I have a couple days per week where most of the day is spent reading and keeping up with what’s on the ‘net. These days go in stages from “this is good” to “rabbit-trails” to “back-on-track” to “I’m a little overwhelmed and have I accomplished anything?”
The result of this ugly cycle to which I return regularly is that I now have way too many sites and services rolling around in my head. So today I’m going to share a few. Don’t read this as a top 5 list. It’s not. But it does highlight some types of services that I think could be useful for you to know exist. Use some, use none but know they’re there.
Remember, we’re all about good tools here so if someone or something can do a task really well … for free … without a huge learning curve on your part … I say let them. Save your time, save your money, and look like a pro to boot.
Two things quickly: yes, you will have to register to use some of these services but most of the registrations are very simple (pretty much a name and email). And yes, they will offer services that cost, but for the purposes I have in mind for this post I really think the free offerings are sufficient. Secondly, I’m assuming you’ll note and take precautions regarding the sensitivity of your environment and data when evaluating/using these services. For most people, it won’t be an issue.
- Animoto: this site creates quick, customized movies from your photos for free. What makes this site different? The photos are customized to the music automatically. In other words, the software analyzes the photos and music and makes them sync in a nice, harmonic (and professional) fashion. It’s not your typical, Ken-Burns effect, rotate-slides-every-X-seconds-to-music video. And no two videos are ever alike. The catch: video length is only about 60 seconds for the free ones. But you might be amazed what 60 seconds can do, and I think this site could be very handy. If you absolutely need something longer, make 2 or 3 and show them back to back, but you don’t want videos much longer than that anyway.
- DivShare: this is a great document, movie and photo sharing site (perfect for the animoto video you just made). It’s free to load up to 5G of storage – and if you have no idea whether that’s good or bad, it’s a lot of space for the average Joe. You can very easily share what you upload either through their site or by placing the information on your own site or blog. I won’t post instructions here, but contact me with questions. The catch: if you share via their site, there are banner ads. This is typically no big deal, but if you want to go ad-free you’ll have to pay for one of the subscription options. This is not the only doc sharing site, but it offers more storage than most and sharing is easy.
- WordPress.com: want to start a blog? WordPress.com will give you one free; this site is a free-hosted blog on WordPress.com. There are many free blog services but I like WordPress because, to me, the features are more robust and the free themes more professional than others. The catch: you will receive a website address that ends in wordpress.com. For example: weboverload.wordpress.com. If you want your blog to have a unique domain like “myblog.com” or “myname.com” – or, as in the case of weboverload.org – you have to buy that domain. Domains typically run from $5 – $15 depending on what you purchase (.com, .net, .org, etc.) and where you purchase. You can purchase a domain through WordPress.com for $15 (including mapping – don’t worry about what that is; it comes with it and I just needed to be accurate in my statement). BTW – that price can now include email for the domain if you desire. I won’t explain how that’s done but know it can be. Thus you can be pastorjoe @yourdomainname.com – all for $15 per year. Nice price. Note: Don’t get WordPress.com confused with WordPress.org. Same company, different service.
- StuffICanUse: free slide backgrounds, some music and even lessons/materials you can use if you’re interested in that sort of thing. The “stuff” is geared toward a younger audience (developed for student/college ministry) but take a look. You never know what you can use. They update with new items regularly.
- The Reader’s Version of Greek and Hebrew Bible: An online “Reader’s Edition” of the Hebrew and Greek text (in the vein of Zondervan and United Bible Society’s print versions). As the developer puts it:
“I love that those books present you with only what you really need to actually read the original text free from the distractions of additional features. In that spirit, I created a site that allows you to create a customized reader’s version of the Hebrew or Greek Biblical text.”
This was not the kind of item I had in mind for this post and I debated whether it fit. In the end, I decided it was worth sharing. I strongly encourage you to read his post about why it was developed and a few of the explanations in the comments section. It’s a short read.
It would be cool if one or more of these either helped you accomplish something you couldn’t do as easily before, or inspired you with a new idea. If not, maybe it at least turned you on to the idea of free resources. Next time you need something, give it a shot and see if you can find a tool online. Or, contact me and I’ll see if I know one.
Do you have free, online tools you use? Share them in the comments below. I’ll share my favorites over time too.
Filed under: Online tools, Online tools, time management
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