tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-193640232024-03-13T18:03:07.806-06:00Painless TechnologyTidbits I think might be interesting to technology teachers and the tech curious.Al Gunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06147832028584159376noreply@blogger.comBlogger666125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19364023.post-61587152299084709582010-05-14T10:41:00.000-06:002010-05-14T10:41:46.808-06:00Not Gone....Just MissingStill here. I'm having some health issues along with the extra stuff that comes up with ending a school year. I should be back soon. Thanks for asking.Al Gunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06147832028584159376noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19364023.post-86300086625651983092010-04-30T05:00:00.002-06:002010-04-30T05:00:10.599-06:00Funny: Respect<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZoYg6TM7qhobTHrtB1l9uAzCWkNVnwn2p0Ly1wXvuh5eMcncUNquhKVU7YKxJ9K1aMT5zNbSX7eKXHGjDtzR-ZalmwEsZGhOZR4ahOdamBa78F6RnWqw3M4MsUpPeMbSr3hpr6g/s1600/2010-04-22-Slaughterbot-1-of-3.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="161" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZoYg6TM7qhobTHrtB1l9uAzCWkNVnwn2p0Ly1wXvuh5eMcncUNquhKVU7YKxJ9K1aMT5zNbSX7eKXHGjDtzR-ZalmwEsZGhOZR4ahOdamBa78F6RnWqw3M4MsUpPeMbSr3hpr6g/s400/2010-04-22-Slaughterbot-1-of-3.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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<a href="http://www.amazingsuperpowers.com/2010/04/slaughterbot-1-of-3/">Amazing SuperPowers.com</a>Al Gunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06147832028584159376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19364023.post-66804498811152720372010-04-29T05:00:00.001-06:002010-04-29T05:00:58.906-06:00Subscribing to YouTube RSS feedHandy <a href="http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/?p=2378">reference</a> from David Warlick on how to create a YouTube RSS feed. Someone asked me this the other day and I didn't know. This saved me some search time. Might save you a few steps too.Al Gunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06147832028584159376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19364023.post-40357079313488144332010-04-28T05:00:00.001-06:002010-04-28T05:42:20.120-06:00The Learner's Journey<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgND-ZExRS5MWY_UDTBQIEqn_ky7BHsRPFzfLkuZkuHI-ysuQAGzImc0ZipiAslqF_sRoFXEN9I7v7oW4BPkQw3lL6pAmRucOreHnlIxkHxIiL2Zypy_-KSgcHC58ikMDT7wTyKAw/s1600/journey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgND-ZExRS5MWY_UDTBQIEqn_ky7BHsRPFzfLkuZkuHI-ysuQAGzImc0ZipiAslqF_sRoFXEN9I7v7oW4BPkQw3lL6pAmRucOreHnlIxkHxIiL2Zypy_-KSgcHC58ikMDT7wTyKAw/s320/journey.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>While searching for a picture of a Head First book for yesterday's post, I stumbled across this <a href="http://blogs.oreilly.com/headfirst/2009/07/the-learners-journey-in-practice.html#more">description </a>of the learning process by one of the Head First editors, Brian Sawyer.<br />
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They use a slightly different metaphor to describe the learning process. They call it a Journey. He describes a basic outline in the slideshow below. <br />
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<a href="http://vimeo.com/3401332">Learner's Journey</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/briansawyer">Brian Sawyer</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br />
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In the footnote to this post, Brian describes the reasoning behind the Journey process: <br />
<blockquote>"While this post focuses on the construction of what we call the Learner's Journey, the concepts behind the idea really warrant a post of their own. In brief, though this particular approach and visualization was developed in house, the ideas behind it are loosely modeled on Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey, combining teaching elements with a compelling scenario to create a rewarding quest for the protagonist (the learner) to accomplish."</blockquote><br />
How cool is that! I would have loved it if my EDU 100 instructor had come in with a copy of the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hero-Thousand-Faces-Bollingen/dp/1577315936/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_1">Hero's with a Thousand Faces</a> and said, <i>"Before we get any further with this teaching stuff, I want you to read this book."</i> Education as a journey. As a quest. I love this. In the slide show he covered many of the same concepts we did in education. I like this metaphor better than the one we used. While it was never stated as such, I think what I got was the factory metaphor. Raw materials in. Finished competent citizen out.<br />
