The Professor's Notes » Technology

iPad problems? Okay, a couple…

Steve Brady — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 20:33:39 +0000

I have been running the ipad through it’s paces the past week and have generally enjoyed it. I think the weight is really “perfect” to ensure I know I am holding a device, but not so heavy as to hinder my use. The display is as vibrant as everyone had said, and some of the apps just blow me away.

That said I have had my issues with the device. In this post I want to focus on two: the initial syncing to iTunes for Windows users, and the on-screen keyboard.

I had some initial problems getting it synced with my Windows 7 machine, which i initially attributed to my own unique configuration, but have since heard many others have had similar problems. Specifically iTunes 9.1 won’t “see” the iPad (and in my case stopped seeing the iphone as well.) The solution was simple if time consuming–completely delete out the installation of iTunes and all things Apple.

I will say though that, by not being able to connect to the computer at first, i found the iPad to be a real joy to use as a stand alone device. I was able to get applications quite easily, and watch streaming video. If it weren’t for my insane desire to actually listen to and watch my already purchased media I would have had no desire to connect.

That does beg the question though–why must we actually continue to connect our devices with the computers through cables? This device is the epitome of mobility allowing full connectivity through wifi and soon through 3G cell networks. Cant Apple find a way to sync the ipad to the computers wirelessly? (HINT: Microsoft already does that with the ZUNE)

Now the next criticism is the keyboard. First let me say that I generally enjoy typing on the screen keyboard. I am using it now in fact. But some of the key placements are a bit awkward considering the fact that I am starting to use it like a “normal” keyboard. I expect keys to be in certain places, and when they require two or three extra keystrokes to use (yes apostrophe i am talking to you!) i find it to to be a hindrance. But what is worse given that I am not a professional typist, is the lack of arrow keys. When i type (er, mistype) i want to be able to go back and edit the word without trying to place the cursor with my fingertip. Perhaps others are more dextrous than I, but I have a heck of a time getting it “exactly” right, forcing me to make more corrections than i had intended, and again hindering the work flow.

In your reading of this you may have come across another annoying “feature.” For some reason the smart typing system insists on a lower case I more often than not. Others have noticed this as well, and my brother even brought it up in conversation. A seemingly trivial annoyance, but one that requires an inordinate amount of proof-reading when they could have just left things alone.

Admittedly I could go and purchase either the keyboard Dock or the Bluetooth keyboard but honestly, I think that defeats the purpose of the highly portable and lightweight device.

So there you have it. A couple of my “nits” that I am going to pick about the iPad.

Now–back to watching Castle on the ABC app!

Digital teaching resources: How do we measure success?

Steve Brady — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 13:00:34 +0000

Those that read regularly, or listen to our podcast, will know that I love technology, and that I also spend a good bit of time cogitating on how we can best use technology in higher education. As part of another paper I wrote I proposed three “rules of thumb” to guide us when we infuse technology into education. Specifically I ask does the technology:

a) improve the educational content

b) Free up the educator’s to focus on content rather than process, or

c) enable students to grasp the information in a better/faster/cheaper way?

I regularly struggle with each of these, with my focus lately shifting to “c” and how students learn. I want my students to in some sense control how they learn, so that they will have to rely less on structured “office hour” visits (and the limited time available for them) and more on their own abilities to learn at their own pace. Given this emphasis I have tried several avenues.

First, I have been recording lectures and making them available as audio podcasts through iTunesU. If a student didn’t quite grasp what I was saying (often because I talk too fast) then they can go back, listen again, and see if that makes things more clear. I have in some instances created not only an audio recording of the lecture, but taken the time to provide a “video” version as well, linking the slides from the presentation to the pacing and the voice, so they can more easily follow along if they are at their computer. ¹

Second, I have been developing video (or “Screencast”) tutorials that step students through solving samples of the problems for each chapter, usually ones that are similar to the homework problems they will be seeing. Then for a select few problems I make tutorials stepping through the solutions to the homeworks that were assigned. I have developed a blend of videos that use the powerful Excel tool to solve some of the problems, but also solving some “by hand” through the use of the Tablet PC and the ability for a tablet PC to record what I write. In this way the students can step through, at their own pace, the problems and the solutions and get a better sense of the thought processes and steps that are necessary to solve these “real world problems.”

Not surprisingly, some students choose to use these resources, and some do not. So I face a struggle in evaluating the efficacy of these tools. Are we successful if:

All (or at least a majority) of students use these tools regularly?
Students grades (as measured through standard testing procedures) increase when using these tools?
The number of students seeking assistance through traditional methods (office hours, email, phone calls) decreases?

