"Between truth and the search for it, I choose the second." Bernard Berenson

Google just got way better! Many times I do a search and see a result and give it a click. I then find I am on some page that is essentially an advertisement and not information. I return back to the results page only to find that most of the links are to that same website. UGH! Finally I can do something about it. When you return unsatisfied from a result you will see the lovely words block all results from example.com. This means when I do a search I can finally weed out some of the complete junk sites that always come up. If you do it by accident there are a couple of things to do. The moment you block a site it says undo. Also when you do the same search in the future it will have, at the bottom, a manage blocked sites button. You can use this to return them to the search or just to peruse the sites. I have the feeling today is I am going to go on a blocking spree. Give it a try,

“The Creator has not given you a longing to do that which you have no ability to do” Orison Swett Marden

Recently I did a class on a website called Zoho. Zoho is a free/paid collection of fantastic online tools. Now I could go through them all and tell you that some of them rival Google Docs in their ease of use and shareability but that’s not why I write this. Microsoft Access is a database program. This means that you can create different forms and enter in data that will allow you to get reports and understand more about your info. OK now you know all that what is the problem? Access is a pain in the neck. I am a firm believer in the theory that both hardware and software should be as easy to use as it is powerful. Access can be a powerful tool but it is difficult for no reason. In place of this I recommend Zoho Creator. It uses a drag and drop design and is a simple part of the Zoho site that allows you to create forms for people to fill in. It has most of the power of access but very few of its drawbacks. Either create a form from scratch or use one of their templates. Need a way to keep track of books you are lending out from your home library? They have one made already that is easily customizable. Now the simplicity is great but what about other features? Any forms you create can be embedded on a website or blog in two seconds. You need to know when someone fills out the form? You can have an email sent out to notify you. Once the data is filled out it will be put into a Excel like spreadsheet for easy viewing but you can always export it in multitude of ways. So if you need to keep track of some info give Zoho a try.

“If you get the dirty end of the stick, sharpen it and turn it into a useful tool” Colin Powell

To begin again…
August is coming and teachers are starting to think of the coming year. Students are trying to avoid thinking at all. I know have mentioned this before but I think it needs to be restated. Google, you may have heard of it, is really useful. I recommend trying some of the other free services that Google has to offer. Now I am going to use a teacher slant with this but it could be used for any possible business or project. First off register for a Google service because once you do you will have access to all the rest of the services right away. It is free and quick. Gmail is just the tip of the Googleverse. Gmail is their version of email. One of the reasons I recommend using it is that it is searchable just like Google. This means if a student emails you during the year you can find it fairly easily. Also it does have other abilities like IM (chatting with students built directly into it) or the ability to take all emails from a specific conversation and creating a dialogue out of them instead of scattered emails through out the system. Google calendar allows for sharing of schedules and appointments throughout a group or organization. Also these can be saved to a website to make it viewable to all without registering. Google Docs and Sites are the two most underused by teachers. These together are so easy to use and useful it is unbelievable. Docs is an online Microsoft Office like set of tools. All you do is sign in and you have something that looks like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. This alone is good but once you think of the ability to share it between others it makes it supreme. It can be viewed or editable by others at the touch of a button. Finally Google Sites is the culmination of all of these. It is creatable webpage that you can use to communicate info with groups of all sorts. As an example lets say a teacher has a book group. They can post all the info about the book they are going to read and then add photos and music from where the book is set. The great thing is that it requires no real HTML ability. If you can use Microsoft Word then you can easily use Sites. Now I know I am being very general about this post but that is what it is supposed to be. I recommend checking all the sites above and see if they fit a use. Give it a try.

"You always pass failure on the way to success." Mickey Rooney

Two days ago I ran into a former student who was talking with her friend. She introduced me and told her friend that I teach computers. He responded “ugh I know nothing about computers.” He also went onto say that he was terrified of not only not knowing how to use it but looking dumb while trying to figure it out. I hear these statements almost every day. Unfortunately everyone believes they are the illiterate or dinosaur computer user. It is natural for people to feel this way but one must go past it. I truly believe anyone can convey information about technology. My main job is not just to teach but to reassure, encourage, and entertain while showing the information to my students. I am writing this for the friend on the street and for others in tech ed limbo. We all need to be taught in one area or another.

• To those who feel they don’t know anything about computers take a chance and take a class. If the teacher doesn’t jive with you then try another. Keep trying till it clicks.
• To the friends and family members of others who don’t know computers please have patience and understanding that you as well do not know it all. Also be considerate and do not assume they know something you know.

