Newsletter Index 

May 30, 2013.  Number 139.  Blackboard upgrade June 3-6; Blackboard and PowerPoint Training series; Poll Everywhere in PowerPoint; Best of the Best results; news from our blog and twitter feed.

April 30, 2013.  Number 138.  Blackboard Reminders & Coming Attractions, AT Training for fall 2013, the Google Art Project, News from our blog and twitter feed.

February 28, 2013.  Number 137.  Buying a Tablet, AT Training for March, The Blackboard Thing of the Week, News from our blog and twitter feed.

January 31, 2013.  Number 136.  New semester, new version of Blackboard.  Academic Technology Training.  Google Search Tips.  News from our blog and twitter feed.

December 12, 2012.  Number 135.  Happy Holidays.  Blackboard upgrade.  WordPress upgrade.  AT Training for Spring 2013.  Thank you Katie, re an equipment donation from Google to Palomar College thanks to Prof. Katie Townsend-Merino.  News from our blog and Twitter feed.

October 29, 2012.  Number 134.  New Blackboard courses have been created; iPad Users Group; Windows 8 and Our Academic Alliance Program; news from our blog and twitter feed.

August 30, 2012.  Number 133.  Systems upgrades; training opportunities; using the iPad with a projector; news from our blog and twitter feed.

July 26, 2012.  Number 132.  Blackboard pre-fall upgrade Aug. 2-5; Help Desk Upgrade; WordPress Migration; Academic Technology Plenary Events; News from our blog and twitter feeds.

May 31, 2012.  Number 131.  Blackboard upgrade reminder; Low-end computers; Computer lab survey; news from our blog and twitter feed.

April 30, 2012.  Number 130.  Blackboard upgrade window; fall 2012 training schedule; eReaders and tablets for checkout; new from our blog and twitter feed.

March 28, 2012.  Number 129.  Training DVDs on WordPress Now Available; Upcoming Training; New Look for Our Blog; News from our blog and twitter feed.

February 29, 2012.  Number 128.  Academic Technology Webinars, Upcoming Training, Blackboard with Cream & Sugar, iPad app of the month, News from our blog and twitter feed.

January 25, 2012.  Number 127.  Academic Technology Webinars This Semester; POET and the Online Teaching Checklist; Upcoming Training; iPad app of the month; News from our blog and twitter feed.

December 15, 2011.  Number 126.  Blackboard maintenance between semesters; Camtasia and SnagIt licensing; NBC Learn subscription; Booktrack Christmas Carol; News from our blog and twitter feed.

November 16, 2011.  Number 125.  Spring 2012 training schedule; eReaders; Video storage; News from our blogs and twitter feed.

October 12, 2011.  Number 124.  NBC Learn faculty survey; USB wireless mics for checkout; Bb with cream & sugar concludes; news from our blogs and twitter feed.

September 16, 2011.  Number 123.  NBC Learn trial; Blackboard training DVDs; Blackboard with Cream & Sugar; Mac OS X PDF problems; News from blogs and twitter.

June 21, 2011.  Number 122.  Blackboard upgrade success with new features: course size limits, supported browsers, McGraw-Hill Connect, NBC Learn trial; Help system upgrade with new Live Chat; WordPress blogs now available to Palomar faculty members and staff; Windows Live Movie Maker online training; news from blogs and twitter feed.

May 11, 2011.  Number 121.  Summer Tech Camp-a few seats left; Bb with Cream last sessions for spring; Blackboard upgrade schedule for June 2-3;  thank you for participating in our surveys; WordPress blogs/sites coming soon; new from our blogs and twitter feed.

April 13, 2011.  Number 120.  Summer Tech Camp, Bb with cream & sugar, fall 2011 training announced, news from blogs and twitter.

March 18, 2011.  Number 119.  Mid-Semester Blackboard ToDo List, Blackboard with Cream & Sugar, Training Opportunities, News from our blogs and twitter feed.

December 16, 2010.  Number 118.  Blackboard 9 is live.  Blackboard with cream & sugar in January.  Media server switchover.  Spring training opportunities.  News from our blogs and twitter feed.

November 18, 2010.  Number 117.  Blackboard 9 is coming.  Blackboard with Cream & Sugar.  Last call for media.  New from our blogs.  News from our twitter feed.

October 14, 2010.  Number 116.  Calling all media...  The New Blackboard.  A New Office 2010.  News from our blogs, facebook group and twitter feed.

June 25, 2010.  Number 115.  We have released our tentative summer Tech Camp agenda, announce the availability of Office 2010 from the FCCC for Palomar employees, take a look at some of the Office 2010 tools, examine two types of course syllabi, discuss the merits (or not) of Wikipedia, and even submit for your edification maps that changed the world.

May 28, 2010.  Number 114.  This month we have news of the official IS adoption policy on Windows 7 and Office 2010; News of ATRC fall 2010 training, specifically workshops, Blackboard 9 training, and summer and winter tech camps; information on preparing your summer Blackboard course shells, evaluating your just-delivered spring online classes, and a host of What's New articles on Office 2010.

April 30, 2010.  Number 113.  Our theme this month is "Summer Tech Camp."  If you are a Palomar College faculty member, join us this summer, August 3-6, for a fun, educational tour that will provide you with knowledge of the latest technology tools and how to use them by creating a brief "teaching talk" similar to the famous TED talks.  Sign up by emailing the PD office:  pdoffice@palomar.edu.  The PD Office will confirm with you via email in May.  Click here to find out more.

March 31, 2010.  Number 112.  Our theme this month is "Technology Planning."  If you have not already participated in a planning Q&A session with the Technology Master Plan 2016 committee (yes, 2016) you will soon.  You will also be receiving email questionnaires seeking responses to tech-related queries.  We encourage you to let us know what you want and what you think about the use of technology in education.  Your input will be a valuable part of the plan we have begun to write.

February 26, 2010.  Number 111.  Our theme this month is "Call for Videos."  We have adopted a new streaming technology based on Microsoft Smoothstreaming and the Silverlight player.  The good news: Better looking and more secure online videos.  The bad news:  All videos need to be re-encoded.  Bring your videos in for re-encoding.  Videos on the current media server will continue to play through the end of this calendar year (12/31/10).  After that, they will not play.  Act now to bring in your videos for re-encoding to guarantee uninterrupted service.  Click here for more information.

January 29, 2010.  Number 110.  The new media; he Apple iPad; Google Eye; Firefox 3.6; MSDN Academic Alliance; Streaming Media Procedures at Palomar; Blackboard browsers; Kids' media use; Getting Your Blackboard Courses Ready; Grade Center Hide & Seek; Twitter in Academica; Getting to Know Students; Online Class Organization; Basic basics; How to create Journal Database Links; Kindle vs. iPad; Getting Help at Palomar College.

December 11, 2009.  Number 109.  Blackboard will be down a couple of times over winter break; we adopt a new blog/podcast format; Office 2010 beta is available; NORAD tracks Santa; Dickens' Christmas Carol MS is online; lots of news from Google; print publishers unite to dictate web formats; and a online tech book on Twitter, proving there is nothing so simple that it cannot merit a how-to book.  David will update us with what to expect from Blackboard now and next year.  Haydn discusses ending the semester well.  I will discuss the Windows Key in windows 7.

