Cash4Books.net - sell back textbooks

Make (a little) money selling your books to the web site Cash4Books.  They buy mostly textbooks, but also other related fiction and non-fiction books.  All you have to do is type in the ISBN and it will tell you how much they will pay for the book.  They also have an Android and iPhone app that allows you to scan in the bar code and get a price.  When you are ready to ship, you print out a shipping label and send it in.  They pay for shipping.  I'm giving it a try right now to see how it works from Hawaii.

http://www.cash4books.net/?ref=313350

Update: 5/13/2013.  They received the books and promptly made payment into my paypal account.  Coming from Hawaii the books took longer to arrive there than anticipated.  My only issue is that they refused to pay for three of the books I sent (two of which were my higher priced items).  I thought the items were in good shape, but they only send a brief text description of what was wrong, no pictures to verify what they were saying. They say they will ship the books back to me (at my cost) if I want them or they will recycle.  It just seems a little suspicious that two of my three highest priced books were not paid.  I knew going in that it might be an issue, and only sent books in I knew I would be fine with if they didn't pay me for them.  Just be forewarned you might not get paid for everything you send in.   

Update: 5/19/2013:  Their customer service contacted me back, and they were able to take pictures, load it up to the order so that i could verify what they stated.  Two books I probably didn't check well enough when I sent in - one looked like some handwritten notes on a page somewhere in middle of book, so I'm sure I missed that.  The biding coming loose must have happened while in shipment (so be sure to pack firmly), but you can't blame them for not taking a book damaged in shipping.  I would say they seem to check the books very meticulous, so be sure you do the same before sending it off. My son just got done with his college semester so we may scan his books in to see what we can get.  You won't make a lot of money off of this service, but if you can't sell it locally and don't want it taking up space, this may be an easy option to look into - much easier and less time consuming than trying to sell it on ebay :-)

Harkness App - 8th graders made it!

Don't know how useful this web app will be to any teachers, but the story behind this is very cool.  I found this in the Chrome Store.  

The "Harkness App" was created by two 8th graders.  They did it themselves without any outside help, and it began as a project to help track involvement in their teachers Harkness discussions.  Instead of doing it manually, you can do it on a laptop, over the web, and then have it shared easily with students online.  This might be a very cool tool to track harkness discussions and share easily with students, while conserving paper.  Very cool app, especially as it was developed by some middle-schoolers.

https://harkness.koding.com/app

SweetSearch

SweetSearch.com is billed as a "Search Engine For Students".  It also links to some tutorials on web research and such.  

I came across this article which talks about it: 
http://edtechreview.in/index.php/reviews/242-sweetsearch-search-engine-for-students

EasyBib App

Everyone knows about EasyBib.com, which is a free citation and bibliography creation tool for writers to use so that they can properly cite their sources.  

There is now a free EasyBib app (for both the iOS and Android phones and tablets).  If you have a camera on your device you can just scan in the ISBN bar code and it will produce the bibliography for you.  You then have an option to email the information to share it or have it on your computer for use when you sit down and write your paper.

So when using a book source, copy down your notes and scan the book's barcode to get the proper citation for your report.  This is a pretty cool little free app.

There is also a free Google Chrome extension that you can install that will allow you to create citation while you are on a web site.  So use the apps for hard cover books, and use the Chrome extention for web site - to ensure you are properly citing a reference tool.

TedEd - Lessons Worth Sharing

I think everyone knows about TedTalks at Ted.com.  This has some very inspiring videos and you can learn alot from listening to intelligent people talk about subjects in a reflective way.

Ted now has a beta program they are developing called TedEd at http://ed.ted.com/

TedEd is specially designed videos that are designed to be used in and in conjunction with lesson plans by teachers.  Give it a look....

TeachersPayTeachers.com - make money?

Here's a web site some teachers might find a good place to stop.  This site is set up so that teachers can buy, share or sell projects and lesson plans.  So if you have a good lesson plan you created and spent a lot of time and energy creating, you can sell it online to other teachers.

