Jonathon Zittrain, author of "The future of the Internet - and how to stop it", has recently suggested that we need two types of digital devices. The "green" device is a locked down computer that has tight security with restricted and protected access to the internet. The "red" device is totally open with unlimited capability to download but no security settings. You take the risk that you may download a virus and can completely wipe the hard drive to restore your settings. Both red and green could be on the same computer.
Do you think that this is a good idea to give users both the protection and yet the freedom that they need? Read more in Bill Thompson's article and see what you think.
BBC News Technology
Monday, 26 May 2008
Sunday, 20 April 2008
Animoto
To quote: "Animoto is a web application that automatically generates professionally produced videos using patent-pending Cinematic Artificial Intelligence technology and high-end motion design. Each video is a fully customized orchestration of user-selected images and music. Produced in widescreen format, Animoto videos have the visual energy of a music video and the emotional impact of a movie trailer."
"The heart of Animoto is its newly developed Cinematic A.I. technology that thinks like an actual director and editor. It analyzes and combines user-selected images and music with the same sophisticated post-production skills and techniques that are used in television and film. The technology takes into account every nuance of a song: the genre, song structure, energy, rhythm, instrumentation, and vocals. Whether it's punk, pop, hip-hop or a classical Stravinsky piece, every Animoto video is totally customized. Even videos generated with an identical set of images and music will each have a completely distinct set of motion design. No two videos are the same. Videos can be emailed, embedded on websites including blogs and social network sites like Facebook and MySpace, and downloaded onto your computer."
The first step in producing the video is to select your images. You will need at least 10 images. Step two is where you select your background music. Music has 7 categories with 10 selected album snippets (30 secs) within each category. You can also upload your own music.
Finally, you create your video. You have two options:
i) Animoto Shorts which are 30-seconds in length and free for everyone. You can produce, remix, and share as many as you'd like.
ii) Full-length videos which are extended in length. A video's length is determined by the number of images and the music it uses. This will cost $3.
The process of creating the video can take several minutes. The end product is excellent. There is the facility to copy an embedded link which can be placed in a web page. Click here to go to their website.
"The heart of Animoto is its newly developed Cinematic A.I. technology that thinks like an actual director and editor. It analyzes and combines user-selected images and music with the same sophisticated post-production skills and techniques that are used in television and film. The technology takes into account every nuance of a song: the genre, song structure, energy, rhythm, instrumentation, and vocals. Whether it's punk, pop, hip-hop or a classical Stravinsky piece, every Animoto video is totally customized. Even videos generated with an identical set of images and music will each have a completely distinct set of motion design. No two videos are the same. Videos can be emailed, embedded on websites including blogs and social network sites like Facebook and MySpace, and downloaded onto your computer."
The first step in producing the video is to select your images. You will need at least 10 images. Step two is where you select your background music. Music has 7 categories with 10 selected album snippets (30 secs) within each category. You can also upload your own music.
Finally, you create your video. You have two options:
i) Animoto Shorts which are 30-seconds in length and free for everyone. You can produce, remix, and share as many as you'd like.
ii) Full-length videos which are extended in length. A video's length is determined by the number of images and the music it uses. This will cost $3.
The process of creating the video can take several minutes. The end product is excellent. There is the facility to copy an embedded link which can be placed in a web page. Click here to go to their website.
Podcast Autocue
This free piece of software creates an autocue so that you can easily follow the pre-prepared text for your podcast. All you have to do is type your script out in a text editor like Notepad or Word, copy and paste it into the software and you're ready to start. It's really easy to use. In school, students can plan their script prior to the podcast to help ensure a successful outcome. Click here to get the download details from ZDNet.
Friday, 7 March 2008
RM Asus Eee PC
We recently acquired the RM Asus EEE miniBook for £199.00 (+VAT). The miniBook weighs less than a kilogram, starts up from cold in about 12 seconds and shuts down in five. It uses solid state technology and so doesn't come with an internal hard disk or CD drive though the three USB ports enable you to add an external disk drive, if required.It offers 512MB of RAM, 4GB of storage and a seven-inch display; wireless, dial-out modem and ethernet adaptors are available for networking and internet connections, mini-jack sockets for headphones and microphone, a VGA out, an SD card slot and a built-in webcam.
It comes preloaded with OpenOffice, iGoogle and Skype to name but a few. The speakers produce good quality sound and, together with the built-in mic, make it very easy to converse with your friends/colleagues through Skype.
The miniBook is easily connected to the data projector producing a very clear image. Combine the Asus with the eBeam and you have a very cheap interactive whiteboard.
Tuesday, 19 February 2008
Blogging - the latest news
Some of you may have been having difficulty accessing our blog from the C2k network in school. Due to some changes in security settings blogs will only now be available if you contact the C2k helpdesk and ask for a particular blog to be released. Both this blog and its sister blog for technology teachers at http://selbtanddnews.blogspot.com are now available on C2k.
Remember if you are considering using blogs in school you might find the blogging tool, 21 classes, the most suitable. You can find out more about how it works at www.clounagh.org in the ICT section
You might also want to investigate moblogging - using a camera phone to take pictures and videos and create a blog. Find out more at http://moblog.co.uk/
Remember if you are considering using blogs in school you might find the blogging tool, 21 classes, the most suitable. You can find out more about how it works at www.clounagh.org in the ICT section
You might also want to investigate moblogging - using a camera phone to take pictures and videos and create a blog. Find out more at http://moblog.co.uk/
Monday, 11 February 2008
Thinking Worlds
Have you seen this? It's called Thinking Worlds from Caspian Learning. It is a free piece of software which you can download from this link. Once this has been completed, you can then download Addons (or educational games) from the list, for example; Electricity, French Revolution, Volcanoes, Problem Solving, etc. When you enter this 3D World, you are given instructions on how to proceed. You can move your avatar around using the arrow keys.
To get started with the game, you move to the 'Beam me up Scotty' area, choose the subject area you want to work on and away you go. As you move around your new world, you will meet other avatars who will give you specific information or ask you questions on your selected topic. If you get these right, you can collect points which you can spend later on.
For the more adventurous of you, you can log in as an author and make editions to the games, change the questions and so on.
Definitely worth a look.
Saturday, 2 February 2008
In class, I have to power down
At a recent digital education conference in San Francisco, one of the more memorable remarks quoted came from a child: "Whenever I go into class, I have to power down." That roughly translates as: "What I do with digital technology outside school - at home, in my own free time - is on a completely different level to what I'm able to do at school. Outside school, I'm using much more advanced skills, doing many more interesting things, operating in a far more sophisticated way. School takes little notice of this and seems not to care."
This is a direct quote from an article written by David Puttnam. Children have been quick to grasp the joys of new technology so why are schools lagging so far behind?
He considers the difference between the children's experiences in school compared to those outside of school. We should be looking at ways to harness their skills, knowledge, engagement, in a way that can feed into, complement, or act as a catalyst for formal learning.
Click here to read the complete article.
The document produced by Demos, entitled "Their Space", is available for download in Clounagh's VLE. The accompanying podcast is also available. Click here to access these resources.
This is a direct quote from an article written by David Puttnam. Children have been quick to grasp the joys of new technology so why are schools lagging so far behind?
He considers the difference between the children's experiences in school compared to those outside of school. We should be looking at ways to harness their skills, knowledge, engagement, in a way that can feed into, complement, or act as a catalyst for formal learning.
Click here to read the complete article.
The document produced by Demos, entitled "Their Space", is available for download in Clounagh's VLE. The accompanying podcast is also available. Click here to access these resources.
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