TeachAGeek

Article: Siri, Seriously: 10 Ways We’re Really Using Apple’s VoiceAssistant

2011-10-22T23:06:00.001-04:00

Trying to use Siri as a "real" assistant on my new iPhone 4s. This article has some good suggestions

Siri, Seriously: 10 Ways We're Really Using Apple's Voice Assistant
http://goo.gl/FzAEC

Dinky Page - Quick Links and website, no fuss

2009-08-30T20:19:00.003-04:00

Ever needed to quickly create a page of directions? How about a list of links for students to visit on your next trip to the media center?

Dinky Page bills themselves as "A free service to create disposable pages on the web." I must say that I can find tons of uses for this service...

Here's my quick example. Get your own at http://dinkypage.com
http://dinkypage.com/teachageek

Be aware that there are some limitations - the Dinky Page FAQ mentions that they do not do image hosting, so, pictures will need to be linked from an image hosting service. However, pages don't ever expire and you don't have to create an account to create your page. It sounds like a really good idea to me...

Found this via another of my favorite blogs, but, I needed to use this today, so, I thought I'd do a quick write up. Thanks Download Squad!

NCWise - not just for Internet Explorer, anymore...

2009-08-18T18:48:00.007-04:00

As a North Carolina Educator I am ~~forced~~, privileged to use NCWise daily to assist me in keeping up with Student Attendance and Grades. While this is a requirement of my job, the geek within just can't stand to use Internet Explorer. Especially not Internet Explorer 6, which my school system provides for me.

I had been happily using Firefox 3 for my NCWise needs up until the recent update to Firefox 3.5.2. After the update, Firefox quickly crashed upon launching and it was back to using IE for me...

A quick Google today helped me find the solution, though. Thanks to http://support.mozilla.com/tiki-view_forum_thread.php?locale=de&forumId=1&comments_parentId=410610 I found that all I needed to do was copy jvm.dll from my JRE install to the \bin\hotspot\ folder of Jinitiator. Hoorah, I'm back to NCWise in Firefox again.

It actually feels like NCWise runs better and faster in Firefox, but, I can't prove that....

That also got me wondering what other browsers might support Jinitiator.

A quick check tells me that Google Chrome doesn't, and maybe never will. (http://blogs.oracle.com/appstech/2008/09/chroma_for_applications.html) However, I did discover that Opera plays very nicely with Jinitiator, and surprise, surprise, it even works in Linux!!

So, goodbye Internet Explorer. I guess I just won't use the big blue "e" anymore. Now that I've found a way to use my Linux machines.... well, that just opened up a whole new world of possibilities.

FREE Online Registration System

2009-05-27T17:37:00.003-04:00

I hate this time of year - between testing, end-of-year cleanup, and just the general sense of apathy we get from students and staff it just seems to be such a chore to do anything. Include Blog Entries as well... :-)

Anyway, one item that I found that makes life a little easier is a FREE Online Registration system for your school events. Enter Eventbrite Online Event Registration Service. This service allows you to post your event at their site. Provided the event is FREE, it costs you absolutely nothing to use this site for your online registration. Eventbrite provides full reports (in csv format nonetheless) and will event help you print name badges the day of the event.

Should you decide to charge for your event, Eventbrite can help you collect money for tickets via PayPal, credit cards, etc. Eventbrite charges only 2.5% of the ticket price for this service.

Every summer my school does a Freshman Camp to help to ease parents and students into High School. Last year we started using this to help figure out how many parents & students to plan for. This service really helped and it was so simple an Assistant Principal could do it - really!! I set up our account initially and the two of us played with settings and options, but, he's taken over this year.

If you have a need for something like this, give Eventbrite a try - it's worth the time for me... ;-)

For an example of our own Freshman Camp see http://freshmencamp2009.eventbrite.com/.

File Conversion Site - even Publisher files!

2009-04-20T08:00:00.005-04:00

Found this at another friend's blog.... as the school "geek", I'm often ask to convert files that students bring in from home. This is sometimes a different version, sometimes a different program... so, it's nice to find things like this.

From http://wolfravenous.blogspot.com/2009/03/converting-publisher-files.html

I found a link that I think can be of some help to lots of people out there so I am going to post it here. It allows you to use a web page to convert files to other formats for free. So you could convert a Publisher file to a Word file or even into the open source ODT file format to be used with Open Office. Here is the link:

Zamzar File Conversion Page

Looks like http://zamzar.com will be added to my list of favorites. This site can convert all of the major file document types as well as images, videos, music, and even archives (zip, tgz, etc). Pretty cool find!!

Moodle Books

2009-04-15T21:16:00.002-04:00

I saw an interesting article today at Moodle.org. - http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=121208

If you're looking for a book about Moodle, please visit our Moodle Books database, which contains a variety of books and manuals, for both teachers and administrators, written by members of the Moodle community.

Recently added titles include the Moodle 1.9 Course Creator Reference Manual by Ray Lawrence and Moodle for Teaching 7-14 Year Olds by Mary Cooch. Both Ray and Mary are Particularly helpful Moodlers in our Using Moodle course.

Please note that when you buy a book from the Moodle Books database, you're helping support Moodle development, as a percentage of all sales goes to the Moodle Trust.

Looks like a good resource for Moodle books and I like the fact that you're donating to the Moodle trust.

Happy Moodlin'!

Moodle Admin: Site Files - The sharing solution

2009-04-03T17:31:00.016-04:00

Teaching with Moodle can be done with many of the same techniques and tricks used in traditional face-to-face instruction. Moodle can be used to improve upon face-to-face instruction, sometimes with unexpected results. In this case, Moodle was used to share common course documents across a large number of courses.

One way to accomplish this sharing of files is by using Moodle Site files. This is another one of those areas that most Moodle admins don't even know exist, but, using this feature can save in server space, and increase collaboration. I often use Site files to create a common document, place that document in Site files, then create a link to that file in a course. Then, I backup and restore that "base" course multiple times so that all courses are using the same file. This will allow me to make changes in that one file and apply those changes to all courses simultaneously.

Note: Site files is an administrator only option. If you want to use this as a non-admin user, you'll need to be really, really, nice to your Moodle administrator. :-)

To access your Site files, you can go to Front Page> Site files in the Site Administration menu, or go to http://yourdomain.edu/moodle/files/index.php?id=1. This should bring you to a screen similar to the one below (I'm using the Wood Custom Corners theme).

Remember that you can upload several files at one time by uploading a zip archive of your files and then use the Unzip function to decompress the archive once you've uploaded them.

If you run into upload limits while trying to upload your zip file(s), then try FTP'ing your files up to your moodledata folder. All site files are located in the folder: /moodledata/1/.

Site files can be used to share a variety of items across all of your moodle site or across the world. Note: files placed here can be accessed by anyone.

