Living in a college town, I often run into students at the local Wal Mart. When I see them eyeballing software at retail prices, I point out that they can get the same software at a steep discount through our university. The same is true of K-12 students.
If you have an educational affiliation of any sort, start saving money on software and just about everything else. Educational discounts on everything from software to hotels make for the lowest prices possible.
Example: At my university, students may purchase Windows 7 at $80 instead of $199 + $16 tax ($216). That is a savings of $136!
Even better, if a student works for the college (even work study), they may qualify for the best discounts of all: faculty/staff discounts. At my university, staff may purchase a five-license DVD for Windows 7. Cost: $9.97! Same price for Office 2007 (PC) or Office 2008 (Mac).
For software not sold through your school, go to Academic Superstore.com for similar-sized discounts.
Above all, remember that freeware is often equal or superior to commercial software. See my "Best Free Software for Students (and Others)"
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Sunday, December 6, 2009
CaptureFox: Can Firefox Do Everything?
My favorite computer advice site, Lifehacker.com, alerted me to this really cool and useful screencast tool called "CaptureFox":
http://lifehacker.com/5414285/capturefox-adds-screen-capture-capabilities-to-firefox#comments
This tiny (900K) add-on is amazing. It is a high-powered screencast program that runs from within Firefox. It records everything you do to create a tutorial and show your friends how to do something with their PC or Mac. You can minimize Firefox and it records what you do with other programs. Return to Firefox and click “End Record” – Save. What will they think of next?
Summary: It will capture everything streaming video and audio through your computer (you can add a microphone if you want to do a voice over).
For most people, this is a free way to screencast. The leading program for PC/Mac (Camtasia) costs $299 (nonstudents) or $179 for students. A Mac favorite, Snapx Pro, is cheaper but still costs $69. While those two commercial programs have some added features, most people don't need them.
I'm suprised how browser-based my life has become: I've junked a dozen programs because Firefox (with add-ons) can do what they did before. The result is a cleaner computer and easy access to everything I need (since I use portable Firefox on all of my PCs, I simply synchronize them and can always copy to a flash key to carry all my programs with me. Students heading home for vacation might want to copy their portable Firefox on a flash key to use on their parents' computer without messing with their settings).
WARNING: This is the type of add-on you will use on an "as needed" basis. Add-ons slow down Firefox so I highly recommend you disable those you use "as needed." To disable/enable, you open Firefox, then click Tools -- Add-ons -- Disable or Enable.
http://lifehacker.com/5414285/capturefox-adds-screen-capture-capabilities-to-firefox#comments
This tiny (900K) add-on is amazing. It is a high-powered screencast program that runs from within Firefox. It records everything you do to create a tutorial and show your friends how to do something with their PC or Mac. You can minimize Firefox and it records what you do with other programs. Return to Firefox and click “End Record” – Save. What will they think of next?
Summary: It will capture everything streaming video and audio through your computer (you can add a microphone if you want to do a voice over).
For most people, this is a free way to screencast. The leading program for PC/Mac (Camtasia) costs $299 (nonstudents) or $179 for students. A Mac favorite, Snapx Pro, is cheaper but still costs $69. While those two commercial programs have some added features, most people don't need them.
I'm suprised how browser-based my life has become: I've junked a dozen programs because Firefox (with add-ons) can do what they did before. The result is a cleaner computer and easy access to everything I need (since I use portable Firefox on all of my PCs, I simply synchronize them and can always copy to a flash key to carry all my programs with me. Students heading home for vacation might want to copy their portable Firefox on a flash key to use on their parents' computer without messing with their settings).
WARNING: This is the type of add-on you will use on an "as needed" basis. Add-ons slow down Firefox so I highly recommend you disable those you use "as needed." To disable/enable, you open Firefox, then click Tools -- Add-ons -- Disable or Enable.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
OfficeTab: Tabbed Interface in Word, Powerpoint, Excel
A Chinese software developer has developed one of the most useful freeware programs: OfficeTab. I work with multiple documents at once and hate having to go to the minimize tray and search for the document I need. OfficeTab enables me to see them all at once and simply click-Tab to the one I want. Cool and productive!
Check it out here.
If you don't read Chinese, check out the translated page to download.
Check it out here.
If you don't read Chinese, check out the translated page to download.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Video Tutorials: "Can I see that again?"
[NOTE: Since 2009, Google Chrome has become my primary go-to browser. Extension development has slowed for Firefox. Nevertheless, these tools below still have no adequate substitute on Chrome (Downthemall, Outwit Images, Video Downloadhelper. The latter grabs from nearly every site - protected or not - I have ever come across, which is not the case with Chrome alternatives, such as Youtube Downloader or Freemake). Long story, short: I use Chrome day-to-day but keep Firefox for specialty uses]
One of the reasons I set up this site was to answer questions more efficiently. After all, there is a reason why some computer geeks wear t-shirts that say "No, I will NOT help you with your computer!"
