Now and then, I need pictures of animals. Sometimes, I need pictures of very specific animals, and on occasion, I even need video. Granted, it's not so common, but when you want to use an illustration about a Madagascar Grass Owl, there's nothing like a photo. Enter the Arkive--a collection of image and video documentation aspiring to someday capture every species on the planet. Take a peek sometime and imagine all the ways it could be useful.
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What a great idea for running through pics of the last big event or to handling less-than-exciting announcements! This guy took the first three Star Wars films and boiled them into a minute-fifteen. I'm betting we could easily do the same with a collection of mission trip pictures or a montage of new construction footage. It's a nice reminder of a lower-tech way to tell old stories and make them "new." Seriously--wouldn't this be a great way to use Braveheart or Gladiator as an illustration?
Link via TestPatten
It's not exactly ePingo, but if you need an image big, fast and cheap, then this is a pretty cool option. This site lets you upload a photo or diagram and then generate a multi-page PDF you can print out and paste together--as big as you want. Sure, you could do this with some fancy software, but for those of you without Illustrator, this is a win.
Link via The Presurfer
Yep, that means free for use. Although I'm sure you're always careful to check copyright on any images you use, this may help ease your conscience!
The Wikipedia is sometimes maligned because of its open editing community, but it remains one of my favorite sites and we'll talk more about it as the year goes on. This page in particular is a treasure trove. Be sure and check out the research resources box near the top right while you're there--it links to public domain sounds and a couple of other goodies.
Link via Micro Persuasion
It's a little difficult to browse and I'm not going to highlight the whole thing tonight, but the Edison Collection alone is a treasure trove of goofy introductions, historical novelties and observation exercises. The whole thing is silent and every last one is downloadable in multiple formats--safe to play on your laptop or iPod far from a wireless connection.
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This isn't rocket science, but it is an easy way to spice up your PowerPoint. Many people add keywords (tags) to items on Flickr (a web 2.0 photo-sharing sight). Erik Kastner uses those tags to index photos of letters. His site lets you quickly piece together words from said photos and even copy the code for use online. It'll make more sense if you go look.
Link via somewhere I forgot (possibly Neatorama or Micro Persuasion)
Sometimes, you just need a little bump to get the creativity flowing. Neatorama is my favorite site for doing just that. No, it isn't about Jesus or God or faith, but it's a great place to stumble across some obscure photo, video or news item that would make the perfect illustration or introduction for a tired lesson (like this). And it's pretty clean to boot. There are multiple sites offering a smorgasboard of information, but I subscribe to this one, and every time I read it I catch myself thinking, "Neat."
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If you wanted creative video illustrations a few years back, you had two options: do it yourself or buy a pre-made DVD and re-write what you really wanted to say so you could use the DVD. The first one was often beyond reach. The second, if you were like me and had the idea a bit late in the game, you needed the video now--not after a week after you ordered it. Times have changed. At Sermon Spice, you can search by keyword, view an entire video online, buy it (and only it) and immediately download a full size version. Nice. And, they host videos from many places and artists, so you can find what fits your message and not have to re-work the message to fit the video.
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Since 12-DEC-2006
