Saturday, April 25, 2009
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
Test using gliffy online
What is Gliffy?
Gliffy is an online application that makes it easy for you to create, share, and collaborate with diagrams. It looks and feels like a desktop application, but it works through your web browser, so there is nothing to install or maintain.
Thursday, February 05, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
President’s Obama inaugural address
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Are You Going to Finish Strong?
Are You Going to Finish Strong?
Nick Vujicic has no arms or legs but has come to terms with his lot in life and he delivers an inspirational speech to these kids that they will probably never forget.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
El carro de Barak Obama… o hacia donde debe ir el ingenio de US…
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gJclecmVelYImX9Xw1TrxlWA0X_w
Indian court gives green light to world's cheapest car plant
10 hours ago
KOLKATA, India (AFP) — An Indian court gave the green light Friday to the controversial acquisition of land for a Tata Motor plant to build the world's cheapest car, the Nano.
The ruling by the Calcutta High Court came just a week after a model of the no-frills 2,500-dollar car was unveiled amid huge hoopla at a New Delhi auto show with experts saying it could revolutionise how millions travel.
Violent protests erupted against the takeover by West Bengal's Marxist state government -- which has been vigorously wooing private investment -- of the nearly 1,000 acres (400 hectares) of farmland for the plant.
Some farmers charged that the government took their land in Singhur, 50 kilometers (30 miles) north of state capital Kolkata, against their will, and that they had been paid half the market value.
But the court rejected arguments that the acreage for the 10-billion-rupee (226 million dollar) plant was acquired illegally.
There was "no colourable exercise of power" by the state government in acquiring the land, Chief Justice S.S. Nijjar and Justice P.C. Ghosh said, dismissing all the 11 petitions challenging the land acquisition process.
A Tata Motors official would not comment on the court decision, saying it was up to the state government.
But the company "is moving along on target" for the jelly-bean shaped car, called the Nano, to roll off production lines in the second half of the financial year to March 2008, said the official, who wished to remain unnamed.
"This (court order) will definitely strengthen the industrial drive in the state," West Bengal's Industry Minister Nirupam Sen told reporters in Kolkata.
"There is provision of appealing to the Supreme Court but I don't think there will be any opposition to the High Court order," he added.
Work began on the factory in Singhur, 50 kilometers (30 miles) north of state capital Kolkata in January 2007 with the approval of the state's industrial development corporation.
Tata has said the plant which will have an initial annual production output of 250,000 units, rising later to 350,000, will create more than 10,000 jobs in the region.
Opponents say 1,200 sharecroppers and 300 agricultural labourers in five villages derived their living from the land.
West Bengal, which has the world's longest serving democratically elected communist government, has been energetically pushing creation of a pro-business climate after years of promoting land reforms and "peasant empowerment."
"The support we got from the West Bengal government during our difficult times has been of great help in making my dream come true. This will pave the way for further investments in the region," Tata Group chief Ratan Tata said last week when unveiling the Nano.
The state government has argued acquisition of land for industrial projects is imperative for development of the state where poverty is acute.
But strikes by opponents critics who accuse the government of selling out the rights of the poor have blemished its reformist efforts to lure investment.
At least 34 people died in protests in Nandigram village in West Bengal last year as locals clashed with police and local government supporters over plans to acquire land for a low-tax Special Economic Zone.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Get a Great Deal on Anything
Get a Great Deal on Anything
Save money on gas, cars, clothes, videos, shoes, textbooks, and more. Here's our guide to the best bargains on earth.
By Andrea Cooper. Additional reporting by Tara Conry, Ann DiCesare, and Kathryn M. Tyranski
The Best Secrets
Codes
You're paying for something online-a shirt, suit, or scarf-and notice a place to key in a code for a discount. But what are these secret codes, and where can you find them?
They're at retailme not.com, and it takes almost no time or effort to search-alphabetically or by category or store (there are over 15,000 stores listed). The site offers codes for home products, sporting goods, luggage, food, and even Halloween costumes.
comstock
We found codes to get $10 off a $100 order at homedepot.com, 15 percent off purchases at the sporting-goods store modells.com, and $20 off a two-night stay booked through hotels.com. Before you pay for an item you want on a site, check retailmenot.com first to see if there's a code. The discount codes work for online sales only, but the site has a thriving printable coupons section.
