Do you ever get asked questions that can be easily searched and found on Google? Many times at work or in “real life” I get asked questions or I hear people with questions that they can just not figure out. I search Google. It’s my first reaction. It’s not always everyone’s first reaction though–no fault to them–it’s just not in their thought process. letmegooglethatforyou.com is a funny site where you search for something and it records the “complicated process”. It then gives you a URL to give to your friends to help them find their answer : ) . I believe I found this through Digg but I know Lifehacker mentioned it and it’s all around the web.

busy..busy..

Life

I recently purchased a condo (with my parents assistance) in Plymouth, Minnesota. It’s not a bad place to live! So, I have been busy moving, fixing up and making it “home sweet home”. Work has been pretty busy ever since school began. This school year I am working more hours each day to help with our district’s Moodle site.

New Learning & Projects

Tech integration resource site/PHP & MySQL learning - Ever since last year I have seen tons of technology integration web resources and more each day. I wonder what is the best way to organize and share these resources? I have thought of a wiki, blog, Moodle, Delicious or maybe even just a regular web site. Each one of those ideas would be fine, really. However, whenever I start setting it up I have a change of heart and switch to another way. I have not come up with a solution I am 100% happy with.

What I want to do is create a web site, using a database, to display and organize these resources. Why? Well, I think the possibilities are great and I can change whatever I want with the look and feel. Also, I have always wanted to learn MySQL and PHP. What a great way to learn!

Check out what I have done so far: http://www.edutagit.com/beta

The above link is constantly being worked on. The main page is www.edutagit.com however, www.edutagit.com/beta will be the newest content

LeRoi Moore 1961-2008

RIP LeRoi Moore

We are deeply saddened that LeRoi Moore, saxophonist and founding member of Dave Matthews Band, died unexpectedly Tuesday afternoon, August 19, 2008, at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Los Angeles from sudden complications stemming from his June ATV accident on his farm near Charlottesville, Virginia. [read more]

Wow, I didn’t even know he had been in an accident. So sad. I loved the sound of the sax in the DMB. I don’t listen too much to DMB anymore but it’s great nonetheless. I guess DMB played that same day he passed away. During the concert LeRoi was mentioned.

“We all had some bad news today,” Matthews told the sell-out crowd at the Staples Center in Los Angeles after the first song. “Our good friend LeRoi Moore passed on and gave his ghost up today and we will miss him forever.” Fans shouted Moore’s name in tribute as the band resumed playing. Two songs later, Matthews once again made reference to Moore, saying: “It’s easier to leave than be left.” [read more]

Sign up to be notified when Obama announces his running mate:

Barack is about to choose a running mate, and he wants you to know first. You have helped build this movement from the bottom up, and Barack wants you to be part of this important moment. Sign up today and we’ll send you an email announcing Barack’s running mate. You can also text VP to 62262 to receive a text message on your mobile phone.

read more | digg story

Very interesting! Compared with McCain I see Obama being much more tech savvy and realizing the importance of technology. Now, I don’t think a president has to be a tech nerd to have a good stance on technology - he can hire people to do this - however, if you don’t understand and believe the importance of it I think it’s hard to prioritize it. I was surprised to see Obama on Twitter. I just looked up John McCain on Twitter and there are a few accounts about him but I do not believe any officially run by him. I thought the notification by email and/or text message was a clever idea.

Of course Obama’s embracing and understanding of technology relates more towards the younger crowd, but did he already have much of the younger crowd? I wonder how much his “web presence” is helping him out. I think having a web presence (whether it’s political, musical or just wanting to get your name out there) is highly underestimated. Maybe it’s just because I’m a computer geek and I’m online all the time but I really believe embracing the Internet and technology can have some huge advantages. Sort of getting off-topic here–but sort of like musicians trying to fight the Internet and the whole copyright issue. If they spent the same amount of time they do on lawsuits and legal stuff than they do on using the Internet I think it would have a much more positive impact. In college (a year ago) I did a paper on the Internet and it’s impact on the music industry. There was a lot of research on the positives but there was no real hard, cold facts. Well, I officially got off-topic! Follow Obama’s Twitters if you’re interested. Don’t know what Twitter is? You’re living under a rock, so check Twitter out!

“Elgg is an open, flexible social application engine, designed to run at the heart of any socially-aware application. Building on Elgg is easy, and because the engine handles common web application and social functionality for you, you can concentrate on developing your idea.”

