stages of development though.

Hopefully, over time, Audioboo will develop into a handy tool, for both journalists and non-journalists alike.

Is it free? Yes.

Where do I get it? www.audioboo.fm or the iTunes Store.

Is it easy to use? 5/5.

Is it useful to journalists? 3/5.

Reviewed by Alison Hanlon.

PocketTweets - making Twitter even easier for Apple lovers

2009-04-17T08:00:00.000-07:00

If you haven’t joined the Tweeting masses yet, why not? With news organisations such as the BBC and CNN having already signed up, the breadth of such a simple website has been demonstrated. The site utilises the most straightforward of concepts – tell the world what you’re thinking in 140 characters or less and ‘follow’ the people you are interested in. Of course in this case ‘following’ means that you are updated on what they have to say rather than being synonymous with stalking.

For a journalist being able to Tweet on the go could be the difference between broadcasting a story as it happens or being one step behind everyone else. Being on top of the game is one of the most important aspects of journalism, after all news is exactly what it says on the tin – new.

PocketTweets.com offers users of the iPhone or iPod Touch the perfect platform to use Twitter while they’re out and about. Both pieces of hardware are superior to a normal phone – meaning that Twitter Mobile soon becomes boring, but standard Twitter can be too large to easily view. PocketTweets strikes the perfect medium between small and functional.

PocketTweets has retained all of the functionality of the full website, but packaged it in an iPhone sized box. The layout and presentation are fantastic, making navigation ridiculously simple without being condescending, and because it is a website rather than downloadable software it is completely free to use.

The product of a collaboration between Second Gear – a company specialising in applications for Mac’s and iPhones – and Pixel Implosion who have their fingers in many well known pies including last.fm, PocketTweets is by far the best mobile Twitter application available today.

Reviewed by Gemma Kilby

Find it at:www.pockettweets.com
Easy to use: 5/5
Useful to journalists: 3/5
(Useful to journalists with an iPhone/iPod Touch: 5/5)

Never again will you get lost with Google Street View

2009-04-17T07:32:00.000-07:00

Google has launched its latest technological assault on Great Britain by introducing Street View. The new gizmo allows the world’s main cities to be viewed as if you are actually standing on the street, and will prove to be a very handy tool for journalists, especially those who have a tendency to get lost.

So far, 25 British cities have been photographed using a 360 degree camera, giving you fantastic panoramic views that take route planning to the next level.

As with all Google products, the interface is very simple to use. Once on Street View, just click and drag the orange man to the street you want to view, and then drop him. Streets where Street View is available are lined in blue and once on a street, you can zoom, pan and rotate your way round.

Street View also allows routes and destinations to be emailed to a colleague, and to be embedded onto other websites. It is compatible with the Windows Mobile version of Google Maps, and can be downloaded onto an iPhone, making it very useful for a journalist on the move.

Google have established that eventually they want the whole world to be photographed and included on Street View, but for now it is limited to only the major cities in the world. This means it could be a while before it is useful for journalists covering rural areas or smaller cities.

A downside to the application is that it can be a slow process if your computer isn’t too powerful, or if you use Street View on your mobile. This and the current lack of Street View areas are the only negatives to this useful product.

That said, it is also worthy to note that Street View can become rather addictive!

Reviewed by Brad Clark

Is it free? Yes

Where do I get it? http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?utm_campaign=en_GB&utm_medium=lp&utm_source=en_GB-lp-emea-gb-gns-svn

Easy to use? 5/5

Useful to journalists? 2/5 (4/5 if you get lost easily!)

Rocket post

2009-04-17T06:39:00.000-07:00

Rocket post is a new smart blog editor that lets the power bloggers out there go wild with their blogs. The first thing you notice when using this program is that it is unlike so many other tools or products out there. This product is so simple to use and dose not ever give you that thought that so many other products do that it is so pointless. To let you get a basic understanding on how the program works it seams to mange everything people know about Microsoft and use it in the same format to make a blog ,so lets say if you would open a new email in lets say hotmail it would look the same but you would be opening to Wright a new post. Whilst doing this this is where you notice some of its amazing features in the way that source are linked automatically. Then in the tagging section in the tool bar there is a section with all the most popular website i.e. flickr ,facebook, myspace .

Then when it comes to inserting pictures it starts to shine even more for its ease of use constructs a whole new revolution of ideas where many other websites will be kicking them self for not thing of it first.

The best bit about this product is when using to it to edit you can do it all on the same page with out having to go back and forth previewing what it may look like.

So to sum up

you can get the product from. http://www.anconia.com/rocketpost/

its will cost you about 200 pounds

ease of use is a 4 out of 5

and usefulness is a solid out of 5

by christian hood

Tweetminster - The votes are in

2009-04-17T05:16:00.001-07:00

MP's are the elected voice of the general public, and with the help of Tweetminster, a new service that runs alongside Twitter, it aims to make their voices easier to hear.

Tweetminster is especially useful for journalists who can get up-to-date news and are able to interact and contact Members of Parliament.

Tweetminster allows the general public and journalists to connect with MP's, filter posts by activity party and constituency and streams all the latest posts made by MP's on Twitter.

The service is inspired by a similar US- based service called TweetCongress, which is perhaps better than Tweetminster. TweetCongress includes a map of the United States, graphs and statistics for US politicians using congress. Hopefully, as Tweetminster becomes more widely used, some of the similar services based on Twitter will be added as it permeates the mainstream.

One of the most promising new features of Tweetminster is The Wire, a real time interface that not only shows Tweets as they happen but also gives journalists tools to analyse what political events are hitting the headlines.

To get The Wire all you need is Adobe Air 1.5 and Flasher Player Version 9+. Once these are downloaded you are ready to install the application, which is quick, simple and more importantly free!

Tweetminster is a tool that anyone who is in the habit of Tweeting will be able to get to grips with easily and is definitely one of the more interesting uses of Twitter so far. It is an extremely useful resource for any writer looking to add a political angle to their stories, adding a list of Westminster contacts to everyones address books, who are only a Tweet away.

Tweetminster is easy to use and offers a simple way into the once virtually unaccessible world of UK Politics.

Is it free? YES! Just get yourself a Twitter account to make the most of Tweetminster

Where do it get it? http://tweetminster.co.uk/

Easy to use? 5/5

Useful to journalists? 5/5

Reviewed by Aimee Burdon

Wired Journalists!

2009-04-17T05:15:00.000-07:00

Looking for a networking site which understands the world of journalism? Wired Journalists is a site designed for journalists, which incorporates other networking sites. The difference between Wired and these other sites is that it is completely geared towards journalistic content. Signing up is quick and easy, no long list of questions, just the basics. As well as linking your facebook page, blog and any other personal sites you may have, Wired also offers tutorials in publishing work on the site. There is no way you can get confused. The layout is simple and easy to understand. There are also a wide variety of journalist groups which you can join through the site. However, apart from the fact that it is aimed at journalists, there is no other difference between Wired and other networking sites. This would be great for journalists to keep in touch, arguably this could be done just as effectively on one of the many other sites similar to this. This site has clearly been set up by journalists, for journalists, meaning that they know exactly what appeals to their audience. However, I'm not convinced that this is alternative enough. The site would benefit from more options of news updates from outside sources. One thing that does work well is the 'live chat' option. For a journalist this could be a very useful way to alert others quickly of breaking news. If you are looking to advertise your blog this site would be very effective in doing so. Although it has its functions, I can't help but view this site as a facebook for journalists.

Is it free? Its completely free.
Easy to use? 4
(Mark of 1-5: 5 being easy to use)
Useful to journalists? 4

Reviewed by Liz Quinn

Tinker

2009-04-17T05:05:00.000-07:00

Tinker with Twitter

Hands up - who’s spending more time on Twitter than making the boss’s deadlines?
Thought you were. Well for all you Twitter nuts out there tempt yourself away from that work preventing demon with well, another.

Tinker is the latest micro-blogging platform to hit the web, allowing you to follow real-time conversations from Twitter and Facebook. Casting its social eye over the net Tinker collects what people are talking about and bundles them into a group, allowing you to easily click on a topic you want to talk about.
Requiring a simple log-in system, Tinker is as approachable and as easy to use as any blogging format on the web. Whether you want join in on a topic, create a post, or set up a private room, Tinker if fluid with its delivery.

It all sounds great, but here’s the best part. Tinker not only shows you what people are talking about but it calculates the popularity of the topics in a tool called Tinker Trends, a device which allows users to see breaking news, top events, and track which subjects are growing or decreasing in popularity, all shown in a graph format. It’s an imaginative idea which is truly captures the current fashions in popular culture, a heaven sent tool for any journalist.

In terms of appearance, well, it looks good, using a simple subject bar across the top, with the topics and discussions beneath, comparable to Facebook, but it works.

Launched by Glam Media, Tinker also allows prospective advertisers to advertise within the micro-blogs which are relevant to their product, with the reassurance of an advertising filter so not to associate a possible taboo topic with their product.

All in all, Tinker is an effective micro-blogging format which is sure to keep you in the social click, just don’t let the boss find out.

Reviewed by Tom Jones

Is it free? Yes
Where do I get it? www.tinker.com
Easy to use? 5/5
Useful to journalists? 4/5

TweetDeck

2009-04-17T04:20:00.000-07:00

It seems you can’t surf any website these days without the mention of Twitter.

Twitter is not just a social networking site; businesses are taking full advantage of all the site has to offer.

Everyone, from the BBC to Parliament to the general public, is frequently using Twitter which has meant that the site is fast becoming one of the best tools in a journalist’s box.

TweetDeck is the latest application available to Twitter.

It is an application downloaded to your desktop, so instead of accessing Twitter via internet explorer, now just one little button gives access to everything you need straight away.

All you need is a Twitter account to access the app, and be warned, if you still haven’t got to grips with Twitter you won’t understand TweetDeck.

It is very sleek looking, with everything you need separated into columns such as, tweets, replies and direct messages.

Hovering over the icons explains what they do and there is even an icon that gives tips on how to use TweetDeck to its full potential.

When events happen, such as receiving a direct message, an information box pops up in the corner of your screen to let you know, so it is not necessary to keep checking back.