Finally, if you really can't use Site files for your shared resources, then, consider using an outside file sharing service. I like Dropbox (Please use my referral to obtain an extra 256 MB of storage space) to share large files for my moodle sites. It provides 2.5 GB of storage for FREE. Another alternative is ADrive. ADrive allows for 50 GB of storage, but, the links expire after 30 days, so, it is not quite as practical for sharing files in moodle.

Installing Ubuntu As A Development Web Server

2009-03-26T22:54:00.157-04:00

Recently I've been noticing lots and lots of error messages on my home development server. So, last weekend in between painting the shutters and scraping the porch, I reinstalled Ubuntu on an old IBM NetVista 6578-LAU that was given to me years ago. (NetVista... right, this thing still has a "Designed for Windows 98" sticker on it). The server's specs are unimpressive, 700 MHz Pentium III processor, 512 MB of RAM, and I added a 160 GB HDD to it, but, it's enough for me to play with Moodle, Joomla, and VTCalendar that I use in the websites I work with.

My requirements were fairly simple, I wanted to be able to manage the server primarily from my school-issued Windows XP laptop. I don't mind using the Ubuntu interface, but, I primarily run this "server" without a monitor and access it via Firefox, VNC, and Samba. This led me to install Ubuntu Desktop Edition, the LAMP stack and Webmin on my little server I called Tux. The notes below are how I did it. This configuration provides the most efficient tools for me, your mileage may vary. :-)

So, first, I installed Ubuntu 8.10 (Intrepid Ibex). I had recently requested a free set of CDs for my Networking classes, and I just really like how simple Ubuntu is to use and install.

After your first boot, go ahead and do the recommended system updates. This will take quite a while, so, I use the time wisely by doing the following steps:

Note: many of my notes use the domain tux.edu. This is an intranet domain that I set up on my Smoothwall firewall for in-house testing. I don't own this domain, but, it's appropriate since my machine's hostname is Tux and I learn on it. ;-)

Create a root password
I know it's not the "Ubuntu" way, but I started using Linux with early versions of Mandriva, Red Hat, and even Gentoo. I'll admit it... I'm used to having root access, I just don't like sudo, so, to actually have a root password and use su again type the command:

sudo passwd

Note: by issuing this command you can issue su - one time and avoid having to use sudo anywhere below.

Allow Others to View Your Desktop (Remote Desktop for VNC)
I connect to my server when I want to look at a Linux desktop via VNC (I like UltraVNC) at tux.edu:0. Just enable remote desktop and all is well... see the screenshot below:

System > Preferences > Remote Desktop

Once this step has been done, I generally switch the monitor, keyboard, and mouse back to my home desktop (I do love my KVM switch), then fire up tux.edu:0 in my VNC Viewer. Wait for the updates to finish and reboot.

After rebooting the fun begins... I add new services and programs to allow me to use this as a development server:

Add SFTP and SSH support

Allows access to sftp and ssh into the server (this is disabled by default in Ubuntu)

sudo apt-get install openssh-server openssh-client

I like SSH Secure Shell Client v 3.2.9 as my Windows SSH (and SFTP) client. It's been discontinued by SSH Secure Shell , but, it's free and available for use for education.

Add LAMP (Apache, MySQL, and PHP)

This is almost too easy to install LAMP in Ubuntu. I found https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ApacheMySQLPHP which mentions the following command:

sudo tasksel install lamp-server

Add Moodle-specific php extensions

I do a lot of work with Moodle, these extensions are used in current and future versions of Moodle. They are a must-have for me...

sudo apt-get install php5-curl php5-xmlrpc

Add Webmin for easy remote management

I used Webmin on my very first Linux server, and I've recently "rediscovered" it. From http://www.ubuntugeek.com/ubuntu-serverinstall-gui-and-webmin-in-ubuntu-810-intrepid-ibex-guide.html, issue the following commands:

sudo aptitude install perl libnet-ssleay-perl openssl libauthen-pam-perl libpam-runtime libio-pty-perl libmd5-perl

Latest version of Webmin as of 3/20/09 is 1.470 so.. enter the following:

wget http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/webadmin/webmin_1.470_all.deb

sudo dpkg -i webmin_1.470_all.deb

I can then login to webmin at https://tux.edu:10000

Add user to www-data group

So that I can easily add files to the web server directory, I like to add my local user to the www-data group. To do that:

Click on System > Users and groups
Locate and click on local user - geof
In Secondary Groups - scroll down to locate www-data group
Press -> to add as a group

Create html directory

Red Hat and most of my web hosts have an html directory (or httpdocs, etc). I like to create one in Ubuntu too... so, using Webmin or my SSH Client:

cd /var/www/

sudo mkdir html

sudo chown geof:www-data html

This allows my local user - geof - to be able to write to my html directory without having to worry about changing permissions, etc later. Quick and easy...

Use html directory as the location of all documents in web server

In Webmin...
Servers > Apache Webserver
Click on Existing virtual hosts tab
Click on Virtual Server icon (see pic)

Scroll down to Document Root and enter new directory /var/www/html

Press the Save button here, then go back up to the top right of the screen and click the Apply Changes link

Add phpMyAdmin

phpMyAdmin is the de facto standard for managing MySQL databases, it's the simplest way to manage databases for all of my LAMP scripts.

sudo apt-get install phpmyadmin

** Note: I ran into an issue here, I couldn't get http://tux.edu/phpmyadmin/ to work... maybe because I added /var/www/html to the mix?? Entering the following commands "fixed" my issue, maybe it will yours.

cd /var/www/html

sudo ln -sf /usr/share/phpmyadmin/

Extras

To have a "squiggle account" for quick tests (i.e. http://tux.edu/~geof). I used directions from: http://www.virtualmin.com/forums/help-home-for-newbies/preview-web-site-before-dns-propagation-.html#17477

In Webmin
Servers > Apache Web Server
Click on Global Configuration tab
Click on Configure Apache Modules
Place check beside userdir
Press the Enable Selected Modules button at the bottom of the page, then go back up to the top right of the screen and click the Apply Changes link

Samba (Windows File Sharing)

Must have for me to easily swap files between Windows laptop and server. Directions from: http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/ubuntu/install-samba-server-on-ubuntu/ helped me here.

sudo aptitude install samba smbfs

Use Webmin to configure samba

I always hated configuring samba... how many times have I had to redit the smb.conf file to add new features. Webmin makes this so much easier. Directions from: http://www.webmin.com/samba-howto.html

In Webmin
Servers > Samba Windows File Sharing
Click on Windows Networking
Enter details... my screen is shown below:

Press the Save button on the bottom of the screen
Next click on the Authentication Icon next to the Windows Networking Icon. Enable encrypted passwords then save the changes.
Click on the File Share Defaults icon and then on the Security and Access icon.
Enter details... my screen is shown below: (note that my network is pretty secure, and I only use this at home)

By default your home directories are shared when you enable Samba, so, you should have no problems accessing the public_html files we added before (squiggle account), but, most of the stuff we need in in /var/www/html so, why not add that as a Windows share?

