Mr. T Links

Sort of a success

I noticed that there were many hits to this page right after I put it up. There were also a lot of hits to the links and review section. To make this endeavor a bit more Web 2.0 friendly I will continue to post things I think will be helpful and useful HERE. For any teacher interested in doing something like this, pleas let me know and I can help you create your account and link you calendar there if you choose. Enjoy

Software Suggestions for March 2, 2008

First and foremost, read the Tech Tips for some software you must get today. Also, scroll down for some of my old favorites. But I thought I would throw a few more ideas into the mix for you.

Jukefly - this is a piece of software/server interface that allows you to listen to your entire digital music collection over the internet. Your home computer will run a small piece of server software which will detect your music files. Log into your jukefly account from any computer and you can stream your music collection remotely. Of course you will want high-sped connections to make this worthwhile, but it works.

Portable-Apps - This is actually a bunch of applications all rolled into one. When you go to the site you can can download software for your thumb drive that will make it like a portable computer. This means you can carry around Firefox, OpenOffice, Thunderbird (email) and much, much more. You put the thumb drive into the USB port, run the applications from the thumb drive and never leave a trace on the host computer. The package uses about 1/3 of a 1GB thumb drive so there is plenty of room for files. Now when you go to grandma's house you can have your Firefox. Better yet, school her on it, she'll thank you for it someday.

Google Reader - I am going to do more with this soon with regard to the calendar but for now I thought I would mention it for the geekier folks out there. Many people may not know that just about all of your favorite sites have an RSS link that likes like this: . When you click on the link you can subscribe to a feed. This means you can check out all the new information from your favorite websites in one location (the google reader for example). I track 15-20 of my favorite sites this way. When you want more information you can go to the site directly. You can track ebay information, amazon.com sales, the weather and soon OUR OWN CALENDARS. I put that into all caps because I could not make the dramatic theme music that is running through my head.

What's this about?

I shared a few ideas I have about software and websites last year and a few people asked me to do it again. I will try to add more but for now...read on.

Favorite Sites

In no particular order I will list some places I like to visit on the net and why I like them

Lifehacker - This site has amazing hacks for all area of your life. Although the focus is on technology tips there are also many tips for living more productively, plus this is where I learned about skreemr. (google it - you will love it)
Make - Want to see some amazingly smart people re-invent, re-use or simply rebuild stuff? This site is for you. My garage even appeared in issue #9 when I built a bench from their directions. Great projects, great links, great site.
google - Most people use it to search for things but did you know you can set up a free website? a free blog? make a free calendar? get access to free on-line software for word processing? and more? Most people do not look beyond the search engine but there is a TON of free stuff there. Look around.
Pandora - The last time I wrote about this many people got hooked. This site takes the name of your favorite singer/band and recommends music based on it. You can listen to the music like your own personal online radio station. I discovered a ton of new music here. Some of what I play in class came from hearing it at Pandora first. and it's free.
Woot - Like gadgets? This site sells only one item per day but the deals are usually very good. I picked up one of those cool steering wheel/seats for PS2/X-BOX for about half the price.
Speaking of gadgets - check out newegg (especially the daily specials), I love looking around at geeks.com for bargains, and there is always American Science and Surplus for great closeout buys.

Open Office

I have mentioned this several times before but I think it is time for a refresher. OpenOffice is a FREE open source software package that acts very much like Microsoft's Office (which can be a very expensive purchase). OpenOffice contains a word processor, a spreadsheet component (like Excel) , a database program (simple to use than Access)and presentation software (like PowerPoint). The software will work with Word and PowerPoint. The computers at CCS use Word - NOT Works or WordPerfect . Work done with OpenOffice can be saved in a Word friendly format. The download can be found at the OpenOffice website. It is a large file that will take a minute or two over a high speed connection and MUCH longer with dial-up but it is well worth the time. Link

Picasa

People who know me know I LOVE this digital photo software. This FREE offering from google does just about everything the average digital photography fan will need. In fact, I have shown some pretty computer-phobia minded people how to use this and they love it. You can catalog your files, edit your pictures (the red eye feature is a MUST for most people), email easily, create web pages, slide shows, gift CDs and so much more. Link

My Viral Video picks

These may not work at school so I am sorry, but you can/should check them out when you get a chance. I find the best stuff.

A life lesson from Randy Pausch - this is a little Oprah-fied but it is good stuff for us all to hear.

Jake Shimabukuro - This is a famous Beatles song played in a very unique way, stick with it to the end you WILL be amazed.

Get your life in order

Peter Walsh - This guy can re-arrange your life and make you want to clean your room.
Getting Things Done - this is a site for people who need to get focused and organized. David Allen's book is seen by some as a fad but I stopped having so many restless nights when I started following some of his plans. Check out the site or read his book.
Dave Ramsey - Think you are broke and getting no where financially? Check out this guy's site about how to manage money. There are no amazing insights here, just common sense. I talk about some of his stuff with the Calculus class.