My most recent publication. This was a class project that several of my students and I turned into a publication:
Category Archives: News
Next Generation Wii: Wii U will cost $300
Rumors speculate that the next generation Wii, called the Wii U will retail at $300. I think this is right on and Nintendo knows exactly what they are doing. Given the economy and the fact that these consoles are released every 4-5 years, they should not be costing us more than $300. I think Sony and Microsoft need to pay close attention to this. People are not going to pay $400+ dollars for their next consoles. I know I will not.
Facebook launches ‘Groups for Schools’ for Educators and Students
Facebook launches a new tool for Educators. It requires a ‘.edu’ email address and allows schools to create groups. Within these groups the schools can send emails, upload files, create calendars, post messages, etc. – pretty much everything you can do on Facebook but it’s private for your school. I would love to hear from a school that ends up using this as I am sure many are very apprehensive considering Facebook is ‘Taboo’ in most schools and universities.
Here is a link: https://www.facebook.com/about/groups/schools
Another article with more information at Mashable
Maryland becomes first state to ban employers from asking for your facebook password
This is an issue I have written about now several times. I have given advice about what to do when asked here. Well finally we are seeing what is going to happen – Maryland has now become the first state banning employers from asking people for their social media passwords. While it still is not banned in 49 states, I would guess it will be by a majority of states within the next year assuming it remains an issue.
Facebook buys Instagram for 1 Billion
So I am sure most of you have heard this news by now.
About Instagram – Instagram has 31 million users and only 13 employees. They offer a free app for iPhone/iPad and just last week (maybe 2 weeks ago) offered an Android version that is still a little unstable.
Was this company worth 1 billion? There are many other apps that do the exact same thing. Couldnt facebook just create their own app and compete? I guess not. I guess the 31 million customers was key.
I wish the Instagram founders much luck in their future endeavors – have fun spending your money and if you want to, you can give me some:)
What do you do when your employer asks for your facebook password?
This is a ‘hot topic’ right now in the tech world. Companies, schools, and government agencies are apparently asking their employees or interviewees for access to their facebook profiles. Now I am sure this is not too common as I have yet to hear of a real case of it, but from all the news surrounding the issue, it is happening. So what do you do if asked? What are ways to get around this?
1. Dont have a facebook profile. Easy enough but realistically all of us do.
2. Please please please make your profile private.
3. When your employer asks you for your facebook profile, here is what I am recommending everyone do:
Show them your profile as it appears to the public. Explain that this is what the public sees. Explain that the contents are for family and friends only and you feel that showing the rest is too personal (if you need to explain this much), which is why its private in the first place. Also, you can point them to your personal webpage or LinkedIn page and explain these are the networks you use for your professional connections.
Now obviously what you do is up to you but if they can get your passwords what is next? Looking in your house? Going through your closet?
Here is my previous post on the social network bill of rights
Here is an article from mashable that explains some other options
E-Readers lead to more reading than books
A new study by the Pew Research Center, that included 1,400 adults, found that people who read books with e-Readers read an average of 24 books per year compared with those who read text books only read 15.
Other findings:
-1/5 have read an ebook
-People are also reading ebooks on their cell (i’m not, too small screen)
-People prefer ereaders for themselves but books for children
There are tons of other statistics in the report and worth taking a look: Report can be found here
DARPA developing Humanoid Robots
I have written about DARPA several times in this blog…for those that do not know they are a government agency that is tasked with doing research to find the impossible. Most of their projects fail, but the ones that do not are pretty useful, for instance: the internet, GPS, and stealth technology. Anyway, their latest project seems pretty cool: Human Robots.
I know they are a work in progress and far away from being useful, but these will someday be our soldiers. They may even be more than that: Think sci-fi here.
Here is an article on the topic: http://www.engadget.com/2012/04/06/darpas-next-grand-challenge-to-focus-on-humanoid-robots/
Link to DARPA
Sharing your password: Social Networking Bill of Rights
Since this issue has been coming up in the news lately I thought this pic posted on Mashable was pretty interesting and worth sharing:
Image created by: www.backgroundcheck.org
What to do when your presentation time is cut short?
Last night during my class students were to present an assignment to the class. Each group had 10-20 minutes to present. Since I was not really paying attention to the time per se for this assignment (I know my bad), I did not stop the first two groups from going 30 then 40 minutes. After the 2nd group had finished I realized that we had just over an hour for 4 groups to present. This meant each remaining group would have roughly 15 minutes, which should be ok considering last week they each thought 10 minutes was too much and were nervous about making that time. So here is what I observed during that hour: The first two groups who had a minimum of 15 minutes each presented their normal presentation. I gave them a 3 minute and 1 minute warning and then had to stop them in the middle of their presentations. The 2nd two groups sped up their presentations cutting out some things but making sure to cover all of the points. So..
Which strategy was more effective? What should you do as a presenter in this situation?
Well first of all, when you get cut short at the last minute, which does happen at conferences and many professional presentations, make sure you adjust. Dont just stop in the middle of your presentation. Make sure you hit all of your major take home points. Cut out things that might have taken a little longer than normal, like viewing a video or external link. Let your audience know that they can view it after the presentation and offer the link. When you hear that 5 minute or 1 minute warning, wrap up. Give everyone your take home points, don’t just continue only to be stopped. When you are stopped in the middle of an idea the audience will remember you were stopped, that is what will stand out.
I hope that helps. Just an example from earlier this year, during my students presentation at the AECT conference for the Pacific Corp competition, they found out at the last minute that they had 15 minutes to present instead of 20. So this does happen and happens quite often. Needless to say they did cut their presentation and still ended up winning the competition!