In Webmin at Servers > Samba Windows File Sharing
Click on the Create a new file share. link on the top of the page
Enter the details to create html as a Windows Share on your server

Be sure to check the Security and Access Control to ensure that your user is a valid user.
Once done, click on Restart Samba Server to activate all the changes you've made.

Issue the smbpasswd command in a Terminal OR Webmin (Others > Command Shell)

Well, that does it! This left me with a local server I could administer and/or use on my network via web browser, My Network Places and SFTP/SSH. Note that there is also a File Browser in Webmin as well (Others > File Manager) - so you can upload files and manage your server from anywhere you can access this server by IP address.

Moodle Admin Basics

2009-03-19T23:27:00.001-04:00

As the main administrator of several Moodle sites, I'm often asked by new Moodle admins how to begin this daunting process. The first recommendation is to join the forums at moodle.org, I seriously could not survive without them. Secondly, pick up a book (or two) on Moodle. Then, let me start by giving what I feel are the basics of Moodle. This should help to understand what you're dealing with. I'm going to start at the ground level here, so, forgive me if I seem to go over concepts that you already know...

The LAMP stack
Most of us have probably done some type of website hosting and/or development before. You may be very proficient in html and editing those files. The first thing to understand about Moodle is that this is NOT an html based website. Moodle is written using PHP and all of the pages are stored in a database, usually MySQL. This means that you cannot simply download Moodle from moodle.org, double-click on it, and expect it to work.

PHP is a scripting language and requires a server for it to operate, that server is usually the Apache HTTP Server. MySQL databases also require a server to operate. These "servers" are actually services that run inside of an operating system. These elements make up what is called the Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP (LAMP) stack, this stack refers to these core services running inside of a Linux operating system. That is not to be said that other alternatives to these do not exist, but, the LAMP stack is the normal development environment for moodle and is the most common installation.

Moodle structure
When Moodle is installed, four important things happen.
1 - The Moodle php files are copied into the web directory
2 - The MySQL database is populated with information that allows Moodle to run
3 - The moodledata folder is created and populated with data - this data consists of anything that your users save as well as any course data
4 - The config.php file is created and populated with information specific to the computer it is installed in

This means that before you can install Moodle you will need to make sure you have working Apache, MySQL and PHP servers. Once that is complete, you can copy the Moodle files into the web directory and start these services. Then you will need to create a MySQL database. From there you can initiate the Moodle installation script in your web browser. Next, you'll need to find a place to put your moodledata folder. This folder should be outside of the main web directory, but, writable by Apache. Note: This sometimes is not available on some web hosts, when all else fails place your moodledata folder in your main web directory. In spite of the dire warnings issued, your folder is still safe from prying eyes in most cases. Finally, the Moodle installation script will create the config.php file to make sure that Apache, MySQL, and PHP know where everything is located.

Your Moodle server
Installing Moodle in the LAMP stack is recommended, but, not always appropriate for all users. Installing LAMP and then Moodle is beyond the scope of this discussion, but, there are alternatives for those new moodle admins who want to get used to the moodle interface without having to learn Linux or want to create a testing environment on a local PC. The alternatives I am mentioning here will be geared mostly for Windows users, but understand that there are Mac OSX alternatives as well.

Moodle.org provides a Moodle package for Windows based on XAMPP. (Note that Moodle packages for Mac OSX are also available). Instructions for using the Moodle package for Windows are available from MoodleDocs.

In addition to this option, The Uniform Server (called UniServer for short) provides a Apache, MySQL, and PHP like the above package, but, at a much smaller file size. Instructions for installing Moodle in the latest version of UniServer are available at the Uniform Server Wiki.

Tools of the trade
Moodle administration actually requires very few tools. Since Moodle itself is browser based, a good web browser is recommended. Mozilla Firefox is highly recommended for Moodle administration and can be extended for other purposes as well. PHP files may require some modifications (especially config.php), so, a good text editor is also recommended. Windows Notepad is adequate for the job, but, often does not correctly render line breaks. Notepad2 and Notepad++ are my personal favorites for editing moodle files. Note that web design software like Dreamweaver will also correctly display php files, but, you will not be able to preview those files until they are running in a browser on the server.

Furthermore, once your moodle site is hosted elsewhere you will probably need a good FTP client like FileZilla or the FireFTP firefox extension. Depending on your web host's requirements you may also need a good SFTP and/or SSH client as well. I highly recommend SSH Secure Shell . SSH is no longer free, but, v 3.2.9 is still free for educational use and available at a lot of universities and other sites for download - see http://web.wm.edu/it/index.php?id=2928.

Well, I think that's enough for today. This is what I feel are the basics of Moodle administration, I hope this helps to make some sense out of what you're in for.

New & Improved

2009-03-17T22:36:00.002-04:00

I've spent the past few days playing around with my TeachAGeek domain. I've enabled Google Apps for my domain, I've even moved my blog from my "free" GoDaddy blog to Blogger. This means that some of the old links and such may not work, but, I think I've ironed out most of those issues.

I have run in to problems with my "naked domain" i.e. http://teachageek.com working, but, hopefully the directions I've found here should remedy this situation. We'll see tomorrow how it all works out.

I am amazed that I am able to host a blog without a web host... I'm using Blogger (of course), Picasa Web Albums (this is actually part of Blogger) and photobucket for images. I've also discovered Dropbox for hosting files. If you'd like to sign up for Dropbox (shameless plug here), please use my Dropbox referral (https://www.getdropbox.com/referrals/NTc2NDU5MDk). This gets you an extra 256 MB of space, and me too.

I'm even using Dropbox for those large files that I want to share in Moodle, particularly when I have a limit on the amount of uploads. Give it a try!

The Uniform Server Revisited

2009-03-05T23:45:00.005-05:00

There are times when you're writing a blog that you know that you're the only one reading it or that you're writing the post for a specific event or purpose. I wrote a post a while back about the Uniform Server that I was using frequently at the time. Well, times change as do my interests and the Uniform Server wasn't updating itself quick enough to accommodate the many changes in Moodle. Plus, Moodle began offering Moodle packages for Windows based on XAMPP, and I began to think that UniServer was a dead project. This led me to recommend that new Moodlers download the Moodle windows packages and/or download XAMPP and Moodle individually.

Today's RSS feeds brought me a surprise, though, Around the Corner - MGuhlin.org specifically mentioned this old article in his discussion of a Moodle "sandbox" for those new Moodle administrators - Set Up Your Own Moodle Server for Training. So, I went back to my old favorite and discovered that UniServer had recently been updated to version 4.0-Mona. This version isn't specificially mentioned on the Uniform Server website (yet), but, is the latest version available at their SourceForge project page.

