Papa John’s and Yale Text November 16, 2007

  

Just reading this article makes me want to text in a pizza! The last time I went to Birdland, the jazz corner of the world, I suggested to the server that there should be an option to text your order, because it’s nearly impossible to communicate. I read on Michael Stephen’s blog that the Yale University Library offers ”txt a science librarian.” How many places will follow suit?  Good for Papa John’s and Yale!   

Papa John’s International Inc. has launched a text messaging ordering option at all of its 2,700 U.S. locations.

Close to one in five of the Louisville based company’s orders are currently made online. Rivals such as Domino’s Pizza promote mobile orders with Web-enabled phones.

Papa John’sChief Executive Nigel Travis said the company is the first to offer text message ordering on such a large scale. “Text ordering will allow us to reach a different group of customers who prefer text over online and email,” Travis said.

To use the text service customers register online to create accounts. They can save four favorite orders, along with the delivery address and payment preference. Users can select “FAV1″, “FAV2″, “FAV3″, or FAV4,’ to text message orders. Papa John’s sends a reply and the customer has the option to change or confirm the order.

Microsoft Surface (part two) November 9, 2007

Although Microsoft is still getting plenty of “oohs” and “aahs” when it demos its Surface computer, the company is finding the task of bringing the tabletop computer to market a little rougher than it anticipated.

The software maker’s initial plan was to get partners with the touch-screen machines up and running as early as this month. Now it estimates it will take until spring before the devices start showing up in locations like Sheraton hotels, Harrah’s casinos, and T-Mobile retail locations.

Part of the holdup has been in developing the custom software each of those partners needs, as well as making sure the hardware is suited to their locations.

“What we have found out is this is not a one-size-fits-all solution,” said Mark Bolger, a senior director in Microsoft’s surface computing unit. Microsoft had already spent four years developing the product before going public this May.

The product, originally code-named Milan, looks a bit like a 1980s sit-down Ms. Pac Man machine, but uses infrared cameras and a projector to create a touch-screen that can respond to multiple users’ hand gestures, as well as interact with other objects.

Even as the short-term work proves a bit thorny, the company is growing more enthusiastic about the eventual market for its devices, Bolger said. Since the Surface’s May unveiling, Microsoft has gotten more than 2,000 inquiries from companies in 50 countries and 25 different industries.

For the rest…http://www.news.com/Bumps-on-the-road-to-Microsofts-Surface/2100-1041_3-6217673.html?part=rss&tag=2547-1_3-0-20&subj=news

Happy Halloween! October 29, 2007

At http://www.cubpack81.com/images/carve_pumpkin.swf you can carve your own Halloween pumpkin without the oeey-gooey mess! How fun!(Thank you, Gina!)

Which do you like better? October 27, 2007

It’s simple: visit www.likebetter.com and click the picture you like better! When the brain turns pink, it  claims to know something about you. Mine was fairly accurate.

 

I was obssessed with Thundercats in third grade; the

pic brought back so many memories.

 

Leopard October 27, 2007

Posted by Caroline McCarthy

Here, kitty kitty kitty! Rain-soaked Apple nerds wait for Leopard.

(Credit: Caroline McCarthy/CNET Networks)
NEW YORK–On Friday afternoon at the hour that Apple launched its latest operating system, Mac OS 10.5 Leopard, it was pouring rain in Manhattan. It was also windy and chilly. That didn’t stop several hundred people from lining up outside the Apple Store on Fifth Avenue to get their hands on the new software, huddled underneath Gore-Tex jackets and umbrellas.

“It’s the cult,” commented another reporter who had also been covering the water-saturated event.

The line for Leopard appeared to be divided fairly evenly between rabid Apple fans and shoppers who’d figured they could stop by and pick it up quickly–and indeed, come launch time, the line moved fast as customers were ushered into a gauntlet of Apple Store employees (much like the iPhone launch in June) and directed straight to the cash registers when the doors opened at 6 p.m.

“It’s a happening,” said first-in-liner Bob Greenlees, a twenty-something student at the nearby Cardozo School of Law, when I asked him why he’d bothered to wait amidst inclement weather for an operating system that could easily have been pre-ordered online and delivered to his front door. “It’s one of those things. It’s Apple, it’s Fifth Avenue, it’s a flagship store. And it’s an opportunity to be in line for something without waiting for three days.”

Greenlees, after posing for a photo with his new purchase, said that he was going to go straight home and install it. He’d been in line since about 2:30 p.m.

The line went to the corner and around the block to the intersection of 58th Street and Madison Avenue.

(Credit: Caroline McCarthy/CNET Networks)

“I came for the free t-shirt,” said Steven Miranda, a Manhattan College student who was ninth in line. The Apple Store was offering t-shirts to the first 500 people who showed up, and for hardcore Apple fans, those shirts were a coveted prize. I asked Miranda and his friends whether they agreed with Wall Street Journal tech columnist Walt Mossberg’s assertion that Leopard was “evolutionary, not revolutionary.”

