Month: July 2007

I feel the need to update a previous post concerning Yep. This inexpensive (not free) product is a pdf organizer, tagger, annotator, etc.

What I failed to mention in my previous post was that Yep comes with a Safari specific bookmarklet (Mac specific) that converts the web site being viewed into a pdf and stores the pdf in Yep. The stored pdf is automatically linked to the appropriate URL.

Yepshot of this blog (not actual size)

I don’t have the need to store other author’s web pages for an extended period of time in the manner I might save pdfs of journal articles, but for short term storage while I am moving fast and attempting to collect resources on a topic, yepshot in combination with yep is a great tool.

I found the concept of the YouTube debates quite appealing and was excited to watch the show. Unfortunately, I was confused about the start time and missed most of the program. I should have known that there would be a way (aside from the professional spin people) to catch up. Sure enough, individual questions and responses are available from YouTube.

I have been attempting to determine how I would identify all questions submitted for this debate. This body of material (approx. 3000 if I remember the post debate comments from last evening correctly) would be interesting to analyze. For the cynical, it might be interesting to attempt to determine if this really was the “people’s” debate – did those who selected questions simply examine the pool to locate the questions that they thought would make an interesting program. This issue was discussed in the post-debate analysis. It was argued that allowing people to review the material submitted and vote on the questions to be asked would not be acceptable because those most invested (groups associated with candidates) could simply manipulate the online vote. Taking a look at some randomly selected set of questions would make a great student project.

Anyway – I think there is a way to call up the submissions – search for “The CNN/YouTube Democratic Debate” to view a much larger body of content.

We are in Portage, WI, on our way to Chicago for the LiveText conference. LiveText is a digital portfolio system that Cindy helps students and faculty in the Ed College use. I am along for the ride – we decided to take a few days around the convention and call this our summer trip. If you stay off the interstate, the drive along the Mississpi river and through Wisconsin is very nice.

We have started making comparisons between big city and small town hotels. The Best Western we stayed in last night was under $100, had free parking, free Internet, and a free breakfast. The room was easily the equivalent of what we pay $180-210 for in a convention hotel. Last time we were in Chicago, the parking was $29 per night and the Internet access approx. $10 a day.

It is probably Internet access that annoys me the most. I understand the reality of parking costs when space is at a premium, but charging for Internet in a $200 per night room is just wrong.

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Apple and I go way back. Still, I wonder what the plan is for K-12 classrooms and I am concerned. The rumor sites (e.g., Mac Rumors) report that the 17 inch iMac is to be discontinued. The present difference between the 17 and 20 inch iMac price is approx. $900 vs. $1300. While machine vs. machine (once software and capabilities are considered), I think Apple is quite competitive, this argument is not valid if there is no machine at the lower price point. With an increasing focus on Web 2.0 apps for many educational experiences, you don’t need $1300 machines even with iLife.

Perhaps I should ignore the rumors and trust Apple to do the right thing. This vail of secrecy thing Apple seems to enjoy is not good for my high blood pressure.

BTW – the iPhone is also not relevant to me because I can’t purchase one to use in North Dakota. Hence, the total focus of the Apple home page on the iPhone is simply annoying.

Now I feel better.

I leave town for just a few days and another blogger scoops me on a really cool local idea (my excuse – we donate the local paper when we are gone or I would have been all over this).

Doug Johnson (Blue Skunk Blog) evidently was in town for a wedding. He describes this as a destination wedding – maybe it just seems that way if you are from Mankato, MN 😉 . Anyway, he decides to read the “Pulitzer prize” winning GFHerald and discovers a column in the paper attempting to generate a list of the seven wonders of Grand Forks. Doug must have had some down time because he drove around and took pictures of the sites for his blog.

He is right when he proposes this could be a great local project for someone. What are your local wonders?

Actually, I have been collecting images of local “wonders” myself this summer and I have been exploring our neighbors to the east. You may have observed my pictures of the world’s largest prairie chicken and Big “Ole” in my side bar.

Rothsay, MN

Alexandria, MN

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I have to give Doug credit. He posted a response nearly as quickly as I could hit the “Save” button. I do admire those bloggers who put their heart and soul into their sites and really keep on top of things.

He is right about the difficulty in adding “comments” to my blog – it can be done, but it is not easy. I gave up on the easy approach to protect anyone who is willing to read my material from the spammers of the world. Here is the way it works. You have to “register”. The system then sends me a notification and I have to upgrade your status (allow comments, allow posts, etc.). I prefer participants with email addresses or web sites I can track to an educational institution. Else – I will likely send you an email and ask for additional information.

I was back home in rural Iowa on Saturday to attend a reunion for my high school class. It has been 40 years since we graduated from Kingsley-Pierson High School. It would have been a great situation for one of those long term memory tests. You are supposed to be pretty good at remembering imagery (pictures), but not verbal information. I turned out not that good at remembering either – few names and many could have been random individuals plucked from the streets. It don’t think it is that my mind has slipped that much in 40 years, it is that folks look a little different now. More mature I guess. 😉

Thinking back, it was my impression that when we left high school most of us intended to be teachers/coaches or farmers. This would include me I guess. Farming turned out not to be a great choice and only a few of those who tried were able to make a career of it. So much for the family farm. A few more did enter education, but for most of us the future was not exactly what we had imagined.

I was surprised to encounter so many retired classmates. I know that retirement is out there on the horizon, but I have only begun to accept this reality. Most of those who are already retired seemed pleased with their new life and this was reassuring.

So – here is to my classmates (and significant others) and the KP class of 1967.

I do continue to spend time in Iowa, but I drove more back roads on this trip and saw some changes. I have viewed the wind generators in the fields before, but the numbers seem to be increasing. I wonder why this option is not being pursued more aggressively in my new home state.

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