Robin Good

How can you create something so interesting that people will want to share it? Viral marketing strategy may help you find the answer to this one.Photo credit: Dmitry BairachnyiViral marketing is a marketing approach allowing a message to seemingly self-propel itself rapidly to an ever growing number of people, just like a real virus would do. David Meerman Scott, author of "The New Rules of Marketing and PR" and of the about-to-be-released "World Wide Rave" books, shares in this video interview with me, his key principles to effective viral marketing.In general, "viral marketing refers to marketing techniques that use pre-existing social networks to produce increases in brand viral processes, analogous to the spread of pathological and computer viruses.It can be word-of-mouth delivered or enhanced by the network effects of the Internet. Viral promotions may take the form of video clips, interactive Flash games, advergames, ebooks, brandable software, images, or even text messages. The basic form of viral marketing is not infinitely sustainable." (Source: Wikipedia)In other words, viral marketing is a form of promotion based on the free circulation of ideas via a simple word of mouth process. When you like something it is a natural reaction to want to share your discovery with someone you like. Be it friends, relatives, colleagues at work or your boss, most anyone gets a kick out of sharing with someone else something they have just discovered. And in turn, those people we share something with, will do the same with their network of friends. That is what going viral is about.If you want to market, promote or advertise your product or service in ways that will cost you nothing compared to traditional campaigns, I strongly suggest you watch and listen to the viral marketing advice David has personally shared with me, and which is part of its new cool little book "World Wide Rave". Here my video interview with David Meerman Scott with a full text transcription:

Viral Marketing PrinciplesDuration: 12\'
Full English Text Transcription
IntroRobin Good: Hi everyone, this is Robin Good from Rome, Italy, and today I\'m connecting with David Meerman in Boston, Massachusetts. Hello David!David Meerman Scott: Hey Robin, it\'s great to be here, how are you?Robin Good: I\'m very fine. Particularly so now that I\'ve received your fantastic small copy of this great, little book. I know that you\'re very excited about your baby, so I don\'t want to take it away from you.

David Meerman BooksRobin Good: Why don\'t you say the name of this little thing you sent me, and why you have decided to put that out?David Meerman Scott: Sure. The book is called "World Wide Rave", and it\'s about how people share stories, and why people would share your stuff online.I put this out in a really small package and interesting hard-cover, it doesn\'t have a dust jacket on it, it has a hardcover on, it\'s like an old textbook that we would have here in the United States. Inside it\'s two colors and a glossy kind of paper. Very unique kind of packaging. So why did I do this unique packaging? Inside there\'s a lot of drawings, cartoons that my friend who is a cartoonist did. The reason is because I want people to talk about the book and say: "Wow, this book is really interesting, it has got green print inside! Not just black like everybody else is printed".The book is small, here is a copy, and you can tell from the size that it\'s small, and the other thing I did which is so cool is that the book cover itself looks like a poster. I\'ve sent copies of the poster to people all over the world and they\'ve sent me photographs of the poster literally on seven continents, including Antarctica. How cool is that?
Robin Good: That\'s very cool, but why don\'t you show me the book more slowly, because many people have not really seen it before.Have it there, and have it next to it your previous bestseller which not many people here know about, but maybe it is a good opportunity if you have it on your desk to shell it out.David Meerman Scott: All right, here, in between my nose!"World Wide Rave" is the new book, coming out in March, 2009, and "The New Rules of Marketing and PR" came out in English in June 2007, and "The New Rules of Marketing and PR" is now being published in 22 languages, believe it or not, which is really cool. Every couple of months I get a new copy from a different language, and it\'s really exciting.
Robin Good: Good, and I hear you\'re having also Italian coming up.David Meerman Scott: Italian? yeah, I\'m not sure when it\'s going to be out in Italian, but think in like two or three months.

What The Books Are AboutRobin Good: Let\'s say I\'m a viewer of this video today and you just happened to be somebody that feels reliable, interesting, as you\'ve written about marketing and you\'ve got two books out there. Which one is for whom? Are they targeted at different people? Is it one more technical, more PR, and the other more blogging, 2.0? Tell me.David Meerman Scott: Both are targeted to the same type of people. They\'re targeted to business owners, entrepreneurs, to anybody who wants to get their information out into the world, using the Web, using Web 2.0 if you want to call it that.What I identified in my writings, and what I talk around the speaking circuit, is that the old rules of marketing (as I call them) were you had to buy attention from people. You either had to buy advertising, magazine advertisement, advertising in the phonebook, whatever it might be, banner ads...The other thing I identified is that a lot of people had to beg for attention through mainstream media.But what the Web allows us to do, which Robin of course you know extremely well, and many of your listeners also know really well... the Web allows us to publish our own information directly. How interesting is that? Instead of buying access or begging for access, we can publish it directly through a video, like we\'re doing now, or doing a blog, an e-book, or a white paper, publishing our own stuff.That\'s what "The New Rules of Marketing and PR" is about. That\'s what my ideas have been about for a couple of years."World Wide Rave" is a little different. It\'s about how can you create something so interesting that people want to share it. One person to another person to another. Family members sharing with each others, colleagues at work, friends sharing from one to another.It\'s a little bit different to create something that\'s so valuable that people will share it, and I\'ve identified the things that you need to be thinking about to create something that it\'s so compelling that people will share it.
Robin Good: You\'ve got to share then a little bit of something useful here. You know how you work on the Web today, you got to share something valuable. People believe, trust, start to like you and then they want more from you.David Meerman Scott: Yeah.

Six Rules For Viral MarketingRobin Good: Can you give me a little tiny recipe, for example, because there are many viewers here now who have their own blog, their own site, and I thought many times: "How can I build something that people would say: "Wow, I got to tell other people about it!"." How do you get in the state of mind to build something like that?David Meerman Scott: Great question. I\'ve identified six different things that you have to do to create something that people will be eager to share with one another.This doesn\'t guarantee that they will share, but is the six things that are elements of everything that people do want to share. We\'ve all seen these things. A YouTube video that has one million hits or blog post that everybody has seen it. What they have is six things in common:
1. Nobody Cares About Your Products......except for you. Nobody cares about your products, and that\' a hard things for people to get around. But it\'s true. If you write abut your products, people go: "Oh that\'s boring, I\'m going to go on to the next thing".

2. Don\'t Coerce People to ShareThey\'ll do it because they like it. You don\'t have to convince them that they should share it, by doing some kind of game or making some kind of contest, or doing something that people will think: "I want to share this because if I do I might win something". No, no coercion is required.

