Category: General Technology

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Vote Greenville for Google Fiber!

Posted on By Tom 1 Comment on Vote Greenville for Google Fiber!
General Technology, Local

Google’s at it again with another product that everyone wants. This time it makes more sense than Buzz or Wave. Google is looking for a community to serve as a test bed for its 1 gigabit fiber optic Internet connection, and Greenville wants it. Of course, so do several other cities. Topeka, Kansas notoriously renamed … Read More “Vote Greenville for Google Fiber!” »

Easy(-ish) Video Embedding

Posted on By Tom No Comments on Easy(-ish) Video Embedding
EdTech, General Technology, Internet
Random Connections
Easy(-ish) Video Embedding
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Part 2 of 2

In Part 1 I covered the easy stuff. Working with audio is trivial compared with working with video. Not only do you have many more file types and codecs, but now you’ve got to worry about aspect ratio for HD and compression quality. Given two video files with the exact same file extension, one might work in one situation, but the other may not. It can be maddening.

The easiest thing to do is to upload your files to a video sharing site such as YouTube or Vimeo. However, sites like that are usually blocked by school districts. There is SchoolTube and TeacherTube, but sometimes those can be problematic, too.

Less likely to be blocked are sites built on the Ning.com platform. A Ning site is free, and will support up to 30 videos as long as each is no larger than 100 MB. That’s fairly generous, and will support most classroom needs. Videos that are uploaded to the site are provided embed codes for blogs and social networking sites. Here’s a sample video I recorded in Space Mountain on a trip to Disney World…

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Easy Audio Embedding

Posted on By Tom No Comments on Easy Audio Embedding
EdTech, General Technology, Internet
Random Connections
Easy Audio Embedding
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This is part 1 of a 2-part series…

I’m a BIG fan of embedding. The ability to take media files from one location and use them in another context creates learning environments that are rich and appealing to students. I like it even better when the process is simple. Embedding is now a standard feature for most social networking sites. YouTube was one of the first, and now most media file hosts have followed suit. On just about any media site now days you can find something like the image below which allows you to copy the code and paste it into another site.

doodle.png on Aviary

Bottom line – most teachers are uncomfortable with coding of any kind, so it’s got to be easy. Most can do the copy and paste, but if you have to manipulate codes, it can be a problem. Unfortunately, there are times when a simple cut and paste is not available. A resource (such as YouTube) may be blocked by a district, or you may have an original file that you would prefer not to upload to a social networking site. That’s where these tutorials come in. I’ll show you how to create your own embed codes so that you don’t have to worry about blocked resources.

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Exploring an Aviary

Posted on By Tom 1 Comment on Exploring an Aviary
EdTech, General Technology, Internet
Random Connections
Exploring an Aviary
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UPDATE: Sadly, Aviary has discontinued this wonderful series of products. The links below are no longer available.

Today I got word that Aviary.com has released a new online audio editing tool called Myna. This joins Aviary’s growing collection of online tools with bird names, including Phoenix, the image editing program, and Raven, a vector graphics program. Myna is a loop-based editor, and has many of the same functions as Garage Band or Acid Music.

I’ve only had a few minutes to play with the program, but so far I’m impressed. There is an extensive library of existing audio files. These are categorized not only by style by also by keyword. The samples are further broken down into files that would make good intros, files for loops, and ending files. You can also record samples directly into the program with your computer’s microphone, or upload your own files.

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Digital Disconnect

Posted on By Tom 2 Comments on Digital Disconnect
General Technology, Music, Rants

Monday evening was the first rehearsal of the season for the Greenville Chorale. This fall we’re doing some of my absolute favorite music – Rachmaninoff’s All Night Vigil. We’re doing it in Russian, which has caused me no small amount of headaches – not because of the difficulty in singing, but because of inability to say no.

Musica Russica is a company dedicated to making Russian choral music available for performance. They have also produced an audio pronunciation guide for the Church Slavonic in the vigil. We have a license to provide the audio guide to the group, and Bing Vick asked if I could find some way to distribute it.

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From Wired – 100 Essential Skills for Geeks

Posted on By Tom 1 Comment on From Wired – 100 Essential Skills for Geeks
General Technology

UPDATE: I regularly check to see what search terms bring people to this site. Apparently lots of people are copying phrases from the list below and pasting them into Google to try to find the answers. Sorry, but I think that should automatically disqualify you for Geekdom. If you can’t phrase a search properly, you … Read More “From Wired – 100 Essential Skills for Geeks” »