Everything Technology
As my friends will tell you, I am a techno-geek. I enjoy using technology
and learning about how it can be used to do things. I am a former teacher who began using the Apple
IIe in the early 1980's. I loved not having to to center by counting
the characters in a line and back-spacing half that number. Using the
word processing function of my computer with PSF:Write allowed
me to type and spell check my hand-outs and tests. I taught PE and many
of my classes had over 50 students. PSF:
File made the arduous task of
alphabetizing my class roster a snap. When performing this task manually,
I never got it right. The Minnesota Educational Computing Consortium was
THE source for educational software. The software was on 5 1/4 floppy
disks. These disks were really floppy. All of this occured
before Al
Gore invented the Internet.
I'm a total geek only restrained by money and education. I was born at least 20 years too soon. I dream of being a digital native rather than a digital immigrant. I like to have the latest, geekiest, technology but that often means purchasing something while the price is still high and the future is not known.Among my impulsive but not so wonderful (for me) technology products were a Clie, DVD camcorder my LifeDrive, and the Microsoft FingerPrint Recognition keyboard. I loved my Clie and to me it was the perfect handheld. However, Sony did not see it as I did an dsicontinued it. My better selections have been external hard drives and a 12 inch G4 Powerbook.
Geek Update
New technology on the scene!
It's an iMac 24. Nice! My Dell Dimension 8200 is on her last leg. I've learned a lot about adding programs, DVD drives, and audio and video cards. My last modification was a wireless network card. She just about died during the operation. She will ocassionally open her eyes and stay conscious for about an hour or so. Well, this sent out all kinds of bad techno-vibes. So I did a bit of research and dropped by the local Apple retail store and came home with a new iMac. The new girlfriend stepped right up to help me file my income tax. Possiblity providing a source of funding.
The iMac is my video production machine. I am working with some coworkers to create a video workshop in a box. iMovie 09 is a great tool for this.
At work I use an Intel Mac Book Pro and an 80 Gig iPod at work. My MacBook Pro enbabled me to explore iWork, Ubuntu, an open source Linux operating system. I purchased a a referbished iPod 30 gig video iPod so now I have two. One for work and one for home. I have learned so much from listening to podcasts. I even created a Podcast on my dot MAC website. So I had to get a few accessories for my new technology. I have a plug in microphone for my iPods that allow me to make audio recordings and import them into GarageBand for podcasting. Since driving to Alabama is such a long ride, it's great that my xD has a built in plug for my iPod. At work, I created 3 podcasts for the State Superintendent. We started with an enhanced podcast, which is a podcast with still images placed along the timeline. The last podcast we created was full-motion video. We have new equipment ordered but this one was created with my home movie camera and iMovie. I just love technology when it does what I want it to do.
Do you know about Podcasting? Well it's an audible blog or a self-produced web radio-type broadcast. With a microphone and Garage Band or an audio recording app lication like Audacity you record your program and then upload it to the web. You can even add pictures to your podcast for folks who have video capabilities on their iPods or similar players.. With iMovie or Camtasia, you can make video podcasts. Camtasia is only for the PC but with it you can make full-motion screen captures. Using your webcam, you narrate your screen capture with a "picture-in-a-picture" movie. If you are into video blogging and us a PC or Mac with Intel inside, VlogIt is a cool little software application to check out with a free 15 trial. Serious Magic developed the software but has been acquired by Adobe.
I am into Cloud Computing. I really didn't know that's what I was doing when I use Zoho or Google Docs and their associated applications. I explored Lively, Google's virtual world creation tool, that had a very short life-span. I may be confusing this with Web 2.0. Having quick and easy ways to create and update web pages opens a whole new frontier for me to explore. Moodle is a tool I use regularly PBWiki. Ning is another quick and easy collborative tool that falls within the category of Social Networking. Some of my favorite Social Networking sites include Plurk and Facebook. Although I have a presence on Twitter, my updates are linked to Facebook. And lest I forget, Skype is IM on steriods. Have too many IM accounts? Merge them altogether with Adium (only for the Mac).
I rarely use PowerPoint presentation.
Saying Hello/Goodbye to My Friend
My friend, Asa, visited my web site and commented that he didn't find him mentioned on my page. Well, that's been fixed! Asa was my coworker and neighbor when I worked at the Alabama Department of Education and lived in Montgomery. In 2003 he sold his house and moved to the Nashville area to live near his oldest daughter and her family. Soon afterwards Asa moved away, I received an offer to work with the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction and now live in Raleigh. Asa and I communicated mostly through email. One morning in December 200, Asa's sister called to tell me that he had passed away. Often I think of something that I would love to share with him or something weird that only the two of us would think was funny. I smile to myself and enjoy the moment and the memories of a good friend.
Preparing for Life
A several years ago I found a really impressive devotional Lenten web site called Journey to the Cross by Passport, Inc. They also produced an Advent devotional site called Following the Star. Near the beginning of Advent I received an email stating that the devotion site is now available year round. They provide a short daily devotion at the new site named Daily Devotions with Depth found at www.d365.org. The music for the site is provided by Ken Medema, a musican who has been blind since birth. Enjoy!
| 