3. Lose Control of Your InformationThe third thing is very counter-intuitive to people, and that is that you have to lose control of your information. Once it gets out there into the world, people would share it in the way that they want to, and you don\'t have any control over that. You don\'t have any control over what they will say, and a lot of times, the bosses of the companies, don\'t like that idea, because they\'re so used to maintaining this control over their information. Yet, what makes things share is that you have to lose that control and let people share it.

4. Put Down RootsIn other words you have a home base somewhere on the Web, on ablog, on a podcast, somewhere where people can find you.

5. Create a TriggerThe fifth thing is: create a trigger that encourages people to share. Create something that is so compelling and so valuable that people say: "Damn, I need to share it" I call it a trigger. A trigger could be a YouTube video, a really interesting blog post, it could be a really compelling piece of data.

6. Point The World to Your Virtual DoorstepIf you point people to the place where you provide something that then gets them to either buy your product, or get interested in what you\'re doing. But ultimately, when you share things, you want to have a way that your readers can get back to the place that you can do business with them. To learn more about you, to read something else about you, buy your product if it\'s an e-commerce, provide some personal information to get a personal call for you, if you do a business-to-business sort of consulting, or whatever.
Those are the rules. If you follow those rules you\'re greatly increasing the chance that your thing will spread really far. If you don\'t follow those rules, it doesn\'t mean it will never spread, but it will be much more difficult to make it spread.
Robin Good: Fantastic. Thank you for that recipe. I think I couldn\'t ask for a better gift from you in this session.David Meerman Scott: Thank you.

Viral Marketing Means Working on Many IdeasRobin Good: Like my uncle comes from Sherwood, I come from Sharewood, so the guys at my village know very well what you\'re talking about, and I read inside your tiny, little book how difficult it is to really plan and succeed on systematically wanting to create something viral. It just doesn\'t happen following a plan. You really have to work around many different ideas, and maybe some of those will bloom. That\'s what I got from reading you.David Meerman Scott: I think of it like the same way that a company will invest in movies. A movie producer doesn\'t just make one movie, and then expect that it will become a hit movie. Usually movie producers do five movies, or ten movies. The same thing with their record studio and music, and the same thing with a venture capital firm and how they invest in companies.A venture capital firm will invest in 20 companies hoping that maybe only one or two would get sold or go public, and the other ones may go bankrupt. But that\'s ok, because when you follow that formula, it means that you have the opportunity that one of those things will go crazy, and take off.The same thing is true when getting something to spread online. If you just do one thing, you make one video perhaps, sure there\'s a chance that it might take off, and spread to hundreds of thousands, or millions of people, but if you create ten videos or maybe a few videos, and a few blog posts, and a few pieces of data, a couple of e-books, chances are that one of those things will go crazy, and be shared all over the Web.The idea is: how can you create a number of different things, all of them a little bit different. Will do one that\'s funny, one that\'s serious, will do one that has really valuable data, one that\'s more entertaining, and then maybe one of them will just take off like crazy.
Robin Good: David Meerman Scott. "World Wide Rave" is the new book. I think it really shares some valuable info that you can start to put to use anytime right now.Thank you David, you were absolutely fantastic.David Meerman Scott: Hey Robin, thank you so much, it\'s lovely talking to you. I love your stuff, and I\'ve been reading you for years. It\'s great to have a chance to have a conversation.Robin Good: Thank you, have a great day in Boston! See you soon!

Originally shot and recorded by Robin Good for MasterNewMedia and first published on February 16, 2009 as "Viral Marketing Principles: Six Key Rules To Get Everyone To Talk About Your Idea".

Photo credits:What The Books Are About - PaulPaladiSix Rules For Viral Marketing - Liz Van SteenburghNobody Cares About Your Products... - Andres RodriguezDon\'t Coerce People to Share - presmasterLose Control of Your Information - Adrian MatthiassenPut Down Roots - tawngCreate a Trigger - Ilin SergeyPoint The World to Your Virtual Doorstep - Ron SumnersViral Marketing Means Working on Many Ideas - Andres Rodriguez ...

Online Key Performance Indicators (KPI) are web metrics used to help an any Internet publisher define and measure progress toward achieving its communication and business goals. Identifying and selecting your key online performance indicators is a great strategy to measure the performance of your online business and spot those areas where you need to make improvements.Photo credit: tieroA KPI is a key part of a measurable objective, which is made up of a direction, KPI, benchmark, target and time frame. For example: "Increase Average Revenue per Customer from £10 to £15 by EOY 2008". In this case, \'Average Revenue Per Customer\' is the KPI.(Source: Wikipedia)Which are then the online key performance indicators that a web publisher should look at? Traffic? Visitors? Revenue? Yes, all of these are critical variables which should be constantly monitored to see how your web site is performing and how effectively you are achieving specific improvements. The expert team at the Google Conversion Blog has just finished preparing an introductory guide to such online Key Performance Indicators to help you understand how to wisely select them as well as how to start tracking them inside the various Google data monitoring tools (AdSense, Analytics, etc.).If you are a professional online publisher who is serious about creating a strategic framework to direct, monitor and support your online business growth, this is must-read information.Here all the details:

Using Web-Based Key Performance Indicatorsby Brian O\' Sullivan

Get More Quality VisitorsEach Key Performance Indicator refers to a sub-objective of the main target "Get more quality visitors" and those KPIs have a precise reference inside the Google Analytics dashboard.

What Are KPIs?Simply put, aKPI is a metric in Google Analytics that measures how well your website is achieving your objectives. If for example the objective of your site is to sell online, a key metric to monitor in Google Analytics is the conversion rate in your Ecommerce report. See what proportion of visitors to your site, from what sources, go on to buy from you.What separates KPIs from every other metric is the "key" part: these metrics are critical to the performance of your site, and therefore your online business.

Why Use KPIs?KPI creation is useful for two things.

1. Changes in your KPIs tell you when you need to take action. If the bounce rate on your homepage increases by 50% you need to figure out why and take action to reverse the trend.
2. Secondly KPIs help you bridge the gap between your Google Analytics account and the rest of your business. They help you understand what each stakeholder in your company wants from your Google Analytics account, and from your company\'s online presence. Get your colleagues engaged with how your online business is progressing, per key reports and metrics.

