Ed's Tech Tips

Well, never get lost again if you have a cell phone signal and a cell phone that is compatible with the new mobile Google Maps. Many phones are supported. This is a cool new application from Google that is going to increase my data charges on my cell phone plan, but will help prevent me from getting lost again.

Just like the version you can view on your computer, you can browse and zoom a detailed map including the satellite photo view. Get directions, search for businesses, get traffic reports, save favorites and more. You can also use Google Maps in the U.S., Canada, France, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, and Spain. After selecting a particular business, select the "Details" tab for hours of operation, hotel amenities, and more. See where the congestion is, and estimate delays in over 30 major US metropolitan areas. Save time (and avoid sore thumbs) by keeping a list of residential or business locations, and driving routes.

Google has created an interactive demo so that you can test drive Google Mobile Maps from your computer for free and learn all of the ins and outs of the program, before you start paying the data fees to your cell phone company. Just click on the keys of the on-screen phone pad.

In addition to maps, you can also easily access your mail, Google news and Google search in general. Google Mobile is now my homepage. The SMS text message search feature is also very cool. For instance, send a text message, such as, "sushi 94040" and a list of sushi restaurants in Mountain View, California will be sent back to you. Get movie times, definitions, translations, prices, calculations, stock quotes, sports scores, directions, trivia, and more. This really expands the capabilities of your cell phone. 

Thanks to Olga for pointing out a cool new free service for websites from a company called Conduit Connect that allows you to quickly and easily create a fully custom browser toolbar. Click on the banner to the left to go to the download page and install it.

If you have used the Google tool bar, it is very similar. It even incorporates  a Google search box with the highlight option which comes in very handy when you are doing research and are looking for certain terms or phrases in a page. Additionally, the toolbar can be customized with the a logo and icons, menus, chat, RSS reader, links, email notifier, local weather, web radio and much more. It is compatible with Firefox on all platforms and in Internet Explorer, as well, if you are still using that browser. 

I'm not sure what the business model of the company is, but I'm certain it must be tied into searching and ad revenue. Whatever it is, it is unobtrusive. The toolbar is very well done and thought out.  The steps to create it were clear and easy to follow. 

The Association toolbar features direct links to the Association web site. I've included a drop down menu for the different features of the Virtual Cafe and another menu for the different online directory tools. There is a link for the events calendar and a RSS menu that displays the latest blog articles.

There is a chat feature that allows you to chat with whoever else has the tool bar installed. Unfortunately it does not tell you who is online or provide you a method of notifying them that you are online. I'm not sure how well this feature will be utilized.

There are numerous other options, but there is only so much room on the tool bar to include them.  If I change my mind I can update the toolbar and the next time the end users open their browsers the toolbar will be refreshed and reflect the new changes.

Currently the staff is testing the toolbar to insure that there are no major issues. So far, I do not see any. It looks very promising and that's why I am writing this blog article.   I think it will be a very nice compliment to our web site.

Sony has recently released their Reader (original name) ebook device. Ebooks are not new.  A few years ago RocketBook was a ebook hopeful, that while it was well designed using the technology available at the time, it disappeared because of costs of the hardware and the ebooks. In addition weight, battery life and legibility of the screen were lacking. However, I like the concept.

Sony's new product looks very promising from a technology point of view. It uses eInk technology that provides a high contrast sharp display viewable in direct sunlight at a 180 degree angle. It weighs 9 ounces. The battery last 4 hours or 7,500 page turns. It is smaller than many paperbacks measuring at 7x5 inches and is only half an inch thick. Unfortunately it only comes with 64 MB of RAM. With the price of RAM being so low Sony could have easily included at least a gigabyte of RAM. I recently bought some 512 MB flash drives for $11.50 each. It does have a memory card slot and supposedly the 64 MB can hold 80 average size books. Since the display is black and white, you'll really only looking at text, not graphics or video. The device can view Jpegs and Adobe PDF's, as well as, playback non-DRM MP3 and ACC audio files (headphones not included). 

Here are some pictures of campus around Mary Woolley Hall taken and sent with my Sony Eriscsson Z500a cell phone. The resolution is not great and I probably should have cleaned the lens. It gets a lot of pocket lint on it. But I wanted to demonstrate what can be done with a cell phone and a blog, what some have coined as moblogging - short for "mobile weblog". I think it would be great for travel and sports blogs.  

Moblogging is not exactly new. The first post from a mobile device was done in 1995. Read more about the history of moblogging at Joi Ito's web site. If you are still interested check Picostation, a site dedicated to mobloggers and textamerica.com, another moblog portal that has some great photos.  Of course Blogger.com allows you to easily post items from your phone.

Earlier I wrote about PriceGrabber which is a great price and product comparison tool for online retailers once you decide on what product you want to buy, however, a lot of research can go into deciding which product you should purchase. I read a lot of reviews and try to distinguish "true" reviews versus glorified press releases or promotion articles. I do not trust magazines that only have glowing and positive remarks to make about every product they review. It appears that they just want to keep their advertisers happy. The magazine becomes more like a catalog than a true journalistic endeavour.

