Not Enough Coffee

Don't pity a shelter dog...feed one!

2010-09-19T10:38:00.000-05:00

If you watch any TV, you've probably seen Pedigree's heart-string-tugging commercials supporting the adoption of shelter dogs. It's a beautiful montage of dogs that ends with the slogan "Don't pity a shelter dog, adopt one". Unless you have ice in your veins, the commercial most likely leaves you with the desire to help a shelter dog. While we're not all in a position to adopt one, Pedigree has made it easy to help feed one: for every person that likes their Facebook fanpage, they will donate one bowl of dog food to a shelter. Want to help more? For every blog that posts about their adoption program (today is the last day!!) and then tweets about it with the hastag #dogsrule, they will donate a 20-pound bag of food to a shelter!

If you are actually considering adopting a dog, you should definitely check out Pedigree's Adoption Website - it has a lot of great articles to help anyone make an informed decision about adopting a dog. They even give months-worth of dog food to those who adopt from a shelter.

Traits of a Techie: How You Too Could Become Awesome*

2010-06-18T00:05:00.006-05:00

Techie /t'eki/

Term for a person who possesses greater than average interest in technology, especially the latest and greatest high-tech gadget; not to be confused with their spandex-wearing, oft pointy-eared cousins, the Trekkies.

Curious

Techies are insatiably curious. Always seeking to answer “What if,” a techie relishes new experiences and is often the first to test the metaphorical waters. Hand a techie the latest gadget and she will like have it figured out in minutes, no manual necessary (though the nerdy techies will read the manual front-to-back later, to see what they missed). This not because of some freaky techie intuition (okay, maybe a little), but because a techie is not afraid to try, try, try again. Forget learning curve, techies tumble straight up.
Learned

Technology changes so fast that it is impossible to stay a techie without continuing one’s education. Whether by taking classes, reading blogs, attending conferences, or just conversing with other geeks (technological or otherwise), techies are always learning. As a result, techies know a lot of stuff.
Sharing

If only to demonstrate their superiority (arrogance is one of a techie’s less-than-awesome traits), techies love sharing what they’ve learned, Exhibit A: the internet. Techies also like sharing their stuff, see open source software and bitTorrent. Overshare? Yeah, techies are good at that too – no luddite could’ve invented Facebook or Twitter.

*Caution: Becoming a techie can lead to de(con)structed household appliances, the occasional emergency room visit, and low bank account balances. If you experience a SciFi movie marathon lasting longer than 12 hours, please see mother nature for alternative programming.

Changes in Education: Strengthen VoTech Programs

2010-04-18T12:14:00.005-05:00

This post is part of my Critical Changes series, a collection of observations from an un-jaded newbie in education.

Change 2: Strengthen Vocational and Technical Programs

Call them what you will - votech, industrial arts, applied academics, shop class - we need programs where kids learn hands-on skills, use tools, build things, fix things. When the economy takes a hit, and subsequently school budgets, these valuable technical programs are often the first to go, in deference to traditional core classes. Or in a sad compromise, tech programs are morphed into supposed STEM programs where doing the science/engineering/math on a computer constitutes using technology. However, when the economy goes sour, what a person really needs is a marketable skill, not a comprehensive knowledge of Shakespeare.

Carpentry Students
at SkillsUSA NLSC

This is not to say we should cut Humanities or any other core class, but rather trim around the entire pie of academics instead of taking out an a specific slice. Tech classes are great sources of differentiation, especially for spatial and kinetic students; in many ways, tech classes are a different approach to learning the material taught in core classes. Projects like building a birdhouse may seem reminiscent of summer camp craft time, but in actuality are real-world applications of theoretical knowledge – one must be literate to read instructions and blueprints, use science to hypothesize and test different designs or materials, understand math to calculate dimensions and angles, etc.

In addition to financial and administrative support of tech programs, there needs to be an attitude shift away from high school votech programs being considered as a last resort for struggling students, and from technical & community colleges being considered the lesser post-secondary option for students. Not everyone is suited for a 4-year liberal arts college, and a liberal arts degree is not applicable to all jobs; when last I checked, Harvard does not offer courses in metal-working, but every construction site needs a welder at some point.

A Different Kind of Change

2010-03-28T00:18:00.000-05:00

My days of wanting to believe like Fox Mulder are long gone; I'm definitely a skeptical Scully these days. When people are spooked by a ghost, I figure their imaginations have gotten the best of them. When friends mention wanting to visit a psychic, I sigh - if the psychic is any good, it's only due to excellent observation skills and logic. There is a very worldly, scientific basis for everything, even if we just don't know what it is yet.

Grandma Cahill
Supernal Bestower of Shiny Currency

My mom is very different from me in this respect, especially with regards to an afterlife. She sees signs from various deceased loved ones and thinks that they are visiting. I see coincidence and think it's her way of coping. One such sign is the appearance of dimes, which according to her are gifts from my deceased grandmother who collected dimes. As much as I wish my beloved grandmother were still with me, I don't want to kid myself into thinking she actually is. That was, until my grandmother started to visit me.

