Picking nits

29. June 2007 · 1 comment · Categories: Off Topic, Software

I have to get this off my chest. I can’t be the only one who’s bugged by the fact that Apple‘s recent update to OS X 10.4.9 moved the OS to version 10.4.10. Anyone who’s ever taught math (and evidently whoever writes the logic for Apple’s installer programs) knows that 10.4.10 = 10.4.1 which is clearly a step backwards.

Maybe they should have considered 10.4.95 or 10.4.9.1. I’m sure this is commonly done with version numbers, but anything would have been better (and more mathematically correct!) than going from 10.4.9 to 10.4.10.

I don’t think this will detract from the iPhone hype today, but it sure feels good to get that out of my system.

New Resource: GTD in Education

27. June 2007 · Write a comment · Categories: blogging, Off Topic, Productivity, Software, Tools

Sorry, folks. This post is old and so are the resources. If you’ve come here looking for GTD stuff, my more recent workflow has been documented under the “productivity” tag.

Since I started this blog in January, my post on education and GTD has consistently been one of the most viewed. I’ve taken some time to update the information from that post and to make it a “Page” for ease of linking and future updates. It’s now a part of my Resources so enjoy:

Using GTD in Education

New digs, redux

26. June 2007 · 7 comments · Categories: blogging, Tools

I had really planned on sticking with the OceanBech 1.0 theme for at least 6 months before moving on, but as much as I liked the look, it was definitely a very 1.0 theme. I had to do a lot of hacking around in the CSS to get it to look “just right” and even still there were some things I was less than pleased with.

I really didn’t want to be “that blogger” who changes the theme of his blog as the mood suits him, but I was really getting frustrated with what I felt were some limitations of my previous theme. I’ve spent some time the last few days really perusing the themes that met my very basic requirements: three columns and widget-ready. After much reading and reviewing, I’ve settled on “Subtle” (a.k.a. Glued Ideas). I like the look and feel very much and there is an active development and support community at http://www.gluedideas.com/.

As always, expect some minor tweaking in the days/weeks ahead. I won’t have time to mess with this stuff once school/grad school starts in a few more weeks.

Do you 'social network?'

25. June 2007 · 8 comments · Categories: Communication, Off Topic, Technology, Web 2.0

There’s no way I’m joining MySpace. And I just deleted my account on VIRB because it was kind of confusing. I just joined Facebook and I’m pretty pleased because I see quite a few of my fellow bloggers on there as well.

I am a bit of a ‘joiner’ and feel left out not being involved in this whole phenomenon. Of course, when you sign up for a social network and it’s just – you know – you, it feels a little empty. Luckily, this time I may have joined one that actually has some people I “know” involved so I’m hoping to stick with it. It seems a bit like “MySpace for grown-ups” if you ask me.

Enough of my insecurity issues… If you’re reading this, do you social network? If so, what’s your platform of choice?

Web 2.0 Tool: Numbr

22. June 2007 · Write a comment · Categories: Communication, Technology, Tools, Web 2.0

It’s been a while since I’ve signed up for a Web 2.0 tool. I think I’ve been going through some kind of withdrawal symptoms. Thankfully, I have a very cool and useful tool to pass along this time.

On more than one occasion, I’ve had to chaperone an overnight trip with a small group of students. Though I wanted all the students (and other chaperones – be they parents or teachers) to be able to get in touch with me in an emergency, I was hesitant to give out my personal cell number to a group of high school kids. Not because I didn’t trust any one of them, but because I know how kids (and sometimes parents!) are by nature. I always had this bizarre, uncomfortable feeling about letting my phone number be programmed into a student’s cell phone.

Enter numbr. You know it’s Web 2.0 since there’s no final ‘e.’ Numbr allows you to create a temporary phone number that forwards to your real one and, by default, expires after one month. According to their fact sheet, numbr’s vision is to keep communications from being crippled due to privacy concerns.

I’ve not yet tried numbr, but the next time I take a group of high school students out of town I’ll definitely be giving it a try.

(via LifeHacker)

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