There is also a section of free teacher created resources that is being shared.  
Not sure how effective this site is, but it might be worth a few a minutes of your time to check out.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com

Tech Learning Conference - Live Stream Recordings

Here is a link to some Live Stream recordings from a couple of Ed Tech Conferences.  A couple of these were very interesting, and there are about a dozen session from this conference that were taped.  Some are more professional and better quality, but most will offer you an opportunity to listen to other educators and how they use technology.

http://www.livestream.com/techlearning

PC Cleanup Followup

In addition to the steps I already mentioned in the Laptop Security postings, here are a few more options you can run to help clean and speedup your laptop/desktop.

CCleaner - http://www.piriform.com
Run this to clean your registry and clean up disk space.  When I ran it, it discovered over 100 registry errors (most related to un-installations of programs that did not completely remove the registry entries when i uninstalled the program).  It also found over 2GB of space that could be saved.

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware - This program is a popular malware scanner/cleaner.  This is usually more  accurate in finding malware that the anti-virus programs are not as efficient at finding.  The last time I ran this program was over a year ago, but I run various virus cleaning programs at least weekly, but this program still found 26 objects that were related to malware.

Lastly you might want to run a couple of Windows System Tools:

Defrag - this may not be necessary depending on the type of drive you have and software you are running.  You can run it to Analyze whether your drive needs to be defragmented.

DiskCheck - This is a tool that allows you to check the physical reliability of a disk drive.  This is good to run every few month.

Khan Academy - Classroom Help?

www.khanacademy.org

Almost every know about Khan Academy.  You can sign-up and learn a variety of subjects in a safe environment on your own time.  But they also have a feature that allows teachers to set up classes so that you are then able to track what your students worked on so you know what they are learning.  So you can integrate their already made videos (and short snippet of info), into your curriculum, or you can have them use it as an alternative learning source.  Students can earn badges for completing tasks, so you can have them compete in a fun way to learn topics you want to cover.

Socrative.com - Free Student Response System

Just came across this web site, and think it is something everyone might want to check out.  It basically is a student response system that a teacher controls.  It can be run from any web browser, so you can use a desktop computer, a laptop, iPhone, Android tablet, etc.  This is a very flexible system.  It is currently still in Beta testing, but you can sign up for free.  Once they go live production, it sounds like they will start charging, but those that sign up now, won't have to pay.  

If you are looking for a 'clicker' type system to interact with your students, then this is definitely worth checking out.  Students can use their Smart Phones or laptops to become involved.  You have to be willing to let your students use their phones in class, and while this might not be right for everyone, it is definitely something that could benefit a classroom if incorporated properly.

Below is a video they have on their web site....so go check it out at Socrative.com

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"Socrative is a smart student response system that empowers teachers to engage their classrooms through a series of educational exercises and games via smartphones, laptops, and tablets."

Mimio Demo

A rep came in today to show us how the Mimio product turns any hard surface (whiteboard or wall) into an interactive white board.  Works nicely, takes up less space and is very mobile.

He also showed us the iPad app, and some digital microscopes.

And I also wanted to see how this mobile posting works to Blogger.... from my Android phone.

Note: Picture came out attached at end, in original size, reformatted a bit from laptop.

Quick & Easy Remote Support

There are two programs that I've recently heard about that will allow someone to do remote tech support by allowing users to share screens:  
ScreenLeap and QuickScreenShare.

Both user your browser and only require Java.  There is no registration or software to install.  Screen Leap seems a bit more professional looking, but both basically work the same. Here is a snapshop of ScreenLeap once you are ready to share.

Here are the steps for QuickScreenShare - but they are basically the same for ScreenLeap.

First whether you want to share your screen, or view their screen.  Put in a name and click start.

Allow Java to Run by clicking Run this time.

Then Click on Run for the JavaApplet pop-up.

