tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86882860723728314452024-09-14T22:27:36.186-04:00A blog for professors and students using Technology in Action. Provides the latest resources, leading edge news items, and interesting discussion topics.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger33125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8688286072372831445.post-32433051109126760162008-04-14T13:45:00.005-04:002008-12-10T19:32:01.999-05:00

Concerned about defaults on car loans to sub-prime borrowers (people with bad credit histories), lenders now can insist that a clever computerized box be installed in your car to alert you when your payment is due. When the lights start flashing, you know your payment is coming due. On the day the payment is due, the box also beeps incessantly.When you make your payment you receive a six digit

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8688286072372831445.post-90075438520792967182008-04-14T13:31:00.004-04:002008-12-10T19:32:02.218-05:00

Although specialized search engines abound on the Web, Green Maven is the first engine specifically tailored to generate search results only from "green" Web sites. Aside from searches of green sites, Green Maven also offers a Green News Reader which pulls postings from green blogs and other green news sources. Finally, if you don't want to use the search engine, the Green Maven Directory is set

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8688286072372831445.post-46020667986147696502008-04-14T13:15:00.005-04:002008-04-15T00:29:17.400-04:00

Gee, what took them so long? A new service called TextBuyIt provides Amazon customers with the ability to purchase items through text messaging on their cell phones. By sending the product name, UPC code, or ISBN number to 262966 (which is Amazon on your keypad) Amazon will send back a message allowing you to purchase the product if they stock it. You need an existing Amazon account (which is

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8688286072372831445.post-88962510228757425762008-04-14T12:50:00.004-04:002008-12-10T19:32:02.668-05:00

IBM has achieved 300 Gbps throughput using a new fiber optic chip called the "Optichip". The new chips also operate at 1/10 the power requirement of existing chips. They achieved the transfer speed by using a shorter wavelength of laser generated light. IBM is touting the chips as the answer to developing peta-flop and exa-flop supercomputers. See the full article here.

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8688286072372831445.post-53029464861151048272008-03-30T17:54:00.005-04:002008-12-10T19:32:02.857-05:00

Microsoft is billing Windows Server 2008 as "The Server Unleashed" and has created a cool Web site featuring a nice CGI robot. When you click on the different features of the OS, the robot takes slightly different poses. Aside from being amused by the robot, you can also download a trial copy of the software to evaluate it. And don't forget to grab some images for your Windows wallpaper from the

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8688286072372831445.post-24879869519027187252008-03-30T13:28:00.006-04:002008-03-30T13:59:17.630-04:00

Here's a catchy little tune called the Dead iPod song. It describes what to do with your iPod when it inevitably dies.Many companies now have recycling programs. Apple has an iPod and cell phone recycling program which provides you with a free (they pay the postage) way to send in your broken iPods and cell phones for environmentally responsible disposal. Dell's recycling program always provides

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8688286072372831445.post-10970284816320802732008-03-30T13:06:00.003-04:002008-03-30T13:16:22.483-04:00

As most of our students have cell phones, many of them also have Bluetooth devices such as wireless headsets. However, most people don’t realize that Bluetooth transmissions are not a secure technology. In this video, Joshua Wright (an instructor at the SANS Institute) shows us how easy it is to listen in on a Bluetooth device and even inject your own audio into the device you’ve

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8688286072372831445.post-37170437471264313412008-03-27T01:37:00.005-04:002008-03-27T02:12:54.750-04:00

Before you can launch students on a group project involving wikis, you obviously need to explain what wikis are and their basic functionality. Students can get a quick grasp of the basics of wikis by watching this video:And, a good article from Information Week explains How to Use Wikis for Business. If you have students watch the video and read this article before class, you can get them up to

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8688286072372831445.post-65883452253943524492008-03-25T22:16:00.005-04:002008-12-10T19:32:03.332-05:00

Nothing is worse than having a great video from YouTube identified to start a class discussion and then finding out your network connection is down. You can avoid this unpleasant experience by installing a free product called YouTube Downloader from Biennesoft.This freeware (no cost to use it) enables the downloading of videos from YouTube (and other sites) and saving them to FLV (Flash video)

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8688286072372831445.post-85500533654210198452008-03-25T22:02:00.003-04:002008-03-27T01:36:01.596-04:00

Here's an amusing send up of Web 2.0 called Here Comes Another Bubble. It can be used to start a discussion of Web 2.0 in your classroom. WARNING: The darn song might run through your head all day!Discussion Questions for Students:1) What is Web 2.0? What are the key attributes of Web 2.0 applications?2) Which of these Web applications do you use on a regular basis? Social networks (MySpace,

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8688286072372831445.post-37715417639449098852008-03-25T21:04:00.005-04:002008-12-10T19:32:03.508-05:00

One of the best ways to learn a subject or to demonstrate mastery of a topic is to teach it to someone else. So why not assign student projects that require making videos that explain the functionality of Microsoft Office, a Web site or another application software package. And then the students can deploy the videos they create on YouTube and share their knowledge with the entire world. Now that

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8688286072372831445.post-23462903829686498592008-03-25T20:45:00.007-04:002008-03-25T21:39:52.636-04:00

Web 2.0 is all about functionality and user input. There certainly is plenty of data available on the Web, but sometimes it isn't exactly in the format you desire. This is why mashups were born. A mashup draws data (or functionality) from two (or more) different sources and deploys them within a single tool. An example would be drawing location pictures from Google Earth and adding them to house