My grandmother's dimes - always bright and shiny - appear in the oddest places. They've fallen out of library books, glistened on wooded trails, and stuck to my shoes; one even rolled across a hallway when no one else was there. The dimes usually appear when I most need my grandma, such as when I'm having a bad day or am celebrating a success, i.e. those moments I used to share with her when she was alive. Today had one such moment.

This morning, there was an inspection on what is supposed to be my first house. It was so bad that the inspector didn't even need to complete it. Contract withdrawn and counter offer in place, I left dismayed, thinking I'd never get a house. More importantly, I'd wouldn't get this house, the one I had come to love. As my parents and I walked back to the car, my mom handed me something she had found in the vacant house - a dime. A grimy, encrusted one.

"I don't know what she's trying to tell you," my mom said, "but she's here."

"It just needs a little shining," I said, looking back at the house.

Perhaps I too am seeing what I need to see, grasping for meaning from cast-off currency. But for now, not only do I want to believe, I do believe.

Changes in Education: Hire People, Not Services

2010-02-07T17:42:00.002-06:00

In this rapidly changing world it is critical for schools to adapt, to change in ways that will better prepare students for their future. So, the question is not whether schools should change, but rather how they should change. Based on my observations as an insider in the education world, but also as a newbie who brings a fresh perspective, I have a few ideas of changes to be made, which I shall henceforth present in an intermittent and seemingly random series of posts; here is the first.

Change 1: Hire People, Not Services

Hiring a service is like renting an apartment: once your lease is up, you’re left with nothing buy an empty checking account, all the while you had to live by the limitations of sharing a resource. Hiring a person, on the other hand, is like buying a house: take good care of it and you’ll likely get a return on your investment, while also being able to make any needed modifications to make the house your home.

School districts often outsource work, e.g. website design, to businesses who by their very nature as a contractor serve multiple organizations. Services are generally prepackaged, with limited customization, as businesses need to be able to serve all their clients while still being able to make a profit. However, rather than paying tens of thousands of dollars for cookie-cutter products, school districts should pay tens of thousands of dollars to hire an employee who has a vested interest in the district and can create products custom to the needs of it’s teachers and students.

Google Calender: Display Only Public Events -- EASIER WAY

2010-01-11T19:24:00.000-06:00

The inner-workings of my mind are quite the imbroglio, which often causes it to make things more difficult than they have to be. Take my previous post, which showed how to make a feed of public events from a google calendar: useful if what you really want is an RSS feed of public events, but if what you actually need is another dynamic calendar that contains said events and updates with changes, here's a much easier solution:

Create a second calendar for just the public events
Invite that calendar (using the calendar ID address found under Calendar Details) to every public event.
Accept invitations.

Voila. Much easier. Though, I still suggest checking out Yahoo Pipes for filtering and mashing up RSS feeds; it is an awesome tool.

Google Calendar: Display Only Public Events

2010-01-09T17:51:00.010-06:00

UPDATE: See a much easier solution in my next post, Google Calender: Display Only Public Events -- EASIER WAY.

I share my work calendar - showing only the free/busy details - with everyone in my district’s domain and also the public. This way people can see if I’m busy before requesting a meeting, but the specific details of my schedule are kept private. What’s nice is that I can select individual events to be public and show all event details, which is useful for group events such as trainings. In ordered to keep staff apprised of upcoming events, I wanted to create a feed on my website that showed just these public events, i.e. I didn’t want to display my entire agenda of “Busy” events. However, Google does not provide a way to filter a calendar before embedding it, so I needed to create a separate calendar of just my public events. Faced with having to update events on both my default calendar the public events calendar*, I turned to Yahoo Pipes to make a public events calendar that was automatically updated with any event I marked as a public on my default calendar.

fig. 1 Public Events Pipe

Yahoo Pipes is a service that enables users to mashup, filter, and otherwise mess with various feeds; it is a very simple tool, but yet very extensible. My pipe takes a calendar’s iCal address and filters out all private events; the resulting iCal feed can then be subscribed to from Google Calendar. Once subscribed to this custom feed, the calendar will update with any new public events or changes made to existing events. There is a delay in updates, but it is better than having to add/update events in two places. I then embedded the Public Events calendar in my site, using Google’s built-in embed helper.
I published my pipe so that anyone can input their own calendar’s iCal address to create a feed containing only their public events, without actually having to recreate their own pipe. Geeks looking to see how it works should see fig. 1, which shows the source along with annotations, or click ‘Edit Source’ on the pipes main page, to see a live example of the source and play around with a copy of it. Below is the resulting calendar widget, for complete instructions on creating a one of your own, see my tutorial Google Calendar: Public Events Feed.

Resources:

*When a coworker adds my calendar to theirs or checks my availability when creating an event, Google will only show my default calendar, so it’s important that I keep all events on my default calendar.

iPhone: Saving Extensions

2009-12-16T23:05:00.000-06:00

Have an iPhone? Need to save a phone number with an extension? There's an app for that...or actually, just a button.

