Month: October 2006

A TechTalk post entitled “Turning Google Into A Portal” caught my attention. I have a Google Personal Home Page, but like so many things I experiment with I have not paid much attention to the site in some time. Google offers modules that you can add to your personal page to satisfy personal interests. The idea is that one might create a personal portal – a collection of resources that fit how one uses the web – and then set this as the “home page” within your browser of choice. Modules are added and positioned according to personal taste. When you launch your browser, you encounter the information sources and tools that suit your needs.

My existing portal is provided by NetVibes. I now find myself facing a dilemma – each of my portals has unique capabilities. Maintaining two personal portals defeats the purpose of a portal. What is the point of having two “to-do” lists? Which one do you update? Decisions, decisions!!

If the initial news regarding the online behavior of Congressman Foley was not disturbing enough, now it appears that some, possibly even House Speaker Hastert, were aware of the allegiations and failed to pursue the matter (CNN). It is always a horrible thing when those in the public trust (educators, clergy, elected officials) take advantage of their positions and turn out to be perpetrators. Worse yet in this case, others in authority appear to have excused the inappropriate behavior of their colleagues.

I wonder if there is a message in this situations that our legislators should consider? Technological barriers are not likely to be the key to confronting the realities of online victimization. Superivsion and education are crucial. In this case, our leaders supervisory skills seem to be somewhat lax. Perhaps the recognition of a problem requires that the complaint involve someone of the other party.

Hastert denies charges.

We are out of town visiting relatives in Hinckley, MN. Both Cindy and her sister in law Denise work with technology in schools so we spend some time experimenting.

I experiment with Photobooth (Mr. Blockhead).

Cindy creates a poster in Photo Elements (son in law and granddaughter as the subjects).

Fall image from Hinckley, MN.