The Village Green » Hardware

Chording Mouse?

Matthew Woolums — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 15:48:58 +0000

I’d almost think this was a practical joke, except this isn’t April. OpenOffice now has a mouse, the OpenOfficeMouse comes with 18 programmable buttons. I think there is plenty of room for alternative input devices, and the mouse can definitely use some improvements, but I’m not sure 18 buttons is the right idea. It sort of reminded me of the one-handed or ‘chording‘ keyboards, but combined with a mouse. Take a look. Can you, or your students, come up with something better?

OpenOfficeMouse: The Multi-Button Application Mouse for OpenOffice.org

With thanks for the tip from Daring Fireball

Not Your Father’s Old Book

Matthew Woolums — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 14:38:35 +0000

Interesting blog post about a possible ebook reader with demonstration video. The video, embedded below, is a 9:21 YouTube video, so if you are blocked, you’re in luck. The poster, Mike Cane, has included screen shots and detailed comments. What would you want from an ebook? Do you think an ebook has a place in education? Does this change reading and writing literacy? Is this a fundamental or incremental change from the original? Sorry for all the questions. I’m hopeful, but not sure, about ebooks. I’m concerned that they won’t bridge the gap between book readers and those who don’t. I’m worried that book reading will become a lost art, and like Fahrenheit 451, we are responsible for it if that happens.

http://ebooktest.blogspot.com/2009/07/part-of-ebook-vision.html

303,398

Matthew Woolums — Wed, 06 May 2009 05:02:50 +0000

I thought my daughter texted a lot. At one time we calculated her texting in terms of hours per day. I guess those numbers are relative. Here is a CNET News story about Crystal Wiski, a California teen who averaged 7 texts a minute to wrack up an astonishing 303,398 texts in one month. Yes, that is a total for one month! In addition to texting, Crystal gets straight As in school, and works 40 hours a week at McDonalds.

Teen claims 303,398 iPhone texts in one month | Technically Incorrect – CNET News

Netbook Roundup

Matthew Woolums — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 00:22:46 +0000

In case you are interested in the whole netbook class of laptops, either for personal use or as student laptops, here is a review of 19 netbooks that run for $350 or less. How would you use one? As primary computer, or as a travel laptop, or something else?

Photo from http://www.flickr.com/photos/egansnow/271941148/

19 netbooks for $350 or less

Let’s Get Small

Matthew Woolums — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 05:30:36 +0000

I know technology is progressing toward smaller and smaller form factors, but at some point the consumer will miss being able to recognize the computer. I’ve seen that happen already when teachers look at the current version of iMacs. “Where’s the rest of it?” is a common question. Here are a couple of other contenders for the same question.

Asus keyboard computer – Looks like Asus will someday introduce a computer in a keyboard. I know it’’s been done before, but not as cool looking as this one.

Asus reveals 512 GB SSD, keyboard computer and other prototypes at CES | Gear Diary

A name that is new to me in the computer industry is Marvell. Not to be outdone by anyone else, they have introduced a wall plug computer. It looks like a power adapter that plugs in to the wall. This one will definitely leave people wondering where you are keeping your computer.

Masses to Marvell at tiny wall plug computer? | Crave – CNET

At what point does small become too small? Is there something comforting or reassuring in a box with lots of cables sticking out? Do we need to see our computers at all any more?

Image from http://www.flickr.com/photos/danorbit/346563918/sizes/o/

Computer Hardware in Plain English

Matthew Woolums — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 05:16:42 +0000

I am a fan of Lee Lefever’s CommonCraft videos. He has a great format to simplify complex subjects. This new video covers computer hardware, relates hard drives to basements, RAM to closets, and the CPU to a butler. This video adds to the growing collection of quality CommonCraft productions.

Siftables

Matthew Woolums — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 04:44:22 +0000

I wish every child could have the sort of experience the MIT Media Lab provides. The latest idea is called Siftables by David Merrill. I’ve embedded the video below. Siftables embody all that technology should be in education. They are computer block that are adaptable, simple, intuitive, small, and provide a wide range of interactions. While it is difficult to put into words, it makes a lot of sense once you see the video. This is too cool.