You can also create groups so you can see only the tweets of the people in that group.

This would be useful to see the information that’s most important, for example, separate groups for friends and for contacts, so news can be seen more clearly.

It is well known that the general public, as well as news outlets, are now using Twitter to publish news as it happens, if journalists can use this to their advantage, minute to minute news will no longer be such a chore.

Is it free? Yes, all you need is a Twitter account (available for free from twitter.com)

Where do I get it? TweetDeck and just click “Download now”

Is it easy to use? 4/5

Is it useful to journalists? 3/5

Reviewed by Charlotte Branson

Zemanta - Cutting out the middle man.

2009-04-17T04:13:00.000-07:00

Image via CrunchBase

The Internet has become a place where everyone can tell his or her story. However producing a post may take up valuable time, when revelations come thick and fast.

Zemanta’s vision is to “help you tell your stories with more insight and more impact – to attract and build your readership.” The more readers and visitors to your page the more successful it is.
When searching through places to visit, users expect information through links, images, illustrations and references and Zemanta makes this easier.

Any web user can download Zemanta’s software and it only takes a few minutes to download. Once downloaded, a small box sits within the address bar. Whenever a new post is opened, click on the small box and Zemanta will start up. It will ‘read’ your text and within seconds, images, links and further reading stories will be published down the sides of the page. It also saves time by creating keywords for the post, allowing search engine optimization.
Zemanta has access to 10,000 news sources and to respect the copyright laws, it only finds and recommends articles and sources that are free to use. So there is no problem using it on the poster’s blog.
Although Zemanta’s tools make it quicker to process a post, there are a few problems that could have been looked at. It was hard to find the extras that the software offered. The ‘how to use’ guide was not visible, so optimizing the use of the software was not easy.
It would of also been useful to allow the users own photos to be imported from the start.
This simple plug in cuts out the middle man and lets anyone create stylish blogs.

Is It Free? - yes
Where Do I Get It? - www.zemanta.com
Easy To Use - 4/5
Useful To Journalists - 3/5

Reviewed by Zoey Mulliner

Zemanta

2009-04-17T03:27:00.000-07:00

In 2008, Zemanta was set up in association with MyBlogLog in order to help amateur bloggers as well as professionals. Zemanta creators claim this online blogging tool will put ‘blogging tasks on autopilot’.

Once the user has inputted their article or blog post, Zemanta gives them a series of pictures that could be of relevance to the post. As well as pictures, Zemanta also gives the user a list of tags and links that could be used and related articles.

This tool can be a big time saver, once the user has inputted their writing it takes less than a minute for Zemanta to find information for all the features. It gives the user the opportunity to discover content they would not find themselves, may not have considered or did not know about. It can also create more traffic to the users page. The fact that users can link to other sites means other sites can then be linked to yours.

However, for lesser-known areas and specific journalism such as music journalism it gives little options for the user. It picks up on the details it can which in the context of the article may not be relevant. When the features cannot be found, particularly with links, Zemanta finds the pages from wikipedia.org, an unreliable source. Although users must choose from the list of features provided which they want to use, when fewer options are given, there is a smaller gap of choice than there would be for an well-known or national story.

Is it free? Yes

Where do I get it? www.zemanta.com

Easy to use? 4/5

Useful to journalists? 3/5

Reviewed by Amy Jones

Spurl.net-Information that is always at your fingertips

2009-04-17T03:25:00.000-07:00

Ever found the perfect quote or link on the internet and thought "I'll find that again tomorrow" only to find it has been removed or you cannot remember where you saw it! Well now you do not have to worry because with Spurl.net you can bookmark all interesting pages you have accessed and store them for future references.

It's great for journalists working on the web as it means you can find links you thought had previously gone forever. A good stating point is uploading bookmarks from any computer you work on then they will be accessible in one place.

Spurl.net is also immensely useful for building up contacts-a vital part of journalists' work. The site is used by thousands of other people and through them you could find more interesting links, gossip, hot lists, recommendations and much more to help you find what you are looking for and get stuck into the next big story or feature.

Spurl.net is owned and operated by Spurl ehf., a privately held company incorporated in Reykjavik, Iceland.

Is it free?-Yes

Where do I get it-http://www.spurl.net/

Easy to use?-3/5

Useful for Journalists?-4/5

Reviewed by Richard Evans

Yahoo Pipes: The Way to Customise RSS Feeds for your Blog

2009-04-17T02:27:00.000-07:00

Yahoo Pipes is an application for setting up and customising RSS feeds for use in blogs.
It works by letting users bring in information from various sources (search engines, web feeds etc) and bringing them together to output as one news feed. Adding the option of being able to filter and sort the output to fit the user’s needs.

How the programme works is that it has different section boxes to input different types of source material onto the central ‘workspace’. Having done that, you can filter and sort the results by ‘piping’ the results from the sources into the various filter and sorting columns available, so the user can fully customise the appropriate results for the RSS feed to output.

Although looking easy to use, it can seem difficult at first for users to work their way around the system. However, the Wikipedia article for the product has links to step-by-step video guides that are essential and break the programme down to the easy-to-use system Yahoo intended.

Once users begin to get used to the system, it is very easy to take an awfully large amount of information and reduce it to the information needed for a specific RSS feed to relate to anyone’s blog. Therefore, I feel it is an almost essential product for online journalists who have a blog they want to put a scrolling news feed on.

On top of that, once a ‘pipe feed’ has been set-up, it can be adjusted at a later date. This means that if the topic of the blog changes slightly, the ‘pipe’ can be altered to reflect it. Plus, it’s completely FREE and there is no limit to the amount of ‘pipes’ that can be setup.

Is it free? Yes
Where do I get it? http://pipes.yahoo.com/
Easy to use? 3/5
Useful to Journalists? 5/5

Reveiwed by Steve Moore

Mezzoman

2009-04-17T01:39:00.000-07:00

Ever needed to meet somebody outside the hustle and bustle of the newsroom for a crucial interview but haven’t a clue where to go? Well Mezzoman could soon change that.
Currently only available in America the virtual map system allows you to type in your location and that of the person you are due to meet and finds a number convenient meting points in-between, saving any awkward phones that you are lost and any arguments that could arise.
Not only does it plot your meeting pint, but also advises of places to eat should you wish to conduct your interview over a spot of lunch.
It’s a more elegant version of Google Earth, but without the cool effects is the brain chid of Marc Zider and Rob Martin. Just a simple map with entry fields for relevant locations of you and the person you are meeting before taking seconds to pin-point a meeting area.
It even gives you the weather conditions for the day should you wish to be interested in such things whilst conducting an interview.
A useful tool for a roving reporter who is out of the office and doesn’t know the area too well and saves time in numerous phone calls and e-mails trying to arrange somewhere in between.
It’s free to use and the site also allows you to view the blog, which seems rather disappointing in its bland word press format.
The only other disappoint is there are no plans yet to bring it across the pond to the UK, but would prosper under the guidance of a Google or Yahoo take over.

Is it free? Yes.
Where do you get it from? http://www.mezzoman.com/index.html (USA) only
Easy to use? 5
Useful to journalists? 4

Review by Lauren Watson

Zemanta - The easy way to blog

2009-04-16T18:55:00.000-07:00

In the world of blogging there is a bit of a buzz surrounding a certain new online tool.

Zemanta claims to accelerate online content production, providing blogs of insight and impact and to an extent it does just that.

Developed in Slovenia and backed by the Accelerator Group, Eden Ventures and Union Square Ventures, Zemanta works as a browser add-on for Internet Explorer and Firefox. Compatible with all the major blogging sites, Wordpress, Blogger and LiveJournal included, once installed it simply sits in your blog sidebar and gets to work as you type.

Working by scanning any user-created copy Zemanta suggests images, links, articles and tags related to the post, the longer the post the more targeted suggestions it comes up with.

With the power to enrich blogs with a simple point and click Zemanta definitely succeeds in being user-friendly. Free for amateur bloggers it is quick and easy to download and no registration is needed, a clear bonus if you're prone to forgetting passwords.

Although the developers claim the tool provides access to ten million possibilities one major downfall is the poor depth of content provided if a post is very specific. Related articles are often out-dated or don't relate at all, images are solely sourced from either Wikipedia or Flickr and suggested links are often just Wikipedia pages.

For the average blogger blogging has never been simpler and there is no doubt that this is the time-saving online tool journalists have been longing for.

Zemanta does take away the hassle of endless researching on Google but journalists may feel they require suggestions more reliable than Wikipedia pages before hailing it a total success.

Is it free? Bloggers yes, professionals US $1200 monthly

Where do I get it? Here

Easy to use? 5/5

Useful to journalists? 3/5

Reviewed by Claire Walker

TweetDeck for Journalists....

2009-04-16T17:14:00.000-07:00

Most people in England today, whether they are journalists or not, use Facebook. In fact, I don't know anyone that doesn't. If you don't, your missing out.

Anyway, TweetDeck plays a huge part in Facebook; it is basically your own personal browser to help keep you in touch and up-to-date with your friends. TweetDeck is also used on Twitter.

You can stay organised and up to date, as TweetDeck shows you everything you want to see at once. It is a more advanced and a "step-up" if you like to Twitter and keeps you in touch with people. However, it can sometimes come across as a bit complicated and can take time to get use to.

The best things about it are that it is quick and as a journalist, deadlines are demanding targets, but with TweetDeck, you will not panic as much and it will help you achieve your workload quicker due to the interaction it applies.

It's main features include:

-Stay up to date with the real time new tweets
-Follow friends, family, workmates and other things by creating groups and events.
-Notifications will mean that you will never miss an important tweet.
-Twitpic helps you view and download videos and photos to your mercy.

It is useful for journalists as it can keep them upto date with what is going on in quick time. Journalists always need to be aware of any quick-happenings, and TweetDeck certainly responds to this.

It is free to download, and although it takes up a little bit of time, it is probably worth doing.

Price: Free
Where do you get it: http://www.tweetdeck.com/beta/
User friendliness: 5/5
Useful to Journalists: 4/5

Tom Brown Year 3 Sports Journalist

Google Analytics

2009-04-16T17:02:00.000-07:00

Everyone who writes a blog would like to know how their readers and subscribers are finding their site. Before, you would just have to hope that all your adverts were working well. That was before Google Analytics came around.