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<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[Image: Flickr: "The JLC - keeping the Piedmont safe since 2006"; Uploaded on <a class="Plain" data-ywa-name="Date, Uploaded on" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cryptonaut/archives/date-posted/2006/07/04/" property="dc:date">July 4, 2006</a></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> by <a data-ywa-name="Account name" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cryptonaut/" rel="dc:creator
cc:attributionURL" title="Link to Cryptonaut's photostream">Cryptonaut;http://www.flickr.com/photos/cryptonaut/181707052/</a></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> (CC:Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic)]</span></div>Al Gunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06147832028584159376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19364023.post-81281728614880336232010-04-27T05:03:00.002-06:002010-04-27T06:12:46.220-06:00Creating Passionate Users<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdsytzuCRNvfx3VUYTeOgZoQwaOD4BA_uiihyn-KmkIqstdyihGR-xDhqnLvWO_V5PdnmuQO6UIPCMhEacfhk0KUNftsc__tPEXeaAyABka23gND6srOhJ8oLMiO_Mx61UPjWStg/s1600/hfwd_cover.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdsytzuCRNvfx3VUYTeOgZoQwaOD4BA_uiihyn-KmkIqstdyihGR-xDhqnLvWO_V5PdnmuQO6UIPCMhEacfhk0KUNftsc__tPEXeaAyABka23gND6srOhJ8oLMiO_Mx61UPjWStg/s1600/hfwd_cover.png" /></a></div><a href="http://headrush.typepad.com/">Creating Passionate Users</a> is a website created by Kathy Sierra, one of the people responsible for developing the <a href="http://www.headfirstlabs.com/readme.php">Head First</a> Style of books available from O'reilly. <i>Head First</i> takes difficult subjects and presents them in an engaging way. I have several of the Head First books and enjoyed them thoroughly. I think many of the techniques used in the books would be beneficial in any classroom: use of pictures, redundancy, emotional content, conversational style, challenging activities, and hitting multiple learning styles.<br />
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<i>Creating Passionate Users</i> has all kinds of useful ideas and examples based on her experiences and feedback from the Head First books. Unfortunately, she stopped posting to the blog in 2007, but the posts are still valuable.<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">[Image captured from Head First Labs: http://headfirstlabs.com/books/hfwd/] </span>Al Gunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06147832028584159376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19364023.post-13607325793373781382010-04-26T05:00:00.067-06:002010-04-26T05:00:13.190-06:00Creative Commons Music<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU-g0TKkUNf1g3SqZNM4eF9XklxzEXExYxxkgUUpch-fSi3yk_v_A1W3s0xNgMWfdsJKc6xt4k92Gyk_RaL26EslB-9u9F6AP8mLPa8rPqeD8q8j3FMeo1xnrgfa_54xGuj5FAzg/s1600/records.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU-g0TKkUNf1g3SqZNM4eF9XklxzEXExYxxkgUUpch-fSi3yk_v_A1W3s0xNgMWfdsJKc6xt4k92Gyk_RaL26EslB-9u9F6AP8mLPa8rPqeD8q8j3FMeo1xnrgfa_54xGuj5FAzg/s320/records.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>My multimedia students are creating some simple music videos in MovieMaker this week. Finding music to use can be a issue. Kids want to download copyrighted materials and I am trying to get them to think about what is OK to use and what is not. Especially if they want to post their work online for the world to see. The following three sites are ones I am going to list this year as a source for music with Creative Common licenses. <br />
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<b><a href="http://freemusicarchive.org/">Free Music Archive</a></b><br />
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<b><a href="http://www.jamendo.com/en/">Jemendo</a></b><br />
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<b><a href="http://ccmixter.org/">ccmixter</a></b><br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">Warning!</span></b> I have run across album covers that have pictures inappropriate for school in Jemendo. I can also assume there will be language on some of these songs in all these sites that are not school appropriate as well. So, before I send my kids off to search in class, I will have "the talk" with them. Same talk I have when they are doing image searches.<br />
