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Stories
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SYSK – Test your SMTP mail server with telnet
[][] photo credit: TalkingTreeWhen troubleshooting email, it may be necessary to see what the email server is spitting out, just to make sure everything is working. The easiest way to do that is to use the telnet command. Telnet allows you to connect to various services on remote or local machines through the command line.…
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Skills You Should Know (SYSK) – vi
I’m starting a new category, that goes along with my blog post Yes I will lead. The new category is called Skills You Should Know – SYSK. Little bits of information that through my experience aren’t something that you may not necessarily use every day, but may someday save you a ton of trouble. Today’s…
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Interactive response systems
[][] [][] photo credit: swpermanAs we investigate ways to use mobile Internet devices in our classrooms, it hit me that they could be used as an interactive student response system (ISRS). Since current ISRSs are around \$100 per person, why not invest in a more useful device such as the iPod Touch, Sony PSP, or…
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Your assignment: 20 minutes on your DS before school
Scottish authorities [have begun other trials of ‘More Brain Training with Dr Kawashima’ on the Nintendo DS][] in 16 schools: A 20-minute burst of the ‘brain training’ exercises on Nintendo’s DS console at the start of the day apparently improves performance in maths tests by as much as 10 per cent, according to a Scottish…
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USPTO overturns Blackboard’s 44 patent claims
[][] [][] photo credit: Erin NealeyDesire2Learn is reporting that the United States Patent & Trademark Office has overturned all 44 of Blackboard’s patent claims: On March 25, the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office issued its Non-Final Action on the re-examination of the Blackboard Patent. We are studying the document, found here, but in short, the…
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Paradox of choice
[][] ![Creative Commons License][] credit: javYliz In the technology world it seems we’re continually confronted with new products, services, software, hardware, etc. And for those of us who have a tough time focusing on one thing at a time, this dizzying array of choices can easily distract us or keep us from finishing previous tasks.…
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Linux Terminal Lab (and test post )
[![][]][] [Linux Terminal Lab (and test post )][] Originally uploaded by [mr.rcollins][] This is an eight station computer setup in one of our middle school classrooms. Five of the machines are Linux terminals, booting over the network. (* I’m also trying a test post of a picture sent from my phone to Flickr. *) []:…
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Inventory control
[][]Keeping track of inventory can be a difficult, and it seems like every four months someone is asking about what product to get to use for inventory control. I created a simple database in Filemaker Pro to keep track of our inventory. Why Filemaker Pro? We already had it. I didn’t need anything that fancy.…
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Yes, I will lead!
I was thinking about my blog post from last week, contemplating on how I should be more positive. People using technology in schools are already facing enough of an uphill battle without me picking on them. 🙂 Stealing Alvin’s Efficiency Tips idea, I want to post little tips, tricks, ideas to help the technology support…
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