Google Analytics or GA makes it a breeze to find important user data on your website or blogs traffic. The free service allows you to find out how people got to your site, where they are and loads of other essential bits of information.

You can not only view these results but then compare them over different times, different areas, how many times that person has visited; pretty much anything you could want to find out about the people who read your articles can be found on GA.

One of my favourite elements is the Bounce feature. Bounce is the percentage of people who visit your site and leave via the same page. A high bounce rate means that the people who are ‘bouncing’ are not finding your content useful. You can trace how these people are getting to your site and alter that advert.

Despite all the excellent, easy to use features there is one aspect I am not too fond of. The clickable heat maps which show where your readers are from is too detailed. It gives a map of the world with highlighted green areas where your reader are from. But the majority of users will not need to see the map of the world and it would be more efficient to show the data in a different format.

Overall, Google has done a fantastic job in producing Google Analytics. It is a fantastic resource for everyone who runs a blog or a website, with useful, easy to use features.

Price: Free
Where do you get it: http://www.google.com/analytics/index.html
User friendliness: 4/5
Useful to Journalists: 4/5

Chris Breen
Level 3 Sports Journalism

Seesmic

2009-04-16T16:42:00.000-07:00

Running amok in the year of the tweet is the desktop application, jumping on the Twitter bandwagon. Why worry if you're a PC or a Mac but instead consider whether you are really a Tweetdeck fiend or a rebellious Seesmic geek.

(Note advertisement opportunity, Mitchell and Webb.)

Seesmic - the reincarnation of the Twitter app Twhirl that received 1.2 million downloads - is mounting a challenge to Tweetdeck, boasting greater flexibility and access to multiple accounts.

For journalists it helps to redress the work/life balance on Twitter by merging contacts into different user groups. Thus you separate breaking news from celebrity gossip and colleague banter from family announcements.

It's biggest advantage is the clean and unobtrusive appearance on your desktop and the facilitation of status updates by the permanently fixed box. It also allows for shorter links and picture uploads by clicking either tab – it couldn't be simpler.

The search engine is effective and everything seems to fall into place like a filing system - at times it almost feels too neat. And yet bugs exist within; some tabs are confusing in design and attempting to follow other users is at times impossible or painfully slow. It is early days for this aesthetically intelligent app.

Behind Seesmic is entreprenuer Loic Le Meur, a man well informed on how to drive social networking and online communication. He is determined to build the app within the Seesmic community, which perhaps explains the delayed development. Currently it doesn't incorporate Facebook and Twitter as one, whilst video is yet to arrive but is promised soon.

For those antagonised by the laborious nature of updating on Tweetdeck, Seesmic is a viable alternative with a lot of potential. But it has much growing up to do before it can be seriously considered a rival – or a reliable tool for journalists.

By Steve Eveleigh

Is it free? Yes
Where do I get it? http://desktop.seesmic.com/
Easy to use? 3/5
Useful to journalists? 2/5

Soundslides Plus

2009-04-16T16:18:00.000-07:00

Software for Storytellers

From the enthusiastic amateur to the photojournalist, Soundslides Plus allows you to create quality slide presentations that add professionalism and impact to web sites.

Transferring work into Soundslides Plus from Photoshop and other file locations is easy. You can create fade in markers and add music to fit the style of your images. Careful planning is needed when combining images with audio to successfully create a flowing presentation. A good choice in transition effects can make a presentation run smoothly and look professional.

Prior experience using editing software is preferable to take full advantage of all the functions. A clearly set out, handy search option is available, although the sheer volume of material in the manual is daunting. For those with less experience or simply struggling, Multimedia Shooter.com offers a video tutorial to guide you through the many features of Soundslides Plus.

The main disadvantage is that only JPEGs and MP3s can be uploaded which could limit the more advanced user. Zooming in and out of the timeline is not possible but manageable and Joe Weiss and his developers should look to change these with the next software update.

Despite similar web presentation software readily available, Soundslides Plus proves to be simple, reliable and appealing to photojournalists who are looking for really good results at a realistic price.

To tempt you, the free trial takes seconds to download and is simple to use before offering you the chance to buy what is a very handy tool to create smooth and slick slideshows combined into one piece of software.

Is it free?
Free-Yes Demo-No

Where do I get it?
http://soundslides.com

Easy to use
4/5

Useful to Journalists
4/5

Reviewed By Kate Startup

TweetDeck... is it useful for journalists?

2009-04-16T15:15:00.000-07:00

TWITTER is a social messaging facility that allows people to follow what their friends; family, co-workers or celebrities are doing and thinking.
I am a member of Twitter, however, I’m not its biggest fan as it often confuses me. This was where TweetDeck came in handy. TweetDeck is a personal browser used for staying in touch and connecting with contacts across Twitter. Iain Dodsworth the creator claims it shows everything you could want to see at once, helping you stay organised and up to date.
I can see the advantage of using TweetDeck as it is more advanced than the Twitter site. It has features that will be very helpful for a journalist, such as pop-up notifications which appear as an event happens. This makes it a lot easier to keep up to date with happenings at a real-time pace.Other features include columns, which allow a user to make his page personal, picture and video uploading and links to sites such as Stocktwits and Twitscoop which can assist journalist with finding news stories quickly.
For me one of the best features was its ability to link to other social networking sites like Facebook, this will allow a journalist to keep up to date in a simple way, this will help save time in the highly pressure and heavily dead lined industry. The display is a lot bigger than the Twitter site which makes it less confusing to the eye and it’s free.The main barrier is that unless you are a user of Twitter you can’t use it. This means a process of signing up and setting up the pages which can take too long.
After using this tool I can recommend it to journalist as it could help save time and it is easy to use, I did not enjoy using TweetDeck as I feel that other sites like Facebook can do the same quick job in a more interesting and fun way.
But as far as free products go this one is user friendly and seemingly useful within journalism and free-time alike.

Reviewed by Sarah-Jayne Rushton

Facts
Is it free? Yes
Where do I get it? http://www.tweetdeck.com/beta/
Easy to use? 4/5
Useful to journalists? 4/5

Become street wise with Google

2009-04-16T14:26:00.000-07:00

Google has become a huge internet icon and to add to its success, they have brought Google Street View to the UK. The new web application has been the cause of huge controversy surrounding issues of privacy. But the application is a very handy tool for journalists, especially if your sense of direction isn’t too good.

The website allows you to view streets in a virtual set up as if you are actually there from the comfort of your desk. The 360 degree view lets you to pan, zoom and rotate giving you maximum flexibility of exploring the streets.

Not only can you find your way around an unknown place you can also familiarise yourself with the streets even before you have walked across them. This is something that a sat-nav or map can’t do.

Google Street View has a simple interface that makes it quite straightforward to use. You navigate the streets by dragging a small orange man where ever you want to go or by using the arrows on the road. Another handy feature of the application is you can embed the html code of a street to your website or blog.

Only 25 cities across the UK have been photographed by Google and so you can’t view every single street in every single city. Which can get quite annoying but all the major cities of the UK are photographed, including London, Birmingham, Manchester and Edinburgh.

Reviewed by Manpreet Kaur

Is it free: Yes

Where do I get it: http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&tab=wl

East to use: 4/5

Useful to journalists: 3/5

The iPhone - Good for a journalist?

2009-04-16T14:06:00.000-07:00

The iPhone. It's been around for a while, yes. Even the 3G version has. But I'm going to be reviewing it as a journalistic tool.

As a phone, it really does work well. As you can see from the screenshot of the main screen, calendar, SMS, photos, contacts, Facebook, twitter, camera, and maps to hand. I'm sure you can think of many times when a map on a phone (which does a very good job of locating you) would come in very useful.

The mail function is also there. Once set up it will be pushed straight to your phone to read. You can also set up multiple email acccounts.

Twitter is available. The camera is pretty decent. Take a look at this photo from an Al Murray gig:

The photo is not perfect, but it's usable. Its fairly sharp, not too blurred even though it doesn't have spot metering, and quick and easy to use.

The only downsides to this part is that you can't send it over MMS. Yet. You have to email it until Apple release the iPhone 3.0 update, which is set to allow MMS to be sent from an iPhone. Also, no video, which is a major downside.

The calendar is one of the best functions. It has a month view, seen here, so you know what day your doing things, but it can expand into a week and a hourly view. Using a mac, you can update the calendar on either a mac or the iPhone, and it will sync backwards and forwards. Also, you can sync with Mobileme, the Apple online storage and email server. This works with the contacts as well, making it easier to keep a backup of contacts.

Its convenience, but nothing beats a pen and paper, or a laptop.

Is it free: No

Where do i get it: Apple Store, O2, or Carphone Warehouse

Easy to use: 4/5

Useful to Journalists: 5/5

To find out more about the iPhone, and to buy one, please go to the Apple website by clicking here

Reviewed by: Andrew Stuart

i (love) Life ‘09

2009-04-16T13:20:00.000-07:00

Apple’s brainchild, iLife ’09, is a godsend; it’s as simple as that. For any budding online journalist and even those more experienced, this product is well worth investing in (yes, unfortunately there is a cost.)

Whether your field is photography, films or music, there’s something here for everyone. iLife ’09 breaks down into Apple’s most used functionalities – iPhoto, iMovie, iWeb, iDVD – giving an online journalist everything they could possibly need (just about).

Take iPhoto for example, it allows the user to manage and organise their photos through many fields; such as faces, names, places and events. What is more, the iPhoto branch allows the user to improve their images; manipulate them, enhance quality, etc. – perfect for an online photojournalist who may attend up to 3 or 4 different live events each week and could lose track of where they’ve been and who they’ve seen.

(Screen grab of iPhoto - categorising by faces)

The iWeb part of the iLife ’09 software is also a fantastic tool for any online journalist wishing to build and design a website. There are ready-to-go photos, music, widgets and text all available to use as well as a choice of templates, backgrounds and fonts. You can even use the simple-step Precision Editor to give your website that professional edge.

It’s quite like having your own personal web-design builder minus the costly fee with the added bonus of seeing the finished website. Again, the iWeb tool is perfect for journalists – it allows you to build your website as and when you please and with its easy-to-use functions, it’s great for all of those on the go.