How Should You Create Your KPI List?Successful KPI creation is about translating your site\'s business objectives into metrics that make sense in your Google Analytics account. You know your business best, and as every business is different only you can create your KPIs. To get started you need to ask yourself and some key people in your organisation one question: From your perspective, why does your company\'s site exist? Write down the answers. They are likely to differ depending on who you talk to. It\'s important to get input from all the departments in your company and then prioritise the answers. I\'d suggest you aim to keep the top 10 at most.Once you have taken your business objectives into account, you can start creating related KPIs. For example, let\'s say a business objective is to have more people come to your physical shop as a result of visiting your site. Here, a good KPI in your Analytics account would be the conversion rate of people visiting the page with directions to your physical location.Here are some ideas to help you create meaningful KPIs to monitor:
1. Make Sure They Are Important and Related to The BusinessYou really need to tie your KPIs with your business objectives. A KPI such as \'attract more visitors\' may seem like a good choice but is it really tied with your business objectives? What if marketing go ahead and double your visitors but none of the new visitors buy? Attracting more quality visitors might be better, where quality is measured by conversion rate or bounce rate.

2. Make Them ActionableIf you can\'t take action on one of your chosen KPIs it\'s not a good KPI. Ask yourself, if I come in tomorrow and this KPI has doubled or halved - what am I going to do?

3. Focus on Your Audience and Give Them ContextIf you\'re sharing reports with other team members, bear in mind that not everything is relevant to everyone. If you\'re sharing metrics with team members, try focusing their attention on what is most important for their jobs. Example: "50% of users used the search function on our site last week. Of those that did 45% exited the site immediately after viewing search results for the top ten terms". This is useful information for the design team members working on improving site search and for their manager but it may be unnecessary information for the marketing department.

KPI: Bounce Rate - Why Is It So Important?You can watch Google Analytics Evangelist, Avinash Kaushik, talk about the significance of bounce rate in this YouTube video:

Originally written by Brian O\' Sullivan for Google Conversion Room and first published on February 14, 2009 as "Using Key Performance Indicators: Part 1 and Part 2".

Photo credits:What Are KPIs? - Cyril HouWhy Use KPIs? - adempercemHow Should You Create Your KPI List? - Eduard HärkönenMake Sure They Are Important and Related to The Business - vacuum3dMake Them Actionable - Andrey StratilatovFocus on Your Audience and Give Them Context - _chilli ...

A networked-view of the world, the importance of good visuals and the need for rethinking how organizations can adapt to the disruptive changes brought by Web 2.0 technologies, are just some of the interesting topics that George Siemens explores in this issue of Media Literacy Digest.Photo credit: George SiemensAmong them, one is particularly worth of attention: if you consider a world which is all networked, where everyone helps everyone else and social barriers no longer exist, is there still place for so-called "experts"? Can the connection you tie with your peers fully substitute the guidance role that those mentors play?This, and the other fascinating issues covered in this media literacy digest may help you make greater sense of the disruptive changes that our society and education system face in these fast-changing times.Here all the details:

eLearning Resources and Newslearning, networks, knowledge, technology, trendsby George Siemens

Web 2.0 and the OrganizationMcKinsey Quarterlytacklesweb 2.0 in the enterprise. Don't like the article. Building on an instantiation of change, rather than on change itself, seems rather silly to me. At points in the article, commons sense statements are offered like "Participatory technologies have the highest chance of success when incorporated into a user's daily workflow" or "Companies often have difficulty maintaining the right balance of freedom and control". The real task of organizational change is only briefly alluded to at the beginning of the article when the authors proclaim "they [web 2.0 tools] are inherently disruptive and often challenge an organization and its culture". As stated in my paper on success and strategy in a digital world, the heart of the issue is about organizational change. I think we are at a stage where universities, corporations, and other organizations have to start looking at the long-term cycle of change we are current experiencing. Blogs, wikis, and web 2.0 are only the current instantiation of change. What's required is a "re-think" of what organizations are… and how employees / faculty and learners / customers are connected to each other. We've had five years of web 2.0 window dressing. It's time to build a new structure.

Contagion Amongst BanksThis will hardly surprise readers, but I'm somewhat partial to a networked-view of the world. Varies organizations / disciplines are realizing that seeing the world as networked helps to explain why things sometimes happen as they do. Diseases, information, learning, and social relationships are networked. The rise of blogs, Facebook, and Twitter has given people personal experiences of how connections form and influence the flow of information. Complex problems - like economics - cannot be fully understood outside of a network view. Valdis Krebs tackles the spread of "toxic assets" through banking systems: Contagion amongst Banks. For a short video of the financial connections, have a look at this Crisis of Credit video.

On Communicating VisuallyAs I've stated, I'm trying to make greater use of visuals. Hard to make sense of the value of visuals with poorly presented articles like this: Why communicate visually. Some sloppy research on the old "10% hear, 20% read, 80% do" - this time attributed to Bruner. Will Thalheimerdebunks / questions the validity of this claim. This automatically calls into question related statements in the article (not cited properly) about the prominence of visuals in learning and retention. I don't trust the author. But then I have to ask myself, why I want to use images / visuals. To increase effectiveness of learners who take a course I teach? To improve my ability to communicate? What can visuals do that text can't? And where is the research that supports that claim?

The Death of NewsNews - of the investigative journalist variety that helped launch Nixon to even greater fame - has been said to be the real casualty of the development of amateur news. I've heard this argument several times over the last few years, but a recent article captures the sentiment best:But the real problem isn't that newspapers may be doomed. I would be severely disheartened if I was forced to abandon my morning ritual of sitting on my deck with a coffee and the papers, but I would no doubt get used to burning out my retinas over the screen an hour earlier than usual. As Nation columnist Eric Alterman recently argued, the real problem isn't the impending death of newspapers, but the impending death of news - at least news as we know it.What is really threatened by the decline of newspapers and the related rise of online media is reporting - on-the-ground reporting by trained journalists who know the subject, have developed sources on all sides, strive for objectivity and are working with editors who check their facts, steer them in the right direction and are a further check against unwarranted assumptions, sloppy thinking and reporting, and conscious or unconscious bias.This discussion has the same underlying fear that we see in educational reform: but how can people be informed without experts? Can amateurs do what experts do? Can society function without any sense of privilege applied to certain "keepers and disseminaters" of information? It's a tricky question.

1. First, it assumes that knowing in abundant information environments can be managed by the same model as knowing in scarce information climates.
2. Secondly, it assumes that it's an "either / or" question, not one with gradients.
3. Thirdly, it assumes that most people won't figure things out on their own without some type of guidance.

