What's the Best CMS?

Having just created a course in Joomla, I am curious about the other content management systems. This CMS was difficult to work with mostly because I had a lack of training. From the way it sounds, udutu would have been much easier to work with. Joomla also had several templates from which to choose and start. Changing things around did not so much require knowledge of programming languages, but rather an understanding of the infrastructure. There are so many interactive things I wanted to incorporate but did not know how and could not have learned on my own in a timely manner. So, this post is more or less to pose a few questions: Which content management systems you have used and which have been easy to work with? Which ones were best for interactivity?

More Free Tools

This blog seems to be undergoing a bit of a trend in open source software and things available via creative commons. I thought I'd share some interesting tools I've been reading about recently- all of them free.

Csounds: sound design, music synthesis, and signal processing for Mac, Linux, and Windows.

Plone is open source content management that easily allows you to organize web content for group projects and communities.



Plumi is a little piece of software that works with Plone, once you have Plone up and running.
Plumi allows you to create your own video sharing site! Currently, developers are even working on functionalities that will allow users to upload and download to/from Plumi sites using mobile devices.




For Chris Davis, in response to one of your previous posts- the Open Clip Art Library. This library is user supported- submit your own clip art and contribute to an archive of Creative Commons images, or download clip art when you need some.



Not really open source software, or creative commons assets, blip.tv is a really interesting site that provides learning and hosting resources for web shows and web storytelling. Newbies can learn the craft, and the more experienced web show producers can hone their craft. Free accounts are available, and their tools are good for Windows and Macs.


If you've never been to the Internet Archive, you simply have to go. Home of the Wayback Machine, the Internet Archive is a huge, digital library that is dedicated to providing access to all sorts of digital collections.

Resources for training

During our class on Thursday, someone had mentioned open-source as an alternative to the pricey alternatives for Instructional designers. I found an excellent resource at http://c4lpt.co.uk/Directory/ which lists a directory of open-source, freeware and commercial solutions to assist designers with developing courseware. This site lists everything relative to Web 2.0 and also provides a brief description of the product offering s and how they can be utilized.

It is increasingly difficult for our in-house training department to get funding for much needed applications to develop effective online curriculum. Through the use of open source and freeware we can develop training programs that "stand-out" and assist with making the case for ROI and gaining buy-in from the powers that be to consider the pricey alternatives. If you're searching for open source solutions, do check out this directory of resources and I hope that you find some tools to add to your arsenal.

SCUMMVM

I remember the sad, sad day I found out I couldn't play Monkey Island 1 on my new computer. I didn't know what to do with myself, I felt like I had lost a close loved one forever... That is until I found the open source program known as SCUMMVM. After a download and an install and a few short steps I was now able to play all my old LucasArts favorites on my computer again, and best of all they had a Mac build so once I upgraded computers again and changed to Mac I still had access to all my beloved games.

Now in case you're wondering "What is SCUMMVM?" I'll start by telling you what it stands for, and that is "Script Creation Utility for Maniac Mansion Virtual Machine". I bet you are still confused, but that's ok. SCUMM was the utility used to create the LucasArts adventure game known as Maniac Mansion and was later used for amazing LucasArts games like Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis and the Monkey Island Series. Since SCUMM was created in 1987, it eventually became obsolete and no longer ran on any newer computers or OS's. So along came the SCUMMVM open source program, which is where the 'VM' or Virtual Machine part comes in. A Virtual Machine is basically what it name says, it creates a virtual platform on a computer for certain programs to run in, this one specifically for old LucasArts games.

So if you are in the same boat I was in, check out www.scummvm.org! And you too can get back to all those awesome games!