November 6, 2009.  Number 108.Windows 7 has arrived; Google releases several new products and services; Firefox 3.6b1 is also new; Microsoft is giving away Security Essentials; Google Earth has been updated to version 5.1; and we feature a tech book on the iPod.  Our Blackboard feature focuses on iPhone and Facebook Sync.  Haydn will discuss the role of instructors in facilitating online discussions.  I will give an overview of the best new features in Windows 7.

September 4, 2009.  Number 107.  Blackboard will be down for maintenance Sept. 11; Windows Mobile 6.5 is debuting October 6; iPhones customers are getting disgruntled over AT&T service; Apple releases Snow Leopard into the wild; Google cuts a deal with Sony to make Chrome the default browser on Vaios; Diebold bails out on evoting machines; Robby the robot may be coming to a bed near yours; and we feature a tech book on the Snow Leopard upgrade.  Haydn will discuss Virtual Groups.  I will give an overview of using the Academic Technology help desk software.

August 14, 2009.  Number 106.  Tech Camp is a hit; a Blackboard purge; Google Caffeine; screencast.com maintenance; Mac OS X updates; textbook rentals; Firefox 3.6 alpha; the LHC, take 2; Word not for sale; Win 7 review; Office 2010 feature set; Hello from Earth; Sony reader to support ePub standard; a tech book on Google Sketchup.  David will discuss semester Startup procedures for Blackboard users.  Haydn will discuss using the Blackboard calendar and performance dashboard to get started right.  I will give an overview of your tech tool toolkit, focusing on Blackboard tools, in my tech talk topic segment.

June 26, 2009.  Number 105.  It is not too late to sign-up for summer tech camp; Firefox 3.5 RC3 is available, as is Windows 7 final RC; TechSmith begins a new Education Community; we have an unbelievable optical illusion for you; we discuss the difference between notebooks and netbooks; and feature a tech book online titled The Manga Guide to Physics.  David's Blackboard Feature is a golden oldie comparing Blackboard and in-class activities.  Haydn's segment is also a rerun discussing the online human touch. In our Tech Talk Topic we discuss vendor provided screen videos relevant to the technology tools we use.

May 15, 2009.  Number 104.  We remind you of a scheduled Blackboard outage, scheduled for June 6-8; we also nag about the demise of Pluto, our student ftp server; we announce the date for our summer tech camp, and our fall training schedule; Windows 7 is on the loose; the Kindle DX has debuted; as has Della; Blackboard buys Angel; the BBC finds national defense secrets on eBay hardrives; and we feature a Manga tech book on line.  David's Blackboard Feature answers questions about questions.  Haydn discusses evaluating Online Learning in his Teaching with Technology segment. In our Tech Talk Topic we discuss YouTube.

April 24, 2009.  Number 103.  SP2 for Office 2007; Encarta dies; the World Digital Library debuts; Jaunty Jackalope appears; Google has introduced two new search features; electricity from space; PBS introduces a new streaming video portal; students suing TurnItIn lose; Oracle gobbles up Sun; Apple rises on sales of iPods and iPhones, Microsoft sinks on bad investments; GeoCities to be euthanized; and a tech book on iMovie and iDVD.   David's Blackboard Feature urges you to "drop the dropbox."  Haydn discusses the value of podcasts in his Teaching with Technology segment. In our Tech Talk Topic segment describe how to use Jing to paste images into Blackboard.

April 10, 2009.  Number 102.  As far as Academic Technology news goes, we have discontinued the PCPDF service, and after this semester, we are discontinuing ftp/web services to our student projects server Pluto; from Microsoft, the Security Intelligence Report, vol. 6, has been issued, the XP life cycle has been extended again for potential Windows 7 downgrades, and Sharepoint Designer is now free; Blockbuster may go bust; we tour a Google data center; we report on the vulnerability of the US electrical (and other infrastructure) grid; and feature a book on iWork '09 Training.  David's Blackboard Feature is about the new Blackboard Learn app for the iPhone and iPod Touch.  Haydn discusses 10 Ways to Improve Blended Learning Course Design in his Teaching with Technology segment. In our Tech Talk Topic segment we discuss Google Earth as an essential teaching tool.

March 26, 2009.  Number 101.  E8 is released, to no fanfare; Google Voice is coming; the UK revises primary education goals; Kindle 2 vs. Sony eReader and Google Books; a new Apple Shuffle; YouTube is everywhere; iPhone OS 3 is previewed; Google Earth Extreme Ice Survey; 2 new search features in Google; a tech book on CSS.  David's Blackboard Feature is about the new Blackboard Learn app for the iPhone and iPod Touch.  Haydn discusses 10 Ways to Improve Blended Learning Course Design in his Teaching with Technology segment. In our Tech Talk Topic segment we discuss Google Earth as an essential teaching tool.

February 20, 2009.  Number 100 (44:25).  The Amazon Kindle 2 is released; students can make the "ultimate steal;" Medpedia makes its public debut; visit the Prado via Google Earth; new 3D models for the Ocean layer in Google Earth; MERLOT makes another call for presentations; recovery.gov is launched; the dTV switchover is delayed, but happening, but delayed...; we feature a book on web site creation.  David will discuss what's new in Blackboard 9; Haydn has a couple teching tips from the TLT Group; and I will discuss the admittedly complex procedure for embedding a YouTube video on a web page and displaying it, along with audio annotations, in the Wimba Presenter.

February 6, 2009.  Number 99.  A Wikipedia editing controversy; the bicentennial of the birth of Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln; those super bowl ads; Google Earth 5 was released this week; Google made a search boo-boo; Firefox was updated to version 3.0.6; it snowed in London; Respondus added some Wiley tests to their test bank network; Congress agreed to delay the switchover to digital TV; there is a new Palomar Sociology web site; and we are featuring a tech book on all things Google:  The Googlepedia.  David will discuss the difference between blogs and discussion boards in his Blackboard feature this week; Haydn's Teaching with Technology segment is titled, "If I Did It . . . Here’s What I Did"; and my Tech Talk Topic this week will focus on the brand new Google Earth 5.

January 23, 2009.  Number 98.  We have removed course quotas in Blackboard; Palomar's accreditation report is now available; Whitehouse.gov has changed hands; in the latest sign of a slumping economy Google, even Google, is laying off employees; New York is administering online sales taxes; the digital TV switchover date is February 17, but are we ready?; GIMP is a free Photoshop-like graphics editor; MERLOT is making a call for presentations; Windows 7 beta is available for download; we feature a tech book online on Excel dynamic charts.  David will describe how to get help with common technical problems in his Blackboard feature this week; Haydn will bring you "Tips for Starting the Semester Right"; and my Tech Talk Topic this week will be about a remarkable free program for PC and Mac called "Jing".

January 9, 2009.  Number 97.  Blackboard has been upgraded at Palomar; Google releases Picasa for Mac; tech layoffs around the industry continue; Roku adds Amazon; MacWorld and CES both happened this week, to no great fanfare; the 30GB Zune catastrophe was fixed; there are a few words we just shouldn't use any more; and our Tech Book recommendation is a Visual guide to Dreamweaver CS4.  David will discuss the new Blackboard course quotas in his Blackboard feature this week; Haydn will discuss "Online Human Touch"; and my Tech Talk Topic this week concerns a Firefox extension known as "Hyperwords".