How do we know if it is working?

I have had a simple measure: Do some (or even any) students use the tools, and when they use them do they feel that they are grasping the material better?

My thought has been that numbers don’t matter as much as outcomes for individuals and if some students find value then these approaches are worth continuing.

What are your thoughts? Must we have numbers to be considered successful?

Of course, having the option for both audio, and video, provides the greatest flexibility, allowing students to “take me with them” and listen when and where they wish, and then watch when they have the time to be seated at a display. ↩

Review: Mophie for iPhone 3G (and 3Gs)

Steve Brady — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 01:37:28 +0000

I am rather late to the party for getting the Mophie for my iPhone, but I am here to tell ya, it has been a God send! The Mophie Juice Pack Air Case and Rechargeable Battery for iPhone 3G, 3G S (Black) more than doubles the amount of power (battery life) your iPhone has available to it, while simultaneously providing a nice protective casing for it. I bought the Mophie while searching for a solution to allow me to stream relatively large amounts of data while not being able to directly tie my phone in to a power source (outlet or computer). The salesperson at Best Buy recommended the Mophie, and I haven’t gone a day without it since!

I have found that, on days when I am checking emails with greater frequency, listening to music and podcasts, and tweeting, my battery lasts about 6 hours. The Mophie has come in quite handy. If you want to actually USE your phone, then this is a must-have device.

The Mophie makes most buttons and connectors on the iPhone readily accessible. I can insert headsets, and press the power buttonsand the volume rocker quite easily. On the other hand the “ringer/vibrate” switch is a little more difficult to operate (at least for me, since I don’t have fingernails to speak of…) The other drawback is the connector (see below for more information on that).

They designers gave some serious thought to the use as both a phone and music player designing audio channels that direct your voice to the microphone and also channel the music out through the device with no limitations on volume or sound quality.

That said, the Mophie does have its drawbacks, specifically the connector. The Mophie does not use the standard iPhone/iPod docking connector but rather uses a micro-USB connector (the same one used in the Amazon Kindle DX and Kindle 2). The Mophie comes with a USB cable, so that you can easily plug the Mophie (and iPhone) into your computer, and your computer will recognize the iPhone and connect through to your iTunes application and any other applications you use with your iPhone. The only real difficulty comes when you want to use other devices with your iPhone specifically designed with the Dock connector. My simple solution–take the phone out of the Mophie. That is what I do any time I want to listen to podcasts through my car soundsystem. ¹

Pros:

Doubles the battery life of the iPhone
Protects the iPhone from accidental drops and tumbles
4 LEDs on the back indicate charge levels (with test button)
No real significant weight/balance change
Available in several colors

Cons:

The connector is not the “standard” pass through for the iPhone Dock
If you wish to use your iPhone with a “standard” device you must remove the phone from the Mophie
Does increase the weight a bit
Doubles the thickness of the phone

I have enjoyed the Mophie and the additional protection and power that it provides. I only have to switch to battery from the Mophie occasionally, but when it was nice to know that I had that extra reserve ready to go when I needed it.

One final note: my sister-in-law saw mine, liked it, and bought one for herself in red. I asked her what she thinks and she too loves the extended battery life that she is experiencing.

Ah, if only I had a bluetooth soundsystem built into my car to let me send my audio to my soundsystem. Maybe next time. ↩

Products I really, really like…

Steve Brady — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 00:07:34 +0000

My brother posted links to some of his favorite products and apps over at his blog, so I thought I would do the same. Who knows, you might find something you really can find useful.

I have mentioned many of these as my “picks of the week” over at our Real Tech for Real People podcast, so go visit the site, and listen to the weekly podcast to not only find out what we pick, but why! My partners, Tony Pittman and Josh Finklestein always have great choices as well, and our guests do too!

My first pick today is one my eldest daughter gave me for Christmas. I wanted an adapter that would let me use SD memory cards in my cameras that use “Compact Flash” cards. The predominant reason is the increasing scarcity of CF cards and the lower price point and near ubiquity of the SD cards. She found for me the SD-CF II : SD to CF Type II Adapter (Supports SDHC) by Semco.

