Making waves on the internet…
Posts tagged tech
Classic Gaming on New Hardware
Feb 6th
I fell further in love with my little netbook when on a whim I broke out Quake II and Driver. The joy of long late nights playing Q2 with my boys over a LAN game suddenly rushed over me. It was epic. Amazing to see that such a small machine just cranked out the video and 3d rendering that Q2 required. Such a perfect example of Moore’s law in effect. The machine I used to play Q2 on needed its own video card and lots of RAM and a great screen. Now all the same requirements can be met by a device that is a little bit bigger than a hardbound book. The same could be said for Driver. I used to have lag and get frustrated cause my computer couldn’t keep up with my speed. Now this little netbook puts me to shame because I am having to keep up. As they continue to cram more and more processing power on such tiny chips I am awaiting the day when I can rock Crysis at full res on a netbook. It’s not too far away.
iSlate = iPad
Feb 5th
The revolutionary internet device has been released and the better part of the tech world said “meh”. Unfortunately the hype surrounding the iPad made living up to said hype as improbable as Bigfoot actually speaking the queen’s english and inviting everyone over for scones. The reality is that Apple’s last few revolutionary devices were just that, revolutionary. The iPod was not the first harddrive based MP3 player on the market but the way one could interact with it (click wheel) was revolutionary. The iPhone with its iPod/phone integration was amazing. The apps made it groundbreaking, but even here iPhone wasn’t the first. Windows Mobile has had hundreds of thousands of apps available for its platform BUT it never had an easy way of finding all of them (i.e. App Store).
As for the iPad I am afraid it had some serious competition it had to face, its own family of products. Since the iPad was not on a custom OS and built using the same software as the iPhone/iPod touch it ended up seeming like a very large iPhone (that doesn’t make calls). The iPad offered users the ability to work on iWorks with Keynote and Pages but without the true power of a laptop some of the Keynote presentations could get laggy on the tiny 1 Ghz chip it is running. Even there the hardware though beautiful seems like it missed some key features.
If it was a true “pad” I should be able to just turn it on and just write onto it like a piece of paper and maybe do some handwriting recognition. That would have been revolutionary! Oh wait… no not really… that functionality was in Windows Mobile phones since the days of the HP Jornada and Windows CE. It was also in a previous Apple product, anyone remember the Newton, anyone, anyone? Plus a device like this would be awesome for video webconferencing and “couch computing” since it is more “intimate than a laptop” but Uncle Steve I guess decided he didn’t want to put the camera in. Maybe on version 2.0
I think the problem for the iPad was the enormous amount of speculation. People were researching patents that were submitted from a company called “Fingerworks” which was acquired by Apple. That company had some amazing gesture based patents in their filings, but Apple decided not to use it or decided to shelf it till they could work it in.
Now there are rumors of a second version of the iPad and there is no surprise there. I know that Jobs has a pattern of releasing something awesome and then soon after releasing an update that gives the proverbial kick to those early adopters.
Will I get an iPad… Maybe… Will I get in the boat and buy this 1.0 version? Probably not.
iSlate or iFake
Jan 19th
The upcoming rumors of the mythical Apple device has the whole internet a buzz. Research into patents, companies that were acquired, website registration, and even a HIGH bounty for pictures, video, or physical interaction. There is reason to believe that this could be Jobs last hurrah and a parting device for all of us to fall in love with. With netbooks becoming a massive growing market Apple has been quiet about what their plans were. People have made their own ways of dealing with it by hackintoshing some of the Intel based netbooks that seemingly work perfectly with OSX (even Snow Leopard). Of course this is a breach of the EULA that Apple has about installing on non-Apple hardware, but Apple had to realize that everyone wants a small, cheap, machine to just pop in a purse or bag. Especially with cloud-computing and more and more web based interaction than heavy application use people just need a way to get access to their online content. Apple has been silent through all this and only offering more innovation in the higher end mobile computing. Yes the iPhone and iPod Touch have been wonderful convergent devices but still not with enough horse power or screen estate for some applications.
Now the speculation might lead to some results when Apple has its event in California on January 27th. The word officially came from Apple when it sent out invites to “See their latest creation”.
In fact when I started this blog entry more information keeps coming out so I just want to post this article. The live blog hosted by gdgt will be my source of information as they do a great job with their impressions.
UPDATE: Analysts state now that the iSlate might take some time to release. Similar to the iPhone release when the announcement came out but the actual device took 6 months to release.
Technology
Apr 22nd
I have always said the following quote and have referenced it to other people but I can’t find it anywhere. SOOO… I am going to put the quote down as my own!!
Technology is only technology to those that did not have it as children…
I have always related this quote to my maternal grandfather. He was an awesome Granddad but he had the funniest quirk where he would eat any and all food that was at the breakfast/lunch/dinner table. I never really understood why until I got older (till then I just thought it was an over eater). My granddad didn’t eat all the food cause he was a pig. He ate all the food because he did not want to waste it. Why was that an issue? He never had a fridge growing up. He never had the convenience of simply shoving food under plastic wrap or in tupperware and putting it in a cold box till later.
I find often that the generation of teachers I am working with in schools have the difficult time of adopting computer eduction because the same quote applies to them. Students in this generation are without a doubt the MOST connected ever (until the next one). Kids grow up with broadband internet, readily available computers, and more powerful cellular devices that offer computer like capability.