Somehow, we must retain the value of expert-levels of knowing while facing the reality that knowing is increasingly networked, with reduced prominence applied to experts (i.e. the expert becomes a node among others, not the central hub).

Online Conference on Improving ConferencesOur online conference on improving traditional conferences is coming together rather nicely. We start tomorrow and run through until Friday.

• Speaker schedule is here
• Our Ning site is here

Jay has posted a few thoughts on the need for online conferences… and shares the results from an informal survey about the state of conferences.

Originally written by George Siemens for elearnspace and first published on February 20th 2009 in his newsletter eLearning Resources and News.

About the authorTo learn more about George Siemens and to access extensive information and resources on elearning check out www.elearnspace.org. Explore also George Siemens connectivism site for resources on the changing nature of learning and check out his new book "Knowing Knowledge".

Photo credits:On Communicating Visually - Angela_WayThe Death of News - majicdolphin ...

Do you need to edit images on your computer? In this mini-guide I have hand-picked the best free picture editing software available out there.As you probably know, there are already many web-based image-editing services that let you edit your pics directly from your browser window. But what if you don\'t have an internet connection at your disposal?In this mini-guide I have hand-picked the best downloadable free picture editing software. And what is best, some of these image editing tools are cross-platform, making them available for PCs, Macs and Linux type computers.Here all the details:

Free Picture Editing Software

1. GIMP
   
   GIMP is a powerful free picture editing software released under GNU license. You can use GIMP to retouch your photos, create logos for your website, author your images, and much more. GIMP comes packed with advanced features like filters, layers, and everything you use in professional software like Adobe Photoshop. Available for Windows, Mac Os X, Linux, and Solaris.

   http://www.gimp.org/

2. GIMPshop
   
   GIMPshop is a modified version of the popular open-source picture editing software GIMP. Similarly released under the GPL license, GIMPshop is a valuable alternative to a more complex solution like Photoshop. In fact, GIMPshop modifies the layout structure of your images to closely match the popular Adobe software interface. It works on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.

   http://www.gimpshop.com/

3. Phantasmagoria
   
   Phantasmagoria is a free Java-based image editor that runs on Windows, Mac Os X and Linux. It supports a wide range of image formats, and lets you easily edit and improve your images with a lot of effects. You can create graphics, including textures and highly-stylized text and, when you are done, you can export your pictures to Flickr.

   http://www.develderby.com/phantasmagoria/

4. ImageMagick
   
   ImageMagick is a free utility for converting, editing, and composing images. ImageMagick can batch convert all of your images in a matter of seconds, without having to manually process them in Photoshop, or another image editor. Besides changing file format, you can also flip, mirror, rotate, scale, adjust colors, apply effects, draw text and lines. Available for Windows, Mac Os X and Linux.

   http://www.imagemagick.org/index.php

5. PhotoFiltre
   
   PhotoFiltre is a free image editor software that helps you to edit and retouch your photos. PhotoFiltre has its main strength in its easiness of use. Sharpen, add brightness, contrast or crop your images is as easy as pressing a button. Very good for quick tasks where you don\'t need a more professional solution. Windows only.

   http://photofiltre.free.fr/frames_en.htm

6. Paint.NET
   
   Paint.NET is a free image editing software for Windows machines. Originally intended as a free replacement for the Microsoft Paint software, Paint.NET is a complete solution whose features include support for layers, unlimited undo, special effects, and much more. Available in several languages.

   http://www.getpaint.net/

7. FastStone Image Viewer
   
   FastStone Image Viewer is a free image browser, converter and editor. Its features include image viewing, management, comparison, red-eye removal, emailing, resizing, cropping and color adjustments. The software also provides access to EXIF information, and supports all major graphic formats and popular digital camera RAW formats. Windows only.

   http://www.faststone.org/FSViewerDetail.htm

8. ActivePixels
   
   Active Pixels is a picture editor for Windows that lets you edit all of your pictures for free. Its interface reminds of Adobe Photoshop, and Active Pixels has many advanced features like layers, effects, freehand selection, and everything you would get in a professional editor. the software supports more than 100 image formats, Photoshop\'s native PSD included.

   http://idea-systems.net/

9. PhotoScape
   
   Photoscape is a free image editor for Windows that you can use to fix and enhance your photos. Its main features are resize, crop, adjust brightness, auto contrast, whitebalance, sharpen, blur, noise reduction, red eye removal, and a lot more. You can also batch edit your pictures, create animates GIFs, and capture your screen.

   http://www.photoscape.org/

10. Ript
    
    Ript is a free image editor for Windows that you can use to create collages and photo collection easily. After you install it and launch it, you can add all of your images to the "pile" and edit them by rotating, resizing, flipping and also by adding text to them. You can then arrange your images like you were really disposing them on a real table to watch them all at once and, when done, you can save, print or email your creation.

    http://www.ript.com/

11. Imgares
    
    Imgares is a Windows-only image editing software. To start editing pictures in batch mode, just drag&drop your selected images and choose what you want to do: you can resize and rotate your photos, add text, change light and contrast, and also create AVI slideshows. Free to download and use.

    http://www.konradp.com/products/

12. Image Analyzer
    
    Image Analyzer is a free image editor for Windows that will give new life to your images. Just import an image any type of image and get access to basic editing features like resizing, brightness adjustment, red eye removal, or rotation. If you need more advanced features, Image Analyzer comes with additional plugins that you can install to fit your needs.

    http://logicnet.dk/Analyzer/

13. photo Drop
    
    photo Drop is a Mac Os X image editing software that allows you to create automatic tasks to modify a folder of images with a simple drag&drop. In a matter of seconds you can resize your images, convert them to a new format, flip horizontally, vertically, crop, and even rotate them. The software is completely free.

    http://www.aramk.net/photodrop/

Free Image Editing Utilities

1. Free Digital Camera Enhancer
   
   Free Digital Camera Enhancer is a free downloadable image editor that lets you enhance and improve your digital images. Its easy-to-use interface makes it really simple to fix an image just by moving five sliders: balance, color, midtones, enhance details, and de-noiser. Plus, you can also batch your enhancements for all your pictures.

