Snap Scan
Bought a new scanner. It is a SnapScan from Fujitsu. What a nice little device. It was recommended by several website that specialize in reducing paper usage, and, even though I’ve only had it for about 24 hours, I’m quite happy with it. It is quick, scans various sizes, does duplex scanning, and just seems like a little workhorse. I must admit that I miss my old Canoscan, but, if Cannon is not releasing drivers for Windows 7, they deserve to lose dedicated users!
Some Changes
It looks as though LSB’s new dean, Laura O’Reilly, is moving forward in an exciting direction. At a faculty meeting yesterday, Dean O’Reilly began discussing something that she referred to as the Collaboration and Curriculum Initiative. Wow! Imagine instructors collaborating about what we should be teaching! Moving forward and developing “stuff” for the good of the students. What a concept. Of course, it is going to require work on the part of the teachers and, maybe even on the part of the staff and administration. But work is good; isn’t it? As I said, I’m looking forward to what the next months and terms bring.
What an exciting time to be alive!
Pandora
I’ve just discovered a number of new things about computers. One is a pen which allows you to write and then record what you’ve written–more on this later. Another thing that I’ve found is an on-line app for my Droid called Pandora. It is an Internet radio station that works by connecting to a wi-fi or not. If no wi-fi network is available, it uses the Droid’s Internet capability.
Using Pandora is easy; all you need to do is find a favorite group, and it plays their music. You can add other groups and musicians to the list, and develop your own custom radio station, and Pandora also selects some that it thinks you might like.
For my favorite, I chose Celtic Women, an Irish group that is just outstanding, doing both traditional Irish favorites and pop tunes, like “Over the Rainbow”. Then I added the Pogues, The Dubliners, Flogging Molly, Van Morrison (who never released a bad tune), the Irish Rovers, and more. Pandora helps by suggesting some others and playing them, and I can either listen or reject their choices. I get two votes, thumbs up or thumbs down. I can apparently vote thumbs up for an unlimited number, but the thumbs down are limited.
The price for Pandora is $0.00! Yes, it’s a free app and continues to play for free. It has ads, but these only last for about 10 seconds after every 5 or so songs. If you want unlimited thumbs down and no ads, they have a pay service for $30.00 per year. I think that I will stay free, at least for awhile.
You can get the info at http://www.pandora.com/ and find out for yourself. It sure beats buying the stuff in a store or from iTunes, and it is free and legal. Woohoo!
Windows 7 Guides
Windows 7 is a little more difficult to administer than XP. It works a whole lot better than Vista, but it is a bit more difficult. There is a series of videos posted on the Microsoft site, that are available here; I’ve included the first one below.
MBWA
One of my management heroes is Tom Peters, who introduced me to the phrase Managing by Wandering Around. Here is a short video of Tom’s explanation of the phrase.
The Last Lecture
One of the most moving, relevant, funny–I could keep going–videos that I’ve seen in recent years is Randy Pausch’s presentation of “The Last Lecture”, sponsored by Carnegie Mellon. It is a bit long, but I thoroughly recommend it.
WordPress Themes
I’ve been playing with WordPress themes for a few days now, and have as yet to find one that I really like. This is the latest, called Desk Mess Mirrored. By the way, my desk doesn’t look this neat. If you log in and don’t see it, it means that I’ve changed it. Again. Oh, well.
Happy New Year
Today is January 1, 2011, the first of the year. I’m busy updating my WordPress blog, in an attempt to bring everything up to date. I’ve set up a calendar with the Google Calendar app, and shared it so that I can keep track of what is going on in my classes. Not only can I keep track, but you should be able to as well. Do we have a test scheduled for Tuesday? Check the calendar! That way, I won’t forget it either!
My next step, now that the blog is working again, is to get Moodle up and working. Hopefully, this will happen by next term. I’ve also hardened the security at The House on the Corner, so I hope that I won’t get hacked again and have to delete everything. Hope springs eternal.
Check back, and see what else is going on. I will be updating this frequently. Later!
The Dawn Treader
Saw the newest addition to the Narnia chronicles the other night–The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Saw it in Real 3D. Wow. For someone who is as color blind as I am, the old style of 3D, like for Creature from the Black Lagoon, was terrible. This was actually pretty awesome. It was, without a doubt, the best part of the movie.
Now, this is the third installment of a seven book set. OK, four to go. Except I am not sure that the others will be made. This movie did not look as though it was the greatest thing that the studio has produced in years. It was done by Twentieth Century Fox, not Disney. Aslan made a few cameo appearances. It was almost lackluster. The favorite character was a mouse–Reepacheep.
In spite of some of these, and other criticisms, it was enjoyable. It will be interesting to see what happens to the rest of the books.
I’m Back
Well I have finally gotten WordPress reinstalled, so now I can once again bore people with my thoughts and musings. Sorry, guys!