| |
 |
ATRC Podcast
Notes |
|
 Podcast
for November 9, 2006 - Episode 40
»
Direct mp3 download
| »
Streamed version [wma]
|
Subscribe
Play time 56 minutes - Program Notes
"The number one benefit
of information technology is that it empowers people to
do what they want to do...in
a sense it is all about potential."
~Steve Ballmer
 |
|
Steve Ballmer |
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.
Palomar Tech and Download News
-
Windows Defender, the free anti-spyware program from
Microsoft, is out of Beta and is available for free
download.
Click here for information and download link.
If you are currently using a Beta copy of Windows
Defender it will expire on December 31 of this year.
Windows genuine validation is required to download.
-
 Windows
Vista was released to manufacturing this week.
It will be available to business customers November
30, and to general consumers in January. If
you are planning an update to Vista, Microsoft has
provided a site where you can evaluate your PC for
Vista readiness, read the system requirements for
Vista, download the RC1 Beta, and find out all you
might want to know about the new operating system.
Click here to access the site. Microsoft
Office and Exchange 2007 were also released to
manufacturing, and Microsoft will be conducting a
worldwide release event on November 30. To
go with the Office release the
Office Online web site has been redesigned with
over 50,000 new help articles, 35 new demos, online
training and 400 new templates.
-
Microsoft is also giving away free accounting
software.
Click here to find out about and download Office
Accounting Express 2007. According to the
product FAQ, "...Accounting Express 2007, financial
management software is designed for millions of
starting businesses and home based businesses that
currently use pen & paper or spreadsheets to run
their business. It provides a single place to manage
the company’s business finances with the familiar
look and feel of Microsoft Office system programs."
-
The
MS Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel and
PowerPoint 2007 File Formats was released this
week. "By installing the Compatibility Pack in
addition to Microsoft Office 2000, Office XP, or
Office 2003, you will be able open, edit, and save
files using the
file formats new to Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007.
The Compatibility Pack can also be used in
conjunction with the Microsoft Office Word Viewer
2003, Excel Viewer 2003, and PowerPoint Viewer 2003
to view files saved in these new formats. For more
information about the Compatibility Pack, see
Knowledge Base article 923505."
-
Microsoft has also made available a free download
from
maps.live.com which presents 3D maps from the
Windows Live Local map service (also free).
The product is called "Virtual Earth 3D," and is in
beta now.
Windows Live Local for Outlook was also updated
to version 2.1 to incorporate the 3D mapping
features presented in Virtual Earth.
-
A beta version of StudyMate is now available at
our Respondus/StudyMate download site (Palomar
authentication required).
 Be warned that this
is still a beta product, but we wanted to get it out
there to let faculty members test it, if they so
desire. The new version contains a publish to iPod option, new
template for “calculated” questions, the ability to
embed audio clips, SCORM enhancements, and some
other features.
-
We reported last week that we had
anticipated upgrading our
Horizon Wimba voice tools to version 5.1 on
November 9th, that date has been moved to November
17th. We will place an announcement in
Blackboard once the tools have been installed and
are ready for use.
-
Via Jill Hurst-Wahl's
Digitization 101 blog: The report
Using Digital Images in Teaching and Learning
has been released to the public. It focuses on "the
pedagogical implications of the widespread use of
the digital format." The information presented in
the report was formed from hundreds of survey
results. The web page for the report provides access
to the
Full Report and
Executive Summary.
-
Adobe has released a beta of
Photoshop Lightroom 4.1, a Photoshop companion
program made for professional photographers who want
to keep their photo shoot libraries organized, to
make photo modifications/corrections in a simple,
automated way, to create a slideshow, and send
photos for printing. Watch the
tutorial video to find out what it's all about.
-
Apple this week
released their new line of MacBook consumer
notebooks with Intel Core 2 Duo processors.
According to Apple, "...Just one inch thin, the new
MacBooks are up to 25% faster than the previous
generation and feature a built-in iSight video
camera, the MagSafe Power Adapter, and iLife ‘06."