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<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[Image: "An era passed";Flickr:Uploaded on <a class="Plain" data-ywa-name="Date, Uploaded on" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/olivander/archives/date-posted/2008/11/17/" property="dc:date">November 17, 2008</a></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> by <a data-ywa-name="Account name" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/olivander/" rel="dc:creator
cc:attributionURL" title="Link to Olivander's photostream">Olivander</a>:http://www.flickr.com/photos/olivander/3038572409/ (CC:</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic)]</span></div>Al Gunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06147832028584159376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19364023.post-40090022321774840972010-04-23T05:00:00.000-06:002010-04-23T05:00:00.924-06:00Chryler Turbo EncabulatorWhat I fear many of my students experience during my lectures.<br />
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<object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/MXW0bx_Ooq4&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/MXW0bx_Ooq4&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>Al Gunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06147832028584159376noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19364023.post-1308198847220666412010-04-21T05:00:00.014-06:002010-04-21T05:00:06.611-06:00Teacher AccountabilityFriend sent me the link to this article, <a href="http://www.truthout.org/teacher-accountability-its-about-time58698">Teacher Accountability? It's About Time! </a><br />
Here is one short quote from the piece about how we've stopped trusting teachers to evaluate our kids and turned to standardized tests instead. <br />
<blockquote><i>"About a generation ago, acceptance of teacher judgment about the quality of student work began to disappear. Waving the "standards and accountability!" banner, leaders of business and industry convinced politicians that this generation's teachers (unlike those they remembered from their own schooling) couldn't be trusted to evaluate learner performance. Today's teachers, they were sure, suffered from "the soft bigotry of low expectations." </i></blockquote><br />
An interesting read. Don't forget to read the comments for and against the author's point of view at the bottom.Al Gunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06147832028584159376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19364023.post-82090117939594907802010-04-20T05:00:00.010-06:002010-04-20T05:00:09.844-06:0070 tools 70 minutesJust ran across this slideshow today and am still exploring the many resources listed.<br />
<div id="__ss_3420996" style="width: 425px;"><b style="display: block; margin: 12px 0pt 4px;"><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/langwitches/70-tools-70-minutes" title="70 Tools 70 Minutes">70 Tools 70 Minutes</a></b><object height="355" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://static.slidesharecdn.com/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=70-tools-70minutes-100313074440-phpapp01&stripped_title=70-tools-70-minutes" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"/><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"/><embed src="http://static.slidesharecdn.com/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=70-tools-70minutes-100313074440-phpapp01&stripped_title=70-tools-70-minutes" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="355"></embed></object><br />
<div style="padding: 5px 0pt 12px;">View more <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/">presentations</a> from <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/langwitches">Silvia Tolisano</a>.</div></div><br />
[via <a href="http://sateach.edublogs.org/2010/04/11/its-not-about-the-tools/">Just Pondering</a>]Al Gunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06147832028584159376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19364023.post-46560689656953643822010-04-19T05:00:00.003-06:002010-04-19T05:00:00.306-06:00Chariot Skates<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXBNCpdh3_MZmVGbMM6sRe1PeMohjG5hgF2MFOqruFD4dYnqhea56vR3xpDWpHcmv6Bqj1FvtnEQK_sB5Skjx9P6mta75GT8iGXGHHHh2AyLYSM7giwMdVh7MgWMZ7mMwr_Q-4TA/s1600/Chariot-Skates-by-Michael-Jenkins-thumb-550x445-37317.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXBNCpdh3_MZmVGbMM6sRe1PeMohjG5hgF2MFOqruFD4dYnqhea56vR3xpDWpHcmv6Bqj1FvtnEQK_sB5Skjx9P6mta75GT8iGXGHHHh2AyLYSM7giwMdVh7MgWMZ7mMwr_Q-4TA/s320/Chariot-Skates-by-Michael-Jenkins-thumb-550x445-37317.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>I saw something that looked similar to these Chariot Skates at a Cirque de Soleil performance a few years back. I came home that day and sketched out a few diagrams of how I might build a pair for myself. My thought was they would work better off the bike paths and on gravel or dirt paths then inline skates. I never pursued the design and those diagrams are buried in a notebook somewhere. Never even thought of it again until I saw this post on <a href="http://dvice.com/archives/2010/04/chariot-skates.php">dVice</a>.<br />