December 18, 2008.  Number 96.  A Blackboard upgrade will occur Jan. 6-8; TurnItIn is going away; the Wimba Voice Tools are now available in Blackboard; Microsoft issues an emergency patch; Google Chrome emerges from beta; Firefox releases an upgrade; the Library of Congress reports on its Flickr initiative; a Harris poll says women prefer the Internet to sex; Google has released a new 3D building layer for Manhattan; Mac sales have seriously declined; the Detroit Free Press is forced to pretty much abandon a paper edition; Best Buy sales have declined spectacularly; and we feature a tech book online on Adobe Dreamweaver.  David's Blackboard feature this week will be a year-end checklist and a Christmas carol; Haydn will discuss the pedagogic uses of the Wimba Voice Tools in his Teaching with Technology segment; and Tech Talk Topic this week will be "Your Technology Toolkit".

December 5, 2008.  Number 95.  TurnItIn will be discontinued December 19; a Blackboard upgrade is coming in early January; the Wimba Voice Tools are now available; Learning Objects campus pack has also been added to the Blackboard system; call for Blackboard 9 testers; SkyDrive now gives you 25GB of free storage for each account; Google introduces SearchWiki for its search product and an Ancient Rome layer in Google Earth;  Firefox and Opera gain ground in the browser wars; Microsoft will discontinue OneCare Live; the HHMI holiday lectures will be available on-demand December 9; the ten most searched terms of 2008; and a featured tech book on Photoshop CS4.  David's Blackboard feature this week will help us remember certain important upcoming events; Haydn will discuss "Exams and Student Performance" in his Teaching with Technology segment; and I will speak briefly on how to configure a Blackboard group.

November 18, 2008.  Number 94.  We have implemented the Wimba Voice Tools within Blackboard; the Earth Sciences department is holding a GIS day celebration; keep up with the president-elect at change.gov; tech happens, but where do you turn for help?; SketchUp 7 is available from Google; IE8 is delayed; SkyDrive space is about to be quintupled, again; there is a new HD Flip video camera; does spamming pay? yes; and a tech book online about Office 2008 for the Mac..  David's Blackboard feature this week will address jumbled word order question types; Haydn will discuss asynchronous audio communication; and I will talk about our implementation of the Wimba Voice Tools and the training resources we have created for them.

October 24, 2008.  Number 93.  Google will help you find out where your nearest polling place is; there is more disquieting news about the vulnerability of electronic voting machines; financial gloom and doom has not yet visited most tech companies; the Blackberry Bold will go on sale November 4; Gmail users get a new autoreply feature; your printer is spying on you; Microsoft issues an emergency vulnerability patch outside the Patch Tuesday routine;  Washington DC abandons MS Office in favor of Google Apps; the TED wish winners for 2009 are announced; Zotero, a remarkable new Firefox extension research tool is free for download; news of a new digital resource, and we feature a Safari Tech book on SmartArt.  David's Blackboard feature this week has to do with shooting movies with the Flip video camera and linking to them in Blackboard; Haydn will discuss Online Teaching Tips and the results of our TurnItIn -SafeAssignment survey; and I will show how to Create, Edit and Share placemarks in Google Earth.

September 24, 2008.  Number 92.  Adobe CS4 products are announced; funnerer, according to Google and T-Mobile: the Android debuts; pptPlex and Image Composite Editor are free downloads from Microsoft; Pew discovers that teenagers play video games (!); Lectures to go?  Students want 'em according to the U of Wisconsin; an answer to the question: What happens to those deleted articles from Wikipedia?; what's new at the encyclopedia of life; an interactive Google election map for embedding; the Large Hadron Collider goes on the fritz the day after it opens; and we feature a tech book online about Acrobat 9.  David is off this week; Haydn will discuss the Illinois Online Network; and I will address portability issues with PowerPoint in my tech-talk-topic.

September 12, 2008.  Number 91.  Apple has announced some new iPods and iTunes 8, and updated iPhone software in a big way; Google releases Chrome, announces a newspaper archive, and makes plans to build floating data centers; winners of slideshare's best PowerPoint presentation contest are announced; Microsoft's "ultimate steal" for students is still going on; Ubiquity for Firefox is out in a prototype; and the Large Hadron Collider is turned on without (so far) destroying the earth.  David will discuss the Blackboard Learning Unit; Haydn's will turn a spotlight on an exemplary use of Blackboard and deliver some thoughts on testing in Blackboard; and I will answer some questions about using PowerPoint in my tech-talk-topic.

August 29, 2008.  Number 90.  IE8 beta 2 is now available; Adobe is offering great deals to Palomar faculty, staff and students through the FCCC; Microsoft released photosynth for public consumption; a computer virus invades the International Space Station; Pew releases a survey on an Internet Bill of Rights; geotagging cameras are becoming commonly available; the rumors of Steve Jobs' death are somewhat exaggerated; a new video DRM is announced by Sony; George Orwell is blogging--from the grave; and we feature a tech book online about statistics.   Rather than Haydn and Dave doing separate segments this week, we are combining forces to do a tech support roundtable.  Finally, I will discuss professors' options for saving PowerPoint for the web.

August 15, 2008.  Number 89.  Blackboard has been updated to version 8; the Kindle is selling like hotcakes; iPhone/Touch apps have arrived; Microsoft delivers a record number of patches this week; Office 2008 for Mac is also updated; Netflix distribution systems fail; Cuil, a new search engine, debuts; Google maintains search dominance; the Surface becomes spherical; and we feature a tech book on PowerPoint design.  David will discuss the recent Bb 8 upgrade, in particular the new Grade Center; Haydn's topic this week delivers practical advice on beginning the semester well; and I will run down the what's new list in Academic Technology for fall 2008.

June 13, 2008.  Number 88.  Next week Blackboard will be updated to version 8; Apple announces the next generation iPhone, 3G and cheaper; be advised the California cell phone law goes into effect July 1; Microsoft gives up on digitizing books and scholarly articles; there is a new beta out of Producer 2007; the digital universe continues to expand; we are featuring a tech book online about Google Apps.  David will discuss the upcoming Bb 8 upgrade, and I have a few words to say about our new TEACH Act procedure.

May 16, 2008.  Number 87.  At Palomar the PeopleSoft 9 upgrade is coming, as is a Blackboard upgrade; SP1 for Office 2008 for Mac is out; Zoho can be used with a Google or Yahoo login; no more wifi in Philadelphia; Microsoft has released a new add-in to help users learn the new Office interface; Microsoft Research has released the spectacular WorldWide Telescope;  Audacity has a new beta out, and ubuntu Hardy Heron is here; Brian Greene explains string theory in a TED talk; blu-ray sales have slipped; the library has three new databases; the Large Hadron Collider may destroy the universe; and we feature a tech book on Windows Vista made easy.  Dave's Blackboard feature of the week this week is titled "Bullets Everywhere," about the important upcoming events related to PS9, Blackboard and course life cycles in Blackboard.  Haydn is featuring instructions on using the new features of PS9 for faculty members.  Our Tech Talk Topic looks at creating charts in PowerPoint.

