Novint Falcon Pistol Grip

Novint has been previewing their new Pistol Grip at the Gamers Conference this past week for the Novint Falcon. The cost has gone down even further for the Falcon.  $189 for the device.  and $20 for the extra gun handgrip.  Now, I openly admit that the new Pistol Grip has no real educational value… at least not anything that I value. Alright… I shouldn’t be so harsh. Here is a video review with the haptic handgrip.

Educational Uses?  Well, there is ROTC.  You can learn to shoot and get real feedback.  It will certainly add another dimension that will attract kids.  First-person shooter games are massively popular. 

For me, it mostly just shows the potential of different handgrips.  They mention a steering-wheel as a possible handgrip.  What other useful handgrips can you think of? 

By Jeff | Posted on: February 29, 2008 at 4:58 pm | Comments (2)

Pen Projection Computers?

It’s Friday, so I am going to jump out on the edge a bit and write about something fun and out there… You may have seen the e-mail going around as of late about “AMAZING TECHNOLOGY FROM JAPAN” about a pen that projects a keyboard and a screen.  It includes this image.

It then goes on to say something to the effect of…

In the revolution of miniature computers, scientists have made great developments with bluetooth technology… This is the forthcoming computers you can carry within your pockets.

This “pen sort of instrument” produces both the monitor as well as the keyboard on any flat surfaces from where you can carry out functions you would normally do on your desktop computer.  Can anyone say, “Good-bye laptops!”

When I first saw this I was super impressed… then I did some digging.  Apparently this has been around since at least 2006.  And some people say that it doesn’t exist at all.

I know for a fact that the infrared type keyboards do exist (I have personally played with one), but what about the projection monitors?  I heard a rumor that they exist… but I have not been able to find a reference for them… so I turn to you dear reader’s.  Does anyone know if this exists?

If it does exist, this is pretty awesome.  I’m not sure it is any better than mobile phones, in fact, it is probably not, because not as many people will have these as people that have mobile phones, but it’s cool. :)

By Jeff | Posted on: February 29, 2008 at 4:34 pm | Comments (4)

YouTube LIVE! Educational Use…

So there have been live online streaming services for a while now, but none of them have seemed to take off.
Today TechCrunch linked to a video that said YouTube was going to have offer live video streaming services sometime later this year.

Aside from being a huge Google fan, this could potentially be important in Education for one reason… users. YouTube has a HUGE user base.

A lot of teachers are already familiar with YouTube and will be more likely to start using a feature in a program they already use. I need not repeat the value of live streaming for a classroom. Teachers can teach for distance education, not to mention a global audience! With real time feedback tools like chat and twitter, teachers can also get real time feedback from around the world! :)

Students will also find a much larger user base to present to.

Those are just some ideas off the top of my head. What about you? What other things can you think of?

By Jeff | Posted on: February 29, 2008 at 3:38 pm | Comments (2)

QipIt – Mobile Phone Capture

So couple of days ago I posted about a new Google Chat client that I have embedded on my blog.  First off, it has been great fun to interact with all sorts of people that I normally wouldn’t get the chance to chat with!  A lot of you just entered to see if worked, but never said anything.  But I did have some good conversations. 

This morning I received a chat invitation from a Philippe Dewost, a young guy from France, who was reading a popular post from about a year ago: “8 Ways to use Camera Phones in Education.“  Philippe is a the guy behind, or at least a part of a cool program called Qipit that I thought might be of use to some of you out there. 

Functionality

Basically it allows students/teachers to take a pictures of notes/whiteboards/etc. and email them to a service that converts them over to PDF.  It actually works pretty good.  It takes out all the ugly from the picture and makes a pretty good copy of what ever you are seeing (but it does have to be large). 

Cons

  • Multiple pages is somewhat hard.  You can do it by attaching multiple pictures to an e-mail, but that is difficult on a phone.  From what I can see there is no way to edit it once it has been sent and combine pictures together.
  • UPDATE: Qipit does offer a “merge” feature that allows to reorder your pages and combine them in a single PDF. For multiple uploads we also offer an HTTP uploader (10 pages at a time, including pre scanning page rotate) so you can unload your cell phone using bluetooth and upload at once to Qipit
  • 100 page limit… okay, this really probably isn’t an issue for most people, but there is a limit.
    • UPDATE: The 100 page limit is an online storage limit.  You always receive your qipit copies by e-mail.
  • Still new… there might be others…

    • Uses

    The uses in education are obvious.  Students can scan in hand written notes and share them easily with friends (and save paper!).  Teacher’s can scan in notes from class on a board they want to remember… or even assignments. 

