BP12_2009123_Web 2.0 Tool 4_zFlick

One of the web 2.0 tools that I am writing about this week that I enjoy using is called zFlick. The tool was created by a fellow Full Sail student named Bryan Berger. He created the program to work with Flickr, which is an image sharing social networking site. Flickr is a site where users can upload their pictures and share them with other people on the Internet through the use of tagging, creation of friends, and forming of groups. zFlick is a program that is downloading to one’s desktop that assists the user with acquiring photos/images from Flickr without having to be online at the time, though an Internet connection is necessary for this tool to work.

Many times, we want to use images to help describe what our messages are. Many people go online to find these images instead of taking the pictures themselves and use sites like Flickr and PhotoBucket. I personally used PhotoBucket all the time until encountering zFlick. I found out about zFlick from the Full Sail Online website, as it was a featured article a few weeks ago because the creator of this program is a current Full Sail student who won an award and a trip to a foreign country as a result of creating this program. When I read the article, I was curious about what zFlick could do and whether I could benefit from it or not. Would it do what it said it would do and make the acquisition of images simpler than me just going to Flickr and seeking an image? Was it possible to just put in a tag name right from my desktop and have unlimited images at my mouse click without ever having to go onto the website?

I decided to give it a try and did some research on the site. I read the article in its entirety and then did a Google search for zFlick to see what else I could find on this program. I found that it is being hosted by Adobe Air, which is a well-known name so it must be something worth trying out, I thought. There was also a link to follow zFlick on Facebook so I went on my page and linked to it and read what I could. I found some discussion on zFlick and found some information about the creator and this information made him more real to me. I felt more of a connection to him as a fellow student and also decided that I definitely would give his program a try.

I downloaded zFlick, which was a simple step and ran the program. It was ready as soon as the download was complete. It opens a thin strip across the desktop where text can be entered. One can enter one word as the tag or a phrase and then zFlick does the rest. Within seconds, I had more than 600 images on my screen in small thumbnails. I ran my mouse across one and it made the thumbnail bigger in comparison with the others. Then when I clicked on the image I was interested in, it opened to a bigger image where I could see detail. After that, per the instructions I read, I dragged the image to my desktop and sure enough, there it was. A JPEG of the image I wanted. Simple; just as I was promised. Could not have been easier.

I like zFlick and I know I can easily use it for educational purposes because that is what I have been using it for now. I can put in a tag that says education and instantly images of classrooms, children, or anything associated with education comes up. zFlick also saves time because I don’t have to go online to use it. I can easily do other work and at the last moment, select the image I want to include with whatever lesson or assignment I am doing. This simple tool has cut down valuable search time for me online and that is why it is one of my favorite web 2.0 tools this week.