David Merrill demos Siftables, the smart blocks | Video on TED.com

Immersive Technology

Matthew Woolums — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 21:36:18 +0000

CNET has posted an article briefly discussing MIT’s 6th Sense device. Using available technology, an individual wears the computer, a web cam, and a projector that turns any surface into an interactive device. Very cool, but looks like it will need a little design help to make it something everyone will want. Personally, I think I’d look good in one, so sign me up to help test it! The article includes a short 3 minute video demonstration.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10159601-1.html

2008: the Year of the Laptop

Matthew Woolums — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 02:33:17 +0000

Looking back, 2008 will be remembered for many things. On the technology front, 2008 is the year of the laptop. According to a CNET News article, laptops outsold desktops for the first time (world-wide) in the last quarter of the year.

Global notebook shipments exceeded desktops on a quarterly basis for the first time ever, with Netbooks playing a decisive role, iSuppli said on Tuesday.

For the classroom, laptops have many advantages. Space is often at a premium in classrooms, and desktops computers take up a lot of room. Laptops, on the other hand, can be deployed in any room instead of a dedicated lab room and stored when not in use. Laptops can also be used in any part of the room, something that isn’t easy to do with a desktop computer. Wireless networking also eliminates the need for cabling. There is the negative of having to manage battery power. Do you have access to laptops or a lab? Which do you prefer?

Laptop shipments top desktops for first time; Netbooks a factor | Nanotech – The Circuits Blog – CNET News

Best of 2008 Collections

Matthew Woolums — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 01:29:55 +0000

This is the time of year for reflection and the ‘best of 2008′ posts are popping up all over. Here are a few worth checking out:

The Best Posts Of 2008 | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… Larry Ferlazzo’s collections of classroom tools are always worth a visit.
The Top Gadgets of 2008 Just in case you were looking for a new cool gadget, here is a ‘best of’ collection from Wired.
CrunchGear’s Best of 2008 plus the People’s Choice Best of 2008 Gala Awards Ceremony, and People’s Choice awards. The readers have spoken!
Most Influential Edublog Post 2008 The Edublog Awards This is the list of Edublogs posts nominated as most influential for 2008.

Kindle for Kids

Matthew Woolums — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 03:54:19 +0000

The Tech Observer, among others, is reporting that Amazon is hinting to investors that they may introduce a Kindle for the textbook market. I am not convinced about the long term viability of the Kindle as an e-book reader, however, based on the three people I know who have one, they all love it, warts and all. I can also see how it would make sense for text books to be loaded onto a Kindle. Students would gladly trade in their hefty texts for a single device that contained all of their course reading.

The Kindle is only one direction. Give every student a laptop, or let them use their own if they have one, and provide digital content is another option. Of course, file sharing and copyrights become an even more important issue for the book publishers if all of the material was available in digital format. This sort of reminds me of the transition from vinyl to compact disk way back when I worked in a record store in the mid 80’s. Short-sidedness on the part of the recording industry hasn’t done them any favors. We’ll have to wait and see what happens to the text book publishing industry as the world rapidly goes digital around them.

http://www.portfolio.com/views/blogs/the-tech-observer/2008/08/25/rumored-textbook-plans-for-kindle

One Internet Device Per Child

Matthew Woolums — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 21:03:01 +0000

TechCrunch is proposing a simple web tablet device that looks like the screen portion of a Mac Book Air but with a coloring style that reminds me of the original iMac. It might make a good addition to the backpack I mentioned in my last post. $200 is the target price for this edition of hardware that we wished existed but doesn’t. If it does get built, I wonder how much it might cost, and whether or not there will be a kit that can be purchased to build my own. The article suggests that Firefox act as the OS, but I’m not sure we need to kill off the desktop just yet. Maybe we should make the OS more like a backpack instead of a desktop though.

http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/07/21/we-want-a-dead-simple-web-tablet-help-us-build-it/