"Natura non facit
saltum."
Charles Darwin
On the Origin of Species
Charles Darwin
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.
Technology News Briefs
February 12 is Charles Darwin's 198th birthday (and
Abraham Lincoln's birthday, incidentally, both men
being born on the same day). The day has
become known world wide as
Darwin Day, and celebrations of science and
humanity are occurring around the globe to
commemorate it. The
complete works of Darwin are online from
Cambridge University (see our review in
episode
38).
Free downloads from Microsoft:
Windows Live Messenger 8.1 is now
available for download from Microsoft.
Windows Live Messenger is the next generation MSN
Messenger. The new version features Yahoo IM
interoperability and a "roaming identity" feature.
Also available from Microsoft as a free download,
Snip-IT is an add-on to Internet Explorer that
allows the user to send selected text via email.
Microsoft is also giving away Add-in tools to add a
"Getting Started" tab to
Word,
Excel and
PowerPoint 2007, making it easy to reference
Microsoft training resources for these products.
Windows genuine validation is required.
If you are an iTunes user, you may not want to
upgrade to Vista just yet, if you want iTunes to
continue working, that is. According to
MacNewsWorld "...Apple is encouraging
Windows-based iTunes users to hold off on upgrading
to Vista until the new version of the iTunes music
software is released "in the next few weeks.
Some users of iTunes version 7.0.2 may find that
they have no problem running iTunes with Microsoft's
newly released Vista operating system , the company
said, but others may encounter significant
problems." Problems, the article goes on to
describe, like a corrupted iTunes database.
So, what--? Vista came as a surprise to Apple?...
Click here for Apple's official statement.
While on the topic of Apple and iTunes, kudos to
Steve Jobs for his "Thoughts
on Music" released this week. While he is
undoubtedly responding to various European countries
declaring or intending to declare iTunes illegal
(see the news for
episode 48),
he is still to be commended for
calling for the abolition of DRM on music sold on
the Internet. He placed the blame for DRM
squarely where it belongs, on the big four (largely
European owned) record companies: Universal (owned
by Vivendi, a French company), EMI (British), Sony
BMG (50% owned by a German company) and Warner.
He also makes the point that software companies
embraced more than a decade ago: copy protection
just does not work in preventing piracy, and only
serves to alienate potential customers. (See
MSNBC story).
The record industry responded by calling on
Apple to share their DRM secrets with the entire
online music publishing/marketing community,
ignoring the reasons Jobs cites for this option
being impractical. They just needed to say "I
know I am but what are you?" Edgar
Bronfman, Warner Music chief executive said that the
argument to drop copy protection is "without logic
and merit" (Reuters).
The
Safari tech book online we are featuring this week
is:
How to Wow with PowerPoint by Richard Harrington
and Scott Rekdal (accessible from on-campus or with
a
password off campus).
"Wouldn't it be great if you could have two of the
most sought-after graphic design professionals
sitting next to you at your computer as you navigate
through the infinite possibilities of your next
important presentation? How to Wow with PowerPoint
is the next best thing" according to the Overview.
Princeton became the 12th major library system
to join
Google Book Search. Princeton has agreed
to work with Google to scan over 1 million public
domain books into the Book Search database.
Princeton's libraries house over 6 million printed
works, 5 million manuscripts and 2 million non-print
items.
Click here for the Google Book Search blog
welcome Princeton,
here for the Princeton Library welcome to
Google. If you are new to Google Book Search,
click here to find out more.
Also on the Google front,
GMail became publicly freely available in
Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Brazil this
week.
These
countries join Japan, Australia, New Zealoand,
Russia and Egypt. GMail is still by invitation
only in North America, but that restriction will be
lifted "very soon." Besides, if you can't get
a GMail invitation, you are truly a recluse.
Last week communications giant Viacom sent
100,000 DMCA (Digital
Millennium Copyright Act) take-down notices to
YouTube, some of them in error, probably many of
them erroneously pressing copyright claims over
material covered by
fair use. If your video has been taken
down but you feel it can be legitimately displayed
(and in fact at least 60 videos that were ordered
removed had nothing to do with Viacom, probably
many, many more), the
Electronic Freedom Foundation wants to hear from
you. For guidelines in sending a DMCA counter
notice,
click here.
And speaking of digitization, this week the World's
oldest continuously published newspaper, Sweden'sPost-och Inrikes Tidningar (mail
and domestic tidings) went digital, finally
forsaking paper.
The newspaper has been in
publication since 1645, and still is, just in a more
convenient and less expensive, more environmentally
friendly, format (MSNBC).