A quick download - only 8.8 MB - , a trip to http://moodle.org for the latest Weekly Build, then a glance at the Uniform Server Wiki and I had a brand new "vanilla" Moodle to play with.

I was impressed with the new "Unicontroller" that allows you to easily view and start your server. The "Apanel" is simple to use, and relatively self explanatory. I was also very happy to see that UniServer was able to install the latest weekly build of Moodle without any hiccups what so ever.

UniServer is not quite ready for Moodle 2.0, however - when I looked at http://localhost/moodle/admin/environment.php?version=2.0, it showed that the Zip PHP Extension is not available - all other components passed.

NOTE: This problem is actually VERY easy to overcome. According to Moodle Docs: admin/environment/php extension/zip all that needs to happen is to "uncomment the line extension=php_zip.dll in the php.ini file". After checking my Uniserver folder at F:\UniServer\udrive\usr\local\php, I noticed that the php_zip.dll file is missing from the extensions folder. So, I downloaded the Windows Binary zip file at www.php.net and then copied the php_zip.dll file from the ext folder into F:\UniServer\udrive\usr\local\php\extensions. I then opened up the php.ini file in Notepad and removed the ";" from the extension=php_zip.ini line (line 602 in my php.ini file). Restart Apache (Stop Apache and then Start Apache) and this restriction is gone!

The Installing Moodle on 4.0-Mona article on the UniServer Wiki has some really good tips here. I'd want to point out to portable (flash drive) users the section on Hard Coded Paths. The most amazing thing I've ever seen was their discussion on how to Automatically Run Cron. Honestly, I'd long ago given up on Cron in XAMPP or UniServer and just manually run Cron when I needed to. The steps here work - amazing....

It's also interesting to note that the steps that I originally mentioned in "How to enable The Uniform Server for public access" are still applicable in 4.0-Mona. Making those simple changes in the .htaccess file will enable external users to view your site hosted with UniServer.

One other thing that might be useful to add here is a small addition to the config.php file for those users who use UniServer on a laptop. Since the config.php file lists the wwwroot as "localhost" external users are unable to view your moodle site correctly. For that reason, I would recommend the following changes to config.php:

Locate the 'wwwroot' line in config.php

$CFG->wwwroot = 'http://localhost/moodle';

Replace the above line with the following two lines, to let php figure out what your current IP address is and change it whenever your IP address changes. This can be very useful when moving from event to event.

$domain = GetHostByName($REMOTE_ADDR); 

$CFG->wwwroot   = 'http://'.$domain.'/moodle';

In conclusion, The Uniform Server (UniServe) is an excellent alternative to XAMPP. It may actually be preferred over XAMPP due to it's simplicity and more obvious - it's size. A default XAMPP install is approximately 221 MB, XAMPPlite is approximately 116 MB. UniServer is only 43.4 MB. UniServer with a default Moodle install (including php_zip.dll) is approximately 94.5 MB.

The Uniform Server is one alternative to hosting a "sandbox" Moodle Server for Training. I will admit that I gave up on this powerful little WAMP server, but, I won't again. Give it a try, I think it should meet your needs and save you a little space too!

Open Source Education

2009-03-01T22:13:00.000-05:00

Through my perusal of my RSS feeds this afternoon, I caught the following article - Choices Abound - Google Moodle Microsoft and Blackboard. MGhulin mentioned (and I feel I must emphasize) the FREE series of Online Courses available from INGOTS that can be setup for use in a Moodle without problem. Using the link above, brought me to a series of courses that could be integrated into a school system's Moodle then modified to fit their own needs. Wow... amazing.

But what was also interesting to me was the image that was at the top of the article...

Image Source: http://www-03.ibm.com/industries/global/images/HD_OpenED_hero_930x280.jpg

This thought of Open Source Education flooded my brain cells. Thinking of the Open Source Definition, I can only hope for a day when the teaching and learning process embraces these concepts. Imagine... it's easy if you try:

Free Redistribution - schools (or school systems, or Departments of Public Instruction) create a course and freely trade it to other schools so that all students are learning the same concepts, using the same resources. The price (free) would help to redirect school budgets to quality curriculum development so that better courses are developed and better teachers are trained.
Source Code - no more copyrights on educational material would ensure that material is updated frequently. Access to the source files would also make sure that factual errors don't exist for long, as many eyes catch many mistakes. Teachers are also amazingly resourceful with material. Give teachers the ability to update their own curriculum and new strategies and ideas would be sure to develop and spread.
Derived Works - when new ideas and strategies do develop allowing existing materials to be modified using these concepts would only improve them. Creating new courses and improving them, only makes things stronger.
Integrity of the Author's Source Code - educators are somewhat territorial, but, this clause might allow for some to release their "source" but still keep control over what is said. This idea of "forks" would encourage individuality and differences to be brought to the educational community and competition would still occur for the best idea.
No Descrimination Against Persons or Groups - isn't equal education what we're all about?
No Descrimination Against Fields of Endeavor - who's to say Math materials can't be used in Science classes, even English classes? Let's call this one interdisciplinary studies...
Distribution of License - no "hidden clauses" make all teaching and learning transparent to all parties involved.
License Must Not Be Specific to a Product - no curriculum or topic should be specifically designed for a certain school system or country. I'd also think that this might add a tie-in to allow some of the traditional education resources to be used in corporate training programs and vice versa.
License Must Not Restrict Other Software - everything a school system does doesn't have to be "open source". Privacy and security needs must be recognized. But this should not be the ONLY consideration.
License Must Be Technology-Neutral - focusing on one particular way of doing anything leads to serious problems if it ever comes to realization that we're doing the wrong thing. Whether this be in teaching Microsoft Office as a Computer Applications class, or emphisizing SAS or Cisco in IT courses. Vendor-neutral wherever possible can make things a lot more universal.

Maybe this is a bit of a stretch, maybe I'm just crazy, but, just maybe...

Curriculum (and Professional) Development

2009-03-01T20:09:00.002-05:00

I've been involved in a curriculum writing weekend this weekend... wow, what "fun".

That is an unusual thing to those people who have never been involved, I'm sure. Imagine sitting together in a room for two days reviewing student handouts, test questions, and totally engrossing yourself into a course. For several of my students this would undoubtedly be some type of medieval torture, but, for a select few of us it is "fun".

You see, the course I help to develop is one of the QTL IT Courses. We attempt to keep the concept relatively simple. A group of individuals who have taught and played with these concepts for years sit down with CompTIA objectives and create materials that represent the objectives. Student Handouts, Worksheets, Activities, Tests, Quizzes, etc... everything that is presented to students is created by teachers for teachers. Every single word is compiled and / or created by a simple school teacher.

Not that "simple" would describe many of us, each of us come with our own individual areas of expertise and interests. Many of us have tinkered with computers since the days we first saw those mysterious machines. Some have initimate knowledge of concepts from actually installing networks in schools to working "behind the scenes" at businesses both large and small.

