Opinions & Observations from the Life of a technology journalist and confessed techno-junkie attempting to live the digital lifestyle.
Learning LEGO EV3 Robots & Kids The first time you deploy anything in the classroom, much less something involving lots of small moving parts, I can guarantee that things won’t go as planned but if you planned well you’ll be able to see all the areas you need to fix/change the next time you do the lesson/unit. I’ve been waiting over a year to give … Continue reading Learning LEGO EV3 Robots & Kids
As I’ve said before, nothing tests the reliability and toughness of equipment (and people) like being subjected to the daily use by 4- to 11-year-olds. It gives new (literal) meaning to the words “wear and tear.” Thus, my hearty group of learners have vanquished with almost no effort over a dozen styluses that were designed to be used by the military. More recently they have … Continue reading Dealing with Broken Tech-Ed Stuff (Again)
Adios AIM: Tool to Create Constructive Virtual Presence AIM (AOL Instant Messenger) silently ceased to exist on December 15th, and most of the tech pundits I heard appeared to either be happy to see it go or spoke of the service with low regard. I mark this passing from a different set of experiences. When I got my Master’s degree online in 2002 and later … Continue reading Adios AIM: Tool to Create Constructive Virtual Presence
Daily Random Shit: Photoshop Beginner: Removing the Background Last night I learned how to erase the background of my LEGO EV3 image using Photoshop CC 2018. At first I watched a video on YouTube (below), but the differences between the version used in the video (CS6) and my version, while getting me used to using layers, was too confusing to be followed. So, I went … Continue reading Daily Random Sh*t: Photoshop Beginner: Removing the Background
Daily Random Shit: New Camera, Continued I got to shoot with the new mirror-less Olympus E-M10 Mark III camera today. Loved it. I was right. With the stock lens, it’s small enough to fit in my 5.1.1. pants pockets and even with the “big lens” (40-150mm) attached it’s every lightweight when attached to my Peak Design Capture Camera Clip. I need to learn more about … Continue reading Daily Random Sh*t: New Camera, Continued
Daily Random Shit: New Smaller Camera: Olympus OMD EM10 Mark III Smaller, cooler, retro-looking, I’m really looking forward to shooting with this camera. I wish I knew about these mirrorless cameras when I upgraded my Canon Rebel last Spring. I’m thinking of “trading in” my old and new Canon cameras to cover the cost of buying a second Olympus (body). With the smaller lens I’m … Continue reading Daily Random Sh*t: New Smaller Camera: Olympus OMD EM10 Mark III
TLDR: Dealing with a Dead Drobo I’m spoiled. I buy some piece of tech, I expect it to work, no muss, no fuss. I’ve been doing this long enough to remember how hard it used to be to get anything done to the point where I’m now often unprepared for what to do when tech things don’t work. I posted in my social media feed … Continue reading TLDR: Dealing with a Dead Drobo
Damn, my old Drobo FireWire/USB backup drive died today. Anticipating my summer travels, I had already switched to little Seagate portable USB3 drives… still feel sad and a little concerned whether I had moved everything onto other drives… 😕 Comments: Continue reading Daily Random Sh*t: Drobo Death
My name is Joe and I have a problem working on my blog or creating new blogs or posts when I have more important things to do. Even if I have student projects to grade for the next day or new curriculum to create for next week, I find it hard to not fiddle with my blog, fixing formatting, adding images and coding HTML. It’s … Continue reading My Addiction: A Blogging Problem