-
 According to the
Electronic Frontiers Foundation, "Many
Virginians
were among the millions of voters nationwide
that cast their votes on electronic voting machines
which lack paper trails. Voters thus could not
verify that their votes were accurately recorded,
and election officials will not be able to conduct a
full and thorough recount." The EFF is
militating for passage of HR 550,
Rep. Rush Holt's Voter Confidence and Increased
Accessibility Act (HR 550).
-
CCC Confer will be
hosting a Webinar on Tuesday, November 14 at noon
featuring Patricia Heusner, the Education Specialist
for the National Park Service. In addition to a
virtual introduction to the old Point Loma
Lighthouse (celebrating its 151st anniversary) and
the Cabrillo National Monument, she will be
providing valuable information about FREE resources
from the NPS for educators! With budget cutbacks and
limited funding available it is
especially beneficial to learn about these programs
available in the areas of the Sciences, History and
Humanities.
Click here to find out more and register.
Listen to the news [mp3 - 13:31]
Training Opportunities
Blackboard Feature of the Week - David Gray
The Deep End of the Pool
Dave addresses an issue with publishers' question
pools that has surfaced several times this semester.
The problem relates to questions imported from
publishers' pools that have a value of 0 points for
the question. When the questions are added to
Blackboard tests, they retain the point value (0)
assigned by the publisher, rather than the default
question value for each question set when creating
the test. This annoying situation has a
laborious fix and a slightly less laborious, but
more complex workaround.
Note: To get to David's vodcast site,
click here.
Teaching with Technology - Dr. Haydn Davis
Stimulating Discussion
About this time in the semester
motivation seems to be waning and getting students
(both online and on-campus students) involved in
discussions is proving to be challenging. I thought
today’s teaching tip could center on the pesky
problem of getting students more involved in class
discussions. Many of the simple tips contained in
the web sites listed below are geared to the
in-person environment while others will be
applicable to both online and on-campus settings.
All the suggestions listed are
simple ones but remember, they have all worked well
for other instructors. I’ll choose just a couple
representative samples to mention in this podcast
and anyone interested can view the rest at the web
sites referenced in the program notes page.
University of Montana
-
http://www.umt.edu/cte/tips/discussion.htm
- Ask: “How does this
information relate to what we’ve already
covered,” or “How is this information relevant
to you?”
- When asking questions,
wait enough time for students to respond – if
that doesn’t work, ask them to write their
answers, and then try again.
- Ask students to evaluate
their own behavior – in terms of motivation,
commitment, willingness to participate; we
evaluate instructors’ performance in the
classroom, and we should, but we don’t do
anything similar for student behavior.
University of California –
Berkeley -
http://teaching.berkeley.edu/compendium/
I almost didn’t include this
resource as it is so dated – some tips going back to
1983. But as I reviewed the site I decided that
maybe, teaching tips are timeless – anyway here are
just a couple from an extensive list.
- Begin each lecture with a
short summary of the previous day’s content.
"Students crave both continuity and a sense of
closure," an instructor explains. "They do not
like unfinished presentations. At the same time,
because none of us likes repetition, I try hard
to use different words and examples in each
summary. The best way I have found to avoid
redundancy is to note on an index card the exact
words I have used at the end of a lecture, so
that I am reminded to vary them in the brief
recapitulation I give at the beginning of the
next class meeting."
- Another instructor divides
the class period into blocks of time – the first
block is spent presenting information, building
an argument; during the next block the students
are asked to generate possible explanations or
interpretations of the facts or topic presented,
and the last part of the class is devoted to
analyzing the discussion and bringing the
lecture topic to a conclusion. Before class is
dismissed students are given a question which
will be the focus of the next class.
University of Hawaii site – many good ideas
here.
Tech-Talk-Topic - Terry Gray
IE 7 Extenders
This week, continuing to investigate IE7, I would
like to bring you three IE7 extenders which enhance
its feature set. To see others,
click here for a long list. (Be careful of
for-pay products you may find among the free gems).