Below is a video showing people being questioned about browsers. A browser is an application you use to view the Internet. Think of a browser as the car that drives on the Internet highway. I put this video here to make the point that we all seem to be a bit confused but life still continues to work. As you laugh with these people consider your own knowledge. Failing and feeling a bit dumb is part of the learning process. You must fail to properly learn. Without mistakes life wouldn't be as pleasurable.


I guess I should also mention the video is about the Google browser called Chrome. I have been wanting to test it and review it but it doesn't work on Mac nor in our system. After the video you may want to head over to Google and give it a whirl.

Give us any chance-we'll take it! Read us any rule we'll break it! We're gonna make our dreams come true- Doin' it OUR WAY! Laverne and Shirley

You are angry! So of course you type a seething e-mail full of your feelings. You hit send and then a wave of “oh no what did I do?” washes over you. Thankfully Gmail has a button for you. The undo button has the ability of stopping your sitcom of a life from turning into Laverne and Shirley where you and a friend, dressed all in black, sneak into an office to retrieve the offending mail. Sorry I was on a roll. Anyway Gmail very quietly put another feature in their system. When you hit send an undo button can be set to show at the top giving you a chance to stop the offending email. Now you need to understand two basic things with this feature. First off it does not have the ability to actually retrieve mail. It works by delaying your e-mail by 5 to 10 seconds. This brings us to the other point. You have limited time to feel remorse. You have a very short window where you can decide to let it roll or to pull it back. To turn this feature on click on the settings button at the top right inside your Gmail then click the labs button. Finally scroll through the tons of new settings choices. It is about the third from the bottom. Finally click enable and then hit save changes at the bottom. Once this is done anytime you send out an email it will delay it for 5-10 seconds. Unfortunately I could not find where to change the time setting. One last thing. Don’t wait till you have made a mistake to turn this on or else you may just regret it. So give it a try or at least buy some black skulking clothing.

“Minds ripen at very different ages.” Stevie Wonder

As I mentioned earlier I was working on an Internet safety lecture for parents. I researched a lot of sites and as many books as I could get my mitts on. Some were more help than others. One particular site that stood out was that of CNET’s article on Developing safe and Smart Internet Citizens by Stefanie Olsen. This article provided a nice back bone for my lecture. I agree with the theme of the article that different ages need different strategies and the idea is not to protect your kids by severing the connection but by making kids smarter and more informed. If you head over to the site they have plenty of great tips for each age group. I plan over the next couple of weeks to mention a few other sites or ideas on Internet Safety for kids and adults.
On the same subject one site mentioned something I had not thought of speaking about but had been doing for a long time and that is Google Alerts. I know I have written about the service before. I use it to keep track of news with certain keywords. I also use it for my own name. For parents or anyone I recommend setting two Google Alerts for your own name and another for your email address. This way if your name or info surfaces on a blog or site you will be notified. This is good for kids so they can be aware of any cyber bullying and for parents keeping an eye on their children. This is not an invasive way to help your kids and it could save them from being in a jam. It just alerts you about the same info that everyone else has access to. Two more things about Alerts and names. If your name is very common like John Smith then maybe you should forget about using the service for that and just do the email alert. Also if you are going to use your name make sure it is in quotes or you will get all sorts of different pieces of non relevant info.
So if you are a parent or not give either of these a try.

Science is organized knowledge. Wisdom is organized life.

Today’s post is for Gmail users. If you are not familiar Gmail is Google’s version of E-mail. I use it with students new to the internet. I find it simpler because it has less ads and distractions. Gmail has a large amount of web space for you to store your emails. Their take is that you should not have to throw something away ever just because you need space. Last time I checked they give you 7 gigabytes. This is plenty of space but does this mean you should keep everything in your inbox? The answer is an emphatic NO! There is an under used button called archive. All you do is select the email, that you do not need at this moment, by clicking the checkbox and then hit archive. Once done it is put into the all mail section. This means it is no longer clogging up your inbox and now it frees you to focus on your important email. I like this feature because when I see my inbox shrink I have a sense of accomplishment but I never have to fear I have deleted important information to accomplish the same goal. One last part of this equation is the ever present Google search box at the top. This of course will allow you to search through all your mail by keywords. This includes all your archives material as well. So for all those Gmail users give archiving a try.

