This is just too cool! The folks at Google are always impressing me with the technology they come up with, and with this announcement they certainly aren’t letting me down! I’m a big fan and promoter of Google Docs, we use it in our group to do just about everything in terms of documents, spread sheets, etc.(Sorry Microsoft…we do still use your Office suite from time to time) but the biggest reason we went to Google Docs outside of being free was the Collaboration aspect! It Rocks! We chat from time to time in Google chat whilst checking our GMail…but this new evolution called “Google Wave…” I’m just going to post what’s on Google’s page instead of retyping! Of course, it’s still in the works- but you can sign up to be one of the lucky few to get a ride on the “Wave!”- sorry, couldn’t help myself! Click the image to be taken directly to the site…did I mention it’ll do real time translation! yep…
Memorial day is upon us and as I was surfing for information regarding our troops serving in the middle east I ran across a great article on CNN’s web site in regards to the use of Google Earth to create an interactive and very moving memorial to our fallen heroes- our soldiers, our mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, husbands, wives, teachers and friends. The creator is “Sean” and this is what he says about this project he calls “Map of the Fallen:“
“This Memorial Day I would like to share with you a personal project of mine that uses Google Earth to honor the more than 5,700 American and Coalition servicemen and women that have lost their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan. I have created a map for Google Earth that will connect you with each of their stories—you can see photos, learn about how they died, visit memorial websites with comments from friends and families, and explore the places they called home and where they died.“
Thank you Sean! If you are curious, I encourage you to join in and click on the image above to be taken to Sean’s blog site where all the information you will need to see his work using Google Earth is posted- again, Thank you Sean and Thank You to all the Service Men and Women who Serve to protect our freedom!
UPDATE! We Won! Our nerdy group of Educators at Memphis City Schools took home the top award for Scholastic Achievement for the second year in a row at this year’s Rich Media Impact Awards hosted by Sonic Foundry!!!
It’s that time of year again, the time when I get really nervous for several days before and during our annual pilgrimage to Madison, WI. to attend the Mediasite User’s Conference - Unleash 2009! It’s a great conference of user’s of Sonic Foundry’s product called Mediasite. I, Jeff and Felicia are here in Madison and tonight was the big ice breaker social at a local Irish Pub- “Brocach” which was really cool! But what’s been on my mind is Tuesday evening’s RMIA awards- we were nominated for the 2009 Scholastic Achievement Award (hope we win, knock on wood) and we’re all excited! If you want to you can watch it streamed live (Sonic Foundry rocks!) just click on any of the two graphics I borrowed from their website to view the awards ceremony! Also new for this year, MUGTV- check it out, both Kelly Parke and I will be roaming the halls and presentation rooms to do some casual interviews of attendees! I’m hoping to add some comedy to this!!!!
I’m a two computer kinda nerdy teacher, I carry around both a Mac (10.5.6) and a PC (XP) and for all my movie editing I rely on my Mac (always have). But for many teachers, the PC is the main computer at school and at home and who has an extra grand or so to throw out on a new Mac…not me. So for those teachers and students who need some basic video editing for you PC machine running XP, Vista or even 7, here’s the solution from one clever developer as posted by Brad Linder over at downloadsquad.com (that sites rocks- thanks Brad!) As always, click on the graphic above to be transported to the site (get it while it’s available) or click on Brad’s name to go to his great blog post! Again, just imagine being able to carry around Windows Movie Maker on a flash drive and not needing to install it to use it!
First, my apologies for taking so long to post in my blog! Been uber busy with life…darn! To make up for lost time I’ve got a great post for those who are Google Docs users like myself and our nerdy crew of Educators! I was reading one of my favorite sites this morning, Downloadsquad.com and found this great nugget of important Google Docs info. compliments of Lee Mathews (thanks Lee). The cool folks at Google have added a Vector Based drawing tool onto their Google Docs and it rocks! Here’s an excerpt from the Lee’s post:
“The Googleteam has certainly been busy lately, adding new features to their services and apps on what seems like a daily basis. This morning a new drawing tool became available on Google docs, allowing users to create images in any browser that supports VML and SVG. As mentioned in theGoogle Docs blog, the tool is based on technology acquired when they purchased Tonic Systems in 2007.”
As usual, if you’d like to be transported over to Lee’s post- just click on the graphic above! (I also borrowed the graphic from Downloadsquad/Lee Mathews- sorry)!
Guess what Educators, our SmartBoards are about to wow us even more- Touch Recognition! Curious? Click the image above to watch a Teacher Tube video showing off this cool new trick! Too bad it’s not a free upgrade via software- you have to either have a really new model or replace a piece of hardware on the board itself to get it to offer up some Touch Recognition, but it’s still pretty cool!
As a photographer (pro-am) I’m always looking for cool new technology in relation to how photos are viewed, stored, edited and displayed- especially on line. I’ve played with Microsoft’s Live Labs’ Photosynth before but just today I found that on CNN’s web site there is a link to the Photosynth version of the 44th Presidential Innauguration- it’s a great classroom tool to cover both technology and politics. If this puts goosebumps on your skin check out Microsoft’s Live Labs’ SeaDragon! Looking for something more on the lines of “Minority Report?” how about Cooliris, I love the browser add on as well as the iPod Touch/iPhone app.! As usual, click on the images above or below to be transported to the related web sites! Enjoy, I am!
By, the way…these web based photo apps plus a SmartBoard = Crazy Delicious!
I know…just about everyone will be streaming the Presidential Inauguration, but I’ve decided I’m supporting the great guys and gals at “Hulu.com” so I’ll be streaming via them this coming milestone! We’ve got a co-worker- Wanda, that will be there live and in person taking in all the history and she’s really excited, I’m hoping she’ll do some on site twittering while she’s on site!
One year in 40 seconds from Eirik Solheim on Vimeo.
This is a great video! The creative artist that created this awesome viral video has a great web site I’ve been hanging out at- it’s eirikso.com- go check out his personal web site, it’s worth the click! Thanks Eirik!
The views and opinions expressed on this blog are those of the author alone, and do not in any way represent or reflect the views of his employer or colleagues.
To make up for lost time I’ve got a great post for those who are Google Docs users like myself and our nerdy crew of Educators! I was reading one of my favorite sites this morning, 
