A new tool - Screencast-O-Matic

Many thanks to Sunnie over at Sunnie's Book Blog who pointed me to this new tool. She also, I'd like to point out, pointed me to Odiogo which creates my podiocasts.
Sunnie, one of my oz crime fiction pals, is doing a library studies class and I am reaping the benefits!

I'f you'd like to watch the Screencast which gives you a tour of my blog, plus you can hear my voice. The Screencast should start playing straightaway, but there may be a problem if you don't have Java.

Hopefully you can leave a comment on the screencast itself, but if you can't come back here and let me know.

Instructions for creating a Screen Cast:

1. Load up the web site you want to screencast.
   
2. in another tab go to http://www.screencast-o-matic.com/create
3. Choose the size screen - I used Full Screen.
4. The system will check whether you have Java installed.
5. You need to check that it has located the right headset/microphone.
6. Click on Go.
7. A screen will pop up that says : Ok! Here are the basic steps to create a screencast:

1. Drag the black frame so it surrounds the area of the screen that you'd like to capture.
   (I found the black frame a bit difficult to see but hover your cursor over the black bar to the right of the microphone symbol) and then drag that over the screen you want to use for the screen cast.
   
   
2. If you are recording audio, make sure the mic level is ok by talking into your mic and watching the icon. You may also need to adjust the mic recording volume for your operating system. See examples for Windows XP and Mac OS X.
3. Click the button to start recording the part of your screen inside the black frame (and audio from the mic you chose).
4. Click the button when you are done (or if you need to pause click button).
5. Come back to this page and we'll show you how to upload or export your screencast
   (Click this if you still see this message after doing a screen capture).
6. Make sure you keep this page open while creating your screencast!

I found the final step after I'd created the screencast a bit slow but I think that was because I had created quite a long screencast (nearly 10 mins) with large screen capability so the file is pretty large. Before you can upload the screencast you do have to create an "account."

Have fun!