From twitter to facebook to blogs kids can be connected and creating digital content all the time. The generation of educators that are preparing that are often not ready to accept it because they have not had the ease of experience that their children have.
i don’t blog enough – Google Search
Apr 22nd
i don’t blog enough – Google Search.
So I did a quick search and though obviously not all the links are related to my google search. I think 337 million hits might be saying something. I am at the MICCA conference in Maryland and I remember when I was a teacher how I could blog often and post. I guess I have no excuse as I seem to have found time now to do a blog post but its about me not blogging. Very cyclical. I am going to work on a better format and see what shakes out.
Geotagging me anywhere
Mar 27th
I love that Internet and its barriers to access are so easily overcomed in the present. No longer tied to a phone line that locks out any other use. No longer tied to a desk via an ethernet cable. No longer tied to a building as I have a USB dongle that gives me excellent internet access anywhere I please with in good reception of a cell tower. I also have a GPS chip built into the same card and so I can also determine my location geospatially down to currently 6ft of accuracy.
I love that technology and data can flow so smoothly so seamlessly today in comparison to years past. I can only imagine what the future holds. And sorry if you do not enjoy that concept but for me things like Wi-Max and Google Latitude and other services flowing my information all the time is really cool.
Consortium Building and Differentiation
Mar 5th
I have been working closely with districts in and around Baltimore, MD and today was a great beginning of what I think will develop into a Chesapeake Consortium of Promethean School Districts. The counties there have really great vision leaders and a drive to get the most out of their investment. Today five districts and some representatives from the University of Maryland got together and just shared victories and defeats that they experienced with their Promethean rollouts. It was positive energy in the room because even in defeat the group was excited to learn and find ways to succeed. The experiences in the room were diverse as the counties were all at different levels of their respective rollouts. Some have been at it for years while others are just now dipping their toes into the IWB space. I hope to develop more resources out of this group as well because I am sure that it could help other districts.
The key thing that I took away from the session was that unfortunately there is no perfect PD plan. What I did discover and feel that all Tech Directors and Integrators might consider is a approach to teaching teachers the way we teach students. Specifically… That term we all know and love… Differentiation.
As educators we always talk about the need for us to differentiate our instruction for the classroom. How some students respond to lecture is different than the ones that respond to hands on. I find that teachers are very similar. Some can take an online course, a manual, and vague directions and just run with it. Other teachers are more apprehensive. It is contrary to their learning style to just sit and read/watch course work. They respond better to an individual directing them and going step-by-step. And some others, God bless’em, want you to prove that their way is wrong since they have been doing the same thing for 25 years. What these different backgrounds teach us is that we have to also consider the options for differentiated Professional Development. Not just having a handout and going cover to cover but allowing some to explore. Not getting frustrated that some aren’t shooting ahead and holding back the class but letting the stars run and jump starting the stars to be. For those very steadfast old school types being understanding and meeting their needs while showing the advantages of the new.
Embarassed about Twitter Tools
Oct 21st
Fail Whale
Ok so I loved Twitter Tools because I do a much better job at posting on Twitter than I am about being able to sit down and actually write a blog post. I might have to turn off Twitter Tools so I don’t look like a negligent blogger. I think I have to find a easier way to post direct to digitalruck.us via my mobile. I remember way back when I had a moblog on Textamerica and would keep that greatly updated. Of course they broke the rule of charging loyal customers for something they gave away for free. I know I was one of the early adopters of TA and found it powerful to post all that but of course now I have Twitter and TwitPic. It all does depend on the availabilty of Twitter service (hence the Fail Whale).
Love Plugins…
Oct 14th
So I am finally getting around to fixing up digitalruck.us to really make it what I want it to be. Wordpress has SOO many plugins. It is amazing. So hopefully it will really start to kick off here. I know it seems like I am stating the obvious because so many do already know about the awesome things that Wordpress can do.
Either way just lots of new things going on and new opportunities to keep the site better updated. Also new episode of Tech Talk Guys is available.
Podcast Purge
Sep 2nd
So I realized that I have way too much music on my Zune (approx. 25Gb worth) and not enough podcasts. Sad part is that the 25Gb isn’t even the entire collection but my “favorites”. But I am spending alot of time on the road and time in hotels so I thought more than music I should have some media-on-demand that is constantly updating. What better answer to my needs than some good podcasts. So I decided to check back up on some of my favs. I love my tech podcasts, a few newscasts, and just a few comedy things. Either way I thought I would share my current list of podcasts. I will say that I am a fan of Revision3 stuff. The stuff produced there is usually from some TechTV Alum. I loved Tech TV!! So here is my list in no particular order:
- Diggnation
- The Digg Reel
- EpicFu
- NBC Nightly News
- Systm
- The Totally Rad Show
- Leo Laporte – The Tech Guy
- HBO Standup Comedy
- tWiT – this Week in Tech
::UPDATED::
- Tekzilla
- Strong Bad Email
- Scam School
- Fox News Flash
- Attack of the Show
- gdgt Weekly
- IGN.com – Command Prompt
- Linux Basement
Now to be honest I think I am forgetting some and I keep adding more content as I find more shows. I am interested in Revision3’s new show Scam School which is about social engineering. Loved Mitnick’s book on the topic so might be neat to see it live (so to speak). If I think of anything else I will make sure to tweet about it or update this list.