    What other uses can you think of?  There is a Facebook group devoted Qipit too…

    By Jeff | Posted on: February 28, 2008 at 10:11 am | Comments (1)

    Google Chat Badge

    Just read about a new Google Chat option that I think is pretty sweet.  You can now embed a widget on a blog that will allow ANYONE, even those without Google accounts to chat with you.  I have embedded one on my blog, so feel free to chat with me. :)

    Uses in education?  Could be used by teacher’s as another way to get students to talk to them… then again… maybe we don’t want that. :)  

    By Jeff | Posted on: February 26, 2008 at 9:23 am |

    How to Read Easier Online – Speed Reading Programs

    As we more more and more toward a completely paperless society we really need to address digital reading.  There are some great new device’s coming out (like Amazon’s Kindle), but most people, especially us educators, can’t afford a dedicated reading device, especially a $400 one. :)  

    So, what do you do?  Use your laptop! :)   Yesterday I read a great article on Lifehacker about doubling your reading speed. They introduced three new programs to me that will flash words on a screen at a high rate. 

    Why this is Better than books!

    To me, this is using technology to help us.  So often we look down at reading online, but this would actually be BETTER than a regular book because it keeps your undivided attention.  And I know we can all read faster than we do, when we have to. 

    Of course, if your goal is to ENJOY the book… this might not be the best solution… :)

    Personal Experience

    When I was in grad school I had to read LARGE books, and several a week.  When I was drowning in stuff to do, I found a way to download books on my palm pilot and using the auto scroll feature read entire books in half the time it would normally take me.  I have not tried these particular programs yet, but I can imagine how awesome this would be. 

    Has anyone else out there tried using these programs?  What about another program?  What other ideas do you have for making reading online easier?  Do share your thoughts in the comments section!

    By Jeff | Posted on: February 20, 2008 at 8:49 am | Comments (3)

    Second Life on mobile device’s?

    Last year when Google announced their Android platform they demo’d a device with a virtual environment.  This morning I read an article about a hack that allowed someone to access Second Life on an iPhone, and a new company that is going to make Second Life accessible on 3G Handsets… Sweet!

    Now your second life can become a bigger part of your first life. :)

    By Jeff | Posted on: February 20, 2008 at 8:30 am | Comments (1)

    Translate Text from WebPage Inline

    I have been very impressed with Google Translate for a while.  The ability to translate chat’s, and pretty much anything is changing the way we do research.  Well, here is another little tool to help in the process.  

    I read about a new Firefox extension today called gTranslate.  It allows you to select text on any page and translate it to any of the languages that GoogleTranslate supports.  Awesome!  

    By Jeff | Posted on: February 19, 2008 at 10:02 am | Comments (4)

    Microsoft to Give Development Software to Students for FREE!

    Just read an article this morning that tomorrow Bill Gates is going to annouce that microsoft is going to make their development software free to college and university students!  That is great!

    “Covered software includes Visual Studio Professional Edition, XNA Game
    Studio, Expression Studio, SQL Server and Windows Server.”

    By Jeff | Posted on: February 19, 2008 at 9:49 am |

    Future of Computer Repair… BACK UP YOUR DATA!

    Great article today published on our main tech webpage.  The director of the repair center was asked where he saw the future of computer repair going.  He said:

    “The whole business model is going to change with the coming of the
    solid state hard drives,” said Futrelle. “Hard drives are the most
    likely component to fail. The solid state hard drives have no moving
    parts and so the failures should decrease dramatically. But these new
    components will also give you little or no chance of recovery in case
    of a failure. Ever see a graduate student cry because they have lost
    their dissertation and don’t have a back-up? It isn’t pretty. That’s
    why Iron Mountain and other back-up solutions are so important.”

    Have you backed up recently?

    By Jeff | Posted on: February 19, 2008 at 9:29 am | Comments (2)