Then you are ready to share :-)

I'll be trying these for the next remote support request I have.

Bullying: Emily Bazelon

I found this web site after watching the Colbert Report.  His guest was Emily Bazelon who wrote the book: 
STICKS AND STONES: DEFEATING THE CULTURE OF BULLYING AND REDISCOVERING THE POWER OF CHARACTER AND EMPATHY

Here is her web site: http://emilybazelon.com/
It sounds like a good book, but she's also done research on bullying and there are a bunch of resources and articles there to view.  She also tries to stress that we know when to use the word bullying and when not to :-)

Here is one link to a PDF with guidance for Educators:
http://emilybazelon.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/SticksStones_Guide_Educators.pdf

Safeguarding Laptop - Part 5 (BIOS Security and Encryption)

One of my projects for Spring Break was to figure out how to cost effectively secure my PC (and then share with other users at school).  After doing some thinking these are the things I wanted to do:
1) Label mobile devices so they can be returned if lost.
2) Backup my system regularly - to include data, passwords, etc.
3) Find a system to track my device/laptop if it gets stolen, or misplaced.
4) Set up a firewall to block incoming and outgoing traffic I don't want (make it more secure)
5) Look into encryption software, or a way to ensure my data doesn't get out if I do have my laptop stolen. Do I use a BIOS password, software, an online password storage/retrieval system.
6) Determine what other security software I may need.

I also wanted to do this for my other mobile devices (phone, tablet) and not just my laptop.
Here is part five.....

Safeguarding Laptop - Part 5


Part five was to look into some type of encryption and see about using the BIOS features to help lock down the laptop.  

Using BIOS features:
In the Dell Latitude computers we have at school you can set passwords in the BIOS.  The Admin Password is what is needed to change BIOS and some options.  I set this password for my PC, and you only have to enter it when you go into change the BIOS setup.

If you set the System password you will have to enter the password whenever you start up your computer.  While this is more secure, it is not practical for everyday use.  If we were a business or military and more concerned with security then you might want to set the system password as well.  

With the Admin password set, I then went into the Boot Sequence and selected only Internal HDD, so that the computer will only boot from the internal hard drive.  This way if the computer is stolen, the thief would not be able to boot from a USB or DVD and wipe your hard drive, or look at your hard  drive.    There is an option for Hard drive password, which encrypts your hard drive and then requires a password anytime you try to first access the hard drive - so even if you move the hard drive to another computer, they won't be able to access it without the password.


Encryption Software:

There are several free encryption tools that you can use, with several options, if you feel the need for security if great enough.  You can encrypt either a folder (say MyDocuments), a drive or your whole computer/Windows setup.  While encrypting the whole Windows drive is the most secure, it also involves a some technical efficiency and is not something you should undertake if you are uncomfortable delving into the innards of your computer.  

Some software you can use are....
- TrueCrypt: A free program that can encrypt a full system all the way down to specific files/folders.
- Cypherix LE: This is another free program that can encrypt full drives, such as USB or external hard drives.  If you repartition your hard drive and create a volume just to store data, then you can use this to protect all your files on that partitioned drive.  You could also do that with TrueCrypt.

There are also some paid programs you can try in which you could get tech support if problems arise.  Freeware can also provide you with tech support, but response time may not be as quick.

My level of security I did not feel that I needed to encrypt the hard drive (or MyDocuments) at this point.  So I will not be installing any encryption software at this point....but that may change in the future.

Class Dojo

Class Dojo is an application designed help with classroom managment.  While it might look like it is designed for Elementary and Middle School users, there are quite a few high school teachers who use this program and claims that it helps.  It seems to be designed as a reward type system, but it does help one keep an eye out for positive behavior.

It is a free system....currently.  You sign up on the web site, then you can use on either your Android or iOS device.  Students (and parents if you choose) can log into the system at anytime to see where they stand.  I am thinking of using it in my class this 4th quarter....

