Document Sharing with Scribd.com

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EdTech, General Technology

Keeping up with other education blogs often leads me to some cool new tools. Such was the case with Scribd.com. Scribd is a document sharing site that allows you to upload documents from multiple formats, then converts them into iPaper documents so that they can be viewable on the web. These documents are similar to … Read More “Document Sharing with Scribd.com” »

Classroom Swiss Knife

Posted on By Tom 1 Comment on Classroom Swiss Knife
EdTech, Gear, General Technology

Imagine an ultra-portable hand held device for the classroom that could do all of the following: take digital pictures record digital video record digital audio (for podcasting, etc.) ability to upload images and media to a variety of websites act as a media player for MP3 files and video e-mail collaboration calculator organizer/calendar type text … Read More “Classroom Swiss Knife” »

Historical Marker Database

Posted on By Tom 1 Comment on Historical Marker Database
Geocaching and Maps, History and Genealogy

When I’m out on one of my photo explorations there are three books thatI usually have with me – South Carolina: One Day at a Time by Caroline Todd and Sydney Wait, the Delorme Atlas and Gazetteer for South Carolina, and the South Carolina Highway Historical Marker Guide by Judith Andrews.   The latter title has … Read More “Historical Marker Database” »

Dueling GPSs

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Gear, Geocaching and Maps

New GPSs

While on our trip to Florida over the holidays my trusty Garmin eTrex Legend GPS unit decided to become less trusty.  I had been having trouble with it prior to the trip.  Any power cable I got for it never seemed to work correctly, and now I was getting weird lines on the display.  It had served me well for five years, but it was now time to replace it.

I had gotten some Best Buy gift cards as well as some cash for Christmas.  I had enough so that I could either get a really nice handheld unit or a really nice unit for my car.  I decided to split the funds and get two GPSs, a handheld Garmin eTrex Venture HC for geocaching, geotagging, and hiking, and a Garmin Nuvi 205 for car navigation.  Here’s a quick review of both units, and my reasons for going this route instead of buying a single higher grade unit.

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From Lake Fairfield to Fairfield County

Posted on By Tom 1 Comment on From Lake Fairfield to Fairfield County
Geocaching and Maps, History and Genealogy, Photography, Travel

Monticello Store

My last Saturday before heading back to work after Winter Break, and I decided to do some geocaching and photography in Fairfield County.  I had new GPS units to test drive, I had specific locations I wanted to photograph, and I wanted to take some time to swing by my parent’s house.  I had ambitious goals for what I wanted to see and do, perhaps too ambitious.   It turned out to be a day of mixed results – delight and frustration, discovery and missed opportunities.

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An Anniversary Trip to Disney World

Posted on By Tom 2 Comments on An Anniversary Trip to Disney World
Entertainment, Travel

Cinderella's castle

This being our 20th anniversary, we decided to take two trips – a short one on the actual anniversary, and one a bit later in January. For the short trip we booked a stay at one of the Disney resorts, Coronado Springs, and a day in the Magic Kingdom.

Coronado Springs is located near the Animal Kingdom in Disney World. There is plenty to do on site, with an elaborate swimming area, a lake for boating and kayaking (for a price), and lots of shopping and restaurants.

We arrive about 4:00 pm and got settled. Our rooms weren’t especially spectacular, but the convenience to Disney is what you’re paying for. We had afternoon drinks at the Laguna Bar, and a nice anniversary dinner at the Maya Grill, both on site. While the meal was excellent, it was a bit noisy.

Since we were staying at a Disney place, we could take advantage of extended park hours and transportation to the park. Each park has extended hours one day a week, and by a stroke of luck the Magic Kingdom had those hours available during our visit. If we wanted, we could stay there from 7:00 am to 3:00 am, a total of 20 hours. We came close.

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