The 3rd and the 7th, a short film by Alex Roman – Absolutely amazing. (via Gruber)

Computers are Dumb – Make Smarter Learning – Good article. I am increasingly frustrated with lame interactions in e-Learning. You’d think that we’d have something better by now.

This quote is the key:

“Don’t just have your learners interact with the computer — have them interact with other people.”

Validation, collaboration, accountability, etc. are better defined, delivered and received by humans. Use the computer to deliver some content – use humans to deliver the rest.

Dreaming of an Apple Tablet – I’m in the same boat. 95% of the time, my Macbook Pro is a desktop. But I need it to be portable that other 5%, and I want all my music, files, photos, etc. when I’m on the go. Not sure where I’m headed with my setup.

An Amalgamation of Predictions and Questions Regarding the Apple Tablet – Amalgamation, indeed. Thorough and thoughtful.

Viewing PDFs in a Browser on a Mac – Good stuff from Philip – I’m tired of Adobe.

It’s the iPad.

While I don’t need one, I think it would be cool to have around the house. Not sure $500 (for the bare bones edition) is worth it for a 3rd or 4th computer, though.

I hear lots of people talking about getting one for the family, including kids. Not so sure about that. My five-year old girl with grubby syrup hands does not need to mess with the $500 piece of glass.

No SD slot? No multi-tasking? No thank you.

What it is, is an awesome gadget for those who will use it for specific things. Like to read e-books? Perfect. Kindle-killer. Like to sketch/draw? Go for it. (Philip is an example).

I won’t use this thing a lot. If I traveled more, maybe. But then I’d have to have my Macbook Pro and my iPad. Two devices. Why not just use the MBP?

Around the house, sure, it’d be awesome, but $500 for an additional machine that gets used occasionally is not in my budget.

My uses would include: reading mags/books/RSS on the pot and on the couch, occasionally writing blog posts and updating Twitter. I can do these now with my iPhone, and I prefer real books.

I think doctors, students and older kids could use these quite a bit. However, in most cases, they also need a full computer for some activities the iPad cannot perform. So, again, this becomes an extra device.

It’s a very cool product. And, of course, Apple did it right, and waited until they could do it right, to launch.

There is a market for these. I’m just not in it.

(via ODL)

What’s important to Apple about this process isn’t that it makes laptops cheaper. It’s that it makes them better at the same prices.

One of the best lines I’ve read, ever, about Apple. So true.

This is not the best list I’ve seen, and has prompted me to write my own at some point, but it’s a good start, so I thought I’d share it and perhaps save you some time over the remainder of your life by using a couple of simple shortcuts. This is for my friends, my mom, and my wife, among others!

From David’s list, the ones that stuck out to me were:

• You can double-click a word to highlight it in any document, e-mail or Web page.
• Nobody, but nobody, is going to give you half of $80 million to help them liberate the funds of a deceased millionaire…from Nigeria or anywhere else.
  -Please stop sending me these emails, people
• You can hide all windows, revealing only what’s on the computer desktop, with one keystroke: Windows key+D in Windows, F11 on Macs (or, on recent Mac laptops, Command+F3; Command is the key with the cloverleaf logo).
• You can also enlarge the entire Web page or document by pressing the Control key as you turn the wheel on top of your mouse. On the Mac, this enlarges the entire screen image.
• The number of megapixels does not determine a camera’s picture quality; that’s a marketing myth. The sensor size is far more important.
• When someone sends you some shocking e-mail and suggests that you pass it on, don’t. At least not until you’ve first confirmed its truth at snopes.com, the Internet’s authority on e-mailed myths (viruses, get-rich-quick schemes, etc).
  -again, please stop sending me emails until you’ve checked them here
• You can tap the Space bar to scroll down on a Web page one screenful. Add the Shift key to scroll back up.
• When you’re filling in the boxes on a Web page (like City, State, Zip), you can press the Tab key to jump from box to box, rather than clicking. Add the Shift key to jump through the boxes backwards.
  -I’m amazed how many people don’t know this
• You can use Google to do math for you. Just type the equation, like 23*7+15/3=, and hit Enter.
• You can switch from one open program to the next by pressing Alt+Tab (Windows) or Command-Tab (Mac).
• You don’t have to type “http://www” into your Web browser. Just type the remainder: “nytimes.com” or “dilbert.com,” for example. (In the Safari browser, you can even leave off the “.com” part.)
  -this one’s for you, Em
• Come up with an automated backup system for your computer. There’s no misery quite like the sick feeling of having lost chunks of your life because you didn’t have a safety copy.
  -if you need help with this, let me know. It is VERY important and I can help.

I would add:

• Windows: To lock your computers, use the Windows Key + L
• OS X – Command-Space gets you to the Spotlight to search for everything and launch apps.
• Windows: Shift-Delete to skip the recycle bin entirely and permanently delete a file.
• Windows: Right-Click and drag to copy or move files to a new directory.

Inspiron Mini 9: Dell Inspiron Mini 9 Has Hidden Built-In 3G