Unfortunately, it can be very time consuming to read various reviews, that's where ConsumerSearch comes in handy. Unlike Consumer Reports (which is a excellent source because they do not accept advertising) that actually reviews the products themselves, ConsumerSearch pulls together articles from different resources on similar products, analyzes their results and summarizes the results for you identifying the best products. They include links to the actual reviews and offer a Credibility Rating for the various reviews. They offer summaries, as well as, detailed overviews. They then offer listings where to buy the products showing price comparisons for various retailers.

The only complaint I would have about ConsumerSearch is that the articles may be dated or old. They can't keep current on all of the different product categories all of the time, but they do have a list of recently updated categories.  It is still the best single location I have found to read balanced and accurate comparisons and reviews of a wide variety of products.

There is a new plugin that allows our blog authors to post YouTube or Google videos in their blogs. Google has a new feature where you upload videos longer than 9 minutes and keep them unlisted, so that you can kep them private and only show them to people you want to. Here is a test. The following is video from the Alumnae Council 2006 Awards Dinner:

I've purchased some Logitech USB headsets and am encouraging our staff and volunteers to start using Skype for long distance and conference calls. Emily, the Editor of the Alumnae Quarterly, says that she loves it. The sound quality is very good, the software is very easy to use and she likes having her hands free. The only fault she has found is that she has not been able to use touch tone menus. She should be able to with the dial-pad built into Skype, but she called three different credit card companies and neither worked. 

In addition to audio calls, Skype supports file transfers, text messaging and video calls. So it offers much more than your traditional phone calls for free if you are making Skype to Skype calls. Skype to mobile or land line phones are usually cheaper than traditional phone services, especially with International calls. Rochelle, the Association's Executive Director who still longs for her old rotary phone, even conceded that it was the way to go.

I am responsible for purchasing new computer hardware and related electronics for the Alumnae Association. I read a lot of reviews and compare prices. A site that makes my job easier is PriceGrabber.com. They provide one of the best product filters I have seen on any web site which allows me to easily narrow my choices and compare apples to apples. Amazon is finally offering a similar filter option.

When you select a particular item, it lists all of the vendors that sell it with direct links to the vendor product pages and shows the selling price, along with taxes and shipping (just enter your zip code) and the real total costs. Some vendors advertise a low price only to charge more for shipping. There are seller ratings so you can see the experiences of other customers. 

Pricegrabber features more than computers and electronics now. Categories include travel, home& garden, kitchen equipment, health & beauty, movies, video games and more. Before you spend your money, shop and compare because sometimes prices can vary significantly. If not the prices then the shipping, service and support.

Problem: Our graphic designer was getting inundated with last minute requests and projects.

A Possible Answer: Create a Graphics Project Tracker online to allow staff to submit and schedule project requests in advance specifying deadlines, budget, quantity, description and so forth. I researched some options and found Zoho Creator, a new web application that allows you to easily create online database programs. You can import an existing Excel spreadsheet, copy an existing template or start from scratch. There was a Project Tracker sample program, so I copied it and modified the fields. I was even able to add an automatic email function that notifies the graphic designer when a project is submitted. Zoho offers a simple scripting language for customizing your application. If you have used Access, FileMaker or created a macro for Word or Excel you should find Zoho Creator fairly easy to use. The documentation is thorough and detailed with extensive examples. 

I think this might be a beneficial tool for classes and clubs, especially for members who are geographically separated, that would allow them to more easily collaborate together. 

Our blog portal has recently received a facelift and a new name: Mount Blog. The Alumnae Association's graphic designer, J. Johnson, came up with the new name after everyone else was stumped for a decent title. He also took the photo of the Holyoke mountain range and created the banner that adorns the entry way to the blog pages. Our five blogging students have written at least one article each and will most likely be publishing more pages after the Fall break. (hint, hint) 

In an effort to better reach out to alumnae and students the Alumnae Association is exploring creating groups or profiles on Facebook and MySpace. It was also suggested to create an account on YouTube and post videos. I'll think about. It's already a lot of work to maintain the web site, the LAN, the webserver and this blog.

Almost every student in the classes from 2005 to 2010 has an account on Facebook, so we have started there by creating a Group. Plus, it is easier to create a group on Facebook than MySpace, because Facebook allows much less customization, but it is a much cleaner and intuitive interface . My student worker Olga created the group and will be maintaining it for the rest of the semester before she leaves. Students have already created a wide variety of different groups on Facebook. I have updated my profile and linked this blog to it using the RSS feed link. 

We will be tackling MySpace later. There are a little over a thousand members on MySpace that list themselves as being an alum of Mount Holyoke College. A little more work is involved in creating a profile and customizing the template. 

We are starting to offer some new content on the web site in the form of blogs written by current students. The idea is to offer alumnae a view into the current lives of students at Mount Holyoke College at different stages in their college careers. Alumnae can see how some things have changed, how some things have remained the same and be reminded of their time on campus. We currently have 5 students:

• Olga's Island by Olga Karagiozi who is a senior and international student from Greece that will be finished with her classes in December.
  
• in my head by Stephanie Miedema, class of 2007
  
• Immovable Type by Mary Duffy from the Class of 2008
  
• Mind of a MoHo by Nicole Mortimer of the Class of 2009
  
• Through the Eyes of a First Year by Melany Piech of the Class of 2010