Yes, these curriculum weekends are unusual to say the least. I sit in a small room with a group of colleagues whom I've grown to call "friends" over the years, we dig through documents that each of us have presented to students. Each of us have had a hand at writing questions or handouts and friendly gibes and witty banter are swapped freely - the question of "What were you thinking?" is asked quite frequently. Questions are agonized over, documents are editing for grammar and brought up to date. It is often amazing to think how quickly something as simple as a hard drive can change over a period of 1-2 years. Our fearless leader - thanks, Robin - watches in amazement as a room full of knowledge is somehow boiled down to create documents and questions that will go on to challenge student minds (and a few DPI administrators) for yet another school year.

Anyway, these weekends always give me a chance to sharpen my professional skills, writing is not the least of these, but, I always leave more focused on trying to learn more about technology so that I can be sure to bring new topics and ideas to my students. I suppose that I have to say that this "professional development" stuff that I'm often ~~asked~~ forced to participate in seems to pale in comparison with this kind of development. The concept of a Professional Learning Community can be a powerful one, but, only where each individual is given the opportunity to participate and learn from everyone else. I'm happy to say that this weekend was a perfect example of that type of community.

I can only conclude in saying to each and every teacher, that if you're not a member of such a Community, then either join one or create one yourself. Find a group of individuals who are passionate about the subject you teach, discuss and share ideas. You'll be amazed at what you can learn from this....

Do you blog?

2009-03-01T19:05:00.001-05:00

"Do you blog?" was a question asked of me... by a colleague who has come to respect my opinion and thoughts on things. Wow, what a question....

Yes, I bought the domain name, yes, I set up a "blog" thanks to a free setup from GoDaddy. Yes, I've even published a few entries, that some people have read and used. But, do I actually blog? Probably not. So, over the past few weeks, I've wondered "why not"?

I don't have time - I do a variety of things, both personal and professional that keep me from pounding away at a keyboard with my thoughts, but, is that a good enough reason?

Nah, I guess not... I'm usually willing enough to stop what I'm doing and help out someone who needs it. Lord only knows that my thoughts are random enough, but, I can usually help out with a decent enough effort.

So, I'll attempt again to pick up this blogging thing again. I'll attempt to note interesting items and thoughts as I go, who knows, maybe it will be helpful to others....

So, my answer to my initial question is... "yes, but, I'm only starting". I'll try to think of this as a new idea and a new effort.

Let's try this again, shall we?

Essential Software for Windows Computers - Updated Nov, 2010

2009-02-28T23:16:00.010-05:00

I originally started this post at SeedWiki several years ago, but, I discovered how unreliable it can be to depend on someone else to host your thoughts. So, below is the same information, that I now control...

Every semester I have a discussion on Computer Ethics and the like.... This discussion always ends to the questions of how can I NOT use illegal software when I need it. This page has developed from those discussions and is included here for my own documentation. Like it, love it, or leave it... the choice is yours.

Antivirus Software

If you don't have Antivirus software OR if you've let the subscription on the McAffee or Norton (Symantec) Antivirus that came with your PC lapse, then your computer is in real danger of a virus and/or being taken over by an intruder. However, you do have some FREE options.

Removing viruses and malware can be very time consuming and extremely aggravating. The best protection is smart surfing and an up-to-date antivirus client, but, things happen. When they do, remove the computer from the Internet immediately and begin the removal process. Sometimes a reinstall of the antivirus client and a manual update may be required. I have attempted to give links for manual updates wherever possible.

My current favorite antivirus/antimalware client right now is Microsoft Security Essentials
Microsoft Security Essentials provides real-time protection for your home PC that guards against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software. Manual updates are available from here.

AVG Free Edition for Windows
Used and loved by millions (literally). This is by far the most recommended free antivirus solution. If you don't want to pay then this is probably where you will end up. You may need to manually install any virus updates first from here.

avast! 4Home Edition
Those people who don't recommend AVG probably recommend avast! 'Nuff said. Manual updates available from here.

ClamWin Free Antivirus
To be thorough I'm also including ClamWin. This an excellent alternative for a Linux box, but there is one major drawback to this software that must be mentioned on a MS Window's box. From ClamWin's site:

"Please note that ClamWin Free Antivirus does not include an on-access real-time scanner, that is, you need to manually scan a file in order to detect a virus or spyware. Microsoft Outlook Addin, however will delete a virus-infected attachment automatically."

AntiSpyware Solutions
Spyware (or better termed Malware) has become a HUGE problem for the home PC user. Part of the problems stem from the way users surf. DON'T CLICK POP-UP ADS, DON'T DOWNLOAD NON-REPUTABLE SOFTWARE. See also "Prevent Spyware" from Dell.com. Whatever you call this software, it can be either annoying or dangerous.

There are some very good FREE antispyware solutions, but, there are also some "rogue" antispyware solutions out there as well. No solution is perfect and no one piece of software will remove all spyware. Using a combination of products will usually fix what ails your computer.

My advice to anyone who asks is to try using any or all of the following programs to remove/prevent spyware. If these solutions don't solve your spyware problems, either reformat and reinstall your Operating System or take the computer to a professional.

If a computer already has malware, it should be taken off the Internet IMMEDIATELY and should only be reconnected to the Internet after the malware has been removed. Whenever possible attempt to remove malware while in Safe Mode. Safe Mode provides the best environment to remove memory resident programs. You will probably need to do a manual update of the antispyware product after an install since the computer should not be connected to the Internet. I have attempted to provide manual update links whenever possible.

Malwarebtes' Anti-Malware (MBAM)
After a recent malware infestation on my own computer. (Thanks to me helping out someone else but forgetting to scan my flash drive afterwards) This has EASILY become my favorite anti-malware program to date. This program also works in Safe Mode, and was the ONLY program which successfully removed the last issue I had. Manual updates are provided here.

SUPER AntiSpyware
This program does a great job of removing malware that MBAM doesn't. It's a great program, but, I am a little annoyed that it loads at startup by default. A perfect complement to MBAM, but, a little annoying to me. Manual updates are available here.

Spybot S&D

This is one of the oldest and most-used spyware removal tools. A great product and I tend to use this when all else fails when working in Safe Mode. This is one of the few spyware removal tools which will work in Safe Mode. You may need to manually update the definitions from here.

Secretmaker
I've never actually used this product, but, it comes well recommended. This may be useful for those individuals who may still be running Windows Me or Windows 9x.

Personal Firewall Software

A firewall is the last defense against malware and crackers. Every computer connected to the Internet should have one. Especially if that computer is a laptop which connects to public access points through wireless connections. Windows XP Service Pack 2 included a firewall that is adequate for most users. However, most computer professionals recommend an alternative to the Windows Firewall. Only one firewall software should be used per computer.

Comodo Free Firewall
I've recently switched my own personal firewall to Comodo. ZoneAlarm (below) is a great firewall, but, they are always trying to get people to upgrade... annoying. Comodo also makes other free products including a free Antivirus as well.