Codes come and go, often timed to the season. Some offers have fine print that excludes certain brands. Also check out currentcodes.com (stores are listed alphabetically), keycode.com (for the latest offers, sign up for RSS feeds), and rather-be-shopping.com (the site updates coupon codes daily).
Rebates
At fatwallet.com, you buy and it pays you back-no joke. This site gets a commission for steering you to participating retailers, and it shares a portion of that commission with you in the form of cash back.
Recent rebates included 2.5 percent from toolking.com, 5 percent from fabric.com, and 7 percent from gardeners.com. To get your rebate, sign on to FatWallet, go to its Cash Back & Coupons page, then select a store. Click on the store's link and complete your purchase in the window that opens.
The downside: Cash back, yes. Miracles, no. The site doesn't take your rebate off at check-out. It's a rebate, so it can take three weeks to post the cash in your FatWallet account and up to 120 days for FatWallet to cough up the dough via check or PayPal. Still, it is free money.
Coupons
Dealcatcher.com is a good resource for coupons, rebates, and Sunday newspaper circulars listing weekly deals. The printable coupons don't require special software (some sites do). A recent check found a coupon for $10 off a $60 purchase at the athletic shoe store finishline.com and a printable coupon for 25 percent off a pair of jeans at Gap. You can also compare prices here. We searched for the 1.7-ounce bottle of Vera Wang's Princess fragrance and found the lowest price ($43.95) through DealCatcher, versus $55 at sephora.com and nordstrom.com. The Canon PowerShot SD790 IS ten-megapixel digital camera was $299.99 at bestbuy.com. But DealCatcher found it at dell.com for $243 (including free shipping).
Comparisons
If you're short on time and want to do a quick price comparison, use "shopping bots" like pricegrabber.com. It won't catch every deal-it can miss low prices on some less technologically advanced sites-but it does give a good overview. Check several different ones (shopping.com, mysimon.com, shopping.yahoo.com), and remember to sort by price.
At PriceGrabber, search by products, retailers, individual sellers, prices, or ratings. You'll find just about everything here-sporting goods, auto parts, furniture, musical instruments, toys, video games, and electronics. The site's bottom-line-price tool shows how much your product will cost at the various sites with the shipping included. Even if you don't end up buying something online, you'll know what's a bargain. For one popular GPS system, we saw prices from 41 sellers ranging from $348.85 (yes!) to $749.95 (are you kidding?).
Clothing
Strategies
Buy at the right time
A department store will usually mark down merchandise five to eight weeks after an item has been put on the floor. "If it's been an exceptionally warm winter," says Kathryn Finney, author of How to Be a Budget Fashionista: The Ultimate Guide to Looking Fabulous for Less, "coats will go on sale earlier." The best day to shop in most stores is Thursday, especially late in the day, because they'll start marking down for the weekend. For the best online deals, shop from Tuesday to Thursday.
Haggle
"A lot of people don't realize you can negotiate when shopping in stores," Finney says. If a shirt is missing a button, ask the floor manager for a discount. She usually has the discretion to give you up to 15 percent off.
Opt for excess
Overstock.com partners with name brands to sell its excess inventory of clothes, jewelry, and many other goods at discounted prices. There was a sharp Bill Blass men's silk sport coat here for $99.99 (it retailed elsewhere for $295) and a Nine West women's two-piece suit in red for $39.99 (it was $240). At $2.95, shipping is a bargain and applies to most orders in the continental U.S. If you find a better price elsewhere, overstock.com will give you a credit of up to $500 as part of its Best Price Guarantee, but there's a long list of conditions to qualify.
Compare prices
Shopzilla.com and nextag.com are two especially comprehensive comparison-shopping sites. Enter your search term at Shopzilla (say, Hannah Montana T-shirts) or start off in one of eight well-defined categories. Shopzilla will list the least expensive sources for those tops in an organized format (they ranged in price from $5 to $30). A North Face boys' Denali jacket was a low $59 at mountaingear.com and a high $99 at peterglenn.com. Worried about purchasing from lesser-known stores? Don't be. Shopzilla rates featured sites on several factors, including on-time delivery and customer support, plus it gives you the scoop on who offers free shipping and clearance deals. And these sites aren't just about clothes-you'll find fresh flowers, computers, and washing machines too. Look at your search results carefully, though. A search for a Tiffany heart tag bracelet turned up sites that sold Tiffany "style" or "inspired" bracelets, not the real thing. An added value: At nextag.com, you can view the price history for various items.