The three I would like to discuss today are "Inline
Search" by Core Systems, "ieSpell"
by RedEgg Software, and "1-Click Answers" by
answers.com.
All are free, and add very useful touches to the already
superior IE7 interface.
Inline Search "...turns searching into a
Web page into a non modal research experience
coupled with a search as you type facility."
What it really is is an unobtrusive little search
box that replaces the clunky, page-obscuring Ctrl-F
search box provided by Microsoft for searching
within the current web page. Inline Search
hijacks the Ctrl-F keystroke and places its elegant
little search box at the bottom of the page.
As you type, Inline Search will jump to matches.
If you type enough of a word for it to determine
that the search term does not exist on the page, the
search box will turn red. Clicking the
"Highlight all" button will highlight all instances
of the search term on the page.
The latest version is 1.3, so if you previously
downloaded an earlier version from the Microsoft
website, click the download page link below to get
the latest.
Shortcuts: the Esc key quickly puts away
the search bar, F3 finds next instance of search
term on page, and Shift-F3 finds previous instance.
This is the way the inline search works in
Firefox, now it can work that way in IE7 too.
ieSpell "...is a free Internet
Explorer browser extension that spell-checks
text-input boxes on a Web page." After filling
in form input boxes on a web page, you can activate
ieSpell in one of three ways:
- Click the ieSpell button in the IE7 toolbar
(
 );
- Choose it from the Tools menu;
- Right-click the web page and choose "check
spelling" from the context menu.
You do not need to own MS Office to use it, but
if you do, ieSpell can share the same custom
dictionary. It also has a nice look up word
feature. If you come across a word with which
you are unfamiliar (whether or not it is in an input
field) you can look up in Merriam Webster,
Wikipedia, Dictionary.com, Cambridge Advanced
Learner Dictionary, or Yahoo! Education Dictionary.
All are provided as look-up sources.
This is the perfect tool for those web apps that do
not yet have spell-check. The latest version
is 2.5.1 (build 106).
1-Click Answers "...provides instant
access to almost four million topics from any
program, without interrupting your work. Just
alt-click on any word or phrase on your screen
(e-mail, browser, any Office program) and get
instant answers, facts and explanations in a concise
AnswerTip information bubble. Click the 'more'
button and access Answers.com, a completely free
online reference library, offering over 100
authoritative encyclopedias, dictionaries, thesauri,
and other trusted sources."
Clicking the Continue button at the foot of this
answer, or the More button at the top, takes you to
Answers.com where you will find a very thorough set
of articles on Wikipedia, including links to other
important resources (see
http://www.answers.com/topic/wikipedia?method=26&initiator=answertip:more).
It is true Answers.com contains ads. They are
prominent, but not overly obtrusive as web ads
go, and the content can be very useful.
Answers.com bills itself as the "world's greatest
encyclodictionalmanacapedia." (And yes,
alt-clicking on encyclodictionalmanacapedia
brings up a complete definition of this term).
"1-Click Answers™ also includes a pop-out desktop
AnswerBar that docks conveniently at the side
of your screen. Click the arrow to open or close
AnswerBar; then just type a word to submit your
query directly to Answers.com. 1-Click Answers™ also
includes the Answers IE toolbar, which makes it easy
to access Answers.com in Internet Explorer."
Now, the toolbar is fine. In fact it installs
disabled, which earns my respect.
Unfortunately the annoying "AnswerBar that docks
conveniently" is a nuisance. The good news is
it is easily turned off. Just alt-click a
term, wait for the Answers box to pop up, then
select Options. Click the AnswerBar tab and
disable it:
It is also easy to modify the activation key on
the Activation tab. While described by
Microsoft as an IE7 enhancement, it will work from
any program if you permit it to install on system
startup. The current version is 2.1.0.502.
In all, these are three excellent tools that
extend the usability of IE7 in important and
convenient ways. I would highly recommend
them.
Gizmo of the week
Time's winged chariot...
 A
couple of weeks ago we solved the world's greatest
technological problem by revealing a giant TV remote
on which, we suggested, could be mounted all of your
other normal sized remotes. Brilliant.
