Year: 2009

i-GotU GT-120 Final Thoughts

Posted on By Tom 1 Comment on i-GotU GT-120 Final Thoughts
Gear, Geocaching and Maps, Photography

As I stated in my last post, the i-GotU GT-120 was a pleasant surprise. The unit functions much better than the GT-100 that I purchased and returned last year. It geotagged images accurately from my little Nikon S50 camera. However, in my last tests I ran into some puzzling problems – not with the GT-120 … Read More “i-GotU GT-120 Final Thoughts” »

i-GotU Revisited

Posted on By Tom 8 Comments on i-GotU Revisited
Gear, Geocaching and Maps, Photography

i-gotU GPS tracker

A little over a year ago I tried out the i-GotU GT-100 GPS tracker from Mobile Action. At the time I was looking for a simple tracker for photo geotagging, and the GT-100’a small size and price ($49 from Amazon) were very appealing. I put the unit through a series of tests, and found it to be completely useless for geotagging, and wrote up two reviews to that effect (Test Driving the i-GotU GPS Tracker, and i-GotU GPS Tracker – Summary Review.) Those two reviews generated lots of hits and comments for this website, both for and against the GT-100.

Subsequently, I was contacted recently by Mobile Action and asked if I would be willing to try out the new GT-120. The unit arrived Saturday and I’ve been putting it through the same tests that I did with the GT-100. So far, I’m impressed, and pleasantly surprised. This unit appears to work much, much better, and geotags images like a charm.

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Kids and Social Media

Posted on By Tom 4 Comments on Kids and Social Media
EdTech, General Technology

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This past week I was asked to advise on guidelines for teacher-student interactions in social media settings such as Facebook.  Essentially, we’re recommending caution.  The new guidelines will be posted in faculty handbooks, and read as follows:

Faculty/Staff members should maintain professionalism in their relationship with students at all times. Activities/behaviors in which faculty/staff members should not participate with students include, but are limited to the following:

1) Posting student pictures on web-based social network sites (Facebook, MySpace etc)

2) Exchange cell phone numbers with students

3) Participate in inappropriate text messaging with students

4) Participate in inappropriate e-mail correspondence with students

The key word here is “inappropriate.”  Unfortunately, no definition is given as to what might be considered inappropriate.  There are the obvious reasons – the unfortunate ones that make headlines.  However, is ANY contact via e-mail or text messaging between teachers and students appropriate?  Our paranoid society would cast suspicion on any of these activities.

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MyMac

Posted on By Tom 3 Comments on MyMac
Gear, General Technology

New Mac

Anyone that’s been following my Twitter account knows that I’ve been agonizing over a computer purchase since my desktop computer died about three weeks ago. I’ve been getting along OK with the laptops I’ve had available, but it has been inconvenient for trying to print out photos or do some of the video work I wanted to do. Well, the wait is over. My new iMac arrived on Friday, so I’ve spent all weekend setting it up and getting used to it.

Laura says that I agonized more over this purchase than when I bought my new car. She’s right. However, when I was making the car decision, I didn’t have to consider between a way of driving that was completely different from how I had ever driven before, or with sticking with the familiar. That was my PC vs Mac dilemma.

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Boulevard of (Broken) Dreams

Posted on By Tom 2 Comments on Boulevard of (Broken) Dreams
Geocaching and Maps, History and Genealogy, Local

Downtown from Wade Hampton
Evening view of downtown Greenville from Wade Hampton Boulevard

I walk this empty street
On the Boulevard of broken dreams
When the city sleeps
And I’m the only one and I walk alone

Green Day – “Boulevard of Broken Dreams”

The joy you find here, you borrow,
You cannot keep it long, it seems.
But gigolo and gigolette
Still sing a song and dance along
The boulevard of broken dreams.

Nat King Cole – “Boulevard of Broken Dreams”

Two shadows in the moonlight
Dance silently along the boulevard
Of dreams
Tonight

Dada – “Boulevard of Dreams”

A boulevard isn’t just any old street. According to Wikipedia, it is a “wide, multi-lane arterial thoroughfare…often with an above-average quality of landscaping and scenery.” Naming a road a “boulevard” means that it should be something special, something to evoke poetry and song as noted above. Some cities are known by their more famous boulevards – the Champs-Élysées in Paris, the Sunset Boulevard, Santa Monica Boulevard, Wilshire Boulevard, and Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, for example. Greenville has Wade Hampton Boulevard.

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