johnhendron.net: hendron’s digest - a weblog

by Trebor Scholz.

This week I gave a presentation to our teachers based upon the lyrics of Dylan’s song, The Times They Are a Changin’.

There is a mathematical principle at work when you use one of several URL shortening services. It’s called “hashing.”

This blog post goes into depth about the process.

These are nice when you have complicated, long addresses to share. But what worries me is… what happens if the service goes south, and you’re stuck with a meaningless placeholder?

This summer I’ve published a few movies through my efforts at work.

• Back to School Technology Presentation
• Promethean ActivClassroom Video
• Teacher Summer Training

TED TALKS: Ken Robinson

I wanted to embed the video here, but their embed code wasn’t quite working. Instead, spend 20 minutes and watch this presentation. It’s both humorous and thought-provoking.

Does good teaching mean we’re using modern technologies?

Some excellent food for thought.

I recently procured iLife ‘08, Apple’s suite of fun and creative apps: iDVD, iMovie, iPhoto, and Garageband. And we shouldn’t forget iWeb!

Specifically, I’ve played with iPhoto the most, and like the new “events” organization. It also feels very snappy.

I made an iMovie and used it to produce a video I shared for our work website. A few things happened which I didn’t care for: I asked for 250kbit/rate on my exported movie, and it gave me 350 instead. I asked for 15fps, and I got 30. Twice. Perhaps recording in 60i fps on the camcorder was the issue, but I don’t like asking for one thing, and getting another.

Also, iMovie takes some getting used to. It did speed up the editing time, a bit, but only for videos that you will edit in a particular way. The “fine-tuned” control felt missing, and I think in some ways, the “new” paradigm and interface are steps backwards. But it is screaming fast.

It felt maybe this could have cooked longer in the labs. Few transitions and effects and “looks,” and no more themes.

iDVD feels the least-amount touched; it still looks like the old iMovie. I think this program needs the MOST help and improvement, over the past 3 cycles. I still find it confusing to use. More themes here, but not much else to write-home about.

GBand looks interesting; I used the Magic GarageBand. It was cool. Not sure if its useful, but it was FUN. And I can see the educational implications, too.

The software is all good, and still a value at $79. Oh, and there’s iWeb.

iWeb is not a favorite program; it feels backwards to me. Of course, I design websites. For our teachers, they loved it… the idea of drop-drag-documents is appealing. It feels backwards if you’ve been using blogs or CMSs for too long, though. The new additions are welcome, as were the new templates. The concept of putting photo sharing on the web (an extension of iPhoto’s capabilities) is interesting, as Apple attempts to put Web 2.0 spins on their iLife apps.

Apple had the opportunity to make a world-class blogging client with iWeb and .Mac but didn’t present that. Instead, they strengthened their earlier attempt with the iWeb model of document-style publishing. iWeb will be of primary concern to folks who use .Mac and want something simple to use.

I’m personally considering dropping .Mac services, as I already pay for website hosting and have enough e-mail accounts.

I really enjoyed reading a post at 43 Folders on whether or not so-called GTD techniques should be taught in school.

The concept is interesting. I think, in fact, that teaching how to work in groups, collaborate, and how to manage time is something we ought to do as educators. The comments get away from topic in this post, but they are nevertheless intriguing and an interesting read. N.B. not all the language in the post (linked above) is school-safe.

Some tips from Mac and organization guru, Merlin Mann.