The only down-side to this product is if you aren’t a seasoned Apple Mac user. Everything can be quite hard to master at first but with practice comes perfection...

Then, after a long day building that new website or organising your photo library (or equally as a mid-break distraction), kick back and make some music with iGarageband – it just has to be done.

Cost: £69rrp (shop around on the internet and you’ll find it cheaper: ahem, ~~Amazon~~).
Where do I get my hands on it? Here
Like taking an Apple from a baby? 4/5
“I’m a journo, should I get it?” 5/5

Reviewed by Adam Mallaby

Mendeley - Essential tool for journalist.

2009-04-16T12:56:00.000-07:00

Mendeley is a free academic software for managing and sharing research papers.

Mendeley is being described as the Lastfm for research. It is extremely useful to journalist, it enables you to find research papers on a number of different subjects you can write and report on. It is easy to find on the web and to download, Windows, Mac and Linux are the supported systems, so it fundamentally available to everyone and if you like the application you can sign up for the full version. There is a desktop and a web component version.

The software you can download to your computer is ‘Mendeley desktop’. One of its features is to include automatic extraction of metadata and cited references in order to create a personalized library database along with a collaborative annotation system.

When you import your research papers, Mendeley Desktop will try to automatically extract the metadata – the authors, journal, title, etc., basically helping you set up a digital library.
This software its very helpful to journalist because it enables you to connect with other researchers, and to also create a public profile where you can see academic activities such as conferences and new publications. This is very helpful for journalist because they can find out about the latest events going on.

Mendeley is easy to use and you do not have to me a genius to use the application, it is very straightforward and a new essential to a journalist.

Is it free? Yes, Mendeley Desktop is free.
Where do I get it? Here
Easy to use? 3/5
Usefulness to journalist? 4/5
Reviewed By Charlotte McKenzie

Yahoo Pipes

2009-04-16T12:14:00.000-07:00

Yahoo Pipes is a web based application from Yahoo online services that is set up to provide you with the service of editing and translating news feeds across the web, using various sources like search engines, web feeds and pages.

Pipes were released to the public on the 7^th February 2007 created by Pasha Sadri, Ed Ho, Jonathan Trevor, Kevin Cheng and Daniel Raffel of Yahoo.

The site works by letting users PIPE information from different sources and web pages which then lets you set up rules which allows you to control the content on the feeds, so you can refine your feeds to exactly what you want, you can do this by using the tools on the side of the application.

Although Pipes can seem a little hard to use at first, the site gives you an easy step-to-step guide to build your own pipes and how to publish the pipes.

This tool can prove to be essential and useful if you are an online journalist, as it can update you with the kind of news you want to know and you can mix around the news and feeds to keep you in touch with the news as it happens.

You can retrieve the news you want by entering any websites URL and it helps you manage the large amount of news that is on the site.

There is no price to pay for this product, as it is completely free and there is no limit to how many pipes you do. Once you have visited the site and used the useful tips to help you make your pipe and publish it, you will soon get the hang of the tools and the benefits it carries with it.

Is it free? Yes

Where do I get it from? http://pipes.yahoo.com/pipes/

Easy to use? 3/5

Useful to Journalists? 4/5

Reviewed by Kate Hewitt-Ward

Tweetminster

2009-04-16T11:26:00.000-07:00

Tweetminster is a relatively new website which brings together various Parliamentary-based updates members of Parliament and others have posted on microblogging site Twitter. It has a short page for each serving Member of Parliament and Prospective Parliamentary Candidate and displays information on their constituency, follower count, how many followers they have and the number of times they've tweeted, as well as their latest update and a tag cloud of their most-tweeted words:

The home page at Tweetminster.co.uk has various panels including a stream of the latest tweets by users it covers, and a Tweetometer gauge which you can use to compare two hot topics on Twitter and see which one comes out with the most results. It's easy to use and presented clearly, allowing journalists to find the information they need fast.

The site recently launched its own application for users to download. Visually it looks very similar to the Twitter client TweetDeck and may even share a code base with it. Both were developed on Adobe's AIR Platform, meaning they are cross-platform, running on the Windows, Mac and Linux operating systems. It's an ideal way to get updated information - similar to "push email" on a BlackBerry - instead of constantly refreshing the web page.

Tweetminster tries to offer something beyond simply rounding up all the Members and prospective candidates who use Twitter, with polls, hot topic indicators and a breakdown by party of MPs. It even lists members who aren't tweeting yet, with links to political site WriteToThem.com where one can contact an MP and encourage them to connect with voters via Twitter.

The "About us" page notes that it was inspired by Tweet Congress - a site for the US Congress.

Is it free? Yes

Where do I get it? Tweetminster.co.uk

Easy to use? 5/5

Useful to journalists? 4/5

Tweetminster was reviewed by Gary Kirk.

To Tweet or not to Tweet

2009-04-16T11:19:00.000-07:00

To Tweet or not to Tweet

After the huge success of Twitter, a new web application has been launched.

TweetDeck is a browser that helps you keep in touch with what's happening now.

It lets you connect with people from Twitter, Facebook and other networking sites all in one place. TweetDeck lets you see everything, all at once, making it easier to stay up to date and organised.

TweetDeck has many other useful features. You can update new posts straight onto Twitter and see what new 'tweets' your contacts have uploaded. There are columns for you to design your own personal dashboard and options to create groups so that it's easier to follow your friends, colleagues and even celebrities.

The application works in Real time so that everything you search and view is up to date, and so you don't miss anything important, notifications appear in front of you to let you know the latest feed or post. This also means you can view and manage your direct messages and conversations.

It is a great tool for Journalists because they can stay up to date with all the latest breaking news and feeds all in one place. It is linked to other networking sites making it easier to stay connected all at once with collegues and business's instead of having to open different Internet windows and flicking from one to the other and because it is in Real time you are never behind on the news or important updates.

The application is easy to use and download. Search for TweetDeck and simply click the download button and within minutes it's done. It is compatible with Microsoft Windows, Linux and Mac OS X. To make things even simpler there is an option that allows you to save your user name and password. This means that TweetDeck remembers who you are and automatically logs you in straight away.

Overall this product is 'tweeting' good. TweetDeck is not only easy and free to download but is simple to use and maintain. I would recommend this application to anyone who wants to stay up to date with the latest news and feeds all in one place, all at the same time.

Fact File:

Is it free? Yes

Where do I get it? www.tweetdeck.com/beta

Easy to use? 5/5

Useful to Journalists: 4/5

Reviewed by: Laura Brown

iMacros - making favourites easy.

2009-04-16T10:54:00.000-07:00

Every time you open a site for research, fill out a massive form, remember passwords or upload and download a file, don’t you wish there was something that would do it all for you?
Well, now there is.
iMacros is an ingenious little extension originally created for iMacros is the ability to record and replay any actions made when signed into the application.
Basically this means that once you have hit that record button, anything you open up and sign into or look for will be recorded into its database. So once you have hit stop and saved it, you only have to go to the favourites section and it is already done for you.
Not only does this save you countless boring minutes you could be finding that front page story, but it is also available to share.
You can embed the code and put it in your statuses on social networking sites or send it to colleagues, they can then go into whatever it is you signed in for or researched.
After downloading this application I was addicted to making everything super organised: with a few clicks you can make ‘super favourites’: all the sites to each section you look after in one press of a button: from politic to entertainment. The possibilities are endless.
There are also a myriad of other uses for iMacros: you can not only “scrape” the web for information: you can also automate the uploading and downloading of files. The applications surpass numerous.
Being a journalist is helped exponentially by good research skills, and this tool is the instrument to get you that little bit closer.

Is it free? Yes

Where do I get it? http://www.iopus.com/imacros

Easy to use? 4/5

Usefulness to Journalists? 4/5

Reviewed by Hannah Payne

LG Voyager Verizon – A Journalist’s New Best Friend?

2009-04-16T09:16:00.000-07:00

The LG VX10000 Voyager mobile phone offers users a range of tools, all of which are integral to the everyday life of a journalist.

The Voyager includes a 2 mega-pixel camera and camcorder which takes good quality photos compared to other phones in similar price ranges. The phone is has has no internal memory, but a SD Card port can be used.

A voice recorder which is said, available memory depending, to record up to an hour is also available which also records up to five minutes of a phone call..

The Voyager operates using a touch screen similar to the i-Phone but unlike the i-Phone, its VibeTouch technology provides a little vibration as feedback. It also opens up like a clam shell to reveal a full QWERTY keyboard for instant messaging, e-mail and text messaging.

A built in web browser is also standard which displays full web pages at 3G speeds, so you are always connected to the internet.

It also offers a music player which plays mp3 files and many others. This combined with the inbuilt stereo speakers means you can playback any recordings you make or receive to a high quality.

Extra features such as a GPS receiver and navigation service, a Bluetooth connection and V Cast Mobile TV, which gives you 8 channels to watch for an extra some of money a month, are available.

The battery life lasts around 4 hours and 38 minutes which is not ideal for journalists on the go, so taking a mobile charger is advised.

The LG Voyager Smart phone is probably the biggest threat to the i-Phone so far, and with a sleeker design, more features and being 0.1 ounces lighter than the i-Phone, it could well be even better.

Is it free?
Cost varies on your network supplier and your contract. Prices start at around $200.

Where do I get it?
The Voyager is available through Verizon in America, but isn’t widely available in the UK yet. However it’s available through several online retailers such as Amazon. Researching is recommended.

Easy to Use?
4/5

Useful to Journalists?
5/5

Review by Jay Seville

Tilt shift your photos

2009-04-16T08:34:00.000-07:00

The key to keeping your audience interested is to provide them with something interesting to look at. Not every journalist knows how to edit photo's using photoshop which is where tilt shift maker comes in.

Tilt shift maker makes everyday photographs look like miniature scale models by blurring selected areas of the photo to distort the scale. And the good news is that it's completely free.

The website is really easy to use. You simply upload a photo onto the site and then you're ready to go. User's can then select the size and position of the area that they want to be in focus.

User's can also adjust the speed and strength of the artificial blur. At any point you can see a preview of the photo so it isn't done with blind faith.