Saving an extension on the iPhone

When saving/adding a contact, there is a pause button on the symbol screen of the keypad, which can be used when needing to manipulate an automated message system. If you just save a phone number and extension together, the phone tries to dial all the numbers and the call fails; add in a pause to let the system connect, before an extension is dialed. This technique can also be used to automate password-protected voicemail systems (I lock my phone, so I figure I don't need my voicmail locked too). Here's the step-by-step:

Go to the contact you wish to edit.
Click 'Edit'
Click 'add new phone' OR click on the number to which you wish to add an extension.
After the 10 digit phone number has been entered, click the +*# key.
Click 'Pause'
Enter the extension/password.
Click 'Save'

iPod Touches in Education on Google Wave

2009-12-14T18:48:00.003-06:00

I've started a Google Wave about using iPod Touches in education; my district is looking to buy a lab (or few, I hope) and would like some advice. If you are using iPod Touches in your school, please contribute input below (This wave can also be found within the wave interface by searching for with:public tag:edtech; it's the first of three results, as of this posting). Anyone - iPods or no iPods - is also welcome to ask questions. The Wave is open to the public, so anyone with Wave access can join. If you would like a Wave invite, send me the address of your Google account.

iPod Touches in Education

Lingoes: Portable Dictionary & Translation

2009-11-29T14:11:00.006-06:00

Lingoes is a free dictionary, text-to-speech, and translation tool that works with any selectable text found in any program, including web browsers and word-processing applications. While Lingoes is enabled, highlighting and/or double-clicking on text returns a pop-up with the definition (if a single word) or translation (if multiple words) of the text. Translation is provided in the default language that you select, but any of the other 80 available languages are accessible by clicking the book icon, located on the pop-up.

Pronunciation of selected text is also available by clicking on the speaker icon on the pop-up, or you can have Lingoes set to always pronounce selected text. Although the computer voice is not the greatest, the pitch and speed can be adjusted to one's liking. A better option is to install language packs, which are actual recordings of words; however, the language packs only apply to a limited range of single words. Lingoes can be disabled via the taskbar, so that is always available, but not always translating. You can also configure Lingoes features to be triggered by a hotkey. Watch the screencast for a demo.

[Post continues below screencast]

There is a portable version of Lingoes, which means students could use the program on any computer with a USB drive, making this tool available to them whether they are in a lab, at the library, or at home. Having his own copy of the program, also means that a student would not have mess with configuration settings,e.g. whereas a special education student may just need the english definition & pronunciation of words, a Russian-speaking ELL student could have her Lingoes set to translate into Russian.

While the customizability of Lingoes makes it a powerful tool, make sure you spend some time configuring it before letting student loose with it. It is only as useful, as it is usable. And, if you find Lingoes to be helpful, consider donating to the cause.

5 Ways to Use Drop.io in the Classroom

2009-11-15T15:15:00.005-06:00

Drop.io is a quick and easy way to share files, including pictures, video, audio, and documents, in real time. The ability to the restrict viewing of a drop, the uploading and/or deleting of files, combined with features like chat, make it a great classroom tool. The price is certainly right for education too: free up to 100 MB per drop, with no limit to the number of drops one can make. There is also no registration required, not for admins or users - just don't forget the name and/or password of your site(s)!

Here are some ideas for using drop.io in the classroom:

Presentations
Combined with a projector - or better yet, and interactive whiteboard - drop.io is a quick way to present student work when students are using computers. Students can upload their file to a drop created by the teacher either via the web, email, or by using the Drag & Dropio Firefox extension. All files uploaded to a drop can be viewed as soon as they are finished uploading.

When I teach photography, I have students upload their favorite images to my drop, as they are working. Then when everyone has added at least one picture, I project the drop and have the students talk about their selected image. Students can give feedback during class or can leave a written comment on the drop.io site. An added benefit is that I then have a copy of the students' work. I've had students as young as 4th grade upload to drop.io with no problem.
Homework Collection & Digital Portfolios
Drops can be password protected so that only an admin can view files. The hidden access feature on drop.io can even enable students to upload to a drop, without knowing the name of the site. Teachers can then view student work within the drop or download it to their computer.

Since drops can be password protected on both the admin and guest level (e.g. allowing guests to upload and view, but not change settings), a teacher could create a private drop for each student and comment on student work within the drop. A great way to create a digital portfolio!
Collaboration
Drop.io allows multiple users to upload files simultaneous and shows changes in real time. Along with the chat and comment features (which can be disabled by an admin, if necessary), drop.io can be used as a collaboration tool for group projects. Watch this video for a demonstration:

Real-time Sharing with Drop.io
Digital Scavenger Hunt/Resource Sharing
Given the real-time sharing capabilities and the ability to view contents and comments as a stream, drop.io can be used to collect responses to an online scavenger hunt. Students can watch to see what has been found already, in order to avoid duplicates. Students then have access to all the found resources.
Dropbox for Students
In the least, drop.io can be used by students to transfer/store files. Flash drives are easily lost or corrupted (and can be a haven for viruses, as our high school learned last year), but drop.io can never be forgotten at home.

