ITS Coffee Break – 7/12/07 – Moodle Minute, 2nd Life Campus Deleted, YouTube Science, LDAP and Email

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The Coffee Break begins with introductions of the new Moodle Minute podcast from ITS and the department's new instructional technologist, Jason Alley, followed by announcements about upcoming network services disruptions. In Tech News, hosts Ken Newquist and Courtney Bentley talk about Linden Labs' decision to delete Woodbury University's virtual campus from Second Life, and look at some innovative science videos now available on YouTube. Finally, help news has a list of upcoming workshops as well as announcements of new email documentation.

Getting the Podcast

There are several ways to get the podcast:

Show Notes

ITS News

  • New Podcast: The Moodle Minute
  • Network services disruptions week of July 16
    • ITS has scheduled work associated with the network upgrade project for three evenings the week of July 16. Each evening's work will result in some disruption to network services.

Tech News

  • Linden Labs deletes one Second Life campus
  • Wired: YouTube Does Science, From Fruit-Fly Fight Clubs to Stem Cell Extractions
    • From Wired: "Years behind the lab bench taught Moshe Pritsker that the trickiest part of any science experiment isn't the hypothesis, it's the method. The former Harvard researcher learned this lesson back in his student days, after carefully following the instructions on a specialized kit for isolating DNA. “Surprise,” Pritsker says, “no DNA!” A colleague finally showed him how to make the kit work. And that gave Pritsker an idea: methodology porn. The Web site he cofounded, the Journal of Visualized Experiments, launched last October. "
    • Experiments include:
      • Culture of Mouse Neural Stem Cell Precursors
      • Studying Aggression in Drosophila
      • Testing Visual Sensitivity to the Speed and Direction of Motion in Lizards

Help News

ITS Coffee Break – 6/29/07 – LVAIC Symposium, Network Upgrade, Unclutter, Instructables, Summer Workshops

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Technology in the class room is the focus of an upcoming LVAIC symposium, and news of the event leads off the latest edition of the ITS Coffee Break, recorded on location at the Cosmic Cup Coffee Co. on College Hill. Hosts Ken Newquist and Courtney Bentley also have news about the network upgrade project and upcoming outages associated with it, as well as an update about progress with Moodle. In Tech News, they discuss the much hyped iPhone, review Google Maps new "drag your route" feature, get organized with Unclutterer.com, and discover how to build things from scratch with Instructables.com. News about July and August workshops and of just-added Moodle documentation rounds out the podcast.

Getting the Podcast

There are several ways to get the podcast:

Show Notes

ITS News

  • LVAIC Technology in the Classroom Symposium
    • Wednesday, August 1, 2007
    • Time: 8:30 a.m.-2 p.m.
    • Location: Muhlenberg College Allentown, PA – Moyer Hall
    • Facilitator: LVIAC
    • The LVAIC Technology in the Classroom Symposium is an annual event to look at different technology being used on campus across the Lehigh Valley. This year, Chris Borick, Director, Institute of Public Opinion, Muhlenberg College will give a keynote on "The Role of Technology in Public Opinion Research." Other topic for the day include: Using Second Life to Enhance Academic Content, Outcomes Assessment: Developing Real Data on Student Achievement, Podcasting and Emerging Technologies in Higher Education.
      For registration and additional information, visit: http://lvaicclasstech.org.
  • Network Upgrade Work
    • ITS has scheduled work associated with the network upgrade project for three evenings the week of July 9.  Each evening's work will result in some disruption to network services.  Details follow;  reminder messages will be sent the day of each scheduled outage.
    • Monday July 9, 6:00 PM through Tuesday, 7:00 AM
      • Sporadic outages affecting all Lafayette network services.
    • Tuesday July 10, 6:00 PM through Wednesday, 7:00 AM
      • No access to email, Lafayette Web sites, Banner self-service, and Blackboard.
      • Internet connectivity should not be affected, but access may be slow at times.
    • Wednesday July 11, 6:00 PM through Tuesday, 7:00 AM
      • Interruptions to Internet connectivity.
      • Access to Lafayette network services from on campus should not be affected.
    • Concerns/questions should be addressed to John O'Keefe at okeefej@lafayette.edu.  Details about the network upgrade project can be found at http://ww2.lafayette.edu/~its/facilities/networkupgrade.
  • Moodle Progress
    • Fall 2007 courses are now available for faculty within Moodle.
    • We've added rotating images to the home page representing a cross-section of the campus's buildings.
    • Working on student enrollments and course-crosslistings now.

Tech News

  • iPhone
  • Google Maps
  • Unclutter
    • Unclutterer is the blog about getting and staying organized. A place for everything, and everything in its place is our gospel
    • http://unclutterer.com/
  • Instructables
    • A huge DIY instruction site. If you like Make, you'll like this.
    • R/C Steam Turbine Tank, Laptop Converted to 2nd Monitor, How to make a Green Lantern ring- including a glowing version!, Laptop Sleeve from a FedEx Envelope
    • http://www.instructables.com/

Help News

Rid your drive of useless files.

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I heard of an interesting utility on MacBreak Weekly podcast recently. It's called Cache Out X and it does a great job of cleaning out all those stupid cache and swap files that show up mysteriously when you start your Mac and your trash is suddenly full. This application handles both system files and internet files that take up useless drive space. It handles 8 different web browsers and has loads of automated preferences, you can even schedule it to run via iCal. Best of all, it's FREE! I found it at versiontracker.com