Below is a Prezi presentation made by ClassDojo.com

Safeguarding Laptop - Part 4

One of my projects for Spring Break was to figure out how to cost effectively secure my PC (and then share with other users at school).  After doing some thinking these are the things I wanted to do:
1) Label mobile devices so they can be returned if lost.
2) Backup my system regularly - to include data, passwords, etc.
3) Find a system to track my device/laptop if it gets stolen, or misplaced.
4) Set up a firewall to block incoming and outgoing traffic I don't want (make it more secure)
5) Look into encryption software, or a way to ensure my data doesn't get out if I do have my laptop stolen. Do I use a BIOS password, software, an online password storage/retrieval system.
6) Determine what other security software I may need.

I also wanted to do this for my other mobile devices (phone, tablet) and not just my laptop.
Here is part four.....

Safeguarding Laptop - Part 4
Part four in this project is to find a firewall system that will block incoming and outgoing traffic.  I currently am using the Windows Firewall, and while it is better than nothing, there are more secure options.  The Windows Firewall monitors incoming traffic to make sure your computer does not come under attack.  All third party software does this also, but they also monitor outgoing requests in case your computer is infected with malware it will stop you from infecting or attacking others, as well as inform you of suspicious traffic. They also monitor network traffic with algorithms to help protect you even more.  

There are many free products available, but the most popular by far is Zone Alarm Free Firewall.  I did use it before, but it was getting bloated and slowing down my computer too much - which was a common complaint a couple years ago.  It is something they have been working on recently and are gaining again in popularity.  Some other firewalls you might want to check out are: Online-Armour, Outpost, and Comodo Firewall. 

Anyone of these will work for most people and are user friendly, but some people may want to try out different firewalls to see which one suits them best.  If you want to be able to find a lot of free support in online forums, then going with Zone Alarm would be your best bet.  I'm trying out Comodo because they also have a suite of other free tools, such as a rescue disk, a chrome based secure browser, internet security suite, wi-fi security tools, a backup tool, and security tools for Linux, Mac and Android tablets.

Safeguarding Laptop - Part 3 (Prey)

One of my projects for Spring Break was to figure out how to cost effectively secure my PC (and then share with other users at school).  After doing some thinking these are the things I wanted to do:
1) Label mobile devices so they can be returned if lost.
2) Backup my system regularly - to include data, passwords, etc.
3) Find a system to track my device/laptop if it gets stolen, or misplaced.
4) Set up a firewall to block incoming and outgoing traffic I don't want (make it more secure)
5) Look into encryption software, or a way to ensure my data doesn't get out if I do have my laptop stolen. Do I use a BIOS password, software, an online password storage/retrieval system.
6) Determine what other security software I may need.

I also wanted to do this for my other mobile devices (phone, tablet) and not just my laptop.
Here is part three.....

Safeguarding Laptop - Part 3
Part three in this series is to find a system that will allow me to track my device if it is ever stolen or lost.  While there are several programs/services that can do this, the one I feel is by far and away the best is Prey (preyproject.com).  

Prey is a program that works on all types of devices (Windows, MacOS, iOS, Android, and Linux).  Their free version will allow you to track up to three devices on one account.  If you want to track more devices, you will need to upgrade to their pro version.  They have five different plans you can upgrade to.  

When you sign up for their service, you can log into a control panel that will allow you various ways to track your device.  When a device is stolen, you call the police, and then you go onto the Prey control panel and you can have your device report in as soon as it connects to the internet.  It can email you pictures of who is using it, tell you exactly where it is on google maps, and they you turn that info over to the police to reclaim your device.  

It is reported that 97% of stolen laptops are not recovered.  And there are numerous stories of people who have found their devices using Prey (http://preyproject.com/blog/cat/recoveries)

I've install this on my Windows laptop, Andoid Phone and iPad1.  It seems to work great...i will definitely be playing with this more in the near future.  As with any system I'm sure there are ways to get around this, but for the casual non-technie thief it will give you a better chance of retrieving your device.

