Bring the World to the Classroom!

GELessons is a site dedicated to providing teachers with the tools needed to enhance their instruction using Google Earth.

The lessons are organized by:

Google Earth How To's - Learn how to do the basics so you are comfortable teaching with Google Earth
Student Controlled - Where the student controls Google Earth. Suitable for labs, mini-labs, home school, etc.
Teacher Controlled - Suitable for Lectures, Presentations, whole class discussions, etc.
Mini-Lessons - Lesson starters for looking at various topics

What I find really great about this site is that it offers information which can be useful to anyone looking to learn a bit more about how to work with Google Earth... not just teachers.

Get learning about Google Earth now!... GELessons.com

Cool Tools! Foamcore Gray Card

Grey Foamcard is the perfect solution for those looking for backing for images on auction sites as well as websites and blogs.

Kevin Kelly (www.kk.org) has an article about this Cool Tool and explains some of it's uses.

If you want to create image effect with no highlights, even in full sunlight. as well as have photos of images that appear to be floating in air... Then hop on over to Kevin Kelly's site.
Go there now... Foamcore Gray Card

How to Deal with Creepy People

The founder of Perverted Justice (an online organization aimed at capturing internet perverts) has a new website for teenagers.

HowtoDealwithCreepyPeople.com launched in July 2007 and offers teenagers help when dealing with creepy people. They offer advice for a variety of situations including online bullying, stalking, sexual harrasment and other "creepy" situations. The site aims to teach you how to protect your identity and give you update information about where to go to report a situation.

On the sites FAQ page there is a question that reads:
"What's the point of this site?
To create a website that serves as a resource for teenagers, containing accurate information, practical suggestions, and (we hope) helpful advice."

The site states that it is designed for teenagers, I can't help but think that a lot of this information is useful for most of us.

If you are a parent, don't forget to check out perverted-justice.com and read up on the section about "what parents can do".

Find out now .... "How to Deal with Creepy People"

PBWiki

A wiki is a collaborative website which can be directly edited by anyone with access to it.
What does that mean for you?
It would be impossible to come up with all the reasons that you may want a wiki of your own. One thing I can say is that as an educator it has been an amazing thing for my classes. I have been able to offer class syllabus's as well as have my students write and submit essays directly from my wiki.
Entrepreneurs will find wiki an asset for their company with:
"Easy hyperlinked documentation of your projects, processes, events, and lists to share with contractors and coworkers. Search your wiki easily. Share business plans, marketing copy, and code snippets. Reduce your email workload dramatically."
Once you arrive at PB wiki website you may want to view their "about" page and see the many uses that the wiki has.

PBwiki stands for Peanut Butter Wiki. Their slogan says "Make a free wiki as easily as a peanut butter sandwich"

Go make your wiki now! .... PBWiki.com

Old Version (Sometimes Newer isn't Better)

Updating to a newer version of your favorite programs is usually a great idea. I am one who constantly checks for the newest update for my Firefox browser and a few other programs I use on a daily basis. However, there are times when my computer does not respond well to the new update. I can't just blame my computer for the lack of computability there are often many reasons that an update can go terribly wrong.

One of my more recent examples is the latest update to Firefox. I installed the 2.0.0.6 version a few weeks ago and I immediately noticed the new version was freezing at random. This made surfing the internet a very tiresome task. I messed around with the settings for hours hoping to fix the problem. I also checked the Internet and soon found other users have been having the same problem and there was no solution found yet. I eventually gave up trying to fix it and decided to revert back to the old version. I scanned my computer for the old 2.0.0.4 version to reinstall it and was not able to locate it. I knew that trying to obtain the software from the website would be a dead end since it is not a common practice for software makers to offer the older versions on their website. I thought about the thousands of computer users that go through this scenario every day and how frustrating it is. That is when I got the idea for this next tip. There is a site that exists for just this purpose.

Oldversion.com offers older versions of some of the most popular software. Oldversion.com is actually dedicated to several purposes as mentioned on their ABOUT page. Not only do they think that each user should have access to the version that works best for them, they also offer clean versions of the software. I think it is a remarkable site and karma points to them for saving my day.

Don't forget to bookmark them when you get there.

Go there now... Oldversion.com

Why do you need a Home Inventory?

Do you pay your insurance on-time every month; lock your doors when you leave home; put your car safely in the garage at night? All of these things are small precautions that we all take in order to prevent ourselves from loosing something valuable.

Even though we pay our home or renters insurance on time, that act alone does not guarantee us that we wont be banging our head against the wall and chewing on our nails when we sit down with our insurance officers to claim a loss. We will all be asked to provide proof of our inventory as well as identify items with serial numbers. Will we all be prepared for that moment if it ever happens?

Avoid the head banging and nail biting...

Learn step-by-step tips on creating a home inventory with Simple Magazine's article "Prepare for the Worst by Creating a Home Inventory" They offer tips on how to create your inventory list as well as offer free pdf worksheets to get you started with the inventory process.

Go there now... "Prepare for the worst.. article" and here are the "Worksheets"

Googling Genealogy Style

Google has become the search engine of choice for millions of internet users.
As of December 2006, Google is the most used search engine on the web.
Are you making the best use of this great engine?

Google offers advanced operators to help beef up the search capability of it's engine.
These operators are extremely useful when doing research or when the normal search just isn't cutting it for you. If you know what you are doing, you can use Google to search within
Web sites, locate photos of your ancestors, bring back dead sites, and track down
missing relatives. Learn how to Google as you've never Googled before...

Check out this article titled Googling Genealogy Style and learn 12 important tips for using google.

Design your home with Floorplanner

Are you buying a new home, doing a room make-over or just dreaming of it?

The folks at Floorplanner.com have created a web-based application that allows you to create complex layouts. The Floorplanner runs in Flash and has easy drag-and-drop functions that make the building process a fun and simple task. You can create, decorate and customize your dream home (to scale, even).You are given options for flooring, bedding, appliances and more. Print your design or share them with your friends.

The free account should be plenty for the average user but if you need more space for a big project, Floorplanner has several premium options available.

Sign up for the free account was quick and painless.

Visit: Floorplanner.com