   http://www.mediachance.com/digicam/enhancer.htm

2. Easy Thumbnails
   
   Easy Thumbnails is a free image editor that allows you to create thumbnails and scaled copies of your pictures. You can process your images individually, in groups, or in whole folders using a simple file selector and built-in image viewer. Just set height and width, and use slider controls to edit your images, rotate and adjust contrast, brightness, sharpness, and other attributes. For Windows machines only.

   http://www.fookes.com/ezthumbs/index.php

3. Mobile Photo Enhancer
   
   Mobile Photo Enhancer is a Windows picture editing software that you can use to enhance your mobile phone pictures. You can edit and adjust JPEG compression artifacts, vignetting (darkening of the corners around the image), color reproduction, contrast, sharpness and noise. Images can be saved in JPEG, BMP or PNG formats. Free.

   http://www.vicman.net/mobilephotoenhancer/index.htm

4. Shrink O Matic
   
   Shrink O\'Matic is an AIR based image editor that lets you resize your images easily. After you install it, all you have to do is select the new size of the output image, select the format among JPG, PNG and GIF format, and then choose the image that you want to resize. Free to use.

   http://toki-woki.net/p/Shrink-O-Matic/

5. Inkscape
   
   Inkscape is vector graphics editor, similar to Adobe Illustrator. The service is based on the W3C SVG file format. Inkscape supports Creative Commons metadata, and many advanced SVG features like markers, clones, alpha blending, etc. It is very easy to edit nodes, perform complex path operations, trace bitmaps, and much more. Inkscape is available for Windows, Mac Os X and Linux.

   http://www.inkscape.org/

Other Free Picture Editing Software

• Mashable 35 Free Graphics Programs
• Cnet Image Editing Software
• ZDnet Asia image Editing Software
• About.com Top 10 Free Photo Editors for Windows
• Makeusof.com 10 Free Image Editing Programs for your PC

Originally prepared by Robin Good for MasterNewMedia, and first published on February 23, 2009 as "Free Picture Editing Software: Best Downloadable Image Editors - Mini-Guide". ...

Traditional media publishers have no clue as to how they are going to make revenues from online distribution and many of them, are quickly drying up their last reserves. As a matter of fact, as content media expert John Blossom reports in this article, many potential growth markets for online content have not yet been leveraged only due to a lack of truly inventive approaches to revenue generation.Photo credit: Andrea DantiBe it news, databases, entertainment or any other form of media, the winners will be those that can meter out the value of their content production to facilitate on-demand aggregation far more efficiently than they have to date.Instead of investing zillions of money in new publishing technologies, online publishers need to focus on the aggregation and distribution of targeted content, satisfying precise on-demand requests from their audiences."Media companies have under-invested in online revenue generation and are now faced with the uncomfortable duty of trying to think their way out of both an ad recession and an idea recession."Here all the details:

Dead Business Models Walking: Will Major Media Companies Survive the Bust?by John Blossom
IntroFor years major media companies have tried to finesse their transition into online markets. They\'ve made investments in portals and ad-serving systems. They\'ve built up online communities and search engine optimization schemes to maximize revenues from engaged audiences. In fact, publishers have done a lot of good things to make a stronger transition to online revenues. Yet in spite of these efforts, one thing that they haven\'t done is to prepare for the day when they\'d have to rely on online media to carry their bottom lines. It appears that this day has come. And most publishers aren\'t ready. By a long shot.Where do we start? The highly leveraged newspaper deals of the past few years that were based on fantasy projections of "cash cow" revenues? As formerly solid mid-market papers such as the Seattle Post-Intelligencer are prepared for sale (and possibly going online only), as major papers such as the Chicago Tribune abandon broadsheet sales on newsstands in favor of a truncated tabloid edition, as television producers wrestle with online portals that threaten to take the steam out of broadcast and cable deals, as music companies stumble into another year of falling CD sales and wrestling matches with social media playlist aggregators, as... well, you get the picture, I assume.

The Importance of Online RevenuesNobody has a real clue as to how they are going to get robust revenues from online distribution and many old channels of distribution are drying up quickly in a slow economy. In trying to keep old cash cows alive, the potential growth markets for online content have been stunted from a lack of truly inventive approaches to revenue generation.Online display ads? Spare inventory is running at half the rates of last year. Online subscription? It works for The Wall Street Journal and plenty of enterprise services, but few others have been willing to risk the lack of exposure to search engines and social media. In the meantime, media organizations eager to trim staffs after consolidation deals are left with less and less editorial staff to generate attention-getting content. The presumption that online revenues for traditional media properties would ramp up at a pace that would offset declines in revenues from traditional outlets is essentially false. Media companies have under-invested in online revenue generation and are now faced with the uncomfortable duty of trying to think their way out of both an ad recession and an idea recession.This is not to say that there aren\'t bright exceptions to this rule - many great brands continue to thrive, albeit on a slimmer slice of revenues and market attention than before - but there is a fundamental revenue gap that is not going to close any time soon for many publishers. David Carr highlighted this in his recent New York Times article, mentioning with only part of his tongue in his cheek that publishers should take advantage of oversized iPods expected this fall to facilitate pay-as-you-go downloads of content. Carr is on to one essential point: ads on their own properties can\'t pull the full freight for most publishers in their traditional media, and neither should they pull the full freight in online media.

Content Aggregation and ProductionThe main problem, though, is that media producers seem to be searching continually for some magic-bullet device portal that will solve their problems and recreate, at one level or another, the "walled gardens" that they had relied upon for revenue generation in the past. These artificial scarcity plays, though, generally strike audiences as, well, artificial, and rarely float on their own without exceptional features and content from a broad spectrum of sources. Even then, the next great portal or platform comes along and the game is off.Will the revenue gap ever close to the satisfaction of today\'s publishers and media producers? Probably not. Smart publishers know now much technology has passed their brands by and how much technology has enabled other brands to sweep into their audience\'s mindshare, but it\'s an uphill battle. They are up against billions of dollars invested in new publishing technologies that have not benefited their own products before benefiting the content produced by Content Nation and by any number of professionally-oriented startups that have their own take on content aggregation and production. Latest example: The Printed Blog, a startup that is launching a twice-daily free newspaper in Chicago based on content aggregated from popular local blogs. Even print itself is not a barrier for technology that can aggregate attractive content sourced from anywhere.