Along the same lines--hold on to your spectacles--Arthur
Sulzberger, publisher of the New York Times, in
a recent interview (Haaretz.com) said "I really
don't know whether we'll be printing the Times in
five years, and you know what? I don't care either,"
adding that he sees his job as managing the
transition from print to Internet. Judging by
the excellent Times (e)-Reader (freely
available for Windows XP--we have been using it
for some time and can highly recommend it, but note
that it is still in beta) the look and feel of the
Times will certainly not suffer. With regard
to portability, eInk/ePaper/wi-fi to support wide
proliferation is nearly in place. Stand by
commuters, the future is nearer than you think.
On Wednesday, February 14 Haydn Davis and David
Gray will be
presenting "Content
Management in Blackboard" in room LL-109 from
2-4pm.
On Thursday, February 15 from 2-4pm Terry Gray will be presenting "PowerPoint
1: Creating Basic Presentations with PowerPoint"
in room LL-109. A Targus wireless presenter
with laser pointer ($30 value at Fry's) will be
given away to one lucky participant.
Academic Technology Resources and Information
Click here to access the general ATRC
workshop schedule;
Click here to read a description of the various
workshops within their competencies.
Click here
to read a description of the new Blackboard
Certificate program;
Contact
Dr. Haydn Davis with questions about TBA
training (or call ext. 2341);
Click here for registration information.
Cost is only $50.00.
Free training from
Microsoft:
Free Microsoft eLearning courses: for a limited time access
to these excellent e-Learning products on Office
2007 is available.
Click here to access a gateway to sign-up for
training in the new Office interface, Access 2007,
Excel 2007, Infopath 2007, OneNote 2007, Outlook
2007, PowerPoint 2007, Word 2007, Visio 2007, and
Groove 2007. You may also download a free
e-book from this site titled
First Look 2007 Microsoft Office System in
PDF format.
For those who have already installed Office 2007,
and are struggling with the new ribbon, Microsoft
has released three very nice interactive,
flash-based reference guides showing where the old
commands (from Office 2003) are now located in
Office 2007. Download these free for
Word,
Excel or
PowerPoint.
Microsoft is also giving away Add-in tools to add a
"Getting Started" tab to
Word,
Excel and
PowerPoint 2007, making it easy to reference
Microsoft training resources for these products.
Windows genuine validation is required.
Free online training is available for Horizon
Wimba:
all of which are available for use in
our Blackboard system. According to Steve
Montano, our H-W representative, the Live Classroom
training has been completely revised.
Blackboard Feature of the Week - David Gray
Dave is off this week. We hope he will be well
and return for next week's show.
See
the index of Dave's previous "Blackboard Feature
of the Week" segments.
One of the things instructors dislike having to
give up when they take on an online class assignment
is activities that involve small groups of students.
To these instructors, working in small groups can be
a valuable learning experience. Is that just one
sacrifice that needs to be made when teaching
online?
The answer is a resounding “No.” Online
instructors have found creative ways to help
students learn while in online groups. For example,
one instructor wanted her students to develop a
Power Point presentation and assigned them to work
in small groups – similar to what might happen in
industry. But how could this be accomplished
effectively online?
The answer was that Blackboard can accommodate small
group learning very nicely. In this case the
instructor assigned five students to a group using
the Manage Groups feature in Blackboard. The
instructor began by adding the appropriate number of
groups and enabling the group options such as the
private group discussion board, private group file
exchange, and private group email. After that, the
instructor assigned students to groups by clicking
the Modify button next to the group name.
Once students were assigned to a group they could
enter that group from the Group Pages link on the
Communication menu (or another link established by
the instructor). Once in the group students posted
messages to each other, attached their Power Point
files for comment and feedback. Once students had an
opportunity to view each other’s presentations they
combined the best parts of each into one group
presentation. That group presentation was posted to
the class Discussion Board as a file attachment so
that all in the class could review it.
For grading purposes the instructor wanted to
know how the students felt about their respective
contributions – after all, one complaint we often
hear about group projects is how one person does all
the work. The instructor was able to view each
group’s discussion board postings to track the work
done there.
See
the index of
Haydn's previous "Teaching with
Technology" segments.
Tech-Talk-Topic - Terry Gray
The Search Box in IE7
One of the most welcome innovations in IE7 is the
behavior of the Search Box. You can now add multiple
search providers, make any one of them your default,
and at the same time conveniently perform
specialized searches all from the same search field.
To use it, simply type your term in the search box
and press Enter (or click the little search icon
next to the box):
Press Alt-Enter to see the search results on a
new tab.
The drop-down next to the search icon contains
the list of available search providers:
At installation, the default search provider is
Windows Live Search (formerly known as MSN Search),
and there are only a limited number of Search
providers available. Microsoft has made it easy to
add search providers to the list. Simply click “Find
More Providers…” on the menu illustrated above. You
will see a page of possible search providers:
Click on a provider’s link on this page and you
will see the following dialog box:
Click Add provider and the provider will be added
to your list. To search using that provider, enter
your search term, click the search drop-down icon,
and click on the provider. Search results will be
returned from that provider. That provider will
continue to be the default provider for that browser
session unless you select another one.
