NEW RESOURCES

Now available: a new multimedia tool for teaching about World War I. “ABMC, a government agency that administers America’s overseas Armed Forces cemeteries, established a partnership with LEARN NC, the outreach arm of the School of Education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Virginia Tech to create a guide to help educators teach about World War I. The initiative matched curriculum-development experts from the two universities with middle and high school teachers from North Carolina and Virginia to study an American WWI cemetery in France and to develop a multimedia teaching guide from what they learned.”

A group of ex-Skypers have launched a virtual whiteboard. “The Deekit app offers all of the whiteboard features you’d expect, such as drawing tools and the ability to add text. In addition, you can pin notes on the side, and the whole app is collaborative: anybody can contribute no matter where they are and in realtime. Boards can also be shared and archived for future reference.”

There’s a new place to watch opera online. And it’s free! “Launched today, The Opera Platform is a new website which will broadcast and archive (for 30 days) full opera productions from some of Europe’s leading opera companies, including Welsh National Opera, The Royal Opera and Teatro Real Madrid.”

The Chicago Academy of Sciences is putting its biological collections data online. “As of mid-April, we have data from 4,643 mammal specimens and 9,075 bird eggs and nests published on VertNet, as well as on the Global Biodiversity Information Facility and iDigBio (two other projects that bring together natural history specimen data). On the VertNet homepage, you can search for specimens with our collection prefix (CHAS) by going to “Search Options” and entering CHAS in the “InstitutionCode” box. See if you can find the oldest specimen, or the specimen collected farthest away, or your favorite mammal or bird species!”

USEFUL STUFF

Oh my. A Web-based CAD tool? Yes please.

Journalism.co.uk takes a look at using Twitter Curator.

Craig Newmark tips you to 4 Twitter tools that are the “real deal”.

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Guess what? You no longer need a Twitter account to use Periscope. “Other improvements were the result of requests, including the ability change profile pictures from Periscope’s default image, making it easier to reply to chat messages while broadcasting and clearly marking when a user has been blocked.”

Flickr has done a big revamp and added new tools. “Today, we’re happy to announce Flickr Camera Roll and Uploadr, two powerful tools that will revolutionize the way you upload, organize, and share every photo you’ve ever taken. With these tools, you can now maximize the potential of all of that free space and finally take control of the photos in your life.” Had a bad experience with Flickr and not particularly interested in going back. Looking for a new place for my photos to live.

Google wants you to be able to order food directly from search results.

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

From Digiday: Yahoo fails to impress with digital magazines.

The Chicago Tribune’s Instagram account for its archive photography has been an unexpected hit. “Daughtridge and photo editor Marianne Mather post up to eight photos a day, little black-and-white flashbacks from the massive archives of the Tribune Tower. Recent photos show morning commuters on an express bus in 1981, two women at North Avenue Beach in 1960, and a late-career Babe Ruth in his Boston Braves uniform, sitting in the Wrigley Field dugout in 1935.” Good morning, Internet…

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