iSean

i am writing this blog entry from my iPad using my wireless bluetooth keyboard and the WordPress app for the iPad. i actually like the interface quite a bit; however, the WordPress app doesn’t quite seem ready from prime time. as i typed the title to this blog entry and hit the tab button to move to the next text field the app crashed — repeatedly (3 times in a row). so i am now using my fingers to just move the cursor to the next field of entry. not optimal, but it works. if the kinks were worked out of this app then i could see this method of adding blog entries as being as good as anything else i do on my main computer. with a bluetooth keyboard i can lounge on the couch and add to my blog and that makes this quite convenient. i’ll have to check out other blogging apps to see if there is something rated better.

but overall the iPad is working its way into my workflow. i still haven’t found a free twitter app that allows me to have multiple Twitter accounts so i use 2 different apps . . . certainly not ideal. but the dictation app works extremely well for my needs. i was able to write 2 emails on the way to work on Friday. i couldn’t send them until i arrived, but it was nice to easily write them while driving with both hands on the steering wheel. i have used iBooks (to read The Great Gatsby) and i am reading The Fourth Way on the Kindle app. they both seem like good book apps, but the Kindle app has better selection and allows me to have the screen black with white text and that’s nice while reading in bed.

i am not ready to say that this is a device of the future, but it’s a nice first step. i don’t think this can replace a laptop for my kids’ needs even though it could do most of what they need for school. the point isn’t to have a device that can almost equal the status quo; rather, it has to add value or, at least not regress so perhaps the iPad version 2???

Google has a test related to Javascript 3 in browsers that runs over 5000 tests on the browsers you choose. they show results for PCs with Opera and Safari both beating Google’s Chrome on its own test. i thought i’d try a few popular Mac browsers on the same test and here are the results with best = #1:

so, it looks like Safari wins this test easily. i rarely use Safari as my typical browser is Firefox and i’ve been using Chrome quite a bit lately because i got frustrated using Firefox with Google Wave. perhaps it’s time to consider Safari?

i am teaching a graduate class to teachers who want to learn to teach their own online class(es) so i am planning on being a little more mainstream in the tools i use this semester. i have previously been pleased with Drupal even though it’s not technically made with an education focus. but, i want to use tools that can be easily modeled by the teachers i’ll teach. thus, i am shifting to Moodle this semester. i’ve previously only used it in a quick 2-week summer course that met every day, all day. that experience was too quick to really get into the ins and outs of using Moodle. this will be my first semester really using the tool.

i am not overly impressed with the discussion forum built into Moodle. i am thinking about using phpBB forums, which i’ve used for much of the past decade. but i’ve also heard good things about MyBB so i plan to install it tomorrow and start exploring whether it’ll work for the two classes i am teaching. with all of these internet hosting sites providing free installs with the Simple Scripts and/or Fantastico it’s been a while since i’ve installed a MySQL database and MyBB is going to require that i do it manually so that will be a nice refresher.

but i plan to venture into exploring many tools so that my students can experience a nice variety. i want to use a Wiki for teaching one week. i also asked all of my students to already request a Google Wave account so we’ll see if we can’t even incorporate it. fun times ahead.

i’ve been “Waving” for about a month or so now. i gave invites to my colleagues and 2 of us actually use Wave for a research project we’re doing together that involves evaluating 1-to-1 laptop programs in our area (see my presentation at the SITE Conference in late March/early April on this topic). we share files and interview questions and responses and all sorts of data. we develop thoughts together and we even try and go beyond the very basics of Wave. it’s nice to have everything in 1 place as i have trouble with filing things well on my computer. that being said, the 1 thing that i really didn’t like about Wave is that i don’t have enough other people using Wave to make it something that i remember to check. you have to physically log into Wave to see new messages (so, it’s behind email in this regard). and it’s pretty crummy to get an email telling me to check Wave as that sort of defeats the purpose. well, i use Firefox as my main browser and just came across an extension that solves my biggest issue with Wave (and i have many other issues). it’s the Google Wave add-on for Firefox. now, if Google can just increase the speed of the service and give me a lot more invites then i could consider using it more full time.

so, i installed a plugin that should automatically post a tweet to my twitter account each time i post a blog entry. it’s call Twitter SP2. all setting stuff is in another language but it’s not hard to figure out what it means. then again, i haven’t tested it yet . . . And, it worked. neato.

i am trying my first post using a new tool called apture. it’s a plugin for WordPress, Drupal, Blogger.com, and many other tools. their about us page notes:

Apture provides the first rich communication platform that allows people to intuitively experience the web.

With just one line of code, publishers and bloggers can quickly and easily turn flat pages of text into a compelling multimedia experience. Apture gives content creators the power to find and incorporate relevant multimedia items directly into their pages.

Readers can then access these items without ever leaving the page, providing them with a deeper and more meaningful web experience.

probably the easiest way to explain it is just to demonstrate it with the 2 links in the next sentence (very easy to do, mind you). the Jayhawk is the mascot for the University of Kansas.

i love Google Maps. i love Google Earth and all sorts of tools along these lines. that being said, Google is now rolling out a new feature for their maps . . . web cam video from cameras on the spot. right now these web cams are just particular public web cams as tracked by webcams.travel but i bet it’s not long before other web cams find their way into our maps. kind of freeky and neato geeky all at the same time, eh? you can read more over at techcrunch.

so, if you are anything like me, you find yourself visiting many sites and maintaining many different sites (e.g., facebook, blog, twitter, etc.). that means a lot of tabs in your browser and then checking back and forth for new comments. tedious stuff, eh? well, tedious no more. Disqus is there for you. what is it?

Disqus, pronounced “discuss”, is a service and tool for web comments and discussions. The Disqus comment system can be plugged into any website, blog, or application. Disqus makes commenting easier and more interactive, while connecting websites and commenters across a thriving discussion community.

it’s a site that brings the various comments and communications you have into one place.

Threaded comments and comment ratings

Powerful moderation and admin tools

Filter out spam, trolls, and unwanted commenters

i have just started using it so i can’t give a good review, but the concept is something that appeals to me. hopefully this site can work as described. we’ll see.

well i’ve downloaded the wordpress app for my iphone . . . and given my last 3 posts i am starting to wonder whether we might be becomming too connected? is that even possible?

Ubuntu is going just swell. the biggest annoyance of switching over is that i didn’t have all of my bookmarks and i had to set up my mail account in evolution mail . . . and none of my contacts were there. this stuff is no different than getting a new computer. if i had wanted, i probably could have exported my contacts and imported them into my new email. and, i could do the same thing in Firefox. as annoying as it was to not have that stuff, starting from scratch gave me a chance to cut the fat. my kids have used it and they have no clue that they’re not even using a Mac . . . it’s just a computer and it’s doing what they want it to do.

in other news, i borrowed a netbook — ASUS Eee PC running linux. this is a small little machine at 8.9″. i was borrowing it to see if i wanted one. i used it for about 10 minutes and realized that this is not the machine for me. i am not a big guy by any stretch, but this tiny keyboard is nearly impossible for me to use. i can’t make it more than 2 words or so without a typo. the keys are just too tiny. i gave it to my kids and my 7 year old son just absolutely loves it. perhaps this would be a way for schools to save money??? at least in elementary schools while the hands are still small.