Homeschool 2.0 » web2.0

Firefox Gets Even Better

lynn — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 21:23:19 +0000

Released today, Firefox 3.0! The rest of the family upgraded to the beta version weeks ago. I held out because I like my add-ons and they weren’t ready yet for the new release. Help set a Guinness World Record for Downloads and download it today.

Podcasting in Plain English

lynn — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 17:59:08 +0000

New from Commoncraft, Podcasting in Plain English. I love podcasting and have my personal favorites that I listen to regularly, Hugh Hewitt and the Wall Street Journal This Morning. Our church podcasts its weekly sermons so if we’re gone we can keep up with what’s going on. Just about any topic is available because podcasting can turn anybody with a will into a broadcaster.

I use iTunes and an iPod to keep it simple but there are other ways to go about it…check out the video for a primer.

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Blogging May be Bad for Health

lynn — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 17:57:37 +0000

Is there death by blogging? This from the NY Times, writers are blogging until they drop. I don’t know about you folks but life has enough 24/7 demand without manic blogging.

Museum of Online Museums

lynn — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 19:30:11 +0000

You can find it all at the Museum of Online Museums.

Blogging with Google Docs

lynn — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 17:34:22 +0000

I’m hooked on Windows Live Writer to compose and publish blog posts but today I’m going to try posting with Google Docs. I just learned Google has slipped in a function that publishes Docs to a blog. It’s found under the ‘Publish’ tab on the far right of the Docs window.

So what? Well, WordPress’ editor can often be very tedious as I wait for the server to save or to pull up editing tools while Google Docs works much more smoothly. It’s really not a big deal but if I’m away from my own computer and without Live Writer then Google Docs is another option for seamless posting.

I’ll try inserting an image to see how Google Docs does some heavier lifting.

Now that I’ve published this I’ll edit it again with Google Docs.

Here are some Google Docs shortcomings:

Cannot categorize so I’ll have to go back in WordPress to do that.
No title to the post. Hmmm. That’s not good–Google still has some work to do. I’ll have to add that with WP editor.

H/T: Lifehacker

Cell Phones for Learning

lynn — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 21:23:38 +0000

I wrote a while back on another blog about how much smarter my Motorola SLVR is compared to my first computer. And it’s not even classified as a ’smart phone.’ Many of my youngest friends are now cellular with more computing capability in their pocket than NASA had for the Apollo program. It’s amazing.

Now how to make those phones and capabilities useful for education… Wes Fryer is a go-to guy for digital learning. Here are his resources for ‘Cell Phones for Learning,’ his conference presentation at NCCE.

With a cell phone, they created a narrated video presentation using Gabcast and flickr then uploaded to voicethread.com for publishing to the web.

Consider other uses:

Google anything anywhere on your phone
Recording video and audio
Blogging and photosharing using flickr
iTunes U

So, instead of a texting distraction there is great potential for education and productivity. Just need a little creativity.

Blog Posts and Bots and Spiders, Oh My!

lynn — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 20:27:54 +0000

From Wired here’s the ‘Life Cycle of a Blog Post.’ It’s cool visual of how a blog post becomes part of the traffic on the web including spiders, bots, spammers, aggregators and so on.

Blogging With WordPress and Live Writer

lynn — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 22:21:34 +0000

I’ve been posting with Windows Live Writer for a few days now. I’m totally hooked! It’s made posting to WordPress even easier and faster. I no longer have to wait for the server to save drafts as I write nor upload images. I don’t need to be connected to write a post.

It’s easy to use. I write a post on Live Writer offline and when it’s ready to go I click ‘Publish’ and it uploads everything to the blog, images, and links all to the appropriate locations. Formatting flows much better, too. So, if you’re a blogger give it a try.

Live Writer also works for Blogger, Windows Live Spaces, TypePad, and LiveJournal.

I did learn a valuable time-saving tip. Disable your Google Site Map Plugin or Live Writer will be unable to connect to WordPress.

Watch the World Go By

lynn — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 20:55:05 +0000

WebCams are pretty cool. Not just the kind I use for Skype but the kind that is always on and broadcasting images over the web. FOXNews has a fun list of webcams around the world. Here’s what’s happening right now…

It’s nighttime in Paris.

There’s a big, big boat in the Panama Canal.

Haze in Egypt looking at the Pyramids at Giza.

It’s January in Alaska and a beach without ice pans is a welcome sight. Here’s Maui. (sigh)

Close to home I can gaze at Mts. McKinley and Foraker, if it’s clear. Today, it’s not.

The list has lots of sites. Sydney, Yellowstone, London and so on. Enjoy!

Demographics by Zip Code

lynn — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 23:08:34 +0000

Curious about your neighborhood? Instantly, get demographic information on the folks who live in your zip code at ZIPskinny.com. Find out how you compare with your neighbors when it comes age, marital status, education and income from 2000 US Census data.