eLearning Service

Quick improvement of photos and images
For a quick photo edit, Friedbeef’s Tech suggests you try ImproveYourImages.com, a free web technology that allows you to do a fast online edit.  Upload your image and…

• it automatically adjusts the color saturation, temperature and lighting of your photo

• it lines it up side by side with the original for a quick comparison.

• you can download your new and improved picture right away

YouTube videos in Google Maps
I love the Google Earth feature that allows you to view geo-tagged YouTube videos as you roam the globe.  Now Google has made the next logical leap — making embedded videos available in Google Maps.

Videos can be found on the ‘Photos & Videos’ tab of the information bubble that appears when you click on a business listing.  Local business owners can easily add YouTube videos along with other content such as business details, photos, and descriptions to their listings.  To do so, simply upload your videos to YouTube and ensure that the ‘embed’ option is turned on.  Then, associate your video to your business listing through the Local Business Center.

I went looking for a video by searching “YouTube video” in Seattle and then looking at “user-generated content.”  I found a pointer to a video of the zoo’s new baby gorilla.

Hakia for credible sources in health-related search results
Librarians always worry about whether their patrons are finding credible information as they search the Web, especially when that information might be critical to their well-being.  Now recently funded semantic search engine Hakia is providing health information results from verified, credible resources, so everyone can feel a little better about what they are finding.

Mashable says that “ensuring the quality of top results is something every search engine aims to do, but it seems particularly important for health search, especially as online search becomes more niche, and user-generated content is being more readily layered into the equation.  What’s more, is that we’re seeing an increase of activity from established authorities in various industries, including the health industry, that are using online platforms for communicating and networking with others, sharing personal views, and participating in larger discussions about related topics.”

By verifying resources that have been approved by the Medical Library Association, Hakia is passing the quality of its search results onto its users.