“Compared to Vista, it’s revolutionary!” chimed in one Apple fan who was just ahead of Miranda in line. Indeed, the Microsoft-taunting was hardly under the radar. One person in line was wearing a t-shirt that bore the Windows logo along with the caption “Hasta la Vista.”

For the two hours prior to the Leopard launch, the normally 24/7 Fifth Avenue store had been closed in preparation–my personal theory is Apple closed the store for a longer span of time than it needed to, to assure that an adequate queue would form in anticipation, but I’m sure Apple’s not about to confirm that to me.

In addition to Leopard t-shirts, buyers were also treated to free umbrellas as they were ushered into the store. Nice move, Apple. “Keep the Leopard dry!” an Apple Store employee shouted. “Cats don’t like water!”

But that raises a very serious question. Now that Apple has let Leopard out of its cage, following in the tracks of Cheetah, Puma, Jaguar, Panther, and Tiger, the big question is–which cat’s next?

My money’s on Ocelot.

Learning Times Network October 20, 2007

Slide20, originally uploaded by cogdogblog.

Uploaded by cogdogblog on 19 Oct 07 

I found the above pictures by joining another online community, Learning Times Network. It is described on the site as the…largest and fastest growing free, online community for education and training professionals and tap into the greatest online resource - knowledgable and sharing colleagues.   

You can check it out at  http://www.learninginrealtime.com/

Everything will be a Computer October 19, 2007

 

Bill Gates spoke today about the future of the computer and how Microsoft Surface type technology will be implemented into everyday life. The office environment will look quite different. He sees the touch capability as being quite pervasive in PCs. To view the complete interview, visit http://www.news.com/Microsoft-chairman-reflects-on-what-course-technology-will-take/1606-2_3-6214022.html?part=rss&tag=2547-1_3-0-20&subj=news

Google Shared Stuff October 16, 2007

I found this information on  Librarianinblack’s blog (http://librarianinblack.typepad.com/librarianinblack/)!  Does anyone, other than me, feel the need to subscribe to everything? When does it become just too much?

Google Shared Stuff

Google has launched Shared Stuff, a Digg-like browser bookmarklet (read: code that makes a button do something) that creates a:

“Email/Share button [that] allows you to easily share or email any web-page with your friends. Your shared stuff page is publicly visible and allows you to share stuff with your friends and on the web. Whenever you see the Google sharing button, on our sites or any other, click it to share the current webpage in whatever way you prefer!”

This is being hailed as a Google foray into social networking.  Let’s see how it goes!

Top Info, Reference, and Search Websites October 15, 2007

The November 6, 2007 issue of PC Magazine dedicates a section to the TOP 200 Websites. Here are the websites listed under Info, Reference, and Research that “you should know.” (I only knew about four out of the seven)

Footnote (www.footnote.com)
Footnote has a deal with the National Archives to digitize and upload every document it houses.

Hard to Find 800 Numbers (www.hardtofind800numbers.com)

Ninjawords (www.ninjawords.com)

Uncyclopedia (www.uncyclopedia.org) It promises to be “content free” and is worth a couple of laughs!

Wikisky.org
It turns the collective wiki-eye on the vast reaches of space.

Wink (www.wink.com)
Wink is a people search engine that culls results from social-networking sites.

Aftervote October 15, 2007

 

Aftervote (www.aftervote.com) combines results from Google, Yahoo!, and MSN. The interface resembles Google. Each search shows the page’s ranking on each search site. Check it out!

YouMail (www.youmail.com) October 14, 2007

I’ve signed up for a new service (mostly social networking sites) almost everyday for the past two months (e.g. Digg, del.icio.us, Facebook, Myspace, RSS feeds, Google Documents, Gmail, WordPress, Twitter, Flickr, Blackboard, meebo, Yahoo Widgets, and I’m sure there are more left off of the list.) Therefore, when I heard about Youmail last night, I immediately signed up. The best feature is getting a voicemail sent directly to your e-mail that you can save. This is especially useful when a special voicemail comes through that you do not want to lose! Check out Youmail @ www.youmail.com

