IT students from Champlain College build an iPhone app in real time at Learning 2009 conference.
http://twitter.com/CClearns
The app is called “I’m New” and it’s for new employee orientation. Should be done by Wednesday.
Having recently received a price of over $300 to replace a lost car key, and past experience losing cell phones, cameras, other items that fall out of my pockets and cost a bunch to replace, I signed up today for a Lost and Found Label system. Looks like there a few companies in this business, but not a lot of web chatter on who’s best or who has the best return rate. So, picking the company with the best logo – I sent $5 bucks off to U-Found.Org for a set of key tags, pet tags(1), and 20 other labels – enough to plaster all of my valuable stuff. I like that I don’t have to share any personal info on my label – the finder just contacts the company, and either we set up a personal hand-off, or the company arranges shipping (if I lose my phone in Hawaii for example). I hope I never have to find out how well this works, but if I wasn’t a loser – I wouldn’t have bothered – so I probably will.
http://www.u-found.org/UFD/Home
By the way – if anyone finds a set of keys to a Toyota Sienna in Lake Forrest Park, leave me a note… ;-)
Microsoft SnackBox (www.beta.snackbox.microsoft.com) just released two new collaborative features: Embed links and shareable URLs.
For Windows Live Writer blog software – just copy and past the Embed URL into the Source pane of the blog entry.
Viola -
Introducing Windows 7
by
Snack Owner
Hang in there guys and girls. Better times are coming. You may want to consider moving to Prague if you want them faster:
IT employment should increase by 5.8 million jobs by the end of 2013, compared to the current base of 35.6 million. That growth would be three times the rate of general employment growth worldwide. The area with the fastest predicted growth is central and eastern Europe.
Microsoft Pri0 | IT jobs will grow faster than general employment, according to Microsoft study | Seattle Times Newspaper
I spent way too much time this weekend trying to remove the remnants of MyWebTattoo and FastBrowserSearch.com. MyWebTattoo is an application advertised on facebook, which a family member installed, agreeing at the same time to switch the default search provider to FastBrowserSearch.com, and to install SearchGaurd – which prevents you from ordinarily setting any of these changes back to the Windows defaults. This BHO (browser help object) was persistent, and would not give up it’s hold on my About:tabs page in IE (the new tab page). I tried about 3 hours of malware and spyware tools to no avail. There’s lots of info on the web on how to reset the after effects of this POS (piece of …), but nothing worked – including unregistering and re-registering DLLs. Finally – as much as it defies logic to do so – I reinstalled the scamware, and then was able to uninstall everything through control panel. So that’s the word to the herd – if you can’t uninstall fastbrowsersearch and searchgaurd – go to http://mywebtattoo.com/, reinstall the dastardly app, and then uninstall.
The first community authored snack – Using Alerts in Microsoft Office SharePoint has been posted to SnackBox.
Alerts in Microsoft Office SharePoint
I guess I need to now get a 4th generation, and my 4th, Zune. Anyone wanna buy a 4, 30, or 120 GB model?
Zune HD hands-on look, impressions, tears of joy | MP3 Insider - CNET Reviews
Here’s a montage of the Envisioning the Future video series from Office Labs:
Watch Video
More in this series here.
Thinking of moving from notebook to netbook? Read this survey report article…
As Small Notebooks, Netbooks Largely Dash Expectations
I’ve had a notebook for about 4 months, so here are my not-so-positive thoughts on the experience:
- A netbook (at least mine) is not a notebook/desktop replacement.
- A netbook is an internet device, not a productivity machine.
- Net means internet (or network I guess). Get with the program and commit to cloud computing (sky drive, google apps, etc.)
- Linux is not the right OS if you want full control over your PC. Windows 7 rocks on a netbook. You can save a few bucks ordering the less expensive Linux option, and then clean install the Windows 7 RC.
- 16 GB SSD is not enough for Win7 and anything else. 32? Maybe. 160 disk-based HD – sort of defeats the purpose of light, quiet, and long days unplugged.
- Lightweight = small battery = carrying a charger. Misses the point of traveling light. Look for 6-cell batteries, but expect to weigh in a little heavier – but probably no more so than a 4 cell + a charger. I get about 2.5 hours to a charge – not what I was looking for in a netbook.
- I have never used my 3G wireless support for connecting to the web, other than to test it out. I’ve suspended, but kept, the extra SIM card – and am saving $40/month with AT&T. Wi-Fi = 90% of the time I need online, tethered to phone = 10%.
- Like a smartphone, I turned off a bunch of features to extend battery life: 3G, Wifi, and quickly go into sleep mode of screen off mode.
- If portability means going to the park, beach, ball game – screens are still not sunlight-friendly. This is an indoor machine.
- Warm nights on the deck or dock? Why can’t I have a backlit keyboard???
- I have never missed having a DVD drive. I can do everything from a thumb drive (watch movies, install OS, apps, store offline).
Net – my netbook missed my expectations as often as it met them. But – that’s the price for getting in on something early (2nd gen NBs). The next gen netbooks address most of these issues, but the prices are creeping up towards entry level laptops – so time to decide for power and screen size vs. portability.
Introducing the SnackBox beta!
Microsoft Learning introduces SnackBox, a new place to view and create Silverlight Learning Snacks!
http://beta.snackbox.microsoft.com
There’s a vast resource of knowledge out there – SME’s, MCT’s, MCP’s and others who are eager to share their expertise.
The combination of the Learning Content Development System (LCDS), the Snack Converter, and now the SnackBox platform enables the community to build and publish Silverlight Learning Snacks. Learners, after signing in to SnackBox, can rate the snacks published by both MSL and the community.
Learning Snacks fill a vital spot in the community authoring strategy for MSL. Learning Snacks and SnackBox enable the community to create online learning without having to be an e-learning expert because all of the instructional design and production elements are baked into the experience. And SnackBox is provided free of charge.
SnackBox Highlights
- Provides an easy way to browse and find Microsoft Learning and community- created snacks.
- Enables the Microsoft Learning Community to easily create snacks using the LCDS and Snack Converter tool.
- Distinguishes between community produced and Microsoft produced Snacks
- Allows users to rate snacks
- Allows us to highlight top community contributors
I’m waiting for my local power utility (PSE) to start sending the data feed to HOHM so I can track my energy usage in real-time – but Microsoft Hohm gave me plenty of homework to do while I wait. Completing the Home Profile gets you thinking about the ways in which you use energy in your home, and the resulting list of Top Ways to Save range from the incredibly simple (lowering the temp on your hot water heater) to the extreme (replacing all of your windows).
With live data from my utility company, this will get even more accurate and actionable, but for now it’s a great start at applying basic software services at solving a growing problem. The money savings are right up front, and are what will motivate folks to change their behavior.
Microsoft opens Hohm to energy monitoring | Green Tech - CNET News
This fits nicely into the Wired magazine cover story this month on how we use data to guide our decision making. Living by the numbers…
I just got my mobile bill from AT&T, and somehow we (members of my family plan) managed to rack up over $100 in text messages this month. At $.20 per, it adds up fast. Can I skip the $30/month for unlimited texting with AT&T and just use a mobile twitter client and send direct messages? What’s the lag time like?
Trying to answer my own questions tonight with Twikini. Having a little problem with the Windows Mobile app, as you can see below. I do like that it supports multiple twitter accounts; I use one for work, and one for personal. BTW – MSELRN is the work account for posting new e-learning course releases. And I will have to find an iPhone client for the rest of the family. But stands to reason that we do not all have to be on the same client for this to work.
Stay tuned for updates on how well twitter replaces texting…