April 18, 2007.  Number 86.  We note the upcoming Blackboard upgrade again; news on new streaming media requests with respect to copyright; there is a new version of Google Earth desktop; PBS adds lots of programming to iTunes U; Microsoft redesigns its help web site; an anthropologist has reproduced Neanderthal speech--sort of; Windows Vista is not being adopted quickly; Symantec says Microsoft is the quickest OS to be patched when vulnerabilities are found; and we feature a tech book on Photoshop Elements 6.  Dave's Blackboard feature of the week this week is titled "Can You Hear Me Now?," all about linking to audio content in Blackboard.  Haydn is off again this week.  Our Tech Talk Topic delivers 10 tips on drawing in PowerPoint 2007.

April 4, 2008.  Number 85.  Blackboard will be upgraded just before summer semester classes begin; Firefox beta 3.5 is out; Adobe has released Photoshop Express, and reveals plans for CS4; the iPhone giveaway at a Midwestern University; Wal-Mart slips to number 2; Hulu makes its debut; half of Americans get their news from the Internet; the largest academic music library in North America; news on copyright section 108; and we feature an online book on Fonts and Encoding.  Dave has an overview of Blackboard vs. Classroom activities in his Blackboard feature of the week.  Haydn is off this week.  Our Tech Talk Topic explains Archiving in Outlook 2007.

February 22, 2008. Number 84.  The shuffle gets even less expensive; Firefox beta 3 is out; Apple patches Leopard; SkyDrive goes to 5GB; Vista SP1 will break certain applications; blu-ray wins the format war, but does it matter?; DVD Jon wants to liberate your media; and we feature a tech book on making things talk.  David's Blackboard feature of the week is a health checkup for your Blackboard courses.  Haydn's Teaching with Technology segment contains tips on online testing.  Our Tech Talk Topic explains how to create persistent links to online journal databases.

February 7, 2008.  Number 83.  We have a new Blackboard @ Palomar podcast; Microsoft makes an offer for Yahoo; Darwin Day is next week; Google introduces a new anti-spam product, while spam continues to increase; the Kindle is sold out; band-aids enter the 21st century; Windows Vista SP1 will be released in March; Apple doubles the capacity of the iPhone and iPod touch; ICANN turns on IPv6; the Lego brick turns 50; shape-shifting microrobots are just around the corner; and we feature an online book on Adobe InDesign and XML.  David's Blackboard feature of the week is brought to you by the letter B and the number 8, as in Bb8.  Haydn's Teaching with Technology segment contains tips on getting off to a good start with students.  Our Tech Talk Topic is titled "Three for Free," where we put together three how-tos that might appeal to different audiences.

January 25, 2008.  Number 82.  The library announes some new online databases; a digital picture frame with a virus; last call for 3C Media Solutions film festival; Apple is riding high, in more ways than one; blu-ray is winning at the cash register; the Library of Congress releases 3000 pictures on Flickr; Sun buys MySql; tje CIA warns about grid hackers; and we feature Wikipedia, The Missing Manual, online.  David's Blackboard feature of the week describes how to name a link in Blackboard and what you can do with those names.  Haydn's Teaching with Technology segment is about helping online students off to a great start.  Chris does our Tech Talk Topic this week with Part 2 of his review of the Amazon Kindle.

January 11, 2008.  Number 81.  A reminder to faculty to install the MS compatibility pack; Panasonic shows off a 128GB SSD; Patch Tuesday came and went uneventfully; Apple released a new Mac Pro this week, and soon Office 2008 will be out; Zink is new at CES; Pew says people use YouTube; Sunny the weather robot speaks; Newsgator makes their previously for-sale products free; Microsoft pursues two large companies; and they sign with the Smithsonian; Blu-ray wins the fight with HD-DVD; Sony signs with Amazon; and we feature a book on digital photography.  David's Blackboard feature of the week describes how to use language packs.  Haydn's Teaching with Technology segment is about communicating with your students.  Chris does our Tech Talk Topic this week about his first infatuation with the Amazon Kindle.

December 14, 2007.  Number 80.  Plenary day moves from Jan. 10 to 17; Microsoft wants you to try FolderShare; 3CMedia film festival deadline is Jan. 31; Office 2007 SP1 was delivered; new version (5) of Google Toolbar; AT&T sells an RFID-GPS student tracking system; Murray Gell-Mann talks about the theory of everything; Barracuda says 95% of email is spam; the word of the year is w00t; and we feature a book on advanced PowerPoint.  David's Blackboard feature of the week is titled "'Twas the Night After Finals..." about AT technical tasks to be accomplished over the winter break.  Haydn's Teaching with Technology segment features an informal assessment of SafeAssign vs. TurnItIn.  Shay does our Tech Talk Topic this week and tells us all about FolderShare.

November 30, 2007.  Number 79.  CENIC announces their annual conference, this year in Oakland; Windows Vista SP1 is no speed demon; Firefox 3 is out in beta; the @ONE Winter Institute has been announced; TiVo and Nero announce a partnership to bring recorded TV to your computer;  Microsoft goes to Siberia; 3C Media solutions announce their annual student film festival; Greenpeace rates the electronics manufacturers; South Korean technicians have developed a new plastic fiber cable; the US Congress is poised to approve  thought police legislation; the gaming industry is growing by leaps and bounds; and we feature a book on Photoshop CS3.  David's Blackboard feature of the week is titled "That Old Saw Again" wherein he issues the same old advice that every semester brings.  Haydn's Teaching with Technology segment does a post-mortem on the recent teaching tips extravaganza.  The Tech Talk Topic this week an interview with Elaine Armstrong and Chris Norcross on Books (eBooks, that is), and Blogs.

November 16, 2007.  Number 78.  Our Online Teaching Secrets & Tips workshop has been moved under the bright lights of PCTV studios; the deadline for new software in the AT labs is November 30; we have lynda.com training in room LL-111; the library has a new "Ask Us Now" service;  Pew says broadband has been adapted very quickly in America; Apple released a fix for many of the Leopard installation miseries; designer Zunes are here; YouTube goes hi-def; Marvel comics are online; and we feature a book on Silverlight.   David's Blackboard feature of the week is titled "Some Kind of Joke?" about making Blackboard courses available early.  Haydn's Teaching with Technology segment makes two announcements and presents two ideas.  The Tech Talk Topic this week is about the new Google Notebook.

November 9, 2007.  Number 77.  Apple's Leopard has arrived; there is a new iPhone purchase limit; Google and Microsoft goe head-to-head on 411 services; Shell embraces biometric payment; Oprah is on YouTube; Google announces Android; Time magazine names the invention of the year; Microsoft is going to give away what Google sells; how researchers learned to create human acceptance for robots; and a book on PowerPoint makeovers.  David's Blackboard feature of the week is titled "The Roses of Success" about how to evaluate the effectiveness of online exam questions.  Haydn's Teaching with Technology segment focuses on two things: "Online vs. In-Person; and Online Instructor Burnout."  Shay Phillips will do the Tech Talk Topic.  He demonstrates in a screencast how to embed a YouTube video in a PowerPoint 2007 slide.