Published on October 7, 2007

The days of “leave a message after the beep” could soon be a thing of the past. New Web services are giving cellphone voice mail a fresh sound with features that let users personalize outgoing messages for individual callers and eschew unwanted calls. I’ve been testing two such free services, YouMail and GrandCentral, that let you customize phone-mail features through wireless Internet communication. They’re like your voice-mail service on steroids. Overall, I found the services fun and easy to use. There is no limit to how many personalized voice mails you can record, so everyone on your contact list can hear a greeting just for them. It’s labor-intensive to set up, but online forms are easy to navigate. The services make money by selling ads on their sites. In addition to tailored greetings, YouMail lets you save your voice-mail messages, email your saved messages via audio files, share messages using a URL link, retrieve deleted messages, and see who called you and when and whether they listened to your message. You can do all this online, or from your phone — if it has Internet service. You check your voice mail by phone or over the Internet. As with your carrier’s voice-mail service, you can simply dial an access number and listen to messages. I logged into my account at youmail.com and clicked on “My Voicemail.” The sound quality was superb, as it was when I listened to the audio files that were sent to my Yahoo inbox. (I gave my email address when I signed up.) I also checked messages from other phones by dialing the access number. The service doesn’t interfere with voice mails already saved on your regular carrier’s system. YouMail gives you the option of keeping your voice mails indefinitely. Messages are stored in your online account and offer you an email audio file as backup. One fun feature in YouMail is DitchMail, which blocks messages from certain callers. They don’t even get a chance to leave a message. You ditch a caller by double-clicking on their names in your online phonebook and checking the DitchMail option, or by pressing 86 on your phone after hearing a message from a person you don’t want to hear from again. When dumpees call your number, they’ll hear either a standard message — “This number has been disconnected” — or one you record. Users can record special greetings or upload ones online if their computers have microphones; otherwise, they just press 0 on their phone keypad to record. Signing up on YouMail.com is simple. You just register your mobile number and email address, and receive a confirmation code via text message on your cellphone. Switching from your main carrier’s voice mail to YouMail takes a few minutes and switching back is just as simple. Instructions are available on the site. YouMail has its drawbacks. The access number you use to retrieve messages is long distance, so it can get costly with some plans. And depending on your text-messaging plan, you’ll likely be charged for the alerts you get whenever someone leaves a message. But you can turn off the text-message option. GrandCentral is even easier to use when it comes to recording multiple greetings and dumping unwanted callers. One caveat: GrandCentral is in a beta, or testing, phase. You must be invited by a member to sign up. The service gives users another phone number, based on their ZIP Code, to which they can link their cellphone, office and home numbers. You can hand out GrandCentral’s one unified number and check just one mailbox. I like GrandCentral’s Web interface better than You Mail’s. The features are very simple to use. You start by adding contact numbers online and recording greetings for individuals. When people call your unified number, all the phones you linked ring so you can pick up any of them. When you answer, you hear a recorded message telling who is calling and giving you options of how to handle that call. Meanwhile, the caller hears only the phone ringing. The service recognizes each caller in your address book; new callers have to say their names the first time they call, and from then on, the service recognizes them, too. I like the feature that lets you screen calls. When someone calls your GrandCentral number, your phone displays Caller ID information. When you pick up, a recorded message states the caller’s name and offers fours ways to handle the call: 1 to answer, 2 to send the caller to voice mail, 3 to listen in while a message is being recorded, or 4 to accept and record the call. If you press 3 and then decide you want to answer a call, you can press the star key to pick up. Blocking a caller is similar to that YouMail feature. The callers can’t leave a message, and they hear a prerecorded message that your number is no longer in service. But unlike with YouMail, your phone won’t ring and you can’t leave the blocked caller a customized message. Both services spice up your voice mail. And considering they’re free, they’re worth a try

Written by Walter Mossberg, retrieved from http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=52153

RSS in Plain English October 11, 2007

Will we see more of this? October 11, 2007

I read about this study two years ago and instantly asked, “HOW CAN THIS BE MINE?” In my bias opinion, educational change moves too slowly.  I love change and forward thinking! Can you imagine what the classroom described below could do for fidgiting and bouncing kids? When I  tell my students about Elton Hills Elementary, you can see the information floating around their heads and soon a smile appears. I will continue dreaming until it becomes my reality!

Elton Hills Elementary School in Rochester, Minnesota, students don’t just get away with fidgeting, they are encouraged to stretch, stand, kneel, and even bounce. It’s OK that they don’t sit in chairs during class—because they may not have any. The idea is to keep students on the move, make them comfortable while they learn, and motivate them to burn calories, fighting childhood obesity.

James Levine, director of the Active Life research team at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, invented the first “chairless classroom.” It is outfitted with Apple laptops, video iPods, personalized whiteboards, adjustable podiums, and exercise balls in the place of chairs. Thirty students in the fourth and fifth grades are participating in the experiment.

Groups of students work on different activities during a single class. Some kids take a spelling test while walking, and others listen to an audio file of their teacher, Phil Rynearson, reading a book. While students learn, Levine measures how many calories the children burn, using sensors attached to their legs.

Are kids staying trim and doing better academically? Rynearson says he sees an increase in their focus, but one student, Mariah, says, “My legs get tired, and I like sitting down.”

 

Microsoft Surface (Will it change technology?) October 5, 2007

 

I played the videos at  www.microsoft.com/surface  for my class and they looked at it with awe!!! Everyone immediately declared that it would top their Christmas list. Nice!