“If my ship sails from sight, it doesn't mean my journey ends, it simply means the river bends.” John Enoch Powell

Sometimes this job has its perks. To teach computers and their programs I must try them so I can speak with some knowledge about how they work. I opened the new Google Earth, like a kid on Christmas, to try it out and got decidedly lost. I had written a long time ago of this program and how it is a boon to those of a geographical mind but the new version is incredible and far surpasses what came before. One of the major complaints of the old one was the generic blue nothing that represented all of our oceans and lakes. With this new version they have made it just as fun to scour the oceans as had been to go through cities. This is just the beginning of this newly done program. Today I have been flying around Mars looking at all the landing sites and reading up on landers that worked and some that didn’t. Finally the dizzying constellations of the sky was intense. Think of every bit of the sky that we know of mapped and clickable. It was like having an observatory right at my fingertips. All of the map choices would be a help to almost any teacher no matter the subject. The obvious would be just to look at the maps but everywhere you go there are layers to put over your view. The moment you click a layer choice it will shows tons of small icons all over the land and sea. A click on any of them will reward you with videos, information from all sorts of official sources, quizzes, and much more. I took a virtual tour through the marinas trench from a swimming perspective and not just satellite views. The history teacher can benefit as well. There are historic layers like ancient Rome to go through. I really like the slider bar that shows me satellite images from different dates. They have images from around 1949 till now. One last thing that really made me happy was the amount of other organizations that are involved, Gigapan photos which are 3-d like high resolution photos which allow a lot of zooming into or a group like Seafood Watch that I pay a lot of attention to when I purchase seafood. If you have never used this application or had forgotten about it then it is time to return. It truly is a show stopping piece of software. Get your kids on this and have them record their own tours with narration. I love this idea of kids floating through maps and information and not even aware they are learning something. Give this a try.

"Jetson! What are You Doing?!! Goofing Off! Sir!!!" Mr.Spacely and George

Many Years ago my sister and I were in an electronics store playing with the latest invention the video phone. It allowed the caller to see the person on the other end. The picture was no bigger than a postage stamp and would refresh with a new image every 5-10 seconds. We spent most of the time making faces into it and then running to each other’s machine. At that moment I thought this is the future. This is it! Little did I know that is would fail as a product. Years and years later Google has made it very easy for anyone to have not just the same experience but a better one. Google has an add-on that makes your chat window into a video phone. Now before I go further I must say Google is not the first to do this. In fact Apple has had the iChat system for years but it is not always easy and it does require a bit of a setup. The Google version does need to be installed but it is simple. Once the application is downloaded it adds itself to your browser then when you open up Gmail it is another choice you have just like whether to email or chat with the person. You will of course need a webcam to make this happen and a PC. The apple addition will follow eventually. Many soldiers use this now so they can not only communicate with their families but seen as well. A video is far more comforting than just a voice. I recommend if you have a webcam and a PC you might as well give it a try.

"And this is icing!" exclaimed Gretel,Starving but delighted, the children began to eat pieces of candy broken off the cottage." Hansel and Gretel

This time of the year many turn to the classic that is a gingerbread house and a week later they are not sure what the heck to do with this giant sweet construction. Well Google has an internet solution and a contest. A while back I wrote about the free tool called Sketchup. It is a nice piece of software that allows you to create 3-D buildings. I have seen it used in architectural offices to set a design or just for kicks. Recently Google put out an updated version with some cool extras. It works really well and tends to be a bit more intuitive. Anyway back to the gingerbread house. Google has created a simple template for you to create an online gingerbread house. The basics are all there like the pinwheel mints or gumdrops. It is really simple to use and has some major perks. No mess, no insulin shock, and the ability to tour your creation. Plus you can send it to anyone or make it viewable on your website. Google also has a contest for the best house in a bunch of different categories. They did a create Santa’s sleigh contest last year that was pretty cool. So if you are not interested in a sticky dining room table with sugar high kids running around at speeds of mach 8 then give this alternative a try.

Note: Artist is Scott Gustafson

“For a list Sometimes a slow gradual approach does more good than a large gesture." Craig Newmark founder of Craigslist

Craigslist is one of those wonderful sites that has been around for just about ever. For those unfamiliar, Craigslist is a giant version of the newspaper’s classified ad section. The size of the listings makes it both fantastic and a problem . To do a complete search for an item I have to check all the craigslist locales. As an example I must go to Rhode Island, SouthCoast MA, and Boston to make sure I have not missed anything. There is a better more efficient way to do a search. Now before I go on this won’t always be cost efficient for large items or local service stuff but if you are looking to buy something that you just cannot seem to find this is the way. First head to Google, click on advanced options, and then click Search within a site or domain. Type craigslist.org and then go to the top and where it says all these words and type in what you are searching for. I usually adjust the date options at the bottom to the past week because I do not care about listings that are old. This will now search all of craigslist and I mean all of it. The other day I found an item that normally would be expensive on sites like eBay or Amazon for very cheap. When I find a potential item I will email the person and ask if they will ship it. Sometimes the answer is no but I have had great luck with this. Also this is a good way to find real estate, services, jobs or anything you can think of. So anytime you need to track something down give this a try.

