Apple released Snow Leopard, the next version of the operating system, a little earlier than they’d originally planned. A good summary of its features is in the NY Times this morning. It’s faster, smaller in terms of disk space it needs, and offers some, but not tons, of new features. It only runs on Intel chips.
At Lab, we always wait for the first couple of updates and bug fixes to come out before installing a new OS version. We are already licensed for it under the terms of an Apple Maintenance Agreement we bought when Leopard came out. We’ll start testing and evaluation and then likely begin upgrading after the fall quarter.
Posted on August 29th, 2009 by Curt Lieneck
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A hearty welcome to this year’s new folks at Lab! Our goal in IS is to make your first year at Lab as easy and tech pain-free as possible. Be sure to ask as many questions as you need to; in contrast to some school tech departments, we actually like people and you will not be “bothering” us by expressing a need or a concern.
Do check the IS web site for policies, frequently asked questions, tutorials, and other resources. Or come on down to the Judd basement for good old f2f interactions. There’s lots to learn, as Lab is blessed with lots of technology resources and an excellent staff to support it, so just take it a day at a time.
Posted on August 25th, 2009 by Curt Lieneck
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…a software application designed to help you concentrate on your work instead of playing with other software applications. That sound you hear is the 4th grade teacher in me cringing.
Posted on August 19th, 2009 by Curt Lieneck
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The much beloved Flip camera is evolving. Check out Wired Magazine’s report on this new model from Kodak.
Posted on August 18th, 2009 by Curt Lieneck
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This post in Ars Technica offers some great advice on how to keep your Facebook presence as private as you would like.
Posted on August 14th, 2009 by Curt Lieneck
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Remember the series of posts from this spring about vendor relations? I thought it was all pretty absurd back then, but it just keeps getting weirder and weirder.
This week, I got to say all over again what the hardware failure problems were and the impact they’ve had on my budget and our operation, and the vendor’s engineers still can’t recreate the driver problem without more information from us, despite the fact that several other customers have experienced the same problem. We’ve been reporting these issues for at least two years. Let me say that again: two years.
Like Yogi Berra once said, “It’s like deja vu all over again.” After 11 years in the trenches, I thought I had taken all the best Kafka-esque shots out there, but apparently I haven’t.
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Posted on August 13th, 2009 by Curt Lieneck
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Real Simple Syndication (RSS) is something you’ve likely heard mentioned in discussions about the web but may me confused about. Very simply, RSS is something which allows you to subscribe to a web site’s content. Instead of checking a site to determine if there’s something new, you can use RSS to have the new content automatically sent to you. Once you start using RSS, you’ll likely wonder how you did without it.
How do you get started? There are many different ways of using RSS, but I’ll share one of the simplest. Mail, the email program which comes with your Mac, is capable of receiving RSS feeds directly so it’s just a matter of setting up the feed. Here’s how you do it using Safari to browse to the page.
1. Find a web site that uses RSS. Safari makes it easy to check: a site using RSS will have this icon in the address bar.
2. Click on the RSS icon. If several options are shown, choose “RSS feed.” The site’s RSS page will load.
3. Highlight and copy the address of the feed page.
4. In Mail, click the plus sign, and choose “Add RSS Feeds”
5. Paste the feed address in the box which pops up and click “Add”
6. The RSS feed appears in your Mail sidebar, and as new content is added to the site, the updates appear just like new unread emails.
Posted on May 19th, 2009 by Joe Kallo
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As Joe previously posted, one of the major improvements in Leopard is the enhancement of Spotlight functionality. If you’re not familiar with it, Spotlight is a tool that can be used quickly to search for just about anything in your Mac. You activate it by clicking on the magnifying glass in the upper-right corner of your screen or by pressing the command key and the space bar at the same time.
A subtle, new feature is the ability for Spotlight to search the Dictionary application for results. Just type in a word you would like to look up and Spotlight will include the definition in the results. Selecting the “Definition” result will open the Dictionary application where you can read the full definition, see related terms, and even jump over to the thesaurus section if you like.
To learn more about spotlight, read here.
Posted on May 11th, 2009 by Phillip Thomas
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This post lists sites where you can find the latest news about Apple products and services. I thought I’d list a few of them here, too, for handy reference.
The Unofficial Apple Weblog
macnn
MacWorld
ArsTechnica
MacRumors
AppleInsider
Alltop
LifeHacker
Mac OS X Hints
Apple Pro Tips
Cult of Mac
The Joy of Tech
Version Tracker
MacUpdate
MacApper
iusethis
Posted on May 4th, 2009 by Allison Weiss
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Backchannels are text-only, web based conversations that can supplement face-to-face discussion in the classroom. Maybe you’ve had the experience of attending a presentation where there were many participants with lots of questions, making it almost impossible for the presenter to address them all and still cover the material. Backchannels can alleviate this problem by creating an online space where participants can ask questions while the presenter is talking. Other participants can type their answers or opinions without disrupting the overall flow of the class.
Backchannels require a certain level of comfort with multi-tasking, because you are reading, writing, and listening all at the same time. While some teachers might view this as distracting, most students prefer this multi-modal approach to new content and there is research to support that such practices increase retention.
Teachers in elementary, secondary, post-secondary, and graduate classrooms are beginning to use backchannels as a central feature of their classrooms. Students are using tools like twitter, chatterous, and EtherPad to take notes on important points made in class. This accompanying text makes it easier for students to study later and to document their questions in a place where they won’t be forgotten. More importantly, text-only contributions to class discussions open up an alternative way for less-vocal students to express their opinions.
Be sure to maintain the privacy of your students by using classroom nicknames for public, online discussions. See our Web Posting Checklist for more information.
Posted on May 1st, 2009 by Allison Weiss
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