Other cool drop.io features useful in education: dropcasting (podcasting the contents of your drop), voicemail (leave audio messages on your drop), and Facebook connect (share to a Facebook feed)

Expiration Dates are Just Guidelines (Firefox Tip)

2009-11-02T19:55:00.010-06:00

Mozilla is great about updating Firefox to integrate new features or to fix bugs, but with every new version, "incompatible" add-ons are disabled. Incompatibility, however, is based solely on whether the developer designated their add-on as compatible with the new version, relegating many unupdated, but completely functional add-ons to a greyed-out existence.

There is an easy fix though. If you find yourself with a new version of Firefox, but without some of your favorite add-ons, follow the steps below to stop Firefox from automatically disabling add-ons. (Note, this does not make the add-ons work with new versions, and some add-ons may turn out to be truly incompatible.)

In the Awesome Bar (the address bar for the unindoctrinated), type about:config and press enter.
If you've never wandered into this territory before, Firefox will warn you about the page; click'I’ll be careful, I promise' to continue.
Right-click anywhere inside the window and select New > Boolean.
For the preference name, enter extensions.checkCompatibility then click 'OK'.
For the preference value, select False and then click 'OK'.

Voila! You can now use outdated add-ons in Firefox...whether or not they actually work.

But Is It Cheating?

2009-10-11T16:13:00.021-05:00

Blueprint Mural
by Joe Shlabotnik

One day in elementary school, my classmates and I were handed yard sticks and told to create a map of the school as to close to scale as possible. Standing in the longest hall of the school, looking at the comparatively tiny ruler, the whole thing screamed busy work. As my classmates went to work futilely measuring, I went to the media center instead; I figured that I shouldn’t waste my time measuring something that I was sure someone had not only measured already, but had probably with more accuracy than a gnawed-on piece of wood (hopefully by the class pet and not a student) could provide.

I asked the media specialist, Mrs. Williams, if there were any maps of the school available, preferably one with the building’s dimensions. Being that I was a regular in the library, one who often requested odd things like books about UFOs or sound clips of a mandolin, Mrs. Williams did not even blink at my request…it wasn’t until she was about to hand me the blueprints to the school that she curiously inquired as to why I needed a map of the school. Needless to say, I did not leave with the map that day, but instead left with a lecture about not taking shortcuts (a nice euphemism for cheating) and the importance of doing work as assigned.

When the Answers Can be Googled, You're Asking the Wrong Questions

See No Evil
State Library and Archives of Florida

The point of the exercise was not to test our measuring skills or to learn cartography; we were learning about scale and ratios*, a concept I could have learned without having to spend an hour actually measuring the hallways. Was it really wrong that I took the initiative to do research and cut my work in half? I think not. I often see students given the task to extract information from their text books, usually with the intent of their learning the material. Students who quickly locate the information using Google or their buddy in the desk next to them, are consider to be cheating. But are they really doing anything wrong? The students are simply copying information onto their paper; the source from which they copy is irrelevant, as long as the information is correct. I can hear all y’all teachers clamoring about the value of such assignments, but hear me out. If you want to teach students how to read a text, make that the point of the assignment (actually tell students the goal) AND give them questions that cannot be answered by Google, you know, the ones that require students to actually think and not just regurgitate. If you want students to learn the material, then it does not matter that Johnny the savvy geek studies the periodic table from an app on his ipod, rather than from the stagnant picture in his text book.

Too often people confuse difficulty with value, and tasks that have been made easy by technology are somehow less valuable. It is more difficult - or at least takes more time – to manually insert citations and write/type a bibliography, than it is to use a service such as EasyBib; however, there truly is no value in having to lookup citation formats every time one writes a paper. Rather than spend time teaching how to cite, let technology take care of that mundane tasks and spend that time teaching actual research skills, such as resource analysis.

Moral of the Story: If a student finds a quicker or easier way to complete an assignment, whether thanks to technology or otherwise, think of it as progress - you now have a new method of teaching, and the student now has time to learn more stuff!

*As a side note, the 6th grade teachers in my district have a neat way of teaching ratios that not even Google (or a visit to the Media Center) can solve. Working in groups, each student has his picture taken next to an immeasurable object, e.g. a flag pole. After measuring themselves (in both real life and the picture) and the height of the object in the picture, the students then extrapolate the real height of the object by cross multiplication. The teachers even include an Excel lesson, by having the students create graphs from their final tables.

Learning to Fall

2009-09-24T22:58:00.004-05:00

The other day I decided to enjoy one of the last days of summer-like weather by trying out my new rollerblades, but I forgot how fast new wheels spin. I soon found myself speeding down a hill that I had not traversed for almost two years, after my last journey ended with a cracked rib; it was quite the trip. After recovering my brain from the PTSD-induced flashbacks, I began to review the lessons I had learned about falling correctly*. Yes, there is a correct way to fall; it’s the way that doesn’t end with a broken body, or at least a less broken one. Most of the sports I have participated in over the years have included lessons on falling. In rugby, we spent a week learning how to fall before we learned how to make our opponents fall. Fortunately, I did not need to utilize these lessons that day, but it got me thinking about how those lessons can be applied to more metaphorical - albeit not necessary less painful - falls in life. With no further ado, here are the lessons and my attempts to tie them to everyday life:

Owen in Flight by ClickFlashPhotos

Fall correctly and you’ll survive to get up and try again.
When you do screw up in life, try to do it with grace – don’t take others down with you; don’t be so reckless you can’t recover from your actions. The slight difference between falling and failing (besides the letter ‘i’) is that a fall only becomes a fail if you don’t get back up.

