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Monoprice
If a high definition television is on your Christmas list, don’t let the guys at BestBuy talk you into the $60 HDMI cable. Go to MonoPrice and get the same thing for $5.
The last time I ordered an HDMI cable from MonoPrice, I opted for five instead. I got five six-foot HDMI cables delivered for less than $30 total. I figured everyone in my family would eventually need one. I only have one left.
Video or Still
In the last couple of weeks I have had several parents ask me about video and still cameras. Most of them want to capture their kids as they grow up. The question involves how much money to spend on a video or still camera. Is it more important to have a good video camera or a digital still camera?
Here’s the simple answer. Get a good digital SLR still camera. The Canon Rebel XT (most popular camera on Flickr) is down to $500. With a good camera and some practice, you can get some good pictures of your family and friends. You can print them or carry them around with you on your MP3 player. You can share them using any number of free online services.
Video is much more complicated. Most friends or even family members do not want to sit down and watch an hour of your kids at Disneyland. On the other hand, if you take 500 pictures during your vacation, you can probably identify 50 of them that will be interesting enough to print and slide into an album. Your friends or family can quickly flip through that taking as little or as much time as desired.
For the long, complicated answer, you should ask Rappold. He does a lot of both.
OEA says “No” to Facebook/MySpace
According to eSchool News, The Ohio Education Association is recommending that Ohio school teachers not create Facebook or MySpace accounts.
The article describes three questionable accounts in MySpace which were supposedly created by Ohio teachers.
It may be difficult to determine who has created the accounts. They could be impostor accounts created by students.
I can see the next directive from the OEA. It will be about blogs, Flickr, YouTube and Skype. Then we will be told to stop using anything Web 2.0.
I share a lot of information with my students, but I keep my personal life (and theirs) out of it. None of these technologies would be problematic if everyone used common sense. It is a shame that a few teachers have not behaved as teachers should. Even without social networks, these teachers are likely to get in trouble.
Google Map Drag
I was using Google Maps to find out how far it was from my house to Cleveland. Normally, Google Maps will stick to four lane highways if possible. From experience, I know it’s quicker to take the state routes from Fremont to Findlay. Now Google maps will let me make modifications to my route simply by dragging a point on the route to a new point.
Above, I dragged the Perrysburg point of the route down to Fostoria. Google Maps recalculates my trip based on this new travel requirement. You can let Google give you the basic route and then tweak the itinerary to pass through specific places that might be off the beaten path.