Examples of Business Models for PublishersOK, enough of the doom and gloom, where\'s the good news? The good news is that there are business and payment model options for publishers to explore to make better use of their key publishing assets:
MicropaymentsMicropayments are not regarded highly in many circles, but they\'re a logical extension of existing business models such as newsstands (a quarter for the New York Post at the train station? Essentially a micropayment.) and can be implemented more effectively using technologies such as Attributor that track use but don\'t necessarily limit distribution. A widespread embeddable micropayment system would enable publishers to expose limited content through viral distribution and still enable direct revenues on a transparent "I\'ll try anything once" impulse buying system that monitors access passively. It may turn out to be only a few cents per view - something along the line of messaging units on mobile phones - but it could create a fundamental offset in revenues that could begin to build a bottom floor for revenues that keep the doors open.

Agnostic AggregationThe most successful plays in online publishing are far more willing to treat anyone\'s content as potentially interesting content for their audiences. This may frustrate traditional journalists at times, but since there are fewer of them making a decent living these days to be aghast at the idea of their content being beside an independent blogger, perhaps it\'s not such an unthinkable thing in the long run (yes, there are probably guild / union issues, but realistically it will happen). Having spent years trying to define technology that would enable aggregation to be controlled along the lines of traditional media business development, perhaps media companies can invest a little more heavily in aggregation plays that do not require top-heavy approaches to aggregation.

Focus on Talent SupportWith all of the talented journalists and media producers out there, you would think that someone would decide to recognize that the trend is towards "the talent" powering publications as independents and focus more on getting their content in the best channels possible. If it\'s important for a journalist to be able to follow a particular story independent of daily publishing pressures, then why not make it easier for journalists to do so with high-visibility distribution on a wider variety of channels? Exclusive access to specific editorial teams no longer seems to pay the bills, anyway. I think that we\'re likely to see a content bidding system emerge not unlike that used for online ads which will allow independent journalists to sell off the rights to their work to key media outlets on an on-demand basis. If making money in publishing is about getting the right content in front of the audience at the right time, why not make it easier for both the content producers and the content distributors to optimize the content side as efficiently as they do the ad side?
Whatever way you look at it, today\'s publishing environment has put the spotlight on The New Aggregation that I presaged several years ago and has forced publishers to think about specific assets that they have and to use them more effectively as individual components that can serve markets in a variety of ways - not just through their traditional branded outlets in traditional ways. Be it news, databases, entertainment or any other form of media, the winners will be those that can meter out the value of their content production to facilitate on-demand aggregation far more efficiently than they have to date. The brand isn\'t the bundle - the brand is the ability to bundle what\'s most important today.

Originally written by John Blossom for Shore and first published on January 13, 2009 as "Dead Business Models Walking: Will Major Media Companies Survive the Bust?".

About the authorJohn Blossom\'s career spans more than twenty years of marketing, research, product management and development in advanced information and media venues, including major financial publishers and financial services companies, as well as earlier experience in broadcast media. Mr. Blossom founded Shore Communications Inc. in 1997, specializing in research and advisory services and strategic marketing consulting for publishers and consumers of content services.

Photo credits:The Importance of Online Revenues - 3dfotoContent Aggregation and Production - mipanExamples of Business Models for Publishers - picpicsMicropayments - Aleksey PopruginAgnostic Aggregation - Andrzej WłodarczykFocus on Talent Support - Chad McDermott ...

"Change is racing along so fast that the old learn-in-advance methods are no longer sufficient. While network infrastructure is evolving exponentially, we humans have been poking along. ... We\'ve got to reinvent ourselves and get back on the fast track."Photo credit: TebNadInformal learningevangelistJay Cross thought of this idea already back in 2003. Traditional schooling is no longer sufficient to deal with the complexity of modern society. In a world which is going to be increasingly more specialized what is really going to make the difference is your ability to explore, research and find relevant information just-in-time via the personal connections you have created over time. That\'s why the connections you establish with your peers, the personal learning network that you create, are really valuable. Sharing and learning with other individuals who have your own passions and interest, is an opportunity to really learn and to get out of the traditional classrooms environment, where your desire to learn is too often suffocated by dogmatic principles and grade scales.Get used to that: knowing things per se, and filling your walls at home with certificates, doesn\'t mean you\'re a good student or that you are better than anyone else. It just means that you can answer pre-determined questions when you are asked to. And, is this really the skill you need to be successful in your life?Here\'s Jay\'s vision:

Connections: The Impact of Schoolingby Jay Cross
IntroSmall wonder that executives hear the word "learning," think "schooling" and conclude "not enough payback." Executives respond better to "execution."Everything is connected. Each of us is enmeshed in innumerable networks. You\'re linked to telephone networks, satellite networks, cable feeds, power grids, ATM networks, the banking system, the Web, intranets, extranets and networks that are local, wide, wireless, secure, virtual and peer-to-peer.Social networks interconnect us in families, circles of friends, neighborhood groups, professional associations, task teams, business webs, value nets, user groups, flash mobs, gangs, political groups, scout troops, bridge clubs, 12-step groups and alumni associations.Human beings are networks. Scientists are still conceptualizing the human protocol stack, but they affirm that our personal neural intranets share a common topology with those of chimps and other animals. Once again, everything\'s connected. Learning is a whole-body experience.Moore\'s Law doubles computing power every 18 months, bandwidth doubles twice as fast, and connections grow exponentially with each node. Interconnections beget complexity, so we have no concept of what\'s ahead.

Learning Is ParticipationSix years ago, Intel CEO Craig Barrett said, "We\'re racing down the highway at 150 mph, and we know there\'s a brick wall up ahead, but we don\'t know where." We still don\'t know where that wall is, but today the car would be hurtling along at 1,800 mph.Change is racing along so fast that the old learn-in-advance methods are no longer sufficient. While network infrastructure is evolving exponentially, we humans have been poking along. Because of the slow pace of evolution, most human wetware is running obsolete code or struggling with a beta edition. We\'ve got to reinvent ourselves and get back on the fast track.In a world where we don\'t know what\'s coming next, what constitutes good learning? We\'re in whitewater now, and smooth-water sailing rules no longer apply.

• In whitewater, successful learning means moving the boat downstream without being dumped, preferably with style.
• In life, successful learning means prospering with people and in networks that matter, preferably enjoying the relationships and knowledge.

Learning is that which enables you to participate successfully in life, at work and in the groups that matter to you. Learners go with the flow. Taking advantage of the double meaning of "network," to learn is to optimize one\'s networks.