Open DNS/Google DNS

OpenDNS and GoogleDNS both provide services that may help speed up your internet service, on all your devices.  Both companies use advanced caching algorithms to help speed up their DNS service - which will allow your browser to get to your web site faster.  They also provide security benefits against phishing sites.  They are part of the Global Internet Speedup initiative.

All you need to do is change, or set, your DNS server IP address to either:
OpenDNS - 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220
GoogleDNS - 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4

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Update Note 3/24:  For on-campus to find certain server you will need to leave the default DNS server we have on campus so you can find everything....but for home use these should be good options.

Safeguarding Laptop - Part 2

One of my projects for Spring Break was to figure out how to cost effectively secure my PC (and then share with other users at school).  After doing some thinking these are the things I wanted to do:
1) Label mobile devices so they can be returned if lost.
2) Backup my system regularly - to include data, passwords, etc.
3) Find a system to track my device/laptop if it gets stolen, or misplaced.
4) Set up a firewall to block incoming and outgoing traffic I don't want (make it more secure)
5) Look into encryption software, or a way to ensure my data doesn't get out if I do have my laptop stolen. Do I use a BIOS password, software, an online password storage/retrieval system.
6) Determine what other security software I may need.

I also wanted to do this for my other mobile devices (phone, tablet) and not just my laptop.

Safeguarding Laptop - Part 2
Part two in this series is backing up my system regularly.  I start with the data, because that is the most important.  But I think you need to worry about four 'layers' of protection.....

On-site Backups (Layer 1):
Backing up your laptop can be a pain, but it is something that is necessary, unless you don't mind losing all your files.  The first thing to do is get an external hard drive.  Most new USB hard drives come preloaded with backup software.  The hard drive manufacturers use different backup software, but they are all reliable. You should get an hard drive that is at least three times the size of your internal hard drive you want to back up.  I would recommend you get as large a drive as you can afford.  Depending of the type of software that is used for backups, it could use more disk space than your current hard drive is...so while all use some type of encryption or compression, you can modify the settings to suit your needs.  Most new software will work automatically, so you just have to plug in the drive and it will backup your files in the background.

Mirror Backup (Layer 2):  
If you external drive is large enough, you should also do a mirror of your hard drive.  Performing a mirror will make an exact copy of hard drive (software and settings), so that if your hard drive crashes you can just use the mirror image to reload onto a new hard drive in your computer and you are back up and running. Some of the backup programs that come with the external hard drives can do this, but some just backup files, so if your drive crashes and you get a new drive, you will have to reload windows, install software and then copy your data files back.  Check your documentation to determine what the program that comes with you external hard drive does.

Off-Site Backup (Layer 3):
Off-site backups (web based) serve two purposes....1) if the backup drive and laptop are destroyed in a fire (because both are in same physical location) and 2) it allows you to potentially access files remotely or from another computer.

Some options that you could look into are:
MozyHome (Free Trial 2GB)
Carbonite (15 day free trial)
JungleDisk
MiMedia (7GB free)

You could also use Dropbox, Google Drive, SugarSync or Box.net.  These are designed for file sharing and file access, but it can be used as a backup service as well - and you can easily access your files from anywhere.

Password Backup (Layer 4):
Keeping track of passwords is also something you dont want to lose the data.  There are many password management programs that will help you keep track of all your passwords, and you can access using the web, a mobile device or desktop.

Here are some programs you can look into: RoboForm, LastPass and KeePass.

Safeguarding Laptop - Part 1

One of my projects for Spring Break was to figure out how to cost effectively secure my PC (and then share with other users at school).  After doing some thinking these are the things I wanted to do:
1) Label mobile devices so they can be returned if lost.
2) Backup my system regularly - to include data, passwords, etc.
3) Find a system to track my device/laptop if it gets stolen, or misplaced.
4) Set up a firewall to block incoming and outgoing traffic I don't want (make it more secure)
5) Look into encryption software, or a way to ensure my data doesn't get out if I do have my laptop stolen. Do I use a BIOS password, software, an online password storage/retrieval system.
6) Determine what other security software I may need.