ZoneAlarm
One of the most recommended personal firewalls. Easy to use. Be aware that when installing you will have to allow a lot of programs in the beginning. Eventually, ZoneAlarm will learn which programs are safe to allow access to the Internet.

Agnitum Outpost Firewall
I've never used this either, but, again comes highly recommended.

Web Browsers

Whenever Microsoft introduces a new version of Internet Explorer, they came a long way in allowing their users a much safer browsing experience. However, using an alternative web browser is one way to prevent malware infections. There are a variety of alternatives, but, the most popular are presented below:

Firefox
Rediscover the web.

Google Chrome
A new web browser for Windows. Made by Google.

SRWare Iron
SRWare Iron: The browser of the future - based on the free Sourcecode "Chromium" - without any problems at privacy and security. I LOVE the speed and features of Google Chrome, but, I also love the built in adblock.ini adblock filter. This browser takes a little bit of geek factor, but, it's my second favorite.

Opera
Better browsing. Feel free.

Safari
The signature browser from Apple's OSX. Now available for Windows users.

SeaMonkey
All-in-one Internet application suite. Web-browser, advanced e-mail and newsgroup client, IRC chat client, and HTML editing made simple -- all your Internet needs in one application.

Maxthon
Maxthon is a browser that is built on the same technologies that Internet Explorer uses which means it is essentially a clone of IE and is just as susceptible to malware and viruses as Internet Explorer. However it does incorporate a lot of really cool features from other alternative browsers. I am using this browser when I HAVE to use Internet Explorer on a particular site.

Additional Essential Software

Windows is a great Operating System, but, it lacks some things. Below is a list of FREE legal software which might help.

CCleaner
CCleaner is a freeware system optimization and privacy tool. It removes unused files from your system - allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space. It also cleans traces of your online activities such as your Internet history. This program is a prerequisite to removing any spyware. Cleaning temp files often removes recurring infestations and makes scans go much faster.

OpenOffice.org
A free office suite. If your computer did not come with Microsoft Office, this suite can open and save Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, and PowerPoint presentations. A real life saver for those who don't want to spend $400 or more on Office.

FOSS (Free and Open Source Software)
A variety of free software is available on the Internet to make Windows more useful. The sources are numerous and waaay too many to list. I usually read magazines like MaximumPC or visit blogs like Lifehacker or Download Squad for recommendations.

Other sources include compilations like:

Trinidad and Tobago Computer Society's OSSWIN CD
The OSSwin project: Open Source for Windows!
I want a Freeware Utility to ... 300+ common problems solved

A list of free (not necessarily FOSS) software. Looks like it's constantly updated.

Open Source Freeware : 400+ free applications and utilities

A list of Open Source software from above.

Games
My students never play games.... yeah, right. The sites below are reputable solutions for free games.

Libre Game Wiki
The Free (libre) Game Encyclopedia. Lots of categories, lots of games.

Games1.org
Digg.com has featured many of the most addictive flash games that are out there. After playing them once and then trying to find them again I decided it would be nice to have them all in one easy to find place. The "best" arcade games that have been featured on the front page of Digg.com are below. Here you go, enjoy!

101 Free Games: The Best Free Games on the Web from 1UP.com
Just because I know you want to know...

"Lock Down" Your Computer Lab

2008-07-26T20:09:00.001-04:00

While at Summer Conference this year, I was surprised to hear quite a few of my colleagues asking for advice on how to lock down their labs to prevent students from doing some of the things they shouldn't be doing.

While I work in a large school system, locking down the labs is not a problem that I have. In some cases I actually have to be a little creative in finding ways to work with the security and procedures that my school system has put in place. But, while surfing around today, I found a really nice "Cookbook" from the The Maintain IT Project that might be helpful.

In particular, I'd say that the chapter on Meat and Potato Public Computers could be very useful to help those who might need it. I wish I'd seen this when others were asking about it...

CTE Summer Conference

2008-07-26T19:05:00.002-04:00

Just got back from Summer Conference and had a few minutes to sit down and compose my thoughts. IMHO, every teacher should go to some type of professional conference at least once a year.

To me, this is a perfect opportunity to learn new things, and possibly contribute some of your own ideas as well. My opinion of a successful conference is any time that I can walk away from one of these events with more new ideas. I would have to say that this year's conference was definitely a success.

Picked up some interesting tips about SME Server, Dynamips, Dynagen, Dynagui, and a few other Moodle tricks too. This should keep me busy and hopefully blogging too... Even found a nice tutorial on Dynamips while looking for the URL to use for this post. So much stuff, so little time.

I also presented a few topics myself and my friends at QTL blogged about it, Charles Thorne and I teamed up to present a session on "Setting Up Your Own Moodle Server" that Robin Fred wrote up at The QTL CareerTech Blog.

I'm afraid, though, that we may have missed our audience. Participants seemed to want to know more about how to use Moodle than about how to install it. I'm thinking that next year I'll have to do a session on Moodle tips and tricks. I am happy to add that my post on Free Moodle Classrooms did seem to help a lot with those people who didn't want to install, but, wanted to use Moodle in their own classrooms.

Put An RSS Reader In Your Website

2008-07-14T10:09:00.002-04:00

As a school webmaster with ~~a limited~~ no budget, I sometimes have to be creative when building my school site. I purposely look for FOSS projects when thinking of my site. I've used Joomla! to build the site, supplemented it with VTCalendar, and even used MagpieRSS to help me include headlines from the sports scheduling service that my athletic director uses.

Using Magpie took a steep learning curve, and I would be hesitant to recommend it to anyone who didn't have a pretty good understanding of HTML and PHP. But, enter Google... Google has done more for the Internet than Al Gore could ever claim.

The Google AJAX Feed API makes RSS feeds pretty simple. I used this API and in only a few minutes I was able to help out a "non-techie" school webmaster put her calendar headlines (using an RSS feed, of course) onto the front page of her site. It really was as easy as copying and pasting a little code into the head section of her page and then adding additional code into the body of the page where she wanted this little box to go. It took us only a few minutes to get this done, and her Principal is THRILLED.

The site above gives a "hello world" example that is a matter of copy and paste into a text editor and upload for testing. Full documentation is also given in their developer guide. You can even style the look and feel of the gadget to match your site. In a word... wow.

Free Moodle classrooms!

