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Written by Timothy C. Ferguson
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Wednesday, 15 April 2009 16:57 |
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I am always amazed at how the technology foot print continues to shrink. With netbooks, phones, and other technologies growing in features but shrinking in size, you can easily sit back and wonder about the possibilities. With the convergence of netbooks and smartphones, you can dream of a netbook that has a smartphone operating system. In fact, there are lots of rumors circulating that Apple is doing exactly that. There are also rumors from other vendors as well. Could the smartphone of the future being a converged smaller but fully functional netbook type device? Would it contain embedded and "always on" internet connectivity like the Kindle2? With this new device, you would have the user friendliness of the iphone combined with the ability to browse the internet, do email and use a real keyboard. On the topic of size, see the picture below of a new pocket projector that I have tested recently. It is an Optoma EP-PK-101 PICO Pocket Projector and is battery operated and works well. It can simply plug into your source device (works well with your iphone) and project video or presentations onto any surface. You can do this anywhere at anytime. Wow - I was impressed with this. It has dimensions of only 4.1 inches x 2 inches. Now, just think of this technology eventually making it into your smartphone or the new converged device. It could really happen.
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Written by Timothy C. Ferguson
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Wednesday, 15 April 2009 16:38 |
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I am sure many of you are quite familiar with chat or instant messenger tools. You probably use these tools to keep in touch with your colleagues, friends and family. Now, you can use this same great approach to get assistance from the IT Service Center. Instead of picking up the phone to call the ITSC, please give chat a try. I think you will find this as a productive way to get answers to your questions but at the same time be able to multi-thread with your other activities. You can get access to chat and other IT Services by going to http://it.nku.edu/itsc/. As always, your feedback on this new feature would be greatly appreciated (
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Written by Timothy C. Ferguson
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Wednesday, 08 April 2009 16:33 |
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I am sure that many of have seen the various "did you know videos?". For reference, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL9Wu2kWwSY. These videos really paint a picture of global change that is occurring all around us. This change is impacting all of us everyday. It is impacting education and our country's role in the world. I would like to hear your thoughts on this and how it relates to the role of technology in education, etc. If you have comments on the video, please email me at
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Last Updated on Thursday, 09 April 2009 07:31 |
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Mini Notebooks, Open Source, ... |
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Written by Timothy C. Ferguson
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Wednesday, 01 April 2009 07:11 |
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If you are like me, you see lots of these small notebooks around campus. The price point for these notebooks is quickly becoming attractive enough for many of us to consider for our own use. Many companies now like Dell, Acer, HP, Lenovo, ASUS and many more are now battling each other for a ever growing market share. This past January, NKU launched a trial of these mini notebooks in the classroom with over 50 College of Informatics students. These students were given Dell Minis in various configurations to use for the spring semester. Further, many of their faculty have access to these notebooks as well. I have personally seen many of these students across campus using these light weight and surprisingly powerful notebooks. I have spoken to many of them along the way and for the most part they have found them to be very mobile and easy to use. Currently, these students either have a windows configuration or an open source linux configuration. The linux version has open office installed and we are curious to see the feedback on this as well. Open Office has seemed to be very easy to learn and compatible with MS Office (and the price is right). We will be completing a survey at the end of the semester and OIT will be sure to share the results in this blog.
Now if you are like me and have teenagers at home, you might consider one of these devices for them as an initial notebook for them. You can purchase one of these notebooks for under $300. If you have any questions about our experience with any of the brands mentioned, please don't hesitate to email me at
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. Happy Computing! |
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Written by Timothy C. Ferguson
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Tuesday, 24 March 2009 21:44 |
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If you are either using the new Kindle 2 or have been researching it for a possible purchase, I have been greatly impressed with this new version. There are reviews all over the internet for the Kindle 2 which for the most part are very impressive. There are several individuals on campus that are avid users of Kindle or Kindle 2. We have created an informal email chain where we share interesting tidbits. If you are interested, please email me. Further, there has been talk within various higher education institutions about Kindle 2 being a platform for textbooks, etc. This is a very intriguing idea. A few of us have also tried the new iPhone Kindle 2 Application. I was very pessimistic at first that it would be a reasonable user experience. But to summarize, I was very impressed and do use this application on the iPhone. And it is even a free application from the Apple App store. Here is a link to a recent review of the iPhone Kindle application that you might useful: http://content.usatoday.net/dist/custom/gci/InsidePage.aspx?cId=cincinnati&sParam=30295041.story |
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