I’ve been testing out Elgg 1.0 for a couple of weeks now and it looks great so far. I never used the classic version of Elgg but from what I understand Elgg 1.0 is a big, big update.

Every day they are updating and adding new features, changing the look and working out bugs. The release date for Elgg 1.0 is August 18th, 2008. Today they posted a blog asking for more users to help test the product.

The reason why I have a big interest in Elgg 1.0 is because I work in a school district with technology and we are looking at Elgg 1.0 as a possibility as a staff intranet.

I highly suggest checking this product out even if you pass up the opportunity to test it out. Elgg has already made a huge impact in the education world (and will continue to) but now they are trying to emphasize the use in the business world.

The Fischbowl made a recent blog post about a slideshow by Jeff Brenman called “Thirst“.

It’s a slideshow similar to his slideshare version of “Did You Know?” (originally from The Fischbowl). Just like that version it gives the audience some startling facts that you probably never knew were true. Some facts are very alarming and make you think and say “wow, really? interesting!”

Take a look at this slideshare and learn about the importance of conserving water and the future of water. There is a lot of focus on oil and using alternative energys but you don’t hear much about water conservation.

The slideshow is also a good example of using images to get your point across instead of using a lot of text.

In no particular order:

Firefox

Simply the best browser out there (imho of course ). I find that Firefox works the best with handling web design and CSS and since I do some web work I rarely run into problems.

But the real reason why I could not live without Firefox is because of the add-ons. Firefox add-ons simply make my time on the web more productive and much more efficient. I can know instantly whether I get an email from multiple accounts, keep track of my twitters, have multiple tabs open, view media on websites, get the weather, use FTP…you get the point. Whatever you do on the web there is more than likely an add-on for it.

Gmail

I will only say a few things about Gmail because a lot of the reason why I like it so much is because there is a sweet Firefox add-on for it and I use other Google applications, which makes it easy to navigate. First, I like the easy and powerful search. Second, I like the concept of labels and third, I will never run out of space.

Social Networking

I am going to bundle in Facebook, MySpace, Ning and all of these social networking sites. Sure some of these things are for play and waste a lot of time but honestly networks like Facebook and MySpace have connected me to old friends and keep me connected with current friends that I would not have any connection with otherwise.

Notepad++

This is a great free source-editor that I use daily. Sure, there are other fancy editors like Dreamweaver but Notepad++ does the trick for me.You can open multiple files (using tabs) and it will work with HTML, CSS, PHP, etc. Since I do a lot of web design work, this is a must-have resource.

ESPN.com

I love sports! I get all of my sports news and updates from here. I visit this site multiple times a day. A boring pick, but hey I couldn’t live without it.

Rationale

The above are resources in all areas of my life, no specific area. I know these resources are no secret and a bit boring but they are sort of at the core of my experience online. I will be posting another post about must-have resources in a more specific area soon.

The Republican candidate for president, famous for admitting that he doesn’t know how to use a computer without assistance, has no plans for the future of technology in America.

read more | digg story

(Note: I tested out the “blog this” option in Digg that allows me to blog a Dugg article automatically. It works! Nifty!)

Tuesday, June 17th 2008 is the official launch date for Firefox 3. A few days ago I ran across where you can pledge to download Firefox on Tuesday and help set a Guinness World Record for Most Software Downloaded in 24 hours.

from www.spreadfirefox.com:

Sounds like a good deal, right? All you have to do is get Firefox 3 during Download Day to help set the record for most software downloads in 24 hours - it’s that easy. We’re not asking you to swallow a sword or to balance 30 spoons on your face, although that would be kind of awesome.

I can’t wait for this release! I have used the Beta version on my desktop after I upgraded to Ubuntu Hardy Heron. I was surprised to see the Firefox 3 Beta in the upgrade. You would think they would wait for the final version? But anyways, I like it so far (although I have not used it too much yet).

It’s crazy how much better, in my opinion of course, Firefox is compared to IE. I work in a large school district with technology integration and our district uses IE. Although I personally use Firefox at work, I have to constantly check and troubleshoot within IE because that is what the teachers use. Our district is finally using IE7 next fall, which means FINALLY the district will be introduced to tabs! I don’t know how I survived web browsing without tabs, honestly. This also means RSS will become a better option.

..back to my original post - check out the Firefox 3 FAQ. Have you ever wondered who owns the record for the most clothespins on their face? How about the fastest person to create a balloon dog behind their back? I know you have always wondered about these things, well check out these crazy records!

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