When you're happy with what you've created you can download it to your hard drive or upload it to flickr, making it ideal for freelances looking to share their work.

Tilt shift maker doesn't have to be used to just for making photo's look like models. By experimenting with different effects it can be used just as a way to make the viewer focus on one particular point.

In the past a photographer would have to use a special lens to create a tilt shift photo but this website gives those without the access to such expensive equipment the opportunity to experiment with new techniques.

Is it free? yes

Where do I get it? http://tiltshiftmaker.com/

Easy to use? 5/5

Useful to journalists? 3/5

Reviewed by George Woodward

Blag your Blog - The Zemanta Way

2009-04-16T07:09:00.000-07:00

Whilst the world and it's wife seem to have the blogging itch, not everybody seems to be making the most out of their sites, take this little gem for instance...

However, if you're looking for less Borat, and more boardroom, then look no further than the clever Zemanta.

It's main function is to clean up those sloppy blogs, and really bring them to life - without the hassle of having to source your own pictures and links.

Some might call it lazy, but others (as in those who don't fancy spending the next three hours finding the perfect copyright free picture) call it genius.

YouTube Video Resizer MySpace Layouts MySpace Codes MySpace Backgrounds

For the blogger on the go, it's important to be able to get your point across and when you're drowning in a sea of cloned blogs, it doesn't take long for your site to pail into insignificance.

Enter Zemanta, a "simple point and click enrichment of your blog posts and emails."

Basically you type in your story, and Zemanta does all the hard work, suggesting tags, links, related articles and much more.

Integrating content from sites such as Wikepedia, YouTube and Myspace, the photos and suggested content may not quite be the most reliable information on the web, so some self editing is advisable.

But if you're still not convinced by Zemanta, then have a go at the demo and insert your own content, maybe a previous blog post, and see how your two minutes of work suddenly look professional and well planned.

The good thing is, Zemanta is pretty user friendly, and can be used with Wordpress, Blogger, Livejournal and Myspace, and there's even an extension for Firefox, creating maximum work with minimum effort.

So if you want to join the lazy brigade then this is the perfect tool for you, although at a whopping $1,200 a month for the professional upgrade you should probably stick with the free blogger section as it seems to do the same thing anyway.

By Lyndsey Oliver

IS IT FREE? Free for bloggers or $1,200 monthly for professionals
WHERE DO I GET IT? http://www.zemanta.com/
EASY TO USE? 5/5
USEFUL TO JOURNALISTS? 5/5

TweetDeck: Stay in Touch

2009-04-16T07:04:00.000-07:00

We are living in a world where everything is happening fast. Each single minute important decisions are made, each minute crucial information is exchanged. Staying up-to-date is especially vital for people whose job it is to search for and deliver the news to the others, for journalists, and modern technology is there at their service to enable them to get to the sources of information that they need faster and more easily. At the same time, however, it might be a truely difficult task to follow so many various services that are out there in the cyberspace just to stay in touch with all the right people. That is when Tweetdeck, a new Twitter desktop client written in Adobe Air, comes in handy.

Created by Iain Dodsworth, Tweetdeck allows one to stay informed on what is happening at the moment and to share the information with other users in the network. What’s important, it presents all the news and updates in an attractive and easily managable way (one can for example choose how many columns should there be on the screen and with what contents), so that it decreases the risk of getting lost in the information jungle. User friendly interface, great functionality and direct connection to other services like Facebook make Tweetdeck stand out from other applications of its type, such as Tototl or Syrinx, and become an extremely useful tool for everyone willing to stay in touch with the world.

Cost: free

Website: http://www.tweetdeck.com/beta/

Easy to use: 4/5

Useful to journalists: 5/5

Reviewed by: Kalina Swirko

A review of Soundslides plus.

2009-04-16T06:06:00.001-07:00

Review of Soundslides plus.

Showcasing your snaps can be frustrating and time consuming. Soundslides provide the perfect solution. This production tool helps you collaborate your photos and audio all in one tight package.

Created to help photojournalists and artists alike. The basic idea is to help create a personal slideshow that you can tailor to your needs.

This production tool speeds up the tedious selection and alteration of photographs that other programmes offer. It is ideal to create a showreel of your own work or to promote a product or person.

To get started first download the version suitable for your computer. It will take a matter of minutes. When downloaded you can begin construction straight away. The first hurdle is the programme will ask you to register as it only allows a demo to be downloaded. The full version will cost you £47 but allows full access to the tools.

If you’re a technophobe stay away from this product. After the easy part of selecting and uploading images. You need to ensure that audio is in Mp3 format in order to work. Now the technical work begins. For a rookie the numerous tabs and boxes could be confusing. After several attempts of clicking buttons and dragging photographs something that represents a slideshow presents it’s self.

Despite the numerous pitfalls the end result is something that looks quite professional and mixes well together.

Reviewed by Kirsty J Bourne

Is it free? Demo-yes Full-no
Where do I get it? http://soundslides.com
Easy to use? 3/5
Useful to journalists? 3/5

LaterLoop - Bookmarking made easy!

2009-04-16T05:50:00.000-07:00

Research for journalists is constant, there are never enough hours in the day to check every fact that you would like to. Now you can dazzle your boss and your interviewees by the extent of your knowledge with Laterloop.

Laterloop provides an online storage system for archiving links and pages that you’ve seen but haven’t had the chance to read. It makes them accessible both online and off via PC and mobile phone.

Gone are the days of keeping open multiple tabs and trawling though bookmarks for items you’ve found and want to read later. Laterloop makes bookmarking simple and organised. With one click you can store pages in your account, download them to read offline or access them from your mobile to read whilst on your travels.

The provision of a handy toolbar button means that you don’t even have to access the site to save pages. With no annoying pop-ups you can save a page quickly and easily without interferrance.

In built extensions for use with Firefox, Internet Explorer and Safari just makes this app more appealing. You also have the option of publishing your recently stored and read items via the laterloop website so others can check out your reading list, comment and make recommendations.

The site is currently accessible on most mobile handsets and doesn’t limit itself to the Iphone as many recent online tools have done.

Originally developed to run alongside sharing site Mento, German creator Greg Hochmuth decided to simplify and create Laterloop as an app in its own right. Launched at a similar time to Google Apps Engine it is fast becoming the staple bookmarker of the web-developing world.

Is it free? Yes

Where do I get it? http://www.laterloop.com/

Easy to use? 5/5

Useful for Journalist? 5/5

Reviewed by: Claire Baines

Tweetminister-A key tool for the modern Journalist

2009-04-16T05:14:00.000-07:00

THE quality and quantity of the Journalists’ ‘belt of tools’ distinguishes the professional from the amateur. For the modern Journalist, investing in their tools is investing in their career- the better the tool the better the career. Tools like a good eye for stories, resourcefulness and up to date technology are all key essentials but the most important tool a journalist can have is the contacts book. Fast paced evolving technology has been a huge help to today’s reporter but without decent contacts and up to date information the story would simply not exist.

Young graduates in particular are shelving potential stories because they do not have the contacts to back it up. Enter a journalist's dream tool like Tweetminister. An online tool created to allow anyone from the public to the working journalist to follow or take part in UK politics. The tool not only creates the opportunity to gather contacts, but encourages the relationship and communication between the media and the government.

One of its applications, TweetMinster Wire pulls political content from Twitter which means you can track conversations, connect and engage with UK politics on the issues that matter. Here you'll be able to analyse conversations, discover the hot topics and follow what politicians are talking about directly without having to go door knocking. For free, you also have access to instant livestreams of MPs and major Parties that Tweet ASWELL as the tool to view and compare topics and identify trends in UK politics from the real life conversations. Tweetminister runs on a simple format of Adobe Air 1.5 runtime and Flash Player version 9+, download these and you’re ready to go with the quick, simple and free installation of the programme.

“When TweetMinster launched in December (08) there were 5 Members of Parliament using Twitter... there are now 44 MPs using the service... that’s 7% of parliament.”

Is it free? Free like the best things in life...
Where do I get it? http://www.tweetminister.co.uk/
Easy to use? 5/5
Useful to journalists? 5/5
Reviewed by Michelle Yeomans

Zemanta - The Lowdown

2009-04-16T04:59:00.000-07:00

Over the last few years, blogging has become a phenomenon. Anyone can create their own blog, whether they are for work or pleasure.

But with the popularity of the trend hitting great levels - hundreds of new blogs are created on a daily basis – it can be difficult to make your posts stand out from the crowd.

This is where Zemanta comes in. Created in Slovenia, the product allows even the most basic of blogs to flourish.

Once a post is created, simply allow Zemanta to scan its content. Within moments, it will suggest hundreds of images, articles and keywords relevant to the post, saving the user time and effort, while giving your blog that something extra. With all the hard work done for you, blogging has never been simpler.

With more than five million pictures and in excess of five million articles, Zemanta offers its users over ten million different ways of being creative, allowing you to develop your writing and enhance your readership at the same time.

Reliability is not an issue, as Zemanta only suggests content that is free of any copyright issues, allowing you to write at will.

The program is available as a free download from the homepage, and is it works on many blogging sites, including Blogger, Wordpress and LiveJournal. Zemanta is also supported by popular social networking sites Facebook and Twitter.

Thanks to its time saving and user-friendliness, Zemanta has all the signs of becoming a highly popular online tool for journalists, even in its infancy.

Is it free? Free for bloggers, $1,200 for professional use
Where do I get it? http://www.zemanta.com/
Easy to use? 5/5
Useful to journalists? 5/5

Reviewed by David Bell

Online Journalism Tool Review: TweetDeck

2009-04-16T04:01:00.001-07:00

TweetDeck is a fast, easy and unique application that allows the user to experience both twitter and facebook.

It takes the best parts of both, such as status updates and the twitscoop and brings them together to make one useful tool for journalists. This enables them to manage a large society of contacts and to easily make connections with people across the world, without opening an excess of windows in the internet browser.

Tweet Deck’s innovative design offers the journalist the ability to group friends into appropriate fields which means that it will become even quicker to find a contact, which is essential for the busy schedule of the journalist.