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"According to creator Michael Jenkins, Chariot Skates are faster, handle rough terrain better, retain momentum longer and offer a more fluid and comfortable experience. We'll believe faster right off the bat, as these odd-looking skates boast a top speed of 24 miles an hour. "<br />
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Unfortunately, the cost will be around $1100 and so I won't be getting a pair anytime soon. I like the concept though and am looking forward to hearing about some real world testing and results.<br />
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Check out the <a href="http://www.chariotskates.com/example.html">Chariot Skates</a> home page for more details. <br />
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<object height="225" width="400"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=6163058&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1" /><embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=6163058&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="400" height="225"></embed></object><br />
<a href="http://vimeo.com/6163058">Testing 1st samples from new moulds in Sydney & China</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user1672400">Chariot Skates</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br />
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The second video shows how you can stop. Always a good skill if you are traveling at speeds above 20mph. <br />
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<object height="225" width="400"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=6042066&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1" /><embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=6042066&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="400" height="225"></embed></object><br />
<a href="http://vimeo.com/6042066">Stopping</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user1672400">Chariot Skates</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br />
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<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[via <a href="http://dvice.com/archives/2010/04/chariot-skates.php">dVice</a>]</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[Image captured from dVice:http://dvice.com/archives/2010/04/chariot-skates.php]</span></div>Al Gunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06147832028584159376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19364023.post-27013898075136053792010-04-16T05:00:00.009-06:002010-04-16T05:00:03.990-06:00Funny: Website feedback<a href="http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/2010-04-01/" title="Dilbert.com"><img alt="Dilbert.com" border="0" src="http://dilbert.com/dyn/str_strip/000000000/00000000/0000000/000000/80000/6000/200/86284/86284.strip.gif" /></a>Al Gunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06147832028584159376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19364023.post-85213811145437238032010-04-13T05:00:00.016-06:002010-04-13T05:00:09.995-06:00The Collapse of Complex Business Models<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzZJC1ibzuD5-Jl7lCINR9JyDnSPw32a5vwJEDMBD81tDk7RdCoqOhWz_sehY73ymLKQh__votYfQREWaP2XfBNixlPYNBpH0YZ8uir-zgaFgRo2Ui6sQgCvkG1MpZBSZ13c2gYQ/s1600/school.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzZJC1ibzuD5-Jl7lCINR9JyDnSPw32a5vwJEDMBD81tDk7RdCoqOhWz_sehY73ymLKQh__votYfQREWaP2XfBNixlPYNBpH0YZ8uir-zgaFgRo2Ui6sQgCvkG1MpZBSZ13c2gYQ/s200/school.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><a href="http://www.shirky.com/weblog/2010/04/the-collapse-of-complex-business-models/">The Collapse of Complex Business Models</a> by Clay Shirky discusses how complex systems collapse and relates this idea to industries being changed by the internet and technology. He closes with this paragraph.<br />