October 19, 2007.  Number 76.  The FCCC announces discount prices for faculty and staff on Adobe products; Apple announes the release date for Leopard, an SDK for the iPhone, and gets sued by GreenPeace; Windows Live gets a facelift; Bill Gates announces a communications revolution [not]; Pew releases a sutdy on online teen stranger contact; PCLive offers free antivirus; Unbuntu Gutsy Gibbon is officially released; Hitachi announced 4TB HD drives by 2011; U of Buffalo engineers bring quantum computing nearer with a new semi-conductor; Intel revenues are very up; California forbids RFID implants in employees; and we feature a tech book online about nighttime digital photography.  David's Blackboard feature of the week is titled "The Future is Now" containing several announcements about next semester's Blackboard course shells.  Haydn's Teaching with Technology segment today is titled "Underused Blackboard Tools 2: Linking to a Discussion Form."  My Tech Talk Topic is "Audio in PowerPoint: Audio from Files."

October 12, 2007.  Number 75.  Political Economy Days are coming up and we have the webcast URL for you; the Excel bug gets fixed; beta signup for Office Live Workspace; Patch Tuesday happened; a serious security flaw in Adobe Acrobat has been discovered; there was a java update this week; Popular Mechanics has announced the 10 breakthrough technology products of 2007; Google buys Jaiku; the Nobel prize for Physics goes to two scientists whose discoveries have contributed to hard drive technology; PoliticalBase.com makes it's debut; and we feature a book on Word.  David's Blackboard feature of the week is titled "Too Many Tools" about the Blackboard faux student account.  Haydn's Teaching with Technology segment today is titled "Interaction in Online Learning."  My Tech Talk Topic is "The Quick Access Toolbar in PowerPoint 2007."

October 5, 2007.  Number 74.  Political Economy Days are here again; UC Berkeley announces a YouTube deal; Joost is now publicly available; "Beyond Google": a study of student research habits; Microsoft announces Health Vault and extends OEM sales of XP; Sony announces a new version of the Reader; a new AltLaw database; CCC Confer has a new interface; it is banned books week; and we are featuring a tech book on notebook PCs.  David's Blackboard feature of the week is titled "Identity Crisis" about the Blackboard faux student account.  Haydn's Teaching with Technology segment today is titled "Pedagogical Uses of Underused Blackboard Tools: The Survey."  My Tech Talk Topic is "Placing your PowerPoint presentations to Blackboard."

September 28, 2007.  Number 73.  An alarming but in Excel; a new version of Live Search;   a free eBook from Microsoft; a new Zune; Pew says hobbyists use the Internet like crazy; Google adds features to Book Search, and releases Google Presentation; USB 3 is coming; a new version of iTunes; a new podcast from Sesame Street; Belkin releases a network wireless USB hub; Western Digital unveils a new My Book external hard drive lineup; and our featured tech book is on Digital Photography.  David's Blackboard feature of the week is "We need information: Stat!" about the Blackboard statistics features.  Haydn is off this week.  My Tech Talk Topic is "How to Access Academic Technology Workshop Training Materials."

September 14, 2007.  Number 72.  The Ultimate Steal from Microsoft; Apple sells a whole lot of iPhones at the lower price; spammers direct zombie attacks; you can blog from your iPhone with TypePad or Moveable Type; Amazon launches Kindle; a new YouTubable-friendly flip video camcorder; Patch Tuesday was a whimper, not a bang; Microsoft releases new webcams and mice; a 416GB solid state drive from BitMicro; a new tool for reading ancient manuscripts: the diamond synchrotron; news of the fabled blue Zune; Google will give you millions if you can reach the moon; and we feature a book on search engine visibility as our tech book online.  David's Blackboard feature of the week is "When Things Go Wrong" about the Blackboard announcement feature.  Haydn's Teaching with Technology segment is titled "What Online Students Say About Assessment."  My Tech Talk Topic is "The Five Best New Things About Outlook 2007."

September 7, 2007.  Number 71.  Apple apologizes for lower prices (?!); a new lineup of iPods and a new iTunes; power failure at Palomar; XML notepad from Microsoft; a new Google Earth, with Sky; a new Audition from Adobe; over 4 billion phone lines on earth; AT&T gives parents the upper hand; and we feature a Flash CS3 tech book online.  David's Blackboard feature of the week is "Format Fricassee"  Haydn's Teaching with Technology segment is titled "Online AA Degree?"  My Tech Talk Topic is "The Five Best New Things About Word 2007."

August 31, 2007.  Number 70.  Bb Sandbox goes live; Yahoo mail gets better; Windows Genuine Advantage suffered an outage; Net threats continue to grow; a new report favors online testing; SanDisk announces a new 8 GB flash drive; Dell launches a new Optiplex; SP1 for Windows Vista is coming; Acer acquires Gateway; Vint Cerf predicts the end of TV as we know it; and we are featuring a tech book online about Windows Home Server.  David's Blackboard feature of the week is "Building Castles in the Sand"  Haydn's Teaching with Technology segment is titled "Principles for Effective Teaching."  My Tech Talk Topic is "Burning CDs and DVDs with Windows Vista."

August 24, 2007.  Number 69.  News of grant opportunities for Palomar staff; Skype experiences the perfect storm; PCTV can help you; Windows Home Server is released to manufacturing; Google makes it simple to embad Google maps; Adobe Flash has a beta that supports HD video; UK students have great IT skills, but not so much for English and math; NASA announces a deal with Internet Archive; HD DVD wins the latest round in the battle with Blu-ray; and we are featuring a book on Google in Education.  Dave's Blackboard feature of the week is "Student Procrastination Prevention."  Haydn's Teaching with Technology segment is titled "The Pedagogy of Discussion Board Settings."  My Tech Talk Topic this week is "That Windows Key." Our gizmo this week is about a girl who had to make a career change.

August 17, 2007.  Number 68.  Palomar Blackboard summer 2006 courses to be purged; TurnItIn unavailable Saturday; a new CCC Confer; Google is giving away Sun's StarOffice; Google, Microsoft and Apple announce web storage solutions; Microsoft released 9 security patches this week; Universal music went DRM-free, but is including watermarks in songs; California voting machines have been de-certified; IE and Windows are the dominant browser and OS platforms; our tech book online this week is about the iPhone.  Dave's Blackboard feature of the week is "Blackboard Course Management Tips."  Haydn's Teaching with Technology segment is about "College Papers: Cheating, Plagiarism, and Education."  My Tech Talk Topic this week is "What's New in Academic Technology." Our gizmo this week gives men a reason to phone home.

August 10, 2007.  Number 67.  iTunes updated again; the new iMacs with a new iLife and iWork; Microsoft gets a pass on the 1.5 billion patent infringement penalty awarded earlier this year; two Windows Vista patches you should know about; students get free tutoring if they purchase MS Student; water cooled hard drives from NEC and Hitachi; violent video game content cannot be controlled in California; and we feature a new tech book online about podcasting.  Dave is still off on vacation.  Haydn has two topics today, "TeacherTube" and "Preventing Students from Printing Blackboard Tests" in his Teaching with Technology segment.  My Tech Talk Topic this week is "Podcasting with the Oscelot Podcaster." Our gizmo features a shadowy topic.

August 3, 2007.  Number 66.  The iPhone gets updated; iTunes has sold over 3 billion songs; Windows on almost 1 billion computers; VMWare's Fusion out next week; a tech industry association names the 10 most influential products of the last quarter century; Adobe and Java products were updated this week; the Pew Internet Life project analyzes the YouTube generation; Apple releases 24 OS X patches; and we feature a new tech book online about podcasting.  Both Dave and Haydn are absent today, so there will be no Blackboard Feature of the Week or Teaching with Technology segments.  My Tech Talk Topic this week is "Searching with Internet Explorer 7." Our gizmo feature is a laughing matter, but only if you are a robot.