This card is relatively inexpensive, and that is perhaps its biggest draw. For only $15 you can have a quick and easy way to make use of the readily available SD cards. I have put it through its paces in the past few months and here is what I have found:

Pros:

Inexpensive. Yup, it’s downright cheap.
Has worked in every camera I have used it in, which is my Sony Digital Alpha 100, my Canon Digital Rebel, and my Canon Digital Rebel Xt
Has worked in every card reader I have used on my computers

Cons:

Slow. It’s not PAINFULLY slow, but it is not as fast as the SD memory I put in it, and frankly isn’t as fast as my existing CF cards (middle-of-the-road speed, for value)

So there you have it. If you want to be able to capture every day pictures then this card is more than capable and opens up opportunities for you to take advantage of sales on SD cards that might not be available for CF Cards. On the other hand if you have to shoot fast, and want very quick write speeds to “keep up with the action” at events like football or swimming, then you will want a dedicated higher end CF Card.

All in all, a solid value, and I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

My Thoughts: An Apple Tablet WON’T look like this…

Steve Brady — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 12:52:08 +0000

I have seen all the mock-ups, and the “leaked” images, and various speculations, and what strikes as interesting is how uncreative so many folks seem to be. Digging back to my blog entry from March 2006 you will see an idea of what many thought (1 year in advance) a new, all glass, iPod Video would look like Note they assumed the interface would just “virtualize” the wheel.

Jump forward nearly 4 years and many MegaDecibles of hype later, and you can see the lack of creativity still abounds. Most prognosticators are predicting “a larger iPhone” with some of the images shown (purportedly “legitimate from inside sources”) showing exactly the same layout–to include a speaker where there is currently an ear piece.

Give me a break. We won’t have to hold this up to our ears so why should Apple be captive to that design?

I see no reason for the device to look “like a larger iPhone” except in the broad brushes of Steve Job’s design Ken. Remember, Jobs likes simplicity, and we were “told” after the release of the iPhone that he wasn’t happy with the concessions they had to make for the few buttons that exist on the iPhone.

What can we expect to see? (and check back in 16 hours for my Mea Culpa.)

All Glass Front
Touch Interface
No buttons on the front
In fact, no buttons. Except power.
Pencil thin
limited physical connections, if any. Yup, no Firewire, no USB. Maybe not even an iPod connector. WiFi/3G only.
Power connector? (can you say “no–inductive charging?”)

So, if the rumored names are true, expect exactly that-a slate. A blank slate.

My thoughts? Apple will surprise us again. And that should be no surprise.

Ep 20: Duty, and Mom, Call

Steve Brady — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 12:30:09 +0000

My apologies, I have fallen behind on cross-posting the podcast. To be sure to get the LATEST podcast episodes of “Real Tech for Real People” visit http://getthenext.com, or simply click on the subscribe link below.

Tech Tutoring, Apple Ruminations, Google Nexus, Weekly Picks, and more…

Click here to listen to Real Tech 20

Click here to subscribe via iTunes

Stories:

Initial sales of Google Nexus 1 Phone: 20k in first week….shocking, or not?
Rumors of 4G iphones circulating.
Magic Jack uses “femtocell” technology.
Nintendo finally gets NetFlix on the Wii.
Matt Brady joins to discuss how Cumberland Valley HS is teaming with Microsoft.

PHOTO TIP: With DSLR (and most digital cameras) changing your resolution can change your photo speed.

PICKS OF THE WEEK:

Steve: Blueant z9i BT earpiece

Tony: Mirafiber Ultimate Cloth: http://www.southerncarparts.com/ultimate-cloth-p-712.html

Courtney: http://blog.louisgray.com/2010/01/abuzz-launches-social-media-search.html (techie) & a bit easier http://www.dimdim.com/

Past Picks of the Week now available at: http://tinyurl.com/RTPicks

websites to visit:

http://getthenext.com

http://theprofessornotes.com

Show Voicemail: 814.808-JOE1 (814.808.5631)

Tony is: tony.pittman@gmail.com or twitter.com/tonypittman

Steve is: scmprofessor@gmail.com or twitter.com/scmprofessor and he blogs at http://theprofessornotes.com

Guest, Courtney Engel is http://courtneyengle.com and @courtneyengle on Twitter

We are sooooo close…

Steve Brady — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 15:32:04 +0000

We are so close.

I have decided it is time for me to talk about my vision of portable or handheld devices. But first, a little history.

I came that reluctantly to the computer world. My father was an electrical engineer and computer scientist, and I was a political scientist. I read paper books, listened to music, and generally avoided all things digital. Of course, that was easy to do in the early 1980s. But then I got a TI 99/4a. I started becoming a user. The power user. The networking kind of guy. I went from the TI, to the commodore Amiga 1000, and then it was windows-where I am still today, along with linux and the Mac. Along the way I owned and Apple Newton, Handspring Visors, and have used a few tablet-pc’s.