“Bad politicians are sent to Washington by good people who don't vote.” William E. Simon

I just got a timely question from a coworker asking me where she is supposed to vote. We tried to look it up on Providence’s website but it required her to know what ward she is in. There are many first time voters and voters finally coming back to vote in this election. A lot of people do not have a clue where to go. Thankfully Google does. Click this Google map link and type in your address. It will tell you exactly where you are voting and give you exact directions to get there. Also when you choose directions you can pick by car, public transit, or walking. So if you not sure where to head this November fourth give this one a try.

"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results" Albert Einstein

I do a lot of searches on Google. I also repeat a lot of searches a month or week later looking for new websites or information. The problem, which I am sure you have experienced, is the same results come back again and again. To see the newest stuff I use the advance search button to the right of where you type in your search on Google’s main page. Once you click the link you see tons of options. The ones we care about, for this post anyway, are the date options. Click near the bottom where it says Date, usage rights…….and so on. Finally the box we need is in front of us. Change the date option from anytime to your choice. I usually start out with the past month and I many try lowering it a couple of times till I get just what I am looking for. Now all I do is use the search boxes at the top to write what I am looking for just like normal. When I am finished I hit enter or click advanced search. You should see the newest of new results. I usually will save the search as a bookmark to save time in the future. Also you will notice on the results page a box to change the date conditions. So if you are tired of out of date results give this one a try.

"Honest to goodness it's the absolute ultimate! " Gidget

Not too long ago I watched a video by David Pogue (technology reviewer) about free services for your cell phone. I have posted before about one of the ones he mentioned, GOOG-411. However I was completely unaware of ChaCha. Holy smokes! I love this service. On the fourth I was at a BBQ and we got into a very strange conversation involving the singer/actress Connie Francis. I was 100% sure she played Gidget in the movies. Yes, before you comment, I was very wrong. The problem was that I did not have a computer to look it up and check a website like Wikipedia. So I dialed 1-800-2chacha and got a recording that told me to leave a question. So I asked what movies Ms. Francis was in and whether she played Gidget. I hung up and got a text message with my question retyped and a message saying they were working on it. Within four minutes I got my reply which consisted of a list of the movies that she was in and an answer that no she never played Gidget. Now this cost me the price of two text messages which came to 30 cents. I thought that was well worth the price to find out I was wrong. I have had occasion to use this a few times and with great results each time. When ChaCha gets your message a person using Google searches for an answer for you and then sends it out to you. I really do recommend this service and the since the price is right I say give this one a try.

Additional notes to this post: Sandra Dee played Gidget in the movies and Sally Fields played her on TV.

Also thanks to Nate, Penny, and Mia for a great BBQ and a reason to use this service.

“One of the pleasures of reading old letters is the knowledge that they need no answer” Lord Byron

Here at PPL I use Microsoft Outlook but when I go anywhere else I use Gmail for both their email and calendar. I really find it useful to have dates for my classes in both places. The problem is that I had to keep doing double duty by scheduling in both Outlook and Gmail Calendars to keep them both up to date. I would forget here or there and screw up along the line but finally there is a nice answer. Gmail came out with a nice little add on to your Outlook program. It is an automatic syncing program and it works perfectly. Just follow the instructions and install it, then open Outlook and it does the rest. You can set it so it will sync one way or both ways from outlook to Google or just going back and forth. Also you decide how often the link up takes place. If you like both calendar systems and are not willing to give one up yet then give this a try.