July 13, 2007.  Number 65.  The iPhone debut; iTunes 7.3; Google gives away things at Feedburner, and acquires Postini; the Microsoft Malware Center goes public, and patch Tuesday said it was going to be small, but wasn't; Windows Vista SP1 is just around the corner; Dr. Cary Carpenter publishes a new anatomical term each day; Blu-ray seems to be beating HD DVD, but then again, maybe not; 1 TB optical disks?; send a Twittergram; two new video how-to sites; find money with MS Virtual Earth; Microsoft begins selling the IQ in India; CCC confer chooses Elluminate; and we feature a Flash CS3 tech book.  David's Blackboard Feature of the Week is titled  "The Coming Thing," which he phones in from Boston at Blackboard World 07.  Haydn will ask the question "What do students think of lecture podcasts?"  My Tech Talk Topic this week is "Embedding YouTube Videos." Our gizmo feature is no laughing matter; or is it?

June 15, 2007.  Number 64.  Apple Safari for Windows was released this week; the Leopard OS was previewed at Apple's WWDC; MIT researchers demonstrated WiTricity; Rome was reborn, virtually; Yahoo wants it both ways in China; Microsoft patch Tuesday was uneventful; MS also donated software tools to the fight against AIDS; Windows home server RC1 is out; Google adds a view as slideshow feature to GMail; we are featuring a tech book online dealing with Ubuntu this week.  David's Blackboard Feature of the Week is titled  "Flotsam, Jetsam, Miscellaneous & Sundry," a veritable gallimaufry of content. Haydn is on vacation in Italy.  My Tech Talk Topic this week is "Installing Fonts." Our gizmo feature is taking the week off.

June 8, 2007.  Number 63.  We will be discontinuing use of the Horizon Wimba econferencing, IM, and voice tools June 16; the iPhone release date is June 29; there is an ominous twist in Apple's DRM-free music; Google lands the Big-10 libraries and doubles the size of the Google library project; Microsoft Soapbox returns; Photosynth is in the news again; Amnesty International wants to stop Internet censorship, except for the censorship they like; the Howard Hughes Medical Institute holiday lectures are available free on DVD; a new medical condition, Wiiitis has been diagnosed; and we are featuring Office 2007 The Missing Manual as our tech book online.  David's Blackboard Feature of the Week is titled  "Goodbye to Wimba," where he describes how your Wimba content will look after we disable the Blackboard building blocks. Haydn is on vacation.  My Tech Talk Topic this week is "Using Google Blog Search," on how to find information in the blogosphere.  Our gizmo this week describes the convergence of high tech care on the low tech battlefield.

June 1, 2007.  Number 62.  Tech and download news: There is a new version of iTunes out (7.2); Apple also announces the arrival of iTunes U; Google updates Earth (4.1), adds facial recognition to Google Image Search, and announces the release in beta of Gears; Audible gives up on Wordcast; Shakespeare is vanishing, according to the American Council of Trustees and Alumni; Microsoft officially announces Surface, and demos SeaDragon and the new Photosynth; the BBC broadcasts within Second Life; and we are featuring a book on Word 2007.  David's Blackboard Feature of the Week is titled  "Drop the Drop Box," where he discusses the advantages of using the Blackboard Assignment Manager over the Digital Drop Box. Haydn is out this week, but has phoned one in on  "Structuring Your Discussion Boards." My Tech Talk Topic this week is "Get Started with Office 2007," on how to get Office help online.  Our gizmo this week marshals technology to solve one of homo urbanicus' biggest problems: graffiti.

May 25, 2007. Number 61.  Tech news: Fall 2007 Blackboard courses are ready to use; Microsoft releases Popfly, and the Vista Beta is due to expire; Google Book Search takes on Indian literature, they ban paper writing advertising, they buy Feedburner, and they want to know everything about you; the US wants Vietnam to stop pirating software; and Dells will be sold at Wal-Marts.  David's Blackboard Feature of the Week is titled  "You've got mail," where you will learn all about email address and sending email from Blackboard. Haydn's "Teaching with Technology" topic this week is "Get a Life--A Second Life." My Tech Talk Topic this week is "Using Google Notebook." Our gizmo this week has to do with a reefer you are really going to like.

May 18, 2007.  Number 60.  Tech and Download news: Graduation day is here, the Fall 2007 Blackboard course shells will be available for development starting May 20, the Spring 2006 courses will be pruned May 19, @ONE has an online teaching conference in the bay area or online, Microsoft and SanDisk are developing a new flash memory standard, Amazon announced a forthcoming DRM-free mp3 download service, WinHEC happened this week, friends don't let friends MySpace, web censorship is growing, according to the OpenNet Initiative, there's a new way to encode data on living bacteria, and we have a new online book to feature on Apple QuickTime Pro.  David's Blackboard Feature of the Week is titled  "Announcements, Announcements, Announcements," wherein he discusses...  You guessed it.  Haydn is off this week.  My Tech Talk Topic this week is "The 'New' Google," about the new look and functionality of the Google web site.  Our gizmo this week will make your arm rock and roll.

May 11, 2007.  Number 59.  Tech and Download news: Graduation day is here, the FCCC has announced availability of the new Microsoft products for sale to CC faculty and staff, updated StudyMate and Respondus, Windows Live Hotmail is live, JavaFX, Silverlight and Flash are going head-to-head, Thunderbird and Presently are new, Google is the strongest brand name in the world, Dell says XP is OK if you want it, the Encyclopedia of Life is launched, and the Pew Trust says most people are connected but few use the really good stuff.  David's Blackboard Feature of the Week is titled  "TGIF," that is, Thank God It's Finals.  He will describe ways to make working with the final Blackboard gradebook easier.  Haydn's Teaching with Technology segment is titled "The Pedagogy of Doing It Differently Next Time," wherein he offers tips on making your next online class more efficient and effective.  My Tech Talk Topic this week is "Motion Paths in PowerPoint."  Our gizmo this week is the worlds biggest vending machine.

April 12, 2007.  Number 58.  We have a very brief podcast this week.  We are publishing this brief Number to inform you that there will not be a podcast next week.  We have two other major announcements:  the Blackboard system will be unavailable Saturday, April 21, because we will be performing a system upgrade; and Cory Doctorow will be speaking on campus Friday, April 20.

March 30, 2007.  Number 57.  Tech and Download news: Political Economy Days are here next week at Palomar; Blackboard will be rebooted next week; Adobe announced release of Creative Suite 3; there is a new Apple Boot Camp beta out;  Yahoo intends to remove all space limitations on email storage; the Citizendium has launched; the US loses its global Information Technology leadership position according to the World Economic Forum; there is a new 100 GB upgrade to the iPod; several new studies show that people are not good at multitasking; a new Parks Associates' study explains why those who do not have home Internet do not; there is a new, unique Internet delivery method in poor, rural countries; Disney.com sets some records; and we have a new, featured Safari tech book online.  David's Blackboard Feature of the Week is titled  "Oops...now what?" where he discusses what to do if your Blackboard course copy, export/import or course cartridge load do not go as planned.  Haydn's Teaching with Technology segment is titled "Online Testing in On-campus Classes" where he makes a suggestion that could transform the way you do student assessments.  My Tech Talk Topic this week is "Adobe Acrobat Techniques" where I detail a few techniques I failed to present in a workshop earlier this week. Our gizmo this week is not one dealing with how to wake you up in the morning, but how to keep you from going to sleep whenever (especially in class).