Deals
Shoes
The selection at zappos.com is superb. Men's loafers, cowboy boots, eco-friendly sandals, couture high heels-whatever you want is probably here. Prices are great, shipping and returns are free, and you can return your purchase up to a year after you bought it, if it's unworn and in the original box. One customer took maximum advantage of this policy by ordering 13 pairs of dressy shoes in her size for a wedding. The shoes arrived on time. She tried them all on, modeled them for the family, and chose one pair for the big event. The rest she returned to her local UPS store with a prepaid shipping label from Zappos.
Athletic shoes
We found holabirdsports.com to have the best prices and selection. Our site-by-site comparison search for a New Balance men's sneaker (MR805BR) revealed a $20 range in prices, but holabirdsports.com came in first at $69.95, with free ground shipping. (By the way, holabirdsports.com rarely shows up on shopping-bot searches.)
Kids' clothing
Parents have swapped clothes and gear informally for years. Now they have a formal network for doing it at freepeats.org, which gives access to baby, kid, and maternity finds in 25 cities for a onetime charge of $4.95.
Cars
Strategies
New cars - Buy at the end of the month
That's when dealers need to fill their quotas. Or better still, at the end of each quarter (March, June, September, December), says Gary Foreman of thedollarstretcher.com. Tell them you've secured financing elsewhere. They'll counteroffer, and you'll go with the best deal.
New cars - Do your homework
Turn to the classic site kbb.com (Kelley Blue Book) to research makes and models. Cars.com will send your request to dealers for competitive quotes. A quick check on a 2008 Acura TL found 393 vehicles in a 30-mile radius of one New York zip code. Anyone flexible on options could save as much as $7,500.
New cars - Determine the real cost to own
Know the cost to run a vehicle over five to eight years, says Jeff Bartlett, deputy editor and auto specialist for Consumer Reports. We used the True Cost to Own tool at edmunds.com to compare the Honda Odyssey LX and the Nissan Quest. Factoring in depreciation, insurance, interest payments, fuel, and repairs, the Odyssey cost 55 cents a mile to operate, or $41,091 over five years. The Quest cost 60 cents a mile, or $45,303. You'd save about four grand even though the Honda cost $220 more.
Used cars - Look for older models
Depreciation hits hardest the first three years of ownership. Shop late November through December, when used-car lots are less busy. And do your research. The toughest negotiators are selling used cars, says Philip Reed, edmunds.com senior consumer advice editor.
Deals
Gas
Find inexpensive gas in your area by checking several sites -- gasbuddy.com, autos.msn.com, gaspricewatch.com, and gasprices.mapquest.com. Many are community-driven sites, some more comprehensive than others. And remember, it's probably not worth driving 15 minutes out of your way to save 10 cents a gallon. Here's Gary Foreman's rule: "Unless you'll save more than a nickel a gallon and will be buying ten or more gallons, it's best to buy the cheapest gas you find along your usual commute."
Tires
Save money by purchasing your tires online. The Goodyear Assurance TripleTred tire (size P205/60HR16) is $141.99 per tire at Sears (add $15 for installation). It's $109 at discounttire.com, $102 at tirerack.com, and $95 at discounttires.com. Some sites require store pickup; others deliver. Even adding shipping and installation costs (about $30 per tire), you'll save up to 17 percent.
Financial
Strategies
Get rewarded for shopping
Indexcredit cards.com compares credit card features and rewards. Browse through 1,224 offers and choose the benefits you want. You'll find low-interest cards, student credit cards, bad-credit cards, prepaid credit cards, frequent-flier cards, and cash-back-for-gas cards. With the Chase Freedom credit card, earn 3 percent cash back on purchases in the three categories you spend the most on each month-for your family, that might be groceries, gas, and fast food. Racing enthusiasts may go for the NASCAR RacePoints Visa so they can earn points toward experiences-driving on the track or playing crew chief for a day. Indexcreditcards.com has the most comprehensive listing, but also check cardratings.com for consumer and staff reviews and advocacy information. Creditcards.com features a good side-by-side comparison chart.