But this week, we have the solution to the world's
greatest work-related problem. What problem is
that, you ask? Overbearing bosses? No.
Poor food in the cafeteria? No.
Committee meetings?
Perhaps, but the greatest work related problem is
the employee's inability to wake up in the
morning. How many times have I heard it?
'I was late because my alarm didn't go off.'
Sure. Alarm clocks are very simple devices,
spring actuated, if old-fashioned, reliably
electrical if not, but in either case, they DO go
off when set. The problem really, if we are
being honest, is to admit that you hit the
snooze button. It went off again. You
hit the snooze button again, and so on until you
finally disabled the snooze button.
No longer will man (and especially supervisorial
man) be so annoyed. Why? Clocky.
Yes, Clocky is a pre-programmed robot alarm clock
that can be set to snooze 1 time, for a period of up
to 9 minutes, and then, instead of simply sounding
the alarm again and being dutifully put into snooze
mode again, Clocky leaves the bedside table, either
by leaping or simply rolling off. It then
proceeds to randomly scurry around the room,
sounding its alarm all the while, until it find a
resting place from which to go on with its piercing
call. It is programmed to behave randomly so
that it takes a different route each day and finds a
new spot from which to beckon you. No thrown
pillows or other missiles will stop Clocky in his
duty. No. You must arise, chase him, and
capture him in order to silence the shrill
beckoning. And by then, yes, you are up and
irremediably awake.
Clocky is the brainchild of Gauri Nanda, a student
at the MIT Media Lab who built the first proto-Clocky
as her class project. Sensing budding success,
she has gone into production and opened a
web site, that
is taking names for those who want one when they are
available. Clocky's patent is pending, of
course.
Here is a preview (!) of Clocky's features:
1) Moves on carpet or wood
2) Jumps from a nightstand up to 3 feet high
3) Press snooze for LCD backlight night viewing
4) You have one chance to snooze
5) Choose your ideal snooze time up to 9 min
6) Disable and Clocky will run away right away
7) Want Clocky to stay put? Turn off his wheels
8) Clocky speaks in his own beeping language
9) Measures in at 5"long by 3.3"tall by 3"deep
Clocky is powered by 4 AA batteries. No
word on the price, but you can buy a Clocky T-Shirt
for $14.99.
Whether Ms. Nanda makes any money from her
invention or not, she has already garnered the
2005 Ig nobel Prize for economics, which should
be reward enough. to prove that the prize in
economics was apropos, she says "Clocky
is not trying to solve all of the problems with
alarm clocks—for example how they disrupt other
people in the room—but I think maybe someday he can.
I think the answer rests in the usage of multiple
Clockies. Let's say there are two people with
different sleep schedules sharing a room. Maybe one
person's Clocky can tell the other to hush up if he
has sounded off one too many times. Or, maybe they
can form an alliance and simultaneously target the
offending over-sleeper." Better buy three.
I know what I'm buying the people in my department
with our left-over budget funds this year.
(Source: clocky.net)
Music
 The
music for today's show was provided by
Magnatune.com,
and is used through their Creative Commons license for
podcasts. Today's album was "Love
and you and I" by
Lizzi." Magnatunes says about her, "There's
both longing and loneliness in Lizzi's dark, sensual
voice. Love and chill -- like the icy winter winds
sweeping across her native island of Gotland in Sweden.
'To be in love is a kind of isolation,' she says. 'It's
not all happiness and joy: there's a lot of pain and
emptiness too. But longing is also an incredible
feeling, much under-valued today.'
We used tracks 2: "Love and You and I;" 5: "Remedy;"
8: "Gone;" 6: "Lay Down;" 7: "Only You;" 1: "Me;" 3:
"Forever;" 4: "You Belong."
Visit
magnatune and reward them for their generosity,
and if you like this album, buy it. Magnatune is not evil!
"Happiness
is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family
in another city". ~ George Burns
Subscribe |
How? -
Podcast Help |
ATRC Podcast Index
|
ATRC News
Send us your comments
del.icio.us
digg this
|
|