March 22, 2007.  Number 56.  Tech news:  A new (so soon) version of iTunes (7.1.1); end-of-the-line for Firefox 1.5; the state of Internet security according to Symantec; why your PC should be napping; new colorful themes for your Google home page, and a new "plus box" in Google search results; you can now buy AppleTV; the EFF podcast "Line Noise" podcast is available again; Amazon opens a new classical music blowout store; the most "compelling, passionate, informed speakers" in the world can be seen/heard on the web now, thanks to TED online; and a featured book on PowerPoint in our Safari Tech Books Online.  David's Blackboard feature this week is titled "Course Prep Toolbox."  Why?  Because the new Blackboard course shells for summer 2007 are ready to be populated with content and he wants to explain the Blackboard tools you will need to do that.  My Tech Talk Topic this week is "10 Cool Drawing Tricks in PowerPoint 2003."  Our gizmo this week relates to a new superhero, of sorts: sewer-bot.

March 16, 2007.  Number 55.  Happy St. Patrick's Day!  The latest Tech and Download news: The summer session Blackboard courses have been created; there will be a power shut down to the Northern half of campus March 23; we experienced an obscure java related daylight savings time problem with Blackboard this week; political economy days are coming, April 4-5; we will begin rebooting the Blackboard system once per month on the first Wednesday each month; we have several download from Microsoft to tell about; Google has a new beta release of their desktop search program; Apple issued 45 patches to OS X this week; the New York Times select is now free to teachers and students; there is a new report out that purports to prove the idea that IT drives prosperity; there is also a new Pew study out on Latino's online; the DMCA is in the news again, this time with a 1 billion dollar suit filed against Google by Viacom; finally, a consortium of vendors, led by Microsoft, filed FCC documents this week to make and distribute a device to deliver Internet over unused parts of the television spectrum.  David's Blackboard Feature of the Week is titled  "...the Water's Fine" where he concludes his discussion of question pools and test deployment.  Haydn's Teaching with Technology segment is titled "Learning Contracts: What and How" where he weighs the pros and cons of this tool.  My Tech Talk Topic this week is "Audio and Video in PowerPoint: Linked or Embedded?"  Our gizmo this week is custom made for boneheads.

March 9, 2007.  Number 54.  Tech news: Palomar's political economy days are just around the corner, new versions of iTunes and QuickTime are available, @ONE announces a June Online Teaching conference, Windows Home Server beta is open for application, Photoshop CS3 will be out in March, CompUSA will be closing over half their stores, Bill Gates testifies on American competitiveness before the senate, FDR and Lou Reed become linked for eternity, a couple of brave congressmen take on the recording industry and attempt to roll back the assault on American freedoms that is the DMCA, Jimmy Wales says to EssJay you are forgiven, but get out of here, and our features tech book online is Windows Vista the Definitive Guide.  David's Blackboard Feature of the Week is titled "No Running the the Pool Area" continuing to describe the use and design of question pools in Blackboard.  Haydn's Teaching with Technology segment is titled "A Potpourri of Tips for Teaching with Blackboard" where he presents a checklist of good pedagogical ideas.  My Tech Talk Topic this week is how to publish to Blackboard from StudyMate.  Our gizmo this week is the new Samsung hybrid hard drives.

March 2, 2007.  Number 53.  Tech news: getting started tools for Office 2007, AppleTV and Sony's IVL, Mac patches and a Zune update, a CCCSAT announcement, endangered species ring tones, Internet complaints, a Blackboard military cadre, book publishers' widgets, more on the Joyce Hatto classical music swindle, and a featured book online.  David's Blackboard Feature of the Week is titled "Filling the Pool, Part 3" continuing to describe the use of question pools.  Haydn's Teaching with Technology segment is titled "The Best of Both Worlds?" where he discusses the use of Horizon Wimba Live Classroom.  My Tech Talk Topic this week is a grab bag of Mac support questions.  Our gizmo this week presents the world's most beautiful keyboard.

February 23, 2007.  Number 52 (47:55).  Tech news includes: several new free downloads from Microsoft, Steve Jobs on teachers' unions, a new radiation warning icon, webmonkey surgeons, a classic CD fraud, and a new featured techbook online.  David's Blackboard Feature of the Week is titled "Filling the Pool, Part 2" this week on creating a pool by hand.  Haydn waxes revolutionary with "Power to...the students?".  My Tech Talk Topic this week is short but practical, "How to combine several PowerPoint presentations into one." And our gizmo this week is a research project--vaporware, I suppose, on lips to text conversion.

February 15,2007.  Number 51.  Tech news includes: several new free downloads from Microsoft, an enormous Patch Tuesday, GMail free-for-all, Blackboard Scholar, a new free version of AVG anti-virus and anti-spyware for PC, a web site and pod/vod-casts for the San Diego Opera, a web site on how to archive digital photos, and a new tech book online about Windows Vista.  David's Blackboard Feature of the Week is titled "Filling the Pool," about populating question pools in the Blackboard question pool manager.  Haydn will speak on "Online Student Help" in his Teaching with Technology segment.  My Tech Talk Topic this week is "Using Google Book Search."  Sorry, no gizmo this week.

February 9, 2007.  Number 50.  In technology news: Monday, February 12 is Darwin day, get ready; several free downloads from Microsoft became available this week; Steve Jobs calls for an end to DRM, and the recording empire strikes back; in Google news: Princeton joins Google Book Search, and GMail becomes more widely available; Viacom assaults free speech (in some cases) on YouTube with DMCA take-down notices; in News news: the world's oldest continuously published newspaper discards print in favor of a digital edition--the NY Times may be next.  David is off this week, so there will not be a Blackboard Feature of the week.   Haydn's Teaching with Technology segment is titled "Group Activities Online? Absolutely!"  where he focuses on how online instructors are able to incorporate group activities that many face-to-face instructors use.  In my Tech Talk Topic I discuss "The Internet Explorer 7 Search Box."  Our gizmo of the week: a prosthetic arm with feeling.

February 2, 2007.  Number 49.  Tech news: the commercial release of Windows Vista and Office 2007, a new release of StudyMate, some Apple patches, Adobe's new Lightroom, some Microsoft freebees, a new Pew study on tagging, a featured book in our Safari tech books online on RSS feeds, the latest Vista vulnerability.  The Blackboard Feature of the week: "Detour Ahead," where Dave discusses the External and Course Links tools in Blackboard.   Teaching with Technology: "Discussion Board Guidelines."  Tech Talk Topic: "A New Version of StudyMate: Flash Cards on the iPod."  Gizmo of the week: Ford's new Microsoft-based in-car communications center Sync.

January 26, 2007.  Number 48.  Tech and download news: several announcements from Google, an extension of WinXP support, iTunes declared illegal in Norway, a featured book in our Safari tech books online.  The Blackboard Feature of the week: "Unpopped Kernels: The 'Other' Content Tools," a discussion of the many unused tools to be found in Blackboard.   Teaching with Technology: "Teaching and Getting Results."  Tech Talk Topic: "Tech Support Q and A."  Gizmo of the week: a patent application for "Immortal Computing."