Don’t be afraid to fall…
If you try to never fall, you’ll only hurt yourself worse when you do. It’s like slipping on ice and flailing your arms wildly, only to end up with both pulled arm muscles and a sore bum, because despite your efforts you fell anyway. Every fall is a learning opportunity.

…but don’t be taking nose dives and wonder why your face hurts.
By accepting that a fall could happen, you can prepare for it and lessen your damage. Put salt on that ice patch to stop slippage in the first place…and don’t go rollerblading after it rains, or at least where protective gear - falling doesn’t have to hurt.

Laughter is the best medicine (I hear morphine is pretty good too).
When you do fall, remember to laugh at yourself. Afterall, falls are funny; if they weren’t, America’s Funniest Home Videos would have tanked. Don’t waste your time dwelling on your mistakes.

*If you were wondering what literally falling correctly entails, it is progressively hitting the ground from your ankles to your knees to your hips to your shoulders. It works a lot better than hitting the ground at once, with a thud and the wind knocked out of you. Also, NEVER try to catch yourself with your hands, that only leads to broken wrists; tuck in your arms – and you head for that matter – if you feel yourself falling.

Nerdiest Thing Ever 2.0 (Custom Charging Station)

2009-09-12T00:36:00.007-05:00

Charging Station Made of Books

I finally finished my original book modification project, a stack of books transformed into a charging station. This project was the spring board for my USB/Card Reader combo mod, but took more time, so I guess it's actually the beta version of the Nerdiest Thing Ever.

Charging My iPhone

After I came up with the idea for this piece, it took several months and plenty of antique store/used book store/rummage sale visits to find the books I wanted to modify. Not only did the books have to be large enough to hold my various devices and chargers, but I was very picky about both the appearance of the books (I wanted a a variety of fun colors and interesting spines and cover designs) and their titles. I ended up using 5 books: National Geographic Magazine anthology from Jan-June of 1927, the Modern Library of Knowledge, Repented at Leisure by Berthat M. Clay, The Woman of Mystery by Leblanc, and Funk and Wagnals New Standard Encyclopedia.

Tools of the Trade

The hardest part was finding a book large enough to hold a power strip and the necessary power adapters and extensions, so I ended up making the bottom two books the bases, in order to fit everything. The top book charges my iPhone or any of my ipods (just not all at once), while in their cases; the second book holds my AA battery charger; and the third book hold the charger for my SLR battery. All of the components can be charging at once, and all of the books close completely even when in use. The books are also attached to each other with screws, so that each book can be opened without toppling the stack. For construction, I used pretty much the same method as for my USB/Card Reader combo, except with a few more "learning opportunities".

5 Things every student needs to know about file management

2009-08-25T22:42:00.006-05:00

With an increasing number of ways for students to create and transfer schoolwork, there is an increasing number of students experiencing issues with file management, whether it be file compatibility, organization, or even virus-eaten homework (the web 2.0 version of the classic canine-based excuse for latent homework). Here are five things that every student should know to make both their lives and the lives of their teacher easier:

Choosing a File Location
Too often I see students save a file in a program's default location, which varies from a user’s document folder on the network to a program folder on the local hard drive to even a temp folder that will soon be automatically emptied. Not knowing where a file was saved or having a file unintentionally deleted presents a problem when the file needs to be opened again. Therefore, when saving a file students should:
- Be conscious of where a file is saved - choose a location, don't just click save.
- Know the difference between saving to to a computer’s hard drive (files are only accessible at that computer) and saving to a network(usually accessible at any school computer) or online server (accessible at any computer with internet). Knowing how to use flash drives is also important.
- Once in the Save dialog, students should know how to navigate to a specific drive, which can be done either via the drop-down menu up top or the sidebar shortcuts.

Choose/Changing a File Type
Choosing a file type is especially important when a student is working at home and may be using a software different from what is installed at school. Every word processing software has it's own native document type, which are usually not compatible with other softwares; different versions of the same software *cough* Microsoft Office *cough* may even have different file formats that are not compatible with other versions.
It is therefore important for students to know the differences between different file types and how to choose/change a file's type. The easiest way to change a file type is via the 'Save As' dialog (File > Save As), which allows a student to save a copy of their document in a different format; simply change the file format from the 'Save As Type' drop-down menu located below the 'File Name' box.
For more information about word document compatibility see Saving Word Documents.
Renaming a File
Files can be saved with a new name by using the 'Save As' dialog, however, this unnecessarily creates a second copy of the file. To rename a file without creating a copy of the file:
1. Save and close the file
2. Navigate to the file folder
3. Right-click on a file and select 'Rename' OR click on the file and press F2
4. Rename the file then press Enter
Moving/Copying a File or Folder
Files can easily be moved or copied to other locations from their current folder Just click on a file and then choose either 'Move to Folder' or 'Copy to Folder' from the Edit menu and choose a new location for the file.
Tip: New folders can be created while moving/copying a file by right-clicking on the desired parent folder (where the new folder will be) and selecting 'New Folder'.
Finding Files
In a perfect world, files would always be where a student saved it (or thinks they did), but between faulty memories and accidental deletions/movings/renamings/alien abductions files sometimes go missing. The best method for locating a lost file is to use Window's search feature (or Google Desktop, if it is installed and indexing). Located on the Start Menu, the search feature can look for files on both local and network drives with just a partial file name. For a more comprehensive search, enable advanced options to search system folders, hidden files, and subfolders.
Tip:A quick way to locate a file is to look at the recently opened file list located on many programs' file menus, which either show the locations of the most recently opened files or allow a user to open and then resave a file.