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<blockquote>When ecosystems change and inflexible institutions collapse, their members disperse, abandoning old beliefs, trying new things, making their living in different ways than they used to. It’s easy to see the ways in which collapse to simplicity wrecks the glories of old. But there is one compensating advantage for the people who escape the old system: when the ecosystem stops rewarding complexity, it is the people who figure out how to work simply in the present, rather than the people who mastered the complexities of the past, who get to say what happens in the future.</blockquote><br />
Shirky doesn't talk about education but my thoughts have been on Scott McLeod's <a href="http://painlesstechnology.blogspot.com/2010/03/are-schools-dangerously-irrelevant.html">recent talk</a> about education and the premise that schools are becoming irrelevant. I look at the reforms and suggestions around me and they all seem to be aimed at making our educational system more complex. More rules. More forms. More tests. At what point does our educational system become too complex? Too unwieldly? To the point where some group of different thinking folks just make an end run around "how things have always been done" and leave us cleaning the chalk dust off our trousers wondering what just happened.<br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">[Image: "</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Theatre Entrance"; Flickr: Uploaded on <a class="Plain" data-ywa-name="Date, Uploaded on" href="" property="dc:date">October 19, 2007</a> by <a data-ywa-name="Account name" href="" rel="dc:creator cc:attributionURL" title="Link to iamtheh's photostream">iamtheh; http://www.flickr.com/photos/iamtheh/1640228985/ (creative commons: </a></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic)]</span>Al Gunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06147832028584159376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19364023.post-65766894140135259732010-04-12T06:07:00.000-06:002010-04-12T06:07:26.652-06:00TED Talk: Dennis Hong on RobotsDennis Hong from <a href="http://www.romela.org/main/Robotics_and_Mechanisms_Laboratory">ReMeLa</a> gives a facinating talk on robot research. Lot's of good clips of some of the various robots under development. I like how Hong describes (around 12:30) keeping a notebook by his bed to capture thoughts and images that he gets as he falls asleep. He then types these up into something intelligible in the morning. These images have been the basis of some of his grants and proposals.<br />
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<object height="326" width="446"><param name="movie" value="http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><param name="bgColor" value="#ffffff"></param><param name="flashvars" value="vu=http://video.ted.com/talks/dynamic/DennisHong_2009X-medium.flv&su=http://images.ted.com/images/ted/tedindex/embed-posters/DennisHong-2009X.embed_thumbnail.jpg&vw=432&vh=240&ap=0&ti=820&introDuration=16500&adDuration=4000&postAdDuration=2000&adKeys=talk=dennis_hong_my_seven_species_of_robot;year=2009;theme=tales_of_invention;theme=design_like_you_give_a_damn;theme=inspired_by_nature;theme=new_on_ted_com;theme=what_s_next_in_tech;event=TEDxNASA;&preAdTag=tconf.ted/embed;tile=1;sz=512x288;" /><embed src="http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf" pluginspace="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" bgColor="#ffffff" width="446" height="326" allowFullScreen="true" flashvars="vu=http://video.ted.com/talks/dynamic/DennisHong_2009X-medium.flv&su=http://images.ted.com/images/ted/tedindex/embed-posters/DennisHong-2009X.embed_thumbnail.jpg&vw=432&vh=240&ap=0&ti=820&introDuration=16500&adDuration=4000&postAdDuration=2000&adKeys=talk=dennis_hong_my_seven_species_of_robot;year=2009;theme=tales_of_invention;theme=design_like_you_give_a_damn;theme=inspired_by_nature;theme=new_on_ted_com;theme=what_s_next_in_tech;event=TEDxNASA;"></embed></object>Al Gunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06147832028584159376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19364023.post-60915638656609728962010-04-11T08:39:00.000-06:002010-04-11T08:39:33.599-06:00Juggling Tutorials<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDhq1j99VjA28ij7Ri6hQAdKoTfu-Wc0CSg_cpfyZxwQlWl-Y3DFb-QOVnXhyWMoB0sZgvu2MaP-WW21DVTvPc65Unb-N-zB9b6TdSjg5oFvV3-mIjXGH4rJlATMAWJjLQDZ2otQ/s1600/juggle.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDhq1j99VjA28ij7Ri6hQAdKoTfu-Wc0CSg_cpfyZxwQlWl-Y3DFb-QOVnXhyWMoB0sZgvu2MaP-WW21DVTvPc65Unb-N-zB9b6TdSjg5oFvV3-mIjXGH4rJlATMAWJjLQDZ2otQ/s320/juggle.png" width="268" /></a></div>OK...I know that juggling is a little out of place on this blog. Unless you stretch a little bit and think of it from a learning standpoint... and I've always wanted to learn to be a juggler.<br />
