An Apple a day keeps malware away

I've been perusing my favorite online tech news sources and on two separate sites,

Here and Here

are articles that discuss why the Windows OS ..at least pre-Vista, are more susceptible to viruses, spyware and other malware than the Mac OS X operating system is. Finally, now I can cut 5 to 10 minutes out of my speech when I'm convincing people to purchase a Mac instead of a PC!

No, this is not where I go off on a tangent explaining why one is so much better than the other, but don't go around thinking that people purchase Macs only because of the witty advertisements on T.V. Society may be gullible when it comes to advertisements and fads, and Apple's advertising might even qualify as a popular fad ..but at least they can back up everything they say on T.V. with quality products. End Mac Rant.

On another note, I shared an article about Wikipedia and education with the staff at my school district in hopes that it will jump-start their interest in technology. I received a funny e-mail from one of the elementary school teachers that was just way too good to not share with everyone. The sender of the e-mail will remain anonymous and if you would like to read the article that she is discussing in the e-mail, you can find the article here :

http://www.dangerouslyirrelevant.org/2008/11/teaching-administrators-about-wikipedia.html

The E-Mail:

Hi,
This happened to me last year... it hasn't stopped me from having
students use Wikipedia, but it has made start explaining the concept
of Wikipedia to them.

I had the 4th graders in the computer labs looking up a specific breed
of dog I had assigned them. One students had the St. Bernard. He calls
me over to his computer and he is looking at Wikipedia. In the middle
of the article, it says "St. Bernards are gay, just like their gay
owners." Sort of funny - sort of not. Anyway, I chose to use it as a
learning experience. ;)

This is what we need to see more educators doing, going with the flow and explaining why things are the way they are when a situation like this comes up. The internet is a double-edged sword in a way. The great thing about it is that it is completely free and open to whatever anyone wants to do or say, that is also its downfall, especially when it comes to trying to use it in an educational fashion. We spend so much effort and time trying to properly censor everything that the experience that the children are often left with is one of frustration or even in some cases, an antipathy towards the internet and technology in general. I administer a web filter called BESS for our school system and I've seen kids throw their hands up in frustration many MANY times because they were trying to search for something totally innocuous but it was blocked by the filter because the website had contained something like a children's game or football scores. Alas, this is the only way we can ensure a safe enviornment for the children when they visit the World Wide Web..and the teachers are doing the best they can to circumvent the badness. In my effort to open up more avenues for my staff and make them more comfortable with the web and technology I find myself sending out e-mails to them that contain information or links to information that would make their day to days on the interwebz a little less frustrating. A couple examples would be:

http://digg.com/software/Making_web_pages_into_clickable_apps

This is a posting from Dave Trask's blog that points you to this app called Prism that lets you take web applications and make them "standalone" on your computer. You know, something simple..one click and they are where they need to be. Perfect for younger students who are just learning to navigate the web or even to use only as a time saver. A great example of a small change that can make a big difference for some educators.

Another example is this:

http://www.freeemailtutorials.com

A simple little site that has step by step instructions on how to perform necessary tasks on almost ALL of the popular mail clients out there today like Mac Mail, Outlook and Thunderbird. It explains steps thoroughly, with full color pictures, how to do anything from starting up the client to controlling the flow of your mail with message filters and rules. It's great for my staff especially since they have only recently been introduced to a whole new world of e-mail compared to the "legacy" Mercury Server/Pegasus client they've been using for the better part of the last decade.

I'm hoping that by sharing all these little tidbits of tech saavy that the staff will take the time to look up what they're interested in and teach themselves some of the more simple tasks so I can focus on the ones that really require some heavy duty training...like using iWeb or iMovie to create fantastical things!

Speaking of free and open, there is a free social networking app on the web called "Ning" that I have yet to take advantage of but I find myself envious of some of the things people have managed to produce with it. An excellent example of how things like this can be integrated into ones curriculum can be found at :

http://meholocausteducation.ning.com/

This site has been nominated by Edublog for an award as the "Best use of a Social Network" in education. The site was created by a colleage of mine, Ernie Easter, and his students over at the New Sweden school system. Not only are students learning about the Holocaust and genocide by participating in this project, they are also part of a huge community where they can collaborate and share ideas on the subject, allowing them to interact with the learning material and make the experience all the more memorable for them. Also, it's a great way of helping to prevent it from ever happening again. Congratulations to Ernie and his class, I put a vote in for you and I would encourage everyone who reads this to do the same.