January 19, 2007.  Number 47.  Tech and download news: New versions of Google Sketchup, FeedForAll, Windows Vista, Office 2007 and a beta of ActiveSync.  The Blackboard Feature of the week: "Adding an item to a content area in Blackboard."    Tech Talk Topic: "How to create a Podcast with Blackboard."  Gizmo of the week: the US Navy's 8-Megajoule railgun.

January 12, 2007.  Number 46.  We have news of an Academic Technology birth; lots of tech and download news which we are going to do roundtable style, starting with this Number, including news from CCCSAT; from Bill Gates via his keynote at the Consumer Electronics Show; from Steve Jobs via his keynote from MacWorld; from Pew Internet Life Project regarding social networking sites; a new type of flexible electronic paper, from Plastic Logic; and news of the Word-of-the-Year for 2006.   David's Blackboard Feature of the Week is titled "Please Hold On to the Bar" in which he discusses things to remember about Fall classes, and things to do for spring classes.  Haydn's topic for the first "Teaching with Technology" segment for 2007 deals with the new Visual Presentation tool in Blackboard.  My Tech Talk Topic is "What's New in Academic Technology for Spring 2007."  Our gizmo this week is more serious than usual: a solid-state hard drive.

December 22, 2006.  Number 45.  Tech news includes new newsletter software we are using; our maintenance activity for the first week of next year; Google domain registration; the release of Opera 9.1; a Zune update, making its software compatible with Windows Vista; an update on the Word zero-day vulnerability; security patches for Mozilla products; news of a new Sloan grant to the Internet Archive; a new Windows Media player plugin that allows syncing with an iPod; a Pew study on election 2006; a Zogby poll about Internet use; and the 10 most searched terms at Google for 2006.  David's Blackboard Feature of the Week is titled "Stick a fork in it!" in which he discusses last night's Blackboard system update, among other year-ending things.  Haydn is on hiatus until next year.  My Tech Talk Topic is called "Future Tense," wherein I polled our staff for their take on what is coming over the next 10 years.  Since this is the last show of the year, we do a retrospective in our Gizmo segment on the 10 best gizmos of 2006.

December 15, 2006.  Number 44.  Happy holidays to all.  We have a somewhat abbreviated show today. Haydn is on hiatus and Dave is phoning his segment in.  Tech news includes a summary of Academic Technology activities over winter break; Firefox 3 alpha 1 has been released to private testers--the Firefox community having been under-whelmed by the recent release of 2.0; Jimmy Wales has announced a new free web space free web development software venture called "openserving;" patch Tuesday came with about 9 updates from Microsoft this week; there's news of the economic impact of Windows Vista; a thumb drive drive from inveneo; a mouse innovation from Microsoft for developing countries called MultiPoint; Photoshop CS3 beta release; and Google announced the beta release of a new, very cool, patent search engine.  David is sending us his Blackboard Feature of the Week from a remote location.  His title is "Looking Ahead: Winter Break Upgrades" in which he discusses the hot fixes we will be applying to Blackboard and the addition of Pronto and the new Horizon Wimba voice tools.  My Tech Talk Topic is an interview with our own Shay Phillips who reviews the Microsoft Zune for us.  The gizmo section this week is titled "Every Dog Will Have His (Holi)Day, about all things doggy tech.

December 8, 2006.  Number 43.  This week we have some local news about our lab; Adobe Reader 8 is out; news of vulnerabilities in MS Word, Mac OS X, and previous versions of Adobe Reader; MS Web Expression has gone on sale; Microsoft released a new beta of its Live Book Search, while its Live Search product has lost market share; Greenpeace released its Guide to Greener Electronics, Nokia finished first and Apple last; and we have news of some new databases in the library.  David's Blackboard Feature of the Week is a double-header this time titled "A Time for All Things," which considers copying course materials for Spring 2007 and filtering the gradebook for Fall 2006.  Haydn's Teaching with Technology segment is titled "Can I Make It Better Next Time?: Conducting A Quality Review."  My Tech Talk Topic discusses creating your first blog.  Our gizmo feature has turned in to gizmos, as we address the tech stocking stuffer with some exotic products.

December 1, 2006.  Number 42.  We have, again, lots of tech and download news.   From Microsoft, a new day for business has dawned; also from Microsoft a free XML notepad, an updated Windows Live toolbar, an updated 3D Virtual Earth, and a patch for 2007's new daylight savings time; from Adobe there is a new Flash player; from Pew a new study of the podcasting phenomenon; from US-CERT news of an Apple OS X vulnerability and a patch; from Merriam-Webster a chance to vote on the word of the year; from the U of Maryland a new world's fair collection; from the Palomar library a great new title in the Safari database; and finally, from our Behavioral Science department news of a research poster session.  David's Blackboard Feature of the Week is titled "The Performance Dashboard - Revisited," where he describes the new features in performance dashboard and discusses some of their uses.  Haydn's Teaching with Technology segment is titled "What is Effective Online Teaching: Student Survey Says..."  My Tech Talk Topic describes how to use the Horizon Wimba voice board within Blackboard.  Finally we have our first official cold weather gizmo this week, the evil snowbots.

November 17, 2006.  Number 41.  Welcome on PS3 Friday.  Once again, the volume of tech and download news has grown.  From the CVC and Blackboard we have news of awards for best online courses; from HHMI news of their holiday lectures webcasts; the Microsoft Zune went on sale this week; it was also Patch Tuesday week, and Office Live came out of beta and is publicly available; the Google Book project added the U. of Virginia;  Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft announced a new search engine metadata standard this week; and Sun announced the release of the source code for Java to the public under a GPL license.  David's Blackboard Feature of the Week is titled "Support Call Roundup," where he takes on "known issues" and frequently asked support questions.  Haydn's Teaching with Technology segment is titled "Time Management Strategies for Online Instructors and Students."  He will recommend a couple of ways to get students more involved in discussions, both in-person and online.  My Tech Talk Topic deals with tabbed browsing in IE7.  Our gizmo this week extends last week's discussion of runaway alarm clocks in an interesting way.

November 9, 2006.  Number 40.  We have, as usual, a lot of technology and download news.  There are several items from Microsoft, as they ramp up to officially deliver Windows Vista, Office 2007, and Exchange 2007.  This week we also have news about Microsoft giving away free accounting software; Windows Defender is out of beta; there is a new Office Online web site; a new Compatibility Pack which allows older versions of Office to read/write the new file formats; and a new 3D Virtual Earth.  We also report on a new StudyMate beta; what's happening with the new version of Horizon Wimba voice tools; Photoshop Lightroom beta; new MacBooks; an initiative on electronic voting from the EFF; and a special CCC Confer webinar coming up.  David's Blackboard Feature of the Week is titled "The Deep End of the Pool," having to do with a problem with publishers' question pools.  Haydn's Teaching with Technology segment is titled "Stimulating Discussion."  He will recommend a couple of ways to get students more involved in discussions, both in-person and online.  My Tech Talk Topic will recommend three IE7 extenders.  Our gizmo this week solves the world's greatest work-related problem.

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