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<a href="http://justyouraveragejoggler.com/ija-juggling-tutorial-video-winners-announced/">Just Your Average Joggler</a> had a post about a series of juggling tutorials from a contest sponsered by the <a href="http://www.juggle.org/howto/tutorial.php">International Jugglers Association</a>. Lots of fun stuff here.<br />
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I've watched several now and am working on the Three Ball Mills Mess by <b style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/TonySteinbach">Tony Steinbach</a>. (embeded below)</b> <br />
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<div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[Image: Captured from the video] </span></div>Al Gunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06147832028584159376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19364023.post-23419557452570542622010-04-09T05:00:00.000-06:002010-04-09T05:00:09.064-06:00Funny: Muppets sing Stand by Me<object height="385" width="640"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/zCRUPWDIgYM&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/zCRUPWDIgYM&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object><br />
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[via <a href="http://www.neatorama.com/2010/04/01/muppets-sing-stand-by-me/">Neatorama</a>]Al Gunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06147832028584159376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19364023.post-50723632493467977682010-04-02T05:00:00.003-06:002010-04-02T06:09:10.124-06:00Funny: The Process<object data="http://www.todaysbigthing.com/betamax/betamax.swf?item_id=290&fullscreen=1" height="360" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="480"> <param name="allowScriptAccess" value="sameDomain" /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="movie" quality="best" value="http://www.todaysbigthing.com/betamax/betamax.swf?item_id=290&fullscreen=1" /></object><br />
<div style="padding: 5px 0pt; text-align: center; width: 480px;">See more <a href="http://www.todaysbigthing.com/">funny videos</a> and <a href="http://www.todaysbigthing.com/">TBT Videos</a> at <a href="http://www.todaysbigthing.com/">Today's Big Thing</a>.</div>Al Gunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06147832028584159376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19364023.post-66652060393811536122010-03-30T05:00:00.015-06:002010-03-30T05:00:06.052-06:00Hiding the Litter Box<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilB5ldt_Oa_Wvvdw3XgyMSfvOJInNIRl8JSX2Xs_1t8luazNH5Ko4VDIHtHCWtZjSlkgfAKtOq5V7xc1go3mAUniGuaocNabOjVAWC-0BG2sA1MCOBNdc0SfNa67BWqcF_qm0W0w/s1600-h/homemade+kitty+house.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilB5ldt_Oa_Wvvdw3XgyMSfvOJInNIRl8JSX2Xs_1t8luazNH5Ko4VDIHtHCWtZjSlkgfAKtOq5V7xc1go3mAUniGuaocNabOjVAWC-0BG2sA1MCOBNdc0SfNa67BWqcF_qm0W0w/s400/homemade+kitty+house.jpg" width="313" /></a></div>My wife and I lived in a tiny apartment many, many years ago. We suddenly went from one cat to three and the litter box couldn't be hidden away in a basement or back room. I dug an old box out from the trash and using some leftover contact paper, I created the stylish litter box cover shown here. It helped the cats with their modesty and helped control the smell. Not completely....but some. (I believe that is an air freshener on top of the box.)<br />
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I had just found this old picture of my litter box creation when I stumbled on the <a href="http://freshome.com/2010/03/26/kitty-litter-box-cover-that-looks-like-a-small-dresser/">modern day version</a> shown below.<br />