Save, and save for college
Shop with a Upromise-branded credit card at hundreds of participating dealers and you'll be doubly rewarded: 1 percent cash back on all purchases, plus rebates on specific products and services. (Register the credit and debit cards you already have and get cash back, too, at participating companies.) Once you've set up your account at upromise.com, for instance, you can earn 3 percent cash back at jcpenney.com and Eddie Bauer and 5 percent at Avis. You can designate that the money be deposited automatically into your child's 529 state-sponsored college savings plan. Babymint.com is similar, so check the lists of retailers to determine which site works best with your current shopping habits. There's no fee for either.
Compare insurance quotes
Insweb.com is a good resource for obtaining quotes-on life, health, auto, and other types of insurance-from 6,400 agents representing 21 companies. You'll have to scroll through several screens, answering questions (the kind an insurance agent would ask), then you'll receive an e-mail with your quotes. A single 25-year-old woman in San Francisco, for example, is currently paying $1,771 a year for auto insurance. The lowest quote on insweb.com was $1,124, a savings of $647. Many factors- your health, your driving record, the location of your home-determine the actual cost of an insurance policy. As a result, quotes can vary widely.
Leisure
Strategies
Watch free videos
You may not need that Netflix subscription for $16.99 a month if your local library has a good DVD collection. And hulu.com has free full-length movies-including Liar Liar, Sideways, and Jerry Maguire-to watch on your computer whenever you like. There are hundreds of videos from 56 studios and networks, including Fox Movie Channel, NBC Universal, National Geographic, and the Sundance Channel. Catch a variety of primetime TV shows, too (and not all of them from NBC, which co-owns Hulu), including The Office, In Plain Sight, The Colbert Report, and Family Guy.
Rent it
Need a trombone, power saw, or bow and arrows? Rent an amazing assortment of stuff-you name it, it's available-from individuals at zilok.com, which covers 50 cities in 17 states. Type in what you're looking for, where you live, and how long you'll need it, then make arrangements with the owner for pickup. Mason Carroll, a software professional in San Francisco, rented a kayak for $40 a day. He enjoyed paddling around Shasta Lake for far less than if he'd purchased the same kayak for $350. You can rent your stuff to others too. Both parties sign a contract detailing their agreement, but there is the possibility your renter might damage or disappear with your item.
Deals
Theater on a budget
Broadwaybox.com is your best bet for scoring discounted tickets-up to 50 percent off-to some of the hottest shows on- and off-Broadway. You'll get discount access codes to dozens of shows. Front mezzanine tickets to August: Osage County go for $102.50, but they're a low $69.50 here. Cirque Dreams: Jungle Fantasy is $66.50, a $30 savings. Select your dates and seat preferences, and note any expiration or blackout dates. To pay, click or call. (If you stop by the theater, you'll save the service fee charged by Ticketmaster and Telecharge.) Just remember to mention the code. This site is free (some sites charge for codes). In-demand shows, like Spamalot and Jersey Boys, often don't discount.
$1 movies
Redbox.com offers recent releases-such as The Bucket List, Charlie Wilson's War, and Juno-for just $1. There are more than 9,000 of the distinctive red kiosks in 48 states, mostly in supermarkets and McDonald's restaurants. Use the website to find them in your zip code. Best day to go? Tuesday-it's new-release day. You can reserve your title in advance via the website. Or try the lazy way: Next time you're at the grocery store, choose a movie from the available titles, watch it that night, and return it the next day for $1 plus tax.
Education
Strategies
Take free courses
Prestigious universities-including MIT (ocw.mit.edu) and the University of California, Berkeley (webcast.berkeley.edu/courses.php)-offer online courses in everything from art to astrophysics. They don't count toward a degree, and you may need an iPod, Media Player software, or assigned texts to participate fully.
Learn a language
The BBC offers free lessons in seven languages-French, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Greek, and Chinese-at bbc.co.uk/languages. If your tastes run to more exotic tongues, go to freelanguage.org, and you'll be directed to sites to learn everything from Afrikaans to Luxembourgish. And it's all free.