I also wanted to do this for my other mobile devices (phone, tablet) and not just my laptop.

Safeguarding Laptop - Part 1

First thing I wanted to do was label my devices to that if they were lost, someone could easily return them to me.  There are still some very nice people like that, who will return items they find.  If I'm thinking of just mis-placing on campus and don't care about identity theft, then I could just use a label maker and put my name and phone number on right on the device.  This is what I've done for my laptop in the past.

People who are worried about identity theft or travel alot, do not necessarily want to put their name and phone number on a device that may have been stolen.  One company, OKOBON.com specializes in helping lost items find their owner.  You register with them and they give you unique identifier numbers.
You then place stickers with this identifier on your items (laptops, luggage, cameras, keys, etc.) and all the finder has to do is go to okobon.com and enter the ID number and you will be notified that your item was found.

You can order tags from mystufflostandfound.com.

A free solution is to use google voice to give people who find your items as option to call, text or email you.  If you are worried about identity theft I would recommend creating a new gmail account.  Then create a google voice number to go with that email account. There are no Hawaii numbers, but you can get some from Oregon, Washington or California - or from the East Coast.  Within google voice you can have it forward text messages to your cell phone, and they never know your cell number.  You can also have google voice transcribe voicemails that are left and forward it to your text number or an email account your constantly check.  This give you some animosity in case someone finds your items and tries to steal you identity by looking up the google voice or new email account online - if you don't put much personal info in the new google profile, they will not be able to find out who you are.  You could even create a google site or google forms and create a web address with a fill-in form that emails/texts you when someone enters something into the form.  Here is an example of a tag I created with just my first name, the google voice and gmail account info to contact me.

In most cases just putting a label on your device should be good enough.

Google Chrome: Another Reason to Use (Love) It

The other day I noticed that my computer seemed to be acting very slow, especially loading web pages.  Then I got this error/warning message pop up when I tried to use Google.com (in my Chrome browser):

I then tried to start Microsoft Security Essentials and it would not start.
I then went to Trend Micro to do an online scan, and it found a couple of malware, but not the virus.
I shutdown the computer, turned off my wireless and rebooted. I immediately went into MSE and it started.  The virus definitions has not been updated in three days (which is unusual as it normally does it every day).  I ran a full scan (4+hours) and it found and removed the virus.

I was starting to get suspicious that my computer was infected (or something was wrong with it), because it was very slow loading web pages.....and I was thinking about doing a full scan, but the warning from Chrome just confirmed by worse suspension and made me realize that I need to be more cautious and run full scans more often.  I will also stop using Internet Explorer (which is where I think it got into the my computer from).

I've also recently had Chrome pop up and tell me "Something is not right" with a web site.  So I did not go to that web site.  I will be using Chrome almost exclusively from now on :-)

HundredZeros.com

Alright...I found a new favorite web site.  

If you own a Kindle, or use the Kindle app on your iPad/Android tablet or phone, then this site will have something for you.  It is basically a web site that lists all the temporarily free books on Amazon.com and you can just 'buy' them for free.  There are hundreds, with all types of topics covered.  It keeps changing, so check back every so often.  

So for Spring Break I hope to do some free reading.....

Web Site Description: Hundred Zeros is a frequently updated catalog of best-sellers that are free on Amazon. You can also download and read Kindle ebooks on your computer, mobile phone, tablet, or the browser.

HundredZeros.com

Free Ebook on Windows 8

Dell has a free book you can get if you are new to Windows 8 (which I will be when I get to try it out).