2008-06-05T15:53:00.005-04:00

As the resident "QTL Moodle Dude" I am often asked about if a teacher can use the QTLMoodle site for their "other" courses. Unfortunately, my answer to that question is "no". Hey, I understand, I LOVE Moodle and use it for all of my classes. However, I also understand that my QTL friends don't have the resources to support other classes. In addition, some teachers at my school aren't fortunate enough to be involved in any of the QTL Programs. So, I did a little research for a colleague today and thought that I might share my results here:

Let me start off by saying that I have NOT used any of these services, I host my own Moodle for my Cisco Networking classes at Ibiblio (shout out to UNC-CH for the free web host!). I would warn anyone that setting up and managing a Moodle site at a web host is not for the feint of heart or for anyone who isn't prepared to spend some time "tinkering". So, the alternatives I've found are the following:

WebTeacherTools.com (http://webteachertools.com/wtt/)
- This site isn't nearly as pretty or slick as the Global Classroom site, but, I really like the feel of the site. The motives behind this site are genuine. (See http://webteachertools.com) This is a REAL moodle site which works and operates like one should.
- Teachers have to send an email to info [at] webteachertools [dot] com to request a new course. Your email should include Class Subject and your username.
- Students will need to create their own account for your course. You'll need to give them the URL of your course. They can sign up to your course from there.
- There are Google text ads, that doesn't scare me, but, for free it's worth it!
- Remember to backup your site often see the Disclaimer of Liability at http://webteachertools.com/.
- This is an older moodle version (1.6.x)
- If you know how to use moodle, it's a slam dunk!

Global Classroom (http://www.globalclassroom.us/)
- This site is impressive. After a brief sign up I was quickly assigned a course and was able to get to Moodlin'. Apparently my site is hosted at nc.globalclassroom.us, and I am able to add just about any type of resource and I can backup and restore courses. Looks pretty full service to me.
- Students will need to create their own account and it's probably best to direct students to the url of the course itself i.e. nc.globalclassroom.us/course/view.php?id=xx.
- Good for users who already understand and can use moodle.
- Can't tell what version this is, but, the use of roles makes me think it's at least 1.7.x
- Be aware that this site makes their money off of staff development and other "add-ons"...

CRTeacher.com (http://www.crteacher.com/)
- I know I said FREE, but, I would be remiss to not mention this service.
- For $99.95 per year (http://www.crteacher.com/mod/resource/view.php?id=418) you get a slew of services that you can't get from the free ones above.
- Custom themes, upgrades, and support for those who DON'T know moodle makes this a great deal.
- If you don't understand moodle or want to seriously use it in your classes in a professional way, this is the best way to go about doing it.
- CRTeacher is a Moodle partner. The ONLY way to support the development of Moodle is to work with Moodle partners (Thanks, Fred!)
- This is the midpoint between FREE and hosting your own moodle on a Dedicated server like we do at QTLMoodle.

That's it. Happy Moodlin' everyone!

Another post with great comments:

from fred:
It might also be a good idea to inform your users that the sites you list do nothing to support the ongoing development of Moodle. If everyone hosts their sites at 'free' Moodle sites, then Moodle will cease to exist.

The way Moodle is funded is by people working with Moodle partners (listed at Moodle.com) for hosting and support services.

Certainly, no one should ever pay a non-Moodle partner for Moodle services - this just lets companies profit off of Martin Dougiamas, et al. hard work without contributing anything back to sustain Moodle development.

from brock:
Free Moodle Hosting is available at http://www.keytoschool.com/

from drew:
I tried NineHub.com provides free Moodle hosting with unlimited disk space and bandwidth. Good enough!

Using VMware to teach Operating Systems

2007-03-28T22:13:00.001-04:00

I'll admit it, I'm not normal. My classes are pretty high on the geek level, but, there are just some things that are really, really cool. You see, I love VMware Server. I used it way back when on my Red Hat 9 laptop, and I think I've loaded it on just about every Linux machine I've used ever since.

About a year ago, VMware made their server free to the public, and that, my friend, was all I needed. Now the joys of virtualization were no longer relegated to my own desktops, I could share this with my students too! As soon as the school year started I downloaded VMware Server, registered for my free serial numbers and began making plans to use this tool to teach whatever operating system I was teaching at the time. This meant I could install XP on machines that we built, then install VMware and any other operating system I wanted to use.

Fortunately for me, the VMware Server Documentation area is good enough for me to point my Honors CET 2 students to the site and they could do most of the install with very little guidance from me. Even better than that, though, was an article I found in Linux Magazine called "More Fun with VMware". This article showed how to use VMware Server to load DOS and play "old school" DOS Abandonware games.

Even better though, when the student becomes the teacher. :-)

I taught a workshop this summer to teachers entering the CET program and mentioned my use of VMware. Todd Thibault ran with the idea and created another tutorial demonstrating how to Install DOS and Windows 3.11 in VMware Server. I've included his very detailed documentation here for your download and perusal.

Todd gives detailed instructions to do this activity, but, you'll need a copy of Windows 3.11 (obviously). Todd is a member of the MSDN Academic Alliance and therefore has easy downloads for Win3.11 and many other legacy and current operating systems. MSDNAA is a great program and I would encourage anyone teaching an IT course to join. Others may have to rely on other means, like checking with your school system to see if they still have an old copy of Win3.11 laying around somewhere or maybe downloading it from somewhere else.

Enjoy and good luck goin' virtual!!

How to turn an eBook into a Website - Updated

2007-03-24T14:46:00.001-04:00

I'm teaching a class the other day and I realize that I need my students to read a passage from an old eBook I've got... the book is way out of print and I really only wanted them to look at a page or two. At first I just printed the pages I wanted using PDFCreator. Then I'm looking over the book later and realizing that I'd like for them to see a couple of other sections, and wouldn't it be nice for students to be able to look at the Glossary?

I know, I know... I could just give them a copy of the CHM file that the eBook comes in, but, then they have to load the eBook, navigate it... just takes too much time to tell them what to do to find the info I want them to have. Then I remembered an article I stumbled on a while back on How to convert CHM files under Linux and an idea struck. Why not just post the eBook on my classroom Intranet server?

From the comments and the article I discovered two ways to do just that. I did try both methods and found KchmViewer to be extremely easy to use. The KchmViewer method did seem to produce files that were substantially larger, but, since I was only posting this on my Intranet server, I wasn't really concerned about file size. So, I've got the HTML files loaded on my web server and I'm ready to go, but, wait... there is no main index page for the eBook. Yes, the files are all there, but, they can be hard to interpret where to start since the pages are labeled things like 00co1a.htm. Hmmm... a little Googling found tree.pl.

Geek factor quotient increases here... this Perl script can only be run from a command line, and only if your Linux server (mine runs CentOS) has Perl installed. But, wow... this script runs through each file in the directory you just created and creates an Index page that lists the Title of the page and automatically creates a link to each page! A sample of a page created by this script can be found here.

So... that's what gave me a complete HTML version of an eBook in my collection. Just because I think it's kind of neat to do. :-)>

UPDATE:
I had to revisit this topic when my server's HDD crashed, so, I went back to that same article and discovered a new comment about arCHMage. This one blew me away... kept the left side menu and makes a really nicely finished final product. You can view example of a decompressed CHM file here (document is in Cyrillic).