I might give a short tutorial on how to use a time-saving teaching/learning digital tool but users really need a resource to "see it again" on their own.
Enter the "podcast" tutorial. Many software developers offer video podcasts (also known as "screencasts") to show how their program works. For example, yesterday I had 45 minutes to run through a variety of Firefox add-ons that students and teachers will find useful. But how much of this will people retain?
Here are some podcast tutorials of Firefox add-ons that I discussed in a rush. Elsewhere on this web site, you will find my discussions of how to use various tools. If a podcast tutorial is not available on the Internet, then the second-best thing is a FAQ list (Frequently Asked Questions), such as this one for Firefox extension "Downthemall!"
Selected podcast tutorials:
For more Zotero tutorials going into greater detail, click here
Outwit Images
Video Downloadhelper
One of the reasons I set up this site was to answer questions more efficiently. After all, there is a reason why some computer geeks wear t-shirts that say "No, I will NOT help you with your computer!"
I might give a short tutorial on how to use a time-saving teaching/learning digital tool but users really need a resource to "see it again" on their own.
Enter the "podcast" tutorial. Many software developers offer video podcasts (also known as "screencasts") to show how their program works. For example, yesterday I had 45 minutes to run through a variety of Firefox add-ons that students and teachers will find useful. But how much of this will people retain?
Here are some podcast tutorials of Firefox add-ons that I discussed in a rush. Elsewhere on this web site, you will find my discussions of how to use various tools. If a podcast tutorial is not available on the Internet, then the second-best thing is a FAQ list (Frequently Asked Questions), such as this one for Firefox extension "Downthemall!"
Selected podcast tutorials:
For more Zotero tutorials going into greater detail, click here
Outwit Images
Video Downloadhelper
Friday, August 14, 2009
Top Secret! Declassified Documents for Cheap
There are two commercial sites that sell CD's and DVD's of historical media, including scans of top-secret documents that have been declassified. In most cases, each DVD or CD costs only $10! I have built a huge collection of
MULTIMEDIA: from Earthstation1.com Much of it is pop culture but when teaching the Great Depression, where else can I get
*DVDs full of political cartoons on Hoover, FDR, Huey Long, etc. for $10?
*Audio of Hitler, FDR, Neville Chamberlain, Winston Churchill
*Radio shows
*Film reels: propaganda on all sides, Disney and Warner Brothers cartoons showing the racist side of America at the time.
PRINT SOURCES (declassified documents): Paperlessarchives.com
Paperlessarchives takes some searching but there are FBI and CIA files on just about any significant individual or event (even Eleanor Roosevelt's FBI file!). Do search for Martin Luther King, Jr. and you get over 3,000 pages:
http://www.paperlessarchives.com/mlk.html
MULTIMEDIA: from Earthstation1.com Much of it is pop culture but when teaching the Great Depression, where else can I get
*DVDs full of political cartoons on Hoover, FDR, Huey Long, etc. for $10?
*Audio of Hitler, FDR, Neville Chamberlain, Winston Churchill
*Radio shows
*Film reels: propaganda on all sides, Disney and Warner Brothers cartoons showing the racist side of America at the time.
PRINT SOURCES (declassified documents): Paperlessarchives.com
Paperlessarchives takes some searching but there are FBI and CIA files on just about any significant individual or event (even Eleanor Roosevelt's FBI file!). Do search for Martin Luther King, Jr. and you get over 3,000 pages:
http://www.paperlessarchives.com/mlk.html
Monday, August 10, 2009
Steal this Book: Students and Textbooks
One of my favorite technology sites, http://lifehacker.com has an article on "how to save money on textbooks." The comments are more illuminating than the article. Students discuss how they scan (and share) textbooks, download them via torrent sites, and so on. Apparently this doesn't work too well with high school students because the illegal e-book crowd gets busted when the teacher asks to see their textbook. Oops.
As for me, I'm adopting a free e-book developed by the University of Houston. The site is rich and a PDF reprinting is a lot easier than stealing books or waiting to see if the prof is really going to use it. I make it a point to assign questions from the textbook, along with questions from lecture material and supplemental readings. If I were a student (I'm on the evil teacher side), I'd be teed after buying a $150 book that the professor didn't use.
As for me, I'm adopting a free e-book developed by the University of Houston. The site is rich and a PDF reprinting is a lot easier than stealing books or waiting to see if the prof is really going to use it. I make it a point to assign questions from the textbook, along with questions from lecture material and supplemental readings. If I were a student (I'm on the evil teacher side), I'd be teed after buying a $150 book that the professor didn't use.
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