Windows 8 For Dummies (Pocket Edition)
https://marketing.dell.com/Global/FileLib/Windows_8/windows-8-ebook.pdf

Audiotorium Notes (iPad paid app)

I just heard about this app (Audiotorium) on a livestream of a tech conference on the mainland.  College students are using it to take notes in the lecture classes - but adults could use it to keep track of meeting or at conferences.  What it is, is an app that records audio, but also lets you take written notes as well.  So you take notes normally as you would in a lecture, but it also records it live so that in case you miss something in your notes, you have the live recording.

While it does cost $5.99, it can be worthwhile if you take a lot of notes....which is why I think it is so popular with college students.

Similar apps are:
SoundNote for $4.99.
Noteability for $.99

A Note on Evernote.  If you have a Evernote account you can also use the Evernote app to record while taking notes, but it saves it as an embedded file.  It is not as smooth, or have options to bookmark the audio, but it is still a viable option for note taking and recording.  It's free, so give it a try!

Trying out Chrome OS

There is talk of possibly getting Chromebooks for a few classrooms.  I wanted to test drive Chrome to see what it was like and so i could be informed when having discussions about Chromebooks.

Chromebooks run the Chrome OS.  You can not get a copy of the official google Chrome OS (as far as I know), but you can use the open source version, called Chromium, which will run on other machines and let you 'test drive' Chrome/Chromium.

The best place to get Chromium is at http://chromeos.hexxeh.net/
Here they have a build already done, so you don't have to do it.  You have three version to download: a version to run on a bootable USB (which you can then load to a standalone laptop to make it into a Chromebook clone), a version that will run on VirtualBox, or a version to run on VMWare.

VMWare you can try for free, but it costs $119 after the free trial is over.  So I skipped that option.
I instead tried the USB and VirtualBox options.

VirtualBox (https://www.virtualbox.org/) is a FREE program that lets you install other operating systems (or seperate instances of current OS) on your computer.  It basically shows up as another program window, but you can run Chrome, while running Windows at the same time on the same machine.  This is a good way to test drive the OS.

Here is a great post on how to install the VirtualBox software and get the Chromium up and running.....it's so easy even I could do it :-)
http://www.howtogeek.com/128087/how-to-run-chrome-os-in-virtualbox-and-try-out-chrome-os-before-buying-a-chromebook/

I did run into one common problem, when hosting VirtualBox on a Windows machine....something about a CPU pae error.  Here was a log post that helped me easily fix the issue, and then it worked like a charm: http://blog.manoharbhattarai.com.np/2012/05/05/ubuntu-12-04-on-virtualbox-pae-error-unable-to-boot-please-use-a-kernel-appropriate-for-your-cpu/

Running on a virtual box was slower, but it worked nicely enough to see what Chrome was like.

I also tried to boot my laptop from the USB version and it worked, but I had issue with the wireless card being seen, but not working.  Plugging into wired ethernet and it worked. Chrome did run faster this way then thru VirtualBox, but that is to be expected.

My next project, install Chromium on an older laptop at work.....I have one in mind :-)

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Update 3/24: Still no luck on Chromium on older laptops.  I can install, but the two major versions our there don't natively support wireless, and one version the touchpad didn't work.  I think for this to be usable, it has to be wireless and not require a mouse.  I do like the Google Chrome interface, nice and clean, and with Chrome Store you can get a bunch of useful apps to install.  It is related to your Google/Chrome log in, so your tabs and pages/bookmarks are the same whether you are in Chromiums, or using Windows...it's all web based.

Epocrates Rx for Android

Despite this title, there actually is Epocrates RX for both the Android and iOS.  This is a drug reference manual used by medical professionals around the world.  But it can be used by school officials to help identify pills found on campus.  You can just type in information on the pill you found and it will tell you what it is.

Math Ref Free App

While on Spring Break I thought I'd check out some tech resources, and I will post my findings here on this blog, just to keep a record of it :-)

Just heard about a free math reference app, that runs on both the iPad/iPhone and Android phones/tablets.