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Much more stylish. Probably a lot more expensive. Cat probably doesn't care. My wife probably does.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc5OZq2lzCT4T0EK8j_rwQrXbMh4EjGNzv0MMm614R0dPR1WQITlQ2qcCnomHUDT0c0monghaNgagp_cCs5W0j7jlbZY8SaOxHS0y-IcihfZrhoZp0l2Zg1e1kXC_stb4pgGZJKQ/s1600-h/cat-house.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc5OZq2lzCT4T0EK8j_rwQrXbMh4EjGNzv0MMm614R0dPR1WQITlQ2qcCnomHUDT0c0monghaNgagp_cCs5W0j7jlbZY8SaOxHS0y-IcihfZrhoZp0l2Zg1e1kXC_stb4pgGZJKQ/s320/cat-house.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[via <a href="http://freshome.com/2010/03/26/kitty-litter-box-cover-that-looks-like-a-small-dresser/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+FreshInspirationForYourHome+%28Fresh+Inspiration+for+Your+Home%29&utm_content=Google+Reader">Freshome</a>]</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">[Image captured from Freshome: http://freshome.com/2010/03/26/kitty-litter-box-cover-that-looks-like-a-small-dresser/]</span>Al Gunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06147832028584159376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19364023.post-47250718614536890662010-03-29T05:00:00.001-06:002010-03-29T05:00:09.923-06:00Breadboard to Protoboard<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqipanFO5jx4TOhp6HzFkhFYgbj5e3Pg8fNiLgpyV6y-kY6D4zmlxLBPZAj-ZVr-vjWaRkP8EUduT5A36_bSbfBt9Q72blA7-9YOHJpVDHdA_12mnyDlQHCmQD1y7YSgZvJGbsVA/s1600-h/4400332545_264c4a330f.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqipanFO5jx4TOhp6HzFkhFYgbj5e3Pg8fNiLgpyV6y-kY6D4zmlxLBPZAj-ZVr-vjWaRkP8EUduT5A36_bSbfBt9Q72blA7-9YOHJpVDHdA_12mnyDlQHCmQD1y7YSgZvJGbsVA/s200/4400332545_264c4a330f.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>My electronic skills are still in the infant stage. I am still working on holding a soldering iron without scorching anything important on myself or my project. Yet, someday I will move my creations from the breadboard to a permanent protoboard. <a href="http://www.evilmadscientist.com/article.php/breadboardproto">Evil Mad Scientis</a>t has a short post about a protoboard that is built like a breadboard so soldering your creation is a bit easier.<br />
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I'll let you know if and when I get to that point.<br />
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<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">[Image captured from Evil Mad Scientist: http://www.evilmadscientist.com/article.php/breadboardproto]</span></div>Al Gunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06147832028584159376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19364023.post-57023090871859476182010-03-26T05:00:00.001-06:002010-03-26T05:00:00.969-06:00Funny: Why you want to be an engineer!<a href="http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1797"><br />
<img src="http://www.smbc-comics.com/comics/20100219.gif" /></a>Al Gunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06147832028584159376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19364023.post-69846240224776827652010-03-24T05:00:00.000-06:002010-03-24T05:00:05.019-06:00Are Schools Dangerously Irrelevant?Interesting talk by <a href="http://www.dangerouslyirrelevant.org/">Scott McLeod</a>. He says the economic and information landscape is changing:<br />
1. Jobs that can be relocated where labor is cheaper will be relocated.<br />
2. Move from content consumer to content creator where we are hyper-connected with each other.<br />
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He then asks what are we doing about it in our schools? To which he answers, for the most part, nothing.<br />
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Ends by asking the audience, "How do we prepare our kids for the next 50 years instead of the last 50 years?"<br />
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Good question!<br />
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Follow this up with a slideshow given by <a href="http://www.dangerouslyirrelevant.org/2009/12/what-i-said-to-the-nea.html">Scott to the NEA</a>. Elaborates on some of the previous points. Also some good slides showing the shifts in jobs.<br />
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<embed allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" bgcolor="undefined" flashvars="file=http://www.teachertube.com/embedFLV.php?pg=video_154653&menu=false&frontcolor=ffffff&lightcolor=FF0000&logo=http://www.teachertube.com/www3/images/greylogo.swf&skin=http://www.teachertube.com/embed/overlay.swf&volume=80&controlbar=over&displayclick=link&viral.link=http://www.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=154653&stretching=exactfit&plugins=viral-2&viral.callout=none&viral.onpause=false" height="275" src="http://www.teachertube.com/embed/player.swf" width="470"></embed>Al Gunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06147832028584159376noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19364023.post-27520022510510700862010-03-23T05:00:00.001-06:002010-03-23T05:00:03.647-06:00How to Solder (Instructables)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcErSUSCEl9XStKLx9ohkknYRcOR3hg7t4GNl8cuON3-ChZjNOf55gDZPFdxwMrATCoKtmsxSDoTJdMu9Q6Hoq3ltFaRJXH0PMD-C_V3_VFXccp0tdoazkoFqVlIwHdgcHE0VT7Q/s1600-h/Soldering-wire.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcErSUSCEl9XStKLx9ohkknYRcOR3hg7t4GNl8cuON3-ChZjNOf55gDZPFdxwMrATCoKtmsxSDoTJdMu9Q6Hoq3ltFaRJXH0PMD-C_V3_VFXccp0tdoazkoFqVlIwHdgcHE0VT7Q/s320/Soldering-wire.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Good tutorial on <a href="http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-solder/">How to Solder</a> over at Instructables. Never hurts to have several resources/references on a topic when you are first learning. <br />
