DIY: Inexpensive Wiimote-based Smart boards

My son's school has been lucky enough to be able to afford Smartboards for each of its classrooms so that teachers can use them in a number of amazing ways. Students can interact with web pages, flash games, and software using "electronic chalk". Material, both digital and physical, is easily presented to the entire class. The boards open up a wide range of activities never before possible in the classroom, limited only by the imagination.

That said, smartboards can be exceedingly expensive. Second only to the capabilities of smart boards themselves is the inventiveness of hackers, DIY'ers and Makers who set out to use the relatively inexpensive Wiimote game controller to create an less expensive, home brew version of the Smartboard. Even better, building the system can be made part of the educational process for everyone involved .

This article from MAKE: Blog ( Make your own Wii smartboard) details how to create and use this inexpensive system in your own school or group. The video below offers a quick view of the amazing things you can accomplish with such a system.

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Outgoing Email, Roadrunner and the iPhone

I have had this question twice now over the last month, so I decided to take the time to write it up in case anyone else might need it.

The Problem

While you can easily set up your Roadrunner.com email address in your iPhone, sending email is more problematical. You can send email if you are connected via WiFi, but sending mail when using the cellular data network fails. It seems your iPhone cannot connect to the outgoing email server.

The Solution

When researching this problem for the first client to ask, I came across this tech note from Apple.com

iPhone: What to do if you can't send or receive Mail

This tech note gives you the steps necessary to select an outgoing email server provided by AT&T specifically for iPhone users. This outgoing mail server should work regardless of your connection to the Internet.

Audio: Douglas talks Wordpress with Small Business Hosting podcast

SBHosting.com posted an interview I did last week talking about the uses and differences between Wordpress.com's hosted blogs and the Wordpress software available from Wordpress.org.

Listen to the entire interview (30 Mins)

Wordpress.org Vs Wordpress.com With Douglas Welch

On this episode I talk with Douglas Welch about the differences between Wordpress.com and Wordpress.org and when you might want to use WordPress.org vs Wordpress.com. Wordpress.com is hosted and managed by automattic (the company behing wordpress). If you choose WordPress.com you don’t install or control the software. WordPress.org is the home of the open source wordpress software. [...]

Continue reading...

Elsewhere Online: Make your own talking magic mirror for Halloween

Another great Halloween find by the folks over at Make Magazine. Add an interactive Magic Mirror your own Halloween Haunt.

Make your own talking magic mirror for Halloween

We were just told about this cool free software download that runs on Windows and Mac. It turns your computer screen into a virtual "magic mirror." You can even use a microphone to control it, and make it interactive, just like this video shows:

Magic mirror download and information - Link. Thanks to PuppetBuilding.com for the tip.

[Read this article] [Comment on this article]

(Via MAKE: Blog.)

Technorati Tags:
tech, technology, halloween

Douglas talks technology on SoHo Tech Podcast's Monday Night Tech

I had a great time on Monday Night Tech with host, Dean Jensen. We talked about what to do when moving an office, weird Norton Internet Security problems, new comptuers and more! You can watch the video below or listen to the audio from Talkshoe.com.



Watch the video!

Click to listen to the audio-only version

Real World Example: Computer-Aided Embroidary

Just to show you how technology has become an intimate part of our lives, I wanted to relate a support call I had today. A client called about checking out a new Windows Vista laptop she purchased, along with the device pictured here...a Husqvarna Viking Designer I USB.

While the PC issue mainly had to do with lack of memory, the embroidery machine fascinated me. Here was what looked like a sewing machine, but instead of the usual direction and thread tension controls was a sizable LCD screen. On the side was a USB port, exactly like you would see on a printer. In fact, that was exactly what this machine was...a printer.

The machine even has firmware that has to be updated, just like your Internet routers and high-end printers. To apply the upgrades, we "booted" the machine into "software update" mode and then shipped over the firmware from the PC.

It just goes to show that even the most fundamental crafting is finding a way to put technology to use.

Cool Tools: Free Flash-based presentation tool

Cool web services just keep coming and coming. Here is a service that provides MS PowerPoint-style presentations using only your web browser. This is sure to be highlighted in an upcoming Live from the Library Internet Seminar.

Free Flash-based presentation tool

In a field where we're constantly creating tutorials for our users, a lot of them in a web-accessible format, free tools that helps us do this are very valuable.  If you're looking for a free option for creating a Flash-based web presentation, check out Spresent. Think of it as a way to replace PowerPoint, or to do what PowerPoint does in a slightly different (and more streamlined) way.  From their self-description:

(Continues)

(Via LibrarianInBlack.)

Technorati Tags: DIY, howto, how-to, technology, presentations, presenting, powerpoint, present, software, computers, high-tech, free

GOOG-411 - Google Voice Local Search

More Google Announcements today...

Google Voice Search works over your telephone, instead of the Internet, but it provides some Internet connected features.

I tried it out as soon as I heard about it. My initial, rather simple, test was to locate cofee in Van Nuys, CA. It worked pretty well.

You can listen to a short, lightly edited, recording of my session with GOOG-411.

(I took out extraneous issues invovled with trying to record from my cell phone.)

Listen: GOOG-411 Demonstraton (Audio)

Google Voice Local Search
Google Voice Local Search is Google’s experimental service to make local-business search accessible over the phone.

To try this service, just dial 1-800-GOOG-411 (1-800-466-4411) from any phone.

Using this service, you can:

* search for a local business by name or category.
You can say "Giovanni's Pizzeria" or just "pizza".

* get connected to the business, free of charge.

* get the details by SMS if you’re using a mobile phone.
Just say "text message".

(Via Google Web Site.)

Technorati Tags: technology, software, computers, high-tech, free, google, search, local, phone

Video: Installing Firefox on a Mac

Installing Firefox on a Mac
While installing applications on a Mac is usually easy, Mozilla's installer for Firefox can be a bit confusing. Several of my clients had have difficulties getting it installed correctly, so here is a screencast to give you a, hopefully, clearer view of how it works.

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Technorati Tags: podcast, losangeles, technology, macintosh, software, computers, high-tech

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