It is also easy to add a “Search Palomar” option
to the list of providers. To do so, click the “Add
More Providers…” link, then follow the directions in
the yellow area of the resulting page, labeled
“Create Your Own.” In fact, any search provider can
be added to your list in this manner. Here, in
detail, is how:
1. Open the search provider you wish to add in a
new tab.
2. Perform a search on the term “TEST” in all caps,
no quotes.
3. Select and copy the URL from the resulting
address bar.
4. Paste it into the URL area of the “Create Your
Own” box illustrated above.
5. Give it a friendly name.
6. Click “Install.”
To perform a search using this provider, enter
the search term in the search box, click the
drop-down icon, and select the specialized search
provider from the list.
Some, but not all, of the individual databases to
which we subscribe can also be added to the search
list. Those that pass the actual search term to the
database, and display it in the URL address box can
be added. Those that use a session id and load
search results in frames cannot (including the
library’s own SIRSI catalog search). The Ebsco
databases cannot. JSTOR, the OED, Country Watch,
Gale Literature Search (InfoTrac), and NetLibrary
eBooks can be added in this fashion.
More powerfully, Palomar has a “Central Search
tool,”provided by Serial Solutions, which allows
searching on all the databases to which the college
subscribes simultaneously (search tools like this
are sometimes called “union” search tools, since
they combine the results of many search databases
into one results page), including the holdings of
other local libraries like CSUSM and Mira Costa
library. This “search provider” can also be added to
the list. With one search, all Palomar information
assets (and those of the other libraries in our
area) can be searched. This works transparently on
campus, and requires a password from the library off
campus. If you add this database using the search
field at the top of the library’s “OnlineDatabases”
web page:
the search results will NOT contain the contents
of the Palomar College hard-copy library catalog,
nor will it contain results from Mira Costa library.
If you click the links under each set of databases
on that page however (for example, the “Search All
General Interest Databases” link on that page:
This will load the following page, which will let
you fine tune your search more effectively, AND
include assets, as you can see, from Palomar’s own
library holdings:
After adding relevant Palomar custom search
assets, my search provider drop-down menu looks like
this:
Each time you start your browser session your
default search provider will be the one used for
searches unless you deliberately select another
provider during that session. To change the default
provider, click the Tools icon, choose “Internet
Options” and click the Settings button on the
general tab:
Or, alternatively, simply click the “Change
Search Defaults” on the search provider drop-down
menu. The “Change Search Defaults” dialog box will
list all of the search providers you have added to
IE7. Select one by clicking on it and then click
“Set Default” to make it the default search
provider.
See
an index of previous "Tech
Talk Topics" segments.
Gizmo of the Week
Bionic Arm with Feeling
There is no contest for the gizmo this week.
As reported in the
Telegraph.co.uk, "A woman fitted with the
world's first "bionic arm" controlled by thought
alone has been given back a sense of feeling."
"Now doctors have re-routed the ends of arm
nerves to a patch of skin on her chest — allowing
her to regain the sensation of having her lost hand
touched...When Ms Mitchell thinks about moving her
hand or arm, the nerves react as if they were still
leading all the way down her arm and into the elbow
and fingers...If someone touches the patch of skin
on her chest it feel as if they are touching her
hand."
Click here for a full-sized picture of the
revolutionary new prosthesis that performs up to six
time faster than conventional prostheses and can
perform tasks requiring much finer muscle control,
like putting on make-up.
The
music for today's show was provided courtesy of
Magnatune, and is licensed under their creative
commons license for podcasts. The album "Enter
the Woods" by
Minstrel Spirit. "Exotic melodies with
haunting vocals giving the listener a peace of heart and
mind..."
"After twelve years
of therapy my psychiatrist said something that
brought tears to my eyes. He said, 'No hablo ingles." ~
Ronnie Shakes
Podcast
for February 9, 2007 - Episode 50
he is still to be commended for
calling for the abolition of DRM on music sold on
the Internet. He placed the blame for DRM
squarely where it belongs, on the big four (largely
European owned) record companies: Universal (owned
by Vivendi, a French company), EMI (British), Sony
BMG (50% owned by a German company) and Warner.
He also makes the point that software companies
embraced more than a decade ago: copy protection
just does not work in preventing piracy, and only
serves to alienate potential customers. (
The
Safari tech book online we are featuring this week
is:
These
countries join Japan, Australia, New Zealoand,
Russia and Egypt. GMail is still by invitation
only in North America, but that restriction will be
lifted "very soon." Besides, if you can't get
a GMail invitation, you are truly a recluse.
The newspaper has been in
publication since 1645, and still is, just in a more
convenient and less expensive, more environmentally
friendly, format (
There is no contest for the gizmo this week.
As reported in the
The
music for today's show was provided courtesy of
