EricHoefler.com

Ambitious Comment Project

Thursday, March 5, 2009

I just found out about uberVU. In their own words: uberVU is an easy way to track, start and respond to conversations, even if they take place across multiple sites and services. You can follow the conversation around an item across various platforms, reply to the conversation from uberVU’s central collection point, and bring all of this [...]

Zotero, Now with Cloud

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

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I was a huge fan of Zotero even when it was a local-only extension.1 Now that it will sync across computers and allow online access to your library (with the 1.5 beta), it’s definitely at the top of my list of research tools. The blog post announcing this update is here. For anyone wondering, I think [...]

Amazon, Shelfari, and LibraryThing

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

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Amazon just acquired Shelfari along with used and rare book company Abe Books. Abe Books has been a long-time partner with and 40% investor in LibraryThing, a Shelfari competitor, so the Abe Books acquisition also gives Amazon a 40% stake in LibraryThing. A crowded shelf indeed. Details covered by Publishers Weekly and TechCrunch. I’ve never been [...]

Software for Writers – Part 2: Blog-Writing

Friday, May 16, 2008

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For my needs, Windows Live Writer (WLW) is the best desktop blogging application I’ve found.1 WLW makes it easy to insert elements and format posts, even allowing you to write using your blog’s stylesheet so you know exactly how the post will look once it’s published. I also appreciate the easy access to drafts and [...]

Software for Writers – Pt. 1: The Quick List

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

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I received an email from a teacher/friend asking for tips on script format to pass on to her creative writing students. I sent a quick reply,1 but I also mentioned that the students should consider using some software that was developed specifically for writers (instead of business professionals). I’ve tried a number of these tools, but [...]

Of Lovecraft and Bibliographies

Saturday, April 12, 2008

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Setup: Part One One of the requirements for my Masters in English1 was the standard scholarly research course. The major assignment of the course was to create a bibliography on a subject or author and then compose a bibliographic essay from the findings. I chose to research H. P. Lovecraft because I’d been interested [...]

Batch Edit Categories

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

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Update: If you’re using Wordpress 2.7 or higher, this plugin is no longer necessary. You can batch edit categories now on the “Edit Posts” page. Select multiple posts, choose “Edit” from the “Bulk Actions” drop-down, assign the new category in the “Categories” column, and click “Update Posts.” (You can also batch assign tags and perform [...]

Good Week for Online Updates

Friday, March 21, 2008

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It seems like the last week or so has been filled with some great updates to some of my favorite online (or online-related) services. Admittedly, they’re not all directly related to education, but good news is good news. Here are the highlights: Wordpress is updating to version 2.5, and it looks pretty sweet! (I don’t [...]

Rough Draft 3.0

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

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I’ve just dumped Word for RoughDraft,1 at least when it comes to stories and scripts. So far, RoughDraft is much, much better than a typical word-processor for writing prose and scripts, and a decent replacement for (and certainly cheaper than) FinalDraft or Movie Magic Screenwriter.2 I haven’t worked much with FinalDraft, but MMS does have [...]

Zotero + IA

Monday, December 24, 2007

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If you haven’t already heard, some exciting news (and two clarifications) from Dan Cohen: I’m pleased to announce a major alliance between the Zotero project at the Center for History and New Media and the Internet Archive. The Zotero-IA alliance will create a “Zotero Commons” into which scholarly materials can be added simply via the Zotero client. Cohen’s [...]

Lesson Plans for Google Docs

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

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Google and Weekly Reader’s Writing for Teens magazine have put together a few lesson plans to help teachers and students use Google Docs for collaborative writing. The lessons provide instructions for using Google Docs, student-oriented suggestions, tips, and checklists for working through an online, collaborative revision process, and an educator’s guide. Helpful stuff. The [...]