This Online Whiteboard Is Useful And Fun

One of the things that the Internet does really well, is to allow people to collaborate on projects even though they're not in the same place at the same time.  And there are few better examples of this, in my opinion, than a web site called www.dabbleboard.com.  It's a simple idea, brilliantly executed.

Dabble Board is basically a shared, online whiteboard.  Use it just like any traditional whiteboard, to write down ideas, draw diagrams, illustrate ideas and so on.  To get started, just visit www.dabbleboard.com and you're ready to go.  There's no need to register or sign in.  Simply click on the first icon to clear the sample content, and start drawing.  You can draw or write freehand, or allow the system to automatically recognise your gestures and turn them into the correct shapes.

The collaboration side of things is pretty easy to use, too.  Just click the "Invite Others" button and you'll be shown the unique URL for your particular session.  Email that to anyone else who's interested, and they can join in.

If you want to save your designs, you'll need to register.  And if you want to protect them from the general public you'll need to upgrade to a paid-for account.  But the basic facilities in the free version should suffice for most people.  So next time you find yourself waving your hands at the telephone, trying to describe something which your friend or colleague simply can't grasp, walk over to your web browser and fire up DabbleBoard. Or you could even try playing hangman!