One last thing before I venture off to pick up the little one from daycare. Retail. Why are retail employers so heartless? I know it's "just business" but come on, people need to make a living here. Why is it that the second someone tries to better themselves you have to smack them in the face and blatantly show them how little they are worth to you? HUH RETAIL?!@ Alyssa is trying to finish up her degree as fast as she can and in an effort to do this she has stepped aside as the Assistant Manager of Claire's...or as I like to call it "Junkopolis". She has worked there for almost 5 years now and as an Assistant Manager was making a decent wage, not what an Assistant Manager is really worth, but it was decent. So, she heard today that because she has given up her position as AM and she will now only be a part-time "third-key" that she has to take a paycut. This paycut that they gave her, puts her pay rate a mere 50 or so cents above what the new hires are making. That's just atrocious. What makes it even worse is the fact that the Manager had to fight to get her that wage, they had every intention of dropping her pay rate down to the hiring rate, apparently 5 years with a company has no bearing on what they pay you at Claire's. It just goes to show how much retailers really appreciate their employees, how expendable you really are when it comes to menial jobs like stocking shelves and taking money from customers. And they wonder why turn-over rates are so high and customer service ratings are so low? Maybe if you stopped treating your employees like the garbage that you sell, you might sell more of your garbage and more customers would be happy..you soul-sucking pissfaces.

Glad I got that out.

Off to pick up the child.

Have a nice night everyone!

Does Walmart really pay you enough?

I'm writing this post from the comfort...and safety of my sofa. In 9 hours the corporate proclaimed holiday entitled "Black Friday" will have passed and the population..and our pocketbooks will be safe once more.

I fell asleep around 12:30 am. For some reason I couldn't sleep, but trust me, it was NOT because I was excited. If anything it was anxiety causing my sleeplessness. Originally our plan was to endure the shopping marathon from hell with Alyssa's friend Erica, but somewhere in the middle of our Thanksgiving evening we managed to pick up Alyssa's aunt and cousin as well. If you've ever been shopping on the day of days, you know that the bigger and faster your team is, the better chance you have.

3:00 AM. The alarm clock awakens me. This is it, time to wake up, get some caffeine in me, and prepare myself.
3:30 AM. We're out the door, on the way to pick up Erica whose car will not start. Seems to be a bad omen but I shrug it off and
continue on our journey to Walmart.

3:45ish AM. In the Walmart parking lot. We meet up with Alyssa's family and head for the doors which are already crowded with a cadre of people. We thought we were being wise by showing up an hour early. We were wrong. Alyssa's aunt and her cousin decide to make a run for coffee, we were grateful...it was freezing outside.

4:05 AM. They open the doors but tell us to stop at the end of the registers. Apparently they felt bad leaving the cattle out in the cold. We had to leave Alyssa's family behind in order to save our spots. Alyssa called them and told them to return ASAP and get our coffee from Dunkin Donuts.

4:35 AM. Got our maps and scoped out where the things we wanted were located. At this point in the game there were probably a thousand people or more waiting to go and the number was increasing exponentially by the minute. Decided that I had better finish my boiling hot drink before the madness ensued. Using my drink as a weapon of war had crossed my mind but it is not in my nature to scald another human being for a gift item. Finished the drink. Due to my location in the herd and my inability to reach a garbage can, I added a decorative Dunkin Donuts cup as an ornament to the store Christmas tree.

4:52 AM. This is the last time I checked the hour. I noticed the masses had managed to inch their way forward slowly..pressing back the poor, frightened Walmart staff. I made it very clear to Alyssa and Erica that I was under no circumstances going to run...so if they saw my gift item (which will remain anonymous because certain people may be reading this) to grab it and hold it until I caught up.

When they let everyone go..the sound was maddening. There was screaming, people running and items being thrown about. It was like war...only the weapons were barbies and the soldiers were desperate moms and dads who were just trying to make their children happy. Alyssa and Erica started off at a walking pace..but about half-way through the store they had quickened to a jog..and finally again to an all out sprint, leaving me in their dust. I turned the corner and started to head toward electronics, where my gift item was located and I found myself horrified by what I saw. The entire aisle was impassible. We're talking 50 ft by ...oh...300-400 yards..that was jammed FULL of people with shopping carts, dollys with tvs and all with determined or concerned looks on their faces. I had noticed that Alyssa, in her state of panic..and maybe even fear, had passed an important item on our list that we needed multiples of. I decided that my one item was not as important as these gifts..so I stopped and grabbed the amount needed of said item. I continued onward, through the sea of people, dodging runners and shopping carts. All of this while trying to attend the wounds I was receiving from repeated jabs in the ribs with certain items protruding from said carts...some of these items the exact one I was after. The number of these items in peoples carts seemed to be increasing as I waded to the electronics section of the store...equally increasing were my injuries caused by said items. I finally made it to my destination. Electronics. By now I had completely lost everyone in my shopping party. I looked up, asking God why he had destined me to do this alone. I went to the section of electronics where the item I wanted should have been. This is where I saw the most amazing thing ever....