While the full version, which costs $1.99, has twice as much information and formulas, the free version is still very useful for some.  It was voted

2012 Best App Ever
    ★ 1st Place Best College Student App
    ★ 2nd Place Best High School Student App
    ★ 2nd Place Best Middle School Student App

I think it's something that both students and teachers may find a useful app to check out.  It is only a reference tool, it does not do the math for you.   Here are a couple of screen shots.

  

Linux on old laptop

I recently had an opportunity to install Linux on an old HP Compaq nc6400 laptops.  There were several laptops, but it was going to be a project.

The hard drive was wiped, but it was only 3-4 years told, had 2GB RAM, an 80GB HD, a wireless card and the battery held its charge for over 2 hours.

When I first got the laptops, my plan was to load Windows XP and dual boot linux.  When I tried to load Windows XP I got the error message that it could not find a hard drive to install XP on.  (I later figured out how to get around this, but by that time I'd loaded Linux and liked it so never bothered to load XP.)

I had decided to just load Linux.....but which version of Linux?

I reviewed and downloaded several version of Linux.  My first thought was to take a look at Chromium (for a Chrome type laptop), as well as several versions of Linux.  I was able to install Chromium but could not get the wireless to work, which defeated the purpose of the laptop's capabilities. I think I later figured out this  issue with the wireless not working (but that will come later).    It was interesting that most linux versions could find the hard drive device to install to, where Windows XP could not.

I finally decided on Fuduntu 2013, based on some of the reviews I saw about how well it worked on laptops.  When I first installed it, it worked great the first time out.  It loaded easily, the wireless worked flawlessly and updating the software online was a breeze.  It also ran fast and worked steadily.

The second laptop I worked on was a different story.  Fuduntu Linux loaded easily enough, but it game an error message that the hard drive had errors and the wireless would not work at all, even when i pressed the wireless hardware button.  I wondered why everything worked so easily on one laptop, but on the exact same model it didn't work.

So I did more research and trouble shooting and here are my solutions to some of the issues I ran into.


HARD DRIVE NOT RECOGNIZED BY WINDOWS INSTALLER:
This came down to an issue with the BIOS setup and how it recognized the hard drive.  I first had to go into the BIOS (F10 on this computer while it is powering up).

I went into System Configuration and choose Device Configurations.


Once in there I modified the selection "SATA Native Mode".

Once this was disabled, then Windows XP installler saw the Hard drive again. I could now load Windows XP if I so choose, especially as each laptop had a Windows XP Professional Product Key on the bottom of each laptop.

If you so choose you would install XP Pro and still be licensed properly.  It might not run as fast as a Linux distribution, but it will work and you will be legal.


WIRELESS DEVICE NOT WORKING IN FUDUNTU LINUX:

When I installed Fuduntu 2013, the wireless device would not work.  When I pressed the hardware button to turn the wireless on, the light did not come on, and wireless was not working on the computer.

To fix this I had to do a software configuration in Linux - it was not a driver issue or a hardware problem, but rather a setup issue in Linux networking.

I went to System, Administration and Network to implement my solution.

In the network configuration, you can see there was no device.  In the hardware tab it did show the wireless device was seen by Linux.

I clicked on New to create a device.

I chose Wireless Connection on the following screen, then clicked on Forward to continue.









I then choose the wireless device.

I then left the defaults and clicked on Forward.

I next left the defaults for wireless settings...

And it gave me a device created message.

The device was added to the system, but it was marked as "Inactive".

Clicking on edit brings this screen up....

Choosing "Activate device when computer starts" and "Allow all users to enable and disable the device".

You then reboot the laptop and you are able to control (turn off and on) the device.  When i rebooted, it found my network and asked for the password, but you may have to right click on the network icon in the upper right hand corner of the screen and choose the network to connect to - which is what I had to do on the next laptop, as it found mine as well as four neighboring wireless networks.


THE NEXT STEP:

While I will load most with just Fuduntu 2013, I will take one laptop and load XP, Fuduntu, Chrome and maybe Mint to see how they all compare speed and time wise.....