This year a census is being taken in the United States. The folks at CBS have produced a short video that outlines the history and the purpose of census taking in the United States. Take a look at it. It’s simple and quick covering the basics.
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This week we have had the priviledge of getting to know Jasmine and Alexa. They have been adopted by friends of ours. For the two weeks they are in town we have been able to house the families. It has been a sheer joy to watch them grow and change as their lives change. Their parent’s waited four years for them to come home … and now they are … meet Jasmine and Alexa
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Clustr Maps are great. I’ve used them for years. Somehow I lost mine so I’m trying again.
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I’m passing on some really good information for anyone who uses the web for educational research. This all came from the University of Wisconsin/Stout.
Beyond Google: 15 Tools and Strategies for Improving Your Web Search Results
Richard Byrne developed an impressive guide to15 new tools and strategies which “help students explore the Web beyond the first two pages of Google search results.”
4 Comparison Search Tools You May Not Know About…But Should
Matt McGee describes the capabilities of four comparison search engines – Search 3, Goog-a-Who?, Panabee, and Maps Compare, which help students easily see and compare search results all on the same page.
Bing’s New Visual Search
Joyce Valenza describes how to use Bing’s seven pre-defined categories to access search results in a visual format, which can be a great help to students with poor reading skills.
Helping Children Find What They Need on the Internet
How can we make search engines more user-friendly and effective for our students? Stefanie Olson describes how software engineers are redesigning search engines by incorporating technology aids for better keyword formulation and visual search capabilities.
Which Search Engine? The List to Watch in 2010
Simon Byholm provides a list of seven up-and-coming search engines that show promise in delivering innovative search results.
The Best Search Engines for ESL/ EFL Learners – 2009
Larry Ferlazzo updates his annual list of favorite and most accessible search engines for students with limited English skills.
Tech Tip : Real-Time Search Results in Google
Google recently added real-time searching to search results, which provides breaking news via tweets, blogs and other updated Web content. To access real-time results in any Google search, click on the Show Options link below the Google search box, then on the Latest link in the left-hand column which appears.
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A few weeks ago Darlene had the inspiration to see how all the teachers in the ‘hood’ decorated for the holiday season. She organized a progressive dinner with everyone. Feeling that since she organized the dinner, it would be only fitting for us to host the main course. So what is Christmas without a turkey?
After searching several foreign grocery stores around the city and checking on prices … everything from $5.71 a pound to 11.71 a pound … we settled on the cheaper prospect. Turns out it was the store just across the street.
Last week I went over and made a reservation for a bird. It was imported from the US. Last night we bought it, an 9 kilo, $53.46 bird. It was a mother-of-all turkeys needed to feed our guests tomorrow night, 14 adults and 12 kids. We set it on the counter in an imported aluminum pan, in water to begin the three day thaw.
We do have a lady who comes in everyday to clean the house for us … yes, it is very nice and one of the perks of living overseas. Darlene regularly leaves her notes of what she would like to have done. Last night’s note was …“And leave the turkey out … it’s thawing.”
We came home. Now I know the bird was dead … it was frozen … harder than a rock … stiff … and it was gone. I know it couldn’t have flown away, there were no feathers and besides, it is/was a turkey. Where could it be?
We looked all over the house. The cleaning lady has been known to put things away in strange places … but a 9 kilo dead bird?! Hmm… we started investigating. Not in the fridge, or freezer, or oven … no where in the kitchen. Perhaps she thought by leaving it out Darlene meant outside. We have four small porches … nothing. The bathtub? Nada. If we didn’t find our bird, our goose would be cooked … I hope that fowl joke didn’t throw you off.
Okay … maybe we better call the helper. But we didn’t want her to feel bad if
in fact she threw it out … leave the turkey out … throw it out. We called a Chinese lady whom Darlene works with. She asked Min to call and find out, as best she could without embarrassing her, whether the turkey flew the coop. Was it really well hidden in the apartment or had it been sent to an early grave?
The call was made. Within minutes the mystery was solved. Somewhere, lost in translation, the helper read the note to mean … throw the turkey out. And so … she took it home thinking it was a perfectly good bird and it would feed a lot of people. I guess she should have written 离开火鸡解冻.