Revenge of the StickyKeys

2009-08-04T00:13:00.017-05:00

If you're ever present in a computer lab when a student discovers the StickyKey shortcut, you will soon be treated with a chorus of trill tweets - the sound that accompanies StickyKey activation - as the student shares this new trick with his classmates.The students rarely if ever know what that sound actually indicates (they just really like the noise), and will soon be raising their hands to tell you that something is wrong with their computers. Sometimes StickyKeys will be activated without your knowing, e.g. when audio is muted, and your only indication will be a seemingly possessed computer. How will you know? How do you fix it? Here is your guide to StickyKeys, including how to recognize when StickyKeys is the culprit of a computer gone awry and how to disable the StickyKey feature.

What is StickyKeys?

StickyKeys feature lets you press a modifier key, such as Shift, Ctrl, Alt, or the Windows Logo key, and have it remain active until another key is pressed. Pressing a modifier key twice will keep that key activated until two keys are press simultaneously, assuming the lock setting has not been changed...but we don't assume, do we.

What's the point?

StickyKeys is an accessibility feature, allowing enabling multi-key shortcuts or capitalized letters to be typed one key at a time.

What is that noise, a.k.a. what is the StickyKeys shortcut?

When enabled, pressing the shift key five times in a row will enable StickyKeys. The shortcut is accompanied by a very annoying noise...at least it's annoying when 30 middle school students discover it at the same time.

When the shortcut is enacted, a pop-up should appear describing StickyKeys and asking whether the user would like to keep StickyKeys on or not. Seeing as students (and lots of adults, let's be fair) don't actually read pop-ups, but simply hit OK, this leads us to the next part...

How do I know if StickyKeys is enabled?

If normal StickyKey mode is enabled one usually won't notice, except for the beep that accompanies the use of a modifier key; even with StickyKeys enabled, modifier keys can be used as they normally would.

The real problem occurs when a modifier key gets locked, which happens when it is pressed twice in StickyKey mode. If the Shift gets locked, the computer will act as though the caps key is engaged, even when it's not. If the Ctrl or Alt key gets locked, the computer will enact keyboard shortcuts as the user attempts to type - menus will open, windows will close, and one might consider grabbing for the holy water.

Or, as was the case that prompted me to write this post, shortcuts won't work at all. While working in Photoshop, all the keyboard shortcuts suddently ceased to function. Turns out I had StickyKeys enabled and the shift key locked, so any shortcuts with ctrl did not work.

Another indication of StickyKey lock-down is a repeatedly failed workstation login. If StickyKeys is enabled when workstation is logged out of, StickyKeys will remain enabled when the next student tries to log in, making his/her login seemingly defunct.

How do I disable StickyKeys?

Go to Control Panel > Accessibility Options and make sure that "Use StickyKeys" is unchecked. To help prevent StickyKeys from being re-enabled, click the Settings button (under the StickyKeys section) and uncheck both "Use Shortcut" and "Press modifier key twice to lock". For good measure, I've disabled ToggleKeys and FilterKeys too. Ha.

Nerdiest Thing Ever (USB Hub/Card Reader Mod)

2009-07-30T01:05:00.013-05:00

Just a stack of old books...

When not messing around on my computer, I like to tinker and make things. My latest projects combine three of my favorite things: books, technology, and things that are not quite what them seem. Featured here is a USB hub & card reader hidden inside antique books; I’m also in the process of making a charging station composed of antique books, but the size (5 books!) and relative complexity of that project is taking a lot longer.

...or not.

What’s the point? Well, I find a stack of old books to be much more aesthetically pleasing than a jumble of cables, and hiding the gadgets in books also keeps everything organized. Functionality aside, I also just like to play with power tools and sharp objects (making my power saw my new favorite toy).

I made this gadget specifically for work, since students are often coming to me with flash drives that need to be rescued, and they always come in groups, causing me to quickly run out of available USB ports on my computer. The card reader will help save batteries when downloading media from our cameras, as well as allow me to get pictures off of the various cards that staff and students sometimes bring in from home.

The project is pretty straight forward, but here is a short description of what I used and what I did to create this wonderfully nerdy ~~toy~~ tool.

