WOO HOO! Missing taskbar buttons are found!

I don't know why it happened, but my taskbar buttons were missing from my taskbar. You know, the little buttons that show you all of your open applications? If you're like me, you have at least 3 or 4 program windows open at one time. When these buttons are missing, you have to rely on the Alt-Tab trick to switch between windows.

A Google search showed me that this is a fairly common problem, and some of the solutions were not exactly easy... until I found the Taskbar Repair Tool Plus! This little gem (did I mention it's free?) took only a few seconds to download and install, and within 10 seconds my taskbar buttons magically reappeared! Hallelujah!

Now, on a much deeper, more philosophical level... had I not "learned how to learn" I would have had to pay someone to come to my house and fix this minor, but annoying problem. But because I knew what I was looking for, I was able to Google it and find an answer within minutes. This is one example of what it means to be a "lifelong learner" and what we need to be teaching to our students (and other teachers).

Thank you Kelly's Korner! The software will also repair a whole list of other Windows XP problems. http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/taskbarplus!.htm

Deal of the day!

I've reviewed the Acer Aspire One on my blog. It's a great little netbook computer. Buy.com has it for $310 with free shipping!

Here's the link: http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=209875656

You can also see if there are any Buy.com coupon codes at www.retailmenot.com

ScreenToaster

I'll have to experiment with this. Similar to Jing, but all web-based as far as I can tell. Recordings are saved in flash format and hosted on the ScreenToaster website. I don't know if audio recording is available, but I do like the captions at the bottom of the video. Here's a demo from their site:

Recorded with screentoaster.com

360cities

WOW! Amazing 360 degree panoramas of cities around the world! And the locations are visible in Google Maps or in Google Earth.

See the inside of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Chinatown, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), the Pyramids... 360 cities in all, and they're even visible in full screen mode!

Here's a link to the Pyramids: http://www.360cities.net/image/giza-pyramids

Check this site out!

More about GoAnimate

From Chris Pirillo and CNN

Check out GoAnimate.com

PPT to Slideshare to Blogger

A teacher asked about posting multiple pictures to her blog. I suggested she create a Photo Album with her pictures in PowerPoint, then upload the PPT to Slideshare.net, and finally embed the Slideshare presentation in her Blogger blog. This short video will show you how.

Slideshare demo

Backyard Garden

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own.

CPS for PPT

I was finally upgraded to PowerPoint 2003 last week. This is a significant upgrade because the Classroom Performance System (CPS) "clickers" from eInstruction have software that works with PowerPoint 2003 (and 2007).

You actually compose your questions within PowerPoint using a special CPS toolbar. After engaging your question with the clickers, you'll see a screen like the one shown here.

This is a nice upgrade from the typical CPS screen which is pretty basic, even boring looking.

You can download the CPS for PowerPoint software from the eInstruction download page: http://einstruction.com/Downloads/index.cfm

And remember, you can only use this version of the software in conjunction with PowerPoint. If you want to use the regular CPS software you'll need to have it installed on your computer also, it's not replaced by the PPT version (so don't uninstall it like I did!)

Beta testers wanted...

... to test drive my Moodle course: "23 Things Teachers Should Know About Web 2.0"
If you're interested, leave a comment with your email address. I won't publish the comment, but I'll get your email address and send you the URL and enrollment key.

Thanks for your help. The course goes "live" for 2.0 SB-CEUs on November 3. I need help testing it out on multiple browsers, OS, etc.

This site has been needed for a LONG time!

Print what you like! Why print all of a web page when you only want part of a web page. And I've tried the print "selection" thing before and it doesn't work in certain situations either.

Here's what you can do:

• Make Any Page Printer-Friendly
• Edit any public page in your browser - no installation required!
• Change page font size and type, remove the background, and remove images
• Edit any part of the page by clicking a page element or selecting text
• Any selection can be removed, isolated or widened
• All changes are undoable
• Combine multiple webpages together - edit and print them as one document!
• Save your changes - if you have to print the same document again, just reapply your changes instead of starting over
• Reuse other people's changes - if someone else has already edited your page, just apply their changes

This site is a MUST SEE! Play around with their homepage to see how it works.
http://www.printwhatyoulike.com/