Deals
Textbooks for less
You can save some serious money by buying used books, renting them, or downloading freebies. The publisher's price for the ninth edition of Organic Chemistry, by T. W. Graham Solomons, is $192.95. Buy it new at textbookx.com for $187.50 or used through its Marketplace for as low as $75.99. At chegg.com, it's $59.16 to rent for a semester. Booksprice.com factors in the shipping costs for the bottom line at a glance. Download more than 25,000 free electronic books at Project Gutenberg (gutenberg.org). You won't find new titles here, only books that have expired copyrights. The list is strong on classic literature and history, but it's not the place to go for math or science texts.
Exchange
Books (paperbackswap.com), CDs (swapacd.com), and DVDs (swapadvd.com), that is. The tagline says it all: "No risk. No spam. No advertising. No gimmicks. No gotchas. No kidding." The sender pays the shipping costs and can send by any method he chooses. "I've gotten rid of an entire bookcase this way and then refilled it with books that I really wanted," says Kelly Neylan, owner of an apparel business in Columbia, Maryland. The book site recently listed more than 439,000 titles and is updated every five minutes. Barbara Walters's memoir, Audition, and Scott McClellan's What Happened were there, as well as fiction by Dean Koontz, Lee Child, and Danielle Steel. The swapping currency is simple: One book, CD, or DVD equals one credit, but you'll have to list ten items before you earn any credits. If you don't see what you're looking for here, try swaptree.com (you'll find video games too) and bookmooch.com (you can donate your points to sick or low-income kids).
From Reader's Digest - October 2008
Sunday, September 28, 2008
“Nos estamos quedando atrás”
“Nos estamos quedando atrás”
Las pruebas OCDE/PISA 2006 comprueban el rezago educativo en Latinoamérica.
Alfredo Rojas, especialista de la Oficina Regional de Educación de la Organización de las Naciones Unidas para la Educación, la Ciencia y la Cultura (UNESCO), fue uno de los oradores en el Primer Foro de Docentes Innovadores. Suministrada
Por Odette Aguilar Díaz / Enviada Especial
Guatemala - Esta aseveración dejó atónita a una audiencia compuesta por maestros latinoamericanos que participaron en el Primer Foro de Docentes Innovadores, celebrado la semana pasada en Ciudad de Guatemala.
Alfredo Rojas, hizo referencia a los resultados obtenidos en las pruebas OCDE/PISA 2006, en las que se comprueba el rezago educativo en el que están los países latinoamericanos con respecto a los europeos y asiáticos.
El Proyecto Internacional para la Producción de Indicadores de Rendimiento de los Alumnos (PISA) consiste en unas pruebas que se les ofrecen a los alumnos de países miembros de la Organización para la Cooperación y el Desarrollo Económico (OCDE). Las pruebas se dan en matemática, lectura y ciencia.
A pesar de que en el área de lectura, Chile encabeza la lista de los latinoamericanos, está muy por debajo de Corea y Finlandia que encabezan la lista global. Chile ocupa el número 38, seguido por Uruguay y México.
En matemática, Uruguay encabeza a los latinoamericanos, pero se encuentra en el número 42, seguido por Chile y México.
Chile vuelve a sobresalir en ciencia, pero en el puesto 40. Le siguen Uruguay y México.
Estudios realizados por la UNESCO indican que el nivel socioeconómico de los niños afecta la educación, pero no es la razón más importante para que no se dé el aprendizaje adecuado.
“Los logros en la educación y en el aprendizaje dependen definitivamente del clima escolar. La forma cómo se sientan los niños, cómo se relacionen entre ellos y con sus maestros influenciará más en ellos que el aspecto económico”, indicó Rojas.
¿Qué se puede hacer para cambiar este panorama tan desolador? Rojas presentó varias alternativas a los docentes, los directores y las autoridades escolares para que se den cuenta de que no todo está perdido.
Explicó que los maestros tienen que programar sus clases todos los días. Ser comunicadores apasionados y persuasivos, líderes, motivadores y emprendedores. Que confíen en sus estudiantes y que tenga altas expectativas de ellos.
