Friday, April 29, 2011

Flash Updates


The box pops up just about once every week.

The notification that the flash player program on the computer has updates available.

In the past, I would disregard these updates - hitting the remind me later button.

I kept thinking that how can this program keep having so many updates - it must have a lot of problems.

But after some reading, I discovered it is necessary to do these updates as they come through.

There can be security issues for your PC if you keep putting them off.

The updates usually contain bug and security fixes.

Just about every site on the internet uses flash.

Not having the updated version can make some sites unable to load.

The updates are free, so when they come through each week, it is best to let them install and not put it off.

 
 
 









Saturday, April 16, 2011

New TV


I fear a new television set is on our future.

We have had the old set for almost ten years, and it is quite outdated.

So much has changed, both physically and technology wise with them.

I have done a lot of reading online about what LCD and LED are.

Even the screen sizes of them are measured differently now.

When we have decided on something, I will post more about it.

The one thing I am certain of though - it will be very easy and quite lightweight to carry it to the car and then into the house.

I can't believe how thin these new ones are!
 
 
 









Thursday, April 14, 2011

Customizing Textbooks

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Flat World Knowledge for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

A whole new world has opened up for teachers and students alike.

Since no two teachers teach their students the exact same way, there is now an alternative for them to instruct their students.

They can customize their textbooks to their way of teaching.

Re-arranging chapters, adding their own text, inserting photos, or inserting videos are just a few of the things they can do to make learning more fun or interactive for their pupils.

To do this, Flat World Knowledge uses an open license method that uses textbooks that are written by expert authors that have been professionally published under a Creative Commons open license.

Teachers can use this textbook customization approach and can Make It Your Own for their individual teaching and instructing styles.

All of the books that they use for this service are free.

They can be saved as many formats including an html textbook or pdf files that can be printed.

Epub and .mobi files can also be saved and used for mobile readers, iPads, and Kindles.

They can even be saved as audio files for those with reading disabilities or digital Braille.

This is a whole new platform for learning, and anything that makes it more interesting and interactive for the teachers and students can only be a positive thing.

Our youngsters will benefit from this new approach - and coupled with today's technology, it will keep them wanting to learn more.

And that is a success all by itself!

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Thursday, April 7, 2011

Sonic Plaque Remover


The dental hygienists are being trained with a new piece of fancy technology for cleaning our teeth.

I must say, I was quite impressed when she was explaining to me how this Sonic Plaque Cleaner worked.

It takes her a lot less time to clean teeth, as she does not have to manually scrape the plaque off with her metal tools.

This new tool runs off the same power attachment that the rubber tip does that she polishes the teeth with.

There are several speeds, and evidently several intensities that this tool can be set for.

The little scraper on the end vibrates back and forth as warm water sprays in a fine stream from the tip.

And it does go faster - without the pain and sometimes slipping that the manual scraping can deliver.

All was going fine until she hit a spot that had me jumping out of the chair.

It was like the drill hitting a nerve when one gets a filling without the novacaine.

I scared her as much as that machine did me.

After trying a few more times, and setting the intensity of the tool a bit lower, she had to give it up.

Nerves were being hit in my teeth all over the place.

She had to return to the manual tools for this patient.

Perhaps my teeth at just too sensitive, or perhaps the settings or mechanisims in this new tool are just too harsh for my teeth.

But for the $1000 it cost for one visit to use this machine - I will just stick to the old-fashioned way!