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Lots of nice closeup shots and some video to boot.<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">[Image captured from How to Solder: Instructables: http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-solder/step3/Soldering-wire/]</span>Al Gunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06147832028584159376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19364023.post-76354265149406482792010-03-22T05:00:00.005-06:002010-03-22T05:00:01.811-06:00How to Save a Wet Cell PhoneOne of my students spilled some bottled water on her electronic keyboard. She asked me if she could save it and I told here what I knew which was basically let it dry out before you turned it on again. Found this <a href="http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2010/03/how-to_save_a_wet_cell_phone.html">little visual</a> that gives some better ideas. (Tina this is for you!)<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0ub_3IcZvOh4oRT8kLMXwUMb4GVKuKmEDZ1n2QmcajvJ0OOEx61nWSsd6PCeLPquOVSFl6o-VjUizZy5CFWzV6AA8WEeW2le_2e2LUhreaP9Z-BWlJynTEemTHPgEPl7qZyheGw/s1600-h/Cell-Phone-Survival-TipsWEB6-JPEG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0ub_3IcZvOh4oRT8kLMXwUMb4GVKuKmEDZ1n2QmcajvJ0OOEx61nWSsd6PCeLPquOVSFl6o-VjUizZy5CFWzV6AA8WEeW2le_2e2LUhreaP9Z-BWlJynTEemTHPgEPl7qZyheGw/s640/Cell-Phone-Survival-TipsWEB6-JPEG.jpg" width="388" /></a></div><div><br />
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</div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[Image from GeekSauad: http://www.geeksquad.com/intelligence/blog/tips-to-save-your-cell-phone-this-st-patricks-day/]</span></span></div></div>Al Gunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06147832028584159376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19364023.post-47704291645242488192010-03-20T18:01:00.000-06:002010-03-20T18:01:16.669-06:00Employers: Look to gaming to motivate staffRecent <a href="http://www.itnews.com.au/News/169862,employers-look-to-gaming-to-motivate-staff.aspx">article</a> in itNews that discusses Lee Sheldon's idea of using game design to evaluate the students in his class instead of grades. (Mentioned in this <a href="http://painlesstechnology.blogspot.com/2010/03/game-ified-life.html">previous post</a>)Al Gunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06147832028584159376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19364023.post-52016576462830713572010-03-19T05:00:00.000-06:002010-03-19T05:00:04.063-06:00Funny: Foolishly Seeking Love<object height="225" width="400"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=9073623&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1" /><embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=9073623&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="400" height="225"></embed></object><br />
<a href="http://vimeo.com/9073623">Foolishly Seeking True Love</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/jarrettconaway">Jarrett Lee Conaway</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.Al Gunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06147832028584159376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19364023.post-73958757458311135932010-03-18T05:00:00.016-06:002010-03-18T05:00:04.504-06:00Entertainment vs EngagementTalk by <a href="http://doug-johnson.squarespace.com/blue-skunk-blog/2010/3/11/my-tedxasb-talk.html">Doug Johnson</a> titled, Entertainment vs Engagement.<br />
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<blockquote>"I think too often we confuse those two terms (entertain and engage), when we think we should be entertaining, we should be engaging."</blockquote><blockquote>"Engagement has a learning component that goes with it."</blockquote><br />
<object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/uh4sbHfu-jo&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/uh4sbHfu-jo&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>Al Gunnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06147832028584159376noreply@blogger.com0