“El rol del maestro no es enseñar, es producir aprendizaje. Es decir, atrás quedó la clase donde el maestro dictaba o leía el manual. Ahora tiene que crear situaciones de aprendizaje donde se convierta en facilitador, no en orador”, sostuvo.
En fin, el maestro tiene que ser un experto en generar aprendizajes y aprovechar la tecnología para lograr este propósito.
Encuentro magisterial
Encuentro magisterial
Tres puertorriqueñas participaron en Guatemala en el Foro Latinoamericano de Docentes Innovadores.
Por Odette Aguilar / Enviada Especial
Guatemala - El Primer Foro Latinoamericano de Docentes Innovadores se celebró la semana pasada en Ciudad de Guatemala. Su objetivo fue premiar e incentivar a los maestros de la región que con creatividad y espíritu innovador han puesto en práctica proyectos que, apoyados en la tecnología, han contribuido a potenciar el aprendizaje y las habilidades de las nuevas generaciones.
Maestros de 19 países participaron en el foro con proyectos que además de competir por un pase para el foro global que se realizará este año en Hong Kong, pretendían establecer un intercambio de conocimientos con sus compañeros en el área de tecnologías educativas.
La delegación de Puerto Rico estuvo integrada por tres profesoras del Departamento de Educación. Elsa M. Castro de Jesús, profesora de historia, presentó el proyecto “Creación de un partido político” que realizó el pasado año en la Escuela Especializada en Ciencias y Matemáticas University Gardens. Elba M. Sepúlveda Cabassa, maestra de física del Proyecto y del Centro Residencial de Oportunidades Educativas de Mayagüez, discutió el proyecto “Física en línea”, mientras que Eulalia Texidor Ortiz, maestra de inglés en la Segunda Unidad Bartolomé Javier Petrovitch, de Cabo Rojo, trabajó con el proyecto “Learning English the Interactive Way”.
Este foro no sólo fue encuentro de profesionales de la enseñanza que compartieron visiones y métodos innovadores. También fue oportunidad para premiar e incentivar los mejores trabajos, que apoyados en la tecnología, han contribuido a potenciar el aprendizaje de las nuevas generaciones.
El foro terminó el viernes con la selección de los mejores proyectos presentados por los maestros. Brasil, Argentina, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Chile y El Salvador fueron los países premiados.
El foro se celebró con el auspicio de la Alianza por la Educación de Microsoft.
Sunday, September 07, 2008
Nuevo navegador por Google!
Chrome, Google's surprise first salvo in the browser wars - steals the headlines and creates a stir.
Lo puede bajar en: http://tools.google.com/chrome?hl=en
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Electric eye learns from animal eye!
Excelente artículo para la clase de óptica... -MO
Sent to you by Moises Orengo via Google Reader:
Electric eye learns from animal eye!
via The Why Files on 8/7/08
Lenses cannot project a perfect image on the flat back of a camera, so images are distorted at the edges. A revolutionary camera solves this problem by curving the light detector.
Monday, August 04, 2008
Pronto nuevo sistema operativo… que reemplazará a Windows
clipped from: news.bbc.co.uk
¿Comienza la era post-Windows?
Redacción BBC Mundo
Es difícil imaginarlo, por la predominancia y éxito del programa, pero el sistema operativo Windows, creado por Microsoft, estaría cerca de su fin y Microsoft está preparando un reemplazo: se llama Midori.
Midori buscará eliminar la dependencia del software del hardware en el computador.
El nuevo programa es radicalmente diferente a los anteriores desarrollados por el gigante informático y está centrado en internet.
La compañía inició el proyecto de investigación para crear el nuevo software, que buscará alejarse de la actual dependencia que une a Windows con un computador personal.
Midori es visto como la respuesta de Microsoft al uso de la "virtualización" por sus rivales y una forma de solucionar muchos de los problemas diarios de la computación moderna.
Más información en: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/spanish/science/newsid_7541000/7541387.stmSunday, August 03, 2008
Broadcast Your Own Live Video Channel On Yahoo
Who wants to be famous? Oh of course you do. You’d be lying if you said you didn’t stand in front of the mirror when you were younger with the hairbrush as your microphone mouthing the words to Rick Astley or Shaking Stevens. We all have visions of being a pop star or a TV personality. We all want to be someone better than we really are. That’s human nature.