Iain Dodsworth, the creator of TweetDeck, said, in a you tube interview, "I’ve just produced an app which takes that stream and separates it out into lots of mini streams… it’s a full on get drawn into it kind of app."

However, TweetDeck is a beta version at the moment which means that it might be slightly temperamental. It lacks tools from the facebook application and seems to focus more on twitter. It could maybe include wall posts from facebook which would give more volume to TweetDeck. If deleting a column of information, such as Twitscoop, it does not allow the information to come back if the user decides they need it.

Despite this, it can provide the journalist with an easy and fast way to communicate with their contacts making journalistic life easier.

TweetDeck= Free
Where From? = www.tweetdeck.com/beta
Ease of use=4/5
Useful to journalists? =4/5

Reviewed By: Andrew Pereira

Zementa: Ultimate time saver

2009-04-15T19:26:00.000-07:00

Introducing Zemanta. Any journalist's new best friend and ultimate time saver. The vision? To help you tell your stories with more insight and impact. How? By suggesting content related to your articles in real-time, while you type.

The blogging phenomenon has taken cyberspace by storm and it is making it near impossible to make your blog stand out from the crowd. Zemanta, created in Slovenia, can take your posts from boring to brilliant in an instant.

As users upload their articles to the internet, Zemanta suggests a series of pictures, tags and links to further enhance it. It enables journalists to discover content they may never have considered without even having to look for it themselves. It's biggest achievement is that it can help even the most illiterate of journalists produce quality, publishable work on the internet.

Zemanta boasts incredible user friendliness and currently works as a browser add-on for both Internet Explorer and Firefox. After the simple installation process is complete, Zemanta sits neatly in your sidebar and gets to work as you type. It is compatible with most major blogging sites such as Wordpress and Blogspot.

Zemanta is highly reliable, suggesting only content free of any copyright issues, however, the tool is not without it's problems. It finds many of it's pages through Wikipedia which any journalist worth their salt will know is unreliable, so some self-editing is required.

Also, if your blog is very specific, it has been found that Zemanta can provide a fairly poor depth of content. On top of all this, many articles are out-dated and links often no longer work.

On the whole, however, Zemanta does a brilliant job. It does the hard work for you and enriches your blog while removing the hassle of endless Google searches. Some are calling it lazy, others are deeming it genius...

Try this demo to see for yourself how your work can be enhanced – www.zemanta.com/demo

Is it free?: For bloggers – yes. For professionals – no.
Where do I get it?: http://www.zemanta.com/
Easy to use?: 5/5
Useful to journalists?: 3/5

Reviewed by Kayley Marchant

"Mendeley = Last.fm for research"

2009-04-15T12:46:00.000-07:00

Winner of the Plugg Start-Ups Rally 2009, Mendeley is a free piece of academic software that allows users to manage and share PDFs both on a desktop and online. Think of it as a researcher's iTunes - and a must-have for journalists. The company was founded by a trio of young academics who have aptly described Mendeley as the “Last.fm for research”.

It works by extracting data such as metadata, keywords and cited references from PDF files, which you literally drag and drop onto Medeley Desktop, enabling the user to quickly search the texts using these filters. Even more useful is that the user can search using personally-created tags, too.

The software also allows the user to share their library with anyone they choose by simply creating a shared group and inviting members. Also accessible online, the user can back up and synchronize their digital library across multiple computers with an account as easy to use as email.

The obvious set-back with this software would be not having enough documents in your library, however, once connected with other users, this soon improves. It also takes a while to import PDFs but this is to be expected as it is extracting data at the same time.

The software is compatible with Windows, Mac and Linux, and works with all major web browsers. Find out more about the company at Mendeley.com.

Is it free? YES

Where do I get it? http://www.mendeley.com/

Easy to use? 5/5

Useful to journalists? 4/5

Reviewed by Shelly Elcock

Tweetminster – The Lowdown

2009-04-15T12:00:00.000-07:00

Tweetminster Wire has been hailed as the “social Bloomberg for UK Politics;” a desktop application that means one can track conversations, follow MPs and Parliamentary Candidates and connect with UK politics in real time, all from the comfort of the sofa.

The application requires Adobe Air 1.5 runtime and Flash Player version 9+, so once those are downloaded you’re ready to go with the quick, simple and free installation of the programme.

The user interface can be slightly intimidating at first, what with the numerous tabs at the top and the political news flashing up live, but as most users will probably be used to Twitter, they will more than likely be adjusted to keeping up with the feeds.

Being a client of Twitter, means that the application can take all relevant content from the website, including live feeds from the major political parties, that it allows you to still tweet, retweet, follow and direct message at your every whim, but that it as the added bonus of continually updating automatically with new features to keep the web-based journalism generation right at the tip of the technological iceberg.

One of Tweetminster’s positive points is it’s usage for non-professional bloggers, because in putting the news on politics directly on the web, it allows one to follow in real time, finding out what’s going on as it happens, and also gives everyone the chance to have their say and be heard.

A modern technological machine for getting UK politics to make more of an impact to the public, Tweetminster provides web-journalists with up-to-date news, contact with MPs and Parliamentary Candidates, whilst also offering, “better communication between voters and elected representatives.”

Fact List:

Is it free? – Yes indeed

Where can I get it? – http://tweetminster.co.uk/pages/wire

Easy to Use? – 5/5

Useful to Journalists? – 4/5

Reviewed by Bianca Lee

I Can Keep My Eye On You With The Mini Spy Camcorder!

2009-04-15T09:44:00.000-07:00

Being an undercover journalist does restrict you in being able to capture footage of your subject without being seen.
This recording device is ideal for freelance journalists who want to get started into the world of undercover journalism.

The Mini Spy can claim to be possibly the smallest video recording device the world of journalism has ever seen. With its slim line, black casing it can fit into small areas, especially a shirt pocket, which is ideal to record someone discreetly.

The great thing about the Mini Spy is exactly in its name…its MINI! It will not cause a hindrance when you try to record someone or something, whether that is at a party or leaving it in the house to keep an eye on your kids.

Being compact in its figure gives the Mini Spy an advantage of being able to store itself easily into any area. It only weighs 18g and has a pocket clip attached so it’s firmly in place and does not move about.

The product itself comes with a 128MB Micro Card to get you started off and have a little play around with the product. However if you are looking at doing some serious journalism you will need to purchase a Micro SD or T-Flash card.

The downside is that the device can only currently handle up to 2GB worth of recording, although it does record up to 4 hours per charge.

It has a rechargeable battery and it comes provided with a USB charge, so if you’re on the move just plug it into your laptop and your ready go!

The Mini Spy Camcorder will set you back £129.95p and is available from http://www.expertverdict.com/

Is it easy to use?

4/5

Is it useful to journalists?

5/5

Reviewed By

Zubeda Mir

Zemanta - For Fast, Efficient Blogging

2009-04-15T08:49:00.000-07:00

We live in a web-based generation of journalism where, thanks to the medium of blogging, everyone is a journalist, and with the help of Zemanta, even the most computer illiterate person can get quality, publishable and aesthetic work on the internet.

Serious journalists will generally avoid writing a blog, but for the rest of the generation obsessed with this phenomenon, this tool produces great results in seconds.

From more than five million pictures and articles, Zemanta suggests tags, provides you with website links and recommends photographs relevant for your blog while taking care of the copyright, all based on the content of your posts.

Everything about this tool is efficient. Zemanta is downloadable in a matter of minutes, provides you with appropriate content in seconds and requires very little training time at all. By doing the content search for you, all you have to do is watch in amazement.

With the amount of bloggers worldwide reaching tens of millions, the creators of Zemanta, a Slovenian-based product, have created a tool so incredibly user-friendly that blogging has never been easier.

The format for professionals seems a waste at US$1,200 when the free version should supply you with your everyday blogging needs.

However, the free downloadable format is compatible with most blogging and social networking sites, such as Wordpress, Blogger, Myspace and Facebook.

In a generation where we want everything on demand, Zemanta delivers this by putting all the content on a plate for you.

Is it free? Bloggers – Yes ; Professionals - US$1,200
Where do I get it? http://www.zemanta.com/
Easy to use? 5/5
Useful to journalists? 5/5

By Stuart Lewis

Apple I-Phone, help or hindrance ?

2009-04-15T08:23:00.000-07:00

On the surface the I-Phone 3G from Apple looks essential for any journalist. To stay ahead of the game in journalism you need to have access to the best technology available, and whilst the I-phone is currently the must have gadget on the market; it is not the all in one tool many are proclaiming it to be.

This June the version 3.0 software update will become available meaning even more applications will be at I-Phone users disposal. So far Journalists who own Apple's product have access to 25,000 apps and can surf the web easily and quickly. Furthermore any audio or video on the Internet can be watched immediately, high quality browsing capabilities allowing journalists on the move to update websites, blog and send/receive email. However the most tantalising feature for Journalists is the Maps with GPS application. Wherever your reporting takes you this will come in handy with the ability to find your current location, give satellite navigation directions and even warn you of traffic congestion.

Sadly, not all the applications are as useful to journalists as the above mentioned, and some will leave reporters frustrated beyond belief. For example, as well as being a phone, the tool allows users to record and post audio. Despite this, the phone is incapable of recording phone conversations and therefore interviews, even if the owner has the audio recording application installed. Even more ridiculous is the fact the I-Phone does not come with a video camera. Video taking phones is nothing new, it would be disappointing to have low quality video for a journalist but for this feature to be missing all together, is unforgivable.

Therefore, it would seem the best phone for Journalists is not the Apple I-Phone. I would recommend the Nokia N82. Whilst it does not have as many applications as the I-Phone, it still provides a good GPS and most importantly high quality photo and video capturing and sharing capability. The I-Phone is a top quality product but for journalists who find themselves thrown into a story the handset could prove either a help or a hindrance depending on the situation.

Is it free ?

No. Handests cost £340 (8gb) and £390 (16gb) on pay as you go

Where do i get it ?

Direct from Apple, or from either O2 or The Carphone Warehouse

Easy to use ?

4/5

Useful for journalists ?

3/5

reviewed by Joe Cuffaro

Final Cut express 4

2009-04-15T08:20:00.000-07:00

The latest version of the sized down Final Cut Pro has just launched. As before, it features everything the former versions offers. Additionally it also supports the latest AVCHD cameras.