This brings me to my point: we are so close to the dream I had when I first held my Apple Newton, and it is amazing to think that we have come this far in only 20 years.

My vision was at the time (and remains) for a device about the size of a sheet of paper and a no thicker than a pencil. Of course, I wanted to treat it like paper, and be able to write on it, have it recognize my handwriting, have a color display, and full connectivity to the world. I wanted a pad like they had in Star Trek.

The 1990s.

The Newton came the closest at first with handwriting recognition, the ability to add a modem, and the ability to create applications. Unfortunately, the Newton was large, heavy, and expensive. [1 The Newton was introduced in 1993, but development began over 20 years ago, in 1989.]. Next came the Palm and Visor PDAs. These devices made carrying your information far more convenient. The Palm and Visor screens were too small, not connected and not in color. And most importantly, they left behind the “natural language” handwriting recognition pioneered by Apple with their Newton. But at least the Palm and the Newton started us down the road of having personal handheld devices.

The 2000s.

The Handspring Visor was the first to have a cell-phone and wireless capability with the Visor-Phone (adding email to your pocket–quite the innovation in 2001!) This later morphed into the Treo and the smartphone market was born! I was one of the early adopters here, as well, having been one of the lucky few to get my purchase order in with the first wave! [2 The supplier "ran out" of the units within the first hour of making the item available for sale through Sprint. Apparently they failed to consider appropriate qualitative forecasting techniques such as analogy when predicting demand--but that's another story, for another blog (the supply chain one!)] When the Treo 300 was released, we now had a PDA with all our information in it, connected to a cellphone data network, and it was in color! The screen was small, and the device rather large/clunky with the clamshell design, but hey–we were CONNECTED!

The iPhone came late to the party, arriving in mid-2007, but brought several new innovations, not the least of which was the touch-screen interface on the solid glass face. Alas, the screen is too small for my tastes, but the iPhone is in color and fully connected with a “real” browsing experience on the web. Oh, and it has apps.

Concurrent with the advent of the iPhone was the introduction of the “NetBook” in 2007 providing limited computing capability for those “on the go.” [3 2007 wasn't the first time we saw portable micro-notebooks. I had seen some from Toshiba in the mid-1990s. But this was first time they cost far LESS than notebooks rather than far MORE.] This was a step beyond a smart phone–it was a whole computer. Of course, this didn’t slide easily into your pocket, and wouldn’t make a very nice phone, but it brought to the table the notion that we can have some serious computing power available to us in a highly portable device. And the computing power embedded in these devices has continued to both grow in power and shrink in size–in just 3 years since it’s introduction!

Not soon after the iPhone introduction we saw the Kindle pushed to market. This truly was the “next great thing” building on the success of earlier eReaders such as the Sony PRS505. A great device that lets one read books and other “written documents” on a portable device, with a larger screen and a much longer battery life. While the Kindle isn’t in color, it is thin, has some network connectivity, and with the introduction of the DX has a larger display. Competition to the Kindle is emerging in the narrow “eReader” niche, and innovation is beginning to rear it’s head here.

So we come full circle to my dream. we have large displays. We have touch interfaces. We have powerful portable CPUs.

When will someone pull it all together? When will we have the ultra-thin, color device that enables written input, while fully connected, all on a device the size of a sheet of paper? Perhaps this month. Could this be the game changer that Apple is going to introduce?

Let’s set the bar this high. If it isn’t the size of a sheet of paper, and if it is thicker than a pencil, then alas, we have once again missed the mark.

But, if it achieves all this, and more, then all I can say is… “I’m in!”

Windows 7 Speech Recognition and Dictation: Is “Built-in” really Cheaper (than a Mac?)

Steve Brady — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 15:41:21 +0000

My brother brought up an interesting topic the other day. We were having a discussion on twitter about various dictation software packages. He had just bought Mac speech dictate published by the same people who do Dragon Dictation. He made the comment in twin are that purchasing Mac speech dictate and the Macintosh OS X snow leopard upgrade was about the same as purchasing windows 7. (To be fair, he admitted later that he got the price wrong on purchasing Windows 7.)