The Advantages of Networked LearningThe concept that learning is making good connections frees us to think about learning without the chimera of boring classrooms, irrelevant content and ineffective schooling. Instead, the network model lets us take a dispassionate look at our systems while examining nodes and connections, seeking interoperability, boosting the signal-to-noise ratio, building robust topologies, balancing the load and focusing on process improvement.Does looking at learning as networking take humans out of the picture? Quite the opposite.Most learning is informal; a network approach makes it easier, more productive and more memorable to meet, share and collaborate. Emotional intelligence promotes interoperability with others. Expert locators connect you to the person with the right answer. Imagine focusing the hive mind that emerges in massive multiplayer games on business. Smart systems will prescribe the apt way to demonstrate a procedure, help make a decision or provide a service, or transform an individual\'s self-image. Networks will serve us instead of the other way around.For tech networks, foundation meta-processing skills will foster the growth of self-determined learning. Personal knowledge management systems will store memories and facilitate rapid knowledge sharing across one\'s network. Alter-ego agents will seek out and present us with a balance of normal alerts and fringy out-of-the-box wake-up calls.It beats schooling.

Originally written by Jay Cross and first published on Chief Learning Officer Magazine on November 1, 2003 as "Connections: The Impact of Schooling".

About the authorJay Cross is a champion of informal learning, Web 2.0, and systems thinking. He served as CEO of eLearning Forum for its first five years and has keynoted major conferences in the U.S. and Europe. He is the author of Informal Learning: Rediscovering the Natural Pathways that Inspire Innovation and Performance. Jay Cross currently helps teams apply informal / Web 2.0 learning approaches to foster collaboration and accelerate performance. He is a graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Business School.

Photo credits:Learning Is Participation - Andrey DavidenkoThe Advantages of Networked Learning - Marcin Sadlowski ...

The impact that learning environments will have on the way we work, Internet freedom, and the future of libraries are just some of the hot topics inside this week Media Literacy Digest.Photo credit: Jason RhodeHas the Web been helping the true growth of a greater freedom of thought, allowing individuals to develop a critical attitude and question their beliefs?Tough the question remains open, it\'s certainly true that the Internet has greatly helped to foster the sharing of knowledge and the exchange of opinions. Forums, online communities, or even comments to a blog post, are often the occasion to start a debate and look at things from a different perspective.As every week, you can use the pointers and open questions raised in this Digest as a compass helping you explore and make greater sense of the subtle, but disruptive changes that our society faces in these times.Here all the details:

eLearning Resources and Newslearning, networks, knowledge, technology, trendsby George Siemens

Network WeavingNetwork weaving is a great term to describe how people and organizations interact, connect, share information, and form relationships. In this 20 minute video, June Holley talks about her experience with weaving networks.The term "networks" is so broad it's tough to talk about it meaningfully without first spending time clarifying terms. Barabasi stated that "networks are everywhere. All we need is an eye for them". I agree. While networks share structural properties (connections between nodes), how and why networks form differs with network types. For example, how does a social network translate into learning? How does being connected to a certain group of people translate into understanding? (if you're interested, I posted a presentation last year on the subject of different ways to see learning as networked).

Net Gen SkepticMark Bullen\'s blog has changed from Net Gen Nonsense to Net Gen Skeptic (I criticized the first title when he set up the blog last May / June. Now I think I prefer it). He reports on a recent survey at BCIT on the use of technologies by age. Short answer of the outcome: "The results clearly show that generational differences are not the issue. Contextual issues such as the nature of the program are more important considerations when making decisions about the integration of learning technologies."

Second LifeAs with any tool that embodies a potentially new medium of interaction, Second Life has been the subject of much hype. Many companies that first embraced SL as a tool for connecting with customers have since left. Reuters, for example, set up a news bureau, reporting on all things SL. In October of last year, they closed it. The obvious response is to say something like "see, Second Life isn't practical / useful… it's over-hyped". I think it's important for companies to experiment and explore how new technologies might inform their interaction with information and with others. I'm sure Reuters has learned much more through this "failure" than they would have if the project had been a success. The value of experimenting is often found in the process, not in the outcome.

Future of LibrariesLibraries are often cited as a dying concept. In my home community, we recently built a new, expensive library… and it looks like a library. Bigger than the older building and with more books. Not much in the innovation category. However, on universities campuses, libraries are often among the busiest areas on campus. It might have something to do with free wireless, Starbucks, comfortable seating, etc. Regardless, the library field has managed to effectively reposition itself for the digital era. Academics have much to learn from the libraries to learning commons change.Confessions of a Science Librarian has compiled a list of 29 reports on the future of academic libraries.

CCK08 Wrapup RecordingThis afternoon, we held a wrapup conversation for CCK08… the recording is now available. We discussed a wide-range of topics, including lurking in online environments, lessons learned from CCK08, Stephen's serialized course feeds, what we'll do differently for the September ‘09 offering of the course, etc. At about the 40 minute mark, we had an interesting discussion on assessment in education. My own view: assessment should be seen as matching patterns: what the learner knows and what she / he needs to know in order to achieve a degree / certificate. Instead of assessment conducted after a course, a combination of PLE / e-Portfolios and the patterns we exhibit through our daily online interaction / learning could serve as the basis for determining what field we are more qualified to work in. If I decide I want a career change, I should be able to match my existing skill set and expertise against the established criteria of other fields… and receive information on transference of existing learning. "George, you possess 48% of the needed knowledge to be a plumber, 35% to be a dentist, 105% to be an investment banker"… and then I should only be required to "gap fill" what I know vs. what I need to know. I could change careers every year!

The Liberty of the NetworkedInstead of an aversion to pain, I think I have a desire to walk toward it. Last fall, during CCK08, I was blessed with the opportunity to experience Prokofy Neva (Catherine Fitzpatrick). Many course participants found her distracting (rude). I didn't find myself nodding in agreement with her too often, but I valued her contrarian voice. We should be questioning our assumptions, our broad frameworks. I find Andrew Keen to be an important voice - not because he's accurate or on target with his criticism - but because he is willing to question what many assume as given (though he does so in order to sell books, but similar criticism could be directed at Shirky, Scoble, and others). Ideas in tension is a good thing. Whenever I find strong agreement on principles (such as is increasingly occurring at conferences touting the value of Web 2.0 in education), I find myself wanting to push back and take the other perspective.Anyway, Tony Curzon Pricediscusses networks, individuals, and the collective: "We need to exercise our collective freedom to preserve our modern liberty… Society gave power to the individual, but also had absolute power over including or excluding the individual. Collective power was bought at the cost of individual rights and certainties. One of the most troubling aspects of the wired world, with its assault on privacy and its technologies of manipulation, may recreate and amplify this aspect of the world of the ancients."The comment by Fitzpatrick, complete with techo-communism references (such as Stephen and I were subject to during CCK08), raises an issue I've been thinking about lately. What will become of the individual? Collectives are great for many things. But any view of society that does not start with the individual is disconcerting.