Online journalists are nowadays required to not just write and take pictures, out also being able to produce podcasts and videos. Final Cut Express is said to be for beginners. But it is now far more than that. It makes up for iMovies shortcomings as well as catering to more advanced editing needs.

Apple has removed the Soundtrack application and limited the included styles of Live Type. Final Cut Pro files still can’t be opened in Express. However, Final Cut express offers all the applications a professional editing needs and is just as easy to use as iMovie. Being able to capture footage from tapeless camcorders that store footage on memory cards, small DVD discs or build-in hard disk in the Advanced Video Codec High Definition format is a very useful feature.

The downfall is final cut works best on the latest Mac, OS X 10.4.10. Windows users have to accept that they cannot use Final Cut Express to its full extend. The price is reasonable with around £111.55 and a definite alternative to the £600 expensive Final Cut Pro. You can get Final cut through Apple directly or most online stores.
All together Final Cut Express 4 deserves 4 out of 5 points because of its compatible with PCs.

• Price: £111.55 through Amazon
• Package contains Final Cut Express, Live Type 2 and Live Type content
• Editing of AVCHD, HDV and DV –NTSC and PAL in single Timeline for Macs with an Intel processor
• Support for FxPlug third party plug-ins
• Ability to import iMovie ’08 projects

Reviewed by Dominique Roch

Zemanta - Blogging made easy

2009-04-15T08:19:00.002-07:00

Sometimes it can feel like finding pictures, links, or related stories for your blog posts can take longer than actually writing them, but that could all become a thing of the past thanks to ‘Zemanta’.

Instead of trawling through the depths of the Internet, Zemanta has revolutionised the process by developing a programme that automatically suggests appropriate multimedia to use in your blog or web page.

The Zemanta team, who emerged from Slovenia of all places, have developed the software as a plugin for Internet Explorer or Firefox so it always runs in the background and doesn’t require complicated installations.

A free download version is available from the Zemanta website to see for yourself how simple and useful this tool is to use. It really is a seamless piece of software, which even the most inexperienced user will find straightforward.

After just a few seconds of scanning your post, Zemanta will suggest literally hundreds of ways to turn a dull and boring blog into an exciting and eye catching page, in just a few clicks of a mouse.

Very rarely does it suggest totally inappropriate files, there will always be something that you can use, however, professional users may feel there is room for a little more depth in the searches and suggestions.

But it’s clear that as this young project develops it could become a vital time saving tool in the online journalism world.

Compatible with all the major blogging sites like Blogger and Wordpress as well as social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, Zemanta really is a versatile product that anyone can use.

The facts:

Is it free? Free to bloggers, $1,200 per month for professional use
Where do I get it? zemanta.com
Ease of use? 5/5
Useful to journalists? 4/5

Reviewed by Stuart Jones

Zemanta

2009-04-15T08:11:00.000-07:00

In recent years, blogging has become more and more popular.

Whether its a journalist, a professional or just an amateur writing for the fun of it, Zemanta can really help bloggers to turn a grim post into one that glitters.

It has emerged from Slovenia, and is supported by Eden Ventures, Union Square Ventures and the Accelerator Group. Their idea was to develop software that would enrich blog posts using tags, hyperlinks, photos and other related articles.

The program draws its suggestions from a large number of media sources, and users won't need to worry about getting into legal difficulties, because Zemanta only recommend content that can be used freely. It gives access to over five million pictures and more than five million articles. Giving over ten million creative possibilities.

Rather than googling, just start typing. Zemanta looks at the content and suggests links, images and tags that are relevant. Something which a lot of bloggers would no doubt kill for. In a manner of speaking of course.

Its free, and easy to download, and it can be used on many blogging platforms, such as Blogger (as above), Typepad and Wordpress. But unfortunately for Safari users, it's only supported by Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer at the moment.

It's only other flaw seems to be that it will only recognise English.

Depsite these minor letdowns, Zemanta has the capacity to add real depth and character to blog posts and can make a post more vibrant and professional. So don't spend time searching for content, let Zemanata do the legwork.

Is it free? Yes
Where do I get it from? http://www.zemanta.com/
Easy to use? 5/5
Useful to journalists? 4/5

Reviewed by Mark Astley

Yahoo Pipes

2009-04-15T07:29:00.000-07:00

Yahoo Pipes is a web application from Yahoo that lets you mix web feeds, web pages and other services. The website lets users ‘pipe’ information from different sources and then filter the content.
Yahoo Pipes was released in beta on the 7th of February 2007. It was made by Pasha Sadri, Ed Ho, Jonathan Trevor, Kevin Cheng and Daniel Raffel of Yahoo.

Yahoo Pipes is useful for online journalists as an array of information can be found from a variety of sources. Journalists can research the news and track it as well as mixing information together and creating output that they want. Each Pipe consists of two or more categories which will perform a task. For example, the ‘fetch’ category will retrieve an URL from the internet.

Pipes, when published, is indexed by search engines and can be searched for by other people. This is helpful for journalists as they can filter information into categories and publish for other journalists.
It is a useful tool in order to manage the large amount of content that is on the internet.

There are no barriers for the product as it is free and easy to use.
The best way to understand pipes is to create one yourself. Although hard to use at first, it becomes a lot more straightforward after watching the introduction on the site and practicing.

Is it free? Yes
Where do I get it? From the website, http://pipes.yahoo.com/
Easy to use? 3/5
Useful to Journalists? 4/5

Reviewed by Emma Strawford

Life.com - 7 million photo's of the world.

2009-04-15T07:22:00.000-07:00

FEATURING over 7 million pictures which have shaped our lives, life.com is the biggest online photography collection.

Tag-lined “see your world”, the site also provides journalists from all fields of interest to delve into the archives of two of the most recognised names in photography. Life and Getty images have come together to depict the stories of our time that viewers can share, link and rate. The site is totally free and over 3000 new images are uploaded daily. Dating from the 1800’s to present day, they are categorised in news, celebrity, sport, travel and animals.

The news category depicts images of current stories featured that day as well as previous, and provides journalists with another source to obtain relevant information. It’s clear that pictures can provide more information than words themselves and represent emotion that cannot be written. A picture of a Thai soldier holding a rose in the recent antigovernment protests in Thailand symbolises a peace offering from the people and the struggle for democracy in Asia.

Life.com also allows journalists to explore professional images from great historic moments to seldom seen pictures, free of charge. Whether it’s from WW1 to the 1966 world cup, this site provides vital visual aids for journalists, and essential components of programming.

It’s easy to search for images, by date, person, and geographical location, however the database is so big it provides hundreds of images to sift through, and takes time. This is a hindered to journalists as time is often not on their side. But you can link to life.com through Twitter, Facebook, or blog and send a chosen image to yourself. However, some pictures cannot be shared, and have to be purchased to be used.

Is it free? - YES!
Where do i get it? - The internet!
Easy to use? - 5
Useful to journalists - 4.5

Reviewed by Kellie Hill

iPhones- For gadget lovers, show off's, and now journalists.

2009-04-15T04:52:00.000-07:00

The new Apple iPhone 3.0 software, released this June, is set to make the iPhone 3G a must have accessory for journalists.

The iPhone 3G

Online journalists will certainly benefit from the wireless high speed internet and GPS, as well as the thousands of new, free applications, like writing pads, Skype, ITN video news, Gmail, Yahoo messenger, and more.
With the constant demand for getting the news first, 24 hours a day, it’s impossible to miss out with the massive variety of news sources available on this great little gadget.
The most useful and innovative application has to be Jott for iPhone. Jott is an easy to use voice-recording programme, which turns voice notes into text at the click of a button. It's great for sending quick emails or texts on the move. Simply record what you want to say, click finish, then the message is stored in the note folder as text.

Jott

The second most useful function so far is Wordpress for iPhone, which allows bloggers to access accounts and create new blogs and posts, or edit existing ones any time and anywhere. The only hiccup is that it can be difficult to type on the tiny keys, so expect typos.
These applications, and many others are free to download from the ‘App store’, once you have forked out for the pricey- but-perfect iPhone.

iPhones have always been popular amongst gadget lovers, for their high-tech, sophisticated design, and now with the new software and the 28,000 apps on offer, it's a product that can't be ignored.

Is it free? Software is free for existing iPhone owners. iPhone 3G on pay as you go costs £340-400
Where do I get it? The Apple store
Easy to use? Yes, once you master the touch screen
Useful to journalists? 4.5/5

Reviewed by Nicola Jackson

BlackBerry App World

2009-04-15T04:14:00.001-07:00

The BlackBerry vs. iPhone war has hotted up with the release of Research In Motion's App World. Apple may have a plethora of applications ranging from a spirit level to a restaurant chooser, but this is BlackBerry, everything has be relevant.

With most of the App World applications, you will never be more than a button's press away from news from every corner of the world, just as long as that corner happens to be in America. You can get the latest news from the Washington Post, The New York Times, Boston Post and more but so far there are very few from anywhere but across the Atlantic. It's not just about news; there applications listed under Business and Professional, Finance and Banking, Travel and the usual Games, Sports and Entertainment. All this means BlackBerry have effectively trimmed the fat to make the App World a journalist's dream.

The main bug with the App World though is it's speed, which is very slow. There's room for improvement though as it's only V.1 and being BlackBerry, V.2 should clear away these issues to leave it much faster and streamlined.

Every application in the App World is made specifically for BlackBerry and is cleared by RIM; contarsting Apple's open-door policy. This clearly has it's advantages but then has it's obvious flaws, namely the comparative gulf in number of applications.

While App World itself is free, many of the applications aren't. The main news toys are but things such as the mp3 creator will cost you and your PayPal account. While the App World may have it's problems, you can guarantee it is only going to get better, and this can only be bad news for Apple.

Is it free? - Yes
Where do I get it? - From PC - www.BlackBerry.com/AppWorld or go to www.blackberry.com/appworld/download on your BlackBerry
Easy to use? - 4/5
Useful to Journalists? - 4/5

Reviewed By Jack Phillips

Zemanta

2009-04-15T03:20:00.000-07:00

Want to write, not read? Visit Zemanta.