I literally watched 2 pallets of Nintendo Wii's ..stacked about 5 feet high...disappear right before my eyes. One second they were there...the next they weren't. At this point I was grateful that I had impulse purchased mine last year. I looked as best I could through the swarm of human beings (if that's what you could call them at this point) and could not see what I was looking for. They were all gone. Every single one. The ONE item I just HAD to get..and they were gone. I almost burst into tears. After that moment of weakness I had decided that preserving my life was more important and that I needed to get moving lest I be trampled into paste. I walked around electronics and caught up with Alyssa and helped her and Erica work out their lists.

After what seemed like a lifetime, Alyssa and Erica had everything they wanted. Or at least close to it. I was still very disappointed but also just as determined to get out of this mess alive. We met up with Alyssa's aunt and cousin and worked out a plan of escape. While we were sketching out a battle plan, my sister's boyfriend came up behind me and recounted the tale of his attempt to procure a gift for my sister. He had arrived too late as well and had to get something in lieu of what he had originally intended. He asked us where something else was located, we told him and wished him luck on his search. Alyssa then remembered another item that she needed to get that required a return trip into what I now unaffectionately call "Mordor".
We spent a few minutes trying to round up an associate to remove the item from the lock up..and then started heading out. I turned around to leave and saw that someone had actually returned one of the items that Eric was looking for earlier. I quickly grabbed it up and made it my mission to find him. On our way by the register..the associate there mentioned to the associate who had just helped us..that the manager just across the way had one of the items that I was looking for. I had no idea whether the item was already spoken for or not, but after everything I had gone through....I had to try. I walked over to the manager and ..doing the best acting I had EVER done...CALMLY asked him if the item was spoken for. He said that it was NOT spoken for and I offered him any monetary value that he requested ..if he would just give it to me. He gave it up..and for a moment..I became religious. Funny how that works. So now I have what I came for, the last one in the store...and I'm not just saying that to make the story better either. It's not over though..I still must find Eric and get out of retail purgatory. I looked all over the store trying to find him but there were way too many people and way too many places he could be. I never did find him and I ended up returning the item. Ironically while we were in line to check out..he ended up standing right behind me and I told him that I failed him ..and that I would make it up to him somehow..someday...maybe next black friday:) Standing in the checkout aisle made me think of a bad birthday party where you get great gifts but you have opened your presents and got everything you wanted..but now you just have to suffer through till the end of the party before you can play with what you got.
We all paid for our stuff...got it out into the car and left. We did make a trip to Staples as well..but when we saw the line for the register wrapped completely around the building, we decided that nothing would be worth that long of a wait in line.
We got home and Alyssa started looking at her receipts. Turns out one of the items that she had purchased, she ended up being charged $20 more than it was advertised for on the website. This meant another inescapable trip to ... Walmart. We took the item to the service desk..where we were told that they had no ability to match their OWN website prices and that the only thing they could do was return it for a refund. I know....how much sense does that make right? Walmart is a multi-million dollar corporation...and they can't even price match themselves on their own website. All of this even though the website had said "In Stores" right next to the price of the item. Alyssa decided she would just get her money refunded and buy the item on the web instead. She ended up saving quite a bit even with shipping included.

To end my story, we all made it out alive and with...well..few injuries. My ribs feel like they might be bruised.:(

There was a Walmart in Arkansas where one poor Walmart associate was actually trampled to death by crazed shoppers who literally took the doors off of their tracks on the way in. This is the link:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081128/ap_on_re_us/wal_mart_death

May our thoughts and prayers go out to this person's family. What a horrible way to go out.

Black Friday is a great example of how hysterical society can become over material items. It's sad when someone actually loses their life over an item that will probably be forgotten by next Christmas.