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8688286072372831445.post-74003564269909838202008-03-20T12:32:00.006-04:002008-12-10T19:32:03.616-05:00

With large capacity flash drives, we have almost reached the point where we could carry our Windows environment with us in our pocket and have access to our familiar desktop and settings wherever there is a public computer. But we really aren't there quite yet.A practical solution available now is taking Linux with you on a flash drive. Linux isn't geeky and scary any longer. The interfaces for

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8688286072372831445.post-24285233912037723962008-03-13T22:26:00.005-04:002008-03-25T21:32:13.371-04:00

AOL announced today that it was buying social network Bebo for $850 million in cash. A staggering price considering that Bebo has quite a few less users than MySpace or Facebook. However, they do have a lot more users in other countries such as the UK and New Zealand. Given AOLs other woes, it does seem like a bit of an odd direction to take.Even though your students probably don't have a spare $

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8688286072372831445.post-14256976228160907002008-03-12T16:21:00.007-04:002008-12-10T19:32:03.873-05:00

Can't find what you are looking for on YouTube? There are certainly plenty of other sources of free video on the Internet. Here are a few of my favorite sites:Google Video - You would think since Google bought YouTube they would have combined the two sites by now (or at least made the functionality the same). But you would be wrong! Google Video, still technically in beta, hosts videos in a

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8688286072372831445.post-65626611328895456992008-03-12T16:05:00.005-04:002008-03-13T15:28:57.720-04:00

This video gem is from the Cultural Anthropology Faculty at Kansas State University who have brought us so many other clever videos over the past couple of years. They asked their students to work on a shared document (sort of a wiki) and to comment on what was going on in with each of them when they were in the classroom. They filmed the results and displayed them in a thought provoking way (

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8688286072372831445.post-10281640994457603702008-03-12T16:02:00.001-04:002008-03-12T16:05:03.576-04:00

This is a humorous look at things you shouldn't do when you are creating PowerPoint slides to support a presentation. Even though it is funny, the video makes a lot of valid points that are worth pointing out to students.

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8688286072372831445.post-76155506390956410762008-03-03T12:34:00.003-05:002008-03-03T12:41:38.823-05:00

This is a good video to play for 8am classes while you are waiting for class to start. The William Tell Overture is very difficult to sleep through, IM through, etc. And Generation Y students can usually relate to this video as the comedienne does remind them of their mom!

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8688286072372831445.post-30493646397640803282008-03-03T01:14:00.003-05:002008-03-03T01:25:48.346-05:00

Hard drives need to remain hermetically sealed otherwise they tend to stop functioning. But have you ever wondered what a hard drive looks like on the inside while it is running? Thanks to someone sacrificing a hard drive (they won't be able to use it again), now you can see what really happens.And if you've never defragmented a hard drive, this is what it looks like in time lapse mode.

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8688286072372831445.post-14045933063069674452008-03-02T23:34:00.005-05:002008-03-03T01:09:35.630-05:00

Many people are concerned that technology and the Internet are eroding our personal privacy. The video below is the ACLU's slant on what it might be like to order a pizza in the near future. Fasten your seat belts...its going to be a bumpy ride!Now we all hope that this level of scrutiny doesn't happen but my local pizza parlor already tracks orders by phone number. So when I call they usually

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8688286072372831445.post-66234907177013718822008-03-02T23:05:00.005-05:002008-03-13T15:33:35.310-04:00

It sure is easy to drive down to Best Buy or Costco and buy a computer. But there is something satisfying about building your own computer and configuring it exactly the way you want it. Some students might consider this a daunting task and would never attempt it. Watching the video below will give you a rough idea of what is involved in assembling a computer.Now I wouldn't suggest running out to

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8688286072372831445.post-33494195154674149492008-03-02T23:02:00.004-05:002008-03-12T16:01:28.325-04:00

Perhaps you know someone that has a few problems like Tom Rush describes in this cute little tune.I show this video on the first day of class. It serves as a great conversation starter because it is always easy to get students talking about themselves (see questions below).Discussion Questions for Students:1) What devices and software do you use to keep track of events happening in your personal

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8688286072372831445.post-75795778191449919522008-03-02T22:38:00.006-05:002008-03-22T01:31:23.618-04:00

Home wireless networks are more susceptible to bandwidth poaching than wired networks because the signal often reaches outside of your home. This makes it easier for hackers or war drivers (people who locate and connect to unsecured wireless networks) to sit outside your home and connect to your network. Your neighbor might be accidentally connecting to your network instead of his own and thereby

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8688286072372831445.post-71242022940019063022008-03-02T22:09:00.005-05:002008-03-02T22:38:01.020-05:00

Many of you have probably experienced the frustration of being out of range of a wireless signal when you need one. Even though hot spots are growing at a rapid pace, you aren't always within range of one that you can log onto for free.In the video below, Mark Erickson who creates video podcasts called Infinite Solutions, shows you a hack to extend the range of your wireless card. Although it is

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8688286072372831445.post-30824302641957910622008-03-02T21:41:00.005-05:002008-03-02T22:02:33.208-05:00

Disposing of e-waste from computers and other electronics is rapidly becoming a worldwide problem. Many parts of computers, especially the plastic components, are not readily biodegradable. Environmentally conscious manufacturers, such as Fujitsu, are exploring renewable resource options for computer components.At the CES 2008 trade show Fujitsi unveiled a notebook computer with a case made of a

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0