Converting test questions with HTML symbols into Moodle

2007-03-19T22:00:00.000-04:00

My latest "little" project (Thanks Todd Thibault & David Barbour) has been an effort to convert existing SkillsUSA tests into Moodle categories. It turns out NC SkillsUSA is interested in using online testing in their upcoming state competition so, David asked Todd & I to create a Moodle Server.

Next thing I know, we grabbed a couple of old servers from my friends at QTL and spent a few days getting Fedora & Moodle to install on these old Dell PowerEdge servers. Not a small feat, mind you, but doable. (In retrospect I probably should have just installed CentOS to avoid some of the installation problems, but, you live and learn.)

Anyway, it's time now to start entering in the questions. Now, I've done thousands of questions and put them all into Moodle using GIFT format. It's not all that difficult, you simply write the question, put an open bracket, then list the answer choices using ~ for incorrect answers and = for the correct answer. I've even embedded HTML in my GIFT questions so that I can insert images using the <blockquote> tag.

So, I'm thinking "this should not be a problem for me", and then I open the first test I need to convert and I see a question like the following (the answers have been hidden to protect the innocent):

Well now, there is something I hadn't seen... I had never come across the need to embed special symbols like (µ) into a question before. So, a little Googling brought me to the HTML Symbol Chart. It turns out that µ = &181; I had no idea that special symbols could be put into plain old HTML code. I guess you do learn something new every day. :-)

Oh, and for those interested... the question above was converted to GIFT format as:

What is the voltage across the resistor in the circuit? <blockquote><img style="border: 0px solid;" title="pic" src="pic.png"></blockquote>{ ~ ** &\#181;V ~ *** &\#181;V ~ * mV ~ ** V}

Note that the image (pic.png) is put into a <blockquote> to allow it to stand out from the question slightly. Also notice that the HTML symbol is encoded as µ but has to be put into GIFT as &\#181; since # is a GIFT control character for feedback.

Let me show you how... with a Wink!

2006-07-31T18:54:00.002-04:00

During a recent workshop with QTL, Barry Cochran was demonstrating Camtasia Studio. While the presentation was very interesting and Camtasia does a great job of making really cool demo videos the $299 price tag hit me hard.

Yes, I know... Barry was giving away free copies thanks to the fine people at TechSmith. And yes, they do offer free trial versions. But, hey I'm all about the free stuff and I wasn't lucky enough to get a free copy. :-(

Well, a little investigation at I want a Freeware Utility to ... 450+ common problems solved helped me to find Wink. Now, Wink may not have all of the functions that Camtasia has. (To be honest, I'm not sure... I never got around to downloading the trial.) I have to say, that once I played with Wink, I didn't want to bother with Camtasia.

After a day of playing around with it and reading the included documentation (A video tutorial, sample tutorial, and a PDF file to search through) I was able to produce a pretty cool little tutorial. The tutorial I created isn't really useful except for those who are involved in Moodle at QTL, but, it came out really well anyway.

So, rather than linking to a useless tutorial that I created... I'm linking to the great little tutorial at Wink itself.

From the Wink website....
"Wink is a Tutorial and Presentation creation software, primarily aimed at creating tutorials on how to use software (like a tutor for MS-Word/Excel etc). Using Wink you can capture screenshots, add explanations boxes, buttons, titles etc and generate a highly effective tutorial for your users. Here is a sample Flash tutorial created by Wink. Click the green arrow button to start viewing it. (More tutorials created by Wink users and companies can be found at the User Forums.)

This is a good example of how you can create tutorials in Wink, by capturing screenshots, mouse movements and specifying your own explanations with them. And all this in a standard Windows-based UI with drag-and-drop editing makes it very easy to create high quality tutorials/documentation.

It is estimated that Macromedia Flash Player is installed in more than 90% of the PCs. Using Wink you can create content viewable across the web in all these users' desktops. Similar applications sell for hundreds of dollars, while Wink is free with unrivaled features. So spread the word about Wink to your friends."

Sample: Click the green button to play

Portable Storage - The Easy (Cheap) Way

2006-07-22T18:07:00.000-04:00

I teach technology, so, my needs may be a little different than your own. However, there are a lot of times when my students or myself need to transfer files. Now, sometimes a flash drive is quite sufficient for moving around documents, pictures, etc. However, in my courses we sometimes move around ISOs or we backup entire directories full of files. After a certain size flash drives get really expensive.

So, my solution is simple.... I often get computer "leftovers" either PCs that don't work or are just too old to use. I usually just buy several inexpensive external drive enclosures and rip the hard drive out of these dinosaurs! Sometimes the drive sizes are pretty small, but hey, I'm not buying the drive.... :-)

Removing the drives usually makes for an interesting activity for my classes and it gives me some portable storage. The install process for these things usually just involves putting the new drive in the enclosure and attaching power to it. From there just attach it to your new PC and wow, you've got storage. As a side note, if you've got an old laptop lying around, pulling the drive from that one will give you an external storage device that usually doesn't require an external power source.

Oh, and don't forget too that a lot of MP3 Players also can be used as external drives as well. That's why I bought my iPod!! :-D You've got to love a multi-tasker!

Geek Note:
Chances are your new drive will be mostly full from the PC it came from. Yes, you can just delete everything on the drive, but, it's even easier to just reformat the drive so you've got all the space on the drive just for you. Once you've put the drive in the enclosure and plugged it into Windows, you can run the FORMAT command to reformat the drive. You'll probably want to format the drive as FAT32 so that it can be used in any machine: Linux, Macintosh, Windows 98, Windows XP, or even Vista. You'll need to open up a command prompt.

Click on the Start button and choose Run...

Now, open up My Computer and see what is the drive letter that is assigned to your new drive. Once you've got that, type the command format e: /fs:FAT32 in the command prompt window. I'm assuming here that "e" is you're drive letter. If it's anything else, change the "e" to whatever your letter is.

You'll be warned that all of the data on your disk will be lost. Just type Y to agree and wait a few. After a while you will have a new external storage device. For more information on the format command in Windows XP go here.

Cool mySQLdatabase import tool: BigDump

2006-07-19T18:26:00.000-04:00

Okay, so maybe everyone else has heard of this, but, it saved my sanity this week.

The Centers for Quality Teaching and Learning has been having some problems with their Moodle Site recently, so, we thought we might investigate whether or not it's our hosting company (have a sneaking suspicion it is). The long and short of it is that we've set up a site at another host and it was decided that I'd move Moodle over and give it a try.

Moving Moodle was relatively easy, except for the database. This hosting company doesn't give command line access, and phpMyAdmin was really not liking the 27 MB database I was trying to get it to import.

Enter BigDump. This cool little script takes the database dump file and breaks it up into chunks so that it loads the entire database dmp file with no problems. I have to say I've done this manually through phpMyAdmin before, but, this was a lifesaver.

Just wanted to post this here so it could save someone else's day too!