“You cannot tailor-make the situations in life, but you can tailor-make the attitudes to fit those situations”

If you were using the net when it was younger your main wants from a search engine would be faster searches and more results. The idea of more relevance and rated results was to come eventually. Today people do not just want results but they want results tailor made for who they are. So to help with this search engines with a specific audience in mind have started sprouting up. The two that I want to mention today are Yahoo’s search engine Shine and Rushmore Drive. Shine is aimed at women and Rushmore Drive is aimed at a black audience. Both seek to provide news and stories that appeal to their specifics. I find both sites do their job well however in typical Yahoo style there is an overabundance of information. A little too much for my taste where Rushmore is setup more like Google, that is to say sparse with choices waiting to be chosen. My opinion on these sites should be taken with a grain of salt because I am not the target audience for either site. I personally only look for geek oriented sites no matter the sex or race but that is just me. So if you want a website that feels made for you then give one of these a try.

“Technology is so much fun but we can drown in our technology. The fog of information can drive out knowledge.” Daniel J. Boorstin

A couple notes that are not big enough for a full post. Hope you enjoy this little list.

• Providence Public Library has a bunch of other blogs now, Check them out.
  
• iGoogle has a whole bunch of new themes, so check those out.
  
• Beware of Excel documents you are not familiar with. There are some malicious documents floating around the net so just be a bit more careful what you open.
  
• New pictures of the planet Mercury just out.
  
• Google images has a face recognition feature, but it is not always an option. Be on the lookout for it.
  
• Bill gates Steps down video...funny stuff
  
• Steve Jobs steps up to the keynote, Watch the whole 90 minute keynote condensed down to 60 seconds
• Beware of the some supposed Mac software called MacSweeper. It is a type of spyware that says it cleans and repairs your Mac.
  
• New way around those phone systems you are forced to call for help. They are programmed to detect "naughty" words. So swear away when they have prompts and you just may get right to a human.

“Happiness and love are just a choice away.”Leo F. Buscaglia

Google has had a feature for a while called iGoogle. It is a page you can customize for your needs. I have not mentioned this one till now because I frankly could see myself using so I had a hard time putting this one into any real context. However I started using this one last week and I am becoming a fan quickly for two reasons. One is that I am what I call a Dashboard junkie. This is the type of person that wants all the info he could ever want in one place, like a cockpit in a plane. It just feels right when it is all displayed there. Google’s iGoogle allows for personalization. You have the regular search bar and then you can add in all sorts of other elements. I added a Wikipedia Search and a top ten list of Youtube. Then I added the requisite weather info even though I try not to leave my computer. This alone is good but you can add different tab areas for different types of info. Let’s say it is baseball season and you want to be filled with statistics from all sorts of sites then just create a “sports” tab and go to town adding the parts you like. The second reason is I am liking this feature is mobility. All I have to do is login to my account and all my stuff is there. So when I go from home to a friends house to work all the tools I need are easy to find. Oh also I should mention that you can create your own page elements from scratch and choose page themes as well. Give this one a try.

“A new gadget that lasts only five minutes is worth more than an immortal work that bores everyone.” Francis Picabia

Think of the Secret Agent Man song before I start, OK got it, now onto the post.

I have always loved gadgets from my radio watch to my spy telescope and that is why I had to write about a really clever new product. The Trackstick II is a product that is devoted to tracking your position. It is the same size as a common USB flash drive but it is actually a type of low energy GPS. Let’s say you’re on vacation and you walked everywhere and you're now home and want to retrace your steps. The GPS in this model keeps track of all of your movements. All you do is plug it into your computer and open Google Earth. It then takes you on a virtual tour of your vacation retracing every step. The maker’s site talks about exploring while hiking or camping and being able to map out where you were. Looking at some of the maps on their site shows the typical confused tourist. Lots of turn arounds and backups. I love that it is so small and will run for about a week on two AAA batteries. Now this is not a cheap gadget that you pick up at a convenience store. It is currently running upwards of $200. I am not sure if I am saying give it a try but the gadgetization of our society sure is fun to watch even if we don’t buy the items.

Thanks to the blog A beef Sandwich w/ Sweet Peppers for the song.

“I'm NOT lost, they just moved my street.” Piper Perabo

A while back I posted about a new Google mapping Feature called Google street view. However at that time it was only available in select cities. Well providence has just become a select city. They have added another eight major cities to the record. So it time to start traveling the streets you know so well and find your cars, buildings, and possibly selves. It seems to me that the pictures were taken in late August or early September. The reason I believe this is the old police station that was being demolished next to us can still be partly seen. To use this it is easy. Just click in the box that has the street view and drag till you are pointed in the direction you want to head. They have arrows on the street to progress from shot to shot. Now if you want to move quickly just type in an address and move the little guy on the map to a blue line. This is both a useful and ridiculously fun feature. Below is a snapshot of the old entrance of the library. I recommend you give it a try.

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