johnhendron.net: hendron’s digest - a weblog

I recently read an article in PC World on Microsoft’s Surface.

A couple of interesting points.

• Put this in a tablet PC–awesome.
• Seeing people bend their backs in uncomfortable positions around a 1980s PacMac video game table? Not so great.
• It looks like the innovation is in the interface and software; not the hardware
• Could you imagine a school where all the kids sat around a big table, and the teacher could toss you a document that you have to grab with your fingers….

I am currently trying to sell two Macs.

PowerMac G4

• Dual-processor tower
• 2×1Ghz PowerPC G4
• 1.5 GB RAM
• 3 internal HDD (120GBx2, 20GBx1)
• Upgraded fan unit
• 64MB video RAM
• Keyboard, mouse
• 17″ Apple Studio Display + $100 extra

Price: $900.00 obo.

PowerMac G5

• Dual-processor tower
• 2.5 GB RAM
• 2 internal HDD (300GBx1, 120GBx1)
• DVD Burner (SuperDrive)
• Keyboard, mouse
• 128MB video RAM
• 22″ Apple Cinema Display (ADB connector) +$350 extra

Price: $2K obo.

Contact me if you’d like to make an offer. I can ship, but would prefer to sell one or both locally. Both have been well-cared for in a home environment.

Gotta love the You Tube.

Not to be out-done by the popular YouTube video site, the Teacher Tube is growing an interesting number of videos for use in the classroom.

There’s humor, video-versions of presentation slides, and namely, just custom-made videos teachers and students have produced to teach content.

This week I got to attend the Innovate 2007 conference at the Richmond Convention Center.

One of the most talked-about things there was the “Geo Dome,” a big ball that you get into. Why? So you can walk around.

Why would you want to walk around in a ball? Because to you, you’re not in a ball, you’re in a 3D virtual space! The screen photo, above, shows what the person inside sees in their goggles.

Innovate had a lot of interesting content and “food for thought” about future technologies, and what we might use in schools. Sponsored by the Virginia Department of Education, this was the first conference of this type.

I was asked by the organizers to record a podcast of the event. You can now hear these by subscribing to our TechTimesLive podcast feed.