Blogging has become an increasingly popular phenomenon in recent times, and whether your writing for fun or fortune, this program will only heighten the effectiveness of your words.

Zemanta, primarily based in Slovenia. solves the problems that bloggers love to hate; making a blog relevant to today’s events.

The days of endless Google searches are over as a click of a button will take you to your subject in seconds, not minutes.

Once material has been entered, Zemanta scans its entirety, and delivers a vast amount of information for a user’s every need, whether that be images, hyperlinks or tags.

Whilst material is only suggested, your options can increase a thousand times over, and blogs can go from dull to dazzling in an instant.

The user-friendliness of the product allows users to express themselves on Zemanta in the knowledge that there is a large Question and Answer option on the products website.

Zemanta, is supported by Union Square Ventures, Eden Ventures and The Accelerator Group; all who focus on investing in technology services on the web.

The program can be easily downloaded from its homepage, and can be used on many blogging sites, such as ‘Wordpress’, ‘Blogger’, and ‘Myspace’.

Social Networking websites such as ‘Facebook’, 'Twitter’ and ‘Flickr’ are also supported by Zemanta.

One of the scarce letdowns of the program is it only being able to recognise English, but despite that, Zemanta excels above its rivals in providing quick and efficient searches for its users.

Is it free? Bloggers – Yes. Professionals- No

Where do I get it? http://www.zemanta.com/

Easy to use? 5/5

Useful to Journalists? 4/5

Reviewed by Darren Plant

Zemanta

2009-04-15T00:20:00.000-07:00

With hundreds of new blogs created daily, the blogging trend has taken cyberspace by storm. New technology is continually making it easier for anybody to create a blog.

Now anybody connected to the internet can create their own blog - It's that simple!
And thanks to Zemanta it's now even easier.

Backed by Union Square Ventures, Eden Ventures and The Accelerator Group, Zemanta is a cutting-edge software tool that enables even the not so computer-savvy to create a blog they can be proud of.

The new technology helps bloggers to easily and quickly add related content and multimedia to their blog posts.

Free and easy to download, Zemanta couldn't be simpler to use. Once a blog entry has been written, Zemanta scans the web and suggests free and public-domain material, such as relevant articles, images, hyperlinks and tags, which can be added to the post. Then all it takes is point and click to insert the suggested material.

Zemanta can also help bloggers to receive more backlinks to their blog. Readers can click on the Reblog icon and choose a quote from the post to share on their blog or add a comment to, helping bloggers to increase their readership and hold onto their audience.

Using Zemanta to enhance and enrich the content of the blog posts means both the authors and the readers win.

Although there are a number of tools that provide similar services, Zemanta offers relevant suggestions with content free from copyright issues, making it one of the more reliable tools for bloggers.

Zemanta works with multiple blogging engines including Blogger, WordPress, TypePad and many more and is available for FireFox and Internet Explorer.

Is it free? Yes
Where do I get it? http://www.zemanta.com/
Easy to use? 5/5
Useful to journalists? 5/5

Reviewed by Emma Cole

Audioboo

2009-04-14T12:34:00.000-07:00

For some, the podcast may still seem like a relatively new creation; however since its popularisation in 2004, over 17.4 million podcasts have been downloaded. Now, in 2009 a man called Mark Rock has created an online application called Audioboo which is going to push the boundaries of podcasting and user-generated news further than ever before.

Audioboo is a cost-free audio-blogging application created for the Iphone and Itunes. Following up from the world of Twitter and Facebook Connect, Audioboo has grasped onto the notion of fast and live updates on the go.

The software allows you to send an updated audio blog straight to the internet from almost any location VIA your Iphone. As well as the blog itself, you are free to include photos, videos and show the location where your blog was created.

Considering the effort that goes into creating a podcast, the quality of a ‘boo’, as it is known, is bound to be worse. You won’t be able to control your external environment, nor will you be able to add any snazzy effects. On the plus side, audio-blogging will be a lot faster and easier for those that don’t have the time to get everything into words.

For journalists and news agencies, the Audioboo software will be another social networking platform that will allow for almost immediate updates on current affairs and news as it is happening.

The BBC are already considering using such an application, for them, it can easily transform the user-generated medium that they so heavily rely on now.

Once you’ve signed up to the website and downloaded the application to your phone, the software is relatively easy to use. The only real downfall is that it’s only available for Iphone users, although there are rumours circulating that this will soon change.

Reviewed by Pascale Sauvage

Is it free? Yes

Where do I get it? www.audioboo.fm or Itunes

Easy to use? 4/5

Useful to journalists? 4/5

Animoto

2009-04-14T10:05:00.000-07:00

Trying to upload photos to music and in a format for the web or a mobile phone can be a challenge for any software out there let alone a software on the web.

Animoto is a limited free online tool that allows you to upload your photos, add music and uploaded it on the web, on dvd, or on your mobile phone for personal or business use.

Created by bunch of techies and film/TV producers, they describe their first release as “ a web application that automatically generates professionally produced videos… Produced on a widescreen format, Animoto videos have the visual energy of a music video and the emotional impact of a movie trailer”.

Simple to use you firstly register simply by adding your email and choosing a password . You add text at the start of your video then you upload pictures from your computer, then you simply click continue then choose a music track either from your computer or select it from a list of music provided, again press continue and then simply finalise your video. you have the option to upload it on the web, on a dvd or a mobile phone .

Although the free version gives you unlimited 30 seconds of videos all access pass costs $30 or a professional one costing $249 .

Recently the winner of the “best video mobile application 2009 mobile awards” it is a website that looks like it will be the future of web based editing tool on the web. The only let down is the cost of the product and the limited free use, however the positives far out way the negatives.

Reviewed By Waqas Ali

Is it free? Yes - full version No

Where do I get it? http://animoto.com/

Easy to use? 5/5

Useful to journalists? 4/5

Soundslides

2009-04-13T11:33:00.000-07:00

Nowadays people don’t seem to want to look at just a picture. It has to move. It has to fade into another picture. It has to be part of a slideshow, bouncing nicely along to some music in order to tell a story. Very fancy, you may say, but it’s becoming so easy to do that such peoples expectations are, well, expected.

Created by Joe Weiss, one of the latest incarnations is Soundslides, which describes itself as a, ‘. . .rapid production tool for still image and audio web presentations’. So something to make a slideshow with, then. Downloadable as a demo from Soundslides.com, this is where the easy bit ends and the quite frankly absurdly-complicated-for-something-this-trivial bit starts.

Making your slideshow follows the same simple timeline view that most audio/video packages offer (with most of the bells taken off) but it’s not until you click ‘export’ that the fun really starts. At the moment, in order to upload your slideshow to a wordpress.com blog - something that would be pretty standard for the kind of journalists using this program - you have to upload it to your, ‘web server per your web hosting provider’s recommended method’. What? And here is where the program falls flat on it’s face.

It’s simply too complicated. Especially for beginners, which so many people are. In an age where it’s becoming possible to create programs that do any manner of things with just a few simple clicks of a mouse, this is not one of them. If you have somehow decided to purchase the $69.95 full version, then you better know your computers. In short - great idea, bad execution.

Reviewed By Tom Pell

Is it free? Demo - Yes, Full version - No

Where do I get it? www.soundslides.com

Easy to use? 2/5

Useful to journalists? 2/5

Newssift Review

2009-04-12T04:22:00.001-07:00

The Financial Times launched its new search engine Newssift back in March 18^th of this year. Its mission statement was to provide a more comprehensive and refined means of searching business news. Robin Johnson, former President of the US Financial Times, put two years of his life into the project and said of it, “The object was to create a tool to allow a busy business person to assess what is the skinny on a problem they do not know the answer to”.

Newssift collates articles from sources ranging from physical media and broadcast media to online news and blogs, and is impressive and useful in its comprehensiveness and range. It doesn’t cater solely to business news and as such is useful to many more branches of journalism. The engine operates on a keyword search mechanic, but categorizes all found articles into separate headings: Business Topic, Organization, Place, Person and Theme. It then suggests additional keywords in each separate category based on tags applied to the found articles. In this way the searcher can refine their search to a very specific one. Each additional layer of keywords is displayed along a bar beside the search field and can be cancelled with a mouseclick, returning the searcher to the previous state they were in, and this renders the engine very intuitive and easy to use, although it was found that cancelling a keyword can be a slow process and sometimes needs to be repeated for the command to register with the engine.

Newssift balances its intuitive operation and in depth range of information with some occasionally cumbersome technicalities, but remains an impressive means of searching news.

Is it free? Yes.

Where do I get it? http://www.newssift.com/

Easy to use? 4/5

Useful to journalists? 4/5

Reviewed by Alex Cleary

TweetDeck Review

2009-04-09T07:46:00.000-07:00

- credit tojosa

As the Twitter revolution continues, the penchant for new applications to drive the social network forward grows stronger.

TweetDeck, built on the Adobe Air platform, is currently the application of choice for many of those who ‘tweet’.

The desktop application interfaces with Twitter API to allow users to send and receive tweets. Compatible with Microsoft Windows, Linux and Mac OS X, downloading the application is free, simple and easy, taking no more than 5 minutes of download time at the maximum.

The user interface can seem daunting at first but is easy to figure out relatively quickly. The main selling point of TweetDeck is that you can split the program into columns that you can edit for yourself, for example, friends or celebrities. This is a useful way of sorting out tweets, something other applications like Twitterfox cannot do.

TweetDeck enables you to reply to tweets, retweet and direct message. One small criticism of the interface is that there is no text box immediately available if you want to tweet, rather you have to click a tab at the top.

TweetDeck also interfaces with TwitScoop to show what’s being talked about on Twitter with the hash tags. Recently, TweetDeck has also implemented Facebook statuses as part of the program. This helps its appeal to those who want an application for both of the social networks.

Overall, there is a reason why TweetDeck is one of the most popular Twitter applications. TweetDeck is simple and easy to use, with the search and group functions really setting it apart from the other Twitter applications out there.

Fact List:

Is it free? Yes
Where do I get it? http://www.tweetdeck.com/beta/
Easy to use? 4/5
Useful to journalists? 3/5

Reviewed by James Peart