The good news is that if you have a webcam, a fairly fast internet connection and some spare time on your hands, Yahoo gives you the chance to set up a free live video channel on the net and the ability for others to view your channel.
The end results vary a great deal but hey that’s the beauty of the internet. Everyone on Yahoo Live are amateurs and unprofessional so you’re going to see a mixture of both good and bad which also means you get to see real people, not actors. Think of it as American Idol online.
More at: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/broadcast-your-own-live-channel-on-yahoo/
Thursday, July 03, 2008
Mac look for PC a better choice
We Have Revived RocketDock.com
Written by Skunkie
Thursday, 17 April 2008
After almost two weeks of dealing with server problems and a complete site tear down we are happy to announce that RocketDock.com is back from the ashes.
The new site has been redone from scratch by PolyVector. Unfortunately because of the server issues we lost about a month's worth of download submissions and users accounts. For the remaining accounts login information has been imported and working. Users should be able to edit their past submissions with ease.
Some new features on RocketDock.com include user RSS feeds for their own submissions. Profiles now have avatar support. And last, files can be reported if broken or submitted without permission.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Print your blog in book format
Your Blog in Print!
by Karen Rani
A while back, I asked my readers what they would recommend I use to print my blog. It is getting quite long and I'm concerned I could, in fact, lose it all.
Krista at The Silent K, offered this link to Two Peas in a Bucket. I might consider this option since the outcome looks more creative then others I've seen. Thanks Krista!
I also found Blog Printing, from QOOP, Inc., takes your blog from Movable Type, Wordpress, or Typepad and offers the options of black and white, or colour printing, in three different sizes. Printing from Blogger is unavailable at this time. To give you an idea of price:
Black and white books cost $7.50 for the first 28 pages, plus 4 cents per page for additional pages. Color books cost $12.00 for the first 28 pages, plus 30 cents per page for additional pages. If you set up an account to resell your blog, you can specify either a percentage or a flat royalty. Any royalties are added to the base cost of the book.
I'm not personally concerned with royalities, but some bloggers might be able to sell their printed blog if it contains valuable information.
Other options include Lulu.com, Print My Blog.com and Blurb. It's all the name of preservation.
Contributing Editor Karen Rani also blogs at Troll Baby and owns Troll Baby Graphics.
Submitted by Karen Rani (view blog
) on Thu, 07/20/2006 - 10:23
Posted In
Saturday, June 21, 2008
4 Applications to Give Windows XP Mac Functionality
from MakeUseOf.com by Kyle Judkins
I have been a Windows user from the time I was a little tot. I am still a Windows user (and am perfectly happy with it), but sometimes I look over at a Mac and wish I had just a few of their features on my Windows machine. After doing some searching, I have been able to find four applications that give me the few things that I wanted to have on my Windows PC but has traditionally only been available on a Mac.
Rocketdock
As you can tell, Rocketdock is an application launcher that functions in the same way as the Dock does on Mac computers. I have always really liked the Dock on Macs, because it helped keep your desktop and task bar clear of clutter that can get built up over time. Rocketdock also has several docklets available that allows you to customize it to your liking.
RocketDock has been previously mentioned on Make Use Of, such as Tina here.
Yahoo! Widgets
Widgets have always interested me with their ability to keep you up to date on whatever you want while still being hidden behind your desktop. A simple press of a hotkey opens up a world of tools and knowledge. Yahoo! Widgets allows you to bring this functionality to your Windows XP PC. There are almost 5,000 widgets available from Yahoo so you will definitely be able to find what you need.
DExposE2
Expose has always been such a nice feature on Macs that serves as a great alternative to alt+tab. Alt+tab has traditionally served me well, but as I have gotten more and more into being a geek, I tend to have more and more applications open at the same time. This can make alt+tab not as useful when switching between windows or applications. DEexpose2 brings great expose functionality to your Windows computer to give you an alternative to alt+tab.
