Monthly Archives: January 2007

Conference Connections podcast goes live

Posted on by

I’m working on a new podcasting project that I’m excited about. “Conference Connections” is a new podcast channel hosted at the Apple Learning Interchange. I’m at FETC in Orlando right now getting ready to record sessions and other interviews from the conference. I’ll be at TCEA in Austin, TX in a couple weeks doing the same thing there.

The Conference Connections page at ALI has all the information about the channel including a chance to rate each episode and leave comments. Our goal is to capture some of the best content from ed tech conference throughout the year. I’m thinking of it as IT Conversations for the ed tech market.

Here’s the RSS URL for the podcast. Click here to see the podcast info and subscribe in iTunes. I hope you’ll give the podcast a listen and that you’ll find something really interesting.

Online office suite competition

Posted on by

Computerworld has a handy article comparing four leading web-based office suites. Their favorite by a wide margin is ThinkFree Office Online, a free suite offering a word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation tool. It looks like the ThinkFree crew has more in store:

Currently, ThinkFree hosts only a free version. By April 2007, the company will make available a Premium Edition that will offer offline and online access, synchronization between offline and online files, bulk archiving of documents in your online folders and priority tech support (with 24-hour response). Following the release of the Premium Edition will be a version for small and midsize businesses that will add group and user access.

I’ve used Google’s word processor and spreadsheet a few times, and I’ve been impressed. I’ll have to put ThinkFree through its paces; I’m especially interested in the collaboration features.

thinkfree, office suite

ISTE living on the cutting edge

Posted on by

I got the following tidbit in an email from ISTE today.

*Visit ISTE on MySpace*

Known to most people as the premier social networking site, MySpace is home to tens of millions of users. People of all ages use this free service to communicate with one another through pictures, videos, blogs, and discussion groups.

ISTE recently established its own MySpace presence. Check out our profile at www.myspace.com/iste_org and then stay tuned as we populate our blog (be sure to subscribe), send out useful resources through bulletins, and create groups to better serve our members. We look forward to seeing you there!

*ISTE Establishes Headquarters in Second Life*

Second Life, a multi‑user virtual environment (MUVE), is becoming a popular venue for online learning. Along with 18 other educational entities, ISTE recently built its Second Life headquarters on EduIsland, which provides a space for educators to network, collaborate, and learn about education opportunities and best practices in Second Life.

I’m not really sure what to make of this. ISTE is either really pushing the envelope here or quite out of touch with the average ISTE member…or both. I haven’t logged in to Second Life in several months, but maybe I’ll pay EduIsland a visit.

iste, myspace, secondlife

Cool Google Suggest feature

Posted on by

I was doing a quick Google search recently using the built-in search of Firefox 2.0. I don’t remember the search query exactly, but it had some numbers in it and I noticed that Google Suggest was operating in calculator mode. How cool! I did some more playing with it and found that the unit conversations work too. (For a blast from the past check out one of my first blog posts which happens to describe Google’s calculator feature.)

I believe this requires Firefox 2.×.

Unit conversation with Google Suggest

google, firefox