I looked at the numbers. You can purchase a windows 7 home premium from Wal-Mart for about $110 as an upgrade. The software on his blog was $154.99. So I see a savings of $45.00. But that’s just comparing upgrading the operating system with purchasing the software and operating system. Purchasing window 7 new is about $200. That is significantly more. But I guess the question is, “who purchases window 7 as an operating system new and not as an upgrade?”

Typically people buy the operating system knew when they purchase a new computer so let’s compare the purchase of a good sized, powerful, notebook computer for windows to a Mac OS X notebook. I compared to the low end Mc book from Best Buy with a middle of the road HP at Best Buy. The Macbook for a 13 inch screen 2.2 GHz processor cost $1000. The HP for a 14 inch screen, 2.2 GHz processor cost $750. There were some other differences to include battery type and system bus however these are reasonably comparable computers (The HP had a larger and faster hardrive, the Apple Macbook has a faster bus. The HP has 4 GB of Ram while the MacBook only has 2GB,and according to the Best Buy specification sheets the HP is upgradeable to 8 GB while the Macbook is only upgradeable to 4.)

So given this if I look at a very narrow focus, simply the acquisition price of the speech dictation capability getting a new computer with windows 7 installed with the built in speech recognition and dictation is $400 cheaper than purchasing a new Macbook and having to purchase Mac speech dictate.

Honestly, I think this just shows how silly most of these discussions can be. If you like the design, style, and cachet that comes with owning a Mac then get a Mac. If on the other hand you’re willing to sacrifice style and beauty for functionality, or just don’t want to spend that much money, I think windows 7 is clearly your choice.

The bottom line: it all comes down to your personal choice and aesthetic.

(NOTE: This post was written completely through dictation using the speech dictation capability built-in to Windows 7.)

A New Podcast at The Professor Notes

Steve Brady — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 16:47:54 +0000

I have upgraded my blog to WordPress 2.9 and along with that, updated the database to mySQL 5.0. Ah, if only I could tell you the trials and tribulations.

Oh wait, I do talk about it–in this short podcast!

Enjoy!

And then–tell me what YOU would like us to talk about at the other podcast “Real Tech for Real People” over at http://getthenext.com

Cool Barcode reading App for iPhone (should make @alexlindsay happy!)

Steve Brady — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 18:51:50 +0000

NOTE: I had drafted this post in August, when this application was only available for jailbroken iPhones. I thought I had published the post, but realized today I had not. So, here it is, with the following updates. 1. it’s available from the AppStore now. 2. It not only searches for the best price for a product from online sources, but it also uses your current location, and searches for the best price in your area. Finally, it looks like their API for barcode reading has been incorporated into another favorite of mine, Grocery IQ.

I have been anxiously awaiting a useable application for reading the UPC and ISBN barcodes. I agreed with Alex Lindsay from PixelCorp when he said on MacBreak Weekly that this would be a killer app for the iPhone. In fact, he commented again as recently as May 11th 2009, on This Week in Tech 194 saying “I know that the one thing about point of purchase is that you can’t use the iPhone to take pictures of the barcodes, because it doesn’t focus.”

Well, I am VERY happy to report that there is an application available now for jailbroken and NON-jailbroken iPhones, that will read barcodes! And–it does it with the older phones that don’t focus well. This application is called “RedLaser” and apparently has quite a good algorithm for working through the fuzz that is an out of focus image.

To use the program, you open start the application, and click on the lightning bolt at the bottom of the screen. That will take you to the “camera” screen.

Once you get to the camera screen, you will see a white set of brackets. Move the camera lining the barcode up inside the edges of the brackets, and they will turn green when RedLaser thinks it sees a barcode. Give it a few seconds, and when you are holding still it will take a snap, and reach out to the network and pull back the information. In the image below, you can see I snapped the picture just as it was changing from white to green. (Cool, eh?)

The process I mentioned above is automatic, and in fact for the image above it read the barcode for the DVD (“Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow”) with no problems.

If you are having problems, and it either won’t “lock on” to the barcode, or it returns the wrong information, there is an alternative. Take a still image by clicking on the camera icon (and you can now be 10-12 inches away) and then use the pinch feature to zoom in and align the barcode up with the brackets, and then click “Use.”

Once the barcode has been read, and it pulls the info of the inter-tubes, it adds it to your list, showing the best pri

It comes as no surprise that it’s not perfect. I am sure many of you know how hard it is to read without our glasses or our contacts in. In testing the application in various lighting conditions, and with large and small UPCs, and ISBNs for books, I have found it will read everything I give it, if I have patience, and am willing to try a few different times. And generally it will read them “live.”

One of the innovations they introduce