Tag Archives: technology

Politics, Politics, Politics

Politics in Education you say? Never! Unfortunately this is a reality. This is not (necessarily) the same thing as bureaucracy. This is not (necessarily) about teachers being bogged down with the adult equivalent of busy-work; tracking every single digit of each students progress on a variety of forms preventing the educator from doing the one thing she should be doing: teaching! This is not (necessarily) the same thing… but it is probably closer than I’d like to think about. No, I’m talking about office politics. Sometimes it gets ugly. Students, remember how I’ve written frequently about the syllabus (and I … Continue reading →

Misplaced Concerns

I have a problem with distractions: they distract me. They distract me from important things. They distract me from the things I really need to concentrate on in my day to day life as a student and a teacher. These distractions are more than unfortunate realities but they are truly damaging to my ability to finish the tasks assigned to me. I’ve been focusing on finding a “quiet place” and some other ideas in the past, but how am I to avoid the onslaught of endless entertainments to be found on the internet; endless interruptions to be located in co-workers; … Continue reading →

Traveling Books or How the Digital can Suppress

I’m so concerned with and interested in new technologies that I often ignore older ones to my peril. This semester I’m working on a number of projects surrounding the use/abuse of copyright law as applied to the arts. Since my study isn’t confined to the twenty first century (or even the twentieth century for that matter) it would be unwise to rely entirely on the internet for securing resources and conducting research. This past week I used one of the tools I’d forgotten libraries had the ability to use: mail (and not the e-mail kind). Earlier this week a real, … Continue reading →

Google Gives 3D Disney Tour

One of our more popular Disney and Travel topics here at families.com is how to plan your Disney vacation. Even the most frugal of trips to a Disney attraction can be expensive. So it’s important to do a lot of research before embarking on a Disney vacation. Now Disney has partnered with Google to create a new way for web users to start researching and planning their trip to Disney World. Using the Google Earth program, downloadable onto your home computer, you can take a virtual tour of Disney World from the comfort of your own home. The Disney World … Continue reading →

Unlock Your Favorite Films with Disney KeyChest

Say goodbye to your DVDs and even your Blu-Rays, because Disney’s about to bring watching movies at home into a new era. At the beginning of the month the Walt Disney Corporation unveiled a new technology called KeyChest. KeyChest allows consumers to purchase television shows or movies, store them on remote servers, and then play them on various media devices, from TV’s to computers to mobile phones. KeyChest is expected to go on sale by the end of 2010. I don’t blame you if you can’t get your head around KeyChest. I couldn’t, at first. But after thinking about it … Continue reading →

My, How Hospitals Have Changed!

I can’t remember the last time I was in a hospital — maybe it was back in 2001, the summer that both my grandmother and grandfather passed away. If I’ve been in a hospital room since then, it’s lost in memory. But I was in a hospital room today — some very good friends of mine welcomed twins into the world. After I stopped being distracted by holding the tiny babies, I started looking around. Things certainly have changed! Probably the most impressive thing (at least to me) was the wristbands. Mom, Dad, and twins all had barcoded wristbands. This … Continue reading →

Moms Rock at Tech Stuff

For all you tech-savvy moms, who have spent hundreds of hours retrieving lost computer files, installing programs to protect your children from online predators and creating spreadsheets to organize your kid’s lives, your hard work is finally being validated. A new study shows that good ol’mom is the most computer literate member in the family. Go MOM! Call it a gender thing, because the study also found that more than 94 percent of girls are computers proficient, compared to 88 percent of boys. The research conducted by Britain’s University of Hertfordshire included 4,600 children ages six to 14 and aimed … Continue reading →

Computing Review: June 16th Through July 6th

From Zunes to fake speed bumps, the world of technology is always interesting. Here are some of our recent articles for the Computing Blog. Computing Week in Review: June 2nd Through June 15th Have you checked out the new iPhone yet or printed up some free Father’s Day cards and gifts? If not, you may have missed some of the articles from the last two weeks. Check them out now in the Computing Blog Week in review. Firefox Download May Have Set a New World Record What is your favorite browser? For many it is Firefox by Mozilla, a browser … Continue reading →

Fake Speed Bumps Coming Soon to a Road Near You

(Photo by AP news) What if you were driving along a quite road near your home or a busy street in an unfamiliar town when you suddenly noticed three pyramid-type structures or boxes sticking up in the road ahead. Chances are that you would immediately put on the brakes and slow down to avoid running hard over the objects. But, once you actually rolled over them, you would soon discover that these obstacles were actually fake speed bumps applied into the road. This newest technology of fake speed bumps consist of orange, blue and white plastic that sits flat and … Continue reading →

Students Use Zunes Instead of Books

Technology has made homework a completely different experience lately. That is because instead of taking home books, students at one rural New Mexico school are taking home MP3 player, Zunes to be exact. Teachers at the school were given a $400 bonus for coming up with lessons that could be podcasted or watched in video, and taken home to review by students. Microsoft supplied 100 students with Zunes for free in exchange for data from the school that indicated whether or not the student’s test scores have increased through use of the Zunes. The Zunes normally retail for $300. Students … Continue reading →