Archive for the ‘Open source’ Category

Open source library systems

Thursday, December 28th, 2006

An article at Linux.com about a new open source library circulation system caught my eye recently. We've had quite a battle getting a new library system going at work, and although I don't usually use this space to beat up on vendors I feel compelled to name names. Think long ...

Open source tools you can use

Monday, December 4th, 2006

Here are the links for the open source tools that I mention in my talk at the TIES Conference. Moodle, online learning management system Audacity, audio editing Inkscape, vector drawing Scribus, desktop publishing OpenOffice.org, office suite NeoOffice, Mac version of OpenOffice.org Linux, free Unix-like OS Creative Commons Open Source Flickr, online photo sharing Wikipedia, world's biggest encyclopedia VLC, media player Drupal, content management ...

Open source All-Star team

Wednesday, November 8th, 2006

I'm doing a talk at this year's TIES Education Technology Conference called "Open Source Tools You Can Use." Here's the description: From tech support systems to graphics applications, there are hundreds of free and open source applications that will fit easily into your school’s technology environment. Participants will learn about the ...

Parakey, the Web OS

Sunday, November 5th, 2006

Blake Ross is something of a wunderkind. He starting working for Netscape at age 15 and cofounded the Firefox project soon after. Not content to stop there, an article in IEEE Spectrum describes Ross's latest project called Parakey. Parakey is an attempt to obviate the need for separate desktop ...

Is paper really so bad?

Friday, November 3rd, 2006

This isn't a political blog, and I don't intend for it to become one. But I just can't ignore the technology angle that's brewing in our upcoming U.S. election. I've been concerned for some time about the potential for fraud and errors associated with the current state of electronic voting ...

Aquafied NeoOffice now available

Wednesday, September 13th, 2006

Those of us using OS X haven't had the easiest time with OpenOffice.org. Running that open source office suite has always required additional (but free) software that isn't usually installed by default on OS X systems. Once installed, the software never really fit in with the rest of my system since it ...

Open source astronomy application

Friday, November 25th, 2005

I discovered Stellarium recently and suggest anyone teaching science add it to their toolbelt. From the project FAQ: Stellarium is an open source desktop planetarium for Linux/Unix, Windows and MacOSX. It renders the skies in realtime using OpenGL, which means the skies will look exactly like what you see with your ...

Open source Mac software

Thursday, November 17th, 2005

There is a bunch of open source software available for Apple's OS X operating system. Thanks to Open Source Mac it's now a lot easier to find. Many of the apps have obvious educational uses and other are just for fun. The list is growing so bookmark it and check ...

YALLTWLT

Tuesday, May 31st, 2005

Here's YALLTWLT from the 2005 Open Source Business Conference. Lessig's talk is "Clearing the Air About Open Source" and he doesn't pull any punches. (Download the talk from IT Conversations.) If you're interested in supporting an environment of technological innovation then you need to be aware of the issues that ...

Ticketing systems for tech support (and more)

Tuesday, March 22nd, 2005

Over the past year our district's tech support department has come to rely on our ticketing system more and more. We use Request Tracker, a free and open source, Web-based tech support product that has Web and email interfaces. What began as an experiment has become an integral part of ...

Online surveys made easy

Wednesday, February 16th, 2005

I got back from Rochester tonight following a couple days of work with about 50 educators from southeast Minnesota. I had a great time and I'm looking forward to continued discussions with the groups as they pursue their technology integration and school improvement goals. My colleague Corey Lunn and I ...

New mail and calendar project from Novell

Tuesday, February 15th, 2005

We don't run Exchange in my district, and nothing we've seen makes our email admin eager to give it a try. We're also a cross-platform district which makes finding an email and calendaring solution that works equally well for everyone quite a challenge. As of today, and thanks to the ...