We now await the arrival of our bird. Tomorrow it will be cooked and eaten by 6:00pm, that is, if the bird shows up as planned in the morning.
Lost in translation … how many more times will this happen?
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As a follow up to my last post I was reading even more about the social media and change. Then I came upon a couple of diagrams in Flickr. 
Word of mouth is a powerful tool for communicating. Word spreads like wild fire.
And then there’s the new social media evolution/revolution.This is just a diagram of the way communication is 
changing. Twitter, Facebook, YouTube … great tools for communication. I still don’t think they’re as good as face to face … er … f2f … but change is coming … shift happens.
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I have been intrigued by the power of the internet and social websites lately. When I think back to the uprising in Iran, and the role Twitter played getting news out to the world, the tip of the cyberg (kind of like an iceberg in cyberspace) began to show itself. The world began to learn what was going on behind closed doors.
How effective is it? A team from MIT showed just how fast information can be passed on. What the government thought might take 10 days took 9 hours to crack. A $40,000 online challenge proposed by the US government has been won by a team of researchers from MIT – just hours after it was launched. DARPA offered a cash prize for the first group to successfully locate 10 large red weather balloons hidden at a string of secret locations across the US. All this was accomplished via cyberspace and social networking sites.
Fast forward to last night. An article brought to light the steps a country may go to control it’s image and people. It’s not just a country, it’s my country where I live. Most of this is aimed at the gaming network. The government deems it a serious problem. But I am afraid the future may look bleak for years ahead. I hope this blog is free in the future.
Say go*dbye to anon*mity on the Internet. Again.
Joe*l Martin*sen
Dec 07, 2009
At Chin*’s Seventh Int’l I*net Cul*ure Exposit*on, an official from the Ministry of Cul*ure spoke on the need to further regulate Chin*’s online public space.
Among the remarks made by T Z, vice-director of the ministry’s Cultural Mark*t Department, was a mention of a “real name system” for the Internet. The idea that netizens should be required to register with the government before using the Internet has been debated in the pas* which may explain why today’s paper chose to make the report its top headline.
The article was reprinted from Bei*ing Times and the Chin* Da*ly dot com:
T Z said that the Internet had become an important basis for social development and had given rise to new cultural industries and modes of transmission. And because activities on the Internet were part of life in human society, a new model for public order in online society needs to be devised based on technology and formed through legal channels: “Legislation should be accelerated to carry this out.”
My hope is that legislation does require the past issue of a “real name system” for the Internet. The idea that netizens should be required to register with the government before using the Internet. Time will tell.
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Found this on Tech Crunch
by Leena Rao on November 24, 2009
Gmail is furthering its offline strategy today with the announcement of the ability to include attachments in composed emails when offline. Google says this was one of the most requested features for Offline Gmail and starting today, you be able to attach files in offline mode the way you would in online Gmail.
You’ll be able to attach all types of files except inline images, which are images in the body of the email. When you have Offline Gmail enabled, Google says that mail now goes through the outbox when you’re online or offline, allowing Gmail to capture all attachments regardless of internet connections.
Earlier this year, Google rolled out a Google Gears version of Gmail, which detects when you are offline. It caches your e-mail so that you can read it, respond to it, search it, star it, or label it. When you are connected to the Internet again, it sends all the messages. Google also introduced an offline version of Calendar.
Offline access is a big part of Google’s strategy to chip away at Microsoft’s Outlook’s hold on business email. For promotional purposes, Google now wants Gmail users who are using Offline features to take pictures of themselves while accessing their email from an unusual place, such as a submarine, without internet access. Google will post the most interesting photos on the Gmail Blog. I guess a picture is worth a thousand words.
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Here’s another animoto slide show that was produced by the MS media crew after school.
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This week I had some time to play with a free 2.0 software … ANIMOTO. What a great tool to have fun with. In a matter of minutes I put this slide show of my family together. In their words … Animoto automatically produces beautifully orchestrated, completely unique video pieces from your photos, video clips and music. Fast, free and shockingly easy.
And I agree! (Upgrade to clear the watermark)
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