The TWAIN blog

I bought one of those FlipHD Mino cameras a few weeks ago with the idea of doing more video projects. I thought I might use this really cool piece of equipment to direct some video podcasts for my district.

But, I am really hesitant about doing so! Not for any other reason than it is stepping out of my comfort zone and into a new spot that I have never done before. Sure, I have attended those Apple trainings on making Podcasts and Vodcasts with Garageband. I have attended several of them as a matter of fact!

I know Audacity as well and how to use various media editors.

But what is my real hold-back? I am not comfortable on film! I am not sure I am ready to start filming myself for these videos I want to do. I need to make my voice sound stronger too. When I watch or listen to the playback, I am not comfortable with the way I come across on the media.

Maybe this is just pre-film jitters? Anyone have ideas on what I can do to remedy this?

Today is Friday and it marks the end of summer camp….er…um…..TCEA 2009. It is sad to see everyone packing up their belongings and leaving us! The big group is gone and there are just stragglers left behind hoping to get one last mug or T-shirt from the vendors. And I am not casting judgment on them as I am in that group as well!

I am sitting by myself in the Blogger’s Cafe right now. It is sad to see the table empty except for the power surge protectors and discarded vendor pamphlets. But, it is exciting for me to be able to work on a form I am sending to my district participants so I can get their input about this conference.

I just made it on Google Documents which embeds the form online and then generates the spreadsheet behind it to gather all the data. Next week, I get to share their experiences with the district leadership team and we can start building our framework for technology vision for our district. It is exciting and motivational to be part of this process from the ground floor.

Though I am using this form only to gather data from my district, I thought I might share it with you all in case you would like to generate a similar one for your district/campus.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?key=pcJ_EAVrg90uwhN_UriPRUw

Only a few more sessions for me to attend followed by the keynote address by Dr. Robert Ballard. I confess that I am a Titanic geek and Dr. Ballard was the discoverer of this great ship at the bottom of the ocean. I am really looking forward to his session and am sure it will be a great close to this awesome conference.

And then, I will raid that exhibit hall for any crumbs and leftovers I can find!

Ciao!

I am taking a break from the excellent TCEA conference to discuss a news flash that appeared on my Twitter feed.

I believe I wrote about this concept of “whitespace” a few months ago and how it applies to some really cool technology. The concept derives from the broadband spectrum used for broadcast television and the cable network. Now as you may have heard, the cable companies are trying to push to a completely digital environment and out of the old analog television spectrum.

So…what happens to that old analog spectrum?

Several large technology corporations (including Google) have paired up to develop a new whitespace network plan. Google has been the biggest proponent for this. They want to return the American Broadcast System owned by the people back to the people.

If we all move to this new digital signal, these companies want to team together to transition that analog line into free wireless broadband signals. In other words, the line goes down and they have complete access to convert it to a new wireless broadband network into each home. The access will be wireless and accessible by any device.

Free?

Free because the network is owned by the people and for the people. Google has been on the front lines with the FCC about restoring this system back to the power of the people. In November, the FCC did approve to keep the spectrum open so that they could continue looking into establishing this idea.

Microsoft, Google, and Motorola are all working on this now. In June/July, when we finally make the switch – they can start developing the new system without us interfering on their datalines. I am sure we may have streaming Google Ads on our new wireless and broadband access, though.

But = wireless broadband access streaming on that old analog whitespace system? How cool is that? And does this mean wireless access redundancy in every neighborhood? How does this play out for CIPA and content filtering now?

President Obama’s website Change.gov is now Whitehouse.gov. I am following their posts on Twitter and they posted this video link to share how their TIGR team is working to make government more transparent.

Interesting to hear them say they are working to make the federal agencies “more effective”.

What’s even more interesting? They are allowing people to post comments that are both positive and negative about their services. They are taking recommendations. They are making the entire process…more effective.

Web 2.0 tools greatly emphasized here!!

Watch, learn, and respond.

A coworker shared this link with me from New York Times writer, David Pogue.

Pogue is one of my favorite podcasters because he shows off new technology in such a quick and humorous way. I highly recommend you visit iTunes to subscribe to his podcasts.’

The article is titled “Twittering Tips for Beginners” and it comes from David’s column in the NYT for January 15, 2009.

In his brief outline of the program, David provides some tips for the new user:

1) Don’t just go to the site. Use an app to monitor your Tweets (and yes, he explains what Tweets are!) or feed them to your phone.

2) There are public and private Tweets.

3) Don’t feel you must respond to every Tweet. Nor do you have to subscribe to everyone.

4) Don’t Tweet about what you are doing right now! Use this resource to post interesting questions, links, articles, discussions. People don’t care about the mundane experiences you are experiencing because they are experiencing their own. (Amen!)

He also relates some insight into how Twitter has been used for even some basic troubleshooting help on a computer.

It is a good article and it can be helpful to explain to the use of Twitter to a broader audience than just technology geeks. A good addition to this may be to also share the Common Craft video on Twitter.