DV for Teachers

“If your computer is acting like it may be possessed by some particually annoying digital demon, it may be infested with spyware. Happily there are some excellent excorcists that can be downloaded for free.”


Comments and reviews of numerous Spyware detection and prevention software, and – guess what! – the freeware comes out at most effective. If you use a PC on the internet, please do yourself a huge favor and read this.——-

Phillip Torrone at Engadget (via boingboing): “Well, we have always disabled ìAuto-Runî on our Windows based system, since, like, Windows 95. The ìfeatureî will, by default, automatically look for a file called Autorun.inf on any CD you pop in to your systemóif it finds it, it will execute whatever programs it is instructed. This is a big security issue, as there are a lot of spywares and viruses distributed on CDsóso much so, in fact, Microsoft is disabling it in their next security-focused Windows XP Service Pack 2. SunnComn and everyone else who is trying to ìcopy protectî music CDs have really only one option, and this is it: using the autorun file on their music CDs to install their proprietary DRM software. But many people are becoming more vigilant about securing their systems.

Disabling Auto-Run is something we think everyone should do, not only for security from viruses and spyware, but so youíll never need to deal being unable able to listen to your music on your devices. Hereís how to do it in Windows XP.”

Seems like an important idea to me. Turn that off!——-

Paul Boutin (via Mac Net Journal): “We heard from a lot of you after Webmonkey stopped publishing earlier this year. So, by popular demand, Webmonkey, the pioneering how-to guide for Web developers, is back.”

Important, because WebMonkey is a great series of informal, well-written, sometimes goofy tutorials on putting stuff on the web. A very good resource for teachers.——-

Hmmmm. “This tutorial will show you how to install WordPress 1.2 on OS X 10.3.” Hmm HMM hmm.——-

Chris Breen at MacWorld 911: “When last we met, we discussed the travails of one Sander Feinberg, a reader who wanted to extract material from a DVD he’d created with iDVD in order to put that material into iMovie. I suggested that he give DVDxDV a spin. Though spin he did, he was not pleased with the results.”

Chris lets you know how to do this, what tools will work, the potential for audio synch problems and their solution, and what kind of time it takes: often an hour or much more, depending on the size of the DVD, to extract the video. BTW: this is not for “ripping” copyright protected DVDs. ——-

I have so much to do now that I’m back in the office from vacation and New Orleans. But tech news beckons, and here’s some:

From MacNN:

“RealNetworks this week will release its free RealPlayer 10 for Mac OS X. Expected to be released as a beta download, it will allow Mac OS X users to “enjoy hundreds of hours of audio and video content in many of the major Internet media formats, including RealAudio, RealVideo, AAC, QuickTime and MPEG.” Also included in the RealPlayer for Mac OS X beta are an integrated browser window, advanced video controls and graphic equalizer. The RealPlayer for Mac OS X beta will be available this Wednesday, June 30th. Additionally, RealNeworks today also released a final version of its Real Export Plug-in for Mac. The plugin, available as a free downlaod, enables Mac-based content creators to easily create RealAudio 10 and RealVideo 10 content from Mac OS X media applications, including Final Cut Pro, After Effects, Premiere, Avid Xpress rpo, and Discreet Cleaner.”

Real is the obnoxious cousin of media players: usually intolerable, but sometimes surprisingly enjoyable. It wants to take over your file associations and can really nag you if you’re not careful when installing it. Nonetheless, there’s a lot of media on the web that’s playable in no other way. For the most hassle-free download and installation I could find, the BBC has a direct download link for the free RealOne player, bypassing Real’s difficult-to-navigate site. This player should do for almost any existing Real media you want to play, and I assume they’ll update the site if or when their media require the new player.——-

Home last night after a relaxing 13-hour ride in our Amtrak sleeper. Lots to atch up on here at the house, so back on Monday.——-

Scott Merrick has updated his sites with his presentation materials and links on his NECC blog, and has links to other information on his personal site. Among the videoconferencing apps and/or clients he pointed to, SightSpeed looked interesting, as did iVisit, and i found out this morning via the Apple Developer newsletter that Elluminate has a Mac OS X client now too.

This means there are a number of inexpensive desktop video conferencing applications available; I’ve seen iVisit work pretty well with decent sound, wirelessly with laptops, cross-platform. I’ve had professors asking for just this capability for some time… if firewalls in schools can be dealt with, we may see this implemented at GSU’s College of Education (just discovered that some of GSU is already using Elluminate – they could tell a person) soon for student teacher evaluations.

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Will Richardson posted on the NECC Weblog about the Innovative Video in Education program in San Diego County. They sponsor a contest, with clear goals for various categories and even a rubric. Samples clips in Real format are here. Very solidly put together for meeting standards and reaching all kinds of learners, K through 12, and even a category for teachers. A great example.——-

As I do almost all of my video and multimedia work on Macs, I have missed the availability of Windows Media Encoder as a free download. I have to bring that in to the toolbox.

I’ve written to Steve Pandolfo, the instructor of Saturday’s workshop, to ask about his experience with it.——-