Friday, August 13, 2010

Great Gadgets

Gadgets for Everyone!
lesliefisher.com

This post is for all those techie geeks out there who like to learn about the latest and greatest gadgets. Leslie Fisher is an expert at keeping up with all the newest tech tools. Following is a list of gadgets Leslie shared at ISTE10 that you might find interesting and helpful. Some are very helpful teaching tools, and some are just for fun. Enjoy!

eventbrite.com
Eventbrite is a website that allows you to set up an event with online registration. With it, you can process credit card payments, accepts donations, manages recurring events, add number caps and waitlists, and create name badges and certificates for your events. This is a free tool for free events. If you plan to charge for your events, Eventbrite charges 2.5% +99¢ per event for each pay ticket sold.

Google Voice
Google Voice sets up a universal phone number that you can attach to as many phone numbers as you want. This universal number can be set up to ring multiple phones (like your cell phone, home phone, and work phone) or go straight to voicemail. You can also use Google Voice to send yourself text, SMS, or email transcriptions of any voicemail messages you receive.



tripit.com
Send your travel itineraries to plans@tripit.com from your signed-up email account, and
Tripit will create an itinerary for you. You can then share itineraries as well as output info to many calendar formats. You can even print a master itinerary if you still like paper. Tripit also supports social networking, but be careful making travel plans available to the world. You don't want those with ill intentions knowing when you will be away from your home.

Twitter
Did you know you can add your twitter feed to your website? Go to twitter.com/goodies, click on widgets, and click on the profile widget and it will give you the code to put Twitter onto your website. This can be used for tweets, for @replies, and to search any criteria.

Tweetdeck
Organize who you are following on Twitter into logical groups. Add multiple twitter accounts, photo support, as well as facebook feeds. Tweetdeck is free!


Remember the Milk
Rememberthemilk.com is free unless you connect to a mobile client. Use it create to do lists or to create task lists for conferences or trainings. Remember the Milk supports social networking.



Evernote
Evernote.com is free! It is note-taking software. Grab anything - web pages, pictures, notes - using your web cam, phone, camera, etc. Evernote will place all your notes in a central, private location on their server so you can access your notes from anywhere. Evernote will perform OCR recognition on all submissions, even photos, to allow easy searching. (OCR recognition means that it will read a scanned document and transform what you have scanned into a word processing entry that is then editable.) You can then create albums and organize your information further. Albums can also be made public on the web. Use the iPhone app to access your notes on your iPhone. The Evernote site has Great demo videos.

Etherpad/Typwith.me
Create a shared document with simultaneous typing so your students can work on the document at the same time. Each document has a time slider that allows you to go back to any of the edits that were made and play it back. Right now it is limited to 15 people at a time. Etherpad is now embeded in googledocs (go into settings to activate it) with no 15 person limit.

Zamzar
Zamzar.com converts files. Send them a file or URL you want to convert from one format to another. They can even convert files directly from YouTube. The converted file will be sent to your email. It's free!

UStream
Ustream is a free site to post streaming video. Use a webcam and stream your video online.

mozy.com
Mozy.com is online encrypted backup for Mac or PC. It is free for up to 2 gigs. It is $5 a month for unlimited data.

Cisco Media Hub
The Media Hub allows you to backup multiple computers. You can grant remote access to any device.

Apple Time Capsule
Time Capsule is part wireless router and part backup. When paired with TimeMachine, it will make hourly backups of your Mac.

Orbicule Undercover
If your Mac is stolen Orbicle will secretly transmit the IP and Router information so you can locate where it has been taken. It will also take a screenshot with your built in camera and mail it to you every 6 minutes so you can see who is using your stolen computer. If that still does not help you locate your stolen computer, it is ready with Plan B. Orbicle will slowly dim your computer screen to make it look like a screen failure has occurred. When your machine is then taken to the Apple store to be sold or fixed, it is like it has been returned to the mother ship. A message alerting Apple that yours is a stolen machine will appear. The volume on your computer will automatically turn up to the loudest setting, and your computer will yell, "STOLEN!" over and over again. The cost is $49.00.

Photos (paid)
These sites have a store of photos you can use for projects. These sites are not free, but offer more photos than some of the free sites do.
Digital Cameras
Here are some suggestions of good digital cameras for personal use. Both of these cameras can take 6 images per second. They are particularly good for low light settings. They both have panorama mode.

Camera Cards
Using a professionally rated memory card will improve the quality of your pictures.
The Lexar Professional and the SanDisk ExtremeIII are good cards. These take pictures more quickly and with better quality.

smugmug.com
If you use smugmug.com for photo sharing you can upload photos of any size. The charge is $75 per year for as many photos as you want at any size. Free accounts are available for non-profit organizations. Some schools have sold their photos from school events to make money for their school using Smugmug.

Fast, Easy Video
If you are looking for some simple, easy-to-use video cameras, here are some suggestions:
Audio/Video Portability
Here are some suggestions for those who can't get enough of your TV!
  • Pinnacle PCTV HD Pro Stick - Hooks your PC to your TV
  • EyeTV Hybrid - Onscreen TV Guide with DV
  • Sling Media - a box that hooks up to your home theatre and uses Internet connection to broadcast the signal to your CPU, phone, etc.
Video Options
Want to watch TV shows and movies online?
  • Netflix Streaming
  • Hulu.com
  • Boxee: "Social Media Center" - Access media from the web and your CPU in one central interface. You can share media with your friend list.
Home Theater Nut?
Droid/iPhone
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iPad
Why would you want an iPad? The iPad has affordable apps, has a 7-hour battery, and is portable. The iPad is bringing reading back because i makes it simple and fun it is to use e-readers! The iPad has a variety of cool apps like Proloquo2Go, Star Walk, iStudiez Pro, NewsRack, Instapaper, and GoodReader.
There are many cool cases that have been created for the iPad. The DODO Case is Leslie Fisher's favorite. A couple other good ones are the Quirky Cloak and Hard Candy. Hard candy is particularly good for use with kids because it protects well.

New Apps
It can be difficult to keep up with all the new apps that become available for the iPod, iPhone, and iPad. Appshopper.com is a site that will help you keep up with the latest and greatest apps. Here are a few new, popular apps:
  • Loopt - Keep up with your friends and follow where they are on a map
  • Foursquare - Post where you are and get points and status for where you've gone
  • Gowalla - This app is like Foursquare but allows users to create new locations. It has a better interface, but is not as popular as Foursquare. It is a little like geo caching -- you collect items and give them away to other people.
Charging Devices
Keeping your devices charged is quite a challenge! Here are a few tools to help keep your devices running:
  • www.solio.com - a solar power charger - 1 hour of sunlight = 20 minutes of talk time
Audio
At ion-audio.com you can find a whole variety of great audio tools that can plug your old-school audio devices (records, tapes, VCRs) into your computer through a USB port.
Visit livescribe.com for information about a pen that can record and play back the notes you take.

Miscellaneous Geeky Items:
keyspan.com - presenter remote controlls
thinkgeek.com/tshirts-apparel/interactive/991e - Wi-Fi Detector T-shirt


sfbags.com - Great computer-carrying bags
thinktankphoto.com - Inventive camera bags
northface - laptop backpacks
loewpro.com - online training courses on a variety of skills
despair.com - unmotivational posters
diy.despair.com/motivator.php - Create your own unmotivational posters
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