All in all it WAS an interesting experience. I'm glad no one was seriously injured here. Also, Dave Trask was right...in the starting moments, we were all rounded up like a large herd of cattle. I tried mooing, but nothing really became of my efforts. I'm glad I gave it a shot though:)

Happy Holidays all!

Photo credit: Here

Microblogging is fun and all..but.....

I've never been much for blogging. In my teen years I dabbled a little in the world of LiveJournal and was quickly turned off by massive amounts of drama, plus...I never really had anything worth writing about. I'm not saying that anything I have to say now is any more worthwhile than what I had to say back then but I often feel the need to record my thoughts somewhere and maybe share some of my aggregation of knowledge with the world. Oh...and I can always reference this when I forget something since I've found that my memory has been slacking lately. Where to begin? I guess I'll start with the basics. I'm a 26 year old male, living in what some would refer to as the "sticks" in Northern Maine. I work for Easton School System as a Technology Director and Integrator. In my off time I attend Northern Maine Community College where I'm one semester away from snagging my second degree, in Computer Information Systems. I live with my fiancee Alyssa, who I have been with for about 5 years now, and her 6 year old daughter Kayla. When I have a spare moment I enjoy playing guitar, my Xbox 360(addicted to consoles as a child and can't shake the habit), the occasional movie, listening to my favorite podcasts and reading.
My passion is technology. I, whether by design or by chance, have managed to integrate it into almost every part of my life. I spend my days trying to think up new ways to integrate technology into education when I'm not spending my time fixing it when it breaks down. My principal, our two teacher leaders and I went to an MLTI conference a couple weeks ago that was focused on integration of technology in the classroom. There was an eye opening presentation explaining the correct balance of pedagogy, knowledge and technology, with well defined examples of how technology should function at these different levels of integration. There are 4 levels in this model, which is called the SAMR model, that define what role technology is playing in a teacher's curriculum and what your next goal should be. SAMR stands for "Substitution", "Augmentation", "Modification" and "Redefinition". I'm not going to go into detail on each one but lets just say that the "Modification" and "Redefinition" are the levels to shoot for in most situations. So, after the presentation, I came back from the conference wondering what I could do to redefine the process in which my staff uses the provided technology to improve the learning experience for the students. Over harvest break (we get three weeks off from school to pick potatoes here), I helped our HS math teacher install a projector in his classroom. He wanted a way to project his Geogebra software onto the whiteboard so he could graph on his computer rather than by hand. Now, what he WANTED to do would have only fallen under the Substitution or Augmentation level of the model but he no idea how many possiblities that projector opened up for him. I decided that my next objective would be to open his eyes to some of these just to get the ball rolling. One suggestion he seemed to latch onto was the recording of his lessons. We actually managed to procure a Mimio appliance for him to use with his whiteboard, this gave me an idea. I showed him how easy it would be to download an application such as Jing and use it to record EVERYTHING he does on the whiteboard using Mimio mouse and Mimio studio. Now it doesn't matter if he's doing equations with a marker on the board or if he's working with graphs on his computer, it is all recorded as a flash video with Jing. Now he plans on creating these videos to use as study tool and also intends to use them as a way for students with extended absences to receive their lessons at home. I was amazed at how simple it was to move up the SAMR model just by introducing one simple piece of technology such as a projector.

The largest hurdle that I've come across is the acceptance of technology in the classroom. I think I spend more time convincing people or defending my ideas than I do actually integrating and improving the technology. There are so many amazing tools that my staff could be using to improve their ability to teach and maybe even make parts of their jobs more enjoyable, that I don't even know where to begin. Things like Wikipedia, Twitter, Google Docs, Open Office, multiple Firefox extensions...the list goes on and on. The majority of the time they are just tiny apps or add-ons, but now even the tiniest of applications can do some amazing things. It's hard to believe that in this day and age that people are still fearful of technology. I've come across many people who have said to me "I don't use it because I don't want to break it" or "I don't use it because I don't know how" and sometimes a combination of the two. What do I say?
Nothing is unfixable, and how can you learn to use it if you don't use it? The best training you will ever receive is experience, no matter what you are referencing. Whether it be a job, riding a bike...or using a piece of technology, the best way to learn..is to try.

To close my first..and probably my longest blog post...an article about the use of Wikipedia in education...it brings to light some factors that have come into play when it comes to teachers using it in their classrooms and it also helps to explain away and alleviate some doubts some of you may have about using it.

http://www.dangerouslyirrelevant.org/2008/11/teaching-administrators-about-wikipedia.html