Launchy
Quicksilver was the first keyboard application launcher I ever heard about, but it was only available for Macs. Quicksilver allows users to quickly perform many different types of tasks through just a couple of keystrokes. In early 2007, Launchy was released and brought Quicksilver-like functionality to Windows XP. Since its release, Launchy has received critical acclaim, and it was also recently written about on Make Use Of by Shankar. You might also want to check out Enso Launcher that was covered by Jimmy. We also talked about it in latest MakeUseOf Podcast as well.
What Mac features would you like to see brought over to the PC?
Kyle Judkins is a 24 year old marketer and part-time tech blogger. He is the author of LostInTechnology where he talks about some basic technology tips and tricks that everyone can use.
More from MakeUseOf.com :
- MakeUseOf Directory : Read about up-to 5 truly useful web apps on a daily basis.
- MakeUseOf ‘Geeky Fun’: - Fun Geeky Pics, Cartoons and Videos.
Tags: desktop enhancements, docks, launcher, Mac, tabs, widgets, windows tips, XP
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Saturday, June 14, 2008
Mi mensaje a los graduandos del RUM 2008
El cambio... y la constante de Planck
El cambio... lo más constante es el cambio. Desde que pisaste el Colegio has experimentado cambios, ni se diga de los consabidos y planificados de acuerdo a tu currículo; pero los inesperados como los de una presentación, trabajo final o examen parcial también han debutado en tu vida colegial. No es de ese cambio del que me gustaría hablar contigo hoy, el día de tu graduación, sino de el de ser agente de cambio.
Con este intento me arriesgo a combatir el famoso dicho en inglés: “The only one that likes change is a wet baby”; pero me arriesgaré de todas maneras.
La primera vez que recibí una invitación para ser amigo de alguien en Facebook no le hice caso... la segunda vez tampoco. Me tomó varios intentos aceptar esa invitación al cambio. Yo me consideraba tecnológicamente adaptado. Tengo mi propio blog (moisesorengo.blogspot.com) y manejo el blog del Colegio de Artes y Ciencias (blogs.uprm.edu/artesyciencias), poseo una cuenta en Flickr para mis fotos digitales, tengo cámara digital, estoy suscrito a varios servicios, incluyendo la versión electrónica de ENDI y uso el RSS (Real Simple Sindication). Como ves, no parezco, sino que practico la filosofía de la WEB 2.0. Por supuesto que estoy subscrito a Youtube y he publicado vídeos en este servicio y en el de Google video.
Pero Facebook, eso era otra cosa. Una comunidad virtual, una plaza, lugar de reunión, tertulia, desde cualquier sitio, sin estar físicamente ahí... me tendría que acostumbrar y así fue.
Desde este lugar de encuentro he conocido de muchos ejemplos de personas audaces que se convirtieron en agentes de cambio y que son modelos a emular. El caso más reciente es el de Roof to Live...Changing their lives, one roof at a time!. La Prof. María Schwarz y su familia se dedican a ayudar a familias ecuatorianas de las áreas más pobres del país a obtener un lugar decente para vivir. Y lo hacen porque creen en el potencial del ser humano. En el 2006 le reconstruyeron la casa a la familia Meza y esto es lo que dijo una de las hijas de la familia, Yolanda: "Mi vida ha cambiado, nunca hemos sido tan felices, ahora vemos nuestro futuro más brillante".
También en Facebook encontré a la Dra. Margarita Fernández y el grupo CAAMpabilities. La descripción del grupo: “Campamento residencial deportivo para niños y jóvenes con impedimentos visuales. Un grupo de voluntarios nos hemos dado a la tarea de brindarle actividad física por una semana” a estos niños y jóvenes. En uno de los mensaje publicados me enteré que el Dr. Ibrahim Cordero y la Dra. Fernández viajaron, en el mes de marzo, a Guatemala a implantar el campamento en Ciudad Guatemala. Allí mismo en la plaza virtual me entero que el campamento ya se lleva a cabo en varios estados de los E.U., India y Brasil.
Son muchos los ejemplos de personas audaces que han tomado la vida por la mano y se han arriesgado a ser agentes de cambio. Gente que cultiva el cambio positivo como una pasión de vida y su razón para crear y creer. Te invito a ser uno de ellos... agente de cambio, cambio positivo, ustedes tienen las herramientas, tienen la mejor educación posible; ¿aceptas el reto?
¿Y la constante de Planck?... ah, esa es otra historia.