Ingredients:

Gel Mediums

Card Reader

Antique Books
USB Hub
Card Reader
Gel Medium (Matte and Glossy)
Adhesive Caulk
3/4 inch screws

Tools:

Utility Knife
Drill
Paint Brush
Clamps
One Nerdy Geek

What I did:

After sealing the pages of each book together (using the matte gel, to preserve the aged appearance of the books), I hollowed out each book using a utility knife. I’ve found that smaller books and/or older books with soft pages hollow easier when the pages are sealed first; however, larger books with stiffer pages are easier to hollow before the pages are sealed, allowing the book to be hollowed in sections. I also coated the inside of the hollowed books with a glossy gel, which tamed rough edges and further adhered the pages together.

Finished Product

When the insides of the books were dry, I arranged the books in a nicely skewed stack then connected them by drilling a screw in each corner of the top book. The 3/4” screws were just long enough to drill into each cover, without going through the top cover of the bottom book. Since I wanted the USB hub in the top book and the card reader to be plugged into it, I drilled a hole into the bottom of the top book and through the top of the bottom book, to allow the cables to pass. I also drilled a small hole through the top edge of the bottom book, so that the usb cable - the one that will attach the hub to the computer - could exit (since the plug is bigger than the cable, I pulled the sealed pages apart slightly to pass the cable through, and then resealed the pages around the cable). Finally, I used adhesive caulk to glue the usb hub and card reader into their respective books.

The Perpetual Sticky Note (Useful Tool)

2009-07-19T00:11:00.006-05:00

StickyScreen

Everyday I write three things I need to accomplish onto a post-it and stick it to my monitor. This helps me to prioritize and focus on the most important items on my seemingly infinite to-do list. The only problem is that the post-it has become easy to ignore or gets lost in the sea of other post-its that often infect my workspace. So, I was quite please to discover StickyScreen.

StickyScreen is a website with a single digital sticky note that displays whatever text you want - a mantra, fun quote, reminder, to-do list, wish list, WHATEVER. No signup, no bells and whistle; it's genius is it's simplicity.

Syncing ALL Google Calendars with Your iPhone

2009-07-14T13:47:00.004-05:00

When I first set my iPod to sync with my Google Calendar, only some of the events appeared. Turns out that Google will only sync your default calendar to your mobile device, unless you tell it otherwise. If you would like additional calendars to sync, go to http://m.google.com/sync (on your ipod, iphone, or other device) to change which calendars are synced to you device. Every time you create a new Google calendar, you will have to update these settings, if you want the new calendar to sync as well.

If You’re Gonna Lead, Make Sure You’re Headed in the Right Direction

2009-07-13T01:06:00.002-05:00

This post is a response to Scott McLeod's call for Leadership Day 2009 blog posts regarding school leaders and technology. I would like to preface this post with the fact that my personal experience with school leaders has been mostly positive (though given my short time working in education I may be a bit naive...or optimistic, depending on how your look at it). However, I know of many educators who have not been as lucky, like a friend of mine – a music teacher - whose district blocks NPR’s website. Yeah. This post is for school leaders like hers.

Distinguish between Format and Content

Many schools have technology policies dictating which technologies can (school-issued computers) or cannot (cell-phones) be used. But such policies are often based on assumption, ignorance, and fallacy. Some DVDs are pornographic, therefore should schools ban all DVDs from school? No, of course not; everyday teachers use educational DVDs for effective class instruction. So why do some schools ban all video-sharing websites, because some of the videos the internet are inappropriate? It is the same difference. Such association between format and content is illogical, and sadly too common among school leaders.

Stop banning technology based solely on how it might be used…

In a few short years, I have gone from viewing technology in education from the student perspective to viewing it from both the instructor and support staff perspectives. I know both how to do devious things things with technology and how to prevent/fix said mischief. I've used technology to both improve my education and to assist me in educating others. But, no matter which perspective I'm viewing, I've found that technology itself is neither good nor bad; technology is just a tool for both good and bad. Banning technologies outright makes as much sense as abstinence-only sex education – ask Bristol Palin how that worked out for her.

…instead, regulate (or better yet, TEACH) how it should be used.

A command prompt with a few lines of code causes many teachers to react with suspicion or outright discipline. Although a lot of harm could be done by a student who knows how to program, the student could also be the next Bill Gates if guided and encouraged. A younger me, for example, used free time to learn how to gain admin access to school and library computers to…do things…that definitely violated rules…maybe even laws; but, positive influences in my life both encouraged my technological curiosity and guided it toward gainful applications. I could be sitting in prison for cyber crimes, but am instead making a living with my skills; the tool never changed, only how I used it.

Type Less – a LOT less – with Texter (Productivity)

2009-07-10T13:32:00.001-05:00

Wouldn’t it be nice if memos could be written with the brevity of LOL and LMAO? While a business dialect of text-speak may never happen, you can cut down on the amount you type, while still writing in complete sentences. Using Lifehacker’s Texter, a simple text-replacement program, you can write long strings of text by only typing a few keys; Texter replaces abbreviations with commonly used phrases you define.

Texter

For example, while I love my blog name, I don’t love having to type the URL. So, using Texter, I assigned the hotstring nec to be replaced with the full URL of my blog (http://not-enough-coffee.blogspot.com). I also gave it the space trigger, so that Texter will only replace nec with my blog url after I have pressed the space bar, that way I can still type words like necessary without having Texter rewrite it.