Originally written by George Siemens for elearnspace and first published on February 28th 2009 in his newsletter eLearning Resources and News.

About the authorTo learn more about George Siemens and to access extensive information and resources on elearning check out www.elearnspace.org. Explore also George Siemens connectivism site for resources on the changing nature of learning and check out his new book "Knowing Knowledge".

Photo credits:Net Gen Skeptic - Mark BullenSecond Life - VSTEFuture of Libraries - NdulCCK08 Wrapup Recording - Marc DietrichThe Liberty of the Networked - scol22 ...

Do you need a quick translation while working online? It can be an e-mail from a colleague, the lyrics of a song, an e-mail, or even a web page. All you need to do is try one of the free language translation services I personally selected and reviewed in this mini-guide.Photo credit: rosendoOftentimes you might need some information for a work you\'re preparing, your thesis, or any other reason, but what if those info are not in your own language? Do you need to buy a dictionary and start translating? Sure, you can do that, but you can be way smarter!Lucky for you there are plenty of online services to help you translate texts, documents, web pages, or e-mails. All without spending a dime. I\'m sure you\'re already familiar with the Google Language Tools, but there are a few alternatives I suggest you check out.These translation tools all work pretty much the same way. You just copy and paste the text you need to translate, and then select the language you are translating from / to. Et voilá, you\'re done! It\'s as simple as that, even if it may take a while if you are translating an entire web page or a very long document.Curious? Do you want to know more about these free online translation services?Here below the set of key basic characteristics that I have utilized to compare the tools I hand-picked and reviewed, so that you can easily find the best language translation service for your needs:

1. Translation sources: Some of these services not only translate a single word or a text, but even a web page or an e-mail.
2. Word Limit: Usually you can translate for free up to 150 words, but the very best services in these guide have a higher word limit, or even none at all.
3. Special features: What if you have to translate from a language which is not your own? You may not have some special characters in your keyboard (say the ñ in Spanish). But the best tools in this guide have this feature built right in, so you don\'t have to worry about that.
4. File uploading: It can be quite a hassle to copy and paste text from a long document, but services like SYSTRANet let you upload files right from your desktop.

Here all the details:

Free Online Language Translation

1. SDL FreeTranslation.com
   
   SDL FreeTranslation.com is a free online translation service that you can use to translate blocks of text, or even web pages. Each text can be up to 4-5 pages or about 4,000 to 5,000 words, which is about 8 or 10 pages of a fairly dense document. Worth mentioning is the special character feature that lets you add characters which you don\'t have on your keyboard without changing its layout.

   http://www.freetranslation.com/

2. WorldLingo
   
   WorldLingo is an online language translation service that allows you to translate texts, documents, web pages or even e-mails from and to a language of your choice. Just submit the text or files that you need to read in another language and let WorldLingo do the rest. WorldLingo is completely free to use, but the maximum length of the text you can convert is set to 150 words.

   http://www.worldlingo.com/en/products_services/worldlingo_translator.html

3. Yahoo! Babel Fish
   
   Yahoo! Babel Fish is a free online service to translate a block of text or web pages. Powered by the SYSTRAN translation engine, Yahoo! Babel Fish is the most popular of these services and allows the translation of texts up to 150 words from and to a large set of languages. Just paste your text or URL inside the translator window and let Yahoo! Babel Fish work for you.

   http://babelfish.yahoo.com/

4. PROMT Translator
   
   PROMT Translator is a free online language translation service that works either with texts and web pages. Unlike other similar services, not many languages are available, but you have advanced features like transliteration or displaying variants for your translated text. You can also check the spelling of your text before submitting a translation, and there\'s no limit to the words you can translate.

   http://www.online-translator.com/text_Translation.aspx

5. Reverso
   
   Reverso is an online service that provides you with a free translation of a given text. Not many pairs of languages are available, but Reverso comes with the useful special character feature so you can use all those chars which are not available in your country language and keyboard layout. No word limit for your translations.

   http://www.reverso.net/text_translation.asp?lang=EN

6. Google Language Tools
   
   Google Language Tools allows you to translate a text or a web page in another language instantly. The service is completely free, web-based, and supports all the principal languages spoken across the World. Despite being no word limit for the text you can translate, unlike other similar tools, Google Translation Tools has no special character feature, or offers to upload documents from your hard-disk for immediate translation.

   http://www.google.com/language_tools?hl=en

7. SYSTRANet
   
   SYSTRANet is a free online translation service that allows you to type a text, or even access files directly from your desktop, preserving customization and format. You can then select the language pair, the custom topic dictionary that best fit your content, and an option to introduce some custom terms that you may want to utilize in your translated documents. No limit to the length of the text and the possibility to use special characters make up for a powerful software.

   http://www.systranet.com/

8. WordReference
   
   WordReference is a free online translator and dictionary that helps you translate single words or find their meaning. Just type the words you need to translate and select the source and target language. You can also embed a mini version of the translator in your web page or use the iPhone / iPod Touch app.

   http://www.wordreference.com/index.htm

9. Babylon
   
   Babylon is a free online service to make a language translation. With a clean and easy-to-use interface Babylon allows you to translate from and to more than 800 paired languages, with no limit to the text you can submit. The service is also available for a free download on your desktop, both for PCs and Macs.

   http://translation.babylon.com/

10. LOGOS
    
    LOGOS is a free online service for language translation. LOGOS allows you to translate single words from and into several languages or even use its powerful, built-in dictionary to look up for a definition of the words you want to translate. It is not possible to translate web pages.

    http://www.logos.net/

11. Ajeeb Translation
    
    The Tarim tool by Ajeeb Translation Site provides a free facility for translating between Arabic and English, and back. The service is either a text and a web page translator. A number of useful options are also offered to enhance the translation quality like: better accuracy, less layout, progressive translation, and transliteration.

    http://tarjim.ajeeb.com/sakhr/MainView.aspx?lang=1

Originally prepared by Robin Good for MasterNewMedia, and first published on March 2, 2009 as "Free Online Language Translation: Best Services To Translate Your Documents - Mini-Guide". ...