Hotstrings can be as short as an email address or as long as a paragraph. The program works in any application, including office suites and internet browsers, and can be temporarily disabled at any time. Use it to input logins, addresses, company mottos, and any other text you find yourself repeatedly typing. Geeks will especially like Texter for writing code.

Download Texter

What’s on your iPhone/iPod?

2009-06-24T00:22:00.005-05:00

The first thing I did when I received my iPod Touch was begin to fill it with apps; I had actually bought it with specific apps in mind, such as Evernote and Tweetdeck, intending to use my iPod Touch as more of a mobile internet device than as an mp3 player. I consulted several blog articles and browsed the lists of free apps to get some ideas for which apps I should download, and even asked fellow iPhone/iPod users for suggestions. Turns out, the apps one chooses to install, particularly those worthy of the front page and/or the dock, can say a lot about a person (one friend had only games installed - what good is that?). So, what does my homescreen say? It screams information geek - I like to find it, read it, organize it, and share it. I’m like a human Google server.

Here’s what I got:

My Favorite iPod Apps, Thus Far

The Dock (the four static apps at the bottom)

Mail – My Gmail is my lifeline; without a phone, email is all I got.
MiGhtyDocs – I keep all of my work, business, and even some personal writing in my Google Docs; includes technology tutorials, data spreadsheets, and creative musings. MiGhtyDocs allows me to access this information, even when offline.
Evernote – Any information that is not in my GoogleDocs is in my Evernote account. This includes smaller or more temporary snippets of info like flight reservation numbers, directions, notes, etc.
Facebook – I debated whether Tweetdeck or Facebook would get the final spot on the bottom dock, but as much as I love Twitter, I prefer to access twitter on my computer since I end up browsing a lot of links.

The Homescreen

Safari – It would not be a mobile computer device without a browser.
Google – Need I explain needing one-touch access to my Google tools?
Calendar – Sadly, I don’t know where I am supposed to be without my calendar.
Contacts – I’m not sure why this one is front page.
Google Reader – RSS lets me stay updated with what is going on in the world.
Read It Later – Whenever I have extra time (Ha!) I hit up my reading list to learn more stuff.
TweetDeck – Admittedly, one of the main reasons I got an iPod Touch was so that I could Tweet without a computer.
textPlus – The only thing I miss about having a cellphone is the ability to text; textPlus makes it easy to text from my iPod without having to know a persons carrier, and displays messages in a conversation format.
Maps – I always get lost the first time I go somewhere (but never the second time, I have great spatial/photographic memory), and I hoping this will help.
YouTube – Who doesn’t like wasting time on YouTube?
Photos – I’m a photographer. I would be remissed if I didn’t want to have quick access to show of my work.
Calculator – Makes comparison shopping and tipping easier.
iTranslate – I never get to use my language skills in the very vanilla western suburbs of Minneapolis, but I still like to be prepared.
NYTimes – More reading material and helps me stay current.
WiFi Finder – It was this or the Starbux Locator (and where there is Starbuck’s there is wifi), but I already have an uncanny ability to find the closest Starbucks so wifi it was.
Settings – Maybe it’s because I’m new to this mobile game, but I change/lookup settings quite often, so it needed to be front page.

So, what’s worthy of your homescreen?

Thank You, Lowe's!

2009-06-23T23:46:00.004-05:00

For several years now, Lowe's has been an amazing sponsor of SkillsUSA. This year they outdid themselves by donating $1.5 million to the National organization, in addition to the grants they provide to local chapters. Thank you to Lowes for continuing to believe in the mission of SkillsUSA and their support of students pursuing technical careers. I know where I'll be doing my hardware shopping.

Lowes Donates $1.5 Million to SkillsUSA

SkillsUSA Opening Ceremony – LIVE!

2009-06-23T13:09:00.002-05:00

Weren’t lucky enough to attend this years SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference? Watch the opening ceremony live on the web. The webcast will begin at 6pm CST and the ceremony is scheduled to begin at 7pm CST. There are always excellent keynote speakers at the opening ceremony. This year’s speakers are:

Wendy Venturini, the first female play-by-play announcer in auto racing history and reporter for the SPEED CHANNEL pre-race show, “NASCAR RaceDay.” Wendy was also a national gold medalist in the prepared speech contest at the 1996 SkillsUSA Championships – see, SkillsUSA takes you places :).

Stephen Paletta, philanthropist and winner of Oprah’s Big Give. Paletta created The International Education Exchange, a nonprofit organization that builds schools and libraries, and trains teachers in Africa, and since being awarded one million dollars for winning Oprah’s Big Give, he founded Stephen’s Journey Foundation, dedicated to shining a light on social entrepreneurs around the world to provide a portal for donors to find effective, accountable grassroots nonprofit groups.

Minnesotans should logon to see our very own Jennifer Leff, Region IV Advisor of the Year (and a great roomie too), receive her award. She may even win National Advisor of the Year – good luck, Jen!

Live from Kansas City – SkillsUSA NLSC 2009 Opening Ceremony